Planet ISKCON

Today, 17th Dec 2017, was a historical day.

Today was erected and installed the first bracket under Planetarium Kalash. This is an outdoor decoration made in (GFRC) Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete. Total, on the Side Dome will be 16 such a brackets. Each brackets for Side Dome is 2,3 m width and 2,8m height and weighing is 900 kgs approx. The Main Dome will be decorated by 24 pcs of such a kalash brackets. All these elements will be manufactured here in TOVP workshop. Special protect guard coating has been applied to make it weather proof.

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https://youtu.be/SU4sDxFMbN4

Simhachalam temple (9 min video)
Simhacalam is a Krishna temple and farm project near Passau, Germany. We’re a community of Krishna devotees with something for everyone; whether you’re spiritual beginner coming for the first time, or you are wishing to deepen your spiritual experience, Simhacalam is a place for you!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/Omjn4X

By Shii and Nel

The only thing I knew about the Krishna religion was that it was Indian, duh, and that composers such as Ravi Shankar and George Harrison (being a fan of the Beatles, he was my main role model of my interest in Krishna) made beautiful music about Him. I even thought His name was spelled "Crishne" instead of Krishna. Day or two later, my aunt visited. We were discussing random topics and the conversation turned to George Harrison. I wondered if she knew what Krishna was, so I asked 'casually', "Yeah... he was even a part of India's culture, not just the music... What's the religion there, again?" When she answered Krishna, my suspicion was confirmed. So, the next day I typed in Google "Crishne". It asked if I was talking about "Krishna" and through that I was led to the first result of the search: a website dedicated to Krishna. It was called "www.krishna.com". You couldn't get more direct than that, so I looked at it. Continue reading "Monologue
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By Bhakti Caru Swami

ISKCON is a spiritual organization personally established by Srila Prabhupada. We must take care that it doesn’t become material. Anything (husband-wife relationship, Deity worship, even prasadam) can turn material by one’s consciousness. In any Society, there must be some organization and management, otherwise there will be chaos. Even in the spiritual world, Krsna’s friends are subdivided and supervised (Lord Balarama is group leader for his cowherd boy friends; Candravali and Radharani head up left-wing and right-wing gopis, etc). ISKCON is no different. In order for people interact in a harmonious fashion, dealings and activities must be regulated and orchestrated. Continue reading "Etiquette in Management
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By Radhanath Swami

Narada Muni the great acharya has previously explained to Maharaja Yudhisthira, the story of Prahlada Maharaja who is the perfect example of devotional service. Prahlada Maharaja remained faithful to the words of his spiritual master even in the face of the most impossible difficulties. Depending on a power beyond his own, the mercy of Krsna, he crossed all obstacles. The Lord himself incarnated with a form that will attract all people’s hearts for all time just to show his love. At the conclusion of this pastime - it is said, “wherever devotees are gathered to discuss the subject matter of life, the matter of Prahalad Maharaja is discussed”. How can people apply these teachings practically in their lives? Narada Muni explains the varnasrama system - the four varnas and four ashramas and duties to be performed by devotees, “mahajano yena gatah sa pantha” so that we can follow in the footsteps of the Mahajanas. Continue reading "How to be an Ideal Husband
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Los Angeles Nectar and Bliss (Album with photos)
Amazing Ratha Yatra during Martin Luther King Parade in Los Angeles, USA
...

Gita verse-by-verse Podcast

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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 17 June 2009, Japa Talks)

 “This chanting should go on. Instead of meetings, resolutions, dissolutions, revolutions and then no solutions, there should be chanting.” His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, from Lilamrita, Volume 6, Page 182

I wonder how much time of my life has been spent in meetings. But then again, together we can make a difference, what can I do alone? And then there are personal matters that cannot always be ignored. Yesterday I was thinking of going early to bed and then rising early. But last night, someone came and needed to talk. It was important to him and he is important to me. So what to do, I had to sacrifice my early morning and with it, so many extra rounds that I had been planning to chant. That is what it means to have relationships, it is a matter of giving and taking. The bhajanandi (the devotee who practices solitary devotional service) makes all the time in the world for his chanting, what else is there to do. A ghostyanandi would like to do the same but cannot always because he gives himself to others in preaching Krsna consciousness.

Prithu Prabhu likes to talk about yare dekha tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa (CC Madhya 7.128), whomever you meet tell them about Krsna. The other day, he said, “We would only think about making devotees. We were always looking if someone could maybe become a devotee and we were making devotees.” And he did make so many nice devotees.

How many of us really have the time to regularly chant 64 rounds? I like the program of rising at 1:30 am, taking bath and just chanting. Then I can 64 rounds before 10 am but then I would miss mangala arati, guru puja and class. Sometimes I want to hang a sign on the door, “Do Not Disturb! Important meeting in progress,” and inside the room I will be trying to meet Krsna by chanting his holy names. Sometimes I want to be alone and other times I want to go on harinama or be at Ratha Yatra. Preaching gives life to our japa…

In the morning I have been listening to Srila Prabhupada’s wonderful talks on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta given in Juhu in November 1975, and today I was struck by his explanation of how we can feel fellowship with each other—free from envy:

“So if we accept this philosophy, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s, without falsely declaring ourself that ‘I am equal to God’ or ‘I am God,’ if you simply accept that jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya dasa’ [Cc Madhya 20.108], that we are eternally servant of Krishna, and act like that . . . Servant of Krishna means he must be always engaged in the service of Krishna. This is called bhakti.

sravanam kirtanam visnoh
smaranam pada-sevanam
arcanam vandanam dasyam
sakhyam atma-nivedanam
[SB 7.5.23]

This is our position. And if we understand that all of us, we are servant of Krishna—you are servant of Krishna, I am servant of Krishna, he is servant of Krishna—then we can understand our position is one. That is oneness—we are all servants. So there is no question of my becoming envious of you or your becoming envious of me. We are all servants of God, so we have to execute the orders of God. That is servant’s business.”

Hare Krishna.

—Giriraj Swami

Answer Podcast

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The post I was initiated earlier by a priest – how do I see it when seeking initation from a Vaishnava guru? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

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The post Is speaking about krishna-bhakti to relatives who may be faithless an offense to the holy name? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

By Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

The arduous sea voyage from Calcutta to Boston was finally over. The lone passenger aboard the cargo ship Jaladuta, a seventy-year-old Indian holy man, had been given free passage by the owner of the Scindia Steamship Company. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada arrived at Commonwealth Pier on September 17, 1965. For thousands of years krsna-bhakti, love of Krsna, had been known only in India, but now, on the order of his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada had come to awaken the natural, dormant Krsna consciousness of the American people. On his arrival day onboard the Jaladuta, he wrote in his diary the following words: Absorbed in material life, they [Americans] think themselves very happy and satisfied, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva [Krsna].... But I know that Your causeless mercy can make everything possible, because You are the most expert mystic ... How will I make them understand this message of Krsna consciousness? ... O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.... I am seeking Your benediction ... I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krsna.... Continue reading "The Hare Krsna Mantra
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By Sivarama Swami

I first met my spiritual master on March 6th 1975 in Dallas Texas. Srila Prabhupada had just been in South America and had toured the Southern United States. I was on travelling book distribution with a sankirtan party and had strayed quite a distance from Montreal my home base. While reporting to the temple president about our scores, we were informed that Srila Prabhupada was flying from Atlanta to Dallas the next day and would be there for some time. We immediately drove west to see with the idea to meet Prabhupada at the airport. By the time we arrived both Prabhupada and his reception of devotees had left. All that remained was a trail of flower petals through the airport. Disappointed we sped to the temple, but by the time we arrived, gurupuja was over and Srila Prabhupada was finishing his talk. I came in the temple room, offered obeisances and saw my spiritual master for the first time. For almost five years I had seen and known Prabhupada visually from photos. His pictures were on the altar, vyasasana, books, magazines, framed on temple walls, in fact everywhere. Continue reading "Meeting Srila Prabhupada
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TOVP: A historical day! (Album with photos)
Sadbhuja Das: SIDE DOME KALASH BRACKET
Today was a historical day.
Toda...

The post Daily Darshan: Jan17,2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

https://vimeo.com/199452878

Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami Appearance Day observed at ISKCON-Delhi: 17-01-2017 (Album with photos)
Shrila Gopal Bhatta Goswami appeared in 1500 AD (though, according to some authorities, he was born in 1503) as the son of Venkata Bhatta in the town of Shrirangam in South India. Their residence was in a village not far from Shrirangam called Belagundi.
According to Narahari in the Bhakti-ratnakara, Shrila Gopal Bhatta Goswami was given a vision in a dream by Mahaprabhu in which he was fortunate enough to witness all the Lord’s Navadwip pastimes. An eternal associate of Krishna, he appeared in a faraway place in order to participate in Lord Gauranga’s pastimes. Even so, he was able to know long before he even saw him that the Lord had appeared and taken sannyas. Gopal Bhatta did not particularly like the Lord’s appearance as a sannyasi. He was distressed and crying alone when the Lord appeared to him and gave him the dream vision of his Navadwip lila. In this vision, the Lord was overwhelmed by ecstatic love, embraced him and drenched him in his tears.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/tQCoZM

A video by Ananta Vrindavan.

By Dravida dasa

*Absolutely no offerings will be accepted after April 15, 2017.* Offerings must be in English. Please restrict the length to a maximum of 3,000 words. Please omit all diacritics on words that can be found in the VedaBase. It’s easier for us to put them in. If you quote a verse from outside the VedaBase or compose original Sanskrit, please include diacritics. Do not "recycle" an offering — no offerings from previous years will be accepted. The Vyasa-puja book is meant for glorifying Srila Prabhupada, not venting grievances. The BBT reserves the right to reject an offering it deems inappropriate or to ask for a rewrite. When writing an offering on behalf of a temple or other unit, please try to write in such a way that the other devotees in your unit can also identify with the offering. Who may write an offering? Continue reading "Second Call for Homages for Srila Prabhupada’s 2017 Vyasa Puja Book
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Gita verse-by-verse Podcast

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The post Gita 11.48 Pious action doesn’t qualify us for devotional vision appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Untitled Lecture)

Krsna knows what is best for us! Thus a devotee who is intelligent will rely on Krsna. If one desires a wife then Krsna will send someone or maybe he will not. If he does not send one then so be it; what is the point in looking – looking everywhere… maybe this one… or maybe that one… and in the meanwhile just becoming totally obsessed with such mundane things without remembering Krsna. Our business is to remember Krsna and trust that Krsna will make arrangements for us.

Shri Gopal Bhatta Goswami, one of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan, was born in 1503. He lived for 75 years and left this world to enter into the eternal pastimes of the Lord in 1578.

He was the son of Vyenkatta Bhatta, a brahmana resident of Shri Rangam in South India, who was initiated in the Shri Sampradaya tradition.

During his travels in southern India, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stayed at Vyenkatta Bhatta’s home. At that time Gopal was just a young boy. Both father and son became Gaudiya Vaisnavas, followers of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Gopal Bhatta Goswami later established the Radha-Ramana temple in Vrndavan after one of the twelve shilas he brought back from the Gandaki River, manifested Himself as a fully-fledged Krsna deity.

Srila Prabhupada Accepted me as His Disciple.
Deena Bandhu Das: His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada gave me initiation in the old La Cienaga Temple in LA on the fourth day of the dark half of the month of Magh, which was 25th January, 1970. I remember it was one of the last ceremonies where Srila Prabhupada did everything. He chanted on the beads, did the yajna, and gave the lecture. After this time, Srila Prabhupada would chant on the beads in his room and someone else did the fire sacrifice. This time Srila Prabhupda came down off his Vyasanana, sat on a cushion in front of the yajna kunda and chanted on the beads in front of everyone. There was about 10 of us, so it took a long time. At the end of each round, he then asked the regs, and how many rounds to the person who handed him the beads. When he got to me, I remember, those old natural wood beads from Tandy Leather Co. (didn’t have Tulasi in those days, we strung our own) looking like a string of pearls in his lotus hands! Then he asked me the regs and I rattled off, “16 rounds. No meat eating, no illicit sex, no gambling….” My mind just went blank and I couldn’t think…I froze. Somewhere behind me, some brahmacarini was whispering over and over, no drugs! “Oh, and no intoxication.” He said, “Yes, no LSD!” and broke out into one of those smiles where a thousand suns rise in the sky, completely delighted with his own sense of humor. Then he handed me the beads, and said, “So your name is Dina Bandhu, friend of the humble.” I didn’t quite hear and he must have seen it in my face, so he repeated it and added, “Is it alright?” with a big smile.

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By Varshana Swami

This was just unacceptable that Srila Prabhupada could not show his love by not handing out cookies in gurupuja. So Radhanath Swami very quickly took the Deities’ plates with the offerings from mangala arati and tried to offer these to Srila Prabhupada as mahaprasadam. But the secretary said, “No you can’t offer this to Srila Prabhupada.” Then Maharaja snuck around the other side where there was a more lenient servant and placed the tray there. Then Srila Prabhupada, like a little child, he had very small silver spoons, began distributing prasadam to the devotees as they lined up. He gave spoonfuls of sweet rice and other preparations that Srila Prabhupada would taste and then distribute to the devotee. When Srila Prabhupada came to the gulabjamun, he bit into one and it popped and the juice sprayed all over the devotees. When he sampled the second one the same event repeated itself. The devotees were so ecstatic, and Srila Prabhupada was beaming like a little child as he was spoon feeding. Continue reading "Loving relationships with devotees
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By Mahatma das

You feel entitled to special treatment or status, and when you don’t get it you become critical of those who should give it (or who should arrange for it to be given). You have a strong need to be right which manifests as a strong need to make others wrong. You are trying to get attention or communicate your feelings but you lack the proper skills to do this, and thus the only way to get attention is through criticism. You are an expert in a specific area(s) and therefore criticize or condemn others for their ignorance or inability. When you are misunderstood, your frustration manifests as criticism of other’s lack of ability or intelligence to understand you. You feel rejected by someone through their words or behavior and you condemn them for rejecting you. Continue reading "Reasons We Blame or Criticize Others
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By Romapada Swamii

Here are some of the following few ways to practically apply and understand whether the happiness experienced is for own satisfaction or for the satisfaction of the Lord: 1. We can check our internal consciousness when we experience happiness (i.e. introspect). Ask yourself “Is this experience based on a selfish motivation, e.g. derived from an activity that we love to do, or perhaps an activity which will put us in the forefront, making us more noticeable thus helping us to gain appreciation from others?” Continue reading "Happiness in Devotional Service
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Congregational home program with a sneak-peek at Yadubhara’s upcoming Srila Prabhupada bio movie for cinemas. It’s looking beautiful.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/quYB6a

A disciple of Srila Prabhupada, Bhajahari prabhu, left his body at 9.45 this morning in UK. It was very very peaceful. He was hearing Srila Prabhupada chanting and had Radhakunda water in his mouth, tilak and neckbeads and Radharani's garland on his head.
Here is a 4 min. video of him talking about his memories in re...

Our concept of male and female is limited to our experience of male and female. We have only experienced incomplete, flawed males and females. Therefore to say that God is either male or female is seriously problematic, because it implies to our minds that God is like something flawed. On the other hand, to say God is neither male nor female also leaves us feeling blank, because we cannot comprehend such a thing.

Śāstra makes all such statements. In some places it describes divinity as female; in some places, as male; in some places, as both; in some places, as neither.

But by sādhana (deep contemplation with mantra practice) we can gradually perceive the actual truth in all these statements.

God is both male and female, because God is everything. Yet, God is neither a male nor a female because God has no flaws or limitations. So, God is the manifestation of an unlimited entity, which is both perfectly male and perfectly female.

This is why we don’t depict or conceive of Śakti (perfect femininity) without Śaktiman (perfect masculinity), nor Śaktiman without Śakti. 

In short, Krishna in Vṛndāvana surrounded by his gopīs, headed by Rādhā is our conception of God. He does not exist without the gopī saturated Vṛndāvana. Bhāgavatam says dhāmna svenda sadā — He exists only in his dhāma. 

And even in Krishna himself, you find a peacock of a hero. 

And even in Rādhā herself, you find a brave hero of a woman.

And you will not find one without the other.

Vraja Kishor

Tagged: female, goddess, male