Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Japa Retreat in Siberia (Album with photos)
Bhakti Chaitanya Swami: I just returned from a japa retreat near Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia. The weather was cold, but the devotees’ hearts were warm, and we had a wonderful time.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/db2BuL
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 April 2018, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.16.26 – 30)
We really have to take responsibility for our own Krsna consciousness; to make arrangements for it. If we say, “Oh, I find it very difficult to be a devotee. I find it difficult to avoid the influence of maya.” In such an instance where it is difficult to resist maya, we must be careful and consciously keep a safe distance from such maya.
Sometimes, we have devotees who are also professionals. They have their jobs which require them to perform all kinds of activities, but then they are also devotees. If one can manage that successfully, that is good! However, if one cannot do that, there is still no need to be ashamed. There are many people who cannot do that. It is very difficult to wear a tie at work and then take that thing off when you come home. If you are struggling to do this, then it is best to surround yourself with devotees. So in this way we are taking responsibility, by taking into consideration who we are and protecting our own Krsna consciousness. We have to watch out for maya as she is very strong! Maya does not always come with a boxing glove. No, sometimes maya comes very subtly, little by little. So we must be very careful to cut all the material connections to which we have attachments. We have to trim it back!
So this is what responsibility means; by taking responsibility for our own Krsna consciousness, protecting it and making the necessary arrangements for it. If one takes a job in a city where there is no temple and there are only two families of devotees living there, then it is going to be tough, as it is going to be them and their mind. And we all know how hard it is to live with our mind. So therefore, knowing that our mind is strong and that we are weak, we must make arrangements to protect ourselves. That is called being responsible. Such responsibility means that we have to be a bit realistic and honest about ourselves and our limitations, and accordingly deal with our Krsna consciousness.
The article " Protecting ourselves " was published on KKSBlog.
Everybody needs somebody they can trust! (1 min video)
Love and Trust.
Srila Prabhupada put a lot of emphasis Love and Trust.
We heard He said our movement will be built on Love and Trust.
Love: that’s for Lord Krishna and “Prabhupada”.
Trust: that’s between us, the conditioned souls.
Recently found archival photo. Krishna children in Australia met Princess Diana in 1983.
Gauragopala Dasa: Princess Diana is given Radharani’s flower garland by 9 year old Sri Prahlada dasa and Jai dasa.
Back In The USSR - Moscow (9 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Our visit to Moscow was the last stop on our preaching tour of Russia. There we discovered literally thousands of devotees, the fruit of Srila Prabhupada’s visit to the capitol in 1971. We arrived on Victory Day, a celebration by the Russian people of their victory over the Nazis in World War II. Red Square was alive with a show of military might. As we stood there we pondered that Srila Prabhupada also came to the same square during his visit to Moscow. In our heart’s we quietly celebrated his victory in bravely and boldly establishing Krsna consciousness in the country many years ago.
Pankajanghri Prabhu Lecture on Glories of Purshottam Month at ISKCON Chowpatty on 13th May 2018 (video)
D.M. (Mathura) - Shri S.R.Mishra and M.P. (Mathura) - Srimati Hema Malini visited ISKCON Vrindavan (Album of photos)
Find the...
By ISKCON Leicester Devotees speaking on the 35th anniversary of the installation of Sri Sri Radha Madhava in ISKCON Leicester. With HH Jayadvaita Swami, Praghosa Prabhu, Shaunaka Rishi Prabhu and many others. So many sweet memories of Radha Madhava’s installation 35 years ago! Continue reading "Sri Sri Radha Madhava’s 35th anniversary, ISKCON Leicester
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[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Connecticut, USA]
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The post Mother’s day Meditation – Conception, Commercialization, Spiritualization appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
[Science and spirituality seminar, part 2, at ISKCON, Connecticut, USA]
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The post What is spirituality and why we need it appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
[Science and spirituality seminar, part 1, at ISKCON, Connecticut, USA]
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The post What science can provide – and what it can’t appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
The post Bhagavad-gita and Modern Psychology (3) appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
[Seminar at ISKCON, Towaco, USA]
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Podcast Summary
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The post Bhagavad-gita and Modern Psychology 3 – Changing our mind by changing our relationship with the mind appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
By Acarya Dasa Anjeyanadri Hill is surrounded by lovely plantain and paddy fields. The hill has 572 steps to reach the top and offers a lovely view of the valley and of the Tungabhadra River. The Hanuman Temple at the summit is one of the attractions of the Anjeyanadri Hill, a sacred pilgrimage center for Hindus. The temple is a white-washed structure with a pyramidal roof and a mall red dome at the top. A red flag flutters in the air and is easily visible from a far-off distance. This simple temple has an image of Hanuman carved from a rock. There is a small shrine for Lord Rama and His wife Sita inside the temple. Continue reading "All India Padayatra Visits Hampi, The Birthplace Of Hanuman In Karnataka
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By Abhay Charan Nimai Dasa One day I met Akhila Dhara Prabhu, a senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada, who told me boldly, “If you want to experience the real nectar, then go on Padayatra”. So I decided to go, thinking, “If I am not going for ever, then at least I should go for a week.” So, on March 13th I joined the Padayatra India party, then in Bangalore, Karnataka. First I saw the magnificent oxen of the Kankrej breed, and I immediately paid my obeisances to them. They are huge and have well shaped body and horns. The two devotees taking care of them, Damodar Lila and Janardan Prabhus, allowed me to help feed and give water to the five oxen. I was told their names were Krishna, Nandulal, Kaliya, Jaya and Narasimha. Having walked 10 years with the padayatra, Narasimha is the senior. Continue reading "My First Experience Of Padayatra In India
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Answer Podcast
Transcription :
Transcribed by: Dr Suresh Gupta
Edited by: Raji Nachiappan
Question: To protect ourselves, we sometimes become insensitive to others – how to avoid?
Answer: Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura says that aggressive intellectualism is coward atheism. When we are very aggressive that we are right and they are wrong, that is actually because we are ourselves insecure about whether we are right. If we can prove that we are right to someone or if we can convert a person to our path, then we feel vindicated. If someone is doing something different, then that is perceived as a threat to one’s faith. To the extent our faith is insecure, to that extent we will be aggressive in our inter-personal dealings with people of other faiths. This is just a coward way to seek security. However, we need to understand that in actuality, there are different people at different levels in their spiritual evolution and what is right for us now, may not be right for someone else at their level of spiritual maturity.
Krishna says in the Vedic scriptures, that there are many different ways people can grow spiritually. He also says not to disturb the minds of those who are attached.
na buddhi-bhedaṁ janayed
ajñānāṁ karma-saṅginām
joṣayet sarva-karmāṇi
vidvān yuktaḥ samācaran (Gita 3.26) –Do not disturb the minds of those who are attached, even if they are wrong and we are right. Encourage them to engage themselves in a spiritual direction wherever they are. Krishna acknowledges that there are different people at different levels and not everybody will be taking significant leaps forward in their spiritual life. If they cannot take a leap, we do not have to kick them down. We need to encourage them to take baby steps and that will also help them move forward.
Therefore, if we become more secure in our own faith, then we do not have that insecurity within us pushing us to prove to the other person that we are right and they are wrong. Secure faith will come by our own serious practice, systematic scriptural study, and our own strong devotional connections. Once we have this secure faith, we can understand that Krishna has different plans for different people and ultimately Krishna has plan for everyone. Hence, if we are a part of Krishna’s plan for another person taking up spirituality, then Krishna will use and give us the right words and he will also give the person the right receptivity by which our words will be received. However, if Krishna has a plan to uplift someone spiritually, which is not through us but through somebody else, then that is also fine.
There is a beautiful prayer of Bhaktivinoda Thakura in the Chaitanya Sikshamrita where he describes his mood if he goes to a place where they are worship God in a way different from what he knows. He says that we should be there in a mood of reverence and appreciating the mercy of God for manifesting there in a form that is different. Therefore, although we cannot appreciate whatever they are doing and what the exact manifestation and practices are, still we can appreciate the compassion of the Lord for the fact that he has reached out to the people in this manifestation. Therefore, our devotion to the Lord in the manifestation that we know increases, knowing how compassionate the Lord is. This way, if we can become secure in our own faith and understand that different people may be going in different directions at different times, then we do not have to become aggressive and insensitive to them.
Education initially is given in terms of black and white, where there are clear distinctions between right and wrong. Therefore, moral categories are drawn very clearly in the initial stages. However, as we grow when we see morality intercepting reality, then we understand that moral categories are not so rigid. For example, generally lying is considered wrong. However, if someone is in a situation where they will be killed if they do not lie or if we do not speak a lie then that can lead to somebody else being killed, then we do speak a lie at that time. The point is that initially education is given in black and white but then we learn to see the shades of grey. In the beginning, students are told three minus five is not possible but then, later they are taught how three minus five is possible. In the same way, initially when we get our spiritual education, the moral boundaries are drawn very rigidly. This may work for our protection initially, but this does have a tendency to make us very judgemental and insensitive. At present, we live in an age where any kind of judgemental attitude is very much frowned at. Hence, we have to recognise that there are many shades of grey in between and as a result we do not have to become judgemental about others.
Therefore, by both recognising that Krishna has many different ways of getting people to him and that between black and white there are many shades of grey, we can do what is best for others, without necessarily judging them based on what we are doing or not doing.
End of transcription.
The post To protect ourselves, we sometimes become insensitive to others – how to avoid? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
The post Does living near the temple help in developing Krishna consciousness? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
“Krishna’s methods of training”
BB Govinda Swami: One should feel oneself meek and humble and also has to tolerate. Tolerance without any limits. Krishna will do this to us because that’s the standard. He’ll do it to us. It’s not that He dislikes us for a moment. But He will test our tolerance until the end of our ability to tolerate anything. We think: “After this point I’m gonna go crazy”. And Krishna says “Ok” and will push us a few kilometres beyond that point, to make us see that we have to tolerate everything without limit.
“Compassion” by HG Mahatma Prabhu - May 8, 2018 (5 min video)
Compassion means showing people more kindness, tolerance and affection than they may deserve.
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by H.H. Gopal Krishna Goswami at Iskcon Vrindavan, 12.05.2018 (video)
Amara Conference 2018 (Album with photos)
Super success of Amara service launched yesterday, 12th May 2018 at Amara Conference at ISKCON Leicester.
Nurses and doctors from many NHS hospitals attended the Amara conference.
There was also Kripamoya Prabhu’s book launch - “What to do when someone dies”
Bereavement Support for ISKCON devotees Leaflet.
Memory box now available.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/cnCGtZ
In August 2018 we will have our first ever Transcendental Art Seminar in New Mayapur France. This seminar will be given by Dhriti dasi and Ram Das Abhiram Das, senior disciples of Srila Prabhupada who were personally guided by Srila Prabhupada to create windows to the spiritual world with their exquisite artwork!! 
“There are very exalted spiritual understandings in Krishna consciousness. They are not fictional, imaginary, or concocted. They are facts, and every devotee can have the privilege to understand and indeed take part in Krishna’s pastimes if he is actually advanced. We should not think that the privilege given to Mother Yasoda is not available to us. Everyone can have a similar privilege. If one loves Krishna as one’s child, then one will have such a privilege, because the mother has the most love for the child. Even in this material world, there is no comparison to a mother’s love, for a mother loves her child without any expectation of return. Of course, although that is generally true, this material world is so polluted that a mother sometimes thinks, ‘My child will grow up and become a man, and when he earns money, I shall get it.’ Thus there may still be some desire to get something in exchange. But while loving Krishna there are no selfish feelings, for that love is unalloyed, free from all desires for material gain.
“You should not expect anything in return. That is real love. Just like a mother is loving her child, not expecting any return. But she still she gives service. So, that is as a little sample of pure love.”
—Srila Prabhupada, talk on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.31, April 23, 1973, Los Angeles, and room conversation, July 13, 1976, New York
VedaBase 2018 Update & 1967 Original Audio.
The Bhaktivedanta Archives is pleased to offer two new releases:
1. The 2018 VedaBase™ with 1967 transcription updates.
2. Original unedited audio for the year 1967.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/Ag3yWf
By Chandan Yatra Das The beautiful state of Manipur is in North-East India. Manipur has a unique culture and is also known as 'Land of Gandharvas' and 'Switzerland of East'. Manipur is a Vaishnava state with Krishna Consciousness been practiced widely amongst the common masses. “Royal families at Manipur and Tripura are descendants of Arjuna's son Babhruvahana”, as stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 1 chapter 12 verse 21 purport by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-acarya of ISKCON. Arjuna begot a son named Babhruvahana by the womb of Citrangada, the princess of Manipur. Continue reading "Manipur Yatra ~ North-East India
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By Hari Narayana Das Sunday night, Cilegon was hot. The moon is not round yet, dimly lighted lights on both sides of the road stretching approximately 250 meters full of people on both sides. Young-old, male-female. All liked getting out of the corners of the City. At 07.00 PM the music thrashed. All participants gathered behind the stage except the Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva, and Subadra Devi sat on the chariot beside the honored guest stage. Continue reading "Jagannath Ratha yatra at Cilegon Ethnic Carnival, Cilegon Banten
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 18 March 2018, Durban, South Africa, Sunday Feast Lecture)
Comment:
The process of surrender is meant to be dynamic and continuous. To accept favourable things and reject the unfavourable things, however is not an easy process. Even if we know that ultimately Krsna protects us, it is still not easy to surrender in the moment.
Kadamba Kanana Swami:
Let me read that again and start commenting; “The process of surrender is meant to be dynamic and continuous.”
Well, sometimes it appears that the process of surrender is not so dynamic. Sometimes it seems that it is just not moving at all. What to do we do at times like that when spiritual life seems to be a little dry and stale? Well, during such times, the process of surrender means to be faithful. It is not always that the process of surrender is exciting. Sometimes, the process of surrender is just to be dutiful. Sometimes, the process of surrender is to carry on even when we are weak, to never give up; if we ever slip, which we will, we are to start again!
The process of surrender is not always a glamourous story where in shining lights it reads, “Surrender to Krsna!” Not quite. Sometimes the process of surrender appears to be impossible. Sometimes it looks far. However, if it is far, turn around and get close again. Pick up if you fall. Srila Prabhupada would say, “Failure is the pillar of success.” When there is failure, we must stand up. So surrendering means to never stop. Whatever we do, we must not stop! We must carry on, regardless of what is happening is good or bad, glorious or infamous. Whatever we do, we must never give up the association of devotees – never! We must never give up on Srila Prabhupada, never give up devotional service, never stop chanting! When the principles start slipping, we must return to them and start practising again.
Let these be our default settings: Chanting sixteen rounds and following the four regulative principles. Default settings means that no matter what, we always return to those settings. So surrender may come in many forms. It may come in something dynamic and glorious or it may come in something where we drag our feet. But regardless, we must stick to it. Such a commitment has to be made!
The article " Succeeding in surrender " was published on KKSBlog.
Answer Podcast
The post Can karmic reactions come at the mental level? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
Transcription :
Transcribed by: Suresh Gupta
Edited by: Raji Nachiappan
Question: How can we help a non-Krishna conscious person to overcome depression?
Answer: Ideally speaking, the physical reality outside should be replicated on the inner screen, which is our mind. The screen, or the mind, is meant to act like a window which shows us what is outside. However, at times the inner screen starts acting like a TV and takes us on a journey to the past or future or sometimes all over the world. That is when we get absent minded, which means we are physically somewhere but the mind is elsewhere. When this screen starts going to the past and shows us all the bad things happened to us, that is when we get depression.
Basically, there are two major mental disorders, one is depression and the other is anxiety. In depression, the mind goes off the path and depicts how multiple things have gone wrong in the past, and therefore how the future is also going to go wrong. In anxiety, the mind or the inner screen goes into the future, and is constantly wondering about what if things go wrong. This causes fear, worry and can lead to panic attacks.
Firstly, we need to understand that bad things happen to all of us. For some of us, more bad things may have happened. However, we also need to understand that good things have also happened to us without which we will not be where we are right now. The very fact we are living today means that some good things have happened to us.
Despite all of this, sometimes, our mind is somehow set to look only at the bad things that have happened. Hence, the key is, when the mind becomes like a TV screen playing only bad things, it is needed to get it back to the present. What has happened in the past is history and we should try not to think about it too much. Of course, it is not possible to not think about something. Therefore, we should have something purposeful to think of and something tangible to do. Therefore, in depression, if people have something which they like to do, which is not just casual entertainment but something valuable for them, they should engage in doing that. Often, depression is caused not so much because many bad things have happened in our life or their memories, but because we do not have a worthwhile purpose in our life.
A materialistic vision of life that defines our self-worth is based on our possessions. A spiritual vision of life defines self-worth not based on our possessions but by our contribution. There is a simple way to understand the difference between material and spiritual consciousness. If we are in material consciousness, when we see another person, we wonder what this person can do for us. Whereas, in spiritual consciousness, we think what we can do for this person.
Hence, if we can help the person find out what is it, they would like to contribute, that can be very helpful. These things should not be superficial e.g. just going to Disneyland for entertainment. We have to find out what would they like to be remembered for at the end of their life. That will give them something worthwhile to do. In this way, we bring them to the present and find a purpose for themselves in the present.
Slowly, the spiritual aspect can be introduced. Actually, we are all eternal indestructible beings. Bad things may have happened to us, however, we are much bigger than our situations and emotions, hence we do not have to be as affected by those. Then, we can slowly bring in Krishna. We have to make them understand that whatever happens, ultimately, God is our well-wisher who always wants our best. What we are is God’s gift to us and what we become is our gift to God. Hence, we have to look at the good things in their life, show them that these are God’s blessings and encourage them to make best use of that. If we can somehow help them understand that God exists and cares and that even if bad things are happening, good can come out of it, it will be very helpful.
In this manner, when we focus on small things, do things one by one, gradually we will realise we have done a substantial amount. Gradually, the depression will decrease.
End of transcription.
The post How can we help a non-Krishna conscious person overcome depression? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
On Friday before our AGM in Auckland, two devotees, Krishna das and Sangita Priya dasi had their wedding ceremony in the temple room. Both are from devotee families.
Their Lordships, Sri Sri Radha Giridhari, Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra and Gaura Nitai gave Their darshan to more than two hundred devotees who came for the function.
Everyone was happy as the newlyweds exchanged vows and sat in the yajna performed by local devotee, Govinda das. At the end a sumptuous feast was served celebrating the occasion.
