Does becoming spiritually advanced means treating all situations and all people equally?
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Answer Podcast

The post Does becoming spiritually advanced means treating all situations and all people equally? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

European Leaders Meeting 2018 Report
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Hare KrishnaBy ELM staff

The first presentation and discussion was on the subject of ISKCON membership. In ISKCON we have been a little befuddled and challenged for sometime regarding how to categorise membership. Should it be something for the people to aspire to or should it be more easy and simple to be counted among ISKCON's membership?Should it be based on initiation or is that too guru centric? Should we do so on the same basis as the Catholic Church and introduce the equivalent of their baptism? Whatever we proceed with it must give people a sense of identify with, and pride in, being a member of ISKCON. We then invited Kaunteya prabhu to give a presentation based on the work of the constitution committee and their deliberations on the topic of membership. Following that we had an additional presentation by Sivarama Swami on the same subject reflecting the work that the Hungarian yatra has done on this subject over the last number of years. Continue reading "European Leaders Meeting 2018 Report
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To change the world is imperative to educate the children!…
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To change the world is imperative to educate the children! (video)
SB Class By HG Urmila Mataji (ACBSP) ISKCON PUNE 06 Oct 2018.
Lord Chaitanya’s movement won’t spread simply by bringing adults into Krishna consciousness.
Unfortunately, devotee families nowadays choose to not have many children and educate the rest of the few ones about technology and how to make money.
How Iskcon is investing in educational arrangements to provide a proper system and facilities for the children of the devotees.

MANtra Retreat (October 5-7) started at New Vrindavana. Event…
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MANtra Retreat (October 5-7) started at New Vrindavana.
Event Highlights: Kirtan with Gaura Vani Drama by Bhaktimarga Swami Yoga classes with Damodara Dasa Comedy with Yadhunath Dasa Hikes with the Walking Monk Sports Bonfires Srila Prabhupada Stories
Panels: Opening keynote: “The Role of Men in ISKCON” with Professor Burke Rochford “Being Yourself in Krishna’s Service” “Navigating the Male-Female Paradox”
Workshops: “The Ability in Man: How to Find Your Style!” with Bhuta Bhavana Dasa “The Matter of Spirit: Harmonizing Worldly & Spiritual Pursuits” with Anuttama Dasa “Grow Stronger Through Challenges: The Kurukshetra in Our Lives” with Partha Dasa

Vaishnavi Retreat began at MANDALA wellness retreat center,…
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Vaishnavi Retreat began at MANDALA wellness retreat center, COBB, CALIFORNIA (Album of photos)
A 3-day iNTERACTIVE retreat to celebrate and connect with other women of Bhakti and spiritual seekers alike in a refreshing, supportive environment. Through illuminating classes and seminars, meditative japa and kirtans and spirited festivities, this retreat’s purpose is to inspire you to progress in your spiritual journey back to Godhead. Both body and soul will be nourished with pure Krishna prasadam, sanctified vegetarian meals prepared and offered with love.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/iJ9Trb

ISKCON PRISON MINISTRY Craving to read about KRSNA over the mundane
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Hare KrishnaBy Bhakta David

The other inmates do not bother me anymore as I have a decent reputation here about the way I am. My willingness to help others without strings attached (as is the norm in prison), has endeared me to many. Being an instructor and mentor in the Skills Program has also worked in my favor. And my open-mindedness to other religions has unlocked many doors. Prisoners, for the most part, are good judges of character (don’t BS the Bser’s). As such, my sincerity and devotion to my beliefs show (or so I have been told) and so I am able to just be me and no one really gives it a second thought; be it the tilaka, the bead bag, the paintings (people dig them!) Continue reading "ISKCON PRISON MINISTRY Craving to read about KRSNA over the mundane
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Gita 01.04 Duryodhana tries to change Drona’s emotion for the opposite side from affection to anger
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 01.04 Duryodhana tries to change Drona’s emotion for the opposite side from affection to anger appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

The power of purpose
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[Talk at the University of Arlington, Dallas, USA]

Podcast


 

Podcast Summary


 

Video:

The post The power of purpose appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

The way to Vrindavan is through Kurukshetra
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[Congregation program at Dallas, USA]

Podcast


 

Podcast Summary


 

Video:

The way to Vrindavan is through Kurukshetra

Q & A

The post The way to Vrindavan is through Kurukshetra appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2018
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Toronto, Ontario

The Chair Room

Another dreary day kept me inside the building.  The greyness and moisture was somewhat intimidating, but more pervasively it encouraged the need for interior attention.  

243 Avenue Road is an old Church—turned Krishna temple.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenue_Road_Church  It was a long time ago, 42 years, which seems like yesterday when a bunch of enthusiastic but inexperienced young monks and nuns moved in.  We worked hard to raise the money for the stately building in a good neighbourhood. It was middle-class then, in ’76, but became high-end—the neighbourhood, that is.  Our edifice has been hard to maintain but it’s still there and doing valuable service.  There are areas of space that still need good definition and the men’s and woman’s quarters are wings that need redoing.

I looked at the deities today and I saw the most gorgeous images of Krishna.  The pujaris (priests) really did an excellent job at their ornamentation.  That temple room glowed today.

Sometimes we fall behind in other areas of efficiency and neatness.  So I tackled the chair room on the main floor, where members tend to just dump or temporarily store stuff.  I couldn’t handle the chaos any more so I sacrificed the walk for rearranging the room. It was therapy.  It was physical work and a good dose of perhaps right and left brain effort together.  I felt great when it was done.  I felt I could breathe well just looking at the space gained.  It was fun and that’s bhakti—fun and stimulating, regardless of the service.

I felt good being inside a nice old building—our temple.

May the Source be with you!
0 km


Monday, October 1st, 2018
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Toronto, Ontario

Orange T-shirt

Karuna and I were walking through the drizzle on Bloor Street, when it dawned on me that we had to pick up speed in order to meet my drama teaching committee.  “Let’s take the subway,” I urged.  So we entered at the Ossington entrance.  While on the not-so-full train, a native woman, middle-aged, next to me, started to talk.  I guess my clothes stood out—a pumpkin type of shade.

“Did you know it’s ‘Orange T-shirt day’?” she informed.  

“Well no, I didn’t.  Could you tell me about it?  I think I’m celebrating.  I’m always dressed in orange.”  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Shirt_Day

She smiled and went on to explain that it’s an annual recognition of the plight of First Nations people who, as children, were forced into horrific residential schools throughout Canada, and the U.S., and how they suffered terribly for it.  I expressed that I was well aware of their woes.  I was a fan of Buffy Ste. Marie and her music, especially her song, “My Country Tis of Thy People You’re Dying.”  It details the unfair deal the native people received at the time in history when the country, as we know it now, was being shaped.   https://youtu.be/bTqV1pnQoos

I also mentioned that on a recent flight from Philadelphia, I watched what I could of a feature film—with no headphones—of a young native man who grew up in Shield territory and who was forced into the oppressive school system.  I told her I liked it but it got cut short because the plane landed.   http://www.indianhorse.ca/en/film/cast

“The boy went on to become a shining hockey star.”  The woman beamed with a smile.

Karuna and I then had to exit the subway train.

May the Source be with you!
6 km



ISKCON New Vrindaban Seeks Three Executive New Directors
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“New Vrindaban is not your average temple – it’s a very big and complex project, because it has so many departments to take care of,” says search committee chairperson Vrindavan Das. “So instead of having one temple president take care of everything, we are restructuring and creating a management team of three ‘executive directors’ who will work as a team.”

A loan from God – A Krishna conscious perspective about losing a spouse to suicide
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Hare Krishna Shaunaka Rishi Das, an Irish-born Vaishnava and Director of the Oxford Centre of Hindu Studies, spent many years caring for his wife Keshava, who had chronic fatigue syndrome. In her mid-50s and suffering from depression, Keshava took her own life, with questions over the medical response leading to a traumatic two-day inquest. Shaunaka, who has never publicly told this story before, has found comfort in the Vaishnava concept that she was ‘on loan’ to him from God and eventually had to be returned. In this programme, he reflects eloquently on death, mourning and letting go from a Vaishnava perspective, with presenter Mark Dowd, who lost his own brother to suicide.
(This post has been viewed 1532 times so far)

School students in Tallinn, Estonia visit the Iskcon Temple…
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School students in Tallinn, Estonia visit the Iskcon Temple (Album of photos)
On September 25th, we were visited by a teacher with Karl hay at the top of the western gymnasium. There was a lot of students. A few months ago, I visited their school myself, and now they’ve come to visit us in Krishna’s temple. It was a very nice meeting. We told them about Krishna, the highest personality of God and how God is one, but he has many names. And that religion is one: to love this one God and express it with your actions, thoughts and words. Which also means showing respect and compassion for all and everything (because everything is a particle of God). The students chanted Hare Krishna and went deeper into the teachings of Bhagavad-Gita.
If anyone wants to visit our Krishna temple or invite us to visit, please address me.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/NKFhF3

Joyfully Being Alone
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Hare KrishnaBy Karnamrita Das

Though we are social creatures that need interaction with others in good spiritual association, the importance of being alone with one's thoughts or taking the time to reflect on life is crucial. Some people aren't comfortable being alone or don't know what to do with themselves or how to use the time other than to watch someone else living their dream on T.V or in a movie, or to sleep, play a game of solitaire, or lament they don't have a friend to be with, or something "fun" to do, etc. I doubt there is a class in school on how to be alone and be happy, or how to sit in nature and observe, or in general, "being," rather than doing. Continue reading "Joyfully Being Alone
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Q&A with KKS: Projects in India
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 07 January 2018, Brisbane, Australia, Q&A Programme)

You stayed in Vrndavan and Mayapur where you were in charge of many projects such as building Prabhupada’s samadhi. What was that experience like?

I have the karma for such things. I could relate to India after having lived there for so long, and I understood how to deal with such things. Getting involved in big projects like those, I had to spend lots of time with lawyers who were fighting big cases and I had to complete many business transactions – make contracts, break contracts and so on. My father would have laughed if he had been around for this, that I had escaped from the family business to India, only to be getting back into the business world. You could say that my karma caught up to me!

The article " Q&A with KKS: Projects in India " was published on KKSBlog.

Who Is Bhagavatam?
Giriraj Swami

During a preview of Viva Kultura in Gauranga Hall in Houston, the person playing the elderly gentleman who introduced Srimad-Bhagavatam walked down into the audience and presented me the volume: Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto, Chapters 1–8.  Somehow I was deeply touched by that act, and I carried the book with me back to my ashram in Carpinteria, where I keep it on my bedside table. (Later, Indradyumna Swami told me that the elderly gentleman was played by Sitala and Hari-sauri’s daughter, Rasarani.)

So, last night, I opened the book randomly, and I was struck by the profound verse and purport that I found:

idam bhagavatam nama
  puranam brahma-sammitam
uttama-sloka-caritam
  cakara bhagavan rsih
nihsreyasaya lokasya
  dhanyam svasty-ayanam mahat

“This scripture named Srimad-Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of God, and it is compiled by Srila Vyasadeva, the incarnation of God. It is meant for the ultimate good of all people, and it is all-successful, all-blissful, and all-perfect.” (SB 1.3.40)

Purport: “Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu declared that Srimad-Bhagavatam is the spotless sound representation of all Vedic knowledge and history. Therein are selected histories of great devotees who are in direct contact with the Personality of Godhead. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of Lord Sri Krsna and is therefore nondifferent from Him. Srimad-Bhagavatam should be worshiped as respectfully as we worship the Lord. Thereby we can derive the ultimate blessings of the Lord through its careful and patient study. As God is all light, all bliss, and all perfection, so also is Srimad-Bhagavatam. We can have all the transcendental light of the Supreme Brahman, Sri Krsna, from the recitation of Srimad-Bhagavatam, provided it is received through the medium of the transparent spiritual master. Lord Caitanya’s private secretary Srila Svarupa Damodara Gosvami advised all intending visitors who came to see the Lord at Puri to make a study of the Bhagavatam from the person Bhagavatam. The person Bhagavatam is the self-realized bona fide spiritual master, and through him only can one understand the lessons of the Bhagavatam in order to receive the desired result. One can derive from the study of the Bhagavatam all benefits that are possible to be derived from the personal presence of the Lord. It carries with it all the transcendental blessings of Lord Sri Krsna that we can expect from His personal contact.”

Now I pray to realize the truths I read in the verse and purport, that “Srimad-Bhagavatam is the literary incarnation of Lord Sri Krsna and is therefore nondifferent from Him” and that “One can derive from the study of the Bhagavatam all benefits that are possible to be derived from the personal presence of the Lord. It carries with it all the transcendental blessings of Lord Sri Krsna that we can expect from His personal contact.”

And I thought of Srila Prabhupada’s words shortly before he departed from our vision, as recorded in one of his last purports in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.13.54):

“We should discuss Srimad-Bhagavatam daily as much as possible, and then everything will be clarified, for Bhagavatam is the essence of all Vedic literature (nigama-kalpa-taror galitam phalam [SB 1.1.3]). It was written by Vyasadeva (maha-muni-krte) when he was self-realized. Thus the more we read Srimad-Bhagavatam, the more its knowledge becomes clear. Each and every verse is transcendental.”

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Two celebrities try to advance a revolution in favor of the cows.
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Two celebrities try to advance a revolution in favor of the cows.
Chrissie Hynde and Mary McCartney: Talking About a Revolution (From National Geographic’s website)
Chrissie Hynde: The word ahimsa comes from Indian Vedic culture, and that’s where this whole cow protection thing comes from. There are four principles: never kill cows, milk cows by hand, give oxen meaningful work, and cows must suckle from their mothers. These are all followed by the Ahimsa Dairy Foundation, based in Rutland.
To read the entire article please click here: https://goo.gl/azQLU5