Visitors from Isreal
Giriraj Swami

My disciple Rohini-nandana Dasa, from Israel, who has helped tremendously with my book about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu, and his devoted wife, Vrinda Devi Dasi, a wonderful disciple of Bhurijana Prabhu (she took the picture), have come to spend eight days with us in Carpinteria. We are truly relishing their association, and look forward to more of it whenever time and circumstances—and Srila Prabhupada and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy—allow. They and other devotees are rendering invaluable service to Sri Guru and Gauranga in Israel.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

The untainted classical literature
→ Servant of the Servant

In the Old Testament, there is the tale of Moses meeting God and God speaks through the burning bush etc. There are other stories of God speaking to Abraham or Jesus meeting God on a hill etc. However, neither the Bible nor the Koran describes the God of Abraham. We are only left with our own imagination.

In the middle ages, great painters especially Michelangelo paints God as an old man with a white beard implying God is ravaged by time yet God by definition cannot possibly be under time but above it. The same is true for Moses or Jesus or Mohammed. There is no description of how they look. When we are left with a faceless God, we are bound to speculate and invariably our speculation will result in an impersonal entity because it is impossible to imagine a God who has form and yet omnipotent. Whatever form we may think of, it will look human and thus not omnipotent. Besides it does not help if the first and second commandments of the Abrahamic religions denounces worshiping form or image. As a result of all of this, the Abrahamic tradition of religion is very human centric (anthropocentric) putting human survival and values above all with salvation as the pinnacle of human existence. They go one step more and argue that only their way is the way heralding the modern age of struggle of religious superiority.

The battle for religious superiority and bigotry has seen many wars in the crusades, internal schisms, and institutional abuse. Therefore, we have to question all this and ask if this is worth it? Unless there is a tangible and verifiable description of God and His pastimes, it is not possible to not fight on the grounds of moral self-righteousness. The ego is that powerful. Hence right in the beginning the Srimad Bhagavatam sets the standard -anyone with a trace of envy cannot and will not appreciate this great literature for this book is for the purest of souls.

In it we find such descriptive explanations about God, the concept of Godhead, His devotees, and ultimately salvation for the human spirit - pure love. Certainly no book east or west can compare to the supreme descriptions in the Bhagavatam. It is like the shining sun in the sky, any doubt about the position of God, His creation and the purpose of life that may arise in our heart at once can be quelled in the pages of the Bhagavatam. If one truly desires freedom from all suffering, one has to give up all material religions and take up to the study of the amalam puranam (the untainted classical literature).

kṛṣṇe sva-dhāmopagate
dharma-jñānādibhiḥ saha
kalau naṣṭa-dṛśām eṣa
purāṇārko ’dhunoditaḥ

This Bhāgavata Purāṇa is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Kṛṣṇa to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the Age of Kali shall get light from this Purāṇa.

- SB 1.3.43

Hare Krishna

In The Lap Of Krishna (5 min video) Krishna says there is a…
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In The Lap Of Krishna (5 min video)
Krishna says there is a spiritual world which is beyond this world. One can only attain that world when we live a life which is free from duplicity, pride, hypocrisy. When we actually try to lead a pure life free from greed, pride, lust, envy and anger. And we actually focus our attention and mind in how to serve the Supreme Lord and His desire. Let us appreciate that all of us, have our own small and big struggles. We should be convinced that we are not alone in our struggles, whether we are able to see or not, whether we are able to experience or not, we are ultimately all struggling in the lap of Krishna’s desire. And if we turn our attention to actually accept His desire favorably, we will be in his loving embrace.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/g9oERs

Healthy self-understanding 4 – Reasons to be kind to ourselves
→ The Spiritual Scientist

[Retreat in Leicester, UK]

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Healthy self-understanding 3 – Misunderstandings about humility and tolerance
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[Retreat in Leicester, UK]

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Healthy self-understanding 2 – How the mind can hurt the self
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[Retreat in Leicester, UK]

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Healthy self-understanding 1 – How the modes distort our self-understanding
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[Retreat in Leicester, UK]

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Healthy and unhealthy emotions in the renounced order
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[Brahmachari Class at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, London, UK]

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Balancing forgiveness and justice 2 – What forgiveness isn’t and what it is
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[Seminar at Bhaktivedanta Manor, London, UK]

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Balancing forgiveness and justice 1 – Why deterrence is essential
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[Seminar at Bhaktivedanta Manor, London, UK]

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Seek not moments of devotion – seek momentum in devotion
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[Congregation program at London, UK]

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How to effectively study and apply the Gita
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[Congregation program at ISKCON, Crawley, UK]

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Free will and God’s will 3 – How God helps us free our free will
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[Bhagavatam class at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, London, UK]

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Free will and God’s will 2 – Understanding the trigger, cause and target of our weaknesses
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[Bhagavatam class at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, London, UK]

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Qualities of a Devotee
Giriraj Swami

In a talk on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.13, on May 30, 1972, in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada spoke about the qualities of a devotee, and I was struck by the following:

A devotee is sympathetic—and friendly. “Sympathetic. We should be very much sympathetic. If some of our fellow men fall sick, we must take care of them, give help to them. Because after all, we have got this body; sometimes we may fall sick. So, we should be sympathetic. And friendly. Everyone’s friend. As Krishna is friend of everyone, suhrdam sarva-bhutanam [Gita 5.29], so if we are Krishna’s representative: ‘How can I be enemy of anyone? I must be friendly.’ ”

A devotee is grave. “ ‘Grave’ means doesn’t talk nonsense. Don’t talk nonsense. Don’t waste time. If you have got time, chant Hare Krishna. But don’t talk nonsense. That is called gravity. Grave.”

A devotee is satisfied—and surrendered to Krishna. “Satisfied, in any condition. Not that ‘I must have all these things; then I’ll be satisfied. Otherwise, I’m going from the temple.’ No, this is not Vaishnava qualification. You must live with the devotees—even if you are not satisfied. In any condition, you should be satisfied. Because as soon as you leave the company, you become again rogues, again demons. At least you’ll be saved if you keep the company of the devotees. Satam prasangan mama virya-samvidah [SB 3.25.25]. If you give up their company, then you again become rogues and demons. Therefore you must be satisfied, in whatever condition. ‘Whatever Krishna has given, that’s all right.’ Satisfied.

“Surrendered to Krishna. That satisfaction can be achieved only when one is fully surrendered to Krishna. If I have surrendered to Krishna, Krishna has taken my charge. Krishna says, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami [Gita 18.66], then why shall I bother myself? If I am thinking, ‘I am suffering,’ it is also Krishna’s grace. We should take like that. Even if in my consideration I am in a position which is apparently suffering, we must accept it as Krishna’s grace: ‘All right, I have surrendered to Krishna. If Krishna is giving me suffering, that’s all right.’ That is surrender. ‘Oh, I have surrendered to Krishna, and now Krishna is giving me suffering? Oh, leave Krishna consciousness’—that is not surrender. Surrender means in any condition you’ll remain surrendered. That is surrender. Not that I put my own condition, and if you satisfy me, then I shall . . . That is business; that is not surrender. Surrender means in any condition, fully surrendered to Krishna.”

I pray to imbibe Srila Prabhupada instructions—and follow his example.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Super-human
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 3 January 2018, New Govardhana, Australia, SB 1.2.15)

It is extremely nice to explore Krsna because he is a personality who constantly moves between being very human-like and also very super-human. It is the human element however that brings him close to us because we can recognise ourselves in Krsna and his experiences. And yet, his solutions are sometimes very super-human in nature which is purely amazing. So in this way we become close to Krsna – the Supreme Personality.

Krsna’s all-pervading universal form is described in the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, where it is compared to many suns rising at the same time. It is said that Robert Oppenheimer was quoting the Bhagavad-gita when conducting the first tests of the nuclear bomb. They were situated in a bunker and were seeing the explosions go off, at which point Oppenheimer quoted the Bhagavad-gita saying how this appeared like many suns rising at the same time. Such a form is also Krsna, however it is difficult for us to approach Krsna’s universal form. Krsna is much easier understood through his human nature where we can understand him and offer our human qualities when dealing with him. Therefore, it becomes easy for us to love him. It is not so easy to love that energy which is like many suns rising at the same time. One may be impressed by it, that is for sure, but loving that form can be difficult.

Still Krsna is lovable, and such love is not by force. In the beginning, a little bit of force may be needed to fix the mind. But very soon, Krsna will capture us. We will be drawn to Krsna – it does not take much at all! A little service for Krsna and one becomes immediately drawn to him. The verses of this part of the chapter gradually lead us to show how we are being drawn and attracted to Krsna. So in this way, Krsna consciousness is a very natural thing. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Love for Krsna is not an artificial imposition on the mind. It is a natural thing!”

The article " Super-human " was published on KKSBlog.

ISKCON Australia AGM
→ Ramai Swami

The meeting of ISKCON Australia leaders takes place every year at one our temples or rural communities. This time it was held at ISKCON Mahaprabhu Mandira in Melbourne and went for three days.

As usual, there was robust discussion about various subjects and quite a few of the leaders, such as, the communications minister, womens minister and national treasurer, gave slide show presentations as well.

In my opinion, the quality of Melbourne temple prasadam is up there with the best in the world and going by the satisfied look on everyones face, they shared my view.

Being negative doesn’t help anyone
→ Servant of the Servant

A snake penetrated into a carpentry workshop.  As it slipped, it passed over a saw and got slightly wounded. Suddenly, it turned and bit the saw, and biting the saw, the snake seriously got wounded in its mouth!

Then not understanding what was happening and thinking that the saw was attacking "him," it decided to roll around the saw to suffocate it with all its body by squeezing it with all its strength, but it ended up being killed by the saw!

Similarly our snake-like mind where has a tendency to find-fault with others and hurt them. But actually, like the snake we get hurt. Sometimes it is better to ignore situations, ignore people, ignore their behavior, and their words. Sometimes it is better not to react so as not to suffer consequences that can sometimes be deadly or harmful.

The food we eat, has to be digested and then thrown out of body in 24 hours, else we will fall ill.

The water we drink, gets in our body and is thrown out in 4 hours, else we will fall ill.

The air we breathe, has to be thrown out in 1 minute, else we will die.

Negative emotions like hatred, anger, jealousy, insecurity, we hold in our body for days, months and years. If these negative emotions are not thrown out regularly it comes out as psycho-somatic diseases.

The best way to remove these negative emotions is to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra regularly.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare|
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare||

Hare Krishna

The power of habit is terrible – and terrific
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The power of habit is terrible – and terrific (Based on Gita 02.62)
Habit can be terribly powerful. When people get caught in some bad habits such as smoking or drinking, they find quitting those habits almost impossible – it appears that habits have a power bigger than theirs.
The key in dealing with habits is understanding that even if habits can’t be rejected, they can be replaced. Whatever habits we have, they serve some need. To the extent we cultivate a positive habit that fulfills the need fulfilled by a negative habit, to that extent freeing ourselves from the negative habit becomes easier.

Hari-Nama-Cintamani, chapter 3 -…
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Hari-Nama-Cintamani, chapter 3 - Namabhasa-bicara
“Considerations regarding Namabhasa”
Extending His lotus hand, merciful Lord Caitanya picked up Haridasa. He said, “Haridasa, by your words I wish to understand namabhasa very clearly. One who understands nämäbhäsa can attain çuddha-näma, pure chanting of the holy name. By the mercy of the pure holy name that soul can easily cross over the ocean of birth and death.”
Read more: https://goo.gl/UpvfYK