Planet ISKCON

The post Spiritual Seekers Retreat ? (4) appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 18.76 The Gita’s conversation is memorable and relishable appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Chicago]

Podcast

 

Podcast Summary

 

Video:

The post Share the spiritual treasure with the world – SHARE acronym appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Session 3, Spiritual Seekers Retreat, Chicago, USA]

Podcast

 

Podcast Summary

 

Video:

The post Bringing out the best within us appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Session 3, Spiritual Seekers Retreat, Chicago, USA]

Podcast

 

Podcast Summary

 

Video:

The post Making healthy choices appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Caitanya Caritamrita By Radha Padma (18 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: “Even while engaged in various activities, devotees whose minds are completely absorbed at Your lotus feet, and who constantly hear, chant, contemplate and cause others to remember Your transcendental names and forms, are always on the transcendental platform, and thus they can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 10.2.37).

We are now calling for nominations for the 10 available ISKCON Europe Excellence Awards (IEEA) for 2018. The IEEA recognizes the sincere service of devotees who have dedicated their lives to the mission of Srila Prabhupada within Europe. These awards are to encourage such exemplary devotees and also to inspire all other devotees by their example.

Sadhu-sanga festival 2018 in Dzhubga, Krasnodarskiy Kray, Russia (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If we simply place oursel...

By Premanjana Das

If you sit down and write some article on Krsna, that means you have to concentrate on Krsna's activities or Krsna's devotees' activities, and that very process will purify your heart. Therefore we always recommend to our students that you write articles, read our magazine, read our book Continue reading "All Devotees Should Write
→ Dandavats"

By Akruranatha Dasa

From time to time we hear that a certain devotee is “mature”. We know it is a positive thing, but what does it really mean? How can we become the kind of devotee that others will call “mature”? What is the evidence regarding “maturity” in our revealed scriptures? Continue reading "What Do We Mean By “Maturity”?
→ Dandavats"

By Indradyumna Swami

My dear godbrother and friend, Giriraja Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I am not usually without words but glorifying you is challenging because there is so much to say and so little time to say it!  I could talk for hours about your extraordinary qualities as a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, as well as reminiscing about our 30-year friendship which is one of the deepest and most satisfying in my life. Continue reading "“A Good Soul”
→ Dandavats"

Answer Podcast

The post If a devotee girl has to marry a nondevotee boy, what can she do to protect her devotion? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 18.75 Sanjaya appreciates the content, the source and the channel of the Gita’s wisdom appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Podcast

 

The post Bhagavatam tenth canto study 36 – 10.7.1-6 Krishna’s childhood pastimes are both entertaining and enlightening appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

“I can honestly say that I love you Giriraj Swami Maharaja. The love that we share is a love of a time-tested friendship that goes deep and is more satisfying than any mundane friendship. It is a relationship based on serving together during the pioneer days of our spiritual master’s mission. It is said that two things equal to one thing are equal to each other. Because of our deepening love for our spiritual master and Krishna, our love for each other is solidified for ever. My hope is that we will meet each other back in the spiritual world. Certainly the possibility is there for in a letter to Tusta Krishna Das Srila Prabhupada wrote, ‘Siddha Swarup will go, you will go, all others will go. We will have another ISKCON there. Only Mr. Nair will not go.'” — Indradymna Swami

——————————–
Giriraj Swami
Giriraj Swami and Indradymna Swami
Godbrothers
Keshava Bharati Das Goswami
Indradymna Swami
Partha Sarati Dasa Goswami
Badahari Das
Cakri Das
Friends and Well-wishers
Anuradha Dasi
Balaram Das
Caitanya Candra Das
Dhanavaari Dasi
Gauranga-Chandra Das
Guru Bhakti Dasi
Indulekha Dasi
Jaya Sri Radhe Dasi
Jivan Mukta Das
Kalpataru dasi
Kandarpa Manjari dasi and Radhika
Karuna Avatar Das
Kishori Radha Dasi
Krishna Kirtan Das
Lalitadevi Dasi
Madan Mohan Mohini Dasi
Manasi Ganga Dasi
Nandini Dasi
Narayani Dasi
Nila Madhava Das
Nishana dasi
Nitya Lila Dasi
Nitya Manjari Dasi
Premi Bhakta Das
Priti Radhika Dasi
Revati Dasi and Purusottama Ksetra Das
Bhaktin Salonee
Sarvabhauma Das
Sita Dasi
Sukha Sagari Dasi
Sukumari Dasi
Sundari Dasi
Swarup Damodar Das
Vinod Bihari Das
Vrinda-priya Dasi
Vrindavan Natha Das
Youth in Bombay

Vyasa Puja Offering to Giriraja Swami 2018 – “A Good Soul”

My dear godbrother and friend, Giriraja Maharaja, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I am not usually without words but glorifying you is challenging because there is so much to say and so little time to say it! I could talk for hours about your extraordinary qualities as a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, as well as reminiscing about our 30-year friendship which is one of the deepest and most satisfying in my life.

Friendship is an essential ingredient in Krsna consciousness. In Hayagriva dasa’s book, Vrindavan Days, he recounts how Srila Prabhupada stressed the importance of friendship in one of his Vrindavan discourses at the Radha Damodar temple in the early 1970s:

“In the second stage, that of madhyam-adhikari, one treats all types of men according to their position and tries to increase his love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he also make friends with the devotees. He doesn’t envy the devotees. If a devotee is superior, we should take lessons from him; if he is equal, we should make friends with him; and if lower, we should try to help him.”

Maharaja, you have been so kind and treated me as an equal all these years, but let the truth be known: you are my superior, for you are many light-years ahead of me in devotional service. This truth becomes evident each time I hear you speak. Your speaking perfectly exemplifies the Lord’s declaration in Bhagavad-Gita:

anudvega-karam vakyam
satyam priya-hitam ca yat
svadhya-yabhya-sanam caiva
van-mayam tapa ucyate

“Austerity of speech consists in speaking truthfully and beneficially and in avoiding speech that offends. One should also recite the Vedas regularly.”

[ Bhagavad Gita 17.15 ]

In his purport to that verse Srila Prabhupada writes that “at the same time, such talk should be very pleasurable to the ear.”

Your lectures are a pleasurable to the ear for many reasons, but in particular they are so because you sprinkle your narrative with your memories of Srila Prabhupada. You will often use first-hand accounts of Srila Prabhupada to back up a philosophical point, or you use them simply to give joy to your audience. Many times you have surprised devotees by sharing a pastime or statement from Srila Prabhupada that you have never used before. You are like a treasure chest of Prabhupada nectar. This is because he is very dear to you and you are very dear to him.

In numerous letters throughout the years Srila Prabhupada extolled your virtues as a disciple and devotee of the Lord:

“So I marked it in your person when I was in Boston, and prayed to Krishna that this good soul may be aware of the importance of Krishna Consciousness ”

[ Letter to Giriraja dasa, July 5, 1969 ]

“I am glad that Giriraja is doing very nicely. Krishna has sent a good soul for pushing on this Krishna Consciousness Movement.”

[ Letter to Satsvarupa dasa, 17 July 1969 ]

“You are also very fortunate to have an assistant like Giriraja. This boy has so quickly taken up the Krishna Consciousness cause and I am very much pleased with his behavior.”

[ Letter to Satsvarupa dasa, 15 October 1969 ]

“In his last letter Giriraja has informed me that he was sick but since then I have not heard from him. How is he? I am anxious to know. His health should be taken good care of. He is an important worker and a good soul.”

[ Letter to Tamal Krishna dasa, 20 August 1971 ]

Four times our own spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, has defined you as “a good soul”. This is but one of the reasons that I always hanker to be near you and try to obtain your association whenever possible.

In Harinam Cintamani, Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur writes:

“If one stays near a pure Vaishnava, a devotee of Krishna, for some time one can receive the bhakti, devotional energy, flowing from his body. If one can bind that energy within one’s heart, he will develop strong faith in bhakti. If one lives close to a genuine Vaisnava, devotion will soon appear within one’s heart.”

I make it a point to try and visit you in Carpinteria, California once a year. My excuse is that I am coming to rest, but have you ever seen me rest when I am with you? No! Resting is just a ruse; I come to bask in your wonderful association.

So yes, we are friends, but I think a better terminology is that we are brothers, and you are the older brother. You are older in age, older in time spent in ISKCON, and older in your realizations and wisdom in Krsna consciousness. As such I take great pleasure in honoring you on this auspicious day. In fact, so much do I appreciate what you have done for me, that I honor you in the same mood as your disciples: as a representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Someone may challenge: where does it say that a godbrother can worship another godbrother as representative of the Lord, as good as the Lord Himself? Well, it says so in the king of all sastras, the Srimad Bhagavatm:

däsavat sanna-täryäìghriù / pitåvad déna-vatsalaù
bhrätåvat sadåçe snigdho / guruñv éçvara-bhävanaù

“[Prahlada Maharaja] was completely cultured as a qualified brahmana, having very good character and being determined to understand the Absolute Truth. He had full control of his senses and mind. Like the Supersoul, he was kind to every living entity and was the best friend of everyone. To respectable persons he acted exactly like a menial servant, to the poor he was like a father, to his equals he was attached like a sympathetic brother, and he considered his teachers, spiritual masters and older Godbrothers to be as good as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was completely free from unnatural pride that might have arisen from his good education, riches, beauty, aristocracy and so on.”

[Srimad Bhagavatam 7.4. 31-32]

My dear older godbrother, Giriraj Maharaja, I am confident that by studying your devotion and service to Srila Prabhupada I can learn how to satisfy him. Your proximity to Srila Prabhupada in the early days of the movement gives credence to why so many devotees, like myself, have faith in you. You know how Srila Prabhupada did things, you know what pleased him, you know what his mission was and you know how he went about it. You received specific instructions from him. On his deathbed he turned to you and asked how things would go on in this movement once he departed. You replied, “Things will go on if we are obedient to your instructions to chant 16 rounds and follow the regulative principles.” No doubt that was a perfect answer. But just as perfect was Srila Prabhupada’s response: “Things will go on with organization and intelligence.” With your keen intelligence you understood this order of Prabhupada’s, and with your remarkable memory you are able to recount many such things Srila Prabhupada told you over 48 years ago! Because your attachment to His Divine Grace is so strong I feel you will be with him forever.

yatha vaise tatha yena hana anucara

“I will follow my master to any place that he goes”.

[Srila Vrindavan das Thakur, Caitanya-bhagavat, Madhya 13.399]

In this vein, please allow me to follow you anywhere you may go, for that guarantees me eternal service to our dear and beloved spiritual master.

I often reflect on how your initial meetings with His Divine Grace were very much like his own first meetings with his Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. When they first met, Srila Prabhupada tested the field by making a challenging statement. He told Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati that India must first be rid of British rule before people could seriously take up Krsna consciousness. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati shot back that awakening our Krsna consciousness is a much more urgent matter, as it is the very goal of life. In your memoir entitled “Seeing the Center of Things”, you explain how when you first met Srila Prabhupada you suggested that we may all be God. But Srila Prabhupada convinced you otherwise. You admitted to him, “Actually, I see that I wanted to become God.”

“Yes, that is right!” Srila Prabhupada responded. “But how can you become God? You cannot. God is in your heart and if you water the seed of devotion by chanting Hare Krishna, He will give you all the sunshine to make it grow.”

You carefully watered that devotional seed by always dealing with your spiritual master in an appropriate mood of awe and reverence. You have noted that in the beginning of your devotional career each time Srila Prabhupada lectured you would limit yourself to a single carefully thought out question.

One time you asked: “What is the relationship between service to man and service to God?”

Srila Prabhupada replied, “If a hungry man comes to you and you feed him, in a few hours his hunger will return and he will have the same problem all over again. But if you give him Krishna consciousness, all his problems will be solved permanently. If you give a man a million dollars, all of his ten dollar problems will be solved. Similarly, if you give a man Krishna consciousness, all of his little problems will be solved, including eating. And his problems will be solved permanently. He’ll become completely satisfied .”

Srila Prabhupada’s reference to a million dollars solving a person’s ten-dollar problems is interesting. You seem to have realized this early in your devotional career, for when your father offered you a check for one million dollars to leave Krsna consciousness, you smiled and refused the check. You had already realized that your spiritual father, Srila Prabhupada, was giving you the most priceless commodity: pure devotion to the Supreme Lord.

For your initial enthusiasm and faith in him, Srila Prabhupada rewarded you accordingly. He gave you a number of personal instructions. Although there are general instructions for the mass of devotees and the public at large, a disciple always hankers for some personal instructions or guidance from his guru. And so it was that one night during one of Srila Prabhupada’s early visits to Boston you got to drive him back to the temple after a program. During that drive you asked him something that had been on your mind mind for some time.

“Srila Prabhupada,” you said, “what should I do with the rest of my life?”

He paused for a moment and then replied, “Just study our books very thoroughly and chant Hare Krishna.”

Those were very simple instructions, but nothing is simplistic in Krsna consciousness. For a sincere devotee everything is very deep and meaningful. So you took those personal instructions sincerely and therefore you find yourself at a very advanced stage of Krsna consciousness today. You will of course deny your advancement, but you are outnumbered, for there are thousands of disciples, friends and well-wishers who think otherwise. Just see how many have come to honor you today! There’s a saying that “numbers never lie.” That can be contested in many situations, but not in this one. In your case, the truth is evident in the number of devotees who look up to you, respect you and love you.

I can honestly say I love you Giriraja Swami Maharaja. The love we share is a love of a time-tested friendship that goes deep and is infinitely more satisfying than any mundane friendship. It is a relationship that continues to grow based on the comradery of serving together in the pioneer days of our spiritual master’s mission. It is said that “two things equal to one thing are equal to each other.” Because of our deepening love for our spiritual master and Krsna, our love for each other is solidified forever. My hope is that we’ll meet each other when we’re back home in the spiritual world. Certainly, the possibility is there, for in a letter to Tusta Krsna das Srila Prabhupada wrote:

“Siddhasvarupa will go, you will go, Syamasundara will go, all others will go. We will have another ISKCON there. Of course, Mr. Nair must stay.”

[Srila Prabhupada Letter to Tusta Krsna, Ahmedabad December 14th, 1972 ]

I am very confident I will reach that supreme abode, my dear friend! Of course it’s not proper for a Vaisnava to make such a statement of bravado, full of arrogance and conceit. But I do not say this on any merit or qualification I have, but based on a wonderful vow that you, I and our godbrother Sriniketana das took many years ago in Mauritius. We were honoring an amazing feast offered to Srila Prabhupada on his appearance day. The prasadam was delicious and, being the young men we were, we were devouring it in great delight. By the time we finished the sweets we were totally intoxicated with both the sugar and the transcendental nature of the delicacies.

Suddenly I said to you and Sriniketana, “Prabhus! Let’s put our hands together and take a solemn vow!”

“Wonderful!” you said. “What type of vow shall we take?”

I smiled and said, “Let’s take a vow that none of us of will go back home, back to Godhead without the others.”

I was overjoyed when you immediately agreed, not fully understanding that I alone was the real beneficiary of such a vow. How was that so? Because I knew that you would be going home well before I would. That meant I would achieve that goal way before my time. With a smile from ear to ear I put out my hand. You placed yours on top of mine and Sriniketana put his on yours. Then we very loudly proclaimed the sacred vow together:

“On this auspicious day, celebrating the appearance of our beloved spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, here on ISKCON’S Vedic Farm in Mauritius, in the presence of the Lord and so many exalted devotees we hereby take the solemn vow that none of us will go back home, back to Godhead without the others. We shall all attain that supreme, divine abode of love and bliss together. We shall enter Goloka the three of us abreast to serve the Divine Couple forever and forever more!”

With our eyes closed, we held our hands tightly together for some time and when we opened them we found a great number of devotees staring at us in astonishment.

Looking back on that special day I too am astonished. I am astonished at my great fortune to have had you as a friend and mentor in this lifetime. What a wonderful life I have lived in the association of godbrothers and godsisters such as yourself. I will leave this world grateful and fully satisfied. What’s more, I am looking forward to serving Srila Prabhupada together with you again here in the material world and most eagerly in the spiritual world. There is no doubt we will recognize each other there and our friendship will continue forever.

Upendra das once asked, “Srila Prabhupada … it was raised that our relationships formed here in ISKCON with one another are eternal in themselves in addition to the service, that ISKCON and we members as we are known now shall be known there [in the spiritual world]. All this I was unable to support scripturally and lest I make an offense and direct error, I place this before you.”

Srila Prabhupada replied, “As to your question concerning whether relationships between devotees are eternal, the answer is ‘yes.’ This is confirmed by Sri Narottama dasa Thakura: cakhu-dan dilo yei, janme janme prabhu sei—‘He is my lord birth after birth.’ In this way you have to understand, by studying carefully the philosophy.”

[ Letter to Upendra, January 7, 1976 ]

The conclusion, my dear Giriraj Swami Maharaja, is that I will forever and forevermore be your friend and servant!

Yours eternally,
Indradyumna Swami

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10212658007108051&set=a.3707173840886&type=3&theater

2018 Ratha Yatra and Festival of India in Copenhagen (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: This Krishna consciousness movement ...

[Talk at Theosofest, Theosophical Society Headquarters, Chicago, USA]

Podcast

 

Podcast Summary

 

Video:

The post Overcoming negative emotions appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Session 2, Spiritual Seekers Retreat, Chicago, USA]

Podcast

 

Podcast Summary

 

Video:

The post Growing through adversities appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Session 1, Spiritual Seekers Retreat, Chicago, USA]

Podcast

 

Podcast Summary

 

Video:

The post What is destiny? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

HH Gunagrahi Das Goswami placed into Samadhi (Album of photos)
“He reasons ill who tells that Vaisnavas die When thou art living still in sound! The Vaisnavas die to live, and living try To spread the holy name around!”
The glorious departure of HH Gunagrahi Das Swami Maharaj continued today with Maharaj being placed into Samadhi at Iskcon Goshala amongst other exalted souls.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!
All glories to HH Gunagrahi Das Swami Maharaj!!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Na27Yv

DASI Creates Service Opportunities for Young Women in ISKCON.
It’s a bustling evening on Janmastami, Lord Krishna’s appearance day, in Village of Vrindavana, a pop-up reconstruction of famous temples and pilgrimage spots at ISKCON of Alachua, Florida. Against the ink-black night sky, ten young women in bright, multicolored costumes are portraying Krishna’s rasa dance with the gopis. Their fusion of Bharatanatyam, Odissi and modern dance puts a cherry on top of the night’s festivities and has everyone grinning and applauding.
The girls – some from Alachua, and some from North Carolina and Chicago, Illinois – are members of DASI, a brand new organization that aims to encourage and inspire young women to use their talents and time in service to Lord Krishna.
To read the entire article please click here: https://goo.gl/g5DX9g

The day begins early for visitors to Sridhama Mayapur.  They wake many hours before the sun rises, anytime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., to bathe and prepare to go to the early morning mangalarati. At the temple, the pilgrims get in line and wait to enter the temple. Sometimes, the lines can reach up […]

The post A Pilgrim’s day in Sridham Mayapur appeared first on Mayapur.com.

It is deeply sad that we have lost a great general in Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission. He was an inspirational leader and took on great responsibility on behalf of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

By Danavir Goswami

Gunagrahi Maharaja gave everything he had to Srila Prabhupada. He served ISKCON continuously for forty-nine years. He was a master at engaging people in Krishna consciousness. He made friends quickly and for life. He was largely responsible for the successful spreading of Krishna consciousness among the straight-edge youth. He didn't complain and he didn't lament. He had a flair for designing tasteful and novel ways of presenting Krishna consciousness. He innovated incredible Govinda buffet restaurants. He was a leader for inaugurating the nightly guest dinner programs in San Diego. He was a top-notch bhakta program leader. He organized an amazing temple interior for the San Diego temple. Everyone liked to be around him and he liked to be with everyone. He found the good in all souls and fanned it into big flames. He had a fabulous sense of wit and humor. He transcended ordinary constrictive dealings. He recognized and worshiped saintliness wherever he found it. He was a true friend in all circumstances. He was addicted to kirtan. Continue reading "HH Gunagrahi Goswami Eulogy
→ Dandavats"

As a Part of 'Sri Krishna Janmastami Celebrations' on the final day September 7th, ISKCON Guntur has conducted a Youth Awareness Rally on the theme 'Say No To Bad Habits-Save The Youth' which is organized by ISKCON Youth Forum Guntur.

By Administrator

Mitrasena prabhu interviews Gunagrahi Goswami. Interesting facts from Iskcon's and older devotees' history. Plenty of entertaining anecdotes from the adventurous life of early Iskcon. Maharaj narrates how he first became devotee, his further involvement in the Krishna consciousness movement and also the beginning of many other devotees' devotional life like BB Govinda Swami, Mahatma prabhu, Prahladananda Swami and many others. A pleasant exchange by an unassuming, humble soul, sincere disciple of Srila Prabhupada who helped many others and is loved by all. Continue reading "Interview-Gunagrahi Maharaj- 1968 Buffalo NY
→ Dandavats"

By Giriraj Swami

In 1969, when I was a student of psychology at Brandeis University, I met my spiritual teacher, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In 1970, after studying with him for a year and a half, I accompanied him to India. And in 1977, he taught us by his example how to leave the world in proper, pure consciousness. He retired to Vrindavan, a holy place in India, and surrounded himself with devotees who were always chanting or reading to him from sacred literature. Being in such a holy place was itself conducive to spiritual consciousness, to God consciousness. And the atmosphere was enhanced by loving disciples singing songs of the Lord and reading books about Him. Continue reading "Death and Dying in the Vedic Tradition
→ Dandavats"

Answer Podcast

The post Why didn’t Indra become sober even after Govardhana lila? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 18.74 The Gita describes a mahatama and makes its hearer into a mahatma appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Podcast

 

The post Bhagavatam tenth canto study 35 – 10.6.35-44 Bhagavatam highlights the extraordinariness of the Vrajavasis appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 07 January 2018, Brisbane, Australia, Q&A Programme)

When was the first time you connected with someone within the realm of Krsna consciousness? How did that develop into what it did?

All those times in India that I visited, I never met devotees. But, I had seen devotees in my town in Holland. They came in a little grey van and then all these pink men came out of it. It did not seem possible for so many men to fit into such a tiny van. So instantly, I knew that something was up here. (laughter) Then, they made a line and started approaching my way, so I ducked into a shop. There this man said, “This looks like a dangerous sect.” These people looked like the epitome of religious fanaticism on the streets of Holland, dancing to “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna” for hours, and I used to think, “Wow! These people seem so extreme and fanatic!“, which is why I never thought of getting involved initially. However, after spending time in India, I started to realise that this was definitely more Indian than I had thought, so I started to look into it. I found a Bhagavad-gita on the book-shelf of one of my friends, which I read. By then, I was quite familiar with the culture of India, so the message of the Bhagavad-gita made sense to me and I started to relate to it.

The article " Q&A with KKS: First connections " was published on KKSBlog.

ISKCON Seattle recently purchased an acreage about an hour’s drive from the temple. This facility is mainly for our beautiful cows and bullocks and also for a Krsna Conscious retreat centre.

The devotees named it New Goloka after the Lord’s abode in the spiritual world. The property itself has a nice house, cottage, studio and two barns as well as many paddocks for grazing and growing fruit and vegetables.

Before Srila Vyasadeva recorded the Vedas, fixing them in a written medium, they were passed down in spoken form. An oral culture of transmission relies on an aural culture of reception; that is, the message has to be heard and comprehended in order to be useful. Srimad­Bhagavatam tells us that Vyasadeva wrote down the Vedas because people’s aural skills were diminishing. He wanted to preserve the texts’ content and make it available to all those who would lose “their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance” that is Kali­yuga. Continuing in that tradition, the BBT is publishing its content, Srila Prabhupada’s works, in print, audio, ebook, and app formats, each as potent as the last in making accessible to one audience or another Prabhupada’s thoughts and mood and the devotional ecstasies he called his purports. The only difference between all these formats is how they are encoded.

The outreach program was conducted by the Journey of Self Discovery Trust at Epuni hall in Lower Hutt city in Wellington. The community hall was packed to the hilt with more than 350 participants, with registrations closing in less than two days due to the high demand.