ten years…
→ Servant of the Servant

Ten years can seem a long time. Certainly many things have changed in the past ten years. I know the first iPhone was released ten years ago and how that has revolutionized the lives of people. Another big change was the housing market crash which I remember was also changing people's lives. America elected the first black president and he heralded something new into the political and social system. In the past ten years, my own personal life has changed a lot. Certainly ten years can seem long and when we look back we can appreciate our losses and thank our successes.

From the perspective of time itself, ten years is negligible. One of the five things that is talked about in the Gita is Time. Time, Krishna says "I am". Krishna manifests as time factor, how He does it is mysterious. Physicists are trying hard to quantify time but are unsuccessful. Time is elusive and difficult to understand. One thing physicists agree is that time is like an arrow that has already left the bow. It is speeding only in one direction. However, according to physicists',through time-warp we can travel back in time. Of course this is only in theory so far. My point is time is the grandest and mysterious thing of all and is executing our lives as we speak.

Last ten years has been a pleasure for me writing this blog. It was ten years ago to this day I began this blog. Writing my mental ramblings in some ways has been therapeutic for me and also a way to express my thoughts and views related to Krishna and life in general. I hope this can continue by the blessings of devotees and Krishna. Regardless, I thank Krishna for giving me the inspiration to write and the readers whoever you are for taking time to read and sharing your comments.

Thank you very much!
Hare Krishna


The Eye of the Owl. Sivarama Swami: Let me tell a story from…
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The Eye of the Owl.
Sivarama Swami: Let me tell a story from the ancient India Mahabharata. India’s princes were being tested in archery by their martial arts teacher Drona. He had put a wooden owl in the top of a high tree. And then he called the princes to attention. Their target was the eye of the owl. First he called on the prince regent and said, “Set the arrow to your bow, take aim and tell me what you see?”
The regent did as he was told and being polite said, “I see you. I see the tree. I see the branch. And I see the owl.”
The teacher said, “Ease your bow and move out of the way.” The next prince was called.
Again, “Set your arrow, aim and tell me what you see.”
The second prince replied, “I see the tree and the owl.”
The teacher said, “Ease your bow and move out of the way.” The teacher called for the next prince. “Aim your arrow and tell me what you see.”
The third prince replied, “I see the owl sitting on the branch. And I see the eye of the owl.”

Once again the teacher said, “Ease your bow and move out of the way.” By this time there was silent anxiety amongst the princes.

The teacher next called for Arjuna, Krishna’s friend, and the person to whom the Bhagavad-gita would be spoken to in the future.

The teacher said, “Arjuna! Set the arrow to your bow, take aim and tell me what you see.”

Arjuna replied, “I see the eye of the owl.”

The teacher asked, “What else do you see?”

Arjuna said, “I see only the eye of the owl.”

“Don’t you see me?”

“No!”

“Don’t you see the tree?”

“No!”

“Don’t you see the branch its on.”

“No!”

“Don’t you see the owl.”

“No!”

“You don’t see the owl? Then what do you see?”

“I see only the eye of the owl.”

The teacher nodded and said, “Then shoot your arrow.”

Arjuna shot and hit his target.

The lesson is clear. When you have a goal in life. Especially the goal of self-realization. Never take your eyes off it. Don’t get distracted from it by anything or anyone. Then you will be able to reach it.

Keep your aim on the eye of the owl

– HH Sivarama Swami

Bigg Boss Chahte hai… Madhav Mehra: Such is the craze of this…
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Bigg Boss Chahte hai…
Madhav Mehra: Such is the craze of this series across the country that just these 4 words instantly brings to the ears a husky and grave voice with no face but a popular name ‘Bigg Boss’. Bigg Boss remains a dominating highlight of television and its discussions are part of our daily meal as a side dish along with our lunch and dinner menu.
We all are ardent followers of freedom, privacy and harmony. Yet, when the contestants are denied all three of these, our subtle mind enjoys the outcome. Secretly we love snatching the rights of people, are curious to track their each and every movement and if, unable to handle the first two impositions, chaos erupts that becomes a cherry on top of this delightful treat for viewers. The show is meant to exploit this exact tendency thus provides the enjoyment in mode of ignorance.

However, it would be too naïve to think the concept as original. If you read the Bhagvat Gita, you can easily perceive that the Bigg Boss show is just a microscopic replica of materialistic world and real BIGG BOSS is Krishna who has been playing this BIGG Boss since time immemorial. Not just the house but the features and functionalities can be proven to be a direct derivation of Laws of our material world and we all have been living in this Bigg Boss’s house as Contestants since eternity. (BG 9.8 “The whole cosmic order is under Me. By my will it is manifested again and again, and by my will it is annihilated at the end”).

Let’s explore some of features of this show which clearly portrays the rulebooks governing the Original BIGG Boss House, This Materialistic World.

1. In Big Boss, once the contestants enters the house, then only they come to know other participants, with whom they have to live during their whole stint at house. Similarly Living beings are not aware who will be their parents, relatives on their birth in this world. Further, irrespective of contestant’s desire, Bigg Boss can ask the contestant to leave the house anytime, correspondingly inspite of all our will, whether we are young or old, we can get order from Supreme to leave this world.

2. When one enters the house, the colors and design captures the sight and heart but as days pass by, each of these artistic objects fade away in the din of day-to-day fights. Krishna created this seemingly beautiful world with so much captivating beauty along with perfectly working Nature, yet himself named it Miserable. Today whole world has been infected with social HIV (Hatred, Intolerance and Violence) which likewise HIV disease seems incurable!!

3. Bigg Boss may boast of 90+ cameras to record every activity of participants but Krishna has created this materialistic world in such a fashion that we are under surveillance every moment and are being constantly judged for our actions. Krishna’s technology is far superior than Bigg Boss technology that not just records physical actions, but is even aware of mind, intentions and heart of person.

4. To maintain the house and the contestants, Bigg Boss allocates them tasks – some necessary and some playful. These tasks are purposefully designed to bring out the real nature of the contestants. No matter how sophisticated they appear when they enter yet they are soon seen fuming with anger, hatred and intolerance to project themselves as the smartest and the worthy-most. These tasks are a reflection of our day to day lives, where we want to win and see only our version of ethics as the correct one. We all harbor intense desire to be the Captain of ours as well as others’ lives.

5. Propelled with the desire to win the show and to prove their supremacy to everyone, contestants do all kind of indecent activities. When their plan doesn’t work they may resort to creating mindless controversy which only promotes the fights, tensions in the house thus raising the anxiety and frustrations in the contestants. In the material world as well, the mind-numbing race of proving oneself better than the other in this short time becomes a cause of frustration and on finding other better than us, burn us in fire of Jealous and Hatred thus degrade our propensity to animal level.

6. Living in so much anguish, negative environment having daily fights, back biting and no one who can be relied upon truly, contestants based on their tolerance level, stay strong in their journey or make desperate attempts to leave the house, similarly being tormented by waves of depression, anxieties, diseases and uncontrollable lust and yet trying to pretend that we are happily living through our Facebook, Instagram posts either leads the individual to commit suicide or keep living with ‘Smiling Faces and Crying Hearts’ lifestyle.

7. Every contestant thinks that If I win the show then it will change my destiny forever as he will become a Star. But what to say of becoming Star, even hard core fans of Big Boss will not able to recall the names of winners of last seasons. Similarly whatever we may achieve in this life whether we become millionaire or Miss World or Most Powerful person of World, all will vanish one day and we have struggle from scratch in next lifetime.

8. Finally, even if you are Big star outside but in Big boss home, Big boss is only master and his orders everyone has to follow, similarly in this life we have to finally go as per plans of Krishna inspite of fact how much planning we have done for our life.

We can see for ourselves that we are living in one such Bigg Boss House . Krishna takes innumerable forms to revive the long-lost souls and take them back to His Original Home. Yet, our bewildered mind is unable to perceive it. We judge the contestants, analyze their actions, predict their role, chuckle at their predicament and feel empowered with these imaginary powers. Like a dust covered kid when sees a mirror, he blames the mirror of being dirty instead of realizing that the dust is actually on him. Similarly, people fail to realize that actually they themselves are living in a BIGG BOSS house leaving their original home, and not the contestants of the show who are being paid huge amounts to deliberately create visual content on-screen.

There is no manual to win the Bigg Boss but to win the original BIGG BOSS, Krishna being most kind and helpful has provided a very Phenomenal manual – Srimad Bhagavad Gita. We saw how traits of an unacceptable behavior is documented in it and so is their answers. As host Salman Khan keep warning the contestants ”Be careful, kyunki uparvala sab dekh raha hai”, likewise Our Spiritual Master Srila Prabhupad (Founder Acharya of ISKCON) regularly warned about original Bigg Boss House that ‘This place is not for Gentleman’ and though his books showed us way to our Original Home ‘Back to Godhead’ far away from this turmoil BIGG BOSS House.

Thanks and Regards,

Madhav Mehra

Preaching program in Delhi (Album with photos) On 4th Nov 2017,…
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Preaching program in Delhi (Album with photos)
On 4th Nov 2017, Gaur Gopal das was invited to give a speech on the topic of ‘Spiritual Connect in Management Education and Higher Education,’ at Industry Interface with Higher Education (IIHE) Conclave held at Delhi, India.
IIHE conclave was conducted to discuss current challenges in Higher education and Industry expectations. The talk was attended by high profile academicians (vice chancellors, Directors, Govt. Secretaries, Bureaucrats, Senior Professors) and Top leaders from Corporate sectors.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/WHsSo4

TRIBUTES: Vyasa-puja book for all disciples of Srila…
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TRIBUTES: Vyasa-puja book for all disciples of Srila Prabhupada.
The annual Tributes Vyasa-puja book is looking to grow its team.
The Tributes book offers all disciples of Srila Prabhupada the opportunity to submit a vyasa-puja offering. Annually the book receives over 250 offerings. We would like to grow this number and reach many more disciples of Srila Prabhupada. The offerings are an opportunity to capture the relationship, stories, realizations of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples.
To continue providing this service, the Tributes team is looking to expand in order to get additional support for the various aspects of the publication. Here’s what we’re looking for:

Production Manager: to oversee the various stages of the book production and working with the teams receiving the offerings, editing, proofing, design, print and dispatching the books.
Location: ideally UK.

Designers: we have a set Adobe InDesign layout for the book and cover that is updated annually. We are looking for experienced or budding designers to help compile the book layout to be print-ready.
Location: anywhere.

Editors: our editorial policy is to keep it light and support the original voice of author. Editors can be based anywhere and will work with our Senior Editor Nimai devi dasi based in the UK.
Location: anywhere.

Sanskrit editors: to look through all the Sanskrit and diacritical markings for each offering.
Location: anywhere.

Proof readers: to check to book for errors and rectify them with the designer.
Location: anywhere.

Website Maintenance: to regularly update and maintain the website.

Marketing agents: connecting with and reaching out to all Srila Prabhupada disciples across the world using local face to face as well as social media networks.
Location: anywhere.

Dispatch: arranging to collect and post all books on time.
Location: UK.

If you’d like to explore one or more of these roles then please send me an email at sptributes@gmail.com and we can set up a Skype call to discuss further. In the meantime you can find more info on the book at sptributes.com.

Thank you.

Hare Krishna.

Your servant,
Pradyumna das

Duryodhana character analysis 1 – How the entitlement mentality degrades
→ The Spiritual Scientist

[Seminar at ISKCON, Perth Australia]

Podcast

 
Podcast Summary

Video:

The post Duryodhana character analysis 1 – How the entitlement mentality degrades appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Appreciating the purpose of worship of the devatas
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Bhagavatam class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.28.22 at ISKCON, Perth, Australia

Podcast

Podcast Summary

Video:

The post Appreciating the purpose of worship of the devatas appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

When the mind becomes a mirror for the pure soul, does the soul perceive itself through the mind or without it too?
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Answer Podcast

The post When the mind becomes a mirror for the pure soul, does the soul perceive itself through the mind or without it too? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Quite a story
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 November 2017, Mayapur, India, Russian Lecture, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.6.10)

Srila Prabhupada makes the point that Krsna is more eager for us to go back to Godhead than we are ourselves. We sometimes say, “Yeah, I definitely want to go back to Godhead…” but what if suddenly, we would get the opportunity?

One devotee, a friend of mine who joined ISKCON in 1967, when he was young, he was looking for the truth and he went into nature and sat down on a hill. He started meditating and he was thinking, “I really want to get out of this world.”
Suddenly he saw a big gate in the sky. The doors opened and a sage appeared. The sage said, “You can come,”
and he said, “Oh, well… but I am still young.”
Then sage said, “Okay, you can wait,” and the doors closed.
He thought, “Oh no! What did I do? I got the opportunity and I hesitated and now the doors are closed!”

Anyway, he went home and for some months nothing happened, then winter came and there was a lot of snow outside. One night, he was dreaming that he was flying in the sky. He came to a city which was built on hills. Then a voice said, “Go to San Francisco.”

So he thought, “Last time, I missed… So this time, I will do it!” He was very serious. He got up immediately and left the house, in the middle of the night in the snow.

He started hitchhiking and immediately one car stopped.  The driver asked, “Where do you want to go?”
He said, “To San Francisco.”
The driver said, “Get in. That is where I am going.” Everything was magic.

But when he arrived in San Francisco, nothing happened. So he stayed there. He got a motorbike and got a job with a courier service delivering packets and racing around on his motorbike. One day he had an accident and injured his leg and had to go to the hospital and all these things. After some time, he was a little better and one day, was sitting in a park, on a bench, with his leg in plaster and he still had crutches. He was in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and suddenly the Ratha Yatra came past with ten thousand people and Prabhupada was on the chariot! The kirtan was going on and when he saw Prabhupada, he recognised Prabhupada to be the sage in the sky, who had asked him to come in the doors! The Ratha Yatra cart was moving but since he could not walk because of his injured leg, it just disappeared. He was totally fried – two times, he missed out!

Anyway, after some weeks, his leg was better and he went to the police station to pick up his motorbike. He had brought a sleeping bag with him to take it to the dry cleaner. When he was at the place where the motorbike was stored, then he heard this noise, “Hare Krsna… (ching), Hare Krsna… (ching)” It was the same noise as that Ratha Yatra so he followed it and walked straight to the temple and the devotees said, “Oh, you brought your sleeping bag, you want to move in?” And this is how he became a devotee. It is quite a story. A five minute story but a nice story. It shows Krsna’s eagerness to take us back to Godhead, somehow or other!

 

Friday, November 24th, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

Toronto, Ontario

I Met Fellows

Mahaprabhu is a rather seasoned Vaishnava and is comfortably set in his orthodox ways in both looks and behaviour.  He and I went for an evening trek through Rosedale, a neighbourhood of stately homes.  With his stark white dhoti and almost-shocking, bold tilak on his forehead, set against a deliciously dark pigment, he could easily come across appearing tribal/terroristic in this established neighbourhood.

I believe that after thirty years of my floating through this hood (and I say that because I do feel light, and safe perhaps, in this residential nook) people have come to know me.  But Mahaprabhu, well, he’s new and different.  I’m proud of him for being a staunch monk.  I assess him as such even though his visit to our ashram is short—two weeks.

Having spent a good long day in the ashram, I met with others, mostly fellows, who had come around to visit, to hear, to view, to eat—all things that happen at the ashram and temple.  There was Michael Gilbert, a renowned photographer, who lives in both Paris and Hawaii, who came down for lunch at our Govinda’s.  He told me of a photo assignment in Nepal, one April, when he was trapped in snow at a 14,000 foot altitude.  Thought he was going to die.  Then he started the mantra “Hare Krishna” and it gave him the fuel to keep walking down the mountain’s descent.  Hope came to him.

I also met Nicolas from Florida who showed me his mantra card he’s had for years in his wallet.

Ryan from London, Ontario, also came by.  He’s got that fascination for Krishna.  And then there was Amit, smitten with love, going through a relationship crisis.  “Chant!” Mahaprabhu and I told him.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Thursday, November 23rd, 2017
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Mississauga, Ontario

The Two S’s

It was an interesting way to get to the wedding of Bhupender and Divya.  I took the subway—the underground commuter train—to the end of the line at Sheppard West, then walked to beyond Highway 400 on Sheppard where Nimai Nitai picked me up for a drive to the destination, a gorgeous banquet hall next to the Ram Mandir.  We made it.

Have you ever been to an Indian wedding?  It’s lavish, the food is good and the people are cheerful.  It can be endless and have a semblance of Chapter 11 from the Gita—many forms, colours, no beginning and especially no end.  All my friends were there, community members and disciples/students.  Kratu and his wife were there.  I remember when he joined.

When we arrived, the puja (rituals) were underway.  The bridegroom sat on a royal-like couch.  I was asked by the pundit (priest) to chant.  With no musical instruments in sight, Kratu was quick to grab a china plate and knife.  This helped to keep a rhythm with the knife beating on the plate.  That was innovative. I chanted Hare Krishna and all responded.

The bride, Divya, appeared  She sat next to her new husband.  Kratu spoke.  He offered a big congratulations to all.  Divya’s dad, R. Raman, spoke as well.  I spoke.  Wisdom is what the Emcee asked for, in brief.

Okay, to Bhupender and Divya, who are both doctors, I offered this advice, “Follow the two S’s.  The first S stands for sanga—keep good company, holy company.  The second S stands for seva—service to God and others.  The best to you!”

May the Source be with you!

8 km

Food For All in Vraj 2017 (2 min video)Parasuram das: Dear…
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Food For All in Vraj 2017 (2 min video)
Parasuram das: Dear Devotees this Kartik an international group of devotees was fortunate to travel the 12 forests of Vraj. A strong kirtan party with members of the “Harinam Ruci” chanted up to 8 hours a day. 38,000 small books were distributed, this small book Raja Vidya was the same book that the devotees flooded the Allahabad Kamba Mela during Srila Prabhupada’s physical presence. Tonnes and tonnes of Krishna prasad were distributed. Books, Prasad and Harinam, Jai Srila Prabhupada.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/quYGUd

To go Up you have to go Down! Sivarama Swami: In cities there…
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To go Up you have to go Down!
Sivarama Swami: In cities there are hundred-story buildings being built. But one thing that small and tall buildings have in common are foundations. In other words, before going up, you have to go down. It may appear contradictory, but that’s construction. And the further up you want to go — the taller the building you want to build, the deeper has to be your foundation.
Foundations are what hold up the building and its the same thing in life. If you have a goal, you have to set a foundation for it. If you want to be a surgeon, you have to invest in years of study and medical training. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to apprentice under one, learn the ropes and be patient.
These are the foundation.
So to go up to where we want to go, we always have to go down. And going down takes us to places that don’t always resemble our goal. Still,
that’s the foundation. And it’s the same with Yoga and with self-awareness. To really connect with the Supreme, we have to dutifully practice self-discipline, lead a regulated life and systematically study the truths of transcendence. These are foundations that will help us go up and connect with divinity.

To try to go up, without going down, is a waste of time. And to make an alternative to the authorised process… well its like building a house and
ignoring standard construction practices that are based on standard laws of physics and math. The result will be that the building will collapse and the builder will have wasted his time and money.

So remember, whatever your goal or goals in life are including selfawareness you need to do the standard, accepted methods of preparation.

Before going up, you have to go down.

– HH Sivarama Swami

Our family business! Madhava Mohini and I were in Whangarei, New…
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Our family business!
Madhava Mohini and I were in Whangarei, New Zealand, for a week.
One fine evening, I met a man outside a K Mart in the Okara car park. He was just getting out of his car with his teenage son. He was big and bald, with tattoos, so I asked whether he was a monk or if it was just the haircut?
He laughed. I started presenting the books, and he agreed with everything. Keen to help us out with a donation, the man, Jimmy, sent his son to the ATM.
While his son was withdrawing cash, Jimmy told me that he is interested in the Vedas. I was surprised and asked him how he got interested. He said that he hangs out with some interesting people.
I showed him a copy of Searching for Vedic India, and he said, “I already got that book from someone in this car park a year ago.”
So this time Jimmy got a Bhagavad-gita and Hiding in Unnatural Happiness (HUH).
A few days later, Madhava and I were in Kaitaia. The streets were hot, dusty and noisy, with five-year-old kids performing Michael Jackson songs to raise funds for their school trip to Wellington, folks chatting outside a bakery, and a meat sizzle down the road. Madhava told me that it reminded her of India (minus the sausage sizzle).
While distributing in a car park, Madhava met a nice lady from Keri Keri doing her grocery shopping.
Shocked, Madhava asked her if she comes all the way to Kaitaia just to shop. The lady laughed and said “No, I work here, too.”
While Madhava was presenting the books, the lady said that actually she had just started to read the first page of the book HUH last evening and had then fallen asleep, but that she wanted to finish it because she thought it was a good book.
Madhava asked where she’d gotten the book, and she said her husband had received the books from a girl in an Okara car park a few days ago. This lady also was enthusiastic to give Madhava a donation and received a Bhagavad-gita.
Madhava described this to me later as we were driving home, and we realized that her husband was the Jimmy I had met. Husband, wife and teenage son all got a chance to do devotional service and now have a solid collection of Prabhupada’s books from different links in the chain of our family business.
Our family business, ki jaya!

WSN October 2017 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
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Hare KrishnaBy Mayapur Sasi dasa

For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following results of book distribution for the month of October 2017 from the whole planet. World Totals, Monthly Congregation and Weekend Warriors, Monthly Continents, Monthly Top Ten Temples by Size, Monthly Top Ten Temples by Continent, Monthly Top Teams and Individuals, Monthly All Countries, Monthly All Temples, Monthly All Prabhupada Disciples, Cumulative Top Ten Countries, Cumulative Top Ten Temples, Cumulative Top 50 Individuals Worldwide Continue reading "WSN October 2017 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
→ Dandavats"

Recordings: Australia, October 2017
→ KKSBlog

Please find below audio recordings of lectures and kirtans by Kadamba Kanana Swami during his visit to Australia in October 2017. Video recordings may be found on our Facebook page.

Download ALL (Zip file 2.3 GB)

Melbourne

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_20thOctober2017_HallProgram_Kirtan_GovardhanPuja_Adivas

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_20thOctober2017_HallProgram_Lecture_GovardhanPuja_Adivas

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_18thOctober2017_Lecture_SB_4.3.17

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_18thOctober2017_Kirtan

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_18thOctober2017_ShortLecture

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_17thOctober2017_Kirtan

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_17thOctober2017_Lecture

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_15thOctober2017_InitationCeremony_Lecture

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_15thOctober2017_InitationCeremony_Kirtan

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_15thOctober2017_Kirtan

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_15thOctober2017_Lecture

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_13thOctober2017_ Kirtan

KKS_Australia_Melbourne_13thOctober2017_Damodarastakam_and_Kirtan

 

Canberra

KKS_Australia_Canberra_13thOctober2017_Lecture_SB_4.27.30

KKS_Australia_Canberra_12thOctober2017_Lecture_SB_4.27.29

KKS_Australia_Canberra_11thOctober2017_Lecture_SB_4.27.28

KKS_Australia_Canberra_11thOctober2017_Intro_to_Kirtan

KKS_Australia_Canberra_11thOctober2017 _Kirtan

KKS_Australia_Canberra_10thOctober2017_Lecture_SB_4.27.27

KKS_Australia_Canberra_10thOctober2017_Evening_Lecture_BG_2.38

KKS_Australia_Canberra_10thOctober2017_Damodarastakam

KKS_Australia_Canberra_8thOctober2017_Damodarastakam

KKS_Australia_Canberra_8thOctober2017_Evening_Lecture_BG_6.38

KKS_Australia_Canberra_7thOctober2017_Lecture_SB_4.27.25

KKS_Australia_Canberra_7thOctober2017_Damodarastakam

KKS_Australia_Canberra_7thOctober2017_Intro_to_Kirtan

KKS_Australia_Canberra_7thOctober2017_Kirtan

 

Prabhupada Marathon Message
Giriraj Swami

 I am pleased to encourage you to participate in the Prabhupada book-distribution marathon. Srila Prabhupada explains, “Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami had no fixed residence. They stayed beneath a tree for one day only and wrote huge volumes of transcendental literature. . . . It is certainly not good to write literature for money or reputation, but to write books and publish them for the enlightenment of the general populace is real service to the Lord. That was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s opinion, and he specifically told his disciples to write books.” (Cc Madhya 19.132 purport)

This is parampara. Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami and all the Gosvamis wrote books for the enlightenment of the general populace, and that instruction and practice came down through parampara to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, who wrote many books and instructed his disciples to write books. And Srila Prabhupada faithfully followed those instructions and also wrote many books. In fact, it is inconceivable that anyone could write so many books in such a short time.

Srila Prabhupada came to America in 1965, and from the very beginning in New York City he was selling his books. Years later, when devotees were doing research about Prabhupada’s life, they went to some bookstores where he had sold his books, and the shopkeepers remembered, “Oh yes, a very nice Indian gentleman came, and he would always give us samosas.” He would give them samosas when he went to sell them his books.

Prabhupada said that from the very beginning the basis of his movement was book distribution—the publication and distribution of books—and he showed that example.

In the same purport, Prabhupada explains further, “[T]he business of advanced and empowered devotees is to write books, publish them, and distribute them widely.”

Prabhupada wrote books, the BBT has published them, and now it is for us to distribute them. This is “the business of advanced and empowered devotees.” We are all already connected to Srila Prabhupada, and we all will benefit when we distribute his books. And if you persevere with sincerity and intelligence, you will also be advanced and empowered devotees.

Prabhupada states further, “According to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, distributing literature is like playing on a great mrdanga.” He called the printing press the brhat-mrdanga, the great mrdanga, because an ordinary mrdanga can be heard for a few blocks whereas the brhat-mrdanga, the printing press, the books, can be heard all over the world.

I was the first ISKCON devotee to go to West Africa, Nigeria. I did hari-nama on the streets, and large crowds of people would gather round. Some well-dressed Africans started speaking about the Bhagavad-gita and the philosophy of Krishna consciousness, and I asked, “How do you know all these things? Did you ever meet devotees?” They replied, “No. But we have a friend who met devotees on the street in London, bought some books from them, and then shared them with us.” Even before any devotees had gone to West Africa, Prabhupada’s books had reached there and people were learning about Krishna consciousness.

Sometimes a whole yatra can begin just from books. Once, a tourist from Venezuela visited Israel, met devotees, and got some books from them. Back in Venezuela, he shared the books with his friends. They all started reading, became convinced of the philosophy, began to chant, and started practicing Krishna consciousness without having met any devotees. Eventually they developed a community of devotees and invited Srila Prabhupada, and he went—and it all began with the books.

The brhat-mrdanga can be heard all over the world.

Srila Prabhupada concludes his purport with a request to all of us: “Consequently we always request members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to publish as many books as possible and distribute them widely throughout the world. By thus following in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Gosvami, one can become a rupanuga devotee.”

Rupa Gosvami is described as sri-caitanya-mano-’bhistam, sthapitam yena bhu-tale: he established on earth the mission to fulfill the desire of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And that is done primarily through writing, publishing, and distributing books.

Srila Prabhupada said, “It’s like a train.” In a train, one car pushes—or pulls—the other, the other pushes another, and the other pushes still another. He said, “My guru maharaja is pushing me, and I am pushing all of you.”

Hare Krishna.

Your servant,
Giriraj Swami

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