Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 16.03 Giving appropriate honor promotes harmony, demanding excessive honor disrupts harmony appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

I wasn’t sure if I was ready to admit that I was lonely. I couldn’t use the word “suffering” because that’s reserved for the “real” sufferers like the homeless, orphans, and abandoned veterans—so I found prettier, more poetic ways to describe my sadness. But something happened that night that I did not expect: I started to remember the feeling of community. I realized that a separation had occurred, quite unconsciously, between my communing self and the isolated person I had become. I had chosen to abandon people because New York City had abandoned me—and by making that choice, I divorced myself from the chaotic mess of human beings. Continue reading "How 100 “Hare Krishnas” transformed my Lonely New York City Experience.
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The post Daily Darshan: January 27,2018 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Our "Paramahamster" comic strip follows an enthusiastic devotee as he navigates a 9 - 5 work day in the corporate world. Please check back weekly for new episodes!

ISKCON Of CT has been around for more than 35 years and during that time, the small congregation has been using a small house in East Hartford as a Temple. The presiding Deities are Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi, along with Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai. The congregation has been actively distributing books for many years, but the year 2015 brought a dramatic change in the history of ISKCON CT. Continue reading "Sankirtan is life changing! And it is infectious! – The joy of sharing Krishna with others!
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• Nitāi in His intoxication is very magnanimous and freely gives kṛṣṇa-prema and gaura-prema
• We should pray to Nitāi for extra mercy to progress on the path of sādhana-bhakti and achieve prema-bhakti

27th January 2018
Disappearance Day of Sri Ramanujacharya
Ramanujacharya (1017-1137) was the principal acharya (spiritual teacher) in the Sri sampradaya, one of the four main lines of Vaishnava teachers and disciples. His Vedanta-sutra commentary — Sri-bhasya — establishes the doctrine known as Vishishtadvaita, “qualified nondualism.” A staunch proponent of the philosophy of personalism, he taught that although the Supreme Lord and the individual souls are qualitatively one, there is still a difference between them, for the Lord is infinite and the living entities are infinitesimal.
Srila Ramanujacharya traveled extensively throughout India, teaching personalism and defeating proponents of monistic philosophy. He founded seventy-four centers of Sri Vaishnavism and initiated seven hundred sannyasis (renounced monks), twelve thousand brahmacharis (celibate students), and thousands of householders, including kings and wealthy landowners.

Puri, Orissa Yatra 2018 - Inauguration Ceremony (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Radha-Krishna. Radha’s name is first. Why? Nobody can be better devotee than Radharani. As soon as Radha’s name is there, Krishna is more pleased. That is the way. If we glorify the devotees, before the Lord, He’s more pleased than to glorify Himself, He directly. Hawaii, March 24, 1969
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Zm31bs

Beautiful wedding at Jagannath Mandir (23 photos and 4 videos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krishna is joyful. I am part and parcel of Kri...

Our proposition is to the Ramanujacarya followers because they are very, very strong, especially in South India they are prominent, purifying all of the world actually. It is mentioned in the Bhagavatam that when pure devotees appear in South India they then maintain the pure principles of bhakti. Continue reading "Disappearance Anniversary of Srila Ramanujacarya
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The victory flags for the TOVP domes are now being prepared for the installation ceremony to be hoisted along with the Chakras. This is called Dhwaja Rohan.

Each flag on the dome has a different size based on shastric measurements from the Matsya Purana. Once completed, they will be further decorated with auspicious Vedic symbols like the Sun and Moon.

To sponsor an abhisheka for Sri Sri Radha Madhava’s and/or Lord Nrimhadeva’s Chakra please go to:
https://tovp.org/donate/once-in-a-lifetime-chakra-abhisheka-seva-opportunity/

The post Preparation of Flags for TOVP Installation Ceremony appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Answer Podcast

The post How is our intelligence partly our friend and partly our enemy? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

After being told it could not buy advertisement space for its annual “Find the perfect gift” Christmas campaign last year, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington sued the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) for banning religious speech.

HG Jananivasa das' class about Sri Advaita Acharya on His Appearance day in Mayapur

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The newly-launched Bhaktivedanta Vedic Library, offers audiobooks of ISKCON Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada’s works for free, to stream or download onto your laptop, smartphone or other electronic device. It also offers helpful introductory video guides on various elements of the process of Krishna consciousness.

HH Romapada Swami’s appeal to all generations of devotees: If you want Iskcon to celebrate its 100th anniversary please read carefully Srila Prabhupada’s books (video)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/iqVh52

In the Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, Sri Sri Radha Madhava are offered a new dress designed by the community devotees and decorated with many flowers. Everything, from the cloth to the jewellery to the decorations and even the complexion of Srimati Radharani and the gopis, is yellow. 

The Sri Surabhi App will serve mainly as a “friend raiser” involving devotees in various activities related to the OM Sri Surabhi Campaign as well as a “fund raiser” (to support local village/rural projects and campaign initiatives.

Cows rescued by ISCOWP members a year ago were let out on new pasture. Dhruva galloped, Vasanti trotted with her dewlap swaying to and thro and Kalyan and Draupadi did the same. What a joyful sight! A video by Chaya Devi of ISCOWP.

“Photographing at Bhaktivedanta Manor was an extraordinary experience for me in many ways”, explained Sally. “There was always a lot going on and I was accepted by the community right from the very beginning.

In the Skanda Purana there is a statement about tulasi, as follows: "Tulasi is auspicious in all respects. Simply by seeing, simply by touching, simply by remembering, simply by praying to, simply by bowing before, simply by hearing about or simply by sowing this tree, there is always auspiciousness. Anyone who comes in touch with the tulasi tree in the above-mentioned ways lives eternally in the Vaikuntha world."

The program organized by Ramlila Das, a youth outreach coordinator in Surat, included skits, prayers, kirtana and a lecture by Bhakiprem Swami.

Wellington Bhakti Vrksa (Album of photos)
Ramai Swami: Ambarish Maharaja das and Ananga Manjari devi dasi have been serving at...

A school from Hertfordshire in the UK, which had been experiencing religious and racial intolerance amongst its students, made a very special visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor recently.

Ratha-yatra in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: By chanting the holy name of Krishna one is c...

Mumbai Fest gets “Krishnaized” (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: I’m in Mumbai for the weekend to participate in Mumbai Fest; a large event celebrating the heritage, culture, art, cuisine and music of Mumbai. Today the program was inaugurated with all major television, radio and newspapers present. I had the chance to meet and speak with many dignitaries. On Sunday I’ll be among 7 spiritual leaders holding a ‘Peace Forum’ at the event. Each of us will speak for 10 minutes on how to achieve peace in the world. The Vice President of India and the Minister of Culture will be in the audience, as well as millions of people watching on TV. Srila Prabhupada, please bless me to be your proper representative and speak the absolute truth as you would do.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/PZWWqv

Republic Day wishes from ISKCON Nepal
On the special occasion of 69th Republic day of India, ISKCON representative Dr. Sanjiv G...

Advaita assumes a four-armed figure.
Rāghava Paṇḍita continued,
“A wise person once told me that Advaita Gosvāmī stayed in Mathurā during His pilgrimage because of the beauty here. At that time there was a worthless brāhmaṇa in Mathurā who invariably spoke ill of the Vaiṣṇavas. That was his worst habit. He was a proud scholar and a wicked man, so the inhabitants of Mathurā feared him.
Once he spoke harshly about the Vaiṣṇavas in front of Śrī Advaita Prabhu.
Advaita became so furious that His lips began to tremble and His eyes grew red. He shouted at the brāhmaṇa,
‘O wicked man, today you will not escape from Me. I shall sever your head from your body with this cakra.’
Advaita assumed a four-armed figure, and the brāhmaṇa began to tremble in fear. He folded his hands and tried to pacify Advaita by saying,
‘O Lord, punish me as You like. Unfortunately, I have lost my good intelligence, and not understanding vaiṣṇava-tattva, I have committed unlimited sins. Please be kind to me and save me from these sins.’
The brāhmaṇa began to cry helplessly, and Advaita concealed his four-armed form. Seeing the wretched condition of the brāhmaṇa, Advaita felt pity for him and decided to bless him. Advaita spoke in sweet words,
‘The sins which you have committed will send you to hell,
but I will tell you what you must do now. Admit your guilty mentality, give up all pleasures, and engage yourself in nāma-sañkīrtana. Serve the Vaiṣṇavas with your heart and soul and be very cautious in your dealings with them. Engage yourself in worship according to the standards of pure devotion and do not tell anyone what you have seen today.‘

The post Daily Darshan: January 26, 2018 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

• In the material world nitya means for a very long time
• If nitya-baddha takes to devotional service he can reach the spiritual world and become a nitya-siddha
• The fish are always wet and we are wet when we go into the water. When we go to the nitya dhāma, we are on the eternal spiritual platform.

Over 700 students of the LPD School in Surat received copies of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is at an event organized by ISKCON Surat on 18th January. The programme organized by Ramlila Das, a youth preacher in Surat, included skits, prayers, kirtana and a lecture by His Holiness Bhaktiprem Swami. Bhaktiprem Swami described how the Gita was the essence of all the Upanishads, and engaged the students in a question-answer session that was lively and interactive. “Our school is centred around total personality development, in addition to academic learning,” said Vijay Patel, the Principal of the school. “Students are taught the wisdom of our ancient Vedic culture in a manner that can be applied to their daily lives. That is why we were pleased to partner with ISKCON in distributing copies of the Bhagavad-gita to all our senior students.” During the kirtana that followed, most of the students participated in the singing and dancing in an enthusiastic manner. Continue reading "700 students receive Bhagavad-gita in Surat
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In the preface to Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Beatle Guitarist and songwriter George Harrison wrote, “All you need is love (Krishna)”. I am glad that he specified what he meant by love. The Hare Krishna movement took roots in the Western World, by the grace of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Shrila Prabhupada, during a time of free love, which he came not to stop, but to redirect. He gave us the Nectar of Devotion, where he explained how “Our love can be fully satisfied only when it is reposed in Krishna.” Continue reading "Learning to love according to the sastras
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 16 August 2017, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja Evening Lecture)

Sometimes there are devotees, that when you ask them, “What have you read?”, they say, “Oh, many of Prabhupada’s books.” Then they give you a whole list of all small books: Elevation to Krsna Consciousness, The Perfection of Yoga. Then they say, “Well, I am trying to finish the Bhagavad-gita…” and then I ask, “Bhagavatam?” and they reply, “Well… not yet but I am planning to start it.”

Bhagavatam is the central core of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement. It is Bhagavatam that is the essence of all our literature. The Bhagavad-gita is simply the introduction. It gives us the basic philosophy. It describes the position of isvara (the Supreme Lord). It describes the position of the jiva (the living entity). It describes prakriti (material nature). It describes karma (cause and effect). It describes kala (time). Like this, Bhagavad-gita gives us the five main topics and the relationship between all those: (1) the relationship between the jiva and the Supreme Lord, (2) the living entity situated in prakriti – in the material world, (3) how to get out of this material world, (4) how the living entity is marginal energy and can be also in the spiritual world, (5) how in the material world everything is under the influence of time and under the influence of karma. All these things are explained in the Bhagavad-gita and it establishes our constitutional position as the eternal servant of Krsna.

That is very nice but it does not say much about Krsna. Although all knowledge is given in the Bhagavad-gita for going back to Godhead and for attaining the transcendental platform, what is missing is the nectar of Krsna’s pastimes on this planet, the nectar of Krsna’s activities. That is in the Bhagavatam! But one cannot understand Krsna’s pastimes on this planet unless one has read about the all the other incarnations of the Lord because one must understand how Krsna he expands himself – advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam (Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā 5.33) – in his endless forms. So one must understand the endless forms of Krsna through the Bhagavatam and then Bhagavatam in the tenth canto describes to us everything about Krsna. Bhagavatam is the book of this movement!

Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 16.02 Our godliness needs to be seen in our harmonious interactions with others appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

The post If we are too passionate to separate ourselves from our mind, what to do? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Ambarish Maharaja das and Ananga Manjari devi dasi have been serving at the Wellington temple for ten years since coming from Pune, India.

Although both working, they seem to have boundless energy for preaching. In the last few years they have developed Bhakti Vrksa groups and Bhakti Shastri courses.

I was invited for an evening Bhakti Vrksa program and about sixty devotees came for kirtan, lecture, questions and prasadam.

“The Stolen River,” which deals with an issue that has been of deep concern to devotees as well as environmentalists for years now, about the pollution of the Yamuna river, received its world premiere in India in October 2015. Since then, it has won Best Green Film at the LIFFT India Filmotsav, and was in the official selection at many other film festivals.

GOD ON TRIAL SHOWDOWN (27 min video)
Atheistic Scientists challenge God to show up in court or face charges of non-existence. (This video was shot in 1997 & 2000 on Standard Definition equipment.)