A vaisnava’s security is his goodwill!
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 01 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening Lecture)

We may think, “What about my security? I need some security; like a little money in the bank, a credit card maybe. You know, just in case, something happens. Need to be prepared. What about my security?”

But a vaisnava’s security is his goodwill; his goodwill with the people. That is the best security because goodwill goes much further than the bank. You know, the banks may say, “Well, sorry!”  If you have maybe 150 000 and the bill is 160 000. The bank is not paying the extra 10 000. No way! But goodwill, oh, goodwill can pay anything. Yes!

“A million? Alright, what to do. We’ll pay.” Goodwill is like that because goodwill has a heart and the bank has no heart; that’s for sure. The bank is just cold, making profit and impersonal. So what kind of security is that?

You know, plastic! Plastic money, plastic card and one day, there might be no money in the bank! It happened already, in some places there was no money in the bank. People went to the bank to take their money and the bank had no money. What do you do? Put your money in the bank all this time and when you want to take it out, it’s not there! So what kind of guarantee is that? But goodwill will never be depleted. So this is really how the vaisnava community functions, away from this artificial society which is based on impersonal security.

Insurance!? Previously, again goodwill was the insurance. When relationships were there, that was the insurance. It still works for many people in the world. The family is your insurance and life was going on as much it is going on now. It is not like, “Oh my God, before we invented insurance, life was so terrible. People were dropping dead like flies, left and right! Serious! Imagine – they were depending on their friends and family and maybe even on the village! That must have been terrible!” No, it worked fine! It helped also to have good relationships.

In countries where the government took over – an interesting country is Sweden because it has a very socially supportive structure, a socialistic structure actually. Basically the idea is the state takes care of everything. So family is something that is really not relevant. You rely on the state and not on your family. Therefore people don’t really want families.They want to minimize families – less family and more state; everything comes from the state. It’s interesting how it really works like that. The state is very benevolent, gentle and always provides. No problem! Everything provided by the state. But you know, everything is impersonal, very impersonal in such a condition.

In a family situation, everything depends on relationships. So vaisnavism depends on that, depends on service, depends on giving people something valuable, giving them valuable knowledge so that they become indebted. Giving them valuable support, giving answers, real answers…  It works, there is no difficulty at all in maintaining in such an environment and yes, that is how the world should be. The world should not depend on an artificial, global economy and so on. No need for families to be spread out over six countries; every family is sort of going that way these days. A relative in one corner, a relative in another corner. What a weird world? Strange!

Just a village – everyone in the village and then, it all is simple because there are relationships and relationships become important. It’s like when you live in a city, it doesn’t really matter because people are just faces. You don’t know them. There are all these faces of people you don’t know. So it’s just endless faces, meaningless faces. But living in the village, you know everybody and well, you have to live with them, so you, you know, you better invest in the relationships so that it works. So that is actually the natural way of life.

The post A vaisnava’s security is his goodwill! appeared first on KKSBlog.

New issue of ISKCON Ministry of Education’s quarterly journal, Viplavah
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Hare KrishnaBy Mitra Devi Dasi

Please find enclosed the third issue of ISKCON Ministry of Education’s quarterly journal, Viplavah. We hope this edition will be useful and interesting to you in many ways. We look forward to being in touch with you. Please let us know if you would like to participate in educational projects facilitated by the ministry or would like to collaborate with the ministry for educational initiatives in your area. Continue reading "New issue of ISKCON Ministry of Education’s quarterly journal, Viplavah
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simple thoughts 2018-03-13 12:41:40
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Hari Bol Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Prabhupada,

St Patrick’s Day parade happens this Sunday. Walking from Hyde Park to Trafalga square. Same route as the London Rathayatra.

Over 150,000 people will line the streets watching the parade.

Great opportunity to spread the Holy Name, Prasad and books.

Starts 12 noon. Children’s float is also there.

Please come

Your servant

Parasuram das

Why Krsna left?
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By Bhurijan Das

Krsna's heart is softer than - fresh butter. Therefore: I personally sustain such devotees, who for My sake give up all worldly duties. When we hear this, we think it does not refer to me, I am keeping something behind my back for myself! But no, Krsna speaks here about sadhana-bhakti. If one calls Krsna’s name ONE TIME, Krsna keeps this person’s name in His heart and His book. Continue reading "Why Krsna left?
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Choosing healthy emotions with intelligence, association and devotion
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[Teenagers meet at ISKCON, Silicon Valley, USA]

Podcast


 

Video:

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Intelligence over Mind 3 – Conversion
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[Seminar at ISKCON, Silicon Valley, USA]

Podcast


 

Podcast Summary


 

PPT:

Video:

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Maha Gaura-purnima Festival Audio, March 10, Laguna Beach
Giriraj Swami

“If someone has sraddha—faith they can give you faith. That means they can make you a devotee because devotional service begins with faith—adau sraddha [Cc. Madhya 23.14-15]. So, the conclusion is that we should treasure and serve every devotee. Every devotee is special. That is Lord Caitanya’s instruction—always chant the holy name and serve the devotees. So, if we serve the devotees and always chant the holy name our pathway back to Godhead is cleared. Not only can we go back to Godhead but we can take many others with us. That is sort of the basis of the Panca-tattva. To taste Krishna consciousness and give it to others.”—Giriraj Swami

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Vaisesika Dasa – Talk and Kirtan (Right click to download)
Giriraj Swami Kirtan (Right click to download)
Giriraj Swami Talk (Right click to download)

Janmanalaya Prabhu, Interview (7 min video)
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Janmanalaya Prabhu, Interview (7 min video)
A devotee artist in Almviks gård, Sweden.
Srila Prabhupada: A musician, because one has got a good attachment for music, he tries to perform it very perfectly. So love is the basis. Similarly, when you serve Krishna, if you have no love for Krishna, you cannot serve Him very nicely. And Krishna also does not accept your service if it is not done in great love and affection. London, September 12, 1973.

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Sweeden Shastra Dana report January – February 2018. Mukunda…
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Sweeden Shastra Dana report January - February 2018.
Mukunda Das: We have distributed:
510 Beyond Birth and Death
15 Perfect Questions Perfect Answers
5 A Master’s Management
5 Bhagavad-gita
3 The Unknown India
From August 2009 - February 2018 we have distributed over 20,100 books.
Srila Prabhupada Room Conversation – August 22, 1976, Hyderabad: “To be quickly recognized by Krsna, this is the short-cut process. He never says those who are sitting in a secluded place meditating or chanting, doing nothing. He never says that “They are My very dear devotees.” But those who are preaching – na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me [Bg. 18.69]. Just like government takes more care for the soldiers, especially when there is fighting. They are giving life for the state. So their comfort–first consideration. In the warfield, enough supplies. Anything the soldiers require. Enough supplies.”
Special thanks to the following devotees for supporting the book distribution: HH Smita Krishna Swami, Sri Jayadeva das, Ella & Sune Hellström, Aja das & Pancavati dd, Magnus Hedström, Sten Bergil, Jayesh das, Muktarama das, Mikael Forian, Radha Priya dasi, Mikael Johansson, Robert Åkerman, Cathryn Claesson, Astasiddhi dd, Yogindra das, Bahulashva das, Bh Anders, Bh Filip, Madan Sri

Krishna Lounge 3/8/2018 Recording
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New Feature!

The Krishna Lounge will now be recorded each week and the audio made available online. You can find it hear on the Krishna Lounge website, on SoundCloud under the user “SukhiBhaktaDasa”, and on the Krishna Lounge FaceBook page. Here’s last week’s audio, with kirtans by Sukhi Bhakta and Karuna Mayi, and a talk on courage in spiritual life by Hasya Grami:

The holy dhamas
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 November 2017, Mayapur, India, Nectar of Devotion Seminar)

In the Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 13, we are talking about residing in Mathura dhama or Mathura mandala which refers to the holy dhama of Vrindavan. Mayapur dhama is non-different. “So this attainment of transcendental loving devotional service to the Lord is the goal of life and it can be achieved very easily for one who lives in Mathura mandala even for a few seconds.”  EVEN FOR A FEW SECONDS! Just see all the benefit we are getting by being part of this Movement and understand why Srila Prabhupada wanted to develop projects in these holy dhamas where we could stay.

Of course, the Navadvipa Dhama Mahatmya is pointing out that in the age of Kali, Vrindavan will become less and less manifest and Mayapur will become more and more manifest – not that it is any less transcendental; Vrindavan will stay equally transcendental but less manifest to the perception.

So gradually that will happen; materialistic society will enter into the layer that is covering Vrindavan – the layer of yoga-maya, the illusory energy. That layer then becomes polluted and then that layer which covers the dhama is less transparent. The dhama itself, of course, cannot be touched by anything material or by Kali-yuga but the dhama will be less visible. But still, we appreciate it.

It used to be so nice… When I went to the Krsna Balaram mandir, it was so nice. We had neighbours on either side and then on either side of that was open space. Across the road was a big park. After us, basically, Vrindavan would end. Then at the back was Raman Reti – you could see sixty peacocks in Raman Reti. There were even peacocks on the side of the road. The road was small and there would be one car a day going by. There were no scooters, nothing like that. Cycles and tongas, horse carts with wobbly wheels and tiny little horses, that was it.

In Loi Bazar, the shopkeepers would be sleeping. If you wanted to buy something, you had to wake them up. That is how it was. A totally different Vrindavan than what it is now. What can I say? There were no Western things. And there were not all these other people; just people who were coming for a yatra, for a pilgrimage. There were no hotels and guesthouses. There were ashramas. People would stay in ashramas. There was no television so in every house, at night there was kirtan. If you just walk to anywhere in Vrindavan at night, there was kirtan.  Forty years ago – a different time. So now, I can see how Vrindavan is becoming more covered; like Yamuna, little bit polluted and so on. What can we say? But Mayapur will become more and more manifest.

The post The holy dhamas appeared first on KKSBlog.

Daily Harinam Sankirtan in Hong Kong, China (Album with…
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Daily Harinam Sankirtan in Hong Kong, China (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By chanting the Hare Krishna mantra without offenses, one increases his love for Krishna. As stated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, preme pum-artho mahan: one’s main concern should be to increase one’s attachment to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and to increase one’s love for Him. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.3.24 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/CnVMRf

Governor General of Australia Visits ISKCON New Delhi
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Hare KrishnaBy Vrajendranandan Das

"And who are those exuberant people singing and dancing"? His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter John Cosgrove, Principal Knight and Chancellor of the Order of Australia, Military Cross, enquired about the more than 100 temple residents and guests who received him and other dignitaries with enthralling Kirtan amidst tight security while hundreds of visitors waited outside the ISKCON Temple at East of Kailash, New Delhi. His Excellency who visited ISKCON's Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi Temple at New Delhi on the 12th of March, 2018 is the first ever Governor General of Australia to visit any of the 650 ISKCON Temples which are present across the world. Accompanying him were his good wife Her Excellency Lady Cosgrove, Her Excellency Ms. Harinder kaur Sidhu, the Honorable High Commissioner of Australia to India and a team of nearly 15 Australian High Commission officials and security staff. Continue reading "Governor General of Australia Visits ISKCON New Delhi
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Harinama in Argentina (Album with photos) Palermo Soho vibró al…
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Harinama in Argentina (Album with photos)
Palermo Soho vibró al compás del Maha Mantra. Viernes 9 de Marzo.
Srila Prabhupada: In the sastras it is said that if a person only once chants the holy name and completely surrenders unto the lotus feet of the Lord, the Lord immediately considers him His ward and is always inclined to give him protection. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.49 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/4SZaB1

Are the past and the future illusions – is the present the only reality that we should live in?
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Answer Podcast

The post Are the past and the future illusions – is the present the only reality that we should live in? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

We often direct our anger towards those who can’t hurt us – how to avoid getting angry – Hindi
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Answer Podcast

The post We often direct our anger towards those who can’t hurt us – how to avoid getting angry – Hindi appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

When happiness is a subjective experience, can there be any absolute happiness?
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Answer Podcast

The post When happiness is a subjective experience, can there be any absolute happiness? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Second chances
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 18 October 2017, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 4.3.17)

When someone is caught stealing red-handed and you talk about it, “That person is not honest because he is a thief. He was caught red-handed.” Well, that may be true but are you just going to label the person a thief forever!

The proof is there; he was caught red-handed. Okay, maybe he was a thief and maybe he has a weakness in that field. But maybe he can be protected; maybe one day he will come around. We see that the great Valmiki became a great devotee. He was a chor, a thief, but then he became a great exalted sage.

This process of devotional service can change anyone; we are ready to engage everyone. But that does not mean that you make the chor in charge of the money, you engage them in some other way.

The post Second chances appeared first on KKSBlog.