Websites from the ISKCON Universe
[Bhagavatam class on Srimad Bhagavatam 4.4.32 at ISKCON, Melbourne, Australia]
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The post How small conflicts become big – Daksha pastime analysis 4 – How impulses are shaped by technology, mentality and spirituality appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
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Land for sale adjacent to Saranagati (Album with photos)
Kripanidhi Das: 165 Acres/66 Hectares - 450K CAD (approximately 353K USD) Excellent realestate investment opportunity
Included is a 1500 acre wood lot license of high value forest timbre.
10 minute drive from Sarangati’s Govardhana Academy school, temple and community centre
Land includes well built house and 5 pieces of heavy equipment to operate Govt licensed wood lot: Back hoe, tractor, grader, caterpillar, front end loader (photos below)
-nestled at the foot of a mountain with 2 pristine streams flowing and plenty of ground water for wells.
-It is mostly forested with high value timbre that can be managed according to Eco-forestry principles. includes all equipment needed to operate. Equipment is older but in perfect condition.
-30 acres cleared and ready for cow protections and/or organic agriculture
-well built small 2 bedroom house ready to live in with potential to expand
-This property has excellent income generating potential
:eco forestry
:organic agriculture
:eco tourism, eco retreats, vaisnava educational
programs etc
This property is critically and strategically important to the Saranagati devotee community. For 35 years we have enjoyed a friendly relationship with the non devotee owners. But now that it is for sale we want to make sure that the new owners are devotees that share our values. With the ownership of this land, the entire valley, it’s water shed, and eco system will be under devotee control, to be managed wholistically according to our vaisnava principles.
We are forming a corporation to purchase the land. The corporation will have 66 shares which corresponds to 66 hectares of land. We propose that interested devotees purchase 1 or multiple shares.
We must act quickly. If non devotees purchase the land, it could be used for cattle ranching & the main source of our community water that feeds our 2 lakes could be blocked.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/qozJ87
Srila Prabhupada: “They must come to the process!”
A 3 min video by Jayadvaita Swami about kirtan.
How we’ll see the potency of the kirtan truly manifest!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/C152zC
ToVP fundraising in Sydney (Album with photos)
After visiting Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne temples, the ToVP team went to Syd...
Meditation with Russell Brand (4 min video)
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama H...
A video by Prananath Das, music by Agnideva Das and Jahnavi Harrison.
This is the story of eight calves rescued by ISCOWP members. View them back in 2014 when they were first rescued and now in 2017 after living 3 years in a protected environment at ISCOWP Cow Sanctuary in Florida. A video by ISCOWP.
Death at any moment…
Kadamba Kanana Swami: In many ways, old age is a blessing. For a Vaisnava, it is a great blessing. Why is it so? Because then, there is no more distraction. When we are young, we have so much fight. “Oh, I want to enjoy… but I have to be Krsna conscious! I should be Krsna conscious. I really want to be but I want to enjoy also.” When you are old, “Yeah, I want to enjoy but let’s be real. Can I? Can I really?” You can try to squeeze a few more drops out of the old broken machine but it is not very convincing. You may want to eat many things but you cannot, not like before. You just cannot. If you do, you have pay for it. Whatever you do, you have to pay for it – more and more and one day, it might just kill you!
In this way, one can see how people can eat themselves to death or people that are like so addicted to sex. People like the cardinal in France who died in the home of a prostitute. The same cardinal who spoke to Prabhupada, (French accent) “But you know, why can we not take the flesh of the cow to feed the hungry children? It is for the children. There is so much hunger in the world. So what can we do? Let the children starve and not eat the flesh of the cow?” Some logic… but he was found dead in the bed of the prostitute – the cardinal! This is an interesting detail that Krsna exposed. So with time, all facades are broken down. With time, it all becomes real. With time, we can no longer fake it. With time, it will become clear who we really are!
The famous German poet writer, Goethe, who is like the German Shakespeare, wrote many wise things, many interesting wise things. However, his doctor testified that in the last three days before his death, he was suddenly overwhelmed by extreme fear. So it is like that! At the end, whatever is not real will collapse. It all becomes real. It is like you can no longer play. You can no longer ACT like a pure devotee. You have to BE IT. You have to have FAITH in Krsna otherwise, it is over, you will become exposed. Old age is a reminder to us: Krsna is our only shelter and we had better start practicing now.
Prabhupada asked the question, “Who is an old man?” and everyone was looking around the room. You can do this exercise – ask one of the kids at a Sunday feast, “Who is an old man?” Sometimes they point at me and something in me goes, “Me? I don’t look that old, do I?” but Prabhupada pointed at a five-year-old child and said, “He is an old man because he can die at any moment.” Anybody can die at any moment!
We were at a funeral yesterday. Anybody can die at any moment. That is what I learned when my father took me to the cemetery for the first time to visit the grave of his father. I was four but I could read a little and I was reading the tombstones. I was not so shocked by the grave of my grandfather because I did not really have much of a relationship with him but when I saw a tombstone of someone who died that was born after me, then I was shocked. Then I realized, “Oh my god, I can die also. Even now, I can die. It is not only old people that die. Anybody can die.” Therefore, we had better be ready and let go of this life.
Srimad-Bhagavatam class by H.G.Pancagauda Prabhu in ISKCON Vrindavan, 21.11.2017 (video)
HH Devamrita Swami Guides Wellington to True Happiness (video)
Devotees from the Wellington Journey of Self Discovery community in New Zealand were fortunate to be graced by the presence of HH Devamrita Swami Maharaj at Lower Hutt City on Friday, the 17th of November. More than sixty devotees who had come into Krishna Consciousness over a period of two years through outreach programs assembled to hear Maharaj’s wisdom on “Hiding in Unnatural Happiness”.
An author of the book on the same topic, Maharaj effortlessly delivered several expert analogies to help devotees understand the ephemeral and fleeting nature of the joys experienced in the material world. We may take pleasure in the warmth and comfort of a coat during winter, but the same coat produces discomfort during the summer and we have to remove it. “The same coat - one day it feels good to put it on, the next day it feels bad so you take it off. Such is the nature of material happiness,” he said. Constantly caught up in the activity of changing ‘coats’ - always seeking temporary relief by changing our material state, we neglect to question the futility of such endeavors. Only when we realize the vanity of material desires through connection with Lord Krishna can we taste the sweeter, eternal, nectarean nature of true spiritual bliss.
HH Devamrita Swami Maharaj’s discourse was followed by pertinent questions from adults and children alike who were eager to know more about the ways in which this knowledge can be interpreted and applied in school, at work and with family. As the discourse concluded and Maharaj took his leave, volunteers set about their services for serving and partaking in Krishna prasadam. But while the prasadam satiated their hunger, their thirst for Krishna bhakti had only increased.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/NEeSY1
By Radheshyam Dasa What should a Sadhaka do while encountering Conflicting roles? Sati faced a tug of war between her desires to go to father’s house V/S Fear of disobeying Lord Siva her husband. Her desire got better off and that impelled her to go ahead, making a bold decision. Srila Prabhupada clearly draws a conclusion that in husband-wife relationship, it is better for wife to co-operate with the husband in a bitter situation than to quit the scene and take shelter of parents seeking a sweet relationship with them. If one considers this matter seriously, one can see that any parent will want to see their daughter happily settled with her husband. But sometimes it is seen that a woman boasts about her great parentage to her husband and picks quarrels seeing his deficiencies, often leading to separation or divorce. Prabhupada calls such attachment to one’s parental home as `womanly weakness’. Desire and Attachment, though can offer instant pleasure, lead to pain in the long run. Obedience and Tolerance, though noble qualities that are difficult to practice, bring long enduring success. In our life, definitely we should put Principle before Pleasure, if we want to experience ultimate success. Continue reading "Encounter with conflicting roles
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By Purushottam Nitai Das Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura met with opposition when he had taken his disciples for braj mandal parikrama because many temple priests of Vrindavan were of the opinion that he should not have given brahminical threads to those who were not born in a brahmana family. But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura gave reference of various scriptures and proved that one should be considered a brahmana not by birth but by qualities. He quoted verse from Srimad Bhagavatam wherein sage Narada tells Yudhisthir that even if one is born in the family of a sudra but acts like a brahmana he should be accepted as a brahmana and if one is born in the family of a brahmana but acts like a sudra then he should be considered a sudra. “If one shows the symptoms of being a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.” S.B. 7.11.35. If anyone is living as per the guidelines of the scriptures, is chanting the holy names of the Lord with love and sincerely following the four regulative principles of no meat eating, no gambling, no intoxication and no licit sex should be considered a saintly person and he is fit to become a guru. Chaitanya Mahaprabh says “It does not matter whether a person is a vipra [learned scholar in Vedic wisdom], or is born in a lower family, or is in the renounced order of life – if he is a master in the science of Krsna, he is the perfect and bona fide spiritual master.” Continue reading "Is it better to choose a guru born in a brahmana family?
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 09 October 2017, Canberra, Australia, Evening Lecture, Srimad Bhagavatam 4.27.27)
In many ways, old age is a blessing. For a vaisnava, it is a great blessing. Why is it so? Because then, there is no more distraction. When we are young, we have so much fight. “Oh, I want to enjoy… but I have to be Krsna conscious! I should be Krsna conscious. I really want to be but I want to enjoy also.” When you are old, “Yeah, I want to enjoy but let’s be real. Can I? Can I really?” You can try to squeeze a few more drops out of the old broken machine but it is not very convincing. You may want to eat many things but you cannot, not like before. You just cannot. If you do, you have pay for it. Whatever you do, you have to pay for it – more and more and one day, it might just kill you!
In this way, one can see how people can eat themselves to death or people that are like so addicted to sex. People like the cardinal in France who died in the home of a prostitute. The same cardinal who spoke to Prabhupada, (French accent) “But you know, why can we not take the flesh of the cow to feed the hungry children? It is for the children. There is so much hunger in the world. So what can we do? Let the children starve and not eat the flesh of the cow?” Some logic… but he was found dead in the bed of the prostitute – the cardinal! This is an interesting detail that Krsna exposed. So with time, all facades are broken down. With time, it all becomes real. With time, we can no longer fake it. With time, it will become clear who we really are!
The famous German poet writer, Goethe, who is like the German Shakespeare, wrote many wise things, many interesting wise things. However, his doctor testified that in the last three days before his death, he was suddenly overwhelmed by extreme fear. So it is like that! At the end, whatever is not real will collapse. It all becomes real. It is like you can no longer play. You can no longer ACT like a pure devotee. You have to BE IT. You have to have FAITH in Krsna otherwise, it is over, you will become exposed. Old age is a reminder to us: Krsna is our only shelter and we had better start practicing now.
Prabhupada asked the question, “Who is an old man?” and everyone was looking around the room. You can do this exercise – ask one of the kids at a Sunday feast, “Who is an old man?” Sometimes they point at me and something in me goes, “Me? I don’t look that old, do I?” but Prabhupada pointed at a five year old child and said, “He is an old man because he can die at any moment.” Anybody can die at any moment!
We were at a funeral yesterday. Anybody can die at any moment. That is what I learned when my father took me to the cemetery for the first time to visit the grave of his father. I was four but I could read a little and I was reading the tombstones. I was not so shocked by the grave of my grandfather because I did not really have much of a relationship with him but when I saw a tombstone of someone who died that was born after me, then I was shocked. Then I realised, “Oh my god, I can die also. Even now, I can die. It is not only old people that die. Anybody can die.” Therefore, we had better be ready and let go of this life.
By Subal Shyam Das and Jaganmohini Devi Dasi This year (2017), on Nov. 24th, Friday, disciples, servants and well-wishers of H.H. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami will be celebrating his 80th Vyasa-puja. On this most auspicious occasion, for the pleasure of all Vaishnava community, we recall one of his vital contributions to the BI-scientific mission which was visible since the inception of Bhaktivedanta Institute by the blessings of Srila Prabhupada. Today we would like to emphasize on this aspect, namely, Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaj's unique approach of first class dialogue in dealing with scholarly community. He adopted this even while he was preparing and arranging the first international congress on 'Life comes from Life' before Srila Prabhupada's departure in 1977 at Vrindavan and Srila Prabhupada was indeed very pleased with it. Continue reading "First Class Dialogue with Scientific and Scholarly community – Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami’s Matchless contribution to the BI mission
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Answer Podcast
The post When does determination turn into obstinacy? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
The post How small conflicts become big – Daksha pastime analysis (3) appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Wish you would have been here.
Wish you would have been here.
As of Friday this podcast is moved from sivaramaswami.com to sivaramaswami.media.
As of Friday this podcast is moved from sivaramaswami.com to sivaramaswami.media
The post Daily Darshan: 22 November, 2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Grihastha Life (10 min video)
Chaitanya Charan Das: Isn’t fear of entanglement in grihastha life desirable?
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/wYhihY
Lord Vishnu to be on the cover of the Sri Isopanisad!
Ramesvara: In 1974 the artists and I had thought for the reprinting of the Isopanisad that we would have a new picture on the cover.
Instead of Lord Vishnu we would have a picture of Krishna on the cover.
Again I had the good fortune to present that idea to Srila Prabhupada.
He rejected it. He was angry.
Prabhupada said, “I have specifically chosen Lord Vishnu to be on the cover of the Sri Isopanisad. I want this book to be attractive to people of all philosophical persuasions, even Mayavadis and Vedantists.
“All the different philosophical schools have to see Vishnu on the cover of Isopanisad. Krishna they won’t buy. What is wrong with you? Whose idea is this?”
Prabhupada was so involved in selecting the artwork, choosing the size, the number of pages per book, the design of the book.
Prabhupada’s genius was that he was taking books of the highest philosophy and making them popular.
Philosophy books aren’t popular.
Philosophy books don’t sell anywhere in the world.
But Prabhupada’s genius was to have these gorgeous art paintings, carefully chosen, to insert in philosophy books to sell them to average persons all over the world.
This was genius marketing on Srila Prabhupada’s part.
He was in charge. He planned this.
You could not make a change if he didn’t approve it.
—Ramesvara
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BBT Brazil’s Crowdfunding Success for Large-Scale Bhagavad-gita Print.
You have Srila Prabhupada’s request to publish his books on Krishna consciousness as much as possible to reduce ignorance and suffering in the world. In addition, you have the followers of Srila Prabhupada with that same desire, asking you to please publish Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Srila Prabhupada’s most popular and important book, at an affordable price, so that it can get popularized as much as possible. It seems obvious what you have to do: publish the book of Srila Prabhupada. But nothing is easy. You are the president of a BBT Brazil that does not have the financial resources for a large-scale print (what is necessary for a book to be cheap), a BBT Brazil in which the distribution of books by devotees, is almost non-existent. What would you do in the face of this dilemma?
This situation was actually experienced by Nanda Kumara president of BBT Brazil. Asking himself what to do, he says that one day he had an “epiphany”.
“When replying to a devotee who asked the possibility of joining a number of people for an advance purchase and a possible impression, I thought: why not try a crowd funding campaign?”
Better than to have BBT team organizing a platform for crowd funding, Nanda Kumara considered it better to use existing platforms, and there was only advantages: if the daring goal of R$151,000 (46,000 USD) was not reached, the platform would return all the money to all supporters at no charge to BBT. Another advantage is that it would transmit great professionalism and confidence to those who wanted to invest.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/bF5t44
Agnideva Prabhu’s health update (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: One of my main objectives in coming to Australia was to visit Agnideva prabhu in the hospital in Sydney. Myself and Sri Prahlada dasa spend over an hour with him this afternoon in ICU. He had triple-bypass heart surgery 2 days ago. He was unable to speak, but squeezed my hand tightly as Sri Prahlada led kirtan and I shared some pastimes of Lord Caitanya with him. When I mentioned how so many devotees around the world were praying for him and donating towards his medical expenses, tears rolled down his cheeks. He will be in ICU for another week and then rehab for 2 months. Although his discomfort was obvious he managed a smile just before we left. If you would like to contribute to his care please visit:
www.gofundme.com/agnidevadas
Find them here: https://goo.gl/cAfDZk
By Hemarupa Caitanya Das Determination is vital either in material or spiritual life. This determination exhibits a devotee’s hankering and sincere desire for attainment of the perfectional stage of devotional service. Lord Brahma, the original first living being was entrusted with the service of engineering the material world, based on the raw ingredients provided by the Lord, under His direction and empowerment. In the course of his creation, Lord Brahma faced five obstacles, from which we too can derive lessons that pertain to our own practice and execution of devotional service. Lord Brahma first created the five ajnana-vrittis of elements of nescience, such as self-deception, the sense of death, anger after frustration, the sense of false ownership, and the illusory bodily conception, or forgetfulness of one’s real identity [SB 3.12.2]. After which, the patriarch felt dissatisfied at having to perform the thankless task of further implicating the living entities into ignorance. Continue reading "Deadly D’s to determination
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By Anand Caitanya das Every year the Aqua Foundation Group organizes the World Aqua Congress (WAC) on a theme related to environment and invites excerpts of papers from speakers from all over India. During the XI World Aqua Congress, this year, ISKCON Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV) was awarded with the prestigious Aqua Excellence Award in the category of ‘Green Housing – Social Sector’. Jadu Thakur Das, Head - CSR, GEV received this award from Dr. Vandana Shiva, the famous author, activist, pioneer and Scientific Advisor. The Award Ceremony was conducted during the Inaugural Session of XI World Aqua Congress, cantered on the theme of ‘Water & Environment’’ on the 9th November 2017 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The conference was attended by various corporate heads, Government authorities, university professors, NGOs etc. Continue reading "ISKCON Govardhan Eco Village Won the Aqua Excellence Award 2017 in the XI World Aqua Congress
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By MCO staff The devotees rent an auditorium and many devotees from ISKCON Mayapur come to participate in the program. They perform dances, musical presentations, and dramas, and senior devotees speak. There is also kirtan and prasadam distribution. During the month of Kartik, the Bhakti Vriksha Department conducts Damodara Programs, in which attendees hear about Damodara lila and offer lamps. In 2016, the Damodara Programs were so successful that the Mayapur Bhakti Vriksha Department engaged over 100,000 people in offering lamps to the Lord. All of these programs are very effective for attracting the local people to become a part of Mayapur’s Bhakti Vriksha. Continue reading "The Networking Tree of Lord Caitanya
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Countless people come to ISKCON Mayapur from all over India and the world, and ISKCON Mayapur has a number of preaching endeavors to attract these people to Mayapur and to preach the science of Krishna consciousness to them. ISKCON Mayapur’s preaching targets all people, both those from far away lands and those who reside within […]
The post The Networking Tree of Lord Caitanya appeared first on Mayapur.com.
We’ve had extensive coverage of the parikrama on Facebook with daily livestreams and photos. The video and audio recordings are still to come but in case you are not a Facebook user, here are all the photos again.
The KKSBlog Facebook account has reached its maximum number of friends (5000) and therefore cannot accept further friend requests but please “follow” us. All our posts are public and they will appear in your newsfeed if you are following us.
Day 1 – Brahmanda Ghat and Raval
Day 2 – Surabhi Kund and Govardhana
Day 5 – Sanketa Bihari and Anjanoka
Day 6 – Sudevi Mandir and Unchagaon
Day 7 – Prema Sarovara and Barsana
Day 8 – Rama Ghat and Chir Ghat
Parikrama photos by Rasacarya Das.
Answer Podcast
The post By contemplating the consequences of sensuality, if we practice bhakti, is that bhakti at the level of fear? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
[Bhagavatam class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.4.30 at ISKCON, Melbourne, Australia]
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Podcast Summary
The post How small conflicts become big – Daksha pastime analysis 3 – Understanding the filters people bring to a relationship appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
[Youth meeting at Bhakti Bhavan, Melbourne, Australia]
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Podcast Summary
The post Pursuing our loudest desires is not freedom – pursuing our deepest desires is appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
[Talk at AusCrystals, Melbourne, USA]
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Podcast Summary
The post 3 As to bring out the best in you – Awareness Association Appreciation appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
[Bhagavatam class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.4.30 at ISKCON, Melbourne, Australia]
Podcast
Podcast Summary
The post How small conflicts become big – Daksha pastime analysis 3 – Understanding the filters people bring to a relationship appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
After visiting Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne temples, the ToVP team went to Sydney. The function was held at the North Ryde School of Arts hall, which the temple management use to fund raise for their new temple out west.
The event went well with Ambarish Prabhu and and his wife Svaha Devi Dasi giving speeches about the need to help finish the Temple of Vedic Planetarium. Braja Vilasa Prabhu asked every to donate generously and took pledges from the nearly 100 devotees who attended.
