Two albums of rare photos of Yamuna Devi from the beginning of the Hare Krishna movement. She is seen with her family, then with Srila Prabhupada, her early godbrothers and godsisters like Jayanananda Prabhu, Tamal Krishna Goswami, Vishnujana Swami, Mukunda Goswami, Malati Dasi, Guru Das, Hayagriva Das, talking with some celebrities like George Harrison and John Lennon, during the first Ratha Yatra in San Francisco, from her marriage, with a Godbrother of Srila Prabhupada and from her recent life before she left her body.

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Transcendental Greed.
There is one price that one must pay to get Krsna. That price is intense eagerness. This intense eagerness is called laulyam , “greed.”
In his Padyavali, Rupa Goswami has composed the following verse:
“Pure devotional service in Krsna consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price—that is, intense greed to obtain it. If bhakti is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay.”

Here Rupa Goswami says that one must have intense greed to obtain Krsna. But he also says that one cannot get it even by performing pious activities for hundreds and thousands of lives. In the following conversation recorded in Journey of Self Discovery (JSD), Srila Prabhupada gives the secret for obtaining this spiritual greed:

“Someone may say, ‘Oh, eagerness? I have eagerness.’ Ah-h-h… but it is not so easy. Janma-koti-sukrtair na labhyate: This eagerness cannot be achieved even by executing pious activities for millions of births. If you simply go on performing pious activities, still this eagerness is not available.

“So, this eagerness is a very important thing, but it can be awakened only by the association of devotees. Therefore we are giving everyone a chance to invoke that eagerness; then you’ll see God, face to face.” (JSD)
Vaisesika Das

My Cancer Diagnosis As Krishna’s Embrace.
It is often difficult to keep secrets, especially about one’s health, so after due consideration, I am publically sharing that after preliminary tests, secondary cancer has been discovered in a swollen lymph node in my neck. There is at least one more test in conventional medicine that could be performed—a PET or full body scan—to try to find the primary cancer. Unfortunately, I have found that just mentioning the word cancer freaks everyone out, as if this is a death sentence. However, this is not necessarily so. There are many alternative treatments with a high success rate—much better than the conventional radiation and Chemo. Although many who are reading this don’t know me personally, this could be your story just as easily, or it may already be, since in the USA, cancer strikes 1 in 2 men, and 1 in 3 women in their lifetime. In 2015, there will be an estimated 1,658,370 new cancer cases diagnosed and 589,430 cancer deaths in the US.

I don’t like to give anyone any pain or discomfort by telling them this news, but I bring it up as an educational experience for all of us and to document my travels through what may be a long journey of recovery. There is much to learn about what cancer is, what it means when it grows in the body, and what the best way to treat it is. We have found this the following site very helpful in our both our education about cancer and quest for the best treatment. http://thetruthaboutcancer.com/

At the same time, I do appreciate all the loving I am getting from my friends and families! I get the most amazing hugs and those looks of disbelief like I might disappear at any moment. If only we could all appreciate one another like this all the time!

My wife jokes that I may be partially attracting the cancer to feel such love and appreciation. Additionally, it may be a result of my daily prayers for spiritual advancement, and to gain facilities for sharing my spiritual life through writing and teaching. My friends and family are far more upset and worried than I am. In any case, I can honestly say, that “it’s all good.” Whatever happens I know it is for my ultimate spiritual benefit.

Although I don’t think it is my time to go, I have found this diagnosis an interesting meditation on death, and all the hankerings and desires in my heart. As is often my process, I take time to observe my thoughts and feelings from a 3rd person perspective, so I can learn as much as I can from my reactions or responses. Who do I really think I am—my conditioned story, or an eternal soul? How do I define myself? What are my attachments? How much do I consider myself a servant of God, or as an enjoyer of the world? Where is my faith? Where is my shelter? What is my relationship with the holy name? How much to I truly want the goal of pure devotion and love for Krishna and everything in relationship to his service? How much to I care about others? What am I willing to give, for the time I have left in my body?
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/exUqB1

GITA LIFE PROGRAM!! (Album with photos)
H.H.Bhakti Vinoda Swami conducting the Gita Life program in Sri Lanka.
Srila Prabhupada: The devotees of the Lord, while delivering speeches and describing the transcendental attributes of the Lord, do not think that they can do anything independently. They think that they can speak only what they are induced to speak by the Supreme Lord, the master of the senses… No one is free to act freely and independently, and as such, one should always seek the permission of the Lord to act or eat or speak, and by the blessing of the Lord everything done by a devotee is beyond the principles of the four defects typical of the conditioned soul.
SB 2.4.11 purp.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/gsIuyN

After the slow recovery of Kadamba Kanana Swami’s health, he commented during a room conversation that he is “sick of being sick” and he subsequently organized a full schedule of programs and parikramas around the Braj area. After the Bangladesh tour (story, recordings) and other shorter parikramas from past years, 2016 is the first year of many parikramas around the Vrindavan area. Maharaj used this opportunity to introduce devotees into the pastimes of Braj and simultaneously do some philosophical research for himself.

Here is a summary of posts on the Braj Parikrama 2016

• Vrindavan part 1 –  2 & 3 Nov
• Vrindavan part 2 – 4, 5 and 6 Nov
• Vrindavan part 3 – 7 & 9 Nov
• Vrindavan part 4 -11 & 13 Nov
• Vrindavan Parikrama photos
• Vrindavan Parikrama Audio recordings

And the whole Vrindavan & Parikrama schedule

2 Nov – Arrival in Vrindavan
3 Nov – Initiation ceremony for Keli Vrindavan dd, Srila Prabhupada’s house Bhajans
4 Nov – Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day festival
5 Nov – Start of Braj Parikrama 2016 – Kusum Sarovar, Uddhavkund
6 Nov – Yavat, Premsarovar
7 Nov – Varsana
8 Nov – Rest
9 Nov – Brahmananda Ghat
10 Nov – Canceled (Kamyvan)
11 Nov – Chirgat, Ramghat
12 Nov – Srimad Bhagavatam class 6.18.8 & rest
13 Nov – Unchagaon
14 Nov – Canceled (Vrindavan)
16 Nov – Bhajans at Srila Prabhupada’s house
20 Nov – Bhajans at the Govardhana Holy name retreat

 

Vrindavan, November 2016 – Part 1

Vrindavan, November 2016 – Part 2

Vrindavan, November 2016 – Part 3

Vrindavan, November – Part 4

 

Always New And Fresh (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Today I took a few visiting devotees on the ultimate parikrama to Radha Kunda, Syama Kunda and Giri-Govardhan. It’s amazing how such parikramas, although performed hundreds or even thousands of times, are always new and fresh.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/SaUlJ1

Iskcon Latur Organizes A 3-Day Padayatra (Album with photos)
Sundarkrsna Dasa: Latur to Goroba Ter.
The devotees of Latur, Maharasthra, organized a three-day padayatra to celebrate ISKCON’s 50th anniversary. The padayatra took place from Latur to Ter started on October 24th and ended on October 26th. Latur is a city in the Marathwada region of Maharasthra and is popular with tourists for its historical monuments. Ter is a village located in the Osmanabad district about 50 kilometers away from Latur. The village was once home to Sant Gora Kumbhar (also known as Goroba) who was associated with the Bhakti movement and the Varkari sect[1] in Maharashtra. He was a potter by trade and a devotee of Lord Vitthal. The village is presently known as Goroba Ter. Gora Kumbhar and other saints also wrote and sung hundreds of abhangs (devotional poetry sung in praise of Lord Vitthal).

Inspiration

The padayatra was inspired by Lokanath Swami after he had spoken to us about doing one in our area. He was always sharing the experiences he had when he first started padayatra after being instructed by Srila Prabhupada. He also mentioned the ‘All India Padayatra’ as an example, and of course, whenever he spoke about that padayatra he would talk about Acarya Dasa. Lokanath Swami praised Acarya Dasa for leading the ‘All India Padayatra’ and told us to get ideas from him. So, being inspired by Lokanath Swami, we gained strength from his order much like the way trees and plants derive nourishment from the all-powerful sun.

Day 1, October 24th Murud Akola

Our small team of ISKCON Latur devotees made all the preparations for the padayatra. The procession consisted of a bullock cart carrying small deities of Lord Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra Maiya together with a photograph of Srila Prabhupada and 40 padayatris –also traveling with us was a vehicle carrying all our necessities.

We started the padayatra at the ISKCON Latur temple and walked to our first destination, Murud Akola, located 18 kilometers away. We walked, sang and danced the entire way and reached there that evening. Upon arriving we had sankirtana followed by a short lecture on the importance of harinam and taking up spiritual life. It was the month of kartikka, so we also sang the ‘Damodarastakam’ prayers with many of the local residents joining us in offering lamps to Lord Damodar, and since no program is complete without prasadam, we also distributed prasadam to everyone who attended. Finally, we made an announcement welcoming everyone to join us for mangal arati the next morning.

Day 2, 25 October Murud

We all gathered at 5.00 am for the morning program. We had mangal arati, nrishma arati, tulasi arati, sang the shiksatakam, recited the 10 offenses against chanting the holy names and paid our vaishnav pranams. We then set off at 6.00 am for Murud, about 20 kilometers away. As we neared Murud we did sankirtana and book distribution and when we arrived, that evening, we had another short lecture on ‘how the holy names can deliver us’. We even did a skit on Sant Gora Kumbhar followed by offering lamps to Lord Damodar and prasadam.

Day 3, 26th October Ter

On the last day of the padayatra after the morning program, we walked towards Ter the village of Gora Kumbhar located 17 kilometers away from Murud. It was ekadasi so once we reached Ter we took darsana of the temples there and then we had ekadashi prasadam. Afterward, we had sankirtana and ended with a short lecture on the character of Gorakumbhar..

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank all the devotees who made this padayatra possible, the pujaris, the kitchen department and most importantly those who participated in the padayatra from start to finish. All the padayatris were enthusiastic and courageous and everyone enjoyed the culture-combining experience. It was wonderful when devotees shared their realizations including how padayatra means taking full shelter of the Lord. So, this padayatra had indeed brought us closer to the Lord and to our Gurudev. Our goal for the future is to plan an ISKCON Latur Food for Life program once a month, on ekadashi, in Ter. We pray that Lokanath Swami may kindly bless and empower is to serve him, for whatever we accomplish he has inspired us and empowered us to do .

[1] Varkari refers to ‘pligrim’, it is a religious movement within the bhakti spiritual tradition and is associated with Indian states of Maharashtra and northern Karnataka.
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Parikrama to Nandagram 21-12-16 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: I was very happy this day to bring my very first Temple President, Harer Nama Prabhu (ACBSP) on Parikrama to Nandagram and Vrinda Kunda. When I joined in Boulder, Colorado, Harer Nama Prabhu (in the photo) was the TP and now he’s in Vrindavan suffering from Parkinson’s. Please say a few prayers for him and now relish his visit to Ter Kadamba, Sanatan Goswami’s Bhajan Kutir, Pavana Sarovara, Nanda Bhavan, and Vrinda Kunda! Pics thanks to Vittalrukmini Das!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/8t2HNs

By Kesava Krsna Dasa

Naturally, self-assertive people will wonder about the mental condition of such a devotee. They will think he has no go, drive or self-belief, or is possibly depressed. A devotee’s deep sense of dependence on the Lord that can cause such helpless expressions is not easily understood by others. There may be situations where a devotee might casually say, “I’m not qualified, or I am fallen…” when his demeanor indicates otherwise. In other words, we can trivialise the “fallen” sentiment and make it sloppy. Continue reading "“I Am The Most Fallen”
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Exposed by the Swami

QUESTION: Can you please clarify which type of food can be offered to Krishna, and the correct procedure, so that Krishna accepts our offering and makes it as a Prasad for us.

The wording of your question reveals a very significant flaw in how you approach the whole subject, but first let me try to address the specifics of your question.

The essence of Krishna-worship is love, not ritual.

Please remember that there is more than one right way to do anything. Try to understand the essence of what is correct, then you won’t be baffled by the differences in the ways different people or groups apply that essence in specific circumstances.

The essence is bhakti. In Gītā (9.26), Krishna gives this as the essential qualifier of an offering that he likes to accept:

पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्याप्रयचछति ।
तदहंभक्त्युपहृतमश्नामि प्रयतात्मनः ।।

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ

In this verse Krishna says three times that the essence of what he wants is love. First he says bhaktyā (“because of love” — bhaktyā prayacchati: “I accept it because of love.”). Second, he says he accepts it lovingly because it is offered with love, bhakti-upahṛta. Third, he says he accepts the offering from prayata-ātmana (“a pure hearted person” – which means a loving person, without the stains of selfishness). By stressing it three times, Krishna makes it very clear that the essence of what he wants to be offered is love. 

There are many, many ways to express love. The details are not essential and don’t need to be fixed and set in stone. Different people can do it differently, and different reccomendations are given to different individuals in different circumstances. If you worry too much about these details, you might forget the essence. The essence of Krishna-worship is love, not ritual.

As for what kind of food can be offered, Krishna doesn’t get very specific or exhaustive, showing that it is not as essential. He simply says “leaves (patra, you can read it as leafy vegetable, or as any vegetable), flowers (puṣpa, yes there are many flowers that can be eaten), fruits (phala), and water (toya).“

What is interesting is that all of these four have connotations in relation to love. A patra (leaf) is a “declaration” of the love or the “basis” of love, the relationship. The puṣpa (flower) is the symptom of love, like blushing, blinking, prespiring, etc. The phala (fruit) is the expression of love, like hugging, kissing, etc. The toya (water) is the solvency of ātma between lover and beloved, the flowing exchange of heart. This is an esoteric angle that further highlights how the essence of the whole exchange with Krishna is not some caloric content, it is love.

Feed Krishna because you want him to know that you love him and you are thinking of him. Don’t do it for any other reason.

Make it Prasadam

You said you want to do the offering correctly, “so that Krishna accepts our offering and makes it as a Prasad for us.” This shows that your main concern might not be what Krishna gets or experiences, but what you get or experience. This is a major problem. It spoils the entire thing. You have Krishna making something for you. You’ve turned the whole thing upside-down and backwards.

Don’t put food in front of a statue or picture of Krishna because you want it to magically transform into something that is “karma-free” and will give you liberation, super-purity, or the approval-stamp of a certified “bonafide follower”.

Feed Krishna because you want him to know that you love him and you are thinking of him. Don’t do it for any other reason.

Is God Hungry?

Don’t think, “He is not really hungry. He is God.” Why do you think God can’t be hungry? Flavor cannot be enjoyed well without hunger, so how can the Supreme Being, the Supreme Enjoyer, not have a voracious appetite!? Of course he can be hungry! He has more hunger than anyone! In fact, in this verse from Gita, he says, “I am voraciously hungry (aśnāmi) for the expressions of love (bhaktyupahṛta) from the pure hearted (prayatātmanaḥ).”

He is hungry for your love.

Vrajavāsīs are not concerned much with any rituals about food. In Vraja, food has one purpose: to delight Krishna. It accomplishes this purpose in two ways: directly and indirectly. Food directly delights Krishna when the Vrajavāsī’s feed him scrumptuous things. It indirectly delights Krishna when the Vrajavāsī’s eat it to increase their own health and beauty, so they can delight Krishna by playing with him energetically and enthusiastically. This is why it is very often said that “everything in Vraja is prasādam.” 

Tagged: prasadam

[Adapted from a FB blog from Dec. 22 2014] Every person has a story to tell, internal guidance to listen to, help to give, and wisdom to share. I write not because I think I am great or gifted, but because I am trying to listen, or put into words the feelings I'm impelled to write. I need to express myself to try to pay back the blessings I have been given. My prayer is that whoever may read my words will also be touched in some way, and we will all benefit. As we give so we receive.

Even though I am not always successful in my attempts to inspire, I know that if I keep making the endeavor, fueled by prayer, I can be of helpful service. Our emotions can guide us in particular contexts if we let them. For instance, for me, I have a strong feeling of discomfort if I don't do something I should—like writing.

When I close my eyes I feel like I am on the shore of a vast ocean of wisdom and my attempt to share it is like taking a thimble of water (my capacity to access it) and trying to put that into words by the power of grace. In general I just write and don't get writer's block even when working on a specific topic. I am confident that what I will be able to write about whatever topic I have chosen, though that may take some time. Still, not all my writing is inspired, and some of it is better than others. However, that is partially due to my not being in the correct state of mind, or being able to really listen with my heart and soul.

I used to primarily post quotes, verses, or parts of my guru's words on my FB page since I know that has value, and yet, I also realize that I need to have a platform to share—as they say—"my truth," or that which I am inspired by, or have understood from what I have read, heard or thought about.

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“Ultimately it’s the desire, not the desired, that we love.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

 

This statement seems counter-intuitive: alcoholics desire a drink, not the desire to drink.

Yet if a drink was all that they desired, taking it would satisfy them. But whatever satisfaction they feel is short-lived. Soon, the desire re-appears and goads them into drinking again and again and yet again.

We all have our specific forms of attachment, be they alcoholism or shopaholism or something else. In every such attachment, a track is formed in our consciousness between us and the desire for that object. And our thoughts and feelings move rapidly and frequently along that track, impelling us towards indulgence. Each such movement in our consciousness broadens and deepens the track till just being on it feels familiar and comfortable. Thereafter, whenever we feel burdened and seek relief, our thoughts immediately go down this track because it feels like home. Thus, we end up with the desire for the desire.

Indeed, alcoholics often tell their therapists that they don’t drink to get high – that was their initial purpose; now, they drink just to feel normal. Because desiring the desire feels normal, giving up addiction seems so difficult. Even if addicts somehow give up their addiction, they soon fall for something else because they need some avenue for relief – they need some track in their consciousness that feels like home.

So, Nietzsche was right in saying that we desire the desire. But he was wrong in using the word ultimately for describing our desire for desire. That’s our ultimate fate only as long as we are operating within a materialistic framework, as was Nietzsche. What is ultimate in the material realm is not ultimate in the spiritual realm.

Gita wisdom explains that we are at our core spiritual beings who are naturally pleasure-seeking. We are meant to find the highest pleasure at the spiritual level of reality. But when we are unaware of life’s spiritual side, our longing for pleasure gets misdirected towards various worldly things, eventually leading to attachments and addictions.

Ultimately, the human heart longs for God. He is revealed in the bhakti tradition to be the all-attractive supreme person, Krishna. Bhakti-yoga fulfills this longing efficaciously by giving us time-tested practices for connecting with him. These practices create tracks in our consciousness that lead to him. When we discipline ourselves to do these practices regularly, they provide us the comfort of the ultimate home – they invoke Krishna’s purifying, sublimating, fulfilling presence in our heart.

Interestingly, the theme of desiring desire is mentioned thousands of years before Nietzsche in the Bhagavad-gita (02.70). It uses the compound word kama-kami, the desirer of desire, to underscore our capacity to choose how we respond to what happens within our consciousness. When a desire comes into our consciousness, be it from our circumstances or our conditionings, we have the choice whether to desire that desire or to resist and reject it. If we refuse to become a desirer of desire, we take away its power to agitate us, thereby attaining peace.

Later, the same Gita (05.29) elaborates that we attain peace on coming to know Krishna as our greatest well-wisher. Knowing him thus naturally leads to our desiring an intimate relationship of love with him.

Thus, enduring peace comes not just by refusing to become a desirer of desire but also by choosing to become a desirer of the supremely desirable object: our eternal Lord.

The post The desirer of desire appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Conversation.

Devotees Got Talent?!
Since ISKCON´s first Ratha Yatra Festival in the summer of 1967 in San Francisco, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and their Lordships Sri Sri Jagannatha Baladeva and Subhadra devi, this festival has spread to many cities throughout the world.
We can’t give an exact number of how many cities celebrate this ancient, yet ever-fresh festival nowadays; however, it seems to be rapidly increasing year by year!
At the same time, it happens that several of the festival organizers around the world face a certain challenge every year: the stage program.

In certain areas of the world, you´ll find devotional talent-filled hotspots where there are a lot of different devotee musicians, artist, dancers, actors etc. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all areas, as there is quite a shortage of devotees in other areas, who are equipped to and would like to offer their devotion to the Lord on a stage in such a way. that it is also capturing the attention of the many guests.

We would like to offer ISKCON’s organizers and the different devotees around the world a platform where they can meet.

Join the transcendental casting show!

If you are a festival organizer looking for an artist you would like to invite to your local event or if you are an artist who is looking for an opportunity to engage his or her talents in the Lord’s service, then please join our group “Devotees Got Talent” on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1186442751450273/?fref=ts

Here you will have the opportunity to showcase your talents (i.e. in a YouTube video) to the Vaishnava world.

We sincerely hope that this small endeavor will enhance the many public presentations of Krishna consciousness around the world and support our many organizers and talented artists in their service.

ys. Syamacandra dasa & Sadasiva dasa

All India Padayatra: Book Marathon Fever – Rameshwaram
December 24, 2016 (Album with photos)
Acarya Dasa: After attending the Vraja Mandala parikrama during the month of kartika we were joined by two new padayatris, Bhakta Daniel, originally from America and Dayapar Dasa, originally from Europe. We are all very happy to have them with us and welcomed them with all our hearts in the service of Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar and Srila Prabhupada. We are currently in Rameshwaram and will stay there for the next few days.
Doubly auspicious month
The month of December is very special since we celebrate two important events during this month. The first is the sannayasa anniversary of Lokanath Swami which took place on December 6th. The second is the Bhagavad-gita marathon. Bhagavad-gita now plays an important role in our lives because of our Guru Maharaja –it is he who gave us knowledge of sastra and helped us see its significance in our lives.

Seeking blessings
On December 6th, the day of Lokanath Swami’s 41st sannyasa anniversary we made a video call to congratulate him and to seek his blessings. He said to us, “I was instructed by my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, to start and carry on padayatra –and you all are helping me in my service. In fact, I would say, you all are doing my service.” He then gave a short talk on the glories of book distribution which inspired us all. We told him that we would distribute 5000 Bhagavad-gitas, and he responded by saying we should do more. He then raised his hands, blessing us all and said, “Keep going with your sankirtana, book distribution and prasadam distribution. I am very pleased with all your seva.” After taking these words to heart we continued with our services. We distribute books regularly but during this month we enhance our book distribution for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada.

Ramanathapuram
When we reached Ramanathapuram we organized a big pandal program almost like the programs we have during our Janmastami celebrations. We had sound systems in place, lighting everywhere and prasadam distribution. Sahastranam Dasa, a disciple of Bhakti Vikas Maharaja, helped us with accommodation and the program during our time there. The city of Ramanathapuram was mostly populated by people of the Muslim and Christian traditions –thankfully we did not face any problem while there. Our program started with sankirtana, followed by katha on Gita Mahatmya and ended with prasadam distribution to more than 600 people. The next morning we came across a man who had taken a Bhagavad-gita from us the day before, at the pandal program –he was sitting and reading the Gita with rapt attention. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! We distributed 165 Bhagavad-gitas and 358 small books.
Sleeping under trees
While travelling we reached a place where we could not find accommodation. So, all of us had to stay under a tree that day. It is by the mercy of Lokanath Swami, that our entire team was happy, still maintained their enthusiasm and continued with their seva despite our situation. After a six day stay in Rameshwaram we will continue on with our journey.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/MiBdpN

By Nabhinandan das

As part of ISKCON South London offering to Srila Prabhupada on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of ISKCON, we visited 72 schools in South London in 2016 and gave the message of Krishna consciousness to 15,350 children. The schools were mainly primary schools and included state comprehensive schools, private schools as well as faith schools. Schools invited us to give Diwali presentations generally during their assemblies Devotees would explain the reasons for the festival, how it is celebrated, illustrate the pastimes of Lord Ramachandra by performing the Ramayana drama and there was always the opportunity to chant the Mahamantra and get the children to also chant as well. Continue reading "Reaching out to the schools of South London
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Harinaam sankirtan at Gandhi Maidan, Gaya
ISKCON Gaya devotees performed a harinaam sankirtan at Magadh book fare, Gandhi Maida...

By Nrsimha Kavaca das

We at ISKCON's Deity Worship Ministry, are happy to present our annual report to the assembled vaisnavas. Education and training are the main tools of ISKCON Ministries to achieve their mandate. Our team is focused on developing and providing educational programs, such as the Mayapur Academy, on-site training programs, online training and resources, as well as publications and other resources. Continue reading "Deity Ministry Annual Report
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By Purushottam Nitai Das

Once during a meditation session a teacher decided to do an experiment. As soon as all his pupils assembled and sat in an erect posture with closed eyes waiting for his instruction, the teacher said, “I have a special instruction for you all today. For next one hour during the meditation session no one should think about the red monkey.” And suddenly from nowhere the red monkeys came, attacked and conquered everyone’s mind. For the next one hour all the participants whose eyes were still closed were utterly miserable because while meditating today they were seeing nothing but red monkeys. They tried their best to empty their minds of the thoughts of the red monkeys but the red monkeys were in each and every corner of their mind - sometimes jumping, sometimes dancing, sometimes laughing and sometimes silently watching all the fun. Continue reading "When suddenly from nowhere the red monkeys came and conquered all
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ISKCON Parsippany Temple, New Jersey (Album with photos)
A beautiful celebration was held at the site of our new upcoming ISKCON Parsippany Temple. The new 3.25 acre plot sits at the heart of Parsippany NJ (rated by Forbes this year as one of the top 5 best places to live in the US) and will be the new home of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai currently presiding at the Towaco temple. Dozens of enthusiastic devotees participated with great zeal and energetic kirtan.
The weather was amazing for this time of year and we feel very confident that this grand project will proceed nicely.
This was followed by a beautiful Nrsimhadeva yajna held at the Towaco temple.
We celebrated the start of the temple construction and are grateful that we can offer this commencement as a gift to Srila Prabhupāda on this fiftieth anniversary of ISKCON.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/74jghk

Christmas Eve Harinama at Surfers Paradise, Australia (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Nobody should think that “Now I have learned everything. I can surpass everyone. I have become above all rules and regulation. Now I have become paramahamsa.” This is rascaldom. Everyone should always think, “I am fool number one.” Therefore the endeavor will go on, to become perfect. If we think that “Now I have become perfect, paramahamsa,” then the spiritual regulative principles will never be followed, and you will fall down. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 1.43 – London, July 30, 1973
Find them here: https://goo.gl/VR6uFg

Kolkata TV Station hosts the devotees for a popular show (Album with photos)
We were shooting for a TV program in Kolkata yesterday. Wonderful devotees, awesome studio, great experience and opportunity to spread Krsna’s divine names through TV channel. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Hare Krsna!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/h42aDx

Here is the famous Christmas carol Carol of Bells melody with 4 part harmony Maha mantra (1 min video)
“The devotees of the Supreme Lord, or the persons who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are called santas, and they are always in love with the Lord”- Srila Prabhupadas purport to Bhagavad-gītā 3.13
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/5nxPWS

Swamiji Gave Our Lives Value

Swamiji Gave Our Lives Value

Most of the time we try to chant a certain number of “rounds” (mālā of 108 beads) in a day. Most of the time most all of those “rounds” are rubbish, and we are just trying to get the “rounds” finished. So, here is a different approach.

The goal is to chant one mālā of manasika japa (i.e. the mantra is contemplated silently) without being distracted from the mantra’s meaning. In other words, rather than trying to produce a lot of rubbish, lets produce a even a little gold.

If you find you have become distracted from the mantra, start over – go back to the start of the beads.

You probably will have to give yourself a buffer of three or four mantras. If you catch yourself being distracted quickly, within this buffer, consider it a “catch” and keep going on the mālā without restarting. Without this it’s nearly hopeless.

If you have to restart the mālā a few times, step down from manasika japa to japa with your mouth moving to the syllables. If you still fail a few times, step down again to vacika japa (audible mantra). When you finally complete one good mālā of vacika japa, “level up” and try for the mouthed syllables, and when you get that, “level up” and go for the manasika mālā. Then put your beads away from the day and get an orange juice!

Unfortunately, you will probably have to set an hour or two or more as a time limit, because you will probably discover that it is etremely difficult to do even one solid round of manasika japa without significant distraction. You may want to shoot for just vacika japa for a week or two, and gradually step up to manasika. If somehow you start getting good at doing a single mālā of manasika you might want to step up the goal to two, etc.

Consider this a “rehabilitation program” for “critically injured” or “critically handicapped” chanting.

Vraja Kishor

[This is an experiment, not the technique of any parivar as far as I am aware.]

 

Tagged: Chanting, Chanting Hare Krishna, Japa

“If one loves Krishna, he must love Lord Jesus also. And if one perfectly loves Jesus he must love Krishna too. If he says, “Why shall I love Krishna? I shall love Jesus,” then he has no knowledge. And if one says, “Why shall I love Jesus? I shall love Krishna”, then he has no knowledge either. If one understands Krishna, then he will understand Jesus. If one understands Jesus, you’ll understand Krishna too”

(Srila Prabhupada – Room conversation with Allen Ginsberg, May 12, 1969 / Columbus – Ohio)

On the sacred day of Christmas, when Jesus Christ descended to raise human consciousness, I am humbled to see this significant landmark scaled by our small effort to share the wisdom of the Gita, which too is meant for raising human consciousness.

I thank all those who have joined in the journey of delving into the wisdom of the Gita daily. And I thank especially those who have pioneered this phenomenal social media outreach: Eshant and Sapna Garg.

I seek the blessings of Jesus on this day so that I can continue to serve lifelong his and my Lord – indeed the Lord of all of us.
And drawing strength from the Lord’s promise in the Gita (10.11-12), I pray fervently that he mercifully continue to illumine the life-journey of all of us with the light of the Gita.

As a Christmas meditation, here are three similar verses from the Gita and the Bible

Bhagavad-gita: “Those who worship me with devotion, they are in me and I in them.” (Ch. VI. 29)
Bible: “I in them, thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.” (John 28.23)

Bhagavad Gita: I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings. (10.20)
Bible: I am Alpha, Omega, the beginning and the ending. (Rev. I. 8)

Bhagavad-gita: For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me. (6.30)
Bible: Remain in me, as I also remain in you. (John 15.4)

The post Christmas gift for the Bhagavad-gita: 200,000 Facebook followers on Gitadaily appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Sastric quotes

In the Kali Yuga, wealth alone will be the deciding factor of nobility [in place of birth, righteous behavior or merit].And brute force will be the only standard or deciding what is righteous or just. Mutual liking [and not family pedigree, social status, etc.] will be the deciding factor in choosing a partner in marriage; cheating will be the order of the day in business relations; satisfaction of sexual pleasure will be the only consideration of male or female excellence and worthiness; and the wearing of the sacred thread (Yajnopavita) [and not pious behavior or Vedic or Shastric learning] will be the outward index of being a Brahmin. In the Kali Yuga, only one quarter of each of the four feet of Dharma [penance, truthfulness, compassion and purity] remains. And that too goes on decreasing day by day while the feet of Adharma [unrighteousness] increase greatly. So that in the end Dharma becomes extinct. Continue reading "Predictions about Kali yuga that seem to be manifesting
→ Dandavats"

Bhurijana dasa: That is the real picture of God. The Vrndavana-lila of Krsna is the perfect presentation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He's simply enjoying. And all the inhabitants of Vrndavana, the gopis, the cowherd boys, Maharaja Nanda, Yasoda, everyone is simply anxious how to make Krsna happy

Srila Prabhupada: So therefore the real thing is that everything belongs to Krsna. We are artificially enjoying the stolen property. Therefore if you go on enjoying like that, then this frustration will come. But before coming to that frustration, if we return this property to Krsna, then we become happy. So best thing is to return everything to Krsna. This is Krsna consciousness. And you will not be a loser. You will be gainer, just like Bali Maharaja. Actually, if you think, everything belongs to Krsna. Nothing belongs to you. This is maya. Krsna's property you are thinking, "mine."

By Visakha Dasi

Worse than being alone is to be with a person who doesn’t like you; too many people have experienced the anguish and chaos caused by an incompatible marriage. Such travesties are systematically avoided in Vaishnava culture because, besides training and restraint in behaviour prior to marriage, all care is taken in matchmaking: “Formerly, boys and girls of similar dispositions were married; the similar natures of the boy and girl were united in order to make them happy.” (SB 3.21.15) “The central idea is that if the boy and girl were on an equal level the marriage would be happy, whereas inequality would lead to unhappiness.” (SB 9.18.23) We want our life’s companion to be a true peer. Continue reading "Heavenly Match?
→ Dandavats"

By Vibhu Chaitanya Das

We usually feel that there will be another day but what if there is no other day? What if this is our last day on this planet, the last day in this body? Did we accumulate sufficient blessings in this life to make it our last? Spiritual life is about accruing blessings throughout one’s devotional life; blessings from the Supreme Lord and His devotees. These blessings are the building blocks in our spiritual life, through them we develop saintly qualities. Continue reading "What if this is our last day on this planet?
→ Dandavats"

https://flic.kr/s/aHskKwFpiZ

UK marathon reaches 110,000 books distributed so far while 52,500 more books have been distributed in Hungary!
Initial count shows the Hungarian congregation and full-time distributors distributed around 52,500 books for the marathon.
Sutapa Das: The 200k effort ended yesterday. Today is the day of rest. We have now reached 110,000 registered books… but fear not, there are many scores still to come in.
Thank you to everyone. It is amazing… how these books travel to every corner of the country, touching people’s hearts and changing their life… whether they realize it or not. My words don’t count for much, but here Srila Prabhupada, in his incredible humility, beautifully expresses his “deepest appreciation” for you all:
“I could never have thought it was possible to distribute so many of our literatures. Therefore I can understand it is simply Krsna’s blessing us for your sincerely working on His behalf. Actually, that is the secret of my success, not that personally I have done anything wonderful, but that because those who are helping me are sincere, they have done the work, that is the reason for our success all over the world where others have failed. A little sincerity is very difficult thing in this age of hypocrisy and bluff, but I am so fortunate that Krsna has sent me all of you nice boys and girls who are sincerely working. Please convey to all of them my deepest appreciation.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter 1973)