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A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course Tuesday 30 August 2011 The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, and His eternal consort, Srimati Radharani are enjoying transcendental pastimes in the topmost planet of the spiritual world, Sri Goloka Vrindavan. They are beckoning us to rejoin them. (Click on photo to see a larger image.) Our Mission: To help everyone awaken their original Krishna consciousness, which is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. Such a global awakening will, in one stroke, solve all the problems of the world society bringing in a new era of unprecedented peace and prosperity for all. May that day, which the world so desperately needs, come very soon. We request you to participate in this mission by reviving your dormant Krishna consciousness and assisting us in spreading this science all over the world. Dedicated with love to ISKCON Founder-Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, our beloved spiritual master, and to you, our dear readers. For Even More Nectar: Connect With Other Members of this Course. Join this Conference: http://groups.google.com/group/sda_students Today's Thought: We Are On a Mission to Save the World Uploaded from Bhaktivedanta Ashram, Austin, Texas USA His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada writes in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 1.6.38 as follows: No one can be truly happy within the material world. Srila Narada Muni, in order to enlighten the miserable inhabitants, wanders everywhere. His mission is to get them back home, back to Godhead. That is the mission of all genuine devotees of the Lord following the footsteps of that great sage. Srila Narada Muni is one of the predecessor acharyas in our line of disciplic succession. Therefore our duty is to follow in his footsteps by fully absorbing ourselves in the mission of delivering all the conditioned souls within this material world back to home, back to Godhead. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Srila Narada Muni is Out to Save the World http://www.backtohome.com/images/Narada.Muni.jpg Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: Are the All the Gods Supreme? Dear Srila Gurudeva, Please accept my humble obeisances. I read in a recent reply that Lord Buddha is an incarnation of Lord Krishna. I feel that the variety of gods, demigods and deities are forms of the Supreme Personality Of Godhead, meant to cater to the 400,000 different species of humans as described in the Vedas. And I feel that Lord Krishna Himself is the form that is meant for the people who are mentally and spiritually most advanced, those who can do exactly what He wants, to love and remember Him. Please guide and correct me if I am wrong Your servant, C.L. Answer: No. Krishna is the God of the Gods. We cannot accurately understand reality based the perceptions of our imperfect senses and imperfect minds. We can therefore only accurately understand reality from the authoritative statements of the revealed scriptures and the great self-realized souls. There are innumerable incarnations of God such as Rama, Mahavishnu, Nrsinghadeva, Narayana, etc. These are different expanded forms of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna and His innumerable expansions are all immortal, all-powerful beings. These Personalities of Godhead are all within the category known as vishnu-tattva . On the other hand, the demigods are of a different category. They are the ruling deities of different aspects of the material nature such as the sun, the moon, etc. Because they are all within the temporary material nature. which is wound up at the time of universal destruction, even though they are far more powerful than us, they are still mortal beings like us. These demigods are all within the category known as jiva-tattva. This is same category that we are in. The Rig Veda confirms that all of the demigods accept that the Supreme Person is of the vishnu-tattva category. So we should follow the example of the demigods and accept Krishna and His innumerable vishnu-tattva expansions as the Supreme. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Transcendental Resources: Receive the Special Blessings of Krishna Now you too can render the greatest service to the suffering humanity and attract the all-auspicious blessings of Lord Sri Krishna upon yourself and your family by assisting our mission. Lectures and Kirtans in Audio and Video: Link to High Definition Videos Link to Over 1,000 Lecture Audios Lecture-Travel Schedule for 2011 http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/schedule Have Questions or Need Further Guidance? Check out the resources at: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com or write Sankarshan Das Adhikari at: sda@backtohome.com Get your copy today of the world's greatest self-realization guide book, Bhagavad-gita As It Is available at:http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/store Know someone who could benefit from this? Forward it to them. Searchable archives of all of course material: http://www.sda-archives.com Receive Thought for the Day as an RSS feed:http://www.backtohome.com/rss.htm Unsubscribe or change your email address Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Daily_Thought Thought for the Day on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Ultimate.Self.Realization Copyright 2005-2011 by Ultimate Self Realization.Com Distribution of this material is encouraged. 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Dear Devotees and Friends,
Sunday September 4th, is a very special and auspicious day in the year. It is the day of the divine appearance of Srimati Radharani, the divine consort of Lord Sri Krishna. On this day the practicing Vaishnavas observe a fast (even from water) till 12 noon.
Please join us for an ecstatic celebration beginning at 5:00 pm with Bhajans and kirtans. At 6:00pm the altar doors will open to reveal Sri Sri Radha Govinda in an ecstatic flower dress made with the finest of fresh flowers – roses, jasmine, gardenia, orchids and more!
At the same time of the arati, Sri Sri Radha Krishna will be seated on their swing, for a final and special celebration of Jhulan Yatra of the year.
This year, we are blessed to have the association of His Holiness Sacinandana Swami, and he will present a wonderful lecture on the glories of Srimati Radharani. The talk and kirtan will be followed by a wonderful prasadam feast.
We humbly invite you to take part in this festival by rendering some service (prasadam, flower garlands, cleaning, kirtans, readings) to the Lord. There are many service opportunities available, please contact the temple for more information. In addition, if you would like to sponsor any part of this festival, please contact the temple.
Your servants,
NY ISKCON
(718) 855-6714; (718) 875-6127
www . radhagovinda108 . com
Click to enlarge
The process is very simple. Just keep a picture of Lord Caitanya with His associates. Lord Caitanya is in the middle, accompanied by His principal associates -- Nityananda, Advaita, Gadadhara, and Srivasa. One simply has to keep this picture. One can keep it anywhere.
It is not that one has to come to us to see this picture. Anyone can have this picture in his home, chant this Hare Krsna mantra, and thus worship Lord Caitanya. That is the simple method. But who will capture this simple method? Those who have good brains.
Without much bother, if one simply keeps a picture of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu at home and chants Hare Krsna, then one will realize God. Anyone can adopt this simple method. There is no expenditure, there is no tax, nor is there any need to build a very big church or temple.
Anyone, anywhere, can sit down on the road or beneath a tree and chant the Hare Krsna mantra and worship God. Therefore it is a great opportunity.
For example, in business or political life one sometimes finds a great opportunity. Those who are intelligent politicians take a good opportunity and make a success of it the first time it comes.
Similarly, in this age, those who have sufficient intelligence take to this sankirtana movement, and they advance very quickly.
Science Of Self Realization
The lotus feet of Lord Nityananda are a shelter where one will get the soothing moonlight not only of one, but of millions of moons. If the world wants to have real peace, it should take shelter of Lord Nityananda. (Manah Siksa - Prarthana)
Oh Nitai, please protect us from our burning desires with you soothing mercy.
Here is today's darshan.
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.7 - Pure unmotivated devotional service means to dedicate all our activities to Krsna without any ulterior motive (idam krsnaya idam na mama...).
Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world...simply send me an introduction email and I will be happy to make you a member:
rasa108@gmail.com
ys
Rasa Rasika dasa
Popular in the "kirtan yoga" scene, MC Yogi is a devotional rapper who has been making waves with his style of "bhakti-rap". Although he's not a devotee from our Hare Krishna family, we can stil appreciate some of his awesome and fun-filled efforts, including this little video below! (Check out the super-cute Jagannatha) Hare Krsna!
If simply we understand that "Krsna is the Supreme Person. He is great, and we are all subordinate. So our duty is to serve Krsna," these two lines, if we understand, then our life is perfect. If we simply learn how to worship Krsna, how to please Him, how to dress Him nicely, how to give Him nice foodstuff, how to decorate Him with ornaments and flowers, how to offer our respectful obeisances unto Him, how to chant His name, in this way, if we simply think, without any so-called education we become the perfect person within the universe. This is Krsna consciousness. It doesn't require A-B-C-D education. It requires simply change of consciousness.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Arrival Lecture -- Dallas, March 3, 1975
Instead of having only spontaneous conversations, for example, over prasadam, we can also have structured conversations where we can help each other succeed in a much more effective way.
These conversations can evolve into regular mutual assistance or mutual coaching.
Now, coaching session is definitely a structured conversation, and the benefit of having it is that participants get a greater benefit from it.
I am not proposing to stop friendly exchanges and spontaneous interactions. That has its place in life. But with adding structured conversations to our interactions devotee association is elevated to a higher level.
The basic principle is helping each other succeed.
In my courses, I ask my students to listen to each other carefully and then create a question that will help the other succeed in working on their problems and goals.
These questions could be:
- What and who could help you achieve this goal?
- What resources and skills do you need?
- What is the deadline?
- What will inspire you to work on this goal?
- Etc.
We can also help devotees change their perspective on things, events, and situations in life. Often a fresh perspective makes a huge difference in what you think, how you feel, what action you take, and what results you get.
There is so much more we can do for each other if we just give up envy and start thinking of each other's spiritual and material welfare.
1967 August 29: "That is the secret of Krishna Consciousness - not that we all have to become preachers, but that we all dedicate our lives or our consciousness - no matter in what capacity - to Lord Krishna."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967
1967 August 29: "I am also feeling your seperation; it is all Krishna's design. Physically I am trying to go back as soon as possible. I have got a fancy for your country, and being inspired by that, I first went to your country, and still I feel that way."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967
1967 August 29: "Our Guru Maharaja injected his Spiritual Vision in some of us, and the work is continuing in different branches, as far as possible by Bon Maharaja, Tirtha Maharaja, my humble self and others. Similarly in the Western world, Krishna has sent me some good souls like you."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967
tatas canu-dinam dharmah
satyam saucam ksama daya
kalena balina rajan
nanksyaty ayur balam smrtih
Srimad Bhagvatam 12.2.1
Translation: tatas canudinam: with the progress of this age (Kali-yuga), dharma, religious principles; satyam, truthfulness; saucam, cleanliness; ksama, forgiveness; daya, mercifulness; ayur, duration of life; balam, bodily strength; smrti, memory — these eight things will gradually decrease to nil or almost nil
(The following is from a darshan I actually was at)
” Prabhupada: With the progress of the Kali-yuga… . So with the progress of this age, these things will happen…
“Prabhupada: Ksama. Formerly saintly persons and leaders, they used to excuse. Now that, the sense of excusing, “All right, this man has done something, excuse him,” that will decrease.”
Room Conversation and Reading from Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 1 and 12 — June 25, 1976, New Vrindaban
“The duty of a brahmana is to culture the quality of forgiveness, which is illuminating like the sun. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is pleased with those who are forgiving.
PURPORT
“Different personalities become beautiful by possessing different qualities. Canakya Pandita says that the cuckoo bird, although very black, is beautiful because of its sweet voice. Similarly, a woman becomes beautiful by her chastity and faithfulness to her husband, and an ugly person becomes beautiful when he becomes a learned scholar. In the same way, brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras become beautiful by their qualities. Brahmanas are beautiful when they are forgiving, ksatriyas when they are heroic and never retreat from fighting, vaisyas when they enrich cultural activities and protect cows, and sudras when they are faithful in the discharge of duties pleasing to their masters. Thus everyone becomes beautiful by his special qualities. And the special quality of the brahmana, as described here, is forgiveness.”
Srimad Bhagvatam 9.15.40
“Prabhupada: This is sadhu. The first qualification is titiksava. very tolerant. And Canakya Pandita has said ksama-rupam tapasvinam. Those who are tapasvis, their first duty is how much he is forgiving. How much he has learned to forgive. “
Room Conversation — September 4, 1976, Vrndavana
“As far as salvation is concerned, one has to conquer the principles of lust, anger, unlawful desires, avarice and bewilderment. To get freedom from anger, one should learn how to forgive.”
Srimad Bhagvatam 1.9.27
” And ksama. Ksama means forgiveness. Suppose I have done some wrong… [break] …but there is no forgiveness. Ksama-rupam tapasvinah, people is advised, especially those who are following penance and austerity, yogic principle or devotional life, they should learn to excuse. In our dealings, there are so many faulty dealings between ourselves. So if we take everything very seriously, then it is very difficult to live.”
Srimad-Bhagavatam 12.2.1 — San Francisco, March 18, 1968
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News, Ramblings or Whatever 
1967 August 29 : "Krishna wants that everyone should utilize his talent as far as possible. That is real sannyasa. As you are devoted already to the service of the Lord, without any personal consideration, you are always sannyasa at heart."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967
1972 August 29 : "If there is good reason, you may have to become angry just to chastise the evil-doers and blasphemers. So if there is offensive behavior to the pure devotees you may become like Nrsimhadeva and punish them severely."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972
1974 August 29: "So you have returned, but now you must be very careful not to become rubbish. If you are keeping long hairs, they must be removed. All of my disciples must be clean shaved. Even anyone who stays with us must be clean shaved."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
1975 August 29: "Even from the lower modes, a human can come up to the higher stage. That is our Movement. Animal stage of life is very dangerous. There is no chance, only in the human form. Unfortunately modern education is to kill that chance."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
1975 August 29: "I am glad that you have keen interest in the Institute program. Be ready, as I am negotiating. In the meantime request all GBC's to send lists of all our disciples who have B.A., M.A. or Ph.D. degrees."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
Hare Krsna dear devotees. Another week is about to start and our devotional service will continue day by day - we hope with more enthusiasm and devotion and not only mechanical.
Our main objective is to achieve pure love for Krsna and through our Spiritual Master's mercy and also Srila Prabhupada's blessings we can be able to move forward in our spiritual path.
Here is a beautiful very describing Lord Nityananda's pastimes which brings us faith in the chanting of the holy names.
"I perpetually worship Sri Nityananda, the root of the tree of krishna-bhakti, who wandering around in Bengal approached the door of every home. With upraised arms he exclaimed: " O Brothers! Please constantly chant the holy names of Hari. If you do so, I will take the responsibility to deliver you from the ocean of material existence."
Sri Nityanandastakam by Srila Vrindavana Das Thakura
I wish you a very blessed week of chanting.
your servant,
Aruna devi
Have a Genuine Friend
Brampton, Ontario
Those rare birds, like me, who are in the renounced order of life, a 24/7 monk or a sannyasi, as we call it, would do good to always have friends. Perhaps we can call it a buddy system, or to put a Vedic spin on it - an ombuddy system.
In many institutions, an ombudsman exists, someone who listens or hears out about some grievances. In the same vein every monk, being human, has his own internal grievances or even personal weaknesses he may struggle with. It behooves him to have a friend/friends to confide in, to reveal his mind and avoid the bombastic danger of being an island unto himself. It is an easy trap to fall into - to be surrounded by loving sisyas (disciples or students) who offer so much adulation and to always be reminded that you are not God, but almost. It can be an ivory tower syndrome. The reverence done in overkill can be quite stifling for anyone in the position of taking a spiritual lead.
Recently I was speaking with another sannyasi (monk) about monks we both have admiration towards and a genuine concern for. We came to analyze even our own personal circumstances. We had to admit to ourselves, "Do I as an individual have enough friends or peers that I could confide in and share concerns, etc.?"
There is one group of spiritualists from India whose sannyasis never venture to do anything without another sannyasi. The travel together, live together, walk together and eat together. There can be some great merit to this. We might even consider track records on rate of apostasy, defection, or what we sometimes term as a spiritual falldown.
It is important in whatever phase of life one is in whether it be monk, a parent, single but destined to get married, that there always be a mentor or some type of guru who can keep us on a spiritual track or to just have a spiritual buddy that enthuses.
If you are an island then you are stranded. It's just not a secure situation being alone.
8 Km
"99% of one's spiritual progress comes from bowing down." - Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur
San Francisco is a cold and wacky city, but it holds a special place in my heart. My parents were attending UC Berkeley - aka Bezerkely - in the 70s, and they frequented the Hare Krishna temple for cheap, good food. Gradually, the philosophy and the people won their hearts and transformed their lives. Already married for several years, they became devotees of Krishna together.
In a way, I feel like I connect with my roots when I visit. The air is filled with history.
This year, the Bus Tour stopped through San Francisco for the Rathayatra festival in Golden Gate Park. After the festival, as part of my Bus Tour duty I pulled on some oversized yellow gloves and jumped in to the organized chaos of takedown.
I was in the middle of dismantling a tent when two women called out to me. I walked over to them.
"Are you Bhakti?" the elder of the two asked.
"And is your mother Brihan?" the other asked.
"Why yes," I replied, startled. "How do you know me and my mother?"
"Well, your parents were the apartment managers of my building many years ago," the younger one said. "People weren't so clean back then, so when I was to move out, I decided to leave my place spotlessly clean. Your mother was so impressed that she wanted to talk to me!"
I laughed. My mother is still today, as I affectionately think of her, a clean freak.
The woman continued, "I was the first person to converse with her about Krishna."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes. But when I had to move from the city, I entrusted your mother to my mother," the woman said, then gestured to the other.
"What are your names?" I asked.
"I'm Madhavi," the daughter said. Her eyes were bright blue.
"And I'm Kasturi Manjari," the mother said. "But your mother would know me as Karuna Avatar, and my daughter as Tamra. We have not seen her since then."
"So wow, you were the first people to speak with my mother about Krishna?" I felt awed.
"Well, yes. It was a gradual process. Your parents came to the temple for prasadam while they were going to UC Berkeley. And we were there."
"What year was that?" I asked.
"1981, I believe."
30 years ago, I thought.
"Wow, what shakti you both possess, that you encouraged my parents to become devotees. Amazing. I feel so honored to be standing here and speaking with you both."
I folded my palms and bowed my head.
I felt a physical veil of awe and gratitude fall over me. By the grace and open hearts of these two women, I was standing here before them. I had a reason to live, Krishna was in my life, I could truly love others, I could chant the holy name.
As I stood there with my head bowed in silence, tears came to my eyes.The two women murmured and stepped forward to embrace me. I wept in their arms.
Then I took a deep breath and stood straight. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"We are only doing our best to share the love and teachings of Srila Prabhupad and his representatives," Kasturi said. "All the credit goes to them."
"Please," I said. "Please bless me that one day I may also share this great gift with others and be able to change hearts to love Krishna, like you did with my mother."
"Oh Bhakti," Madhavi said. "I don't have much, but with whatever I do have, I give to you to touch others' hearts."
I paused for a moment. "What does it take?"
The two women glanced at each other and smiled. "Courage, knowledge... and naivete!" Madhavi laughed.
"And love?" I said.
"Oh, love is the source of all of that," Kasturi said. "Love is the reason we want to share Krishna with others anyway."
"Give love, give love, give love," I murmured.
"Yes," Kasturi said, "Give love."
"Thank you." I folded my palms and bowed again. "Thank you."
I met a young boy at University of Toronto and at first he was simply walking away, but then he started to talk. He looked at the Chant and be happy and exclaimed how he was from Liverpool and a big fan of Beatles. As he saw Srila Prabhupada picture he started to understand that we were Hare Krishnas. He got all excited and showed me the bracelets he was wearing from all the music festivals he attended. He told me the Hare Krishnas were at every music festival he attended in his country and he always ate our food and gave a donation. So I encouraged him to take a book but he had no laxmi. At first I told him cant give you the book for free but later as he was going away I remembered how appreciative he was of our philosophy and prashad, and how he mentioned he was looking for us. So I gave him a book. He told me he was 18 and starting his Engineering degree at UofT this year.
I met a young boy at University of Toronto and at first he was simply walking away, but then he started to talk. He looked at the Chant and be happy and exclaimed how he was from Liverpool and a big fan of Beatles. As he saw Srila Prabhupada picture he started to understand that we were Hare Krishnas. He got all excited and showed me the bracelets he was wearing from all the music festivals he attended. He told me the Hare Krishnas were at every music festival he attended in his country and he always ate our food and gave a donation. So I encouraged him to take a book but he had no laxmi. At first I told him cant give you the book for free but later as he was going away I remembered how appreciative he was of our philosophy and prashad, and how he mentioned he was looking for us. So I gave him a book. He told me he was 18 and starting his Engineering degree at UofT this year.
ISKCON LONDON Balarama Jayanti Harinam 2011
"Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities -- always see them, for they're always there."
Norman Vincent Peale
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