Planet ISKCON

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada departed from this world on November 14, 1977, in Vrindavan, India, in his rooms at the Krishna-Balarama temple, surrounded by hundreds of his disciples chanting Hare Krsna.

Up until moments before his passing, he was dictating commentaries on the tenth canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam.

During his life he traveled the world spreading the teachings of Lord Caitanya and propagated harinama samkirtan. He translated and gave commentaries to many transcendental literatures. The anniversary of his passing is observed in every ISKCON temple where His legacy continues forever.

Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja, the son of Khandavasi Ciranjiva and Sunanda, was a disciple of Srinivasa Acarya and the most intimate friend of Narottama dasa Thakura, who prayed several times for his association. His youngest brother was Govinda Kaviraja. Srila Jiva Gosvami very much appreciated Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja's great devotion to Lord Krishna and therefore gave him the title Kaviraja. Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja, who was perpetually disinterested in family life, greatly assisted in the preaching work of Srinivasa Acarya and Narottama dasa Thakura. He resided at first in Srikhanda but later in the village of Kumara-nagara on the bank of the Ganges. Continue reading "Sri Srinivasa Acarya – Appearance
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Sri Gadadhara dasa Thakura previously lived at Navadwip. When the Lord went to live at Nilacala Sri Dasa Gadadhara also there to be with Him. Later on Mahaprabhu sent him back with Nityananda Prabhu to preach in Bengal. He first stayed at Eriyadahagram, which is situated on the banks of the Ganges. Then he spent some time in Navadwipa, taking care of Saci Mata and Visnupriya, but after their disappearance, he came to live at Katwa, where Mahaprabhu had accepted sannyasa from Kesava Bharati.

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On this day Lord Sri Krishna became a qualified cowherd. Before this day, he was a keeper of the calves.

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Etiquette is not just a handshake between two generations but a code that unlocks the treasure of blessing.
Vaishnava etiquette is an ornament of a Vaishnava. It may not be appearing so dazzling like gold and silver ornaments which attracts the common people but it attracts other devotees and the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Epitome of Vaishnava etiquette by Sages of Naimisaranya.
The great sages offered the speaker of the Bhagavatam an elevated seat of respect called the vyasasana, or the seat of Sri Vyasadeva.
They asked questions to the speaker in order to elicit the clear meaning, and not in a challenging spirit.
Sages submitted questions with a great regard for the speaker and the subject matter.
Sages exhibited submissive aural reception towards transcendental subject matter.
They showed earnest desire to hear Bhagavatam.
Sages didn’t fight amongst themselves to choose a representative who would ask questions on behalf of everyone.
Every sage was aware of his position and the purpose of the assembly.
Their each and every words, actions and thoughts were selfless dedicated for the uplifting of the fallen souls of kali Yuga.
They chose the leader by taking care of qualities like that person should be vastly learned and elderly.

Physical vs. subtle
In a lecture H.G. RadhaGopinath was sharing his personal realization. Once he was sitting on an equal level with the Bhagavatam speaker and he could feel that he wasn’t able to grasp the subject matter. Imagine simply a physical act can hamper our understanding what to speak of subtle things.

Gratitude is essential
Also we have heard that water flows from higher potential to lower potential, similarly the transcendental messages flows from higher sources to lower sources through bonafide parampara. By offering respects to the speaker we open our hearts for the transcendental messages to enter. It is said that a grateful heart is like a fIrtile land where humility takes birth.

Position of Guru
Recently, I witnessed many devotees from a popular religious who came with their Guru to our farm. The guru was supposed to give a discourse to all of them in the evening. I gave the tour and showed them everything. After lunch everyone made their individual plans of going to swimming pool, goshala etc. Their Guru was just sitting and waiting for them till evening but no one came for hearing.
I was shocked. As I reflected I realized that due to ignorance of the value of the spiritual leader nobody was interested in their Guru. They were unaware of the connection which a Guru can establish between them and the Supreme Lord.
I felt grateful towards our Acaryas and how we have been blessed to practice their teaching in today’s day and age.The reason is that they practiced it in their lives and through their actions they taught the whole world.

Cooperation
In the book The Journey Home, HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj mentions an incident of his early days in India. Once, he attended a summit of Yogis and gurus where in the end they all fought together for who will get hold of mike and speak. An opposite or rather ideal behaviour is exhibited by sages of Naimisaranya.
In modern day preaching when we all come together and eagerly hear Kṛṣṇa Katha, that will inspire any people to accept and follow the process. The way existing devotees follow the Vaishnva etiquettes that impacts the future. Etiquette is not just a handshake between two generations but a code that unlocks the treasure of blessing. Let’s stay blessed.

The GBC Executive Committee joins the devotees of ISKCON Fiji in honoring the life of His Grace Vasudeva Prabhu, a pioneer in establishing Krsna consciousness in Fiji.

A new nonprofit company named Inword Publishers has just opened its doors. Authors and production managers will be interested to note that Inword Publishers has a full range of services in editing, design, layout, printing, distribution, and marketing, all under one roof. 

Good communication brings about a healthy relationship, as ISKCON’s Governing Body Comission and ISKCON guru Hridayananda Das Goswami found this month. Hridayananda Maharaja’s Krishna West project began in 2013. But due to ill health, he had not had the chance to meet with the full GBC body about it until this October 15^th and 16^th, during their mid-term meetings in Ujjain, India.

Gopuja in Villa Vrindavana. Florence, Italy (3 min video)
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Sri Gaurachandra Installation Festival in NYC (Album with photos)
On October 4-5, 2017 the Bhakti Center community gathered to...

Brhad-Bhagavatamrta 1, Chapter 7.

A video by Anton Aleksandrov.

The post Daily Darshan: October 25, 2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

QUESTION: I fully agree with what you said (The Truth is in Your Heart???), guru is a necessity. But I would like to ask what has to be the qualities of guru? In our days we can observe commercialization of spirituality. How can we differentiate a false, commercial guru from a genuine guru?

MY ANSWER:

Actually, we don’t have to differentiate. All we have to do is want.

But the truth is that wanting is even more difficult than knowing or differentiating. A genuine guru will do things to our ego and self-concept that frighten and threaten our conditioned mind and emotions. A genuine guru will expose just how infinitely deep our ignorance is. Who really wants that?

If someone does really, truly want a genuine guru, Krishna will make sure they meet one. When we only pretend to want a genuine guru, Krishna makes sure we only meet gurus who pretend to be genuine.

So, the quest for a genuine guru is not really about “guru shopping” or “guru litmus tests.” It is about purifying our own desires and wants.

Gītā gives a summation of the qualities of a genuine guru: Krishna says the guru is tattva-darśi – he or she has darśan of the tattva he or she purports to teach. Darshan means direct experience. It means actually seeing and feeling and experiencing their subject (be it brahman, bhagavan, or drums). The guru is not just a repository of ideas or theories. Books are the repository of ideas and theories. The guru is the one who realizes how the ideas and theories actually work.

This does not mean the guru does not study books! That is one of the biggest shams and farces around these days. How will the guru understand how the ideas of the Vedas actually work, if he or she doesn’t diligently and thoroughly study them and attempt to apply them to the real world!?

The Upanishads make this explicit, giving a more elaborate description of the qualities of a guru. tad-vijñānārtham sa guruṁ evābhigacchet śrotriyam brahma-niṣṭham. “To fully comprehend that [spiritual truth], he must go to guru, who is saturated in the Veda, by hearing it [in paramparā].”

So the main qualification is that Guru must understand the Veda (brahma). They must understand it so well that they can actually see it, and be saturated by it (brahma-niṣṭha). They must themselves have learned it from such a guru (śrotriya).

When we really want a genuine guru, we meet this person. When we want something else we meet others, who rarely even mention the Vedas, or twist it with their own self-serving ideas and interpretations which have no paramparā, and play to our own ego and ignorance for the sake of securing their own rice and dahl at the end of the day.

QUESTION: In each birth does the living entity start from the same point in the spiritual path? Or is spiritual capital somehow accumulated?

Don’t forget the discussion between Krishna and Arjuna at the end of Chapter 6. Krishna explicitly says there that you quickly and rather effortlessly pick up things you have already accomplished in previous lifetimes. This is especially true for adhyātmika things (spiritual things), such as your progress in karma, jñāna or bhakti-yoga.

Everyone starts each life as a baby, not even knowing how to talk, but some people learn guitar in 5 days, others can’t learn it well even after 50 years of trying. The quick learner has aptitude because in previous lives s/he was the slow learner.

Since you are carefully studying Gītā in this life, in your next life, the first time someone mentions “Bhagavad Gītā” you will immediately have a sense of what it is about, and will be drawn to it. Then, as soon as you read just a few words, you will start remembering everything you’ve learned in this class.

If you practice a mantra in this life, in the next life you will quickly find it again, and all the effort you made to understand it in this life will very quickly come back to you in the next.

The “bank” holding this capital is your manas, mental self.

Vic DiCara

Giriraja Swami’s class about Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance - 10-23-17 in Iskcon Los Angeles (video)
Was the decision not to bring SP in parikrama in his last days, as he has asked, the right one?
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/NaFb5L

[Reflection at Gainesville, USA]

Podcast

The post The greatest danger is the danger of forgetting the danger appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Bhagavatam class on 11.14-1-3 at ISKCON, Alachua, USA]

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The post Understanding how bhakti fulfills the purpose of scripture – and how we can help appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Agnideva Prabhu’s health update.
An update of Agnideva’s Prabhu’s condition: The following report is not a pleasant one to read. Please keep your donations coming. We have yet to reach our goal of $100,000.
In order to address the issue of Agnideva Prabhu’s cardiac problems, it was necessary to get him breathing on his own without the ventilator. Sedation was reduced slightly to test his neurological reflexes - a prerequisite to removing the respiratory equipment. As a result of the sedation being reduced, he was able to move his eyes from side to side, wiggle his fingers and toes and stick his tongue out. However, he could not move his limbs. This made removing the ventilator too dangerous. The doctors suspect that his autoimmune system has been affected, most likely by a disease called Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a neurological disease caused by bacterial or viral infection. There is no cure. People usually recover but it takes 6 months or more. Again, we humbly request devotees, friends and well-wishers to contribute to his treatment. Thank you!
Your servant,
Indradyumna Swami
Help spread the word!

An Asrama On The Yamuna’s Shore (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Deep in the forest not far from Vrindavan is a hermitage of sages on the banks of the river Yamuna. There the sages perform penance and austerities for spiritual advancement. The place was formally known as the asrama of Shaubari Muni, a great mystic yogi. Our parikrama party spent most of the day there in our usual activity of hearing Krsna katha and chanting the holy names.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/F5JKZY

Vrindavan Braj Parikrama 2017 - Brahmanda Ghat and Raval (Album with photos)
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Lessons from a Pencil by Gaur Gopal Das (4 min video)
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Flexibility with Audience, Loyalty to Tradition.
Acharya is one who follows the instructions of Lord. Sentimental speculation or imaginative ecstasy is the resulting symptom of deviating from the bonafide succession. An Acharya is known on the merit of loyalty to the line of descending transcendental knowledge. Such a personality is the rightful preacher of Srimad-Bhagavatam. This is explained in the purports of Srila Prabhupada which he had also exhibited in his life.
There are three factors broadly considered for adjustments of the religious principles:
Time
“kalo ‘smi – Time I am” – says Lord Krishna. Time sets the motion of this creation and it happens by the will of the Lord. It also awards reactions to the living beings for their activities. Such a factor is not to be dismissed as irrelevant to the instructions of the Lord. Various methods of perfection have been prescribed in the Vedas according to various time spans of the universe. In this age of Kali, the chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare is the way of attaining perfection of life.
Place

A hundred rupees becomes a simple paper outside India which regains its significance back at its home country. Place affects the consciousness of living beings and also matter which occupies it. This subtle material element can never be an impediment for devotional service but cannot be neglected for the practice of spiritual consciousness. Atmosphere always affects the consciousness of those present.
Circumstance

Situations arise which are beyond the control of living beings. As nothing happens without the sanction of the Lord and everything takes place by the will of the Lord, the circumstances which come in front of the living beings are by higher arrangement.

Srila Prabhupada’s purports have described the devotional process for the present time, place and circumstance. He has given the perfection of life by his example as he had followed the Acharyas’ examples. One must be an authority of preaching devotional service to expertly adjust things according to time, place and circumstance. One can perform one’s duty by physical work, by mind and words and such things can be utilized according to time, place and circumstance. Srila Prabhupada has given the essence of the purports of the Acharyas in his purports. As such, one who reads his purports shall get the message of the Acharyas. His purports are special in the sense that they have been specially made for the modern audience. His purports are like the milk which sustains an infant beginner and also nourishes the child throughout its life. The previous Acharyas have given valuable commentaries that may sometimes seem contradictory without understanding the mood of the commentator. Under proper guidance, one can study the commentaries of previous Acharyas after thoroughly understanding Srila Prabhupada’s purports.

Conviction in the words of Srila Prabhupada with firm faith is the path to understand the subject matter of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Unless one is fixed in this consciousness, there is no possibility of realizing the subject matter. Devotees with realizations, by mercy of Srila Prabhupada, can present Srimad-Bhagavatam in an interesting manner for the understanding of the audience. Hence, regular study of Srila Prabhupada’s books is very important for the benefit of the devotees and people in general. The most effectual process of gaining such conviction is by associating with devotees who have surrendered their lives for living the instructions of Srila Prabhupada. Such association is the only necessity for the world’s human society, for all living beings.

As thousands gathered for the Diwali fireworks at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the temple leaders and a host of community and political leaders, took to the stage to launch the Nainika Tikoo Memorial Trust’s allergy awareness campaign for places of worship. The gathered crowd listened with baited breath as Lakshmi Kaul and Vinod Tikoo spoke of the tragic loss of their beloved 9-year-old daughter, Nainika, who lost her life in May due to a massive allergic reaction. As Lakshmi described her pain at turning off of the ventilator that kept Nainika alive, her tear filled grief was shared by all present.  Continue reading "Diwali Fireworks Launch the Nainika Allergy Safety Campaign:  Making Temples Safe for Allergy Sufferers
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Brhad-Bhagavatamrta 1, Chapter 7.

Prabhupada Katha by Bhakti Charu Swami, Lokanath Swami & Gunarnava Prabhu in Iskcon Vrindavana during the observance of the 40th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance, Oct 22, 2017 (video)

Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 15.04 The Personal Absolute is not a way to transcendence – he is the summit of transcendence appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Many people claim that the truth and God is in your heart, so you don’t need a guru or the vedas to find god and truth.

Sometimes they use Gītā 10.10 and 11 to substantiate this claim (which is ironic, since the claim itself would render Gītā no more important than a daydream your aunt had yesterday). However Gītā does not subscribe to this view, and this use of 10.10 and 11 is completely out-of-context and misleading.

To give the context, texts 10 and 11 do say that Krishna destroys our ignorance from the core of our hearts. But he has said many important things in the two texts before these statements. These four texts (8-11) are famous as a unit (“caturśloki gītā”) so they must be understood together.

Text 8 says we must first get the firm idea: “aham sarvasya prabhava” (consciousness is the source of everything and Krishna is the ultimate consciousness). Where will we get this idea? By a flash of insight? Maybe, but much more likely we will get it from the Vedas or something or someone influenced by the Veda.

Text 8 says this idea leads to “bhajan” (practice of devotion). How will we practice bhajan? We will figure it out on our own? OK, maybe, but much more likely we will be guided by someone who learned bhajan from the Goswāmī’s, who learned it from the Vedas.

Next, text 9 says: “kathā bodhaya paraspara” (they will comprehend my kathā amongst each other). Where does this kathā come from? Where do we get our information about Krishna? From our imagination? From our “heart”? Maybe to some extent, yes, but much more likely the vast majority of it comes, in seed form at least, from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, if not some other purāṇa or Vedic upaniṣad.

ONLY THEN comes texts 10 and 11!

Text 10 says “dadāmi buddhi-yoga” (I give them the ability to directly comprehend me), as a reciprocation with “prīti-pūrvaka bhajan” (their bhakti practice becoming mature).

Text 11 says “ātma-bhāva-stha” (situated in the heart). But this primarily refers to “ajñāna-jaṁ tamas” (the darkness of ignorance). In other words it says that what we have at the core of our hearts is darkness, not truth. Secondarily, it refers to “ami” / “aham” (“I” / Krishna). This shows that Krishna enters the heart after giving the capacity to host him within our consciousness (buddhi-yoga), which in turn was given in reciprocation  for our matured purification efforts (prīti-pūrva bhajan).

Once in the core of the heart, his presence immediately ignites the wick of consciousness with enlightenment (jñāna-dīpena-bhāsvata), which destroys the darkness that was previously occupying the core of the heart. So, our consciousness has the inherent capacity to be the container of truth and god, but it not initially so. Initially it is the container of darkness and a deluded self-concept.

This is why Gītā 15.15 says

sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedānta-kṛd veda-vid eva cāham

“I permeate the core of everyone, and there grant accurate or inaccurate comprehension. I have created the Vedas, which, taken as a whole, are the source of accurate comprehension of me.”

This verse comes in the context of explaining how Krishna is the essence of everything that we are and everything that we experience. It explains why we are ignorant of that fact, and how we can become more aware of it. In it, Krishna says that he grants both the ignorance and the awareness, but he specifically says that he grants the awareness by providing the Vedas.

So, the idea that Krishna will enlighten us from our heart without the need of guru or śāstra is misleading. This doesn’t at all mean that we have to idolize everyone who pretends to be a guru, or any quote that claims to represent Vedic siddhānta. But it does mean that we need a real guru, who really understands and deeply realizes śāstra.

Answer Podcast

The post How can Vyasadeva refer to himself as a great sage in the Bhagavatam? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Reflection at Gainesville, USA]

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[Bhagavatam class on 1.4.24 at Krishna House, Gainesville, USA]

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The post Focus on Krishna’s glories while studying Bhagavatam – don’t be distracted appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

If you are one of the lucky ones then you are in Vrindavan right now, ready to embark on the 2017 parikrama’s with Kadamba Kanana Swami! But for those who are not in Vrindavan they can emerge themselves in the stories, recordings, and, when technology is on our side, live streaming of the parikrama’s!!!

You read that correctly! We are going to live stream most if not all the tours around Vrindavan. So brace yourselves and get ready for a week of dust, dancing and devotion

Live streams

All live streams will be available on the KKSBlog facebook channel starting from Tue 25 Oct, 9:00 am Local indian time (UTC +5:30). Timing will differ for each parikrama.

Parikrama Schedule

Please find the parikrama schedule below but as always, dates are subject to change.

• 25 Oct Raval and Brahmanda Ghata
• 26 Oct Surabhi Kund
• 27 Oct Santanukunda and Madhuvan
• 28 Oct Day of rest – Initiations at Bhaktivedanta Swami Goshala
• 29 Oct Sanketa and Anjanoka
• 30 Oct Sudevi Mandir and Unchagaon
• 31 Oct Prema Sarovara
  (Ekadasi, Srila Gaura Kisordasa Babaji disappearance day)
• 1 Nov Rama Ghat and Chir Ghat
• 2 Nov Harinama in Vrindavan
• 3 Nov Boat trip to Mathura, Visrama Ghata. Return by bus

Maintenance on KKSBlog

KKSBlog will be offline from Fri 27 Oct – Tue 31 Oct. Please read this article for more info.