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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.

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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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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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

The post Daily Darshan: November 5th, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

https://flic.kr/s/aHskLfxXhE

ISKCON-Delhi - HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Disappearance: 04-11-2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krishna’s plan becomes very easy for us when we follow Krishna’s orders, otherwise, we are following Maya’s plan and become frustrated at every step. Following Krishna’s orders means chanting daily 16 rounds, following the four rules and regulations, rising early, associating with devotees, like that. Unless these principles are followed, we cannot expect Krishna’s protection. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Jayadeva — Paris 23 July, 1972
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Z4Wf3V

“It is not so much that because there may be some faults in our godbrothers and godsisters, or because there may be some mismanagement or lack of cooperation, that this is due to being impersonalists, no. It is the nature of the living condition to always have some fault. Even in the Spiritual World there is some fault and envy—sometimes the Gopis will quarrel over Krishna's favor, and once Krishna was so much attracted to Radharani that by mistake he tried to milk the bull instead of the cow. And sometimes when the Gopis used to put on their dress and make-up for seeing Krishna, they would be too much hasty and smear kumkum and mascara in the wrong places and their ornaments and dresses would appear as if small children had been trying to dress themselves. “There are so many examples. But it is not the same as material fault or material envy, it is transcendental because it is all based on Krishna. Sometimes when one Gopi would serve Krishna very nicely, the others would say, ‘Oh, she has done so nicely, now let me do better for pleasing Krishna.’ That is envy, but it is transcendental, without malice. So we shall not expect that anywhere there is any Utopia. Rather, that is impersonalism. People should not expect that even in the Krishna Consciousness Society there will be Utopia. Because devotees are persons, therefore there will always be some lacking. But the difference is that their lacking, because they have given up everything to serve Krishna—money, jobs, reputation, wealth, big educations, everything—their lackings have become transcendental because, despite everything they may do, their topmost intention is to serve Krishna. ‘One who is engaged in devotional service, despite the most abominable action, is to be considered saintly because he is rightly situated.’ Continue reading "Healing
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On the 4th of November 2010, 22:25 PM Moscow time Purnacandra Goswami passed away. It is a great loss for the entire ISKCON community.The following is a partially-edited transcript of a short talk I gave during the memorial service for Purnacandra Goswami in Moscow on November, 9, 2010. Purnacandra Maharaja was such a Vaisnava. He was not interested in the external affairs of this world. I know that because of my personal association with him. I'm sure that we'll hear more confirmation of this from others today-- that Maharaja was more interested in sharing substance and less concerned about structure or form. That is one quality of Purnacandra Maharaja I've always appreciated. Purnacandra Maharaja would oftentimes keep his firm commitment to substance even at the risk of being unpopular. He was not at all interested in winning some popularity contest. He was interested in preserving that which was passed on to him by his spiritual master. Continue reading "My Memories of Purnacandra Goswami
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The post ​When Sita was devastated on Rama’s exiling her, how can we say that she just accepted her exile? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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The post ​Yoga Maya can cover Krishna – how is this different from the Mayavadi idea that we all are God covered by Maya? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Iskcon San Diego’s Govardhana Puja 2016 Festival (Album with 68 photos)
Indian lady: How does one contact the spiritual master? Through a book can you contact the spiritual master?
Prabhupada: No, you have to associate.
Syamasundara: “Can you associate through a book?” she asked. Prabhupada: Yes, through books, and also personal. Because when you make a spiritual master you have got personal touch. Not that in air you make a spiritual master. You make a spiritual master concrete.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => His Divine Grace Srila Sac-cid-ananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Appearance Day, Lecture – London, September 3, 1971
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The post ​Some devotees see social issues as irrelevant – isn’t bhakti meant to be socially relevant? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Written by Uddhava Das

Wednesday, 02 November 2016
At around 12 noon, Adi Kesava & Bhakta Vatsala left auspicious Vrindavan to fetch Kadamba Kanana Swami from Delhi Airport. He was scheduled to arrive at 14h30 from Dubai after a long 20 hour journey from South Africa. At 15h30 Maharaj appeared through the gate and was received graciously. They hopped into the awaiting taxi, luggage and all, and set-off for destination Vrindavan!

In the meantime, at the Krsna Balarama temple, devotees slowly gathered at the ISKCON Guesthouse entrance eagerly awaiting the arrival of Maharaj. At 6pm Sangita started a kirtan and 30 minutes later, we drew a mass of spectators and managed to block the side entrance to the temple, Prabhupada’s house and the guesthouse! So we were asked kindly to move our arrival party

At 6h30pm we were updated that Maharaj would arrive in about 45min, so the chanting continued strongly and it was brought to a crescendo when Maharaj finally arrived. The first stop that Maharaj made was at the house of Prabhupada to pay his obeisances. After that he left for his room in the guesthouse. Adi Kesava, Bhakta Vatsala and Uddhava were already inside with the luggage when Maharaj came in, and following him were almost 50 devotees. Maharaj said, “Yes, come in come in!” and the room quickly filled up and we were nice packed together while Maharaj sat on his bed and started a small kirtan. After the intro kirtan he looked upon everyone and commented, “… so nice that you all came.” He made the point that we are all “home” now, Vrindavan is our home, a place to recharge and that we should come at least once a year, like how Prabhupada mentioned to his disciples.

At the end of the small talk he said he was “sick of being sick” and decided to go on parikramas. Adi Kesava and Maharaj created a schedule of places to visit around Braja. The schedule is as follows:

November 05 – Manasi Ganga, Kusuma Sarovara, Uddhava Kund
November 06 – Yavat, Prema Sarovara
November 07 – Varsana
November 08 – Rest and Maharaj will give Bhagavatam class
November 09 – Brahmananda Ghat, Raval
November 10 – Kamyavan
November 11 – Rama Ghat and Chir Ghat
November  12 – Rest
November 13 – Unchagaon
November 14 – Vrindavan

After the talk he distributed dried fruit and nuts to a very eager audience and he concluded by thanking us for coming and hinted that he was ready for his dinner and a shower.

Thursday, 03 November 2016
Kadamba Kanana Swami did not leave his room during the first part of the day because of a flood of people all who wanted to meet and talk to him. He spoke to many people including Kyoko who was to be initiated later that afternoon. At 12 noon, finally Maharaj left the guesthouse to take a much needed japa walk.

After lunch he started to prepare for the impromptu initiation ceremony that was about to take place. Slowly, devotees gathered in the room and at 4pm everybody was present, except Kyoko. But within a short time Kyoko arrived and the ceremony started.

Maharaj started the conversation with a comment about a previous initiation ceremony in a hotel in Switzerland and how it was not possible to have a fire ceremony in the hotel, similarly he could not do one in the ISKCON Guesthouse. He apologised for his inability to organise it elsewhere. But, he said the vows that the disciple promises to follow are just like the fire because they are the essence of the initiation.

He continued his short talk on how our vows, especially in the beginning, are based on conviction. And how we, at a later stage, need feelings or inspiration to continue in our service. We need to put our heart in it to stay afloat. He concluded the talk by addressing the occasion of initiation and focused his attention on Kyoko. When Maharaj asked what four principles Kyoko will promise to follow for the rest of her life, he followed up by asking how can one be sure that one will follow them for the rest of one’s life! How do we know what will happen to us, so how can we make an eternal promise. Kyoko expertly answered that all she can do is pray for the mercy of Krsna and the vaisnavas. Maharaj commented that this was the correct answer!

Following the vows, Maharaj increased the tension a bit when he was about to announce the new name and he broke the anticipating atmosphere by announcing her new name: Keli Vrindavan Devi Dasi. He wanted to give her a name that had Vrindavan in it because actually she got accepted by Maharaj in Vrindavan and now also she received initiation in Vrindavan, so Maharaj thought it proper to give her a name with Vrindavan in it.

After the program concluded Maharaj already had appointments to meet devotees for darshan but the crowd in his room was not about to move. Maharaj made the funny comment, “Thank you all for coming and now… thank you all for going!” And that concluded the private initiation ceremony.

Earlier that morning, Maharaj was invited by the management of Srila Prabhupada’s house to sing the evening bhajans. The news spread quickly and already at 18h45 the bedroom of Srila Prabhupada started filling up. When Maharaj entered at 19h10 the room was packed. Maharaj sat down, offered obeisances and started singing the most enlivening bhajans for the next 90 minutes with Gopal expertly playing mrdanga. The bhajans were sweet and mellow, and at times Maharaj would give it all and then some! He even got some of the crowd to stand up and dance. For the last half hour, people from outside were looking in to see what was happening and the room got even more packed when Maharaj brought the bhajan session to an end. And that concluded the day and devotees left in anticipation for the following day’s festival honouring of Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance.

Visit Flickr to see more photos. 

Photos from the Manor’s Annakuta, Go Puja and Govardhan Puja 2016 (Album with photos)
Please find below photos from Annakuta, Go Puja and Govardhan Puja 2016 at Bhaktivedanta Manor.
Slideshow (please turn on sound): http://davidc.zenfolio.com/govardhan_annakuta_gopuja_2016/slideshow
Gallery:
http://davidc.zenfolio.com/govardhan_annakuta_gopuja_2016
With best wishes, Hare Krishna, David.

ISKCON Youth Forum (IYF) is the youth wing of Sri Sri Radha Govind Temple, a branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). IYF is aimed towards nourishing the hearts of today's youth with the sublime message of the scriptures and helping them flourish in their lives in a wholesome manner. Happiness and the true fulfillment of the soul and unending success have been the goals of humanity from eternity. The purpose of life is a life of purpose and what makes a life valuable is the perfect blend of knowledge, skills and values. Most of us simply go through life but in the pursuit of going through life, we forget to grow through life. Therefore the reality is” one cannot upload love, one can’t download time, one can’t google all of the life’s answers therefore one must actually live some of his life. Continue reading "ISKCON Youth Forum Ahmedabad – A Youth Wing of ISKCON Ahmedabad
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Go Puja & Govardhana Puja in Brasil (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The duty of a brahmana is to culture the quality of forgiveness, which is illuminating like the sun. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is pleased with those who are forgiving.
PURPORT: Different personalities become beautiful by possessing different qualities. Canakya Pandita says that the cuckoo bird, although very black, is beautiful because of its sweet voice. Similarly, a woman becomes beautiful by her chastity and faithfulness to her husband, and an ugly person becomes beautiful when he becomes a learned scholar. In the same way, brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras become beautiful by their qualities. Brahmanas are beautiful when they are forgiving, ksatriyas when they are heroic and never retreat from fighting, vaisyas when they enrich cultural activities and protect cows, and sudras when they are faithful in the discharge of duties pleasing to their masters. Thus everyone becomes beautiful by his special qualities. And the special quality of the brahmana, as described here, is forgiveness. SB 9.15.40
Find them here: https://goo.gl/gi1Cg7

Photos from Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day 2016 at the Manor.
Bhakta David: Please find below a few phone snaps of the Vyasana and bhoga offerings from Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day 2016 at Bhaktivedanta Manor.
A small murti of Srila Prabhupada was given abhishek earlier in the day, pushpanjali was performed after the 12:30 arati, and many devotees read out heart-felt offerings.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/obkvXD
If you are in the UK and can come to London please join our maha harinama sankirtan party THIS SATURDAY EVENING (5th November). It will leave the ISKCON-London Soho Street temple after Gaura Arati please also come for that and offer a candle to Sri Damodara for Kartik.

750+ Ahmedabad youngsters participated in youth fest ‘UMANG’ - ISKCON Youth Forum Ahmedabad.
Umang, festival of Joy, was an enlivening experience for all the 750+ participants whose level of enthusiasm soared as the festival changed gears, bringing new twists and turns for the young blood.

A few years back we began the installation of HDPE (High-density polyethylene) rainwater pipes all over the TOVP. HDPE is a great material for this project. It is a polyethylene thermoplastic made from petroleum and is very thick, hard, and durable.

The rainwater piping system has been very intelligently designed. The rain water that will be collected from all of the pipes will flow underneath the TOVP into a centralized underground piping system. This water then will flow into the landscape gardens around the TOVP and will plenish all of the vegetation.

This construction project has been very positive and we are nearly finished. Coming to a completion of this project is a great success and will bring us one step closer to our goal of opening the TOVP.

The post Rainwater Pipes appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Blissful Harinam Sankirtan in Arequipa, Peru, during Halloween Party and Govardhan Puja Festival (Album with photos)
Srila Pra...

Gita verse-by-verse study Podcast

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The post Gita 08.08 – Practice to take consciousness beyond endlessly deceptive material reality to Krishna appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Krishna Comes Through His Pure Representative

The post Daily Darshan: November 4th, 2016 – Srila Prahupada’s Dissap. appeared first on Mayapur.com.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 September 2016, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.9.25)

In his list for society at large, Bhismadev mentions, “To equally distribute wealth.” So, are we speaking here about communism? It sounds like Bhismadev is the pre-runner of Karl Marx! No, to equally distribute wealth means that there should be no excessive poverty, that no-one should be deprived of their basic needs of life. It is not that everyone should be equally wealthy. This is not appropriate. Reward should be there relating to endeavour and there is also the influence of karma – some are born more wealthy and some are born more poor. So these differences in society are fine but not to the exploitation of others. Those who have wealth have to take responsibility for the well-being of others.

Srila Prabhupada, residing in the holy Dhama of Sri Vrindavan, at 7:30 pm on Monday November 14th 1977, gave up his mortal frame surrounded by loving disciples engaged in ‘Harinam-sankirtan’, the congregational chanting of the Holy Name.

Translating Srimad Bhagavatam up until his very last breath, in a peaceful condition, and with the Holy Name on his tongue, Srila Prabhupada passed from this world in Sri Vrndavana Dhama to rejoin his worshipful Lords Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, Sri Sri Krsna Balarama, and Sri Sri Radhe Syamasundara in Their eternal abode.

“He reason ill who tells that Vaisnavas die

When thou art living still in sound!

The Vaisnavas die to live, and living try

To spread the Holy Name around !”

During the London leg of my tour of the West, the most memorable engagement was a talk show at Queens College, Cambridge University. The format was that the program coordinator acted as a host for a talk show entitled “Debunk the monk.” He shot a flurry of questions at me, challenging my beliefs and practices and the students got into the spirit and followed shoot. I was enlivened by the program format and the QA soon went in the direction of science and spirituality, as I had hoped.

Ever since I had read Richard Dawkins “The God Delusion” about a decade ago, I had been itching for an opportunity to counter the many fallacious arguments therein. And here in UK, in the land of Dawkins, I was handed that opportunity when a student quoted Dawkins and repeated his question: “If God created everything, who created God?” The question was like giving a juicy half volley to an aggressive batsman and I duly dispatched it, repeating the answer I had written here and spoken here. As the students heard logical and persuasive answers, they opened up and we went over the whole gamut of standard questions about God ranging from his relationship with science (my one-line answer: God is not an explanatory alternative to science; he is the explanatory foundation for science) and the problem of evil (my one-line answer: Suffering exists not because of God but in spite of God – he is the cure for suffering, not its cause).

Overall, this was my most intellectually intense QA session on science & spirituality, far more intense than what I have had with IIT students in India. After the QA session, the coordinator said that next year they would try to organize a bigger program at the celebrated Cambridge Union.

While going to the program venue and returning form it, I crossed over the famous mathematical bridge at Cambridge. For many students, that bridge is an intellectual pilgrimage place and it would have been for me too, twenty years ago; it would have filled me with awe at the power of science and the brilliance of scientists.

But now it filled me not so much with awe as with sadness. While I do respect the knowledge-acquiring power of science and the change-producing power of technology, I am increasingly aware of how science has been hijacked by materialists and atheists to propagate their own world-view.

Pioneering scientists saw their scientific discoveries as spiritual insights into God’s way of working through nature – consider Newton’s quote on making a discovery: “O God, I think Thy thoughts after Thee.” Unfortunately, over the centuries, science has become increasingly divorced from spirituality, till we now have Dawkins claiming that science enabled him to become “an intellectually fulfilled atheist.”

The rupture of science and spirituality has fragmented the human person between the heart that seeks higher purpose to life and a head that seeks rational explanations of nature. Bhakti-yoga with its potent experiential dimension has the potential to be recognized as a spiritual science, thereby helping heal this divorce at the core of humanity.

Of course, that healing operation needs hundreds of brilliant brains working in tandem and we can only do our small part and wait for Krishna to arrange for his agents to do the rest.

While the talk show enlivened me, walking over the mathematical bridge sobered me as I contemplated the enormous intellectual work that remains undone.

The talk audio is here:

QA on Science & Religion at Cambridge University

The post Science & Spirituality talk show at Cambridge University – Undoing an unfortunate divorce? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Govardhana Puja – the sweetest day of the year – celebrates the day when Lord Krishna as a young boy lifted Govardhana Hill with just His little finger, to protect the residents of Vrindavana village from Lord Indra’s furious thunderstorm. Devotees around the world pour their hearts into their own offerings for the late October festival, engaging their creativity in Krishna’s service to often astonishing effect.