Transform anxiety into intensity by spirituality
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Evening congregation program at Pittsburg, USA

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51st anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in…
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51st anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in Boston,USA (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The mantra delivers the conditioned soul from his bondage; so simply by chanting the mantra Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, one can gain deliverance from any condition. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.24.42 Purport)
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Winning the race against Time
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Hare KrishnaBy Sri Chaitanya Chandra Das

Bhismadeva, great devotee, warrior & philosopher says about time- The wind carries a huge cloud from one place to another swiftly, silently and steadily. Similarly time is energy of Lord which carries everyone imperceptibly from womb to tomb without any exception. Famous scientist Einstein says, “Time is what prevents everything from happening at once” Motivational author & speaker Harvey Mackay says, “Time is free but it is priceless. You can’t own it but you can use it. You can’t keep it but you can spend it. Once you have lost it you can never get it back. Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs says “My favorite things in life don't cost any money. It's really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.” Continue reading "Winning the race against Time
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A month of festivities at ISKCON Manipur
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Hare KrishnaBy Bhakta Bhusan

Deputy Chief Minister Shri Gaikhangam inaugurated Sri Sri Krishna Janmastami Celebration 2016 at ISKCON Manipur Sri Sri Radhakrishnachandra Manimandir as Chief Guest, Commerce and Industries Minister Govindas Konthoujam, Social welfare and cooperation Minister, Kumari A.K. Mirabai and His Holiness Bhaktivyasa Tirtha Swami as president. After the ministers had ‘darshan’ of Sri Sri Radhakrishnachandra, they were explained the posters given in iskcon50.org by His Grace Barnamali Das and His grace Radhamohan Das. A four day Achintya youth festival was organised in commemoration of 50 years of ISKCON and Sri Sri Krishna Janmastami Celebration 2016 from 21st to 24th August. The inaugural function was presided by Dr. I.Ibohalbi Singh, member of Legislative Assembly and leader of opposition. As a prelude to the commemoration of the 50 years of ISKCON, Rath yatra Photography contest was organised during rath Yatra 2016 along with Manipur Photography Club. Nandotsava and Srila Prabhupada Vyasa puja was also observed and about 1100 devotees were served sumptuous Prasad of 9 different dishes. Continue reading "A month of festivities at ISKCON Manipur
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The Wrongs of Being Right
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For someone who has a little bit of knowledge and is somewhat observant, life is replete with a plethora of opportunities to correct other people. And, truth be told, we do like to be right. The urge to rightfully correct someone, however, must be exercised with caution.

A difficult to forget panir in Hare Krishna Valley, Australia…
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A difficult to forget panir in Hare Krishna Valley, Australia (Album with photos)
Aniruddha Dasa: I went to the farm on Monday for a meeting with some representatives from the Surf Coast Shire. Here’s some shots from milking time. We had fresh panir from Lady’s milk at lunch time which I still haven’t forgotten.
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What the 12 Dots Teach You
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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.

Ramayana Musical Premiers at West Liberty University
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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.

A Divine Elixir
Giriraj Swami

It is said that wherever Lord Rama’s glories are chanted, Hanuman goes to that place. Yesterday after Deity greeting I was chanting grs-with-chitraleka-and-kosha-rupa-after-classin 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

​If we ask Krishna for something material that is not good for us, will he give it?
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​We can’t pray for problems like Kunti did, but being problem-free makes us complacent – what is the balanced attitude?
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​If chanting Hari’s name is the only way, how can chanting Allah elevate people?
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​Why are atheists sometimes better behaved than religious people?
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​Whenever I do anything, I feel distracted by the many other things in the world that are wrong – what can I do?
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​Are specific forms of suffering such as being victimised by brutal crimes determined by past karma?
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Ministry Of Educational Development – Standards for Awarding the Bhaktivedanta Degree.
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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:
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​If we help someone and we both get into trouble, is such trouble due to past karma?
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​How do we prioritize between our material obligations and spiritual aspirations?
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​If others don’t accept something we are strongly convinced about, what should we do?
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​Does the Hare Krishna mahamantra have specific times for chanting, as does the Gayatri mantra?
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​When shasta-guru-sadhu give different guidance on some issue, how do we decide?
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Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka by Krishna-kripa Das. Excerpt: The…
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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.
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The Faulty Human
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Hare KrishnaBy 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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Protecting our rounds
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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.