Planet ISKCON

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

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
→ Dandavats"

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
→ Dandavats"

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
→ Dandavats"

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

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
Find them here: https://goo.gl/GIk5oX

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
→ Dandavats"

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
→ Dandavats"

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

https://flic.kr/s/aHskNLrNRT

“Man proposes, God disposes” has been the cause of immense frustration for humanity since time immemorial. The best plans are often foiled forever in a single moment by factors beyond human control. Misery can be said to be the condition in which we are unable to get what we want and / or are forced to accept that which we don’t want. A thoughtful person can perceive that misery is an unavoidable, inescapable companion during the sojourn through this world (Bhagavad Gita 8.15). Everyone is put repeatedly in the unenviable position of watching helplessly all of one’s cherished plans wrecked one after another, by the inexplicable and seemingly cruel will of providence. Continue reading "God Proposes, Man Accepts
→ Dandavats"

Installation of Sriman Mahaprabhu at the Govardhan Eco Village. (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krsna says in the fourteenth verse, Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita: “It is very difficult to surmount the problems offered by the laws of material nature, but one who surrenders unto Me, he overcomes.” Therefore we are teaching this Krsna consciousness to solve the problems of life. It is not sentiment or fanaticism or any sectarian religion. It is a fact that if you want to solve the problems of life, you have to become Krsna conscious. There is no other alternative. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 7.14 – September 8, 1969, Hamburg
Find them here: https://goo.gl/FYW8Fe

“Atiya”. From the Harinama group of New York.
She was staring at the Harinam. I said, “Salaam alaikum.” She replied, and I began to speak to her about love of God. She asked about the goal of life and how to obtain it. I answered that we need to learn about the name, form, qualities and pastimes of Allah, and develop love for Him and that this Krishna book was about the pastimes of the Lord since He was a boy until He wrapped up his pastimes. By reading this, I told her, you can develop attachment for God and obtain His eternal abode and associate with Him. She was interested and satisfied and took both the books by Radharani’s mercy. Later she sent an email expressing her appreciation of the Hare Krishna chanting and teachings.

It was Hard to Keep Up with Prabhupada

On the evening of the 27th of Oct 2016, Bollywood fashion designer Rohit Verma invited Jayapataka Swami to have a Damodar program at his fashion studio in Mumbai. It was a short and well-organized program for which Rohit Verma had invited about fifty of his close friends including Poonam Dhillon Bollywood actress, Aditi Govitrikar, Bollywood actress, Vindu Darasingh Bollywood actor, Nisha Rawal Bollywood actress, Ashish Bollywood actor, and Kanwaljit veteran designer.  

Many people had been angry by the failures or inaction of one side or other; angry with a do-nothing government which doesn't consider their needs; angry with the moral failures of leadership. And rightly so. But anger and frustration don’t provide a platform from which to make a sound decision. 

An Infallible Justice!
Chaitanya Caran das: Why me! What did I do to deserve this?“ The outraged cry that comes from a person who feels he has been unfairly singled out for suffering by cruel providence.
"Why do bad things happen to good people?” The perplexing question that haunts the minds of many when they see pious people victimized by painful reverses in life.
THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
“The problem of evil” has been the bane of Western theologians and thinkers for centuries together. In simple terms, the problem is: Why does evil exist in the world despite the presence of an almighty God?
The Vedic scriptures give a clear understanding of the problem of evil. They explain that evil is not God’s creation; evil comes upon us due to our own bad karma. When we succumb to our lower nature, we exploit the resources of mother nature in an unlawful way and / or cause suffering to other living beings just for the fulfillment of our base desires. By such actions, we fix up appointments with suffering in the future. (And all living beings share a remarkable memory quirk - they forget their own wrongdoings very quickly) So when our due suffering reaches us, we have conveniently forgotten the wrongs that we did in the past. And so the indignant outburst, “Why me?”

As ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary draws to a close, Bhaktivedanta Manor would like to make an epic final offering. Every December the entire ISKCON world focuses all attention on distribution of transcendental literature, something we all know was so close to Srila Prabhupada’s heart. Indeed, he said it gave him life. When a new book was printed, Prabhupada felt as though he had conquered an empire. He told one disciple - "the best of me is in my books." Last year’s historic “100k Effort” at the Manor was a resounding success, with a record number of devotees participating. This year the team is aiming to distribute 200,000 books for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada! Continue reading "200k Book Marathon: The Final Offering [26th Nov-24th Dec 2016]
→ Dandavats"

His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami shares Vedic wisdom to Accenture management consultants at their headquarters in London, UK.

The post Bhakti Charu Swami Visits Accenture PLC. appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

ISKCON Australia – Communications Report:
Going forward with correct policies in place, ISKCON Australia, like other religious institutions, have had to re-evaluate and clarify their policies and procedures in line with expectations of today’s society.
Child Protection:
After the last ISKCON Australia National Council AGM, a proposal was presented and passed that ISKCON Australia strikes up an engagement with the Australian Childhood Foundation (ACF).
The Australian Childhood Foundation has extensive experience in undertaking collaborative consultancy projects and/or tailored training for organisations that work with children, young people and families.
These include activities which meet the needs of a broad range of individual professionals and agencies, including:
• Clinical Supervision for practitioners about trauma informed practice.
• Secondary Consultation for individuals, care teams and organisations about understanding and responding to the specific needs of traumatised children and young people, often engaged in challenging and harmful behaviour.
• Workforce development packages that include training, reflective practice forums, action based research activities, and safeguarding children policy development and implementation.
All projects are implemented by senior members of the Foundation’s Management Team with broad range experience in therapeutic approaches, child protection, family support, out of home care and mental health.
As well, each Temple will have a Child Care Officer /s working under the direction of a National Child Care Officer who will be in close liaison with ACF.
Domestic violence:
ISKCON’s National Council has moved that: ISKCON Australia develops a Domestic Violence Unit to offer community support and help to individuals who are experiencing any form of domestic violence and provide access to professional help.
Policies in regard to domestic violence are currently being worked out with the assistance of the Australasian Centre for Human Rights and Health (ACHRH).
ACHRH’s vision is happy homes and a strong community. Healthy, vibrant women and children are the key. Creative dialogue between the Australasian community, the professionals, the policy planners and the academics is their chosen method.
ACHRH’s objectives: (Quoted from their website)
A) To inform the development of policies and programmes around gender and gender-based violence by combining community based initiatives with scientific knowledge and professional expertise.
We aim to use qualitative aspects of the broader social and cultural context of gender inequities in gender-based violence in migrant and ethnic Australasian communities.
We aim to make the community aware of gender dimensions of practices related to sexual and reproductive health & experiences of violence within marriage and outside.
We partner with the community and educate and describe the health impact of gender inequities and gender-based violence.
B) To evaluate interventions that empower women and men to improve their family life, enhance family harmony through building gender respect, gender equality and preventing and responding to gender-based violence.
C) To provide scientific evidence for defining a public health response to gender-based violence.
D) To improve education, awareness and the health of women, through a focus on sexual and reproductive issues within families ; undertake research to gender issues within sexual and reproductive health.
ACHRH is founded on the concept that gender inequity is a substantial violation of human rights and undermines women’s dignity, health and access to health care.
The main interest of the unit lies in the notion that Women form the basis of a strong family unit and a positive gender based relations in a family are the basis of a strong community. We intend to explore and share the knowledge in areas of gender-based violence and its impact on women’s lives and health with the community.
ACHRH is initiating a number of projects - Community Participatory research, also called action research, where the partnership of individuals and organisations working together promotes education, awareness, intervention, data collection and an appropriate health sector response to gender-based violence through research, training and advocacy in Australasian migrant Indian and Ethnic communities.
We are a dynamic team and we use a variety of methods, including community based ethnographic intervention, individual intervention, and address questions of substantial importance for health policy, health promotion and health services for women and families of Indian, migrant and Australasian Communities. We emphasise working in partnership with other organisations in research, training and advocacy activities.
The knowledge we generate helps members of the public and policy makers alike in understanding the magnitude of the problems studied, as well as their risk factors.
Our work is designed to enhance understanding of the quality of health and domestic violence related services provided in Australasia. We describe problems in these services, barriers to their use and the aspects of services that users really value. We also develop training materials for people in the community and health workers, and implement a considerable amount of training on HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health promotion.
(End of Quote)
Women’s Issues:
In regard to women’s issues, at the same ISKCON Australia’s National Council AGM, Krishnarupa devi dasi, a senior Srila Prabhupada disciple from New Govardhana, was appointed as the national women’s representative on the Council with full voting rights.
A local women’s representative from each temple will be appointed by the temple president with the approval of the Executive Committee to liaise with Krishnarupa on a regular basis.
Sexual harassment and misconduct …in religious organisations:
In accordance with policies that are in place in other ISKCON Centres and Temples around the world, ISKCON Australia is now also working on putting into place procedures and policies that will make reasonable efforts to prevent sexual abuse and harassment, and encourage prompt response to all allegations of abuse where there is a reasonable belief that abuse has occurred.
Each Temple will comply with all obligations of both civil and ecclesiastical law. It will endeavour to prevent sexual abuse and harassment to the extent possible, provide education and guidance as appropriate, and promote healing and empowerment when needed.
No person, whether in leadership or clergy, who has been determined to have engaged in sexual abuse, will be allowed to remain active in a position of trust.
Such actions may violate civil and criminal laws, as well as Vaisnava spiritual principles, and are outside the scope of the duties, employment and engagement of all personnel. ISKCON Australia will not tolerate any such behaviour in any of the Australian Temples and Centres.
LGBTIQ issues (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and questioning):
The Scriptures that the devotees of ISKCON follow state that every being is an eternal soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord Krishna, and that the ultimate goal of life is full blissful Krishna Consciousness which frees one from the cycle of birth and death.
Krishna Consciousness is attained by one’s real self, or atma, which is distinct from one’s physical body and personality (false ego) as well as outer attributes such as race, caste, gender, and sexual orientation.
Progress towards Krishna Consciousness comes through Bhakti yoga spiritual practices, and the attainment of Krishna Consciousness implies transcending material desires and impulses, including sexual ones.
To put it provocatively, an LGBTIQ person who has mastered his or her impulses (sexual or otherwise) is actually closer to Krishna Consciousness than a non-LGBTIQ person who is a slave to desires.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness encourages all people to take to the path of Bhakti and supports and welcomes all those who strive for Krishna Consciousness irrespective of their sexual orientation.
Your servant,
Bhakta dasa,
National Communications Director, ISKCON Australia.

One day Murari Gupta began to reflect, "If I can leave my body in the Lord's presence then that will be very good." For this purpose he fashioned a large dagger and hid it in his house. But the Supreme Lord Sri Caitanya, who is totally omniscient immediately came to his house and called, "Murari!, I have so many pastimes to complete in your company. If you go away then how will I go on? I know everything." Murari caught hold of the Lord's feet and began to cry. Thereafter Mahaprabhu consoled him and after explaining to him many things He returned to His own house. Murari Gupta was present with the Lord during all of his pastimes in Nadiya Nagar. Every year when the devotees would go to Puri, Murari Gupta would go along with his wife and they would take many preparations of foodstuffs to offer to the Lord. Continue reading "Selfless Devotion Of Murari Gupta
→ Dandavats"

https://flic.kr/s/aHskveXhDV