Planet ISKCON

(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

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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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)
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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 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

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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
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“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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