Planet ISKCON

(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 […]

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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
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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
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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
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Iskcon Desire Tree receives a prize from Google.
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