An Unforgettable Experience
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Hare KrishnaBy Radha Dasi

Hare Krishna, dear devotees! My name is Radha, I’m 19 years old and I am a student in my final year at Sri Mayapur International School. I want to share with you my incredible experience of book distribution in London this summer. I hope that it will please the senior devotees and reassure them that book distribution is still alive and well. And I hope it will encourage all the devotees of my age to give it a try. Here is how it started: for a long time I had wanted to feel myself like a real, active preaching brahmacarini from Srila Prabhupada’s time. Continue reading "An Unforgettable Experience
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An Evening with Sivarama Swami (2 min video)
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An Evening with Sivarama Swami (2 min video)
Recently Sivarama Swami spoke to an audience of 120 wonderful people about Compassionate Living, in downtown London. After the engaging talk, Ananda Monet led an unforgettable session of Mantra Meditation which got many people up on there feet, swaying & dancing! The evening finished off with a tasty meal provided by our friends at OmNom! The next London event will be later this year in September & more information will follow soon!

Step inside the Perth gallery dedicated to Indian-inspired art
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Hare KrishnaBy Pallavi Jain

The Sacred India Gallery in Perth displays the artistic works of resident artist Jagattarini. Jagattarini is an Australian artist but lived in India for over a decade. The artwork at the gallery includes traditional Indian carvings, a maze of intricate displays, walk-in installations and Jagattarini's 1/72 scale miniature dioramas based on stories of Lord Krishna from Vrindavan. These displays are an attempt to capture the "sights, sounds, and mystical atmosphere of spiritual India." Continue reading "Step inside the Perth gallery dedicated to Indian-inspired art
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Blessings of the vaishnavas
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 30 December 2017, Gold Coast, Australia, Bhagavad-gita 8.20)

At the end of our lives, there will be a weighing scale to see if we have enough to go back to Godhead. We will first put on the scale all our devotional service that we may have accumulated in our lifetimes, and there may not be much movement in the scale at that point. We will then add Prabhupada’s mercy onto our scale, and it will start to show some real movement then. But the real difference comes in when we place the blessings of all the vaishnavas.

Vaishnavas have the power to bless. So we must acknowledge that all vaishnavas across the world carry blessings with them, and our goal is to get all of those blessings. Not just some mercy, but all the mercy is required to enter Godhead. We must pray that somehow or rather, our actions will improve and that every vaishnava will think favourably of us. This is not so easy, as we have the tendency to step on some toes here and there, even inadvertently. We may make mistakes, but regardless we must still endeavour to attain the mercy of all the vaishnavas. If all the vaishnavas think good about us, then that will put great weight in our scale.

The article " Blessings of the vaishnavas " was published on KKSBlog.

Opposition leader visits Iskcon Victoria, Australia
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Hare KrishnaBy Sukadeva Das

On June 16, 2018, it was our privilege and honour to receive very distinguished guests Hon Matthew Guy, Leader of the Opposition from Victorian State Parliament, Andrew Bond – local candidate from Albert Park and Katie Allan – candidate from Prahran and other prominent members from Indian community at the Melbourne Hare Krishna Temple. They were received by our Temple President HG Aniruddha Prabhu. The guests were briefed on our future building upgrades such as conversion of current theatre into dining hall, upgrading paraphernalia room and converting current dining hall into multipurpose educational/cultural hall. Continue reading "Opposition leader visits Iskcon Victoria, Australia
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We plan to do many services during vacations, but end up in doing nothing – what to do?
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Answer Podcast

The post We plan to do many services during vacations, but end up in doing nothing – what to do? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Gita 17.27 Sat is not just a word for recitation – it is a conviction to cultivated and infused into action
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 17.27 Sat is not just a word for recitation – it is a conviction to cultivated and infused into action appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Bhagavatam study 75 1.15.1-6 When we lose everything, we gain the Lord of everything
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Podcast


 

The post Bhagavatam study 75 1.15.1-6 When we lose everything, we gain the Lord of everything appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Christ and Krishna
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Hare KrishnaBy Parasuram das

We were invited to help at a huge evangelical event at a stadium. We have been cooking for the "Feed the 5,000" events all over Europe for the last decade and now we were going back to the original roots - this event would be Biblical! The organisers visited "Krishna's Castle" saw our operation, loved it, so off we went. I was a little hesitant in the back of my mind, being obviously Hare Krishnas in appearance, people could mistake us as religionists, but as we arrived that morning we were greeted with a loving cheer. Dozens of people came to help unload the van and start chopping veg. Continue reading "Christ and Krishna
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London Mellows’18 (Album of photos) Srila Prabhupada: Those who…
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London Mellows’18 (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Those who simply chant the holy name with the tip of the tongue are glorious. One does not even have to chant the holy name and understand the whole procedure, namely the offensive stage, offenseless stage and pure stage; if the holy name is sounded on the tip of the tongue, that is also sufficient. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.33.7 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/NWVyzL

Bury Place, then and now
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Hare Krishna Srila Prabhupada: We have got very nice temple near British Museum, 7 Bury Place. And all Europeans, they come to see our temple—from Germany, from France. Because we have been advertised in cooperation with the Beatles. The Beatles, Beatles, the George Harrison. You do not know his name? He is very famous man. Yes. So we have produced some records in cooperation with George Harrison's organization. So because the records are produced through George Harrison, we have got a very, very big sale. You see? And that has advertised Radha-Krishna Temple, London.

Don’t open Pandora’s box! Kadamba Kanana Swami:…
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Don’t open Pandora’s box!
Kadamba Kanana Swami: After years of chanting, we may stop and say, “Why am I doing this? I don’t feel like it anymore. I don’t know. I cannot get myself to chant anymore.” What happened? What happened to your knowledge? Is it all gone? Don’t you know that there is no alternative? Don’t you know that the material world is like hell? Don’t you know that you are caught here? Have you forgotten about all this? Don’t you know that this world is all glossed over by the illusory energy with an appealing packing? Nice beautiful packing with ribbons and beautiful colours, but what is inside? It is poison, it is suffering inside. This beautiful gift, packaged with glitter, beautiful ribbon and everything. And you want it but, oh God, it turns out it is Pandora’s Box.
In Greek Mythology, Pandora’s Box was given as a punishment to mankind. I will not get into the whole description of it, but basically, in Pandora’s Box all the suffering of the material world was kept with this beautiful box. Such an amazing box, that it was a gift from Zeus himself, “Whoa, a gift from the Gods! Oh, we are so lucky! Oh, what will be inside? I wonder! Oh, let’s look, open it up!” And then, all the suffering came out.
So this principle of the beautiful packaging of the material energy is there. It looks good and you may want to open it, but we must always remember that there is suffering inside. We must always look for the sign on this Pandora’s box that reads, “Do not open it. Watch out, do not do it!” So when we have knowledge in this way, we will not go for the material temptation as we remember that it is not worth it.

The virtues of demon’ crazy
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Hare KrishnaBy Kesava Krsna dasa

Srila Prabhupada’s keen observation picked out the demon word in pan’demon’ium and demon’strate. He likewise slotted in words befitting his siddhantic stance. Democracy did not escape his scathing, if not light-hearted censure. What could be said about it? Democracy as we know it is a free for all conciliatory tool to suit the wishes of disparate views within the precincts of law and order. To date, no two nations who espouse and have fully-fledged democratic institutions have gone to war with each other. That it enables the most deadly and despicable foes to talk rapprochement and co-operate for the good of peace and stability, seems a tangible way of curbing bloodthirsty enmity. It seeks to channel the murderous tendency via the political route, where weapons be replaced by oral deliberations, and consensus be put into law. Continue reading "The virtues of demon’ crazy
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The Many Faces of Halva
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Hare KrishnaBy Kurma Dasa

Anyone who has ever visited a Hare Krishna Temple feast or a Hare Krishna restaurant will have undoubtedly tasted halva. The memory of its sweet, warm, moist, spiritually-infused 'comfort food-iness' will no doubt have lingered long after all traces of the buttery ecstasy have left the lips. You may not know just how widespread the halva story actually is, and how much world history there is to it. Halva is one of those dishes found from the Balkans to India and claimed as its own by practically every culture and country in between. There are many versions. Basic halva, as it is found throughout the Balkans and Turkey is a simple dessert. The most common version is made by cooking semolina and then shaping it into balls which are then sweetened with either honey or "pekmez" - grape must syrup. Continue reading "The Many Faces of Halva
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FATAL FAT
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Hare KrishnaBy Chaitanya Charan Das

Obesity and all other indulgence-induced problems originate from the presumption that material enjoyment is the only enjoyment available to us - and so we must have it, whatever the cost. But the Vedic scriptures - and indeed all the great spiritual texts – inform us that this presumption is a misconception. We are intrinsically spiritual beings. Our deepest fulfillment comes from having a satisfying relationship with God. The unlimited inner happiness thereof is our birthright, but being spiritually uninformed, we are searching in vain for that infinite happiness in the realm of finite matter. Most people assume that they can't enjoy life because they don't have enough money. But obesity statistics show that, even if they get all the money in the world to eat whatever they like as much as they like, still they will not be able to enjoy unlimitedly because their body limits their capacity to enjoy - inescapably. Continue reading "FATAL FAT
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Illusory beauty
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 March 2015, Stockholm, Sweden, Srimad Bhagavatam 3.1.4)

After years of chanting, we may stop and say, “Why am I doing this? I don’t feel like it anymore. I don’t know. I cannot get myself to chant anymore.” What happened? What happened to your knowledge? Is it all gone? Don’t you know that there is no alternative? Don’t you know that the material world is like hell? Don’t you know that you are caught here? Have you forgotten about all this? Don’t you know that this world is all glossed over by the illusory energy with an appealing packing? Nice beautiful packing with ribbons and beautiful colours, but what is inside? It is poison, it is suffering inside. This beautiful gift, packaged with glitter, beautiful ribbon and everything. And you want it but, oh God, it turns out it is Pandora’s Box.

In Greek Mythology, Pandora’s Box was given as a punishment to mankind. I will not get into the whole description of it, but basically, in Pandora’s Box all the suffering of the material world was kept with this beautiful box. Such an amazing box, that it was a gift from Zeus himself, “Whoa, a gift from the Gods! Oh, we are so lucky! Oh, what will be inside? I wonder! Oh, let’s look, open it up!” And then, all the suffering came out.

So this principle of the beautiful packaging of the material energy is there. It looks good and you may want to open it, but we must always remember that there is suffering inside. We must always look for the sign on this Pandora’s box that reads, “Do not open it. Watch out, do not do it!” So when we have knowledge in this way, we will not go for the material temptation as we remember that it is not worth it.

The article " Illusory beauty " was published on KKSBlog.

If God could have stopped Hitler from killing innocent people, why didn’t he do so?
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Answer Podcast

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Bhagavatam study 74 1.14.34-44 Questions about causes of distress reveal conceptions of distress
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Podcast


 

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Gita 17.26 Any inclination to seek elevation of consciousness is praiseworthy
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 17.26 Any inclination to seek elevation of consciousness is praiseworthy appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Baladeva Vidyabhusana Disappearance
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Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana appeared in the 1600’s near Remuna, Orissa. In his youth, he mastered Sanskrit grammar, poetry, and logic. After carefully studying the commentaries of Sankara and Madhva he took initiation in the Tattva-vadi disciplic succession of Sripad Madhvacarya. Baladeva Vidyabhusana became a dig vijaya pandit and began visiting the holy places. Wherever he went he defeated the local sages, scholars, and sannyasis.

In Jagannatha Puri, he learned the super-excellent philosophy of Sri Krishna Chaitanya from Sri Radha-Damodara Goswami and took initiation after converting to Gaudiya Vaishnavism. In Vrndavan, he studied Srimad Bhagavatam under Srila Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and worshiped Radha-Syamasundara.

In 1706 A.D. Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura sent him to Gulta (near Jaipur, Rajasthan) to uphold the credibility of Mahaprabhu’s movement. The local Ramanandis (a branch of Sri Vaishnavas) were claiming that the Bengali Vaishnavas had no right to worship Govinda because they had no commentary on the Vedanta-sutra.

Lord Govinda Himself directly revealed the Govinda-bhasya (a Vaishnava commentary on Vedanta) to Baladeva Vidyabhusana. Using it, Baladeva solidly established Gaudiya Vaishnavism as an independent philosophy. He also reinstated the Bengali Vaishnavas in Govinda’s service in Jaipura. Govinda-bhasya is the only bhakti commentary on Vedanta-sutra.

Sri Baladeva Vidyabhusana was a niskincana-parama bhagavata, fully-renounced topmost Devotee of Lord Krishna. According to Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura in Navadvipa-dhama mahatyam, in Chaitanya lila Baladeva Vidyabhusana is Sri Gopinatha Acarya, the brother-in-law of Sri Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya. In Vraja he serves as Sri Radha’s eternal maidservant Ratnavali Devi.

Disaster Averted!! Iskcon devotees stop the change of road’s name ‘Bhaktivedanta Swami Marg’ in Vrindavan!
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Hare Krishna I had informed the highest leadership of BJP and they were also shocked and agreed with us that the UP government should not have done this. On 13th June I went to Delhi and met with the high command of the BJP and informed them that if this happens it would be a great injustice and millions of ISKCON devotees will hit the street.

“Accept the Mercy”
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“Accept the Mercy” by HG Mahatma Prabhu - June 17, 2018 (4 min video)
Suppose a man is fallen in the pit and he’s trying to come out, and another man drops a rope, “Please catch it. I shall take you out of the pit.” He does not catch it. Then how he can be taken out? So sadhu and sastra, they’re always ready to give you mercy, but you have to take it. If you don’t accept it, then how you can recover, recover?

Did Indra help the construction of New Vrindavana’ s Govindaji Mandir?
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Hare KrishnaBy Varsana Swami

A few days later, after the water had drained out of the footer, Bob and I went back up to Govindaji Hill and continued the footer exaction. To our surprise and delight, the rock broke out easily this time. I cannot say definitely that it was because of the lightning because standing water will also loosen layered rock. The excavation for the footer of Govindaji Mandir was completed in time so that the community was able to conduct two simultaneous installation ceremonies. There was a grand installation ceremony in Bahulaban for the cornerstone of Govindaji Mandir, the first of the seven temples that Srila Prabhupada had envisioned in New Vrindaban. There was another cornerstone ceremony for Srila Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold. Continue reading "Did Indra help the construction of New Vrindavana’ s Govindaji Mandir?
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Anil Agarwal (Anirudha Das) an old acquaintance of Sagara…
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Anil Agarwal (Anirudha Das) an old acquaintance of Sagara Maharaja is a multi-Billionaire. He’s one of the most powerful businessmen in the world.
But I was personally struck by the spiritual component of his nature. While maintaining his high position in society, he is an incredibly humble and deeply devoted to Lord Krishna. When he talks, you seem to be listening to a saint or a sannyasi guru with the deepest transcendental implementations. Anirudha Das is constantly absorbed in the contemplation and hearing of Krishna’s pastimes.
The story of his life could well be the plot of pre blockbuster. Starting his business in 1982 he had nothing. But in less than 20 years, he has become one of the richest people in the planet. His growth in business has been directly attributed to his relation to Lord Krishna. He was happy to share wonderful stories about how Krishna “played” with him, giving rise to his capital, or lowering their level, depending on his relationship to money and Krishna.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/fcqhxX