Planet ISKCON

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.

When we feel envious, it has more to do with how we feel about ourselves than about anyone else. Join Jay Shetty, a Huffington Post featured motivational philosopher, strategist and former monk as he discusses how to overcome envy.

In this the appearance day of His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivadanta Swami Prabhupada I thought writing a small vyasa puja offering

Dear Srila Prabhupada Founder Acharia of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Please accept my humble obeisance
All glories to your Guru Maharaja who you served so diligently

One can never truly put into words how much you have done, how inspirational your works and the selfless service in humble carrying out his instructions to you; how when praised you simply praised your Guru Maharaja for sending such lovely disciples then glorified your disciples for their selfless service and devotion to you.

It reminded me of this verse:

tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam śābde pare ca nisnatamṁ brahmany upaśamāśrayam

Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters
Bhag. 5.14.41

Those who served you personally, those who came into contact with you even a glimpse was enough to convince them to take up a life of devotional service. Leaving aside all modern comforts that the West could provide, simply to serve and understand true knowledge.

Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī in his Hari-bhakti-vilāsa says that a person, whatever he may be, can attain the perfection of a twice-born brāhmaṇa by undergoing the spiritual disciplinary actions under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, exactly as a chemist can turn gun metal into gold by chemical manipulation. It is therefore the actual guidance that matters in the process of becoming a brāhmana
Bhag. 1.15.47-48

From the hippies and dropouts of society you gave freely, inspired shaped and gave meaning to their lives; true knowledge the knowledge of Self and the art of bhakti. From these came a society dedicated to helping others to come to the real knowledge of Self and real love, love of Sri Krishna.

The art of loving and caring devotional service.

You said make sure everyone has a book, and how everything we need can be found in.

Over the years I’ve found this to be true no matter what I’ve found its been their in those books you so painstakingly wrote, but still took time to personally educate direct and help your disciples.

And teaching us how to use whatever we have in Krishna service, and most importantly as a health care professional you gave us the greatest lesson how to deal with the material body and use it to advance in Krishna Consciousness.

I pray through your words you will continue to guide me and that one day maybe by your grace I will be able to inspire just one person to themselves become fully Krishna Conscious

So I end with a thank you, which never says what needs to be said

Yours humble
Dhirabhakta Das

Time is ticking and I’m reflecting on what I’ve actually contributed to the world. Though trying to avoid the egotistical desire to ‘make a mark,’ we are impelled to share the ‘fruits’ we have received.

A video by: www.HoofprintMedia.com

Avatar Art: Neo-Vedic Paintings Celebrating Life by Steven J. Rosen (Satyaraja Dasa) and co-author Kaisori Bellachoffers a beautiful artistic smorgasbord of the most popular figures in India's array of avatars, gods, sages, and demons. The alluring paintings of which this volume is comprised, portrayed by contemporary artists, mostly ISKCON devotees, focus on stories from the Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), the Mahabharata, and the Caitanya-caritamrta. The text illuminates the art.

Reconnection, a 40-minute film written and directed by Siberian devotee couple Shyam Gopal Das and his wife Vijaya Radhika Dasi, has been making a real splash in the film festival world. A cinema verite piece, it tells the story of tech professional Sean Fletcher, a typical victim of our Internet-addicted age. Emotionally and spiritually cut-off, Sean stops in Vrindavan, India on the way to Nepal, and finds that the sacred village breaks him down to his core and helps him reconnect with his own heart and inner values.

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

https://flic.kr/s/aHskGkKrvr

https://flic.kr/p/NRwhft

The post Daily Darshan: November3,2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

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 Get seva opportunities Inspiration from Vedic philosophy and teachings Vedic lifestyle and more!

[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.

read more

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!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/r5FiD7

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.

TOVP: Rainwater Pipes (Album with photos)
Sadbhuja Das: A few years back we began the installation of HDPE (High-density polye...

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
Find them here: https://goo.gl/oMgVCm

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​How can we explain rasa-lila to new people? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​How can spirituality help amidst increasing social polarisation, often caused by religion? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​Are all svakiya relationships in this world false? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​How can we guide our children in their teenage years? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​When anxiety distracts us during chanting, should we try to counter those thoughts or just wait for those thoughts to go? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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
→ Dandavats"

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​Does our enthusiasm in bhakti come from our sincerity or from Krishna’s mercy? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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
→ Dandavats"

Answer Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post How can we know that God is still living? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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
→ Dandavats"

​Prabhupada disappearance day offering

Podcast

Download by “right-click and save content”

The post ​Appreciating Srila Prabhupada’s transcendence in sharing bhakti appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

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.

 

 

 

 

The post Appreciating Srila Prabhupada’s transcendence in sharing krishna-bhakti (Prabhupada disappearance day meditation) appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.