Planet ISKCON

Preaching program in the beautiful Los Angeles temple (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Don’t think preaching is so easy going – eating, sleeping, and sometimes chanting “Haribol,” that’s all. [laughs] That is not preaching. We must be ready to implant Krsna consciousness ideas throughout the whole world. Just like these people, either in India or here, they remain simply Churchianity, going to the church without any understanding. Therefore it is failing. Now churches are being closed. Similarly, if you do not keep yourself fit to preach, then your temples will all be closed in due course of time. Without preaching, you’ll not feel enthused to continue the temple worship. And without temple worship, you cannot keep yourself pure and clean. The two things must go on, parallel. Then there is success. In modern time, either Hindus, Muslim or Christian, because in these places there is no teaching of philosophy, therefore they are closing, either mosque or temple or church. They will close. Therefore we are writing so many books. Unless we take care of the books and preach and read ourself, understand the philosophy, this Hare Krsna will be finished within few years. Because there will be no life. How long one can artificially go on, “Hare Krsna! Haribol!” That will be artificial. No life. From Srila Prabhupada’s Morning Walk – December 12, 1973, Los Angeles
Find them here: https://goo.gl/tX2aq3

By Subroto Biswas

At ISKCON Mayapur , devotees turned up in large numbers from various parts of India and abroad, braving the inclement summer heat to get an opportunity to grind the sandalwood ( chandan) which is used as a paste to smear over the body of Radha Madhav . For next 21 days every evening a large procession, carrying the resplendent deities on a palanquin will be taken out within the campus where thousands of devotees will sing and dance ecstatically. Then the deities will be placed on a nicely decorated boat and will be taken out for a ride in the pond so that They can enjoy the evening breeze. During this time various pastimes of Krishna – Rasa Leela, Govardhan Leela, Aghasura Vad, Gajendra Uddhara and many more will be depicted in the temple. Every day large quantities of delicious prasadam like different varieties of cakes, sweet rice, laddoos, halua, pakoras will be distributed . At the ancient ISKCON Jagannath Temple Rajapur too devotees celebrated the festival by smearing sandalwood paste on the deities of Jagannath, Baladev, Subhadra and it will be done regularly for 3 weeks. Continue reading "Chandan Yatra in Mayapur
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Dear devotees, for the pleasure of their Lord ships Sri Sri Radha Madhav , Pancatattva, Gour Nitai, Srila Prabhupada and for all of you Mayapur Bhakti Vriksha broadcasting a very important news of Yuga dharma ‘Harinam Sankirtan’ that has been held at Dhubulia town on 10th April, Monday , 2017. A huge gathering of more […]

The post Dubulia Nagar Sankirtan -10th April,2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

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The post Baahubali – A Spiritual Perspective appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

My friend Abhishek prabhu gave a great Srimad Bhagavatam class yesterday in which he mentioned that every action a pure devotee performs must make impressions in the disciples heart, even if they are very trivial ones. If it doesn’t, then its hard to approach Krishna.

What i understand from his statement is that all actions of a pure devotee of the Lord is transcendental. They are fully connected with Krishna and even inspired by Him. That is why in the case of Srila Prabhupada, his disciples often were mesmerised by the way he walked, drank water, glanced over the devotees, his looked at them, the way adorned his tilaka etc. These actions seem so trivial and day-to-day stuff but 40 years on, his disciples still remember and connect with him in separation through these actions also. Besides the spiritual master’s or a pure devotees instruction and personal example, we must also remember his simple actions. Even Arjuna seems to ask Lord Krishna something along these lines:

Chapter 2: Contents of the Gita Summarized

The afternoon was dedicated to expanding our spiritual family during the initiation ceremony with a record number of seventeen initiates. The Radhadesh temple room once again filled to the maximum and the temple room plus fire ceremony area were again beautifully decorated. All the initiates gathered around the ceremony area and were awaiting the arrival of their spiritual master.

Maharaj started with a short speech on the vows of initiation and continued with the name giving of the new initiates. There were nine first initiations and eight second initiations.

Gopinathacarya Prabhu did a wonderful job of translating the Sanskrit names and gave their meaning. Here are some examples:

Līlā-kamala
The lotus-like pastimes (līlā); the pastimes which are untouched by the material world, even if they are manifested in this world, like a lotus is untouched by water, though it grows out of the water.

Locana
Literally “vision” or “sight”. The name is an abbreviation of Tri-locana (“he who has three eyes”), a name of Śiva. Locana Dāsa is the author of the Caitanya-maṅgala, a Bengali biography of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

Jalāśayā
She whose residence (āśaya) is in the water (jala). A name of Rādhārāṇī, who appeared in a golden lotus in the Yamunā.

This enervating day was not over yet. We still had three dramas planned that night as part of the closing ceremony for the Radhadesh part of the festival. When the evening ended, we all went to bed early for the final leg of this festival namely the Kingsday harinama which took place the next day in Amsterdam.

Provided here is a look at one of the completed archways on the front wall before the entrance to the TOVP.

The white marble is fully clad and sandstone arch in place, both ready for polishing. Above the archway is a completed window with its sandstone adornings.

The post Work on Entranceway Wall to the TOVP Progressing appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Right now as we speak, the Main Dome Kalash manufacturing in Moscow, Russia is underway. This will be one of the three ‘Crown Jewels’ of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, matched only by the gold-plated Sudarshana Chakras that will go on top of each.

The photo illustrates the current development and immense size of the Kalash, while the drawing represents what the completed Kalash will look like.

The Kalash will be manufactured in many segments and parts for easy transporting and erecting.

To make a donation towards the Kalash go to: https://tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities/

The post Main Dome Kalash Manufacturing Has Commenced appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

The story of the Wrangler ad.
Ugrasrava is one of the most senior devotees of the Australian Yatra. He tells the story of the Wrangler ad.
Written by Aprakrita dasa
Ugrasrava: I had friends in the advertising industry, and one day they came to the temple and said, “The Wrangler Jeans Company wants us to advertise their product and we have the idea to use the Hare Krishnas’ in a sankirtan party - playing mridangas and kartals, wearing dhotis and full tilak, coming down Burk Street. One of the devotees will wear a Wrangler denim shirt along with his dhoti, and the caption on top of the photo will read, ‘I ain’t going unless I wear my Wrangler shirt.’”
When he heard the idea, Madhudvisa said, “That’s terrific, let’s go ahead with it.” So I told my friends, “We’re happy with it. How much are you going to pay us?” “We’ll give you this amount of dollars.” Madhudvisa said, “Okay.” We did it, and then two days later we had to do a bit more work and Madhudvisa said, “Get more money.” I told my friends, “Sorry, but we need more money.” They said, “Okay.” Every day as we did more work, I asked for more money and got it. When the ad was finished I got paid in cash. They’d never done that before as usually people had to wait months for payment.
The ad was hugely successful. It was displayed around the world on billboards 40 feet by 20 feet - devotees saw it in London - and it won awards. But I was getting harassed by the brahmacharis because I was the only householder, and the mood was that if you weren’t in orange, you were in maya. They said, “This is not what Prabhupada wanted. Prabhupada wanted us to sell books.”
So, one day Prabhupada wanted to go for a drive. I drove him through the suburbs, and then came back through the city and parked right underneath a big billboard on a building called Maya which is a huge network of shopping centers in Melbourne. Prabhupada was chanting and looking around. I said, “Srila Prabhupada, what do you think of that ad there?” Prabhupada looked at it for a long while and said, “Ah, the boy who did this is very intelligent.” Then he said, “So, it is you?” I said, “Yes, Prabhupada.” He said, “Ah, that is very good.”
I went straight back to the brahmacharis and said, “Listen, don’t tell me that the Wrangler ad was maya. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Prabhupada thought it was fantastic.”

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The post Daily Darshan: Apr 29,2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

This day is considered a very auspicious day to start anything from which you want the fruits never to diminish. I see that people start their businesses on this day, do grha pravesha on this day, start their journeys on this day. And there is a big festival in Nandagram on this day. But if you want to come and see it, you have to book your taxi well in advance, because on this day there are a lot of marriages and all the taxis will be booked up! The festival in Nandagram celebrates Pavana Sarovar. When Nanda Maharaj established his residence in Nandagram, he excavated this huge lake and it became know as Nanda Sarovara. He and his family and all the brijbasis used to bathe in this lake. Sometimes, he and his family would bathe at one end of the lake, and Vrsabhanu Maharaja would occasionally come and bathe with his family at the other end of the lake. The Brijbasis say that Radha and Krishna used to swim underwater to the middle of the lake and have underwater pastimes.

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Candana yatra in Vrindavana (Album with photos)
Candana yatra starts on the third lunar day of the waxing moon of Vaisakha mo...

Krishna temple Munich has to find a new home – Call out for help and contributions.
Prayers on the auspicious moments of Akshaya Tritiya.
Our beloved Lord Sri Krishna gives His devotees many opportunities to serve Him, sometimes services come in the form of challenges and this is the special mercy of our sweet Lord. After having our temple for 21 years in Wachenheimerstrasse 1 in Munich, we have received a notice from the owner of the house to move out within the next 6 months. To shift the home of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai with all the paraphernalia and belongings will be a challenging project. There is a great need for immediate visions, plans, financial support, manpower etc. With this need for your support and contributions, we are turning to you with this call out. We are grateful to the Lord for showering His mercy on us in the form of these challenges, which brings us even closer and empowers us to travel ahead together for our spiritual advancement. So by any chance, if you are able to give us any support in any possible manner, whether by giving us some ideas, financial support or manpower support, it will be highly appreciated. Please get in contact with our temple management by the following e-mail address or by the following phone number.
Mobile Danakeli dd: 00491761435026
Mobile Paramatma Krishna Prabhu: 004917623500412
Temple Email Address: info@krishnatempel.de

Donations (Spende) can be made personally in temple to temple President or through Bank transfer in the temple account mentioned below:

ISKCON Muenchen – Verein fuer Vedische Kultur e.V.
Hypo Vereinsbank – BLZ: 700 202 70 – Kto: 6040207722
IBAN: DE31 70020270 6040207722
BIC: HYVEDEMMXXX

In this manner, everybody will be able to serve the Lord in diverse manner and capacities!

Hare Krishna!

“You guys stopped a riot. There was a riot that was about to happen and you guys stopped it.”
Amarendra: In 1972 before the New Vrindavan festival, I went down to Miami Beach for the 1972 Republican convention.
With Mahavir, who was a good friend of mine, we put together a prasadam program for all the demonstrators who were camping out at Miami Beach at a place called Flamingo Park.
Every day we would bring prasadam and feed all the protestors who were there to disrupt the Republican convention.

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Caitanya Charan Prabhu - Our temple will be welcoming Caitanya Charan prabhu on April /29 and April 30th. He is a monk, spiritual author, and associate editor of ISKCON’s global magazine, Back to Godhead. Chaitanya Charan is also the author of a daily feature where he writes inspirational reflections on Gita verses.




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

Please note that registration in the Mentorship System is now a mandatory requirement for all initiation requests at ISKCON Brampton.It

1.Facilitates  and nurtures devotees aspiring for first and second Initiation.    
2.One-on-One personal follow up on a regular basis.
3.Systematic training to devotees in matters of Philosophy, Sadhna, Vaishnava behavior, etiquette, Lifestyle and attitudes.

To find details please click here

Gift Shop

Are you looking for some amazing gift items which are less expensive and more beautiful for your loved ones for festivals or many other occasions??
Our boutique is stocked with an excellent range of products, perfect for gifts or as souvenirs of your visit. It offers textiles, jewellery, incense, devotional articles, musical instruments, books, and CDs inspired by Indian culture.We're open on all Sundays and celebrations marked in our annual calendar

Bhakta Rohit Ahuja: Long long ago appeared a Lord’s devotee Famous was he for his serving attitude and purity Madhvendra Puri was his name In his dream Lord Gopal came

By Vrsabhanu das

HH Dayananda Swami (UK): The course was very advantageous and helped me to get a basic understanding of the skills required in order to be an effective leader. It was intense without being a burden. The lecturers were well versed in the subject matter and efficient in its delivery. Even though this was the first course everything went at least as well as can be expected. The on line courses were very effective allowing the course to be completed while performing my regular service. The environment at the eco village was perfect. Continue reading "ISKCON GBC College
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BB Govinda Swami: Reconnection is our offering of love to Srila Prabhupada, our predecessor acaryas, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and Radhe Shyam.

By Kamalesh Krishna Dasa

London—ISKCON’s International Office of Child Protection (CPO) announced today that it has launched a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Kartik Sharma, who drowned while swimming in the pool of the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula International School (BGIS) in Vrindavana, India, on April 24. Although preliminary reports have been unclear, what was reported to the CPO is that Kartik, 13, originally from New Delhi, was swimming with a group of classmates with an adult supervisor present. Kartik was a good swimmer and was swimming in the deeper end of the pool. Continue reading "Statement from the CPO Regarding Drowning Death of Student in Vrindavana
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Third Annual Bhaktivedanta Medical Association Retreat.
September 21st (Thursday) to September 24th (Sunday)
• • •
To Register, Visit www.newvrindaban.com/register-for-bliaktivedanta-medical-association-retreat-2017
Dedicated to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

King’s Day in Amsterdam, Holland (Album with photos)
Sankirtana will always be appreciated because it is the special blessings of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu on the people of this fallen age of Kali.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/mdv50K

By Braja Vilas das

“If the devotee offers something to the Lord, it acts for his own interest because whatever a devotee offers the Lord comes back in a quantity a million times greater than what was offered. One does not become a loser by giving to the Lord; one becomes a gainer by millions of times.” (Krsna Book Ch. 81) Continue reading "Akshaya Tritiya – The Ultimate Day to Give Charity
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[Evening program at ISKCON, Scarborough, Canada]

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The post Focus on life’s big why, not everyday’s small whys appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Talk in Toronto, Canada]

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The post Gita 14.26 – Bhakti is both a state and a process appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

[Talk in Toronto, Canada]

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[Talk in Toronto, Canada]

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The post Gita 14.05 – The modes comprise objective reality and color subjective perception appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Akshaya Tritiya also marks the beginning of Chandan Yatra festival. At Mayapur, for 21 days, 21 different veshas depicting pastimes of the Lord Krishna are offered to Sri Radha-Madhava. Big deities of Sri Madhava and Sri Narasimhadeva are anointed fully with sandal wood paste whereas all the members of Panca-tattva, Srimati Radharani and Astasakhis were […]

The post Chandan Yatra begins- Day1! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Sri Gadadhar was the constant companion of Mahaprabhu from the time of their childhood. His father’s name was Sri Madhva Misra and his mother’s name Sri Ratnavati devi. They lived very near the house of Sri Jagannatha Misra in Mayapura. Ratnavati-devi thought of Saci-devi as her own sister, and always used to visit her.

During their childhood, Sri Gaura Hari and Gadadhara would play together, sometimes at Mahaprabhu’s house and sometimes at Gadadhara’s house. They both studied together at the same school. Gadadhara was a few years younger then Nimai. Nimai couldn’t remain without Gadadhara even for a moment and Gadadhara likewise couldn’t stand to be separated from Nimai.

In the Gaur-ganoddesa-dipika, it is described that that person who in Vraja was the daughter of Sri Vrsabhanu Raja, namely Srimati Radharani, is now celebrated as Sri Gadadhara Pandita.

ISKCON’s International Office of Child Protection (CPO) announced today that it has launched a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Kartik Sharma, who drowned while swimming in the pool of the Bhaktivedanta Gurukula International School (BGIS) in Vrindavana, India, on April 24.  

One time Jadurani painted a picture of Krishna/ Radha Krishna, and Radharani is holding a garland for Krishna and Krishna is playing his flute, but when Prabhupada saw the picture, he saw that Radharani is not looking towards Krishna. So Prabhupada said what is this? he said, 'it looks like Radharani is looking for another boyfriend?.

But seriously you know, Prabhupada was like criticizing this picture, that, this is not correct. And of course she worked hard on this picture and she was crushed, you know, I did all this to please Prabhupada and Prabhupada is rejecting it. When Prabhupada would say something like that, looking for another lover, that means like biting sarcasm. Not like that, you know, funny joke. It means that you know you are nonsense, you painted Radharani like she is looking for another lover or something. He rejected the picture. So, not so quite harshly but then he said this is not good. So Jadurani was very naturally unhappy.

Then the next day Prabhupada called her and said actually the picture is alright. Krishna told Radharani that that girl Jadurani is a nice girl; you should give her a garland!!

- From "Lecture on pastimes of Srila Prabhupada" By HH Jayadvaita Swami

In Juhu Srila Prabhupada would go on the roof in the evening and give darshan. One evening there were five or ten devotees around him, and a few Indian guests, including a famous movie star and his wife. Somebody had brought mangoes for Prabhupada, and at one point he called for a knife and told a devotee to cut a mango and distribute it as prasada. So a brahmacari got a knife and sliced the mango, but it was dripping juice all over—it was a mess.

“You cannot cut it?” Prabhupada asked.

“The knife is not very sharp,” the brahmacari replied.

“That is not the way to cut it,” the movie star’s wife interjected. “Give it to me.”

“Yes,” Prabhupada agreed. “You do not know how to cut. One who knows, let him cut.”

So, the woman took the mango, cut it into two neat halves and scored the flesh into crisscrossed cubes. Then she popped the insides out, and it was a simple matter to pick the cubes off the peel.

Prabhupada laughed at how expertly and neatly she had done it. “Just see,” he said, “even for cutting a mango, one requires a guru. ” Then he quoted from the Mundaka Upanisad (1.2.12): “Tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet”—“To learn the science one must certainly approach a spiritual master.” The guests and devotees all laughed, and Prabhupada told the brahmacari to distribute the prasada, one piece to everyone.

“Everything requires a guru,” Prabhupada repeated. “Otherwise one remains a fool, rascal—that’s all. In every item you require a guru. And to understand Krishna, or God, everyone thinks they are independent. Just see the foolishness. Yata mata tata patha. ‘Ah, you consider about God in your own way. It doesn’t require any guru.’ This foolishness is going on. For cutting a mango one requires a guru, and to understand Krishna, he doesn’t require a guru. This foolishness is going on. And Krishna says,

tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti tad jnanam
jnaninas tattva-darsina
           [Bg 4.34]

[“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.”] Krishna says you have to understand like this. But everyone is thinking, ‘Why shall I go to guru?’ ”

Prabhupada saw everything in the light of Krishna consciousness, and he shared his vision with others—to their great delight.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Narasimha Chaturdashi:7 Great Opportunities
1. GREAT OPPORTUNITY to pierce through the web of our modern life with the help of...

[Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Montreal, Canada]

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Podcast Summary

The post Understanding how Krishna is everything and controls everything even amidst worldly sufferings appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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The post If Prabhupada knew that certain projects weren’t going to succeed, why did he encourage devotees to do those projects? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.