When, because of our bhakti principles, we can’t eat the food offered by our relatives, how can we avoid alienating them from bhakti?
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Answer Podcast

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Temptation is caused not so much by perception as by provocation
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[Reflection at Gainesville, USA]

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Six loving exchanges – Opening the heart and reciprocating with the opened heart
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[Talk at Krishna House, Gainesville, USA]

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We are defined by the questions we ask – in life, in science and in spirituality
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[Talk at Krishna House, Gainesville, USA]

Podcast

Podcast Summary

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Tuesday, September 5th, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

Pioneer, California

Ten Days to Go

The scent of sage is definitely behind us and currently the sweet fragrances of pine and cedar dominate in the Sierra Mountain range.  The road, Hwy 88, is extremely and wonderfully curvy, yet the ups and downs of the trail force different leg muscles to be activated.  I’m not as good on the downs—my brakes aren’t the best.

I mildly complained to the boys that I’m contending with the TT and the NS, the ‘terrible tilt’ and ‘no shoulder’.  Still, I find I must adjust mentally, but the motorists are responsible drivers, always making room for me.

One motorist, Randy, saw me on Monday.  Then he saw me again.  “Did you go all night?  Here!” He handed me some water and a bag of trail mix.

Another vehicle slowed down and came to a halt.  It’s a couple.  “Is everything alright?  Do you need water?”
“Surely!”  They give.
“Money?”
“It helps.”  They give $30.
“Some herbs?”  Something I’m supposed to smoke.
“I’ll decline.  Thanks!”

I met a rare walker, shirtless, a couple of marks on the arm and torso, a tattoo; the young guy is immersed in his mobile device.  We shake hands.
“Here’s a mantra.  Do you like walking?”
“It’s very therapeutic.”

I see a blue bird going from tree to tree.  I see and hear two dozen head of cattle, each one wearing a cow bell.  It’s nice.  The clanging is continuous.

I did not walk all night but rested with the boys in a motel room, and also relaxed in a hot tub—much needed for the legs—with Hayagriva also submerged to the waist while reading to me “Song of the Gopis,” from the book “Krishna.”

May the Source be with you!

20 miles

Prabhupada life-story 04 – League of Devotees – A clique thwarts the promise
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The Cause of Crime. Krishna Dharma Dasa: There are 80,000…
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The Cause of Crime.
Krishna Dharma Dasa: There are 80,000 people incarcerated in Britain’s prisons, twice as many as there were ten years ago - and the number is still rising. Strangely, though, crime figures are supposedly falling. That’s a debatable point, because many will argue that people are increasingly disinclined to report petty crimes, seeing that hard-pressed police are unlikely to respond, and even if they do it will serve little purpose. The chance of getting back stolen goods or having an offender apprehended in minor cases is remote.
Nevertheless, those offenders who do find themselves before a judge are more likely than ever to receive a custodial sentence. This at least is the view of the Prisons Reform Trust, which says that although the number of guilty findings in courts has stayed more or less the same, there has been a “creeping inflation of sentences and a lack of confidence in effective community measures.”

The trust puts it down to a number of factors, such as public demand for stiff sentences in the wake of high-profile, reviled crimes like child murders. However, it derives particularly from the prevailing political view that “prison works,” a phrase coined by Michael Howard when he was Home Secretary about fifteen years ago. Soon after that New Labour came into power with its manifesto to be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime,” a policy pursued till today.

But does prison work? Is it tough on crime and its causes? Figures show that 60% of prisoners re-offend within two years of release. Prison, of course, is an excellent place to meet criminals and learn new tricks. The Vedas point out how our consciousness is quickly shaped by our association, which in prisons is hardly of the best kind. With this in mind, another Home Secretary, David Waddington, said in a government paper, “Prison is an expensive way of making bad people worse.”

In fairness it has to be said that attempts are made to rehabilitate criminals, but seemingly to an insufficient degree.

So is more training the solution? According to the Vedas the answer is yes, but it has to be of a certain kind, and preferably before we find ourselves detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure. Srila Prabhupada writes, “Simply enforcing laws and ordinances cannot make the citizens obedient and lawful. That is impossible. Throughout the entire world there are so many states, legislative assemblies, and parliaments, but still the citizens are rogues and thieves. Good citizenship, therefore, cannot be enforced; the citizens must be trained.”

He goes on to say that the training must be in varnashrama, the Vedic system of organizing society into occupational and spiritual orders. This should have the aim of reviving our eternal Krishna consciousness, which is the purpose of varnashrama.

In such a properly educated and organized society crime would be reduced for different reasons. Initially, it would reduce the number of untrained, unemployed and possibly needy people who feel forced to resort to crime. But the main benefit, and one that tends to be absent from current government programs, is spiritual. Vedic training in spirituality or God consciousness makes one peaceful. It reduces the root cause of all moral transgressions: material desire. Because we think that having more means being happier, we will generally stop at little to get more, including breaking a law or two if we can go undetected.

Implementing varnashrama and engaging everyone according to their propensities, which it entails, is a major challenge, but its essential aim of awakening our Krishna consciousness is something we can do immediately. In a conversation with the Mayor of Evanston, a district of Chicago which was experiencing a crime wave, Srila Prabhupada asked that ISKCON be given facility for public chanting and dancing in glorification of the Lord and the distribution of sanctified food. He explained that this was the way to cure people of the “material infection” that leads to crime. Prabhupada said, “So if we cure that infection, again he becomes good. So this is the curing process. It is not an external, artificial thing, imposed upon somebody. No, his goodness is there.”

In other words, we are all intrinsically good, being parts of the supreme good or God. We just need to revive our original spiritual nature and that goodness will emerge. Being cured of the material infection also means finding within our selves the happiness we futilely seek elsewhere. Beguiled by an endless array of advertisements prompting us to purchase products we don’t need and can hardly afford, we are gripped with desire and then frustration and dismay when we either fail to procure them, or they fail to satisfy us even if procured. Hence we see spiraling statistics of depression, as well as a concomitant surge in the use of alcohol and drugs, major contributors to crime.

The only way to reverse this trend is to connect ourselves with Krishna, the source of spiritual bliss. Then peace and contentment will prevail. Otherwise our programs of social reform, devoid as they are of spiritual content, are always going to struggle.

Paramatma: God as the Source of Inspiration and Insight. By…
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Paramatma: God as the Source of Inspiration and Insight.
By the late Dr. T.D. Singh.
According to Vedanta [summative Vedic techings], the Supreme Lord expands and accompanies each and every living entity in order to guide his/her activities. This is seen in the form of inspiration or a sudden flash of insight experienced by scientists at the time of discovery, and by poets and artists in different circumstances.
Let us consider the example of a spaceship. We make these spaceships and send them out in space with astronauts with some specific plan and purpose. If we look inside the spaceship, we will find that each and every part will have a purpose in the overall working of the spaceship to achieve the objective for which it was designed. Such is the case with all the wonderful planets moving in this vast universe. According to Vedanta, all the different planets and luminaries moving at different speeds and with a variety of facilities and atmospheric conditions are created under the supervision of the Supreme Lord for a definite purpose. Observation of the wonderful intelligence and specialty in the laws of the universe has led many scientists to conceive the divine hand of God behind creation. Newton, whose laws of motion and gravitation gave birth to the age of science, said, “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” Similarly, Nicholas Copernicus felt that “the universe has been brought for us by a supremely good and orderly Creator.”

Kepler, who gave three famous laws of planetary motion, felt God’s presence in His wondrous variety of creation. At the end of the fifth book on Cosmic Harmony Kepler writes, “I have endeavored to gain for human reason, aided by geometrical calculation, an insight into His way of creation; may the Creator of the heavens themselves, the father of all reason, to whom our mortal senses owe their existence, may He who is himself immortal … keep me in His grace and guard me from reporting anything about His work which cannot be justified before His magnificence or which may misguide our powers of reason, and may He cause us to aspire to the perfection of His works of creation by the dedication of our lives … .” All these above statements of scientists support the role of the Paramatma feature of the Lord in the life of everyone.

Paramatma is the partial expansion of the Supreme Person. This feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is responsible for inspiration, discovery, creativity and movement of all living entities. As stated by the Lord in Bhagavad-gita, “I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.”

The Theory of Big Vision can answer many of the questions of which one can find no solution in the Big Bang model. Why are there so many different planets and when and how will our universe end? According to Vedantic cosmology, these different planets are created to fulfill different desires of different living beings and our universe is a closed universe, which will end in 155.518 x 10 to the 12 power years. Based on Vedantic cosmology, the Theory of Big Vision further tells us that the present age of the universe is 155.522 x 10 to the 12 power years.

More Than Ever Before (Album with photos) Indradyumna Swami:…
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More Than Ever Before (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Ukraine ISKCON is one of the most successful yatras in the world. That was evident at the annual Bhakti Sangam Festival over the last few days, where devotees attended numerous seminars, chanted and danced in great ecstasy and relished each other’s association more than ever before.
[ All photos by Mykola Kutsyi from Ukraine ]
Find them here: https://goo.gl/sNbyMK

When and how to read, recite, chant and hear Srimad Bhagavatam
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Hare KrishnaBy His Divine Grace A.C.B. Swami Prabhupada

Discussion of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which describes the character and pastimes of devotees and the Lord, is very quickly effective. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has been organized for this purpose. In every center of this Society—not only in the morning, evening or noon, but practically twenty-four hours a day—there is continuous devotional service going on. Anyone who comes in contact with the Society automatically becomes a devotee. We have actual experience that many karmīs and others come to the Society and find a very pleasing and peaceful atmosphere in the temples of ISKCON. Continue reading "When and how to read, recite, chant and hear Srimad Bhagavatam
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Perfection of Talents (with Tomato Soup Recipe!)
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Its six o’clock on Monday evening at The Loft Yoga Lounge and most of the guests have arrived. Lenny and I volunteer at the loft, helping to run their daily events. We have just completed cooking a vegan meal for 40 guests to enjoy after their yoga or meditation class. It was an intense but […]

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Go beyond the mind’s transitory feelings to the heart’s transcendental feelings
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[Reflection at Gainesville, USA]

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Be open-minded, not empty-minded
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“Merely having an open mind is nothing; the object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.”

– G K Chesterton

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Contemporary ethos exhorts us to be open-minded and excoriates the follies and perils of close-mindedness. Given that many people with narrow-minded, black-and-white view of things are intolerant and even violent, we do need reminders to be open-minded.

And yet overemphasizing the danger of one extreme can push us to the other extreme, whose dangers we overlook because of our paranoia about the other extreme. That’s why we need to remember the dangers not just of narrow-mindedness but also of extreme open-mindedness. We need to guard against being so open-minded that our brains fall out, of becoming utterly uncritical in evaluating things, of sentimentally assuming to be subjective things that have an objective reality, especially when such a wrong assessment can have objective harmful consequences.

For example, when doctors diagnose a patient, they need to be open-minded about what the patient might be suffering from. If they go in with a preconceived notion that the patient is a hypochondriac or that the patient, having come from a drug user’s social stratum, must be suffering from a drug-induced complication, that bias can skew their objectivity.

And yet, doctors can’t diagnose with an entirely empty mind. If they refuse to use the knowledge they have acquired during their medical education and experience, equating such knowledge with close-mindedness, they can’t assess the symptoms and the implication of those symptoms. A doctor who stays inconclusive about the diagnosis can’t help the patient. Worse still are the doctors who consider such inconclusiveness a virtue. Similar are those extreme relativists who claim subjectivity to be the ultimate virtue in the pursuit of knowledge.

To better understand this, let’s analyze the mouth metaphor used in this quote. If we are to be nourished, we need to open our mouth to take in food. And taking in food requires not just opening the mouth at the right time, but also closing it at the right time. Otherwise, if our mouth stays open, the food can’t nourish us just as it couldn’t have nourished us if our mouth were closed.

Similarly, our mind needs to stay open to take in the world, to receive the information coming in through our sensory channels. If we don’t objectively take in the sensory information, that is, if we don’t hear what others are saying as they are saying it, then we will simply read our own biases into their statements. While striving for objectivity, we need to simultaneously strive for comprehension. We need to arrive at some tangible understanding of the situation – our mind needs to wrap itself around the information taken in and process it properly using our God-given intelligence. Just as opening our mind to receive information is critical for comprehension, so too is closing the mind around that information in the sense of processing that information.

Overemphasis on open-mindedness leads ultimately to extreme relativism, wherein everything is considered subjective and nothing objective. But then, even relativism makes the absolute, non-subjective claim that everything is relative. By spotlighting this self-contradictory presumption lying at the foundation of relativism, its fallaciousness can be exposed.

Unfortunately, such relativism is used nowadays to denigrate or even deny the presence of any big picture – a holistic worldview that provides answers to life’s big questions. Challenging the hegemony of relativism is essential to prevent open-mindedness from degenerating into a free fall to empty-mindedness. We can most effectively challenge relativism’s absolutism by opening ourselves to time-honored sources of wisdom that offer objective parameters and processes for determining the nature of reality.

By using our intelligence to navigate the balance between bigotry caused by unthinking close-mindedness and vacuity caused by unthinking open-mindedness, we can arrive at a thoughtful understanding of reality. Then, we will be equipped with the humility to stay open to better understanding while also having the confidence to function effectively with our present understanding.

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ISKCON Hosts Interfaith Day of Prayer for Harvey Victims
→ ISKCON News

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s unprecedented flooding and devastation, Texas Governor Greg Abbott proclaimed Sunday, Sept 3rd as a Day of Prayer in Texas—which happened to coincide with the birth anniversary of Bhaktivinoda Thakur, a 19th century Vaishnava Hindu saint and theologian who envisioned people from all nations coming together harmoniously through the blissful chanting of the holy names of God.

Initiation
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 15 September 2012, Pretoria, South Africa, Initiation Lecture)

If we want to summarise the Bhagavad-gita in one sentence then it is, ‘We are an eternal spirit soul and the eternal servant of Krsna!’ Understanding this, initiation is meant to formally change our priorities in life.

Although after initiation we come out as a new person, in many ways we look quite similar to the one that we looked like when we sat down for the yagña. It is not that the initiates will stand up in their spiritual bodies and be all effulgent. No, they will continue in their material identities and will continue with their lives.

In one way, nothing changes; it is an anti-climax. There is a big ceremony and you go through the whole thing and you get a new name, and then the anti-climax is that life is still the same after that, in one sense. So yes, material life is still the same – still at the same address, still the same bills to pay, the same life and the same issues. But what distinctly changes is that Krsna formally becomes the first and foremost priority in our life.

At the point of initiation, we will still take care of the material things, that is to be done, but those things are secondary. Now, the interest of the soul comes to the forefront, more than it ever has been! Therefore initiation means we must make changes in our life. If after initiation nothing changes, then something is not right. Something is meant to change!

 

Panca-Tattva installation in Poland (Album with photos) Srila…
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Panca-Tattva installation in Poland (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s transcendental mission is to distribute love of Godhead to everyone. Anyone who accepts God as the Supreme can take to the process of chanting Hare Krishna and become a lover of God. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 4.41 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/q84sg6

Sivarama Swami has a message for you (1 min video) Srila…
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Sivarama Swami has a message for you (1 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: Although materialists who are addicted to experimental knowledge and the so-called “scientific method” cannot place their faith in the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, it is a fact that simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra offenselessly one can be freed from all subtle and gross material conditions. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 7.74 Purport)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/VDdf5m

Avanti Foundation School to Open in New Vrajamandala, Spain. As…
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Avanti Foundation School to Open in New Vrajamandala, Spain.
As part of the efforts to revitalize New Vrajamandala, a beautiful 300-hectare farm near Guadalajara, Spain, devotees are set to open a primary school affiliated with the renowned Avanti Foundation in the UK on January 8th, 2018.
New community president Yadunandana Swami, who formerly served as principal in Belgium’s Bhaktivedanta College, had seen many families leave Spain over the years due to lack of spiritual education for their children.
“I also saw that ISKCON communities who prioritized establishing a school developed nicely,” he says. “So I thought that to create real change here at New Vrajamandala, starting a school would be the turning point.”
The plan is to start as a nursery school, caring for three-year-olds, and then to add a grade every year.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/nDZ4TM

My Experiences And Associations With Srila Prabhupada
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Hare KrishnaBy Bhakti Caru Swami

They asked Srila Prabhupada, ‘Why are you converting the Christians into Hindus?’ Prabhupada’s response was, ‘No, I am not converting Christians into Hindus or Muslims into Jews. I am simply making better Christians out of Christians, better Jews out of Jews and better Muslims out of Muslims, better Hindus out of Hindus. Prabhupada is situating them in their perfect identity. Jesus came and spoke. Who is a Christian? A true follower of Jesus Christ is a Christian. And what did Jesus preach? Jesus simply spoke about God, the Father. Who is God the Father? Are there many Fathers? Are there many God, the Fathers? There is only one God, the Father. So that God, the Father is Krsna. Who is Allah? Is there any difference between God, Allah, Krishna, Jehovah? So we have to understand that essential truth. If that essential truth is properly understood, then there cannot be any conflict between different religions. Continue reading "My Experiences And Associations With Srila Prabhupada
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What It Was Like To Be With Prabhupada?
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Hare KrishnaBy Mahatma Das

How do we describe the ecstasy we felt reading a letter to us with the words, “I am very pleased that …” We lived only for his pleasure, and to know that our little efforts were pleasing to him was infinitely more intoxicating than the best psychedelic drugs. To know that our humble efforts could in some way please him was the most satisfying experience of our lives, far greater than any satisfaction that even Lord Brahma or Indra could achieve. Just knowing that he was pleased was an out of the world experience. We lived for this “high.” Continue reading "What It Was Like To Be With Prabhupada?
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The Entertainment Industry – Giving the least valuable the most value reflects ignorance
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Podcast

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Srila Prabhupada accepts Sanyasa!
→ Mayapur.com

Early in the year of 1959, while residing in Sri Vrindavan Dham, Srila Prabhupada (then known as Abhay Charan De), had a dream in which Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur appeared to him.  Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master motioned repeatedly for him to follow, urging for him to come and become a sannyasi. When Srila Prabhupada awoke, he […]

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Seattle Rathayatra 2
→ Ramai Swami

Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra devi rode wonderfully on Their Rathayatra Cart throughout the city of Bellevue, which is like a city within the city of Seattle. Many thousands of devotees, some as far away as Vancouver and L.A. participated with great joy.

I started the kirtan and others, including Hari Vilasa Prabhu, also led. The whole parade lasted for nearly two hours with ecstatic chanting and dancing.  Back at the park, the Mayor of Bellevue, gave a nice speech appreciating the festival and the devotee’s activities.