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Travel Journal#12.16: Czech Woodstock, Prague, Newcastle, Chester, Edinburgh
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Dairy of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 12, No. 16
By Krishna-kripa das
(August 2016, part two)
Czech Woodstock, Prague, Newcastle, Chester, Edinburgh
(Sent from Brooklyn, New York, on September 21, 2016)

Where I Went and What I Did

I traveled from the Baltic Coast to northern Czech Republic for the Trutnov Open Air Music Festival (Czech Woodstock), where Hare Krishna devotees share Krishna food, music, and wisdom with hundreds of people at a rock concert for three and a half days. Then I did harinama in Prague for one day. The next day I was held up uselessly at Gatwick Airport by immigration officials and missed the London harinama. I did salvage the day by going to Southall and getting my harmonium repaired for just the cost of the new reeds. The next three days I did harinama in Newcastle by myself, as well as attending the Wednesday evening kirtana and the Janmastami, and Vyasa-puja ceremonies. I include inspiring notes on the Vyasa-puja offerings of the Newcastle devotees as well as some we read that day from the international Vyasa-puja book. I spent the weekend with Karsna Prabhu, Mother Aharada, and their son, Mark, doing harinama in Chester and attending their semimonthly program, which was also attended by two new people who came because of the harinama. The next week I finished out August, chanting in Newcastle on Monday and Wednesday, and going to Edinburgh Tuesday for harinama and our Tuesday evening program there.

The last half of August I was staying at many venues with no regular Bhagavatam classes, so I have notes on a recorded lecture by Srila Prabhupada and Bhakti Charu Swami. I have also an excerpt from the online journal of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, and a couple quotes from Sadaputa Prabhu from his Mysteries of the Sacred Universe, which I proofread recently for its reprinting and which will soon be available from Amazon.com.

I would like the Newcastle temple for their generous donation. Thanks to Karsna Prabhu and the Chester nama-hatta for their donation to cover my travel expenses from Newcastle to Chester and Lukas and the Gauranga Mantra Centre for their donation to cover my travel expenses from Newcastle to Edinburgh. Thanks to Rama Prasada Prabhu, Lotus, and Malini Devi Dasi of the Edinburgh congregation for their donations and Emma of the Chester nama-hatta for her donation. Thanks to Punya Palaka Prabhu for contributing to my travel to Trutnov for the Czech Woodstock. Thanks to the Indian tourist for his donation on Prague harinama. Thanks to JAS Musicals of Southall, who repaired my harmonium for only the cost of the three reeds that needed to be replaced. Thanks to Chand, Mark, and other devotees of the Chester nama-hatta for their pictures of our harinama there.

Itinerary

September 13–21: New York City Harinam
September 22–25: Philadelphia Harinamas and Ratha-yatra
September 25–mid November: New York City Harinama
Three days in mid November: Washington, D.C., Harinama
last two weeks November: North Florida
December: New York City Harinam

Trutnov Open Air Music Festival (Czech Woodstock) 2016

Like at the Polish Woodstock, Hare Krishna devotees are friends with the organizer of the Trutnov Open Air Music Festival (Czech Woodstock), and we have our own camp and our own stage, where we distribute Krishna prasadam (spiritual food) and Krishna kirtana (spiritual music). 

On our first harinama, we passed a vendor of flower crowns, and the devotees tried them on.

Here is our kirtana leader Nrsimha Caitanya Prabhu so decorated.

Also on our harinama was Ananta Gauranga Prabhu, who I know from his childhood in Alachua, his youth at Krishna House, and most recently from New York City Harinam, where he sang beautifully and played mrdanga for Rama Raya Prabhu’s harinama party.

The first night I was surprised to see one girl chanting and dancing in our tent named Eliska (in the center of the above picture), who I remembered from 2009. She and some high school friends really enjoyed chanting and dancing in the kirtana so much back then (https://youtu.be/bWcHj6U9ijM):


She had traveled to different parts of the world, attending the festival only once since then. She is a regular attender at Baladeva’s, Trutnov’s Hare Krishna restaurant. I told her to look out for the kirtana programs we have there during the year.

These two girls appeared so joyful to be chanting and dancing to the Hare Krishna kirtana.

The prasadam was wonderful as usual.

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. 

I talked to a lady who had an interest in meditation. She has taught local Czech politics at a university in Prague for nine years. I explained that the chanting we do is a kind of meditation, and that if she liked it, she could attend our Wednesday programs at our Govinda’s restaurant in Prague. She danced to our kirtanas on at least a couple of occasions, looking very joyful.

I have many video clips of people chanting Hare Krishna and dancing with the devotees. Although these people are not yet serious about completely dedicating their lives to spiritual advancement, whatever chanting and hearing of the holy name of the Lord they do is very good for them. While viewing these videos keep in mind that Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.2.14) states, “One who chants the holy name of the Lord is immediately freed from the reactions of unlimited sins, even if he chants indirectly [to indicate something else], jokingly, for musical entertainment, or even neglectfully. This is accepted by all the learned scholars of the scriptures.” So these people are becoming more and more pious and gradually becoming eligible to perform devotional service to the Supreme Lord with determination in the future and attain love for God, the goal of life. 

The first two days of the four-day festival, the Harinama Ruci traveling sankirtana party chanted in town of Trutnov (both on the streets and outside, and even inside, the bars and restaurants), from the town on the way to the festival site, and at the festival site itself. We often tried to encourage the people we met to chant the Hare Krishna one word at a time, and sometimes we were very successful and sometimes less so
(https://youtu.be/CHOBPAxHfYk):


Because of a change in the price structure, fewer people came to the festival this year, about 6,000 instead of 18,000. Thus Harinama Ruci left early to chant in Prague on the final day. Although it would have been fun to go with them, I wanted to participate in our program at Trutnov.

There are many people who visit our Krishna tent to Trutnov every day to experience our Krishna food and Krishna music. For most of them, it is their only contact with Krishna consciousness the whole year, and it is an important part of the festival for them. Although their level of commitment is not comparable to those who adopt more of the spiritual practices we follow, still they need to be encouraged in whatever they can do, and we play a role there in encouraging them.

In different parts of the world we have festivals where devotees can go like the Sadhu Sanga festival in America or the Bhakti Sangam festival in Ukraine and become inspired. Our Krishna Camp at Trutnov is for these people with a just little initial attraction to Krishna, their Sadhu Sanga festival, and it is important we provide it to give them an opportunity for spiritual association. Otherwise all there is at these concerts is sex, drugs, and rock and roll, from which even those successful at them say, you “can’t get no satisfaction.”

In the afternoon, persons willing to hear and dance with our chanting were fewer but far between, but the devotees were still enthusiastic (https://youtu.be/1NfxORBnIrY):


Our special guest this year was Bhakti Gauravani Goswami, originally Vedavyasa Prabhu, a German BBT translator, who has taken sannyasa and is preaching in Spain recently. Here he led kirtana the first evening (https://youtu.be/Kk6pllXTAhs):


Evening kirtanas with Nrsimha Caitanya Prabhu (https://youtu.be/N9ItPdD-nr4):


Evening kirtanas with Dhruva Maharaja Prabhu from Slovakia (https://youtu.be/q6AO_rjzrcQ):


I took some pictures in the evenings with my phone, which has a light, to illuminate some of the enthusiastic dancers to our kirtanas.

Nrsimha Caitanya Prabhu began leading our first evening kirtanas on the first day of the Czech Woodstock (https://youtu.be/tYRqrw6ww9M):


The second evening we had the most participants dancing to our kirtana (https://youtu.be/8ECDfxVsQXQ):


Here is a kirtana on the final evening, to a smaller, but still enthusiastic crowd (https://youtu.be/CcLDVm5Q0Ag):


Thanks to all the devotees whose cooperation made it possible to share Krishna music and Krishna food with hundreds of people at Trutnov, the Czech Woodstock.

Janmastami in Newcastle

Janmastami I was not doing so well because of the fast, and tiredness from travel, and thus it was hard to appreciate. I was also frustrated that no one wanted to chant with me in public due to unfortunate circumstances. There was dance, drama, and kirtana as usual. Bhakti Rasa Prabhu spoke nicely.

Vasheel led a lively late night Janmastami kirtana at ISKCON Newcastle, getting the devotees dancing (https://youtu.be/wzq4pIemgLU):


I was satisfied with the feast.

Notes on the Vyasa Puja Offerings in the Vyasa-puja Book

In our Newcastle Vyasa-puja service we read a few offerings from favorite senior devotees from the international Vyasa-puja book.

Bhakti Caitanya Swami:

Srila Prabhupada taught that association with the pure devotee is not as valuable as service to the pure devotee. By serving Srila Prabhupada we attain love for Krishna.

Jayapataka Swami:

Lord Caitanya delivered people in India but engaged His commander-in-chief devotee, Srila Prabhupada, in delivering people in remote places.

Notes on Vyasa Puja Offerings in Newcastle

Several devotees mentioned they especially like Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja because they get to hear the inspiring realizations of their friends about Srila Prabhupada’s mercy.

Kirtida Devi Dasi:

I am glad to be here and reflect on my relationship with you and to hear the appreciations of the other devotees.

ISKCON is a vehicle through which you expressed your devotion to your guru, the line of teachers, and Krishna.

ISKCON is the people who make it up.

Please help me to be a solution to any problems I may find in ISKCON and not add to them.

Bhakti Rasa Prabhu:

ISKCON is your Krishna’s mercy distribution network.

Markandeya Prabhu spoke at a program attended by Mahakrama Prabhu, who suffering from throat cancer. Turns out Markandeya Prabhu had recovered from that kind of cancer and was very sympathetic to Mahakrama Prabhu’s condition. Although the odds were against it, in your ISKCON society, such a meeting was possible.

Vrinda Devi Dasi:

I think by your mercy, everything that is not possible will become possible for us.

When I thought of all you have done for us, I tried again to distribute a book on sankirtana although previously I was unsuccessful, and I succeeded.

Vasheel:

Thank you for being there for all us fallen souls.

I appreciate your simplicity. To someone who said, “I am God,” you once said, “You are dog.” Later the man thanked you.

Madhuri Devi Dasi:

Just because I have not met you personally does not mean I cannot have a personal relationship with you, so I decided to start with this offering.

Traveling in American recently, I was away from home, and I was thinking about how you were away from home all alone there in New York City.

In that foreign place what was most familiar to me was the devotees, who I am connected with because of you.

Let this movement of Krishna bhakti spread through my heart.

Gauridas Pandit Prabhu:

I visited Sweden. In a country with a different culture I felt out of place until entered the Stockholm temple. There everything was familiar to me. The devotees were so kind. It was like I was going from one home to another.

Radha Shyam Prabhu:

Your conversation with Bob Cohen [in Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers] struck many chords with me.

Although I am not reading your books at present, they have permanently changed my life.

It is rare to find anyone with a passion for anything, what to speak of a passion for benefiting humanity with spiritual enlightenment.

Varsha:

Hearing from your disciples about their interactions with you, I felt bad I missed your association, but then I considered at least I had the association of those who had your association.

Vrishni:

You came on a boat to America with nothing but your own love for Krishna and your desire to spread Lord Caitanya’s message.

Jagannathesvari Devi Dasi:

“All glories to the moons, who are devotees of the principal moon, Lord Caitanyacandra! Their bright moonshine illuminates the entire universe.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 13.5) This verse always reminds me of you. 

Ramai Prabhu:

The whole world is indebted to you for teaching the purpose to life.

Those who have taken up the chanting can realize the depth of it.

It is a miracle that you have spread this chanting to so many parts of this world.

You have freely given a way of life so that everyone can be happy.

Ram Rao’s wife, Indira:

Everything you have given is for my heart’s content. Please accept my gratitude.

Anu:

Thank you for giving us ISKCON. I think this is my real family.

Gopal:

In 1973 or 1974 was in Gujarat and looking for a job at the time. I saw devotees setting up for a program. I helped Srila Prabhupada spread a carpet on the stage for it. More devotees came. I chanted with them. Soon after that my life improved. I got good employment. Whenever I feel lonely, I think of the experience with Srila Prabhupada, and I feel ananda [spiritual pleasure]. Ananda has no opposite.

Krishna-kripa Das:

Srila Prabhupada wrote in a letter to Sudama, December 23, 1972:

“Yes, from the very beginning I went to New York because I thought that Krishna Consciousness is the most important idea in the world, so let me go to that place, New York, which is the most important city in the world, and if I am able to do anything for Krishna and my Spiritual Master, even I am at the fag-end of my life, at least let me try for it there. So my dreams have all come true, and all of you nice boys and girls are getting the credit. When I was alone in your New York, I was thinking, who will listen to me in this horrible, sinful place? All right, I shall stay little longer, at least I can distribute a few of my books, that is something. But Krishna was all along preparing something I could not see, and He brought you to me one by one, sincere American boys and girls, to be trained-up for doing the work of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Now I can see that it is a miracle. Otherwise, your city of New York, one single old man, with only a few books to sell for barely getting eatables, how he can survive, what to speak of introducing God-consciousness movement for saving the humankind? That is Krishna’s miracle. Now I can see it.”

Srila Prabhupada was successful because of his amazing faith, and what was that faith?

Faith in his guru and his guru’s order:
(1) preach in the West
(2) if you get money, print books
(3) cooperate

Faith in parampara, the lineage of spiritual teachers:
(1) faith in their message
(2) faith in their desire to spread the chanting all over the world

Faith in the holy name:
(1) Simply by chanting 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra on beads and giving up the four sinful acts in one life anyone, no matter their background, can become pure enough to go back to the spiritual world.

Newcastle Harinamas

I saw two women of the same age walking together, one pushing an old lady in a wheelchair and the other pushing a young kid in a stroller. It reminded me of how at both the beginning and the end of our lives, we are helpless and have to take the help of others. Such are the limitations of our temporary material bodies. If I was not busy chanting, I would have taken a picture of that striking image.

After our Vyasa-puja program in Newcastle I took a nap and went on harinama from 8–10 p.m. Following the advice of a sanitation worker I encountered on the way downtown, I sat on the sidewalk between the parking lots and The Gate, which claims to be “Newcastle’s premier leisure and entertainment centre.” As I watched the people walk past, it occurred to me that the difference between me and them was Srila Prabhupada's mercy. Over seven people said Hare Krishna to me, four danced, one had a picture taken with me, an Indian couple who went to our Juhu temple I encouraged to visit our place in Newcastle, one guy, who gave a donation, chose Beyond Birth and Death when I offered him a book, and another guy happily told me he was already up to page 70 in Nectar of Instruction. Pointing to his beer can, he said was not fully enlightened yet, but he was on the path. I told him to read every day and his life would be transformed. He believed it. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Harinama in Chester

On my way to Chester, I stopped at the ticket office at Manchester Piccadilly. I did not have the debit card I used to book my ticket from Edinburgh to Newcastle, so I could not pick up my ticket from the automatic ticket machines but had to go to the counter. In the course of my conversation with the man behind the counter, he asked if I was a Hare Krishna. Then he said, “Gaur . . . and be happy.” I said, “Oh, Gauranga!” “What does that mean?” he asked, “Something about being happy?” “Oh, Gauranga is a name of God,” I replied. “He is a special incarnation of God who came to give the highest spiritual ecstasy to the most unqualified people, and that is a cause of happiness!” I asked how he knew about the name Gauranga, and he explained that when he was in high school many years ago a Hare Krishna devotee sold him some books.

Karsna Prabhu, Aharada Devi Dasi, and Mark of Chester are my favorite harinama family. It is not so often that both parents and the kids go on harinama. 

In Chester there are many people on the streets, and although there is often too much competition with other musicians, it was not so bad this time.

We chanted on Saturday for three hours in downtown Chester, accompanied by Alan, the main leader of our Liverpool nama-hatta and Kamalaksi Devi Dasi, the nice Indian lady who cooks for that program. 


The next day we chanted for two and a half hours with Chand and his wife (not in picture), daughter, and son. The second day two older ladies came by independently of each other, and both were attracted enough to attend our semiweekly program that night. One had a serious interest in yoga and different religions, and I would not be surprised if we see her again.   

After the Chester program, on my way home to Newcastle I chanted outside Liverpool Lime Street train station for half an hour. While there a guy came up to me and showed me a 20 pence coin saying, “I will give you this if you promise to be quiet for 30 seconds while I walk past.” I smiled, said “OK,” and accepted the coin. It seemed inauspicious to abandon chanting altogether just to please a demonic living entity, so I chanted my mind for 30 seconds before continuing out loud with my harmonium and amplifier after the man had passed. That had never happened before.

Harinama in Edinburgh

Although I had done five times as many books and collected five times as much in Newcastle the previous day, in Edinburgh my presence made a difference in the life of one high school graduate, who was half way through reading Easy Journey to Other Planets. He wanted another book. I recommended Sri Isopanisad as two days before Alan of Liverpool had told me he had become convinced by reading it, and therefore, I was reminded of how nice it was. The young man decided to choose Chant and Be Happy instead because he was a musician and he had a love for George Harrison. He took down the details of our Edinburgh Gauranga Mantra Centre and said he would try to come next Tuesday.

The Edinburgh nama-hatta attenders are participatory, cooperative, and charitable, and there are often some new people at the meetings. I am always encouraged to go there, and I look forward to returning next year, God willing.

An Odd Picture

After chanting downtown for 2 hours in the evening on Vyasa-puja day, I was walking up the hill to the Newcastle temple, and I saw this sign. I felt I had to take a picture of it.

Balaji in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, is one of the most famous and popular deities of Lord Krishna in India, and certainly one of those receiving the greatest contributions.


Here in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, however, the glorious transcendental name of Balaji is associated with beers and spirits, and “off-licence.” 



If you are non-British, you may wonder, as I did, what does “off-licence” mean? Apple’s dictionary says, “A store selling alcoholic beverages for consumption elsewhere.” Such is the degradation of this age!

To see pictures I did not include, click on the link below:

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam  1.8.41 in Mayapur on October 21, 1974:

Traditionally sannyasa is meant for the brahmanas. We agree, but for those who are brahmana by qualities, not by birth.

We do not claim the position of Vaishnava but rather we wish to remain the servant of the Vaishnava.

There are four divisions of sannyasa, kuticaka, when one lives outside the village but receives food from home, bahudaka, when one begs door to door, parivrajakacarya, when one preaches from country to country, and paramahamsa, when one sits in one place absorbed in Krishna consciousness.

The whole process is detachment from family, community, etc.

We do not approve of nationalism, but instead we are creating internationalism.

Just as we cannot create our own laws but have to follow the laws given by the state, we have to follow the laws given by God and not act according to our own whims. Dharma is that law given by God, but we have created so many dharmas.

Gold is gold. There are not different kinds of gold. There is 14-karat gold, and 20-karat gold, but pure gold is one. In the same way, we are preaching pure religion, not religion adulterated by so many other things.

We have no other business than to follow the laws of God.

God is real, and anything in connection with God is real, otherwise it is all imitation.

We killing the demons by giving them the Hare Krishna mantra, which purifies them, so their demonic activities are stopped.

Whatever is done is done, but we must stop our demonic activities.

Satsvarupa dasa Goswami:

From a “Poem to Radha-Govinda” posted on Facebook on August 24, 2016:

“Radha-Govinda reciprocate with me.
Radha-Govinda taste the sweetness
of conjugal love.  They exchange it in
sidelong glances.
They taste it in
kisses and embraces.
And share it
with Their innumerable devotees.
Anyone can become
Their associate by following
in the footsteps of
the gopis, or accepting
a pure devotee
in disciplic succession
as the spiritual master. 
The spiritual master initiates one
into the Hare Krishna mantra,
which is made up of the names
of Radha and Krishna.
He teaches Bhagavad-gita
and Srimad-Bhagavatam,
and instructs
the disciple on how
to worship the Deity.
Vande guroh sri-
caranaravindam.”

From Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name:

“Srila Rupa Gosvami says in Upadesamrta that although at present we don't taste the sweetness of the holy name due to jaundice (avidya), the holy names are so wonderful that by repeatedly chanting them, the taste will return. This statement is not Rupa Gosvami's imagination. The chanting is very wonderful, it does have a sweet taste, and we will attain it. Therefore, we will show our belief in the statement by acting on the basis of it. We will go on chanting.”
  
Bhakti Charu Swami:

From a lecture at Croatia Seminar 2016:

“Why did Krishna create this universe?” In that respect we can consider two explanations. One is a prison house, where the criminals are being corrected. A prison house is actually a reform house, meant for correcting our perverted mentality. Our mentality has become perverted, so there is a need to create this prison house. So Krishna has created this prison house, where the criminals are being punished to eventually understand what they should do. Now, sometimes some people find this quite shocking, “This material nature is a prison house? I am a prisoner? What’s wrong with you! I think I am the most decent and honest person.” So if we have some reservation or reluctance in accepting that concept, then let’s consider the other explanation. The child wants to play with his friends in the park. So the child says, “Daddy! Daddy! I want to go to the park.” The father says, “Okay, come”, and he takes the child to the park. And coming to the park, the child is completely lost in the games with his friends. When he is winning in the game, he is happy. When he is losing, he is sad. That’s the game. And he completely forgot about the father. While the child is playing in the park, the father is sitting there on a bench and watching the child. Then the child becomes afraid. All his friends have left, it became dark, so the child calls out, “Daddy, where are you?” So then the father comes, picks him up and says, “Come, let’s go.” So, in a way, our situation is like that. We are a bunch of kids who wanted to play, and coming to the playground, meeting our friends, we are completely immersed in play. In the course of our game some are our friends and some are our enemies. Those who are playing in my favor, they are my friends. Those who are opposing me, they are my enemies. In this way, in this field, we are creating duality. We are so lost that we have no time to think about the Father. But then, at some point, when we turn to the Father and say, “Daddy, where are you?”, then He comes and picks us up and says, “Come, let’s go home.”

Sadaputa Prabhu:

From Mysteries of the Sacred Universe (p. 170):

“According to the Bhagavatam, God simultaneously spans all scales of size from largest to smallest. God also defines space rather than existing within it as an object among other objects. The space thus defined involves unlimited scales and dimensions, and it is not limited to the three-dimensional Euclidian continuum. However, it does include this continuum. Indeed, it contains many three-dimensional continua.”

“This system of thought rules out the kind of comprehensive model of reality that we are familiar with in the West. Rather, it lends itself to multiple models that represent different aspects of an inconceivable total reality.”

-----

The verse reassures us that even if people chant without proper understanding they still benefit greatly from it.

yathagadam viryatamam
 upayuktam yadrcchaya
ajanato ’py atma-guṇam
 kuryan mantro ’py udahrtah

“If a person unaware of the effective potency of a certain medicine takes that medicine or is forced to take it, it will act even without his knowledge because its potency does not depend on the patient’s understanding. Similarly, even though one does not know the value of chanting the holy name of the Lord, if one chants knowingly or unknowingly, the chanting will be very effective.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.2.19)


Harinam in Chicago, USA (Album with photos) Srila Prabhupada:…
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Harinam in Chicago, USA (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The Hare Krishna mantra is specifically mentioned in many Upanisads, such as the Kali-santarana Upanishad, where it is said: “After searching through al the Vedic literature, one cannot find a method of religion more sublime for this age than the chanting of Hare Krishna.” (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 3.40 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/vcpiVh

Vaishnava Compassion
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Vaishnava Compassion.
“A natural human sentiment, compassion finds its highest expression in the works of devotees of the Lord. The tenderness of the heart experienced toward Krishna is known as bhakti. All other jivas are servants of Krishna. When one experiences tenderness of heart toward them, it is known as daya, compassion. Therefore, compassion is included within bhakti.” Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Jaiva Dharma, p. 179

Durban, September 2016
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Written by Ragalekha dd

Those who have known Kadamba Kanana Swami over years were accustomed to his hectic schedule. Often one would be trying to catch their breath in between attending multiple programs a day. However, things have changed drastically now. Maharaj continues in recovery mode and in the week after Radhastami, there were just three programs!

First was the Sunday Love Feast (11 September). The program began with the weekly practice of reciting a chapter of Bhagavad-gita and on that day it was Chapter 17: The Divisions of Faith. This set the tone for the lecture where Maharaj spoke at length about the modes of material nature. A barrage of questions came through at the end to which Maharaj gave very practical answers. The program ended with Guru Puja and a lively kirtan.

During the week, Maharaj gave one morning lecture based on Srimad Bhagavatam and on Friday (16 September), he was the special guest at a nama-hatta program held at the Kendra Hall, a Gujarati community centre in the city. There were many new-comers present and Maharaj spoke about the saintly person and how the saintly person is always fulfilled as he has internal happiness; he has strong conviction in God and therefore experiences the spiritual dimension!

Last week, the TOVP team also visited Durban to promote their fund-raising endeavour. On Wednesday, 14 September, Jananivasa Prabhu (Mayapur Head Pujari) and Vraja Vilasa Prabhu arrived. Kadamba Kanana Swami and Jananivasa Prabhu greeted each other in Srila Prabhupada’s room at the temple and on one of the days, they had lunch prasadam together. Ambarish Prabhu and Svaha Mataji arrived a few days later and so did Agnidev Prabhu!

As we reported already, Kadamba Kanana Swami had his six-monthly medical screening and the results were good. We remain cautiously excited and continue in our prayers for him…

We having some technical challenges with our recording device hence the delay in posting recent recordings. We are working on it! Thank you for your patience.

Visit Flickr to see more photos. 

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ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary Rath Yatra Attracts Thousands In…
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ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary Rath Yatra Attracts Thousands In Chicago.
Urvashi Verma: More than 2,000 people gathered for the Rath Yatra festival Sept. 17 at the Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago as part of the national kickoff celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, better known as the Hare Krishna Movement.
Prior to the advent of ISKCON movement Jagannath and the “Ratha Yatra” were relatively unknown in the West. However, after its founding, A. C. Bhaktivedanta, founder of ISKCON popularized the festival when he selected Jagannath as one of the chosen forms of Krishna, installing an idol of Jagannath in ISKCON temples around the world. Today the “Ratha Yatra” festival is celebrated by ISKCON in many cities in the West where they are popular attractions.
The yatra, or the parade, which started from Clark and Adams streets, featured a colorful 40-foot chariot decorated with thousands of flowers, with “Lord Jagannath” the presiding deity of the festival placed in the center.
Hundreds of devotees, pulled the chariot by hand across large city blocks, dancing, playing drums and cymbals and euphorically chanting the mantra “Hare Krishna Hare Rama.” It was an eye-catching spectacle as many Chicagoans watched the procession and took to their phones to capture pictures.
The yatra concluded in Daley Plaza where religious ceremonies were performed by Romapada Swami and included arti, and food offering of 56 items to Lord Jagannath prior to the commencement of a free fun-filled afternoon for families which included a spectacular kirtan, devotional singing performance by Gauravani Buchwald; classical Odisi by Sigma, and performances by Natya Dance Theater depicting the stories of Sri Krishna.
Romapada Swami, member of governing body commission of ISKCON and Chicago area dignitaries – Clerk of Cook County, Dorothy Brown, Chicago 49th District Alderman Joe Moore, and Chicago philanthropist and trustee of FIA Chicago Iftekar Shareef, spoke about the impact of the “Hare Krishna” movement in the their state, district and personal lives.
Romapada Swami talked to Desi Talk Chicago in an interview about ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary and the organization’s vast growth and goals for the next 50 years.
“Two things are very important to highlight, when an organization endures for 50 years, at least here in America, it is taken as We are here to stay because often times after a great personality establishes an organization and passes away, things change. Here in ISKCON there is still a continuation and growth. For us the 50th anniversary is a time for celebration and communication.
The communication part is the “Rath Yatra” which is a message of the mercy of Lord Jagannath for everybody. Just like in celebrations in Puri, our founder very much wanted this Rath Yatra all over the world so that people can experience his mercy and so here we are; we need to celebrate the mercy of Lord Jagannath being given to millions across the world, ” said Romapada.
“There are areas of the world where ISKCON is expanding explosively and when an organization expands so vastly, my personal concern as a leader is making sure we are maintaining the purity of the principles and teachings through the Bhagavad Gita and teachings of Prabhupada and then surely everything will be fine” commented Romapada.
The Daley center was surrounded by booths providing information on topics such as Sri Krishna, ISCKON vegetarianism, reincarnation, meditation, yoga, handicrafts, idols of worship, and henna application. There was also an activity center, especially for children where they could make arts and crafts related to Sri Krishna.
“ Although I am not a member of ISKCON I wanted to bring my children to see and learn all about our culture, and it was great fun for them, I hope that this will make them more inclined to learn about our culture and religion ” shared one of the attendees.
The 50th anniversary celebrations will continue later this year with Rath Yatra parades in cities worldwide, including San Francisco, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, London, and Paris, and gala events at the Sydney Opera House, European Parliament, and other major venues.
Source: https://goo.gl/771TZ2

Important Questions About Gurus
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Q: You mentioned in your video, diksha refers to getting the mantra and shiksa refers to getting instructions on how to chant it…

Dīkṣā means acceptance into the educational process (aka “sādhana”) of a given school. This acceptance is accomplished by giving the student the school’s study materials (mantra and śāstra)

Q: We already got the mantra from some devotee, we may not even remember whom. Would a formal initiation ceremony benefit us?

Hearing a mantra from someone on the sidewalk is a haphazard dīkṣā at best. Real dīkṣā should be intentional. The person giving it should be recognized by the school as worthy of evaluating whether a candidate is worthy of being inducted into the school. And the induction should be done deliberately. Giving of the mantras (etc) are the process to accomplish this induction. Just hearing a mantra doesn’t mean I am inducted into the school that uses the mantra, but induction into a school will involve being given their mantra. So “a includes b, but b does not always include a.” (where “a” is the acceptance into a spiritual school, and “b” is the bestowal of their mantras, etc)

Q: Siksha guru plays more significant role than diksha guru.

Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Generally its best if the dīkṣā guru is also the primary śīkṣā guru.

Q: In the current scenario, the siksha gurus who guide us daily are mostly not authorized by the ISKCON institution to give diksha. In this case, should one aspire to receive dīkṣā initiation from the diksha guru of one’s siksha guru, based on the assumption that since his siksha guru is so great, the diksha guru must be great as well – because a deer cannot give birth to a lion?

If you feel that a person represents a school very authentically and deeply, but there is some branch of that school that does not agree and therefore does not authorize that person to accept inductees on their behalf, then you should figure out of either your opinion of the merit of that person is wrong, or your opinion of the value of that branch of the school is wrong. One or the other is wrong. If you decide that the branch is wrong, then leave the branch. If you decide the person is wrong, leave the person.

Q: The diksha gurus authorized by ISKCON are often too busy having thousands of disciples, and may not have time to talk to his disciples directly. Most of the instruction comes through others, the councillors or siksha gurus. In such a situation, how will the formalities of initiation help a practicing devotee?

If the dīkṣā guru is authorized by an empowered branch of the school to accept you as a member of the school, then you are accepted. And the dīkṣā guru would then assign you to an appropriate śīkṣā guru, and would not interfere with the instruction you receive there, knowing his practical limitations. If he does not put you in the care of a śikṣā guru or does not allow that śīkṣā guru to perform his or her role, then the dīkṣā guru was accepted mistakenly, for they are not sincere and do not desire to benefit the disciple. They should be renounced if they persist in this behavior.

Q: Can one person have more than one guru?

An individual should accepted into one school, or at least one at a time. It generally difficult to attend two schools simultaneously. Therefore there should be need for only one successful dīkṣā per school – so, basically there should only be one dīkṣā guru. But everyone in the universe and everything should become our śikṣā guru. We should have multiple śīkṣā gurus, but there should be order and priority. The dīkṣā guru would ideally be the main śīkṣā guru. Others further along in our own school are other high-priority śīkṣā gurus. Others from other schools, or just random people and animals are also śīkṣā gurus, but their teachings are understood in context of the teachings of the higher-priority śikṣā gurus.

Śrī Krishna Dās Kavirāja therefore says, “vande ‘haṁ śrī guroḥ, śrī guruṁ vaiṣṇavamś ca” which means “Obeisance to my guru (singular, dīkṣā guru), and also to my gurus (plural, śikṣā gurus), the Vaiṣṇavas (the highest-priority śikṣā gurus).


Tagged: diksha guru, Guru, siksa guru

​If senior devotees have misconceptions about us, is clarifying them disrespectful?
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​Is mentally retaliating at devotees who have hurt us an offence?
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If something makes us go away from Krishna, how can we return towards him?
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​If bhakti is the art of becoming happy, why are we bhaktas not happy?
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Were Prabhupada’s early followers the eternal associates of Lord Chaitanya?
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​Are physical handicaps in this life the scars of sins from previous lives?
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Chanting Hare Krishna and the original problem.
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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!
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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.

First Padayatra In Johannesburg Gauteng, South Africa
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Hare KrishnaBy Padmanabha Dasa

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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Malaysia Padayatra Celebrates World Holy Name Week And Iskcon’s 50Th Anniversary
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Hare KrishnaBy Murali Vadhana Govinda Dasa

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…
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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

New Vrindaban Prabhupada Festival to Awaken Sweet Service Mood
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Hare KrishnaBy Madhava Smullen

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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Chaitanya Charan Dasa: Oct 6-13, 2016
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The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple will be welcoming Chaitanya Charan Dasa from October 6-13, 2016.  Chaitanya Charan is a monk and spiritual author. He has done his Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering from the Government College of Engineering, Pune. He subsequently served as a software engineer in a prominent multinational software corporation.

Seeing the prevalent problems of stress, depression, addiction and overall misdirection – all caused by a lack of spirituality – he felt inspired to dedicate his life to the cause of sharing the spiritual wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita under the aegis of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna consciousness). He is a member of ISKCON’s leading intellectual body, the Shastric Advisory Council, and is the associate-editor of ISKCON’s global magazine, Back to Godhead. He is the author of the world’s only Gita-daily feature, wherein he writes daily a 300-word inspirational reflection on a verse from the Bhagavad- Gita. He has written over seventeen hundred Gita meditations that are posted on www.gitadaily.com and are read through daily feeds by thousands from all over the world.

He also answers questions by seekers on his site www.thespiritualscientist.com, where his over three thousand five hundred audio answers and several hundred articles are available.

He travels all over the world from Australia to America, giving talks on spiritual subjects in temples, universities and companies. His articles have been published in many national newspapers including Indian Express, Economic Times and Times of India in the Speaking Tree column. His writings in English have been translated into several foreign languages including German, Chinese and Romanian and several Indian languages including Kannada, Telgu, Bengali, Hindi and Marathi. He is the author of sixteen books.



Srila Prabhupada arrives in the USA, 1965
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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

Tests in spiritual life
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 December 2015, Mayapur, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 6.17.36-37)

sp_readingWe 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.