Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Govardhan Puja celebration in Kiev, Ukraine (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: So Krsna understanding is also very difficult. Krsna is personally explaining Himself, His devotees are presenting Krsna consciousness movement, and right manner. But people are unfortunate. It will take some… But it is our duty to canvass. That is our business. Either they may accept or not accept, it is our duty. Bg Lecture, June 13, 1968 Montreal.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/cjHs6o
Govardhan Puja, New Varshana in Auckland, New Zealand, 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Whereas an impersonalist tries to avoid good eatables, a devotee knows that Krsna is the supreme enjoyer and that He eats all that is offered to Him in devotion. So, after offering good eatables to the Lord, the devotee takes the remnants, called prasadam. Thus everything becomes spiritualized, and there is no danger of a downfall. The devotee takes prasadam in Krsna consciousness, whereas the nondevotee rejects it as material. The impersonalist, therefore, cannot enjoy life, due to his artificial renunciation; and for this reason, a slight agitation of the mind pulls him down again into the pool of material existence. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Bg 2.63
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Slow Down and Read What the Swami Has Said
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The post Daily Darshan: November 6th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 May 2012, Melbourne, Australia, Seminar: Mahajans Part 2)
Originally, the living being was with Krsna in the spiritual world and the living being, upon eternity, came to understand that he also had independence, that he did not have to serve Krsna and that rather he could be served too! At this point, he was not yet envious but when he made the choice to be served, then envy came.
It is said that this state of consciousness where one is contemplating the possibility of not being engaged in the service of Krsna is a neutral state – one is neither absorbed in the service of Krsna nor is one absorbed in the material energy. Therefore, it is a neutral state or a marginal state of being in between, called taṭasthā. Therefore in this taṭasthā consciousness, the living being can choose to come down or to go back to Krsna. When he comes down, then envy in competition with Krsna begins immediately.
Like now, we are living in this world of competition where we are competing with each other and ultimately competing with God. Ultimately, we want to be God! We want to be worshiped… we want to be recognized… we want to be famous… we want to be rich… we want to be powerful and the whole world is filled with people who are competing with each other and all these things.
During my stay at New Jersey, I was asked to speak at a psychiatric hospital, Carrier Clinic, in Belle Mead to the caregivers on the topic of “Discover your inner power.” While I had spoken on this topic several times during this trip to the West, in this case, I customized the content according to the occasion, focusing on the theme of “Spirituality for Caregivers.”
The program was organized by Devakinandan Prabhu, the resourceful vice-Temple President of ISKCON, Central New Jersey, and Prema Chaitanya Prabhu (Dr Puneet Kumar), a versatile devotee-doctor who coordinates such events for the Global Foundation For Ethics And Spiritual Health. Those who attended included psychotherapists, physiotherapists, de-addiction counselors, nurses and other caregivers. The hospital President and CEO, Donald Parker, explained that the purpose of the talk was to help heal the healers.
I spoke on how spiritual knowledge and practices can empower us to change the three P’s that shape our response to situations:
· Perceive: How we perceive events,
· Process: How we process our emotions and
· Pursue: What we pursue in that situation and in life at large.
After the talk, some of the participants had a heart-to-heart discussion about their inspirations for caregiving and about how the talk helped them. Several of them appreciated the three P-paradigm as a way to choosing healthier responses amidst difficult situations.
While I have spoken frequently on how mental health is such a huge challenge, hearing about it firsthand from these on-field professionals deepened my conviction about the need to present bhakti wisdom in a way that it speaks to thoughtful, caring individuals engaged in causes that concern today’s world.
The talk audio and ppt are here: http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2016/10/spirituality-for-caregivers/
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Harinama in Titicaca Lake (in the border between Peru and Bolivia) (Album with photos)
Harikesa: Syamasundara told me that he wanted to make millions of dollars for you so that he could…
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. [chuckles] And I am thinking when making millions of dollars, he may not be lost. …millions of dollars, what shall I do with? I have got money. I want one soul saved. That is more than millions of dollars. Morning Walk – December 14, 1975, New Delhi
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Bhaktimarga Swami wants to …brainwash you :-) (3 min video)
So especially you must encourage the students to read our books throughout the day as much as possible, and give them all good advice how to understand the books, and inspire them to study the things from every point of view. Better to boil the milk very vigorously and make it thick and sweet–that is the best progress. So let us concentrate on training our devotees very thoroughly in the knowledge of Krsna consciousness from our books, from tapes, by discussing always, and in so many ways instruct them in the right propositions. (From Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Hamsaduta, June 22, 1972)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/jsZRea
By Sri Radharamana dasa The central question explored at the event revolved around what wisdom from the Vedic philosophical tradition can be used to provoke thought in the workplace to positively impact the life of millions. In doing so, the event focused on the topic ‘Being At Our Best.’ While lamps are used in the festival to encourage one on a journey of darkness to light, ‘Being At Your Best’ is central to achieving this virtue. The story of Diwali illustrates the need to be inwardly and outwardly balanced to enable satisfaction of the self. While Diwali is an epic of trials and tribulations, the pastimes of Sita & Rama demonstrates how to remain peaceful amidst the volatility of life, and in doing so become healthy, wealthy and wise. Diwali prompts respect and responsibility towards both others and oneself in carrying out prescribed duties at work and in wider life. Continue reading "HSBC Global Headquarters, London, hosts Bhakti Charu Swami
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The post How do we explain the triangularity of desires to children? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Two Drunks and a Book Distributor…..
One evening a drunk came to our stall and picked up a Gita and told me that it is an incomplete Bhagavat-gita. He said that by reading the first page, he understood that it is not complete.
Instead of arguing, I was trying to avoid him & looking for an interested person. But the drunk stayed at our stall arguing with me.
Suddenly another drunkard showed up and told the first drunk, ”You cannot take the Bhagavad-gita, because you are not a Hindu.“
The first drunk said, “No, I am Hindu.”
The second drunk then challenged him: "If you’re a Hindu, then take a copy.”
So the first drunk took a copy. Then I showed him the Krishna book, and the second drunk said to the first, "If you are Hindu, take this book also.”
To my surprise, he immediately bought that book, too.
Then the first drunk told the second drunkard, "What about you? You also buy a copy.”
Then the second drunk also bought a Gita. They shook hands and put their arms over each other’s shoulders and proceeded to another destination.
Bhakta Chetan
Prabhupada Disappearance Tribute (38 min video)
Oral histories from those disciples who were with Srila Prabhupada during his ...
Devotion is …
There is no easy translation into English of the Sanskrit word, bhakti. It’s a bit of an anomaly. Bhakti is love, specifically divine love, but even the word love itself is a poor attempt to describe this most cherished of all emotions.
Govindaji (5 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Govindaji is the beloved deity of Srila Rupa Goswami, who discovered the Lord 500 ye...
HG Hari-sauri Prabhu’s health update.
Dear Maharaja’s and Prabhu’s,
Pamho, agtsp.
Many of you have been kind enough to enquire about my current health status so I provide here a brief summery of my one month trip to Denver, Colorado in Sep-Oct 2016.
Before Denver my condition was as follows.
1. Restlessness - I was unable to sit still for more than a few minutes, was constantly pacing up and down, couldn’t lie down or relax.
2. Interrupted sleep - due to the restlessness I could only sleep one to two hours at a time and my sleep was constantly interrupted with only a few hours of rest in the night.
3. Shaking and Tremors - this is getting progressively worse, with shaking on the whole right side and recently the left arm; some mild cramping in the muscles and loss of utility of the right hand by about 60%.
There are other symptoms but these are the prominent ones.
TREATMENT IN DENVER:
The treatment consisted of trying in small doses different strains of canabis oil. This was done under supervision with Mitravinda Mataji and in the first two weeks we tried 7 or 8 different strains.
After two weeks Pranaballabha Prabhu found a local company that makes their oil from hemp rather than canabis. We switched to this company and tried several strains.
RESULTS AFTER DENVER:
I’m very happy to report some significant improvement in reducing the restlessness by about 90%, and consequently relieving me of the sleeplessness. We found one or two strains that were effective and which enable me to lie down and relax and sleep at least 4 to 6 hours at a stretch. We got this result from the canabis oil and fortunately were able to sustain it when we moved to the hemp products.
Unfortunately as of writing we have not found anything to reduce the tremors and shaking, so this we have to work on.
The advantage of using the hemp products is that they are all legal and can be exported from Denver to India or other parts of the world.
SUMMERY:
The one month visit was well worth the effort and expense and yielded significant result. We also got a much better insight into the production and application of the CBD/THC oils.
I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the many devotees who stepped forward with financial assistance, without which, the trip would not have been possible.
I particularly want to thank Mitravinda and Pranaballabha Prabhu’s for their selfless assistance. I also want to thank Tusta Krsna Prabhu, the Denver temple president, for providing one months accommodation and many other small facilities for an anxiety free visit.
My sincere thanks to all the other devotees who have helped.
I will keep this brief, if anybody has any further questions I’ll be happy to provide whatever information I can.
Always in your debt, I remain,
Your humble servant
Hari-sauri das
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The post When bhakti provides higher pleasure than sensuality, why does the mind still crave for sense pleasure? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
By Chaitanya Charana Dasa The supreme controller is controlled – and still remains in control. Prayer is the universal language by which the human heart communes with the divine heart. Poetry is an artistic means for verbalizing the heart’s deep emotions. Singing is a popular method to express one’s emotions. The integration of these three – prayers composed poetically and sung individually or collectively – is a powerful and joyful way to channel human emotions towards the divine. In the world’s great theistic traditions are found many examples of beautiful prayer-songs. Such prayers are usually composed by saints who verbalize their love and longing for the Lord. Continue reading "Meditating on the Damodarashtaka
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By Ravindra Svarupa Dasa Srila Prabhupada took especial pains to bestow his vakya through the medium of written English and to publish those writings in book form. Prior to embarking from India in 1965 on his solo expedition to the West, Srila Prabhupada, working virtually alone, had composed and published, in three hardback volumes, his English-language translation and commentary on the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. He brought boxes of these books with him aboard the Jaladuta, and they accompanied him on the voyage of over 9,000 nautical miles from Calcutta to New York. There he began to gather, organize, and deploy the necessary and spiritual resources—material, human, and spiritual— for their eventual distribution and reception worldwide. Continue reading "Receiving the Blessing
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By the GBC Nominations Committee Srila Prabhupada said that a GBC member could have “thousands of secretaries,” and in keeping with this principle the Governing Body has designed new posts for senior devotees to be engaged in assisting the GBC expand the oversight of the Society’s development. One such post is that of Global Duty Officers (GDO), who help the Governing Body and its members by taking up important services giving support and leadership in fields such as preaching initiatives, educational programs, administration and legal matters. They can assist and serve in special projects commissioned by the GBC, assist GBC Standing Committees, assist Global Ministries, assist committees involved in the Strategic Planning Network, and attend and serve during GBC meetings. At their half-yearly meeting in Mumbai in October the GBC Body appointed the following devotees as Global Duty Officers, for a renewable one-year tenure. Continue reading "Appointment of Global Duty Officers by the GBC
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Getting Krishna from the Swami