Moves are afoot in Russia to ban the Bhagavad Gita As It Is. Please sign the petition to help prevent the ban from going ahead, our Russian sisters and brothers are depending on our help.
This message just in from Bhakti Vijnana Goswami
Today we received the testimony of the experts from Kemerovo State
University. As it should have been expected, it is highly negative.
We have uploaded the following petition. It is self-explanatory, and formulated in such a way that not only ISKCON devoteesbut also others, can vote. Please feel free to share this link.
Below Please find the text of the petition. On the site it is both in
Russian and English.
Bhagavad-gita As It Is, one of the most respected holy scriptures of
the world today, is under the threat of being banned in Russia.
The court proceedings will resume in Siberian city Tomsk, Russia, on
Monday 19th. The persecutors in Tomsk suggest that the widely
distributed book translated and commented upon by A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada should be included in the Justice Ministry’s list of
banned extremist literature.
Bhagavad-gita As It Is is translated in more than 80 languages. Over
100 million copies of this book was distributed to date all over the
world! Millions of people in the world today consider it as the main
book in their life.
The persecutors, with great determination and vigor, are pushing through this absurd case. During the first three court hearings, the testimony of the Tomsk experts upon which the persecutors built their case for the court was recognized as «inadequate». However, the Persecutor’s office ordered the new testimony. Noteworthy, that the testimony was requested not from the well-known experts of Hinduism from Moscow, but from some unknown experts from Kemerovo State University. This move clearly suggests that the court decision is already predestined. This practice brings to memory the Middle Age Inquisition, Witch hunting, burning of books and the persecution of the dissidents during Soviet period of Russian history.
Tomsk Ombudsperson, eminent scholars of Hinduism, the members of the
Public Chamber of Russian Federation, representatives of Indian
community in Russia, and people belonging to different religious
denominations in Russia have already expressed their perplexity and
outrage caused by the activities of Tomsk persecutors.
We demand to stop the from banning the Holy Scripture! These initiatives of the Tomsk Persecutor’s Office offend the religious sentiments of all the followers of Hinduism and bring disgrace to the country of Russia.
Once you sign the petition – you will receive e-mail asking you to
confirm yourvote. This is very important – otherwise it will be
I made some cupcakes for my son Nitai's 15th birthday. Here they are. Well, the cyber version, at least.
In all fairness, it wouldn't be right to leave you hanging without a recipe. In actuality though, I made them from left-over cake batter from the birthday cake, which, alas, I forgot to photograph. But it did look a bit like this former model, baked last year.
But don't fret, here's the foolproof recipe for the cake. I'd say the quantities would make at least a couple dozen standard-sized cupcakes.
That's a vanilla butter icing on top (of the cupcakes) not cream. I whipped up room temperature butter, pure vanillaextract and icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) for that, but I misplaced my piping bag. So I went for the rugged look.
Here's my original recipe for the cake from my first cookbook. I tweaked this recipe, using a ganache instead of the icing (using melted Lindt 50% dark + heavy cream) and an organic Colombian cocoa powder inside the cake instead of carob.
Carob Fudge Cake
This two-tiered carob cake is light in texture without the use of any eggs. The cake's light texture is due to the slightly soured milk. Filled and iced with Carob Vienna Icing, it is an irresistible dessert.
125g (4 ounces) butter, room temperature 1 cup caster sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup carob powder ½ cup hot water 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 1 cup milk 1 2/3 cups plain flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda pinch salt Carob Vienna Icing
Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Blend the carob powder in the hot water and mix to a smooth paste. Gradually add the carob mixture to the butter and sugar mixture.
Add the lemon juice to the milk to sour it.
Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt and add it to the creamed mixture alternately with sour milk. Mix thoroughly.
Spoon the cake mixture into two buttered 20 cm (8-inch) cake tins and bake in a moderate oven 180°C/355°F for 30 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed.
Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 minutes. Turn out and allow to cool completely. Fill and ice with Carob Vienna Icing. You may also wish to layer in some whipped cream and strawberry jam, or cherry jam, along with sour cherries, to round out the sensual experience.
Carob Vienna Icing
125 g (4 ounces) butter 2½ cups icing sugar 4 tablespoons carob powder 2 tablespoons hot water
Beat the butter until creamy.
Sift the sugar.
Blend the carob powder with the hot water.
Add the icing sugar to the butter alternately with the carob mixture until it reaches a spreading consistency.
In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna’s instructions begin (2.11) and end (18.66) with a call to give up lamentation. Between these two calls is another call: the call of divine love. The Gita’s setting indicates that the nature of the world is such that events will sooner or later impel us to lament, but the Gita’s message takes our vision beyond this world to the Supreme, whose enduring love gives us the confidence to tolerate and transcend the unenduring storms of the world.
What is that feeling? I believe it’s a subtle form of lust or desire.. Why? Because if it were not I would have that feeling skAting on my own at midnight in a ghost town but I have skated on my own at midnight when no one is around to see and I can tell you that feeling cool feeling was completely absent from my mind. That’s just one reason. Another is that I’m dependent on others approval to feel my existence is good in other words I need my existence verified by other people, particularly the opposite sex and “cool people” this is normal for a mad soul on his own agenda. What do I mean by that? Embodied soul means rebel soul. We create our destiny by our choices so our current situation in this material world is due to separatist agenda wherein we wanted to taste different types of enjoyment so here we are in the material world where everyone has a different agenda or a different set of senses and sense objects and it’s considered normal to try and meet out our selfish desires by hook or by crook like some one gave us this divine task of enjoying! but along with that lifestyle comes many artificial impositions such as birth death old age disease anxiety about a kazillion different bodily ailments and about 9 million zillion mental diseases. then there’s sufferings caused by others and natural disturbances so we thought we could be cool but we will be embarrassed by death or old age very soon. So having a separate agenda gives you enviousness and a doubt about your own path. Low self esteem. This is actually an intuition of the pure self because the pure self is meant to be co operating in harmony with the personality of god head but at the moment it’s identifying differently. This causes mental pain. How to be happy and free from mental pain? Krsna consciousness. Why? Here’s a verse from the most graduate krsna text chaitanya charitamrita
“Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.
Today the vast majority of people are trying to prove this statement of Plato wrong. If they were honest about their disposition they might even say “why analyse when we have these bodies?, let’s just enjoy with the body!” but what about those who are more intelligent?, they can’t be happy just blindly pursueing the animalistic propensities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending.
For them this is Living a lie, living in illusion by acting as though were just a bag of senses! What about them? Should they supress there philisophical inclination, their love for wisdom? Are they crazy. If human life is not meant to be lived analytically or introspectively then that means philosophers or bhakti yogis are mad.
One persons poison is another’s nectar so just because one person advocates that life is for enjoying materially and Ignorance is bliss, live in the moment, it’s all good, just be happy and don’t hurt any one, just do good deeds and don’t worry too much etc. does that mean everyone should follow that standard of life?
No. The yogis say sense gratifiers are mad in the true sense of the term. madness means to do the same thing over and over again and optimistically expect a different result.
So one persons day is anothers night. These days it’s fashionable to say “be optimistic, positive thinking, law of attraction etc. But why are there people who are famous and remembered for hundreds of years or more just for pointing out the faults of materialism? It would seem that persons who say dont do this or that are more appreciated for their wise teachings in the long run, even though the advise is bitter to taste in the beginning. For example buddha taught two things and two things only - how to not suffer and how to not give suffering to others.
Krsna says in the Gita: “O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.
So this seemingly pessimistic theme in spiritual teachings is there because the teachers know the psychology of the unrealistic optimists. The unrealistic optimists or the materialist workers are in so much illusion that they don’t even know their on illusion. Like some whose been wearing sunglasses for so long that they forget because weve adapted to that vision so it’s normal, this is like our conditioned life. We conditioned to think it’s normal to be bound by conditions.
Therefore the great souls find it proper to give an introduction to our own situation before teaching us the spiritual situation.
Maybe we could take some inspiration from these transcendental autocrats.
Krsna the self sufficient philosopher doesn’t just point out the faults though. he is more positive. He teaches how to analyse our sticky situation in the limited realm of matter only so we can see the need to go beyond it.
O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.
I stayed in Gainesville, chanting daily for 2½ hours at Krishna Lunch and 2 hours at the Wednesday Farmers’ Market, through the Ratha-yatra on November 4. Then taking a bus immediately afterward, I went to Tallahassee for First Friday that very evening, and a week of chanting there at Lake Ella, Krishna Lunch, and on the campus in front of the library and in front of the statues. The next weekend I had a great adventure traveling with the Vaishnava Youth bus, including many of my friends from Gainesville’s Krishna House, to New Orleans for the Ratha-yatra and its two-day festival, via New Talavan, the Mississippi Krishna farm. Then I came back to Gainesville to continue our program of chanting at Krishna Lunch.
I include notes on a few lectures from October, which did not make the last issue, such as one by our local Madhava Prabhu on Krishna’s Govardhan pastime, one by Yogesvara Prabhu on George Harrison at the Krishna Lunch 40 Years Festival, and one by Hanan for newcomers on spiritual enlightenment. There are also great quotes from Srila Prabhupada from a Back to Godhead article, from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami from his new book, Prabhupada Smaranam, and from a lecture Yogesvara Prabhu gave on the spiritual side of George Harrison’s life, and there is much, much more.
Gainesville Ratha-yatra
Each year Gainesville and Alachua devotees do Ratha-yatra in the University of Florida Homecoming Parade. This year I was assigned the role of holding the sign, and so I could not take any video of the event. It was challenging enough to figure out how to dance while holding the sign. I think we had a few less devotees than usual. Still many people smiled, waved, took photos, and danced as a result seeing the Ratha-yatra procession.
Chanting in Tallahassee
I was very happy to see a lot of enthusiasm for chanting in Tallahassee. We chanted longer than ever before at First Friday, about four and a quarter hours. Pritha participated practically the whole time despite being six months pregnant. Sivam, who read in my blog I was coming to Tallahassee, choose to return to his former home the week I was there, and he chanted for four hours. That was first time I had been at First Friday since April, seven months ago, and I was happy to see the enthusiasm.
That weekend and the next Friday, the Veteran’s Day holiday, we chanted at Lake Ella. At Lake Ella, lots of people get their exercise, walk their dogs, and stroll their kids. On Veteran’s Day one man donated two cases of water to us, and sat nearby for some time and made it clear he liked the chanting. Later a middle-aged lady liked Pritha’s chanting so much she said if did not have an appointment, she would have stayed there all day listening.
Normally we chant at Krishna Lunch on Tuesdays in Tallahassee when I am visiting, but Sivam was interested to go out on Monday, so we chanted twice at Krishna Lunch that week and a few people voiced their appreciation.
Chanting on the campus in front of the library, I met an older lady who was a professor of archeology who liked Krishna food and had even taken a cooking class at the temple in the past. One attractive young student joyfully ran up to me eager to find out where our Krishna Lunch was served. She did a paper on Hare Krishna and heard of the lunch program but could somehow or other never find it. One senior who had been vegetarian for five years had never heard of the Krishna Lunch, so I could see we definitely need to do more advertising there.
One new devotee visiting from North Carolina to take care of his sister in Tallahassee visited the temple for the day. He came out with me and was very good at distributing the sweets.
On Wednesday, we went to Garuda Prabhu’s yoga class. Turns out that five out of the ten people there that night were Hare Krishna devotees. Garuda introduced Subuddhi Krishna Prabhu, the temple president, and had him explain some Bhagavad-gita verses, in the course of the yoga class.
Thursday I went with Subuddhi Krishna to an Indian family’s home for a fire sacrifice, a Satya Narayana Puja, and the offering of lamps Krishna in His Damodara feature. The kids really participated in the chanting of Hare Krishna that was done. I could see Subuddhi Krishna Prabhu, the new temple president, was making progress reaching out to the Indian community.
All in all, a lot of public chanting happened in Tallahassee, eight times in eight days, with Rafael joining me seven times and his wife, Pritha, coming out six times. The final day I was in Tallahassee, Rafael and Pritha found out about the youth bus tour to the New Orleans Ratha-yatra which left that very evening. Amazingly enough two seats were free on the bus so they were able to come. I told them this good fortune was the Lord reciprocating with their enthusiasm for the public chanting.
Here is some video from our chanting in Tallahassee:
Lots of people were eager to watch the Ratha-yatra and to take pictures as well. A few people had a great time dancing in the parade. And one mother pushing a stroller, accompanied by her family, enjoyed walking in the parade for awhile.
There were different styles of the devotional music on the stage show, and Bhaktimarga Swami directed a play.
Just behind our exhibit tents one evening Bhaktimarga Swami led some congregational chanting. Devotees were spontaneously attracted to join, and others watched. Sometimes Bhaktimarga Swami would invite one of the onlookers to dance in the middle, and most everyone who was invited would do so.
On the whole it was a very lively event. I was especially glad to see my Gainesville Krishna House friends contributing by playing the instruments, dancing, distributing food, distributing literature, and talking to the visitors.
No. It is not God’s plan that you suffer; you suffer because you violate God’s laws. He is controlling everything, but He has given you minute independence: You can either follow His laws or violate them. But you are so foolish that you do not understand you are suffering. Your position is like that of the cats and dogs, who also cannot understand that they are suffering. Our point is that you are suffering because you have violated
God’s laws, and if you become obedient to God you will not suffer.
If you are suffering from some disease, you cannot expect to be cured immediately. But one who is taking the medicine is very intelligent. His sufferings will soon be gone. But these nondevotee rascals will not even take the medicine—Krishna consciousness—so they will continue to suffer.
Niranjana Swami [from recording of class in Hartford]:
Vaisesika Prabhu tells the members of the audience they may leave their cell phone on, but that if it rings during class they have to buy a Krishna book for $5.
Lord Caitanya came to teach people how to perform devotional service by His example:
Simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can attain all perfection in life.
Lord Caitanya did not wait for us to surrender, He took the first step.
The first thing that fallen persons have to recognize to get Lord Caitanya’s mercy is that they are fallen. For the proud, advancement is difficult.
Simply by chanting the holy name, dancing, and taking prasadam with a motive to please the Lord we can easily satisfy Lord Krishna in His form as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
“Srila Prabhupada said, ‘It is your fault if you stick to false religionists and reject religion. If you receive counterfeit coin you should not reject all coins.’” (p. 93)
“Just as when he was in a very grave mood we became serious, so we laughed with him wholeheartedly when he tickled our ribs with a laughable point of view.” (p. 94)
“Telephone communication and even internet have improved the communications, but these material advancements don’t make up for the loss of the peace and purity that once reigned in Vrindavan.” (p. 97)
[Commenting one a picture and discussing Prabhupada’s samadhi:] “Prabhupada’s warm smile and gesture of hands andpranamas is a cheerful welcome. However one may have strayed away from Prabhupada or if one never met him in one’s lifetime, he is waiting to forgive us and welcome us to his eternal residence, provided we come with an open heart and an attitude of submission to the dearmost resident of Vrindavana who traveled away from Vraja to preach its glories and returned permanently to whoever has the good sense to come and associate with him.” (p. 99)
“I am a little afraid of him [Prabhupada]. It is a fear that comes from love. I am afraid of displeasing him. It would be terrible if I displeased him. Yet I feel very thrilled and privileged to be accepted by him, to know that he trusts me and gives me responsibility. It is a dynamic relationship, tense in some ways, not easy and casual, yet with a deep bond. And when all is said and done it is very simple: you walk closely behind him and you are filled with dedication and ready to do as he says.” (p. 106)
“In 1966 Swamiji allowed us to wear a small wooden Jagannatha murti on a necklace around our necks, in addition to the standard tulasi-mala. An eye-screw was inserted into His flat head and a strap or necklace was worn around the neck coming down to about the chest. For awhile it was quite popular and many of the then-few devotees wore them. I even wore mine with my suit and tie to my welfare office job. When the case workers went on strike, and I broke the picket lines they used to mock me for wearing my protective amulet and threatened to harm it. Some devotees even dressed the deities. But after a few years the fashion wore out. Maybe even Prabhupada suggested it wasn’t such a good idea.” (p. 109)
“Once when being driven through Paris, Prabhupada noted the great museum Le Louvre and said, ‘Its perfection would be to be used as a temple for Krishna.’ He always looked at beautiful buildings with that in mind. Sometimes he asked the owners to give us the building free because we were using it for such an important purpose. Only George Harrison responded by donating the handsome Bhaktivedanta Manor as a gift.” (p. 214)
Madhava Prabhu[in Gainesville]:
We cannot understand Krishna’s Govardhan pastime without entering the Vrndavana mood, focusing on Syamasundara Krishna [His youthful feature].
This pastime is to draw us to take exclusive shelter of Krishna through Govardhan Hill.
Nanda was easily dissuaded from the Indra sacrifice as his heart was not in it.
Krishna was making the point that you can get this reciprocation you are getting from Indra even more from Govardhan.
The Vrajavasi were all laughing during the Govardhan puja as they were happily engaged in their constitutional position of pure service to Krishna.
When Indra sent the clouds, Nanda doubted for a moment and entered his puja room and began to chant Indra mantras. Krishna came in with angry eyes and accused his father of not trusting him, and encouraged him again to take shelter of Govardhan.
In the Govardhan pastime Krishna brought all his groups of friends together instead of just spending time with the boys, the girls, or the elders.
Yogesvara Prabhu [author of Here Cones the Sun—A Spiritual and Music Tribute to George Harrison]:
His father wanted George to become an electrician.
In 1964, Bill Epstein, Beatles manager, predicted that in 50 years young people would still be listening to their music. Just this year, the Beatles collection was released on iTunes.
At age 21, he got a million parcels for his birthday.
Half the town of Sydney came to one concert (300,000).
In 1964 when the Beatles toured America, 50 million dollars of Beatles merchandise was sold.
Someone who heard the Beatles liked Hare Krishna dressed in a sheet, and burst through a skylight, falling on the piano, and rolling to the floor. John Lennon said to George, “this must be one of yours”, and kept strumming the guitar.
By age twenty-three, he was burning out on success. “It was a little part that got played in this life.”
When George was in the womb of his mother, she heard a program called All India. When heard the sitar of Ravi Shankar he felt a familiarity. Was it from the time in the womb or a previous life? We will never know.
Ravi told him, “Make the right sound and you can reveal God.”
George liked the idea that the love in this world is a reflection the love that is in God.
George took the Beatles to Maharishi’s ashram in Hrishikesa.
I picked up the sitar and found that notes when I found my song “Norwegian Wood” needed something.
They wrote forty songs in Hrishikesa.
After that trip, he met Syamasundara, and some time after with Prabhupada.
He chanted on beads.
The first day the Hare Krishna mantra sold 40,000 copies. And in 9 countries it made the top ten.
All Things Must Pass was the first three-record album.
He did a charity concert feeling that he should give something called “The Concert for Bangladesh.”
Living in the Material World also quickly rose to the top of the charts.
His third album received critical reviews, as the fans wanted the Beatle George, and not the preacher George, and he went into seclusion, and depression. The death of John Lennon intensified this mood.
When you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there.
At the end of his life there was only the deeply spiritual side of George.
Ekendra Prabhu:
Some songs you get tired of hearing and some songs you don’t get tired of hearing, and the Hare Krishna mantra is one of those that you do not get tired of hearing.
Mother Tsurit:
Autumn is a time of festivals of light. In the Jewish tradition, Haunaka is an offering of another lamp each day.
Hanan Prabhu:
I want to give a class on enlightenment that I could give in a church, mosque, temple, or synagogue.
One definition of enlightenment is a situation of full understanding.
What is enlightenment to you?
Mother Caitanya: To know ourselves as spiritual and to know the Supreme Spirit.
Mother Tulasi Priya: To understand why we are suffering.
Krishna-kripa das: In addition to knowing ourselves as spiritual and to know the Supreme Spirit, to act in harmony with the Supreme Spirit is necessary for enlightenment.
Michelle: To have a fresh intelligence to act in harmony not in a static way.
Q: Is it true our body changes every seven years?
A [by Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu]: All the chemicals of the body change in under a decade. Even the cells that do not divide and the DNA are composed of new molecules as time passes.
Symptoms of the enlightenment:
Free from happiness and distress.
Always satisfied in oneself.
Uses senses at one’s discretion like a tortoise.
I had an idea that I could escape all suffering by living in Hrishikesa. But as I lived there, I realized that was a very neophyte idea. I returned to Israel and got a job at an insurance company to make money. I met the Hare Krishnas, and I learned to chant. I would do my job, chant, and spend time with the devotees. I found I was making more progress spiritually than by living alone in the mountains. That was because I was following an authorized process.
Back in the 70s, Giriraja Swami’s father wanted his son to return home from his life as a Krishna monk and offered Srila Prabhupada a million dollars. Srila Prabhupada said his son was free to come or go as he chose. The father offered the money to his son, but Giriraja Prabhu felt his experience as Hare Krishna was so valuable he didn’t accept the million dollars in preference to it.
Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu:
Whether one is good or bad by nature, one who is sincere can advance in devotional service.
“Communion with the Lord by transmission of the transcendental sound is nondifferent from the whole spirit Lord Sri Krishna. It is a completely perfect method for approaching the Lord.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.39, purport)
The demoniac simply pursue material objects because they have no faith in the value of devotional service to the Lord.
As children have a list of gifts they desire from Santa Claus, the materialistic religionists have a list of items they want from God.
Q: Which of the four kinds of pious persons were you when you came to Krishna consciousness?
Ananda Seva Prabhu: I guess I was inquisitive because I would always talk with the Mormons when they came to visit. When they tried to force me to get baptized, I lost interest in them. The next week I met the Krishna devotees.
Olivia: As I child, I always thought that when I grew up, I would automatically know what the purpose of life was. When I was older, I could see that no one really knew the purpose of life; they all had different ideas.
Ananda Seva Prabhu: The Spanish equivalent of the word “miscreants” means “badly raised.”
The asuras are committed to the idea that there is no God, while the other three classes who do not surrender to Krishna are not necessarily so.
Q: Can we judge our sincerity by our chanting and following the rules forbidding sinful conduct?
A: Actually, we are not a very good judge of our position. Our spiritual master is a better judge. Until we have a spiritual master, our position is unclear.
Q: A devotee in the second-class platform avoids the atheistic, but here it says the Bhagavatam can benefit them. How do we know what to do?
A: Each person is different. Hear their philosophy and try to determine how much Krishna consciousness they can take and give it to them.
Kalakantha Prabhu:
When we realize there is no way to get out of a situation, we can understand that Krishna has created the situation so we will take shelter of Him.
Story illustrating knowledge and realization: Einstein’s driver heard him practice his lectures in the car so much he could give them himself. When the driver finished a sentence once before he finished it himself, Einstein came to understand this, and when he was not feeling well he asked the driver to give the lecture for him. All went well until the time came for questions. After hearing the first question, very long and involved, the driver said, “That question is not very significant, even my driver can answer it.” And he got Einstein from the car when he was resting to answer the question.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura said that one who walks the path of God will find it strewn with thorns. Why is this? Because Krishna wants to purify us.
Billy Graham was the spiritual adviser of every president from Truman to Bush. When asked after 9-11 [the destruction of World Trade Center towers], why God allowed such suffering, he replied that people have been asking me that question for years, and I have never been able to answer it to my full satisfaction. The advantage of Krishna consciousness is that there is an answer to that question. It is the karma of the people involved to suffer for some misdeeds in the past.
Peter Burwash gave his check for $1000 for life membership to the temple president of Hawaii, who disappeared with the money the next day. Peter asked Srila Prabhupada how to understand that, and Prabhupada said, “Do not blame the instrument of your own karma.”
America has two-thirds of the world’s lawyers, and if you get in an accident, you’ll get calls from several before you make it to the hospital. The tendency to blame others for our suffering is great, and people are ready to capitalize on it.
Wisdom comes when we go through things, and we persist in Krishna consciousness.
Although Brahma never touches the ground, when he apologized to Krishna for stealing his playmates, all four of his heads touched the ground.
How to deal with setbacks?
(1) Understand they are ultimately Krishna’s mercy.
(2) Understand the suffering is a result of my activities.
(3) Continue offering obeisances to the Lord with mind, body, and words.
Srila Prabhupada said the material world, “Shock after shock.”
If we have no expectation of enjoyment in this world, then we will have no disappointments.
It is abusive to say “it is your karma” to one who is not able to understand it.
If we give them Krishna consciousness, they get rid of their suffering permanently.
Intellectually understanding the philosophy that our material suffering is superficially is helpful, but the knowledge must ultimately go from our head to our heard to fully benefit by it.
Srila Prabhupada said, “If you chant your rounds when you are sick, that is real devotion.”
Comparing ourselves to others is not good. Either will become proud thinking we are better than other people or we will be feel bad thinking we are worse than others. Either will distract us from our service.
Mother Ali Krishna:
We are trying to be Krishnacentric, to have our lives revolve around Krishna.
Varnasrama is meant to gradually develop one’s renunciation.
We begin in a renounced order (brahmacarya) and we are supposed to end in a renounced order (sannyasa), a kind of renunciation sandwich.
Four stages of sannyasa:
Kuticaka—one lives in a hut outside the village and receives food from home.
Bahuduka—one does not accept food from home, but begs madhukari, like a bee, who collects nectar here and there.
Parivrajakacarya—one travels and preaches.
Paramahamsa—one settles in one place and absorbs himself in spiritual consciousness.
Renunciation is not devoid of action but full of action.
As a child we play with so many toys, but as we grow up that naturally falls away. Similarly by developing spiritual attachments, we naturally give up our material attachments.
Renunciation is part of all the varnas and ashramas, but it manifests in different ways in each.
Mother Govinda Mohini:
You have to accept a guru if you want to advance. If you do not take a guru, then your mind will be your guru.
Mother Caitanya:
Other yogas subdue lusty desires but they do not satisfy the soul.
Although I never met Srila Prabhupada, I feel I have a relationship with him through following his instructions.
If we do not develop friendly relationships with the devotees, we may think my mother has so much affection for me, more so than the devotees do, and my old friends liked me more than the devotees do, and in the way leave the association of devotees in search of friendship, although such friendship is often materially motivated.
Mother Amrita Keli:
When I visited home while I cooked I played my kirtana tapes, and I left books like Sri Isopanisad around. I would chant japain the car. And it really backfired. My mother concluded we were really “out there.” Then Kalakantha Prabhu gave me the amazing advice to preach by not preaching.
At the first home program I attended, Jayananda Prabhu, whose place it was at, told me he was a geologist, and it was really great because in the Hare Krishna movement we worship rocks (silas). I thought it was really cool.
Comment by Jayananda Prabhu: Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati said we should never consider that we make someone a devotee because they are already devotees [by constitution].
Sesa Prabhu:
In 1975 I went to the Chicago Ratha-yatra. One taxi cab driver expressed extraordinary amazement to see Lord Jagannatha on his cart. He explained he was a soldier in East India, and he had seen the original Ratha-yatra in Puri, and now he was seeing it unexpectedly in Chicago.
Jagannatha’s cart is 45 feet (13.5 meters) high and is made of 832 pieces of wood and has 16 wheels. Balarama’s cart is 44 feet (13.2 meters) high and has 14 wheels. Subhadra’s cart has 12 wheels.
Skanda Purana: Those who are fortunate to see the deities at Gundica attain benefits of 1,000 asvamedha yajnas.
Lord comes out of the temple to reveal Himself to the people so they can get His darsana.
The Puri pandas threatened to beat Varuna Prabhu and threw him out of the temple because his America-made T-shirt tipped them off to the fact he was an ISKCON devotee and not a “Hindu.”
Gaudiya Vaishnava’s know Lord Jagannatha’s confidential reasons for performing the pastime: The verse spoken by Radharani longing to enjoy the Lord’s association in Vrndavana on the bank of the Reva under the Vetasi tree. She was not happy to see the Lord in his Dvaraka ksatriya mood. Ratha-yatra is not a cultural festival, a place to gain heavenly benefits, an opportunity for liberation, but an expression of the confidential mood of vipralambha-seva.
The Ratha-yatra festival in New York in 1976 was a peak in Prabhupada’s preaching. Eleven years before he arrived in New York, not knowing anyone, not knowing whether to turn right or left, but now he was riding on the Ratha-yatra cart down Fifth Avenue, with hundreds of followers, celebrating the most auspicious religious festival on the most important street of the most important city in New York City.
I organized some Ratha-yatras in new cities like Atlantic City, and we entered the Mummer’s parade in Philly.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, commented on the Mummer’s Parade on January 1, “What can you say about a parade in which the Hare Krishna’s are the most conservative group?”
Q: What is the right mood to approach Ratha-yatra?
A: Understand the internal meaning, but make arrangements for people to become attracted to Krishna consciousness by participating it in.
On the web site for the Puri temple, it is said that Jagannath is Lord Krishna.
I [Krishna-kripa das] thought of things to say about Ratha-yatra in the questions/comments part of the class, some of which I said, and some which I didn’t. These include:
I went to the Puri Ratha-yatra:
It was so hot that people were spraying the crowd with water.
Hundreds of people were running, pulling the cart, after getting it moving from its stopped state. They did not want to stop. Ahead the thousands of people were walking much slower than those running from back with the cart. Feeling trapped, I cried out “Krishna!” with more sincerity than I ever had before or since. It was such a scary situation! Being trampled by the crowd, I lost my shoes, as did three of my friends. I found my shoes, but two of my friends did not.
Prabhupada’s saying that at death those who have seen the Jagannatha cart attain the spiritual world was Jayananda Prabhu’s motivation for personally doing everything he could do to make Ratha-yatra happen.
When I explain that Ratha-yatra is the Lord coming out of the temple to show mercy to those not able to come to the temple and see Him, people generally find that a pleasing idea.
At many Ratha-yatras I attend, there are kids carts.
Almost every year I see a new Ratha-yatra: 2007 in Brno, Czech Republic, 2008 in Prague, 2009 in Trutnov, Czech Republic, and in Wroclaw, Poland, and 2011 in Hamburg, Germany, and Frederikstad, Norway.
Even the drunks in Poland pull the cart, with a beer bottle in one hand and the rope in the other.
Subuddhi Krishna Prabhu:
The Mura demon was harassing the demigods and no one could defeat him. Finally the Lord Himself engaged in battling Mura. It was a severe fight, and Lord Vishnu took a break in the middle and took rest in a cave. Mura followed Him to the cave, and found Him resting. Mura was very happy, thinking that this is the opportunity I have been waiting for to avenge the deaths of my demoniac associates by Lord Vishnu, and he prepared to kill the Lord. Just then a goddess appeared from the Lord’s body, and slew the demon. When the Lord awoke, He saw the goddess, and inquired about her identity, and she explained she was His potency. Inquired about her name, and she explained she had none, and requested the Lord to name her. Because it was the eleventh day of the moon, the Lord named her Ekadasi Devi. When He understood she had killed the demon, He offered her a benediction. She asked the Ekadasi day be known as the day of Lord Hari, and that it be celebrated by fasting from grains. He asked how that be accomplished. She asked Him to order sin personified to enter food grains. Thus it is very important to avoid eating grains on Ekadasi.
Three acts detrimental to progress: immorality, appreciation of the association of sinful people, or blasphemy of a saint or permitting it.
My mother would only eat on Wednesday because there was some restriction on every other day. When she came to see me in Bangalore, I encouraged her to ignore the other restrictions and just focus on fasting on the two Ekadasi days each month. It was difficult at first, but I ultimately convinced her. The whole family was very happy about it for the artificial austerities had not been good for any of them.
On Vaikuntha Ekadasi, the Ekadasi after Gita Jayanti, many pilgrims visit the temples in India, and the devotees take advantage to sell many Bhagavad-gita.
The Pandavas were told by Narada that if they observed Ekadasi they would get their kingdom back. When Bhima heard the restrictions, he said he could not follow, and he was given the concession that he fast without water just one day a year.
There is one room in the Jagannatha temple where the priests put all the ingredients for cooking and turn on the stove, lock the door, and return in an hour, and find a variety of preparations perfectly cooked by Laksmi Devi, the goddess of fortune and consort of the Lord.
The Supreme Soul can be understood by regulated spiritual practice, so it is no wonder that not many people know Him, because how many people seriously engage in a regulated spiritual practice?
To show that no one should think he is far superior, Krishna accepted Sandipani Muni as guru and Lord Caitanya heard spiritual topics from Ramananda Raya.
Srila Prabhupada would always translate bhakti as devotional service. Without service there is no meaning to devotion.
Doing karma is like sowing a seed, and karma-phala is the fruit of the seed.
Sometimes I ask the Indian people why they do not come to the temple. They say when Krishna calls me I will come. I ask them, “Do you think you are such a special person that Krishna will call you? Do you just invite anyone to your home? No, you invite your friends. So you if become friendly toward Krishna you can expect Him to reach out to you.”
If you get the children into Krishna activities then the parents get involved in them.
The story of Balaji is written in the Padmavati Upapurana of the Padma Purana.
The Devi Purana is not bona fide and says things like Krishna or Rama emanate from Durga.
Vishnu Purana, Naradiya Purana, Padma Purana, Garuda Purana, Varaha Purana, and Bhagavata Purana are in the mode of goodness. Garuda Purana tells the thousand names of Vishnu. Naradiya Purana tells about Jagannatha Puri and Dvaraka.
Brahmananda Purana, Brahma-vivarta Purana, Markandeya Purana, Bhavisya Purana, Vamana Purana, and Brahma Purana are for those in the mode of passion.
Brahma-vivarta Purana contains the harer nama verse.
There is part of the story of Vamana that Sukracarya wanted to stop Him from taking water from his water pot by becoming a fly and blocking the hole. Vamana took a kusa straw and forced it open, poking Sukracarya in the eye.
Matsya Purana, Kurma Purana, Linga Purana, Siva Purana, Skanda Purana, and Agni Purana are for those in the mode of ignorance. Kurma tells of Krishna instructing Visvasvan. Skanda Purana also includes Lord Shiva glorifying Lord Vishnu so the Vaishnavas also quote from it. Agni Purana tells about how to identify salagram-sila.
Creation, re-creation, history of sages, manvartara, geneology of kings are the topics of the Puranas.
We had a controversy about what the size the home deities could be as in India many people say because the home standard of worship is lower the deity should not be larger than your fist. Just before Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day, I had a dream with Srila Prabhupada sitting just across from me. He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled and said it does not matter if the deity is the small or large.
One Indian man who came to the temple occasionally, went to India after a seven-year absence. While visiting the ISKCON Hyderabad one devotee asked him if he had chanted japa before and personally led him into the temple and sat him down and chanted 2 rounds with him. He told him, “Think of this as your gift to Krishna. Each day chant with your wife and children.” “I do not have any children.” he said. “You will,” the devotee replied. That was September 19. Turns out that within a couple months the man and his wife had adopted a baby that was born on September 19.
One Swedish lady gave the Puri pandas 20,000,000 rupees, and she got a special darsana.
The tree the priest determined to be the one to use for the Jagannatha deity was on the property of a Muslim man who did not like the idea of it being used for a Hindu deity. Jagannatha appeared in the dreams of everyone in the household indicating they would lose their house, if they did not give up their tree, and the Muslim man submitted.
The fact that Indra is worried that a performer of austerities may take over his post is proof that Indra is a position not a personality, something that many people in India do not know.
Braja Hari Prabhu:
Bhaktivinoda Thakura predicted the spreading of Krishna consciousness all over the world very soon. Although the British were in control of India, Bhaktivinoda Thakura had faith in the scriptures and he knew the world change while the scriptures would not change.
Dharma is the obstacle for Indians to preach Krishna consciousness because they think they have so many other duties.
Brahma-tirtha Prabhu:
A place with spiritual sound vibrations is a true sanctuary.
Elegant solutions unexpectedly resolve a problem so that all concerned are satisfied.
I was on an airplane that was being hijacked, and I was in the front row of seats. I was very fearful, and I prayed to Krishna. The hijacker, who was in the process of trying to break into the cockpit, poured of a pot of hot coffee on a stewardess that was impeding him. I was outraged at such cruelty to an innocent person, and I stood up and looked him in the eye, and shouted, “You are going to die!” He stopped in his tracks and glared back as me, locking eyes with me, as the pilot safely landed the plane.
Q [by Gopala Prabhu]: What is the difference between gossip and calling a thief a thief?
A: We should always be ready to call ourselves a thief. If someone steals the hundi [donation] box, it is good to catch him. Once one devotee stole a lot of money, and they asked Prabhupada if they should call the police. Prabhupada said not to call the police because if they called the police then that devotee would never come back.
I associate with those people I trust.
Boot camp is great training, but if you spend your whole life in boot camp, you will go crazy. Srila Prabhupada put a fence around us so we would be protected as we grew up, just like farmers protect a young tree. But if you keep the fence in place once the tree is bigger, it will stifle the growth of the tree.
Sankarsana Prabhu [from BTG]:
“The first offense is to be critical of those who have dedicated their lives to spread the Krishna consciousness movement. Such devotees are always to be loved and respected, even if we sometimes have a difference of opinion with them. Krishna says that unless we are the devotees of His devotees, then we are not His devotees. Therefore in all conditions we must remain the devotee of His devotees.”
Caitanya Carana BTG article:
“because we are living in this world and taking air, water, sunlight, and food from nature, we need to know and follow the rules laid down by God, who gives what we need to live, including the knowledge of how to live.”
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kalim sabhajayanty arya
guna jnah sara-bhaginah
yatra sankirtanenaiva
sarva-svartho ’bhilabhyate
“Those who are actually advanced in knowledge are able to appreciate the essential value of this age of Kali. Such enlightened persons worship Kali-yuga because in this fallen age all perfection of life can easily be achieved by the performance of sankirtana.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.5.36)
As many will recall last year ISKCON Leicester had a fire on Janmastami day which caused significant damage. So today's breaking news from the BBC is fabulous on its own but it is heart warming to hear such a triumphant message. Srila Prabhupada has yet another magnificent house but it also demonstrates Krishna's Master plan. Read on...
Members of the community congregated at the old Midland Bank building to celebrate the news
Leicester Hare Krishna temple moves to ex Midland Bank
A Leicester Hindu temple which was badly damaged in a fire will be moving into a Grade II* listed building in the city, formerly occupied by a bank.
The Hare Krishna temple will now be based in the old Midland Bank building on Granby Street.
A third of the temple, which was on Thoresby Street, was destroyed in a gas explosion in September 2010.
The temple's president said their plans to develop the historic building were in the early stages.
The Hare Krishna temple was left unusable by the blast. Events and weekly congregations have had to be held in rented spaces around the city for the past 15 months.
'Wonderful architecture'Pradyumna Das, president of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), said acquiring the keys to the building was a "dream come true".
"We are very excited with this news," he said. "This is a great opportunity for us to bring back into use a fantastic building right at the heart of the city."
Mr Das said after restoring the old bank building, they would use it as a place of worship with a range of community activities and workshops and a restaurant.
"As well as a focus on spirituality and self-realisation, we want to invite the people of our county to come and learn about the heritage of the place and celebrate its wonderful architecture," he said.
However, Mr Das added that a lot of work needed to be carried out before the community could use the building.
The historic building was donated to the Hindu temple by a Leicester family.
The building, which was built in 1875 by famous architect Joseph Goddard, was recently identified by English Heritage as at risk.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental form is full of bliss, truth, substantiality and is thus full of the most dazzling splendor. Each of the limbs of that transcendental figure possesses in Himself, the full-fledged functions of all the organs, and eternally sees, maintains and manifests the infinite universes, both spiritual and mundane.
(Brahma Samhita 5.32)
O Govinda, may we eternally see Your darsana, may You continue to maintain our devotional service to You and may You constantly manifest Yourself in our lives.
Ok heres my opinion of fb and other similar electronic social networks. It’s not bad but it can be, its not going to ruin ppl but it can.
I recently heard a class by ramai swami where he referee to it as over communication. In this age ppl are actually insecure so they need their existence verified by peers. Fb is mainly used for that. We log in and hope for some verification. Comments, tags and messages sustain the insecure mind in its quest for certainty until the next day or hour. This is for the constant users. A lot of people use it for practical purposes but alot of people use it for sense gratification. If the shoe fits wear it. This view of the inner psychology of over communication isn’t extreme, it’s subtle. so one needs to be a bit introspective, analytical and self criticising to perceive these things. This phenomena of obsessive face-book is the effect of low self esteem caused by trying to lord it over material nature. So in essence over-communication is due being somewhat lonely. But the thing is worldly association doesn’t extinguish this fire of loneliness. likes by others just dont seem to hit the spot. it’s basically just sense gratification. The mind is elated upon finding that someone has “liked” it’s state. We actually share our state of mind or status just in hope for verification or praise. Most city dwellers can’t bare to be alone for want of self worth but do our friends on fb really give us that? That’s my point. I don’t want to be dependent or addicted to being adoration, praise and attention.
I remember well those wonderful days in 1974 as I sat before my Spiritual Master Srila Prabhupada and heard discourses on the ancient Bhagavad-gita, beloved by Emerson and Thoreau, as the sun rose over the tiny terrace-house Temple in Burnett Street, St Kilda in Melbourne (pictured below).
The world moves in mysterious ways. Russia came down hard on religious expression throughout the 80's and 90's, but recently it has seemed to become more fair-minded. It's all the more hard to believe then that Bhagavad-gita As It Is, one of the most respected holy scriptures of the world today, is now under the threat of being banned in Russia.
Read this explanation and plea from Russian citizen, senior scholar and Hare Krishna devotee Bhakti Vijnana Goswami:
"Today we received the testimony of the experts from Kemerovo State University. As it should have been expected, it is highly negative.
We uploaded the petition. Please feel free to share this link.
Please find below the text of the petition. On the site it is both in Russian and English.
Bhagavad-gita As It Is, one of the most respected holy scriptures of the world today, is under the threat of being banned in Russia.
The court proceedings will resume in Siberian city Tomsk, Russia, on Monday 19th December. The persecutors in Tomsk suggest that the widely distributed book translated and commented upon by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada should be included in the Justice Ministry’s list of banned extremist literature.
Bhagavad-gita As It Is is translated in more than 80 languages. Over 100 million copies of this book were distributed to date all over the world! Millions of people in the world today consider it as the main book in their life.
The persecutors with great determination and vigor are pushing through this absurd case. During the first three court hearings, the testimony of the Tomsk experts upon which the persecutors built their case for the court was recognized as "inadequate".
However, the Persecutor’s office ordered the new testimony. Noteworthy, that the testimony was requested not from the well-known experts of Hinduism from Moscow, but from some unknown experts from Kemerovo State University. This move clearly suggests that the court decision is already predestined.
This practice brings to memory the Middle Age Inquisition, Witch hunting, burning of books and the persecution of the dissidents during Soviet period of Russian history.
Tomsk Ombudsperson, eminent scholars of Hinduism, the members of the Public Chamber of Russian Federation, representatives of Indian community in Russia, and people belonging to different religious denominations in Russia have already expressed their perplexity and outrage caused by the activities of Tomsk persecutors.
We demand to stop the court over the Holy Scripture! These initiatives of the Tomsk Persecutor’s Office offend the religious sentiments of all the followers of Hinduism and bring disgrace to the country of Russia.
Once you sign the petition - you will receive e-mail asking you to confirm your vote. This is very important - otherwise it will be canceled.
1967 December 16: "When I left your country I had very little hope to come back again. But Krishna informed me that I'm not going to die immediately; therefore, I have come back again to get inspiration of Krishna Consciousness from you all good souls."
1967 December 16: "I have given you a business idea and once you are successful in this you will get money more than your expectation and you can spend it for Krishna's service."
1967 December 16: "My dictaphone is a little out of order and as soon as I get it back my work on Srimad-Bhagavatam will begin. At present, I cannot sleep more than three hours at night, and one hour in day. So if I keep fit, I think I shall have ample time to work."
1974 December 16: "Our actual credit is that we are simply repeating Bhagavad-gita As It Is without changing it, altering it or adding any mundane opinion. We simply repeat what previous acaryas have said and that is our merit. Therefore it is being accepted all over the world."
1974 December 16: "The difficulty is our GBC men are falling victim to maya. Today I trust this GBC and tomorrow he will fall down. So whatever we may resolve it will not be very useful."
AFTER many births and deaths he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto me, knowing me to be the cause of all the causes and all that is . such a great soul is very rare B, GITA 7.19 and out of many thousands among men one may endeavour for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows me in truth,[there are various grades of men and out of many thousands, one may be sufficiently interested in transcendental realization to try to know what is the self, what is the body and what is the absolute truth.
It is the greatest fortune in the history of this gigantic material creation that our supreme person Sri krishna came as Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and gave us our dear father, grandfather, great grand father, Srila Prabhupada in our life. By his great causeless mercy every single member of our society, have full knowledge of the definition of the word [discrimination]. Otherwise if we go out and interact the general mass of people on the street or anywhere. and ask or talk to them; they really have no idea anything about the aim of human life.
While constantly going out to distribute S.P books as soon you touch the street a vast ocean of madness you experience you go forward to stop anyone, a great energy of defence you experience together with petrol police, council people, street warden. on the verge of kick out and cctv camera. including the hundreds of pedlars society of people trying to sell their product’s with many street musician with money throwing box; and chilling freezing cold.
A sankirtan soldier prepares himself to stop a person and began on the transcendental platform to speak to a common man and inquire about his idea for buying a book, than a vast ocean of excuses began to appear from his mouth. but still a sankirtan soldier carefully knows how to shoot the gun that a person is willing to give up his speculation and take a book and move on.
With experience I realize many many mothers pushing their pushchair with babies, I ask them how they and their babies are doing? In answer ,they reply it’s hard labour to grow their children while performing other household duties until they grow older enough to be less dependent but most of the time when I go forward to give them books usually they will say [no time].These babies who need so much time to take care of on expansive pushchairs as soon they grow to the age of 9,10,11 12 13, 14 15,16 by the age of 16 the kids already abuse their own bodies by smoke, and drugs and abusive relationship; may be only 2 percent of people in the society are not smoking for some reason otherwise entire society is creating a vast sky of smoke through cigarettes how could you expect they know the aim of human life?
I met one university boy he gave me amazing answer straight away this boy told me that every single man and women more or less in today’s society have great selfish nature. and greed and envy almost devoured them and now 98 percent of humans behaving non different than animals. He paused and said humans are animals in human form…[while stopping youths on the street every boy and girl only one answer, I am a student, I have no money, I am getting late for my lecture. I am studying engineering, business, ict, medicine, music, technology, bio. Chemical and a rear few will say theology, history, philosophy, art and desiqne and most of them will say i stopped studying. I am working ,why bcs. after my studying so hard I have to work in the supermarket so why not start now?
Because you can’t get the suitable job according to our education so better begin working now. and what is the result of this? to get married and have children so another struggle begins so we work hard to keep relationship, make the money buy a house, car and furniture, pay water, electric ,gas, mortgage, council tax bills and groceries for survival and in the midst of these struggle comes old age, and disease, is on competition side by side.
So a great attachment to distribute Srila Prabhupadas books will reveal the compassion heart to be tolerant and merciful to others by giving Sri Krishna, who is the supersoul in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of their truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear his messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.
Srila Prabhupada made the access for the condition souls like myself to leave this lousy and rotten material world, hopefully only the chance is there while continue distributing his books sincerely.
Now today we are already back in Leicester temple travelling from Sunderland via Newcastle; we did books in Derby town centre where ever you go every city or town has a huge modern shopping complex or meeting place, business place. market place for keeping ourselves in the centre of the material world; these complexities attracts the society people to depend more and more on modern technology and materialistic society a great attraction of that Krishna’s material energy overwhelms peoples mind the only remedy is Krishna concsciousness to free us from 5 major gross elements and subtle elements, the souls liberation to the journey of the souls spiritual body in the spiritual world from where never to return.
1967 December 16: "A Krishna Conscious person is never tired of working. This is the test of how one is advancing in Krishna Consciousness. Nobody becomes tired but wants to work more and more."
1967 December 16: "There are only three persons there but each of you can work for 300 persons, so it is not the numerical strength that works, but it is Krishna Consciousness that works."
1974 December 16: "I am very happy to hear of the large number of new devotees you are recruiting. That is the real fruit of our preaching work, when people come and join and help us to spread this Krsna Consciousness movement."
Although Krishna consciousness was first established in Detroit in 1969 with a small temple on Wayne State University Campus, a new dawn was to arrive when the lease ran out on the old brick house.
ISKCON Leicester (UK) has finally acquired a historic former bank as the new home of Sri Sri Panca Tattva and Srila Prabhupada in the heart of the City centre. It was built in 1875 by the famous architect Goddard. The devotees and the Deities lost their original place of worship last September, when a gas explosion ripped through the building on Srila Prabhupada's vyasa-puja day.
On the 10th and 11th of December I taught another 12hr Gita course, this time in São José dos Campos – SP. SJ dos Campos is a good example of the major economic gains seen in Brazil in the last 10 years. This city of nearly one million people lies an hour and a bit from São Paulo and has technological, aerospace and car industries located there. Empty fields and landfills of ten years ago are now massively developed high income neighborhoods and fancy shopping malls.
In the midst of all this, a small group of qualified devotees are trying to establish a Krishna Consciousness preaching center. In sync with the successful recipe for urban preaching seen in other parts of the world, the leader there, Nanda Kumara Das (HDG) has a prasadam restaurant and yoga center (he’s both a cook and yoga teacher!). Nanda Kumara is an “old timer” by Brazilian standards, having started back in the early eighties as a full time brahmacari book distributor. His sankirtan consciousness persists to this day and he has nicely inspired the small group of devotees there, which includes two other yoga teachers, to regularly get books with him for distribution to friends, family, co-workers and any other people they may come in contact with.
In his spacious yoga studio, over his restaurant, 12 people gathered to spend 12 hours going over the entire content of the Bhagavad-gita. The mood was very peaceful and though we had complete newcomers and experienced devotees alike, they all greatly enjoyed the experience – as did I!
Here is some of the feedback I got:
“… The 12 hour Gita course was illuminating, and it brought to light several concepts which for me have always been somewhat obscure. I was also impressed with systematic and modern approach you applied, which facilitated the understanding of these ancient concepts… ” – Yogindra Das
“I have to thank you for this wonderful weekend that the Lord blessed us with. I hope to repeat it many times, for it meant a lot to me to spend 12 hours hearing about Krishna. Many of my doubts were cleared up and now I’ll be able to read the Gita more clearly. ” – Ranga Devi Dasi
“… it was a great pleasure … we have been privileged to learn this nectar.” – Bk. Alexandre
“This 12hr Gita helped me a lot to regain a state of lucidity and serenenity that I had experienced during a period that was undoubtedly the best time of my life so far. I am very motivated to apply this method, in order to connect deeply with a higher consciousness and experience self-realization at a level beyond what I have already experienced in this incarnation. ” – Luiz Reis
“… we had hours of great wisdom. Thank you for introducing us to the Gita in such a simple and lighthearted way.” – Ana Paula
“While Srila Prabhupada’s definition of illicit sex is clear, it is also clear that some devotees have difficulty maintaining this initiation vow. The GBC recognizes this, and suggests that rather than trying to adjust Srila Prabhupada’s definition we should go on with devotional service and humbly and sincerely keep endeavoring to reach the proper standard.” - (ISKCON GBC, “Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the ISKCON GBC Society Sri Dham Mayapur, February 7 -19, 2001)
CLICK HERE FOR SIGNING PETITION AGAINST BANNING BHAGAVAD-GITA-AS-IT-IS IN RUSSIA! Sent By Their Graces Saranagati And Prithi Kullar M. (Click on the pictures to discover the Treasure House Of India’s Spiritual Wisdom as presented by ISKCON Founder Acharya A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.) Dear all I’m really sorry in taking the liberty of writing to [...]
"You should always chant the transcendental name of Godhead with patience and forbearance like a tree and humbleness like a straw . . . There are many amongst you who are well qualified and able workers. We have no other desire whatsoever."
ISKCON Leicester (UK) has finally acquired the HSBC bank building on Granby Street as the new home of Sri Sri Panca Tattva and Srila Prabhupada in the heart of the City centre, a Grade II* listed building built in 1875 by the famous architect Goddard. The Hare Krishna devotees lost their original place of worship last September, when the temple suffered a gas explosion. All of the 50 devotees within the building managed to escape the multiple blasts, uninjured. This was referred to as a 'miracle' by firefighters
They say any free meal is a good meal, but one homeless man who enjoyed four helpings of "krishnatarian" kai at Whangarei's newest food kitchen yesterday reckoned he'd had a freebie better than most.
Diners who descended upon the Hare Krishna Food For Life kitchen on Water St for its opening day on Tuesday enjoyed a "prasadam" meal of curried rice, vegetarian kofta and potato salad, served with mango lassi, and finished off with a helping of sweet semolina pudding replete with cream and strawberries - all on the house.
Aaron Bartlett of Otangarei said he usually spent his days diving for kina and paua to feed his young children, but poor weather had brought him into the city where he had snapped up the healthy fare.
"When I'm not out at the coast, I'll be here," he said, contemplating his vegetarian lunch. "What you are is what you eat, that's what I heard."
With roots in the early 1970s, Food For Life Global is the world's largest vegetarian and vegan food relief network. Hare Krishna devotees provided plant-based meals to about 1.5 million disadvantaged people every day throughout 60 countries.
Whangarei's first Food for Life is set to open daily, supplying meals to people in need, while also providing deliveries to the city's Women's Refuges.
While half of the food provided for the kitchen's opening day was donated by Pak 'n Save and fresh produce given by regional growers, the rest was paid for by Hare Krishna devotees.
Whangarei Mayor Morris Cutforth called the lunch "wonderful". He praised the generosity of the community in making the opening day a success.
Organiser Buddhi Wilcox, a classical pianist in a past life, had recently moved from Kerikeri and had high hopes that the kitchen would become a permanent fixture in Whangarei. "The support that the community has given has been phenomenal".
He had tried to initiate a similar setup in Auckland about 20 years ago which fell flat when his successors began to charge for the food, which he strongly believed should remain free.
More recently, Food For Life had a role in the Christchurch earthquake aftermath, with Hare Krishna volunteers dishing out 500 plates a day amid the turmoil period. The community planned to continue a relationship with Civil Defence planners as providers of food relief.
Mr Wilcox expected the Food For Life kitchen to provide about 100 plates of food a day in Whangarei, and would need to cover a cost equivalent to about $3- $4 per person. The Hare Krishnas were reliant on the generosity of the community. "Either we have to raise $300 a day, or we have to work intelligently". But he had found locals easy to convince.
A devotee since the early 80s, Mr Wilcox claimed his desire to help was not propelled purely by a charitable spirit. "Basically my motivation for doing this is pretty selfish, feeding people makes me happy ... it's not even the compassion. I just want to be happy."
Today we received the testimony of the experts from Kemerovo State ... University. As it should have been expected, it is highly negative. We uploaded the petition. It is self-explanatory, and formulated in such a way that not only ISKCON devotees can vote
Announcement sent by Prithi Kullar (Click on the pictures to discover the Treasure House Of India’s Spiritual Wisdom as presented by ISKCON Founder Acharya A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada) Hare Krsna all Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Apologies if you may have already seen this email. But this is very [...]
Antardwip das: Now you can watch Mayapur.tv on your Android phone using this great new app. You can download it from the Android Market (do a search for MayapurTV or mayapur.tv ). Specially designed for ease of use with swipe navigation suitable for a mobile phone, this app makes MayapurTV very accessible - all your favorite temples and PrabhupadaTV - as well as the Archives, Dandavats News and much more. Never forget Krishna again - at work or play - ever!
(HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 December 2011, Durban, South Africa)
Transcribed by Ragalekha Devi Dasi
‘Disappearance day of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur’
At the age of a young man, he rose to prominence in his learning of astrology and he became a recognised leader in the astrological field. He translated the surya siddhanta, commented on it and he became such and authority on astrology that a university in Calcutta offered him an honorary teaching post. But soon he was to renounce all these things and he was more interested in spiritual life which is what he was really being trained for. His father, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, was particularly interested in publishing spiritual literature and magazines, and he trained Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur in working with literature, publications, proof-reading, editing and working with printing presses. If Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur was present today, he would have undoubtedly been a BBT man!
Besides this, he was establishing the Gaudiya Math, a society founded by him which was a very active preaching mission. In my talk today, I will focus on Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Thakur as a preacher because that is the area he inspired our own movement! Srila Prabhupada took that spirit of preaching from his spiritual master and then instilled it within his own disciples and followers in ISKCON…
We will again have 12 hours of uninterrupted kirtan for three-and-half days, lead by the most talented kirtan leaders of our movement. Throughout these 12 hours the Holy Names will be our singular focus. The kirtan leaders will enrich the singing by brief inspirations of five minutes each; this will help the participants completely tune in. Imagine how deeply absorbing it will be to sing before the enchanting deities of the Sri Sri Panca Tattva
By Krishna-lila Dasi for ISKCON News on 16 Dec 2011
On Tuesday December 14th, members and supporters of the Hungarian Society for Krishna Consciousness protested outside Hungary's Parliament against a new law that could strip them of their status as a recognized church, and which puts the very existence of their world-famous self-sustainable Krishna-valley farm into question.
As part of ISKCON Pakistan`s yearly Gita Jayanti festivities, on December 11, devotees set out for a picnic to Mohenjo-daro, an archeological site situated in what is now the province of Sindh, Pakistan.
Lecture By His Grace Nitai Chandra Dasa Sent By His Grace Nandavraja Dasa (Click on the pictures to discover the Treasure House Of India’s Spiritual Wisdom as presented by ISKCON Founder Acharya A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada) Dear Devotees, Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to Sri Guru [...]
When the small British mill town of Todmorden, first began installing fruit and vegetable gardens all around the area as part of the Incredible Edible program, it likely had no idea that the novel, yet simple, concept would make the town a foremost inspirational and self-sustaining model of the future.
In an old temple tucked away in a street near Loi Bazar in Vrindavan is the oldest existing copy of Srila Krsna das Kaviraja Goswami’s epic Caitanya Caritamrta. Over 350 years old, it sits in a cabinet in a room near the alter. In 1982, Sri Harishan-kara dasa, the head priest, donated 475 precious manuscripts that had been with the temple for 400 years to the Vrindavan Research Institute
By Keshava Krishna Das for ISKCON News on 16 Dec 2011
Many times devotees try to reconcile this essentially Christian concept with Vedic understanding, but end up writing lengthy explanations that do not always satisfy the curiosity.
By Hannah Seligson for The Washington Post on 16 Dec 2011
By the mid-1990s, any celebrity worth their Page Six mention had taken up yoga and toured India with my father, their guide/guru. Madonna even invited him over for dinner. Yet all I could think was, “I hope he doesn’t visit me at school wearing his dhoti, a long loincloth that looks like an adult diaper.”
Toward the end of the Thanksgiving afternoon everyone in the restaurant crew felt they did not want to return the turkey to his ominous fate and they decided to ask the crowd if anyone wanted to 'adopt' the turkey as a pet, and save him from certain slaughter.
“Progressing in Spiritual Life” seminar given by HH. Bhaktividya Purna Swami at ISKCON Brisbane in 2011
Yesterday we were discussing the concept that the material world is a reflection of the spiritual world. That reflection is based on our material desire which we hear all the time, it’s fine. But the important element is in applying that knowledge, and this is where things become confusing. We talk about the spiritual world and Krishna and the cowherd boys and the gopis and everything’s fine. We talk about how the material world is a place of misery and this and that nonsense and it’s fine. But when we talk about the material world actually functioning on the same principles as the spiritual world, but that you don’t get the spiritual results unless you think of Krishna (only get the material results)if you follow the principles as laid down in the spiritual world then we have a serious problem. Because in our mind, there’s spiritual and there’s material and it’s a matter of an activity. This doesn’t mean that whatever activity we’re doing, as long as we think of Krishna it’s spiritual and if we don’t think of Krishna it’s material; there’s a big difference, and this one point makes the whole difference between whether your life progresses or not. Read full story..
A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course Friday 16 December 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 Help Popularize Our Message By Liking Today's Thought on Facebook: Today's Thought: The Ever-Expanding Ocean Within and Without uploaded from Mauritius On the one hand we are dedicatedly endeavoring to expand the ocean of the Krishna consciousness movement all over the universe for the deliverance of all living beings from the vicious, all-devouring cycle of birth and death. And on the other hand, we are also dedicatedly endeavoring like anything to entirely inundate our own hearts within the ocean of Krishna consciousness. This is inundation within and inundation without. To whatever extent we are able to inundate our hearts, to that extent we will be able to inundate the universe. And the more we inundate the universe, the more our hearts will be inundated with the sublime ocean of Krishna consciousness. So in this way, we continue daily in the ultimate adventure, relentlessly expanding the ocean of Krishna consciousness simultaneously within and without. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Expanding the Ocean of Krishna Consciousness L'Esperance, Mauritius--14 December 2011 http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Fall/Mauritius_LEsperance2.JPG http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Fall/Mauritius_LEsperance1.JPG Answers by Citing the Vedic Version: Question: When Can I Get Initiated as Your Disciple? Please accept my humble obeisances How do I know when I will be able to get asylum before your lotus feet by being initiated? M.K. Answer: As Soon As You Are Recommended We welcome very much your decision to take initiation. This decision is glorious. It is the most significant step that you have taken in millions and billions of lifetimes of your rotating in the cycle of birth and death, because, as confirmed in the revealed scriptures, in order to become delivered from the cycle of birth and death and regain one's original forgotten identity in the spiritual world one must take initiation from a bona fide spiritual master and follow his instructions. I will be very happy to accept you as my initiated disciple as soon as you are recommended for initiation by your local ISKCON temple president. He will require that you are steadily fixed in chanting at least 16 rounds a day of the Hare Krishna mahamantra on japa mala beads and that you are strictly avoiding illicit sex, meat eating, intoxication, and gambling. 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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Representatives, aides and citizens come together to view important film documenting the recent unseen war on Americas farms
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