Srila Prabhupada Is Right Here
Giriraj Swami

Prabhupada deity in Juhu quartersA twenty-two-year-old devotee in Mumbai, Radhika Jajodia, sent me a beautiful letter about her realizations of Srila Prabhupada’s merciful presence in his quarters in Juhu, which she entitled “Srila Prabhupada Is Right Here”:

One day during your last stay in Juhu, in 2014–15, you were chanting in Srila Prabhupada’s quarters. I really wanted to take some association, so I came running from home to join you. But as soon as I got there, you completed a round and left for your room one floor below.

I felt so unfortunate. But then I decided to chant a few rounds sitting in front of Srila Prabhupada. As I was chanting, I was looking at His Divine Grace and praying, “O Prabhupada, please let me have some personal association with my guru maharaja. Please let me have some exchange, some interaction. I really need it. Just a few minutes will be enough to encourage me to carry on my practices for the months when he will no longer be present in Bombay. Please, please be merciful on me, O Prabhupada.”

I was repeating the same prayer again and again, using different words.

And then a miracle happened. The very moment I completed my second round of japa and was saying the Pancha-tattva mantra, my cellphone rang. It was my brother, Narottam, who was serving you. I instantly got goosebumps. I picked up the call, and he said, “Guru Maharaja wants to see you. Come down to his room immediately.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I just looked at Srila Prabhupada sitting there with his divine effulgence. At that very moment I could feel—I just knew—that he was right there, present with me, listening to me. I couldn’t help but burst into tears of love and gratitude.

Once I regained control of my emotions, I wiped off the tears and rushed downstairs to see you. Your caring and loving words during that five-to-ten-minute meeting gave me so much spiritual strength for the many months that followed.

Since that day, my bond with Srila Prabhupada has grown deeper. And whenever I visit his quarters in Juhu, I can feel it: He is right here.

Your fallen servant,
Radhika Jajodia

Tuesday, September 19th, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Going East

Onward we go in our trusty 2006 Ford Freestar, ‘The Jaladuta Express’, eastbound on I-80 through Utah, Wyoming and the soon-approaching Nebraska.  We know little of what’s going on in the world.  We are in our own little transcendental bubble.  This is brahmacari-style living—simple, humble.  We like it that way.

Even though we are somewhat limited to a van, we have diverse things going on—japameditation, chanting, reading, naps and some time in the park.  It’s a break for us and our machine, ‘The Jaladuta’.

The capital city of Wyoming is Cheyenne, population 64,000, and it’s celebrating its 150th birthday, just like Canada.  We pull over at the Holiday Park, where a manmade lake is replete with deep red fish—maybe goldfish.  But that’s not how we busied ourselves.  The squirrels are particularly human-friendly, golden-bellied and gorgeous tailed.  The boys did the benevolent act of feeding the bushy-tailed creatures with peanut prasadam.  They went squirrely, both my assistants and the animals.

Now, all three of us are from the east.  We’ve never seen dust storms like they have here, where the sky turns brown and tumbleweeds and corn stalks are hurled through the air.  Visibility was poor.  It’s actually dangerous. https://instagram.com/p/BZRPDaclkoT/

When the term “the wild, wild west” is used, it just can’t only refer to tough cowboys with spurs and the roping and lassoing of cattle and horses.  It just might have something to do with the concept of weather.  It was beastly.

May the Source be with you!

1.5 miles

Monday, September 18th, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

Salt Lake City, Utah

To Salt Lake

It is our first day of travel back to the east—a long twelve hour drive on Interstate 80.  No walking for me today.  The boys and I were on a tight deadline to make it to Salt Lake City.

The two-consecutive-no-walking-day program has me a little worried.  If it keeps up, I’ll gain weight again.  Currently my kurta (upper cloth) hangs loose on my torso and I'm kind of glad about that.  Future tailoring means a tighter knit with the kurta, if I stay thin.  Just a bit of discipline is required in the form of walking to keep pounds (karma) at bay.

While in the passenger’s seat, I get the chance to keep up with reading Chasing the Rhinos With the Swami, authored by Shyamasundar.  I'm in the episode where he met and spent quality time with George Harrison.  Marshall was in the driver's seat and reminded me of a song by Geroge—“Any Road.”  So I played it from the phone.  Here are some of the lyrics:

“Oh I've been traveling on a boat and a plane
In a car on a bike with a bus and a train
Traveling there and traveling here
Everywhere in every gear

But oh Lord we pay the price
With a spin of a wheel, with the roll of a dice
Ah yeah you pay your fare
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there.

And I've been traveling through the dirt and the grime
From the past to the future through the space and the time
Traveling deep beneath the waves
In watery grottoes and mountainous caves.

But oh Lord we've got to fight
With the thoughts in the head, with the dark and the light.
No use to stop and stare
And if you don't know where you're going
Any road will take you there

You may not know where you came from
May not know who you are
May not even wondered how
You got this far.

I've been traveling on a wing and a prayer
By the skin of my teeth by the breadth of a hair
Traveling where the four winds blow
With the sun on my face, in the ice and the snow.”  https://youtu.be/kVxeLZyzswU


The song goes on.  It’s sweet.

The program in Salt Lake was sweet, too.  We chanted and gave a report of our walking travels up to San Francisco.  I asked if anyone knew about Tumbleweed, the kitten we found on the side of the highway, in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of the night.  We left her at Spanish Fork amidst the llamas back in August.

Thanks to the Sharma’s who opened their home for the program and Rasavilas for the accommodation.

May the Source be with you!

0 mi

Rajani Priya’s Ninety-seventh
Giriraj Swami

RP with CakeRP with GRS———————————-
Three days ago we celebrated the ninety-seventh birthday of Rajani Priya Dasi (Rose Forkash), who, with Srila Prabhupada’s approval, began the F.O.L.K (Friends of Lord Krishna) program in the 1970s and has been chanting and serving ever since. As we sat together, she said, “I wish all of you and your loved ones, my age and then some, with good health, thinking of Krishna, for the rest of your life,” which I took as a great blessing, intended not only for me but for everyone.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Giriraj Swami’s Vyasa-puja, September 16, Dallas, via Skype
Giriraj Swami

10-01-16_grs_vp_10_dallasGiriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.5.12.

“Everyone should be friendly for the service of the Lord. Everyone should praise another’s service to the Lord and not be proud of his own service. This is the way of Vaisnava thinking, Vaikuntha thinking. There may be rivalries and apparent competition between servants in performing service, but in the Vaikuntha planets the service of another servant is appreciated, not condemned. This is Vaikuntha competition. There is no question of enmity between servants. Everyone should be allowed to render service to the Lord to the best of his ability, and everyone should appreciate the service of others. Such are the activities of Vaikuntha. Since everyone is a servant, everyone is on the same platform and is allowed to serve the Lord according to his ability.” —SB 7.5.12 purport.

“Srila Prabhupada said he wanted us to act on the platform of madhyama-bhakta. The madhyama-bhakta has four different ways of dealing with four different categories of people. The Bhagavatam (11.2.46) says, prema-maitri-krpopeksa. Prema — he should give his love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Maitri — he should make friends with devotees. Krpa — he should give mercy to innocent people. And upeksa — he should neglect the envious. These are the distinguishing characteristics of the madhyama-bhakta. Many devotees are more like kanisthas than madhayamas, so  how do we help them become madhyamas? It seems clear from the verse that if we work on developing love for the Supreme Lord and His representative, the spiritual master, making friends with devotees, showing mercy to the innocent, and neglecting the envious, then we can develop that intermediate standing in devotional service.”

Vyasa-puja talk via Skype, Dallas
Vyasa-puja kirtan via Skype, Dallas

Prabhupada’s arrival in the West 2
→ Ramai Swami

Srila Prabhupada: “I planned that I must go to America. Generally they go to London, but I did not want to go to London. I was simply thinking how to go to New York. I was scheming, “Whether I shall go this way, through Tokyo, Japan, or that way? Which way is cheaper?” That was my proposal. And I was targeting to New York always. Sometimes I was dreaming that I have come to New York.”
After arriving in New York, Srila Prabhupada, with the help of some young followers, secured a storefront called “Matchless Gifts” with an adjoining apartment at 26 Second Avenue. He began holding Bhagavad-gita classes at 6 am and 7 pm.
The Hare Krsna Movement was now firmly planted in the West.

 

Sunday, September 17th, 2017

Berkley, California
Don’t Mix
Bhagavad-gita, 13.22 states, “The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature.  This is due to his association with that material nature.  Thus he meets with good and evil amongst various species.”
The above divine verse is what I spoke about at the Berkley ISKCON temple, this evening.  It’s a favourite.  We have there another one of those endorsements for reincarnation and the subject of duality.  The superior energy, purusha, mixes with the inferior energy, prakriti, and then something happens—good and bad—through various life forms. https://instagram.com/p/BZL5sYwlP6i/
What does this mean, simply?  To stop the mixing we must extricate ourselves from such strong identification with this inferior energy which always changes and cannot be trusted.  One scholar, Chanakhya, said, “Don’t trust in asat, the temporary.  Trust in sat, the permanent.”  Krishna, the Source, is permanent.
I was happy to see Guru Das join us for the program in Berkley.  He is a genuine kind-hearted person.  Also Dilip Patel has been a real sweet soul to our party of cross-country travellers, giving us rooms in Pacifica.  Mandala is with us for the weekend and he accompanied me in the walk in 2015 and 2016.  I consider them all my “honey chiles.”
When I think about it, the Divine Intervener, Krishna, surrounds me with such amiable people.  I feel blessed.  Maybe one day I’ll identify less with the prakriti.
May the Source be with you!

0 mi

Saturday, September 16th, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

San Francisco, California

The Day After

Every day that is devotional is an exceptional day.  It was no exception today, the day after.

Chanting on my japa mala beads is always priority.  To achieve that, Guru das from Hawaii, and Marshall and I headed for the switchbacks located next to our motel, The Sea Breeze.  Great view—waves and air.

We also made our way to Lincoln Park, the place where the Lincoln Highway begins; to us a familiar road.  Rupa and Sanatana from Toronto head up a walk here.  At noon we met Guru Das, the original, at the first Krishna Temple location on the west coast.  Now a laundromat, it once housed the freshly carved Jagannatha.  We also entered the apartment that Prabhupada stayed at in ’67—fifty years ago.  Guru Das has no shortage of stories to tell.

We shifted to Bona Vista Park across from where those iconic deities of Jagannatha were sculpted by Shyamasundar.  We held kirtanand had the most scrumptious food, all grainless.

Finally, my Swiss friend, Navina Nirada, arranged for me to give a talk about travel adventures across the U.S.  So I did.  Then, I led the group, at this martial arts school at 640 Stanyan, in a kirtan and dance in front of the mirrors.  I was encouraging synchronized movement.  It was lovely.  When you see yourself in action through a mirror, it reveals much about your need to improve.  Mandala, from Ottawa, can vouch for that.

Yes, it was a perfect today—very devotional.  I even got some nominal walking in.

https://instagram.com/p/BZL5lvSFcj5/

May the Source be with you!

5 miles

Mineral Paint from Germany
- TOVP.org

Recently we have begun the process of painting sections of the GRC (Glass Reinforced Concrete) ribs on all three domes and on the decorative elements under the three Kalashes in a special gold-colored paint formulation from Germany.

This highly resistant façade mineral paint from Germany is manufactured to withstand sunlight, moisture and other environmental onslaughts, and will last for many years before requiring to be replaced. And its brilliant colors will complement the gold color of the titanium Kalashes and gold-plated Chakras.

The post Mineral Paint from Germany appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Community Town Hall – October 1, 2017
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple!

UPDATE - The Town Hall will NOT be broadcast live online in an effort to promote better in-person attendance.

The Temple Council is very excited to announce that we will be hosting our next Town Hall on Sunday, October 1, 2017 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm in Govinda’s Dining Hall.  This Town Hall will present an opportunity for our vibrant Hare Krishna community to come forward and engage in a productive, two-way dialogue about our Hare Krishna temple and community at large.

The Town Hall will begin with a small presentation from the ISKCON Toronto Temple Council, highlighting the successes, challenges and financial developments over the last several months.  After this, we will open up the dialogue to our entire community to share their thoughts, dreams, concerns and suggestions about how we can continue to grow our temple and community.

Please accept this as a warm invitation for you to come and attend our Town Hall.  We continue to host these Town Halls every three months in an attempt to increase the communication between the temple management and our dear congregation.

If you are unable to make it to the Town Hall, but would like to share some ideas, suggestions or feedback, please feel free to fill out our form by clicking here or email us at templecouncil@torontokrishna.com.  You can also visit the Temple Council's website at templecouncil.torontokrishna.com.

We hope to see you on Sunday, October 1, 2017 - please feel free to pass along this warm invitation to your devotee friends!  Hare Krishna!

Sincerely,
The ISKCON Toronto Temple Council
templecouncil@torontokrishna.com
www.torontokrishna.com

FEAR acronym – Learning to deal with our fears
→ The Spiritual Scientist

[Congregation program at Columbus, USA]

Podcast

Podcast Summary

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Friday, September 15th, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

San Francisco, California

The Last Steps, But Not

Well, it is done!

After a sensational trek over the Golden Gate Bridge, (and I love moving over bridges with a water flow underneath) with a mere 1.7 mile expanse, the last few steps on Irving Street to the Pacific were accomplished.  Dear friends, Vaisesika and Nirakula from San Jose, also came to join us for the last four miles from Masonic and Page to Irving and the Lower Great Highway, the path of the original Jagannatha Fest a half century ago.  https://youtu.be/pjn7c1uqhkU

When finally we pressed footprints in the sand to beeline our way to the ocean’s waters and offer our obeisances to that beautiful body of salt water, we took the opportunity to reflect on all the highlights of a collective six month trek.  I asked both Hayagriva and Marshall to add to the memories of our recent past as the small group of us stood with sand under our feet and an unusual sun above our heads.  It was a total of 3,550 miles or 5,713 kilometres.

The U.S. walk entailed spanning—and in some cases edging a corner of a state such as Michigan and Wyoming—the balance of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California and Hawaii.  It also included a walk-through, at the pivotal juncture, Butler, Pennsylvania, where our guru, Prabhupada, spent an entire month in the city of his sponsors, Gopal and Sally Agarwal, before registering his cherished ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in 1966.

We hope that Prabhupada is pleased with the walking endeavour—a pilgrimage, a padayatra.  I hope Krishna’s smile is broad.  Maybe Uncle Sam is also delighted that some seeds of bhakti (devotion) have been planted along the way.

May the Source be with you!

6 miles

Thursday, September 14th, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

San Francisco, California

1 Day 2 Go

We slept overnight in Richmond and woke up to a neighbourhood which didn’t look so appealing for walking in.  I’m sure there are good sections of the town.  Where to go then, to kill a little time, before hitting our official chalked-out trail?  I only have four miles to do today.

Spontaneously, we thought to go to the Berkley temple.  It wasn’t far for us to drive.  After all, these were the first Jagannatha deities of Krishna to grace America.  And it was these beautiful images that sit on the shrine inside the temple and were the main feature of a parade, primarily of hippies, that made the journey through the Haight/Ashbury district of San Francisco fifty years ago.  It’s an anniversary for sure.

While Hayagriva went to another area of the city to pick up a second Guru Das from Hawai to join us, Marshall and I participated in the temple sadhana.  I delivered a class based on the sankhya philosophy of Kapila and then we enjoyed a great kicharee—rice, dahl and veggies.

For some reason or other, I was hit by dizzy spells, broke into a sweat and turned pale.  This has nothing to do with nervousness in dealing with the soon coming finish line.  I’ve done touchdowns before.  When Hayagriva wanted to show me some Sufi, Whirling Dervish online, as a possible future approach to kirtan dancing, I suggested not to.  “I’ll get dizzy again.”

Dilip Patel graciously opened his doors, two rooms, for our accommodation—now with Mandala from Canada also joining us.  We were grateful.  The waves coming in strong at Dilip’s “Seabreeze Motel” served to ground us.  After weeks of desert dynamics, it’s great to see serious water again.

May the Source be with you!

4 miles

Color Galore (Album with photos) Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday,…
→ Dandavats



Color Galore (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Yesterday, before leaving New Vrindavan, all the members of our Discover India tour participated in a Festival of Colors near the famous Palace of Gold. Thousands of young people came throughout the day from all over the region to throw colored dyes and chant and dance in ecstasy as our bhajan band performed live on stage. Titiksava Karunika’s band also gave an amazing performance. A memorable experience on our tour through the United States of America.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/fujQdk

Harinama in Barnaul, Russia (Album with photos) Srila…
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Harinama in Barnaul, Russia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “As a result of chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, one makes such great advancement in spiritual life that simultaneously his material existence terminates and he receives love of Godhead. The holy name of Krishna is so powerful that by chanting even one name, one very easily achieves these transcendental riches.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 8.28)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/L9fp2R

Mayapur Academy’s 2017-18 semester
→ Dandavats



Mayapur Academy’s 2017-18 semester.
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
The international diploma in arcana course at the Mayapur Academy begins on October 6th in Sridham Mayapur!
Each year, Mayapur Academy trains pujaris from all over the world in the various arts and aspects of deity worship. From dressing and cooking for the deity, to the daily services of worship in the temple, to a deep study in the culture and lifestyle of brahmana, the Mayapur Academy covers the whole spectrum of what it means to be a pujari.
The Mayapur Academy facilitates pujaris to get a deep understanding of their service and offers systematic training that can be used in all ISKCON temples around the world. The school focuses on a training program that equips pujaris with the knowledge, skills, and values which are integral for pujari service. Students get the amazing opportunity to learn first hand from the ISKCON Deity Worship Minister and two of ISKCON longest serving and most dedicated pujaris Jananivas Prabhu and Pankajanghri prabhu, as well as learn from many other senior devotees who have all mastered the field in which they teach. The experience is really like nothing else in ISKCON and truly has a life changing effect for those who participate.
There is still available space in the Academy for the 2017-18 semester. Interested students should visit the Mayapur Academy website at www.mayapuracademy.org and fill out an online application. The course runs from October 6, 2017 - January 29, 2018.
Space is filling up, so please send in your application soon and take advantage of this special opportunity of learning how to serve Krishna in his deity form in the spiritual abode of Sri Mayapur dham!
If you have further inquiries about the Mayapur Academy, please write to Acarya-nistha dasa at acarya.nistha@mayapuracademy.org
Hare Krishna!
Your servants,
The Mayapur Academy staff
More photos here: https://goo.gl/GzUw3N

Gold Coast, Australia, Bhakti Centre Rathayatra (Album with…
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Gold Coast, Australia, Bhakti Centre Rathayatra (Album with photos)
Srimati Devi Dasi: Yesterday we went to the Toowoomba Flower festival parade in which the Gold Coast Bhakti Centre Rathayatra cart was part of. It was wonderful sharing the Holy Name with over 50,000 people and the mood was really nice and happy. Lots of lovely devotees and kirtan and lots of beautifully decorated other carts around. Lord Jagannatha’s cart won first prize for the third year running for the best visiting float!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/LYcwkH

Giriraj Swami’s Vyasa-puja, September 12, Pakistan, via Skype
Giriraj Swami

1“The Padma Purana and our acharyas, especially Jiva Goswami, have explained that there are ten offenses in the chanting of the holy names. And, to get the proper benefit, one should chant without offense. One of the ten offenses is pramadah which means inattention. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura  says that if we avoid the offense of inattention – or in other words if we chant with attention by pronouncing and hearing every syllable – chanting with attention will destroy all the other offenses. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says if we don’t try to hear the holy name but allow our minds to wander here and there, then inattentive chanting will allow the other offenses to flourish.”
Vyasa_puja, Pakistan

If someone chants a lot of rounds, but doesn’t behave properly with their spouse, how do we understand?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Answer Podcast

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