Planet ISKCON

The process of Krishna consciousness can seem complex with so many things going on throughout the year. However, I believe that we must keep things simple. For me, one of the simple things to keep in mind, that is not to forget, is that this Krishna Consciousness is a voluntary process. 

This Sunday, February 18, 2018, Toronto's Hare Krishna Temple will be celebrating Siva Ratri.*

Siva Ratri literally translates as “the Night of Lord Siva.” Lord Siva is described as “the greatest Vaishnava (devotee of Lord Krishna)"; as such, this week's Sunday Feast will be dedicated to honouring Lord Siva.

The tentative schedule is as follows:

6:00pm to 6:30pm - Arati
6:30pm to 6:35pm - Welcome and Announcements
6:35pm to 7:15pm - Class by HG Rupanuga das
7:15pm to 7:30pm - Abhisheka (bathing ceremony) for Lord Siva
7:30pm to 8:00pm - Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)
8:00pm to 8:30pm - Arati


*Please note that the actual day of Siva Ratri was on Wednesday, February 14, but the festival will be celebrated at the temple on Sunday, February 18.

Join us at the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple on Thursday March 1st, as we celebrate one of the biggest festivals of the year, Gaura Purnima, the appearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu!

Our very own Toronto Sankirtan Team (TST) has been featured in ISKCON News! This article highlights some of the challenges leading up the December Marathon and how the collective efforts of many devotees across the GTA helped SMASH all of the goals set out this year.

To read the full article, please click here!

ISKCON Dwarka New Delhi: Examination stress buster session in Happy Model School today from class 7th to class 11th by HG Amogh Lila...

Speaker: HG Radha Krishna Das Srimad Bhagavatam  8.7 44 Tapyante loka-tāpena sādhavaḥ prāyaśo janāḥ paramārādhanaṁ tad dhi puruṣasyākhilātmanaḥ TRANSLATION: It is said that great personalities almost always accept voluntary suffering because of the suffering of people in general. This is considered the highest method of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present in […]

The post Srimad Bhagavatam class by HG Radha Krishna Das appeared first on Mayapur.com.

The Baked Potato Lila by Govinda Dasi.
At New Jersey, my chores consisted of various household duties aside from my artwork for “Back to Godhead”. I cleaned the kitchen, washed Swamiji’s clothes - he was still called Swamiji at that time -, made the beds, mopped the floors, and cleaned everything. I enjoyed serving him any way I could and of course, I picked him roses every day. It was with great joy that I did everything. Kirtanananda however, did the cooking, as I was not trained in cooking. I had been a college student, just prior to meeting Srila Prabhupada and had always eaten out and had never cooked at all.

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Speaker Bhakti Vinode Swami Verse gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt daivaṁ na tat syān na patiś ca sa syān na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum Translation:  One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a […]

The post Srimad Bhagavatam class- HH Bhakti Vinode Swami appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Hare Krishna Temple’s Food Festival A Massive Success!
ISKCON Auckland (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) celebrated its annual food festival on Saturday, January 27 at Sri Sri Radha Giridhari Temple in Kumeu.
The festival started around about 4 p.m. with over 2000 people participating in the event. This event witnessed the crowd not just from the Indian community but from people all other ethnic backgrounds who came forward and supported the annual celebration at ISKCON temple.
“The people not only enjoyed the Hare Krishna style food with many other varieties but also enjoyed the positive vibes of the temple atmosphere which was accompanied by soul soothing music and dance,” the spokesperson of ISKCON temple Krishnacandra Das told The Indian Weekender.

Volunteers at the temple, called ‘Hare Krishnas’, welcomed their guests by distributing free bliss balls (sweet) on their entry and temple tours were also part of the festival organized for the visitors.

Bouncing castles, face painting, and rides were arranged for the children to participate and enjoy at the food festival.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/vGGfYJ

Kirtan Mela Mayapur 2018 (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If we simply place ourselves at the lotus feet of Krishna by taki...

Major renovation of the very place that Srila Prabhupada stayed in Delhi (Album with photos)
Krishna Kshetra Swami: My last day in India, after 3.5 months, Delhi devotees kindly brought me to visit ISKCON Chippiwada. At the end of a tiny back alley in Old Delhi, near Jama Masjid and Red Fort–this is the very place that Srila Prabhupada stayed, 1959-1965, when in Delhi, between times he stayed in Vrindavan. Here, living alone in a room with no windows, in perhaps one of the most densely populated areas in the world, he worked on his Bhagavatam and BTG, and from here he would meet the printer and sell BTGs around the city. In recent years ISKCON devotees spent seven years finding the trustees of this property, negotiating with them, buying the property, and coaxing the pujari and his brother to move out with a handsome sum of money. A group of 7-8 devotees is now enthusiastically doing a major renovation from top to bottom (4 floors, including basement, main floor with temple [Sri Sri Radha-Vallabha, said to have been installed in the late 19th c.], the next floor up with the side room where Prabhupada stayed and a nice space that is becoming an SP museum; prasadam and kitchen floor, and top floor brahmacari ashram…and a rooftop that will be a nice place for programs). This center is one of the nine-becoming-fifteen temples in the greater Delhi area. Two huge projects presently under construction, one in the Rohini district and one in the Dwarka district, are massive projects. ISKCON Delhi distributed 5 lakh (500,000) Bhagavad-gitas during this last book marathon….
Find them here: https://goo.gl/tgw1UV

Seize the Rarest of the Rare Opportunity - Bhagavad-Gita CHAD Inspiration from HG. Vaisesika Prabhu (3 min video)
Read Bhagavad...

What are the good results of preserving semen?



The post Daily Darshan: February 15,2018 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

By Krishna Dharma Das

It is often said that chanting is the most important limb, but Prabhupada interestingly makes the following comment, “When we speak of hearing and chanting, it means that not only should one chant and hear of the holy name of the Lord as Rama, Krishna (or systematically the sixteen names Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare), but one should also read and hear the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam in the association of devotees.” Continue reading "Improving Classes
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By Bhakti Vinoda Swami

As leaders we get to do so many different things but we should be knowing that we are under the radar of Maya and Kali. "You are the leader who is going to take people out of the world and send them to Godhead, you are working for Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s organisation! You are a dangerous guy for me. I am going to attack you!" And definitely iskcon leaders who are proponents of pure bhakti are going to be attacked more and more in their leadership positions. Continue reading "Srimad Bhagavatam class from Mayapur, 11 February 2018
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By Radha Krishna Das

Who remembers the motto of the Strategic Planning team? “More devotees, happier devotees.” Why is it we are focusing on more devotees and happier devotees? Because Krishna will be pleased. If they are not happier there won’t be more. More devotees means external growth. Happier devotees means internal growth. Which one is more important? It’s just so interesting we are focussing really a lot on spreading Krsna consciousness. And that’s a really good goal and we should focus on that, but at the same time we should really focus on developing ourselves. Growth starts with you first. Continue reading "Srimad Bhagavatam class from Mayapur, 8 February 2018
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Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 8, Chapter 7 (texts 36-42) describes the benevolent activities of Lord Siva when the living entities were threatened by the deadliest poison (halahala).

“Srila Sukadeva Gosvami said: ‘Lord Siva is always benevolent toward all living entities. When he saw that the living entities were very much disturbed by the poison, which was spreading everywhere, he was very compassionate. Thus he spoke to his eternal consort, Sati, as follows.“ ‘Lord Siva said: “My dear Bhavani, just see how all these living entities have been placed in danger because of the poison produced from the churning of the ocean of milk. It is my duty to give protection and safety to all living entities struggling for existence. Certainly it is the duty of the master to protect his suffering dependents. People in general, being bewildered by the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are always engaged in animosity toward one another. But devotees, even at the risk of their own temporary lives, try to save them. My dear gentle wife Bhavani, when one performs benevolent activities for others, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is very pleased. And when the Lord is pleased, I am also pleased, along with all other living creatures. Therefore, let me drink this poison, for all the living entities may thus become happy because of me.” ’

“Srila Sukadeva Gosvami continued: ‘After informing Bhavani in this way, Lord Siva began to drink the poison, and Bhavani, who knew perfectly well the capabilities of Lord Siva, gave him her permission to do so. Thereafter, Lord Siva, who is dedicated to auspicious, benevolent work for humanity, compassionately took the whole quantity of poison in his palm and drank it.’  ”

At the chapter’s end, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami concluded,

tapyante loka-tapena
sadhavah prayaso janah
paramaradhanam tad dhi
purusasyakhilatmanah

“It is said that great personalities almost always accept voluntary suffering because of the suffering of people in general. This is considered the highest method of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present in everyone’s heart.” (SB 8.7.44)

And Srila Prabhupada elaborates, “Here is an explanation of how those engaged in activities for the welfare of others are very quickly recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (18.68-69), ya idam paramam guhyam mad-bhaktesv abhidhasyati . . . na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me priya-krttamah: ‘One who preaches the message of Bhagavad-gita to My devotees is most dear to Me. No one can excel him in satisfying Me by worship.’ There are different kinds of welfare activities in this material world, but the supreme welfare activity is the spreading of Krsna consciousness. Other welfare activities cannot be effective, for the laws of nature and the results of karma cannot be checked. . . .

“If one tries to spread Krsna consciousness all over the world, he should be understood to be performing the best welfare activity. The Lord is automatically very pleased with him. If the Lord is pleased with him, what is left for him to achieve? If one has been recognized by the Lord, even if he does not ask the Lord for anything, the Lord, who is within everyone, supplies him whatever he wants. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (tesam nityabhiyuktanam yoga-ksemam vahamy aham [Bg 9.22]). Again, as stated here, tapyante loka-tapena sadhavah prayaso janah. The best welfare activity is raising people to the platform of Krsna consciousness, since the conditioned souls are suffering only for want of Krsna consciousness. The Lord Himself also comes to mitigate the suffering of humanity.

yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge

‘Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.’ (Bg 4.7-8) All the sastras conclude, therefore, that spreading the Krsna consciousness movement is the best welfare activity in the world. Because of the ultimate benefit this bestows upon people in general, the Lord very quickly recognizes such service performed by a devotee.”

Reflecting on this last verse and purport, I considered how Srila Prabhupada exemplified the statement that “great personalities almost always accept voluntary suffering because of the suffering of people in general.” He certainly did that to establish Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, Bombay—and to establish so many other vehicles for Krishna consciousness in so many other places throughout the world.

I pray that we can continue in the same spirit.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Answer Podcast

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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 16.23 Those who reject scripture suffer both in this life and the next appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 September 2017, Flacq, Mauritius, Lecture)

Before the Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannatha, his temple is cleaned – Gundica Marjana. Caitanya Mahaprabhu would clean Lord Jagannatha’s temple and would count how much dust was accumulated. He alone would collect more dust than anyone else. Cleaning the temple takes out dust and dirt from the heart. We should give up all illicit activities while gradually developing qualities of the mode of goodness. In Hindu tradition, if one is not born a Brahmana, he becomes a Brahmana after many births but in Krsna Consciousness, just by chanting the Holy Name our karma is erased. Everything can be conquered by devotional service. What cannot be overcome by donation and charity, can be overcome by devotional service – greed, lust and want for money.

Excerpt from the original manuscript, entitled “Who Is Crazy.“ By A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
"All Vedic literature is imploring us, “Don’t sleep! Don’t sleep! Be awake! Be awake! Get up! Get up from this sleep! Utilize the boon which you now have. Don’t be foolish.”
People are working hard, and earning enough to eat. Especially in your country, there are sufficient means for eating, and nobody is starving. That’s all right, but they are still not satisfied. I have studied this very carefully. The younger people all appear to be frustrated. It is not a very good condition, when the young generation, which is the future hope of the country, feels that there is no hope. Their future is dark. Why? Because they have no direction. What is the aim of life? What will they become? The philosophy is, work hard, get dollars, and enjoy as you like. This is misguidance. Therefore, the young are not happy. So, they take center of something which is objectionable for satisfaction. But that cannot give total satisfaction.

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Harinama in Germany (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If your consciousness is absorbed in Krishna you are always a sannyas...

Srimad Bhagavatam Class 08 17 07 By H.G. Rameswara Prabhu At ISKCON Juhu On 10th Feb 2018 (video)
The miracles of Srila Prabhup...

Mentorship Retreat 2018 at Buckland Hall, UK (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krishna takes special care of the devotee, g...

Sri Garuda and Sri Nandi were installed at ISKCON Rajpur Jagannath temple during Siva Ratri (Album of photos)
Find them here: ...

Appreciate small victories as stepping stones to big victories Gita 06.25 (4 min. video)
Chaitanya Charan Das: When we fight against our lower desires, we sometimes succeed. But our mind frequently undermines our success: “What’s the big deal? You resisted temptation today, but you will be tempted again: tomorrow, the day after and the day after that. How long can you resist? You will succumb eventually.”
Yes, a small victory in sense control doesn’t mean we have become self-controlled. But that doesn’t mean small victories count for nothing; they count, as stepping stones to a big victory, just as small steps count in covering a long distance. The Bhagavad-gita (06.25) urges us to use our intellectual conviction to gradually, step-by-step, fix our mind on spiritual reality.
Applying this incremental approach, we can celebrate our small victories – celebrate not egoistically, “Just see how self-controlled I am,” but gratefully, “If I strive earnestly for self-control by practicing bhakti-yoga, I can actually get absorbed in Krishna and resist temptation. Bhakti’s higher taste is for real.”
While striving for self-mastery, we need encouragement. And we can get immense encouragement by experiencing that we have been able to exercise, even if to a modest degree, the self-regulation that we had earlier thought impossible. When our efforts and Krishna’s grace have manifested such evidence in the form of our small victory, why let our mischievous mind deny that evidence’s significance?
After all, lifelong self-control is nothing but the act of daily self-control repeated lifelong. With this positive attitude, we can turn the mind’s argument on its head: “If I can resist temptation today, I can resist it tomorrow too. And it may even become easier tomorrow as I start relishing the freedom coming from self-control and the joy coming from uninterrupted absorption in Krishna.”
By such affirmative reflection, we can march humbly yet confidently towards self-mastery and pure devotion.
*****************
Verse 06.25 - “Gradually, step by step, one should become situated in trance by means of intelligence sustained by full conviction, and thus the mind should be fixed on the Self alone and should think of nothing else.“
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/vn3RRe

The beautiful Iskcon temple of Chosica, Peru (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is more ...

By Sankirtana das

In this article I will analyze the personal and social consequences that arise from inner conflicts and we will investigate its concomitant "sense of personal failure". We will then examine progressive and regressive reactions to deal with the situation. Continue reading "The DAKSA yajna
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By Danavir Goswami

As mentioned in our previous posts Yoga Mart and Zombie Jamboree, catering to the whimsical public taste can compromise our faithfulness to the parampara. It is very risky to adopt a process of chanting that was not handed down through the disciplic succession of Vaisnavas. Continue reading "Chanting Siva mantras
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Answer Podcast

The post If I feel fearful because others keep reminding me of my past mistakes, what to do? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Over the years, I have read and heard different devotees speak about different techniques to chant properly. Devotees also talk about crying out to Radha and Krishna during chanting for mercy for improving our chanting. This may be bonafide or not, I do not know. However, so far I have not read or heard anything like this from Srila Prabhupada. The only thing I have heard Prabhupada say is to hear the words of the Mahamantra distinctly with focus. Beyond that I have not heard him say or have not read anything related to the mercy of Radha and Krishna or other techniques about chanting. Anyways, I will stick to the simple method of trying to hear the words properly while chanting and not speculate much.

In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we have fixed sixteen rounds as the minimum so that the Westerners will not feel burdened. These sixteen rounds must be chanted, and chanted loudly, so that one can hear himself and others. - Cc Antya Purport 11.23

The first regulative principle is that one must chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra loudly enough so that he can hear himself, and one must vow to chant a fixed number of rounds. - Cc Antya Purport 11.24

Therefore this is the only method. That you chant loudly and hear. Hare Kṛṣṇa. If your mind is in other things it will be forced to concentrate on the sound vibration "Kṛṣṇa." You haven't got to withdraw your mind from other, automatically it will be withdrawn because the sound is there. - Lecture, Los Angeles Feb 18 1969

What is the question of controlling the mind? Just chant and hear and the mind will controlled automatically - Page 95, Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name

Only thing is that we should chant very attentively, hearing the vibration very distinctly.- SP letter to Satsvarupa Das Goswami,March 8 1969

Hare Krishna

Mayapur: Kirtan Mela 2018 Adhivas (video)
What happens at a Kirtan mela?
Special arrangements are made to facilitate the b...

Srila Prabhupada Memories by Jagat Purush Das (video)
Nectarine interview of devotees who have had personal association with His Divine Grace, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. Their stories provide insight into the personality and qualities of Srila Prabhupada, as well as revealing many instructions never heard or written before. These are the anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint, Srila Prabhupada & all the oral histories contained within the Memories of his disciples.

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Sri Gour Purnima Festival Inauguration 2018 in Mayapur on 13 February 2018 (52 min video)

Nabhi: School children in 2 different schools happily receiving Higher Taste in South London in January 2018.