Websites from the ISKCON Universe
How to stop the unstoppable! (Album with photos)
Mohanasini Devi Dasi: That was the challenge this weekend….people just so passionate to get to their sense gratification! Fortunately there were enough special souls who were interested in Srila Prabhupada’s books and it turned out to be a great weekend! Please click on the pics for the whole story!
Book Distribution weekend of Sept 28 - Oct 1, 2017.
Thousands Celebrate Dussehra at Hare Krishna Temple in Washington.
Potomac, Maryland, September 30, 2017 — Thousands of people clad in colorful Indian attire thronged to the Hare Krishna Temple in the Washington area on a picture-perfect day in early Fall to celebrate ‘Dussehra’, a Hindu festival signifying the triumph of good over evil. The event is now in its 36th year at the temple, also known as ISKCON of DC, and draws some 3,000 people, making it the third largest celebration following ‘Holi’, the festival of colors (4,000) and ‘Janmashtami’, the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna (5,000). “Today we are celebrating Dussehra which is the day when Lord Ram rescues his wife Sita and kills the demon, Ravana”, Ananda Devi, President of the Hare Krishna Temple, said. “It’s a great part of our Hindu, Vaishnava tradition to celebrate this festival symbolizing that good always win. If you do the right thing and if you really care about people, then good will always triumph over evil”. On a deeper level, she told us, “It is a time to remember our connection with God. The idea is that when we spend time nurturing our spiritual relationship with Krishna, we get a deeper sense of happiness in life. This festival is all about awakening our pure, spiritual love for Krishna and for each other”.
Read more: https://goo.gl/D92TTM
Tom Petty: “I need you all to say: Hare Krishna!”
Legendary rock and roll star Tom Petty, a close friend of George Harrison, in this short video is asking everyone to chant Hare Krishna.
By Gauri das
A few years back a brand expert was asked about ISKCON UK’s presence on social media. His response was simple and to the point: ‘the good news is that you are not scary anymore, you are just confusing’. Though temples and devotees do have a solid presence on social media, the big question remains, how effective is that presence? To examine this question, devotees from across the UK came together at Bhaktivedanta Manor for a weekend of communications training that focused on social media. Continue reading “Social Media: ISKCON UK Annual Communications Conference with Avelo Roy, September 2017”
Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami’s disappearance day.
Giriraj Swami: Today is Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami’s disappearance day. “Raghunatha Bhattacarya, or Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, one of the Six Gosvamis, was the son of Tapana Misra. Born in approximately 1425 Sakabda (A.D. 1503), he was expert in reciting Srimad-Bhagavatam, and in Antya-lila, Chapter Thirteen, it is stated that he was also expert in cooking; whatever he cooked would be nectarean. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was greatly pleased to accept the food that he cooked, and Raghunatha Bhatta used to take the remnants of food left by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Raghunatha Bhattacarya lived for eight months in Jagannatha Puri, after which Lord Caitanya ordered him to go to Vrndavana to join Sri Rupa Gosvami. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked Raghunatha Bhattacarya not to marry but to remain a brahmacari, and He also ordered him to read Srimad-Bhagavatam constantly. Thus he went to Vrndavana, where he engaged in reciting Srimad-Bhagavatam to Srila Rupa Gosvami. He was so expert in reciting Srimad-Bhagavatam that he would recite each and every verse in three melodious tunes. While Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami was living with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord blessed him by offering him betel nuts offered to the Jagannatha Deity and a garland of tulasi said to be as long as fourteen cubits. Under Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami’s order, one of his disciples constructed the Govinda temple. Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami supplied all the ornaments of the Govinda Deity. He never talked of nonsense or worldly matters but always engaged in hearing about Krsna twenty-four hours a day. He never cared to hear blasphemy of a Vaisnava. Even when there were points to be criticized, he used to say that since all the Vaisnavas were engaged in the service of the Lord, he did not mind their faults. Later Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami lived by Radha-kunda in a small cottage. In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (185) it is said that Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami was formerly the gopi named Raga-manjari.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi 10.158 purport)
Hare Krishna.
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Morning Class, Srimad Bhagavatam 4.2.31 - Agnidev prabhu - 1 October 2017, ISKCON Melbourne (video)
The Vedas give the eternal regulative principles for auspicious advancement in human civilization which have been rigidly followed in the past. The strong evidence of this principle is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is called Janārdana, the well-wisher of all living entities.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/4bS8b2
Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
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Answer Podcast
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Answer Podcast
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Answer Podcast
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Answer Podcast
The post Might our desire for eternal life come from our experience of an external long-living object, not from an eternal soul? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Connecticut, USA]
Podcast
Podcast Summary
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[Talk at University of Massachusetts, USA]
Podcast
Podcast Summary
PPT:
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Sri Damodara-janani is the latest book from Sivarama Swami and the fourth volume of the Krishna in Vrndavana series, a unique retelling of the damodara-lila that weaves a captivating tale of the glories of Mother Yasoda. No other person has ever received the unique mercy that Krishna showed His own mother, teaching devotees for all time that the binding force of love for Him is more powerful than even His own supreme will.
Turkish Sadhu-sanga.
Festival of Fiji 2017 (Album with photos)
The best way to spend an Ekadasi!
Kalasamvara Das: Today we went to one of the larger school in Fiji in a small town called Navua with about 2500 student and distributed over 4000 plates of prasadam at the school and in the town.
Performed Harinam, and distribution Srila Prabhupada’s books and ended the day with a picnic/lunch and swimming in one of the many beautiful beaches in Fiji.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/KR6u97
| Social Media | ||
| £650.00 | 52 videos at £12 promotion each. Promotion is needed to push the videos, especially when they are not as appealing to the common person so we need paid promotions to get the video more widely distributed to build a following. |
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| £500.00 | Twitter allows us to pay to promote tweets and the profile to get followers. As Twitter messages are quite direct, we need to promote the tweets a bit more to reach out to the wider audience to capture those who would be interested in these topics. Once we get a larger following the popularity should snowball. This is a small amount requested at present but should help. At present we have nearly 300 twitter followers. Aim is 1000+. |
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| Websites | ||
| SRS.Media | ||
| Flickr | £40.00 | $50/year – this will eventually be the central place for all photos on SRS Media. |
| Dropbox | £660.00 | 4 users at approx Eur15 a month for a year – This is crucial for the media archive which is being built up as many files will be being shared to replace the tape ministry |
| Wetransfer subscription | £120.00 | Eur120/year to allow large files/recordings to be distributed by Guru Maharaja to the website team |
| SRS.com | £150.00 | $79 – the7 theme, $99 gallery plugin |
| SRS books | £100.00 | An estimated cost for the future redevelopment of the website |
| Vlog production | ||
| Camera | £2,000.00 | This amount ranges from £1500-2000 for a new camera for filming of the Vlogs at a high standard |
| Ball head | £465.00 | $600 – equipment for camera |
| Gimbal | £1,200.00 | Approx $1500 – equipment for camera – this allows more flexibility of shots especially moving shots |
| Lighting | £450.00 | $300-500+ – This can add to the professionalism of the videos in areas of low light and when filming longer items such as courses |
| Microphone | £500.00 | http://cvp.com/index.php?t= |
| Small prompter | £250.00 | Glide Gear TP – A prompter is very important for Gur Maharaja to follow his notes for each video |
| Total | £7,085 | |
Prajalpa (gossip).
Radhanath Swami: People like to hear about other people’s problems. It’s fun for some. That’s the reason why some of the most popular magazines in the world just focus on scandals. Recently, a champion golfer got into some scandal. It’s like a rule in this world—that such news must be known to everyone, that such news must be the event on every television and news channel. That scandal was all that the people were talking about, for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks. Ironically, nobody cared that much when he won a golf game. But when he did something really scandalous, all of a sudden everybody becomes really ‘concerned.’ Now, is it necessary to bother about all these things? But we have this inclination to gossip, which the scriptures call Prajalpa.
Departure of Srila Prabhupada’s daughter.
My dear Maharaj ji’s and prabhu ji’s!
Please accept my most humble obeisances!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
The daughter of Srila Prabhupada, Bhaktilata Dey left her body yesterday (Ekadashi) at 4 am. Her younger brother Vrindavan Chandra Dey performed her last rites. She was unmarried and was staying with her brother.
your servant
Radharaman Das
All India Padayatra Hosts Special Program For School Children | Kumbla, Kerala (Album with photos)
Acarya Dasa: When we visited Kumbla on September 16th, we performed saṅkīrtana in the town and the news of pāda-yātrā spread everywhere. There is a ‘Nityananda Swami Matha’ in the area which also has a school. Nityananda Swami invited us to hold a program for the school children; we agreed and all the teachers were informed. The children were called out on the school grounds where we had a grand saṅkīrtana and they danced to the Holy Names. Afterward, we gave a small talk on the glories of chanting, followed by book distribution and maha-prasādam. Nityananda Swami was very happy that pāda-yātrā had come to his town and he was especially happy that we inspired the school children. Before we left he took a Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam set from us.
If every school principal has such an attitude and wants the children in his institution to be exposed to the Holy Names, then every school will be a Gurukula with seeds of bhakti being sown in every heart.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/eKu1K9
TOVP: The size of the main Chakra.
Sadbhuja Das: As we have seen in the previous photos, the stainless steel superstructure on …
Dusshera at Bhaktivedanta Manor (2 min video)
Yesterday, we celebrated Dusshera at Bhaktivedanta Manor with an amazing performance of the Ramayana from ISKCON Pandava Sena followed by the burning of Ravana.
The burning of the 10 headed demon, Ravana reminds us to eradicate the demons inside of us and to continue in the path of Bhakti.
If you weren’t able to join us, watch the video here: https://goo.gl/s4Sa7R
ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 08/27/2017
Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes simple living, cow protection, engaging oxen, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON New Vrindaban.
Participating Directors: Anuttama (partial attendance), Chaitanya Mangala (chair), Kripamaya, Ranaka, and Vraja.
Participating Advisors: Bhima, Jaya Krsna, Kalakantha, Makara, and Olivia (partial attendance)
Recording Secretary: Jamuna Jivani
1. Ranaka’s Monthly Report
2. Farm Conference Update
Jamuna Jivani reported on the previous month’s projects:
3. Sri Tulasi Manjari’s Resignation
WHEREAS: The ECO-V Board wishes to acknowledge the contributions made by one of its directors.
RESOLVED: The Board reluctantly accepts Sri Tulasi Manjari’s resignation as both a board member and board chairperson.
The Board members expressed their deep appreciation for Sri Tulasi’s service and sacrifice over the past couple of years.
4. Partnership with IMCPA
Kalakantha proposed a three-year partnership between the ISKCON Ministry of Cow Protection and Agriculture and ECO-V. He proposed the relationship that IMCPA envisions with the two organizations working together on specific projects. ECO-V will consider this proposal and vote on it at a later date.
5. Community Center Update
The community center topic was discussed at the Village Association meeting on 8/3/17. It was concluded that a sub-committee will inquire as to the needs of the Village Association members, consider the current buildings that could potentially be used as a community center, and examine places a new building could be erected. They will develop a proposal based on these considerations.
6. Prabhupada’s Palace Restoration Grant Update
Over the past few years, ECO-V allocated grants totaling $375,000 for the Palace restoration, which have since been transferred to INV in full. This funding went toward the restoration of the main stairs, the rain water control on the middle level, and the outer wall, as well as a number of smaller repairs. At the same time, INV committed matching funds totaling $425,000, of which approximately $10,000 remains.
7. Prabhupada’s Palace Fundraising Grant Update
The $50K matching grant committed by ECO-V for the purposes of fundraising for Prabhupada’s Palace renovation is yet to be requested. INV is currently planning a campaign.
8. Talavan Housing Sites Update
Members of the Village Association are the process of creating a subgroup to research the proposed housing site at Talavan. They intend to have a defined plan by the biannual meeting in early November.
9. Jamuna Jivani as a Board Advisor
WHEREAS: The ECO-V Board wishes to maintain a team of advisors.
RESOLVED: The ECO-V Board invites Jamuna Jivani devi dasi to act as an advisor from September 1, 2017 through the January 2018 annual meeting.
For regular updates please visit and like the ECO-V Facebook page.
The post Daily Darshan: October 02,2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Value-based leadership in changing and challenging environments (video)
A seminar by Bhakti Rasamrita Swami in Melbourne.
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast
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Sixty devotees, from 14 different countries around the world, performed almost daily in many of the prestigious universities on the east coast of the United States. Professors, students, and various dignitaries gave resounding applause devotees' performances which were centered around the pastimes of the Lord recounted in the Srimad Bhagavatam and the Ramayana. Other performances included bhajans, the Sankhya dance company from Mumbai, a talk on the wisdom of Bhagavad Gita and more. Everything was presented in a professional, and most important, devotional way. A video by Ananta Vrindavan.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 22 December 2011, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.14.3-4)
Affection and relationships should be there in our life but of course, they should not lead to illicit sex. This is the bottom line. As you know, accidents do happen. This is the nature of the senses and the mind, that where there is an attachment to such sense gratification, somehow or other, when men and women come together… you just do not know how it happened! Somehow, it happened… and everybody could see it coming and could understand it’s going to happen if you go on like this… because that natural attraction is there.
Srimad Bhagavatam has the ‘butter and fire’ analogy where men are butter and women are fire. And when the butter comes near the fire, it melts… it always melts! Brahmacaris are trying to keep the butter in the fridge so that it doesn’t melt quickly so they have a whole cooling system there within their saffron cloth and brahmacari practices.
Ladies, in spiritual life, are covering the fire. That is why they cover their heads and wear sarees which cover the body more than modern clothing.
We are not trying to blame anybody, like throw the blame on the women that they are mayadevis. The poor men are the victims and the women are nothing but troublemakers. That is a somewhat biased and wrong understanding of what the Vedic literatures are saying. However, the illusory power of the female body is very strong undoubtedly. They have this power of attraction more than males. Although males may be attractive still the male body is not as charming as the female body.
In spiritual life, we recognise that the beauty of a female body has a danger connected to it. A danger to entangle spirit souls, both men and women. The women themselves are also falling victim to their own beauty… it gives a certain power and it is kind of addictive and difficult to stop it. So devotees realise this and therefore keep a certain amount of reservation.
Sri Ramacandra Vijayotsava, or Vijaya Dasami is a festival commemorating Lord Ramacandra’s victory over King Ravana. When Ravana kidnapped Sita Devi, Ramacandra set out to Lanka to punish Ravana and rescue His beloved wife Sita, and this day marks the occasion of Ravana’s defeat. In Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya-lila, 15.32-35, it describes Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s […]
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Reasons to Continue our Spiritual Practice.
Radhanath Swami: There is a beautiful story in the Srimad Bhagavatam about Mahadev, Lord Shiva. Once upon a time when the devas and the asuras were churning the ocean of milk for nectar, massive quantities of poison came out. They were seeking nectar, but sometimes when we want nectar, first we have to remove all the poison.
That’s kind of the way our sadhana is, our spiritual practice. The real nectar of prema, or love – love for God and love for all beings – is within us. Our spiritual practice is just to remove all those things that obscure our connection to that love. So sometimes when we are doing our meditation or our chanting, a lot of poison starts coming out of us – lust, envy, anger, greed, illusion and arrogance – and we actually see all this stuff that is already there. That should not discourage us. We should not give in to those things; rather if we just tolerate them and continue with our spiritual practice, gradually it will all be removed, and then the real nectar which we are all seeking will be forever ours.
So this poison from the churning of the Milk Ocean spread everywhere and the great rishis and devas approached Lord Vishnu, who took them to Shiva. When Shiva saw the plight of all living beings on the verge of extermination, by his mystical power he took massive oceans of this poison and concentrated it so that it could fit in the palm of his hand. We can’t even imagine the power of that concentrate. And because this poison had to go somewhere, he drank it. His throat became very black in colour. This black throat is one of the features of Shiva that is most honoured, and is considered to be the ornament of his compassion. He is known as Neelkantha or Kalkantha. There in the Bhagavatam there is a beautiful verse in relationship to this story: the service that is most pleasing to Bhagavan is when we make sacrifices without selfishness, out of compassion, for others within this world. – Radhanath Swami
tapyante loka-tāpena
sādhavaḥ prāyaśo janāḥ
paramārādhanaṁ tad dhi
puruṣasyākhilātmanaḥ
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. Srimad Bhagavatam 8.7.44