Planet ISKCON

Memorial program and a feast honoring Jagajivan Prabhu, in Mumbai (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: …there are so many processes how to get out of this material world, but Prahlada Maharaja and all the devotees, especially Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He has recommended that “Chant Hare Krsna.” harer nama harer nama harer nama iva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha [Cc. Adi 17.21] And that, you benefit. Very easy, you take it and chant it sincerely, without any offense. You haven’t got to follow these, what is called, mauna-vrata-sruta-tapo-‘dhyayana [SB 7.9.46]. It is not possible nowadays to be a very learned scholar in Vedic literature or to remain silent or to take some vow, then to remain in solitary place, then japa, samadhi, to remain in trance as the yogis try. They are impossible. They are recommended processes for getting liberation, but in the Kali-yuga it is not possible. So we are so fallen, it is not possible to execute all these processes. Therefore Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the mercy incarnation, that “These people, so fallen, they cannot do anything.” So He has recommended a simple thing, kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha. Chant (devotees chant simultaneously) Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.46 – Vrndavana, April 1, 1976
Find them here: https://goo.gl/DfrW0S

Remember!
Bhaktimarga Swami: “On this day, Remembrance Day, men and women whose lives were sacrificed in recent wars are honoured for their service.” After these opening remarks at our ISKCON Canada AGM, I also included mention of one of our own veterans, if you will, an ISKCON pioneer for Latin America, Jagajivan, who passed away this week from heart failure. He was likeable, loveable, and a firm, stalwart man for our guru, Srila Prabhupada, and his mission. He surely will be missed.
Eventually, we all will be missing after making that exit from this body. The solid truth of life is that we will be missed and we will miss those we leave, so don’t miss the chance for dharma. The Vedas say boldly, “Don’t miss this point!” as you are now a human, after travelling through successive lives to reach the opportunity for self-realization.
Let’s show what real humanity is by addressing, first, our obligation to ourselves.
While the process for self-realization is a human obligation, in our meetings of today, we brought to the table a presentation, by a Brampton devotee, on mental disorders, and how they impact an individual and a community that’s striving for normalcy—whatever that is. We all know that each and every one of us has some level of flaw within our chemical nature, even if we endeavour for spiritual perfection. Other topics were presented. For our group, this was cutting edge. It was a wholesome discussion.
After a day of talk and feedback, a walk was necessary. A full day of talk can challenge sanity. A few of us took to the country road as we heard the coyotes sing.
May the Source be with you!
Friday, November 11th, 2016
Bolton, Ontario

Even when a person becomes an offender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, he can still be delivered simply by taking shelter of the Holy Names of the Lord: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. In other words, the chanting of Hare Krishna is beneficial for eradicating all sins, but if one becomes an offender to the Holy Names of the Lord, then he has no chance of being delivered.

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Everyone should become a Vaisnava Goswami - Sri Upadesamrta Course.
Upadesamrta means, the nectar of Instruction. Upadesa: instruction, amrta: nectar. Srila Prabhupada in his Preface explains that the Krsna consciousness movement is conducted under the supervision of Srila Rupa Goswami. He is the head of the Gaudiya vaisnavas and together with the other Goswamis of Vrndavana, teaches the whole world about the science of bhakti yoga. To attain pure love for Krsna one must participate in the mission of Lord Caitanya (appearing in the mood of Radharani) and follow in His footsteps. And in order to do that, one must follow in the footsteps of the six Goswamis. The two main factors to spiritual advancement is 1) control of the senses and 2) the attitude. Without controlling ones senses, one cannot understand spiritual life. Rupa Goswami is teaching us to come to the platform of goodness so that everything connected to Krsnas service is assimilated. Everyone should become a Vaisnava Goswami, or a fully controlled devotee of Lord Krsna. Then one can proceed on the path of perfection.

By Parsada dasi

I watched the happy look on my friends face and gave her, her first assignment, “Please take that pan from this mataji and you go to that part of the barn and fill it up with cow-dung.” With an amazed look her face, she turned to me, “You can’t be serious!” she said. After giving her a practical demonstration, she went down on her knees and picked up her first handful of cow-dung. And in no time she had the pan filled up. She was having so much fun; she then carried it on her head and took it to the area where it would be made into cow-dung cakes. Sitting among the ladies who were already making them, she made over a dozen cow-dung cakes! Continue reading "A Day With Krishna’s Cows In Vraja
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Tivon and Cheyenne are an African American couple in their mid-twenties. She works in a steakhouse, and he’s in marketing. Cybil, in her fifties, is a real estate agent. Jorge is a student. Lauren is a professor of music at Towson University. Maria is retired from her government agency job. Ravi is doing his postdoc in medicine at John Hopkins. Kate is a nurse and a Buddhist. And Henna works on a horse farm. They’re as diverse a group as possible, but they all have one thing in common: they’re all regular attendees at the recently re-opened Bhakti Lounge in Baltimore. 

By Cintamani Madhavi Devi Dasi

On Saturday, November 12, the Chariot Festival Ratha Yatra was held in Chile, with thousands of people pulling Lord Jagannath's car through the main avenue of the capital, followed by a cultural show in fron of the Government Palace La Moneda. In an unprecedented event, Santiago's main street, Avenida Libertador Bernado O'Higgins, was used exclusively by the majestic chariot that carried the Lord of the Universe and the people who pulled its ropes, filling the streets of Santiago with joy and colors like never before. It all started as a dream. When Sri Bhakti Das, in charge of the Department of Culture of ISKCON Chile, visualized Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra in front of La Moneda, he felt that it would be a beautiful offering for Srila Prabhupada on the 50th anniversary of the International Society for Consciousness Krishna. Continue reading "Historic Ratha Yatra Held In The Heart Of Santiago, Chile
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By Bhaktivedanta Hospital and Research Institute

H. G. Jagajivan Prabhu joined ISKCON in the year 1970. He was initiated by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada in the year 1972. Throughout his stay at the Hospital H. G. Jagajivan Prabhu was extremely cheerful and always spoke enthusiastically about the preaching mission. He will be fondly remembered by the Hospital team which considers itself fortunate to receive an opportunity to serve this dear devotee of the Lord. Continue reading "An account of the Last Journey of H. G. Jagajivan Prabhu (ACBSP)
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Prabhupada’s Greed

The Pastimes of Lord Ramachandra by HH Bhakti Charu Swami on the occasion of Diwali. 30th October 2016, at Bhaktivedanta Manor, London.

The post “Lord Rama Returns To Ayodhya” Lecture By Bhakti Charu Swami appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

By Madhava Smullen

Few prasadam stories from New Vrindaban’s history are as legendary as those of the late Amburish Dasa’s sweet rice and Pitambar Dasi’s ice cream.

Straight from the cow barn and prepared by the cowherd couple with deep love and devotion, they were much-craved treats in the austere lives of New Vrindaban’s early devotees.

Neither Amburish nor Pitambar had any cooking or cow-care experience before becoming devotees. Amburish, a city boy from Denver, Colorado, stopped at New Vrindaban on a road trip in 1971 just after high school, and instantly knew he was home. He moved to New Vrindaban and was initiated by Srila Prabhupada that same year.

Pitambar met devotees chanting at a craft show while living as a hippy in California’s Santa Cruz mountains. When one of the devotees told her all about New Vrindaban, she was similarly drawn to the place – she stayed over night at her first visit on Radhastami 1976, and never left.

Soon after, she received the service of caring for the calves, and met her husband-to-be Amburish in the barn, where he was in charge of the cows.

Amburish made an instant impression. An excellent kirtan leader and pujari, he was well known for his dedication, hard work and enthusiasm. “He could often be seen running from one service to another,” recalls his long-time friend Advaita Das. “He did not walk, he ran.”

But most of all, Amburish loved serving the cows.

“They were his heart and soul,” Pitambar says. “They weren’t just cows, they were like mirrors of his family. There were hundreds of them, and he named them all, and remembered their names. He involved our children, too – when our first son was born, he sat him on a cow when he was just two hours old. And our three sons – Nitai, Acarya and Anandamaya – were always playing in the barn while we were milking.”

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Amburish kept meticulous records of all the cows’ activities, births, deaths, names, locations, and milk production amounts. He worked in the barn from early morning till late at night. He attended veterinarian school, so that he could deliver and breed the cows, and take care of all their medical needs.

And he saw Krishna in all of it. “He would tell us, ‘When you clean the barn, clean it so nicely that Krishna will want to bring Radharani here to take a walk through it,’” Pitambar says. “He would blast out the Govindam prayers to call the cows in from the pasture. And he always chanted while milking them.”

The fresh, whole milk from cows protected with such love and devotion was an essential part of Amburish’s legendary sweet rice.

But so, too, was the way he applied that same care and devotion to preparing the dish.

“First he would go take a shower, and get dressed in his dhoti and brahmana thread, as if he was getting ready for pujari work,” says Pitambar.

Then Amburish would carefully measure out all the ingredients, which at different times included spices like bay leaves, camphor, and cardamom but eventually were reduced to a pure blend of just four items: fresh milk, rice, sugar and raisins.

Cooking outside over a wood fire in a huge 30 gallon pot, he would alternately scrape the bottom of the pot to keep the sweet rice from burning, and aerate the milk with a one gallon ladle. Consistency was king, and Amburish wanted it to be perfect. Meanwhile, he chanted bhajans the entire time without cessation.

“It was just so magical to watch,” says Pitambar.

Depending on the time of year, Amburish would then cool the sweet rice in a stream, a root cellar, or a snowbank. The resulting dish was a Sunday or festival treat that inspired feverish devotion in a New Vrindaban community that lived on an austere diet during the week. One tradition on Balarama Rasayatra saw Amburish hiding the sweet rice out in the pasture for Lord Balarama and his Gopis, which the devotees would hunt desperately for at night, to no avail.

“I had experienced sweet rice before, but Amburish’s sweet rice took the experience to a new level,” says Advaita. “To this day I have never tasted sweet rice anywhere – at any other temple or restaurant – that even comes close.”

Another much sought-after treat was Pitambar’s ice cream, rich in flavor as it was also made with the excess milk from Krishna’s cows. “I would blend milk, sugar and fruit in an ice cream machine, put it in a five-gallon bucket, take it to the prasadam room, and sell it for 35 cents a cup,” she says. “Back then, it was so austere, that anything sweet was like, ‘Oh, boy!’ What’s more, it was something different – not on the Vedic menu. The cups just flew out!”

For New Vrindaban’s three biggest festivals at the time – Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day, which all ran over three-day weekends and drew thousands of devotees, pilgrims and tourists – Pitambar would make an incredible 100 gallons of ice cream a day.

“I would stay up for three days straight, not sleeping at all, to make it,” she says. “I’d have to make it only four gallons at a time, because that’s all the milk the machine would hold. And I made a different flavor of ice cream each day: carob, using a Hershey-like syrup; strawberry; and orange-mango, using real fruits rather than concentrate.”

Pitambar also worked extremely hard the rest of the year, too. In the early days, she made chapatis and washed pots, scrubbing them with ashes from the cooking fires because there was no soap.

Later, she took care of the calves as diligently as Amburish did the cows. “I just loved them,” she says. “They were like my children. They were so much fun, and so sweet. I would feed them bottles of milk, and I’d look down, and my entire sari would be in their mouth!”

Pitambar also cleaned the calves’ pens, brushed them, and fed them grain and hay as they got older, walking from one farm to another to care for calves of different age groups.

They were inseperable. At one point early on before she was married, Pitambar attempted to leave New Vrindaban and move to the temple in Berkely, California. “Then I dreamt about the calves,” she recalls. “They were crying, asking me to come back. I started packing my bags right away. The Berkely leaders begged me to stay, offering me trips to India, saris, a new apartment. I said, ‘No, I have to go back to my calves!”

Pitambar also made ghee and milk sweets from New Vrindaban cow milk for the Deities and guests, and churned butter by hand. She had to churn it in a stream in the summer to keep it cool, and on the coals of the cooking fires in the winter to keep it from solidifying.

From 1976 to 1980, she and Amburish ran a full snack bar from the barn, with her ice cream, French fries cooked in ghee, Bhima burgers, and pizza with home-made cheese. During this period, she also worked at Prabhupada’s Palace until its opening in 1979, doing gold-leaf and touching up moldings.

From 1983 to ’84, Amburish and Pitambar oversaw the teenage boys’ ashram, which Pitambar says was ‘like a big, happy family.’

Former students agree. “We lived at the Vrindaban farmhouse, which, at the time, was quite remote and removed from the rest of the community,” says alumni Chaitanya Mangala Das. “This meant the adolescent boys were able to engage in a lot more fun activities that weren’t really allowed before or after that period. For those in that ashram there is a general consensus this was our favorite time in gurukula, and Pitambar and Amburish were our favorite ashram teachers.”

Later, the couple worked at ISKCON’s restaurant in Pittsburgh, and supplied the Rainbow Kitchen for the homeless with food.

In 1989, Amburish passed away in New Vrindaban, and his ashes were scattered at the Kusum Sarovara Lake there.

In his absence, Pitambar started her own herbal goods cottage business to support herself and her boys. Taking her tinctures, homeopathic medicines, dried flower arrangements and herbal-infused creations to local craft fairs she worked hard and became well-known in the area, making the cover of the Wheeling Register.

In 2001, she finally left New Vrindaban to take care of her mother in Pittsburgh. Today, she still lives there while her son Nitai and other caregivers take care of her, as her advanced Parkinson’s leaves her disabled and homebound.

“Pitambar is a kindhearted, gentle and humble devotee, whose caregivers say she has ‘taught them a lot about life,’” says Pitambar’s closest friend Tilakini Dasi, who calls every day to keep her spirits up.

“She’s a generous and empathetic soul who cares a lot about others, and a fiercely dedicated mother,” adds Rupa Dasi, another lifelong friend.

Sure enough, Pitambar herself hopes she’ll be remembered for always trying to be kind to everyone, and says that being a mother was her favorite and most important service.

She is very proud of her grown-up sons Nitai, who works at an irrigation company as well as caring for her; Acarya, who serves in the U.S. Navy; and Ananda, a former combat medic, who recently got engaged and is now attending ultrasound tech school.

“They might have very different lives now than they did growing up,” Pitambar says. “But Ananda says his happy place will always be laying on a blanket in Radha-Vrindaban Chandra’s temple room during mangala arati.”

New Vrindaban is Pitambar’s happy place, too. “It’s where I spent most of my adult life,” she says. “There was good and bad there, but it was home. I miss it terribly. I wish I could physically go there more, but my health won’t currently allow it.”

Pitambar has potent advice for the next wave of New Vrindaban residents. “Our lives are precious and go by fast. We don’t always know Krishna’s plan, so we should use our time wisely.”

She concludes, “New Vrindaban is a very special place. It is the home of Srila Prabhupada, Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra, and so many wonderful Brijabasis. So please, let’s do our best to love and respect each other in the Holy Dhama.”

Amburish’s Heavenly Sweet Rice

(Makes about 12 cups)

“Of the many wonderful dairy-based recipes from the pioneer days of New Vrindaban, Amburish’s sweet rice remains my all-time favorite,” Pitambar says. “Of course, the most important ingredient was his enthusiastic devotion, every time he made it. Made with the same care, this heavenly sweet rice is a wonderful way to honor Lord Krishna, His cows and cowherds.”

Ingredients:

1 gallon fresh milk (whole milk, from protected cows, if possible)

1 cup long grain rice (creates a better consistency and flavor than basmati)

3 cups white sugar (cut down if too sweet)

Small palm full of raisins

Directions:

Combine milk and rice in a thick-bottomed pot. Cook on a medium heat, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot constantly so that the milk will not stick and burn. When the milk begins to boil, begin ladling the milk as well as stirring it – this serves to aerate the milk and keep it from boiling over.

After half an hour, add raisins. When the mixture has been cooking for about 45 minutes, begin watching it closely. Consistency is key – it should be neither too thin nor too thick. Pick up some of the sweet rice in the ladle, swish it around, and check that the rice is floating on top of the milk and that the milk itself leaves a thin coating on the ladle.

When it reaches this point, remove the sweet rice from the fire and stir the sugar in thoroughly.

Chill the sweet rice, offer to the Lord and serve ice cold.

During the month of November, every day early in the morning the young daughters of the cowherds would take one another’s hands and, singing of Krishna’s transcendental qualities, go to the Yamuna to bathe.

Desiring to obtain Krishna as their husband, they would then worship the goddess Katyayani with incense, flowers and other items.

Below are statements with references from scriptures showing the gradual stages of evolution from materialism to spiritual life to pure love of Godhead. I have ordered them in numbers.

Question: From the revealed scriptures, what is the ultimate goal of life?

1.  The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, is worshiped by the proper execution of prescribed duties in the system of varṇa and āśrama. There is no other way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four varṇas and āśramas – BG 9.27

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 22 April 2016, Radhadesh, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.8.14-16)

I read this article about organ donations. Someone sent it around and the article described how you cannot take organs from a dead body. It is not possible because then the organs are spoilt already and can no longer be used for transplant. Therefore you still have to be ‘alive and dead’ at the same time to donate an organ. So this type of death where you can be ‘alive and dead’ at the same time is called brain-dead, the heart still beats but the brain is dead. So people that are heavily injured especially with brain injuries go into a comatose condition and then at one point, when there is no brain activity measurements showing up with the electrodes, then the person is declared brain-dead. 

So then bring the scalpels, bring the saw, bring the scissors and let us cut it out… At first, take the eyes, then take a kidney and systematically take out all the organs in a sequence so that the person does not ‘die’. 

Now sometimes the blood pressure goes up as they are removing organs, just like in the case of someone who did not get enough anaesthesia for an operation, then the doctors have to give a little more. Even though the donors are brain-dead, sometimes they start jerking as they are being cut! No problem, they fix that also, they just give some medicine which causes paralysis so there is no jerking – no problem! The donor just lies there peacefully and they take out the organs. If anyone stills wants to donate organs then you are very brave. Me, definitely not!

We can see how the demoniac tendencies of society are infiltrated to something mainstream. And how it is very nicely glossed over and how it is very nicely covered with an image of compassion… real compassion and kindness, ‘Do you want to donate some organs, do you?’

So like that, the demoniac mentality is deeply ingrained in society. But no matter how far it goes, the laws of nature are very intricate and they will always will be a response from the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the laws of nature. There is a Bengali proverb which describes that an artist tried to make a statue of Lord Siva but in the end it looked more like a monkey!!

Similarly in the name of world peace, as Srila Prabhupada explained, they made a nuclear bomb but with it, they hung impending death above their heads. In the name of defense and it is true if we look at history, it was inevitable, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings were the only way to stop the devastating force of the Second World War; there was no other way.

But meanwhile, we have hung death above our head and ever since, we have lived with this idea of the atomic bomb. In the sixties and the seventies era of the cold war, this was a big thing. Lately the cold war is again coming a bit more to the foreground, and like this we see that the demons will again and again misuse their powers. Of course devotees – we just depend on Krsna for our protection.

 

When Monkeys Start Typing!
The chance theory.
Chaitanya Charan das: Typists all over the world, beware. Your jobs are in danger. You have competition….from monkeys. That’s what the scientists would have us believe. At least those scientists who advocate the chance theory.
Chance is a popular word today in the world of science. And why not? It is the one- word answer to all the questions that scientists always found very disconcerting. How did the incredibly vast universe with all its mind-boggling order come about? How did the atom with its intricate design come? Even the tiniest cell is far more complex than the biggest factory on earth. How in the wide world did it come from simple starting elements? Pat comes the reply to all these questions, with a triumphant smile, “Chance.”
THE BIG DOGMA
That there is absolutely no empiric evidence for anything ever having come by chance doesn’t really matter. In the religion of science, there is one unspoken dogma which practically everyone agrees upon: any theory, no matter how coherent and systematic, is unacceptable and “unscientific” if it brings an ultimate creator into the picture. And conversely, any theory, no matter how improbable and untenable, is joyfully embraced if it helps in pushing God out. This scientific (?) mentality is typified by the following statement of William Bonner (pg 119, Mystery of Expanding Universe), “It is the business of science to offer rational explanations for all events in the real world, and any scientist who calls on God to explain something is failing in his job. This is one piece of dogmatism that a scientist can allow himself.”
No wonder then that the chance theory has found many adherents in spite of the absence of even scanty evidence. For a mind programmed since birth to think in a mechanistic (read ‘atheistic’) way, chance is a far more comforting word to hear than God as the ultimate causative principle.

THE MONKEY BUSINESS
Now let us consider whether the chance theory is possible leave even in principle. In the words of the eighteenth century atheistic philosophers Denis Diderot & David Hume: Given infinite time, nature would by chance alone eventually hit on the order that we see around us. A modern version of this theory takes the form of an analogy (first introduced by the famous Eddington): A monkey, if given infinite time, can by itself type the works of Shakespeare. To gullible minds trained to worship scientists as “the champions of truth”, this analogy appears plausible. And since the time scale involved makes it impossible to verify empirically, the chance theory has assumed the status of an infallible truth.
Let’s do some simple common sense analysis of the monkey’s typing adventures. Suppose that you are told to supervise the monkey and suppose you and the monkey are told to work in 8-hour shifts. Day 1. Both you and the monkey arrive on time and the monkey sits dutifully in front of the typewriter and starts typing (Thank goodness!) After 1 hour, what will you see? Some gibberish. Maybe 1 small word here or there. And at end of the day? Several pages of meaningless typed pages. You may find a few meaningful words - but only with great difficulty. (It is after all too much to expect the monkey to press a spacebar exactly after a meaningful word is completed!) Day 2. Again the monkey sits down diligently and you sit behind him and he starts playing. Eight hours later, you are again looking at several printed pages struggling to find even a few meaningful words somewhere. Day 10. “History repeats itself” You begin to realize that whoever said that knew what he was speaking about. The search for meaningful words in streams and streams of meaningless texts is getting on your nerves. Day 100. It is obvious to you by now that what you are looking for is never to be found. Whether it is day 10^0 or 10^2 or 10^1,000 or 10^100000……00000…, it really doesn’t matter. The result of the monkey’ typing is always going to be the same - nonsense. He is not going to learn by experience!
Now let’s assume that the monkey starts working in 24 hour shifts (We won’t ask you to supervise, don’t worry!) Still that is not going to make any difference. A 24 hour shift is just like three 8-hour shifts with no break in between. So just as three 8-hour shifts don’t give any fruitful results, one 24-hour shift will similarly bear no fruit. And just as 8-hour shifts repeated 10^1000….. times don’t lead to any coherent text, neither will 24 hour shifts repeated 10^1000….. times.
The point is that the probability of a monkey typing out all the works of Shakespeare, if given millions of years, is not an infinitesimally small number; it is zero. No matter how many millions, billion, quadrillions or whatever number of years are given to the monkey (assuming he lives that long!), still the probability always remains zero.
Thus even in principle randomness does not produce order on any appreciable scale, irrespective of the time given.
Simple common sense, isn’t it? But “common sense is not so common”, especially in Kali Yuga and especially in the scientific community.
So typists, sorry for the false alarm. But don’t blame us; we didn’t set it on; rather we are setting it off.

THE SMALL BANG CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
An entrepreneur got really excited when he first heard about the big bang theory. The very next day he inaugurated his own construction company, 'The Small Bang Construction Company.’ His only infrastructure - rods of dynamite. His mission statement: “Just as a big bang constructed the whole universe, I will, by small bangs, construct small houses.” His business soon went bankrupt. Don’t you think that the big bang theorists should pay for it? Poor fellow. After all, his only fault is that he believed the big bangers. Little did he know that his bank account would also experience a big bang because of his faith in the big bang! If chance, why copyrights? When Srila Prabhupada was told that the French scientist Dr J Monod won the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his theory that everything came by chance, he at once challenged, “If everything came by chance, then even his theory came by chance! Then what is his credit?” If everything has come by chance, why do scientists copyright their theories. Everything has come by chance, except, of course, their theories! A remarkably self-serving theory, to say the very least!

GOODBYE, MR. CHANCE
Nothing comes by chance; even the chance theory doesn’t come by chance. Everything, especially everything well-organized, has an intelligent designer behind it. So the huge universe and all things in it necessitate a super-intelligent designer.
So Mr Chance, Goodbye. There is no chance for chance among the intelligent. But don’t worry. There is no shortage of fools in Kali Yuga. You can start with the nearest “science” university !

Czech Republic 2016: Double It, Double It Again, And Keep On Increasing …
Padayatra: too hot to drink but too sweet to resist! Padayatra itself was like a hot sugarcane syrup: so hot it was nearly impossible to drink it, but so sweet that most of us were very eager to drink it again and again for the whole three weeks. To cool us a little bit, Krishna sent us a few cloudbursts. The worst one was so strong that the wind started to push our cart although it was stationary. Soaked by continuous torrents of rain we had to put a big ladder under the wheels to stop the cart from moving. Frequent evening rains affected attendance of our cultural programs, but since this year we had bet on intense Facebook advertisement and bought two spacious folding tents, we still had an attendance of at least 60 to 100 people, even during the rain. It may not look like much but Czech towns and villages are like ghost towns during summer. It often happens you meet only two or three people outside during the day.

Appreciation from recipients of Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Ignited with the Fire Of Krsna Consciousness.
I want to thank you for being a critical part in my life. Without the distribution of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s books, I would never have been ignited with the fire of Krsna consciousness. My first contact with Krsna was at my friend’s house. I saw the book The Science of Self Realization lying on the floor, and at that moment I felt an overwhelming, irresistible attraction to borrow the book. I read a few pages and knew I had finally found the truth. I’ve now read about half of your books but had little association with devotees. My goal right now is to join an ISKCON farm community. Hare Krsna.
Jimi
Vashon Island, Washington, USA

By HariKirtan Das

Recently I got an opportunity to attend the conference on Rural development based on cows, conducted by National Institute for Rural Development (NIRD) & Panchayati raj (Ministry for Rural Development, Government of India) Rajendranagar, Hyderabad on 3rd of November, 2016. As a pleasant surprise, I met Rupavilas prabhu (Venumadhuri trust director) who was also giving a seminar sharing his experience about Venumadhuri NGO activities. Seminar was well organized by NIRD inviting the elite group consisting of Senior IAS officers, scientists, doctors, scholars, NGO’s directors. I was the only odd man out representing a spiritual organization. It took me a while to convince the gate keeper to allow me in as he couldn’t believe that in saffron robes I was also a participant. Continue reading "Report on Cow Based Rural Development Seminar
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By Kesava Krsna Dasa

We may be surprised to learn that many things we consider as acts of spiritual advancement in Krishna consciousness, like tapasya or austerity, are actually acts of selfishness, and will impede our real growth. Even following the four regulative principles in certain ways, can divert us. “So this austerity is called tapasya, denial, self-denial” (class on SB. 5.5.1 in Vrndavana, Oct 23, 1976). To give up certain forms of selfishness is required to progress in spiritual life, and this is usually accompanied by some discomfort and hurt; or should it be? If we do not know how austerity works for us, then our transition from lust to love can be a most tortuous affair. But, as they say: “no pain, no gain” Continue reading "Self-Denial, With Pleasure
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By Indradyumna Swami

So we should arrange things, we should arrange our life in such a way that we don’t become overburdened with unnecessary things and so our whole life revolves either around chanting the holy names or distributing the holy names to others. This is the Internationals society for…this is our business. To get up in the morning and chant, to join the congregation of devotees and chant and somehow assist the sankirtana movement. A famous verse amongst kirtaniya’s. Whatever results was attained in Satya yuga by meditating on Visnu, in the Treta yuga by performing agnihotra’s or sacrifices and in Dvapara yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet which meant technically going to the temple, can be obtained in Kali yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Continue reading "Yamaraja instructs his messengers
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ComicCon - An Ocean of Mercy!
Mahotsaha das: Bhakta Cesar and I distributed 667 books over a long weekend at the annual comic book convention.

The comic convention is where over 100,000 people come to the Javits Center by Penn Station in NYC and buy paraphernalia related to their favorite comic book characters. So, of course we made sure they also received some of Srila Prabhupada’s books, the original comic books.

We encountered many costumed characters. I encountered one of the most peculiar people at this event while meditating on the third verse of the prayers to the guru we chant every day:
“He who has given the gift of transcendental vision is our lord, birth after birth. By his mercy divine knowledge is revealed within our hearts, bestowing pure love for Kṛṣṇa and destroying ignorance. The Vedic scriptures sing of his character.”
He was a young boy with blood splattered on his clothes and lips and face painted white.

To grab his attention, I asked him how he did his make-up and he took a few minutes to explain the process. The attendees spent so much time and money on their costumes that they were happy to showcase their efforts.

I then glorified the Bhagavatam offering him a copy.
“This book is 5,000 years old and will help you distinguish reality from illusion.”
Convinced, he took the book and while looking for his wallet told me some of the terrible things he had experienced.
“I have had it rough all my life. I’m seventeen years old and no one in the world loves me. My father was the only one that ever loved me and he passed away recently. My mother pretends to love me but only when other people are around. She physically abuses me when we are alone, because she never wanted me. I am also constantly beaten up and harassed in school by bullies.”
He continued:
“I was recently in the psych ward, they put me there because I showed my counselor the book I wrote where I mentioned a 100 ways I planned on killing the bullies.” And with a crazed look in his eyes he admitted, “I was even going to do it, but then they tied me up in the psych ward with chains and all I could do was bang my head into the walls. After some treatment they let me out. To be honest, I feel like I have been transforming into the character I’ve dressed up as.”
His costume was "Jeff the killer,” from an Internet horror meme. By taking that Easy Journey to Other Planets book he will have the opportunity to change the course of his life from an easy journey to the darkest regions of ignorance to the realms of eternal bliss and full knowledge.

So many we met were just like this boy, pretending to be a particular character in this miserable world. Dressed in their costume (their body) they walk around convinced that they belong to this temporary ocean of misery. By Srila Prabhupada’s mercy “Jeff the Killer” and hundreds of others received the gift that by reading or even touching can destroy the ignorance that has kept them suffering in the ocean of samsara. We pray that we can continue to serve as instruments of this divine mission.

The Lord Mayor of the most livable city in the world, Melbourne, loves the Hare Krishna Movement.
I would like to share an unexpected surprise yesterday in Melbourne Harinam. We (group of devotees) were doing our regular Harinam in Swanston Street. We were in front of Town Hall, suddenly a long official car stops right front of our Harinam party and to our surprise Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle joined our Harinam, greeted each devotee with a hand shake and hugs to kids and played ‘hi five’ with them, he said ‘I thank you and appreciate you people’s contribution towards incorporating multiculturalism to our Melbourne City’. He accepted Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita. He posed for a group photo, displayed here.
Your servant,
Sukadeva Das

It Just Seemed so Right!
Swarupa das: Some time ago, a Saturday night I went to the ER with high fevers and cellulitis (swelling and redness due to infection in the blood). I was admitted and finally got to my room early Sunday morning. I was feeling pretty out of it most of Sunday and then the fevers began to subside as the I-V antibiotics began doing their magic. By Monday morning my head began to clear and I was only running a low grade fever. My wife brought my laptop in so I could get on the Internet, check emails, etc. while I was there.

The original Radha Vinoda, the Deities of Lokanatha Goswami (Album with photos)
Bhakti Caitanya Swami: We’re in Jaipur right now. We’ve been having wonderful darshanas. We have had darsana of Radha Govinda, Radha Gopinatha, Radha-Damodara and Radha Vinoda. Please view at full screen, and see comments about each photo, next to the photo. Just added a closeup of Radha Vinoda.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/PQzUFI

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Prabhupada’s Dreams Become Reality

Written by Sesa Das 

On Friday afternoon (14 October), Kadamba Kanana Swami arrived in Mauritius; an amazing country with a lot of culture and respect. Maharaj saw this within the first few moments after he landed. Whilst walking to the immigration counter he was respectfully greeted and ushered to the staff queue, which quickened things up. The immigration officers remembered Maharaj from the Kirtan Mela in 2014, which was the last time & also the first that he visited Mauritius. After collecting our bags, Maharaj was greeted and welcomed by a harinama in the airport and several garlands were offered to him.

As Harinamananda Prabhu drove us to the house where we would be staying at, Maharaj was telling us of when he went to USA, he was interrogated at immigration whilst officials looked at all the stamps of countries he had travelled to and they questioned why he did so. When they came to the Mauritius stamp which says MRU and didn’t know what it was! Mauritius being a small island on the world map is easy to miss but an amazing country to visit. With only a population of 1 million, we were told there is roughly 10,000 devotees there and they have a great family feel vibe existing. Also they have Tulasi growing everywhere – in all the gardens, along the road sides, everywhere!

We experienced the family vibe the very moment Maharaj arrived at Harideva Prabhu’s house, where he would be staying for the first week in Mauritius. They respectfully welcomed Maharaj and made sure he was comfortable.

On Saturday evening, Maharaj met the devotees at the Phoenix temple! The host introduced Maharaj saying that Maharaj is a thief! A bit of a shocking introduction that woke us up. He explained that the last time Maharaj was in Mauritius his kirtans stole many hearts away and now he has come to give them back. On that note, Maharaj said, “Well, thanks a lot for that introduction but no, I’ve only come to take away more!” The devotees then invited Maharaj to take them away for the evening! The Phoenix temple was completely packed, even chairs and the tent outside had devotees in them looking into the temple as Maharaj lead what can only be described as an absolutely ecstatic kirtan that forced you to sing with more energy and dance with no stopping or worries! Almost 80% of the crowd was up dancing and some even flying as they were thrown into the air and then crowd surfing! Maharaj’s kirtan took everyone far beyond the Mauritian Island and deep into Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement! What a start to the Mauritius tour it was!

The following day, Maharaj gave the morning Srimad Bhagavatam class on verse 2.7.4. Maharaj spoke on how the guru-disciple relationship is similar to a parental relation. The disciple tries to become a servant and is trained via their service to the spiritual master. And this is really their saving grace otherwise we are constantly in the punar mushika bhava (becoming a mouse again) lifestyle because naturally we are fearful and small. Everything in our lives are about status and we have so many upadis, so many different identifications, which take away our ability to connect with Krsna. We don’t have to give up everything but rather use them as an offering for Krsna. Once Maharaj saw a car with the registration 4UKRSNA and he thought is this really “4 U Krsna” or “4 U driver”? It is not so easy give things to Krsna in the material world so we must be careful in our private lives and simplify things to what we really need only. Simplicity then easily leads to honesty and a detached nature. When we complicate things we see that it becomes harder to choose dharma over profit, something we are seeing more and more in India. So we need to intensify our service so there is no time for maya. This love in service purchases Krsna not gold, but we can donate that too. The reality is that Krsna’s heart is filled with love whereas we act and work more on jnana and have much more emphasis on standards leading to us forgetting about love. But the standards are there for us to develop an offering a higher quality of love!

Later on that day, Maharaj also gave the Sunday feast class in the Phoenix temple. As this was the first day of Kartika, Maharaj began by stating that the puranas inform us this is the most important month. We see that with deities, Radharani comes first. So similarly before the month of Krsna which is the month when the Gita was spoken (Gita Jayanti), there is the month of Radharani, who is soft-hearted and inclined to bring people closer to Krsna. So this month is dearer to Krsna than his own month. We see in Vraja no-one really cares that Krsna is God. We know when Nanda Maharaj was arrested by Varuna’s men, he became amazed to be in Varuna’s assembly. But when Krsna came to the rescue, Varuna was amazed to see Krsna and started offering prayers to Him. Everyone began saying that Krsna is God, so initially it was exciting and new but soon after, everyone stopped talking about it and got bored of it. Vrindavan is really all about remembering Krsna. Mother Yasoda would find the tallest gopi to go the highest look-out post to wait for some sighting of Krsna and they would call out “dust!” knowing that the cows and cowherd boys were coming and so everyone would wait for this call! The dust from the cows covers Krsna’s shine, however those who are eager can dive deeper and only they see and understand His pastimes. We aren’t close to the devotion exhibited by the residents of Vraja. They give Him the best of everything and still He steals! But now we have the opportunity to take a vow to increase our focus and devotion to Lord Krsna.

On Tuesday (18 October) evening, Maharaj went the Gita Centre, after having a day and a half of well-deserved rest. The Gita centre is a recently opened building which has a great outreach facility for people to come and learn the Gita systematically, and also be taught cooking and about the culture of Krsna Consciousness through aspects such as education, vegetarianism, etc. Maharaj first led a short kirtan which had people singing enthusiastically and got them on their feet jumping to reach the ceiling. Maharaj then began speaking on Arjuna’s lamentation and how Krsna was standing there smiling and laughing. Krsna being the source of everything, saw this was one small insignificant incident in comparison to the bigger picture. Arjuna, on the other hand being stuck in the situation was small-minded, looking at the world and making a big thing out of it all. So many such situations arise for us and Krsna is just laughing. Maharaj recalled that when he received sannyasa at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, straight afterward the camera man zoomed in and asked how he felt. Maharaj replied, “Now there is more responsibility and I have to live up to it! But now I’m in the best position as a sannyasi!” Soon thereafter, Maharaj had to catch a boat to France and on the way he thought of the Bhagavad-gita verse 2.70 which talks about many rivers going into the sea and many desires in consciousness, but a Krsna Conscious person is unaffected. Upon reaching France, the security tried to take away Maharaj’s brand new danda! So he could see Krsna was laughing at him. Anyways, he fought for it and got it through eventually. Krsna does all this because he wants us to have the real deal and Arjuna is a prototype for us! And Lord Caitanya is the perfect example of the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita. It is one thing to live by dharma but we want to realize the deeper conclusions, not just follow the rules but develop love! So this is the real purpose of the Bhagavad-gita and the reason it was spoken on the battlefield was to create a crisis situation! Crisis situations are when we urgently need answers, “Now what do I do?” We’ve all had our crisis situations. We see and learn how Arjuna, who was on equal levels to Krsna, changed and took the humble position to learn from Him.

A few days later, on Thursday evening Maharaj was invited to a house program. As usual, Maharaj began with kirtan which had the room filled with dancing devotees, with some even dancing on the roof of the house! Maharaj gave a short, simple and sweet class talking about how Srila Prabhupada is totally attached to Krsna! In 1972 Prabhupada was giving class in Dallas and he gave a description of Vaikuntha, the planet devoid of fear! So afterwards everyone said that when Srila Prabhupada said Vaikuntha, they all experienced an atmosphere of complete ecstasy. And this lead to Rupa Vilasa Prabhu’s new book on Prabhupada being called “Without Fear”. However, we constantly have fear due to our attachments but the vrajabasis saw everything as prasada (mercy of the Lord) and this is the true vision of the vaisnavas.

The following day marked a week of being in Mauritius. During the morning puja of Giriraja, Maharaj invited Vyasa Prabhu and his wife Radha Priya Mata to come and decorate the altar! And WOW what an altar they made! They brought in so many flowers, banana leafs, rangoli decoration made with coloured rice. Take a look at the pictures! It’s a must see unbeatable darsana with Maharaj saying, “You’ve made it look like Janmastami,” and being extremely pleased by their service.

Later that evening we went to the Rose Belle temple where Maharaj lead the Damodarastakam prayers and spoke about how we are all pleasure seeking by nature. However, we have no idea where to look! We have so many distractions from our pride, aristocracy, etc … but only by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada we get to know all of that is insignificant. Prabhupada wanted countries and villages based on the Bhagavad-gita like Gita Nagari. He wanted many of them! The world is big enough for everyone’s needs but not their greed! Not their exploitive ways. And to stay away from this we need to be simply satisfied with what we’ve got and all will fit in place. If we don’t let go, one day Krsna will force us to. And as Maharaj was speaking about the economy being reliant and the need for simplifying life, suddenly the lights went off! This couldn’t have been planned better even if we tried! Krsna’s arrangement and timings were perfect! Then everything was dark and we all brought our mobile lights out and Maharaj joked that this was like a modern Diwali celebrations!

Saturday (22 October) marked the Mauritius Ratha Yatra festival! It was an ecstatic feeling as we all anticipated going through the streets and spreading the mercy around! Maharaj led the procession with all the djembe, mrdanga, kartal and womper players in a circle around him. Maharaj was firing-up the instrument players more and more, with hundreds of devotees dancing together and pulling the cart, and many others were looking at us respectfully to see what was going on. The process was incredible and we could see there were clouds forming. Suddenly a few drops fell and straight away umbrellas covered the circle but the kirtan and dancers became more ecstatic and enthusiastic! Everyone was singing and dancing even wilder when the rain began! I guess it was a sense of relief from the heat and an excuse to dance in a crazier fashion! The procession went on for a few hours and when we reached the end point, where a tent was set up and thousands of people were receiving prasadam, Maharaj gave a short class on how this Ratha Yatra festival was very important to Srila Prabhupada. We know that at a young age Prabhupada wanted a cart similar to the one in Jagannatha Puri and this was a festival of openly spreading the mercy! After the procession we moved to Amar Prabhu’s house near Flacq as this is the other side of Mauritius, near the Krsna Balarama temple where Maharaj would continue doing programs until the end of this stay in Mauritius.

On 28 October, travelled back to South Africa and spent a few days in the Johannesburg area before leaving for Vrindavan.

Visit Flickr to see more photos.

Braja Badrinath Karttika 2016 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: Come along with us through the pictures of Vittalrukmini P...

Sri Vrndavan 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: …if you cannot do anything, simply come and offer your obeisances: “My dear Lord Krsna, I am so poor, so unfortunate, I cannot do all these things, but I offer my humble obeisances unto Your lotus feet.” From Srila Prabhupada’s lecture, Sri Vyasa-puja – August 22, 1973, London
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By Gaurachandra Das

Recently, there were incidents of anti-corruption protests started by some national leaders in India. They had started nation-wide awakenings to make the people alert and aware for corruption free India and curbing the use of black-money. Such efforts may be appreciable to some extent but they are not perfect as far as wiping out of corruption from a state is concerned. The people are in general attached to sense gratificatory propaganda, and such protests can’t withdraw sinful tendencies from the minds of the public. Consequently, people are again taken up by such tendencies and the nations can’t breathe relief. The recent incidents of mass killings, terrorism, and rape-incidents are a proof that any attempt to curb corruption by artificial means by above leaders may not be perfect as long as the society is not properly educated in bonafide religion. The Bhagavata vision of anticorruption campaign is in this way different, it is aimed at following four regulative principles and spreading of sankirtana religion. The four regulative principles are no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling and no illicit sex. The history of this fact is corroborated in Srimad Bhagavatam in the event of Maharaj Pariksit curbing the personality of kali-yuga. Continue reading "“Bhagavata Vision” of Actual Anti-corruption Campaign
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By Nima Suchak

The archives of famed Leicestershire architect Joseph Goddard were handed over to ISKCON in a ceremony on Monday 14th November. Tony and Joe Goddard, the great grandsons of Joseph Goddard, the architect of Leicester’s Clock Tower and the grade 2* listed former bank on Granby Street, signed over archives and their copyright to the care of ISKCON in the presence of members of Leicester City Council, representatives from The Victorian Society, historians and design students. The archives will be placed in a newly built Heritage Room at the Centre for the benefit of schools, colleges, universities, and the general public. Joseph Goddard designed and built the grade II* listed heritage property at the heart of Leicester City Centre in 1874 as the headquarters of the Leicestershire Banking Company. The spectacular gothic building which is now an ISKCON Centre has long been acknowledged as a landmark in Leicester’s Victorian architecture, and one of Goddard’s most important works. The building is set to contribute to regeneration, engagement and a place of a multi-variety of activities to suit the needs of all people. Continue reading "Family of famed architect Joseph Goddard present historic archives to ISKCON
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Discourse on last eve of Kartika.

Grihastha Training - The Language of Love and Appreciation.
Good relationships don’t just happen. They require knowledge and plenty of practice, practice, and more practice! In this three hour seminar, you will find out how we all have different ways we want to be appreciated and express appreciation. By filling out a simple questionnaire you will identify both of your primary and secondary love languages. This will help you understand why you may not always feel appreciation from those near and dear to you. It will also help you identify how other people in your life best understand your appreciation, i.e. what is their love language. This will allow you to express your heartfelt appreciation of your partner/ friend/ co-worker in a way they can understand and value, maybe for the first time!

ISKCON Youth Sankirtana Bus Tour Across Mexico
ISKCON Youth Ministry’s annual Mexico Bus Tour is coming up December 9, 2016 - January 3, 2017, taking youth and young adults ages 16 and older on an amazing adventure of a lifetime. Young people will be flying in from all over the USA and Canada, the UK to spend three weeks traveling across Mexico, presenting Krishna culture festivals in towns and villages, going on Harinama Sankirtana, and visiting Mayan pyramids, jungle waterfalls and beaches along the way.

New Raman Reti Second Generation Initiative.
Going strong since its launch one year ago the New Raman Reti 2nd Generation Initiative - dedicated to the 25 to 45-year-olds in our community - is going strong since its launch one year ago. Its three main programs are as follows