Planet ISKCON

Pancharatna Das was and still is one of the important managers in Mayapur, who started living there since the middle of 70 and till now is striving to make this place better. Continue reading "Pancharatna Prabhu – Interview
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Photos and videos from the Sravanam-Kirtanam Festival in Villa-Vrindavana, Florence, Italy.
Srila Prabhupada: The Lord’s holy name is called sravana-mangala. This means that one receives everything auspicious simply by hearing the holy name. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 2.7.15 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/4XFFGs

A two day retreat by HH Bhanu Swami on Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu and the Sandharbhas (Album with photos)
HH Bhanu Swami had visited Govardhan Ecovillage on 2 nd June and had given seminars on Rupa Gosvami’s work, Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu; Madhurya Kadambini of Srila Visvanath Cakravarti Thakur and Tattva-Sandarba of Jiva Gosvami. The 2-day retreat was held in the seminar hall of the Satsang Bhavan and was well attended by the students of Bhativedanta Vidyapitha and the resident monks of Govardhan Ecovillage

The State of the State - your tithing dollars at work! Wow, we are already half way through 2017, so here's a peek at what your tithing dollars are allowing us to do at the Temple. We have spent the past 16 months working on securing development permits for Phase II of our master plan, which includes building guest cottages around the pond. It’s been a long and tedious process, where every department of county regulators comes over to have a look and give opinions on what we want to do. Thank you to all of our donors and tithers, your generous contributions make these projects possible. Please encourage your friends to support our temple; we are here to serve you! Continue reading "Latest developments of Iskcon Alachua community
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Had an awesome day yesterday!

2:30am: Wake up
4am – 5:25am: Travel to temple
5:25am – 6:50am: Deity paraphernalia service
6:50-7am: Gobble down maha-sweets as a award to myself for the morning activities
7am-7:10am: Checking out my friends iPad out
7:15am – 8:45am: Deity greeting, Guru Puja, Bhagavatam class
8:45am-9:30am: Massive breakfast prasadam (rice, zucchini curry, puri, coconut chutney, tomato chutney & halva)
9:30am – 10:45am: Bus & train travel to Liverpool where the Ratha Yatra would be held.

As i get out of the train station and look for directions to the carpark where the event would be held, someone touches me on the shoulder and says, “Hari Bol!”

I turned around and its Sri Prabhalad prabhu, the wonderful devotee and kirtaneer. I was so happy to see him there. Every time i see him, i am reminded of my early days of ISKCON where his kirtan would sustain me. Together, we make our way to the venue using Google Maps. We almost got lost before a devotee came looking for him. A short walk and we were at the venue – a car park.

The car park were full of devotees! There was s stage and an altar. Prasad and book distribution counters were being setup. Thick waft of Vrindhavana incense filled the underground park and passed into the street outside. Prabhus in dhotis, others in western wear (me included), matajis in super colourful indian attire and kids running around – the place looked, felt & sounded like a temple!!

Sri Prahalad prabhu got into action right away adorning himself with a harmonium. A prabhu held out a mic for him. Young boys on karatalas and mridangas joined in. Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subadra got into Their carts. The local Council members stood in front with a coconut in their hands, ready to smash them to the ground. They looked amused as they were told they would be doing this! Once that ceremony was done, the cart was signalled to move. Devotees cheered, onlookers gathered by the pavements and kirtan was in full swing.

A devotee came running towards me and said, “Prabhu, come quickly! We need a person to carry their Lordships and Their palanquin!”. I couldn’t believe my luck! I had the same opportunity when the Ratha Yatra was opened at the St. Kilda Festival, some 6-7 years ago! There were 4 boys resting the palanquin on their shoulder but it was slightly slanted because i was short compared to the others! So after some 10 mins of walking, i was replaced by someone with the right height that matched everyone else. Yet, i was happy and thankful for the opportunity. The rest of the trip, I continued to walk with Them lest i might get an opportunity again.

Basically, we went along the streets circling the carpark. Storekeepers and their customers spilled onto the street to watch the procession. Some smiled and some looked confused. It seemed to me that they had no idea what was going on. To them, it looked liked some Hindu festival. I wish many of them were given handouts about the significance of the event, invited to pull the ropes and perhaps ask them to join us for the lunch prasad afterwards.

Speaking about prasad, this was on the menu – big pooris, tomato chutney, green salad, rice, eggplant & paneer subji, water & cordial. It was nice – everyone were hungry! There were some stage shows but i didn’t stay back for them as i was so sleepy by now. Walked back to the bus stand, and took a 1.5 hr trip back home.

I couldn’t help thinking that as Lord Jagannath travels across the streets with the gigantic ropes, a large cart and plenty of devotees, He is actually riding on the road on our hearts. May He continue to give us this privilege year after year!

Here are the video highlights:

Although Lord Krsna, being the possessor of infinite powers, is the only cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of innumerable living beings, He simply did not desire to keep His body in this world any longer. Thus He revealed the destination of those fixed in the self and demonstrated that this mortal world is of no intrinsic value. (SB 11.31.13) Continue reading "Lord Krsna, the possessor of infinite powers
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Rathayatra and book distribution in Surat (Album with photos)
Jagannatha Damodar das: There was arranged the Rathyatra festival on 25 June'17 Sunday, on the auspicious day of Ashadh dwitiya in the city of Surat, Gujarat. Since Surat is one of the major cities of Gujarat, many thousand faithful people took part in it with a great enthusiasm. It was one of the best chance for the devotees to please Srila Prabhupada by distributing his books as Rathyatra is a festival in which totally new beginners who even don’t know the lord, some faithful people, few who do not believe in lord and even the people of different religions and sampradayas take part. As Srila Prabhupada once said in his lecture that “ There is no question of darkness where there is light, and Krishna Consciousness is the light that dispels the darkness of material sense enjoyment.”( Lecture, Ratha-yatra-San Francisco, June 27, 1971 ) and to bring the light of Krsna Consciouness to the conditioned people, under the guidance of the vice president of Surat ISKCON temple H.G. Vrindavan Das, team of around 150 devotees leaded by H.G. Radhesh Das celebrated this festival of Chariot by sacrificing their time totally to book distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and in order to bring the Mercy of Lord Jagannatha to every people. The following is the book distribution report:
Maha Big books - 491
Big books - 75
Medium books - 25
Small books - 991
Srimad Bhagwatam full set - 13
Caitanya Caritamrita set - 1
Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhav - 1 Set
Lose BTG - 860
BTG 1 year subscription - 33
Plus some more books which are not counted
Total 2.07 L INR Lakshmi received.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/3eQ4Eq

The post Daily Darshan: July 2nd, 2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Summer Solstice Festival at Stonehenge UK
Each year on the longest day of the year, a great festival takes place at the ancient Stonehenge site. The “English Heritage” invite us to perform the Midnight Rathayatra and to do the mass Prasad distribution. Enjoy the video.

Glastonbury Music Festival .
Following In Tribhuvanath Prabhu’s foot steps, we maintain this dynamic preaching initiative, as when he was physically with us.
Enjoy the video

Your servant
Parasuram das

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Bucharest public program.

Man has the chance to bloom spiritually by raising himself to the highest level of love of God.The Vedic scriptures divide consciousness into five categories, namely covered, shrunken, budding, blooming, and fully bloomed. Trees and plants, for example, are almost inert. They fall into the “covered consciousness” category. They seem to show no sign of consciousness, but when we observe them carefully, we see they have a limited consciousness. Other living entities, such as worms, insects, and other animals, are in “shrunken consciousness.” They are not as covered as the plants, but their consciousness is not fully developed either. Human beings have “budding consciousness.” A bud appears shrunken, but it has the potential to bloom into a flower. Human consciousness has similar potential; it appears shrunken like the animal’s, but humans have the innate ability to develop their consciousness to an almost unlimited extent, up to the point of knowing the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Continue reading "The Flowering of Consciousness
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If you met someone in the heart of London’s financial district and told them a monk was speaking at the ‘Old Lady’ of Threadneedle Street, they might be in disbelief. Although he hasn’t had a bank account or signed a cheque since 1969, and to the humour of the hundreds that attended when he admitted that, Radhanath Swami spoke at the Bank of England on Wednesday 22nd March 2017. Founded in 1694, the Bank of England is a public institution responsible for maintaining the monetary and financial stability of the United Kingdom. It serves as the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Continue reading "Mindful Leadership – Radhanath Swami Speaks at the Bank of England
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Unfolding Srila Prabhupada’s biggest vision on Education.
Srila Prabhupada incorporated his worldwide mission with deep concern for the suffering humanity. He outlined seven purposes which capsulized the essence of his mission. In these seven purposes Srila Prabhupada has immensely stressed on education.
Srila Prabhupada wanted to provide opportunity for all people to gain a systematic understanding of the profound vedic scriptures.
Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakura mentioned in a letter to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in 1910 – “Saraswati! I had a special desire to preach the significance of such books as Srimad Bhagavatam, Satsandarbha and Vedantadarshan. You have to accept that responsibility. Sridham Mayapur will prosper if you establish an educational institution there”
Also, Srila Prabhupada wrote in a letter to Atreya Rishi Prabhu in August 20th 1971 - “Throughout the whole world there is no institution to impart knowledge in the matter of spiritual understanding. So we are going to open a big centre in Mayapur where this education will be internationally imparted. Students from all parts of the world will go there to take education in this important subject.”
All our previous acharyas - Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura and Srila Prabhupada desired to establish educational institute at Sridham Mayapur for the benefit of devotees worldwide.
To fulfill this vision of our previous acharyas, Mayapur Institute (MI) was established in the year 2000. Since the launch of the Institute in 2000, over 3500 students of various race, ethnicity, gender, and economic status coming from various places like USA, UK, Russia, China, Australia, Africa, Europe, etc. have been benefited immensely from different courses at MI.
Due to significant growth in student enrollment every year, the current Mayapur Institute classrooms and offices are inadequate. Hence, MI had embarked on setting up an exclusive campus at Mayapur.
Now, Phase-1 of the Campus Project is almost ready and the time has come to offer this to our previous acharyas for their pleasure.
3rd July is going to be a historical event as the vision of our acharyas will start to unfold, creating facility for hundreds of students to come to Mayapur to study the scripture.
We invite you all to witness this wonderful historic event.
On 3rd Jul 2017, 8.30 Am onwards
Venue: MI Campus, Crossing Taranpur Road, Mayapur
Program details: Kirtan, Srila Prabhupada arrives at MI Campus from Temple, Guru Puja, Video Lecture by Srila Prabhupada, Speech by HHJPSM, Sannyasis, SP Disciples and Senior devotees, Inauguration and offering of the New Campus to Srila Prabhupada by H.H. Jayapataka Swami followed by Mahaprasadam at 12.00 PM

Harinam, book and prasadam distribution @Bajrasandi Park, Bali (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/EqX4A3