Planet ISKCON

Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Connecticut, USA]

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[Talk at University of Massachusetts, USA]

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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
Facebook	£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.
Twitter	£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+.
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=product/sennheiser_ew-112-p-g3 – this is required to Guru Maharaja does not need to have a clip on mic and sound can be accurately picked up from the camera’s microphone
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.

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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

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

• The Temple Barn crew has been milking five cows. Milk production is at 18-20 gallons per day.
• Sita gave birth to a heifer calf this week, which will bring the milking herd up to six.
• Malati is due in October. Sriya and Anjali are both due in February.
• There are two heifers residing at the Temple Barn (an 18-month-old and an eight-month-old).
• The heifer, Subhadra, was moved from the Temple Barn to Nandagram for breeding with the bull Madhu.
• The milk cow, Usha, was moved from the Temple Barn to the Valley Barn for breeding with the bull Dharma.
• Ananda Vidya is producing 10-12 lbs. of butter and 15 gallons of yogurt each week for the temple kitchens.
• Hay harvest: We have 460 new first cutting, and 85 new second cutting bales in addition to the approximately 250 bales from last year. 80-100 more first cutting bales are expected along with additional second and third cutting hay.
• Ray is pressure washing and painting the valley board fences on the days he is not in the fields.
• Ray has begun work on Dharma the bull’s outside pen expansion project at the Valley Barn. Fill dirt has been added at the end of the cement apron on the side of the barn, and old fence has been taken down to recoup welded wire panels and posts for the new fence installation.
• Fil has been starting each day working with the oxen.
• While Ananda Vidya was out of town, Fil covered the morning and evening milking for three days.
• Fil has been doing grounds maintenance and mowing at Nandagram and the flower garden, as well as feeding, cleaning, and herd maintenance at Bahulaban.
• Ananta Gauranga, one of Fil’s cows from Canada, died unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago and Ray buried him. The cause of death is uncertain, though it is likely from “hardware disease,” ingesting a foreign object.
• Fil has been working on the mold problem in both houses at Nandagram by bleaching, removing, and repairing walls and ceilings when necessary.
• Fil and Tejo are making repairs and doing maintenance on the Nandagram water system.
• There is a problem with the electrical feed to the Nandagram pasture cabin. It will be revisited once Fil returns from his initiation in Hungary this coming Wednesday.
• Robert has been delivering summer vegetables to the temple kitchen and green beans to the Valley Barn processing room. He also picks flowers and makes vases for the temple.
• ECO-V purchased a new 15-cubic ft chest freezer for green bean and tomato storage. Dharmakala processed 26 one-gallon freezer bags of green beans.
• Suchandra and Lila have been picking and delivering 500-600 flowers each day to the temple. 6,000 marigolds were delivered over a three-day period for Janmastami. 2,000 flowers are expected to be picked for Radhashtami this week.

2. Farm Conference Update

Jamuna Jivani reported on the previous month’s projects:

• Madhava Smullen interviewed Jamuna Jivani for a Dandavats article about the conference. It will be published the week of 9/4/17.
• Sukhayanti and Jamuna Jivani have been calling all the temples and farm communities in North America to personally speak with them about and invite them to the conference.
• Posters have been sent out to many temples and farm, as well as the Facebook event page.
• A program at Prabhupada’s Palace has been confirmed for the evening of Friday 10/13/17 with kirtan, dipa dana, and a slideshow presentation by Sankirtana dasa.
• The organizers have confirmed a panel discussion on the topic of ahimsa dairy featuring some of the conference speakers.
• A special discounted price of $20 is being offered to New Vrindaban residents.

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.
...

Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 14.10 The modes are neither in segregation nor in integration but are in competition appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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 […]

The post Sri Ramacandra Vijayotsava Celebrated in Sri Dham Mayapur appeared first on Mayapur.com.

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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

Discover India - USA 2017 (13 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: It was an honor to follow in Srila Prabhupada’s footsteps with our cultural presentation of Krsna consciousness in America throughout the month of September. Sixty devotees, from 14 different countries around the world, performed almost daily in many of the prestigious universities on the east coast. Professors, students, and various dignitaries gave resounding applause for our 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.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/ixbeC2

Turkish Sadhu-sanga.

Jagannath Ratha yatra in Cambodia (8 min video)
Pchum Ben is a public holiday in Cambodia that follows the period called “Vassa,” a kind of “Buddhist Lent,” and has been kept with great devotion by the Khmer people for longer than anyone can remember. This tradition is quite similar with Hindu tradition called “sraddha” where hindu people offer “ Piṇḍas”- are balls of cooked rice and barley flour mixed with ghee and black sesame seeds offered to ancestors during Hindu funeral rites (Antyesti) and ancestor worship (Śrāddha). Devotees in Cambodia saw this event as a chance to introduce Krishna Consciousness through Jagannath Ratha yatra.
A year before, H.H. Subhag swami maharaj asked Jagannath Ratha Yatra Nusantara team to make ratha yatra in Cambodia. Then the ratha yatra team contacted prabhu Gunaavatara in Cambodia if there was a chance to do Ratha-yatra festival there. After discussing with the devotees in Cambodia Gunaavatara prabhu said that it possible to do ratha yatra. The devotees from Yashopura ashram took this to introduce the Hare Krishna Movement in Cambodia. This Ashram is under supervision of H.H. Bhaktiraghava Maharaj.
The devotes, even small in number, led by Visnuvrata das and Gunaavatar das, were very enthusiastic doing harinama sankirtan in village of Chub Ta Trav Village, Cambodia. Knowing the annual Festival of Pchum Ben, the devotees had idea to spread the mercy of Lord Jagannath widely in this village through Jagganath ratha yatra festival. They worked hard in a week to prepare the festival. From taking care of the permits to preparing the chariot until asking the authority of the Wat Prasat Pagoda to allow Budha deity to participate on the festival. They joyfully worked for the satisfaction of the Lord.
On the day of the festival, since early morning devotees prepared the festival. Some devotees cooked, decorated the chariot and other preparation. This devotional service environment made them happy. At 09.00 Pm. local time, Lord Jagannath were carried to the pagoda using “tuk-Tuk” a traditional Cambodia public transportation and it was about 15 minutes from the center. nt of the Pagoda the Lord Jagganath along with His brother, Lord Balaram, and His Lovely sister, Subadra Devi were put on the chariot and Budha deities from the Wat Prasat Pagoda. Arati Were offer to Lords by the pujari and then the Lord chariot were pulled by devotees and local villagers. The Hare Krishna Mahamantra filled the atmosphere and all joyfully sang and dance. There was big pandal in near the center prepared for the festival. Many local villagers came to the pandal and Gunaavatar prabhu gave sort class about the glorification of Chanting Hare Krishna Maha Mantra in this age of Kali yuga and related it to the Pchum Ben festival. The local villager attentively listened the class. After the class, all villagers who came to the festival honoring prasadam. All credit of the Ratha yatra festival are going to Visnuvrata prabhu and Induleka mataji who bravely preach the glory of chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra, bhakta Alexi bhaktin Marsha, Bakta JayaBharat and bhakta ajay, bhakta Sharon, Bahkta jerry, bhakta Ny Chaiyya, bhakta khat Khear, bhakta Neat, bakta Min Ey Te, and Guna Avatar prabhu who organize the beautiful festival for the Lord jagannath, and all devotees who supported in many ways.
Jay Sri Jagannath, Jay Sri Balaram, Jay Subadra devi.
Jay Cambodia Gaura Bhakta Vrinda…
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/2XKc6B

Sri Ramacandra Vijayotsava Celebrated in Sri Dham Mayapur.
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 mood during this festival:

By Bhakta Wilfred

The Hare Krishna devotee community from Nairobi was fortunate to attend and an enlightening talk was given by Her Grace Manasiganga Mataji. She spoke at length about oneness as God's children irrespective of religion and creed and how every living entity is precious before God. In one of her points she emphasized on the protection and care of the environment which is a mother to us, as much as we should take care of the environment, we also need to take care of our spiritual selves. "if we take care of ourselves, and seek to better ourselves as individuals, then the world is bound to be a better place" Continue reading "Iskcon participates in inter-religious peace and environment forum
→ Dandavats"

Turkish Sadhu-sanga.

Sri Jagannath Sobhayatra at ISKCON Gaya (Album with photos)
On 28th September, Thursday evening, ISKCON Gaya devotees went for Jagannath Sobhayatra among the busy markets of Gaya. The devotees from Mayapur Bhaktivriksha and Patna were also in the yatra. Lord Jagannath, Baldev & Subhadra Maharani were seated on a beautifully decorated cart. The yatra starts from ISKCON Gaya center at 5 PM with aarti and kirtan lead by Jagdish Shyam Das (Manager, ISKCON Gaya). More than 1000 worth Srila Prabhupad books distributed. People of Gaya city were amazed seeing the devotees enthusiastically chanting and dancing at Sobhayatra. Prasadam was distributed profusely. The yatra ends at Visnupad temple where the evening aarti and kirtan. Visnupad temple is the sacred place where Lord Chaitanya had manifested His devotee form.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/7Bg6bb
Video at: https://goo.gl/R6cDGS

By Chandan Yatra Das

Rama-tirtha-sarovara, a very important site of the great sage Valmiki’s ashram is in Amritsar. Valmiki wrote Ramayana here. Mother Sita spent her period of exile at this place in Valmiki ashram, after Lord Ramacandra banished Sita, His wife and eternal consort, during His later earthly pastimes. Pregnant and alone, Sita sought shelter at the ashram of Valmiki, where she soon gave birth to Lava and Kusha, sons of Lord Ramacandra at this ashram. Lava and Kusha spent their childhood here at Valmiki’s ashram. During Ashvamedha Yajna by Lord Ramacandra, Lava and Kusha captured a challenged horse. The fight between Lord Ramacandra’s forces and Lava and Kusha took place here at Rama-tirtha-sarovara. Lava and Kusha tied Hanuman to a tree at a place near to today's Durgiana Temple. The cities of Lahore and Kasur, which are both now in Pakistan, and close to Amritsar, are said to be founded by Lava and Kusha, respectively. Continue reading "Sri Amritsar Yatra
→ Dandavats"

By Bhakta Aseem

Uttarakhand is famous as ‘Devbhoomi’ , ‘The Land of Demigods’. It has many beautiful and serene valleys. Definitely a heaven for the yogis! But we are not yogis, we are Krsna bhaktas! Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna Consciousness movement is so nice that any other process than bhakti yoga looks so petty for this age. Anywhere we preach and people are so much attracted towards this timeless philosophy i.e. The Science of Krsna Consciousness. Continue reading "Rath Yatra Procession invites Hundreds in the Hills of Uttarakhand
→ Dandavats"