Planet ISKCON – Page 747 – Websites from the ISKCON Universe

The Mayapuris: Nityananda
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The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Visits ISKCON Ujjain
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On October 6th, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan, visited ISKCON Ujjain, and met with ISKCON leaders taking part in the GBC's mid-term meetings.

How do we explain the non-physical is differentiated as the mind and the soul?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Answer Podcast

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How do we help people who hold that nature is their god?
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Answer Podcast

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Gita 02.20-30 Go beyond lamentation by understanding the eternality of the soul and the multiplicity of its reincarnations
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[Bhakti Shastri class at Krishna House, Gainesville, USA]

Podcast

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How the Universal Form makes Krishna accessible
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[Bhagavatam class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.3 at Krishna House, Gainesville, USA]

Podcast

Podcast Summary

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Bahulastami
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Sri Radha Kunda manifested on the eighth day of the waning phase of the moon in the month of Kartik. This day is observed by bathing in the holy waters at midnight, which is said to be the time Radha Kunda manifested. At this time, thousands of devotees gather at the banks of Radha Kunda in Vrndavan.

Thursday, October 12th, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

Ujjain, India

Foot Care

With a few minutes available in Room 112 of the Guest House, I gave some attention to my feet. With a rasp-like instrument I managed to take off dead skin, much like a pumice-stone effect. I also utilized my nail clippers to carve away at semi-soft skin, especially at the tips of the toes where the attention is most needed. After this procedure, I took to a good soaking in lukewarm water in a basin with some of the local salt dissolved inside.

I have to be kind to these feet. They have done a tremendous service this summer in carrying me across the western part of the USA. “Service your feet,” is what I say. It is a form of devotion.

I took additional dead skin off after the soak, clipped the toe nails and felt as though I had new feet. It felt so great on the marble floor of the temple of Radha MadhanMohan. It was like I was gliding over the surface with my clean new feet.

I do have a sister who specializes in pedicure. As a swami, I generally don’t have physical contact with the opposite gender, even though they may be kith and kin. I will give hugs that are momentary, especially if it is a newcomer, as I just want to encourage the ladies toward devotional life. I never thought to ask Rose Ann, my sister, and I will refrain from such a request, to aid my feet. Also, there are usually young men around to help the elders in the matter of foot care.

The same type of stricture should apply to women who choose a life of bhakti. Women will help each other in an interdependent fashion like in a nunnery or a convent. There are not too many facilities like this for women, from what I’ve seen.

In my travels, I see how people really care for their cars. The same type of spirit should apply in the case of one’s feet.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Wednesday, October 11th, 2017
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Ujjain, India

Got A Call

I was studying the reading material given to me when I received a call from Winnipeg, Canada. It was Daruka on the other end of the line. He had been my support person one and a half trips across the country. He and his good companion, Billie the parrot, had been a great back-up team, but it was Daruka, now on the line, sounding not so good. He’s currently in the hospital recuperating from his third auto accident since 2014.

Each incident was the other guy’s fault and each time it’s like a message from on high saying, “Maybe your driving days are over.”

One thing that is for sure is that there’s some bad carma here and I really feel for Daruka who has done so much for the walking mission, and is overall a good-hearted person. He’s needing prayers. He’s asking and I’ll deliver, and I’ll ask right now for others who know him, or may not, to reach out for his wellness. He said this time his thigh got jammed between the driver’s door that was banged inward, and the steering wheel. The door had to be cut through in order to free him. He’s in pain and can’t walk right now. He’s bedridden.

I recall in our travels together numerous times when I would be a harsh critic toward the automobile culture. It would sound like a curse to Daruka whenever I would express something pejorative on the topic, but now he admits perhaps the remarks were highly realistic.

Nevertheless, the whole thing is traumatic for him as much as it is physically challenging. He and I travelled tens of thousands of miles together. No such collision. Now it’s getting too repetitive. Please pray.

May the source be with you!

5 km

Tuesday, October 10th, 2017
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Ujjain, India

Happy Rain…

Happy rain has been falling from the sky. It’s a cleanser, no doubt. Walking is somewhat restricted to pacing my room—room 112 in the guest house. I’ve been good, attending meetings, and on time. Our body of leaders, approximately thirty-five to forty, are mainly discussing more effective and efficient ways to manage and make good decisions.

Ujjain is that place where five millennia ago, Sri Krishna took His education as a boy. I’ve been meditating on what I am learning at the meetings. The information is valuable. There’s good stuff here—a bit of an overload. I’m now 65; most of my comrades are 70 or approaching. Because I’m human, I am retaining not all of what’s being said or being handed out to me as take-home material.

I’m learning pastimes for sure.

I’ve been sitting under an AC unit, directly. Everyone else is stuffy in our conference room.

Both in the morning and evening, I’ve been asked to lead kirtan. Taking a hold of the microphone and moving from my lips to my legs offers me a break from the sitting routine.

My assistant is a native of Bengal—Suta Goswami Das. He is someone to be proud of. He really is helpful and I’m thinking to get him to come to Canada with me. We could use someone like him to not only assist me but to spend time in cultivating the spiritual lives of immigrants of Indian origin, along with being an inspiration to young locals. May it come to pass.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Monday, October 9th, 2017
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Ujjain, India

Back to India Again

Back home, Rajasuya had kindly arranged for me to avoid chaotic traffic conditions by taking a sleep stay somewhere in Mumbai. He booked me into the airport Niranta Hotel to save time and catch quality rest. He also arranged for me to get escorted through the airport to security and my gate. What a breeze!

“No Rahul, let’s walk the stairs,” I said after he pushed the elevator button, “I’ve got to get some walking in.” He agreed and executed the typical waggle of the head. But he didn’t understand my logic. Oh well.

There at the gate, I met Bhakti Vaibhava Swami of Germany. That’s nice! I thought. Then we were driven from Indore to Ujjain. While passing through green and countryside, I mentioned to my comrade monk that I’m not much of a ‘meetings’ man, referring to our purpose in reaching this destination. Our mid-term sessions are annual and I go out of a sense of duty. When I said that it’s worth the while because we get to see other leaders of the mission and enthuse each other, he remarked, “I feel the same way.” He implied that the sanga, the association, is key to our spiritual success.

We arrived at the temple/ashram and were greeted by a second chanting party—the first was at the Indore Airport. A slew of young brahmacharis more or less carried us along, escorting us to our quarters by way of the elevator. Oh well, the stairs were short. We just had one floor to go. Both the Swami and I had kichari and sambar before we calmly moved our way into the conference room. There we stayed for a while until it was time for a short break, lunch, before hopping into a second sedentary session. No walking, and no theatre practice for the Walking Monk today.

May the Source be with you!

1 km within the airport, only.

Sunday, October 8th, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

Mumbai, India

The Little Ones On Board

My flight from Toronto to India was direct, no stopovers. Hallelujah! But not all passengers aboard Air Canada Flight 046 were happy campers. It seems that on any airlines taking you to Mother India, there are going to be lots of babies. It becomes well known during the descent of the aircraft. The mouths of the little ones become so obvious. They might be classified as ideal meditation crashers.

Personally, I love the sound of those future leaders. The crying is simply a voice that says, “I’m coming and I’m coming to impact you.” With every new generation, we can anticipate major contributions along the way, in addition to compounding an already crazy world.

In fact, we live in the age of Kali according to our Vedic teachings. It’s a time of dark thinking and doing. On the bright side, members of this malevolent time can know that through quiet meditation, or even a happy boisterous one, as in kirtan, that a redeeming and uplifting experience can be felt.

I’m ever so grateful to my guru, Prabhupada, who came from India to the west to make the kirtan or chanting investment. While going through customs, after landing in Mumbai, I had my preoccupation in japa, chanting on the beads. Believe me, the queue is long and I don’t have to bear as much anguish like others. I noticed at least the babies in Mummy or Daddy’s arms are also quiet now. May they use their potent lung-power as a dovetailing to spiritual practices down the road.

Yes, the human voice is made for kirtan.

May the Source be with you!

0 km

Saturday, October 7th, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

Brampton, Ontario

Verse 3:14

At the home of Yogender, I chose to speak from the Bhagavad-gita, 3:14, to a study group who are enthusiastic to learn of the book’s unbounded wisdom.

The verse reads, “All living beings subsist on food grains which are produced from rain. Rains are produced by performance of yajna (sacrifice) and yajna is born of prescribed duties.”

I also read a portion of the purport by our guru, Prabhupada, wherein he explains, “Food grains or vegetables are factually eatables. The human being eats different kinds of grains, vegetables, fruits, etc. and the animals eat the refuse of the food grains and vegetables, grass, plants, etc. Human beings who are accustomed to eating meat and flesh must also depend on the production of vegetation in order to eat the animals. Therefore, ultimately, we have to depend on the production of the field and not the production of big factories.”

Such logic of dependence, delivered by Krishna in the verse and by His devotee in the purport, would lead anyone to believe that the human diet naturally is herbivore-based.

Most of the listeners at Yogender’s are already committed vegetarians based on tradition and/or choice, but hearing this extra piece of information offers an additional reinforcement, a stamp of approval toward the case of a plant-based planet.

We had a delicious meal including flavourful veggie burgers. After the program, I took a solo walk through the various loops and trails at Sugar Maple Park where the colourful fall giants, the trees express, by their very prowess, that plants and trees are our best physical friends in so many ways.

Now I’m off to India, via Air Canada, to Mumbai, Indore, and Ujjain.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

BE LIKE GRASS

Philadelphia Ratha Yatra 2017
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Every year on the 4th Saturday in September, their Lordships Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi grace the streets of Philadelphia (PA, USA) in a Parade of Chariots beginning from Love Park and ending at Eakin’s Oval, in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art where the Festival of India is then held. This year the festival was held on September 23th.

The story of Lord Rama and the boatman
→ SivaramaSwami.com

Radhanatha Swami’s Bhagavatam class
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Religious Freedom in Danger in Russia: A Cause for Concern in…

Religious Freedom in Danger in Russia: A Cause for Concern in Europe.
Rome – 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.
The presentations were followed by a roundtable discussion on Religious Liberty in Russia, presided by Raffaella Di Marzio (LIREC, Rome, Italy); with the participation of members of various religious communities and human rights activists, including Fabio Pianigiani (Narada Muni das, ISKCON).
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/jpuVVf

Amitabh Bacchan getting a copy of Srila Prabhupada’s…
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Amitabh Bacchan getting a copy of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita As It Is.

Bahulastami
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“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 every respect, Her divine kunda is described by great sages as similarly dear to Him. Undoubtedly Radha-kunda is rarely attained even by the great devotees; therefore it is even more difficult for ordinary devotees to attain. If one simply bathes once within those holy waters, one’s pure love of Krishna is fully aroused.“
- The Nectar of Instruction verse 11

19th Ratha Yatra Festival of ISKCON Sri Lanka. Mahakarta Das:…
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19th Ratha Yatra Festival of ISKCON Sri Lanka.
Mahakarta Das: The Ratha Yatra festival was celebrated in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 05th of October 2017 with the participation of thousands of devotees and congregational members. Hon. Minister Mano Ganesan was there for the inauguration of the festival as Chief Guest. Desamanya Duraisamy Chettiar – Chief Trustee of Sri Venkateshwara Maha Vishnu Temple was there as a Special Guest of Honor. H.G. Rohit Das Prabhu came from India and conducted the fire sacrifice ceremony and other ceremonies for the Ratha Yatra.
The procession commenced at 9.00 am from the temple and traveled along the main streets in the city of Colombo and returned to the temple by 4.00 pm. Annadanam (Prasadam) was distributed at the end of the program.

Mexico City Harinam Fiesta (Album with photos) Mexico City is a…
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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,…
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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

BBT to print Bhagavad-gita As It Is 2.8 meters high, 2 meters large and with a weight of 750 kgs
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By BBT staff

A European division of BBT (Bhaktivedanta Book Trust) is in the process of printing the largest sacred text in the world! Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As t Is. It will be 2.8 meters high (9.18 feet) and 2 meters large (6.56 feet). It will weight 750 kgs. The idea is to make it travel all over the world as a big piece of religious art and people can take darshan and worship the Bhagavad-gita as a Deity. The Bhagavad-gita is also a Deity of Lord Krishna because His words are there. Continue reading "BBT to print Bhagavad-gita As It Is 2.8 meters high, 2 meters large and with a weight of 750 kgs
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Bahulastami
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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.

Day Three of GBC Meetings: Education and Expansion
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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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The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Visits ISKCON Ujjain
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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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Our annual Kartika parikrama in Sri Vrindavan Dham has just…

Our annual Kartika parikrama in Sri Vrindavan Dham has just begun! Join us this month with our video series, ‘Kartika 2017 Parikrama with Indradyumna Swami.’ (10 min video)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/8AjSgn

Gita 14.21 When the disease is subtle, we need education to perceive the symptoms of sickness and health
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Prabhupada life-story 09 – Alone and unaided in an alien land

Audio Podcast :

Video :

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ISKCON Temple in Ujjain
→ Ramai Swami

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 to bhakti
→ Servant of the Servant

The road from karma to bhakti

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

Hare Krishna