Planet ISKCON

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Bhagavatam overview.

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Preaching program for children in Kiev, Ukraine (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma (Supersoul) in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.2.17).
Find them here: https://goo.gl/hS9653

This baby, Hari das, starts crying every time his father stops chanting the mahamantra :-)
Caitanya Bhagavatam Childhood Pastim...

Q: “Falling down” from the spiritual world is quite a strange idea, but if we never met Krishna how to explain our longing for Him? I feel,  everyone longs for Him only,  as nobody is happy here.

Longing for Krishna is actually a very rare thing that only the most advanced bhakti-sādhaka’s achieve. It is not something that everyone intrinsically has.

Krishna says that even to comprehend god at all is very rare (manuṣyānām sahasreṣu…). And he says that of all those few who do comprehend god, those who can conceive of god in a personal way are still more rare (vasudeva sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabha). Of all those who can conceive of god in a personal form, those who want to develop a devotional relationship with him are even still more rare (yoginām api sarveśaṁ…).

Explaining the Śrīmad Bhāgavata, Śrī Rūpa, in Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, explains that longing for Krishna (āsakti) is the most advanced stage of sādhana.

So I do not agree that “everyone longs for Krishna.” Practically no one even knows what or who Krishna is, what to speak of has a real, sincere longing for him.

Q: Then what do we feel? What is that hole in the heart that cannot be filled by any amount of material sense gratification?

We are kṛṣner nitya-dāsa. This means that our very constitution is meant to experience Krishna. We are consciousness by nature (jñāna-mātra, svayaṁ-jyoti pratyag-dhāma), and consciousness always longs for an object worth being conscious of. Krishna is the supreme object and subject of consciousness (adhokṣaja, govinda, kṛṣṇa, etc). So we long to fulfill our constitutional potential, of experiencing the most deeply fulfilling object of consciousness. We do not exactly know what that object is. This is why we search around for a million things. But Krishna manifests the Veda to help us discover him, the true supreme object of consciousness (jñeya).

As you mentioned, the idea of leaving a relationship with Krishna is too odd. Because if we could leave it, it must not be fully satisfying and engrossing, therefore it must not after all be the param-jñeya (supreme objective of experience), and Krishna must not be “govinda” or “adhokṣaja” or “kṛṣṇa” etc. Therefore this concept is not acceptable. Śrī Jīva and the other founding ācāryas of Gauḍīya Vedānta clearly never present such a concept. They present the concept that we are anādi-bhagavād-ajñāna – we have never experienced Bhagavan – because we were instead fascinated by the qualities of māyā (yaya sammohita māyā) as a result of our unique and causeless individual nature and disposition.

We are generally happy with māyā except when we do not cooperate with her rules and come under the influence of negative karma. But this in itself provides a clue that this happiness is not perfect for us. Krishna provides the Veda to give us a way to know him and establish a real relationship with him, the Supreme Object of Love and Joy. (anarthopaśamam sākṣāt and the next verse).

Vraja Kishor dās (www.vrajakishor.com)

Tagged: fall of jiva

Please find below recordings of lectures and kirtans by Kadamba Kanana Swami taken during July and August.

** Download ALL (617 MB)

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New Vraja Mandala – Spain

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KKS_SPAIN_12August2016_NewVrajaMandala_Lecture_SB_12.13.23

KKS_SPAIN_12August2016_NewVrajaMandala_Kirtan

KKS_SPAIN_11August2016_NewVrajaMandala_Kirtan

Pandava Sena Retreat – Germany 

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KKS_GER_03August2016_PandavaSenaRetreat_Intro_Lecture

*We are missing some recordings here as many files were damaged. 

England 

KKS_UK_31July2016_BoatFestival_Kirtan

KKS_UK_30July2016_HouseProgram_Lecture

KKS_UK_30July2016_HouseProgram_Kirtan

KKS_UK_30July2016_Initiation_Lecture

KKS_UK_30July2016_BhaktivedantaManor_CC_Adi_13.66

Swiss Retreat

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KKS_SWISS_SummerCamp_28July2016_Kirtan

 

Offering to Srila Prabhupada on the celebration of Srila Prabhupada Memorial Festival & 71st Vyasa Puja of H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj 2016 at ISKCON Ujjain on 17th September 2016  

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On 28th September 2016, Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja gave an amazing talk in Bengali at the weekly JSSS meeting in in Sri Dhama Mayapur. Since Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja was not physically present here in Sri Dhama Mayapur for his Vyasa Puja Ceremony, devotees of Mayapur presented him with a huge Vyasa Puja cake to welcome […]

The post Bhakti Charu Swami Gives A Bengali Talk At Sridham Mayapur Vyas Puja Celebrations appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.

Amazing Mexico City Harinam, Mexico (Album with photos)
Mexico City is for sure one of the best places for Harinam Sankirtan in the world. Culturally the people are very open minded and they readily join in chanting and dancing and easily take books without any inhibitions. Even death personified is ready to join in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtan mission.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Rb59ZN

Our Bhakti Tree Centre in Newcastle is going from strength to strength. Apart from catering for Newcastle University 3 days a week, it is also a fully fledged restaurant operating 5 days a week.

On top of that, there are 2 nights of kirtan/philosophy and one night of showing ISKCON movies followed by sumptuous prasadam.

12 km

7 km

Answer Podcast

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​Sunday feast class at ISKCON, Los Angeles, USA

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By HH Jayapataka Swami

"Make Homes Into Centers" Congregational development is an untapped field that presents new opportunities for all kinds of preachers,. It incorporates a systematic method for contacting and cultivating new devotees and engaging them in service. New people and potential devotees should, as far as possible, be brought into the loop, their details taken and follow-ups commissioned. As Srila Prabhupada said, we have to fan the fire and cause it to burn. Continue reading "Congregational preaching
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By Varsana Swami

The efforts, austerities, and practices involved with the acceptance as a disciple do not end with initiation. Rather they begin, in a formal sense, at that point. Whatever outer challenges or inner demons we have, will be overcome by Krishna’s grace for those who persevere in their vows. It is only those who quit who will suffer defeat. Even as the connection and dependency between the words “disciple” and “discipline” are obvious, some devotees tend to be more attentive to the fruits than the root. Disconnected from her root, the bhakti-lata will wither. However much we may balk or resist the concept, it is discipline that forms the soul of vaidhi-bhakti and reveals the heart of raganuga-bhakti in due course of time. Discipline applies to four levels of spiritual development, each successively deeper and subtler: body, mind, words, and emotions. Herein lies the comparison of the outcome of a disciple’s life in contrast to the undisciplined one. Continue reading "Discipleship
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By Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir

1) Who is a guest? The Sanskrit word atithi means ‘not scheduled’. An ‘unscheduled’ or unexpected guest is considered a representative of the Supreme Lord, since his arriving unannounced is just what the Lord might do to test His devotee and see how ready he is to serve Him in any situation. With this understanding, we should offer the unexpected guest full hospitality. Members of the general public, invited guests, life members, V.I.P.s, visiting Vaishnavas, relatives of Vaishnavas all should be treated in such a way that they will feel comfortable and want to return. A single thumb rule is that we should treat guests as we ourselves would like to be treated. Continue reading "Role Of Guest Reception Service
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Old maps depicting Mayapur discovered (Album with photos)
Bhaktivedanta Research Centre: These maps were found within Sundaranand Vidyabinode collection. These images show a government map of Burdwan and Nadia districts from 1917-18, the year that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura took sannyasa and began his preaching through the Gaudiya Matha.
Present day Mayapur in those days was called “Miapur bil” and was simply rice paddies.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/H5hrcl

The post Daily Darshan: October 3, 2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Harinama at Byron Bay, Australia - 02 October 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: While dying, Ajamila chanted the holy...

Rathayatra in Witbank, South Africa (Album with photos)
Bhakti Caitanya Swami: We had a wonderful Rathayatra on Sunday in Witb...

This article has significance for all Russian preachers, but especially for foreigners preaching in Russia: The first known victims of Russia’s new anti-evangelism laws have been convicted and fined, according to the Forum 18 news service.
Two individuals, one a US citizen and one Ghanaian, have been heavily fined.
On October the 2nd one of them also lost the appeal against his conviction for evangelising.
An earlier case brought against a Hare Krishna devotee resulted in the acquittal of the accused, Vadim Sibiryev.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/DI8pG2

Preaching program in Kiev, Ukraine (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Keep your health in good condition and work very hard ...

Legendary rapper KRS-One expresses his appreciation for Krsna prasada (6 min video)
KRS-One, the award winning Hip Hop artist, who rose to international fame in the mid 90’s, made a visit to ISKCON Leicester today (Sunday 2nd October), while he was in the City for a show.
In a completely surprise visit, KRS-One, expressed his appreciation for prasada, telling the devotees that he used to receive prasada as a homeless youth in New York. “You never know who you are feeding…I was one of them,” he said.
After taking darshan of Sri Sri Radha Madhava, and receiving a copy of the Bhagavad-gita, KRS told the devotees about how he came into contact with Krishna consciousness as a youth. Clutching his copy of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, he recalled how the New York devotees would distribute prasada to the homeless, and gave copies of the Gita to those who would help to serve. KRS-One was immediately drawn to the philosophy, and said that it sparked the beginning of his spiritual journey. His affinity to the Hare Krishnas led him to be nicknamed ‘Krsna’, and the name eventually stuck, as he used to graffiti the name Krsna on the NYC subway. His tag became KRS-One, and he eventually rose to international fame.
While in Leicester, KRS, whose acronym is: ‘Knowledge Reigns Supreme’, and is a vocal vegan, said that he wanted to share his philosophy and release a spiritual album. He also did a ‘freestyle’ rap, much to the delight of the devotees present.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/srpx7e

Oneness with God.
Oneness is actually based on oneness of interest. A pure devotee has no interest but to act on behalf of the Supreme Lord. When one has even a tinge of personal interest, his devotion is mixed with the three modes of material nature. (SB 3.29.9p)
The devotee therefore endeavors to apply everything in the service of the Lord because he knows that everything is the property of the Lord and that no one can claim anything as one’s own. This perfect conception of oneness helps the worshiper in being engaged in His loving service. (SB 2.6.23p)
Our philosophy of Krishna consciousness is the same, but instead of becoming one with Krishna, we depend on Krishna. That is actual oneness. If we simply agree to abide by the orders of Krishna and have no disagreement with Him, we are situated in actual oneness. (TQK, 10p)
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/fyUA0G

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Q: Krishna is in love with Radha. Radha’s love is so great  it makes Krshna so mad about her that even if He is with another beautiful Gopi,  He can not stop thinking about her. A soul who is in love with Krishna will give Him their entire heart, their entire self – but it seems Krishna can never do same as He is always longing for Radha only. 

Is there no hope for anyone other that Radha? Is it possible to have direct experience and emotional exange with Him? If not, it does not sound very interesting or satisfying. We are persons, and we want a relationship, full and direct, with the person we love. But how can a small insignificant jiva can expect to have a direct, fully satisfying, overhelming emotional exange with Krishna, when Krishna is completely overwhelmed with his relationship to Radha?

I agree with your first premise: Rādhā’s love for Krishna is so intoxicating and extreme that Krishna is completely fascinated and enchanted by it, and cannot withdraw his heart and attention from it at any time, and is never really satisfied or happy without being fully absorbed in it. I agree with this completely.

I also agree with your second premise: that love is anāvṛta, it wants to give itself fully, completely, and directly to the beloved.

How then can anyone besides Rādhā ever achieve perfect divine love to the fullest extent?

It is impossible for anyone who ignores Rādhārānī.

It is impossible for anyone who ignores Rādhārānī. Actually, those who ignore Rādhārānī cannot even comprehend Bhagavān Krishna at all. Śaktimān simply does not exist without śakti.

Those who do not ignore Rādhā relate to Krishna in context of her relationship with him.

Those who do not ignore Rādhā relate to Krishna in context of her relationship with him. This is not “indirect” or “less” than a one-to-one singular relationship. A many-to-one relationship actually “more” and equally direct (considering that the beloved is Krishna who is unlimited. See the paintings of the Rāsa dance, etc). Further, the relationship which includes Rādhā has two inspirations for love: Rādhā and Krishna, rather than only one: Krishna alone.

Our participation in Rādhā and Krishna’s relationship integrates with and augments it. There are two ways of doing this: direct and indirect.

The queen of those who take the indirect approach is Candrāvalī. Not only her and her associates, but also all the gopas and elders in Vraja also embrace the indirect approach. The essence of the indirect approach is to enhance the value of Rādhā by making her availability more precious, rare, difficult to attain, etc. And also by inspiring Krishna for it (increasing his appetite) and inspiring Radharani (competition is an important inspiration). Candravalī takes the outward appearance of competing with Rādhā, but the fact is that she is Rādhā[‘s primary expansion], and she serves Rādhā by providing competition.

Among those who take the direct approach: Lalitā is the queen. She and the gopīs like her, and all their friends directly augment the relationship of Rādhā and Krishna by literally and directly participating in it. They are flowers augmenting a central flower. This is the literal meaning of the word “mañjarī” – flowers that do not stand alone, but cluster together. There is a central diamond on a ring, but the gold and other stones around that diamond add their beauty to its. In fact the entire ring is usually appreciated as one unit, with special attention to the central stone.

It isn’t easy for us to conceive of Krishna’s love life, because our own love-lives are doomed to be so meager and paltry by comparison.

It isn’t easy for us to conceive of Krishna’s love life, because our own love-lives are doomed to be so meager and paltry by comparison. Our appetite and capacity for enjoyment is limited by the restricting prakṛti in which we enjoy, and also by the fact that we are infinitessimal (we are only “infinity to the power of one” while Krishna is “infinity to the power of infinity, infinite times”). Krishna has incalculable appetite for pleasure, and incalculable ability to enjoy it. The concept of romance held by we kali-yuga mortals falls a billion light-years short of what happens in the groves of Vrindavana! Vedic culture has some reflection of it, you can see some of it still in ancient sculpture from that culture and epoch. It came into the world through Kāmadeva and Rati, and was propogated by their paramparā, esepcially the scholar Vatsāyana. It is not exactly “monogamy” by any means, although there is one central lover who is the main focus of the beloved’s attention and enjoyment.

Krishna has incalculable appetite for pleasure, and incalculable ability to enjoy it. The concept of romance that we kali-yuga mortals have falls a billion years short of what happens in the groves of Vrindavana.

It is quite a lot like how Vedic theism is neither poly- nor mono-theistic – there is an abundant plurality of divinity, yet a central figure as the unifying link through it all. Similarly, in Vrindavana the romance of the Supreme Enjoyer is neither polygamous nor monogamous – it is both. There is an abundant, infinite plurality of gopīs / lakṣṁīs, yet a singular central figure unifying and coordinating them all as the focal point – Śrī Rādhā.

I aologize if my discussion of sexuality has startled any reader who might be unprepared for such discussions. I thought it was necessary background information to help express my understanding of why Krishna’s relationship with Sri Radha doesn’t preclude our participation. We add our beauty and talent to Sri Rādhā’s, augmenting her, supporting her, assisting her in every way. There are many girls involved (polygamy) but Sri Radha is their central focus and queen (monogamy). Krishna’s one pointed attention on Rādhā doesn’t preclude the fact that Śrī Rādhā manifests herself as and thorugh counteless divine goddess gopīs who all simultaneously coperate in a singular mādhurya-rasa.

This is why the poets and scriptures describe Krishna as “surrounded/covered by gopīs.” This is where we fit in. Our relationship with Krishna is never independent of Sri Radha’s relationship with Krishna, but this should not be envisioned as meaning we sit 20 miles away knitting a sweater for them while they make love.

In fact, our ability to taste, feel, smell, see, and hear Krishna is augmented to the power of infinity by our directing our senses primarily into the seva of Śrī Rādhā. By considering her interest to be ours, her heart to be ours, her mind to be ours, her senses to be ours and dedicating our emotions, thoughts, and actions accordingly – we (as a natural concomitant result, not a separate pursuit) experience Krishna through her – which is not at all indirect but rather is an immense, incalculable magnification of the experience of Krishna’s tan-mātra. (Similar in a way to how a telescope can hardly make our experience of Jupiter less intense and direct).

Thank you for this wonderful question. I have explained only whatever I can explain. I do not claim to know the whole story, but I hope my angle on the story may be helpful to you.

Vraja Kishor das (www.vrajakishor.com)

Tagged: Gopi, gopi-bhava, madhurya rasa, Manjari, Manjari-bhava

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 18 September 2016, Midrand, South Africa, Sunday Feast Lecture, Bhagavad-gita 9.9)

Continued from Surrender unto Me.

When we read about Krsna’s neutrality, we need to understand it in proper perspective. Krsna is looking at all the living beings and thinks, “Please, do not get so entangled in the material energy. Just somehow or other, avoid all this. Use what you need to live but never for a moment think that this is the place to be! The spiritual world is the place where we should be.”

Do not love the place of your birth because birth is not loveable, birth is painful. If you love the place of your birth, you will take birth again and again, bhauma ijya-dhīḥ (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.84.13). The type of intelligence where we love the place of our birth, śva-viḍ-varāhoṣṭra-kharaiḥ (Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.19), is like hogs, dogs, camels and asses as Bhagavatam is stating. This is not intelligent. Our real love should be reserved for the spiritual world, for Krsna and everything there and the devotees in the spiritual world.

We know what this material world like by now. When you are a child, you think, “Maybe this is a wonderful world.” But by now, I mean… it is not that. We are meant to have nothing to do with the material world. Zero! Prabhupada said that we should reduce our material involvement to zero, really. We should have nothing to do with it.

Okay, we have to eat, that is alright as long as we offer it to Krsna. We have to pay the bills. As long as it sustains a life that is offered to Krsna then it is not material anymore. Then suddenly, it becomes spiritualized. So we spiritualize all these things that we use…

I mean everyone can appreciate a new car especially when you have to drive in this rainy weather. To have a super slow phone is also very frustrating, it is nice to have one of the better models. When the house is too cramped, it is nice to have some space. These are all nice but we cannot take it serious, “Oh this is my life… this is what I am living for.” It is not what we are living for, we just use these things. We want things that are nice while we are living in the material world but we cannot take it serious. Krsna is the goal of our life, the spiritual world is the goal of our life, getting out of the material world is the goal of our life. As soon as we get to that point, that is when we purchase Krsna, then Krsna is eager to give up that neutrality because it is an external façade. It is only a façade!

Prabhupada said Krsna is more eager for us to go back to Godhead than we are. Prabhupada said that his father used to tell him that Krsna has ten arms. He said if you want to hold on to material things, can you hold on if you deal with someone with ten arms? Those ten arms can come from all sides and he will get it out of you somehow. But if he starts giving with ten arms, then he will give more than you can receive. So ultimately that is it!

We must just remember all of the above while we are here in the material world; using all the things that we are using; living the busy life that we are living, working, making money, surviving. All our time is for Krsna consciousness. It is about the depth. It is about the understanding. Cultivation is like watering the plant but it is not the bhakti plant itself. Therefore, our Krsna consciousness is not the watering of the plant. Our Krsna consciousness is the conviction inside, it is about our consciousness and then we must water the plant by our practices, by our sadhna. But you may not have a lot of time to water your bhakti plant but do it anyway. 

It is easy because we chant early in the morning before the world gets up, so they will never know. In this way, we do these things but the essence of Krsna consciousness is our conviction. The conviction is, let us just understand: Krsna does not want us to be here! We are here because of foolishness. This is not a place to be. Krsna wants us to return to the spiritual world but until we really want to, we will remain here. We will remain here. Let us somehow or other serve Krsna to the point where we purchase him and he will reveal himself, bestow his mercy and take us back to the spiritual world.

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