Spiritual wealth
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, October 2011, Sydney, Australia, Lecture)

If you come to the temple once a week, that is spiritually poor! It’s a poor lifestyle. You don’t get much spiritual wealth. We must seek out devotees all the time. We must be eager to be with devotees. Even if it is at a distance, somehow or other, we must be there all the time as much as possible. That is eagerness.

The article " Spiritual wealth " was published on KKSBlog.

42GB of a complete library of kirtans ready for free downloading
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42GB of a complete library of kirtans ready for free downloading.
Nimai Sundar: I am finally able to share all my recordings of Aindra Prabhu’s Live Kirtans. They are mostly arranged by YYYY.MM.DD, have Album Artwork and metadata that matches.
I have been collecting Aindra’s Kirtans for many years now and it’s been a pain having duplicates, different naming formats and different album names.
So I downloaded all the recordings from 24hourkirtan.com, VIHE.org and Gauravani.com. Then added them to the recordings sourced from Aindra Himself. I then sorted them according to the year as much as possible.

Our Progress in Life is Gauged by Our Chanting
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Hare KrishnaBy Niranjana Swami

As we all know from various understandings of Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy, our life is going to move just like this also. Sometimes when we realize how quickly our life is passing by, we begin to analyze: “Where am I going?” These are good thoughts, “Where am I going? What direction am I moving towards?”, because as we know, everybody by nature has to have some goal, some aspiration in life. Sometimes we get caught up in immediate goals, and sometimes even we hear an expression: “I am just taking it from day to day.” It is very common in America. I know that people often times will say like that when you ask them how they are doing. “Well, I am just taking it day by day.” Their goal is simply to make it to the next day. And usually ‘just to make it to the next day’ means ‘just so I can survive’. If I’ve survived to the next day, at least the next day I can have my goal for the following day. Continue reading "Our Progress in Life is Gauged by Our Chanting
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Coordinated, Connected and Committed- Retreat to Re- treat
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Hare KrishnaBy Radhapadma Devi Dasi

It was truly a re- treat from the busy schedule of hustle bustle, traffic and time constraints to fresh air, dense forest, tall green mountains and vast expanse of water around, so much to experience it in essence. The valuable subject matter of our life is the true connection with the Absolute Truth. As Srila Prabhupada quotes, "Because human life is a combination of matter and spirit soul, the whole process of Vedic knowledge is directed at liberating the spirit soul from the contamination of matter.” Continue reading "Coordinated, Connected and Committed- Retreat to Re- treat
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Jayapataka Swami – 50 years of service in ISKCON
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Hare KrishnaBy Satya Medha Gauranga dasa

In 2008, he suffered a serious stroke. Doctors said that he had only 1% chance of survival. It did not stop him to continue his mission. Between 2008 and 2017, being in a wheelchair he traveled 782,906 km on flight journeys using 325 flights, attended 1,427 meetings, traveled 25,942 km on road journeys, 1,629 km on train journeys and gave 1,411 lectures. To summarise the life of someone who has done so much and had so much positive influence on the world is not an easy task. Continue reading "Jayapataka Swami – 50 years of service in ISKCON
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Bhagavatam study 88 1.16.31-36 The earth and dharma’s devotion for Krishna
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Daksha – Shiva conflict 2 – The proud consider others proud
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[Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Belgaum, India]

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Parikshit M – Dharma discussion – Don’t blame 3 – How to deal with troubling people – Hindi
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[Sunday feast Class at ISKCON, Belgaum, India]

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Parikshit M – Dharma discussion – Don’t blame 2 – If why has no answer focus on how – Hindi
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[Class at ISKCON, Belgaum, India]

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Parikshit M – Dharma discussion – Don’t blame 1 – See beyond the immediate cause – Hindi
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[Class at ISKCON, Belgaum, India]

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Role of determination and association in devotion – Hindi
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[Brahmachari class at Belgaum, India]

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Diksha, Shiksha or both? A Simple Thought I’m ponderging
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Sometimes you get an interesting question that means rather than giving a simple answer it makes you pause and ponder, explore and indeed ask yourself a number of questions before putting down an answer. I like these sort of questions as being challenged always encourages and inspires.

it was a basic question on the guru disciple relationship and how if this is the most important relationship why does it appear to be less intimate than all other relationships?

We do emphasise the guru disciple relationship to the point that in many ways we miss the more subtle shiksha guru emphasising the importance of Diksha guru so that one becomes almost obsessed with the pursuit of one’s own initiating guru.

It made me think about one’s own experience of diksha guru and indeed that of many of those I know, few get to directly serve their own guru maharaja indeed even when we look at Srila Prabhupada he didn’t spend much time with his guru maharaja. It is actually the instruction of the initiating spiritual master that makes the difference. If we want to make great advancement taking the guru’s instruction seriously means that we will make it home back to Godhead this lifetime. Again Srila Prabhupada was the greatest example of this as he kept always focused on his Guru Maharaja’s instructions, indeed the instruction and more to the point our sincerity in following the instruction makes it the most important relationship.

However for many this is not always the most important understanding of relationship and require a more intimate personal time to which they feel loved and can speak to regularly; which is more rare than normal within the vaishnava movement .

If we analyse and ponder the greatest and more intimate relationship, the one that we will benefit from each and every day is that of the shiksha guru. Our friends and association who will be there during our high’s and low’s in our krishna consciousness life. They are the persons who we will have the greatest association with, will be at the end of a phone, who we will serve alongside with.

For those who have been successful in krishna consciousness have several things in common:
they have taken the instruction of there guru maharaja seriously
they have surrounded themselves with friends and individuals who are also serious in there krishna consciousness
They have the ability to inspire others to take Krishna Consciousness seriously.

My conclusion thought was that Shiksha Guru is in many ways more important than Diksha Guru as these great saintly people those I have intimate personal relationships with are the ones who daily inspire and encourage me in continuing in devotional life; this despite my own battle with my mind.

So if you find yourself struggling in Krishna Consciousness there will be two things missing
taking the instruction of the Diksha Guru seriously
taking the association of our Siksha Guru seriously
In both if we are serious then success will always be there.

Saturday, June 30, 2018
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Russell, Ontario

Genuine Vegan

Krisnadas and I took to a trail next to the road called Longfields.  

“The fields aren’t long anymore,” indicated Krisnadas, who moved to the Ottawa area in the ’70s.  The place was all rural, and now it is so-called developed.  There are some rustic/rural patches remaining. Both of us noted that the ‘green’ on both sides of the trail consists of a diversity of plants, shrubs and trees. And animals.

You know, every day of my life, I hanker to see wildlife of any sort and kind.  Domestic creatures, pets and so on, are plentiful wherever you go.  But I have to have my quota of rawness fulfilled.

Lo and behold, K.D. and I saw a bunny, not shy, but quite open to some human interaction.  He let us get close, this genuine vegan, who had plenty of greens and fruits to munch on: no karela (bitter melon), spirulina, kale, goji berries, or pomegranates, which are great detoxifiers, but dandelions, grasses, and a whole growing array of greens.  He looked content, and he fulfilled my need, my quota.  

K.D., Paurnamasi and I shuffled off to Russell where judo and jujitsu are taught in a venue with nice AC. (It’s very hot and humid here.) There, along with Guru Prasad, we told an audience of bhakti yogiswhat it was like in the ’70s, in the context of the early days of the Hare Krishnas in Canada.  “‘How’ and ‘why’ did you know?” Was the main theme.  Those were the times of a lesser population and fewer buildings—more rawness. 

May the Source be with you!
4 km

Friday, June 29, 2018
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Ottawa, Ontario

Analyzing Road Disappointment

When you live in Canada, you can spend hours in a vehicle because, the reality is, to get from one place to another can be quite a distance.  I’m not exempt from the system.  To get to Ottawa, five hours from Toronto, is achievable on foot in weeks.  I had to get there today.

Dennis drove me to Newcastle to a carpool situation, there to be picked up for the remainder of the drive.  On Highway 2, we passed by one of those Volkswagen vans. “Have you ever driven in one of those?” 

“A hippy van?”

“Yes.”

“Not that I can remember.”

And then Dennis offered his opinion on the conveyance.  Giving one’s opinion is something most people can’t resist doing.  It must mean our brains are functioning.  It’s a symptom of being alive.

Krishnadas then came and picked me up, and then we proceeded east on the 401 highway.  We noticed a huge digital sign.  “401 Closed Ahead.”  Really? And then I offered my opinion upon reflecting on having seen this kind of thing before.  When the busiest highway in the country stops moving as frequently as it does, you have to wonder and question the whole system of moving operations.

We shifted to a northern route, Highway 7, which also eventually came to a standstill a one point.  This rarely happens to pedestrians.  Our bodies are more agile.  We can swerve around an object of mass if it is standing in the way. It is so much easier to think about walking as a choice.  I really have to put patience into full gear when in a vehicle.

May the Source be with you!
0 km




Thursday, June 28, 2018
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Toronto, Ontario

Had Planned

We had planned, for a few days now, to take a breather; to take a meaningful walk along a trail.  The only thing is, we could only complete one-third of it.

Billy, Amala and Isvari joined me on the trek when I did my training, and where I made the decision in ’95 to do my first marathon walk across Canada.  Somewhere between the Brickworks and Mount Pleasant Cemetery, I said one evening on a stroll, “Yes, I’ll do it!”

At the Brickworks, we made our first major stop at the pond.  An old, wise-looking snapping turtle surfaced when he saw us.  Oh, he had been gawking at us from beneath the surface of the water, and then he came up.  No doubt it was food he was after.  We couldn’t satisfy his needs other than to admire him like anything.  We plucked a waterlily from his domain.  

We enjoyed kambucha at the eatery nearby, but without Mr. Kurma, our turtle friend.

It was a steamy day, but the thick, dark and full trees gave relief.  I pointed out to our walking crew what was chicory, birch, maple, oak, Saskatoon berries, salmon berries, cattails, burdock, mulberry, and more all along our trial.  Every plant has purpose.

Billy is really the ‘belle of the ball’, the life of the party.  He really knows how to keep up the thrills on the spur of the moment.  I was dull.  What to do? I didn’t sleep for a moment last night. What the dickens?  And by the way, Charles ‘Dickens’ was an insomniac.

May the Source be with you!
12 km


Wednesday, June 27th, 2018
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Toronto, Ontario

Kamil, the Rain, the Song

Kamil came to join us on the mat which was spread over fresh grass in Ramsden Park.  There had been a recent rainfall.  All was lush and in tones of green and blue.  It was his second time out with us in out-of-doors kirtan.  His first was December 31st, and spilled over into and after the countdown for the new calendar of 2018.

Kamil followed us back to the ashramfor hot herbal tea, as it was an extremely cold New Year’s eve. He liked chanting then and he likes it now.

I admired his walking stick.  I asked him to pose while he didn’t have his farmer’s coveralls on. Yes, indeed, he works with the plants, growing and nurturing them somewhere in Oshawa.

So I was not in a condition to walk much.  A stiff left leg made it difficult.  I’m going to tackle a three hour trek tomorrow along some ravines. I’ll be with others.  We will bond.

Anyway, Kamil leant me his walking stick on the way back to the ashram,after an hour or so of sarod, spoons, mrdanga, kartals and most importantly—voices.

We stuck to one song—Hare Krishna, which was good enough. The climate was perfect.  Rain drops started to hit our faces.  It was time to go.  The rain is particularly not good for the sarod.  It’s fragile and precious and so conducive for chanting.

That’s what we did this morning—had a chanting session about Narada Muni, the sage who plays the vina, a similar stringed instrument.

May the Source be with you!
0 km


Tuesday, June 26th, 2018
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Madrid / Toronto

The Form of Service

The ground was under my feet, from about 11,000 metres up in the air.  It was farewell to Spain for now, after a week of classes, meetings, walking, and fun. I want to thank all those good souls who looked after me while I was at Vraja Mandala, the farm community outside Madrid, and the group who manage Hare Krishna Centro in the downtown district.

I claim no physical kilometres today, only those in the dream state in planning a 15 km trek through some ravines, along an actual loop which begins from our ISKCON Centre on Avenue Road.  It will be a good bonding experience and, who knows, it is great exposure for those of us whom we meet on the trails.  The walking and the chanting does tremendous good.  It is a form of service.

While waiting for Flight 837—Air Canada’s aircraft—to arrive, I read from the Gitaa special segment from purport 10.11: 

“Due to the contamination of material association, through many, many millions of births, one’s heart is always covered with the dust of materialism, but when one engages in devotional service and constantly chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, the dust quickly clears, and one is elevated to the platform of pure knowledge. The ultimate goal, Viṣṇu, can be attained only by this chant and by devotional service, and not by mental speculation or argument.”

The above verse, the two prior, and the one following 10.11, are four key verses, and their purports are major information capsules for material relief.

May the Source be with you!
0 km

Monday, June 25th, 201
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Tres Cantos, Spain

On a Camino Branch

Janardan, president of the Krishna Centre in Madrid, led our party of three (including Narottam) through the dark, dry trail from Fuencarral, on the very outskirts of Madrid.  This is more like what I envisioned The Camino to be—countryside, bushes, farms, dogs barking, remoteness, and maybe other pilgrims. But NO, we were up early, at 4:30 a.m. to take the first steps of a short distance—12 kilometres.

How powerful it was!  Janardan’s cell phone was our map and flashlight at the same time.  Every time we spotted the golden arrow, it gave assurance we were on the right track.

Perhaps the most noticeable feature was the constant thrust of wild flower perfume into the air.  It was such a perfect trail that I would do it again.  Most likely I will tackle Tenerife, the island.  It looks like I have some troopers all set to go for a four-day stretch somewhere in the future.  I’m usually asked, “What’s your next destination?”

There it is, Tenerife, at least, sometime in the future.

Additionally Mantri, the main deity priest at the Madrid centre, took me for some more kilometres during the evening.  We were all comfortably locked inside the building for most of the day. Who wants to brave the 40° C conditions? By 8:30 p.m., we were poised to trek to the rio (river) and back.  This is when everyone comes out of the woodwork.  It was humid.  Overnight my kurta(top) dried to a crusty salt from the sweat.

It was splendid being back in AC land—the centre.

May the Source be with you!
16 km

Sunday Love Feast & Panihatti Cidadahi Festival on 01/07/18…
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Sunday Love Feast & Panihatti Cidadahi Festival on 01/07/18 at Sri Jagannatha Mandir, ISKCON Malaysia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: In this age, no one is expected to be highly educated in the Vedic ways of understanding because people are very slow, lazy and unfortunate. Therefore Lord Caitanya has recommended the sound vibration Hare Krishna. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.4.6 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/xb8u1g

Miracles of Nimai
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Miracles of Nimai.
Kadamba Kanana Swami: From the very beginning, Nimai showed transcendental features as a child. For instance, he was showing the footprints of Vishnu on the bottom of his feet. There were also some amazing things that were happening in their family house. When Nimai was just a baby, his parents used to hear the footsteps of a child running around their house, yet Nimai was not even walking yet. So his father, Jagannatha-Mishra thought that it was the Saligram Sila that was running around the house.

The Accepted Member of the Family
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The Accepted Member of the Family.
A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In… my young mind, he had a special niche.


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Materialism reduces human life to an inhuman race from nowhere to nowhere
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Materialism reduces human life to an inhuman race from nowhere to nowhere (Based on Gita 16.09)
Chaitanya Charan Das: Many people adopt a materialistic lifestyle without thinking about its implications. A materialistic worldview implies that we have come from nowhere because we didn’t exist before birth; we will go nowhere because we won’t exist after death; and while we live, we are successful if we get more things than others. And even if we do succeed, still, life ultimately ends in failure because we lose everything at death.


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How to attract more Westerners to the Krishna consciousness movement
→ Successful Vaisnavas – Personal Development for Hare Krishnas

The problem Today many devotees are lamenting that not many local people are becoming devotees in Western countries such as England and America. While the movement has continued to grow in India and though expanding Indian congregations in the west, Srila Prabhupada primary mission of giving Krishna consciousness to the people of the Western countries […]

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How to attract more Westerners to the Krishna consciousness movement
→ Successful Vaisnavas – Personal Development for Hare Krishnas

The problem Today many devotees are lamenting that not many local people are becoming devotees in Western countries such as England and America. While the movement has continued to grow in India and though expanding Indian congregations in the west, Srila Prabhupada primary mission of giving Krishna consciousness to the people of the Western countries […]

The post How to attract more Westerners to the Krishna consciousness movement appeared first on Successful Vaisnavas - Personal Development for Hare Krishnas.

Bhagavatam study 87 1.16.25-30 Krishna is the shelter of dharma and dharmic qualities
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Gita 18.11 To pursue liberation, give up the idea of giving up action
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

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