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Chanting Hare Krishna and the original problem.
Sacinandana Swami: As practitioners that chant the holy name we all know how difficult it is to connect the mind with the holy name because by definition, the mind is only able to grasp material things. The mind can think of holidays at the beach or any other material subject. It is especially attracted to think about how to increase one’s wealth and how to engage in sexual activities. These are things we can easily think about because the mind is shaped like this. It wraps itself around money and the opposite sex very easily; it’s made like this, it’s a perfect material match. but the mind has great difficulty to stay with Krishna. Since we have come to the world, this is our problem: we have turned our back to Kåñëa, and this bahir-mukha, being outwardly faced, especially manifests when we try to chant the holy names. In other words, our basic envy of god, our feeling ill at ease with the lord manifests to a very obvious degree when we chant the holy name.
Don’t Starve your Mantras!
One of the highlights for me at the recent Sadhu Sanga Kirtan Retreat was an instruction on mantra meditation. It was spoken by Sacinandana Swami in reference to the Gayatri Mantras that are chanted when one receives advanced initiation in the practice of Bhakti Yoga, but it’s a guide that can be applied to any mantra meditation practice: “Don’t starve your mantras”
Our devotional yoga involves the chanting of many mantras, the main one being the Hare Krishna mantra. A successful chanting practice needs both regulation and attention. When we neglect either of those, the mantra becomes weak and has little or no impact in our efforts for transcendence.
When we skip days in our practice, sometimes chanting, sometimes not, we are starving our mantras. When we chant mindlessly, just getting the prescribed number of mantras done, without attention or emotion, we are starving our mantras.
When we starve the mantras they leave us.
They will also come back to us, to our life, when we give them time and attention. The mantras themselves don’t need anything, they are transcendental sound vibrations, but will not work without our participation. If we chant with committed regulation, and chant with deliberate attention, they have the potency to shift our lives to higher ways of thinking and being. The sound purifies, frees our mind from misery and reawakens our original love for Krishna. This is their magic, the gift they give to us.
So don’t starve your mantras. Give them the time and attention then need, which is really the time and attention you need.
During the padayatra, people would often ask us about Srila Prabhupada. They wanted to know why he was sitting and not saying anything, and others wanted to know if they could touch his feet. We took this as a good opportunity to explain to people about Srila Prabhupada. The sun was blazing but with a cool breeze accompanying it, the procession kept moving. It was a joyous walk with many African people joining us; they sang, danced and jumped in ecstasy as they all tried to get some mercy. We ended the padayatra at the park with Nrishmadev prayers. Devotees then settled down on the grass and took the prasadam that was being served. We thank the devotees and public for their participation in making this a successful event. Continue reading "First Padayatra In Johannesburg Gauteng, South Africa
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A small padayatra was held in Malaysia on August 14th. It was organized by ISKCON Teluk (Mayapur Baru) and commemorated ‘World Holy Name Week’ and ISKCON’s 50th anniversary. Srila Prabhupada visited the town of Teluk Intan located in the Hilir Perak district of Malaysia in 1970. He also visited the Mariamman Temple here. Now, years later it was decided that this temple would be the starting point of the commemorative padayatra. The padayatra was set to take place at 5:30 pm. There were around 50 devotees gathered at the Mariamman Temple. We also carried a murti i of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. We had organized some media coverage from a local newspaper, ‘Tamil Malar.’ They were meant to cover the event from the beginning but unfortunately, because they had arrived late, it didn’t work out. They did, however; agree to publish the event later after we had completed the walk. Continue reading "Malaysia Padayatra Celebrates World Holy Name Week And Iskcon’s 50Th Anniversary
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An Ocean of Gaura Premamrta-krpa" - An elaboration on Srila Rupa Goswami’s Sri Upadesamrta.
This wonderful book in two volumes has been compiled by H.G. Srimati Mataji (Vrindavana) and her team.
HG Srimati Mataji is a senior renounced Vaishnavi, who after serving for 18 years in Sri Mayapur dhama has now settled in Vrindavan since last 3 years.
She recently compiled a wonderful book based on Srila Prabhupada and previous acharyas which she dedicated to 50 years of ISKCON.
You can download it, as pdf files, here: https://goo.gl/ZcqsaI
Hare Krishna in Wales, UK (15 min video)
A new documentary video about Govinda’s restaurant in Swansea.
This film shows the Hare Krishna temple with Govinda’s restaurant in Swansea, and Cafe Atma in Cardiff, Wales. Some of the local devotees.speak about their experiences.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/RQvg1j
The festival is a revival of the historical Prabhupada Festivals that began in the West Virginia rural community with the opening of Srila Prabhupada’s Palace in 1979, and continued through to the mid 1980s. Lavish affairs, they saw devotees from around the world come together to serve Srila Prabhupada with processions, abishekhas and gift-giving, as well as 24-hour kirtans, dramas, sumptuous feasts, and elaborate fireworks displays. This year’s festival aims to not only bring back that tradition, but also to reconnect with previous residents who assisted in the gradual development of New Vrindaban; revive a spirit of giving special attention to Srila Prabhupada; and awaken the team spirit and sweet, sincere mood of service that the early devotees had for him. Continue reading "New Vrindaban Prabhupada Festival to Awaken Sweet Service Mood
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5th Annual Jagannath Rath Yatra in Bloomington.
Damodarananda Das: We celebrated our 5th Festival of Chariots on Sept 18 in Bl...
Srila Prabhupada arrives in the USA, 1965.
Tomorrow marks the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the U.S.A. in 1965.
Several years after Srila Prabhupada first arrived in America, a disciple discovered the diary he had kept during his passage from India on the steamship Jaladuta. Inside was a poem, handwritten in Bengali, which Srila Prabhupada had written on board the ship just after it had arrived in Boston harbor. The poem beautifully captures Srila Prabhupada’s first impressions of Western civilization and reveals his heartfelt determination to change the consciousness of America. It begins:
“My dear Lord Krishna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.
"But I guess You have some business here, otherwise why would You bring me to this terrible place?
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/KtFO5B
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 December 2015, Mayapur, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 6.17.36-37)
We will be tested in our lives. It is not, ‘Maybe we will be tested!’ We WILL BE tested as this is the nature of devotional service. Srimad Bhagavatam is meant to guide us on how to act in a trying situation where we may have to face strong behavior from superiors.
What if one gets mistreated by the authorities in the institution? Still, this is not an excuse to leave Krsna consciousness! This is a very common justification found by many who have found an excuse to give into their mind and to allow themselves to return to the material life, ‘What could I do? No one understood me and I was mistreated! I’m just a soul whose intentions are good… but I was misunderstood and then as a result I was mistreated and here I am – a victim of the situation!’ No, you are a victim of your own mind! And of course, the mind is the seat of the senses and therefore a victim of the senses.
The mind is constantly looking for an emergency exit, ‘There’s gotta be some way to get out of this – this is too tight! No really, it’s too serious, it’s too much! I need a little more freedom. A whole lifetime of just four regulative principles and only Hare Krsna! Oh, please, give us a little more freedom!’
But we cannot do so because it does not align with transcendental knowledge. A way out is just not possible because you cannot argue with transcendental knowledge. But if there was a way out, what greater way out than to blame somebody else, ‘It’s not due to my fault that I fell down – I was mistreated, I am a victim!’
Yeah, believe it if you want to but it is not very convincing. Maybe you can fool your mind but I do not think you can fool anybody else. We understand very well what happened. The lower nature got the better of you and you just found an excuse to facilitate it!
We ourselves are by no means very powerful; we do not have great strength of character therefore we must read Srimad Bhagavatam and hear it again and again so that we can actually meditate on how to properly react to tests in life. We may not know spontaneously how to act in an appropriate way, therefore better we be thoughtful and meditate on it so that when such testing situations do arise then we can remind ourselves, ‘Okay, I remember what is supposed to be the right behavior!’ And after prolonged meditation, we might act properly in such a trying situation. One who is deeply thoughtful for a long time, one who has read Bhagavatam again and again, even though internally not yet completely pure, may act appropriately.
Vishwakarma is the demigod of architecture. He is accredited for designing Dwarka. The Mahabharata describes him as “The lord of the arts, executor of a thousand handicrafts, the carpenter of the gods, the most eminent of artisans, the fashioner of all ornaments … and a great and immortal god.” He has four hands, wears a crown, loads of gold jewelry, and holds a water-pot, a book, a noose and craftsman’s tools in his hands”.
Ordinarily and as explained in the Bhagavad Gita, in ISKCON we do not engage in any form of demigod worship. However in West Bengal, India it is a popular cultural tradition among workers and engineers to hold a Vishwakarma Puja to obtain the blessings for good work. In our case, this puja was held and utilized in the service of Sri Sri Radha Madhava for building Their unique and new TOVP Temple.
On Saturday September 17, 2015 our TOVP Glass fiber Reinforced Concrete (GRC) Factory workers held a Vishwakarma Puja in the factory. The day before the workers had a “Gundica Marjanam” in the GRC factory. They cleansed the entire space from top to bottom. They also washed all the tools, machines, and factory vehicles.
Pictures of Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Lord Nrsimhadeva, and Srila Prabhupada were accompanied by a deity form of Vishwakarma. All of the factory’s tools were placed on the altar and were worshipped. The yajna was performed to remove all inauspiciousness and obstacles in our work. Also, we prayed for the good health and determination of the workers.
The yajna was followed by a sumptuous Krishna Prasadam feast. The workers and their families and other TOVP staff members attended the puja. It united an uplifted the spirits of everyone. It was a positive day and a grand opportunity to honor and celebrate all of the virtuous work that is being produced for the TOVP in our very own GRC Factory.
[See image gallery at tovp.org]
The post Vishwakarma Puja in the Service of Sri Sri Radha Madhava appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
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Ilford Rathayatra, UK - 18th September 2016 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If the surface of the globe is overflooded wi...
The Glories of Srimad Bhagavatam (video)
A seminar by HG Radhika Raman Prabhu given In Iskcon Silicon Valley.
The Srimad Bhagavatam is the very essence of all the Vedanta literature, a cultural presentation for the re-spiritualization of the entire human society.
“This Srimad Bhagavatam is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krishna to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the Age of Kali shall get light from this Srimad Bhagavatam.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.43)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/7Bhg20
The post Daily Darshan: September 20,2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Honourable Mano Ganesan – Minster of National Coexistence Dialogue and Official Languages, attended the Sri Krishna Janmastami celebration at Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple. He was offered Golden shawl, Prasadam and Garland. He gave a memento in honour of Srila Prabhupada for the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON. Continue reading "Sri Lankan Government Minister attended the celebration of Sri Krishna Janmastami Festival
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Please view a 10-minute video recorded by Bhakti Charu Swami on Srila Prabhupada’s mermorial festival, 17th September 2016, at ISKCON Ujjain. Please share with others. In this video, Maharaj highlights our good fortune in coming into contact with Srila Prabhupada, and how by His Divine Grace’s mercy we have come to the path of Krishna Consciousness.
The post Address By Bhakti Charu Swami For The Srila Prabhupada Memorial Festival & Maharaj’s 71st Vyasa Puja Celebration appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.
Devotees from Bangladesh have made this very wonderful video on His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj in Bengali. It describes about Srila Prabhupada’s struggle to go to the west, Maharaj’s life journey and also his preaching visits to different parts of the world.
The post Prabhupada Gata Prana – Bhakti Charu Swami’s Brief Biography appeared first on Bhakti Charu Swami.
Q: How do we understand the quotes that many of our acaryas pull from the various Puranas about the glories of the dhama?
First you have to accept and understand that there are a few different types of statements in śāstra. Some of them are literal information. Others are analogs / analogies. Others are motivational. Others are told through fiction. You have to check the context of the statement to know whether it is a part of a literal, figurative, motivational, or fictional (etc) conversation.
Knowing this, you should be able to make sense of what you’ve quoted below.
Motivational statements are not “incorrect” nor are they “exaggerations” they are simply motivational and phrased in a way that highlights our ability to actually achieve a goal.
Q: To quote a few examples that I’ve seen in Sri-Rupa’s Mathura-Mahatmya:
“The bliss at the stage of prema, which is rarely obtained even by serving all the holy places in the 3 worlds, is available just by touching Mathura.” – (quoted in BRS 1.2.212).
How is this so? Many people touch Mathura, but how many got prema in doing so? Also, I thought that prema could only be acheived by mercy or sadhana? Is this one way it is achieved by mercy? Simply by touching the dhama?
You say that many people touch Mathura. This is similar to saying that many people chant “Hare Krishna.” The truth however, is that practically no one truly chants “Hare Krishna” and practically known even knows what Mathurā is, what to speak of actually touching it.
It requires Sādhana to be able to touch Mathurā. Otherwise we only contact dhāma-abhāsa, or aparādhā-dhāma.
But the statement highlights the fact that even touching the abhāsa of the dhāma will strongly incline one to sādhana, which will then eventually allow one to touch the śuddha-dhāma, and thereby gain these results.
Q:
“One who, going to Mathura only on business, and takes a bath there becomes free from all sins and goes to the spiritual world.” – (quoted in Mathura-mahatmya verse 11)
Is this and many other quotes like it, to entice those materialistic persons in search of dissolving sins to reside in Mathura, so that they may make further advancement in devotion to the Lord?
No, it means that even if you don’t go there for a non-spiritual reason you get a spiritual result. It is phrased to make it seem like the result is immediate and effortless. In truth the result is that you become inclined towards bhakti-sādhana, and through that attain the results mentioned. So it is not an exaggeration, but it is phrased in a way to make us want to go to Mathurā. It is motivational.
Q:
“Mathura, where Lord Hari stayed, and where no sin can enter, is supremely opulent” – (quoted in MM verse 72)
Why does it state that no sins enter Mathura, if there is a section previous to this titled, “Mathura Removes the Sins Performed There” (verses 23-28)? Plus, sinful people appear to be in Mathura now, as well as in the past. Is their a difference in the Mathura spoken of in this statement, as opposed to that other section?
No impurity exists in the śuddha-dhāma Mathurā. Contact with the abhāsa-dhāma inclines one to behavior which removes impurity and thereby reveals the śuddha-dhāma.
Q:
“The deaf, dumb, blind, foolish, and they who have no austerity or sense-control, who in the course of time die in Mathura, go to Lord Visnu’s palace.” (quoted in the Mathura-mahatmya verse 100)
What if we don’t want to go to Visnuloka, or go to the Vaikuntha planets and attain a four-armed form (verse 103)? Are we forced to go anyways, if we don’t have an intensified specific attraction to be like one of the inhabitants of Vraja?
Vraja is also a Vaikuṇṭha. It is the supreme Vaikuṇṭha.
By contact with Mathurā we become inclined to develop specific attachment to Krishna, practice Rāga-sādhana, and attain the supreme Vaikuṇṭha.
Q: what is the difference between Goloka and Gokula?
Sometimes the word Goloka can specifically mean the eternal Goloka in Vaikuntha and Gokula can be used to refer to the manifestation on earth. But this is just conventional meaning. In essence the terms are identical (as are the “eternal” and “earthly” Goloka).
Q: How should we exist at the dhama? How to prepare for that existence?
Saturate yourself in Krishna-nāma. Remain dressed always in it. Then you can enter the dhāma. The nāma should be supported by discussion of Krishna’s form, qualities and pastimes. Drench yourself in that. Then you can touch the dhāma, or hope to.
Vraja Kishor (www.vrajakishor.com)
In Mayapur, on Srila Prabhupada’s Memorial Festival and His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj’s Vyasapuja day there was a festival held by the devotees. After a special darshan of Sri Sri Raha Madhava, Panca-Tattva and Narasimhadeva at 8:00 am, there was an offering of lamps to Lord Narasimhadeva for Maharaj’s well being. A picture of […]
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