Planet ISKCON

The 7^thannual VIHE International Vaishnavi Retreat at Govardhana (India) concluded on March 26. The 6-day program, dedicated to celebrating Srila Prabhupada’s mercy upon womankind, had as its special theme “Windows to the Spiritual World”.   The Bal Krsna Bhawan hall in the village of Jatipura, home of the original Gopala Temple of Srila Madhavendra Puri, was duly transformed to host an exhibition of over 60 reproductions of paintings and drawings by various vaishnavi artists from the world over, ranging from well-known BBT artists to young devotees from the St. Petersburg Art University.

Last week’s Sunday Feast kirtan was an emotional experience for ISKCON Baltimore devotees, who shed tears even as they danced and chanted ecstatically together. The rip-roaring session was their last Sunday kirtan in their old temple, a 2,500 square-foot house where the main worship room can only hold around 35 people. The 110-year-old building at 200 Bloomsbury Avene in Catonsville was becoming dilapidated, and the congregation – now nearly 300 devotees – couldn’t even fit in for morning programs.

Krishna-valley, Hungary, is one of the main cow-protection centers in Europe. This video by Kunjabihari Dasi captures the happy moments when the cows are let out to graze on the fields for the first time, after a long cold winter.

The post Daily Darshan: Apr 27,2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Srila Prabhupada said in certain places that one should accept a spiritual master whose guidance will make one's life perfect. Would it make any difference to one's spiritual progress if the spiritual master one accepted was at a different level of realization to, say, another spiritual master? Continue reading "Degree of advancement of spiritual master?
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A miracle! Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar Stop To Meet Their Devotee - Tamil Nadu.
Acarya Dasa: After spending some time in Thirukurungudi, we headed off to our next destination. Our padayatra party had been walking for twenty kilometers when suddenly the ratha (cart) stopped moving. We all tried to get it moving again but it was stuck. So, we decided since it was almost time for us to have our afternoon prasadam, we would stop there for the time being.
A dream comes true.
While thinking about what we could do to get the cart moving again a lady came out of one house we had stopped close to. She was in tears as she looked up at Sri Nitai Gaurasundar and paid obeisances. Afterward, she came to speak to us and it so happens she had dreamt about our padayatra last night. She said that in her dream Sri Nitai Gaurasundar had said to her, “We will come to your house to have prasadam.” ‘After waking, she was surprised and couldn’t understand how this would happen. She exclaimed, “Now I see the padayatra cart standing in front of my house and I cannot believe it. If I wasn’t here today I would have missed seeing and serving Sri Nitai Gaurasundar. All glories to Them, They are all merciful!” She was overwhelmed that Their Lordships had stopped to give her darsana and to accept her service.
The Lord’s arrangements
We were all amazed to hear this story. The woman was a disciple of Bhakti Vikas Maharaj, and she and her husband invited us into their home. We took the small festival deities of Sri Nitai Gaurasundar with us and we had a program of kirtana and prasadam. The Lord makes His own arrangements to travel to the homes of his devotees who are eagerly awaiting His darsana. This is the reason Sri Nitai Gaurasundar are on padayatra, so They can give darsana to everyone. As Lord Caitanya states in Caitanya Bhagvat, “Prithivi te ache joto nagar adi gram, sarvatra prachar hoibe mora naam” the Holy Names will be preached in all the villages and towns of the world.
Jai Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar ki! Jai!

His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj gave special seminar on the pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu from 21st April to 25th April 2017 at Blueys Beach, Australia. Audio :  

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San Diego Ratha Yatra 2017 (Album with 78 photos)
Lord Jagannatha at world’s largest Earth Day celebration; Balboa Park, April 23, 2017
Find them here: https://goo.gl/OqnDxi

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Thirukurungudi is referred to by the Vaishnava sampradaya as the ‘Southern home’ of Lord Vishnu. There are five nambis there; nambi in the Tamil language means ‘personification of all virtuous and righteous qualities blended with beauty and grace’. It is used to describe these five sacred places of Lord Vishnu. The first is the ‘Ninra Nambi’ where Lord Vishnu is in a standing position, the second is the ‘Irundha Nambi’ where Lord Vishnu is in a seated posture, the third is the ‘Kidandha Nambi’ with Lord Vishnu in a sleeping position and the fourth and fifth are the Thiruparkadal Nambi and the Thirumalai Nambi. The Thiruparkadal Nambi Temple is very close to the Nambiyaru river and is about one kilometre away from the main temple. The Thirumalai Nambi Temple is situated in the hills on top of Mahendragiri Mountain about eight kilometres away from the main temple. Our padayatra party took darsana of all five nambis and coincidently there was a rathotsava (chariot festival) going on while we there too. We joined in with our padayatra ratha (chariot or cart) and walked alongside the other rathas. It was a marvellous procession. Continue reading "The All India Padayatra Travels To Thirukurungudi, Tamil Nadu
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With the onset of preparations for this year’s World Holy Name Week celebrations, devotees gear up to take the Holy Name beyond physical spaces through new strategies and agendas. Continue reading "Taking Srila Prabhupada’s gift of Harinam beyond borders
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Blessed by Srila Rupa Goswami’s japa beads.
Nanda Kumara Das: one of my duties as Srila Prabhupada’s servant was to wash all His cloth, including His beadbag once a week… that required touching His beads to transfer them into a new beadbag, and every time, it felt like they were charged with spiritual electricity… one day I asked His Divine Grace if they were the same beads His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur had chanted on, and He said… “No, this is my second set… the original beads my Guru Maharaj chanted on were stolen on a train”

I was also blessed by Srila Rupa Goswami’s japa beads… in the early days in India during a time I was not traveling with Srila Prabhupad, I went to live in Vrindavan without asking permission from the temple authorities in Delhi… although there was not an established temple yet, we had temporary temples in dharamshalas and various places we were given to stay… I went to the Goswami in charge of the Radha Damodar temple and asked if I could stay in Srila Prabhupada’s rooms in exchange for cleaning the many samadhis of Vaishnava saints that were there, including Srila Rupa Goswami’s samadhi and bhajan kutir…

He readily agreed and for several days I got to sleep on the stone floor next to Srila Prabhupada’s bed, with all His original paraphernalia in the room… cooking pots, papers, and writings, medicines He had made, like Bhaktivedanta’s Pathyamrit… I started with Srila Rupa Goswami’s samadhi, where His original chanting beads were on an altar inside the samadhi… I crawled in on my hands and knees (so appropriate to have to do it that way) and got to pick up His beads to clean the altar… I had a similar experience of power and an electric-like charge when I touched them… years later, someone stole those beads too, as they had with Srila Prabhupada’s beads…

Three days into it, I got a telegram from Srila Prabhupada in Bombay telling me to come there immediately… I was sure I was going to be heavily chastised for being too independent, but when I got there and went into Srila Prabhupada’s room to pay my obeisances, He smiled and said… “Oh, you are here… very nice… we need you to be the pujari for our Cross Maidan festival later this week.”… no sauce, all love and forgiveness… Jai Srila Prabhupada!

New Temple Project - Grand Opening & Deity Installation Ceremony.
You are invited to come and participate in Grand Opening of New Temple Project & Deity installation of Sri Sri Radha Madhavji at ISKCON Baltimore.
Friday 28th April 2017
Vastu Puja & Kirtan
Saturday 29th April 2017
Netraunmilan & Adhivas
Sunday 30th April 2017
Nyas Homa, Prana Pratishtha & Maha Abhishek
Ecstatic Kirtan Everyday | Cultural Program | Special Guests | Free Feast
Read more: https://goo.gl/JXcGOC

[Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, Montreal, USA]

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[Evening program at ISKCON, Montreal, USA]

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[Evening program at Montreal, USA]

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It was 1984 and after distributing books at the State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Florida. We had parked in a Days Inn parking lot for the night. Our van of five brahmacharis was fast asleep when we heard over a megaphone, “Alright in there! Come out slowly with your hands raised!” I looked out the window surprised to see the van surrounded by ten police cars and more than a dozen officers with their guns drawn!
We emerged from the van squinting from the bright flashlights burning our eyes. The officers began to frisk each one of us, though we were dressed only in gamshas (bath towels).
“What are you doing here?” the officer in charge demanded.

Many people think that in the Hindu tradition, worshipping a deity or an idol is imaginary and superstitious. Why worship a stone, they ask?

However, the ancient Vedic texts and the Lord Himself states that one should not think in such a way. They boldly declare that the Deity form of the Lord is a merciful incarnation of the Lord for the benefit of the common people. If God is present everywhere, why not in a stone too? Infact, everything single thing in existence, whether they be a living entity or a non-living entity, are energies of the Lord. They are all part & parcel of the Lord. Everything in existence belongs to Him. This is one of the reasons why He is the greatest.

The Hindu devotees understand that the lord allows us to approach Him and showcase our love to Him through the via medium of a Deity while we are still conditioned in the material world. The Deities are installed through a very rigorous process of mantras and by qualified priests & devotees. The Lord enters such a setup and infuses the “stone” with His energy which in turn helps us put the fire of material existence from our hearts whenever we come in contact with that Deity. There are thousands of temples around the world visited by millions of people – why would they visit just to gaze upon a stone? No, they have experienced wonderful reciprocation with the Lord and they feel protected and satisfied.

Below is a wonderful read from the Mayapur Academy’s recent newsletter, of a Hare Krishna devotee from South Africa who shares her experience of Deity Worship. I found her stories of interactions with the Lord very interesting. Of-course, this is not surprising at all because a devotee knows that the Lord will reciprocate based on your reciprocation with Him, whether it be through the means of the mind, through a Deity, through His books or His devotees. Hope you will visit a temple in the future with a different frame of mind

Newspaper article The India Times.
Read more: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=45050...

ISKCON of Washington D.C. and ISKCON Communications are supporting the massive People’s Climate March in the U.S. capital this Saturday April 29^th, and will be sending devotees to attend. The march will be held on the 100^th day of the new Trump administration in protest of the parts of his agenda which organizers say are disastrous to the environment. Devotees attending, of course, are not supporting one political party or another but are there to support Mother Earth.

Today is the auspicious appearance day of Srila Gadadhara Pandita. At Mayapur, we had a special Bhagavatam class on the glories of Sri Gadadhara Pandita, followed by kirtans, Maha abhisheka at 11 am, Pushpanjali and Maha arti. After Sandhya Arti, there will be special kirtan in the temple. One of the members of Pancatattva, Sri […]

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Shri Radhe, the opening track of charity kirtan album “Bhakti Without Borders,” has been listed by Yoga Journal as one of the “10 Best Yoga Tunes of the Year.” The uplifting track, by second gen devotees Madi Das and Chaytanya, appears in the major magazine’s Spotify Playlist along with Tina Malia, Simrit, Deva Premal and others.

The post Daily Darshan: Apr 26,2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

A world beyond.
Vaisesika das: Human beings are naturally attracted to reading books, watching movies, and attending live dramas that transport them to other worlds. And in practically every society people use drugs to experience altered states of consciousness.
These tendencies indicate that the spirit soul desires to see and experience more than just the three-dimensional material world.
However, to know real freedom and satisfaction, one must transcend the body and mind and engage in service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. Chemical intoxication is temporary and leads to addiction, disease and misery. And imaginative literature and dramas do not bring ultimate gratification to the soul because they are tainted by the three modes of nature.

Srila Prabhupada notes: “The need of the spirit soul is that he wants to get out of the limited sphere of material bondage and fulfill his desire for complete freedom. He wants to get out of the covered walls of the greater universe. He wants to see the free light and the spirit. That complete freedom is achieved when he meets the complete spirit, the Personality of Godhead.” (SB 1.2.8; purport)

By hearing transcendental topics about Krishna, especially from the Srimad-bhagavatam, bhakti yogis achieve real spiritual fulfillment and in the process transfer themselves to Krishna’s eternal abode, Goloka Vrndavana.

Mahaprabhu says that the process of hearing and chanting about Krishna waters the bhakti seed that has been planted in one’s heart by the spiritual master at the time of initiation.

Lord Caitanya:

“As one waters the bhakti-lata-bija, the seed sprouts, and the creeper gradually grows to the point where it penetrates the walls of this universe and goes beyond the Viraja River, lying between the spiritual world and the material world. It attains brahma-loka, the Brahman effulgence, and penetrating through that stratum, it reaches the spiritual sky and the spiritual planet Goloka Våndavana.” (Cc 2.19.153)

Those who read Srimad-Bhagavatam every day will come to relish it and will soon find themselves in Krishna’s enchanted planet, Goloka Vrndavana.

With gratitude and affection,

Five Nights of Wisdom.
The Pancharatra is a group of texts as old as the four Vedas and has the same transcendental origin. They were ancient even in the time of the Lord Krishna’s appearance in this world, and are mentioned in the Shanti-parva section of the Mahabharata.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/fswkLK

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Written by Uddhava

On Monday evening (24 April), everyone gathered in the temple room for bhajans. Maharaj started mellow and slow but by the end of the evening, everyone was on their feet and dancing. You can relive the experience and dance away to these tunes when we share the recording shortly.

During dinner and the evening bhajans, behind the scenes, preparations were in full swing. The drama crew practiced their lines, the cooking team commenced with vigor and the hall slowly turned into a South Indian landscape, complete with coconut trees!

The decor slowly unfolded and turned into an ocean of sastra. The desire tree of bhakti manifested in the hall, accompanied by quotes from our important books. Headed by Gopali, the Slovak deco team did an amazing job with painting banners, making photo cutouts, hanging quotes and decorating the hall. The second decoration team, Kalindi & Gour Mohan, put up a wonderful stringed decor of coconut trees and dancing harinama silhouettes which hung from the ceiling. It already looked good and the decoration work was not even finished that evening, so we were eagerly awaiting the end result.

Tuesday, 25 April 

Yes, it’s possible. You can offer food to the Lord. Ofcourse, the usual question from a lay person is, “Why does God need food if He is God?“. The answer from the devotees of the Lord is simple, “because He loves to!“. God is a person and He enjoys relationship with the living entities in a wide variety of moods. In our day to day world, preparing and offering food to someone is often seen as an act of kindness and love you have for that special someone. A mother is always looking to prepare tasty preparations for her child, a chef wants to show-off his skills in cooking by preparing food with great care to his customers and perhaps you are cooking for someone out of your friendship. The ancient scriptures says that you can do the same with the Lord too.

Using the very things the Lord has provided us with and offering it back to Him with love is very much appreciated by God. When a child borrows money from his/her parents and then buys a gift for them from that very same money, moves the parents a lot. They had no need for that little gift nor are they dependent on the child for such things – they can get better ones. But what matters is the action & consciousness of the child. This is very much appreciated by the adults. In the same way, the Lord is also moved when we purchase grocery with happiness, cooks a wonderful meal and then offers to Him with love. The Lord greedily accepts these preparations and longs for more from a devotee. Ofcourse, you may see the food still sit on the table but what you can’t see is that He has touched the food offered, taken them in full and also left them for you to have in the same quantity. It’s easy for Him to do these contradictory things When you take such food, what you are having is spiritually sanctified food, free of karma or any violence. Make sure its only vegetarian as He doesn’t like non-vegetarian food including no onion, garlic or mushrooms! Such food is called “prasad”.

In the Hare Krishna tradition, there is a method of offering the food on the prayer altar. In the below content from the Mayapur Academy newsletter, you can see the clear steps outlined. So, next time you prepare and begin to consume anything for yourself, kindly do spend some time offering them to the beautiful Lord before you start.