Planet ISKCON

Mexico City Harinam Fiesta (Album with photos)
Mexico City is a great place for Harinama. The people enthusiastically particip...

Monthly Sankirtan Festival With HG Manidhar Prabhu In Zagreb, Croatia (Album with photos)
On sunny Saturday, September 30th, we had an ecstatic Monthly Sankirtan Festival with special guest HG Manidhara Prabhu, who encouraged us to the highest limits and took us out on book distribution. People loved him and us, too. 25 devotees took part, some in harinam, some in book distribution, cookie distribution and cooking for devotees. By Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, in only a few hours we distributed 84 books, 800 sweets and lots of mantra cards. Book distribution is doable, fun and easy!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/S9HBWK

krsnasyoccaih pranaya-vasatih preyasibhyo ’pi radha kundam casya munibhir abhitas tadrg eva vyadhayi yat presthair apy alam asulabham kim punar bhakti-bhajam tat premedam sakrd api sarah snatur aviskaroti “Of the many objects of favoured delight and of all the lovable damsels of Vrajabhumi, Srimati Radharani is certainly the most treasured object of Krishna’s love. And, in […]

The post Bahulastami appeared first on Mayapur.com.

By Anuttama Dasa

Ujjain, India; October 11—Zonal Supervisors, an important leadership role created by the Governing Body Commission (GBC) to improve management in ISKCON around the world, was the first topic of today’s GBC meeting. Working directly under an individual GBC member, a Zonal Supervisor assists that GBC member by supervising a number of temples and projects within a particular geographical zone. Currently most GBC members directly oversee all the temples in their zones. Some GBC members have intermediate managers under them, with different titles such as “Regional Secretaries” who oversee a group of temples. But, there is no standard process. One problem is that sometimes a GBC member may have dozens of temples under them directly. Being stretched so thin puts a lot of pressure on individual GBC members, and has led some local leaders to complain they lack sufficient guidance and presence of their GBC representative. Continue reading "Day Three of GBC Meetings: Education and Expansion
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By Bimal Krishna Das

The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan, visited ISKCON Ujjain on 6th October. He was greeted by a large group of devotees chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra. As he stepped out of his car, he became so inspired by that kirtan that he also started dancing. The GBC mid-term meeting is going on in Ujjain now and when Maharaj told the Chief Minister about that, he expressed his desire to also participate in that meeting. His Holiness then escorted the Chief Minister to the conference hall where the GBC mid-term meeting is being held. While introducing the Chief Minister, His Holiness mentioned how the Chief Minister assumed his office practically when ISKCON also inaugurated the temple in Ujjain about 12 years ago. Continue reading "The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Visits ISKCON Ujjain
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 14.21 When the disease is subtle, we need education to perceive the symptoms of sickness and health appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Our temple in Ujjain was officially opened in 2006. It is a magnificent structure with beautiful deities of Sri Sri Radha Madanamohana, Krsna Balarama, Jagannatha, Balarama, Subhadra, Gaura Nitai and Lord Nrsimhadeva.

The compound also has a large brahmacari asrama, guest house, two big apartment complexes and a goshala at the back. The devotees, under the auspices of Bhakti Caru Maharaja, looked after our every need.

The road from karma to bhakti

1. Work with a desire to achieve the result but attached to the work and result to please one's self. - karma
2. Work with a desire to achieve the result but attached to the work but not to the result. - nishkama karma
3. Work with a desire to achieve the result but attached to the work and use the result for Krishna.- karma yoga
4. Work with a desire to achieve the result. Not attached to the work and result but attached only to please Krishna.- bhakti yoga

[Talk at North Florida University, Jacksonville, USA]

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ppt:

Video:

The post Overcoming negative emotions 3 – Fear appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Bhagavatam class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.19.1 at Bhakti House, Jacksonville, USA]

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Kevin Wu, a Youtube star with over 300 million views on his “KevJumba” channel, has been left feeling spiritually uplifted after following and filming sankirtan devotee Madhava Puri Das on book distribution. Wu met Madhava Puri while staying at the ISKCON Los Angeles ashram, looking for spiritual answers during a difficult period in his life.

A seminar, held on September 26th, 2017, in Italy’s House of Parliament, at the Sala del Refettorio, and organized in co-operation with MP Lacquaniti, has discussed the problems of religious freedom in Russia, a cause of serious concern in Europe.

Zonal Supervisors, an important leadership role created by the Governing Body Commission (GBC) to improve management in ISKCON around the world, was the first topic of today’s GBC meeting. Working directly under an individual GBC member, a Zonal Supervisor assists that GBC member by supervising a number of temples and projects within a particular geographical zone. 

How Can There Be Peace?
A conversation with His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Disciple: Srila Prabhupada, in a recent study by U.S. agricultural officials, they found that it’s uneconomical to eat meat. It takes so much energy and man hours to raise and transport and slaughter the cows that it’s very wasteful.
Srila Prabhupada: Wasteful, yes. Therefore I say they have no brain. They are all rascals. Rascal leaders. A little labor in agriculture will be sufficient to produce the family’s food stock for the whole year. You work only three months, and you get sufficient food for your whole family. And in the remaining nine months, you chant Hare Krishna.
If people ate the grain they feed to animals, they could feel twenty times more people than by eating the animals
But these rascals will not do that. They will work hard like asses simply for eating. Nunam pramattah kurute vikarma yad indriya-pritaya aprinoti. They will not accept an easy life.
Disciple: In that agricultural report it said that if people were to eat all the grains they give to the cows and animals, they could get twenty times more calories than by eating meat.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Wrong civilization, rascal civilization. And this is due to this rascaldom called nationalism—“This is my land.” At any moment a person will be kicked out by death, but still he claims, “It is my land.” Janasya moho ’yam aham mameti. This is the illusion. Nothing belongs to him; still he is fighting, “This is mine. This is mine.” “I” and “mine”—identifying oneself with the body and wrongly conceiving that “This is mine.” This is the basic principle of a wrong civilization. Nothing belongs to us. I have come here to Switzerland. Suppose I remain here for one month and I claim, “Oh, this is mine.” What is this?
So, similarly, we come to this world as guests. We come to the womb of a mother and live here for seventy years or so. And we claim, “This is my land.” But when did it become yours? The land was there long, long before your birth. How has it become yours? But people have no sense. “It is mine—my land, my nation, my family, my society.” In this way, they are wasting time.
These things have been introduced by Western civilization. In the Vedic civilization there is no such thing as nationalism. You won’t find it there. Have you seen the word “nationalism” in the Bhagavad-gita? No such thing.
Nationalism is the idea of tribes. In Africa there are still groups of tribes. Nationalism is the most crude idea of civilization. It is nothing but developed tribalism. Modern man is not advanced in civilization. This nationalism is another form of tribalism, that’s all.
Disciple: Today, so-called civilized people are actually just cannibals because they maintain themselves on eating the cow.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. And they are suffering. Therefore you’ll find that in recent history, every twenty-five years there is a big war with mass slaughter of people. Nature does not tolerate animal slaughter.
Now India has learned to slaughter animals, imitating the Western countries. And now there is war between India and Pakistan. During two wars between Pakistan and Hindustan, millions of people were killed unnecessarily, without any gain.
Disciple: Just recently India exploded an atomic bomb, and now Pakistan is hurrying to get an atomic bomb also.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes.
This is going on.
Disciple: The Indian government promised that nuclear energy would be only for peaceful purposes.
Srila Prabhupada: No, what do they know about peaceful conditions? They are all rascals. They do not know what a peaceful condition is. The actual peaceful condition is described in the Bhagavad-gita:
bhoktaram yajna-tapasam
sarva-loka-maheshvaram
suhridam sarva-bhutanam
jnatva mam shantim ricchati
“A person in full consciousness of Me [Krishna], knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.”
This is peace. Unless there is Krishna consciousness, where is peace? There cannot be peace. All rascaldom. Na mam dushkritino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah. These rascals and fools—mayayapahrita-jnana—have lost all knowledge. How can there be peace? Their endeavors for peace are all useless.

Russel Brand is “Chasing Rhinos” with Shyamasundara Prabhu’s most fascinating book about the beginning of the Hare Krishna movement in the west.

Sankirtan story from Vijaya dasa: From: Vijaya (das) HDG (USA)
Sent: Saturday, October 7, 2017 5:54 AM
I approached an older black man at a street fair. In a respectful manner, he began to question why I believed what was in the books. Considering how good of an event this was, I was surprised that I was giving him so much time. But I would soon find out why.
His daughter (about ten yrs. old) came and sat down next to her father, looked at the books, and said “Hey, that’s Krishna!” Her father and I were both shocked.
I asked, “You know about Krishna?”
She said, “Yeah, my father loves reading about Krishna.”
I was surprised, but by looking at the father I could see thathe was even more surprised.
After inquiring from his daughter, I found out that he had had a stroke in April and therefore could not remember many things that had occurred before then.
Seeing that an opportunity had just just opened up, I seized it by further questioning the little girl in her father’s presence.
I asked, “Does he meditate?”
She said, “Yes.”
Then I asked, “Does he ever chant Krishna’s names?”
She said yes and began to chant the maha-mantra. Her father seemed as amazed as I was.
Although he had no recollection of all this, I found out that he would chant on beads and go to the Detroit temple. This was a devotee!
He then said, “Well, I guess I have to buy this book.”
In conclusion, I told him that he must have found this practice beneficial before his stroke and so he should take it up again. I showed him the address to the temple and thanked him and his daughter. I was left thinking about what Krishna says: “There is no loss or diminution on this path;” “My devotee never perishes;” and “I direct the wandering of all living entities.”

Today is the appearance anniversary of Radha Kunda, the bathing pond of Srimati Radharani in Vrndavana. Devotees bathe there especially on the midnight of this day.

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Life – An Art of Dying.
Death is that grand test that determines our next destination. Srila Prabhupada once said that ISKCON teaches the Art of Dying. In Srimad-Bhagavatam, we can see that Bhismadev has set the best example of how to prepare oneself for that moment.
The quality of life determines the destination after death.

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Lalita’s Village (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday we visited Uncagaon, the village of Lalita devi, one on Srimati Radharani’s sakhis. We discussed her pastimes and sang her glories in the pristine, pure atmosphere of Sri Vrindavan dhama. Once again, Ananta Vrindavan das expertly captured the mood with his camera.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Bn7VjC

By Anuttama dasa

The second day of the Governing Body Commission (GBC) Mid-Term Meeting began with a report of a one-year study of how to improve the effectiveness of GBC meetings. Members were presented with a 94-page document or “Meetings Manual,” and a second 23-page guide on “Decision Making.” Both texts were drawn from research conducted by the GBC Strategic Planning Team (SPT). In preparing the manuals the SPT underwent a detailed analysis of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings on management as well as a review 40 professional studies and books on meetings and decision-making. Vraja Vihari Das, a SPT member, led a morning series of plenary and small group discussions to introduce the two documents. The GBC discussed the advantage of creative arguments (open mindedly exploring a variety of positions) vs. attached arguments (only wishing to push one’s own agenda or opinion, and thus shutting down other possible solutions, or sources of information). Continue reading "Second Day of GBC Meetings Explores Improved Means of Decision Making
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By Bhaktimarga Swami

Yesterday's (Oct. 11) SB class in Iskcon Ujjain. Don't tell Krishna how big your problems are, tell your problems how big Krishna is! Like there is an expression in Spanish "pochito" meaning "little, very little or small". So when someone tells you all about their problems, remind them how small, temporary and insignificant they are in front of the greatness of the Lord and our eternal spiritual life by saying: "pochito prabhu!" Continue reading "Pochito Prabhu!
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 14.20 Those who transcend the modes transcend miseries appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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