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Krishna-kripa das, Mayapura: Travel Journal#6.1: Mayapur and Ganga Sagar MelaDiary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 6, No. 1 By Krishna-kripa das (January 2010, part one) Mayapur and Ganga Sagar Mela (Sent from Gainesville, Florida, USA, on February 17, 2010)
Highlights
Ganga Sagar Mela—West Bengal's Largest Festival Insights from Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami, Jayadvaita Swami, Bhakti Purusottama Swami, Rama Govinda Swami, and Others
Where I Was and What I Did
The first half of January I finished up my stay in Mayapur and my current stint as a member of its nagar-sankirtana party. My final engagement with the party was January 11–16 at the Ganga Sagar Mela, West Bengal's largest festival, attended by 400,000 people on Sagar Island, where the Ganges meets the sea. I finally bought a small harmonium to use on chanting parties and got to try it out at Ganga Sagar.
Ganga Sagar Mela—West Bengal's Largest Festival
ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) advertises its camp throughout the Ganga Sagar Mela site with banners both in English and Bengali highlighting their six contributions: (1) free prasadam [spiritual food] distribution, (2) facility to stay overnight, (3) free Bhagavad-gitas, (4) free clothing, (5) medical care, and (6) congregational chanting of the holy name. The devotees distribute kitchari prasadam and drinking water to all who visit and also send a truck around the whole festival site to provide the same service elsewhere. Those who stay overnight get the additional benediction of attending mangala-arati, which happens at 4:30 a.m. in the same tent they sleep in. We did congregational chanting for four days throughout the festival site, usually four hours a day, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. We would go through the festival to the sea and back. Our Mayapur harinama party split into three, one-third going to South India for a Ratha-yatra, one-third staying in Mayapur, and the other third coming to Ganga Sagar Mela. Prema Vikas, Pancajanya, and Narottama Prabhus, three devotees I met in South Africa who came to study Bhakti-sastri in Mayapur, joined us, fortunately sharing their skills of chanting, dancing, and playing the instruments, and greatly contributing to our party. Bhakta Adam from Australia was our accordion player and chief singer. I was also able to bring my new harinama harmonium sometimes and those of us who did not know how to play accordion were able to play that. An enthusiastic group of Indian devotees there to help out at our ISKCON camp joined our party and danced in front with youthful enthusiasm, increasing the jubilation of the party.
The congregational chanting of Hare Krishna in the streets, which we refer to in ISKCON in the West as harinama, is known in Bengal as nagar-sankirtana (congregational chanting in the town).As we were chanting at the Ganga Sagar festival near where Ganga meets the sea, I joked that we were going on sagar-sankirtana (congregational chanting by the sea).
Once one middle-aged lady dressed in a sari rolled back and forth in the sand made wet by Ganga water just in front of our chanting party. Many sadhus dressed in various shades of orange and sported beards of a variety of lengths and different shades of gray. They wore various kinds of tilaka on their faces. One bearded sadhu wore a human skull around his neck and held a drumstick bone in one hand while accompanying our kirtana periodically with toots on the buffalo horn he held with the other, as he enjoyed dancing with us. Another sadhu carried foot-high deities of Radha and Krishna on a piece of wood balanced on his shoulders. He loved the kirtana, and he allowed devotees to carry, and even dance while balancing, his Radha-Krishna deities on their heads, as he accompanied us back to our ISKCON camp, spending at least an hour on harinama. Sometimes maybe fifty or seventy people would surround us and listen for sometime, and a devotee would speak in the local languages, Bengali or Hindi, about the value of the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord.
Sadhus lined the roads, living in contiguous reed dwellings, which were just long enough to lay down in and just high enough and wide enough to sit in. Some sadhus were Naga babas dressed in nothing but ashes, expertly sitting so their private parts were obscured. The dwellings were decorated with colorful pictures of the sadhu's worshipable deities, the deities themselves, and other sacred articles. It was such a striking and unusual sight—the sadhus in their reed dwellings, lining the roads.
Some people offered rice and coins to the sadhus and the handicapped beggars lining some parts of the path to the sea. Some sadhus had cows. Some people offered grass to the cows. Some people were doing worship on flatbed rickshaws near the sea. Sometimes they had the sacred tulasi plants on their makeshift portable altars.
Other missions beside ISKCON also advertised, as well as other less spiritually oriented vendors. India is such a mystical place that the under garments advertised there are not referred to as underwear as in America but rather inner ware! There was one vendor sitting in a chair in the middle of the wet sand on the beach, maybe thirty feet from the ocean, at a table wrapped in a cloth with the words "Airtel" written on it and bearing a telephone, inconceivably providing phone services in the middle of the sandy beach. From the sadhus to the businessmen, India is so different from the West in general, and these festivals are even more unusual.
We were trying to act as instruments of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His pure representative, Srila Prabhupada, and thus distribute the congregational chanting of the holy name, recommended in the ancient Vedic texts as the most effective religious practice for this age. And so we were enthusiastic to be there, playing our part, despite having to take morning showers outside in the cold wind and endure the usual Indian inconveniences. That Western devotees were present in Bengal at all, performing congregational chanting and thus worshiping Lord Caitanya, is itself evidence of His factual glory as He predicted five hundred years ago that His name would be chanted in every town and village of the world. It felt to me that we are part of history being made, and better than that, we are part of the divine pastime of Lord Caitanya establishing the dharma for the age worldwide. We sometime speak of entering the Lord's eternal pastimes in the next life, but in reality, even now, we can be part of Lord Caitanya's eternal pastime of spreading love of Godhead throughout the world through the medium of the congregational chanting of the holy name.
Insights from Lectures
Deviation from Krishna is the problem, not the extent of one's illusion. If we discuss degrees of illusion, that should be according to the Lord's opinion, not our imagination. Differentiation between degrees of illusion based on our opinion is a greater illusion, no matter how many people agree with us. The Lord takes the form of Madana or cupid in this world. Who but the Lord could make dead matter attractive? Only by taking shelter of Krishna, as Madana-mohana, can we overcome cupid. It is not that "my attractions are so much more pious than your attractions and so I am a better person."
The view of the mode of goodness is that you see all souls are the same. In the mode of passion, you see this is a politically correct soul and this is a not politically correct soul, etc. One who is a dancing dog in the hands of a women is better than one who cannot stay with one women for any length of time [and therefore goes from one to another]. Eternal damnation is not a part of brahminical culture, forgiveness is. If your goal is the mode of goodness engaged in the Lord's service, then you can gradually bring your actions in line with that.
The mode of goodness provides a better offering to Krishna, so that is best if we have access to it, otherwise we can begin by offering Krishna the best of what we have, even if we are starting from the mode of ignorance. This world is like a reflection of the spiritual world. If you try to pick fruits and flowers from the reflection of a tree, you will be frustrated. If you become envious of the size of the fruits on someone's reflected tree, what meaning is there?
Bhaktivinoda Thakura says you can judge advancement based on what a devotee sees. If we see according to the scriptures, that is advanced. The living entities who refuse to give up their designations and surrender to the authority of God and his representatives have always been there; not only now is it not "politically correct" to surrender in this way. The "politically correct" people of the time wanted to kill Socrates and Christ because they were introducing higher knowledge which people were too attached to their designations to hear. The question "Why did God make us so we can make choices that cause us to suffer?" is not intellectual but emotional. Discussing it is not more valuable than getting together and discussing world politics and how to solve the world's problems, for what can we actually do about it. We are in the prison of the material world by our own bad choices, and yet we are demanding there should be all the facility of the kingdom of God here. sambandha—sat abhidheya—cit prayojana—hladini The sambandha and the prayojana come together in the abhidheya. Q: How far do we use logic? A: Until you are in your spiritual form in the Lord's pastimes. For the non-Vedic people, you have only logic, and for the Vedic people, you use logic to show that your interpretation of the scripture is accurate. How can the soul be killed? It is described as eternal. But when the soul identifies itself with matter, it might as well be dead.
Srila Prabhupada says in Transcendental Teachings of Sri Prahlada, maya begins when you see a girl, and you think she is nice.
In traditional Vedic culture, there was a more of an extended family with generations or members of the same generation, and thus within the family the men would often associate with the men and the women would often associate with the women, and the married man and woman would not spend all their time together because it is not best for spiritual life.
Once a devotee proposed that some of the senior ladies could sew for the sannyasis deities, and Srila Prabhupada said, "No, that is not possible."
The verse says slowly, through service, the woman attracts the man. Women are attractive because Krishna made them that way. When service is offered, a debt is incurred. A little service from the opposite sex, gradually increases, through stages of appreciation, gratitude, reciprocation, dependence, and "love". Love is like an hourglass with the head emptying as the heart fills. As your heart fills, your head is going empty. What person, seeing all the troubles that result from male and female interaction, would want to get involved in it, and what person who has once personally experienced that trouble would want to do it again? If you are looking for a guru, and you notice one inspiring speaker accepts a lot of service from women, you might take note of it. It could be a warning sign. Even there are feminists who are not religious or traditional but are organizing societies of chaste women because there is power in chastity. One Indian feminist wrote an article called "Restraint as a Feminine Strategy" which is available online.
Chastity is a position of power, whether you are a man or women. And devotional service is a position of even greater power for both. So a woman who really wants to be empowered should chant Hare Krishna.
The first book I edited in 1968 was this Third Canto, and thus I got to read it before it came out. There was one devotee lady who did pujari work in the morning and then, later in the day, worked at the press. She would always bring me some maha-prasadam daily. But because I was tipped off by Lord Kapila about the danger of accepting service from women, each day I gave away all that she gave me, so I did not become entangled. Brahma creates two types of females: vastava (respectable) which are sattva-guna svarupa, naturally chaste ladies, and krtya (not so respectable) which are of two kinds: rajo-rupa or madhyama,those who maintain chastity somehow or other, from hearing from the scripture, from having no opportunity for illicit association, out of fear of punishment, etc., and tamo-rupa, who act with no restriction and go out of their way to be unchaste. One is especially warned about association with this lowest class. They are compared to blind wells. As a blind well is not responsible for inviting people to fall in it, but it is the responsibility of the persons walking nearby to be careful to protect themselves, similarly the unchaste ladies are not the problem, but the males who allow themselves to be attracted. Jayadeva Goswami is said to have been born in Orissa by Orissan devotees and is said to have been born in Bengal by Bengali devotees. Repectable Vaishnavas attend the birthsite in Orissa, and thesahajiyas, those who do material enjoyment in the name of devotional service, come to the one in Bengal.
One devotee of Jagannatha in Orissa prayed to the Lord that he would offer his child for the Lord's service if the Lord blessed him to have a child. He had a daughter, and after some time, brought her to Lord Jagannatha for His service. That was before the time of the devi dasis who perform for Jagannatha. Lord Jagannatha appeared to him in a dream and told him to give her to this celibate sadhu named Jayadeva. Jayadeva protested saying he wanted to remain a brahmacari. The father did not relent, as the Lord ordered him in a dream, and he left his daughter there and walked off, leaving Jayadeva with no responsible choice but to accept her and take care of her.
The Gita Govinda was so dear to Lord Jagannatha, that once when the daughter of a gardener was singing Gita Govinda very nicely as she picked flowers, Lord Jagannatha left the temple to hear her. At mangala-arati the Lord's clothing was torn and in disarray, as he had to rush back to the temple to be there on time for the ceremony. The king was worried about the Lord's unusual appearance until the Lord disclosed in a dream what had actually happened.
In Puri, the priests even gave Lord Caitanya a hard time. They are known for giving sincere devotees a hard time. Therefore, it is no surprise that they give the Western devotees a hard time.
Jayadeva Goswami chanted his Gita Govinda while a weaver did his weaving and the words to the poem came out on the cloth. Then he fell asleep. A sadhu came and noticed the weaver was not performing his duty, inquired what was the problem. Hearing the weaver stopped because Jayadeva stopped reciting, the sadhu said, "No problem, I will recite and you can continue," and so he did. When Jayadeva awoke ready to continue, the weaver informed him that a sadhu had come and finished his work. Jayadeva realized that sadhu could only be Krishna in the guise of a sadhu. Lord Jagannatha takes rest wrapped in the cloth version of Gita Govinda. The grhastha life is not condemned. Lord Krishna and Lord Rama both were grhasthas. Grhamedhi life is condemned, the combination of man and women solely for sense gratification.
Why are we inattentive in chanting? We are attached to something else. Therefore this talk of detachment is required. Prayahara is bringing the mind back to the mantra. Simply by hearing theBhagavatam, one can be free from material attachments (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.17). Detachment cannot be acquired alone, that is, without the mercy of the guru and the Lord.
We are attached to the body of our wife or husband. After the soul leaves at death, no one would want to sleep in the same room with one's spouse's body. Why do we not consider this before, during our life?
Why is the human life for? Sense gratification is had also by animals, but human life is for austerity. You do not see animals voluntary performing austerities. By performing austerities, we become purified and enter into devotional service.
Still at the end of life, one should be detached from household life, so one will not have to take birth in this world again due to material desires.
Once Srila Prabhupada was walking down the stairs in Mayapur with some sannyasis and there was one devotee lady waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Srila Prabhupada inquired from the lady about why she was there, and she said she was waiting for a certain sannyasi. Srila Prabhupada was very much concerned to know why this sannyasi was talking with this lady. Bhaktisiddantha Sarasvati Thakura said you can take the car to the preaching program, but you must walk home. In this way, he was stressing that we can engage everything in Krishna's service but not for our own sense gratification.
Krishna consciousness gives us bliss, destroys ignorance, and decreases our identification with the body. Maya does the opposite. If we are a little honest, we can see if each of our actions is Krishna conscious or not.
By rendering service, we can continue to have the association of the Vaishnavas.
You cannot blame the mind and senses for running after maya. It is you who are running after maya. Because of your offenses, your consciousness is covered, and thus you are running after so many sense objects.
Krishna does not give Himself easily because you once rejected Him.
There is only one guilty party when it comes to blocking our Krishna consciousness, and that is ourselves. We have to continue to increase our desire for Krishna. It is not enough to surrender to Krishna once. Surrender has to continue.
Anyone who bathes in the Ganges during the month of Magh will attain Krishna prema. It is cold, but you should do it at least once. Pankajanghri Prabhu: We got a material body because of our past material desires. Therefore, if we do the same kind of sense enjoyment day after day without change, then at the end of this life, we will just attain another material body. Shastra Prabhu: I hear reports that inspire me in our food distribution program to the villages around Mayapur:
One elderly woman at Gauranga Setu did not get anything to eat all day and so in the afternoon, in desperation, she prayed to Lord Gauranga for food. As soon as she finished her prayer, she was amazed to see that our harinama party arrived to distribute kitchari in her village.
A seventy-year-old man, who lived in Svarupa Ganj his whole life, said he could not recall in its history such a wonderful event as the harinama party distributing kitchari in his village. -----
siddha-carana-gandharvair munibhis capsaro-ganaih stuyamanah samudrena dattarhana-niketanah "While He [Lord Kapila] was passing in the northern direction, all the celestial denizens known as Caranas and Gandharvas, as well as the munis and the damsels of the heavenly planets, prayed and offered Him all respects. The ocean offered Him oblations and a place of residence." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.33.34) PURPORT It is understood that Kapila Muni first went towards the Himalayas and traced the course of the River Ganges, and He again came to the delta of the Ganges at the sea now known as the Bay of Bengal. The ocean gave Him residence at a place still known as Ganga-sagara, where the River Ganges meets the sea. That place is called Ganga-sagara-tirtha, and even today people gather there to offer respects to Kapiladeva, the original author of the Sankhya system of philosophy.  • Email to a friend • Related •  •H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Thursday 18 February 2010--Turn Your Home into an Ashram--and--Getting Over Feeling Sorry for ...How would you like to wake up every morning in the spiritual world and feel your heart dancing in ecstasy at the prospect of another blissful enlightening day of Krishna consciousness? You don't have to wait to go back to Godhead, to the spiritual world, to dive into this ocean of unlimited nectar. You can do it right now by turning your home into an... • Email to a friend • Related • •Kurma dasa, AU: Pumpkin SoupDespite the inclement meteorological conditions here in Australia, it doesn't feel like soup weather yet. But I am sure it does in the Northern Hemisphere. Before I proceed with this blog, a word about pumpkin. In Australia, the word pumpkin is a rather generic term, and can refer to a variety of members of the squash family. Here we have Butternuts, Queensland Blues, Japs, and a number of others. In the USA, what they call pumpkin usually refer to the big fellas they carve for Halloween. They also have Butternut Squash, Acorn Squash, Summer Squash, etc etc. To conclude: Any variety of orange squash/pumpkin can be used to make the following recipe. Sapna from Los Angeles writes: "My family and I like to eat at Govinda's Restaurant adjoining the Hare Krishna Temple in Los Angeles. We visited the restaurant yesterday and on the menu there was butternut squash soup which my son and I liked very much. If possible can you please provide me the recipe of the soup." Here's my recipe:
Old Fashioned Cream of Pumpkin Soup Pumpkin soup is a great winter favourite. Milk and a simple seasoning of black pepper and nutmeg allow the pumpkin flavour to predominate. Preparation & cooking time: 30 minutes Serves: 4 persons 3 cups water 1½ cups milk 90g (3 ounces) butter ¼ teaspoon nutmeg ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4 cups, 1 kg (2.2 pounds) pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cubed 1 tablespoon plain flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon light cream 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley Melt half the butter in a 6-litre/quart saucepan over moderate heat. Add the nutmeg, black pepper, and pumpkin cubes and saute for 10 minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil, cooking until the pumpkin is very tender. Empty the contents of the saucepan into a blender and add half the milk. Puree the mixture carefully. Remove and set aside. Rinse the saucepan. Heat Serve the hot soup in individual pre-warmed soup bowls, garnished with light cream and chopped parsley. • Email to a friend • Related • •Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: Antikythera Mechanism The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical calculator (also described as the first known mechanical computer) designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1901 from the Antikythera wreck, but its complexity and significance were not understood until decades later. It is now thought to have been built about 150 BC. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks appeared in Europe. Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University who led the most recent study of the mechanism said: “This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely carefully…in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa.” The device is displayed in the Bronze Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, accompanied by a reconstruction made and offered to the museum by Derek de Solla Price. The most recent findings of The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project were published in the July 30, 2008, edition of Nature. As you might expect, some believe it came from ancient India. Filed under: Science      • Email to a friend • Related • •ISKCON News.com: Airport Body Scanners Violate Islamic Law, Muslims Say
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Prabhupada Smaranam These are two pictures from Srila Prabhupada's December 1969 visit to Boston. He was coming directly from his triumphant installation of Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara at the Burrystreet temple in London and the devotees' association with The Beatles. The first picture is taking at Logan Airport, Boston. As you can see, the devotees are completely "over the moon" in greeting Srila Prabhupada. The police came over and told us "cool it!", but the devotees couldn't contain themselves. As the temple president, I tried to calm them down out of fear that we would all be arrested for disturbing the peace, but I couldn't stop them. Just look at the expression on the girls' faces! One girl (on the right) is holding a water sprinkler and I think she just hit Srila Prabhupada in the face with some water. The girl on the left is throwing flower petals before Prabhupada's feet (not approved by the airport officials). Prabhupada has about five flower garlands around his neck. The devotees were screaming. They were so happy to see him! There were devotees from New York as well as Boston and maybe a hundred devotees were at the airport. (The Boston temple housed sixty devotees, including ISKCON Press workers). The second picture shows Prabhupada walking up to the second floor of the temple building where the deity room was located. He had driven from the airport on snow covered ground in a chauffeured limousine. The devotees had hurried back in packed cars and vans. They were ecstatic to the point of rowdiness, knocking each other down in the press of bodies and eagerness to get close to Prabhupada. He is wearing a handmade woolen winter sweater with a hood. Prabhupada took a tour of the entire large house including the press room where the printing presses were located, the basement where the pages were collided and bound, the kitchen where big bags of grains were stored to his pleasure and finally to the vyasasana where he delivered a long lecture. Prabhupada was then driven to a comfortable house in Needham, Massachusetts, where he would stay for the duration of his visit. Unfortunately it continued to snow and Prabhupada cut his visit short and left after a few days to his warmer western head quarters in Los Angeles. Had his house in need him, Prabhupada held a meeting of ISKCON Press workers whom he called his "major sankirtan party" and he set down many rules of grammar and punctuation for his books. It was a short but blissful visit. • Email to a friend • Related • •ISKCON News.com: 25th Anniversary of Meatout Urges "Eat For Life!"
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• Email to a friend • Related • •ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Gangesvara prabhuSrimad Bhagavatam 11.17.43 - By giving charity to brahmanas, all living entities receive actual benefit. • Email to a friend • Related • •ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Jaya Radha Madhava - Gangesvara PrabhuLength: 11:15 • Email to a friend • Related • •Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: the cause of and cure for sicknessAll our ailments are due to the external body. Although we have to suffer some time from bodily inconveniences specially in the old age, still if we are God conscious, we shall not feel the pangs. The best thing is therefore to chant the holy Name of the Lord constantly. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Mr. Dambergs (senior) -- New York 12 April, 1967 • Email to a friend • Related • •ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Rasanandini MatajiWednesday 17th February, 2010. • Email to a friend • Related • •David Haslam, UK: Understanding were we areThe other day I was reading a lovely facebook posting and it reminded me of a holiday to Ireland I had many years ago; it’s quite a lovely little story but is made more special as I look at it further from a vedic point of view. The story goes thus: I was once lost in [...] • Email to a friend • Related • •Gauranga Kishore das,USA: Avatar Movie Review
  My wife and I had been hearing a lot about Avatar recently so we decided to check it out. Initially I had heard the movie wasn't anything special but we began to hear more and more about it and decided to see what all the hype was about. I have to say that we both really enjoyed that movie. Of course the movie is visually stunning, and pushes the limits of movie technology utilizing computer graphics and 3D technology in way that no one has done yet. But if that's all there was to the movie we wouldn't have gone to see it. The movie is a very very thinly veiled social commentary on European and American capitalism, imperialism and colonialism. The basic plot summary is that humans come to destroy this beautiful planet and the people there to mine a rare mineral contained underground. This is could've been any one of a hundred countries in Africa or South America or the Middle East, or India. In the movie, the Navi successfully defend their planet from the evil colonialists who would destroy their planet and their civilization. The movie had a happy ending but for me I left sad knowing that in real life there are no happy endings and the same thing is going on without any happy ending right now in the Middle East and in so many other places. The political and ethical message of the movie was good. Essentially the idea is that you can't just go in and destroy an entire community because you want to kind of natural resource they happen to be sitting on. That is an important message, always has always will, and it is especially relevant given the current wars in the Middle East. Unfortunately most people don't realize that America is doing this, and has been for a very long time, first with the Native Americans and with third world countries all over the world. And even for those that are aware of the global implications of our consumerist lifestyle viable alternatives to global capitalism are not immediately apparent, at least not in any attractive form. The movie does try to present the idea that there is another way to live, a way that is more in harmony with nature, and therefore with God. The movie does do a decent job of this but I would've liked to see more depth of philosophical insight into social issues and an attempt to offer solution. But I guess it is only a movie and we can't expect and it would be unfair to expect them to solve the social problems that humanity has been struggling with since the beginning of recorded history. One thing I would've like to see, which wouldn't have been asking too much, would've been the Navi depicted as being vegetarian. There was one scene in which they go hunting, and after killing the animal they offer a prayer to the great spirit, which is what I had heard that native Americans always did. But here on Pandora there wouldn't have been any need for them to kill animals as the climate was tropical and they would've easily had adequate food year round. Vegetarianism would've fit perfectly into depiction of the Navi as a race of people totally in harmony with nature. And it would've actually offered a tangible solution to the devastation being caused around the world and especially in the Middle East due to the over consumption of fossil fuels. Industrial animal agriculture is the number one cause of deforestation, fossil fuel consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. It is seems like it should've been a no brainer to portray the Navi as vegetarians. But that reveals the basic flaw of the movie, although it was well intentioned it fell short of providing solutions to the all too real problems that face us due to a lack of insight into the problems. Srila Prabhupada's books provide so much information about the ideal form of human civilization and we need to get it out there because there is such a desperate need for the knowledge. The Vedic civilization actually contains a working model, philosophically and practically as to how humanity to can live peacefully, prosperously and happily. Ultimately what was missing from the movie, and from all of Western civilization and therefore Western philosophy is a clear idea about God and our relationship to God. This is what Srimad Bhagavatam can provide for us. Srila Prabhupada writes in the introduction of Srimad Bhagavatam that it will this gap in society by "ontological education." "Human prosperity flourishes by natural gifts and not by gigantic industrial enterprises. The gigantic industrial enterprises are products of a godless civilization, and they cause the destruction of the noble aims of human life. The more we go on increasing such troublesome industries to squeeze out the vital energy of the human being, the more there will be unrest and dissatisfaction of the people in general, although a few only can live lavishly by exploitation. The natural gifts such as grains and vegetables, fruits, rivers, the hills of jewels and minerals, and the seas full of pearls are supplied by the order of the Supreme, and as He desires, material nature produces them in abundance or restricts them at times. The natural law is that the human being may take advantage of these godly gifts by nature and satisfactorily flourish on them without being captivated by the exploitative motive of lording it over material nature. The more we attempt to exploit material nature according to our whims of enjoyment, the more we shall become entrapped by the reaction of such exploitative attempts. If we have sufficient grains, fruits, vegetables and herbs, then what is the necessity of running a slaughterhouse and killing poor animals? A man need not kill an animal if he has sufficient grains and vegetables to eat. The flow of river waters fertilizes the fields, and there is more than what we need. Minerals are produced in the hills, and the jewels in the ocean. If the human civilization has sufficient grains, minerals, jewels, water, milk, etc., then why should it hanker after terrible industrial enterprises at the cost of the labor of some unfortunate men? But all these natural gifts are dependent on the mercy of the Lord. What we need, therefore, is to be obedient to the laws of the Lord and achieve the perfection of human life by devotional service." Bhaktivedanta Purports 1.8.40  • Email to a friend • Related • •ISKCON News.com: Mayapur GBC Meetings: Day 8
• Email to a friend • Related • •Sutapa das, BV Manor, UK: Emotional Rollercoaster It's amazing how we often allow minor things to determine our state of happiness or distress. Life can be a real emotional rollercoaster. You can have a great morning, but by the evening the world looks completely different. Each and every interaction, incident, comment, expectation and frustration seems to significantly alter our sense of wellbeing. I guess some are more sensitive than others, but we all experience this to some degree. The ancient scriptures explain that one who is in such a state of emotional flux is basically in maya, or illusion. Maya Well, half the game is simply to ignore the mind and all the momentary concoctions that it comes up with. We learn that we can't always take ourselves too seriously. The other half is to strengthen the intelligence and try to see the world through philosophical glasses. The rational and sagacious approach helps to keep things in perspective. But the ultimate winner is to become spiritually self-realised. At that time, one realises the temporary nature of the mind, the body, its interactions and the events of this world. In the context of the souls eternity, one is no longer affected by the hub of emotions generated by the temporary 'vehicles' we are driving. The Bhagavad-gita likens the self-realised person's consciousness to a colossal ocean which is constantly being filled by various streams and rivers, but always remains calm, balanced and never overflows. literally means "that which is not". So how do we deal with the fleeting emotions?  • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: GBC Meeting Report #5
The GBC deputies began the eighth day of the Annual General Meeting of ISKCON's Governing Body Commission with another session of voting. GBC members discussed and voted on GBC Ministry and GBC Committee member appointments, such as the Minister of Book Distribution, Minister of Education, and Guru Services Committee members. • Email to a friend • Related • •Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN: Australia in the 1970s — 1972Here’s a few from ‘72:
This is April 1st 1972, Srila Prabhupada’s second visit to Australia. He is seen here on his Vyasasana on his arrival at the temple on April 1 1972. On the left in the photo is his servant Nanda Kumara das. Others members of the party were Shyamasundara dasa, secretary, and Sanskrit editor Pradyumna prabhu. When he arrived, the vyasasana was on the right wall of the temple so that Prabhupada had his right hand side towards the Deities. He immediately had us switch it to the other wall so that his left side was to the altar. Note the reel-to-reel recorder on the right. One of the bhaktas, Wally, who was a university professor and who was initiated the following week as Vyasadeva das, lent his expensive recording equipment for recording Prabhupada’s lectures etc. Unfortunately in the week afterwards, he accidentally erased all the recordings!
Srila Prabhupada leaving Glebe temple after the first night’s lecture April 1 1972. On Prabhupada’s right is Radha Raman, the son of Raghunatha and Gaurangi prabhus. Above him is 17 years old Bhakta Ray, who became Rajendra dasa on April 9 1972 when about 15 of us were initiated. He ’blooped’ (left, fell back into the ocean of material existence) within three days. When this was reported to Srila Prabhupada, who by that time had travelled on to New Zealand, he is said to have commented, “He did not accept me, and I do not accept him.” On the right of the photo is Sydney temple president Mohanananda dasa, who was only 19 years old! This next one was taken a few days later in Melbourne when Srila Prabhupada installed small Radha Krishna Deities and also awarded sannyasa to French-Canadian Hanuman dasa:
On the left is Jagatarini dasi and behind Srila Prabhupada is Shyamasundara prabhu. This next one was taken on the first Rathayatra ever held in Australia in late June 1972. We built one chariot, carved new Deities of Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra and marched in procession through the streets of Melbourne, ending up in a small hall. We put on a feast and a drama which concluded with Srila Prabhupada’s image being projected onto the wall while the devotees danced ecstatically in kirtana.
• Email to a friend • Related • •Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN: Australia in the 1970s — 1971My wife Sitala (here she is last month in Byron Bay on Harinama sankirtana)
just got back from Australia the other week and brought with her some photo albums we had left there in 2004. My last posting was a result of rummaging thro’ them, and here’s some more curiosities from my early days in ISKCON downunder. Almost all of these photos have never been published before, at least to my knowledge. Here’s a black and white of Srila Prabhupada installing Radha Gopinath in Sydney at the old Paddington temple on his first visit to Australia in 1971
Next to Prabhupada, dressing the Deity of Gopinatha is Bali Mardan prabhu, the first person to bring the Hare Krishna Movement to Australia. On the far right is Dipak das, a Texan and one of the early recruits. • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Sriman Grahila Prabhu - update
We are very happy to report that against all odds, Grahila prabhu has been making steady progress in the last week and his health is improving to the point that his doctor is saying that he may recover his normal health within one month • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Part II: Setting the Record Straight on Srila Prabhupada's Audio
Yes indeed several devotees have stepped forward offering their help and are mostly now on board engaged with the much needed transcribing and proofreading program. • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Controller of the Uncontrollable
When transcendental devotional service, by which love for Krishna is attained, is executed by the senses, it is called Sadhana-Bhakti, or the regulative discharge of devotional service. • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Ratha Yatra Coconut Grove
Of course, most people who watched the 5,000-year-old event last weekend had no idea what they were watching when a chariot decorated with blue, red and yellow canopy, which was adorned with swans and lotus flowers came down the street -- with 300 people singing and dancing around it. • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Horoscope of the Supreme Lord Shri Chaitanya
Thus in the year 1407 of the Çaka Era [A.D. 1486], in the month of Phälguna [February-March], in the evening of the full-moon day, the desired auspicious moment arrived." (CC Adi.13.89) • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: ISKCON SRI SRI RADHA-MADHAVA IS IN NEED OF DEVOTEES TO SERVE SRI SRI RADHA-MADHAVAKeyur: THE DEVOTEE CAN BE MALE OR FEMALE, AND MUST BE FIXED IN THEIR ASHRAM. HE/SHE MUST BE WILLING TO SERVE AT LEAST FOR TWO YEARS. • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Now online: "Gita changes" for chapter threeKaisori (dasi) (BBT): "The changes" for chapter three of Bhagavad-Gita As It Is are now online at www.BBTedit.com/changes • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Sree Mayapur Festival now on the iPhoneAntardwip (das) JPS (UK): Sree Mayapur Festival is now available for the iPhone or iTouch. • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Service Opportunity with Salary and BenefitsAkruranatha dasa: I am forwarding the following email I received recently from a secretary of the Hindu Mandir Executives Committee organized by Vishva Hindu Parishad in the USA. It appears the U.S. Armed Forces are looking for qualified Hindu chaplains • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Rigorous argument for the existence of God using chemistry and physicsMadhavendra Puri das: In the 1970s I worked as a physicist for Hughes Research Laboratories. In 1982 I joined ISKCON and worked with Drutakarma Prabhu and Sadaputa Prabhu on Origins Magazine and Forbidden Archeology. • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: A Book that talks - VideoShyamagopika: We are in the midst of most ecstatic Gaura Purnima festival 2010 in Mayapur. Many exciting events are happening all around. If you are in Mayapur during Darshan Arti time, you will see a mataji in the courtyard drawing attention of everyone with her amazing book that talks. • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Prayers by Lord SivaHariharan Iyer: The great sage Maitreya continued: Out of his causeless mercy, the exalted personality Lord Śiva, a great devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa, continued to speak to the King's sons, who were standing with folded hands • Email to a friend • Related • •Dandavats.com: Journey to Ecstasy: Vaishnava ViewpointAnandamaya das: A new non-fiction spiritual book, Journey to Ecstasy: Vaishnava Viewpoint, by Anandamaya das, a long-time practitioner of bhakti yoga, is now out in soft-cover as well as an Amazon Kindle version. • Email to a friend • Related • •Shalagram das, Dallas, TX, USA: Using Wood for Raised Beds“Don’t use treated wood in your veggie garden!” How many times have you heard this? CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate) wood has been off the market for seven years now, so there is no need to discuss that. The newer wood (ACQ) has copper and an ammonium compound, so the primary concern is the copper. The type available in the south [...] • Email to a friend • Related • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1967 February 17: "Now my staying in your country is increased for two years at least. Let us take help from Krishna by honestly working for Him rather than utopian theories. Even there are three centres I can move everywhere without any tiresome feeling. I can stay one month in each centre and see that things are going in order."  • Email to a friend • Related • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1968 February 17: "I am very happy you are making nice arrangements for the Kirtana Party. And I am so happy to hear you are finding strength to spread Krishna Consciousness all over the world. My Guru Maharaja wanted like that, especially the Western world, to every home, to every village and town."  • Email to a friend • Related • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1969 February 17: "I have considered your thoughts on the matter of our printing press, and for the time, the matter is still pending. Regarding your reprinting of my letters, if it will not detract from your other important engagements you may do it."  • Email to a friend • Related • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1970 February 17: "The potency of spreading Krsna Consciousness is everywhere the same. In every village and town all over the world there are many candidates who are awaiting this message. Chant your daily beads regularly. Follow the footsteps of the disciplic succession and everything will come out successful."  • Email to a friend • Related • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1973 February 17: "It is brought to my attention that he has become deviated from the four basic principles given to all my students when initiated. He must be brought back to the standard immediately. I have not made any decision, but I would like you to discuss this amongst yourselves and send me your conclusion."  • Email to a friend • Related • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1974 February 17: "The value of accepting a bona fide Spiritual Master is more than we can calculate. It is not a mere formality. We must become free of all material desires and this can only be achieved by following a bona fide Spiritual Master."  • Email to a friend • Related • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1975 February 17: "Krishna will see that you are sincerely trying to follow the real process of Krishna Consciousness and He will give you all help. Don't try to manufacture some artificial process. The real process I have already given you. Now you simply have to follow it strictly."  • Email to a friend • Related • •Srila Prabhupada's Letters1975 February 17: "Prepare seven different dances from Caitanya Caritamrta and seven different dances from Krishna Book. When you come I shall give you personal direction. It will be very attractive. We can go all over with a party of dancers and perform these dances and distribute our books."  • Email to a friend • Related • •Mayapur Online: HH Tamal Krishna Maharaja's disappearance day Celebrations
On HH Tamal Krishna Goswami's dispperance day festival on 15th Feb, we had the fortune to hear and associate with his younger brother Carl and his wife in Mayapur. Glorification took place in community hall with different disciples and god brothers of Maharaja remembering him, followed by pushpanjali & arti at this Samadhi Mandir. This was followed by feast prasadam. • Email to a friend • Related • •Mayapur Online: Live from Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir!
Hare Krishna! So today is the disappearance day of Srila Jagannath das Babaji Maharaj; Srila Rasikananda Prabhu and Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaj and because of this occasion we are going to sing a special song, which is the lamentation between separation from the ward and his superiors. It is written by Srila Narottam Das Thakura. We chanted this song in the morning after mangal arati so in the class also because of the day also of celebrating the disappearance of the three very exalted devotees, acaryas we will sing the song. And that is why today also because it is the disappearance day of these personalities we don't have any particular verse. We will speak on each of these diffferentpersonalities. Listen here Bhakti Charu Swami's class. • Email to a friend • Related • •Mayapur Online: Russian Day in Mayapur
Around 1500 devotees from Russia have arrived for the Gaura Purnima festival 2010. For the first time, we are having separate Russian Parikrama starting from tomorrow. Main stage cultural programs shows are also put up by Hanuman Theatre of Russia. Usually, one day during the festival will be Russian day, wherein Russian devotees will lead the kirtan, dress and cook for the deities, clean the temple, serve Prasadam and so on. On 16th, enthusiastic Russian devotees went into action. It is also fun for many local devotees (especially the kids) to learn to speak few Russian words. • Email to a friend • Related • •Japa Group: Please Join the Japa Group
Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world...simply send me an introduction email and I will be happy to make you a member:  • Email to a friend • Related • •Sita-pati dasa, AU: Dave Stringer in Brisbane
Dave Stringer is back for 2010 with a concert in Brisbane on March 16. If you went to his concert last year you know what an amazing kirtan experience it was, and if you missed it - well, here's your chance!
Dave writes: , with me. Nothing I've made previously captures the essence of the interplay between band and audience as well as this, and it sounds great. I'll be playing a lot of the new kirtans from this CD each evening, but I am also happy to take requests for old favorites. Just send me an email. This year, again, the concert in Brisbane is at The Yoga Den, which is on Level 1 at 43 Vulture St. Tickets are $20 and are available for purchase online at www.atmayoga.com.au. If you can't make it on Tuesday night, Dave is doing kirtan in Ipswich and Byron Bay on Wednesday and Thursday. I'll be playing bass at all three, so I hope to see you there! Haribol! - Sitapati IPSWICH, QLD BYRON BAY, NSW • Email to a friend • Related • •Yoga of Ecology, Bhakta Chris, USA: Natural Gas Royalties To Improve Hare Krishna Community Image: Keri Brown Marshall County residents review drilling leases at "lease signing party." On Sunday, dozens of people including members of the Hare Krishna community got together in Marshall County to sign over their natural gas rights. They see it as a way to invest in their community. More residents in the Northern Panhandle area are being approached by natural gas companies to drill on their properties because of rich Marcellus shale reserves in the Appalachian Basin. More than 50 people gathered at the Limestone Fire Hall in MarshallCounty for a "lease signing party" to seal the deal with Ohio-based AB Resources. The area includes around 8,000 acres in MarshallCounty, with about 2,000 acres in the Hare Krishna Community, New Vrindaban. Ralph Seward is one of the landowners who agreed to the deal. "The most awesome thing is there are two different types of leases a drill lease and a non-drill lease, but here since we negotiated as a block everybody gets the same amount of money and that is great. I have a non-drill lease and I'm pleased, my wife is pleased we get the money same amount as if they were drilling on our property," said Seward. For the past several years, the Hare Krishna community near Moundsville has been struggling to find ways to refurbish its treasures like the Palace of Gold and its worshipping temple. The Palace of Gold has some crumbling concrete and metal fixtures that need replaced. The temple needs a new roof and doors. Krishna member Gabriel Fried said the money received from the lease agreement will help rebuild the Krishna community. "We want very much to refurbish temple area, the housing but more than that we want to do it in an environmentally friendly way. We have plans on doing bulk purchases of solar hot water heaters; we were just discussing that here in the building and solar panels, wind generation. "We are very excited about doing this and using this money to help stimulate the economy on an ecological level and to be able to make us self-sustaining as possible," said Fried. The lease agreement includes $2,500 an acre and 18 3/4 percent of the gas royalties. The money also will be used to improve the community's organic garden. Terry Sheldon manages the Krishna's small farm training center. "Some of these monies will be used to promote apprentice programs and the presence of cows in a farm community means guaranteed fertility in a community and when you have fertile soil you have social security so the money will be used to create housing and infrastructure enhance our cow protection program," said Sheldon. Fried said the Krishna's plan to plant hundreds of nut trees on their property. Future plans even include building a holistic health clinic with the royalties. The Krishna agreement also includes drilling 400-feet below where the community pulls its water from. In the mid 1980's, there were more than 600 Hare Krishna members living in the New Vrindaban community. Today, that number is about 200. AB Resources Vice President, Mark Van Tyne said his company tailored the 19-page agreement to meet the needs of the Krishna's and surrounding community. "We agreed not run trucks when school buses run. Also, will be putting in a water and fluid line to bring frack water to locations instead by truck piping it in and water that is produced from well will be moved through those same lines to an area to avoid truck traffic," said Van Tyne. AB Resources said it has also agreed not to run its trucks during busy tourism holidays for the Krishna's including Mother's Day weekend, Labor Day and the Fourth of July. The agreement also includes more financial protections or "shut-in fees" for lease signers when oil and gas companies close a well. For the past three years, the West Virginia Surface Owner's Rights Organization, headed by Charleston attorney David McMahon has introduced bills to protect property rights. The bill has failed to pass, but McMahon said he is getting ready to introduce a new, scaled down version to lawmakers. "Before they file their permit and before they come on to the land we want to let us know they are coming on to the land and provide us with statutes and the Surface Damage Compensation Act and the Reclamation manual, so surface owners know what they are doing." "This year, we will take out the requirement that the companies sell us gas from the well, the companies were adamantly against that and they were also against increasing damages from market value to current use value and so we are probably going to take that out and give it one more try to get a surface bill passed," said McMahon. McMahon is also pushing for oil and gas companies to use more horizontal drilling techniques to reduce the number of vertical wells placed on people's property. As for the Hare Krishnas, they plan to start renovations in the New Vrindaban community this summer.  • Email to a friend • Related • •H.H. Bhakti Caitanya Swami: Photos from Mayapur• Email to a friend • Related • •Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: TKG Academy - 1st-8th Grade Bhajan - Thanksgiving Lunch 1/2TKG Academy hosted a lunch at Thanskgiving. This bhajan is a presentation from the 1st-8th grade students. Dallas, TX • Email to a friend • Related • •Mayapur Online: GBC Meeting Report #4 : February 11-12th
Governance of ISKCON's managerial bodies was the main topic of discussion for the sixth day of ISKCON's Governing Body Commission's Annual General Meeting in Mayapur, India. At present, ISKCON not only has an international Governing Body Commission • Email to a friend • Related • •Gouranga TV: Sri Nityananda Prabhus Appearance Day – Trivikrama Swami BhajanSri Nityananda Prabhus Appearance Day – Trivikrama Swami Bhajan Orlando 29/01/10 • Email to a friend • Related • •More Recent Articles
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