Planet ISKCON

High streets are intriguing places; a microcosm of modern life. It’s where people descend in their thousands, searching for something extra to enrich their existence. Enter the monks. This is where we spend many days and weeks; standing on street corners, speaking to random people, and showing them spiritual books.

Legendary kirtaniya Agnideva Dasa’s first new album in many years, to be released in January 2017, will be entitled “Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Lord Krishna.” It will sound like “an intimate kirtan with friends,” producers say. Named after one of its tracks – a bhajan Srila Prabhupada wrote aboard the Jaladuta on his way to America – it will be a heartfelt offering to the ISKCON Founder at the end of ISKCON’s 50^th anniversary year.

Sri Varsana Dham is the place where Srimati Radharani displayed Her childhood pastimes. This video depicts various places around Varsana. Music by Tarana & friends - Love In Action.

It was December – the month of Srila Prabhupäda’s book marathon! We were quite excited when we began book distribution. We remained excited throughout. The thought of reaching out to unlimited number of souls thrilled me. The results we achieved were seemingly in proportion to our efforts. Actually, the mercy we received during this time was much beyond the external effort or internal state. There were times when nothing seemed to work out, but then everything worked out at once. The first time when we got zero response I had this feeling Krishna would do something just before we decided to give up. He did! He always does! (I recalled the past incidents when He intervened just when I was about to give up.) Continue reading "Krishna, please don’t let any of those Bhagavad-gita copies come back home with us!
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Having had some mystical experiences as a teenager that convinced me of the existence of God, I left my native country, Argentina, for Salvador, capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia, famous for its mysticism and magic. I arrived in the area without plans, money, or acquaintances and moved into a straw hut by the beach a couple of miles from the nearest fishing village and fifty miles from civilization. It was an ideal setting of palm trees, a small lake, a river of crystalline water, and the turquoise Atlantic Ocean, in year-round eighty-degree weather. I made a new friend there. He was reading the Bible and other books about God, playing music for God, and smoking marijuana to keep in touch with "the subtle world of God consciousness." While I played saxophone and recorder, he would play guitar. We intended to satisfy God with our musical spontaneity. Continue reading "Good Intentions
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Madhu means sweet. It means honey. Krishna is also called Madhu. In this material world there is one type of honey and in the spiritual world there is also a type of honey. The sweet honey in the spiritual realm is the real honey which we should hanker for. In this material world there is Kandarpa (Cupid) but in the eternal world, Madan (Cupid) is Krishna and everyone is attracted by Him. The holy name and Krishna are non different. Even great personalities such as Brahma chant the holy name in ecstasy with his four mouths. Narada Muni joyfully plays his vina melodiously accompanying the chanting of Krishna’s name. Mahadev too, blissfully calls out the Lord’s names with his five mouths. In this regard Rupa Goswami desires to have millions of tongues to taste Krishna’s nectarine names. He hankers for millions of ears to relish a tinge of the sweet holy name. Still with this I won’t be satisfied. Can we even estimate what we are missing out? Within the name is everything. Due to the diseased condition of our tongue we cannot delight in this sublime mantra. Still however we are tasting and delighting in prasad but there is a long way to go. Continue reading "Attachment to the Holy Names
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Devamrta, Niranjana, Sivarama and Candramauli Swamis.

Srila Prabhupada - Disappearance Day (6th November 2016) (Album with photos)
ISKCON Pakistan devotees were overjoyed by the visit of PhD Scholar HG Dr. Shyama Anand Krishna Prabhu from Australia on this special occasion.
Srila Prabhupada said: A devotee who confidently states his position and forcefully refutes others may be misunderstood to be arrogant, especially by those brought up in the pseudo-liberal belief that every opinion is as good as any other. But a devotee’s confidence comes, not from pride or dogmatism, but because he is actually right and everyone else is wrong. Devotees know the Absolute Truth and thus know everything best. (Bhagavad Gita: 15:19)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/LaTM8B

Ground Breaking Ceremony for a new multi-specialty hospital at Sri Dham Mayapur happened recently during Ras Purnima festival.
The city of Sri Mayapur is expanding, with its number of visitors and its residents increasing every passing year. Kirtan priya das , Nanda Suta das and Prana Gauranga Das inspired and motivated by HH. Jayapataka Swami have stepped forward to build the hospital, for the benefit of growing number of Mayapur Community devotees.
“As a part of the development of a spiritual township , its important to have a hospital and health facility.”, HH Jayapataka Swami said. He also explained that Srila Prabhupada ,after a Govardhan puja in Mayapur saw some poor children eat scraps of left over Prasad. At that time Srila Prabhupada expressed his desire that he never wanted any one to go hungry within a ten mile radius of the ISKCON Campus. It was then that we started the Food For Life at Mayapur”. Maharaj further said that the Hospital was an extension of this instruction.

ISKCON Auckland NZ: Harinam in the rain (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Our philosophy is “Come. Come here, play with Krsna as cowherd boy. Come here, dance with Krsna as gopi. Come here, accept Krsna as your son, Krsna will accept you as His mother.” There will be always two, and enjoy, any way. Even as enemy, demon displaying part of enemy, Krsna killing, that is also pastime too. That is also enjoyment. Just like sometimes we fight, friend to friend, to enjoy life, because fighting is enjoyment. You become enemy of Krsna purposefully, and to fight with Him, that is giving pleasure to Krsna. Krsna is enjoying, and He also becomes so staunch enemy. So this is also transcendental pleasure. Just like Bhisma. He is piercing the body of Krsna, and He is coming with cakra. That is a pleasure. Krsna is enjoying being pierced by His devotee. And devotee is enjoying, “Now Krsna is coming to kill me.” So any way you can deal with Krsna and enjoy transcendental pleasure, either as enemy or as friend or as son or as lover, as master, as a servant – any way. Krsna is prepared to deal with you any way, in twelve rasas, akhila-rasamrta-sindhu. Raso vai sah, in the Vedas, He is the reservoir of all pleasure, transcendental. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Room Conversations – September 11, 1974, Vrndavana
Find them here: https://goo.gl/prJTqy

Mantra Meditation Guide.
Recently, I had the great opportunity to help design and edit (with HH Giriraja Swami) a 4"x10" mini tri-fold brochure entitled the “MANTRA MEDITATION GUIDE.” With over 20,000 currently in print in North America, supplying LA, SD, Dallas, RVC and Tucson, I am feeling very encouraged to share the design with other yatras.
The printing cost is extremely affordable, at roughly 2.5 cents per guide, ~$160 for 5,000 copies and the design/content customization I am offering free of charge.
Additionally, I have an account with a wholesale printing company (USA) and would be happy to get a quote to place an order on your behalf.
If you are interested, feel free to contact me for more details.
All glories to your service! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
your servant,
Bhismadeva Dasa

Nature of Association.
Nityam Bhagavata-sevaya: Dear Devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!
As we approach 2nd Anniversary of our E-Magazine, we are continuing with series of Lord Krishna’s childhood pastimes. In the previous issue, we covered ‘Sri Damodara Lila’, NBS#50 presents 'Deliverance of Nalakuvera and Manigriva’ and the importance of 'Sadhusanga’.
Features:
1) Deliverance Of Nalakuvera And Manigriva
Conversation between Sukadeva Goswami and Maharaja Parikshita
2) Causeless Mercy Of Narada Muni
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
3) How Can One Destroy His Material Bondage?
Sri Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakura
4) How Can We Meet A Bonafide Spiritual Master?
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura
5) Nature Of Association
Compilation of Verses
We pray that this issue brings some pleasure to the devotees of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Issuu: http://issuu.com/nbsmag/docs/nbs_50
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/document/332174769/NBS-50

“Tell people it is the real thing…”
Kadamba Kanana Swami: To our book distributors, I would like to say this. When you are distributing books on the street, it is tough because people are not waiting for you. They did not come out to the streets to buy books. They came for another reason and then suddenly some ‘extra-terrestrial’ comes in his orange dress and tries to put a book in their hands, “Woah. Noooooooooo! Not interested.”

Balaram and Radhika’s Indian Vedic Wedding at ISKCON Alachua temple (Album with photos) I can’t take my eyes off of this gorgeous bride (and groom!). I had the honor and pleasure of photographing Balaram and Radhika’s wedding last month in Gainesville Florida at the Alachua ISKCON Temple. The wedding was styled and planned by the talented team at Ganjam Tribe, and they really did a fabulous job at it!

Congregation program at Abudhabi, UAE
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Ground Breaking Ceremony for A New Multi speciality Hospital at Sri Dham Mayapur happened recently during Ras Purnima festival.The city of Sri Mayapur is expanding,with its number of visitors and its residents increasing every passing year. Kirtan priya das , Nanda Suta das and Prana Gauranga Das  inspired and motivated by HH. Jayapataka Swami have […]

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Prabhupada Affirms: “No More Coming Down”

If we are at all aware of how dependent we are on God—for the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and our very ability to eat and drink and breathe, to think and feel and do everything else we do—we will feel grateful and want to reciprocate God’s kindness. We will want to do something for He (or She or They) who has done, and continues to do, so much for us.

We often take things for granted until we lose them. I use my right hand to chant on meditation beads, and one morning I found that I had severe arthritic pain in my hand and could no longer use it for chanting. I had taken the use of my hand for granted, but when I lost its use, I resolved to never take my hand for granted and to always use it in the best way in God’s service.

How can we attempt to return some of God’s favor, some of God’s care—and love—for us? My spiritual master, Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, gave one answer:

“Whatever you have got by pious or impious activities, you cannot change. But you can change your position, by Krishna consciousness. That you can change. Other things you cannot change. If you are white, you cannot become black, or if you are black, you cannot become white. That is not possible. But you can become a first-class Krishna conscious person. Whether you are black or white, it doesn’t matter. This is Krishna consciousness. Therefore our endeavor should be how to become Krishna conscious. Other things we cannot change. This is not possible.

tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovido
na labhyate yad bhramatam upary adhah
tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah sukham
kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa
      [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.18]

Kalena, by time, you will get whatever you are destined. Don’t bother about so-called economic development. So far as food is concerned, Krishna is supplying. Eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. He is supplying even cats and dogs and ants. Why not you? There is no need of bothering Krishna, ‘God, give us our daily bread.’ He will give you. Don’t bother. Try to become very faithful servant of God. ‘Oh, God has given me so many things. So let me give my energy to serve Krishna.’ This is required. This is Krishna consciousness. ‘I have taken so much, life after life, from Krishna. Now let me dedicate this life to Krishna.’ This is Krishna consciousness. ‘I will not let this life go uselessly like cats and dogs. Let me utilize it for Krishna consciousness.’ ”

I pray that I will dedicate this life and everything I have—everything that God has given me—fully in God’s service, following His pure devotees.

manasa, deho, geho, yo kichu mora
arpilun tuya pade, nanda-kisora

“Mind, body, and home, whatever may be mine, I surrender at Your lotus feet, O youthful son of Nanda [Krishna]!” (Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Saranagati)

—Giriraj Swami

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 13 April 2013, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.1.33)

To our book distributors, I would like to say this. When you are distributing books on the street, it is tough because people are not waiting for you. They did not come out to the streets to buy books. They came for another reason and then suddenly some ‘extra-terrestrial’ comes in his orange dress and tries to put a book in their hands, “Woah. Noooooooooo! Not interested.”

But sometimes, somebody is just a little absent-minded and you just like, “Bang!” put the book in his hands. You know, he has got it in his hands. Then he stands there looking at it and then you tell him, “Yes, yes, we are not selling them. This book is for you.”

“For me? Really? Oh.” And he has it in his hands. That is the nature of the hand; the hand wants to grab. And once the hand has grabbed it, then the hand does not want to let go. So, they have to have the book in the hand. Once they have the book in the hand, the hand wants to keep it even if the mind does not like it, “It’s mine.”

It is hard to let things go from your hand once you have got it. So then, you know, okay, some people will buy the book but there are also many people who say no. But those who had it in the hand but gave it back and said no, they will think about it, you know what I mean, like I said, it stays in the mind. They will be a little curious, “What was it anyway?”

Therefore, the people that say no today are the ones that are going to say yes tomorrow! They are already preparing the ground. So, do not worry about all those people that say no, it is okay. At least they got in contact; they had the chance and they let it go and they will start to think about it. And the next time a book is offered to them, they will think like well maybe…

Then sometimes, somebody walks up to you, out of nowhere and says, “Oh, can I have one of those books?” That is one of those guys that said no before and who has been thinking about it and finally, just on his own, comes and takes it. So in this way, we should penetrate with this knowledge because it is the real thing. We can tell people it is the real thing and it is! That is the nice thing and therefore sooner or later people will turn to it!

Eight years after celebrated ISKCON scientist Richard L. Thompson’s (Sadaputa Dasa’s) passing, his former colleagues and some rising young Vaishnava scientists are relaunching the Bhaktivedanta Institute of Gainesville. Their inaugural seminar, held at the Alachua Learning Center in North Central Florida on November 13^th, was dubbed “Bhakti Yoga & Science in the 21^st Century.”

The recent US elections created a divide in the country. Many people were happy with the election outcome while many others felt angry, letdown, frustrated, and even hopeless. How do we make sure that this mood and all the emotions we’re carrying around don’t end up on the dinner table when we sit down for Thanksgiving dinner? A video by Gadadhara Pandit Das.

I feel there needs to be some clarification about the use of the words “Hindu” and “Hinduism.” The fact is that true “Hinduism” is based on Vedic knowledge, which is related to our spiritual identity. Many people do accept it to mean the same thing as Sanatana-dharma, which is a more accurate Sanskrit term for the Vedic path. Such an identity is beyond any temporary names as Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or even Hindu. After all, God never describes Himself as belonging to any such category, saying that He is only a Christian God, or a Muslim God, or a Hindu God. That is why some of the greatest spiritual masters from India have avoided identifying themselves only as Hindus. The Vedic path is eternal, and therefore beyond all such temporary designations. So am I calling the name “Hindu” a temporary designation? Continue reading "About the Name “Hindu”
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5 Ways to Thank.
No matter who we are or where we live we have someone (or something) to thank. Perhaps we thank the sun for brightening our day, or our car for starting without trouble. We may thank Krishna for our connection to Him, or our co-worker for helping us out. We thank because we are dependent on others in all aspects of our life. We thank because it is good for us, especially for our spiritual practice.

Devamrta, Niranjana, Sivarama Swamis.

A Little Girl Who Emptied Her Piggybank for a Krsna Book.
Pravin Wakle Prabhu and his team of young Youth Forum devotees at ISKCON Chowpatty very enthusiastically distribute books after work. Pravin works at a software firm in Lower Parel. After work he and his devotee friends put up stalls at either D-mart or at some spiritual event happening around the Thane / New Mumbai area.

Mayapur Institute in Gauranga Desh.
“The more one reads Bhagavad-gītā the more he gets the appetite to read and understand it, and each time he gets new enlightenment. That is the nature of the transcendental message. Similarly, we find that transcendental happiness in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The more we hear and chant the glories of the Lord, the more we become happy.” – S.B. 3.25.2 Purport
Srila Prabhupada wanted every one of us to study his books systematically for our own benefit. It is evident in many of his writings, letters and lectures. To fulfill this vision of Srila Prabhupada, Mayapur Institute manifested.
In order to reach out to students who are not able to travel to India to study the Sastric Courses, Mayapur Institute holds courses in various locations around the world upon request. 35 Students successfully completed their Nectar of Instruction unit of Bhakti Sastri Graduation Program at Gauranga Desh.

Conversation.

Diverse Newcomers Delve into Prabhupada’s Books at Baltimore Bhakti Lounge. Originally the gatherings were held in a tiny space – barely more than a shed. Since being restarted in October, however, the Bhakti Lounge’s home has been a handsome, two-storey residential house with a wrap-around porch and comfortable furnishings, located near the ISKCON Baltimore temple in Catonsville, Maryland.

Yavat - Ter Kadamba Karttika 2016 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: This is my very favorite parikrama to go to Yavat and ...

THE SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS CONFERENCE 2016
Recently I attended the yearly conference, “The Science of Consciousness”, at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Sponsored for the past 23 years by the University of Arizona and the University of Michigan, and dedicated to “broad and rigorous approaches to conscious awareness, the nature of existence and our place in the universe”, this unique forum attracted over 1000 participants from 60 countries. Of the 500 submitted abstracts, mine was one of the 200 included in the poster session.
Here is the Abstract from my presentation:

Modes of Material Nature: A Mathematical Model of Consciousness Based on Eastern Philosophical Traditions Mauricio Garrido (Columbia University, Professional Studies; Bhaktivedanta Institute, Gainesville, New York, NY )

Consciousness is postulated by some to be a fundamental entity (Chalmers, 1996). As such, how is it affected by and how does it affect the world around us? Eastern philosophies such as Vedanta and Sankhya hold that consciousness is fundamental and explain its interactions with matter in terms of the modes of material nature, or gunas, which act as both consciousness filters and the make-up of
matter itself. Dasgupta (1961) describes the gunas as ?the universal characteristics of all kinds of mental tendencies? (p. 468). According to the Bhagavat Purana, on one hand all material elements are infused with the gunas. And on the other hand, our psycho-physical disposition consists of mixtures of the gunas (Prabhupada, 1976). Thus, more than just a personality indicator to describe an individual’s behavior - such as the Myers-Briggs Indicator (Langton & Robbins, 2007) - or perceptual sets that are created by motivation (Coon & Mitterer, 2008), the gunas have an important ontological status in the metaphysics of Vedanta and Sankhya. Although there have been studies on inter-guna correlations (Das, 1991 and Pathak et al., 1992), only until recently has a fully statistically-validated, quantitative tool been developed to assess them individually (Wolf, 1999 and Stempel et al., 2006). This tool has been used in meditation studies (Schmidt & Walach, 2014) and speech rehabilitation (Caturvedi, 2000). We now present a mathematical model of the gunas that aims at understanding the results of some of these studies, which use the tool developed by Wolf to quantify the gunas. A delineation of the different characteristics that make up the different mental faculties according to the Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavat Purana is presented to create interacting modules. The states of this machinery are then linked to the gunas and dynamics are included in this state-space. Finally, the results from some of the studies that involve guna theory are explained using this model

I share an excerpt of a letter from Srila Prabhupada, and a quote from his guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I share inspiring selections from Vaishnava Compassion and Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. I share notes on lectures Prahladananda Swami gave at 26 Second Avenue and The Bhakti Center. I share notes on a lecture by Adi Purusha Prabhu, who does Food for Life in New York City, and part of a conversation with Bhaktivinode Prabhu, a Prabhupada disciple who plays drum on harinama in Washington, D.C. I share notes on an excellent lecture by Ramesvara Prabhu at The Bhakti Center in glorification of Srila Prabhupada on the occasion of his disappearance day. I share notes on the classes of younger devotees at The Bhakti Center, including Murali Gopal Prabhu, Ananda Bihari Prabhu, Mahotsaha Prabhu, and Bhakta Cesar, and notes on a Sunday feast lecture by Gopal Hari Prabhu and from a performance of Yama Niyama Das Brahmacari, both in Alachua. I also share a nice realization on hearing about Krishna from Lavanga Devi Dasi of Krishna House. Continue reading "As Krishna enters the listening ear, He clears up the vision of the listener…
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