"Planet ISKCON" - 33 new articles
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sábado, 5 de febrero de 2011
H.H. Kadamba Kanana Swami: Driven by self interest
H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 11.29.40-44 Krishna Doesn’t Say Surrender At The Start Of The Bhagavad Gita 02-03-2010
"Planet ISKCON" - 47 new articles
Atma Yoga, Brisbane, AU: Kirtan with Gaura Vani and As Kindred SpiritsGaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits return to Brisbane in February 2011, with a night of kirtan at Atma Yoga. Join Gaura Vani (vocals and harmonium) and Jahnavi (vocals and violin) along with local musicians for an evening of ecstatic chant and stunning world music. Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits toured Australia last year in support of their Grammy-nominated album “Ten Millions Moons” (available on iTunes) to an enthusiastic reception. Join Gaura Vani and company on Sunday February 20th, from 7pm at Atma Yoga, at 99 Elizabeth St. Tickets are $20 presales, and $25 on the door. Get your tickets at Atma, or by calling Prema on 0450 738 971.
 • Email to a friend •  •H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Saturday 5 February 2011--The Total and Fragmental Energies--and--How Can a Soul Leave Vaikuntha?A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course(tm) Saturday 5 February 2011 The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, and His eternal consort, Srimati Radharani are enjoying transcendental pastimes in the topmost planet of the spiritual world, Sri Goloka Vrindavan. They are beckoning us to rejoin them. Our Mission: To help everyone awaken their original Krishna consciousness, which is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. Such a global awakening will, in one stroke, solve all the problems of the world society bringing in a new era of unprecedented peace and prosperity for all. May that day, which the world so desperately needs, come very soon. We request you to participate in this mission by reviving your dormant Krishna consciousness and assisting us in spreading this science all over the world. Dedicated with love to ISKCON Founder-Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, our beloved spiritual master, and to you, our dear readers. Today's Thought: The Total and Fragmental Energies Uploaded from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA Who can deny that there is a total energy and that each one of us is a fragmental portion of that total energy? Srila Prabhupada has revealed to us that the total energy is Krishna or God. Hopefully those who try to prove that everything is an illusion, will realize now that it is their philosophy which is the illusion, not the total and fragmental energies. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How Can a Soul Leave Vaikuntha? Dear Gurudeva, You have told us that those souls in the spiritual world who have the desire to become God will come to this material world. If a soul is completely satisfied in the company of God in Vaikuntha, the spiritual world, how can he have an unsatisfied desire? If a perverted desire can come to the soul even while he is the company of God, what is the assurance that we will not fall back to the material world after reaching the spiritual world, Vaikuntha? Satheesh Answer: Misuse of Independence Because the minute living being is qualitatively one with the Lord, who is unlimitedly independent, the minute living being naturally possesses a minute degree of independence. If he misuses this independence, he comes to this material world to try to enjoy separately from the Lord, and thus suffers miserably in the cycle of repeated birth and death. After doing so, if he is indeed fortunate, he comes into contact with the bona fide spiritual master, who enlightens him about his original position in the spiritual world and how to regain it. Then with the merciful blessings of the spiritual master, he returns to his original position in the spiritual world never to make the same mistake again. The living being may misuse his minute independence once, but after having learned his lesson, he will not misuse his independence ever again. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Transcendental Resources: Receive the Special Blessings of Krishna Now you too can render the greatest service to the suffering humanity and attract the all-auspicious blessings of Lord Sri Krishna upon yourself and your family by assisting our mission. Lectures and Kirtans in Audio and Video: Link to High Definition Videos Link to Over 1,000 Lecture Audios Lecture-Travel Schedule for 2011 http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/schedule Have Questions or Need Further Guidance? Check out the resources at: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com or write Sankarshan Das Adhikari at: sda@backtohome.com Get your copy today of the world's greatest self-realization guide book, Bhagavad-gita As It Is available at: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/store Know someone who could benefit from this? Forward it to them. Searchable archives of all of course material: http://www.sda-archives.com Receive Thought for the Day as an RSS feed: http://www.backtohome.com/rss.htm Unsubscribe or change your email address Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Daily_Thought Copyright 2005-2011 by Ultimate Self Realization.Com Distribution of this material is encouraged. Simply we request you to acknowledge where it is coming from with a link to our sign up page: http://www.backtohome.com Our records indicate that at requested to be enrolled to receive e-mails from the Ultimate Self Realization Course at: This request was made on: From the following IP address: • Email to a friend • •
Vraja Kishor, JP: The Supreme GoalGita 8.21
 Image via Wikipedia In this Eighth Chapter, Kṛṣṇa has explained that yogis endeavor to know the true self. Some yogis successfully realize that the true self is intimately linked to the super-self. They thus start to develop feelings of thankfulness, respect, and love towards the super-self. All material goals and aspirations disappoint, but yogis attain a goal which is far beyond even the topmost heaven of this material world. Especially the yogis who develop love for the super-self attain an unparalleled goal. Kṛṣṇa then clarified how even the topmost heavenly dimension of the universal creator, Lord Brahma, is perishable by nature, and therefore destined to disappoint us. Now, in the previous verse he contrasted that against the spiritual goal attained by devoted yogis. Though even Brahmaloka falls to ruin again and again, the devotional yogis attain Kṛṣṇa’s own abode, which is avyakta – “unmanifest.” Now Kṛṣṇa speaks the 21st verse to answer Arjun’s mental doubt about the word avyakta, “How can people attain a place which “does not exist” (avyakta)?” So Kṛṣṇa says here, “avyakto ‘kṣara iti.” The word iti in Sanskrit is similar to a quotation mark in English, and is very often used when giving definitions of words. Here Kṛṣṇa is more clearly defining for Arjuna, what exactly he means by the word avyakta (unmanifest). He says, “By ‘unmanifest’ I mean ‘infallible’.” Our Prabhupada translates this as, “That which the Vendāntists describe as unmanifest and infallible.” The vedāntic definition of the spiritual world is that it is “unmanifest” in the sense that it is “infallible.” To explain, anything which has a beginning has an end. But something that never begins will never end. And in fact, the only thing which can never end is something that never begins. “Unmanifest” means something that never began. This is why the spiritual world, unlike even Brahmaloka, never gets destroyed. It never ends because it never begins. “Infallable” literally means, that which does not fall. The spiritual world never falls to ruin, because it never rises to existence. So Arjuna still is confused, “If something never begins, it doesn’t exist, right? How can spiritualists attain something that doesn’t exist.” The spiritual world does exist. In fact it is the paramount of existence. So Kṛṣṇa calls it paramāṁ gati – the topmost reality, the topmost goal. Prabhupada translates that the spiritual world is the “Supreme destination.” However, the spiritual world does not exist within the confines of any timeline with reference to causality (karma) that effects beginnings and endings. This may be a terse philosophical point, but since this is a part in the Gita where Kṛṣṇa is discussing vedāntic conclusions, I think it is our service and duty to put our minds into clear mode, high gear, and dig into the depth of the philosophy being expressed. I think that meditation and contemplation upon these thoughts in serenity will produce personal realizations of the subject being discussed. Now Arjuna’s question becomes, “If a being from the timeline of begging and ends enters a place beyond the timeline of beginning and ends, what happens to him?” Answering this Kṛṣṇa says, yam prāpya na nivartante – “When you leave the material timeline and enter that imperishable reality beyond cause and effect – you too become freed from cause and effect. You too never again fall to run. Yam prāpya, when you get there… na nivartante, you never fall back. We often attain goals, and later lose them. For example, for a while I was quite famous in a certain subculture. Now I am not as famous, and certainly after another generation or two I will be completely forgotten. Or in 2000 and around then I had a lot of financial wealth, which previously I did not, and now I also no longer have at all. The goals we attain in the material world of competing egos are always lost after some time. But the accomplishment attained by the devotional yogis is something they absolutely never lose. You can consult the Katha Upanishad 1.3.11 for further confirmation of these points. Kṛṣṇa is paraphrasing that text very closely in the current verse of the Gita. Now, Arjuna wonders, “What is that imperishable place?” Kṛṣṇa answers, tad dhāma paramam mama – “That place is my own supreme abode.” So, yogis who strive for self-realization, if very lucky, come to realize the intimate relationship between the self (ātmā) and super-self (paramātmā), and thus develop emotions and feelings of love for the super-self. We go to where our desires lead us – that is constantly true, in this world as well as in yoga and spirituality. If we develop loving desires for the super-self who intimately supports us, then we will actually go to where the super-self resides in a personal form that we can intimately relate with. So devotional yogis (bhakti-yogis), they attain the “dhāma” – the residence of Vishnu, the personality of the super-self. “Dhāma” is shorthand for Vaikuntha dhāma. Depending on the flavor of loving feelings the yogi develops for the super-self, he or she goes to a place where the super-self manifests a form and personality most appropriate to reciprocate those feelings. The supreme abode of all supreme abodes is the place where the super-self manifests a form and personality most appropriate for reciprocating with the most supremely intimate of all intimate forms of affection developed by the devotional yogis. This is the ultimate meaning of tad dhāma paramam mama. This form is Kṛṣṇa and the place is Vṛṇdāvana. The Brahma-samhita gives elaborate descriptions of what that place is like. One can read that book for more information. One particularly sweet line from that book is veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda dalāyatākṣaṁ - In that sweet supreme abode, the devotees enjoy uninterrupted spiritual bliss as Kṛṣṇa plays his lovely flute, batting the long eyelashes on his crimson rimmed lotus eyes; peacock feathers adorning his hair, glistening saffron-yellow clothes flowing in the breeze, as he stands dramatically and sensually in a S like shape, hips thrown out lusciously; his hue the color of a mountain of sapphires lit from behind by the rising sun! If you now read our Prabhupada’s full translation and commentary on the verse, I think you will deeply relish it: http://vedabase.net/bg/8/21/en Śrī Śrī Guru Gauranga Jayatau. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare.
        • Email to a friend • •H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 212 EJW: November 16 & 17, 1996February 4 Every Day, Just Write, Volume I: Welcome Home to the One Big Book of Your Life November 16, 1996 You hoax,
Go back to house now and choose what to do if that’s possible. I’m tired of helping M. decide what hospital to go to or whether to put it off until next April or do it now. He’d have to go to U.S.A. to do it now. Hard for him to decide. Tends to put it off, like death, four or five months. Better to go for it? I don’t want to force him. I can’t stay back from India. Better he fix himself and join me again soon as he can. But if he thinks he can hold it in all that time . . . Earlier today I thought how I’ll just tell the truth here. I thought of some specific things I’d tell but I forget it now. When I knew it and agreed to write it, it made me feel, “Yes, this is honest.” You write not for show. You actually experience what you write.
Admit again you’re bored to read? Oh, I don’t know for sure. But I’ll keep on hoofin’. November 17, 1996
I’m a writer but now I’m sacrificing products in favor of the diary expression. I hope to also go beyond usual diary concerns of self. Writing exercise . . . and can you go deeper into self, into life, into sastra and holy name? I don’t seem capable now of a concentrated, sustained effort in reading or writing. This is partly due to health. We read of students writing their Ph.D. theses or a writer burning intensely as he creates his novel, etc. I do a little every day in this roomy form. It’s also a form. Other things to do, like writing letters, also occupy me.
Just spent maybe twenty minutes with C.c., Lord Caitanya’s expressing direct meaning of Vedanta-sutra to Sarvabhauma. Brahman means Supreme Brahman. Absolute truth is both personal and impersonal, but personal is stronger. One must always favor direct meaning of sastra (brahma sabda) over interpretations, inferences, etc. Lord Caitanya is convincing him.
Okay mate, I dig you, kep going in roundhouse. Turn your train or ferry around in water (white sloshing) and head back in other direction. Each day from morning to night, sing a little song of sorrow and tepid joy and restrained senses. Hang in there. With kirtana and joys
3:30 A.M. You are reluctant to write or do anything. I like to sit in a long temple room and read C.c. and comment. Clever opening. We are reading the story of Madhavendra Puri as told by Lord Caitanya because that’s His param-guru. Mostly C.c. is directly LC Himself, but in this chapter He tells a story He heard from Isvara Puri. And then you read of Madhavendra and try to think of something to say because a straight reading isn’t enough. They want to keep awake and you’re supposed to perform also. The big-time, small-time performer. Got plans today if Krishna will let me carry them out. Do the Introductions section for Sketchbooks of Joy. Do it this afternoon in the shed if you get a chance. This morning is taken up going over to the lake-island. And trying to keep yourself calm in head before that. Flying wedge, wedge of chese, the cheese bureau, the diet-watcher, the word-spiller. Oh, you’ve got plenty to do. You could keep yourself slim and trim and be a representative, not a jerk or a fool. Guru na sisyat. Don’t cheat the disciples. • Email to a friend • •Bhakta Chuck, CT, USA: Friday Night Oxen #42Hello Everyone, a steady mind
Deep winter has set in here in the North East and the mind tries to find relief with dreams of Spring. But, it is far too soon for that and I try to remember; “O son of Kunté, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” “One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.” Bhagavad Gita As it Is, chapter 2, texts 4 & 56 Have a nice weekend, in service to the Oxen,
Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
        • Email to a friend • •H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 211 Italian Concerto in F majorFebruary 3 Every Day, Just Write, Volume I: Welcome Home to the One Big Book of Your Life Italian Concerto in F-Major
Oh, I did that when younger. Give me some days to write to the lords of Boston Commons, to the new, almost-born bhaktas and bhaktins who may wander to Inis Rath or get one of my books in the shadow of oaks Pretoria, Wisconsin, back street, back wooden porch, Czech Republic, China hideout, streets of Tokyo on the way out. May I give them what my master gave us—love and chapatis, with bread balls and chaunced dahl—eat with whole self the mercy of God food steaming Indian menu my master. I failed. I succeeded. “Andante” (Harpsichord Solo) The cows run home. Skinny cows of India, fat of Ireland (to be slaughtered). The andante pace. It’s like a delicate Christmas toy music box turning with a little mechanical ballet dancer catching reflections of light. Say it is a cowherd boy
There is no recourse for the sins we have committed except to chant Hare Krishna. You now go back into the house and proofread, work, as head allows. And Madhu readies himself to leave, and I say Oh, oh, I’m going to get the schedule onto . . . 2:30 Shed What is the most KC thing I can do—easily– and
Icy but smooth, the cold white-blue ripples of the lake. You want something sensational to do or begin? There’s nothing like that, man. Krishna Book you could do again or just stick to C.c. I’m asking you to decide and smooth ride. You already produced a lot today—proofread an A.F., answered some letters, wrote here to music in A.M.
Ugh. Ugly vision of Sharon Olds, cocks and vaginas, penises and tortures, it’s the world of course, and Ms. Olds is just seeing it eye-on, poets’ mold, compassion (big word, three syllables) for her poems. “Pope’s penis” and the rest. She’s a good gal, faces it without God. Can’t believe in God because He should have come down and stopped the adult tortures. She stops loving Him there and goes on in her own body and mind, belonging, loving the world incomprehensibly, tough vision of what it is to the belly and eye and
Decide, man, decide what to do and do it. String Quartet #13
Slippin’ and a’slidin’ peepin’ and a’ hidin’ you been told, baby, you been bold– While they danced, the Nazis burned down in another place
But if you were a mere music aficionado, you’d dig it more, relax and resign. They play away their time, and I got no better things to do. Sense-gratifier. I’ll go one more minute on this rockabye melody to a child in crib lovingly, then see if this next “Adagio Molto Expressivo” will be better. Harbinger of my downfall. The music stands. The alibi sheet. They read and draw bows across strings. I wonder why I am here in the darkness of this music theater? I could be somewhere with hoarse, crass, deep-souled purpose ISKCON-ites. I could be chanting holy names beyond bare minimum. • Email to a friend • •H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: February 3rd PoemI sat intermediate
Things are looking up.
I wanted all day and then
He prefers a poem or the autobiography
Other fears like diseases
• Email to a friend • •ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Prahladananda Swami Yoga Retreat
• Email to a friend • •Australian News: Please Help the Mayapur Academy.
To house the wonderful new books that we are collecting for our library Mayapur Academy library needs a new bookcase. The library currently has over 5000 books in over 50 languages and there are so many new books waiting for shelving. Our latest acquisitions came from the World Sanskrit book fair and were chosen for us by Vidvan Gauranga Prabhu. A new bookcase will cost around $3000 so any any assistance you can give will be greatly appreciated….Thank you! The Mayapur Academy is a joint educational initiative of the Mayapur Deity Department and ISKCON Deity Worship Ministry. Our goal is to train brahmanas that are capable of fulfilling the needs of ISKCON communities. Our complete website can be found at http://www.mayapuracademy.org and our blog at http://mayapuracademy.wordpress.com/ The Mayapur Academy is located at ISKCON Mayapur, situated on the beautiful banks of the Ganges River, in Sridhama Mayapur, West Bengal. to visit our CAUSE at www.causes.com any assistance, however small, is greatly appreciated Share this story your way:          
• Email to a friend • •Australian News: Friday Mantra Dance Night: You Got to get Fired Up
Friday Mantra Dance Night Friday 25th February. 7:00 – 8:15pm – kirtan up tempo mantra beats 8:15 – Vegetarian dinner Cost: $10 inclusive of the dinner Bring your dancing shoes and get it on for the the Friday Mantra dance Night at Govindas Lotus Room on Friday 25th February. Dancing to an up-beat lrtan is sure to bring on the bliss. Don’t miss this dinner and dance combination. You never knew yoga could be so much fun. Soak yourself in the spiritual sound, move your body to the music, fill yourself with the delicicious dinner. You will not be dissapointed. Share this story your way:
• Email to a friend • •Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: Master Planners Heads Up: Green Builders“What Is Green Building? “Green building integrates natural resource, human health, and community concerns into building design, construction, and operation that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact on the environment and occupants by addressing energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality, waste reduction and occupant productivity and health.” Anyone doing any long range planning in ISKCON (or outside it for that matter) should watch this DVD.
“A quiet green revolution in the building world is evolving. Green Builders profiles green building pioneers who have taken the leap into making their part of the “built environment” a more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly place. Their homes and offices are the proving grounds for green building; revealing that building greener is less complicated and expensive than you probably thought, and more rewarding in the long run.”
“Green Builders, a one-hour high definition special, profiles a cast of green building pioneers who have taken the leap into making their part of the “built environment” a more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly place. “There is no single way to build green. Green Builders takes a wide-ranging look at a variety of approaches and levels of commitment and at the individuals who have helped turn green building theory into reality. These individuals are not just builders and designers; they’re teachers and homeowners, corporate leaders and academic specialists, leaders of institutions and universities as well as renegade inventors. From The Willow School to PNC Bank to the first solar-hydrogen home called The Hopewell Project, people talk about why they made the move to go green, what the challenges were, and how their project has fared. “In most cases, one finds that a green building project has more to do with smart planning and a mindset change about energy use than expensive technologies or consumer sacrifice. Innovation helps, and there are plenty of innovations included in Green Builders that are making green technology effective and affordable. Geothermal storage, wind farms and extensive solar array systems are examined in the program. As the stories in the documentary demonstrate, it is crucial for us to change our perspective on how we build, recognizing the wasteful impacts of the traditional mode of building and operating our structures, and realizing the environmental and economic benefits of building green. Only then will the green building movement be successful. “The individuals in Green Builders have made the move to building green without suffering, sacrificing, or experimenting with a wispy might-happen. These are real projects on the ground, working businesses and college campuses that prove you can change your carbon footprint once you change your way of looking at how a structure operates. Collectively, the green builders are building the foundation for a more widespread movement toward making America’s built environment less harmful to the dwindling supply of healthy natural resources and even less expensive to operate. Their homes and offices are the proving grounds for green building, and their personal experiences reveal that building greener is less complicated and expensive than you probably thought, and more rewarding in the long run.” Filed under: Cows and Environment         • Email to a friend • •Japa Group: Please Join The Japa Group
 • Email to a friend • •Australian News: Bhakti Vishramba Madhava Maharaj Visiting New Zealand
HH Bhakti Vishramba Madhava Maharaj Visiting New Zealand. All the detail is there in the picture.
• Email to a friend • •Australian News: Brisbane Sunday Feast: A reminder
Hare Krishna! Just to remind you that this is Sunday Feast week (first Sunday of the month)….6th February. Held, as usual, on 1st floor, 99 Elizabeth St, City. Starting 5pm. All welcome! Click here to see the web site Share this story your way:
• Email to a friend • •ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
• Email to a friend • •H.H. Sivarama SwamiWithout being empowered by Krishna, nobody can preach Krishna Consciousness. It is not academic qualification or financial strength which helps in these matters, but it is sincerity of purpose which helps us always. - Srila Prabhupada • Email to a friend • •ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Jagannatha Ram PrabhuSrimad Bhagavatam 11.30.1 - Learning the importance of relationships in Krishna consciousness. • Email to a friend • •Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: our movement will very soon become the world religionThat is predicted by Lord Caitanya, that in every town and village Hare Nama Sankirtana will be well received. It is now an established fact that wherever we go, we will be well received. People are appreciating how pure are our devotees that they are able to abide by the regulative restrictions. Even in your country where sinful activities are the common practice, never the less people are respecting the fact that we are able to follow these principles, while they themselves cannot. So stick very strictly to these principles and chant regularly daily sixteen rounds and you will always remain the topmost position. Have nice Deity program, always have lots of Kirtana, serve ample Prasadam very sumptuously and speak something from my books. If this is done in every center our movement will very soon become the world religion as has now been predicted by one prominent Japanese philosopher in a newspaper here. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Vamanadeva, Indira — Bombay 4 January, 1972 • Email to a friend • •H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 11.29.45-49 Darkness Cannot Put Out The Light 02-04-2011SB 11.29.45-49 Darkness Cannot Put Out The Light 2011-02-04 Lecture – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.29.45-49 Darkness Cannot Put Out The Light 02-04-2011 Melbourne Krsna establishes Himself as the goal of Vedic knowledge. • Email to a friend • •H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 11.29.40-44 Krishna Doesn’t Say Surrender At The Start Of The Bhagavad Gita 02-03-2010SB 11.29.40-44 Krishna Doesn’t Say Surrender At The Start Of The Bhagavad Gita 2010-02-03 Lecture – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.29.40-44 Krishna Doesn’t Say Surrender At The Start Of The Bhagavad Gita 02-03-2010 Melbourne • Email to a friend • •H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 5.29 Inconvenient Jail 12-12-2010 – Video
Dallas, TX
TRANSLATION A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries. PURPORT The conditioned souls within the clutches of illusory energy are all anxious to attain peace in the material world. But they do not know the formula for peace, which is explained in this part of the Bhagavad-gita. The greatest peace formula is simply this: Lord Krishna is the beneficiary in all human activities. Men should offer everything to the transcendental service of the Lord because He is the proprietor of all planets and the demigods thereon. No one is greater than He. He is greater than the greatest of the demigods, Lord Siva and Lord Brahma. In the Vedas (Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.7) the Supreme Lord is described astam isvaranam paramam mahesvaram. Under the spell of illusion, living entities are trying to be lords of all they survey, but actually they are dominated by the material energy of the Lord. The Lord is the master of material nature, and the conditioned souls are under the stringent rules of material nature. Unless one understands these bare facts, it is not possible to achieve peace in the world either individually or collectively. This is the sense of Krishna consciousness: LordKrishna is the supreme predominator, and all living entities, including the great demigods, are His subordinates. One can attain perfect peace only in completeKrishna consciousness. This Fifth Chapter is a practical explanation of Krishna consciousness, generally known as karma-yoga. The question of mental speculation as to howkarma-yoga can give liberation is answered herewith. To work in Krishna consciousness is to work with the complete knowledge of the Lord as the predominator. Such work is not different from transcendental knowledge. Direct Krishna consciousness is bhakti-yoga, and jnana-yoga is a path leading tobhakti-yoga. Krishna consciousness means to work in full knowledge of one’s relationship with the Supreme Absolute, and the perfection of this consciousness is full knowledge of Krishna, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A pure soul is the eternal servant of God as His fragmental part and parcel. He comes into contact with maya (illusion) due to the desire to lord it over maya, and that is the cause of his many sufferings. As long as he is in contact with matter, he has to execute work in terms of material necessities. Krishna consciousness, however, brings one into spiritual life even while one is within the jurisdiction of matter, for it is an arousing of spiritual existence by practice in the material world. The more one is advanced, the more he is freed from the clutches of matter. The Lord is not partial toward anyone. Everything depends on one’s practical performance of duties in Krishna consciousness, which helps one control the senses in every respect and conquer the influence of desire and anger. And one who stands fast in Krishna consciousness, controlling the abovementioned passions, remains factually in the transcendental stage, or brahma-nirvana. The eightfold yoga mysticism is automatically practiced in Krishna consciousness because the ultimate purpose is served. There is a gradual process of elevation in the practice of yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana andsamadhi. But these only preface perfection by devotional service, which alone can award peace to the human being. It is the highest perfection of life. BG 05.29 Inconvenient Jail 2010-12-12 • Email to a friend • •Kurma dasa, AU: Panir Butter Masala
I receive more recipe requests for the famous Panir Butter Masala than any other. Unfortunately it's one of those recipes that I haven't published. It was tagged to go into my last book, but I never decided which of my four quite different untested versions I should transform into a finished Kurma recipe. And quite frankly, its richness sort of scared me. So my recipes for the unctuous delight stayed in my 'yet to test and publish' box, and time slipped by. Then I decided that my next book would be Light & Healthy Vegetarian Dishes, and poor old Panir Butter Masala slipped completely off the list. Slipped is a pretty accurate verb in this case since it's one of those recipes you cook when you need to get seriously comforted. It's oozing butter and cream, and not for anyone on a diet, queasy about dairy products, or short-listed for a liver transplant. Quite frankly, it's unabashedly naughty. And, in case you're wondering Light and Healthy Vegetarian Dishes has not yet seen light of day. So I was delighted to bump into a nice version of this lip-smacking dish on one of my fave food blog sites. If, like me, you don't use garlic, just miss it out, or better still, replace with a spritz of seasoned asafetida. Bazinga!
• Email to a friend • •New Vrndavan, USA: Master Planning TeamDear North American Leaders, Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. New Vrindavan has begun a new phase of development and is looking for talented individuals who could contribute to a Master Planning team. We are seeking trained and experienced architects, engineers, city planners, etc. who may have the time and interest to join a professional team with a strategic approach to community planning. Many congregational members have such experience and expertise but are connected to temples that cannot take advantage of those talents. This may provide them with the opportunity to apply their skills in devotional service to Krishna. We expect to build a team composed of volunteers and paid professionals. Our search is an occasion for temples to identify talented members to participate in building a Hare Krishna community. Direct participation while applying personal experience and skills in devotional service could lift an ISKCON member’s local commitment to a higher level. Questions or Interested parties please contact: Jaya.Krsna.sns@pamho.net [Community President] and gopisa108@gmail.com [Board Chairman]. Please post and promote this opportunity. Thank you. Your servant, Kuladri das On behalf of the New Vrindavan Board of Directors • Email to a friend • •David Haslam, UK: School Preaching, finding balanceEver thought of school preaching? No, me neither. But by a number of events I’ve been invited to and have been going to a number of schools here in Wales and this is set to expand even further. It is not by my own personal endeavor I can take no credit, although putting together the [...] • Email to a friend • •ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Just SurrenderWe recently came across this beautiful track, "Surrender" performed by the talented Gaura Vani and As Kindered Spirits at a yoga studio in Australia. This is a live rendition of the track from their latest album, "Ten Million Moons".  • Email to a friend • •Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Radha Damodara Travelling Sankirtan Party and Srila Prabhupada's mercy. Part 1.In the 70's there was a highly visible sankirtan force in America called the Radha Damodara Sankirtan Party. Buses full of devotess, primarily bramacaris would criss cross regions to mercifully distribute the transcedental literature given to us by Srila Prabhupada to take us back home, back to Krishna. So many young men sacrificed their time and energy in this great service to Srila Prabhupada and to Their Lorsdhips Srimati Radharani and Sri Krishna and they certainly reaped huge karmic benefits.  Radha Damodara Sankirtan buses 1975 at North Western University Chicago with Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada's sons including Visnujana Swami, Tamal Krishna Goswami, Tripurari Swami, Vaisesika Prabhu, Brahmananda Prabhu, Satsvarup Goswami and so many other exalted devotees. In 1975 Srila Prabhupada was in Chicago at the same time as the Radha Damodara Sankirtan buses. It was a glorious time with their Guru Srila Prabhupada and it was decided to take a group picture. So all the devotees gathered at North Western University and the buses were strategically parked at the NWU parking lot for a stunning picture. I had the great fortune to accompany Srila Prabhupada and after a short drive we went for a morning walk which would end at NWU. I was visiting from Toronto and did not have my devotional attire on.
When we got to the parking lot I stood in the distance and well away from the photo shoot because I was not part of the sankirtan team and I was not wearing devotional clothes. Once again in a demonstration of how personable and so very merciful Srila Prabhupada is, he waved me over. I saw Srila Prabhupada waving but did not immediately react or realize he was calling me to come over. A minute later a devotee came running to me saying that Srila Prabhupada wanted me and to stand in the photo. So hesitantly I stood in the picture, trying to hide myself and my pants behind other dedicated devotees in dhotis. And thus it was Srila Prabhupada's direct mercy that I was in the famous Radha Damodar Sankirtan Party picture. Thank you Srila Prabhupada for showing so much mercy to this useless servant!  Subhavilasa in shirt and pants and might be only servant of Indian origin in picture. Now it has crossed my mind a few times that it would be wonderful to have a Radha Damodara Sankirtan Party spreading Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabu's message through Srila Prabhupada's books. Wouldn't it be absolutely wonderful to see a group of devotees travelling by bus and doing sankirtan?
Well...maybe that can happen... Well...maybe that is happening... Well...maybe that is the perfect segway to tomorrow's post! • Email to a friend • •ISKCON News.com: Healthy, Loving Marriages in ISKCON
• Email to a friend • •Dandavats.com: Makhancora Class at Sri Mayapur International School
Meet Makhancora (Nursery) class at Sri Mayapur International School Makhanchora class has devotee children from all over the world aged 3 and 4 years old. It is taught by Nailya mataji, a trained teacher from Russia, along with a local teaching assistant, Mukti mataji and broadly follows the Early Years Foundation Stage programme of England and Wales, with a special emphasis on spiritual development |
By Gunacuda dasi