Planet ISKCON

Travel Date	From	To
Mar-11	Houston	Phoenix
Mar-14	Phoenix	Denver
Mar-17	Denver	Salt Lake City
Mar-20	Salt Lake City	Portland
Mar-22	Portland	San Diego
Mar-23	San diego	Los angeles
Mar-24	Los angeles	Laguna beach
Mar-25	Laguna beach	Seattle
Mar-29	Seattle	Boston
Mar-31	Boston	Central New Jersey
Apr-7	Central New Jersey	Dayton
Apr-8	Dayton	Columbus, Ohio
Apr-11	Columbus, Ohio	Hillsborough
Apr-13	Hillsborough	Charlotte
Apr-15	Charlotte	Detroit & Grand Rapids
Apr-18	Detroit	Chicago
Apr-21	Chicago	Washington
Apr-25	Washington	Montreal
Apr-27	Montreal	Toronto

 

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HH Bhanu Swami gave the SB class on the last day of the Christchurch temple festival. Temple President, Ramanuja das, picked the first verse of the Srimad Bhagavatam signifying how the temple was starting afresh.

In the afternoon Sri Prahlada led kirtan and gave class for the first Sunday feast at the temple in 6 years since the earthquake. The devotees were enthused and appreciated how Sri Sri Nitai Gauracandra were now back in Their new home.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 19 January 2017, Sydney, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 9.13.4)

In kali yuga, we do not curse. This is not our business. In the Vedic times, cursing and counter cursing were happening. We see that Narada Muni would sometimes curse. There is the example of the sons of Kuvera – Manigriva and Nalakuvara – who were drunk and enjoying in the Alakananda River with some ladies and they did not pay respect to Narada so they were cursed. But Narada’s curse was a disguised blessing because he cursed them to become trees in the garden of Krsna so they got a curse and with it a purification at the same time. Anyway we see many personalities who got cursed from time-to-time in the Vedic tradition for sake of their purification.

In this age if we start this game of cursing and counter cursing then we would be cursing all day. Therefore it is said, sakuni sape gorumarana (Bengali proverb) that when the vulture curses the cow, the cow does not die! To be a vulture is a bit austere because at breakfast time nobody may die. So at one point, a vulture gets hungry and he looks at a fat cow, points his wing and says, “I curse you to die!” but nothing happens, sakuni sape gorumarana. In this kali yuga, our cursing capacity has been taken away. We don’t have that power anymore.

The other day we were discussing King Vena who the brahmanas just killed by mantra. I’ve had people say to me, “Drop dead!” but I am still here so that did not work fortunately because nowadays we say these things without deeply thinking of the consequences so this power is no longer with us and is not a part of the sankirtan movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

The sankirtan movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is a movement of mercy. Nityananda was smashed on the head by Jagai and Madhai and he simply took it, he tolerated it and remained their well-wisher. This is our business, to somehow forgive and remain a well-wisher. So this cursing business is kind of alien to the sankirtan movement. There is also no need for any other purification. The Vedic literature offers us extensive activity, prayascitta, for purification from sinful activities – so many rituals, so much austerity – fasting, giving to charity and so on. We see many examples also – the gopis told Krsna, “To atone for killing a cow, now you have to bathe in all the holy places!”

So Vedic culture is like that but the sankirtan movement does not have any separate processes of prayascitta, purification. This point comes out in the sixth canto in the discussion leading up to Ajamila. In the introduction to the Ajamila pastime, Maharaj Parikshit brings out this point to Sukadev Goswami – the kunjara snana, the bathing of the elephant. After taking bath, the elephant takes dust and throws it all over his body which defeats the purpose of bathing. So kunjara snana, the bathing of the elephant is prayascitta, meaning that we try to wash off sinful karma by engaging in doing some sacrifice or doing some charity but the desire for sinful activity does not go away, therefore prayascitta is condemned. Maharaj Parikshit said that so many criminals have gone to jail which he has witnessed as a king but it did not reform their criminal mentality.

Therefore kecit kevalayā bhaktyā vāsudeva-parāyaṇāḥ (SB 6.1.15) only devotional service can take away the root cause of sinful tendencies from the heart because by engaging in devotional service, one automatically becomes detached from other things because one becomes satisfied. Therefore desires disappear. In devotional service there is no need for separate atonement therefore there is no need to curse someone to rectify them; we simply get them to chant Hare Krsna and that is the purification. Devotional service is the rectification. This is the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Yamuna Gems
Vani Devi Dasi remembers…
“At six years old it can be hard to appreciate what goes on around you, yet I remember quite clearly. I was asked to ‘assist’ Auntie Yamuna in the kitchen for a raw feast she was preparing—stuffed red peppers with a mock cream cheese filling, various types of raw soaked rice salads, a raw pie topped with beautiful light and fluffy whipped macadamia cream, and various other preparations, each unique in flavor, color and ingredients. It was my first experience being utterly fascinated by what you could prepare with food. Every movement, smell and texture was all new and exciting. The way Auntie Yamuna engaged me and explained to me and took care to teach me made it a completely unforgettable experience. From that day on she inspired a spark inside of me to continue to learn to cook and feed the Vaisnavas. She didn’t just create delicious prasadam, though; she taught cleanliness, Srila Prabhupada’s standard, and she showed by her example how not to waste any part of Krishna’s creations. As I went to throw away the pepper seeds, she stopped me and excitedly explained how if I let them dry for a while I could plant them and grow more peppers.

Immediately I proceeded to follow her instructions and was eager to learn more. She named me "seed saver,” and I felt proud to do a part and re-grow the peppers. She made every aspect of cooking and all that it could entail possible and exciting. Sure enough, in time, a beautiful pepper plant grew, and I picked my first pepper with an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that it was possible for a little six-year-old girl to grow peppers for Krishna.“

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By Sivarama Swami

It needs to be clear for all the members of Krishna Consciousness movement, when we are talking about Srila Prabhupada as the founder Acharya, it means that Srila Prabhupada is our Mahajan, and Srila Prabhupada‘s teachings in textual for us and his teachings, his examples, his instructions, all the instructions of the other Mahajan. Otherwise Prabhupada will use the other example, you cannot jump over. Jumping over means, you think, well Srila Prabhupada said this but such and such Acharya, Jiva Goswami, Vishwanath Cakravarti Thakura, said something different. So no, Srila Prabhupada didn’t say anything different, it’s just the matter of we don’t understand the context in which Srila Prabhupada is saying the same thing as what the Acharyas say. Because ultimately that is the qualification that the Divine Grace would repeatedly emphasize, that I haven’t changed anything I just follow my spiritual master. Continue reading "From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir – Srimad Bhagavatam class, February 27, 2017
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Barsana 17-03 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Last week, Abhimanyu Prabhu brought 100 Ukraine devotees for parikrama so we went to the sacred place of Srimati Radharani, Barsana. We even got a rare picture of Brishabhanu Maharaja! It’s Holi time, so watch out as you come along with the pics of Vittalrukmini Das!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/DQcFkN

Distinguishing Paramatma and the Mind.
Question: What is the difference between the dictation of the Paramatma and the mind? How can one tell if the mind or Paramatma is speaking to us?
Romapada Swami: In BG 2.22’s purport, Srila Prabhupada gives the example of two birds sitting on a tree. One bird (Jiva-atma) is eating the fruits of the tree while the other bird (Paramatma) is simply watching His friend. If the Paramatma is just watching, how can the Parmatma dictate the soul? Can you please help me with this confusion? Please help me understand this by some other citations in the BG.
In Bhagavad-gita Chapter 6, Krishna talks about the importance of controlling the mind. In particular, with regard to your above questions, verses 5 and 6 of Chapter 6 give us a good understanding of the interaction of the mind with the living entity.
Krishna tells Arjuna:
Verse 5: One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.
Verse 6: For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.
The main point is that one must renounce the desire for sense gratification, or else his mind will degrade, not elevate him. Unless one develops a higher taste (spiritual taste, or bhakti), this becomes impossible. Within the purport to Verse 5, Srila Prabhupada emphasizes controlling the mind:
“It is stressed herein that the mind must be so trained that it can deliver the conditioned soul from the mire of nescience. In material existence one is subjected to the influence of the mind and the senses. In fact, the pure soul is entangled in the material world because the mind is involved with the false ego, which desires to lord it over material nature. Therefore, the mind should be trained so that it will not be attracted by the glitter of material nature, and in this way the conditioned soul may be saved. One should not degrade oneself by attraction to sense objects. The more one is attracted by sense objects, the more one becomes entangled in material existence. The best way to disentangle oneself is to always engage the mind in Krishna consciousness. The word hi is used for emphasizing this point, i.e., that one must do this.”
From this purport we can understand that the mind’s dictations when not under the control of bhakti will gyrate towards sense gratification and will lead one to further entanglement with the material nature. Srila Prabhupada then explains in the purport to Verse 6:

“Unless the mind is controlled, the practice of yoga (for show) is simply a waste of time. One who cannot control his mind lives always with the greatest enemy, and thus his life and its mission are spoiled. The constitutional position of the living entity is to carry out the order of the superior. As long as one’s mind remains an unconquered enemy, one has to serve the dictations of lust, anger, avarice, illusion, etc. But when the mind is conquered, one voluntarily agrees to abide by the dictation of the Personality of Godhead, who is situated within the heart of everyone as Paramatma. Real yoga practice entails meeting the Paramatma within the heart and then following His dictation. For one who takes to Krishna consciousness directly, perfect surrender to the dictation of the Lord follows automatically.”
In the book Dharma: The Way of Transcendence, Srila Prabhupada writes:
“By serving the guru and inquiring from him, we can come to the point where Krishna will enlighten us from within. Krishna, the supreme guru, first imparted knowledge into the heart of Brahma, the original person in the universe (tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye [SB 1.1.1]). Krishna is situated in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul, and as you become purified He speaks to you from within. Actually, He is always speaking to us, but in our impure condition we cannot hear Him. In the Bhagavad-gita (15.15) Krishna confirms that He is the source of our knowledge:sarvasya caha hrdi sannivisto mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca. “I am situated within the heart of everyone, and from Me come all remembrance, knowledge, and forgetfulness.” So as Paramatma, the Supersoul, Krishna is always prepared to help every one of us, provided we serve Him and take His instruction. He says in the Bhagavad-gita (10.10),
tesam satata-yuktanam bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te
“To those who are always engaged in serving Me with great love and devotion, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.”
If we want to know the Absolute Truth, we have to follow the proper process, and that process is simply to engage oneself in the loving service of the Lord. That will enable us one day to directly perceive the Absolute Truth. With our present blunt material senses we cannot perceive the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For example, with a blunt knife you cannot cut anything. You must sharpen it first; then it cuts very nicely. Similarly, to understand the Absolute Truth you must sharpen and purify your senses by engaging them in the service of the Lord. Now you cannot see God, or Krishna. But if you purify your eyes and your other senses, you will be able to see God, to hear God, to talk with God—everything. That is possible by the process of bhakti.
So Srila Prabhupada’s point is very clear – unless we perform devotional service it is not possible for us to speak to the Paramatma or listen to His instructions in our hearts. In fact when we do not heed Him, then He simply fulfills our desires to enjoy based on our karma. And He simply witnesses our foolishness. Due to the minute free will of the living entities, the Paramatma does not interfere with their choices until they take up devotional service. Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport to BG 2.22 thus:
“Although the two birds are in the same tree, the eating bird is fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his face to his friend who is the Lord and knows His glories—at once the suffering bird becomes free from all anxieties.”
When the living entity becomes slightly devotional the Paramatma ‘speaks’ to him through the scriptures, through his guru, through the devotees or through certain actions or behaviors of others. By heeding such indicators, the living entity makes progress to performing pure devotional service where the Lord may personally speak to him.
In conclusion, the dictations of the Paramatma are only understood through devotional practices which includes guru, sadhu, and sastra whereas the dictations of the uncontrolled mind are directed at sense gratifications.
Finally there is a story regarding this which happened a few years ago in San Diego. A devotee was actively involved in Facebook. So somehow or other, he got involved with an under-aged girl on Facebook. After some time, the girl invited him to her place. He accepted the offer and went driving there. While driving there he got lost several times and many times he felt he should just give up and go back to the temple, but in his mind he wanted to meet the girl. Finally after several hours of driving and losing directions he somehow got to the destination. He knocked on the door and was invited inside. Once inside, the police immediately arrested him for under-aged child sex exploitation etc. He went to prison. The devotee later realized and understood that when he wanted to go there, there were so many signs and indications from the Lord that he should not go there but because of lust, his mind was uncontrolled, he did not heed the instructions of the Paramatma.
In all aspects of life, we really must distinguish the difference between the mind’s dictation and the indications of Paramatma!

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[Talk at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA]

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By Visvambhar Dasa

Gaura Purnima is the celebration of most auspicious and adorable advent of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu - The Golden Avatara. The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna appeared as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to establish Sankirtana Movement - the yuga dharma for this age of Kali. He appeared on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna in the year 1486 AD at Sridham Mayapura as the son of Sri Jagannath Mishra and Srimati Sachidevi. In the revealed scriptures Lord Krsna was predicted to appear as Golden Avatara(incarnation) as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to propound and propagate the congregational chanting of Holy name of the Lord “ Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare /Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare “ in order to counteract the contaminating influence of this debilitating and despicable age of quarrel and hypocrisy and attain the spiritual perfection. In this age there is an ocean of faults in action which incurs irredeemable reaction. People are excessively and exceedingly engrossed in ameliorating material condition of life by neglecting their spiritual elevation and enrichment. Maya is ruling unchallenged and unthreatened due to forgetfulness of God. Continue reading "Sri Gaura Purnima –Advent of Golden Avatara
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By Prahladananda Swami

Srila Prabhupada gives the analogy that just like a parent, especially a mother, if they see shoes in the street, they are not very much impressed. Just like when you go outside here, there are so many shoes on the shoe rack. Most of us won't fall over in ecstasy seeing the shoes. Maybe we could trip over them and fall but not out of ecstasy. But if a mother puts the little tiny shoes of her child on one of those racks, when she sees the little shoes her heart will melt. Why? Because she remembers her little tiny child. Her affection for her child is transferred to those shoes. Similarly, when we develop actual knowledge, at least of how everything belongs to Krishna, then our consciousness will not be taken away by the illusory energy. As soon as we forget how everything is Krishna's energy, how everyone and everything belongs to Krishna, then at once Maya takes our consciousness into a different realm of life activity. Continue reading "From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir – Srimad Bhagavatam class, February 26, 2017
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By Navadwip Mandal Parikrama devotees

The day which was already overwhelming with bliss became more ecstatic. We visited the house of Kolaveca Sridhara and we heard about his glorious vaishnava qualities. So inspiring! After a delicious feast and rest a little we started our evening program. We had an hour with Agnideva prabhu with bhajans and the meaning of them. Sandhya Arati started and Agni deva prabhu, for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath and Lord Caitanya lead us in an unforgettable, memorable, wonderful Sandhya Arati, everyone was dancing, jumping, spinning around. Agni deva prabhu's association was the top Highlight for Navadvipa Parikrama 2017. The devotees who came to this Parikrama were the most fortunate! Yes, today the Parikrama stayed over at Jagannatha Mandir of Rajapur, literally the King's City. Continue reading "Sri Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama- day 7
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After almost 2 months of medical procedures here in South Africa I am leaving for Vrindavan tomorrow. From Vrindavan I will again assume my preaching responsibilities around the world. I pray for the protection of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to carry out my duties!

śiro me pātu caitanyo bhālaṁ viśvambharaḥ prabhuḥ
nayane śrī-gaura-candraḥ śravaṇe dvija-nandanaḥ

“May Chaitanya protect my head! May Lord Vishwambhar protect my forehead! May Sri Gaurachandra protect my two eyes! May he who is the bestower of pleasure on the twice-born protect
my two ears!”

gaṇḍau śacī-suto nāsāṁ jagannāthātmajo ’vatu
rasanāṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanyas tālu kṛṣṇo ’dharaṁ muhuḥ

“May the son of Sachi protect my cheeks! May
the son of Jagannath Mishra protect my nose! May
Krishna-chaitanya protect my tongue! May he who is
the all attractive one always protect my lower palate!

oṣṭhaṁ viṣṇu-priyā-nātho danta-paṅktiṁ dvijottamaḥ
vācaṁ saṅkīrtanānandaḥ svarūpānanda-vigrahaḥ

“May the master of Vishnupriya protect my lips!
May he who is the topmost among the twice-born
protect my teeth! May he who is the joy of saṅkīrtana
and bliss personified protect my speech!”

cibukaṁ dharaṇī-devo viśvarūpānujo mukham
lakṣmīnāthaḥ kaṇṭha-deśaṁ grīvāṁ bhakta-jana-priyaḥ

“May the Lord of the earth protect my chin!
May the younger brother of Vishwarupa protect my face! May the husband of Lakshmipriya protect my throat! May he who is dear to his devotees protect my neck!”

skandha-yugmaṁ dvija-prāṇo manaḥ pātu śacī-sutaḥ
nāma-sūtra-dharaḥ kukṣiṁ hṛdayaṁ nāma-tat-paraḥ

“May he who is the life of the twice-born protect my shoulders! May the son of Sachi protect my mind! May he who is the holder of the threads of the holy name protect my belly. May he who is dedicated to chanting the holy names protect my heart!”

kumati-dhvaṁsano nābhiṁ kaṭi-deśaṁ karaṅga-dhṛk
dhvajaṁ danḍa-dharaḥ pātu ūru nyāsi-śiromaṇiḥ

“May he who is the destroyer of bad intelligence protect my navel! May the holder of a sannyāsī waterpot protect my hips! May the holder of a sannyāsī rod protect my private parts! May he who is the crest jewel among sannyāsīs protect my thighs!”

jānū kāṣāya-vasano jaṅghe pātu dvijottamaḥ
gulpha-yugmaṁ dvijaḥ pātu pādau bhakta-jana-priyaḥ

“May he who is the wearer of saffron cloth protect my knees! May he who is the best among the twiceborn protect my lower legs! May the Lord who appeared as a brāhmaṇa protect my ankles! May he who is dear to his devotees protect my feet!”

gadādhara-priya-prāṇo dehaṁ pātu ca sarvadā
śayane māṁ sadā pātu nityānandaika-bāndhavaḥ

“May he who is the dear life of Gadadhar Pandit always protect my entire body! May the exclusive dear friend of Nityananda protect me during sleep!”

bhojane pātu māṁ nityam advaitaika-kṛtātmabhuk
pātu māṁ gamane sa śrīc-chāyā-gamana-tatparaḥ

“May he who exclusively made Advaita Acharya self-satisfied
protect me always while I accept food! May he who is eager to attain the shelter of Sri Radha protect me while I am going anywhere!”

śrīmad vīrāsanāsīno māmāsīnaṁ sadāvatu
śrīmad bhāgavatādhyāyī kathane pātu māṁ sadā

“May the Lord who is seated in the vīrāsana pose protect me while seated! May the student of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam protect me always when I am speaking!”

bhagavat-pāda-sevāyāṁ pātu māṁ bhakta-rūpa-dhṛk
guru-pādārcane śikṣā- gurur māṁ pātu nityaśaḥ

“May the Lord who assumed the form of his devotee protect me in my service of the lotus feet of the Lord! May he who is the instructing guru of the world protect me always in the service of my guru!”

sarveśvaro gaura-hariḥ sarvataḥ pātu māṁ sadā
jale sthale cāntarikṣe parvatārohaṇe tathā
durga-vartmani vṛkṣe ca pātu māṁ bhakta-vatsalaḥ

May Gaura-hari, the Lord of all, protect me always in all ways — in water, on earth, in space, while climbing mountains! May he who is extremely affectionate to his devotees protect me on difficult roads and forests!”

Sri Chaitanya-Kavacha, from the Uttara-bhāgavatam, translated by Hari Parshad Das, published in the Gaurāṅga-virudāvalī. Edited and Published by Sri Haridas Shastri, Kalidah, Vrindavan, Gaurabda 498. Printed in Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu #395 under the auspicious direction of Madhavanada dasa.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 19 January 2017, Sydney, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 9.13.4)

We have three categories of liberated souls – one with both feet in the material world, one with one foot in the material world and one foot in the spiritual world, and one with both feet in the spiritual world. The third category, with two feet in the spiritual world, means having a spiritual body. We don’t have many examples of spiritual masters who have spiritual bodies other than Narada Muni. So for all practical purposes, we have two categories of spiritual masters in the material world. When we look at the category of spiritual master who has one foot in the spiritual world and one in the material world, we would place Srila Prabhupada in this category and we would compare him to Sukadev Goswami who was completely transcendental. We remember when Prabhupada went to the Morning Star Ranch and there was a naked man in the garden. Prabhupada arrived in a car and rolled down the window of the car and asked the man, “What are you doing?” and the man replied, “Growing potates!” and Prabhupada said, “No, what are you doing with your life?”

Morning Star Ranch was a commune that was prominent and Prabhupada had gone to America to preach and he didn’t particularly choose that place but he allowed himself to be led. Preaching does not happen by sitting behind a desk, having a meeting, making a strategy and then going out to preach! No, in preaching one just follows the natural developments in the field. We do reach out to people, we don’t just wait for them to come but there are some people who just come forward and those are the ones we work with. This is what Prabhupada did, he went to America and some people came forward and these were the ones he worked with and in the course of that, they were going to this Morning Star Ranch – the path that Krsna was leading was going there, so Prabhupada went there.

From Prabhupada’s perspective, the entire journey to America was a journey of stepping into a world of insanity. He knew that the entire population was in the grip of kali – everyone was degraded; all the various principles of the Bhagavatam, of dharma were broken by society as a whole so from the first moment; Prabhupada was ready to deal with anything. His mood was that nothing could surprise him! You can see that in Prabhupada’s purports. He writes in the fifth canto about the hellish planets and gives detailed descriptions of illicit sex and these are intimate sinful activities. Prabhupada was not someone who was living in a big bubble of Krsna consciousness and was shocked at how sinful people can be. No, he deeply understood how sinful people really were, he was expecting it all, after all he was a Calcutta boy as he would say and had seen it all!

In this way, Prabhupada was ready to deal with anyone, wherever Krsna would lead him. He did not say that we would only accept people in Krsna consciousness who are in a certain category. It does not work like that. That is not the sankirtan movement of Lord Caitanya. Whoever comes, without consideration of caste or creed, gets a chance to do devotional service. Now this does not mean that everyone has to be in the same place. Sometimes you have socially-educated cultural people and then you have a bum off the street, you cannot give them the mercy in the same place. Like this, you may need different programmes and that is fine but no-one is exempt from the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There is no condition by which one can say that this person is too sinful! No, everyone is eligible and entitled to mercy so it is our duty to embrace that spirit!

By Naveen Sharma

In pursuance of the great desire of Srila Prabhupada (Founder-Acharya of ISKCON), the new temple will be a center for disseminating the profound message of Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. Delivered in a modern context to people irrespective of color, nationality, background or gender, the spiritual teachings are aimed to free mankind from the sufferings of material existence and help people find everlasting peace and happiness in Krishna Consciousness. The new temple will have a beautiful deity alter with Sri Sri Radha Shyamasundar and will also offer seminars, workshops, expanded Sunday school programs for children's education, summer and winter camps for children and young adults, and congregational outreach programs for spiritual education in multiple languages. Continue reading "New Krishna Temple Takes Off in Naperville
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Magic in Middle Earth (Album with photos and videos)
Kurma Dasa: Here’s some footage of Saturday’s Sadhu Sanga at the home of Ananda Hari Prabhu and Srimati Pavani devi. A record 40 devotees attended from all over Ireland, some even driving down to Wicklow from the Northern Kingdom, Ireland.
Thank you to everyone for making it such an auspicious and joyful event. The association of great souls, reading from Krishna Book, exuberant kirtan and a spectacular feast - who could ask for anything more?
Find them here: https://goo.gl/vsG768

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A new Sannyasi for Iskcon.
Akincana Das is now Bhaktijivana Vrajananda Swami.
On 1st march H.G. Akincana Das took Sannyasa...

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[Evening session at ISKCON, Dallas]

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[Evening session at ISKCON, Dallas]

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[Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Dallas]

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Mayapur parikrama with hundreds of devotees from Russia (Album with 293 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If you make your friendship with Krsna, that will never break. If you make your master Krsna, you’ll never be cheated. If you love Krsna as your son, He’ll never die. Similarly, if you love Krsna as your lover or husband, He will be the best husband, the best lover. There will be no divorce. That is Krsna consciousness. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 4.13-14 – New York, August 1, 1966
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Today is the auspicious appearance of Bhakti Tirtha Swami. Please find below an excerpt from H.H. Jayapataka Swami’s class,that he gave at Belpukur. Today is the appearance day of Bhakti Tirtha Swami. We always make a special flower seat and cake for Maharaj’s Vyasa Puja. He was a special devotee and he was very merciful […]

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TOVP 2017 is a presentation by TOVP Chairman, His Grace Sriman Ambarisa das, about the current progress of the TOVP construction and...

Nationalism is also enviousness!
Giriraj Swami: Today, listening to Srila Prabhupada’s talks in Juhu, I heard something that struck me as especially timely and relevant. “Krishna says advesta sarva-bhutanam: You should not be envious to any living entity. But the present civilization means to become envious. I do not wish to criticize anyone, but this enviousness is the basis … Nationalism is also enviousness. ‘Why foreigners will come here?’ This is enviousness. Why should they not come? Who is foreigner and who is national? Everyone is son of God. Why should you distinguish? But because there is no Krishna consciousness, this discrimination between man and man, man and animal—so many discriminations. Even from the national point of view, ‘national’ means anyone who is born in that country. But because one happens to be an animal, although he is a national, still, he is sent to the slaughterhouse—because there is no Krishna consciousness.”
The philosophy of Krishna consciousness is timeless—always timely and relevant. And, now perhaps more than ever, much needed.
Hare Krishna.