Websites from the ISKCON Universe
There is an image going viral on the Internet, with the taunting challenge, "you cannot see the 12 dots in this image at the same time". And you really can't. As your eyes drift about the image, different dots become visible, and others disappear. And minds to the same thing with life! According to the kind of mindset you have, you will perceive life a certain way. In this short video, Giridhari Das shows this image and explains more what you can learn from it.
A two-and-a-half hour musical production of India’s ancient epic the Ramayana entitled “Ramayana: Past in Present” premiered from August 25th to 28th in the Kelley Theater at West Liberty University, West Virginia, USA. Opening on Janmastami night with an auspicious 108 people in the audience, the musical carried students and faculty into a whole new world of culture, adventure and philosophy.
It is said that wherever Lord Rama’s glories are chanted, Hanuman goes to that place. Yesterday after Deity greeting I was chanting 
in my quarters in Dallas when I received a text message saying, “Chitralekha is speaking about Srila Prabhupada now.” I immediately left for the temple room, remembering Hanuman: Even though I am like a monkey—or my mind is like a monkey—I wanted to hear her speak about Prabhupada. And what I experienced was an unprecedented flow of divine nectar. I heard things about Srila Prabhupada that I had never heard before and had new deep thoughts and realizations about him. The talk was an elixir for my body, mind, and soul. It is now available on the ISKCON Dallas SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/premasindhu/hg-dharma-prabhu-sb-11743. Chitraleka’s talk follows a short class on Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami
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ISKCON Ministry Of Educational Development - Standards for Awarding the Bhaktivedanta Degree.
Any ISKCON center can apply for recognition by the Board of Examinations as a Bhakti Vedanta degree-awarding center provided the center certifies that it will conduct its program according to the minimum standards specified below. The application must be accompanied by a description of the planned program that includes the following information as a minimum:
• The devotee community to be served. (From where, as a general rule, the enrolled students will come.) • The language of instruction. • The time frame of the course. (How many weeks or months of instruction, how it will be broken into modules, how it will be interspersed with breaks, how much total time from the beginning to the end of the course, and the various attendance options that will be offered to the students, if any.) • The instructor(s) and their qualification. • The administrator and his/her qualification. • Physical location(s) where the students will attend. • The admission, instructional, assessment, and other methods and policies to be followed by the center that meet the requirements spelled out below in this standard. (This document does not include standards for online courses or distance learning. Such standards will be spelt out in a separate document at a later date). I. Admission Individual centers shall have their own admission policies and procedures for admitting a candidate for the Bhakti Vedanta degree. Such policies shall require, at a minimum, that all candidates meet the following requirements: 1. The prospective candidate must • be second initiated, and • have a Bhakti-sastri degree, and • have a Bhakti Vaibhava degree or should have been assessed as successful in the completion of an approved Bhakti Vaibhava program, awaiting formal issue of the degree. 2. The candidate must be recommended by an ISKCON authority who knows the candidate well, certifying that the candidate is engaged favourably in the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu for at least the previous six years, with a past record of regular participation in direct preaching activities. 3. The candidate must have successfully completed the VTE Teacher Training courses (TTC 1 and 2) or a recognized professional teaching / training course before enrolment. II. Learning Outcomes to be Assessed: a. Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the philosophy contained in SrimadBhagavatam Cantos I to XII. b. Knowledge and memorization of at least one hundred verses found in SrimadBhagavatam Cantos I to XII. c. Expertise as a Bhagavatam speaker and preacher. d. Evaluative skills, wisdom and maturity reflecting principles consistent with Srimad Bhagavatam. e. Personal behavior that reflects the principles and values found in the Srimad Bhagavatam.
III. Course Assessment In order to ensure a basic minimum standard and at the same time allow a degree of flexibility, approved centres may establish their own assessment policies within the following boundaries:
To read the rest and download the pdf: https://goo.gl/yI9PvU
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Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka by Krishna-kripa Das.
Excerpt: The samosas were very tasty. They also had rice and sabji, raita, pasta salad, halava, and coconuts balls in three flavors.
As part of our scheduled program there was a question and answer session with a senior devotee who could not make it that day. I had figured they would just ask another senior devotee to do it, but they announced they would just continue chanting. I had already left the stage, thinking the chanting was over, so I decided to use the bathroom before returning for more kirtana. Before I could return to the stage one couple asked if I would answer some questions for them. They asked the meaning of Hare, Rama, and Krishna, and about the relationship between Hinduism and Hare Krishna. I explained the three names mean the spiritual energy of God, God, who is the source of all pleasure, and God, who is all-attractive, respectively. I explained we are a group within Hinduism that stresses the worship of Krishna. Although many gods are worshiped within Hinduism, the Bhagavad-gita stresses the worship of the Supreme Lord, Krishna, alone. I explained Srila Prabhupada’s analogy that you do not have to give money to the different ministers in the government for defense, education, health, etc. You simply pay your tax to the central government, and it is all distributed. In the same way, we do not need to worship the sun god, the moon god, the rain god, etc. We just have to worship the Supreme Lord. They recognized I had been coming for many years. I explained there is a lot of joy in the chanting, and we like to share it with others. As they were from Prague, I gave them an invitation to our temple and restaurant there, which they were happy to receive. I was glad to answer their questions, especially as I thought the question and answers session was a good idea, and it should not have been skipped.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/Ev288O
By Ananda Vrndavanesvari Devi Dasi From the moment we are born we are knowledge-seekers. We want to know where we can find food, shelter, love, and happiness. We want information to help us avoid pain, suffering, and loss. We spend our lives building on that knowledge, adding information gained by study and experience. Perhaps in earlier times society was more inclined to seek knowledge of truth. Today it seems we are after happiness, more than truth or no matter what the truth. And of course, the search for the self is generally not the first order of the day. “Know thyself”, as the ancient Greeks taught, doesn’t make many of our bucket lists. The goal of a good spiritual practice is the search for the self. However, we should be aware that the human body, which is our primary search engine for knowledge, comes with four defects. They are: we make mistakes, we are prone to illusion, we have a propensity towards cheating, and our senses are imperfect. So keep these in mind as you seek any kind of knowledge, especially transcendental knowledge. Continue reading "The Faulty Human
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Protect our rounds.
Kadamba Kanana Swami: Our purpose is fixed and we should not let obstructing circumstances to block us permanently. Somehow or other, we must find a way to fulfill our purpose which is to chant sixteen rounds and to follow four regulative principles. This is our first austerity, to chant these rounds and to follow the principles.
But we also need support. It is not just a matter of the right frame of mind. It is also a matter of favourable conditions so that it becomes feasible and possible. One must protect our rounds. One must put other undesirable things out of one’s life and then focus on our japa, otherwise it is not going to happen. One cannot just think, “I’ll see how far I get today,” then there is a good chance that it will not work. So chanting sixteen rounds is about making an arrangement to chant sixteen rounds. That planning is actually so important!
It is not all about the mood and getting absorbed. That comes after. If the arrangement is wrong then how can you get absorbed? First the arrangement has to be in place then stage two comes, “How to get absorbed?” I find that the one thing which helps me is to read a little bit. It is not that we just get up and are immediately in the mood, “Okay, let’s get these rounds done! I’m up so let me quickly get stuck in then it is over,”
That is one way of chanting but another way is where we say, “Okay, I’ll read for five or ten minutes.” And I read until I come across something that strikes me and then I start chanting and that gives me some energy to get into the mood. Then the mood starts happening. Like that there are impetuses. Ālambham is there, the impetuses in spiritual life that help us to awaken our attraction for Krsna.
By Bhurijana dasa According to the Bhagavad-gita, one's activities can either be in goodness, passion, or ignorance. There is no being existing, either here or among the demigods in the higher planetary systems, which is freed from these three modes born of material nature. Bg. 18.40. Teachers will be affected by the modes of nature. Their style of teaching and discipline will, therefore, also be affected. In this chapter we analyze how the spectrum of discipline techniques are influenced by the three modes of material nature. This analysis is meant to remove common roadblocks to discipline and thus facilitate teachers, especially less-experienced teachers, in quickly attaining a well-disciplined teaching and learning environment. Continue reading "Teaching and Disciplining in the Modes of Material Nature
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Krishna’s Cuisine Trucks.
My wife, Kunkumangi, & I are both chefs of Kalachandji’s Restaurant & Palace. ( The ISKCON Temple of Dallas, Texas )
We’ve been catering events for years and have recently built a custom trailer for distributing prasadam at concerts, festivals, and colleges.
Over the last year, we’ve catered 20 concerts with our trailer and the results have been wonderful!
Visiting Dallas, HG Caru Prabhu and his good wife, Mother Vaibhavi, the founders of “Festival of Colors USA” saw our Krishna’s Cuisine Trailer and gave us a call to build one for them which you see photographed by Bhisma Prabhu .
Inspired by our well-wishers and friends, we would like to offer to build these trailers for the assembled devotees.
As pictured, we can manufacture such a trailer for $55 to $65,000 ( depending on options ) in 3-4 months.
We could also produce less expensive models depending on your project.
Please feel to contact us @ 972-921-8746 / krishnascuisine108@gmail.com
Hoping this announcement finds all of the devotees and your families in the best of health and blissful Krishna Consciousness!
Ys, Narottamananda das & Kunkumangi dd
To see more photos of the internal facilities: https://goo.gl/zgPfdh
ISKCON 50 years Celebration: Invitation for Mathura Rath Yatra.
We would like to cordially invite you for the occasion of Sri Sri Jagannath Rath Yatra on 17th October,2016 (Monday) in Mathura Dham. It is located about 11 kilometers, a short bus or auto-rickshaw ride from Vrindavan Dham.
ISKCON Vrindavan (Namhatta) is organizing this grand Rath Yatra festival in Mathura to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ISKCON. The event co-ordinates with the 2016 Braja Mandal Parikrama with the parikrama devotees gathering in Mathura that very day to attend the festivals. We are expecting more than 500 foreign devotees from different countries and 4000 ISKCON devotees from various parts of India.
We offer this open invitation and humbly request devotees to participate in this Rath Yatra. We want your kind and auspicious presence to grace the occasion.
Last year’s Rathayatra featured His Holiness Gopal Krsna Maharaj and His Holiness Lokantha Maharaj. They commented they have been to so many Rathayatra festivals but found it remarkable to bear witness to such a warm hearted reception of the Lord. They said never before in their lives have they seen so many flowers. In an image reminiscent of Krsna Book, the roads were rivers of petals as the local residents rained flowers from the buildings. Such was the devotion of the residents of Mathura that even the local students of Muslim colleges greeted the Lord with handfuls of flowers.
Numerous locals spontaneously set up welcome stalls to offer refreshments to all in participation and also bhoga offerings bedecked with rangoli decorations. The transcendental prasadam of Lord Jaganatha was distributed to all living entities in attendance.
News reporters were delighted to offer coverage of the event. It was a wonderful preaching opportunity for the many devotees of the Lord from many parts of the world leading and participating in kirtan. So large was the event that there was four separate kirtan parties with sound systems. Afterwards there was a cultural presentation of dance, drama and lectures by His Holiness Gopal Krsna Maharaj, His Holiness Lokantha Maharaj, His Holiness Nava Yogendra Maharaj, His Holiness Subhag Maharaj, His Grace Dina Bandhu Prabu (ACBSP), His Holiness Bhakti Anugrah Janardhan Maharaj, His Holiness Bhakti Asraya Vaisnava Maharaj, His Holiness Probodananda Saraswati Maharaj and a special appearance by Phuldol Maharaj (head of Catur Sampradaya)
Lecture on SB 6.1.15 – London, August 3, 1971: : Yes, this is meant for the devotees of the Kṛṣṇa, or those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But with the Kṛṣṇa consciousness people, others also can take the advantage. But if anyone sincerely sees the Ratha-yātrā festival and understands how Kṛṣṇa visited Kurukṣetra along with His brother and sister, that is very nice. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
This year’s Rath yatra promises to offer the same unique experience. Please take advantage of this opportunity to pull the Rath Cart of the Lord in a land rich with the spiritual heritage of the Lord’s devotional service.
The influence of the devotees on American culture is clearly shown in this mid-1980’s TV Guide ad for an ABC channel 7 news report by Dr. William Rader called ‘Krishna’s Kids’.
The ad’s illustration was based on an iconic painting by American painter Norman Rockwell for the cover of the June 4, 1921 issue of the Saturday Evening Post.(https://goo.gl/yPkDlb)
By Hari Narayana Das We would like to take this opportunity to thank HH Bhakti Raghava Swami for his blessings and encouragement which were so essential for the devotees. Our ever grateful obeisances are due to HH Kavichandra Swami and HH Ramai Swami, the GBCs of Indonesia, for their support and guidance to always looking for new avenues for sankirtan. Our humble obeisances to HH Subhag Swami for always reminding us of the importance of the Sankirtan movement of Mahaprabhu and inspiring us with the dedication of Sriman Jayananda Prabhu, for bringing us closer to Srila Prabhupada and keeping us united in a family of ISKCON. Our gratitude to all Lampung devotees, Probolinggo devotees and Jember devotees who worked hard for the success of the festival. Continue reading "Jagannath Ratha Yatra in Jember, Probolinggo, and Bandar Lampung, Indonesia
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Radha and Krishna
Giriraj Swami and Anutama prabhu spoke from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.92.
“Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains in his Anubhasya, “A person who has attracted the attention of the spiritual master by his sincere service likes to dance and chant with similarly developed Krsna conscious devotees. The spiritual master authorizes such a devotee to deliver fallen souls in all parts of the world. Those who are not advanced prefer to chant the Hare Krsna mantra in a solitary place.” Such activities constitute, in the language of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, a type of cheating process in the sense that they imitate the activities of exalted personalities like Haridasa Thakura. One should not attempt to imitate such exalted devotees. Rather, everyone should endeavor to preach the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in all parts of the world and thus become successful in spiritual life. One who is not very expert in preaching may chant in a secluded place, avoiding bad association, but for one who is actually advanced, preaching and meeting people who are not engaged in devotional service are not disadvantages. A devotee gives the nondevotees his association but is not affected by their misbehavior. Thus by the activities of a pure devotee even those who are bereft of love of Godhead get a chance to become devotees of the Lord one day.” (Cc Adi 7.92 purport)
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Sunday Program talk by Giriraj Swami and Anutama dasa
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust press release
The award-winning book Vanity Karma: Ecclesiastes, the Bhagavad-gita, and the meaning of life is now available as a high-quality ebook at the Kindle Store, on Google Play, and on iBooks.
What is life for? What may give it meaning? Does it have any meaning at all?
Such questions are independently explored both in the wisdom book Ecclesiastes and in the Bhagavad-gītā. In Vanity Karma, wisdom meets wisdom as these two perennial classics come together, uniting in a fascinating exploration.
Jayadvaita Swami, an American monk in the Indian tradition of Krishna spirituality, offers us a deep and authentic spiritual understanding that, we may find, can infuse our lives with meaning and with joy.
“As a scholar of Ecclesiastes, I am deeply impressed with his grasp of the book’s message. I enthusiastically recommend this book to all.” –Tremper Longman III, author of the New International Commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes
Vanity Karma is the winner of the 2016 Benjamin Franklin gold award given by the Independent Book Publishers Association for the year’s best book in the category “Religion.”
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“Mayapur is so huge, and so many pilgrims come for the main Radhastami celebration at the temple, that it’s not really a community celebration,” says parent and teacher Noam Hillel. “So we decided to hold our own festival the evening after the main one, with students, faculty, parents and all other community members who wanted to attend.” About fifty youth under eighteen worked hard to put on the festival, with boys and girls embarking on their own separate efforts and bringing them together on the day.
Mother-daughter team, Vrinda Sheth and Anna Johansson, launch the first book of the Sita's Fire Trilogy: Shadows of the Sun Dynasty. Read more about the book: http://iskconnews.org/shadows-of-the-sun-dynasty-a-new-ramayana-book,5816/
On August 27th, a new book, the first one in an illustrated series based on the Ramayana, entitled as Shadows of the Sun Dynasty, has been launched in front of hundreds of people in the audience at the Cofrin Theater in Gainesville, Florida, USA, with the participation of the author Vrinda Sheth, a well-known classical Indian dancer and a writer, and the illustrator, her mother, Anna Johansson, a Swedish watercolor artist. The book launching was a spectacular cultural event on its own.
This is news of the ongoing maintenance and programs of Srila Prabhupada’s samadhi in Vrndavana, and opportunities to render support.
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By Mahatma DasIn the early days of the movement a devotee explained Sigmund Freud’s theory to Prabhupada that everything one does is motivated by sex. The devotee disagreed and said he felt people are primarily motivated by a spiritual yearning. Prabhupada said no - Freud was actually right. Why did Prabhupada say this? Because Srimad Bhagavatam clearly explains that sex attraction, subtle or gross, is the impetus behind all material activities. Continue reading "“If You Want To Play, You’ve Got To Pay”
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