Monday, April 24th, 2017
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Le Morne, Mauritius

What Brahmanas Can Do!

I had recommended, the afternoon before, to some new second initiates that what our mission needs is some brahmanas who will take up the role of counsellors and mentors.  Congratulations to Mahesvaree, who took the name of Maha Laksmi.  In addition to her, three formerly initiated devotees became brahminical priests.

“Consider certain scenarios that happen in our communities, such as a man who is abusive to his wife, a daughter is young, unmarried and pregnant, or a young teenage son is getting into drugs.  These are the realities of today.  Both pre-marital and post-marital issues need some help and brahmanas can assist in these areas of social need.”

In brief, my message came like that to the Sunday crowd and it appears some of those sitting at the havan fire, including recent 2nd initiates of Bhakti Brngha Govinda Swami, felt some new opportunities of service were up for their consideration, over and above the rituals they are now proviledged to get involved in.

Today, however, was a significant day with an outing to the ocean and viewing the monument of human tragedy at Le Morne.  My evening was well spent at the Phoenix temple, when I spoke from Chapter 2 of the Gita. “The soul cannot be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor drowned in water, nor dried by the wind.  It is indestructible.”

This is powerfully expressed by Sri Krishna.

May the Source be with you!


3 km

Sunday, April 23rd, 2017
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Bon Accueil, Mauritius 

Bliss Business
  
Feedback on the performances of the “Shakti Show,” was all positive.  Last night the audience of vaishnavas and newcomers was delighted by a magic show, tabla drum performers, a kirtan group and our drama of “Mr. Puri.”  It seems that events like this—events of a more social and cultural nature—haven’t been very much encouraged on this remote island of Mauritius.  There are many devotional activities in motion and with 40% of the population being Hindu you can expect a lot of poojas and such.  Now, kirtan is more emphasized, but entertainment…?

At least one person expressed this concern and offered his opinion on it.

Besides going through a day of contentment with appreciation being expressed all around, our group of four—Balaram, Kala, Bishma and myself—the members of cast and crew for “Mr Puri,” were busy.  It was a marathon of sweetness for me delivering four lessons on bhakti.  One of these lessons was a more casual talk with members of Pandava Sen and Young Warriors of Krishna Balarama.  The topic was to do with the interaction of the generation before them, and how to forge ahead with projects of a devotional nature and not get discouraged.

It was also natural for me to pose the scenario that this group of young talent would indeed succeed in administrative responsibilities for the ISKCON movement for the future.

Indeed our team of four were busy, but we decided to dip in the ocean’s calm waters at 11:00 p.m. after a much needed walk along a sandy trail.

May the Source be with you!

6 km

Saturday, April 22nd, 2017
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Bon Accueil, Mauritius

The Layer Cake of Creation


Every morning, I deliver a class from the teaching of Maitreya Muni, who disseminated the Bhagavat philosophy to his student, Vidura.  The lessons, as of late, (speaking from Canto 3 of the Bhagavatam) primarily deal with the topic of creation and how the Divine Intelligence / Personality of Godhead, as Vishnu, presents Himself as both massive and tiny in size through various expansions.  Basically, the evolving of the world begins with Karana Vishnu lying in tranquil slumber on a causal ocean.  From there, two more layers of Vishnu unfold, and then a unique manifestation of Vishva-rupa, the cosmic form of nature’s elements, comes into being.

The description of God’s appearance as a mystical evolutionist is like that of a layer cake.  Some kids in the class liked that analogy.  One of them recently had a birthday and my host, expert at cake-making, baked a layered masterpiece with the theme of Spiderman for the icing.

The Vedic view of creation is a bit more sophisticated than what I've heard from other traditions, nevertheless, it’s a fascinating explanation and it fills the student with wonder and humility.  At least that’s the effect I feel when reading the material.

Reading time is, however, a tough thing to obtain.  Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, assigned us to have a class discussion every morning for our spiritual and intellectual cleansing, and thus, some reading is done.

My report about the evening’s drama “Mr. Puri,” played out by local Mauritian youth, is that it came across most successfully.  A full house capacity of 800 plus enjoyed it.

May the Source be with you!


3 km

Thursday, April 20th, 2017
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Flacq, Mauritius

Sad Story

Mauritius has a sad history with slavery, like most places on earth.  At one peninsula’s end of the island is a towering mountain of 560 metres with lush vegetation.  It was fairly inaccessible.  Slaves from Africa, brought in by the Dutch and French had contemptible treatment inflicted upon them causing many to flee to the forest as well as the mountain.  Caves also provided refuge.

In February of 1835, the British rulers abolished slavery and a delegation was sent which made its way to where the slaves were hiding at Le Morne, the towering mountain, to announce the end of slavery.  Unfortunately, from high up on the mountain’s peak, the soldiers sent were perceived as slave catchers and many former slaves decided to take their own lives by jumping from the cliffs.  They preferred death over the chains of captivity.

Sad, isn’t it?  It’s tragic.

The landscape of Le Morne and surrounding area on the south-west side of Mauritius has its own beauty, but some of the history of the place lacks beauty as you can see.  The number of suicides at that time, less than two centuries ago, is not determined, to my knowledge.  Even the loss of one soul intimidated by brutality under slavery is bad enough in itself.

There are many forms of slavery still existing in the world, but do consider that when you cave-in to your senses all the time, you, too, are a slave.

May the Source be with you!


4 km

Friday, April 21st, 2017
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Flacq, Mauritius

Water Everywhere


Minerals and water—that’s what I’m getting a good share of every day.  The ocean’s swim is a daily affair and rain comes down in buckets, being the rainy season, but then there is the intense humidity resulting in the body’s sweat.

I like the trail Kala sketched out for me near Belle Mare.  We made our way over there before sun-up.  You would expect the combination of ocean breezes and the early coolness of the morning to do the trick and keep perspiration at bay, but no!  No way!  I was drenched with sweat during this three kilometre hike and back.

At least I'm contending with the right chemicals.

For lunch, Kala and I went to the residence of Sanatana Dharma, a tight-quartered place which epitomizes simplicity.  Sanatana was the cook and he did great with his chemicals (spices) in the preps.  Healthy?  Yes!  Tasty?  Yes!  He runs a cooking class and it is televised across the country.  He’s even come out with a cookbook, MangeonsVeg.  It’s in French.

His lovely wife, Ananga Manjari, and daughter, Ganga, are like Sanatana—all about smiles.  So sweet was this visit that it pumped me up for our seven hour rehearsal.  In seven hours you can cover about thirty-two kilometres on foot, but in terms of mileage for a play practice, a lot does get done.  Only here, rain doesn’t reach our deck, our place of practice, whereas mosquitoes and flying cockroaches do.

I'm glad to have service.

May the Source be with you!


7 km

Wednesday, April 19th, 2017
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Belle Mare, Mauritius

Swimming, No Walking


The next best thing to walking is swimming, and one of the best beaches on the island of Mauritius is Belle Mare, which I frequent when I come here.  We justify such recreation after hours in flight and  automobiles.

Blocking out a two hour period was the time slotted for wet fun.  Eight of us guys went—all Krishna devotees.  We took the challenge to swim the distance to the coral reef, taking care to step where you see white sand; everything else that’s dark below could be a prickly urchin, or who knows what.  Varieties of fish surrounded us.  We were in scaly company.

Reaching the reef was a first for our group.  Of course, I'm just a visitor, but I guess it takes a North American’s bravado, or foolishness, to dare what some locals will not.

This was a kind of a milestone for us because of the distance.

Nick, from Russia, watched over our beachwear and belongings while we got wet.  On our return he said, “I counted eight of you who went in but only seven came out.”

“Who was missing?” we asked.

It was Bishma from South Africa.  He got out of the water fast for what they call in this part of the world, “a toilet break.”

“Who’s breaking a toilet?” the question was asked, and all in good fun.

The fun continued.  Seven hours were then given to the spiritual theatre practice I'm involved in so often.  It’s so rewarding.  People tell me all the time, “Thanks for engaging our youth.”

May the Source be with you!


0 km

Tuesday, April 18th, 2017
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Durban / Johannesburg / Mauritius

Moving / Improving

I got in a few rounds of chanting japa (on the beads) and in the round, circumambulating the temple in Durban, before embarking on a flight to Johannesburg and then on to Mauritius.  A sannyasi (monk) is always on the move.  He’s always stirring up dust, in certain ways, influencing people’s lives while actually kicking dust in the air with his walking.

The walking for the day stopped there.  Your jet-age monk has different modes of travel.  However, nothing can replace moving one foot forward and then the opposite one doing the same thing; one at a time.  It was pleasant being at the Johannesburg airport considering the size that it is.  To go from one place to another, you are forced to walk.

For today’s sojourn, I had as my companions Kala, Dinanath, Bishma and Balarama.  Two persons cancelled out on this trip; one received notice of a new job which began this morning, and the notice added “show up, or else—there’s a long queue of people behind you that seek your position.”

The second person who was due to travel with us lost his passport.  I always say, “There are two things you don’t wanna miss out on in this life—the passport and the purport.”

“Purport” refers to the elaborations made by our guru, Srila Prabhupada, in his books.  Assimilation of these enlightened explanations will change your life.  Heaven knows we all need to improve ourselves.

Prove you can improve through the effort.

May the Source be with you!

4 km

International Vaishnavi Retreat at Govardhan
→ ISKCON News

The 7thannual 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.

After 40 Years, ISKCON Baltimore Expands to 12,000 Sq Ft Temple
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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.

Degree of advancement of spiritual master?
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Hare KrishnaBy Romapada Swami

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…
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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!

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 ?

Arcana_1-17-page-003


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 […]

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