Planet ISKCON

Historical video: Hare Krishna in Czestochowa Poland 1976.
(Memories by Gurudas Prabhu)
Suchandra, Avensh, and myself met a young man named Kasmerichek in his apartment late at night.
He was anxious, and we had to whisper, no kirtan. He told us he could arrange some programs for us.
The next night we were in a private apartment with about 6 people, besides our selves.
We explained Krishna consciousness basics, and we chanted together.
We went to a campground and later met Kasmerichek again who arranged a very nice program at a museum in Swednica. Many people came.
We were in a large room with high ceilings and surrounded by many swords and shields, and paintings of famous and courageous people.
I spoke and a man named Roman translated.
The people kept turning the lights down and lit candles. Suchhandra led the kirtan.
They asked sincere questions like do you need God with Yoga?
I explained that Yoga means Link to God not gymnastics. Etc.
Everyone expressed their appreciations and bought all the books we had. I kept some books back so we would have enough for each event. I was told that 100 people shared one book, each book.
A nightclub was our next venue that was officially closed.
We opened it secretly.
Ten people enjoyed the kirtan, listened politely but asked no questions. Like every place in Poland they all bought our smuggled books of Srila Prabhupad.
We slept in a campground at night.
The next day we were taken to the famous cathedral of Chestahova, Jasna Gora wherein foreign invaders hit the Madonna deity. Blood flowed from her wounds and the enemies fled.
We arrived at the large cathedral to a flurry of excitement, on one side young people on the sprawling grass lawn, playing guitars and laying about on another side of the Hugh church were dressed pilgrims circumambulating the building with large images of Lord Jesus jutting twenty feet high out of the forest.
People preparing for death were on cots in the wall surrounding the area.
This reminded me of bhajan ashram in Vrindavan where also many pilgrims live simply preparing for the transmigration of our souls. We saw the opportunity to spread the holy names and Krishna Consciousness.
The next day we went in the middle of the young people, pulled up the van that had a kitchen and cooked prasadam and invited people and chanted and invited people for a love feast the next day, and asked them to invite their friends, and please bring offerings.
The next day many people showed up with flowers fruit, vegetables grains and friends. We also went to markets and bought a lot of bhoga necessities rice, lentils, boxes of potatoes and veggies, however everyone brought other foodstuffs, which we added to the love feast.
The whole side of a hill was filled with people. And I spoke with translator. At the end of my talk I raised my hand in the form of a Vee and yelled out Vishnu Vishnu.
The chanting was especially nice. We left as the sun went down.
On the way to Warsaw, many young people recognized and waved us the sign of the Vishna or Vee.
We picked up some hitchhikers and preached to them. Years later I am pleased how nicely the seeds planted have grown into full-bloomed Krishna Consciousness.
Prabhupad is pleased as he always encouraged the idea of Krishna Consciousness in “The Communist countries”
The people of Poland were the friendliest that I encountered in that part of the world.
Rercently I met a Sridhar Swami who is from Poland and came to Krishna from that event. He said there were others also.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/4TQZgU

Discover India USA 2017 tourney (Album with photos) September 2017 we spend at festivals in the United States, New York. The first festival in N...

Beautiful rendition of Lord Nrsimhadeva’s mantra from the younger generation of devotees of ISKCON Kiev, Ukraine (7 min video)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/GGa6UV

Like many ISKCON programs today, the University of Southern California’s Bhakti Club drew mainly people with an Indian background who were already familiar with the tennets of Krishna consciousness. But a new rebranding and a broader vision based on building relationships has seen a flood of Western students who can’t get enough.

Regal Cinemas will show the documentary film Hare Krishna!, about the life and teachings of ISKCON Founder Srila Prabhupada, as a one-off event screening in over eighty cities across the United States. The screening will be held at 7pm in all time zones on Sept 21^st, the International Day of Peace. It’s apt timing, considering Srila Prabhupada’s message: “When we understand that we are not these bodies but are spirit souls, then there will be peace.”

Bhakti Sangam Ukraine 2017 (Album with photos)
5 days of festival packed with seminars and Kirtan in Ukraine on the coast of Black Sea near Odessa … what an experience in all aspects! The best prasadam, the best vegetables I have ever seen, the most serving humble devotees … everyone is hungry for Krishna Consciousness like I have never seen before. 8000 devotees turned this small coastal village into a “second Mayapur” for a week.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/qygTsy

A few days ago the clay form of the next murti for the Guru Parampara altar was completed. This is the murti of His Divine Grace Srila Gaura Kishore Das Babaji, the spiritual master of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. He will sit on the front line of the altar between the murtis of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati.

The clay mold of Srila Gaura Kishore was readied for further processing through the manufacture of a fiberglass mold from which the permanent murti will be cast in brass.

On the Guru Parampara altar fifteen acharya murtis will be installed. Thirteen of them have already been completed. The remaining two are, Srila Jagannatha Das Babaji and Srila Prabhupada.

Guru Parampara ki jaya!

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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[Bhakti Vriksha Program at Edison, USA]

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The post Cultists, Fanatics and Spiritual Shoppers – Making sense of the world’s religious scenario appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Although Bhaktivinoda Thakura is especially recognised for re-discovering the birth place of Lord Caitanya, he in fact re-discovered and re-established Lord Caitanya’s movement. 

People often want to rise to the top in their fields and delight in being high above everyone else. Even if they attain a lofty position like that of a king on a throne, that majesty often makes them lonely.

By Tirtha Pavana das

Sochi, Moscow, summer 2017. GBC College steps out of India. It is the first time ever when GBC College was held outside of India, this time in Sochi, in the south of Russia. The Regional secretaries and the next generation of future leaders came together from all over Russia as well as some neighbouring countries such as Kazakhstan, Belorussia and Turkmenistan to get inspiration and experience from the current GBC members and other senior devotees. The residential involved 12 days of training in the area of the leadership development. The GBC College is focused on providing training to the leaders in order to introduce Zonal Supervisors across the globe. More than 40 participants attended the residential program. It was a unique opportunity to embrace the atmosphere of learning from the senior vaisnavas and to share extensive experience with the others, who came there from the various regions. Continue reading "GBC College in Russia
→ Dandavats"

ISKCON Hosts Interfaith Day of Prayer for Harvey Victims.
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.
Prior to Harvey, ISKCON of Houston had planned Kirtanfest, a weekend of kirtan or devotional call-and-response prayerful chanting, over Labor Day weekend. After nearly canceling the event due to safety concerns, ISKCON decided it was vital to carry on with Kirtanfest in a shortened format, dedicating it for the healing and recovery of the people of Texas. In addition, to make it all-inclusive, they added an interfaith prayer segment in the spirit of Bhaktivinoda, who wrote in his Shri Chaitanya Shikshamritam 8-9:
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/RtsjDA

Black Sea Festival #2.

Black Sea Festival #1

Hare Krishna Festivals UK, Kingston Festival - 7th September 2017 (Album with photos) Srila Prabhupada: The only purport of the holy name of Kri...

Bhagavad-gita, the Song of God!
Srila Prabhupada: More one reads Bhagavad-gītā the more he gets the appetite to read and understand it, and each time he gets new enlightenment. That is the nature of the transcendental message. Similarly, we find that transcendental happiness in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The more we hear and chant the glories of the Lord, the more we become happy.
SB 3.25.2, Translation and Purport: Śaunaka continued: There is no one who knows more than the Lord Himself. No one is more worshipable or more mature a yogī than He. He is therefore the master of the Vedas, and to hear about Him always is the actual pleasure of the senses.
Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahūti, Verse 2
In Bhagavad-gītā it is stated that no one can be equal to or greater than the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is confirmed in the Vedas also: eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān. He is the supreme living entity and is supplying the necessities of all other living entities. Thus all other living entities, both viṣṇu-tattva and jīva-tattva, are subordinate to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. The same concept is confirmed here. Na hy asya varṣmaṇaḥ puṁsām: amongst the living entities, no one can surpass the Supreme Person because no one is richer, more famous, stronger, more beautiful, wiser or more renounced than He. These qualifications make Him the Supreme Godhead, the cause of all causes. Yogīs are very proud of performing wonderful feats, but no one can compare to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Anyone who is associated with the Supreme Lord is accepted as a first-class yogī. Devotees may not be as powerful as the Supreme Lord, but by constant association with the Lord they become as good as the Lord Himself. Sometimes the devotees act more powerfully than the Lord. Of course, that is the Lord’s concession.
Also used here is the word varimṇaḥ, meaning “the most worshipful of all yogīs.” To hear from Kṛṣṇa is the real pleasure of the senses; therefore He is known as Govinda, for by His words, by His teachings, by His instruction—by everything connected with Him—He enlivens the senses. Whatever He instructs is from the transcendental platform, and His instructions, being absolute, are nondifferent from Him. Hearing from Kṛṣṇa or His expansion or plenary expansion like Kapila is very pleasing to the senses. Bhagavad-gītā can be read or heard many times, but because it gives great pleasure, the more one reads Bhagavad-gītā the more he gets the appetite to read and understand it, and each time he gets new enlightenment. That is the nature of the transcendental message. Similarly, we find that transcendental happiness in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The more we hear and chant the glories of the Lord, the more we become happy.

Vancouver Ratha Yatra 2017 (Album with photos) Srila Prabhupada: When loud chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra is performed all over the world b...

Radha Kunda Seva: August 2017 Photos and Updates (Album with photos)
Deity forms of Sri Sri Radha Krishna came to us this month - gifts from a kind pujari in Radha Kunda. Gandharvika Giridhari are their names. To celebrate Janmastami, we worshipped them with an abhiseka bath, kirtan and arati. Then we fed 120 Radha Kunda widows a sumptuous feast and gave gifts of clothing, sweets, and laksmi to them and to our workers. We were grateful for Tulsi Mataji’s service to our ladies during her visit to Radha Kunda. Thanks also to you, our sponsors who made this festival possible. And thank you to the kind donors who came to Radha Kunda laden with many gifts of clothing for our ladies. We put in a new roof, walls, and flooring in the facility we use in Radha Kunda. The roof in particular will make the building more functional and weather proof. As always, cleaning and food distribution continued daily. We are feeling very blessed by the appearance of Gandarvika Giridhari, our new deities of Radha and Krishna. Two of our ladies, sisters and longtime residents of Radha Kunda, have eagerly accepted responsibility for their care. Please browse our latest photos and join our efforts by visiting www.radharani.com. Your servants, Campakalata Devi dasi, Padma Gopi Devi dasi, Sri Arjuna dasa, Urmila Devi Dasi, and Mayapurcandra dasa.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/N2bJo8

H.G. Gopal Prabhu’s class about the Acceptance of Sannyasa by Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON Vrindavan (video)

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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 […]

The post ToVP Chakra /Kalash photos appeared first on Mayapur.com.

The deities at Seattle temple are magnificent and I feel very fortunate to have Their Darshan. It took a great effort to install Them and build a beautiful temple but now the whole city is benefitted.

On Janmastami there were 14,000 visitors who came to participate in the many activities that day. Sri Sri Radha, Nila Madhava, Sita, Rama, Laksman, Hanuman, Jagannatha Baladeva Subhadra and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai are certainly merciful.

About HG Laxmimoni Mataji:
Laxmimoni Dasi was initiated by Srila Prabhuada in 1969 while attending the State University of New York at Buffalo. She received a B.A. in psychology after getting an "A" for her senior sociology project: "Life in a Krishna Temple." She has been involved in ISKCON educational projects since 1974. Now she is a member of the GBC Ministry of Educational Development and a GBC Deputy. She was the principal of the Vaishnava Academy for Girls, in the USA, for 29 years.
She is currently the director of the Bhakti Bhavan, a Vaishnavi training progam at ISKCON Alachua and also helps direct ISKCON Resolve, an international mediation service for Hare Krishna devotees. Last year, she returned from an extensive lecture tour throughout Europe and India and we are delighted to have her back as a teacher.



“One who has life can preach, and one who preaches gets life.”(Previous Acaryas)

The post Daily Darshan : September 08, 2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Auckland NZ: Holy name week 2017 (Album with photos) Friday night Harinam sankirtana Ki Jaya! Find them here: https://goo.gl/t75cHE

ISKCON Europe Excellence Awards (IEEA) for 2017.
We are now calling for nominations for the ISKCON Europe Excellence Awards (IEEA) for 2017. The IEEA recognizes the sincere service of devotees who have dedicated their lives to the mission of Srila Prabhupada within Europe. These awards are to encourage such exemplary devotees and also to inspire all other devotees by their example.

Jayadev John Richardson on Kirtan (15 min video)
Balaram Nityananda Das: Jayadev John Richardson​ is an international musician/ artist, having sold 30 million records worldwide. He has also facilitated 150 mantra choirs in 25 countries. Most importantly, he has been practicing Bhakti-Yoga for nearly 35 years and has been a drummer for the past 55 years, with a wealth of experience and knowledge in the musical and healing arts. Please hear what he has to say!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/Unr5fz

What a coincidence!
On a Monday afternoon, in the recent mid-year marathon, Bal Gopal, my husband, and I were trying a little book distribution along the busy Lambton Quay in Wellington. Nobody was showing much interest at all. We were on our way home from serving Krsna Food and had to stop at the bank to deposit the takings from that day.
Inside the bank, I held up the Science of Self Realisation, showing it to Bal Gopal, and recited the Panca Tattva mantra, pleading aloud: “Please, Gauranga, let us meet one sincere person who will be interested in buying this book.”
We stepped outside, and the very first person walking by, whom I held a book up in front of — Hiding in Unnatural Happiness — simply asked “Happiness?”
She looked at the cover, stopped, and said, “Oh, my gosh! This is far out! I’m reading this book right now!”
We asked, “Where did you get it? Wow!”
She said, “I found it in my friend’s house and just started reading it.
I asked how it was going, and she replied, “I absolutely love it! I’m up to the part describing three kinds of happiness.”
We commented on the coincidence of our meeting. The author, Devamrita Swami, had been in Wellington on the weekend.
I handed her The Science of Self Realisation, saying, “You might like this one.” I said that the author is the teacher of her book’s author.
She said that she always looks for new books, something to read on the train that she catches to work. She was interested, but had no cash, so we walked together to an ATM, and she gave a donation.
Feeling inspired, we also showed her Devamrita Swami’s Searching for Vedic India, which she also took.
Hiding in Unnatural Happiness is certainly appreciated, and it inspires people to read Srila Prabhupada’s books!
My gratitude to the merciful Panca Tattva!
Your servant,
Ananda Candra Devi Dasi

Harinama, book and prasadam distribution @Bali Beach. 7.9.2017 (Album with photos) Srila Prabhupada: One should invite people, chant Hare Krishna...

Celebrating Adivas of World Holy Name Week in Portugal
Sept. 7, 2017, Lisbon, Portugal.
World Holy Name Week starts on Sept. 9th and culminates on Sept. 17.
“Srila Prabhupada arrived in Boston, USA, and I began my celebration of World Holy Name Week early by a series of Harinam events in Boston. Even after the long flight today from Boston, USA, I felt fresh and inspired in the sea breeze of the port city of Lisbon, Portugal. The locals and tourists were blissfully smiling, waving, dancing, taking selfies with us and chanting along with us in the kirtan”, Ekalavya Das, World Holy Name Week team member said.
A series of Harinam Sankirtan events are planned next week in Milano, Italy.
In an interview with an other member of the World Holy Name Week’s organising committee, kirtaniya Vishwambar Das mentioned how the Hare Krishna mahamantra has become a household name, thanks to Srila Prabhupada.

“By the grace of Srila Prabhupada, the entire world has become familiar with the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra and so many people in their lives, with their families and friends gather together to chant the holy names,” he said.
With the event being just one day away, Vishwambar Das encourages people to participate in the event and understand the value of the precious gift of the mahamantra that Srila Prabhupada has given.

“This is a very special time dedicated to chanting the holy names - a whole week of gathering together to go deeper and deeper in manifesting the potency of the holy name in our hearts,” he says. “If we can take this seriously, we can create a change in our hearts and thus create a change in anyone we meet, and in the world. This is the great gift that Srila Prabhupada has given us - the ambassador of the holy names.”

The event which will be held between the 9th and the 17th of September 2017 celebrates the centurial anniversary of Srila Prabhupada arriving into the West to propagate the glories of the holy name and the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Temples and centres across the globe are invited to participate in this event making it one of a kind. They can hold various events like japa marathons, seminars, harinams, kirtan melas and much more on an individual and a congregational level.

Interested devotees may contact the World Holy Name Week organisers on connect@worldholyname.org or log into www.worldholyname.org for more details.

“So, let us all do our part to support the World Holy Name Week and uplift our consciousness and uplift the consciousness of the whole world through Krishna consciousness,” concluded Vishwambar Das.

By Bhaktin Diksha
Member - World Holy Name Week Team
World Holy Name Week​
Sept. 9 - 17, 2017
​Srila Prabhupada’s Gift to the World!​
​www.worldholyname.org​

Haridas Thakur Disappearance Day (video)
H.G. Rohini Suta Prabhu’s class from CC Antya 11.25 at ISKCON Vrindavan

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Answer Podcast

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Answer Podcast

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