The Mayapuris celebrate Divali in Broadbeach, Queensland, as their Australian tour rolls on into the tropical north. We nevwe want them to leave – the’re ours.
Friday 28 October 2011
Byron Bay Concert
Byron Community Centre
69 Jonson street
Tickets are on sale now from
the Byron Community Centre website here
www.byroncentre.com.au
7:00pm start
Sunday 30 October 2011
Kirtan Concert
Peace Yoga Burleigh Heads
6:00pm
Tel: 0488 288 038
Unit 4, 88-89 Lower West Burleigh RoadBurleigh Heads QLD 4220
Standing near University of Toronto, battling the first real cold sankirtan day of the winter for me, I was praying someone would come inspire me. That's around when I saw a guy who walked up to me and said - so you have the Bhagavad Gita. I was quiet taken aback as it's not commonplace for someone to just come up and ask that question. Smiling and excited I asked him why he was looking for it. He told me how one year ago he had met two girls around Bloor and ST George and bought a Bhagavad Gita from them. I thought it was me and asked him if it was me. As it was a while ago, he could not remember. He had opened the Gita and tried to read it and was appreciative of it, so I gave him a Science of self realization and explained the contents. I showed him the reincarnation picture and asked him to think about the soul. Somehow the topic of soul drifted into vegetarianism and we started to discuss the latest veg.ca campaign to save animals. He started to tell me that he was eating most of his life and his parents would not have it any other way, but somehow 2 weeks ago, suddenly he had the thought of being vegetarian. He wasn't sure where it came from. I explained to him the nature of super soul and how he guides from heart. Explaining param drishtava nivartate I asked him to develop higher taste by reading these books and he took the science of self realisation. He said he liked the fact that we were not those religious groups who look down upon others and that's why he was taking the book. I showed him the picture in the Gita of the wise man who sees equally every being, even animals. He really appreciated it and left saying he would return.
"O Lord Damodara... I humbly bow down to Your most beloved SrimatiRadharani, and I offer all obeisances to You, the Supreme Lord, who displays unlimited pastimes."
(Sri Damodarastakam)
I humbly bow down to Your darsana and offer all obeisances to You, O Sri Sri Radha Ballabha.
The Krishna House in Gainesville, located just across the street from the University of Florida (UF), has seen sixty new devotees join over the past three years—an astonishing achievement at a time when few new Westerners are joining ISKCON.
At the Bhakti Center in New York City, two brahmacharis (celibate students) are developing a new book club that helps bridge the cultural gap between the ancient spiritual texts of India and a postmodern audience.
"Glorious is Sri Govardhana, the great King in the dynasty of hills, whom the gopis praised as the best of Krsna's servants; who was resting for seven days in Krsna's lotus hand and whom Krsna made worshipable by disrupting Indra's sacrifice."
"I offer my prostrated obeisances to the Govardhana Hill, who was kept for seven days in the lotus hand of the infallible Lord Krsna and who served Him with his own paraphernalia—swarms of black bees and an abundance of delicious fruits and roots."
By Mukunda Goswami for Hindustan Times on 27 Oct 2011
Soren Kirkegaard said that people lead lives of 'quiet desperation'. This existential thinking indicates that happiness is only skin deep, and fun is but a passing frisson -- a glimmer, a shiver, an instant high, and that our real situation is one of ongoing anguish.
My humble patio herb and vegetable garden is looking gorgeous right now, and yielding a nice range and quantity of ingredients for my kitchen. Note that everything is growing in pots and tubs, so you really don't need to know much about gardening to have success.
My past experience with English Spinach in pots has been that the party is soon over, but so far so good. I pick the leaves and more grow back. I suspect they are a little harder to maintain over long periods than Chard/Silverbeet, but we shall see.
I have two pots with snow peas. Despite the limitation of my ridiculously inadequate patio, I'm giving snow peas a chance ('all we are saying'...) I have a single pole in the centre of the pot and trying to encourage the little tendrils to take the plunge and attach themselves to it and begin their climb to fortune. Am I doing something wrong? Should the stick be more slender? Should I wrap it with chicken wire? Obviously a trellis is the norm. Any ideas, fellow gardeners?
Always a favourite with me - and the insects. White butterflies are around, so for sure they are laying eggs, and the first meal for their darling offspring will surely be basil. I don't blame them.
There's a few batches of strawberries around the patio, and they are fruiting like anything. The birds usually get them as soon as they are ripe, though a few miraculously escaped their beady eyes. I made jam out of 3 ripe homegrown strawberries - no I'm not joking - just to prove that I could do it. That's 2 toasts worth, by the way.
The marjoram is looking gorgeous. And - oh, how very aromatic and delectable is her fragrance. Perfect for pasta sauce and all things Mediterranean.
She's Greek and she's good! She's Greek a basil!!
I have 6 big tubs of rainbow chard and as quick as I can pick it there's more. Just how I like it. It goes in anything and everything. Wonderfully healthy, pesticide-free and delicious.
Some fresh fenugreek, otherwise known as methi. Not my favourite, but I thought I'd grow some anyway. 3 or 4 fenugreek seeds, and there you have it.
Trying some micro-herbs. Mustard is impossible to get wrong. Ten cents worth of seeds and wait a week.
Freshly sprouted micro-fenugreek greens. A beautiful sight. All you need is soil, a couple tablespoons of fenugreek seeds, and water. Isn't nature wonderful!
Nothing more beautiful than new season continental parsley in the green bloom of innocent youth. So are you inspired? This whole lot takes up 3 or 4 square metres of tiled patio. You can do it!
By Olessia Podtserob for ISKCON News on 27 Oct 2011
A village in a resort area on the shores of the Black Sea was chosen as a suitable place to realize the late Purnachandra Goswami's vision. He wanted to see devotee families to be economically independent, while learning to spiritually depend on each other.
Anju Bhargava, founder of the Hindu American Seva Charities, explains the origins of the five-day Hindu festival Diwali.
If the selection above is hosted by YouTube then after the video plays there will be several links presented to other videos. ISKCON News Weekly has no control over the selections presented and is not responsible for their contents.
It’s that time of year again. Today is Govardhan Puja, when we remember Sri Krishna’s incredible lifting of a sacred mountain in Vrindavan. In the Vaishnava calendar there are so many festivals and as the years go by they stack on top of one another like layers of sediment. I imagine my life so far as a rock – each layer a testament to the moments that I spent thinking about Krishna – the thick, densely packed areas, or not – those are the crumbling parts.
I can remember so many distinct Govardhan pujas – many spent in the soggy English October, inside a white marquee, huddling in front of blow heaters while we listened to narrations of the amazing story. As children one of our favourite parts of the day was the creation of ‘the hill’. This is a giant mound of sweets, dressed to mimic Govardhan Hill – usually complete with ponds of honey, boulders made of milk sweets and bright green shredded coconut for grass. The hill would be covered with plastic animals – deer, birds and lots of cows. After everyone had performed the puja of walking around the hill three times, the sweets would start to be handed out, and along with them, the plastic animals. My toy cupboards at home were full of the most prized- the cows. My small herd grew each year, and I would eagerly look forward to each year’s festival, when I would wait with hands outstretched as a priest plucked animals off the mound and dropped them into the reaching palms of all the kids.
So why build a hill of sweets? It’s definitely fun, but deeper than that, it’s just one way to remember the miraculous activities of Krishna, and help our love for him to grow. It’s also a beautiful way to celebrate Govardhan Hill, also known as Giriraj – the king of mountains. In Krishna’s world, everyone has personality – nothing is just stone, or just a tree. Everything is full of life, full of love, full of desire to serve. Giriraj is considered to be one of the greatest servants of Krishna, since he limitlessly gives the bounty of his forests, waterfalls, minerals and more to the villagers of Vrindavan.
Last year I spent Govardhan Puja in Vrindavan, where it is extra special, since the real Govardhan Hill is only miles away. In the central courtyard of the Krishna Balaram temple, I stood on a raised platform with six other girls, scooping handfuls of scorching, fragrant halava and pressing them onto the plastic covered frame of the hill. Our hands quickly became tender, burnt by the steam, and we slid about as the hot ghee oozed from the mound around our feet. In the meantime, raucous, joyful kirtan thundered away. The following week, I was staying at the foot of Govardhan itself. It was one of the most sacred, deep experiences of my life. Each day I would wake and watch the sun light pass over the rocky face of the hill, and after a day absorbed in chanting and hearing about Krishna, I would sit in a small grove of trees and listen to the night songs of the crickets. I never believed I would really feel that a hill was a person, but after seven days, I felt his deep presence, blessing all who came near him to pray.
At the end of my time there, I built a tiny house of stones. Some people do this to pray to Giriraj for a safe, happy home to live in, but I prayed that however long it took, I may one day live there in that sacred place. These days I stay in Manhattan on the 21st floor. Outside my windows the tops of towering buildings remind me of his ridges and peaks, and I realise that whether here or there, his blessings are near.
Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore gave us a great gift of a book. The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage . Oh, how I love that title! As well as their Fundamental Hypothesis:
"Experiences are as distinct from services as services are from goods."
(NB: "Experiences" are as distinct from "services" as services are from "goods": A "service" is a… transaction…that gets the job done. An "experience" is/can be/should be a…"memorable moment"…no matter how apparently trivial—e.g., the receptionist greeting a Client with panache at 7:45 A.M.)
Or, relative to you and me, courtesy David D'Alessandro's unequivocal words in Career Warfare : "It's always show time!"
"Showtime" for me =
Every speech!
Every PowerPoint presentation!
Every individual slide!
Every CLIENT phone call!
EVERY INTERCHANGE WITH A "FOURTH-LEVEL" CLIENT "ADMIN ASSISTANT" (who may make a negative—or positive!—comment to her boss's boss—who signs my check!—about an off-the-cuff comment I hastily made).
EVERY EMPLOYEE INTERACTION…especially when I'm stressed and/or grouchy.
Every post at tompeters.com!
Every tweet at Twitter!
Every SEVEN-SECOND EYE CONTACT with someone who asks me to sign a book!
And so on.
And on.
And on.
Am I hopelessly uptight-demanding-ridiculous-absurd about all this?
Absolutely.
But no, too; "it" (being "on") has become a way of life, as natural as breathing. (My wife says it takes me two or three days, after I've been on the road, to quit "preaching to 4,000 people.")
Is this "no way to live"?
Hell, no!
I am…Desperate to…Make a Difference!
I hope you are, too.
(That's what leadership is all about!)
(And "life," too—remember "that damned AV guy.")
If you are indeed "desperate" to make your team a World Cup IS/IT winner, remember:
It's showtime…all the time.
(Every interaction, like my life, is with a potentially vociferous ally—or foe or foot-dragger.)
If you want to bring about the change in this world, start with yourself.
How?
Declare a war to your lower nature.
in Mahabharata, General Bhismadeva says to king Yudhisthira that the greatest victory for a king (or any leader) is over self (meaning: over our lower self).
And what is our lower self or nature?
It is that part of us that wants to enjoy sinful activities, a part of us that is animalistic, a part that wants to control and exploit others.
If you work on controlling your lower nature, and give prominence to your higher, divine nature, you might become an empowered leader.
You might become the change you want to see in this world.
The following was part of discussion I have been observing:
“…(prominent ISKCON figure) sometimes said that ISKCON needs brahmins before we can establish varnasrama (Srila Prabhupada said –just a paraphrase– society was headless and he came to give it a head).
“… would you agree with the idea of a sequence (brahmanas are needed first)?”
My reply:
I strongly disagree. In the late 1990s I squandered a couple of years in the PAMHO Varna ashram conference arguing this very point.
The problem is this:
"Without protection of cows, brahminical culture cannot be maintained; and without brahminical culture, the aim of life cannot be fulfilled."
Srimad Bhagavatam 8.24.5
If the premise is that first we have to have the brahmanas before we have the other varnas, but brahmans can’t exist without cow protection, then brahminical culture will never be established as it is trying to create itself while lacking an essential element. It will be like a dog chasing its own tail.
I observe that the “brahmans first ” mentality has dominated since the 90s and the rural communities have been neglected and guess what? The movement is languishing in the US, completely bearing out the point of the verse that brahminical life cannot be maintained without cow protection. Most temples have become Hindu social centers, an artificial show bottle of brahminical lifestyle, more like performance art than a society. (BTW all glories to the Hindus for preserving what is left of the movement, this is not meant as a knock on them.)
Yes, there needs to be brahmans, but without developing a vaisya class, and the most salient feature of that vaisya class being cow protection, an attempt at establishing brahminical culture will never thrive or be vibrant.
Also from that discussion and my reply:
“Look out the window (Gosh’s note: a reference to the larger society we exist in) and what you see is what Srila Prabhupada called asuric varnashrama. To say that Krsna is missing is to say quite a lot…”
And what was Krishna’s primary occupation? Cow protection. We want to be brahamans and have Krishna but we don’t want to bothered by protecting cows? Good grief!
“What you do NOT see is:
brahmanas
genuine ksatriyas
any idea of spiritual life
dharma
no social contract based on dharma
no ashramas certainly
actual spiritual understanding among the populace…”
Most prominently what you don’t see is cow protection.
As long as devotees feel that access to abundant milk is their entitlement, see it as a commodity and not as an opulence, and are accepting of cheap milk subsidized by the blood of the cow and her calf without offsetting it by donations to cow protection programs, brahminical culture will always be some pipe dream, the province of ivory tower intellectuals satisfied with abstract dissertations instead of concrete manifestations. An anomaly in the macro society, swept along by its currents, rather than having a beneficial effect or any influence at all on the macro society.
And I have little patience with the whole flimsy rationalization of “ajnata-sukrti” that the poor slaughtered cow will be benefited by having her milk offered to Krishna. That is a great reason for offering her milk but gives no support to devotees consuming it.
To build a house, first you build a foundation (that would be the stomach in the body analogy). You don’t start with the roof and hope everything else will manifest. Once cow protection is established, the brahminical class will follow.
The following lecture was given by H.H. Bhakti Caru Swami Maharaja on October 04th, 2011,in ISKCON Ujjain. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 3:The Status Quo–Chapter33:Activities of Kapila–Text 04 Share/Save
The following lecture was given by H.H. Bhakti Caru Swami Maharaja on October 03rd, 2011,in ISKCON Ujjain. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Canto 3:The Status Quo–Chapter33:Activities of Kapila–Text 03 Share/Save
By Dhanurdhara Swami:(originally posted at Bhakticollective.com) The following is an interview with Sripad Aindra das made in 2009 for the forthcoming book Kirtan Meditations – The Mood and Technique of Bhakti Kirtan compiled by Dhanurdhara Swami and Akincana Krishna dasa. Due to the unexpected loss of this great soul I decided to release his interview quite before the editing has been finished. More can be read at wavesofdevotion.com. I hope it gives some pleasure and solace to the congregation of the devotees feeling the loss of this great soul. Dhanurdhara Swami
Chanting with purity
Harinam-sankirtan means to loudly chant the holy name for the benefit of others. We should seriously consider to what extent we are benefiting others, and also to what extent we are benefiting ourselves. There is apparent kirtan and real kirtan. Only sankirtan where the pure name is chanted is real sankirtan. If someone is making offenses to the name, simply articulating the syllables "Hare Krishna," that is not real sankirtan. One must thus carefully consider the offenses to be avoided in the matter of chanting.
Can you talk about the different types of chanting?
There is bhukti-nama, offensive chanting, which results in material gain; there is mukti-nama, shadow chanting, which results in liberation, and there is prema-nama, pure chanting, which results in prema-bhakti, pure love of Godhead.
Bhukti-nama means offensive chanting. By chanting offensively, you can benefit others only by increasing their material piety. Bhaktivinoda Thakura therefore states that a pure devotee should not participate in kirtan led by offenders to the holy name. Who are those offenders? Those who do kirtan for ulterior motives–who chant for money, or to augment their sex appeal, or do it for name and fame. Such chanting can at best result in material gratification.
The dream to reach Nazareth today had to be shelved until a future Israeli trip. We would not reach there because of time constraints considering the flight home tomorrow. Bala Krishna and I reverted back to completing the coastline adventure to Haifa, a significant-sized city in this wondrous country.
An Israeli devotee Audaria drove up from Harish to locate us and join us, but his endeavor was in vain. Regretfully his tires got stuck in the sand and he remained stranded like that for hours until someone on that quite beach turned up and assisted him.
The bulk of today's affairs were in Jerusalem, where we met with Eli and Igor, two well-read men who are very inclined towards Krishna Consciousness. I asked them how they became attracted to being conscious of Him and they replied by saying that the search for Indian food led them to a Hare Krishna cook book by author Kurma Das. One thing led to another a finally their staunch approach to Judaism made room for an additional belief in chanting and in Krishna.
Eli became our guide for a tour within the walls of older Jerusalem he encouraged our party of six to hold kirtan at the top of the tower of David, so we did. We were brought to the crypt in honour of Mary Magdalene, to a German basilica, a mosque and finally a lunch at Greg's Restaurant where we settled for fabulous salad and sandwich. Both items on the menu were consecrated by way of mantras as a way to bless the food as prashadam. It was an on-the-spot implementation. Thank you Eli and Igor for a great afternoon and telling us about the famous temple in India, where they worship rats-a place of pilgrimage you stopped at on your visit to India.
The evening sat-sang was held in Ariel, a final one on this trip. Our verse learning today expressed another opulence of the Absolute. From the Gita we have verse 10.20 which reads, "I am the Supersoul, O Arjuna, seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings."
...and let us not forget the disappearance day of our revered founder-Acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, on this coming Sunday 30th October.
Let us come in crowd and assemble to honour his priceless contribution to our lives.
A few days ago I was at Occupy Wall Street in New York City distributing Srila Prabhupada's books. All of a sudden a Black SUV with tinted out windows pulled up on the side of the road and a few men got out. One of them was a black man dressed in a nice suit. Within a few seconds the man dressed in the suit was surrounded by about 50 news people with television cameras and microphones all trying to get at him
We've just learned that bhakti progresses through nine stages before attaining perfection. Naturally we want to know, "Where am I in terms of these stages?"
To answer this question it's essential to be cognizant of the fact that progress in bhakti is a lot like the Sunrise. Yes, there is some exact time of morning when the Sun officially rises over the eastern horizon but the truth is that we start seeing the effects of dawn long before the actual sunrise. Similarly we start seeing slight effects of more advanced stages of bhakti long before we become firmly situated in those stages. Thus, as you evaluate your progress you will usually find you have traits which span two or three or more stages.
For example, every so often to some extent you experience some of the traits of the sixth stage, ruci (in that you experience a deep appreciation and relish for the sublime beauty of your devotional practices). Somewhat more frequently, however, you experience traits of the fifth stage, nistha (actively striving to fix your mind, words and body more and more deeply into your practices). Most of the time, however, you find yourself absorbed in the later development of the fourth and fifth stages, bhajana-kriya and anartha-nivritti (in that you are mainly trying to stick with your devotional practices and purify them from overt ulterior motives).
Our progress in bhakti-yoga thus seems to span several stages because "the sunlight has an effect well before it actually rises." The higher levels of devotion start to peak through long before we actually become firmly situated in those stages.
So what stage are you in?
Well, don't try too hard to cram reality into a textbook template. For the person in the example above the reality is that he or she is mainly in the fifth stage, anartha-nivṛtti, with some fuzzy overlapping into the adjacent stages. If you must choose just one stage to define your progress, pick the one that you most constantly and fully operate in. In this example that would be the fifth.
Why measure?
We must measure our advancement because we want to make progress. With regular, honest introspection we must evaluate our position and determine, "Have I moved forward overtime, slid backwards, or remained stagnant?" If I am slipping backwards, I must search out the causes and rectify them. If I am moving forwards I must also identify the causes and fortify them.
I hope all this photography of breakfasts doesn't seem a tad self-indulgent. I am only sharing this in the hope that it might inspire a few others who are stuck in the dreaded 'cornflake conundrum'.
Clockwise: There's fresh cherries - a lighter coloured, early-fruiting Australian cherry variety the name of which evades me right now; Fresh strawberries, mangoes and vanilla yogurt topped with toasted muesli and pistachios;
A small bowl of dry-roasted nuts and dried fruits; Multi-grain sourdough toast with a fresh homemade tiny batch of strawberry jam. I grew the strawberries, yay! Another toast topped with sweet chilli jam (homegrown chilies) and Maasdam cheese (no nasties); toast with kumquat marmalade (from my kumquat tree); Lurking in the centre - another toast topped with cream cheese, avocado, toasted seeds, some dressing and lots of fresh leaves from my garden - rocket, mustard greens and basil.
1965 October 27: "We must combine together for preaching Bhagavatam all over the world. It is not for any political purpose but for saving the people in general. The Christian cult cannot save them from godlessness or any other cult but the Bhagavatam cult can save them because of its philosophical and scientific approach." Prabhupada Letters :: 1965
1967 October 27: "In India the jackals roar four times at night without any influence but the one roar of a lion drives away many elephants. The pressure of Maya is elephant-like, big, but the roaring of Nrsimhadeva can drive away many elephants. I know that in the future you shall conquer over many jackals." Prabhupada Letters :: 1967
Saturday, October 29th will mark the day we commemorate Srila Prabhupada's passing from this world, also known as Srila Prabhupada's Disappearance Day. Festivities will begin at noon and will feature memories of Srila Prabhupada by our dear Srila Prabhupada disciples and amazingly sweet kirtan!
It will be a special day as Toronto's Hare Krishna temple will welcome HH Bhakti Vasudeva Swami, HH Bhaktimarga Swami, various Srila Prabhupada disciples and kirtan superstars Gaura das (Montreal, QC) and Amala Kirtan das (Dallas, TX).
Festivities will begin at 12pm and continue to 4pm. A special invitation goes out to your and your family to join us for what promises to be a VERY special afternoon, dedicated to Srila Prabhupada!
Check out this wonderful video of Amala Kirtan das from his "Yoga Bliss Kirtan Tour" in Australia last year:
Tonight marks one of the biggest festivals of the year for Toronto's Hare Krishna community! Govardhana Puja, also known as the "Sweet Hill Festival" marks the occasion when Lord Krishna lifted an entire hill like an umbrella to protect the residents of his village from torrential thunderstorms sent by the angered demigod, Indra (read more by clicking here).
To celebrate this festival, we build a replica of Govardhana Hill made of various opulent foods, worship Lord Krishna as the lifter of Govardhana Hill, worship the hill as His incarnation, and worship the cows and bulls who are dear to the Lord. At the end of the festival, the hill of sweets is distributed to the public.
Festivities will kick off at 6pm (sharp!) and will continue until 9pm. Toronto's Hare Krishna temple will be welcoming HH Bhakti Vasudeva Swami and will be welcome home HH Bhaktimarga Swami! The schedule for the program will be as follows (subject to change):
1965 October 27: "What I want is that immediately a society may be formed, a great philanthropic work for preaching the Bhagavatam cult for human society at large. I am just giving you the idea and if you consult your beloved Lord Bala Krishna surely you will be further enlightened in the matter." Prabhupada Letters :: 1967
1970 October 27: "Now you have voluntarily taken sannyasa. Take advantage of this opportunity and preach and expand missionary activities. Do it sincerely. One who preaches Krishna Consciousness is glorious. Write me directly and I will give you instructions." Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
The Occupy Movement's one demand called: "The Root of all Political evil"
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Why the Vraja-vasis were so attracted when Krsna became their sons and why we are called Vaisnavas not Krsnites.
By Prahlada-Nrsimha das
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