Websites from the ISKCON Universe
By Sri Radharamana dasa On the sacred day of Govardhan Puja, 31st October 2016, Bhaktivedanta Manor hosted a gathering at the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the incorporation of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON),...
The post 50th Anniversary of ISKCON Celebrated at House of Lords, London appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.
By Sri Radharamana dasa His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami continued to engulf Headquarter corporations in London with the spiritual wisdom of Lord Rama in commemoration of Diwali. On 26th October, 2016, HSBC invited His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami to join over 200 Bankers and Executives...
The post HSBC Global Headquarters, London, hosts Bhakti Charu Swami appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.
By Sri Radharamana dasa His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami was invited to provide the keynote speech for ‘The Call of Dharma’ at the Headquarters of EY in London on 25th October, 2016. EY (formerly Ernst & Young) is a multinational professional services firm and is...
The post “The Call of Dharma” at EY Headquarters, London With Bhakti Charu Swami appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.
The major difference between ISKCON temples in India and in the West that struck me was the difference between weekday activity and weekend activity. As the Indian temples have vibrant monasteries associated with them, these temples are active throughout the week. But most temples in the West have no monasteries at all; so, the activity level there is vey low during weekdays and shoots up during weekends. The highlight in the weekend is the Sunday feast program, where a large part of the local devotee community congregates for association and inspiration.
During my tour to the West, I gave Sunday feast classes at Washington D C, Central New Jersey, Columbus, Los Angeles, Toronto (in Canada) and Leicester (in UK).
Each Sunday feast program would have on an average an audience of several hundred with the number ranging from hundred to four hundred.
Typically, the audience comprised both Indians and Westerners of various levels of spiritual understanding and seriousness. The challenge would be to connect with all of them and give everyone something that they could carry home. This challenge is like that of a teacher, who usually teaches students at a particular grade, being asked to speak to the school general assembly that contains students from all grades. The strategy that I found works best is to start with a level that even new people can connect with, rise step-by-step to a level where even regular practitioners feel that they are getting something substantial and then conclude with a call for action that resonates with everyone, whatever their level. The Sunday feast program is meant to be a moment of bhakti that will give participants momentum in their bhakti for the rest of the week till they can renew themselves at the next week’s Sunday program.
The most exciting and demanding part is usually the question-answer session where some people want to know the answer, some people want to know how much you know and some people want to know whether what you know is right or not. While the class can be delivered according to a prepared script, the question-answer session can’t be scripted.
To give a sample of a typical Sunday feast program in the West, here’s an outline of the program at the Los Angeles temple, where I spoke on “Seek not moments of bhakti – seek momentum in bhakti.” Addressing the New Age tendency to reduce spirituality to sporadic spiritual experiences and the Hindu ritualistic tendency to equate spirituality with ritual specialization, I spoke about how bhakti is a transformational process in which our progress depends not on how we feel from moment-to-moment, but on how we contribute consistently, trying to cultivate a service attitude. Whether we get dreams about Krishna is not as defining of our spiritual growth as whether we serve him after waking up. Srila Prabhupada is the quintessential model for understanding bhakti as dedication to service – and how such dedication eventually attracts extraordinary reciprocation from Krishna that is nothing short of miraculous.
Among the several questions that came up after the talk, the most challenging was: “How has the momentum of bhakti helped you face problems in your life?”
The challenge I face when speaking about myself, especially to an audience where few people know me, is to be candid without being self-promotional. I spoke about how several years ago while sickness had immobilized me, I had been giving an online audio class through Skype from my hospital bed. Getting absorbed in the subject, I had closed my eyes and continued speaking for nearly fifteen minutes without realizing that the Internet connection had got lost and the audience was no longer hearing me. When I realized what had happened, I was momentarily exasperated at having wasted so much time, but somehow the thought struck me: “While I was speaking about Krishna, I was satisfied, with or without audience. Therefore, for speaking about Krishna, I don’t need an audience in front of me.” And from that thought emerged the idea of doing recordings of question-answers, talks and courses, which opened a whole new universe of online outreach for me. Generalizing from my specific experience, I concluded: “When some door closes in our life, Krishna opens some other door; we just need to stop glaring at the closed door and open our heart to Krishna’s guidance.”
I don’t know if my Sunday talks helped the audience gain some momentum in their bhakti, but seeing their sincerity and eagerness in wanting to know about bhakti certainly increased my momentum for sharing bhakti.
The LA Sunday feast talk audio is here: http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2016/10/%E2%80%8Bseek-not-moments-bhakti-seek-momentum-bhakti/
The post Moments of bhakti and momentum in bhakti – Weekday bhakti and weekend bhakti appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
The Ideal Reader
The post Daily Darshan: November 7th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Answer Podcast:
Download by “right-click and save”
The post Was the Sita that Viradha abducted also Maya-Sita? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 23 September 2014, Durban, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.10.4)
Spiritual life has been challenging in every age, even in the satya yuga! Although in the satya yuga, conditions were very easy and very nice. There was no need to work; grains were growing naturally, fruits were everywhere. All that needed to be done was meditation but it needed to be done for a very long time – that was the problem. Now everything has to be done for a short time and quick results are there but in satya yuga, everything had to be practiced for an extremely long time. So then again, the opportunity was there to get deviated – the mind; that also happened.
So, spiritual life in all times has been, is and will be a challenge. There always will be that personal element of fight in spiritual life. Srila Prabhupada called it a ‘war with maya’ and it always will be a war with maya because maya will always test us, not only in this yuga where life is difficult but in all yugas. Therefore we cannot think that especially now, it is very difficult! Now it is very difficult to practice spiritual life and at other times, it was much more easy. That is false reasoning because that is overlooking the fundamental nature of spiritual life which is that spiritual life involves surrender. Surrender is required! That is Krsna’s requirement:
naham prakasah sarvasya
yoga-maya-samavrtah
mudho ‘yam nabhijanati
loko mam ajam avyayam (Bhagavad-gita 7.25)
I keep myself covered to those who are not surrendering unto me. That is a principle which not only applies now but always applies – Krsna covers himself.
This is not a lecture where I am sort of whipping the audience. Some may misunderstand my presentation and think that I am trying to beat my audience and telling them, “Fight… come on, do it!”
No, that is not it. I am saying that it is up to you. It is entirely up to you. If you want to do it, do it! If you don’t want to do it, then don’t do it. If you want to chant Hare Krsna, chant! If you don’t want to chant Hare Krsna, then sleep or try to enjoy the senses – as you like, because ultimately, it is a choice. Krsna consciousness is a choice. We have a choice, it is up to us. No one can be forced. We cannot force people, it is not possible…
For a little while we can do a very strict program and be very strict – check that everybody gets up, make sure that everyone is chanting, make sure that everyone does everything right and then… they will anyway do what they want because sooner or later, everyone will follow what he desires. So it is a choice. Therefore, I say, no push from my side but opportunity, yes! The opportunity is there.
It is the same for me because who is pushing me!? I don’t know. All I can say is that I have to also chant sixteen rounds every day. It may not be a big number but some days it is. Today, only four done, so late. That is bad. Sometimes, I am on this nice program of chanting sixteen rounds before mangal aartik – those are the good times. I always say that sixteen rounds before mangal aartik are the best. Sixteen rounds before darshan are second best. Sixteen rounds before darkness are third best. Sixteen rounds after dark… heavy (sigh)! Late night rounds are those that you have to chant. Those are the rounds that you don’t want to chant… Today, I will try to finish before dark or better, before noon!
One of my closest friends, Dr Abhishek Ghosh, who is a faculty member at Grand Valley State University, Michigan, USA, invited me to speak to his students for a World Religions course. As most of the students were from a Christian background, he asked me to give an insider perspective on how I as a Hindu see Christianity in particular and other religions in general.
I spoke on how God is bigger than the religions we dedicate to him (Religion is meant for God; God is not meant for religion) and that we need to understand the purpose of exclusivist statements found in certain religions: they are meant to create focus, not proclaim an absolute truth.
After the class, when a student asked whether the God of different religions is one or different, I explained that the God of revelation is one, but the gods who are projections of people’s own desires are different: the God of terrorists is not the God of transcendentalists. Towards the end, Dr Ghosh played the devil’s advocate and asked a couple of tough questions but in a jovial tone. I answered and the session ended on a jolly note.
In India, I usually speak to engineering students, practically never to humanities students. While students from the humanities have been part of the audience during many of my talks in Western Universities, this was my first talk to an audience solely of humanities students, and that too as a part of their religious study course. My background in the sciences doesn’t equip me for addressing such an audience; so, I tried to tune my presentation based on what I had learnt from my discussions with devotee-scholars who teach religious studies in Western universities. Overall, I appreciated the thoughtfulness and sincerity of these students – their interest was more than academic.
A week after the class, Dr Ghosh called and told me that his students were still talking about my class, which he felt indicated that an interaction with a living practitioner of the subject they were studying had significantly impacted them.
The talk audio is here:
A Bhagavad-gita view of religious diversity
The post A Bhagavad-gita view of religious diversity – Talk at Grand Valley State University as a part of a World Religions course appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day observed in Vrindavana’s Iskcon Krishna Balaram Mandir.
Many disciples of His Divine Grace attended and each one of them offered his homage and realizations for the glorification of Srila Prabhupada. Many concluded that although Srila Prabhupada was no longer physically present on the earth he is still very much present in this world in the form of his books and his instructions given to his followers.
Many programs were held at the Krishna Balaram temple in his honor like an Abhisek, performed to his deity, arati and pushpanjali at his Samadhi.
A huge cake weighing 150 kg was cut on this occasion by Iskcon’s GBC member and senior Vaishnava HH Gopal Krishna Goswami.
And Rasikananda asks about how pure devotees relate to the inconveniences in the dhama.
The beautiful Iskcon Farm Simhacalam in Germany (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: …article on the subject of “Krsna, the supreme scientist,” and let us publish it. That article is very nice. If he writes such articles, the conclusion, if Krsna, the supreme scientist, Krsna, the supreme economist, Krsna, the supreme philosopher, Krsna, the supreme chemist, Krsna -everything, the conclusion is Supreme, Krsna – then his activity is fulfilled. He becomes successful. The conclusion should be Krsna. That’s it. Whatever he may be. He may be a musician, he may be artist, he may be physicist, he may be chemist, he may be scientist – whatever he may be, if he writes article on the subject matter and concludes that Krsna is the Supreme, then preach, then he is successful. That’s all. Just like you are theologian. You write theology and prove, “Krsna is the Supreme Lord.” Then your attempt is successful. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk – December 15, 1973, Los Angeles
Find them here: https://goo.gl/AgA8Ix
The Purifying Waters of Door-To-Door Book Distribution.
After our taking a swim in the river along the gorge between Otaki and Napier in NZ, Ameyatma bathed me in the purifying waters of his door-to-door book distribution mission just before the sun went down. We knocked on about twenty doors and took turns doing the presentation of Srila Prabhupada’s books.
It is a bit inconceivable how sweet and gracious the people of Napier were. One lady, whose name is Storm, raced to beat us to the door and had it open before we got there. She was eager to chat with us and told us she already has all of the books we had in our hands. We then remembered Devamrita Swami’s new book, Hiding in Unnatural Happiness, and “returned fire” with “You don’t have this one! It was just published.”
She and her husband very happily gave a donation and took another book to add to her collection. They’re the couple in the attached picture. She even gave us a bag for “your ladies” that came from India, she said. Robert (in the photo with the copy of Beyond Birth and Death) was disconnected and unwilling to take a book, but Ameyatma and I just kept standing there trying to come up with new things to say.
We watched his heart completely soften while we stood there chatting with him, until he found a few coins and happily took the “Beyond Birth and Death”. Jeff, holding the Chant and Be Happy, at first said he wasn’t interested but we threw out our last chance: “You like music though?” and handed him a “Chant and Be Happy”. We told him about the Beatles and George Harrison. He immediately went through a soft-heart metamorphosis before our eyes and clutched the book, exclaiming, “I will read this.” Then he gave a generous donation.
A few Gitas also went out before I started to take photos, including one to a nice couple with a brand new baby crying the whole time we presented the Gita. –ys, Nitai-cand Dasa
Interrupt Anxiety with Gratitude.
As we were driving through West Bengal, I spotted a newly built house, with two words painted in large black letters across the entry portico – God Gift (written as spelled :). I imagined how every day the family would get this message as they arrived home and could not help but smile.
By Madhavananda das Mahattama (“especially great person”) — A mahattama sees whatever good qualities others have and magnifies them, not seeing even the smallest fault. Viswanath describes their attitude, “This person has stolen my cloth because he is cold, and though he has a weapon, he doesn’t attack me because he is merciful. He is virtuous.” Ati-mahattama (“extremely great person”) — An ati-mahattama sees good qualities in others even where there are none. Their attitude is, “In this world there are no bad people. Everyone is good.” Continue reading "Of Saints and Critics
→ Dandavats"
By Kesava Krsna Dasa We sometimes think of ourselves as being good adjudicators of who is serious in Krishna consciousness, and who is not. Who is pure, or not. Expecting that “More people will leave Krishna consciousness than stay,” we easily become proud of being one of the “privileged few” to remain. Being of the surprising few and rationalising this way is certainly premature, and signals immediate complacency. The adage, “It is how you finish that counts; not how you start,” usually escapes our attention when we think of how and why so many devotees leave Krishna consciousness. Are all of those who left insincere? Is sincerity easily measured? Though many of us are active in service now, how many of us think of the combined sacrifices of the thousands of devotees in the past that somehow helped shape the Iskcon we know today, but who are presently inactive? Many fell from high positions, and others left through weakness, and yet more are presently experiencing Krishna’s testing kindness. Do we think again about how many of those thousands who left, would sincerely love to come back, but are unable to, due to shame, embarrassment, inadequacy, and general anarthas. How many of them can redeem themselves to become pure devotees even in this lifetime? Is a fall from grace an impediment for pure devotion? While so many devotees are being tested on the “outside,” the relatively advantaged few on the “inside,” can be less fortunate than they. For instance, when a devotee becomes senior, many preaching opportunities await him or her. Wherever they go they will be honoured and feted. This is a very comfortable situation to be in. Continue reading "Silent Tears of Remorse
→ Dandavats"
By Giriraj Swami At the time that Srila Prabhupada and his disciples acquired New Dvaraka, I was in Boston, and there we heard the news that Srila Prabhupada had gotten a wonderful property that had been a church. Srila Prabhupada made New Dvaraka his Western world headquarters and spent months on end here--at one stage he stayed for eight months--and established it as the model center. And he personally trained the devotees. A devotee named Silavati was the head pujari, and under Prabhupada's guidance she and others devotees established an exemplary standard of Deity worship. Then if any temple wanted to learn the proper standard of Deity worship, they would write or send a devotee here to learn. The activities and standards in New Dvaraka became the model for the other temples in ISKCON. The sankirtana, public chanting and dancing, was also exemplary. Visnujana was the lead singer, and all the devotees were eager to go out and chant with him. And Tamal Krishna was the main organizer. He made sure that all the brahmacaris had nicely colored matching cloth and that all the ladies had bright saris and that all the devotees danced in step. It was a wonderful performance, and people were attracted. Continue reading "Srila Prabhupada’s Western World Headquarters
→ Dandavats"
Lord Jagannath Ratha Yatra, 05-11-2016 ISKCON-Delhi (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: So this process of hari-kirtana is very simple: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Actually there are only three words: Hare, Krsna, and Rama. But they are very nicely arranged for chanting so that everyone can take the mantra and chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare. Since we have started this movement in the Western countries, Europeans, Americans, Africans, Egyptians, and Japanese are all chanting. There is no difficulty. They are chanting very gladly, and they are getting the results. What is the difficulty? We are distributing this chanting free of charge, and it is very simple. Simply by chanting, one can have self-realization, God realization, and when there is God realization, then nature realization is included also. For example, if one learns one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and zero, then he has studied the entirety of mathematics, because mathematics means simply changing the places of these ten figures. That’s all. Similarly, if one simply studies Krsna, then all his knowledge is perfect. And Krsna is easily understood simply by chanting this mantra, Hare Krsna. So why not take this opportunity? >>> Ref. VedaBase => SSR 5b: The Appearance of Lord Caitanya
Find them here: https://goo.gl/6dLb71
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
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Qofa64
Slow Down and Read What the Swami Has Said
Answer Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Do pure devotees have no worldly desires or do they have desires but no inclination to act on those desires? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post How can we use in bhakti the qualities we don’t know we have? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Is there a difference between vairagya and virakti? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post How can we deal with bad thoughts that come up subconsciously? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post How does the Placebo effect work? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post When artificial intelligence becomes as good as our intelligence, what will our purpose be? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post How can we overcome procrastinating tendency? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Answer Podcast
Download by “right-click and save content”
The post Should we just depend on bhakti to purify us or cultivate introspectiveness to check and change our motives? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
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/
The post Spirituality for caregivers – Talk at psychiatric hospital in New Jersey appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
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
Find them here: https://goo.gl/K6VJVh
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
→ Dandavats"