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Here are the latest updates for"Planet ISKCON" - 30 new articles
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 175
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Womb
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Free Write
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Writing Session
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 174
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 3:55 PM
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 5:45 PM
- Kurma dasa, AU: The Daily Grind
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Christmas Day
- Bharatavarsa.net: Book distribution seminar: a letter from Srila Prabhupada
- Book Distribution News: a letter from Srila Prabhupada
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
- Japa Group: Your Inner Level Of Inspiration
- Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Literary revolution to change the world
- Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Philosophical camp, Baroda, 15-20 Feb 2011
- ISKCON Toronto, Canada: What are YOU doing this New Year's Eve?
- H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Srimad Bhagavatam Canto Three Chapter Twenty Five Text Thirteen
- Krishna Dharma dasa, UK: Spiritual economics
- ISKCON News.com: B.V. Narayana Maharaja Passes Away
- Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: Janmastami - Dance - Swagatam Krishna - 1/7
- H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Monday, December 27th, 2010
- Akrura das, Gita Coaching: AWESOME COMMUNICATION QUOTES
- Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: The Contract
- ISKCON News.com: Happy New Year!
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Sankarsana Dasa Adhikari in Melbourne
- Gouranga TV: Bhajan – Radhanath Swami – Jaya Radha Madhava
- H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Quote Of Guru Maharaja
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Harinama - New Year's Day
- H.H. Sivarama Swami
- Japa Group: Japa Poem
- More Recent Articles
- Search Planet ISKCON
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H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 175
10:00 A.M.
I received a word that on December 29th Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja passed away from this world after living with cancer over the past few months. I began seeing Narayana Maharaja in the early 1990s along with a small group of my Godbrothers, who would meet him at the Kesavaji Math in Mathura. There we gradually developed a routine of hearing rasika pastimes of Radha and Krishna and the gopis from him. These teachings very much influenced me, and I personally developed an affection for Narayana Maharaja, which he reciprocated to me fully. For several years I considered him like a siksa-guru. At this time there was no controversy about ISKCON devotees going to see Narayana Maharaja. And only a few did so. And we did it secretively. One year in the season of Purusottama masa, I went to visit him alone for several months at Jagannatha Puri, where he was holding a special function. I found out when I got there that the function was for the Hindu-speaking sector of his followers, and this was disappointing for me. I showed up at the meetings, and he offered me a sitting place of honor beside him, but I could not talk with him or understand his speech. I tried to arrange separate individual meetings, but he was too busy to have them. Weeks went by, and a change occurred in my mind. I thought more of my Srila Prabhupada, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada, and how he was my actual guru. I thought that I was taking a gamble in trying to see Narayana Maharaja when he was so unavailable, whereas Prabhupada was available to me all the time. I conjectured in my mind the time of my disappearance, and I imagined Krishna or His representative asking me who I was. I wanted to reply that I was a disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. I did not want to have to say I was a disciple of Narayana Maharaja because I was not certain of my relationship with him and could not count on it in full confidence. I knew that he was a pure devotee, but I did not know of his feelings toward me, and I was learning now that he was not so available to me. It seemed to me a gamble if I had to tell the gatekeepers at Krishnaloka that I was a disciple of Narayana Maharaja and not Prabhupada Maharaja. I wanted to be able to exclusively say I was a disciple of Prabhupada. This worried me considerably, this scenario of the time of my death and my answering the question whose disciple was I. It worked to change my mind and to make me feel distant from Narayana Maharaja. I left the Puri program early and went back to my ISKCON duties (with Narayana Maharaja’s permission) preaching as a sannyasi in ISKCON. But from that point on our relationship changed, and I became somewhat estranged from Narayana Maharaja. It was not due to any fault of his, and perhaps not a fault of mine either, but just being faced with stark choices and having to make the ones that you felt were beneficial for your liberation. Around this time the GBC passed its resolution that devotees should not go see Narayana Maharaja, and so it no longer became just a matter of my own desire but a GBC resolution that I could not see him. So from that point on, my relationship with him broke.
Many years later, I read one of his books, Sri Bhajana Rahasya , the commentary by Bhaktivinoda Thakura, with commentary by Srila Narayana Maharaja. This book had a great effect on me in a favorable way, introducing me to the intimacies of gopi-manjari bhava. I read it more than once. I felt I was reading Bhaktivinoda Thakura. But I was also reading Narayana Maharaja. After that book I went on to read Sri Manah Siksa and a couple of his other books. I felt re-indebted to him and wrote him a letter. He wrote me back and said he was glad to hear me after a long, long time. The letter was affectionate and friendly. He told me that he was doing a lot of writing and was living at that time in Fiji. He said he hoped to finish the Srimad-Bhagavatam and many other books as long as his health held out. I wrote him back and asked him how I could get a hold of some of his books. He wrote me back another friendly letter giving me information of the contacts who could give me his books. Since I was going to Vrndavana and they lived in Vrndavana, he suggested I get in touch with them there. That year, when I went to Vrndavana, I bought a number of his books. I wound up not reading many of them, although I carried them back to America. I still felt reluctant to read them. But I did read a book that someone passed to me called Gopi-gita, and enjoyed his rendition of that famous chapter in Bhagavatam, “Gopi-gita.” I tried to stay clear of the politics involving the two movements, ISKCON and Narayana Maharaja’s movement. I never approved of his taking disciples from Prabhupada’s movement and giving them new names or his re-initiating Prabhupada’s disciples. It seemed to me an aggressive attitude, bypassing guru etiquette.
But I have great respect for Narayana Maharaja and those sincere disciples of his who don’t indulge in ISKCON-bashing or try to recruit ISKCON members into their fold. ISKCON should also leave them in peace to worship Narayana Maharaja as they desire. Now with their founder-acarya gone from the world, things may be a little different. It will be a new test to see how cordial we can be toward each other and whether there are possibilities for better etiquette and peace, with the knowledge that we are all part of the same sampradaya.
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Womb
Krishna’s year is ending,
soon it will be 2011.
What will happen in that
year? Will it be a time
of catastrophe? How can
it not be? The world
is dukhalayam asasvatam.Ten years ago the world trade buildings
went down, one year
ago the earthquake hit Haiti.
Bala doesn’t like to
leave the house with
me alone but what can he prevent.
We can chant Hare Krishna,
but we don’t know how it works.
What does it do?
It gives us Krishna’s shelter
but who is He?Maybe you can make into poems
that will be a foundation.
Maybe Krishna will carry you
on His chariot
to His abode—all of us—
and we will survive, we will
come down and celebrate
words are the sounds
present like props he has
to chew on them
prayerfully with quiet
faith: Krishna has His own signs
Krishna is song.
Krishna is He.
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Free Write
Chasin’ the train. How can you do that? If you’re very fast. God is chasing the bad things out of your heart. He is fast and mighty, and you have called on Him to chase the train of time and misery. He can do it. The train is a monstrous karma. A big hill of coal. Many cars of coal on the train track, but He can chase it. It’s a metaphor. He’s a true person, and He can catch the train and stop it, and all the miseries could slow down.
I said, “I live in a rural place and I like it.” She said, “Maybe.” That means she prefers the city. But the country can be peaceful and filled with amenities. Try to understand it. To the Lord of your beloved who is chasing the train. He will catch it soon on the back and pull it to a stop. Then you’ll be safe. You can dwell with Him in His personal abode in a place free of demons, it’s Goloka, just rumors of demons. I believe in God, and He will make it safe and sing kirtana and chant on beads. In a place better than anything anyone can imagine. I can’t describe it except to tell you don’t worry, He’ll be here soon to stop this train, and we can be happy after all then with no worries. Just fresh air, snow on the ground and your feeling better from pneumonia. You’ll eventually be free of it, and we’ll take you home, back to Goloka. He will show you the peace, and you’ll reside with Him, and you’ll leave this contagious stage. You can do it very quickly. It’s an easy passage. You just have to be patient, and He can take you to Him, your turn will come. Here, He’s caught the train. He’s caught the train. Here He comes, He caught the train! Everything’s going to be okay. You’ll be safe. He does it every day without fail. He’s Almighty without fail.
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Writing Session
A Godbrother wrote me and said he hurt his ankle while skating and is confined to bed. Another has another disease. These bodies are so prone to break down, especially as we grow older. Disease/old age/death get closely mixed together. We can’t avoid any of them. Yet the fool thinks he will be happy in his life enjoying his senses. I have to take it easy, do minimum exercise and chant my rounds in a peaceful state of mind. I stay in bed now until 7:00 A.M. even if I’m wide awake. I rest. Then I take another nap after lunch. I just answered a group of letters. Some people are struggling to get through, some are doing better. If you can chant, if you can write each day, you feel you’ve accomplished the minimum. I signed my signature twice to get out of the hospital. You empty your bed and someone else comes to take your place. A dancer on stage, an artist with the easel, a businessman cutting a deal with another businessman, each trying to get the advantage.
A monk in his cell, writing down his scriptural comment. Trying to make a prayer, a celibate God. God sent His son to the earth to release them from hell. Whoever surrendered to him got redemption. The agnostic is not sure such a system with God is in place; the atheist has a definite conclusion that there is no God, no afterlife, no nothing. It’s a definite conclusion. It’s brutal getting the nightmare. You say it won’t come. She alone, Mary Magdalene. The austere ladies. The lovely gopis who fell in love with Krishna at first sight. They love the highest theology. He also loves them. They want to please Him, that’s the greatest desire. They didn’t know Hiroshima was going to drop on their heads. That was the end of it. The U.S. had one more left for Nagasaki. The Japs didn’t know that the U.S. had no more left and that it would take them months to make another bomb, so they were bluffed into total, unconditional surrender, thinking more bombs were on the way. You can trust Krishna. He has more intelligence and firepower than you. He has more intrigue.
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 174
11:10 A.M.
The school that Krishna went to at Sandipani Muni’s sounds like great fun. It wasn’t a technical vocational school but a broad liberal arts curriculum with all kinds of fun subjects to learn. After hearing only once from the teacher, Krishna and Balarama learned all the arts and sciences. In sixty-four days and sixty-four nights They learned all the necessary arts and sciences that are required in human society. During the daytime They took lessons on a subject from the teacher, and by nightfall, after having heard from the teacher, They were experts in that department of knowledge.
Just imagine bluish Krishna and whitish Balarama sitting down humbly with Sandipani Muni and learning how to sing and compose songs and how to recognize all the different tunes. How to sing to different kinds of rhythms and follow them by beating on different kinds of drums. How to paint just like they paint nowadays in India on the roads and sides of buildings and temples, with decorative patterns. They learned music in different forms, including playing water pots filled with different amounts of water so that when they are beaten together they produced a melodious sound. They learned the art of decorating with flowers in the temple and how to perform on a theatrical stage. “They learned how to produce different effects of making syrups and tastes and the effects of intoxication. They learned practical psychology—how to influence another’s mind and how to induce another to act according to one’s own desire. This is sometimes called hypnotism. They learned how to wash hair, dye it in different colors and curl it in different ways.. They learned magic and languages, even the languages of the animals and the birds. They learned good and bad omens and magical tricks. When They were finished Their course of studies, They offered to serve Their teacher by awarding him anything he desired. This is called guru-daksina. Sandipani Muni understood that Krishna and Balarama were the Supreme Personalities of Godhead who could award anything They wanted, so they thought deeply about what to get. Sandipani Muni and his wife decided that they wanted back their dead child who had drowned near the ocean. Baladeva and Krishna went there and demanded the appearance of the ocean god Varuna. They heard Varuna, and he told Them that the boy was not with him; he had been eaten by a conch shell demon who lived in those waters. Krishna and Balarama went to Yamaraja and asked for this boy to be returned to Them from the conch shell. They received him back and asked the teacher if there was anything else he wanted. The teacher said there was nothing else he wanted from Krishna, but he blessed Him that “Whatever you speak will remain eternally fresh as the instructions of the Vedas. Your teachings will not only be honored in this universe or in this millennium but in all millenniums.” Being ordered by their teacher, Krishna and Balarama then went home on Their chariots. The people of Mathura, not having seen Krishna for a long time, were very pleased to see Him. They felt joyful, like a person who has regained lost property.
I woke up at seven o’clock this morning and my chest felt congested. This recovery is going to take a long time. I bathed and dressed, and Saci came over to read to me for breakfast, but after breakfast my legs and bones felt very tired, and Baladeva suggested that I take a nap. I napped and didn’t wake up until 10:30 A.M. I don’t know if I’ll be able to read much or write much in the journal except to keep you posted on my health progress.
I’m having a sort of relapse today. The congestion is more built-up in my chest. Baladeva is going to buy me a machine to put in my mouth to try to dissipate the congestion. He’s also spoken to a nurse who says I should take different soups throughout the day. My legs are tireder, and it’s an effort to walk around, but the nurse recommended that I try walking, at least in my room with my roller walker. My spirits are a bit down, and I seek in vain for a verve to write something snappy. At least something confessional and honest.
Lalita-madhava and his wife Gopi-manjari and their children were just here for lunch. Baladeva reminded them they had just come on an “insider” day when we eat ravioli which we usually don’t share with our neighbors. They are very sweet, and it was nice talking with them. Lalita-manjari said that she was worried about me being ill. Her father had pneumonia multi-times and died with it in his seventies. She said she wanted me to give her some last instructions in life to go through. I thought it was a little premature of her to ask me but said I would write her a letter and give her some instructions. What do you say except, “Continue to be the best devotee you can. Be kind and be creative.”?
Lalita’s son, who is in the first grade now, is a nice gentleman. He doesn’t screech or scream and squall around the house. He used to be a little like that when he was younger. Now he behaves himself and takes part in the conversation when he can. He has long black hair like crow’s feathers, growing longer. His sister’s a crawly baby, nine months old and very active crawling, and she likes to hang on to Baladeva. I am growing up in the second generation of a number of my disciples and getting to know them closely. We don’t have intimate relationships because I am so much living in my elder life and don’t take part in games with them, but they see me around and get to know me, and respect me because their parents do.
I can’t remember to say all the gayatris. I trail off before finishing one of them. I hesitate to decide how many rounds I’ve done and how many beads make up a round. This morning I felt disoriented. The hours go by erratically. Quickly and then slowly. You’re not sure when to take your pills and when to take rest. You can’t walk down the stairs by yourself. You sit on a step and then lower yourself to the next step. You sleep twelve hours at night, but you want to take naps during the day. The dark sky outside all day, and frozen snow is banked up on the sidewalks. I don’t have strength to walk outside: my legs wouldn’t hold up and my chest would start wheezing with ill health to my lungs. I’m convalescing and hope to gradually get better.
You don’t have to pray for me to survive, I’m not that bad. Call for Bhakti-rasa to read to me some more. Let him read to me about the higher rasas until my eyes get heavy.
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 3:55 PM
I rang the walkie-talkie alarm to get Bhakti-rasa. I wanted him to read to me from Aindra’s book. But he was not available, and so Baladeva came. He came up out of a deep sleep without washing his face or preparing himself. He apologized that his reading might not be so good. And it was true. He read in a sleepy voice a very long section about Ananga-manjari being the feminine counterpart of Lord Balarama. I asked him what he thought of it, and he said, “It has nothing to do with me.” Bhakti-rasa would have had a more critical comment to make to keep the reading alive. We have read for half and hour and now stopped, but I’m going to try again to get Bhakti-rasa on the phone to see if he can continue the reading. It’s getting late in the afternoon and I can’t think of anything else to do.
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 5:45 PM
I had a better reading with Bhakti-rasa Prabhu. He commented that Aindra could be seen as pioneering, representing a new concept that ISKCON devotees should be following the highest principles everywhere, and it is their responsibility and the responsibility of their leaders to aspire to reach this. His lambasting at the failure to do this in the institution may also be seen as loyal dissent. He is not saying that the ISKCON institution is dead, but if it does not adhere to the principles of following the sampradayic flow, then it is finished.
Through a gray day I sought
bright sunlight of my life.
I found only dimming clouds
even at noon. But I was not so sad
I had somehow chanted the maha-
mantra although I wasn’t sure of my count.I had somehow gotten a few lines
on my schedule of my morning’s writing,
although I wasn’t sure what I
thought or said. No doubt
I spoke of the heaviness of my body
and written a resume of something
he read to me from the Krishna book.
But I can’t remember because I did
not write any of it down,
and my
memory has been inaccurate,although I was not in pain
but congested and weakened in my legs.
I talked about the hospital
again when friends came,
although I told them the same stories.
I am hoping to pull out of this funk
and feel young, at least spritely
again and able to see birds at
the feeder and feel arise
in my heart, that ability
to play with words, that
deep concentration on Krishna
again, my aspirations for
Him, especially for that.
Kurma dasa, AU: The Daily Grind
Ike Isaksen from Cali, Colombia wrote me some time back:
"I've been living in Colombia for 4 years now, and although I can buy chickpeas (garbanzos), i can't buy chickpea flour. There are so many great recipes that use it, and I occasionally give cooking classes to friends, so I'm a little desperate! I just stumbled across your site and thought - Hey, here's a guy who'll know! Can I make it myself from chickpeas? Or if not what's the closest alternative?"
My answer: Thanks for the interesting letter. Well, if you found a mill with decent stones you may be able to ask them to grind you some garbanzo flour. Chickpeas are very hard of course, much harder than wheat. If you know someone with a home wheat grinding mill, you can grind your own. It will be a bit coarser than the talc-consistency shop bought product.
By the way, actual besan flour, sometimes called chickpea flour, is actually made from tumble dry-roasted and husked whole chana dal, (see picture, above, left) a botanical 'cousin' of the chickpea.
In Italy, farina di ceci, real chickpea flour, is well-loved. It tastes very similar to (but better than, I think) besan flour, also known as gram flour (made from gram dal, those small whole chana dals). Are there any Italian stores in Cali? Maybe a silly question.
Another alternative is pea flour, which is made from finely milled yellow split peas, or lentil flour of some description. These will have a similar result in cooking, though the taste will subtly vary. Hope this helps.
ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Christmas Day
This is how we celebrated Christmas down here at the Melbourne Mahaprabhu Mandir.
We had the notorious Christmas lunch of course, but before that we had a very moving celebration for Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja's disappearance day.
And after the lunch we had the great honour and priviledge of welcoming Jayapataka Swami to Melbourne after a long 2 years of deeply felt absence.
Here's a slideshow of all these heart-moving events.
Bharatavarsa.net: Book distribution seminar: a letter from Srila Prabhupada
Letter December 6, 1974
Regarding your question, actually it is a fact that ultimately everyone should preach and distribute books if they want to please me in the best way. Book distribution must be given stress always. If you do this sincerely, it is a fact that Krishna will supply everything else required. I blindly follow my guru maharaj. I do not know what is the result. So I am stressing on this point of book distribution. He told me this personally. Book distribution is bhagavata marga and temple worship is pancaratriki viddhi. Both are important for cultivating Vaisnavism but comparatively speaking bhagavata marga is more important than pancaratriki viddhi. As far as possible both should go on in parallel lines but still bhagavata marga is more important than the other. So you are all intelligent boys, so you should judge the desire of my guru maharaj and help me in that way.
Book Distribution News: a letter from Srila Prabhupada
Letter December 6, 1974
Regarding your question, actually it is a fact that ultimately everyone should preach and distribute books if they want to please me in the best way. Book distribution must be given stress always. If you do this sincerely, it is a fact that Krishna will supply everything else required. I blindly follow my guru maharaj. I do not know what is the result. So I am stressing on this point of book distribution. He told me this personally. Book distribution is bhagavata marga and temple worship is pancaratriki viddhi. Both are important for cultivating Vaisnavism but comparatively speaking bhagavata marga is more important than pancaratriki viddhi. As far as possible both should go on in parallel lines but still bhagavata marga is more important than the other. So you are all intelligent boys, so you should judge the desire of my guru maharaj and help me in that way.
ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
The Deities are simply resplendent in Their "arati" set today, characterised by the golden-embroided bells, lamps and flowers on Their blue, white and red outfits.
Here's the slideshow.
Sri Sri Jaganatha and Balarama, and Their sister Subhadra Mayi are still awaiting our gifts;
after all They enact the pastime of falling sick so as to increase our attachment to Them and give us an opportunity to look after Them during Their "illness".
Verily, Their Lordships are always in perfect health and They certainly do not require anything material from us; They are after our love and affection.
So let us show Them that we miss Them.
Japa Group: Your Inner Level Of Inspiration
Hare Krsna dear devotees, below is an interview with H.H. Sacinandana Swami for a Magazine, in the following question he talks about chanting as a technique to access the stream of love inside the heart.Can you give our readers an ancient spiritual technique which helps them quickly to energize themselves?
Yes, I would like to teach you the simple technique of living in a spiritual circle. We all know how a strong immune system protects our health. When the immune system is not so strong diseases can easily come and make us ill. So there is an ancient technique called establishing a spiritual circle which helps you to develop your spiritual immune system. This spiritual immune system acts like a protective circle which fulfils two functions. It helps you not to be disturbed by outside influences but it also builds up your inner blissfulness and energy. You could compare it almost with a tire, which you can blow up so that it is very strong. Building the spiritual circle can be done by having good, encouraging and inspiring association with spiritually-minded people.
It can be also made by reading daily sacred scriptures which will expand your inner level of inspiration.
The spiritual circle can be established by chanting daily sacred mantras which will increase the spiritual vibrations in your existence. All these techniques will quickly help you to access that stream of love inside your heart. With these simple practices you can easily access that unlimited reservoir of love. Just don’t allow that the false ego comes and blocks it again.
Thank you very much.Interview for the magazine 108 in Moscow - March 21, 2008
I wish you a very Happy 2011, full of great realisations in chanting and that you can be able to love the Lord more and more through this chanting and serving.
your servant,
Aruna devi
Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Literary revolution to change the world
Gradually, we shall replace the literatures which are currently popular with our own style of transcendental literature. I have tried it: any page you open, that is wonderful reading matter. My ambition is to spread these books far and wide all over the world so that everyone shall read at least one of our books and that will change his life. If only 1% become devotees, that will change the world.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Karandhara — Tokyo 2 May, 1972
Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Philosophical camp, Baroda, 15-20 Feb 2011
This will consist mostly of lectures and questions-and-answers sessions conducted by myself in English. Topics are not yet fixed, but the level of discourse will be meant for devotees who have seriously studied Srila Prabhupada's books. Possibly Vidvan Gauranga Prabhu will also give a seminar on Vedapauruseyatva. Varaha-dvadasi and Nityananda-trayodasi will be celebrated during this period. Devotees are requested to bring their own songbooks.
For information about accommodation etc., please contact Nartaka Gauranga Prabhu, who I have added as a receiver here.
hari-guru-vaisnava dasa, BVS
ISKCON Toronto, Canada: What are YOU doing this New Year's Eve?
As most people leave a regular Sunday Feast, many remark about how it resembles a spiritual 'explosion' - full of energy, singing and dancing to your heart's content! So why not combine our spiritually-charged singing and dancing with one of the year's BIGGEST parties at City Hall?
Ring in the New Year "Hare Krsna" style as we make our way from the Hare Krsna Temple to City Hall, doing what we do best - KIRTAN! Dress warmly as we will be doing plenty of walking, dancing and singing!We will be leaving the temple at approximately 10:30pm and be arriving back at the temple at 2:30am. More details and a map of our route will be posted shortly.Again, if you do not have any plans for New Year's Eve (or even if you do!), come join us for an experience like no other!
H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Srimad Bhagavatam Canto Three Chapter Twenty Five Text Thirteen
LECTURE BY HIS HOLINESS BHAKTI CARU SWAMI ON SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM 04-25-13 ON 12 DECEMBER 2010 Transcription : Ranga Radhika Dasi Editing : Ramananda Raya Dasa Audio-reference : http://www.bcswami.com/2010/12/12/srimad-bhagavatam-3-25-13 Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Srimad Bhagavatam. Third Canto, Chapter twenty five: The Glories of Devotional Service. Text thirteen. Sri [...]
Krishna Dharma dasa, UK: Spiritual economics
As 2011 rolls in we face cuts in public spending, huge job losses, benefit reductions and pay freezes in almost every sector. It’s the ‘Big Society’ folks, but without the Big Money. As Government looks to local communities for new ideas to tackle old problems with the Localism Bill, at the same time they are scything funding to local authorities, with cuts of almost 30% expected over the next four years.
It’s looking decidedly grim in many quarters as our national finances struggle. And struggling they are. The UK’s debts in total are 466% of annual economic output once consumer debt is included. In other words if the country was an individual he would almost certainly be declared bankrupt.
While we may be running short of cash, at the end of the day it only represents material resources. So are we running out of those? I don’t think so. All our needs are provided by God. We may be able to print money but we cannot manufacture food or any other natural resource. Earth, sun, rain, fresh air, fruits, vegetables, grains — none of this lies in our power to provide, and none of it is in short supply. God can provide unlimited amounts. All we have to do is manage it properly
As everything comes from God it also belongs to him. We have no factual claim over anything. Naked came we to the world and naked shall we leave. Forgetting God’s proprietorship we lay claim to the world and then lay waste to her resources; the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster being a graphic example.
That crisis along with other market forces has seen oil prices soaring over the past year. It’s made me renew an old love affair with the bicycle and indeed wonder if our whole high-tech lifestyle needs a review. For sure the burgeoning demand for material goods sweeping the world cannot be sustained. The West, with 12% of the world’s population, accounts for 60% of private consumption spending. The undeveloped countries are some way behind us, but they don’t plan to stay that way. TV and Hollywood have shown them a splendid vision of the other side, and they are now jostling in the world market place along with the rest of us. The competition looks set to get fierce. Something’s got to give.
Maybe it’s time for a new approach. Government is perennially obsessed with “growing” the economy, but is that helpful? They want to see a ‘healthy’ cash flow, more business, more people working, more spending and generally more consumption all round, but this can only exacerbate the problems we face, both globally and personally. The more absorbed we become in striving for material improvement the more we neglect our spiritual lives, and consequentially become increasingly victimised by lust and greed. It’s a vicious cycle.
We have to reduce demand, not increase it. Consume less, bring down the fever of materialism, find a bit of inner peace. After all, can we honestly say that having that latest car, phone or TV has actually increased our happiness? Probably it only increased our debt and anxiety.
The Bhagavad-gita speaks about simple living and high thinking as the human ethic (reflected in the Lifestyle Movement’s catchy “live simply so everyone may simply live” slogan). Keep our external needs to a minimum and focus on finding the divine within ourselves. There is a reservoir of pleasure in our hearts if we only take the time to look. And to give us that time God supplies our material needs in abundance, as long as we do not mismanage them in a frenzy of greed.
As Gandhi said, there is enough for our needs but not for our greed. Are we really taking only what we need? That depends. Those advanced on the spiritual path happily survive with minimal resources — one or two moderate meals a day, a few (non-designer) clothes and a simple dwelling. We may not be quite ready for that level of frugality, but we can work towards it by steady spiritual practise. We will definitely feel better for it and so will the world.
And as for growing economies; that’s also recommended by Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita, although perhaps not the type of growth sought by the government. “Grow food,” says Krishna. “Practise religion and be happy.” It’s a local solution, anyone can do it, we can grow food anywhere, and it’s completely sustainable. An idea whose time cannot be far away.
ISKCON News.com: B.V. Narayana Maharaja Passes Away
His Holiness B.V. Narayana Maharaja, a prominent Vaishnava leader, passed away at 3:00am on the morning of December 29th in the holy city of Jagannath Puri, India.
Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: Janmastami - Dance - Swagatam Krishna - 1/7
The little girls from the Sunday School performing a dance to "Swagatam Krishna." Way too cute.
Dallas, TX
2010-09-01
H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Monday, December 27th, 2010
Polygamy At It's Best
Toronto Ontario.
The air is drier here in Toronto. It's cooler. The sun shines through. The coastal city of Vancouver is the most moderate place in Canada, temperature wise, but it's the persistent rain in the winter that takes some getting used to.
Now I find myself back in T.O. It's nighttime and I have just returned from a satsang (devotional gathering) amongst our 20 younger adults in a penthouse apartment. We had some kirtan (chanting). What did I glance at from an ad recently? "Deck the halls and bring down the walls!" The chanting was something like that.
I decided to walk from the apartment when all was done, so I trekked along on University Avenue back to the temple/ashram and my room. There at my phone is a hard copy of a forwarded message sitting for my eyes to spot. For those of you who didn't get to read this interesting message, subject being nuns and Krishna, here it is: "There was a case of nuns in a court in Warsaw, Poland, against ISKCON (Hare Krishna Movement). Noticing that ISKCON was spreading its activities and gaining followers in Poland, a nun filed a case before a judicial magistrate praying that ISKCON should be banned, because it's followers were glorifying a character called Krishna...who was loose in morals, having married 16,100 wives?
When the case came up for hearing, the ISKCON lawyer requested the judge to ask the nun to repeat the oath she had taken when she was ordained as a nun.
The judge asked the nun to recite the oath loudly. She wouldn't. The lawyer asked the judge whether he could read it out for her. The judge agreed. The pledge was in effect that she is married to Jesus Christ.
The lawyer said, "Your honour, Lord Krishna is alleged to have married 16,100 wives... but here are more than a million nuns who assert that they are married to Jesus Christ. Between the two, Krishna and the nuns, who are the loose character?"
The judge dismissed the case
3 KM
Akrura das, Gita Coaching: AWESOME COMMUNICATION QUOTES
These quotes are from The Heart Of Innovation blog:
www.ideachampions.com/weblogs
1. "The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said." - Peter Drucker
2. "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." - George Bernard Shaw
3."Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people." - William Butler Yeats
4. "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." - Epictetus
5. "Speak when you are angry -- and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret." - Laurence Peters
6. "In the last analysis, what we are communicates far more eloquently than anything we say or do." - Stephen Covey
11. "Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing." - Rollo May
15. "Two monologues do not make a dialogue." - Jeff Daly
16. "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato
18. "Any problem, big or small, within a family, always seems to start with bad communication. Someone isn't listening." - Emma Thompson
19. "When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." - Ernest Hemingway
20. "You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time." - Scott Peck
24. "Give me the gift of a listening heart." - King Solomon
Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: The Contract
On this trip we have had the great fortune of meeting so many sincere devotees. Both second generation and dedicated Prabhupada disciples who continue to serve their Spirtual Master through thick and thin.
They say you learn something new everyday and I was enthralled with a conversation my dad had in which he reffered to "the contract" that Srila Prabhupada reffered to between himself and his disciples. I guess I was not the only once since someone researched the quotes and they came to me today and I wanted to share them. Of course I have jazzed it up with some pictures and emphasized text for those who simply skim the posts.
We were planning to blog from the road but it has been a very busy week and we are still travelling so we will prepare a daily blog post in the new year recounting the wonderful and enlivening experiences that have rejuvenated and elevated our love for Prabhupada and Krishna Consciousness.
In the meantime, our dandavats again and again and again to those devotees who continue to sincerley carry out Srila Prabhupada's mission."Regarding your question of an initiated person falling prey to the maya, the answer is that so long we are in this material world, there is always chance of being spoiled by Maya, so we must stick with vow to the Lotus Feet of Krishna. An initiated devotee is given the chance for becoming free from the entanglement of karma wheel. Initiated means beginning, not perfection. The Spiritual Master's business is to guide him to the perfectional point. But if one does not strictly follow the guidance of a bonafide Spiritual Master his initation does not bear any meaning. The initiation performance is an agreement by the disciples to abide by the order of the Spiritual Master. Therefore, if the Spiritual Master is bonafide and the disciple is serious to abide by His order, then the success is sure."
Letter from Srila Prabhupada January 11, 1970"My advise is always chant 16 rounds minimum and follow the four regulative principles. All of my disciples must agree on this point otherwise they are not my disciples.”
Letter from Srila Prabhupada Letter February 17, 1976"Out of the ten kinds of offenses, the number one offense is to disobey the orders of the Spiritual Master. The instructions given to the disciple by the Spiritual Master at the time of initiation should be strictly followed. That will make one advance to the spiritual path. But if one deliberately defies such instructions, then his advancement is hampered from the very beginning. This defying means to disconnect the relationship with the spiritual master. And anyone who defies and therefore disconnects the relationship with the spiritual master can hardly expect the assistance of the Spiritual Master life after life."
Letter fromSrila Prabhupada July 9, 1969
ISKCON News.com: Happy New Year!
ISKCON News wishes a happy, prosperous and enlightened New Year to all its readers and contributors! We are working on new features, and we will resume on January 10th, 2011.
ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Sankarsana Dasa Adhikari in Melbourne
Sankarsana Prabhu reached Melbourne yesterday afternoon.
On his program:
- Thursday, Friday & Sunday mornings:
Srimad Bhagavatam class at the Temple
- Wednesday & Friday: Bhakti Vrksa programs
- Sankirtan Program at South Kingsville Community Centre; starts at 10:30am.
For further details, please contact
Vijay Mamidi on 0433 521 524 or
Michael Raj on 0423 023 622
Gouranga TV: Bhajan – Radhanath Swami – Jaya Radha Madhava
Bhajan – Radhanath Swami – Jaya Radha Madhava
H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Quote Of Guru Maharaja
Sender Anonymous
ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Harinama - New Year's Day
Do you want to start the year 2011 on a good note?
Why not step in with the sankirtan party?!
Inundate Melbourne city with the nectarean ocean of the Holy Names, on Day-1 itself of the New Year!
H.H. Sivarama Swami
Try to always study our books and see our philosophy from different lights of directions, become convinced yourself of this knowledge and without a doubt all of your difficulties of mind will disappear forever and you will see Krishna face-to-face.
- Srila Prabhupada
Japa Group: Japa Poem
Reading transcendental literature
about the pastimes of Lord Caitanya
and Radha-Krishna, enhances my
japa and carries me away from
a distracted state of mind.
I chant while thinking of the
ecstatic chanting of Mahaprabhu
and of the gopis and gopas
of Vraja. I should always
stay immersed in such readings
as it keeps my japa pure.
There are so many subjects
for worrying about, and they
put you in an anxious state.
But when you are thinking
of Radha-Krishna and uttering
Their names you approach
the spiritual world.
From Bhajan Kutir #483
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