"Planet ISKCON" - 45 new articles
H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Friday 26 August 2011--Trapped in Misery By Our Rebellious Attitude--and--How to Get Krishna Conscious Leaders?A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course Friday 26 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. Special Announcement: Connect With Other Members of this Course. Join this Conference: http://groups.google.com/group/sda_students Today's Thought: Trapped in Misery By Our Rebellious Attitude Uploaded from Bhaktivedanta Ashram, Austin, Texas USA Since time immemorial we have been rebelling against the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by foolishly thinking ourselves to be the Supreme. Because of this rebellious attitude we have trapped ourselves in the miserable cycle of repeated births and deaths. We have foolishly thought that by becoming independent of the Lord we could derive more happiness. But this has been a big mistake. Instead of happiness we have relegated ourselves to the miserable material existence birth after birth. Those who are wise give up their rebellious attitude and attain unlimited happiness through loving service to Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Attain Unlimited Happiness By Serving Krishna http://www.backtohome.com/images/Krishna/Krishna_wth_Flute.JPG Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: How to Get Krishna Conscious Leaders? What way can you find to get the leaders of this world today to understand that the politician par excellence, Lord Krishna, has already laid all the systems in place in the Bhagavad-gita for the perfect society? All the work has already been done. What is so difficult to just follow? In my country a lot of the leaders take oath of office by swearing on Gita. I think that a being like yourself must find a way. You owe it to Lord Krishna, as from your writings I know you have to be ultimately special. Chris S. Answer: Do Your Duty The world's current slate of political leaders are self-serving gross materialists who have no interest in Krishna consciousness. The only way to get Krishna conscious leaders is to make the people in general Krishna conscious by educating them in the science of Krishna. When the majority of the population is Krishna conscious, they will naturally elect Krishna conscious leaders, and this planet will become heaven on earth. Therefore we need people like yourself to step forward and dedicate your entire life for pushing forward the Krishna consciousness movement. Lord Caitanya has ordered us to become gurus by educating everyone in the science of the Bhagavad-gita. Are you ready to do your duty? 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. 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ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Deity Darshan: Sri Krishna Janmastami 2011        • Email to a friend • •Japa Group: Meaning Of The Sixteen Names PT.9
Hare rasavesa-parisrastam jahara muralim hareh hareti kirtita devi vipine keli-lampata Due to the intense love of Sri Radha, Sri Hari becomes so captivated that His flute falls from His hand. With the desire to enjoy in the forest bowers with Krsna, Radha steals His flute. That goddess is thus famous as Hara. Jiva Goswami  • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK IN NEW YORK This is where Srila Prabhupada started harinama in the West. I just visited this park and the 26 Second Avenue storefront temple - the first temple Srila Prabhupada started in the West.   • Email to a friend • •Vrndavana Vinodini dd, Toronto, Canada: Knowledge vs. RealizationJnana is defined as knowledge and Vijnana as realized knowledge. It's the difference between intellectually knowing that we are not this body and actually acting on the platform of "I am not this body." Tonight I was speaking to a very senior mentor of mine and in answer to a question he simply said, "You are on the mental platform." Agreed. I'm pretty sure I'm one of those people who is always on the mental platform! But it got me thinking- then where is the stepping stone between jnana and vijnana? As I began reading some excerpts from Srila Prabhupada's letters to various disciples, I felt I received an instantaneous answer:  • Email to a friend • •Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Why baby Krsna licks His toeSince all the great sages and devotees apply all energy and all activities in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, there must be some transcendental pleasure in the toes of His lotus feet. The Lord licks His toe to taste the nectar for which the devotees always aspire. >>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 3.33.4 • Email to a friend • •New Vrndavan, USA: Prayer Request for Kirtanananda Swamiby Vaisnava das Dear Brijabasis and all Vaisnavas, PAMHO! AGTHDG Srila Prabhupada! I am begging for all the Brijabasis of New Vrindaban, and Vaisnavas all over the world to put aside any material considerations, criticisms, or judgments, one may have toward Kirtanananda Swami. Please just remember all the service he has rendered to Srila Prabhupada,and to Sri-Sri Radha-Vrindavan Chandra in his lifetime. Although some may hold to the beliefs that he hasn’t felt deep remorse for his failings and offenses, I know for a fact that he has. He has never stopped serving the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, and though some may disagree, he felt that he was reconciled in his heart, and especially since moving to India, was trying to stay true to Prabhupada’s instructions to him, and to serve him in the best way possible. In any case, he now probably has only a short time left on the planet. He is drifting in and out of consciousness, but is mostly unconscious and cannot breathe at all on his own. One lung is completely collapsed, the other one full of mucous. They have moved him back to his home at the temple in Ulnasgar as the doctors said there is nothing more they can do at the hospital. So the devotees there brought him in his bed to see the Deities of Sri Radha-Vrindaban Chandra II, on Janmastami Day. The devotees are chanting 24/7 near his bedside and there is medical staff with him. So I am humbly begging everyone to pray to Srimati Radharani to deliver him safely to the Lotus Feet of Sri Krishna, and Srila Prabhupada. Thank you for hearing my plea, and I pray that you may take it to your hearts. Hare Krishna • Email to a friend • •Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: Madhava Gosh’s Poetry AnthologyExecutive summary : All the poems that have been posted on this blog are now available at Madhava Gosh’s Poetry Anthology Long winded details: Bhagavad Gita is the Song of God, not the Essay of God. It is poetry, as is much of Sanskrit based scripture. Sometimes it seems amongst devotees that analyzing it is more important than appreciating it. Of course as devotees we are all struggling to make some advancement and the ideal platform remains as goals. What are those goals? “These qualities of a devotee, twenty-six in number, are listed as follows: (1) kind to everyone, (2) does not quarrel with anyone, (3) fixed in the Absolute Truth, (4) equal to everyone, (5) faultless, (6) charitable, (7) mild, (8) clean, (9) simple, (10) benevolent, (11) peaceful, (12) completely attached to Krsna, (13) has no material hankering, (14) meek, (15) steady, (16) self-controlled, (17) does not eat more than required, (18) sane, (19) respectful, (20) humble, (21) grave, (22) compassionate, (23) friendly, (24) poetic, (25) expert, (26) silent. “ Srimad Bhagvatam 4.20.16 Since poetry hasn’t seemed to me to be a lifestyle in ISKCON, I have tried in my own limited way to open a door to it. On writing poetry sites you will hear the same thing over and over again, a variation on, “The best way to learn about writing poetry is to read good poetry.” So I have tried to send out a steady stream of what IMHO is good poetry. My hope is that those seeing it will at least become comfortable in the presence of poetry and it won’t seem alien. Hopefully it will help some come to the platform of writing poetry, or at least making their prose more poetic. Over the years I have posted a lot of poems, 249 to be exact. I tried to manually make an index of the titles on a Page on my blog, but there were some quirks in the WordPress word processor so I always seemed to have some difficulty in posting links and eventually the chore of keeping the thing updated slipped a little and in no time I was so far behind I abandoned hope of catching up. WordPress came out with a new thing. You simply put the shortcode [*archives] in a Page and it automatically lists all the titles in your blog in chronological order. (Actually, it did it also in this post, so I had to insert an extra character in the shortcode (*) to make it not function so if you use this drop the “*”) That was great because I wanted to have an easier way to look through older posts without tediously backtracking through a few posts on a screen at a time. But I also wanted to be able to do it with a category and periodically sent in requests to WordPress to make it so. No dice. It has become more sophisticated because now you can filter by date, but still no filter for category. I was able to export all the poems (the Export feature does have a category filter) and popped them into a new blog. Using [*archives] I now have an index solely of poems. When I post on my blog, I use a Press This to easily it add to the anthology. So if you are interested in reading some selected poetry, you can at Madhava Gosh’s Poetry Anthology. The Page with the index can be linked to in the header of this new blog or by clicking here. There is also a link on the Poet’s Poetry page in this blog. I even made its own Facebook page as that seems to be the way people view the world anymore. So welcome aboard. Filed under: News, Ramblings or Whatever         • Email to a friend • •H.H. Bhaktimarg SwamiMatt, Will, Lake, Arti and I all sat at the corner of the temple room to read the chapter, "Devouring the Forest Fire" from the book "Krishna". We each read a paragraph or a few sentences and passed the book on. It was evening and I guess I could say that we were maintaining a legacy of an early ISKCON habit by reading in this way, calming the mind before evening rest.  • Email to a friend • •H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011Humans - A Disappointing Lot  • Email to a friend • •H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Monday, August 22nd, 2011His Day  • Email to a friend • •H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Sunday, August 21st, 2011Final Day  • Email to a friend • •H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Saturday, August 20th, 2011Immerse Yourself  • Email to a friend • •ISKCON Brampton, Canada: August 28, 2011 - Sunday Feast with His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami
 • Email to a friend • •H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Friday, August 19th, 2011Walking Episode With a Master  • Email to a friend • •H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Thursday, August 18th, 2011Canon City, You're Awesome  • Email to a friend • •H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Wednesday, August 17th, 2011Look at the Formula  • Email to a friend • •New Vrndavan, USA: Dham Seva and Radha Gopinath Mandirby Jamuna dasi Nestled in a wooded hilltop overlooking the Palace of Gold, and encircled by the New Vrindaban community is a project inspired and developed by Varsana Swami. A conservancy under the care of Dham Seva, this beautiful location is home to many varieties of beautiful trees such as apple, sugar maple, walnut, chestnut, pear, persimmon and sitaphal. It is also frequented by all kinds of natural wildlife. The centerpiece of the property is a beautiful lake known as Radha Kunda. To the south of Radha Kunda a newly constructed octagonal gazebo is home to the six goswamis of Vrindaban. The presiding deity Radha Gopinath, Who is accompanied by Vrinda Devi and the Asta Shakhis, watches over the land.
In an attempt to glorify the Lord and please Srila Prabhupada, Varsana Swami and the Dham Seva team have initiated the process of design and development for a new temple. Situated directly in line with Radha Kunda the new temple will be 16 by 16 feet wide and approximately 27 feet tall. The temple will house the current presiding deities and will be called Radha Gopinath mandir.
There is a consistent thread in the fabric of New Vrindavans' landscape, which originates at Srila Prabhupadas' palace and extends to Radha Kunda and beyond, to Madhuvan, where Srila Prahbupada was pleased to see his vision of village life unfolding. That theme is Lord Nityananda's mercy, which Srila Prabhupada embodied, awarding him the title "Nityananda avesh" (infused with the energy of Lord Nityananda). Lord Nityananda's personified mercy, Janava devi, had a special esoteric relationship with Radha Gopinath. In the late 16th Century when Janava devi visited Vrindavan she would meditate deeply on the form of Radha Gopinath, Who appeared to Her as She was chanting, sitting on the bank of Radha Kunda, absorbed in the loving mood and service of Ananga Manjari. One day She had the thought that the form of Radha was too small in proportion to Gopinath. That night Gopinath appeared to Her in a dream and told Her Radha was indeed too short. Radha then appeared to Janava in the same dream, affirming the message. On her return to Bengal, Janava ordered a new deity of Radharani Who was then transported to Vrindaban. The smaller, original Radha was moved to Krsna's right side and assumed the function of Ananga Manjari. The larger deity took Her place. Guru Bhakti Devotion to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga is embodied in the spiritual form of Janava devi, Whose ontological form is Ananga Manjari in Krsna's pastimes. Her mercy is essential in the attainment of service to Lord Nityananda, Who alone offers our qualification to access the shelter of Lord Chaitanya, and consequent entrance into the mellows of Vraja.
Srila Prabhupada has consistently expressed his desire for New Vrindaban. He emphasized two specific mandates. New Vrindaban was to be a replica of the land of Krsna's childhood pastimes, Vrindavan India, and was also to demonstrate the practice of simple living and high thinking based on agrarian principles. Dham Seva was formed to promote an agricultural lifestyle integrated with holy places and replica temples, which imbibe the Vrindavan atmosphere. The construction of Radha Gopinath Mandir will be the first effort towards this goal. Varsana Swami and Gaura Shakti das are requesting devotees to please come forward and offer assistance. Helping to develop and cultivate the holy dham is certainly a great privilege and honor and is a worthwhile cause for one's time, money and labor. Sincere thanks and appreciation are also given to those devotees who have already contributed to the Dham Seva project. Please feel free to contact either Varsana Swami or Gaura Shakti das if you have any desire to assist in this wonderful project. They can be reached at the following addresses: Varsana Swami: Varsana_Swami@yahoo.com More information can be obtained at www.dhamseva.com • Email to a friend • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1970 August 25: "Material life means we remain captive under the bewilderment of Maya. This is the most dangerous condition of life. Intelligent persons therefore try to avoid it under the protection of Krsna and the Spiritual Master."  • Email to a friend • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1967 August 25: "For the unbeliever Krishna and His Name are fictitious, but those who are advanced realize that Krishna consciousness is pure and eternal. Sincere souls are benedicted by the Lord by revelation. Go on chanting with service mood attitude and the Name, Qualities, etc., become revealed as Reality."  • Email to a friend • •ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja
• Email to a friend • •Japa Group: Meaning Of The Sixteen Names PT.8
Hare hyasphutam rayati priti-bharena hari-cestam gayatiti mata dhirair hara rasa-vicaksanaih Filled with ecstatic love, Radha sometimes sings the glories of Hari's exploits quietly, and sometimes She sings them aloud. Those who are expert in the secrets of divine sentiments call Her Hara. Jiva Goswami  • Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: A Celebration of Cows on Krishna's Birthday
• Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: 3000 Flock to Free Lunch by Hare Krishna Devotees in Fiji
• Email to a friend • •ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Darshan
• Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: Fulfilling Prabhupada`s Mission
• Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: NICE NEW YORK DEVOTEE PROJECTINTERFAITH COMMUNITY SERVICES http://www.sanctuaryguestsuites.com/ics.html Interfaith Community Services aims to establish "healing centers and retreat centers to care for people in such a way that they may experience a greater awareness of the loving goodness of God and (again) be inspired to a life of service to the Lord."  • Email to a friend • •H.H. Sivarama Swami: A meditation from Braja Sevaki on JanmastamiA blackened sky, a dense dark night, His majestic form beside her bed, Devaki's bliss increased ten-fold, A cool, pure breeze begins to blow, Rivers flow with waters clear, She rises quickly, fear comes fast, She folds her hands in prayer and cries, "This affectionate child I long to see, "Though death may flee in fear of You And so by Yogamaya's will, There He would live, amongst the cows
• Email to a friend • •H.H. Sivarama Swami: Giridhari dasa asks whether it is true that only the Paramatma interacts with the jivas of this world
• Email to a friend • •H.H. Sivarama SwamiOne should fix his mind on this original form of Godhead, Krsna. One should not even divert his attention to other forms of the Lord. The Lord has multiforms as Visnu, Narayana, Rama, Varaha, etc., but a devotee should concentrate his mind on the form that was present before Arjuna. - Srila Prabhupada • Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: Manipur Crisis Seeps Into Janmashtami Prayers
• Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: VYASA PUJA OFFERINGThis is 2011 Vyasa Puja offering to Srila Prabhupada by his disciple Badarayana Prabhu, from New York: Dear Srila Prabhupada, I am a most fallen, wretched and unfortunate soul, yet I know that your love is all encompassing. It embodies unconditional compassion, acceptance, forgiveness and encouragement. Thus I can continue to go on in hopes of one day being able to attain your favor and thus the grace of Sri Sri Radha Govinda, Radha Shyamasundara, Radha Murlidhara. I have seen so much that is wonderfully unified in your mission and so much that is marred by divisiveness and fault finding. Those whom I truly admire emphasize the good qualities of all devotees in their endeavors. Sometimes it may be necessary for the mission to point out what appears to be deviations from Srila Prabhupada's directives. However, those that I admire do so with utmost care and caution, always desiring to understand the true intent of the persons in question. After all, we are dealing with Vaisanavas, who are VERY dear to the Lord. Utmost caution, care and humility is the safe haven. If the message is given in this way, with due respect, then the other parties may have an open heart to hear how they could better serve your mission, Srila Prabhupada. I pray that you may inspire us all to go deeper and deeper into this mood, so that your mission may remain strong and unified by bonds of love and respect. Then we will have the potency necessary to truly inspire a revolution of consciousness in the impious lives of a misdirected civilization (your words from the Srimad Bhagavatam introduction). What unified your mission when you were on the planet in your vapu form? The mood was to please you. What pleased you - what did you emphasize - how did YOU spend your time? As Radhanath Swami recently said in a lecture; "when you go into a beautiful building, who inquires: "How wonderful a foundation there is here?" Few people would think of this. Yet without that strong foundation, everything else would not last long at all. Your spent you time, hours a day, in the pre-dawn darkness, translating and writing your Bhaktivedanta purports. You were instructed by your beloved Guru Maharaj to write books and preach in the English-speaking countries. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta said to you: "If you ever get money, print books." You fastidiously followed his directive. After establishing the ISKCON society you devoted you time tirelessly to this endeavor. The BBT grew and expanded. All over the world devotees were working in different capacities to maintain the temples nicely as outposts to print and distribute your message, the message of the Bhagavat. The money that came into the BBT was loaned out, $20,000 here, $50,000 there, $5,000 somewhere else - for what? To open and build temples and farm communities all over the planet. Your disciple Adi Deva recently told me that the BBT loaned the boldly artistic and innovative ISKCON F.A.T.E. preaching project $40,000 to get off the ground. The movement was built upon the BBT. It became the strong, solid foundation that everything else rested upon. Who can dispute that? Ramesvara has direct experience of seeing this happen in real time. He wrote the checks. Paris temple, New York temple, German temple, on and on. Of course there was the spiritual standard of purity which you demanded of us, and the myriad of projects that were simultaneously being enacted to establish Krsna Consciousness in the western world, such as Deity worship, varnasrama etc....Yet your heart was in the BBT. You said "ISKCON is my body and the BBT is my heart". Profound. So what does that mean for most devotees, who are unable due to circumstance to directly engage in this aspect of your mission? My realization is that your legacy is up to your followers to ensure. We must, as your followers, see to it that the foundation is always strong and intact. If there is a crack we must fix it with great care and attention. So we can inquire from our leaders, "How is this most heartfelt desire of our beloved Srila Prabhupada, being increased and made more wonderful, so the conditioned souls can come in contact with the pure devotee and disciplic succession more and more and more?" We must encourage others in leadership positions and otherwise to make this foundation a priority. Not that it must be done like it was 30 years ago. Innovate, get creative and inspired to fulfill Srila Prabhpada's desire of contacting countless souls through his books. Do something small or something big, do anything, and see how the mercy flows. "This is our most important welfare activity", Prabhupada writes, "the greatest gift to human society." This principle unified the mission previously. Now there are sooooooo many missions. Nothing inherently wrong with that. However if they are not unified by a common thread, which is this strong foundation, then we become a disenfranchised movement. Kirtan is now taking the center stage, as it should. It is the yuga dharma.It is all attractive. But kirtan alone, perfect and complete in and of itself being non-different from Lord Krsna, will not be reach its full potential panacea effect against the ills of Kali yuga, without the torchlight of transcendental knowledge to clear away misconceptions. Hearing AND Chanting. The two together, kirtan and transcendental knowledge, are insurmountable super heroes that Kali's forces will not be able to withstand. Srila Prabhupada, I pray that we all may be encouraged to deepen our commitment to your instructions daily, to working conjointly with love and respect, to perfecting each and every one of our individual visions of service to your mission. And I pray that we may each take responsibility for the work which you dedicated life and soul for, your Bhaktivedanta purports. Let us find ways and means to work together to ensure that this distribution of transcendental knowledge in the form of your books is going on in a more wonderful ways, year by year. That was the standard in your time here, and it must be the standard for all time if we are to change the course of history. Begging to be a small fly on your pen or typewriter in some other universe and a menial insignificant instrument of your mercy, Badarayana das New York City Initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1973. in Denver, Colorado, USA PS You may visit his links here:  • Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: From Poop To Power: Manure, Life and the Bio-fuel Miracle of the Cow
 • Email to a friend • •Dandavats.com: 2011 Vyasa Puja-Remembering Srila Prabhupada
It is with pleasure that I can present this latest collection of memories on this auspicious day of Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja. We hope you derive some inspiration in these remembrances of His Divine Grace |
Mate asks about creation, Imi about the spirituality of aromas and Panni about Pope John Paul II.
By Siddhanta das
