How I came to Krishna Consciousness – HG Jagat Purush Das
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How I came to Krishna Consciousness - HG Jagat Purush Das (30 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: Happiness is meant for the devotees, not for the karmis, the jnanis or the yogis. It is the property of the devotees. Just like these devotees are chanting very happily. They are not expecting anything. They are happy by chanting. That’s all. Srila Prabhupada – June 22, 1975, Los Angeles


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ISKCON Delhi celebrates 20th anniversary & Kirtan Mela…
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ISKCON Delhi celebrates 20th anniversary & Kirtan Mela (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The bhaktivedantas are impartial in distributing the transcendental knowledge of devotional service. To them no one is enemy or friend; no one is educated or uneducated. No one is especially favorable, and no one is unfavorable. The bhakti-vedantas see that the people in general are wasting time in false sensuous things. Their business is to get the ignorant mass of people to reestablish their lost relationship with the Personality of Godhead. By such endeavor, even the most forgetful soul is roused up to the sense of spiritual life, and thus being initiated by the bhakti-vedantas, the people in general gradually progress on the path of transcendental realization. From Srila Prabhupada’s purport to SB 1.5.24
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Sri Harinam Sankirtan Nectar – Sydney CBD 23/03/18 (Album of…
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Sri Harinam Sankirtan Nectar - Sydney CBD
23/03/18 (Album of photos)
Words: Jessica Bondaruk. Photos: Karuna Avatar das.
In the Krishna Book Srila Prabhupada writes that the “devotees of the Lord, are not selfish. Whatever benefits they derive from the Supreme Personality of Godhead as benedictions they want to distribute to all other persons. That is the greatest of all humanitarian activities.” (Krishna Book, Ch.43.)
When we think of humanitarian activities, we might think that it is about doing “good activities” - whatever that may entail. Doing “good” activities is of course better than doing bad ones, but devotees of Krishna knows this isn’t the goal of life.
The concept of “good” can be subjective and simply setting out to do good can keep us tied to this material platform.
It can be said that true humanitarianism is to share with others the power of the holy name. The difference between this activity and any other is that it is all encompassing. The analogy of watering the roots of the plant rather than the leaves has been used many times to demonstrate this, but it’s a clear example. Chanting the holy name, and so connecting with Krishna, is the ticket to being able to see the bigger picture, and ultimately bring true happiness, rather tham superficial happiness, to all beings.
This is why we are chanting in the streets of Sydney every week - to introduce every possible person to the sound of the names of Radha and Krishna.
Today Radhika Prasad distributed 24 books in city. Some ladies visiting from Singapore, who took some of Srila Prabhupada’s books to read, graciously bowed to Radhika Prasad requesting that he continue this good work of Harinam and book distribution. Another man who took back to Godhead asked if he could hire the devotees for their determination.
Don’t forget we are chanting in the street every Friday in the City of Sydney. We meet at 6.30pm at Town Hall.
Please join us whenever you can, you will enjoy it and everyone will benefit.
All glories to Sri Harinam Sankirtan
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Boat cruise and Vrindavan Kirtana in Auckland, New Zealand…
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Boat cruise and Vrindavan Kirtana in Auckland, New Zealand (Album of photos)
Govinda dasi: Srila Prabhupada? So, our relationship with you as spiritual master has existed eternally in the past, or will exist eternally? Prabhupada: That don’t bother with it. Go on, do with minimum. Past and present, you are present, the commentary is just carry out the orders, that’s all. When you have accepted spiritual master, carry out, that’s all. cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei. Past means that, then you admit to your disciple, that in the past you could not carry out, therefore accept another birth. So, carry out. That is the point. What is the use of talking past, present and future? ar na koriho mane asa. This is wanted. Don’t think of anything else. That is the point.
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Giriraj Swami: This verse is quoted in Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Sri…
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Giriraj Swami: This verse is quoted in Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Sri Padyavali: [Mother Yasoda is telling Sri Krishna a story:]
“There was once a king named Rama.”
“Yes.”
“His wife was Sita.”
“Yes.”
“On the order of His father, Rama lived in the Pancavati Forest. There Ravana kidnapped Sita.”
Hearing His mother narrate His own activities performed in ancient times, Sri Krishna suddenly called out, “Laksmana! Where is My bow? Where is My bow? Where is My bow?”
May these alarmed words of Lord Krishna protect us all.

Rama-katha
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Hare KrishnaLectures about Lord Ramacandra's appearance day given in ISKCON Naperville, 21, 22 and 23 of March 2018. We can see the affects of the Ramayana tradition in many countries who have adapted their own form of the Ramayana and worship of Lord Rama, especially in the countries of Southeast Asia. These include Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia (Capuchia), Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Four Jagannath Ratha Yatra in Welcoming Nyepi Day
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Hare KrishnaBy Hari Narayana Das

In the evening the parade of ogoh-ogoh was opened by the local authority and the one by one the people passed their ogoh-ogoh in front of the stage. Lord Jagannath chariot was pulled by devotees on the last line and people actually waited for the chariot to pass by. The people already familiar with the Ratha yatra that they waited for the darshan and get prasadam. They were happy to get maha prasadam. The kirtan was lear by Sesa prabhu filled the entire atmosphere with the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra and people also dance in the joy of the kirtan performed by the devotees. Near midnight the chariot arrived in the temple, devotees then honoring prasadam and then took rest. Continue reading "Four Jagannath Ratha Yatra in Welcoming Nyepi Day
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If our spouse is sentimentally following a different spiritual path, how should we deal with it?
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Answer Podcast

The post If our spouse is sentimentally following a different spiritual path, how should we deal with it? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

If our speaking about Krishna doesn’t transform others, does that mean we lack the purity that empowers senior devotees’ words to be transformational?
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Answer Podcast

The post If our speaking about Krishna doesn’t transform others, does that mean we lack the purity that empowers senior devotees’ words to be transformational? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Is wanting to go back after death to Krishna selfish and wanting to go to Prabhupada selfless?
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Answer Podcast

The post Is wanting to go back after death to Krishna selfish and wanting to go to Prabhupada selfless? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Iskcon New Govardhana – Harinama at Broadbeach – 18 March 2018…
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Iskcon New Govardhana - Harinama at Broadbeach - 18 March 2018 (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: This is the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that you go and preach and make propaganda about krsna-upadesa. This is Krsna consciousness movement. We are teaching all our men how to spread krsna-upadesa, how to spread Krsna consciousness. Then anartha upasamam saksat. Then all the unwanted things he has contaminated will be finished. Then pure consciousness… Pure consciousness is Krsna consciousness. Pure consciousness means to understand that “I am very much intimately connected with Krsna as part and parcel.” Just like my finger is very intimately connected with my body. Intimate… If there is little pain in the finger, I become so much disturbed because I have got intimate connection with this finger. Similarly, we have got intimate connection with Krsna, and we are fallen. Therefore Krsna also feels little pain, and therefore He comes down: paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge [Bg. 4.8] Krsna is feeling pain. So you become Krsna conscious, then Krsna will feel pleasure. That is Krsna consciousness movement. From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.7 – Vrndavana, April 24, 1975
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Comedian Russell Brand Buys Hare Krishna Vegan Cookies For…
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Comedian Russell Brand Buys Hare Krishna Vegan Cookies For Entire ‘Re:birth’ Audience.
Comedian Russell Brand is currently touring the UK and Ireland as part of his humor-laden stand-up comedy show, Re:Birth. News recently broke that the generous vegetarian celebrity brought the whole of his sold-out Swansea audience food from a local eatery, Govinda’s Vegetarian and Vegan Cafe.

Humble request for prayers for Saraswati
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Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, dear friends, devotees, family folks and all other wonderful persons in my life. I humbly request your prayers on behalf of my daughter Saraswati, who many may recall due to her intimate pastimes with Srila Prabhupada. She is undergoing chemo & radiation for colon cancer. Prognosis is seems good although it went a bit far before being detected. Thank you. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Far East/Middle East (FEME) books in Vrindavana (Album with…
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Far East/Middle East (FEME) books in Vrindavana (Album with photos)
Satyanarayana Bbt Feme: Our BBT Far East/Middle East (FEME) book posters and new Arabic Gita banner have found a permanent new Home in Sri Vrndavana dhama, now that Daivisakti Mataji’s “Matchless Gift” bookstore and BBT Vrndavana have decided to carry all our foreign book titles, including the just-printed Arabic Bhagavad-gita As It Is…!
This means that India has now been added to the other areas of the world – North America, UK, Europe, Australia/NZ – where these foreign language titles are currently being distributed. In Vrndavana specifically, the books seem to be eagerly desired by tourists, students and devotees who are among the 100,000’s visiting the Sri Sri Krishna Balarama temple from around the world each year (eg., including the ten Arabic-speaking tourists from Lebanon who made certain they took Arabic books with them before catching their flight home a few days ago…)
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
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Associating with the Supreme Lord Ramachandra
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Hare Krishna

Srila Prabhupada explains: “Sita is Lakṣmiji, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant to be worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Sri Ramachandra. A materialistic man like Ravaṇa does not understand this great truth, but on the contrary he wants to snatch Sitadevi from the custody of Rama and thus incurs great miseries. The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity, may take lessons from the Ramayana that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without acknowledging the supremacy of the Lord is the policy of Ravaṇa. Ravaṇa was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his kingdom, Lanka, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Ramachandra and defied Him by stealing His wife, Sita, Ravaṇa was killed, and all his opulence and power were destroyed.” (Rama-navami Lecture – 27 March 1969, Hawaii)

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Why to become spiritual now
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[Program for Intel employees, Phoenix, USA]

Podcast


 

Podcast Summary


 

Video:

The post Why to become spiritual now appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

A story from the Ramayana
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 29 April 2011, Radhadesh, Belgium, Vyasa Puja Lecture)

Just now I came from South Africa and my spiritual master was also there and I met him. He was telling a nice story, which I’ll share with you. It was a story of the Ramayana. The Ramayana as we all know is an endless saga, there was great battle in Lanka to free Sita from captivity. Meanwhile Sita was kept in Lanka in this Asoka Grove and there were these raksasis who were constantly harassing her, torturing her in so many ways and just trying to convince her to surrender to Ravana. So this was going on. So the battle was over; Ravana killed and defeated, Hanuman was the first to reach the Asoka Grove and to bring the news to Sita. At that time the raksasis were still there, still surrounding her, so Hanuman said, “Ravana is killed! The battle is won! You are free!” and then he saw that she wasn’t free but was still surrounded by all these raksasis, so he said, “Shall I kill ‘em? I’ll just kill ‘em all!” and she said, “No Hanuman, no, no don’t kill them.”

“No but it’s just a small thing, I’ll just get rid of them. They caused you so much suffering….” and then Sita told Hanuman a story and the story was that once there was a hunter hunting in the forest and then in his hunting activities he came upon a tiger but this tiger was just not a tame tiger and the roles reversed. Instead of the hunter chasing the tiger, the tiger chased the hunter and the hunter was running and running and running! And then there was a tree and he climbed in the tree and as he was up on the branches of the tree, there was a bear! And he looked up, saw the bear, looked down and saw the tiger…and then the tiger said to the bear, “My dear bear, this hunter is our mutual enemy. Kick him down and I will finish him off!”

“No,” the bear said, “how can I do that? How can I kick him down? He’s a guest in my home. That I cannot do.”

The tiger then turned his strategy and he turned to the hunter and he said to the hunter, “Look at that bear, just kick him down and I will eat him instead of you.”

And the hunter did it, the hunter suddenly kicked the bear and the bear fell down but on the way the bear somehow or other managed to grab a branch and hang in there and climbing back up and the bear was saved. Then the bear was back up in the branches and the tiger said to the bear, “just see, just see what kind of person this hunter is, you know what I mean? He betrayed you! While you were giving him shelter, he just betrayed you completely! Kick him down now, before he kills you! You can’t trust him, as soon as you turn your back on him. Kick him down!”

“No,” the bear said, “I cannot do that because even if my guest is misbehaving and behaving in a way that is totally inappropriate, that doesn’t give me a license to also act inappropriate. I still have to act properly. So he’s my guest, so no, I can’t kick him down.” And in this way the tiger went hungry that day…!

So our noble bear is a wonderful person. My spiritual master, who is so much dedicated to being a man of noble character, that is his outstanding quality. If I see whatever mercy has been bestowed on me, which is so much generosity, then the thing that penetrates the deepest in my heart is his noble character. That is the one thing that each time I’m thinking…I’m just a low minded person who is just trying to somehow or other become a vaisnava but then I see a man of truly saintly character. Like my spiritual master is known for his thunderbolt, karate blows and he has a tongue, which is as powerful as a lightning bolt and a very sharp intelligence. And he can with one or two words just go to the essence of something and just expose everything. Therefore people are afraid wherever he goes and people are in fear. So when I approached him for initiation, well I was also thinking about the brace position, as they speak about in planes…in case if it gets too rocky then brace yourself. So I was sort of getting ready for anything! I thought that even if thunderbolts come, I’ll take them, that was my mood. But I got a few thunderbolts over the years but not too many. Mostly, he melted me with his noble character and he did it again with his bear story which was such a nice story and I somehow or other missed that story in the Ramayana. It is very nice because I thought, here is spiritual nourishment. All of us have to become vaisnavas of noble character. It’s not just what we do but it is really who we are. We have to become very noble persons and that is one point that I wanted to make today.

 

The article " A story from the Ramayana " was published on KKSBlog.