Tuesday May 30, 2017
The “Hare Krishna!” movie’s premier in Sedona…
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The “Hare Krishna!” movie’s premier in Sedona sold out.
Visakha Dasi: Front page of Sedona’s local paper Kudos - Verde Valley Newspaper featuring Prabhupada! We are in town all week, our premiere is sold out but due to popular demand there is a second screening on Sunday 4th at 10.20am at the Sedona Performing Arts Centre, buy tickets through our website harekrishnathefilm.com
Srila Prabhupada and Kirtan (video)
“Being part of the…
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Srila Prabhupada and Kirtan (video)
“Being part of the prophecy!” Vaiyasaki Prabhu’s lecture at ISKCON Los Angeles, 5-28-17
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/CK1JUp
Ambrosial Srimad Bhagavatam
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I worship the one absolute truth, Krsna, who is eternal bliss and supreme consciousness, (Nityananda, Advaita-Caitanya), personified as the eternal Bhagavatam which is the complete form of Brahma-sutra, in its most embellished form and who resides with eternal bhakti and the eternal devotees in the eternal spiritual abode. I take shelter of the eternal form, name and qualities of Krsna known from Bhagavatam, which I studied for a long time by the mercy of guru. After having studied the Vaisnava-tosani of Sanatana and after having understood the conclusions of Lord Caitanya from the Sandarbhas of Jiva, by the mercy of Sridhara Svami, I produce this commentary to show the essence of Bhagavatam. I am not learned. Oh! I am rash in this attempt! The cause, being either my own foolishness or the causeless mercy of the Lord, gives rise to its manifestation, even in an unqualified person. If its cause is my foolishness, it will produce mockery, and if its cause is mercy of the Lord, it will produce bliss with every word for the devotees. Continue reading "Ambrosial Srimad Bhagavatam
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It Is Never Too Late To Be What You Could Have Been!
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This message was given to me on a magnet many years ago from a friend who sold it at her store. It is a cute and funny saying, but never more true for me than at this time. For those of you in anxiety trying to figure out your life mission or calling, take some solace that I am still figuring that out for myself at 67! You can do it at a much younger age than I have. I am learning what I want to do when I grow up, and for me that time is now, and every day thereafter! I just got pushed out of the nest and I have to fly, or die! We all have our time to flower. The past is over, and useful only to learn from, and today, well, I may die today, so what shall I do to make a difference in my life and that of others? As long as we are growing as a person, we have service to do in our body, in the world, to make as an offering to our conception of Divinity--for me, Radha-Krishna. Conversely, when we stop learning and becoming more as a person, we aren’t truly living. Continue reading "It Is Never Too Late To Be What You Could Have Been!
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The happy vaisnava
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 June 2014, Stockholm, Sweden, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.5.14)
I used to think, before I came to Krsna consciousness, that now I would join a movement of very like-minded people and that I would feel very intimate friendship. Then, I was shocked to see that that person who I kind of detested for his views, he also had joined! (laughter)
I thought, “How is this possible? Not this guy! How is it possible that he became a devotee!?” Well, because of the universal nature of Krsna consciousness, people of all kinds, from all walks of life, even from opposing world views, can join the Krsna conscious movement and therefore it is not always easy to have that kind of intimate friendship with everyone. We do not!
Some devotees never get beyond colleagues. We do have some friends also, in this movement. With colleagues, it can get very impersonal and very distant with virtually no affection; and therefore we can feel alone, especially if we have not deeply developed our relationship with Krsna. If we have deeply developed our relationship to Krsna, then there we find a satisfaction that nourishes us even when we are alone or with people. Then once one is nourished in that relationship, one has to bring it back down to the social platform and begin to develop real relationships with people. But without first going up to Krsna – and first up to Krsna means developing a relationship of attachment to Krsna, intimate interaction with Krsna and always feeling that he is interacting with you – without that, we are on the normal social platform! Then we will only be able to deal with people who are kind of like-minded, and others remain strangers even when they chant Hare Krsna. Then we are a movement of strangers with a few friends because how many people can you relate to, anyway?
When we go up in attachment to Krsna and really interact with Krsna closely at every moment, and we bring that down into our relationships with others, then we can become like Prabhupada! He had that capacity. He was not limited by his social background and he could be completely relevant to hippies in America although they were culturally so different and in such a different stage of life and so on… Prabhupada was so relevant and that is what I am talking about because he went to the root of the things. Yes, unless we have that, we will just still be alone because we will just still associate on the level of like-mindedness and the normal social dynamics will still apply. That is what I see and it is all over the world. Loneliness is becoming an issue in our movement…
Centre Island Closed Until July 31st Due to Flooding
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Due to the continuing flood conditions on Toronto Island Park, the City of Toronto has announced that the Toronto Islands, including Centre Island, have been closed to the public until at least July 31, 2017. These developments mean that the 45th Annual Festival of India, scheduled for July 15-16, 2017 will be forced to take place at some other location in downtown Toronto. We are working closely with the City of Toronto to establish an alternate location for our festival. Once we have a location confirmed, we will announce it here on our temple website.
Touchdown!
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He's a wide receiver.
No, literally, he's a wide receiver. As in, one of these:
Gita for Everyone
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Krishna Institute of Alachua Hosts “Mysteries of the Universe” Workshop
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On May 21-22nd, the Krishna Institute in New Raman Reti Florida along with the Bhaktivedanta Institute of Gainesville, organized a lively onsite and online workshop titled, “Unraveling the Mysteries of the Sacred Universe, Level 1.” Bhakti Caru Swami, ISKCON’s GBC Chair, opened the workshop on both days with an inspiring talk sharing his realizations on the significance of Prabhupada’s outreach program engaging this subject.
Mukunda Datta Das Singing at Sadhu Sanga Retreat 2017
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Scenes from Finland ECRL meeting to Krsna Valley and Damodara’s garden
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Into the Wind
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Sanatana Goswami on Guru and Disciple.
Kripamoya das: Sri…
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Sanatana Goswami on Guru and Disciple.
Kripamoya das: Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu begins his teaching to Sanatana Goswami by explaining that the soul wanders the universe, life after life, and then in one special life, by the grace of Krishna and the guru, he begins the journey of bhakti.
When Srila Rupa Goswami wrote about the sixty-four elements of bhakti, the first five on the list are related to the guru and disciple; and when Sanatana Goswami wrote his Hari Bhakti Vilasa along with his friend Gopala Bhatta Goswami, the first two of twenty chapters in the manual explain the guru and disciple relationship. This is a brief extract of his quotations from several scriptures.
“The human body is a ship, the guru is the captain, the instructions of God are the favourable winds.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.20.17
“Any person who desires happiness must seek a guru and take shelter of him. The qualification of the guru is that he has realised the conclusions of scripture and is able to convince others.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.21
“One should approach a guru who is in full knowledge of me as I am, who is peaceful, and who by spiritual elevation is non-different from me.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.10.5
“To learn about transcendence one must approach the guru with wood in his hands for the fire sacrifice. The symptom of such a guru is that he is expert in the Vedas and therefore he constantly engages in the service of God.” – Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.12
“The disciple should be free from false prestige, active, never lazy, and should give up all proprietorship. He should have feelings of friendship towards the guru, and should not become bewildered or deviated. The disciple should always desire advancement in spiritual understanding, should not not envy anyone and always avoid useless conversation.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.10.6
“The guru and disciple should reside together for at least a year, testing each other before they decide to enter into a guru-disciple relationship. They should examine each other to find out their nature, character and compatibility.” Mantra Muktavalli
“A disciple must endeavour with his life, wealth and work for the favoured projects of the acarya and serve him with body, mind and words. In this way the disciple attains the highest spiritual good.” – Vishnu Smriti
“When a person obtains the mercy of his guru, he receives the Vaishnava mantra from him. By constantly chanting the mantra he inherits unimaginable opulence and ultimately the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. Those who have performed immense pious deeds and austerities over many hundreds of years chant this mantra and thus are able to deliver the entire world.” – Agama Shastra
“When a person who has been properly chanting the Vaishnava mantra constantly for a long time glances on anyone, that person is instantly freed from the worst type of fear and anguish.” – Vishnu Purana
Harinama in Paris, France (Album with photos)
Srila…
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Harinama in Paris, France (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: We are trapped souls in a state of forgetfulness of Krishna, ...
THE ALL INDIA PADAYATRA IN KANYAKUMARI, TAMIL NADU (Album with…
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THE ALL INDIA PADAYATRA IN KANYAKUMARI, TAMIL NADU (Album with photos)
Acarya Dasa: The Southernmost tip of India!
We reached Kanyakumari on March 29th, also known as Kanniyakumari and formerly referred to as Cape Comorin. It is located in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu and situated at the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent at the confluence of the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. These bodies of water are the final destination of most of India’s holy rivers such as the Ganges and the Yamuna. The nearest town, Nagercoil, serves as the administrative headquarters of the Kanyakumari district and is twenty-two kilometers away. Kanyakumari is less than a three hour drive from Trivandrum.
A special place for Vaishnavas
dakṣiṇaṁ tatra kanyākhyāṁ
durgāṁ devīṁ dadarśa saḥ
Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.79
Kanyakumari is a significant place for all devotees. It is mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 10, Chapter 79, in verses 16 to17 that Lord Balarama visited Kanyakumari on pilgrimage. It states that He went to the shore of the southern ocean, where He saw Goddess Durga in her form as Kanya-kumari.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also visited there during His South India tour.
kanyā-kumārī tāhāṅ kaila daraśana
Translation: “Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to Kanyakumari. Lord Caitanya took His bath at the holy confluence of three oceans” (CC Madhya 9.223).
Other great souls have also visited this place. On his way to America, Srila Prabhupada sailed through here on the Jaladuta. However, the main reason why we, as Vaisnavas should visit Kanayakumari is because Lord Caitanya visited there. Wherever the Lord went that place was transformed into Vrindavana. Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami explained that what Lord Caitanya didn’t give in Navadvipa, He gave in South India. During that time many people in Navadvipa were very materialistic and ritualistic but in South India people were simple, and they opened their hearts to receive the Lord’s mercy and thus attained perfection.
The All India Padayatra’s experience in South India
We stayed at the Vivekananda ashram in Kanyakumari for three days. While there we visited the sea shore, Lady of Ransom Church, Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Sunrise Point and Sunset Point and performed sankirtana along the way. We went to the temple of mother Kanyakumari as well and took darsana of her foot prints. Mother Kanyakumari is a great Vaishnavi, she is always chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. When Lord Caitanya visited Kanyakumari, He gave her darsana. She becomes very happy when Vaishnavas come to take darsana and so we all prayed to her to give us unalloyed devotion to Lord Krishna. All the padayatris took bath at the same place that Lord Balaram and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu took bath at too.
During the sankirtana we met many pilgrims from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bengal all of whom joined us in loudly chanting the mahamantra. It was a great pleasure being in Kanyakumari –as padayatris we travel all over India from North, to South, to East and West all by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, who gives us the strength to walk.
Photos and videos: https://goo.gl/L2rvEH
Introduction to the Gita and questions from the audience (Part 1)
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Dubai April 10
All the video recordings from the SADHU-SANGA 2017!
Annual…
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All the video recordings from the SADHU-SANGA 2017!
Annual Kirtan Mela in North Carolina.
Find them here: Read More...