Planet ISKCON

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.

There was a time in 1976 when you were being driven from Heathrow airport to Bhaktivedanta Manor. The M25 did not exist at that time, so you were moving along the road towards the village of Denham. We young men were excitedly following you in our yellow Ford parcel van. The windows were open and we were singing kirtan at the tops of our youthful voices. Guru and happy disciples on the A 412.

Then we realised that there should be a kirtan for you as you entered the Manor gates. That meant that we should arrive before you and assemble there to welcome you. But we couldn’t do that without overtaking. And how could we overtake our spiritual master? That didn’t seem right.

There then followed, as was common in those days, a small doubt about the details of guru-disciple etiquette. Could we jump over our spiritual master, albeit in a post office van?

Well, although the Chaitanya Caritamrita had been published the year before, none of us had read the one set we had at the temple, so we were not yet conversant with the incident of Govinda Das and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Govinda would massage the legs of Lord Chaitanya after lunch every day, but on this one occasion he would have to step over his Lord to do so. He was in a quandary. How could he possibly do that? Vaishnava etiquette dictates that one should always adopt a position of deference with one’s seniors, and one should never step over the body of another devotee, and especially a senior one, and what to speak of a sannyasi, and particularly the Lord Himself when He appears as one. And yet Govinda wanted to offer his service.

So he spread a cloth and stepped. Afterwards he simply remained in the room. Later, when he awoke, the Lord asked him why he had not gone to take his meal, Govinda Das explained that it would have meant stepping over Him. Asked how then, had he entered the room, he responded that he had stepped over his Lord for service, but could not do so for his own stomach.

Well, these fine points of Vaishnava etiquette, these niceties of theological discussion, were way beyond us at that moment, but we just felt uncomfortable about ‘overtaking Srila Prabhupada.’ But we did want to reach the Manor before he did. So we compromised. Being on a dual carriageway we drew up alongside our spiritual master, singing and stabbing the air like orange-clad lunatics, glorifying our eternal spiritual master whom we had taken as our life and soul, and travelling with him, through time and space, for a few precious seconds, at sixty miles an hour.

Seated in the back of the car, Srila Prabhupada turned to look at us, heard our noisy kirtan and saw the looks on our faces. He smiled and lifted his arm in greeting. We all manically waved. It was a precious moment of exchange, captured forever in our minds.

And so we then overtook our spiritual master on the A 412, just outside Denham, and talked about it all the way back. I’m still talking about it now. May we always travel with you, Srila Prabhupada. May we always walk behind you, faithfully listening to your voice, yet may we sometimes, but only ever for service, overtake you in order to glorify you more.

Your grateful servant on the road, Kripamoya Das

After removing the scaffolding from the West Wing Planetarium Dome these photos reveal the amazing golden beauty of the titanium nitrate Kalash and the solid stainless steel, gold-plated Chakra recently installed. One can only imagine what will be the effect of seeing the huge Kalash and Chakra when mounted upon the Main Dome of the TOVP.

The second Chakra is scheduled for installation for February 7th onto Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Dome. Keep your eyes and ears open for a special once-in-a-lifetime seva opportunity in this regard which we will be unfolding within a short time.

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After the positive response to the physical book and the request of many readers for a digital version, we have now made the ebook now available at the following links:

Demystifying reincarnation ebook on amazon.in

Demystifying reincarnation ebook on amazon.com

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[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Denver, USA]

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[Chaitanya Charitamrita class on Madhya 8.70 at ISKCON, Denver, USA]

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The post From Love Universal to Bhakti Confidential – Gaudiya Vaishnavism Glories 3 – PEAR acronym for becoming a rasika appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

1st initiation
Gál Tamás
Grantha-rāja Dāsa – servant of the king of scriptures, the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam
Ṛṣikā Devī Dāsī – servant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the best of female ṛṣis
Tobak Tamara
Vraja-renu Devī Dāsī – servant of the sacred dust of Vraja
Fil Paonessa
Nīla-gopāla Dāsa – servant of the blue cowherd boy, Kṛṣṇa
Madarász Gábor
Gopāladeva Dāsa – servant of Kṛṣṇa, the protector of the cows
Énekes Ági
Ānanda-līlā Devī Dāsī – servant of the blissful pastimes of Rādha-Śyāmasundara
Szabó Csaba
Candraśekhara Dāsa – servant of Kṛṣṇa, the crown of the moons
Pesti Amina
Amogha-līlā Devī Dāsī – servant of the unfailing pastimes of Rādha-Śyamasundara
Pesti Lora
Paṇḍitā Devī Dāsī – servant of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who is the greatest scholar
Pesti Alina
Abhilāsa Devī Dāsī – servant of the intense desire for anything transcendental, specially sādhu-saṅga

2nd initiates
Ādi Puruṣa Dāsa
Taraṅginī Devī Dāsī
Sanātanī Devī Dāsī
Śakti-mati Devī Dāsī
Daivi-śakti Devī Dāsī
Tejaśrī Devī Dāsī

Giridhari Swami: My dear Devotees,
I want to share with you my 2017 Vyasa Puja offering to Srila Prabhupada. As I mentioned in this offering, Giriraja Govardhana gave me some special mercy with which to glorify His Divine Grace. My realization was that Srila Prabhupada’s service mirrors the service of Sri Giriraja Govardhana. I pray you will feel the same.
Hare Krishna.
The Greatest Devotee of Lord Hari
My dear Srila Prabhupada,
Please accept my most humble obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
In late February I had the great privilege of residing in Vraja, near Govardhana, for just under two weeks. Govardhana’s powerful and sweet spiritual atmosphere supported deeper hearing and chanting, association with dear godbrothers, and deeper meditation on you and my service to you.
One morning while on Govardhana parikrama, I recalled a verse very dear to your heart:
hantayam adrir abala hari-dasa-varyo
yad rama-krsna-carana-sparasa-pramodah
manam tanoti saha-go-ganayos tayor yat
paniya-suyavasa-kandara-kandamulaih
“Of all the devotees, this Govardhana Hill is the best! O my friends, this hill supplies Krsna and Balarama, along with Their calves, cows, and cowherd friends, with all kinds of necessities—water for drinking, very soft grass, caves, fruits, flowers, and vegetables. In this way, the hill offers respects to the Lord. Being touched by the lotus feet of Krsna and Balarama, Govardhana Hill appears very jubilant.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.21.18)
Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami reveals that this verse was spoken by Srimati Radharani Herself – a very significant fact, considering that She is Krsna’s feminine counterpart, His own pleasure potency (hladini-sakti). Indeed, Her love for Krsna is so great that even Krsna Himself cannot fully comprehend it. Therefore He comes as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu just to understand the depth of Radharani’s love for Him. Still, She says that Govardhana is hari-dasa-varya, the greatest devotee of Lord Hari.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains in detail what makes Govardhana the greatest of all servants. He says that Govardhana’s hard rocks become as soft as warm putty to cushion Lord Krsna’s lotus feet and to preserve their auspicious impressions. Feeling the touch of the Lord’s lotus feet, Govardhana displays symptoms of ecstasy. He perspires in the form of melting stones, his hairs stand on end as erect grass and creepers, and tears flow from His eyes as gushing waterfalls. Govardhana’s waterfalls offer cool, fragrant water for Krsna and Balarama to drink and use for washing Their feet and mouths. The Hill provides liquid refreshments such as honey, mango juice, and pilu juice to quench Their thirst; abundant durva grass for making ritualistic hand wash (arghya); soft and delicious grasses to nourish the cows and enable them to produce abundant sweet milk; many caves to provide ideal places for Krsna and His associates to stay, no matter how hot, cold, or wet the weather may be; soft edible roots; jewels to decorate the body; flat rocks for sitting; and mirrors in the form of highly polished stones. Thus Govardhana is a completely selfless servant, one who only gives and never takes. He has only Krsna’s interest in mind – never His own.
As my parikrama and meditation on this verse continued, a very strong realization came to me. Like Sri Govardhana, Srila Prabhupada, you too were a completely selfless servant. That’s what made you extraordinary. You accepted all challenges and austerities to fulfill the instructions of your spiritual master. From beginning to end, your journey was never easy. But you overcame obstacle after obstacle to establish your spiritual master’s mission.
Your teachings, whether in the form of your books, letters, recorded words, or actions, melted your followers’ stonelike hearts, which were filled with impersonalism and voidism, and made their softened hearts into a cushioned place upon which Krsna could rest His tender lotus feet, just as Sri Govardhana did with His puttylike stones.
It is absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, study your books daily so that the purification process continues uninterrupted. If we fail to do this, the dust of impure desires will accumulate and again encase our hearts in stone.
As Krsna did with Sri Govardhana, He also touched you with His lotus feet – and you savored that ecstasy. As a true Vaisnava acarya, you generally kept that ecstasy to yourself. But sometimes it just could not be contained. On numerous occasions, as you called out the name of your Lord, your external senses became inert, your hairs stood on end, and tears filled your eyes. Krsna answered your call. Saturated with such love for Krsna, you were able to uplift the most fallen and also give them a small taste of that love.
It is absolutely essential as well that we, your faithful followers, connect others with you and your teachings so that they too can experience the sweet taste of pure devotional service.
Like Sri Govardhana, you offered Krsna and Balarama cool fragrant water from the waterfall of your devotion. And you continue to do so as you worship Their Lordships in the form of the many Deities you established around the world. Daily They receive not only honey, mango juice, and pilu juice to quench Their thirst but also six offerings of opulent foods cooked with loving devotion, all for Their Lordships pleasure and satisfaction. Beyond delicious food offerings, you also arranged for Them to be massaged with fragrant oils and pastes just prior to Their morning bath, dressing, and arati. Finally, you had Them serenaded with the sweet chanting of the holy name throughout the day.
It is absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, maintain the standard of Deity worship you established, for our own purification and to attract the hearts and minds of the conditioned souls burning in the desert of material existence.
Like Sri Govardhana, you offered sweet, succulent grasses to nourish the cows and enable them to produce abundant milk. This you did by establishing sustainable rural communities as part of your varsnarama blueprint to re-spiritualize materialistic society.
Again, it is absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, follow your instructions to establish varsnarama through these rural communities. The world needs to see working models of a sane, sustainable way of life, with cow protection and livelihoods that work in harmony with nature rather than against her.
Like Sri Govardhana, you offered the caves of your many temples to shelter the Lord and His devotees. These temples are like oases in the midst of Kali’s desert that provide opulent halls for holding public kirtanas, discourses, and honoring succulent prasadam. Neither the fire of passion nor the frigid cold of ignorance can penetrate these sanctuaries, provided we remain sincere sadhakas and preachers.
It is also absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, maintain your temples for the exact purpose for which you established them—to practice, taste, and distribute Krsna consciousness. If we follow your instructions to practice serious sadhana, we will certainly relish the taste of devotional service, and that taste will create a burning desire within us to distribute Krsna consciousness to others.
Like Sri Govardhana, who offers abundant durva grass used for making religious offerings of arghya, you offered your books as the main instruments for pushing forward Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtana movement. Today, throughout the world, many dedicated sankirtana men and women are dancing to the beat of your brhat-mrdanga; and by their tireless efforts millions are being introduced to Krsna consciousness through your books.
It is absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, continue flooding the world with the books you labored so hard to write and publish, for only the brilliant light of your books will dissipate the thick darkness of Kali-yuga’s ignorance.
Like Sri Govardhana, who sheltered the vraja-vasis from the torrential rains and thunderbolts of Lord Indra’s wrath, you established ISKCON to shelter the world’s devotees from the horrors of Kali. And much like Sri Krsna, who proclaimed that He and Govardhana are one, you declared that ISKCON is your transcendental body and thus nondifferent from you.
Sri Prabhupada, it is absolutely essential that we, your faithful followers, at least maintain but better expand your glorious ISKCON. If we don’t expand your Society around the world, what hope is there for mankind? You once told us, “The Krsna consciousness movement will go down in history as having saved mankind in its darkest hour.” (Conversation, London, 1973)
On this auspicious day of your Vyasa-puja, we fervently pray to you for guidance, purity, protection, and empowerment so that we may assist you in making this prophecy of yours come true. We beg that just as Sri Govardhana offered His full blessings and mercy to the inhabitants of Vraja, you will bestow your full blessings and mercy upon us, your faithful followers.
Begging to remain your humble servant,
Giridhari Swami

“Victory is just around the corner” (Album with photos).
On 10th August 2017, Gaur Gopal Das spoke to 2500 students at Event ‘KIRAN 2017’ held at Shanmukhananda Auditorium, Mumbai, India.
KIRAN is a Nagindas Khandwala BMS section initiative to promote knowledge, share ideas and inspire each other.
Gaur Gopal Das spoke to young minds, inspired them and shared the belief that 'Victory is just around the corner.’ Thank you Kiran 2017 for such a great initiative.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/45jFMZ

ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 07/30/2017

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes simple living, cow protection, engaging oxen, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON New Vrindaban.

Participating Directors: Chaitanya Mangala, Kripamaya, Ranaka, Sri Tulasi Manjari, and Vraja.

Participating Advisors: Jaya Krsna, Makara, and Olivia

Recording Secretary: Jamuna Jivani

1.      Ranaka’s Monthly Report

• Currently milking six cows at the combined rate of 22-23 gallons per day
• Three heifers are residing at the Temple Barn
• The veterinarian came to check on the pregnant cows: Sita is due in approximately six weeks and Sriya is 2.5 months pregnant by first time sire Madhu from Nandagram.
• Ray finished the goat/calf pen by attaching siding on the front of the structure and ridge vent attached on roof.
• Lalita Gopi has been planting flowers in front of the Temple Barn.
• Ananda Vidya is producing 10-12 lbs. of butter and 15 gallons of yogurt on a weekly basis for the temple kitchen.
• The Kids’ Camp spent time at the Temple Barn learning how to milk along with feeding the cows bananas and taking a cow quiz.
• Hay harvesting and storage: approximately 550 new bales are in the barn in addition to about 250 bales from last year
• Ray cleaned out the manure from under the Temple Barn roadside roofed hay feeder this week. It will be moved to the temple gardens to compost over the winter, then spread on the beds in the spring and disked in.
• Dharmakala is discontinuing her cookie business, which she has been running out of the Valley Barn. This space will be used for canning and freezing vegetables. Ray and Ranaka are preparing the space for its new function. Dharma has been hired to handle the processing.
• Fil has been working on the following projects:
• starting the first 90 minutes of his day working with the ox program
• maintenance at Nandagram and the Temple Barn
• helped with hay harvesting activities
• helped with the Kids’ Camp, harvesting triticale and threshing it in bags for making fresh chapatis.
• Robert is maintaining the Community Garden along with harvesting as things ripen.
• Sukhayanti completed updating the ECO-V herd records on a Google spreadsheet.
• ECO-V had a booth at the Wheeling Ratha Yatra, staffed by Fil, Sukhayanti and Ranaka. The visitors had the opportunity to turn cream into butter by shaking jars with a marble inside, and to learn about cow protection and farming.

2. 2017 ISKCON North America Farm Conference Update

Sri Tulasi Manjari and Jamuna Jivani reported on the previous month’s projects:

• Balabhadra will give a presentation on ox training.
• A kirtan program will be held at Prabhupada’s Palace on one of the evenings.
•  Jamuna Jivani called all the devotee farms in North America to speak to them about the conference.
• An email invitation has been sent to every temple in North America.
• The flyers have just arrived and will be sent to temples and farm communities across the continent.

3. Internal Funding Request: $3.5K for November 2017 Appreciation T-shirts & Plaques

WHEREAS: The ECO-V Board wishes to acknowledge the dedication of key community members, as well as offer a token of appreciation to the INV and ECO-V staff and volunteers.

RESOLVED: The Board approves up to $3,500 as a budget for plaques and t-shirts to distribute during the November meeting weekend.

4. Venkatachalapati Advisor Resignation

After a three month trial, Venkatachalapati wished to retire as an advisor. The ECO-V board members accepted his resignation and expressed appreciation for his willingness to volunteer.

For regular updates please visit and like the ECO-V Facebook page.

While I was in Delhi, I had the fortune of meeting HH Gopal Krishna Maharaj. Though he had returned from a tour of the West just the previous day and was exhausted, he kindly agreed to meet me at his quarters at the Radha Partha Sarthi temple.

I gave him a copy of my latest book Demystifying Reincarnation. After glancing through it and appreciating its detailed table of contents, Maharaj mentioned an earlier book of mine:10 Leadership Sutras from Bhagavad-gita. About a year ago, he had called me, saying that he was scheduled to give a talk in China on spiritual principles for corporate leaders. He had got my Leadership Sutras book and wanted to know whether I had any additional teaching aids with it. Honored and humbled by his request, I had sent him my Powerpoint presentations on the book.

During our meeting, Maharaj told me that he had gone through my book and had found it good. He added that it was a bit too analytical – for a busy businessman, it didn’t give any immediate carry-home points. I admitted that limitation, adding that it was not easy to convey the Bhagavad-gita’s philosophy in bullet points that would be intelligible and appealing to new people.

Accepting the point, Maharaj suggested that we needed a book explaining how the Gita can help people deal with practical problems such as stress, depression, addiction, job loss and relationship breakup. He said that such a book, which could be titled something like “The Bhagavad-gita applied for daily living” would become a hit. I found Maharaj’s suggestion so superb that I started wondering why till now no one in our movement, and why I myself, hadn’t thought of a book like this.

I have often found inspiring Maharaj’s keen awareness of the contemporary pulse and the opportunities it presents for spiritual outreach. About a decade ago, when the recession had bedeviled the global economy, Maharaj had suggested that I write a book about how the economic meltdown was ultimately caused by greed. Accordingly, I had written the pocket book “Recession – Adversity or Opportunity?” delineating a three-point solution: Simplify, Clarify and Purify. Maharaj had liked that book, written the foreword for it and had even gifted it to the Prime Minister and the President of India. He had also gifted it to the President of Mauritius, who too had appreciated it and had even written a review for it. That book had become by far my best-selling book till date, and I felt that the book on Gita applied, again suggested by Maharaj, would do equally well. I thanked him for the brilliant idea and promised to work on it as soon as possible.

When I mentioned to Maharaj that I had been writing about the practical application of the Gita at gitadaily.com daily for nearly six years now, he was intrigued. He glanced through the Gita-daily app on my phone, appreciated the articles, especially their titles, and asked me to subscribe him by email.

As we discussed about online outreach, I asked Maharaj about how he dealt with criticism, especially misleading misrepresentations on the net, which inevitably befall anyone who becomes well-known. The clarity and conviction of Maharaj’s answer stunned me – he said, “If someone wants to go to the Internet to learn, why do they need to come to me?” While we may occasionally counter negative material, ultimately, we can’t stop it. People have their free will and those who wants reasons to stay away from Krishna will find reasons, with the Internet serving them as an aide. However, the Internet doesn’t control our preaching – Krishna does. If we try to serve him sincerely, he will guide us how best to serve him, and how best to respond to criticism.

When I sought Maharaj’s blessing for my tour of US from August end, he enquired about my programs and offered his blessings, stressing that a lot of work needs to be done in the country where ISKCON was founded.

When we were discussing the comparative preaching scenarios in the West and India, I appreciated the phenomenal preaching in Delhi – with over a dozen temples either opened or soon to be opened, with hundred or more brahmacharis in the two leading temples, with hundreds of devotees coming to each temple, with thousands coming to the bigger temples, including, of course, the marquee Radha Partha Sarthi temple. I said that, under Maharaj’s expert stewardship, the capital of India was fast becoming the capital of ISKCON’s preaching in India.

At the end of our eighty-minute meeting, I felt enormously encouraged and enlivened by the association of one of the foremost commanders of Srila Prabhupada’s army.

The post Meeting with HH Gopal Krishna Maharaj – Learning to sense the contemporary pulse appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Now today is our Radhastami ceremony. So, so far Radharani, Radharani, today is the birthday of Srimati Radharani. Radharani is the pleasure potency of Krsna. Krsna is the Supreme Brahman. Just try to understand. Krsna is the Supreme Brahman. Param brahma param dhama pavitram paramam bhavan. So when param brahma wants to enjoy… that enjoying spirit is there […]

The post Radhastami lecture by Srila Prabhupada appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad Bhagavatam 3.15.25.

“We have read about different symptoms — pulakasu— symptoms of happiness like tears in the eyes that come from offenceless chanting. If we don’t experience such symptoms it is to be understood that we are committing offenses while chanting. What to do? Srila Prabhupada continues here at the end of the purport:

‘Caitanya-caritamrta suggests a nice remedy in this connection. There it is said in verse 31, Chapter Eight, of Adi-lila, that if anyone takes shelter of Lord Caitanya and just chants the holy name of the Lord, Hare Krsna, he becomes freed from all offenses.’

Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 8.31
‘But if one only chants, with some slight faith, the holy names of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, very quickly he is cleansed of all offenses. Thus as soon as he chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, he feels the ecstasy of love for God.

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Vyasa-puja kirtan
Vyasa-puja talk
Nrsimha Prayers

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