"Planet ISKCON" - 39 new articles
ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Krishna's Tour of India 2010Tour the holy Dhamas - Mayapur, Jagannatha Puri and Vrindavana - in the association of the devotees. Srila Prabhupada's Letters1967 May 24: "An important negotiation is going on in respect of purchasing a very nice house for the ISKCON H.Q. in New York. So I may not start in the beginning of the Second week. I hope this will not cause any inconvenience."  Srila Prabhupada's Letters1970 May 24: "I am so glad that you remember the auspicious day in 1944 when I started my Back to Godhead magazine. I think in the first issue you wrote some article. It is a great pleasure to remember those days of cooperation."  Srila Prabhupada's Letters1970 May 24: "Bhakti Saranga Goswami presided over the meeting in which our revered Kesav Maharaja participated. On account of my selecting Goswami Maharaja, Sripada Tirtha Maharaja (then Kunjababa) and Bon Maharaja also refused to accept my invitation."  Srila Prabhupada's Letters1970 May 24: "We have got now 30 centers, and in each center the devotees are going to the streets and selling Back to Godhead at the rate of 100 to 400 copies daily, and the price is $.50 per copy which is in Indian exchange Rs. 3.50."  Srila Prabhupada's Letters1972 May 24: "In India, the independent and self supporting method does not apply. Bombay is the headquarters and all other centers shall send their funds for centralizing in Bombay."  Srila Prabhupada's Letters1972 May 24: "Actually it is the duty of the Spiritual Master to find fault with his students so that they may make progress, not that he should always be praising them. I am only interested that you become Krishna Conscious."  H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Maharaja in USAPictures provided by H.G. Sribash Prabhu Click here for the galleries: New York, Brooklyn United Nations, USA New York H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Maharaja in LeicesterBhakta Preyesh – ISKCON Leicester UK On Saturday 15th May 2010, ISKCON Leicester (UK) was privileged and honored to receive a visit from His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami. Bhakti Charu Maharaja is so merciful to us here at ISKCON Leicester. Whenever he visits the UK, he always makes it a point to visit ISKCON Leicester as part [...] H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Class & Kirtan Leicester 2010The following is a kirtan and lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in ISKCON Leicester, UK - May 2010. Downloaded it from the site of ISKCON Leicester. ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Kesava PrabhuSrimad Bhagavatam 11.21.1 - uttama-bhakti means to have an intense desire to please Krishna. H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 2.37The following lecture was given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in Bhaktivedanta Manor, UK in May 2010. Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 2.37 - Chapter 2: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Thanks go out to H.G. Rupeshwar Gauranga Prabhu for the recordings. H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Importance of RetreatsThe following is a brief talk of H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in London, UK - May 2010 about the retreats such as the Malaga Retreat, the USA retreat etc. Thanks go out to H.G. Rupeshwar Gauranga Prabhu for the recordings. H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Kirtan & BhajansThe following are two kirtan/bhajans recordings of H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in London, UK - May 2010. Jaya Radha-Madhava by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura (lyrics) Suddha-Bhakata (from Saranagati) by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura (lyrics) Thanks go out to H.G. Rupeshwar Gauranga Prabhu for the recordings. H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: BCS Disciples meetingThe following is disciples meeting with H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami and his disciples friends in London, UK - May 2010. Thanks go out to H.G. Rupeshwar Gauranga Prabhu for the recordings. H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Kirtan and classThe following is a kirtan and lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in a beautiful marquis which was set up behind the home of H.G. Sandipana Krishna Prabhu - May 2010. Thanks go out to H.G. Rupeshwar Gauranga Prabhu for the recordings. H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: '446' from The Yellow Submarine4:01 A.M.I had my usual mild headache around nine o'clock last night and subdued it and got a good night's sleep. I woke at 2:00 A.M. and commenced chanting. Lately my morning chanting has been slow to begin with as I do not feel much energy. With low energy it's hard to feel very devotional, but I still kept faithful to the pronunciation of the syllables and did my earnest best to keep the quota moving. It seems there is only so much you can do and you can't achieve more than that with your limited capacity. At least I'm always there at my post as early as possible, pushing the beads and praying to Krishna through the prescribed method. I will not berate myself for that. Chanting at a slow H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 'Murti of His Divine Grace' from The Yellow SubmarinePrabhupada Smaranam
The Prabhupada murti is a wonderful facility for worship. He can be treated as if he were Prabhupada himself. Installed in an ISKCON temple, his clothes are changed daily, he is bathed, and gurupuja is performed with singing sri-guru-carana-padma and kirtana before him. Devotees can offer him a flower and make full dandavats before him. Sometimes people enter the temple for the first time and think that Prabhupada is actually sitting there, and they expect him to speak. Twelve inch-sized murtis of Prabhupada are made in resin and brass and they can be worshiped by householders in their homes or by traveling sannyasis. For many years I traveled with a Prabhupada murti in a velvet-padded box. I worshiped him in the van and in any room I was given to stay in. I offered all my food to him and massaged and bathed and changed his clothes daily. It was an intimate exchange, and I felt I was acting as Prabhupada's personal servant. I still keep the Prabhupada murti but only bathe and change his clothes once a week. All over the world murtis of Srila Prabhupada are installed in temples, and small sized ones are kept in homes. Prabhupada authorized the worship of his deity form while he was still alive. In the temples a large murti of Srila Prabhupada is kept on his vyasasana, and sometimes a small one, along with a small murti of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, is kept on the main altar. All this was ordered by Srila Prabhupada. Just as with worship of Deities of the Supreme Lord, the worship of the deity of Srila Prabhupada helps us to honor his personal presence in our lives. H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 'Offering a Poem' from The Yellow Submarine1.
The scriptures offer Krishna
I search within my cupboard
Remember the kirtanas and
2.
And Lord Caitanya's pastimes.
Offerings can be made from your repentance
Like a cook in the H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 'Fishing Boats' from The Yellow SubmarineFree write  These are fishing boats such as used by the fishermen at Jagannatha Puri in Orissa. They are crudely crafted, and the fishermen stand in the boats and drop huge nets in the water. They enter the surf with precarious maneuvers, but they are very skillful at keeping their balance without capsizing. Vaisnavas and person in the mode of goodness do not eat animal flesh, and this includes fish. The lower class of men earn their living by fishing from the sea and selling the fish in the market. Fish are low on the chain of living species, with little capacity and limited consciousness. But they are living beings, and they feel pain when the hook is caught in their lip or when they are pulled out of the water and killed by exposure to waterless environment or cut with knives. Some so-called sadhus who avoid eating cows' flesh eat fish and think it is not prohibited, but this is not a fact. A strict vegetarian diet means not eating of animals, fish and even eggs. In fact, a Vaisnava is not even a vegetarian but a "prasadatarian;" that is, he or she eats food only offered to Krishna in sacrifice and takes it as His remnants or Krishna prasadam. In Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna states which foods are offerable to Him. "If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it." Krishna is also fond of milk. But all kinds of animal sacrifice, including sea creatures, are forbidden. People sometimes argue that a devotee eats grains and fruit, which are also living entities in the vegetable kingdom. For one thing, fruits can be taken from the tree without killing the tree. But another point is that it is the law of nature that one living being exist by eating another living being. Human beings are given their quota, which include grains and vegetables, but they are not allowed to eat animals, fish etc. Only because Krishna says He accepts grains and vegetables are we able to offer them to Him and eat them as His remnants. As attested by the many Hare Krishna cookbooks, there is no shortage of sumptuous foods to be included in the human diet as food offerable to the Deity. Sita-pati dasa, AU: ISKCON Studies Conference 3.0The Third ISKCON Studies Conference is on July 16 - 19 in Italy. I won't be going, because I'll be rocking it with Amala Kirtan on his Australian visit at that time. However, I will be sure to tune in to the mp3 recordings afterwards. This year's theme is "Education, Preaching, and Conversion" It's billed as "a forum for presentations of research and open discussion among the participants", which sounds pretty cool to me. Here are some of the presentations that will be going on:
Check out the ISKCON Studies website for more deets. Now, what would be really cool is if they could live stream video via UStream, or at least a live audio feed of the event. I'd stay up all night for that. Kurma dasa, AU: OMG
And ROFL, LOL while I'm at it. I thought Indians were good at this, but it seems Pakistan does it better. BTW, I hope that's the back of the train. Would anyone like to come up with a caption for this photo? Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Krsna captivates Rukmini's heartMy dear Krsna, O infallible and most beautiful one, any human being who happens to hear about Your transcendental form and pastimes immediately absorbs through his ears Your name, fame and qualities; thus all his material pangs subside, and he fixes Your form in his heart. Through such transcendental love for You, he always sees You within himself; and by this process all his desires are fulfilled. Similarly, I have heard of Your transcendental qualities. I may be shameless in expressing myself directly, but You have captivated me and taken my heart. >>> Ref. VedaBase => KB 52: Krsna, the Ranacora For Rukmini Dvadasi Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: KuliMela 2008 - Radhadesh - Film
Bhakti Lata, Alachua, USA: Voyage to IndiaSeveral days ago, my father sent me a rough draft CD that he recently recorded of his bansuri flute ragas. When I heard the first note, memories of growing up with my father's flute-playing washed over my mind in soft waves. Subscribe  Bharatavarsa.net: Book distribution seminar: books to book ShopsOnce I was distributing books in Melbourne with Dhruva prabhu. We decided to go to Geelong just an hour and a half south of Melbourne. Dhruva prabhu went the day before and I was due to meet him the next day. I got caught up doing things and although wanting to get out early did not reach Geelong till 3pm. Anyway I thought the day was lost as I would get to where Dhruva was with no result. Just prior to this I had been experimenting with wholesaling books to alternative book shops with some success (selling them $200- 300 worth of books). So Krsna inspired me to see if there was an alternative book shop in Geelong. I found one such shop and showed the manager the main books I had. He asked me to show him everything I had. So I got all different books from the van plus CD,s. He ended up taking at least 2 of everything which included all of Srila Prabhupadas' books, art books, childrens books, cookbooks , books from Srila Prabhupadas' disciples and CD's. It came to $2000 worth! When I finally found Dhruva telling him of the book shop at 5pm he was amazed at Lord Krsnas' inconceivable energy. The shop owner took $1000 worth of books another time and has been taking books ever since but not in such large quantities . So he is also doing wonderful service selling Srila Prabhupadas' books to many varieties of people.He and his shop assistants really like prasadam so I take them Sri Sri Radha Vallabhas' maha prasadam when ever I visit. So I would encourage all book distributors to look for alternative book shops in whatever town you are at. Your servant, Rupa Raghunatha das, Sydney Australia Book Distribution News: books to book ShopsOnce I was distributing books in Melbourne with Dhruva prabhu. We decided to go to Geelong just an hour and a half south of Melbourne. Dhruva prabhu went the day before and I was due to meet him the next day. I got caught up doing things and although wanting to get out early did not reach Geelong till 3pm. Anyway I thought the day was lost as I would get to where Dhruva was with no result. Just prior to this I had been experimenting with wholesaling books to alternative book shops with some success (selling them $200- 300 worth of books). So Krsna inspired me to see if there was an alternative book shop in Geelong. I found one such shop and showed the manager the main books I had. He asked me to show him everything I had. So I got all different books from the van plus CD,s. He ended up taking at least 2 of everything which included all of Srila Prabhupadas' books, art books, childrens books, cookbooks , books from Srila Prabhupadas' disciples and CD's. It came to $2000 worth! When I finally found Dhruva telling him of the book shop at 5pm he was amazed at Lord Krsnas' inconceivable energy. The shop owner took $1000 worth of books another time and has been taking books ever since but not in such large quantities . So he is also doing wonderful service selling Srila Prabhupadas' books to many varieties of people.He and his shop assistants really like prasadam so I take them Sri Sri Radha Vallabhas' maha prasadam when ever I visit. So I would encourage all book distributors to look for alternative book shops in whatever town you are at. Your servant, Rupa Raghunatha das, Sydney Australia Ananda Subramanian, Iowa, USA: AtheismThe belief that there was nothing and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason what so ever into self-replicating bits which then turned into dinosaurs. - Makes Perfect Sense!!  Dandavats.com: Prison Program by ISKCON Indore (India)By Vrajendranandan Das H. G. Mahaman Prabhu, Temple President of ISKCON Indore and Zonal Secretary of Madhya Pradesh, delivered a short speech to the prisoners on the importance of chanting Harinam and requested them to take up this chanting of Hare Krishna. H.H. Sivarama Swami: Vinata dd. asks:
Friends of the BBT: News In BriefYoga of Ecology, Bhakta Chris, USA: Plugging The Integrity Leak: Lessons From The Mahabharata
Fascinated by his story and the sheer honesty and vulnerability he showed in opening up his life, I approached Mr. Patrick after the talk to express my heartfelt gratitude. In course of our conversation, I asked him a question that came to me mid-way during his talk: "Patrick, here I am on day two of my two-year journey through business school. I hear a mind-blowing story on ethical compromise. But how am I supposed to remember this story, when for the next two years I am going to be bombarded unreservedly about profit maximization and improving the bottom-line in all my classes?" A bunch of my new classmates who were standing beside me, waiting impatiently to talk with Mr. Patrick, stared at me in a way that made me feel naïve and idealistic. Perhaps, I was naïve and idealistic. There seemed to be a sense of "Be practical, mister. This is a business school. Profit maximization is primary." Definitely true, and that is why I came here. Mr. Patrick seemed to appreciate the question and once again, staying loyal to his candidness, stated that it is definitely a glaring weakness in our system for training leaders and that unless we plug the hole at the grassroots level, we will see more cases of irresponsible behavior come to foreground in the future -- even bigger than what we just heard. Although I appreciated his answer, I couldn't but help think that my question was indeed naïve and presumptuous -- that humans are definitely more responsible than I thought. Almost five years later, as I reflect on my question, I realize that I did undervalue my own concerns and appreciate Mr. Patrick's insight even more. Sitting in the midst of another crisis -- this time created by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico -- and witnessing the drama around it almost makes Mr. Patrick sound like a doomsayer. But not without sound reasoning. The unfolding of the entire oil spill episode has brought to the forefront a trail of irresponsible acts that BP has engaged in, not unknowingly. And the schemes to arrest the flow are being put into place without clearly assessing the long-term effects they will have on the ecology. The scheme to contain the spill with a dome has failed, and among the next steps, one idea being seriously considered is to shoot garbage into the gaping hole to plug the gusher. The remedies seem as irresponsible as the actions or the lack of those that led to the oil spill in the first place. Statisticians from BP quote the strength of the probability models that predict such leaks. According to them, the probability of such leaks happening was one in ten million rigs. That sounds very promising, sure enough, but the probability models do a poor job of predicting the extent of the damage that will be caused if a leak does happen. In 2006, the EPA and Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into two massive BP oil leaks in Alaska caused by corroded pipelines. One of the leaks spewed almost 200,000 gallons onto the tundra, and investigations revealed that BP had reported ignored warnings. It finally came to a $50 million settlement but what could not be repaired, it seems, was a certain mindset. As one EPA official put it, for BP it was a financial decision: should they pay a fine of $50 million or spend a lot more correcting flaws in their operations? The answer was obvious, at least to the top management of BP. This irresponsibility did not receive much publicity and was dexterously shoved under the carpet through numerous pay-offs until the current oil spill, being termed as probably the biggest man-made natural disaster yet, surfaced. Even more frustrating is the undertone to BP CEO Mr. Tony Hayward's response to this crisis. Mr. Hayward impressed several lawmakers with his earnestness about stopping the leak, but he also seemed intent on deflecting questions about responsibility. BP seeks to leverage every penny of the $15.9 million it spent lobbying last year, and most of all it is trying its best to contain penalties. BP's history shows that it will succeed at that, and that leaves the larger questions still unanswered: how can our corporate leaders be made more responsible? This is not to state that our leaders are twisted right from the onset. In fact, my personal experience interacting with business leaders is that many of them are wonderful and noble individuals. But it is a fact that they have to operate in a system that is fueled by collective greed and that unconsciously brings out irresponsible behavior. I heard a story in my early childhood that has only grown on me through my experience in corporate America. The story comes from the Mahabharata (literally translated as "The History of Greater India"), one of the classics from India's ancient religious texts, the Vedas. The setting: the best school of martial arts and military training, headed by a veteran archer and teacher named Dronacharya. The school trained the best kings and princes in military warfare and defense, the most famous of all of them being Arjuna, the main character of the timeless eastern classic, the Bhagavad Gita. Dronacharya's big lessons at school before he taught any of the various arts of fighting revolved around teaching responsible behavior even in the midst of the most provoking and enticing situations, as well as control over base urges of unconscious exploitation. He had creative and difficult tests that students had to pass, and he taught them the arts of military warfare only in proportion to their sense of responsible behavior. One quality that he consistently tested them on was situational compromise of truth. What is so striking to me in this story is the emphasis on character development and integrity before skills are bestowed. A responsible training system not just focuses on how skilled the students are but goes to great extent to ensure that the skills are grounded in well-developed character and integrity. Developing character and integrity requires time and investment. As trivial as it may sound, and as negligible as the number of accolades it receives in comparison to training in leadership skills may be, character development forms the basis of any leadership program. It is exactly like laying a strong foundation before a structure is erected. The foundation forms the basis of the entire structure. We can erect a most amazing structure, but if the foundation is weak, it is only a matter of time before a minor tremor can cause the structure to completely collapse, causing severe damage to life and property. A good engineer spends ample time designing the foundation for the worst possible threat. And it is usually the main structure that gets the glories. No one looks at a nice structure and admires the foundation. And yet, the structure cannot exist and be fortified without a strong foundation. We can go to great extent to ensure ethical following of roles and responsibilities, but if the individual's intention is to cheat the system, an intelligent individual boosted by the wide spectrum of knowledge and skills provided by our educational system can find numerous holes to exploit. We can take pride in the fact that the American legal system has brought to books many individuals in positions of power who have compromised on responsibility -- but not before their actions caused severe and sometimes irreparable damage to individuals, society, and the environment at large. After all, prevention is better than cure. What this will take, as Mr. Patrick so articulately put it in his answer to my question, and as the story from the Mahabharata illustrates, is investment in character development at grass roots level, i.e., all the education and training institutions. The practical implementation of such a long-term solution is undoubtedly challenging given the current economic and social system that we feed our younger generation into, but the change can start small. The important thing is to start. The broader details are important and will unfold in time, but not without the strong and earnest desire to implement such a system, which must be at the forefront in the mind of our nation's administrative machinery. Without this essential training in character development, we will still produce great corporations and powerful leaders, but we will still face equally devastating actions that will have widespread repercussions on the social and ecological fabric of this country, not to mention the world at large. The problem goes beyond the BP rig leak, and no ethical systems or probability models are foolproof to prevent such crises from happening again and again purely due to lack of integrity from our leaders and decision makers. "Watch out when you tell yourself that you deserve! Watch out!" Mr. Patrick Kuhse's voice thundered through the auditorium at Cornell University's Johnson School of Management on day two of an action... "Watch out when you tell yourself that you deserve! Watch out!" Mr. Patrick Kuhse's voice thundered through the auditorium at Cornell University's Johnson School of Management on day two of an action...  Friends of the BBT: Project Benediction Moon Support Book Distribution—From the Comfort of HomeMayapur Online: Sri Narasimha Caturdasi Celebrations begins today!
Around 800 devotees from Delhi and few hundreds of devotees from other congregations like Chennai, Kerala etc have arrived in Mayapur to take part in the appearance day celebrations of Sri Narasimhadeva. Today being Ekadasi day, devotees started for Navadwip Panca Krosi parikrama in the morning after Mangala Arthi. HH Gauranga Prem Swami Maharaj has marked the parikrama path in Navadwipa. Like Vrindavan Parikrama, now devotees can go for Mayapur Parikrama. Gouranga TV: Nitaj-Gauranga Festival 2/9Nitaj-Gauranga Festival 2/9 Czech deity installation Dandavats.com: Chandan Yatra Festival 2010 at ISKCON Vrindavan
On the day of Aksaya Tritiya in Vrindavan, all large Goswami Temple Deities are covered with chandan Paste and not a bit of cloth used to cover the deities in the afternoon. The festival is also celebrated in our ISKCON Vrindavan temple and it usually continues for 21 days with the Utsava Vigrahas covered in chandan Dandavats.com: New web siteChris: Hare Krsna prabhu's Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! In an attempt to bring more people to Krsna Consciousness and to the Reading Sanga we have put up a web site Dandavats.com: Padayatra deities rembark on their journey around MalaysiaJai Sita Rani devi dasi: Teary faces flooded Sri Jagannatha Mandir as Sri Sri Nitai Gaura Sundar neem deities left the temple to continue their journey touring various places in Malaysia to spread the love of Godhead. Dandavats.com: MahaMantra Chanting in ChurchRadha MadhavaHari das: Before dinner, the congregation of about two humdred -including several church management staff- joined in chanting MahaMantra, "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare! Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare!!" More Recent Articles |
Could you please explain what saktyavesa-avatara implies? Is it a jiva-tattva empowered with some special power or can a visnu-tattva also be saktyavesa-avatara? Is Vyasadeva and Prthu Maharaja that category?
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