The All India Padayatra Travels To Thirukurungudi, Tamil Nadu
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Hare KrishnaBy Acarya Dasa

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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Blessed by Srila Rupa Goswami’s japa beads. Nanda Kumara…
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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…
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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

Come out slowly with your hands raised!
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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.


Read More...

ISKCON Scarborough – HG Chaitanya Charan prabhu will be visiting the temple coming Friday
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Hare Krishna!
Please accept our humble obeisances!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!

We are very happy to inform you that HG Chaitanya Charan prabhu will be giving a special class at ISKCON Scarborough coming Friday- 28th April 2017 from 7 pm to 8 pm.

Prabhu will also be joining us for a special live radio program at the Geethavani radio station on Saturday morning - 29th April 2017 from 8 am to 9 pm on the topic of Karma and reincarnation.

You can log on to the following website to hear the live program from anywhere in the world:

http://www.onlineradios.in/geethavani-tamil/



ISKCON Scarborough
3500 McNicoll Avenue, Unit #3,
Scarborough,Ontario,
Canada,M1V4C7

Email Address:

iskconscarborough@hotmail.com

website:
www.iskconscarborough.com

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

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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 ?

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ISKCON Participates in Historic Washington D.C. Climate March
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ISKCON of Washington D.C. and ISKCON Communications are supporting the massive People’s Climate March in the U.S. capital this Saturday April 29th, and will be sending devotees to attend. The march will be held on the 100th 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.

Sri Gadadhara Pandita’s Appearance day Celebrations
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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 […]

The post Sri Gadadhara Pandita’s Appearance day Celebrations appeared first on Mayapur.com.

A world beyond. Vaisesika das: Human beings are naturally…
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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,

If we help someone but they don’t help us in return, should we continue to help?
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Answer Podcast

The post If we help someone but they don’t help us in return, should we continue to help? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Vyasa-puja Festival 2017 – Part 2
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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 

The morning started with an invigorating class based on Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.68, in a packed temple room. In the meantime, the decorating team resumed their last bit of work on the hall and the ladies drama team, who were scheduled to perform that evening, did their last dress rehearsal. Time was rushing by quickly and 10 o’ clock seemed to come too quickly and the start of the Vyasa-puja festival. Devotees rushed about to get all things in order for the arrival of Kadamba Kanana Swami.
When Maharaj arrived, the foot-bathing ceremony began which was accompanied by the singing of guruvastakam. After he was welcomed and garlanded, our favorite MC, Padmanabha, took over the microphone and officially started the festival. He welcomed and thanked everyone for attending to this yearly event. After the introductions, the offerings began…
In the middle of the offerings, we were shown two videos done by Sukhayanti dd and Aditya dd respectively. The video from Sukhayanti was a wonderful depiction of the farming project that her family is managing. It was an amazing presentation of the cows, the land and their family!
The video recorded by Aditya, and edited by the UK devotees, was a compilation of short memories & stories that some of the disciples experienced during their time with Maharaj. These memories were really funny and full of appreciation. Towards the end of the offerings, Syama Caitanya dd did a multimedia presentation of the Chinese preaching efforts in the UK and other places, which was very inspiring to see.
The Vyasa-puja festival was concluded with a short speech by Maharaj and guru-puja where devotees could offer flowers and gifts. Maharaj responded in kind with a gift in the form of a book of quotes and a simply-wonderful sweet. The kirtan was growing and growing in volume and the temperature was rising and rising… and devotees were almost flying!
The conclusion of the Vyasa-puja was followed by a multi-course lunch prepared by Pradyumna, Narottama and the German team. It was superb and delicious! There was rice, two kinds of vegetables, the famous coriander cubes and another fried snack. The desserts were shrikhand and a small cake which was followed by a huge “birthday” cake, again prepared by Jaya Gopinatha, Nrsimha Caitanya and team.
With our bellies too full, we had some downtime to relax and meet friends. In the evening, we returned to the community hall for the Maha Prakash Lila drama, and a short comedy by Syamananda Prabhu. And to take the almost perfect day to perfection, Kadamba Kanana Swami sang the stars off the sky for almost two hours and devotees engaged in ecstatic dancing.
We will bring you all the photos and recordings soon!

376. Offering food to the Lord
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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.

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Five Nights of Wisdom
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Shesha

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.

In that portion a description of the transcendental abode Swetadwipa is given, ‘a domain inhabited by devotees of Narayana, whom they worship through their knowledge of pancha-ratra.’ The name pancha-ratra means ‘Five Nights,’ and indicates a series of instructions given by Lord Narayana to His devotees over five consecutive nights. Narada Muni heard them first and shared them with Lord Shiva, Lakshmi Devi, the Kumaras and others. There are said to be around two hundred texts including the Ahirbudhnya Samhita spoken by Shiva, the Lakshmi Tantra, and the Narada Pancharatra. Srila Prabhupada writes:

The scriptures known as the Pañcarātra-śāstras are recognized Vedic scriptures that have been accepted by the great ācāryas. These scriptures are not products of the modes of passion and ignorance. Learned scholars and brāhmaṇas therefore always refer to them as sātvata-saṁhitās. The original speaker of these scriptures is Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is especially mentioned in the Mokṣa-dharma (349.68), which is part of the Śānti-parva of the Mahābhārata. Liberated sages like Nārada and Vyāsa, who are free from the four defects of conditioned souls, are the propagators of these scriptures. Śrī Nārada Muni is the original speaker of the Pañcarātra-śāstra. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta 1.5.41)

The theology of the Pancharatra is solely focused on the Personality of Godhead. The texts describe the appearance and character of the Lord, and the many avatars He takes for functions such as creation of the world and deliverance of the conditioned souls. It also describes methods of ritual worship, prayer and the employment of mantras.

When Narada Muni visited his disciple Srila Vyasadeva, he told him that although he’d compiled so much Vedic literature, he had not yet composed the ‘spotless glories of the Supreme Lord.’ So the great rishi set about writing the Bhagavata Purana, or Srimad Bhagavatam. Its 18,000 verses in 350 chapters all tell of the Lord and His devotees, with a full ninety chapters entirely dedicated to the accounts of Krishna’s appearance and activities in the world. In the 11th book of that great work is described what took place when the Supreme Lord Krishna was about to leave the world and return to His eternal abode. Krishna gave His parting instructions to His friend Uddhava, a conversation which is now recorded in the section known as the Uddhava Gita. In chapter 27 the Lord also explains Pancharatra worship.

yantra

Mantra (sacred sound) Yantra (sacred geometry) and Tantra (sacred ritual) are all part of the teaching found in the Pancharatra.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked his close follower Sanatana Goswami to compile a handbook for Vaishnava life. The book was to describe everything from the daily activities of a devotee through to temple worship and the celebration of festivals. So with help from the revered Gopala Bhatta Goswami, who’d spent his youth and education as a priest in Sri Rangam, a temple town in southern India, he collected verses from some two hundred scriptures, including twenty-five selections from Pancharatra sources. From this effort was born the manual Hari-Bhakti-Vilasa.

Srila Rupa Goswami also gives credit to the Pancharatra as being one of the legitimate sources of conclusive evidence on the nature of Godhead and the methods of developing our relationship with God. Again, Srila Prabhupada writes:

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has said in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.101):


śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-pañcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā
aikāntikī harer bhaktir utpātāyaiva kalpate


He clearly mentions in this verse that one must refer to the Vedic literatures and other, supplementary literatures and follow the conclusion of the Vedas. An invented devotional attitude simply creates disturbances in the transcendental realm.

Since the Pancharatra scriptures give directions for the worship of the Lord, particularly in deity worship, and since many of the ancient mantras have been included in the Hari Bhakti Vilasa, they can still be found being chanted today by all members of the Vaishnava sampradayas, including the members of ISKCON.

 

 

 


“Corporate Spirituality” – Singapore Artha Event
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In the constant pursuits to bring relevance of ancient vedic wisdom into modern businesses and corporate world – Artha forum conducted its 7th event in Singapore inviting entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and professional from for all walks of life. The event was hosted at Tanglin Club, Singapore with a hall full of guests who were eager to hear fresh perspective of vedic wisdom and its practical applications in ones day to day life.

Preaching program in Germany (Album with photos) Srila…
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Preaching program in Germany (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: This is Indian attitude. They do not care for the modern, civilized way of life, wasting time reading some nonsense book or going to the bars, the cinema, talking unnecessarily. They do not like. Those who are old style, they do not. They have no time to waste time in that way. They must be inclined that “I must prepare something nice so that my husband, my children or my, all friends will be very pleased.” That is their policy. I wanted that all our girls, they should be expert. And in America they are doing that. They should learn the art of cooking and prepare very nice foodstuff, daily change of menu. And the children should be so trained up that no more birth. And that is life. They can produce hundreds of children, it doesn’t matter, but must be responsible, that “These children should be saved. This is the last birth; no more birth. I’ll train the child in such a way that next life he’s going to Krsna, back to home, back to Godhead.” That is parents’ duty. Otherwise they should not become parent. That is contraceptive: “I am not fit to train my children in that way, so I shall not produce cats and dogs.” This is life. Why shall I produce cats and dogs? And Bhaktivinoda Thakura was grhastha; he produced Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. That is wanted. So in this way, if there is ideal institution, ideal mode of living, it is happy; everything is all right. That is grhastha. Produce Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. My Guru Maharaja used to say that “If I can produce krsna-bhakta as children, then I’m prepared to marry and produce hundreds of children.” And if we cannot, then we shall not produce even one children. Srila Prabhupada – January 3, 1977, Bombay
Find them here: https://goo.gl/s1qgTh

A Life of Dharma
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Hare KrishnaBy Nikunja Vilasini Devi Dasi

n memory of His Holiness Krishna Dasa Swami, whose life and passing exemplify his words: “Live for dharma, die for dharma; live for Krishna, die for Krishna.” ...Days passed, and Krishna Dasa’s mind was bursting with thoughts of Srila Prabhupada and how to meet him. He rushed to Srila Prabhupada’s door at Bhaktivedanta Manor only to be turned away by two strict disciple-guards. “You look as if you are the guards at the doors of Vaikuntha. Are you Jaya and Vijaya?” teased Krishna Dasa, referring to a story in Srimad-Bhagavatam. “But you are very fortunate that I am not one of the Kumaras. I won’t curse you!” Continue reading "A Life of Dharma
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Lessons in love from Krishna-gopis relationship
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[Bhagavatam class on 11.12.11 at ISKCON, Washington DC, USA]

Podcast

Podcast Summary

The post Lessons in love from Krishna-gopis relationship appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Knowing when to endeavor and when to surrender
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[Congregation program at Ashburn, Washington DC, USA]

Podcast

Podcast Summary

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