"Planet ISKCON" - 35 new articles
ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Vedavyasa Priya SwamiSrimad Bhagavatam 11.23.60-61 - Fix your intelligence on Krishna. Gaura Yoga, NZ: 3 week workshop series!
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Share this story your way:            Japa Group: Japa Coaching
1. Chant 16 rounds in one go attentively first thing in the morning 2. Chant the holy name constantly 3. Find happiness in chanting the holy name 4. Send reports to your Chanting Success Partner (CSP) 5. Read about the effects of chanting from Sri Namamrta 6. Write your realizations about chanting 7. Inspire devotees to chant more 8. Make chanting the main pillar of success of your life 9. Make chanting the main pillar of success of your family and community 10. Pray to the holy name From Tips For Attaining Success In Krsna Consciousness  Bharatavarsa.net: Book distribution seminar: Srila Prabhupada's Mercy -- Better than Any GPSby Bhakta Hemant & Bhaktin Aditi Earlier this year, ISKCON Pretoria (South Africa) launched the Sastra Dana library initiative. Our aim was to place sponsored Ã'Medium SetsÃ" of Srila Prabhupada's books -- consisting of the Bhagavad-gita, Krsna Book, The Science of Self-Realization, and ten to fifteen small books -- in the forty-odd community libraries in Pretoria. By the causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada, we received more sponsorships than libraries. What was most enlivening in this whole experience was to see devotees enthusiastically come forward to support the project and sponsor books. Some devotees sponsored books on behalf of family members, some on behalf of devotees who had encouraged them. One devotee even sponsored books on behalf of his spiritual master. When we received a sponsorship, we would insert a note in each book indicating who the sponsor was and also giving the contact info for the temple. When we had all the sets ready, we started delivering the books to the libraries -- and this was the most interesting part. A vast majority of the community libraries in Pretoria are located in previously disadvantaged areas -- poor areas that had grown dilapidated due to neglect by the previous South African apartheid regime. As can be imagined, getting to these libraries was difficult. First we'd make a courteous phone call to the library informing them we would be coming with the books, and weÕd ask for directions. This involved scribbling road names on a piece of paper while trying to follow a route on Google Maps. With that done, we'd be ready for the delivery. With the trunk of the car filled with Srila Prabhupada's books, we would drive out into these townships confident that we would not get lost. But what seemed so easy on Google Maps turned out to be much harder on the ground. We would end up navigating our way within a tightly knit grid of narrow roads. We almost always took a wrong turn and found ourselves lost in the maze of roads and filled with anxiety. But amazingly, each time we would get lost Srila Prabhupada's mercy always came to the rescue. We would get a strong message from within the heart -- "Turn left at the next junction." When we reached the next junction, with no other hope we would follow the inner voice and turn left. As we headed down that road, another inspiration would come from within the heart: "Turn right at the next stop." When we looked at the street sign, it was definitely not the road we were looking for. But still we turned right and headed somewhere. And amazingly enough, we would soon find ourselves right at the entrance of the library. This happened repeatedly. Truly, the mercy of Srila Prabhupada is better than any GPS! As we handed Srila Prabhupada's books to the librarian, we would usually receive generous thanks and appreciations -- truly an unforgettable experience. We are very grateful that Srila Prabhupada used us as his instruments to deliver the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to these libraries. Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: another live lecture by BVK SwamiSB lecture, ISKCON Los Angeles 12 Sep, 7.30 a.m. Pacific time (GMT -8) http://lalive.us/ Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Brahmanas do not work like the karmiOur principle is not to work like the karmi or under a karmi. We are not sudras. Sudras are meant for working under somebody, not brahmanas. If you do not know this principle, you should know it now. All our men living in the temple are basically brahmanas. Otherwise, why they are offered sacred thread? >>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Hamsaduta — London 17 August, 1971 H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 69September 12, 3:52 A.M.Namamrta by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada: 'To become free from the pangs of material existence, one must chant the maha-mantra: "Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura says, ‘We are always suffering from the material pangs and our hearts are burning, but we cannot find any way out of it.’ The materialistic person can also be called a tapasvi, which means someone who is always suffering from material pains. One can get rid of these material pains only when he takes shelter of the Hare Krishna mantra… All persons in the material world are suffering from material pains, and if one wants to get rid of them, he must associate with saintly persons, pure devotees of the Lord, and chant the maha-mantra, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. That is the only auspicious way for materialistic persons." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.22.15) We are in a diseased and painful state of life in the material world. Narottama Dasa Thakura says that materialists can also be called tapasvis. This is an unusual application of the word. A tapasvi usually means one who voluntarily accepts pains in order to make spiritual advancement, but the tapasya of the materialist is a useless thing indulged in for no gain. He suffers and suffers with no benefit. It is clearly stated that the only way out of the suffering of the material pains (which come from our own body and mind, from the demigods in the form of natural disasters, and from other living beings) is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra. It is a simple formula but it is the only one that works in Kali-yuga. Trying to get out of material pains by more complicated spiritual practices is not possible in this age. The chanting must be done, of course, with quality, without offense, to really rid you of material suffering. Offensive chanting is not so effective. If you chant at the clearing stage of namabhasa you can become free of material suffering, and if you chant without any offenses in the suddha-nama stage then you go beyond freedom from material suffering and attain krsna-prema. I have been chanting for many years and I am not free of my material pains of chronic daily headaches, but I do not blame the chanting of Hare Krishna for that. I am becoming free of greater material pains by chanting, and the material pains that I get are just a token of the karma I should be receiving for my sinful activities. I am on the way to release from repeated birth and death, which is the greatest material pain possible. By chanting Hare Krishna I can go back to Godhead and become free from all material pains associated with the material body. I woke at one o'clock this morning and began my chanting. I noticed that I have been counting my rounds improperly. I have been chanting a quota of twenty rounds rather than sixteen rounds. Of course in one sense this is good news that I am chanting extra rounds. But it explains why it has been taking me so much time to chant the quota. I have decided to go back down to sixteen rounds and finish my quota within less time. Even with sixteen rounds my chanting was slow, as I have been lately not able to chant quickly and have been feeling tired in the morning. I say "tired," but I don't mean sleepy. I am awake all right, but the body just feels exhausted and worn-out and not able to chant with lively, quick utterances. I will work on this and try to overcome it. At least there is no major flaw, and that I am chanting the rounds with proper enunciation and hearing and my mind is not diverted to other subjects. I take the japa session as the most important thing and chant with devotion. A tired man does H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Prabhupada Smaranam
From One Hundred Prabhupada Poems #26 Dear Srila Prabhupada, Then come outside in dawning, not-yet- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Poem From Under Dark Stars1. 2. H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Free Write and Janmastami StoryFree Write
I picked out at random Srimad-Bhagavatam Sixth Canto, Chapter Eight, "The Narayana-kavaca shield," verse 19: "May the Personality of Godhead, in His incarnation as Vyasadeva, protect me from all ignorance resulting from the absence of Vedic knowledge. May Lord Buddhadeva protect me from activities opposed to Vedic principles and from laziness that causes one to madly forget the Vedic principles of knowledge and ritualistic action. May Kalkideva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appeared as an incarnation to protect religious principles, protect me from the dirt of the age of Kali." This verse is included in a long prayer for protection of the Lord in His different incarnations and in different conditions. We have to always be seeking the shelter of the Lord because we are in a dangerous position of the material world. We are surrounded by enemies to spiritual progress and ultimate safety. In this prayer three incarnations are appealed to. Vyasadeva protects us from ignorance because He is the literary incarnation of Krishna and has provided all the Vedic literature, such as Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam and the other important Vedic books. Without these books we would have no authoritative knowledge about God consciousness and the practice of bhakti-yoga. Formerly, in Satya-yuga, people didn't need books. Their memories were so great that by just once hearing the Vedas orally from learned brahmanas they would retain it. In Kali-yuga we have no such power. Seeing us in this condition, Vyasadeva provided the Vedic literatures, which are as brilliant as the sun and provide the light of knowledge in the era of darkness. All glories to Vedavyasa. Lord Buddha appeared when the corrupt priests were taking advantage of portions of the Vedas which allowed animal sacrifice and misinterpreted it to allow for large-scale slaughter of the innocent animals. He took the tricky tactic of rejecting the Vedas and propounding the forbidding of animal slaughter. For rejecting the Vedas he is technically categorized as an atheist, but he is actually an incarnation of God teaching according to time and place. After ten thousand more years of Kali-yuga, the times will be so bad that Lord Caitanya”s sankirtana will not be effective. The people will be so demoniac that they will not be able to accept it. They will all be demons, ravaging the earth. At that time, the Lord will appear as Kalki. He will not preach. He will ride a white horse and will kill all the atheists with His sword. We should be careful to go back to Godhead before then and not be demoniac and victims of Kalki's sword. But He will protect the earth in this extreme way. What happened on Janmastami:It began at 4:00 P.M. Starting with only a few devotees present, J. Swami began a lecture in the yoga studio. He began by referring to the beginning of the Tenth Canto, where it says the world was overburdened by the unnecessary military force controlled by the demons. Then he spoke of the present world situation and said the same conditions prevailed. It was a Che Guevara kind of revolutionary speech. He said the Krishna consciousness movement had to take over the world and kill the demons. He admitted the movement was "mickey-mouse" in worldly power and couldn't expect to take over the world. I thought he had painted himself into a corner, but he then spoke about how helplessly Prabhupada had begun, coming to America on the Jaladuta. Prabhupada even wrote a poem when he landed at the Boston pier in which he expressed his hesitancy, asking Krishna how could he possibly change the minds of this demoniac civilization. But then in his poem, Prabhupada thought of some verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam which affirmed that the modes of material nature could be broken up by the application of Krishna consciousness. J. Swami then got back into his revolutionary mood and spoke how degraded things were and how they should be changed. He spoke of varnasrama-dharma as the practical social-olitical program to rule the world. After his talk he asked for comments. I was too dull to say anything. D.Swami said TKG had world domination feelings,but then he saw a film about JFK and it changed his mind. TKG concluded that he would just take care of the small number of people who were coming to him for shelter and give up grandiose schemes for world domination. A woman who had come from Woodstock to perform kirtanas and bhajanas for us, spoke as an "outsider" and said her impression of the Hare Krishna people were very favorable. She found them dedicated, committed and always acting with fair play. She told J. Swami she thought that the movement was doing fine, and after all, it was only forty years old. She was very positive and effulgent and made everyone feel good. Then there was an abhiseka of the Radha-Govinda Deities. Both Saci and his daughter were unable to blow the conch-shell. Only the high-pitched squeaky sounds came out. Then Mother Kaulini took the conch-shell and blew three long deep notes. One by one the children and adults came up and poured the liquids on the Deities, which were dressed in simple white bed- clothes. After the abhiseka, the devotees went outside where an altar was set up and cloths for sitting on and a few lawn chairs for the aged and people with bad backs. About thirty people had gathered. The devotees from Woodstock began singing the Hare Krishna mantra melodically with guitar and harmonium. After about a half-hour they began leading bhajanas which the Hare Krishna devotees were unable to follow. They sang for over an hour, and the woman often smiled radiantly with happy looks. The man with her made a comment, "If it doesn't have bhava, it's just rock n' roll.” After the concert J. Swami said he liked the singing but he wouldn't buy their CD because the bhajanas had too many unfamiliar words. D. Swami said, "You're being too stiff." I agreed with J Swami that there were too many bhajanas with words like "Sri Radha, Sri Radha." While the singing was going on the little children were playing on a swing with a rope. Kirtana-rasa said his little son Oliver was too fearless. A feast was offered to the Deities. Keli-lalita started making an announcement that anyone who wasn't fasting until midnight could take the feast. D. Swami interrupted her and said, "Take the feast! Take the feast!" so our guests wouldn't get mental about fasting. After all, we had made a big feast for them. As a migraineur I had already broken my fast with a sandwich at 1 P.M. I wasn't hungry for the feast. I retired for the night. Book Distribution News: Srila Prabhupada's Mercy -- Better than Any GPSby Bhakta Hemant & Bhaktin Aditi Earlier this year, ISKCON Pretoria (South Africa) launched the Sastra Dana library initiative. Our aim was to place sponsored ÒMedium SetsÓ of Srila Prabhupada's books -- consisting of the Bhagavad-gita, Krsna Book, The Science of Self-Realization, and ten to fifteen small books -- in the forty-odd community libraries in Pretoria. By the causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada, we received more sponsorships than libraries. What was most enlivening in this whole experience was to see devotees enthusiastically come forward to support the project and sponsor books. Some devotees sponsored books on behalf of family members, some on behalf of devotees who had encouraged them. One devotee even sponsored books on behalf of his spiritual master. When we received a sponsorship, we would insert a note in each book indicating who the sponsor was and also giving the contact info for the temple. When we had all the sets ready, we started delivering the books to the libraries -- and this was the most interesting part. A vast majority of the community libraries in Pretoria are located in previously disadvantaged areas -- poor areas that had grown dilapidated due to neglect by the previous South African apartheid regime. As can be imagined, getting to these libraries was difficult. First we'd make a courteous phone call to the library informing them we would be coming with the books, and weÕd ask for directions. This involved scribbling road names on a piece of paper while trying to follow a route on Google Maps. With that done, we'd be ready for the delivery. With the trunk of the car filled with Srila Prabhupada's books, we would drive out into these townships confident that we would not get lost. But what seemed so easy on Google Maps turned out to be much harder on the ground. We would end up navigating our way within a tightly knit grid of narrow roads. We almost always took a wrong turn and found ourselves lost in the maze of roads and filled with anxiety. But amazingly, each time we would get lost Srila Prabhupada's mercy always came to the rescue. We would get a strong message from within the heart -- "Turn left at the next junction." When we reached the next junction, with no other hope we would follow the inner voice and turn left. As we headed down that road, another inspiration would come from within the heart: "Turn right at the next stop." When we looked at the street sign, it was definitely not the road we were looking for. But still we turned right and headed somewhere. And amazingly enough, we would soon find ourselves right at the entrance of the library. This happened repeatedly. Truly, the mercy of Srila Prabhupada is better than any GPS! As we handed Srila Prabhupada's books to the librarian, we would usually receive generous thanks and appreciations -- truly an unforgettable experience. We are very grateful that Srila Prabhupada used us as his instruments to deliver the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to these libraries. H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: 2nd Day Of The Ujjain SeminarUjjain update 12th September, 2010 Sent in by His Grace Mukunda Prabhu As devotees entered the temple room for mangal arati they saw Guru Maharaja chanting in front of Srila Prabhupada and next we had his presence during Darshan arati. Today's morning class was on Saranagati. It was introduced by the song "Sri Krishna Chaityna [...] ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Sunday Feast Live! Srila Prabhupada's Letters 1965 September 12 :  Srila Prabhupada's Letters 1965 September 12 : "Today there is a great deal of lurching although the sky is clear. In the evening I felt a bit sea-sickness. I could not take my food properly. A little sweets were accepted with some relish. The lurching continued till midnight."  Srila Prabhupada's Letters1974 September 12: "If he received the vote, why you have opposed? You must be impartial. My recommendation is that he must be the president. He has been chosen by the vote, and I am giving the deciding vote for him."  Srila Prabhupada's Letters1974 September 12: "The women are doing nicely, so why are they being changed from the pujari to Sankirtana? These are internal things, and you should not interfere. I do not approve. It should be the choice of the President."  Srila Prabhupada's Letters1974 September 12: "Why did you close the temple without asking me? Is this too much to do this? Our propaganda is opening temples, and you are closing them. We are not for closing but for increasing. I do not approve of this."  Srila Prabhupada's Letters1974 September 12: "If you close the temple, what is the management? If possible the temple must be re-opened. Why you have whimsically done this? Don't do anything whimsically without consulting me."  Srila Prabhupada's Letters1974 September 12: "I made the GBC to give me relief, but if you do like this, then where is the relief? It is anxiety for me. This is the difficulty, as soon as one gets power, he becomes whimsical and spoils everything. What can I do?"  H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Tuesday, September 7th, 2010Thoughts at Arbor Creek  H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Sunday, September 5th, 2010A Good Change  Australian News: Secret Harinam weapon developed in Brisbane Australia: First photos here.
Photos by Tulasi Devi Dasi ISKCON Brisbane Sunday School breakup party takes to the street engaging all the kids in Harinam Sankirtan. Is Brisbane the Harinam Sankirtan capital of Australia. Is this the secret weapon that stuns the forces of material nature enveloping the population in Chanting the Names of the Lord. We will not resile from seeking the answers to these questions, and more.
Australian News: The Benefit of Saintly Association, and the Detriment from Criticising Them
By Karnamrita Dasa We hear from the Chaitanya Charitamrita that by the great mercy of Shri Krishna one receives the shelter of a bona-fide guru, and by the combined mercy of both Guru and Krishna one receives the seed of the creeper of devotion. Initiation means beginning and thus we are given the tools to cultivate our personal devotional plant among the plants of the other Krishna devotees. Our tools are compared to methods to water our creeper by hearing, chanting, and remembering Krishna or any of the nine methods of devotional service.
Association of spiritually advanced devotees is essential for making progress in love for Krishna, as is avoiding the detrimental affects of offending such great or even ordinary devotees. In my experience the creepers of the Vaishnava devotees are significantly intertwined. For most of us the first devotee we met was not our guru, and we didn't see our guru often, but served with other devotees—being helped by them in a thousand ways. If Prabhupada or our guru hadn't made (or uncovered) devotees of Krishna it is doubtful we would be one. By associating in a spiritual service-oriented way with devotees we gain strength and perseverance on the bhakti path and also are able to fulfill our human needs for society, friendship and love. Like all relationships there is a honeymoon period where we may easily love or appreciate devotees with minimal reservations, not taking their faults very seriously. We feel determined to keep the association of devotees and avoid bad association. Then when the inevitable relationship bubble bursts and our conditioned eyes and false ego becomes prominent again, we may begin to measure and evaluate the devotees, seeing their faults as serious. It is also natural human psychology to notice our own faults in others. We need to keep this in mind.
The Shrimad Bhagavatam describes a third class devotee as one who sees the Lord only in the Temple and follows the religious formularies, but doesn't respect or value—if they recognize them at all—the devotees (especially advanced devotees) of the Lord. Although we are encouraged to associate with "like minded" devotees, this doesn't mean avoiding pure devotees. Actually the association of more spiritually situated devotees is the most important kind of association to search out and take advantage of. Our heart is compared in the Shrimad Bhagavatam to a crystal which reflects or becomes similar to whatever type of person one spends significant time with. The power of such association should not be underestimated. In fact it is said that by even a moment's association with a pure devotee all perfection can be obtained. Of course this doesn't mean that our work is done with only a moments association—it means our endeavor has just begun with such inspiration to progress in bhakti.
Thus, even though we have a pure devotee for a guru, our normal association and habits rule us. As it is said, "birds of a feather flock together"—but this can be good or bad. For instance, if we only associate with those who tend to criticize other devotees or people in general in the name of glorifying their guru's greatness, we keep ourselves from making spiritual advancement. Spiritual life is about change, and we are meant to develop all the good qualities of a devotee, which include appreciation of the good qualities in others, and not having a fault find mentality. To avoid such bad propensities we are advised to keep the association of advanced devotees decorated with good qualities. We need to be careful in our evaluation of devotees and try to see according to Vedic scriptures which extol the glories of pure devotees. We don't want to just parrot the opinions of critical people. I am not speaking of blindly accepting a person just by their devotional looks, but of having an attitude of gratitude for being given the gift of devotional service, and finding a way to appreciate other bhakti practitioners, even if we don't agree with them, or believe they are less then ideal. We certainly want Krishna to be merciful and generous with ourselves, so why not with others? Anyone who is trying their level best to remember and serve Krishna and their guru, is considered by Krishna to be saintly, even if there is some shortcoming or deviation in their character due to their past conditioning [Bg 9.30].
From another perspective the Gita teaches us that we are our faith, and this determines what we give our energy to. So then, what do we have faith in? Do we have faith in the fallen condition of people who come to Krishna, or faith in the purifying power of the holy name and spiritual association with advanced devotees? In a nutshell these two things are what Krishna consciousness is all about—chanting the holy name purely, and keeping good spiritual association. So I'm speaking of a habit or propensity to criticize others, and the goal of being free from this by being spiritually absorbed in our taste for Krishna consciousness. With such a spiritual taste we will have no time or stomach for criticize anyone due to our spiritual absorption. Krishna conscious absorption in love will carry us to Krishna, but material absorption or criticism will keep us bound to take birth after birth in the material world. Throughout our life and also on special holy days as have just passed, it is helpful to reflect on our mind’s absorption, which means what is the focus of our life. Our “focus” means our attachments which will determine our future in this life and the next. [see Bhagavad-gita 8th chapter]
The first offense to the holy name is to criticize a person who has dedicated his or her life to propagating the holy name. This fact should give us pause about making superficial assumptions without really knowing a person well. We find that of the disciples of Lord Chaitanya, Raghunatha das Goswami would never speak or hear any criticism of a Vaishnava devotee of the Lord. Raghunatha wanted to avoid seeing devotees externally or having a familiar attitude toward them and risk offending or minimizing them. He appreciated the value and rarity of Krishna devotees, and knew that it is difficult to know where a person is on their spiritual journey. We also find in the Chaitanya Charitamrita narrations of those envious persons who strongly criticized or continually blasphemed great devotees. The result was heavy karmic reactions like leprosy. However, they also often received redemption by surrendering to the devotee they criticized or tried to defame and then by Lord Chaitanya. Much more unfortunate was the "professional fault finder" Ramachandra Puri who always pointed out imaginary faults in others—even Lord Chaitanya himself—but never seemed to suffer from it. He offended his guru, and it seemed his reaction was to keep criticizing devotees his whole life and to create a huge stock of future suffering. So we don't want to become a professional fault finder and create a very dark future.
We need to ask ourselves how we can know another's heart when we don't know our own or aren't yet perfect in our spiritual life? We expect that Krishna will be merciful to us—fallen as we are—so why with not others? We are all standing in a line for mercy. If someone who in our estimation is behind us—or is fallen—gets the mercy first or seems to be excused for some wrong committed, we can't complain that we were before them in line, or are of better character. Otherwise we may have to go to the back of the "mercy" line ourselves. Although we do have much to do in our spiritual life in our efforts to please our Gurus and Krishna, ultimately it is by the mercy of Krishna that we make advancement. And mercy means we don't deserve it, or can't exactly tell how it has come about. Prabhupada often spoke of "causeless mercy" or the gracious extension of kindness without reason. At the same time we may impede our spiritual progress by making offenses to great devotees. The devotee may excuse us, but Krishna will not tolerate offenses to his dear servants. Life is short and we could die at any moment. Rather than going on a campaign to innumerate what we may see as the innumerable faults and short comings of a devotee, it is better if we examine our own hearts. We have often heard our param guru (our guru’s guru), Shrila Bhaktisiddanta Sarasvati Thakur admonish those who criticize Vaishnavas instead of finding their personal faults and shortcomings to be purified from their heart. As it is said in everyday life in the country, when you point your finger at someone, three point back to you!
A superlative devotee is one who is completely free from the propensity to criticize others. If they do see faults it is only to help that person, and is never made with malice or envy. Great souls are saddened by the suffering of others and endeavor to help awaken people's dormant spiritual consciousness—the real solution to every soul's problems. Let us take advantage of such saintly devotees and avoid seeing them materially or superficially. This will call our spiritual progress.
Read more of Karnamritas blogs at Krishna.com Share this story your way: H.H. Sivarama Swami: The Extraordinary lives of the Sisters Bodor (Part 1-2)
H.H. Sivarama Swami: Atmarama dasa asks
Australian News: Prabhupada Katha direct from the capital of the spirtual world: Sri Mayapur
By Acintya Caitany: On Srila Prabhupada's appearance day, I was chanting in Srila Prabhupada's room in the evening. At 7.30 pm Jananivas Prabhu walked in and offered his obeisances to Srila Prabhupada. Apart from the caretaker of Srila Prabhupada's room, there was only a Russian mataji in the room. Mataji spontaneously requested Jananivasa Prabhu to tell us a Prabhupada story. He kindly obliged and spoke not one but many stories stretching over half an hour. Jananivas Prabhu's service was to bring frankincense to Srila Prabhupada's room in the evening. He mentioned that usually after you fill a room with frankincense, you open the doors and windows so that the mosquitos go out with the smoke. Srila Prabhupada however liked to keep the smoke within the room and stopped Jananivas Prabhu from opening the doors and windows. Since it was Srila Prabhupada's darshan time, there would usually be many western devotees in the room and these western devotees would begin to cough and their eyes would water since they were not used to the smoke. Read the rest at the website of Sri Mayapur the capital of the spiritual world Share this story your way: Australian News: Hooray…… Radhastami is coming!
The divine appearance celebration of Srimati Radharani Wednesday 15th September
Srimati Radharani is the Supreme Goddess. She is most always seen with Lord Krishna. It is described that She is the chief associate and devotee of Lord Krishna, and topmost of all goddesses. Her name means that She is the most excellent worshiper of Lord Krishna. However, She is also an expansion of the Lord’s energy. Since She is also an extension of Krishna, She is the feminine aspect of God. Thus, in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, God is both male and female. They are one, but Krishna expands into two, Himself and Radharani, for the sake of divine loving pastimes. If They remained as one, then there is no relationship, there are no pastimes, and there can be no dynamic exchange of love. (Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila, 4.55-56) In the Brihad-Gautamiya Tantra, Radharani is described as follows: “The transcendental goddess Srimati Radharani is the direct counterpart of Lord Sri Krishna. She is the central figure for all the goddesses of fortune. She possesses all the attractiveness to attract the all-attractive Personality of Godhead. She is the primeval internal potency of the Lord.” Follow this link to pictures of Radhastami in Sydney last year Share this story your way: Yoga of Ecology, Bhakta Chris, USA: Outdoors And Out Of Reach, Studying The Brain
Read the full article the "Your Brain On Computers" profile in the New York Times by clicking here GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, Utah — Todd Braver emerges from a tent nestled against the canyon wall. He has a slight tan, except for a slim pale band around his wrist. For the first time in three days in the wilderness, Mr. Braver is not wearing his watch. "I forgot," he says. It is a small thing, the kind of change many vacationers notice in themselves as they unwind and lose track of time. But for Mr. Braver and his companions, these moments lead to a question: What is happening to our brains? Mr. Braver, a psychology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, was one of five neuroscientists on an unusual journey. They spent a week in late May in this remote area of southern Utah, rafting the San Juan River, camping on the soft banks and hiking the tributary canyons. It was a primitive trip with a sophisticated goal: to understand how heavy use of digital devices and other technology changes how we think and behave, and how a retreat into nature might reverse those effects. Cellphones do not work here, e-mail is inaccessible and laptops have been left behind. It is a trip into the heart of silence — increasingly rare now that people can get online even in far-flung vacation spots. As they head down the tight curves the San Juan has carved from ancient sandstone, the travelers will, not surprisingly, unwind, sleep better and lose the nagging feeling to check for a phone in the pocket. But the significance of such changes is a matter of debate for them. Some of the scientists say a vacation like this hardly warrants much scrutiny. But the trip's organizer, David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah, says that studying what happens when we step away from our devices and rest our brains — in particular, how attention, memory and learning are affected — is important science. "Attention is the holy grail," Mr. Strayer says. "Everything that you're conscious of, everything you let in, everything you remember and you forget, depends on it." Echoing other researchers, Mr. Strayer says that understanding how attention works could help in the treatment of a host of maladies, like attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia and depression. And he says that on a day-to-day basis, too much digital stimulation can "take people who would be functioning O.K. and put them in a range where they're not psychologically healthy." The quest to understand the impact on the brain of heavy technology use — at a time when such use is exploding — is still in its early stages. To Mr. Strayer, it is no less significant than when scientists investigated the effects of consuming too much meat or alcohol. But stepping away is easier for some than others. The trip begins with a strong defense of digital connectedness, a debate that revolves around one particularly important e-mail.  Mukunda Charan das, SA: In MemoriamIn loving memory of all those who perished in the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11 2001 ‘Famine, disease, terrorism, war, murder, suicide, storms, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, toxic rivers, poisoned food, dying trees – this planet is presenting us with numerous symptoms of a serious imbalance. Yet despite the widespread physical suffering throughout the world today, ultimately the difficulties confronting us are not material, but spiritual. These problems reflect our failure to fulfill our deepest longings to love and be loved, and any solution will require more than just a sophisticated technological effort. We may have made great scientific progress, but as a culture we still have little understanding of love and even less appreciation for the spiritual dimensions of life. The strife and destruction that surround us point to an urgent need to remedy the situation. We must learn how to love ourselves, and also how to love our home planet and the other living beings who reside here with us. The resolute material orientation of industrial culture has led us down a blind alley. Consumer society has encouraged us to indulge our desires to the utmost and to seek the fulfillment of our desires at every opportunity. Instead of developing self-knowledge and self-mastery, we have learned to look outside ourselves in a never-ending quest for gratification, mistakenly believing that such a pursuit can ensure our happiness. Yet we are discovering that those who “have everything” can still be profoundly miserable and lead desperate, empty lives. Something has gone seriously wrong. The problem is that we have dedicated ourselves to satisfying our lust rather expressing our love. Although we are all inherently loving beings, we have forgotten our true nature and sacrificed our birthright for a seductive substitute that ultimately brings us pain rather than joy. Because our collective goal has become to gratify our physical senses above all else, we have developed a self-centred culture that condones competition, exploitation and “whatever it takes” to get us what we want. Our egocentric behaviour manifests in countless forms and is driven by lust. For example, we may engage in some sexual activity without love, dominate others in order to feel powerful, destroy rainforests to create more profitable grazing land, manipulate financial markets for personal gain, lie and cheat to gain political prominence, take drugs to get high, or ignore our own children in favour of making more money…. These challenging times require us to fortify ourselves with spiritual knowledge and, even more important, we must put our knowledge into practice. Only then can we call ourselves spiritual warriors capable of serving others. As spiritual warriors, we must never forget that our greatest ally is love and our most dangerous enemy is lust. We can be of genuine service only if we are free from selfish desires and available to become pure vehicles of God’s love’ (From B.T. Swami’s, Spiritual Warrior II)         Kurma dasa, AU: The Most-asked Question
I receive more correspondence on this subject than any other. So here we go again: HP dasi from London writes: "I love baking, especially cakes. I have gone through all your books and tried almost all your baking recipes. What is the best subtitute for eggs in cakes." My reply: There are a number of substitutes. In the Black Forest Sponge Cake above I use soured milk as a substitute for eggs (I simply add lemon juice to cold milk). Other's swear by sour cream as an egg-replacer. Here's three more: To replace 1 egg... 2 tablespoon flour + 1/2 teaspoon oil + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder + 2 tablespoons liquid (milk, cream, buttermilk, diluted yogurt, or dairy free alternatives like coconut milk, soy milk, etc) beaten together until smooth. or 2 tablespoons water + 1 tablespoon oil + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, beaten together until smooth. or 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds + 3 tablespoons warm water, beaten together until smooth. Gouranga TV: Parikrama talk near Kanabada Parikrama talk near Kanabada H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Our trip to New York & New JerseySent in by His Grace Dvarkadish Prabhu Dear Devotees, Hare Krsna! Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga! Below is the link to our trip. In this album, there is an interesting story about the Gaura-Nitai at the Bhakti Center in New York that I [...] Japa Group: Develop Heart Chanting
This shows me we all have our own relationship with Krsna when we are chanting and we are developing this relationship or maybe missing this change to develop it. When we chant , our rounds offensively, we are not taking this opportunity to relate to the Lord because He is not there. If we chant with love, affection and in a prayer mood trying to hear and pronounce the mantra properly we are developing this relationship, we are giving the Lord our respect and our our time and trying to put our heart in it. One of these days I asked a friend how could I chant and do everything I need to do in my life, how can I concentrate knowing I have so many things to do. Sometimes this idea of not chanting because we may chant with offenses come to the mind, so my friend said, when you see your japa as the most important thing in the day, when you give attention to this everything works nicely, all the other things are easier to do. So listening to maharaj made me more aware of this personal relationship with Krsna and give more of myself to my japa, actually I can remember the days I did that and I used to feel much better and my life was easier in many ways, I could do everything and I felt protected by the Lord in anything I did in my life. I am eager to feel this again, but this means more dedication and more commitment to my japa and my spiritual life. May the Lord bless our lives so we can have this relationship with the Him and enter in this heart chanting atmosphere. your servant, Aruna devi  More Recent Articles |
Would you kindly explain the gradual purification of identifications such as “I” and “mine”, starting from “I am this body” till “Krsna is mine”?
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