Websites from the ISKCON Universe
Kirtan Academy aims to educate individuals in the practice of Kirtan, alongside a Bhakti-Yoga lifestyle. Kirtan Academy trains students in skillful singing and playing of instruments (Mrdanga, Harmonium, Karatals) in the mood of glorifying the Supreme, it will help them develop favorable attitudes for leading or taking part in kirtans. More information: www.kirtanacademy.co.uk
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The Conch Newsletter - issue November 2016.
The Conch is New Govardhana communitys monthly newsletter. Whether you live locally or further afield, The Conch is a great way for you to keep inspired and remain connected to the New Govardhana community. Updates on coming festivals and events Reviews of those which have recently passed Find out who is visiting New Govardhana Catch up with other devotees
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[Reposted from 8-22-2011] Respectful obeisances to Prabhupada, and all his disciples, and granddisciples—who are the future of the Krishna consciousness movement.
(I have adopted many of the words I shared on his disappearance day last year for this occasion, as they are sill of pressing importance to me, and repetition is the mother of learning.) On the appearance day of one’s guru it is customary to present an offering of glorification to one’s guru, and the process given by him or her. It may be directly expressed to the guru, and/or also addressed to the general audience. After the disappearance of one’s guru—or any founder of a religion or sect—many different conceptions of the guru and their teachings arise. This is an inevitable and unavoidable occurrence, and while one may favor their personal understanding, one can also do their best to understand the feelings and realizations of others, in the mood of diversity within the oneness of service to Prabhupada and Lord Chaitanya.
The fact that there are many different ideas as to the essential teachings of our guru can make it difficult to express one’s heart—at least it is for me. Never the less, I will try to express something to honor Prabhupada along with my personal reflections about my relationship to him, and some realizations I have gleaned from my personal experience. I pray for the generosity, magnanimity, and blessings of my audience.
Barsana Karttika 2016 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: On 27th Oct, we visited the beautiful village of Barsana! Come along with us on the Parikrama Path of Barsana with Vittalrukmini’s pics!
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Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day.
“So at the time of death… Of course, those who are devotees, their position is different. People may say, “The devotee is also dying, and the nondevotee, sinful man, is also dying. What is the difference?” So there is much difference. The example is given: just like a cat catching a rat in his mouth and at the same time carrying his cubs in the mouth. Superficially, we can see that the same mouth is being used, but one is feeling comfortable being carried by the mother, and another is feeling the death knell. Similarly, at the time of death, the devotee’s feeling that they are being transferred to Vaikuntha, whereas the ordinary sinful man is feeling that the Yamaraja, the dutas, the constables of Yamaraja are dragging him to the hellish condition of life. So one should not conclude simply by seeing that he is dying. No. The process is different. Janma karma ca me divyam. As Lord Krsna’s appearance and disappearance are all spiritual, transcendental, they are not ordinary things, similarly, Lord Krsna’s devotee, His representative, who is sent to this material world for preaching the glories of Lord Krsna, their appearance and disappearance is also like Krsna’s. Therefore, according to Vaisnava principles, the appearance and disappearance of Vaisnava is considered all-auspicious. Therefore we hold festivals. Just like yesterday we had the disappearance day of His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Prabhupada. So we offered our respects and observed a festival, Avirbhava, Tirobhava. Tirobhava.”
Srila Prabhupada Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam 6:1:27-34, Surat
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada departed from this world on November 14, 1977 in Vrindavan, India. As Srila Prabhupada explains above, the appearance and disappearance of the Lord and his pure representatives from this world is a cause for celebration. While there is no need to lament the disappearance of the Lord’s pure nitya-siddha representative, at the same time the devotees feel great pangs of separation due to the manifest physical absence of His Divine Grace.
Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day (video-class).
Srila Prabhupada departed from this world in Vrindavan dham, India, on the 14th of November 1977. One would not usually celebrate the disappearance day of a person, especially one so loved and revered as Srila Prabhupada. However, the departure of a pure Vaishnava gives cause for jubilation because he returns to his eternal service at Krishna's lotus feet in Goloka Vrindavan, the spiritual world.
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Ratha Yatra in the Carribean (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Let us remain in our position, but at the same time, simultaneously, side by side, let us have spiritual culture. Just like we are holding this class. This is also spiritual culture, sravanam kirtanam [SB 7.5.23]. With your multifarious duties you come here thrice in a week and try to understand. This is also spiritual culture. This will not go in vain. This will give you impression. Even you stop coming here, that impression will never go. I tell you the that impression will never go. It is such a thing. But if we take it up very seriously and go on molding our life in that way, then it becomes quickly successful. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 2.49-51 – New York, April 5, 1966
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By Sri Radharamana dasa Bhakti Charu Swami travelled in from India to present the keynote speech. His Holiness began by reflecting on his privilege in being present at a historical place of British Parliament where many significant decisions had been made throughout history that affected the entire world. His Holiness described the objective behind ISKCON and the many sacrifices made by Srila Prabhupada in its establishment. In detailing the prediction of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His Holiness demonstrated how Srila Prabhupada inundated the entire world with a spiritual revolution that places a solution to all problems of life and the world through devotional service to Lord Krishna. His Holiness shared some of his intimate moments with Srila Prabhupada to exemplify the magnanimity of the Founder-Acharya. Out of love for Srila Prabhupada, His Holiness once expressed how he wished that he could’ve served Srila Prabhupada when he was alone in the beginning days in New York. Srila Prabhupada affectionately responded saying that he was never alone since Krishna was always with him. His Holiness described how ISKCON came to the UK and requested for all people to seriously consider the message of Srila Prabhupada for the upliftment of each individual and mankind. Continue reading "50th Anniversary of ISKCON celebrated at House of Lords
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By Sri Radharamana dasa The ‘Call of Dharma’ marks the evening of a daylong celebration across the firm which included Diwali prashadam sweets distributed to all UK and Ireland EY offices along with festive cards and animated media wall messages. In the spirit of the festival, EY hosted a 'dress colourful' day across UK and a lunchtime Bharat Natyam performance at the UK Headquarters. With over 100 professionals in attendance at the evening event, His Holiness explained how one can take lessons from the story of Diwali and reflect them in our professional lives. Due to huge demands, the event was streamed live via the ‘Veda London’ page on Facebook where people in their thousands, from all over the world, tuned in to watch the keynote speech. His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami explained how the Ramayana literally documents the ‘Journey of Lord Rama’ to exemplify ideal character and virtues through the history of Lord Rama’s journey for global peace and prosperity despite life’s various challenges. Diwali appears as the summation of that journey. In explaining the Call of Dharma, His Holiness used various examples to describe the dormant nature of the living entity and subsequent Dharma, which when followed, grants permanent peace and prosperity. Continue reading "The Call of Dharma at EY Headquarters, London
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By Sri Nandanandana dasa Sometimes people think that the ancient Vedic literature no longer has any real usefulness in this day and age. That it is little better than an antique of foregone days. However, this article shows the universal and ever-relevant nature of the Ramayana, and how it explains the symptoms of society when there is no ruler, or when there is an unqualified leader. This is from the discussion between Markandeya and the great sages and Visishtha when they urge him to install a proper king onto the throne. When there is no such ruler of a country, they describe an assortment of symptoms and problems in society that become prominent, and thus spoil life for the citizens. The descriptions are of a society that is falling apart, wherein the citizens are troubled by the lawlessness and corruption that abounds. However, these symptoms are what we find so common in today’s world, which shows the timeless nature of the instructions given by these great sages. Nonetheless, in other situations in the Ramayana, we find remedies for these problems. Such as when Vibhishana instructs Ravana on some of the duties of a king, which we briefly look at. However, Ravana did not like being instructed in this way because he was not interested in acting like a good king anyway, similar in ways to some of the rulers we see today. Continue reading "The Ramayana on the Need for a Proper Leader
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Prabhupada disappearance day offering
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Sacred Abodes (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Yavat is where Radharani lived with her husband Abhimanyu and her in-laws...
In acquiring knowledge, it is said that what we can know depends on what we know. On seeing pale fingernails, a layperson sees just the discoloration of the nails, but a doctor sees signs of anemia. As the doctor knows more about the body’s functioning than a layperson, the doctor can come to know more about its possible malfunctioning on seeing things that convey nothing significant to laypeople.
Similarly, the more we come to know about bhakti and especially about the challenges of sharing bhakti with others, the more we can appreciate the sacrifice of those who have dedicated their lives to sharing bhakti. And the greatest among the modern sharers of bhakti is our exalted founder-acharya, His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, whose thirty-ninth disappearance day we are observing today.
During the last few years, since I started traveling in various parts of the world for sharing bhakti, I have gained increased appreciation of two aspects of Srila Prabhupada’s outreach: his capacity to transcend jet-lag and his capacity to transcend his body’s need of sleep for writing.
Beyond jet-lag
I had heard from Srila Prabhupada’s close associates, especially his personal servants, how Srila Prabhupada was never affected by jet-lag. But the significance of this point didn’t register in me till I found myself afflicted by jet-lag . When we travel across time zones, the body’s biological clock remains in the time zone we were in earlier, even if the body is now in another time zone. Getting the body’s clock to adjust to the new time zone often takes several days. And during that interim period, our sleep cycles, digestion patterns and other bodily functions get disturbed, even disrupted, thereby adversely affecting our capacity to function effectively. That is the way with most normal human beings.
Srila Prabhupada traveled extensively and tirelessly, his functioning never impeded by jet-lag. Such uninterrupted service is testimony to his absorption in Krishna and in his capacity to transcend a bodily limitation that affects most human beings.
Beyond sleep
Another way in which Srila Prabhupada transcended his body’s normal limitations has been far more consequential for all of us: by his writing books after just a few hours of sleep. How difficult such writing can be, I would like to share from an author’s perspective.
As I have many writing commitments – and keep getting many more – many times I have resolved to cut down on my night sleep so that I can wake early and write. Even if I do manage to wake early, I have found that my brain is in no condition to write. On most such occasions, I simply struggle against sleep without doing any constructive writing. And the experience of most authors is similar. Whatever books on writing I have read, therein I have found that writers are unanimous that one needs to sleep adequately to write effectively.
Of course, it could be said that any bodily activity requires that the body be sufficiently rested. That’s true, but that requirement of rest is all the more so for an activity like writing because writing is both sedentary and solitary. If while being inadequately rested, we have to do some activity that involves some moving about, that motion helps in fighting off sleep. Similarly, while insufficiently rested, if we need to do some work that involves talking with others, then that conversation too helps in warding off sleep. But when we are doing an activity such as writing that involves neither motion nor conversation, sleep attacks with full force – all the more so when we haven’t given the body its due quota of sleep.
That Srila Prabhupada could reduce his bodily quota of sleep to so little and still write his books – and write books that contained some of the most profound wisdom the world has ever seen – is simply astonishing. It demonstrates that he is in a class of his own, far above even the best of writers.
Beyond artistic expression to spiritual compassion
Another distinctive feature of Srila Prabhupada is his inspiration for writing. All creative artists, including writers, labor to bring their creations to fruition for many reasons. One reason that strongly drives many writers is the thought that that particular work of art will never be produced if they don’t produce it.
Srila Prabhupada’s motivation went far beyond artistic expression to spiritual compassion. He couldn’t tolerate living in a world where Krishna’s glories were not widely available for everyone in the world’s principal language of mainstream communication: English. And he couldn’t tolerate this absence because he could see, through the eyes of scriptural knowledge, that people, by the millions and billions, were suffering because of a lack of spiritual knowledge. So, he strove tirelessly to share spiritual knowledge, specifically the summit of spiritual knowledge in the form of the glories of the highest spiritual reality, Krishna.
Thus, it was Srila Prabhupada’s intolerance towards people’s suffering that enabled him to tolerate and transcend his own body’s needs.
Each day, when after getting adequate rest, I sit down to write, I hope and pray that remembrance of Srila Prabhupada’s sacrifice may fill me with gratitude. He gave me the content to write and he gave up his own comfort so as to lay the foundation of a global movement that provides me the facilities to write comfortably.
Offering my eternally prostrated obeisances to Srila Prabhupada, I beg for his mercy so that I can do my small part in practicing and sharing the bhakti wisdom with which he has enriched the world.
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Mercy from His Room
By Vaisesika Das The jiva is a an appreciator and Krishna is the Supreme appreciated and that's our job, that's all we have to do, to appreciate Krishna and all Krishna has to do is be Krishna because He's completely appreciable. Every living entity has an appreciating capacity. Some living entity's appreciating capacity is very small, but when we come to the human form of life we can expand our appreciating capacity unlimitedly. What blocks it? Matsarya, envy! Matsarya means the inability to tolerate the eminence of another. But devotees have freedom from matsarya and the ability to appreciate. And they expand their appreciating capacity, and as they do, they have so much overflow that they go out to distribute to others. This is the process of Krishna consciousness. Continue reading "Jiva the appreciator and Krsna the appreciable
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Honorable Lt Governer of NCT Delhi meets the devotees.
Vrajendranandan Das: Recently we met Shri Najeeb Jung, Honorable Lt Governer of NCT Delhi. H.H. Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja presented Bhagavad Gita As it Is in English language and briefed him about ISKCONs Golden Jubilee celebrations around the world. H.H. Gopal Krishna Maharaja appraised him about ISKCONs spreading Vedic culture for benefit of humanity, through ISKCONs 650 centers around the world. Maharaja invited Lt. Governor for Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Delhi on 05/Nov/2016. Honorable Lt Governor was very impressed after patiently listening about ISKCON. He is interested to visit our New Delhi Temple in December 2016.
His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami speaks on Vedic Knowledge and his book - “Ocean of Mercy” at the House of Lords on the occasion of 50 years of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
New Talavana’s Cow Festival.
New Talavans tenth annual Cow Fest on Oct. 1 was definitely its most successful and exciting yet!!! Why? Because for once we werent preaching to the choir! All agreed that for the first time in years there were more festival new comers then devotees! Over 100 guests were greeted with the beauty of New Talavanits well-manicured grounds, lovely ponds, soaring hardwoods, varieties of flowers, and dozens of fruit bearing trees. Several guests, fantasizing aloud, were even inspired to ask, How can I live here too? One first time guest, a well-traveled missionary, proclaimed, In all my journeys, I have never witnessed a place quite as beautiful and peaceful! Here are a few more highlights of our visitors impressions:
By non Iskcon media These videos, most probably never seen before, are from the time when the media firstly became aware of the Hare Krishna movement and started covering several Krishna conscious events like the arrival of Srila Prabhupada in Geneva, Switzerland, the devotees in France and one of the first Harinamas in Tompkins Square Park, lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. You may recognize many well known devotees in their youth and see how the movement was in its beginning. Don't mind about the language spoken, except for the devotees' interviews they mostly speak about new cults etc.. Continue reading "Rare videos of Srila Prabhupada and the first days of iskcon
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Arab Man Coming Back for Books Again and Again.
Vijaya Dasa: While distributing books at the West LA College in Los Angeles, I was speaking to a man from Saudi Arabia. He is upset that there is so much fighting in the Arab countries. I showed him the picture in the Gita of how a wise person sees within everyone both a soul and God and therefore respects all living entities.
Then I said, “If everyone saw like this, there’d no longer be wars around the world and there’d be no room for racism.”
He was so pleased to hear this that he gave a donation for a Gita, and I also gave him “Beyond Birth and Death” in Arabic. He was shocked that I had a book in Arabic, and that increased his happiness. Ten minutes later he came back and said that he had read some of the book and found it very interesting. He asked whether I had more books in Arabic. I said, “No, sorry.”
Then he said, “Do you have any more copies of the same book?”
I said, “Yes, I do.”
I gave him two more, and he made another nice donation.
Ten minutes later he came back again and asked whether he could give a donation for another Gita. This was turning into too much ecstasy.
I gave him my contact information, and he said that he’ll visit the temple this Sunday.
I was waiting for him to come back again, since it had become a regular thing, but he didn’t. I hope to see him again this Sunday.
Your servant,
Vijaya Dasa
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