Planet ISKCON

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[Talk to teenagers at Austin, USA]

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[Sunday feast talk at Austin Vedic Cultural Center, Austin, USA]

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it has been a while since I’ve written anything for my blog although I’ve been approached on a number of occasions to write about some of the activities I’ve been up to; so here goes.

I had been pondering for a while how HH A.C.Bhaktivadanta Swami Prabhupada went all the way to america to preach the joy of Sri Caitanya Sankirtan movement he didn’t go to the most affluent area but to where the hippies and down and out’s stayed; amazingly they took totally to this life of bhakti and many remain dedicated to the mission inspiring us younger ones.

so looking at the local demographics I pondered where are those in most need of hearing about the glories of Sri Krishna; and seeing that locally there is a huge pub culture but I had doubts given the message and if this would be appropriate. So I was approached by a reading group who met in a local pub to speak on the Gita and after some pondering I decided to agree after all if people are willing to hear then well that should be enough. it went well indeed we discussed long after the closing time, so we agreed to meet once a month.

news spreads quickly and so I was asked to do the same in a few other local pubs and this progressed to an open evening meet the monk in the pub open question evening; it is indeed very challenging as you never know what will be raised.

so has it been worth it?

well it’s great to see that the message of Krishna Consciousness has been well received and indeed a small group has taken very nicely; near on 30 sincere souls have taken the chant one round of japa challenge and indeed 10 of these are now chanting regular 16 rounds of Japa. I have been humbled by this.

as to the four regulative principles; well I’ve presented them as the four protections and indeed have been humbled by those who have taken them up so nicely; some struggle and some well don’t get it.

but for me the main thing is that many people are benefiting from hearing and some are indeed making the changes in their life; and although I wouldn’t recommend entering into your local pub, finding were and sharing love of krishna to those who are in the greatest needs brings success and joy that words themselves cannot express.

Hare Krishna

Sankirtan Weekend Warriors in action in Wimbledon, UK (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The difference between a devotee an...

What do they do early morning in Vrindavan? Parikrama (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If one renders even a small amount ...

Hare Krishna Gastronomy Festival in Budapest, Hungary (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “In Dvapara-yuga one could satisfy Krishna or Visnu only by worshiping Him gorgeously according to the pancaratriki system, but in the Age of Kali one can satisfy and worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari simply by chanting the holy name.” (Narayana-samhita)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Rm6DLx

Little Nrsimhadeva is chanting to Lord Nrsimhadeva (1 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: “The essence of all Vedic knowledge—comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity, the Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods—is included in the eight syllables Hare Krishna Hare Krishna. This is the reality of all Vedanta. The chanting of the holy name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience.” (Narada-pancharatra)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/UKNhCq

Russell Brand shares his love for a Hare Krishna restaurant in Cardiff with his 12 million Twitter followers.
It’s not every day you’re asked to pop along to St David’s Hall to feed a world-famous comedian with your delicious vegan treats. That’s exactly what happened to the team at Cardiff’s Anna-Loka when Russell Brand brought his new stand up show, Re:Birth, to the capital. Owner Adam El Tagoury received a surprise phone call earlier this week saying that the cookie-making company, Hare Krishna Treats, who make cookies to give to the audience at Brand’s shows, needed a local vegan business to help distribute the goodies.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/3PGByA

I would like this work to be considered a contribution not only to the study of the Bhagavad Gita, but to the emerging field of Comparative Theology, as once the structures of great theological works could be articulated, these could be compared, contrasted and grouped together, thereby offering a unified sense of pluralistic spirituality which may serve as an alternative to materialism. Originally, Greek philosophy was inseparable from Greek religion, and only gradually was it articulated as a universal philosophy. Similarly, this work may further a slight step in this direction, in that it emphasizes the Bhagavad Gita’s philosophical nature, relevant also in a non-Hindu context. Examining many of the available academic editions, one realizes that they offer an introduction followed by a verse translation; the present edition joins the few editions which render the text divided into sections, and add a commentary; I hope that this approach proves to be useful. Let me conclude by quoting the Bhagavad Gita itself: "This is a royal science, a royal mystery, the supreme purifier, experienced directly, it conforms to dharma, pleasant to act upon and eternal." Continue reading "Exploring the Bhagavad gita; Philosophy, Structure and Meaning
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Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has established Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), with a vision to enable sustainable built-environment for all and facilitate India to be one of the global leaders in sustainable built-environment by 2025. With a modest beginning of 20,000 sq.ft of green footprint in the country in the year 2001, today over 4,205 IGBC green building projects, amounting to over 4.61 Billion sq.ft are adopting IGBC green building rating systems. This in turn has enabled India become one of the top 5 countries in the world in terms of largest registered green building footprint. The Green Building Congress 2017 was the 15th annual flagship event of IGBC and is the largest event on green buildings in Asia. Over 3000 participants attended this event with over 150 leading National and International experts shared their thoughts and perspectives on sustainable built environment.  The Congress also hosted World GBC Board Meeting and Annual Members Meet. The event attracted participation from several countries including Singapore, Srilanka, Hong Kong, Australia, China, UK and USA. Shri Gauranga Das was also one of the master speakers of the conference and shared about the Sustainability Initiatives at Govardhan Ecovillage. Continue reading "ISKCON Govardhan Ecovillage receives the IGBC Green Village Platinum Ratings
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Our dear Godbrother, Tribhuvanatha das, departed from this world on October 16, 2001. A lot has been written about Tribhuvanatha Prabhu over the years — his dynamic preaching programs, his ecstatic harinamas, his fired up classes, etc. -- but I simply remember him as my best friend. Continue reading "Honoring Tribhuvanatha Prabhu
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“Just as there is no Yuga equal to Satya yuga, no scripture equal to the Vedas, and no place of pilgrimage equal to the Ganges, so there is no month equal to Kartika. To offer a lamp to Sri Radha-Damodara is the most spiritually beneficial activity. By offering a lamp during the month of Karttika […]

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Damodarastakam sang by Agnidev Prabhu in Vrindavana (15 min video)
The latest report is that Agnideva is stable but still serious.
He is currently heavily sedated so his body can rest while he fights this serious infection in his lungs.
His vital signs are stable but he is still in ICU under close care while he is in recovery.
The Doctors are waiting for the results of blood tests to find out exactly what is causing this infection, but this will take a couple of days.
Agnideva’s Son has arrived in Australia from the USA and is currently with him in Sydney.
Please continue your prayers for his full recovery.

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Blissful morning programme of the 14th October in Iskcon’s Krishna Balarama Mandir in Vrindavana during Kartika (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Radharani and the gopis, they are on the same status, but the gopis know that “Radharani is the better worshiper than us.” Therefore their only business is how to take Radharani and join with Krishna. This is Vaikuntha understanding. They are not envious that “Krishna loves Radharani so much.” Delhi, November 4, 1973
Find them here: https://goo.gl/qBQgij

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“It was the philosophy that kept me”
Ananga Manjari: We were in Los Angeles and somehow I got myself right behind Prabhupada while he was paying his obeisances to the deities.
When I went to pay my obeisances, his lotus feet were right in front of my face and I thought,
“What an opportunity. This is the opportunity of many life times. What can I do? I don’t want to touch him and disturb him at all, because he is in meditation praying to his Lord.”
But there was a carnation petal stuck to the bottom of his foot.
It was very invitingly sticking out, so I thought maybe I could take this petal and get his mercy without disturbing him.
Very carefully I plucked that little carnation petal off his foot and then I got very frightened thinking that someone might see me and they’re going to think that I am disturbing him.
I could just imagine some sannyasi booming, “What did you just do?”
I got so scared that I popped it in my mouth, like I was eating the evidence.
As I swallowed the petal, I thought,
“This is the holiest communion I have ever had in my life. This petal is going to keep me here forever.”
And it did.
Srila Prabhupada arrived at the New York airport, and like many devotees have described, Prabhupada seemed to float through the airport as if he was on an escalator, and we would all be running to keep up.
They sat him down and he gave a little talk in the airport.
There were some policemen watching our crowd from a distance and a reporter asked Prabhupada,
“Why do you wear these clothes and this mark on your forehead?”
Prabhupada said, “It is just like a policeman. A policeman wears a uniform to show that he is an authority of the government. He represents the government, so if anyone needs help in that way, they can go to the policeman.”
The policemen in the back started nudging each other and feeling very proud and happy that Prabhupada had noticed them.
I thought that he was doing a few things at once.
He was instructing us and winning their hearts.
He wasn’t just satisfying the reporter and of course he was preaching to all of us, but he noticed the policemen specifically.
I thought that significant in that he wanted to say, “Thank you” for their service.
Prabhupada was a grateful person, even for anyone who did the least little thing.
I think that the gratitude that Prabhupada showed us is something we all can imbibe.
Sometimes as devotees we see another devotee doing their service quietly and we think,
“They are just an ordinary devotee and that my service is more important.”
But if we can show gratitude and appreciation, then everyone can feel uplifted.
Prabhupada saw everyone equally and saw only the good in everyone.
That is one of the main qualities of a devotee.
Then someone asked Prabhupada something about why he was chanting and he said,
“We are chanting, but we also have many books.”
He always wanted people to understand that there was knowledge behind this philosophy.
Then he said, “But for those who can’t read, just chant. It doesn’t matter but otherwise we have many books on philosophy.”
I thought that was very significant and important for me because I was into the philosophy.
That is what kept me going as well.
The mantra caught me whereby I could not stop chanting Hare Krishna, even as a hippie.
But it was the philosophy that kept me.
—Ananga Manjari

Giriraj Swami: Today is Rama-ekadasi, the date on which Srila Prabhupada completed his translation of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. The event is described in the following excerpt from my forthcoming book I’ll Build You a Temple, about Srila Prabhupada and Juhu.
——
Every morning just before six I would walk up the stairs to Prabhupada’s room to accompany him on his morning walk. But when another devotee and I went on the day after Rama-ekadasi, on November 11, we were surprised to find the doors—both to his quarters, on one side, and to his staff’s quarters, on the other—locked. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I gently knocked on both doors. After a minute or two, Prabhupada’s secretary, Harikesa, opened the assistants’ door just a little and said that Prabhupada had stayed up all night and completed his translation of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, that at the end he had written the most beautiful glorification of his guru maharaja, and that he was in an ecstatic mood and had said that we should celebrate by having a feast.
In his Concluding Words, Prabhupada had written, “Today, Sunday, November 10, 1974—corresponding to the 10th of Kartika, Caitanya Era 488, the eleventh day of the dark fortnight, the Rama-ekadasi—we have now finished the English translation of Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami’s Sri Caitanya-caritamrta in accordance with the authorized order of His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Gosvami Maharaja, my beloved eternal spiritual master, guide and friend.”
Prabhupada recounted his first meeting with his guru maharaja and receiving his instruction “to preach the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in English in the Western countries.” At first he had resisted the order. “Because at that time I was a complete nationalist, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi’s, I submitted to His Divine Grace that unless our country were freed from foreign subjugation, no one would hear the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu seriously… . but at last I was defeated and convinced that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s message is the only panacea for suffering humanity. I was also convinced that the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was then in the hands of a very expert devotee and that surely the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would spread all over the world. I could not, however, immediately take up his instructions to preach, but I took his words very seriously and was always thinking of how to execute his order, although I was quite unfit to do so.”
When in 1950 Prabhupada had retired from family life and then taken sannyasa, he had finally been “completely ready to discharge the order of my spiritual master… . By the mercy of His Divine Grace, I was able to come to New York on September 17, 1965. Since then, I have translated many books, including Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, Teachings of Lord Caitanya (a summary), and many others.
“In the meantime, I was induced to translate Sri Caitanya-caritamrta,” Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s favorite book. “I think that [he] is always seeing my activities and guiding me within my heart by his words. As it is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam, tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye [SB 1.1.1]. Spiritual inspiration comes from within the heart, wherein the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His Paramatma feature, is always sitting with all His devotees and associates… .
“It is my wish that devotees of Lord Caitanya all over the world enjoy this translation, and I am glad to express my gratitude to the learned men in the Western countries who are so pleased with my work that they are ordering in advance all my books that will be published in the future. On this occasion, therefore, I request my disciples who are determined to help me in this work to continue their cooperation fully, so that philosophers, scholars, religionists and people in general all over the world will benefit by reading our transcendental literatures.”
Hare Krishna.

[Interview at Bhakti Radio Network Station, Dallas, USA]
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