Planet ISKCON

Answer Podcast

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Last Manchester conversation.

Dalston Festival, UK - 20th July 2017 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Golokera prema-dhana, this hari-nama-sankirtana, chanting of Hare Krsna mantra, this sound vibration, it is not material. Suppose if I would have advised my disciples that “You chant ‘Mr. John, Mr. John, Mr. John,’ ” this movement would not have spread. [laughter] How long one can chant this “Mr. John, Mr. John”? Therefore it is the proof, that all over the world we have got about hundred centers. Everywhere, hundred, two hundred, three hundred disciples are there. They’re chanting, dancing, with Hare Krsna mantra. Why? Because it is not material sound vibration. This is the proof. Don’t think that Hare Krsna chanting and chanting the name of Mr. John is the same. No. This is the proof. You can go on chanting twenty-four hours, still you will not feel tired. This is the golokera… This is the proof, that this hari-nama-sankirtana, golokera prema-dhana, it is the property for loving. It is the thing which will lead you how to love God, prema-dhana. You will gradually develop your propensity to love Krsna.
From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.15.27 – March 6, 1975, New York
Find them here: https://goo.gl/HN2GEp

We would like to give you a 6 months of finishing work that we have achieved at the ToVP. This video will give you a glance on how the project is progressing with its embellishments and finishing works. Continue reading "TOVP: Midyear report
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By the inspiration of Jayapataka Swami, The Mayapur Chandras team organizes Kartik Navadvip Mandal Parikrama every year. For more information please visit: https://www.facebook.com/Mayapur.Chandras

The walk began from Canterbury Cathedral - the mother of all pilgrimage sites in the UK. The devotees were blessed by the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral for a safe journey, providing an auspicious start to the festival of peace. The opening ceremony was also attended by Cathedral officials, local dignitaries, members of the Canterbury interfaith group.

A new rendition of the famous “The Boat Man & The Scholar” story by the Bhaktivedanta Players of Bhaktivedanta Manor (17 min video)
There was a poor boatman in a village. He was illiterate. He used to row boat to meet his both ends…
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/7wgRoV

Hare Krishna! The Mantra, the Movement, and the Swami Who Started It All had its world premiere in June, at the Illuminate film festival in Sedona, in the USA. At the time of writing, the well-known movie review site Rottentamatoes.com, was reporting that 92% of their visitors who rated the movie liked it. The professional critics are not so sure, giving it only 14% on the Tomatometer. 

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 31 July 2005)

The scripture says that if you chant the Holy Name of the Lord even once, you will be purified for more sinful activities than you can commit in an entire lifetime; imagine that! So can we all say the whole mantra just once:

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

That was quick, wasn’t it, more sinful activities destroyed now than we can commit in an entire lifetime! Have you ever thought of the power of the maha mantra in that way? It is certainly not an ordinary thing. We are just not aware of the power of the Holy Name, the power of this Movement.

Just to bow down before the deities with our head on the ground, that alone will be sufficient for Krsna to accept us as his devotee! All these things are extraordinarily powerful, yet we do them very casually. There is also maha prasadam, it tastes very nice but consider the potency of it! The potency is inconceivable and just by doing these things, one transforms!

What does a prayer mean?
Question: My contemplations on prayer find me asking for a clear definition of what prayer is. I heard that it means to glorify the Lord. Also that chanting the Holy Name is the best prayer. Also that prayer means an intense desire.
What does a prayer mean? Is it accepting Supreme position of the Lord and subordinating my will to His Will?
How can I pray with a heart that gets frequently doubtful about Krsna and His devotees? Nonetheless I pray because I have seen nothing else working out and I have been recommended to do so. Reading some of your kind answers I felt like seeking this clarification.
———
Answer by Romapada Swami: Prayer, or vandanam, is the sixth of the nine processes of devotional service. The dictionary meaning of prayer is defined as “a spiritual communion with God or an object of worship, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession.”

Prayer is a unique way of expressing our heartfelt expressions to Krishna; it is a way of expressing our heart to the Lord. Prayer expressed with deep feeling and sincerity is what is accepted by the Lord. Prayer indicates something that is above us, higher than us, or even beyond us. That which the senses and mind cannot reach, prayers can reach, although we are using the senses and mind to pray.

The best way to pray in this age of Kali is to chant the Maha-mantra with all of one’s sincerity.

The real purpose of prayer is not to gain material resources or even spiritual salvation for oneself. The power of prayer comes when we call to Krishna out of a desire to do His will. Such pure prayers are not means to the end but are themselves loving exchanges between the Lord and His pure devotees. Whether we call on Him from the darkness of our fallen state in the material world, or whether we praise Him in the midst of His liberated associates in the kingdom of God, the pure prayer is the same: “Please engage me in Your service”.

Srila Prabhuapda explains the meaning of the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra as follows: “The mantra is a spiritual call to the Lord, meaning, ‘Oh energy of the Lord, please engage me in the loving service of Lord Krishna.’ This chanting of Hare Krishna is directly enacted from the spiritual platform, surpassing all lower stages of consciousness, namely sensual, mental, and intellectual. There is no need to understand the language of the mantra, nor is there any need of mental speculation, nor any intellectual adjustment for chanting this maha-mantra. It springs automatically from the spiritual platform, and as such anyone can take part in this transcendental sound vibration without any previous qualification and dance in ecstasy. The word Hara is a form of addressing the energy of the Lord. Both Krishna and Rama are forms of directly addressing the Lord, and they mean “the highest pleasure.” Hara is the supreme pleasure potency of the Lord. This potency, addressed as Hare, helps us in reaching the Supreme Lord. The three words-namely Hare, Krishna, and Rama-are the transcendental seeds of the maha-mantra, and the chanting is the spiritual call for the Lord and His internal energy, Hara, for giving protection to the conditioned souls. The chanting is exactly like genuine crying by the child for his mother. Mother Hara helps in achieving the grace of the supreme father Hari, or Krishna, and the Lord reveals Himself to such sincere devotees”.

Outlined below are few of the many benefits of Chanting the Maha Mantra:

1. One can be liberated from the effects of all sins simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord.

2. One is directly associating with Krsna by chanting the Hare Krsna maha mantra.

3. Chanting Hare Krishna awakens love of God.

4. Chanting Hare Krishna brings liberation as a side benefit along the way.

5. When one chants Hare Krishna, one automatically develop knowledge and detachment.

6. Chanting Hare Krishna gets one out of the endless cycle of birth and death.

7. Chanting Hare Krishna cleanses the heart of all illusions and misunderstandings.

8. By chanting Hare Krishna, one becomes free from all anxieties..

9. There are no hard and fast rules for chanting. One can chant anywhere, any time, under any circumstances.

10. Krishna Himself is fully present in the transcendental sound of His name.

11. All other Vedic mantras are included in the chanting of Hare Krishna maha mantra.

12. A person who chants Hare Krishna develops all good qualities.

A video by Ananta Vrindavan.

Interview with Jaya Jagannath Das.
They call me “Jaya”. My spiritual journey began when I was 17. At that time, I was training as a ballet dancer in New York (I had started training when I was 11 years old). I was also on the quest for love. I had a vague idea what to look for, but nothing that was very concrete. Sometimes, I would walk a hundred blocks hoping that I would bump into love someday! Of course it never happened. Later on, my roommate and cousin introduced a book to me by Carl Jung called “Man and His Symbols”. In that book he talked a lot about consciousness and super consciousness, dreams and architypes, dreams and songs. That kind of steered my quest for love in the spiritual direction. So, I started reading a lot of philosophical and religious books in order to inform myself about what love was.
I started reading a lot of philosophical and religious books in order to inform myself about what love was. So both of their conclusions were not satisfying… One day, I stumbled upon Srila Prabhupada’s book called “The Science of Self-Realization”
So, I started reading a lot of philosophical and religious books in order to inform myself about what love was. I was reading a lot from both Eastern and Western traditions. What I liked about the Western traditions was that their conclusions often were about the relationship with God, although it was very vague. What I liked about the Eastern traditions was that they had a lot of philosophical content that was just absolutely profound. But their conclusion was often very morbid: either you cease to exist (my understanding of the Buddhists at that time) or you merge with the Absolute and also cease to exist. So both of their conclusions were not satisfying, although the profound philosophical content was very interesting, fascinating, and nice. One day, I stumbled upon Srila Prabhupada’s book called “The Science of Self-Realization” (I was 18 at that time). The way I stumbled upon this book – I was starting to get into hip-hop. I was also writing hip-hop and we found a friend who was an actual artist (a lot of his music was about spiritual subject matter). So, I became his friend just to kind of pick his brain on spiritual subjects.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/gB2QSX

The Original Formula (7 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Lord Caitanya’s movement started with Harinam samkirtan - going out and chanting the holy names in the street with musical instruments. The process is as effective now as it was then. And it will work for the next 10,000 years. All glories to Sri Krsna samkirtan!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/BjdDES

Guruvayur, also called ‘Dwarka of Southern India’, houses the famous Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple. Guruvayur Sri Krishna, also affectionately called as “Sri Guruvayoorappan”, the presiding deity, was installed by Brihaspati and Vayu. Sri Guruvayoorappan is a four-armed form of Lord Krishna in standing posture with a chakra in the right hand, conchshell in the left, and mace and lotus flower in the other two. Lord Krishna displayed this form of His only twice during His appearance on earth: once to Arjuna just before the battle of Kuruksetra while speaking the Bhagavad-Gita, and once to His parents, Vasudeva and Devaki, at the time of His appearance in Mathura. This deity was worshipped by Vasudeva and Devaki in Dwarka. When Lord Krishna wanted to end His manifest pastimes on this planet, He entrusted His devoted friend Uddhava, to take good care of the Deity. Lord Krishna prophesied to Uddhava that at the end of His earthly sojourn, the island of Dwarka would be swept away by the sea, 7 days after He would leave. Continue reading "Sri Guruvayur Yatra
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Saturday night Manchester.

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An inspiring departure. For many years, Shri Shah had been averse to even visit Vaishnava Seva P’s house, leave alone stay there. Like most fathers, he had had great dreams for his son. When Vaishnava Seva Prabhu had started practicing bhakti, his father had become upset. His anger was not because they were from a Jain background, but because he feared that his son would neglect his career. In his disappointment, he had spoken heated words to, Vaishnava Seva Prabhu’s spiritual master, HH Radhanatha Maharaj. He had even threatened to not attend Vaishnava Seva Prabhu’s marriage. Continue reading "When Krishna thrusts his mercy, inconceivably
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We shall call our Society ISKCON! Srila Prabhupada coined the acronym, although many alternative names were proposed, why?

A video by the Bhaktivedanta Manor.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 29 April 2010, Radhadesh, Belgium, Lecture)

Another quality that I would like to see in individuals is kindness. Kindness is so important! We want to be on the receiving end of kindness but to be kind is so difficult however this is something that I see as being part of a strong individual. It is something that we all should try to cultivate. I would be so pleased if my disciples would be known for their extraordinary kindness. I think that it would be a real victory because kindness is what really conquers; it is what will truly make a difference.

It is one quality that I really appreciated in Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada as the most exalted but you also see him as a very kind, wise human being. This is what I wish to become. I know and I’ll say it here that I have a sharp side in my nature. I can be quite cutting and it is not my favourite quality in myself. I’m trying to grow out of it and I guess it’s getting a little better. But those who get close to me, they get the brunt of it! It is something to work on. May we all be challenged to grow; this is what is required.

It is not enough just to be a member of ISKCON, just to be here, just to be initiated. It is nice and it is meaningful but I like to compare the vows of initiation to pearls and then tell the story about Krsna who planted pearls and many bushes of pearls grew. I really feel that these vows of initiations should be taken like that, like pearls that must be planted and developed. I’m looking for growth, I’m looking for compassion and kindness in strong individuals.

Tourists see unique gathering outside Canterbury Cathedral, UK (2 min video)
Canterbury has seen hundreds of thousands of pilgrims over the centuries.
Ever since Henry II’s soldiers murdered Beckett in the Cathedral, they have paid their respects, and sought redemption for their sins.
But there has never been a gathering quite like the one that tourists and visitors witnessed this week.
For the very first time, Hare Krishna monks have assembled outside the cathedral gates.
Their mission? To let the crowds watching them know, that regardless of the terror attacks that have beset the country this summer, there is more that unites us, than divides us.
Tom Savvides reports.
Interviewees: Mantra Chaitanya Das, Hare Krishna Canterbury; and Very Rev Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/eHS8za

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