Bhagavatam study 97 1.18.4-10 Understanding Parikshit M’s treatment of Kali
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Gita 18.21 To equate others physical appearance with spiritual substance is vision in passion
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

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As devotees in Vaikuntha know the Lord’s position whereas those in Goloka don’t, is the influence of Yoga-Maya lesser in Vaikunta – Hindi?
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Nrsimhadeva Deity
→ Ramai Swami

It was nice to be in Bali again. As usual, I visited the temples, gave class, led kirtan and met with the devotees.

The last time I was at Jagannatha Gauranga temple, the leaders told me that the Lord Nrsimha deity, who was made from local wood,  needed to be replaced.

When I came this time I saw the new Lord Nrsimha deity, who was ordered from Jagannatha Puri and made of stone. He is certainly a beautiful sight to behold.

All glories to Lord Nrsimhadeva!

Vaisnava Krpa – A Gift of Love by Srila Prabhupada’s Family
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Hare KrishnaBy Radha Sundari devi dasi

We have all heard the story of the house that Srila Prabhupada built in which the whole world can live. And how in his great mercy he lovingly created, in the body of ISKCON, a spiritual family to take up residence in that house. A family imbued with the qualities of love and trust, to stand at the door and welcome inside the rest of the world. Although we have repeated these words many times over the past 38 years, it is only in the last few days, after Hari-sauri Prabhu launched an appeal to help our family, that we have been privileged to really experience first-hand what it means to be embraced by the love of that family. We feel as if we’ve been sitting in the centre of a magic circle surrounded by hundreds of devotees and well-wishers from all over the world, flooding us with blessings, prayers, gifts from the heart, pledges of laxmi and messages of hope, wisdom, comfort and succour. Continue reading "Vaisnava Krpa – A Gift of Love by Srila Prabhupada’s Family
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Movie metaphor to understand how we are entangled and how bhakti liberates us
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[Bhagavatam class on 11.11.06 at ISKCON, Chowpatty, Mumbai, India]

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Harinama in Genova, Italy, with the international Padayatra team…
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Harinama in Genova, Italy, with the international Padayatra team (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: A devotee always thinks of the Lord continuously. While chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, the words Krishna and Hare immediately remind him of all the Lord’s activities. Since his entire life is engaged n the service of the Lord, a devotee cannot forget the Lord at any time. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 5.1.6 Purport)
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From shallow to profound!
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From shallow to profound!
Kadamba Kanana Swami: This mahamantra is our best friend. In fact, it is a very close friend of all living entities. The mantra is always there for us, whereby whoever wants it is able to turn to it wherever they are and whenever they want to. It does not discriminate. It is always available at our command and it does not cost anything either. So if we desire, we always have our friend, the mahamantra. And if we do not desire, the mantra will still come anyway. Sometimes the mantra rolls through the streets and some people cover their ears but then we sing even louder!

From shallow to profound!
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 04 January 2018, Brisbane, Australia, Govinda’s Program Lecture)

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

This mahamantra is our best friend. In fact, it is a very close friend of all living entities. The mantra is always there for us, whereby whoever wants it is able to turn to it wherever they are and whenever they want to. It does not discriminate. It is always available at our command and it does not cost anything either. So if we desire, we always have our friend, the mahamantra. And if we do not desire, the mantra will still come anyway. Sometimes the mantra rolls through the streets and some people cover their ears but then we sing even louder!

Sometimes when we are out on harinama, there are a lot of positive reactions but every once in a while, there may be a really negative/aggressive reaction, and we wonder, “Why? What is the problem? We are just singing this nice mantra.” Maybe it is because those people associate the mantra with an angry and punishing God, one who is up there, ready to send down thunderbolts, “Thou sinners shalt repent!” No! Our mantra is joyful, it is blissful, it is meant to be fun and happy, something good that brings out the best of everything. This mantra is not just a sound or some words. It is a manifestation of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and in this way, we are never alone. Through this mahamantra, Krsna is always with us and in this way the mahamantra is our best friend as it is non-different from Krsna. This may be difficult to understand initially but it pulls you in, it starts to all make sense and this way, the mantra will bless us.

Through this mantra, everything starts to become clear. For instance, there is nothing wrong with alcohol, it is a perfectly okay substance. The only thing is that it is meant for the outside, not the inside! Once we start to understand that it is to be used as a disinfectant instead of drinking it, it all starts to make sense how we are supposed to use alcohol! (laughter) By chanting the mantra, we get the intelligence and the understanding of the purpose behind everything. Like it is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam, the purpose of everything is to be understood in respect to its relationship with Krsna. So in this way, through the mahamantra, it all starts to become crystal clear little by little. Without the mahamantra, everything is shallow but with the mahamantra, a shallow life becomes profound! 

What do you do when your loved one dies or leaves you? It is totally heart-breaking and rips you apart. Where is your shelter then? It is the mahamantra.

What do you do when you are in your car and suddenly the tyre squeaks and you can see the wall coming towards you? You know there is trouble coming, so where do you go? You go to the mahamantra.

What do you do at the end of your life, when you know and feel that life is slipping away? There is the mahamantra.

So in such ways, the mahamantra is always there for us whenever we call for it, and that is wonderful!

The article " From shallow to profound! " was published on KKSBlog.

Choosing to Fall Down
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Hare KrishnaBy Mahatma Das

The reality is that if we don’t become enthusiastic about improving ourselves, we are going to have trouble moving forward. We can lament and feel remorseful about our fallen condition, yet we can be enthusiastic for bhakti at the same time. We see this mood in many of the prayers of our acaryas. On one hand they are lamenting their fallen nature and on the other hand they are expressing a strong hankering to achieve Krsna’s lotus feet. These "negative emotions" can be the very impetus to move us forward. How? They can make us disgusted with being fallen. Like the saying goes, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” When we become ill we don’t think, “Well, I am sick and weak, so what’s the use of taking care of myself? Rather, we take better care of ourselves. So if we fall down in our spiritual practices doesn’t it make sense to do the same thing - to take more care of our spiritual life? Continue reading "Choosing to Fall Down
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Mohini Madaan’s Eighteenth-birthday Thoughts
Giriraj Swami

On May 12 Mohini Madaan, now Madana-mohana-mohini dasi, who suffers from severe muscular dystrophy and has been told she does not have long to live, shared with me her thoughts on her eighteenth birthday:

My dearest Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva. All glories to your divine lotus feet.

Yesterday was the second birthday of our Deities, Sri Sri Radha-Madana-mohana, and also (as you know) my 18th birthday. I never liked growing old, but time just doesn’t stop!

The last eighteen years have been a wonderful journey. Almost every day was a struggle, but now, looking back, I really grew in my Krishna consciousness. The years now look like a systematic, beautiful pattern embroidered on a cloth, but all I could see was the part underneath, where all the threads were messy. Now I am able to glimpse the real design; Krishna is allowing me to see that. And this vision is helping me accept all that’s coming my way now and all that will come in the future. Before, I would just hear that everything was happening for a reason, but now I am experiencing it, and it’s the best.

The last eighteen years have been like a roller-coaster ride, but with guru and Krishna holding onto me tightly, I have always been safe. Every day is becoming more and more intense; Krishna is testing me more and more. I guess He wants to check how much I love His devotees. I have taken births in so many bodies, and though I don’t remember even one of them, I am getting the feeling that this has been the best life ever. It hasn’t been so nice materially, but spiritually, I couldn’t have asked for better. I could not even imagine how wonderful Krishna consciousness could be. I could not imagine getting this close to Krishna and His dear devotees!

Devotees look up to me as an inspiration for their bhakti. I am far from being what they see me as. I want to become the inspiration they think I am. Otherwise, this is cheating. I want to surrender completely, right at this very moment. But it seems that, unfortunately, my desire is not strong enough. I have so many faults in me. No gratitude, no respect, no devotion, no submissiveness, no selfless love. I don’t want to waste the opportunity I have. I don’t want to take even a single moment in Krishna consciousness for granted. I want to stop being impure. Whatever little time I have, I want it to be filled with pure, selfless love for Madana-mohana (and His devotees)—unmotivated, uninterrupted pure devotional service. I really want to become trnad api sunicena, taror api sahisnuna, amanina manadena, kirtaniyah sada harih. I really, really want to apply aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam, adarsanan marma-hatam karotu va, yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato, mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah. I really want to surrender right now. I really want to please my spiritual masters. I want to taste the bliss that resides in the holy name.

But where will these transcendental emotions come from? You, being an unalloyed devotee of Krishna, have the power to bless me with Krishna prema, which, from this moment, is the only goal of my life, my existence.

According to the Vedic system, on one’s birthday, one should give gifts. So please tell me what you would like me to do for you. I really want to give you something, and I will try my best to gift you that.

Thank you so much for being part of my life. You are one of Krishna’s greatest mercies for me. I look forward to getting your association for eternity.

According to the Western calendar, today is the 78th appearance day of Mother Kirtida. It is also my mother’s birthday. Please bless her, that she may get all the strength required to deal with the events taking place in her life, that she may be successful in all aspects of her Krishna consciousness, and that she may be able to please her spiritual master.

Also, please find attached a picture of our deities from yesterday.

I hope this meets you well!

With lots and lots of love,

Wanting to be yours,
Mohini

Gita 18.20 Seeing commonality alone is not vision in goodness – seeing spirituality as the foundation of commonality is
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UK Disciple Conference via Zoom
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  • Not all curses lead to boons
  • The worst curse is having a material body
  • Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa is the best means to countaract curses
  • The Yādus are either demigids or eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa
  • Sādhana is not a numerical obligation (16 rounds) but is also about quality
  • By regular connection with the Bhāgvatama we will know what we are doing and will value the Holy Name, the Deities, the vaiṣṇavas and will feel inspired
  • Plans for the UK visit
  • Durvāsā Muni’s offence and Indra’s vaiṣṇava-aparādha – offences destroy our spiritual life
  • Why despite of all the suffering do people still want to stay in the material world?

Rationally choosing our life’s purpose and process
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[Renaissance youth session at ISKCON, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, India]

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Bring out the best within, not the beast within – Hindi
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[Youth meeting at ISKCON, Sant Nagar, Delhi, India]

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Analyzing Karna – Going beyond black and white perspectives in understanding scripture + QA
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[Renaissance youth session at ISKCON, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, India]

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Three levels of purification – reaction, action and inclination – Hindi
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[Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, India]

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How to increase our faith – Hindi
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[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Sant Nagar, Delhi, India]

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VIHE Holy Name Retreat- 2018 Meena Chand: On behalf of the…
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VIHE Holy Name Retreat- 2018
Meena Chand: On behalf of the teachers, His Holiness Sacinandana Swami and His Grace Bhurijana Prabhu, we heartily invite you to take part in this wonderful week of hearing and chanting of the Holy Names from Nov 27 to Dec 2. Our residence will be at the foot of Govardhan Hill. From there we may travel short distances for outdoor chanting of japa and kirtans. We will gather to chant 64 rounds at Terkadamba and have inspirational readings. Classes enhancing our understanding of and practice of the chanting of the Holy Names will be held during some of the time. But since the main purpose of the retreat is to work on our chanting, lots of the time will be spent doing japa. We invite all serious practitioners to come and experience chanting in the Holy Dhama in the association of devotees seeking to improve their relationship with the Holy Name. The Retreat includes daily evening kirtans as well as an entire day dedicated to kirtan. The Holy Name Retreat is open to devotees aged 14 and up, as we strive to maintain a serene and meditative atmosphere.
To get further insights of the Holy Name Retreat, please visit the retreat photo/gallery.The recording of previous years’ retreats are available from the VIHE Audio Ministry.
Registrations will open in 5th of August. Please write us on vihe.retreats.registrations@pamho.net

Radha Kunda Seva: June 2018 Photos and Updates (Album of…
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Radha Kunda Seva: June 2018 Photos and Updates (Album of photos)
We spent the month of June organizing and preparing to serve an additional 70 meals per day to the ladies of Radha Kunda bringing the total meals daily served to 150. On July 1st, the new program was launched successfully. A hearty thank you to all of you who contributed to this cause! 68 of the new ladies still need sponsors. Please go to https://radharani.com/widow-help/ to help in this endeavor. For many years, we’ve had to come up with creative solutions in order to accommodate our increasing number of ladies since our rented facility is very small. As many of you know, we were waiting for a very long time for government permission to build a large kitchen and other facilities on land we had purchased near the Parikrama Marg. Now, we are on the lookout for a building for sale within or on the outskirts of Radha Kunda town. Please pray that we are able to find a suitable, affordable place soon. As always the cleaning, gardening, and prasadam distribution are continuing at Radha Kunda and around Govardhan. Please browse our latest photos and join our efforts by visiting www.radharani.com. Your servants, Campakalata Devi dasi, Padma Gopi Devi dasi, Sri Arjuna dasa, Urmila Devi Dasi, and Mayapurcandra dasa.
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Seminar on “Power of Habits”
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Hare KrishnaBy Bhaktin Debasmita

London College of Vedic Studies was very honored to have HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami deliver a powerful and relevant seminar entitled ‘Power of Habits’, on Sunday 8th July 2018. The College serves as the educational wing of ISKCON-London, offering a wide range of educational, spiritual and practical courses, seminars and workshops aimed at nurturing character, personal fulfilment and spiritual progression. Continue reading "Seminar on “Power of Habits”
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Sri Mayapur International School Celebrates the Panihati Chida Dahi Utsava
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“Panihati is the place where Gaura Nitai would assemble for Sankirtana performance and where Raghunath das Goswami supplied a big feast of prasadam for all the devotees.” – Srila Prabhupada, Letter to Balavanta, October 20, 1974, Atlanta The Panihati Chida Dahi Utsava literally translates to the festival of chipped rice and yogurt, and is a festival […]

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