Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Nabhi: On Friday, 252 Higher Taste were distributed to 12 year old children (year 8) in a school in Purley, London. 
Back To Godhead: New Vrindaban’s 50th Anniversary 2018 (Album with photos)
For the first time in 37 years, New Vrindaban is the featured article on the front cover of the Jan/Feb 2018 issue of Back To Godhead magazine. Perfect timing, as the village residents and well-wishers, begin their 50th-anniversary celebrations!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/kZYq6P
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 23 January 2018, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.12.17-21)
No one is so powerful that he is not influenced by maya, the illusory energy. Even Lord Brahma can sometimes become bewildered by illusory energy. Therefore we can never think, “Oh well, now I have been a devotee for ninety-nine years and maya cannot touch me. What can maya do to me? It does not affect me. I am a bhakti yogi.”
No. We should understand what Srila Prabhupada mentions about Ajamila – Ajamila was a qualified brahmana, Ajamila went through gurukula, Ajamila was properly trained, he was highly learned but when Ajamila came face-to-face with maya, Ajamila fell down. Srila Prabhupada said, “If Ajamila fell down then what is our chance? How can we not fall down?”
But we are chanting the holy name. Ajamila was at namabhasa (the clearing stage of chanting Hare Krsna); not at a sadhana like how we are chanting and that protects us but that is not all. We have the mercy of Lord Caitanya who interferes, who is right there. Every time maya attacks us then Lord Caitanya gets in-between and blocks it, he is protecting us. In that way, we are somehow or other able to stand in the face of maya, weak as we are.
“I am a born Hindu from India. Come from a very orthodox and traditional family. What I don’t understand is what’s the truth. I feel every religion is teaching the same principles. What do you think about idol worship?”
Shantipur celebration!! (Album with photos)
Bhakti Chaitanya Swami: Today was the anniversary of Advaita Acarya’s celebration of Madhavendra Puri’s appearance day, in the presence of Lord Caitanya, in Shantipur. About 40 bus loads of devotees went there and served prasadam to thousands of local dhamavasis.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Lp544r
Sri Mayapur Dham Ecstatic Harinam Sankirtan (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada desired that all devotees come to Mayapur at l...
By Taru Das In a few short years, it has all taken on the quality of a legend. Nobody really believes the stories of what we used to eat, how much we used to eat, the austerities of cooking outdoors. It all seems like a myth. Sometimes new devotees still come up to me and say, “I hear you used to eat ninety chapatis a day”. I just kind of shrug my shoulders and smile and mumble that everybody used to eat a lot more then. (The truth of the matter is that one time I kept count up to seventy and then gave up counting). But who’s going to believe that. anyways? Better to let it remain a myth. Continue reading "Confessions of a Prasadam Addict
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By Malati Devi Dasi Less reading of Srila Prabhupada's books, minimizing his position by more elaborate guru-pujas than SP's guru-puja, introduction of new, unauthorized literature, demigod and non Vaishnava worship in Iskcon temples, Indian social customs like rakhi, minimizing prasadam standards, inappropriate items offered to the deities like frozen vegetables, relaxed sexual behavior, improper decorations of the Deities, non traditional kirtans by chanting names non associated with Lord Krishna and more. Continue reading "Weakened Standards Weaken ISKCON
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Answer Podcast
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
The post Gita 17.11 Focus not on expectation from the world, focus on contribution from yourself.mp3 appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Tech talk at MMU, Ambala
His Grace Chaitanya Charan recently gave a Tech talk on
“What India can offer to the world?” at MMU, Ambala.
This was an interview conducted by a TV news channel after the Tech talk.
In the talk he spoke about
– His experiences of how he discovered the wisdom of Bhagavad Gita?
– How the Gita’s wisdom can help us to conquer the corruption of the software of the mind that is afflicting millions all over the world?
– How he has experienced people being benefited by the practice of Bhagavad Gita during his travels all over the world.
The talk was very well received and the YouTube video will be published in the TEDx channel in about a month’s time.
It telecasted in the 7 pm news at Khabrain Abhi Tak news channel.
Video:
The post “What India can offer to the world” – Tech talk at MMU Ambala appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
[Youth Meeting at ISKCON, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, India]
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The post Animal Metaphors for understanding the mind – Hindi appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 23 January 2018, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.12.17-21)
I was reading in the Uddhava Gita where there is a whole list of qualities given. One quality given is heroism. It is said that heroism means to overcome the natural tendency to enjoy the material life; that is a hero! Men and women alike, are heroes and heroines when they give up this tendency to enjoy material life.
In youth, when still very young, when taking up Krsna consciousness, one may wonder “Don’t you know what you are giving up? Those few years that you have, you are so eager to sacrifice them. Are you sure later that you will not regret it? Your youth is what you have. It is a priceless treasure. Nothing can buy that in the world. You’re sure you don’t want to take advantage of it now?”
No, that is for common people, that is for ordinary men and ordinary women. But those who are heroic, they are ready to give up this enjoying propensity.
Krishna conscious program at Techfest (Album with photos)
On December 31st, 2017 Radhanath Swami spoke on ‘A scientific Case Study of Spiritual and Religious Faith’ at Techfest, the annual science and technology festival hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. Techfest is Asia’s largest tech festival with an attendance of approximately 160,000. Over 3000 colleges from around the world participate.
Lord Gauranga’s Gift.
By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada.
By preaching the message of Srimad-Bhagavatam,
Gaurasundara showed that all so-called great
sampradayas and sadhanas that have appeared in the past
and will continue to appear in the future are extremely
weak and full of cheating. He has also revealed that
the congregational chanting of Krishna’s holy name
is the only way for humanity to achieve its ultimate
benefit. But this chanting should be about Krishna
and for Krishna. Whatever we do to enjoy our senses
is not “Krishna”, and chanting to satisfy the senses of
conditioned souls is not Krsna-kirtana. If we mistake
maya’s kirtan for Krsna-kirtana — a seashell for silver,
an ordinary sound for the holy name — then we have
been deceived!
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/p1RRs6
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by H.G.Malati Mataji at Iskcon Vrindavana, 23.02.2018 (video)
Varnashrama Dharma and its application i...
Harinama in a frozen Kiev, Ukraine (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Our relationship with Krishna, the Supreme Personality...
Sridevi departs leaving an important message for humanity.
Since yesterday all the Indian news portals are full of updates on Sridevi, a superstar of Indian cinema industry, who left her body at 54 in Dubai giving an unforgettable shock to her fans, friends and well-wishers. Reports say she died of cardiac arrest.
By Jagannath Damodar das A glorious Rathyatra festival was organised on 24-2-18 in the town of Bharuch ( Bhrigu kuchh). This is a historical place connected way back crores of years back, when Lord Vaaman Dev enacted His wonderful pastimes of covering the whole universe with His two steps and keeping the 3 rd on King Bali's head. In the same way in this Rathyatra, approximately 50 devotees covered the whole area of Bharuch with their powerful 2 foot steps and distributed 3000 loose BTG magazines to the people of Bharuch on behalf of Lord Vaaman Dev. All the senior devotees attended this wonderful Rathyatra, with 3000 persons taking Dinner prasaadam and 10000 persons getting Bundi Prasad packets. Continue reading "Iskcon Center Bharuch Ratha Yatra
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That was one life-changing photography thesis!
Durban - When American photography student John Griesser took a flight to India in the early 1970s on an assignment to document the Hare Krishna movement, he did not only earn credits to finish his course; it sent him on a spiritual path that changed his life.
Visiting Durban this week, Griesser (whose initiate name is Yadubara Das) is in town to promote his film Hare Krishna! The Mantra, the Movement and the Swami Who Started It All, which will show at Suncoast cinemas on February 21 and 22.
His film is a documentary on the life of Srila Prabhupada, the 70-year-old Indian religious teacher who arrived in America without support or money in the 1960s and started the Hare Krishna movement.
“The long journey towards making Hare Krishna! started almost 50 years ago in 1970, when I found myself, camera in hand, smack bang in the middle of frenetic and beautifully intoxicating India, in a little town, steeped in ancient spirituality, called Surat. It was here that I first met Swami Srila Prabhupada.
“At the time I was a student enrolled at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York doing a master’s in photography, and I had travelled to India to do my thesis on the origins of the Hare Krishna movement,” recalled Griesser.
He had also produced a documentary in 1978 that captured the spiritual and traditional cultures of India, in a documentary titled Vrindavan: Land of Krishna.
“I was not prepared for the impact of that first meeting with Prabhupada. In person, he was diminutive and yet exuded a powerful presence that was both attractive and mystifying.
“During the following months in his company, surrounded by the rich spiritual culture of India, I found never-ending sources of inspiration from behind my camera.
“I experienced something beyond explanation, and felt that I had finally come home to people and places I had known before.
“In the following years, Jean (my then girlfriend and later my wife) and I continued to document Prabhupada and his movement, up until his passing in 1977,” said Griesser.
Much of the film’s content had been shot during the Griessers’ travels with Prabhupada from 1970 to 1977.
There are about 30 interviewees in the film, including Beatles guitarist George Harrison and American poet and philosopher Allen Ginsberg.
Griesser said the movie was special because it had allowed him to tell the story of Prabhupada.
“During production we revisited Prabhupada’s extraordinary life, piecing together clips and audio of his, and telling his own story. After the release in 2017, it was good to experience the excitement of viewers who saw Prabhupada come to life on the screen,” Griesser said.
Source: https://goo.gl/FYA7gD
In a small town situated close to the banks of the River Yamuna there lived a man called Amrita. Nothing in life caused him more anxiety than his fear of death. One day he had an idea that if he befriended Lord Yamaraj, he would be able to keep death at a distance, and so Amrita practiced austerities and meditated upon the Lord of Death, who was verily pleased and granted him a vision.
Lord Yamaraj said, ‘I know by the aid of my divine powers that you seek to befriend me - your wish has come true. My presence is only available to those upon whose death my messengers or I take their souls to my domain. Those that are born must die and those who die will be born again, this is the eternal law. No one can escape death, yet I grant you my vision while you are still living.’
By Vrsabhanu dasa In the late sixties Hare Krishna devotees from New York went to Philadelphia to open a temple. Many people were attracted by their kirtans and by the philosophy and lifestyle that they were teaching. Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Lady Subhadra were installed in 1972 and taken out for the first Ratha-yatra festival on the East Coast of the USA. Srila Prabhupada visited the temple in 1975 and attended the Ratha-yatra that year. The current temple in the beautiful suburb of Mt. Airy was acquired in 1977 and two years later Sri Sri Radha Sarad-Bihari were installed there. The devotees are in the process of building a new temple room for the pleasure of the deities. In downtown Philadelphia there is a popular Govinda's restaurant which attracts people from all walks of life. The devotees organise regular programmes including japa meditation, study of the Bhagavad-Gita and kirtan evenings. Continue reading "ISKCON of Philadelphia
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Listening to a talk Srila Prabhupada gave in Vrindavan on December 10, 1975, I was struck by how he defined Vrindavan and said we could create Vrindavan anywhere.
“So this Krishna consciousness movement means everything is there; it has to be purified by diverting the same thing for Krishna. Just like we have got feelings for raising children—attachment. That is attachment. What is Mother Yasoda doing? She is attached to Krishna, and that is Vrindavan. Vrindavan life means all attachment for Krishna. Mother Yasoda is attached to Krishna, Nanda Maharaja is attached to Krishna, the cowherd boys are attached to Krishna, the calfs and cows are attached to Krishna, Radharani is attached to Krishna, the trees are attached to Krishna, the flowers are attached to Krishna, the water is attached to Krishna—that is Vrindavan. Vrindavan means the central attachment is Krishna. That is Vrindavan.
“So if you can create that central attachment for Krishna, then it is Vrindavan. Then you can create Vrindavan anywhere. Any family, any society, any country—just make the point of attachment Krishna, and it is Vrindavan. That is required. That is Krishna consciousness movement.”
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami
Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
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Answer Podcast
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For the first time in 37 years, New Vrindaban is the featured article on the front cover of the Jan/Feb 2018 issue of Back To Godhead magazine. Perfect timing, as the village residents and well-wishers begin their 50th anniversary celebrations!
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, December 2011, Pretoria, South Africa, Caitanya Caritamrta Lecture)
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu explained to Sanatana Goswami that we must follow in the footsteps of the eternal residents of Vrindavan. We must always act for the pleasure of Krsna. In our sadhana, Krsna must always be in the centre.
My first big festival in the temple was Gaura Purnima. I was celebrating it at the Bhaktivedanta Manor and I had just returned from India. We were in a very big room and we, the brand new devotees, our service was to roll sweet balls the whole day. We were fasting and it was just too much for my mind to be sitting with an ocean of sweet balls. I was thinking, ‘What kind of movement is this? They are fasting and then the whole day they are in the kitchen cooking and busy with and all kinds of prasadam preparations. What is this process?’
I thought it was strange because I was self-centered. I was thinking that it was all austerity which we were performing for our own purification. I did not understand that for one day, for one day, it was a day for Krsna and on that day, instead of worrying of our own senses, as we usually do, on a special festival, we put all our own sense enjoyment aside. There will be no arrangements made for our sense enjoyment. All the arrangements are made only for Krsna’s pleasure, everything! The residents of Vrindavan do that every day!
To travel to different places of pilgrimage means to attain emancipation from material bondage. 
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by H.G.Panca Gauda Prabhu at ISKCON Vrindavan, 17.02.2018 (video)
[Brahmachari class at ISKCON, Juhu, Mumbai]
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Srimad Bhagavatam Class by H.H.Bhakti Vaibhava Swami at ISKCON Vrindavan, 24.02.2018 (video)