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Session 1: Presentation on karma and astrology introduction
Session 2: Vedic astrology as opposed to Western astrology and description of the zodiacs Session 3: Planets and houses Session 4: Strength and weakness of planets and houses: Benefic and Malefic planets Session 5: continued, plus analysis of some charts Session 6: continued and maybe a presentation on reincarnation
For more information, please contact Sammohini on 0406 413 719
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.25.8 - Manifestations of the material modes of nature.
Length: 7:58
Hare Krsna dear devotees. There are always many instructions and questions about how to chant attentively, we know that one of the main offences on chanting the holy names is inattention and when we commit this offence all the other offences can be commited as well, so I would like to share with you an instruction that Srila Prabhupada gave and it was told by H.H. Sacinandana Maharaja about this topic:
A disciple had asked Srila Prabhupada how to chant with attention--how to deal with the restless mind--and His Divine Grace replied, “Just hear yourself chanting sincerely.”
I hope you have a great week of chanting.
your servant,
Aruna devi
Yesterday I took the elevator up to the second floor of a certain building built in 1929 on the campus of the University of Florida. I rung the doorbell and the woman at the desk motioned for me to enter through the glass doors.
I stepped into the deep quiet of the Baldwin Library, Special Collections. The vaulted wood ceilings cast a hush over me, as if I was entering a cathedral. After I signed a plethora of permission sheets, the librarian disappeared to fetch two books for me.
When she returned, she placed two books upon the table. My heart jumped. I glanced at the librarian and she gave me a smile.
With a cautious hand, I opened the cover of the first book, which was covered in maroon leather that dully shone. Upon the brittle pages was a copyright date from over 230 years ago.
230 years ago.
In awe, I opened to a random page. The author was a man who traveled with the British embassy - he told of his adventures and the diplomacy of missions to the Far East. The author spoke about the 1760s as if that era was not so long ago. On one page I saw ancient Devanagari script scribbled in pencil, as if a scholar in India had taken notes.
I flagged down a librarian. "This little piece of paper says that this book was sold to the University around 60 or 70 years ago for $375. How much is it worth today?"
The librarian grinned. "Oh, 230 years old? Over 10,000 dollars."
I gasped.
I opened the second book, which told the tales of two boys and a Doctor who travel the world.
130 years old.
I skipped ahead to the chapter when the crew touches shore in "Pooree". The book overflowed with meticulous and stunning illustrations, and so lo and behold when I turned a page, there was Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra! The author even drew a map of the famous temple. I guess that was before the priests outlawed the entrance of Westerners into the temple.
For an hour, I entered the ancient world of these books. The sound of turning brittle pages seemed to echo off the ceiling.
As I was about to leave, I took one last glance upon the inside cover of the children's book. In faded script was a little note that said something like, "To Harry, Dec. 25, '81"
It took me a moment to process the year.
1881.
Where have these books been? Who were the people that wrote them? Who were the people that turned these pages before me, throughout the decades... throughout the centuries...?
Somehow, a person who lived a hundred and two hundred years ago set words to paper. I will never know how he looks, never know how he speaks, and he is forever lost to the sands of time. But somehow, that person has reached out through the centuries to speak with me.
Then I pondered how Srila Prabhupad's books continue to change lives to this very day, even though he's no longer on the planet. His books will continue to reach out and mold the lives of people all over the world, for hundreds - for thousands - of years to come. His books have certainly changed my life.
That is the power of the written word.
And then I wonder: Will someone a hundred, two hundred, maybe even three hundred years from now be reading these words of an insignificant young woman?
***
So now I am seeing more and more that my senior disciples must take and active role in continuing the high standard of purity which has been established in our Vaisnava line. In your travelling from centre to centre, you must be very careful to see that the leaders are observing the principles of chanting 16 rounds, rising early for Mangala Arati, participating in the morning and evening classes, observing the four regulative principles etc., and if there is any deviation from this standard then it is the responsibility of you and the local GBC representative to rectify it immediately. Within these Vaisnava standards which I have put forward lies the spiritual strength of our movement. So you may please do the needful in this regard.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Sudama -- Sydney 16 February, 1973
There is always times when you are forced into a position were there is little or know alternative but to recommend that there is a need to ask a devotee to not enter into or onto temple/centers. The professional head conflicts with that of the devotee and is a balancing act that at times has [...] You guessed it! More recipes by my cooking guru, Yamuna Devi! Before attempting to cook any of her recipes, make sure you are aware of the difference between US measures and Australian/metric measures. See below* Phool Bhag, the palace compound of Pratapkumar, Crown Prince of Alwar, is an example of spiritual management and nature’s perfect arrangements. Situated in Rajasthan’s northeastern arid desert, the complex encompasses acres of flower-spangled gardens and lakes and offers sanctuary to numerous bird and animal species – elephants, camels, cows, buffaloes, deer, horses, peacocks, sheep, rabbits, goats, lions and tigers. Pratap Kumar attributes his wealth and success in life to his dedicated daily worship in the Sri Janaki-Vallabha Temple. This statement reflects his personal lifestyle and philosophy: “In India, the temple is the center of activity in the royal place. Worship of the Lord must personally be performed by the king before he can accept worship in the palace”. The Sri Janaki-Vallabha Temple kitchens engage nearly 20 expert cooks in the service of the Deities. Though they excel in local Rajasthani cuisine, they are proficient in numerous others. This is done of the cooling beverages served during the hot summer months. Saffron can also be added to this recipe. Preparation and nut soaking time: about 1 hour, Serves: 4
2/3 cup (100g) blanched almonds, ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds, 4 whole peppercorns, 2 cups boiling water, ¼ cup honey, 2 cups white grape juice, ½ tablespoon rose water, 2 cups still water or sparkling water.
Place the almonds, cardamom seeds and peppercorns in a bowl and add 1¼ cups boiling water. Set aside for 1 hour. Pour into a blender, cover, and reduce the nuts to a fine paste. Add the remaining 3/4 cup boiling water and the honey and blend for ½ minute. Line a sieve with three thicknesses of cheesecloth. Pour the nut milk through the sieve, then extract as much liquid as possible. (the nut pulp can be saved for cutlets or salad dressing). Add a little grape juice to the blender and process briefly to release any almonds sticking to the sides of the jar. Add to the sieved nut milk. Pour the remaining grape juice, rose water and water into the nut milk and blend well. Chill before serving. *Note that since Yamuna wrote her recipes using US measurements, the weights are in US with metric in brackets. More importantly, her tablespoons are US (15ml) whereas Australian/metric tablespoons are 20ml. So if you follow these recipes using metric measures, your tablespoons should be scant. Similarly, the US cup is 240ml as distinct from the Australian/metric 250ml cup. The same scant measuring should thus apply to Australian/metric cup users. The teaspoon is a universal 5ml.
For the last few weeks I've been opening up to questions about the civil war in my country and using some memories as tools to help the listener understand how philosophy isn't about hypothetical situations. I sometimes have to take myself back to age eleven and see things from that point of view as well. Today I sat with my mind as it drilled this question into me: " are you telling this story for recognition? Sympathy? What is the actual reason?
As the mental interrogation continued, clarity found its way to the forefront- because it has become real to me. As an eleven year old, the civil war in Liberia was no more than a Rambo war movie happening in my yard and around the country. As a thirty one year old, when I speak of the war, it flows with Krsna's teachings in the Gita about Divine and Demoniac natures.
 Of course as a kid there were some real moments of seeing death and dying and the other things that come with war, and those things made me think of why the war would happen. Didn't the leaders go to church also? Why were they fighting then? As the pages of the 16th chapter of the Gita read on, a clear understanding of people came to mind. Something else that struck was that if I don't contemplate this philosophy each day, that demonic mentality of exploiting for my senses would also poke its ugly head through my not so strong spiritual fort- and destroy it. After all in this age, the mentality of demon and demigod live in the same body, and the one we feed most becomes the leader.
 Srila Prabhupada's books gives us a glimpse of spiritual nature (as well as the full picture), if we contemplate what we read. His simple explanation of the green bird in the green tree to explain individuality over impersonalism, or a young bird maturing and using its wings to fly out of the nest of material comforts, are a few examples that show us day to day exercises that can free us from the illusory energy.
Best example of all is the cleansing of the mirror of the mind, and the constant sincere chanting of Krsna's names as "windex" leaning product. Again, if we simply contemplate, we can understand our position in the material cloudy atmosphere. No sane person, after reading such words like "dukhalayam asasvatam" and contemplating it just a little bit, would want to make a permanent position of this world. And this mantra is our way out! So the mercy has been given and the verses have been read, and now let us all dive a little deeper and try to develop a bit of a higher taste, and give up gradually the lap of illusion we've slept in so long....
Good day :)
www.sdgonline.org. 
3:49 A.M.Namamrta by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
‘Offensive chanting of the holy name:
“The offenses against the chanting of the holy name are as follows:
1) To blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy name of the Lord.
2) To consider the names of demigods like Lord Siva or Lord Brahma to be equal to or independent of the holy name of Vishnu.
3) To disobey the order of the spiritual master.
4) To blaspheme the Vedic literature or literature in pursuance of the Vedic version.
5) To consider the glories of chanting Hare Krishna to be imagination.
6) To give some interpretations on the holy name of the Lord.
7) To commit sinful activities on the strength of chanting the holy name of the Lord. 8) To consider the chanting of Hare Krishna one of the auspicious ritualistic activities offered in the Vedas as fruitive activities karma-kandha.
9) To instruct a faithless person about the glories of the holy name.
10) To not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names and to maintain material attachments even after understanding so many instructions on this matter. ”Every devotee who claims to be a Vaisnava must guard against these offenses in order to quickly achieve the desired success.” (The Nectar of Devotion) When we sit down to chant our japa we have to have already avoided these ten offenses. They occur in the behavior of a devotee even when he is not chanting. It is a life of offenseless chanting, not just a performance during the two hours of japa. These are attitudes.
Therefore we can understand that japa is not a two-hour exercise but a twenty-four hour way of life. The chanting is all-comprehensive, and it entails leading a life dedicated to chanting and good behavior. If you have these offenses then your chanting cannot make quick success. These offenses are elaborated on in the Sri Harinama Cintamani by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and ways to avoid them are suggested. Bhaktivinoda Thakura also looks at the ten offenses with a positive interpretation of each one rather than a negative one. In other words, for the first offense, instead of blaspheming the devotees who dedicated their lives, he says we should be joyful on seeing the devotees. Instead of disobeying the order of the spiritual master, we should always be very faithful and eager to carry out the orders of the spiritual master. Instead of blaspheming the Vedic literature, we should be very eager to read it and be very faithful. In this way the ten offenses can be interpreted in positive ways as behavior favorable to chanting. This morning I woke up and got out of bed about 1:30 A.M. But my chanting was very slow. Baladeva says this maybe due to actually drowsing or spacing out, and that this accounts for the fact that so much time goes by and you don’t accumulate numerical strength. I didn’t think I was drowsing, but I just couldn’t gather up speed. By 3:45 I had not even chanted twelve rounds. I will try to complete them with a good behavior later in the morning. Too-slow chanting is
a poor performance.
You don’t exactly know
why it takes place.
But it must mean
you are not vigilantly alert
to the passing of the
mantras through your mind.
You reprimand yourself,
but there’s not much
profit in that. You
accept what you are
doing and persevere.
Count your rounds and
move along, feeling
humbled and failing
but remaining determined.
It’s just one of
those days.
www.sdgonline.org.
One Hundred Prabhupada Poems, #47
You said:
chant Hare Krishna, follow four rules,
morning and evening classes attend,
no frivolous sports or gambling.
That was 1966. Also you said
I should keep my job at the welfare department,
then go open a center in Boston
and stay there. Be on the GBC (1970),
yes I could become a sannyasi (’72)
and then in ’74 you called me to
be your personal servant. So much
for my curriculum vitae.
You—
I will read your books.
You have given us the prayers
of Lord Siva to Sankarsana praising the
Supreme Lord’s steadiness. And you gave
us the unsteadiness of Lord Caitanya
in ecstasy of Radharani’s feelings of vipralambha.
You gave us all instructions, and I don’t want
to think I have to go outside your books.
Please contain me.
Let my reading go into writing.
Give me a life in your service.
I want to be such a disciple that
anyone who hears me or reads
what I write can see it all
comes from you, every line, or if
I’m original, that’s also
surrender to you.
Murray Mednick teased
me in 1966, “You’re working
for the Swami?” “Yes,” I said. I wanted it
to be clear to everyone
and especially to you, that I am
your boy or man.
Offer whatever little breakfast
he brings in to Prabhupada.
Find a chink
in the armor of your thoughtlessness,
and slip in an earnest prayer—
please Srila Prabhupada, take the breakfast
straight from Madhu and I.
It’s for you, your morning breakfast
just as when you were in
L.A. in January ’74 and I brought it to you
on a heavy silver plate.
Please take it. I am ready to
do your bidding and travel with you
as your servant.
www.sdgonline.org.
1.
This is the last poem
in Under Dark Stars.
It’s titled “Peace.”
He sees a light of dawning
coming out from the
covering of under dark stars.
”It is not in the stars.
dear Brutus, but in ourselves,
that we are thus or thus.”
2.
Here is the poem, “Peace”:
“So don’t complain.
Cry. I don’t deserve… But
now I see a new light of dawning
Prabhupada sun, heart found in Nadia.
“Krishna is a living being
and wants you back,
you are transcendental
to the influence of those
malefic planets. If you
just call out hari-nama
and see the holy dhama at
least in your mind’s eye.
Tomorrow?”
3.
As a spirit soul I am transcendental
to the influence of Rahu.
Just chant Hare Krishna
in a humble state of mind
and if you can’t live in
Vrndavana or Mayapur
in the physical body,
then live there in your mind.
Today.
www.sdgonline.org.
I turned at random to Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto, Chapter 8, verse 29: “O Lord, no one can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which appear to be human and so are misleading. You have no specific object of favor, nor do You have any object of envy. People only imagine that You are partial.” The Lord’s mercy on the fallen souls is equally distributed. The conception of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a human being is misleading. His activities appear to be like that of a human being, but they are actually transcendental without any tinge of material contamination. He is known as partial to His pure devotees, but in fact He is not partial, just as the sun is not partial to anyone. The sun’s rays are open to everyone, but the power of the reception differs. The devotees don’t render service unto the Lord in order to get something from Him. Therefore the full mercy of the Lord is open to them. People who never approach the Lord are in complete darkness, those who approach Him for temporary benefit get some of His mercy, but the pure devotees receive His full mercy. Yet anyone who somehow puts himself in the presence of the Lord gets the benefit. (For example, those who died in the fight at Kuruksetra got salvation even without the necessary qualifications). So the Lord is never partial but the devotees get the full benefit of His nature by always wanting to be with Him and serve Him.” I gave the video poetry reading, and it went all right. Someone asked me why I was depressed when so few people attended Prabhupada’s lecture at Boston University. I said naturally it was a disappointment because I wanted Prabhupada to have a big audience. Brahmananda and other devotees criticized me for scheduling a lecture during exam times, but Prabhupada didn’t criticize me. And fortunately that was the only university lecture that was not well-attended. Someone asked me why attendance fell off at the temple lectures when at the first lecture Prabhupada shouted that there was no happiness in the material world. We had advertised heavily for the first lecture, and the little temple room was filled to capacity. But after that it dropped off dramatically, and sometimes only half a dozen people attended. I took it that the first audience was turned off by him saying that there was no happiness in the world. They wanted the Swami to teach them how to meditate and be happy at eating, mating, sleeping and defending. Someone asked how I felt as a young man serving Prabhupada in Boston. I replied that I burnt the candle at both ends. I worked hard. I ran up the stairs two at a time, took the duty of cleaning the bathrooms, and went out on harinama everyday, typed and edited Prabhupada’s tapes of Srimad-Bhagavatam and Krishna book, which arrived twice a week, and thought of what to ask and report to him in my weekly letter. I served him in intense separation and felt he was present in his instructions. Someone asked me, “It seems that Prabhupada preached by giving lectures and writing, and then left souls to approach him. He didn’t mingle or make small talk. Can we follow this mode of preaching? I feel I’m always falling over myself to be friendly and nice to people.” I replied that we didn’t have to follow Prabhupada’s example as founder-acarya. Sometimes he talked alone to strangers, but mostly he left that up to his followers to do. Mixing with people, taking prasadam with them (Prabhupada ate alone) is all responsible work on behalf of Prabhupada. We shouldn’t shirk it off and be aloof. I admit that now that I am almost 71 years old I am more selective in my use of time, but I like to see young devotees mixing with newcomers and making them feel at home. Someone asked me how we can best serve departed Godbrothers and Godsisters and what can we take from their passing. I said that on the occasion of their passing we should praise them and not criticize them. I said we should try to follow their unique examples in preaching. We can be enthusiastic for Ratha-yatra in the footsteps of Jayananda Prabhu, and follow Aindra Prabhu in his incredible enthusiasm for kirtana. We can follow Bhakti-tirtha Maharaja and try to make dynamic presentations to people of all backgrounds. And we can take note that with all these Godbrothers and Godsisters passing away, our own time is coming and we should prepare ourselves with right behavior.
60 students of North Point Senior Secondary Boarding School, Kolkata visited Mayapur for a day trip organised by Mayapur Tourism. Students were in grade 10 or above and for most of them this is their first trip to Mayapur.On arrival,they were greeted with sprinkling of cooling rose water and chandan,which later the students remarked that they considered it a special privilege to receive a warm welcome from devotees. After refreshing, they went on tour to Bhajan Kutir and Srila Prabhupada Pushpa Samadhi. read more
See how it was done here.
Bad or demonic governments are allowed by Krsna in order to punish people for sinful activity.
- Srila Prabhupada
 at the European Leaders’ Meeting October 1st. (Part 2)
What happens when we listen? Most of the time we are listening to the mind and not the mantra - recently I made an experiment....I deliberately listened to my mind on 1 practise round, then I listened to the mantra with concentration and the difference was astounding. When listening to my mind, I wasn't aware at all of the Lord's spiritual energy....I was drifting off into thoughts of the day ahead and what had happened the previous day etc. I didn't felt at all satisfied and it felt like it was a ritual and just something I had to do.On the other hand, when I was listening and hearing properly, I definitely felt a sense of satisfaction and felt like there was a whole ocean of nectar to dive into, and that I was just treading water on the surface.
There is unlimited nectar and bliss to be had if we just make this one simple effort to hear properly the Holy Names of Krsna.
Today is the last day of the World Holy Names Festival.
In service to the Holy Name and Srila Prabhupada, Janananda Maharaja accepted Simon as his disciple Sadhu Seva das. On behalf of Jayapataka Maharaja, Janananda Maharaja also initiated Nalayini as Navadwipa Iswari devi dasi.
Here is a slide show of snaps for your pleasure.
The amazing stock of pictures we can easily access is a most wonderful help while chanting and to remember the Lord. Open the following links to relish the nectar : Click here, Click here, Click here
Lecture – Prahladananda Swami – SB 9.13.6 – Don’t criticize those in difficulty
It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain why you did it wrong.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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