Planet ISKCON

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[Talk to managers at GIT auditorium, Belgaum, India]

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By Chaitanya Charan Das

It was 3.45 am at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. I was at the guestroom of the ISKCON temple, waiting for the ride that would take me to the airport for my flight to Panama. Shanta Vigraha P, the devotee who had coordinated my visit there and who was to drive me to the airport, had been slightly delayed. Meanwhile, I had thought of using the restroom, which was in an adjacent room. Before going there, I had locked the door of the guestroom. But then I went back to open that door slightly, thinking that as the atmosphere outside was hot and mosquito-ridden, Shanta Vigraha P would be more comfortable inside the guestroom than outside. When I returned a few minutes later, he had still not reached, but apparently someone had come in and stolen my MacBook Air laptop. Continue reading "How my laptop was stolen and recovered – and what I recovered in between
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By ISKCON desire tree network

With growing Krishna consciousness all over the world ISKCON has been instrumental in bringing many souls under the shelter of Lord Sri Krishna with its Philosophy, Kirtans, Prasadam, etc., however the villages and tribes located in remote areas remain unaware of the good fortune in Kaliyuga. An initiative was taken by devotees from ISKCON Pune and with dedicated efforts and Krishna’s mercy a new preaching centre ”Bhagavad Darshan Prachar Kendra” was established in Bodhan village, Telangana. It was inaugurated with great pomp on 10th June 2017. Bhakta Manjunath accompanied by two grihastha devotees were invited for the inauguration. Inaugural activities included basic Krishna conscious introduction which further covered the concepts of 4 regulative principles as followed in ISKCON, importance of chanting holy name and community building. This continued for 9 days till 19th June 2017. Nagar Sankirtanas flooded the areas of Pegadapally, Yedapally, Hunsa, Achanpally and Pothangal with the nectarine holy name. Continue reading "Planting the Seed of Devotion
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By ISKCON Wellington

Bhakti is ahaituky apratihatā. It can neither be achieved through mundane efforts nor be terminated by any mundane cause (SB 1.2.6). But bhakti can be obtained and nurtured in the association of Lord’s devotees. It can be ignited and spread through the association of Vaishnavas. It was this knowledge, faith and desire to spread the love for Godhead that spurred the outreach Janmashtami program for the greater Wellington urban region. This year, devotees from Wellington’s Journey of Self Discovery (JOSD) group under the guidance of HG Ambarish Maharaj Das and HG Anang Manjari Devi Dasi, chose to celebrate the advent of Lord Sri Krishna with the community in Upper Hutt city.  Continue reading "Sri Krishna Reaches Out on Janmashtami
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Srila Prabhupada’s Shower of Mercy by HG Malati Devi Dasi and HG Vishaka Devi Dasi at ISKCON Silicon Valley (video)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/n6DiUT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 15 January 2013, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Srimad Bhagavatam Lecture)

As long as we are too preoccupied in dealing with what is happening to ourselves, “My situation, my desires, my problems, my issues, my experiences!” as long as that is in the foreground of our thinking, we are in trouble because by nature we will be disturbed. This is just the fundamental script; no matter what the play is, wherever the play is, whoever is in the play, the basic fundamental principle in any play – whether it is Mediterranean or in Helsinki – it does not matter; we will be upadruta, always disturbed. This is the situation; this agitating factor is just the nature of things.

Prabhupada emphasised this point in many situations. He used the Hindi proverb, “Delhi ka laddu khaya, ya nahi khaya,” meaning that whether you have eaten Delhi ka laddu (sweetballs from Delhi) or not eaten, the problem is still there. Some are thinking, “Oh, I never ate this laddu!” Whereas others are thinking, “I have eaten too many laddus!”

In other words, still agitated. Prabhupada used the example of in the case of marriage, “Unhappy when not married, unhappy when married!” So whatever the situation, make the best of it, make it work!

We all carry this agitation within us. It is a fundamental thing. Maya makes us think that the solution to deal with agitation is to find the situation where we are least agitated and that is called a ‘comfortable situation’ even though it is not the solution to deal with agitation.

However, the real solution is to not focus on ourselves but to focus on the well-being of others! This the change the we need to make. It takes a long time to successfully do that. Gradually in spiritual life, we have to embrace the well-being of others and make this our meditation, “How can I pass on mercy to others?” When this becomes our meditation, then spiritual life becomes susukham kartum avyayam (Bhagavad-gita 9.2), joyfully performed!

Rising and Shining with Hare Krishna Mahamantra in school morning assembly (1 min video)
Morning assembly in this school with the chanting of Mahamantra gives students a chance to connect with the Lord, and begin the day with a feeling of gratitude and spiritual rejuvenation. Through Kirtan, students learn the value of collective prayer and are exposed to the need to inculcate spiritual and ethical values.
The morning assembly is conducted in every school to help children showcase their talent and ensure a robust start of the day. They are also guided to the path of spiritualism through educational talks organized by school authorities.
Meditation and Kirtan form an integral feature of the morning assembly in this school in New Delhi.
Your Servant
Kanika Khanna
School Teacher
& Member, IGF
ISKCON Punjabi Bagh
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/UuhzKU

Newspaper clip from Jax Beach Festival of Chariots last Saturday!

Harinama in Moscow, Russia (Album with photos) Srila Prabhupada: Kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara (Cc. Adi 17.22): In this age, Krishna has appe...

By Chandan Yatra Das

Ujjain is an ancient holy city on the bank of the Kshipra River, today part of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. Ujjain is the place where Lord Krishna, along with Balarama and Sudama, received education from Maharishi Sandipani. Ujjain is one of the four sites in India that host the Kumbh Mela (also called the Simhastha Mela), once in 12 years. On the occasion of Simhastha Kumbh Mela the divinity and spiritual aroma of Ujjain meets its highest peak when millions of pilgrims take dips and worship sacred River Kshipra. The Garuda Purana enumerates seven sacred cities (Sapta Moksha Puri) as giver of Moksha (Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kasi, Kanchi, Avantika, Dwarka); Ujjain or Avantika is one among these seven sacred cities. Lord Ramacandra along with Sita-devi and Laxmana also came to Ujjain. Lord Ramacandra performed the ‘Pind-dan’ ceremony for His father Dasaratha at the Ram Ghat on the bank of Kshipra river, which is the famous holy site of Kumbh Mela. Continue reading "Ujjain Yatra Sri Avantika Dhama
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Hare Krishna

By Gour Govinda Swami

It is the causeless mercy of Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga that I came here to meet you all, I am very happy at such causeless mercy of Guru and Gauranga. Unless one gets such mercy, how can one cross over this dreadful ocean of material existence and go deep into the other part, the other shore? That means beyond the material ocean, material world, there is the abode of Lord and that is our eternal home. Now the question is how can we go there? The only way to go there is to offer prayer at the lotus feet of that Guru who is an expert navigator, who can ferry us across this dreadful ocean and take us there. Continue reading "Gour Govinda Swami’s Vyasa-puja offering to Srila Prabhupada
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More never-before-seen picture of the devotees and Srila Prabhupada ​in New York from photographer Carole Teller in the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Image Archive​.​
http://www.archive.gvshp.org/items/show/1506
http://www.archive.gvshp.org/items/show/1563

Photos from Srila Prabhupada’s Appearance Day 2017 at ISKCON-London.
Please find below photos from Srila Prabhupada’s Appearance Day 2017 at the ISKCON-London Radha-Krishna Temple.
Harinama sankirtan and an Abhishek were also performed.
Slideshow (please turn on sound): https://goo.gl/6dtdiR
Gallery: https://goo.gl/KBPbCT
With best wishes, Hare Krishna, David.

Ratha Yatra festival in Leipzig, Germany (Album with photos) Srila Prabhupada: The performance of sankirtana-yajna is a special concession for h...

TOVP: Kalash - almost ready! Sadbhuja Das: We are at the last stage of the Kalash. The lotus petals arrived a few days ago and now they are being...

A Life of Legacy and Devotion (video) The recording of a large gathering in Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK, for the memorial of Mother Kulangana with ve...

 

 

“Vedic astronomers of five thousand years ago could predict eclipses of the sun and moon just as well as our modern astronomers can. The knowledge of the ancient astronomers went much further, however, since they understood the karmic influences of such events. Solar and lunar eclipses are generally very inauspicious, with certain rare exceptions. But just as the otherwise inauspicious Ekadasi day becomes beneficial when used for the glorification of Lord Hari, so the time of an eclipse is also advantageous for fasting and worship.” [ Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.82.2 purport ]

When the gopis of Vrindavan met Krishna at Kurukshetra on the occasion of a solar eclipse after a long separation, they prayed to Him:

ahus ca te nalina-nabha padaravindam
yogesvarair hrdi vicintyam agadha-bodhaih
samsara-kupa-patitottaranavalambam
geham jusam api manasy udiyat sada nah

“Dear Lord, whose navel is just like a lotus flower, Your lotus feet are the only shelter for those who have fallen into the deep well of material existence. Your feet are worshiped and meditated upon by great mystic yogis and highly learned philosophers. We wish that these lotus feet may also be awakened within our hearts, although we are only ordinary persons engaged in household affairs.”

[ Srimad Bhagavatam 10.82.48 ]

 

 

Пять тысяч лет тому назад ведические астрономы так же, как и астрономы современные, могли предсказывать затмения солнца и луны. Вот только знание древних астрономов вело дальше, поскольку они осознавали кармическое влияние подобных событий. Как правило, и солнечное, и лунное затмения очень неблагоприятны, за некоторыми редкими исключениями. Но точно так же, как неблагоприятный день экадаши становится благотворным, если используется для прославления Господа Хари, так  и время затмения также благоприятно – для поста и поклонения». [ Шримад-Бхагаватам, 10.82.2 комм. ]

Гопи Вриндавана, после долгой разлуки встретившись по случаю солнечного затмения с Кришной на Курукшетре, молились Ему так:

ахус ча те налина-набха падаравиндам

йогешварайр хрди вичинтйам агадха-бодхайх

самсара-купа-патитоттаранаваламбам

гехам йусам апи манасй удийат сада нах

 

«Дорогой Господь, Твой пупок в точности цветок лотоса, и Твои лотосные стопы – единственное прибежище для попавших в глубокий колодец материального существования. Твоим стопам  поклоняются и на них медитируют великие йоги-мистики и высокоученые философы. Как бы мы хотели пробудить эти лотосные стопы и в наших сердцах, хотя мы… всего лишь обычные люди, занятые домашними делами». [ Шримад-Бхагаватам 10.82.48 ]

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209978023350132&set=a.3707173840886.2134384.1321748113&type=3&theater 

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[Talk at KLE JNMC college, Belgaum, India]
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[Talk at BIMS Medical College, Belgaum, India]

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[Youth meeting at ISKCON, Belgaum, India]

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“Missing? Misplaced? Stolen!” I felt the blood rush to my head as I realized with horror that someone had sneaked into my room and taken off with my laptop.

It was 3.45 am at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. I was at the guestroom of the ISKCON temple, waiting for the ride that would take me to the airport for my flight to Panama. Shanta Vigraha P, the devotee who had coordinated my visit there and who was to drive me to the airport, had been slightly delayed. Meanwhile, I had thought of using the restroom, which was in an adjacent room. Before going there, I had locked the door of the guestroom. But then I went back to open that door slightly, thinking that as the atmosphere outside was hot and mosquito-ridden, Shanta Vigraha P would be more comfortable inside the guestroom than outside. When I returned a few minutes later, he had still not reached, but apparently someone had come in and stolen my MacBook Air laptop.

As the reality that I had been robbed sank into me, I felt first numbed and then infuriated. I rushed out, but, as expected, no one was there. The temple passageway was deserted. I called Shanta Vigraha P and told him about the theft. He too was shocked and assured me that he would reach in a few minutes.

The outer theft and the inner tirade

I was beating myself up mentally, at my stupidity in keeping the door open. When things go wrong, anger is natural. Amidst such anger, we often seek some channel for expressing that anger by directing it to whoever we can blame for things going wrong. But when we ourselves are to blame, the anger that gets concentrated on ourselves can be stultifying and paralyzing.

In my pre-devotional days, a major problem I faced was self-hatred. I used to be angry with myself most of the time for not being the kind of person I wanted to be. Self-acceptance and the ensuing freedom from self-flagellation had been one of the unexpected benefits of practicing bhakti. Gita wisdom had helped me understand that Krishna accepted me the way I was. Despite my flaws and follies, he didn’t abandon me; he always remained in my heart, trying to guide me to become better. Undoubtedly, Krishna wanted me to improve, but he still accepted me as I was. Meditating on his acceptance of me had helped me accept myself, and that self-acceptance had freed my mental energy to work on self-improvement.

Despite this self-acceptance, traces of that old weakness of self-hatred remain and resurface intermittently. After the theft of my laptop, I found myself being targeted by my mind’s full-fledged attack: “Why did you have to be so dumb as to keep that door open?” This question was pounding inside me, as if on an auto-loop; and with each iteration of the loop, the volume of the question was rising.

Meanwhile, Shanta Vigraha P reached the temple and enquired about the laptop. In a few minutes, he came to me and informed that no one in the temple had seen anyone with the laptop, but at around one am, a stranger had been seen loitering about in the kitchen.

I asked him, “Should I postpone my flight so that we can register a complaint with the police?” He replied, “Going to the police won’t help much because the police don’t even have a proper fingerprint database of all the citizens – they aren’t all that organized. Trinidad is a third-world country.”

Exasperated, I wondered if there was anything at all that I could do. Then, I remembered that Apple had some facility to lock stolen devices. I googled on my phone and found the necessary information. But by this time, I had reached the airport and had to start the check-in procedure. I called up Mumbai, India, and arranged with the devotee who helps me with all things IT, Vraja Kirti P, to have the laptop locked through the online settings.

Whenever I travel, I fall back on my daily writing because of the many classes and meetings. So, whenever I fly from one place to another, I try to catch up on the writing. However, now being without the laptop, I confronted the situation of having no tangible engagement while my mind was busily engaged in beating me up internally. Of course, on this day, I had most of my rounds remaining. I felt I was in no condition to focus on the holy name with my mind in full attack mode. But then as I started chanting, it struck me that if ever I needed a weapon to counter-attack the mind, I needed it now – and the holy name was a potent weapon. The next ninety minutes of chanting was among the most intense of my life with my mind trying to beat me and I trying to beat it with the holy name. After I completed my chanting, I felt exhausted, but also enlivened – I realized that had it not been for the holy name, the mind’s relentless attack would have left me internally bruised and battered. Through the battle to focus on the holy name, I got some experience of Gita 18.37: that which tastes like poison in the beginning tastes like nectar in the end.

Aid to shelter or alternative shelter?

While seeing me off at Port of Spain, Shanta Vigraha P had been very apologetic about the theft of my laptop. HH Guru Prasad Maharaj had coincidentally been staying in Trinidad when I visited there and he had freely given his association over lunch on the three days of my visit. After my flight, when I landed in Panama, I found that Maharaj had emailed me with an apology for the theft. I felt embarrassed on reading his apology. I wrote back with the same reply that I had given Shanta Vigraha P: the theft was not their fault – it was my fault that I had kept the door open.

Still, I had my defense, which I didn’t verbalize as I didn’t want to pile on their distress. The guestroom where I had been staying was on the first floor, way inside the temple premises. To reach it, one had to come up through a set of narrow stairs and then walk through an alley that had rooms of resident devotees all around. So, I had thought that no one could sneak all the way till there without being noticed. Unfortunately, my thinking had been mistaken, as experience had taught me painfully.

When I landed in Panama, my host there, Shyama Chandra P, offered me their family laptop – fortunately, they too use Apple computers, and his family was going to Trinidad for the upcoming Rath Yatra.

I was still dismayed at the robbery. After my bead-bag, my laptop is the single most important possession. A devotee who stayed with me for some time had commented, “You live at the lotus feet of your laptop.” Ouch! That jab hurt, all the more so because I couldn’t deny the truth in it. I knew that I was attached to my laptop. Still, I had justified my attachment, saying that the laptop was essential, even indispensable, for my services. On days when I don’t travel or give classes, I use the laptop for anywhere between twelve to sixteen hours, reading, noting, hearing, writing, emailing, journaling and recording audios and videos. Even on days when I travel or give classes, I use the laptop for preparing and recording my classes.

But now with the theft of my laptop, my moment of truth had arrived. When something vital for our service is taken away, we can become disheartened, questioning, “Why is Krishna letting my service to him become more difficult than necessary?” That was my initial reaction too. Thankfully, after some time, my thoughts went to the incident from the Mahabharata that often inspires me: Draupadi’s predicament in the Kuru assembly.

She had five husbands, who were all exalted devotees and powerful warriors. As a faithful wife, she would naturally have expected to be protected by her husbands.

But when her husbands remained silent, she was distraught and could have become devastated. However, her subsequent actions reveal the depth of her devotion.

While a wife is usually protected by her husband, her ultimate protector – like the ultimate protector of everyone – is Krishna. Traditionally, a wife takes shelter of Krishna by taking shelter of her husband. But when the Pandavas couldn’t offer Draupadi shelter, she sought and got direct shelter of Krishna. Circumstantially, when our protectors are unable to offer us protection, Draupadi exemplifies how we should respond – by raising our consciousness upwards to the supreme protector, not by letting it go downwards in resentment. And this principle applies not just to people but also to things. If the things that help us take shelter of Krishna are sometimes unavailable, we need to take shelter of Krishna directly.

This reflection brought me a sublime calm, as I intuited a constructive purpose amidst the robbery. My laptop might have gradually changed from become an aid to the shelter of Krishna to an alternative shelter. Such is the insidious nature of illusion – the very thing that takes us towards Krishna can take us away from him. I prayed to Krishna, begging for his shelter, whether I had the laptop or not.

Thereafter, when I started working on Shyama Chandra P’s laptop, I soon realized that I didn’t have that much of an issue working with a new laptop. I wasn’t overly concerned about which laptop I was working on – I just needed a laptop to work on.

The recovery

While in Panama, I decided to get another laptop and ordered a refurbished MacBook Pro online. After my programs in Panama, I flew to Central New Jersey, where my host and US tour organizer, Devakinandan P, offered me his Surface book Pro for using. Though it was a Windows machine, I found it not too inconvenient to use. On the day when my new laptop arrived, I got a brief message from Guru Prasad Maharaj informing me that my stolen laptop had been recovered.

Surprised and intrigued, I called him up and came to know that a devotee had been offered a Mac for sale by someone. That devotee, having been alerted about the theft of my Mac, immediately checked the piece offered for sale. On noticing that it had my name on the login id, he immediately agreed to purchase it from him.

When asked how he had got the Mac, he said that someone had sold it to him. The devotees suspected that this seller had himself been the thief. However, he was of African descent, was a known drug user prone to violence and was suspected of having links with ISIS. So, the devotees decided not to pursue matters further legally, lest it provoke racial or religious tensions.

Possibly, the thief had expected that we devotees wouldn’t escalate matters and had planned all along to sell the laptop back to us. His mentality was something similar to that seen in thieves-markets. In such markets, vendors stock stolen objects bought from thieves. People who have been robbed can often get their stolen possession back from such vendors. Of course, they have to pay to get it back, but at least they can get it back, and get it for less than what they would have to shell out for a replacement.

Shipping the laptop from Trinidad to me took time. It reached me during my last days in London, where I had gone from Central New Jersey. When I finally got the laptop, curiously, I didn’t feel anything at all – no joy or even relief. I just turned it on, opened my favorite picture of the Deities altar in it, and offered my gratitude to Krishna.

Within a few minutes, I started typing a new article on it. Soon, I lost awareness of which laptop I was working on – except, of course, feeling the peculiar comfort of typing on a keyboard whose keys had become faded due to prolonged use.

More important than the recovery of my laptop, I had recovered something much more valuable – the reminder and the realization that Krishna alone was my ultimate shelter. In one of his celebrated songs, Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that whatever he has, he offers to Krishna. He gives an indicative list of most people’s cherished possessions – body, mind, home. With a smile, I thought that I, serving in today’s digital age, needed to add one more item to that list: my laptop.

I pray that I can always be engaged in Krishna’s service with whatever facilities he sees fit to provide, and without them too, if that’s what he sees fit.

 

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In anticipation of tomorrow’s solar eclipse, I read the beautiful chapter in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.82), entitled “Krsna and Balarama Meet the Inhabitants of Vrndavana,” about when Lord Krishna and other pilgrims traveled to Kurukshetra to observe a solar eclipse there. The purport to the second verse says, “Vedic astronomers of five thousand years ago could predict eclipses of the sun and moon just as well as our modern astronomers can. The knowledge of the ancient astronomers went much further, however, since they understood the karmic influences of such events. Solar and lunar eclipses are generally very inauspicious, with certain rare exceptions. But just as the otherwise inauspicious Ekadasi day becomes beneficial when used for the glorification of Lord Hari, so the time of an eclipse is also advantageous for fasting and worship.”

When the gopis of Vrindavan met Krishna there after a long separation, they prayed to Him,

ahus ca te nalina-nabha padaravindam
yogesvarair hrdi vicintyam agadha-bodhaih
samsara-kupa-patitottaranavalambam
geham jusam api manasy udiyat sada nah

“Dear Lord, whose navel is just like a lotus flower, Your lotus feet are the only shelter for those who have fallen into the deep well of material existence. Your feet are worshiped and meditated upon by great mystic yogis and highly learned philosophers. We wish that these lotus feet may also be awakened within our hearts, although we are only ordinary persons engaged in household affairs.” (10.82.48)

I pray to follow in the footsteps of the gopis.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 March 2009, Stockholm, Sweden, Lecture)

We encounter so much envy in the world. Envy is a driving force which we really cannot ignore. We see different aspects of envy. There is the normal envy – the jealousy of a neighbour who wants what you have. But we also see a different kind of envy, like the example of a wolf and a lamb. It is not that the wolf wants anything that the lamb has. It is not like that! He is not envious of the possessions of the lamb at all, he simply does not

But also we see a different kind of envy, like the example of a wolf and a lamb. It is not that the wolf wants anything that the lamb has. It is not like that! He is not envious of the possessions of the lamb at all, he simply does not want to allow the lamb any existence because of his own feeling of dissatisfaction. The wolf takes it out on the weaker entity. The wolf has a feeling of hatred which comes from his own frustration, and he takes it out on someone else. Like that, envy exists in so many ways and in all kinds of relationships.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 23 August 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Srimad Bhagavatam 4.29.55)

There is a price to pay for everything in this material world. You get nothing for nothing! Everything has strings attached which can be very entangling. I remember that when I stayed at the Amsterdam temple, at one point the government wanted to charge us for having a television! We said, “We don’t watch television!” and they replied, “That doesn’t matter, you have the right to watch television so you have to pay for those rights.”

This is the nature of the material energy. The material energy always has a relationship with other things – if you have a house and then you have to paint it and repair it. You get attached to it and before you know it, you have to make a phone call so then you need a telephone but there are other complications with the telephone. So,

ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śākham

aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam (Bhagavad-gita 15.1)

This entanglement of material existence is just like the banyan tree described in the 15^th chapter of the Bhagavad-gita which is upside down with so many branches and from each branch, new roots are growing. In Kolkata botanical gardens, there is an enormous banyan tree and this tree is so huge that you can go inside it! The banyan tree has aerial roots that grow in the tree and in the ground as well as the ends so you can no longer see where the original trunk is. New aerial roots are wrapped around other aerial roots and they look like the trunk – the entanglement of the banyan tree is like the entanglement of the material energy.

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[Bhagavatam class at ISKCON Belgaum, India]

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