Planet ISKCON

By Kripamoya Das

The great logical philosopher Jayatirtha wrote in his book of logic, the Tattvasankhyana Tika: “The independent principle is that which does not depend on any other for its own nature and existence, self-awareness or for becoming an object of knowledge to the selves and for the free and unfettered exercise of its own powers” The philosophical enquiries of the Indian philosophers led them into an area of knowledge which today we would term Theology, the study of theos or God. Although theology is considered today to be a separate discipline from philosophy, one more interested in sectarian religious dogma than scientific examination of the truth, the ancient Indian philosophers saw no such hard distinction. They simply saw that their line of enquiry into the ultimate reality led them to the very reasonable conclusion that there existed an independent reality that had unlimited awareness and volition, and the infinitesimal consciousness of the limitless number of individuals was somehow connected and given sustenance by this one entity. Continue reading "For the love of wisdom
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I recently visited our New Gokula farm and although there has been a severe drought in the area for last few months, finally a good downpour of rain came.

As you can see from the pictures, Radha Gokulananda’s cows and bullocks are happily munching on fresh green pasture.

aśanaṁ me vasanaṁ me jāyā me bandhu-vargo me
iti me me kurvāṇaṁ kāla-vṛko hanti puruṣājam

aśanam — this food; me — mine; vasanam — this cloth; me — mine; jāyā — this spouse; me — mine; bandhu-vargaḥ — these relatives; me — mine; iti — thus; me me kurvāṇam — while uttering the sounds ‘me’, ‘me’; kāla-vṛkaḥ — the fox of time; hanti — slaughters; puruṣājam — the goat-like attached soul.

“This food is mine; this cloth is mine; this spouse is mine; these relatives are mine.” Thus, the goat-like conditioned soul keeps uttering “Mine! Mine!” while the wolf of time pounces on it and devours it.”

Suppose a person driving a car to a shopping mall becomes infatuated with dreams of buying various things. If they become so infatuated that they don’t even notice that their car is headed towards a cliff with a deadly fall, they will soon meet with a disastrous end.

Similar is our fate when we become obsessed with worldly possessions. We can’t see the reality that our life-span is finite and is being depleted with every passing moment. While we live thus blinded, death suddenly comes upon us as a fearsome predator and dispossesses us of everything. A goat is often used to depict those unintelligently obsessed with small things while being oblivious to big dangers.

The Bhagavad-gita (16.13-15) outlines how the possessive mentality can make people ungodly, even demonic. We may not stoop to demonic actions, still the mentality of wanting more and more is obsessive and spiritually destructive – it deadens us to our spiritual potential and perpetuates our distressful worldly existence. What to speak of infatuation with future possessions, even infatuation with our present possessions can consume our consciousness. In fact, anything we possess can possess us. Just as a ghost may possess a person, driving them to act self-destructively, so too can our possessions infatuate us, making us act self-destructively.

As long as we are infected by the possessive mentality, our consciousness stays caught in the external things that we fantasize about getting or worry about losing. Thus, our obsession with possession of externals causes us to lose our most fundamental inner possession: our own consciousness. External possessiveness leaves us internally dispossessed.

When we detach ourselves from obsession with possessing things, we become possessors of our own souls – the Gita (02.46) refers to such people as “atmavan,” which translates literally as “possessors of their souls.” Our soul – its essential energy of consciousness – comes in our control so that we can intelligently choose where to invest it.

Most spiritual paths ask us to give up the possessive mentality. Devotional spirituality, however, is so inclusive that it channels even the possessive mentality. Bhakti wisdom explains that we are souls, who are eternal parts of Krishna (Gita 15.07). He is the all-attractive whole, and we are meant to delight eternally in pure spiritual love for him.

Love naturally means that the lovers possess each other; their consciousness stays absorbed in their object of love.

Of course, love is first and foremost about giving oneself. When we give our consciousness to Krishna, he enters through our consciousness to occupy center-stage in our heart. The Gita (09.29) states that those thus devoted reside in Krishna, and he resides in them. Those who attain such spiritual absorption realize that no gain can ever supersede this gain; they don’t let any loss, however grave, distract them from this gain (06.22). In being absorbed in Krishna, they gain him and thus gain everything, for he embodies in full the attractiveness of everything that is worth possessing (10.41).

While we may be far away from such realization, we can progress towards it by offering our consciousness to Krishna through the practice of bhakti-yoga. Moreover, bhakti wisdom redefines our relationship with our possessions – we see our role as trusteeship, not ownership. We responsibly take care of our obligations and relations, but in a mood of service to our Lord to whom everything, including we ourselves, belong.

Working in this devotional service mood raises our vision above time’s relentless advance to Krishna’s tireless grace in our lives, in the many opportunities he provides us to connect with him. When we gratefully accept his grace, he ultimately delivers us out of the material world that is within the domain of time to his eternal ecstatic abode that is forever beyond the clutches of time.

(I am grateful to my friend and scholar, Hari Parshad Prabhu, for providing me this verse to write about)

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

“The places in the eighty-four square mile district of Mathura are so beautifully situated on the banks of the River Yamuna, that anyone who goes there will never want to return to this material world.” (Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 13, Page 111). It is interesting how Srila Prabhupada said the words, “…will never want to return to this material world…” It shows that Prabhupada is truly situated in the spiritual world, unlike us, who are not similarly positioned even when we are present in the holy dhamas.

For instance, when Prabhupada was in Mayapur after the Gaura Purnima festival, there were some kal baisakhi storms, which are these violent thunderstorms that take place in India. These storms are so powerful that they can completely blow over strong trees and the rain falls horizontally instead of vertically. While this was happening, Prabhupada was sitting in his room with the doors open and the wind just blasting through his room. Some of the devotees came running to his room to close the windows. However, Prabhupada simply said, “Mayapur has such amazing Vaikuntha breezes!” So this is what Prabhupada saw, and such a vision of the dhamas is what we should aspire for!

The article " Such a vision " was published on KKSBlog.

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Srimad Bhagavatam Class by H.G.Deenabandhu Prabhu at ISKCON Vrindavan, 03.04.2018 (video)

Conscious Leadership at the Houses of Parliament, UK.
Radhanath Swami was invited to speak on the subject of ‘Conscious Leadership’ at the Houses of Parliament last month. The event was sponsored by Shailesh Vara MP and attended by representatives of all Parties, including the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Faith and Society, Mr. Stephen Timms MP. Radhanath Swami’s presentation was preceded by a more intimate meeting in Shailesh Vara MP’s office, which also included Lord Dholakia, Baroness Warsi, Seema Malhotra MP, Oliver Dowden MP and the Prime Minister’s Special Adviser on faith and communities, Mr Jonanthan Hellewell.

Deputy Lord Lieutenant Vinay Tanna, the Head of Communications Operations at Bhaktivedanta Manor, has been duly appointed as one of the Deputy Lord Lieutenants of Hertfordshire. Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant, Mr. Robert Voss, first met Vinay during his visit to the Manor’s Janmashtami festival last year, and felt he was “perfect for the role” and recommended him to the Secretary of State. Mr. Robert Voss represents the Queen at various events throughout Hertfordshire. The function of the Deputy Lieutenant is to attend any function on behalf of the Lord Lieutenant, whenever the need arises.

New Food For All Charity Kitchen in UK.
The Food for All (FFA) charity team is now able to double the daily quantity of meals they prepare. Considering the growing demands on both FFA and the Manor, Bhaktivedanta Manor contributed £50,000 towards the cost of establishing FFA’s very own purpose built kitchen in the City of London. The FFA team are now distributing over 1200 plates of free prasad (vegetarian food) to the homeless community and university students every day.
FFA director Parasuram has called the new premises “Krishna’s Castle” due to its internal décor. “It is located in a great spot,” he explained, “and already we’ve had a number of people from nearby banks coming forward to help out in their free time! We plan to supply prasad to all the day centers and night shelters in London.
“The Castle is located in the heart of the student area, so we are planning to have four cargo rickshaws full of prasad going to SOAS, UCL, LSE and Kings University. We have built a rickshaw book exhibition complete with dioramas and video presentations. We also have an all-day Thursday Harinam and an evening program in the Castle’s temple room!” The address is Krishna Castle, Plumtree Court, 30 Holborn Viaduct, EC1A 2AT

Mayor of Hertsmere, UK, honors 5th Anniversary of ‘Gratitude’ in Bhaktivedanta Manor.
On 14th March Gratitude celebrated its 5th Anniversary with a three-course vegetarian feast. Special guests included the Mayor of Hertsmere Cllr Charles Goldstein Hertsmere and the former Mayor of Borehamwood, Cllr Clive Butchins. After inspirational speeches and a film about the charity by a BBC composer, there was a community cooking workshop and live music by Paul Lomax and friends. Gratitude saves fruit and vegetables from waste and use it to benefit people in need in the community, via social gatherings that are educational in terms of healthy lifestyle.
Photo: The Mayor of Hertsmere Cllr Charles Goldstein with the founders of Gratitude, Shantasya devi dasi. and Japa Yajna das.

By Satyaraja Dasa

Anthropomorphism fails as an explanation for the many-armed divine forms described in the Vedic literature. When I joined the Hare Krishna movement, something in Srila Prabhupada's books intrigued me: God's unlimited nature went beyond merely having innumerable forms. these forms I was amazed to learn, often have numerous arms as well. India's wisdom texts. in fact, describe a wonderland of beatific multiarmed beings. There is four-armed Vishnu and His consort, eight-armed Lakshmi; the ten-armed Goddess Kali; and an astoundingly ferocious, breathtakingly beautiful, thousand-armed, lion-headed Deity named Nrisimha. All these and many more reside in a multidimensional transcendent realm that the tradition says is our real home, the realm of Godhead. Continue reading "Sad-bhuja-murti: Sri Caitanya’s Six-Armed Form
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Harinama and preaching program in Tokyo (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Following in the footsteps of Srila Prabhupada, ...

3000 Jains watch the Hare Krishna! movie (2 min video)
Thank you speech at Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram, Dharampur after the scree...

By Taru das

My dear readers, it is time to come to an understanding of the motivation behind these articles. We have attempted to be a little amusing and in this respect, there may have been a certain amount of success. But actually what we are trying to do is to describe the process of purification in Krsna Consciousness. We never wanted anyone to think that all the atrocities detailed herein are actually something to be admired or imitated. Yet the fear is there that we are encouraging the wrong type of behavior. Continue reading "Confessions of the Prasadam Addict: Divine Intervention
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By Krsangi Radhe dasi

It has been an amazing festival of spreading Krishna Consciousness through diverse preaching programmes, bringing people together from all walks of life to a spiritual realm. ISKCON Kwa-Zulu Natal (South Africa) hosted the 30th Durban Festival of Chariots over the Easter Weekend (30 March – 2 April).  The four day festival is a flagship event on the Ethekwini Municipality calendar as an event that promotes social cohesion through song, dance, food and discussion. As with previous years, we saw over 150 000 enthusiastic guests enjoy all that was on offer. Continue reading "Celebrating the spirit of togetherness as a Rainbow Nation  through diverse and innovative style – The 30th Durban Festival of Chariots
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gopāla iti matvā tvāṁ pracura-kṣīra-vāñchayā
śrito mātuḥ stana-kṣīram api labdhuṁ na śaknuyāt

gopālaḥ — protector and herder of cows; iti matvā — thinking; tvām — you to be; pracura-kṣīra-vāñchayā — with a desire to attain profuse milk; śritaḥ — I approached you; mātuḥ — of mother; stana-kṣīram — breast milk; api — too; labdhum — obtain; na śaknuyāt — I cannot;

“O Lord! Thinking that you are gopāla (the protector and herder of cows), I approached you hoping to get lots of milk. But you [cheated me in turn and] put me in such a condition that now I cannot even attain my own mother’s breast-milk.”
— Kuvalayānandaḥ of Appaya-dīkṣita (37.90)

 

This verse features the literary ornament (alankara) known as vyaja-stutih wherein affection is expressed through criticism.

The use of the negative to convey the positive is a rhetorical tool used in many traditions. In English, for example, the beauty of a diva may be described as devastating. Or the applause after a brilliant speech may be called deafening.

In expressing its veiled praise, this verse plays with the theme of milk – of seeking cow’s milk and losing mother’s milk. Krishna is celebrated as Gopala, the protector of innumerable cows. Cows supply milk, which is nutritious, delicious and precious. If we want wealth in the form of milk, we may naturally seek it by approaching the Lord of the cows.

Therein, the verse declares, lies the surprising twist. Approaching him and becoming attracted to him has an unexpected result: we lose even our mother’s milk. For a newborn, mother’s milk is immensely nourishing and satisfying; being deprived of it is a great loss. That privation is the negative used to poetically convey the supreme positivity of liberation – those who become attracted to Krishna don’t take birth again and so don’t need mother’s milk.

When we approach Krishna, his supreme attractiveness captivates us, especially if we approach him by associating with devotees and therein absorb their devotional mood. That devotional attraction grants us access to his supreme sweetness. When we relish that taste, our consciousness becomes increasingly elevated above mundane attractions and ultimately becomes liberated from the material world itself. Once we are freed from matter, we no longer need the mother’s milk that is necessary when we enter into a new body. Thus, the verse that seems to be a lament of deprivation is actually a celebration of liberation.

Similar verses that convey the positive through the negative are found in several other poetic compositions glorifying Krishna. One celebrated example is the Chauragraganya-ashtakam (eight verses in praise of the foremost of all thieves). In this endearing work, the great poet-saint Bilvamangala Thakura glorifies the supreme as the supreme thief. Its third verse declares Krishna to be such a deadly thief that he not only steals our home and leaves us on the streets, but also steals our knowledge of where to go when we are on the streets. Making us both homeless and pathless, he plunders us of everything.

Significantly however, when we are left with nothing, our heart becomes fully empty for Krishna to fully fill. Thus, he becomes our only possession – and he, being the Lord of the goddess of fortune, is worth far more than any other possession.

The last two verses extend the mood of glorifying by apparently criticizing to the theme of possessing Krishna. They declare that the impoverished devotee catches the thieving Lord, locks him in the prison of the heart and keeps him there forever. The devotee becomes eternally and supremely enriched.

How is Krishna caught in the prison of the heart? By the noose of devotion, as the fifth verse states. Only by our sincere desire to lovingly serve him does his indwelling presence become manifest and stay manifest.

Another similar verse that praises by criticizing is found in the Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu (1.2.239) by Rupa Goswami. Therein, he depicts one gopi forbidding another gopi from going to the banks of the Yamuna and beholding the charming form of Govinda, lest she lose her capacity to enjoy life’s materialistic pleasures. The implication is that the sight of Krishna is so captivating that it makes us forget all mundane pleasures. Thus, what is being forbidden is actually being recommended.

Mysterious indeed are the ways of divine love. Therein, proscription is prescription, reprobation is glorification, the worst loss is the best gain, and the supreme robber is the supreme rewarder.

(I thank my friend and scholar, Hari Parshad Prabhu, for providing me with this verse to write on)

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Harinama in Bali Indonesia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: When one develops pure love for the Lord, he derives an ocean of transcendental happiness from the association of the Personality of Godhead. To qualify oneself to reach this stage of life is the highest perfection. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Adi 1.56
Find them here: https://goo.gl/q4cPFj

The importance of Vanaprastha Ashram (video)
HH Jayadvaita Swami’s Lecture on Vanprastha Ashram Do’s and Dont’s at ISKCON Chowpatty on 3rd April 2018.

Three new study programmes on the Srimad Bhagavatam in UK.
February saw the launch of three study programmes on the Srimad Bhag...

Bhumi Puja For The Shree Krishna Haveli in Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK.
On the morning of Sunday 25th March, a special foundation laying ceremony for Bhaktivedanta Manor’s elaborate Shree Krishna Haveli building project took place in the center of the site. The ceremony included a traditional Vedic Bhumi Shanku Sthapana within the foundation pit, accompanied by the chanting of Sanskrit mantras and the ringing of bells. In the sacred arena, priests were joined by the building’s design and planning team, monks adorned in saffron and senior Temple management. After sacred items invoking auspiciousness were carefully placed deep into the pit, everybody was given the opportunity to add earth, thus working together as a community to signal the beginning of the construction stage of the project.

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Mahaksha das ACSBP left this world early this morning, 4 April 2018.
Srila Prabhupada: Devotees who are always absorbed in thoughts of Krsna will soon see Krsna face to face without a doubt. In other words, devotees who are always engaged in Krsna consciousness and are fully absorbed in thoughts of Krsna certainly return home, back to Godhead. They then see Krsna directly, face to face, talk with Him and enjoy His company. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (4.9): tyaktva deham punar janma naiti mam eti so ‘rjuna. Because during his lifetime a pure devotee is always speaking of Krsna and engaging in His service, as soon as he gives up his body he immediately returns to Goloka Vrndavana, where Krsna is personally present. He then meets Krsna directly. This is successful human life. This is the meaning of prakateha anibe satvara: The pure devotee will soon see the personal manifestation of Lord Sri Krsna. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Madhya 13.155

Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk.
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka.
I share many quotes from and notes on Srila Prabhupada’s books, lectures, and letters. I share inspiring quotes from Sanatana Goswami and Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I share notes on classes by Bhakti Charu Swami, Bhakti Vikasa Swami, Adikarta Prabhu, and Vaikuntha Prabhu. I share quotes from Back to Godhead articles by Satyaraja, Visakha, and Caitanya Carana Prabhus.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/3D2ZWu

By The GBC

GBC Nominations Committee: Members – Bhakti Caitanya Swami (Chairman), Prahladananda Swami, Praghosa Das, Gopal Bhatta Das (Convenor), Tamohara Das, Anuttama Das, Revati Raman Das, Radha Krsna Das, Gauranga Das, Aniruddha Das, Devakinandan Das (MVG), Laxmimoni Dasi, Manohara Das, Kaunteya Das, Tapana Misra Das (Non-voting Executive Member) Continue reading "Reaffirmation of Ministries and Standing Committees
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By The GBC

One Year Waiting List: Bhaktipada Das Deva Deva Das Ekalavya Das Navadwip Dwija Gauranga Das Priti Vardhana Das Pushpashila Shyam Das Raghava Pandit Das Santa Nrsimha Das Vrindavan Chandra Das Two Years Waiting List: Asim Krishna Das Premadata Das Sundarlal Das Venudhari Das Continue reading "Sannyasa Waiting List
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By The GBC

Zonal Assignments for GBC Members Acyutatma Das Co-Zonal Secretary with Bhakti Caitanya Swami for: Russia: Northwest Co-Zonal Secretary with Gopal Krishna Goswami and Niranjana Swami for: Russia: Moscow Anuttama Das Zonal Secretary for: Delaware Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maryland Minnesota Missouri Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota Washington DC Wisconsin Co-Zonal Secretary with Devamrita Swami for: Pennsylvania: Eastern Co-Zonal Secretary with Tamohara Das for: West Virginia Badrinarayan Swami Zonal Secretary for: California: Except Berkeley Colorado Idaho Montana Nevada Utah Wyoming Continue reading "Zonal Assignments 2018
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