"Planet ISKCON" - 50 new articles
H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Saturday 1 October 2011--Don't Bite the Hand that Feeds You--and--When Does One Become a Disciple?A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course Saturday 1 October 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 Transcendental Association Connect With Other Members of this Course. Join this Conference: http://groups.google.com/group/sda_students Today's Thought: Don't Bite the Hand that Feeds You Uploaded from Tartu, Estonia If you bite the hand that feeds you, you will not be able to ingest the food that is so kindly being given to you. Similarly if you are disrespectful to the spiritual master who is so kindly trying to save you from the cycle of birth and death, you will remain entangled in karma chakra, the cycle of birth and death. Therefore Lord Sri Krishna advises us how to approach the spiritual master: tad viddhi praniptena paripranena sevay upadeksyanti te jñnam jñninas tattva-darinah Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.--Bhagavad-gita 4.34 We would do well to follow this instruction of the Lord if we are at all serious about becoming delivered from this material existence. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Mantra Express Lecture at te University of Tartu 29 September--Tartu, Estonia http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Fall/Tartu_Lect1.JPG http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Fall/Tartu_Lect2.JPG http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Fall/Tartu_Lect3.JPG Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: When Does One Become a Disciple? If one has accepted someone as one's spiritual master and has decided to serve him wholeheartedly and follow his instructions, is it that from that time onwards he is his spiritual master? Or is it only after the fire sacrifice initiation ceremony that he becomes a disciple? Your servant, Geetika Answer: When He Surrenders to Sri Guru The real meaning of being a disciple is to be fully surrendered to the orders and instructions of the spiritual master. As soon as one does this he is immediately as good as initiated. But still the initiation ceremony is required to formalize the guru/disciple relationship. This ceremony signs and seals the contract. Just like in my life, one fateful glorious morning in Austin, Texas in 1971 I accepted Srila Prabhupada into my heart as my eternal spiritual master, but still I had to wait for several months before he formally initiated me by chanting on my beads and giving me a spiritual name. The Hari-bhakti-vilsa (2.6) confirms the necessity of initiation: adksitasya vmoru krtam sarvam nirarthakam pau-yonim avpnoti dks-virahito janah Unless one is initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, all his devotional activities are useless. A person who is not properly initiated can descend again into the animal species. The essence of the guru/disciple relationship is to be fully surrendered to follow the instructions of the spiritual master. The initiation ceremony is when the disciple formally vows to be surrendered to the spiritual master's orders for all of eternity and the spiritual master agrees to take that particular disciple back to home, back to Godhead. 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. Simply we request you to acknowledge where it is coming from with a link to our sign up page: http://www.backtohome.com Our records indicate that at requested to be enrolled to receive e-mails from the Ultimate Self Realization Course at: This request was made on: From the following IP address:  • Email to a friend •  •ISKCON Brampton, Canada: Upcoming EventsSaturday October 1st 2011 Devotional Service Commitee (DSC) Meeting on Saturday 1st October 2011 ISKCON Brampton would be having its next DSC meeting on Saturday October 1 stat 2pm. If you are currently performing a regular service at the temple or are interested in doing so then please come out to find out how you can contribute. The ISKCON Brampton Board and Trustees have some exciting things planned and great updates to share with everyone and they would like to share these opportunities with you. Snacks will also be provided that day. Please contact Savyasacin Prabhu if you have any questions. Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita Workshop at ISKCON Brampton @ 4:00pm ISKCON Brampton is conducting a Srila Prabhupad Lilamrita workshop series facilitated by HG Vaishnava Prabhu every Saturday from 4-6pm. This will continue every weekend until the series is concluded within the fiscal year. This is a great opportunity for everyone to learn about the Founder Acharya of the ISKCON movement. Please contact the board or Vaishnava Prabhu for sign up. October 2nd 2011 Sunday Love Feast @ 11:00am We are pleased to invite you, your family and friend at ISKCON BRAMPTON this October 2nd 2011 at 11:00 AM for the Sunday Love Feast with His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami. His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami is the head GBC for Canada and ISKCON Brampton. He joined the HARE KRSNA movement in 1973 and was initiated by His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, Founder Acharya of ISKCON. He took sanyasa 1984. 12:05pm - 1:00pm Discourse by His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami's Vyasa Puja Celebration at ISKCON Toronto on October 5th. We will be celebrating the Vyasa Puja (appearance day) of His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami at ISKCON Toronto this year. Maharaj is the head GBC for all ISKCON temples and centres in Canada, including ISKCON Brampton. ISKCON Brampton will be helping to celebrate this day, along with ISKCON Scarborough, at ISKCON Toronto. Details of the program are as follows: Classical Odissi Dance Classes at Iskcon Brampton Odissi is one of the oldest classical dance forms of India, This elegant, graceful dance form emanated from the temple of Lord Jagannath in Puri, and is steeped in devotion. We are happy to announce that Enakshi Das Sinha, the founder and artisitic director of the Mrudanga Dance Academy, will be holding Odissi dance classes at ISKCON Brampton. Classes are for 6 years and up.  • Email to a friend • •
New Vrindavan, USA: Sad Trip! - FRAUD_EMAIL FROM YUGAL KISHORE IS A SCAM !!!
• Email to a friend • •ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Jagattarini MatajiSrimad Bhagavatam 1.3.5 - You can become a pure devotee in a second if you fully surrender to Krsna. • Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: Hari-Vilasa Dasa: Srila Prabhupada's Medicine Man
• Email to a friend • •H.H. Sivarama SwamiIf 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. - Srila Prabhupada • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: WEBSITES THAT PUBLISH GITA COACHIGN BLOGS • Email to a friend • •Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Relishing spiritual happiness after sufferingWhen after the dense, dark night there is finally sunrise in the morning, it is very pleasant; when there is scorching heat, cold water is very pleasant; and when there is freezing winter, hot water is very pleasant. Similarly, when a devotee, after experiencing the distress of the material world, relishes the spiritual happiness awarded by the Lord, his position is still more pleasant and enjoyable. [Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 88] • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: DISCOVER AND ESTABLISH MEANINGIn a Gita Coaching session, through asking important questions about what you want, who you are, your identity, core values and the purpose of your life, you will be able to reconnect with a sense of meaning. For some people, their core value is love. If that is also true for you, then through a process of understanding what love means to you, you may be able to see how you could begin to apply it in your life. You may start to invest more time and energy in the people that are close to you or that are dear to you. If you are a leader, you may begin to take a genuine interest in the development of your people. You may commit to doing a daily check-in to see how you are going to apply love specifically each day. Probably the most significant crisis in society and the work environment today is a crisis in meaning. In 2004 Time magazine reported that approximately 75–90 percent of all visits to primary care doctors are for stress-related problems, with job stress being the leading source. The Health and Safety Executive stated that work-related stress costs society about £3.7 billion every year. Research from the National Institute of Mental Health in America reports that 'Everyone will, at some time in their life, be affected by depression – their own or someone else's.' So many of the planks on which previously life was built have fallen away or become unbalanced. Our modern society suffers from 'the virus of fragmentation'. The break-up of the traditional family, and the resultant broken bonds between children, adults and the elderly, are well documented and familiar to us all. Societal values are often driven by individual preferences and choices, which result in greed and selfishness. The future seems ever more uncertain and fearful. One of the fundamental human needs, as part of a balanced and fulfilled life, is to have a clear sense of meaning. Coaching helps people reconnect with what is most important for them by clarifying their vision, mission and values. A coach can then ensure that this becomes the inspiration to drive both their work and life forward.  • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: CREATING COMMITMENTGita Coaching will help you in going beyond what you think is possible for your life and service. Through effective coaching, you can tap into the power of your commitment, which will unleash your inherent abilities. Until we commit, there is hesitancy and ineffectiveness. The moment we definitely commit ourselves, then providence tends to move too. When we commit, all sorts of things occur to help us that would have probably never occurred. A whole stream of opportunities issues from the decision to commit. "Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Gita Coaching helps to create commitment by impacting your clarity and determination. As you explore your reality, you are faced with a test of your own commitment about different aspects of your life. By staying open and honest, you can identify blocks that may have prevented you from taking previous action, such as cynicism, anxiety or a lack of confidence. By resolving these issues, a new level of commitment is generated, enabling you to take steps that you were procrastinating. And you are able to move from a position of 'could do' to 'will do', from 'problem' to 'project' and from 'powerless' to 'powerful'.  • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: BEFORE YOU GET MARRIEDBefore you get married, explore with your partner these questions. It can help you make a better decision and have a successful marriage. PRE-MARITAL QUESTIONS http://www.vaisnavafamilyresources.org/pre-marital-questions PDF download is here: http://www.vaisnavafamilyresources.org/sites/vaisnavafamilyresources.org/files/Premaritalquestions-VFR-2011.pdf This is a Marriage Quiz for your marriage success.  • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: VALUABLE DEVOTEE ARTICLESValuable devotee articles on family and personal effectiveness (click on the link): http://www.vaisnavafamilyresources.org/articles  • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: GAINING VALUABLE INSIGHTSOne of the great values of Gita Coaching is to enable us to face our current reality clearly in order to create the possibility for new insights to take place. The capacity of devotees to solve their own problems and move forward continues to amaze me. Gita Coaching provides the opportunity for a devotee to gain new insights into his strengths and improvement areas, what's working and what isn't, and what he does and doesn't want. An insight is when we see something in a new way or uncover something we were previously unaware of. It is a way of seeing the world with a new, fresh perspective, and can result in new options, providing relief, or even making life-changing decisions. Gaining fresh insight is like clearing a fog. As we dig down to a deeper level of awareness within ourselves, realizations that may have been sitting there for a long time can become uncovered and used to enhance our progress.  • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: RAISING AWARENESSThe power and effectiveness of Gita Coaching comes from helping a devotee raise his awareness of his goals, current reality, possible options and action steps. In many cases the mere act of becoming more aware of what is going on leads to change. By helping a devotee stop and think, and shine the light of awareness on his situation, a Gita Coach can help him to see things more clearly, resolve outstanding issues and take conscious steps forward, being sure that he has responsibly and thoroughly explored his situation.  • Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: Devotee Brothers Use Sports to Build Community and Keep Youth Fit
• Email to a friend • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1975 September 30: "The Institute will be primarily for those who have not entered our temples. It will be official for the general mass but there will be no difference between our temples and the Institute. It will be a formal education and they will get degree but the subject matter should not be different from what is in the temples."  • Email to a friend • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1975 September 30: "A cat or dog is thinking he is such and such and a human being thinks he is this and that. Entrapped by so many designations the human being remains on the platform of cats and dogs. The purpose of Bhaktivedanta Institute is to establish this distinction of human life."  • Email to a friend • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1972 September 30: "A brahmacari and unmarried woman alone in the same room together is strictly forbidden. You should not mix at all with brahmacarinis. Remain separate and talk almost nil. Actually you should not even see the face."  • Email to a friend • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1972 September 30: "The art is to sell many, many of my books and not to irritate the public. So instruct how to do this successfully - that is sannyasa, that is GBC."  • Email to a friend • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1972 September 30: "Who can speak better than my books? What your lecture will do? But if he reads one page his life may be turned. But if he goes away by your aggressive tactics, then you are nonsense and it is your failure."  • Email to a friend • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1972 September 30: "Distribution of my books is our real preaching. That is the certificate of my Guru Maharaja, if someone would sell a one paise magazine, he would be very, very glad. Now if you cannot handle the matter nicely, that is your fault."  • Email to a friend • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1967 September 30: " There is no necessity of stopping questioners by dogmatic statements. We are not lacking in philosophy - by the grace of Krishna we have got ample stock to answer anybody's intricate philosophical questions. You must now be careful so that people may not misunderstand us to be a second edition of the hippy movement."  • Email to a friend • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1967 September 30: "God is living, He has got a particular place and anyone who is God conscious can approach it in this very life. Our students appreciate very much this discovery. So we have to present this to the whole world very nicely."  • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: GITA COACHING AND HIGH PERFORMANCEGita Coaching provides the necessary support and reflection time to optimize your performance and satisfaction in any area of life. If devotees are satisfied in their service, they will be more productive and effective. Srila Prabhupada instructed: Now conduct yourpreaching in such a way that when anyone becomes attracted to get somethingfrom us he may be induced or allured into serving Krishna in his own way as helikes to do it, not being forced to do something else he may not like to do,that will discourage him and no intelligent men will come. Letter 1972 The secret will be to engage them as they like to beengaged, that is, supposing I have got some education, I am business student,or I have got some skill or talent, I am typist or musician or something likethat, so I will like to utilize these things for Krishna only if I amencouraged in a certain way, very tactfully, and I must not be discouraged bytoo much forcing me at first to accept everything of shaving the head, risingvery early, going for street sankirtana, like that. No, let me come gradually,let me study also Krishna Consciousness and see how it is practical andsublime. Letter 1972 Of course, it is verymuch favorable to our advancement in spiritual life if we are engaged in someservice for Krishna which is also pleasing to us to perform. So if you have gotsome special talent or experience you may discuss with Jagadisa how to engageyourself in that way. Letter 1972 One test is thatall the devotees should be satisfied. They have given their lives to Krishna,so we should see they are always happy. Their service is voluntary. It is notthat we can force anyone to do anything. If we do they will go away and that isa great loss. Everyone must be encouraged to do what he likes to do forKrishna, so if someone likes to do business for Krishna, let them make$1,000,000 for Krishna. Letter 1971  • Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: Temple Profile: Hong Kong
• Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir Kartika Parikrama Schedule
• Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: COACHING REALIZES YOUR POTENTIALCoach believes in your potential. If a coach has a limiting perception of a person, he might not find out his because he does not create the appropriate conditions in which he can realize his potential. We all have an amazing potential. Yet we also have the ability to prevent it from manifesting. We do that by holding on to our limiting beliefs, by lacking confidence, by a negative inner dialogue, confusion, a feeling of being overwhelmed, fear and an inability to focus. External reasons can include our boss, a family member, an excessive workload, a lack of communication and unclear expectations. If we have the potential to do something, then a lack of confidence or inability to focus will interfere with our potential and obstruct our performance. Through the process of shining the light of awareness on the possible obstacles, a person is able to devise new, winning ways to achieve higher performance.  • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: THE KEY TO TIME MANAGEMENTThe key to time management is to live by timeless principles. When you live by those principles, you will always use your time doing what is most important and most valuable.  • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: PARENTINGFrom the VFR Newsletter. Parenting: Are you a Jellyfish or a Brick Wall? by Uttama devi dasi Tamohara das and Mantrini devi dasi facilitaded an interactive parenting seminar at the last Festival of Inspiration in New Vrndavana. In it, they role played the various types of parenting styles descrived below. Jellyfish parenting can be of two styles, loving and neglectful. The uninvolved jellyfish is characterized by having few rules and limits and little warmth and affection. Jelly fish parents are not very responsive to their children and tend to allow kids to do what they want, not paying much attention to their requests or demands. A child parented in this style tends to be a 'wild child' and truancy and delinquency are common. Their inadequate emotional regulation makes them immature and impedes friendship formation. Child: My friends are going to the park to skate. I want to go with them. Parent: Shhhhhh…..I'm watching my program now! Child: Mom, did you hear me! I SAID I'm going to the park! Parent: I heard you! What about the dirty dishes piled in the sink? Child: I dunno… Parent: OK…whatever….I guess they'll just sit there in the sink as usual… The other style of jellyfish, the permissive jellyfish is similar except they are high in warmth and affection and high in responsiveness but because they have few or no rules, as do the neglectful jellyfish and little or no structure and consequences, the outcomes for the children unfortunately are very similar. Their children are the typical, 'spoiled child'. Child: My friends are going to the park to skate. I want to go with them. Parent: That sounds like fun, Sweetie! Oh but, didn't we talk about you doing the dishes tonight? Child: But, Tommy doesn't have to do the dishes…it's not fair! Parent: I guess you are right, it doesn't seem fair if your brother doesn't have to…Who is going to do the dishes, Honey? Child: You are! Parent: Well, OK, this time I'll do them for you…off you go and have a good time! Brick Wall or authoritarian parenting,on the converse, is high in rules and limits, but low in warmth and affection. The attitude of 'my way or the highway' usually prevails. Brick wall parents would rather punish than discipline, teach or correct. Unfortunately the resultant 'obedient child' usually lacks initiative. The children are likely to be conscientious, obedient and quiet, although not especially happy. They are more likely to be depressed or feel guilty, self-blaming and to rebel as adolescents. Child: My friends are going to the park to skate. I want to go with them. Parent: You have to do the dishes. You can't go. Child: But, Tommy doesn't have to do the dishes…it's not fair! Parent: Leave your brother out of this. Get in there and start doing the dishes! Child: Why do I have to do dishes when my brother doesn't have to? Parent: Because I said so and I'm the boss! Backbone Parenting or the authoritative style is the happy medium. These parents set appropriate limits and adjust them to the time, place and circumstance. They are high in warmth and affection. They encourage participation from their children. The children always get their say, but they may not always get their way. Their dealings with children are marked with a balance of firmness, kindness, affection and reasonable expectations, so the outcome is 'well-behaved, confident children'. As a result children are likely to be successful, articulate, intelligent, happy with themselves, and generous with others. They tend to be liked by teachers and peers. Child: My friends are going to the park to skate. I want to go with them. Parent: I thought this was your night to do the dishes. Child: But, Tommy doesn't have to do the dishes…it's not fair! Parent: I know you don't think it's fair that you have to do the dishes and your brother doesn't. Child: Yeah, why does Tommy get away with no dishes! Parent: Well, your brother does other chores that you don't….So, go and do the dishes as we agreed upon…We'll talk about the family chores at dinner tomorrow night. Maybe Tommy will trade chores with you if you don't like dishes so much. During the seminar, participants were asked to break up into groups according to how they were parented when young. Each person described what their experience was like being parented in that way. I moderated the group whose parents were the brick wall type. It was interesting to hear comments reflecting that while a few did appreciate some of the rules and strictness and felt they were better in some ways because of it, many have a hard time making decisions as adults. Some felt they have low self-esteem and some have a hard time disiplining their children. Many did not have a close relationship with a 'brick wall' parent. When asked how they now parent, many described they tended to swing drastically to the jellyfish, overly permissive style although some said they are replicating their childhood experience, but are not happy with it. General comments from brick wall and jellyfish parented adults was that they either now parent in the same way or in drastic opposition. It was hard for them to take the balanced path. As you might expect, the children who were parented in an authoritative, backbone style are able to use that with their children. After that graphic exercise, all wanted to try to use the authoritative, backbone style of parenting. This seminar was based on the study of Diana Baumrind, with nomenclature adapted from Barbara Coloroso's "Kids are Worth It".  • Email to a friend • •Akrura das, Gita Coaching: GRHASTHA COACHResponse to a question from a reader of the Vaisnava Family Resources Newsletter from a Grhastha Coach (from the Grhastha Vision Team): (Grhastha means a householder that seriously practices spiritual life.) Yours is an intriguing letter and I am glad you wrote us. You say that realistically, you have seen many divorces and I would assume this is a phenomenon you have observed both in and out of the Hare Krsna community. Thoughtfully, you want to do what you can to make sure you have a loving, warm Krsna conscious marriage. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur recommends, "In this age of Kali it is better to cultivate Krsna consciousness as a householder." Our first suggestion is that you make sure you get premarital education or counseling. Seek out qualified and caring Marriage educators/Counselors. Many people spend lots and lots of money on their weddings. They spend lots of time planning and usually, there are many people involved, family, friends, association, employer, neighbors, etc. According to Modern Bride magazine, the average American wedding is about $20,000. About 2.3 million couples marry each year in this country and they spend approximately 72 billion dollars. Yet, not often enough do we find couples that spend a mere fraction of their time and a small amount of their money to get premarital counseling or education. Listen to what our beloved founder/acharya, Srila Prabhupada says about this matter; "The two marriages recommended by you may be performed at that time as well, but only after having sufficiently counseled the respective devotees. This marriage business should not be taken as a farce, but is a very serious matter." Letter to Bhagavan, July, 1971. Professionals who provide premarital education will be sure to include skill-building sessions on communication, conflict resolution, win-win problem solving, financial management and planning, goal-setting and clarifying the spiritual principles on which you agree to base your marriage. They will likely ask you and your fiancé to complete a Premarital or Marital inventory which is an excellent tool to identify the strengths and growth areas of your relationship and pinpoint the skills you should work on. The approval of both sets of parents is a good sign. Wise people will consider the opinions of their parents, guru and other mature people who care about them. Their advice and suggestions should weigh heavily in your decision. One of the underlying principles of the auspicious Grhastha asrama is that people must have a positive and realistic vision. The Grhastha asrama is marriage life based on God-conscious service and on elevating principles such as truthfulness, cleanliness, austerity, charity, and compassion. On the flip side is grhamedhi life, which means family life that is not based on these principles and is minus God as the center. Positive and Realistic vision is one of the 12 fundamental principles that will ensure healthy growth and development in Grhastha family life. Devotees who do not have this positive and realistic vision set themselves up for unnecessary pain and disappointment. Most devotees will get married and when they do, they should choose to marry and select mates for healthy and appropriate reasons. Here are some unhealthy reasons to enter the Grhastha asrama: 1. To satisfy desire. 2. Because you think it'll be better for you: Someone to cook for you, watch your children, take care of you financially etc. (While a caring and cooperative spouse will cook and assist with your children or take care of you financially, this should not be the only reason to marry. You should consider how each could benefit and serve the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu together.) 3.To exit the brahmacharini or brahmachari asrama Some healthy and appropriate reasons to get married are as follows: 1. It is the next step up progressively for me in my spiritual life 2. It's the asrama I should "honor" at this time 3. I want to serve the Lord by accepting greater responsibility 4. I want to work with a loving companion who'll help me and whom I'll help 5. I want to raise children who are Krsna conscious 6. It is my dharma, my service to Krsna Finally, please reflect on this: the best way to be sure you have married the right person is to be the right person yourself. With Positive (knowledge that Lord Sri Krsna want us to have healthy, happy, Krsna conscious marriages) and Realistic (understanding that there will be challenges, commitment for life and willingness to work to get healthy relationship skills) Vision, your marriage can be fulfilling and serve as an example for others. Truly, Your Grihastha Coach  • Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: Gopiparanadhana's Samadhi Ceremony
• Email to a friend • •Bhakti Lata, Alachua, USA: A Freewrite Poem for my Spiritual MasterA Freewrite Poem for my Spiritual Master Thank you I would be stumbling stumbling stumbling in the jungles of my mind searching searching frantically searching for love My soul would be weeping weeping every day weeping Thank you for giving me a reason to live a way to die at peace I would be so lost so lost searching for love in all the wrong places sinking in quicksand sinking I would be trying to capture the moon in a mirror I would be clawing at my face searching for beauty I would be so lost so lost seeking guidance in a broken compass I am weeping weeping knowing that your love gives me strength to live I am humbled by your love. Thank you. Subscribe  • Email to a friend • •Mayapur Online: Sri Mayapur International School's Success!Sri Mayapur International School is proud to announce the results of the May/June 2011 Cambridge International Examination. Six of our students have successfully accomplished their High School AICE (Advanced International Certificate of Education) diploma with outstanding results. • Email to a friend • •H.H. Sivarama Swami: Computer down again!
• Email to a friend • •Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: Gosh Goes NeanderthalIt was at the lower edge of T shirt weather temperaturewise so the sun in a cloudless sky felt warm and reassuring. A slight breeze softly and slowly ebbed and flowed, like a caress from heaven. The honks of geese passing over in a V about a 100 meters off the ground pleased my senses. As the breeze reached its mild crests I could hear light thumps made by Chinese Chestnuts hitting the ground. The odds of being hit by one was probably thousands of times greater than being hit by a piece of space junk last week but the prospect amused rather than scared me. I was willing to take the “risk” because each of those chestnuts were nutritious, edible and flavorful and I was gathering them. Nuts were an important part of Paleolithic and Neanderthal cultures so I was feeling a resonance performing an activity that has gone on for thousands or millions of years, depending on whose version of history you prescribe to. The act of picking nuts, the sensations of the sun and air, the sound of wildfowl were identical with experiences Neanderthal man would have had. One thing that was different was I was using a nut picker to get them off the ground which won’t have been available to a Neanderthal but on the back side of the Mound there was a fence where the nuts along with their fallen burs had accumulated into a drift. There the nut picker was useless so I grabbed a stick off the ground and was using that to brush aside the burs so I could pick up the chestnuts by hand. That was the point I had the realization that I had gone totally Neanderthal, using a stick to gather food. New Vrindaban is near Moundsville, West Virginia which got its name from the hundreds of small mounds that were on the rich bottom land near the Ohio River. Most of those were leveled long ago but the highest Mound in the US is still standing. I was there dropping off some gourds for them to use for their 19th annual "Archaeology Weekend"with events timed to coincide with West Virginia Archaeology Month. Gourds are the oldest known cultivated plant and an important part of prehistoric cultures. I had previously gotten permission to pick chestnuts from under the trees on the grounds and had come prepared so that evening’s menu included roast chestnuts. I have never seen Chinese Chestnuts available for sale in the market around here, but I find them far superior in taste to the Italian ones that importers sell. They don’t store all that well like walnuts do so I look forward to this time of year when I can gather some to eat. Me gather nut. Me roast on fire. Me eat. All good. Filed under: Cows and Environment         • Email to a friend • •H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 447 — Poem for September 294:35 A.M. Poem for September 29 One day Mother Saci went to catch her son, wanting to rebuke Him, but He fled from the spot. Although He is the maintainer of the universe, the Lord sat upon some rejected pots where the remnants of food were thrown, after the pots had been used for cooking. [...] 447 — Poem for September 29 is a post from: EVERY DAY • Email to a friend • •H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): Selected WritingsFrom Vandanam: A Krishna Conscious Handbook on Prayer "We have spoken of personal prayers, but another consideration is prayers that we make for the needs of others. A Vaisnava should be compassionate. This is expressed through preaching, and so it may be done through private prayers. Whatever good things we wish for ourselves, we should [...] Selected Writings is a post from: EVERY DAY • Email to a friend • •Japa Group: Japa Retreat HighlightsHere is a very nice multimedia presentation that gives the highlights from Sacinandana Swami's Japa retreat in Radhadesh this year.  • Email to a friend • •Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN: 2011 eurotour–Bratislava, SlovakiaI had a quick visit to Bratislava this year in response to a request from Raghunatha-priya prabhu the temple president who also doubles up as the head pujari, cook, temple treasurer etc. Its not a big yatra but its always a pleasure to visit. The temple is a nice rented house on the outskirts of the city with a long grassy back garden growing flowers for the Deities of Gaura Nitai as well as a few veges and grapes. The weather was sunny and it was a pleasure to sit out in the garden, take prasadam and chant a few rounds of japa.
Each evening of my three day visit a small but enthusiastic group of devotees gathered to hear about Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental pastimes and in the mornings we drove into the city to Govinda’s restaurant. Since most of the temple devotees work and serve there it was the only practical place to give the class. The basement level facility is right on one of the main streets and is a successful preaching center
One other purpose of my trip was to meet up with Krsna-lila dasi. She holds a doctorate and was the chief of public relations for ISKCON Hungary for many years. Her special talent is film documentaries and liaisons with television companies. She has produced over twenty broadcast quality films and we met to discuss her involvement with the development of exhibits for the Mayapur Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. I am currently the coordinator for exhibit development at the TOVP and we are now gearing up ready to start production within the next year or so. Krsnalila’s experience will make her a valuable contributor to the TOVP. She doesn’t live in Slovakia but she is from Hungary and she and her husband Mark drove several hours from Hungary for our highly productive afternoon meeting. Mark is a professional script writer and teaches it at a college in New York. As Krsna-lila and I talked he was busy completing a script for one of the Hollywood film companies. Although not a full time devotee Mark has volunteered his services if and when we need it. After a worthwhile visit to Bratislava I headed off on August 17 for my first visit to Espanol (or is it Espanyol?) (oh well, anyway, Spain • Email to a friend • •David Haslam, UK: Ice-cream
Over the last few day’s I’ve been thinking about ice-cream; a confectionary delight that virtually everyone likes indeed I’ve only ever known one person to dislike it. Somehow this then focused my mind on the Holy Names of Krishna and especially when we share it in Harinama the world famous street chanting of the maha-mantra; indeed everyone watching enjoys and many join in either by clapping on the sideline or entering in and dancing with the devotees. Indeed a vast majority enjoy with only a few hardened souls expressing a dislike. So why am I thinking of ice-cream? We actually all love something that’s sweet, and on a hot day a cool refreshing sweet just hits the mark nicely; as the soul becomes exhausted by the thrust of material living we take sanctuary of the quenching delight of the simple sound vibration of Krishna. But that’s all well and good, but isn’t ice-cream more better if we add a few other confectionary delights, sprinkle a few hundred and thousands on top, add a cone, may be a flake, or a bit of gooey flavored syrup; the expectations whilst standing at the ice-cream van as this marvel is put together to tickle our senses. So Krishna has so many spiritual delights awaiting us; do we search out for the sweet music that plays and call’s us to participate. The ice-cream reminded me of the maha-mantra, but devotional service in all it’s amazing forms reminded me of all the extra confectionary delights that adds to the flavor of spiritual life, there is so many combinations all with there own unique quality; and like the confectionary delights added to ice-cream who can resist or say they don’t like? And as we all know stood by the ice-cream van the great joy as a child sharing this treat with friends, we gain an even greater joy sharing the maha-mantra in the amazing harinama, books, devotional service. And it reminded me of how you would follow the sound of the ice-cream van with it’s distinctive musical tones the joy of chasing the van is a childhood memory many of us share; do we chase after the spiritual treats in the same way? Chanting the holy names of Krishna, entering into service, and sharing with others makes for one perfect spiritual ice-cream, Yum Yum. • Email to a friend • •Mayapur Online: French Tourists in MayapurA group of 40 French tourists, touring West Bengal by river cruise, made a short visit to Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir. The tourists were greeted at the gate according to the Vedic tradition and were introduced to the complex. On the way to Srila Prabhupada's Puspa Samadhi Mandir they were fortunate to meet our two elephants and were entertained by the gurukuli's rehearsal for the upcoming gorgeous elephant parade. • Email to a friend • •Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN: 2011 eurotour–Slovenia summer camp–Balaram's appearance dayAugust 13 2011 was the culmination of the festivities at the Slovenian summer camp. We celebrated Lord Balarama’s appearance day with joy and devotion. HH Bhakti Vikash Swami arrived from Croatia exactly on time to give an insightful talk on the glories of the Lord
The Lord appeared on the altar in His shila form, along with His younger brother Kanai, as well as in His arca murti. As we all chanted and had an extended darsana, the pujaris and sannyasis bathed the two Brothers
I also brought out Srila Prabhupada’s tooth for a special darsana for the devotees, placing it before the temple’s deity of Srila Prabhupada, Who was appropriately sitting just in front of Lord Balarama.
After the abhishek, the small children performed a very cute drama of the Lord’s pastimes
When I think of the childhood memories I have, compared to the ones these young Vaisnavas will have, I can’t help but marvel at how fortunate they are. After an excellent feast we had our closing ceremony
and then we headed out for the hour long drive to Ljubljana (that’s Yub-yana) temple ISKCON Ljubljana have a beautiful set of Panca-tattva deities
and very good temple facilities. They have added a new greenhouse for Tulasi devi since I last visited with benches to sit on and meditate on Her transcendental form as you chant japa
and Govinda’s restaurant is still going strong. Devotees have added some nice outdoor eating areas
At least our restaurants are popular and their number and longevity is increasing. In practically every city I visit I see Govinda’s restaurants and it is very pleasing to see this fulfilment of one of Srila Prabhupada’s preaching programs: [TD2] May 4th 1976 – Honolulu Tamal Krishna also said that Ambarisa prabhu, faithful to Srila Prabhupada’s request, has found a first-class place just around the corner from our Boston temple where he wants to have a restaurant.
After giving a final seminar on Srila Prabhupada the Living Bhagavatam and partaking of a pleasant breakfast with Prahladananda Maharaja, Lilasuka and Tattvavit prabhus and others
I headed out on the 14th morning for my next port of call Bratislava • Email to a friend • •Dandavats.com: Gopiparanadhana's Samadhi Ceremony
On Sunday September 25th the ashes of His Grace Gopiparandhana Prabhu were placed in Samadhi by his son Gaura Mohan at the foot of Govardhana Hill just in front of the Bhaktivedanta Ashram. Earlier at the ashram there was a Smriti Sabha, Memorial Service, where many senior men and women offered their fond remembrances of him and the great service that he rendered to Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON, and the world |
Dear Prabhus,
But still we should not forget our main business; our essential business; our means of success.
!)
By Deena Bandhu das
