Some time ago I got an interesting comment to one of my postings and as there was a link to their own blog I decided to take a look. What I liked was the simplicity and openness of thought with some fascinating insights. Each posting has been in some ways personal but inspiring revealing beep realisations [...]

1966 February 16: "Now I am anxiously awaiting your favorable reply. My Visa period will be finished by the end of March, 1966 and I will have to submit application for increasing the period at least a fortnight before."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1966

1968 February 16 : "I will simply cite one nice verse: 'Oh Lord! When will You be pleased with me and call me to the shelter of Your Lotus Feet which are soothing like the smiling beams of ten million autumnal moons?'"
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1972 February 16 : "What do they know of boy or girl at such young age? A little girl asked, 'Father, when you were little, were you a boy or a girl?'"
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 February 16 : "If he is shaky, how he can teach the children? Unless one is firmly convinced about Krishna Consciousness, I don't think the children will learn properly from such a person."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1973 February 16 : " Any deviation is the responsibility of the local GBC to rectify immediately. Within these Vaisnava standards which I have put forward lies the spiritual strength of our movement."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1972 February 16: "We should not compromise in any way just to accommodate the public idea, but we can so tastefully present the real thing that we will change the people to accommodate us."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1971 February 16: "Yes, progress of devotional service becomes choked up when there is offense to the Spiritual Master. So far I am concerned, you always have my blessings. Do not think otherwise."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1970 February 16: "John Lennon and his wife were very kind upon me when I was staying at Tittenhurst Park as their guests. I have dreamt something very nice about John which I shall disclose in proper time."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

Redesigning the Atma website (- that's the old one).

Here's the new logo, in progress:

Release early, release often, eh?

I'm not so handy with Inkscape, but I watched graphics avenger Andy Fitzsimon design the last blog header, so I picked up a few things. This one is looking pretty rocktastic.

Feel free to leave feedback, especially if you know what you're doing with inkscape and can give specific instructions.

By Matsya Avatara Dasa

It is time for science and religion to reconcile and complement each other; this is possible only by realizing the difference in fields of application and results of each discipline.

Prof. V.V. Raman defined science as the collective endeavour to understand the universe in a consistent and coherent way, based on reason, rationality and empirical evidence. By exploring the concept of multiverse, prof. Mann indicated thelogy and science as having different approches to address the question of what is reality; theology’s approach is teleology, a goal-oriented search for the scope of the universe, which the theologies of all traditions share; while science’s approach is ecbatology, that is the search for a necssity and/or chance for the universe as it is to emerge. The exploration of biophilic selection effects, that is life-friendly conditions, reveals that the universe seems fine-tuned for life; two possible explanations for this arise: the existence of a super-intelligent Agent, that is God, or the succession of similar attempts which sooner or later will lead to conditions conducive for live, that is a multiverse.

On the other hand the concept of transcendence in Vedic literature, is beyond space and time, as it is not a physical reality and is knowable only beyond the domain of facts and logic, specifically the domain of science. It seems therefore important to remember that scientific knowledge is basically what the human brain can make of the universe; as prof. Raman wrote, scientific objectivity is but collective subjectivity, while the universe is structured on different levels of information, ranging from a first order composed of physical and biological laws, to a superior order producing experience and reflection. The concept of consciousness, as explored by Dr. Sushant Sharma, comes to play a very important role in our understainding of reality. Alternative models of reality, as in Penrose’s quantum gravity model or in Vedanta and Yoga psychology, state that consciousnss is not a result of any mechanistic process, rather it is a symptom of the conscious living force that dwells in the body. Even the brain is treated as non-intelligent, rather it is but a computing instrument, a device that the consciousness uses to express itself.

The concepts presented by the speakers in this session, seem to address the question of what is life, and I would like to propose the exploration of such concepts also with the aid of basic views present in Vedic literature, such as the structure of reality on multiple levels (adhibautika, adhidaivika, adhiatmika) and consciousness as a fundamental attribute of the atman, the conscious, immortal living being and as the very foundation of any representation of reality.

Dear devotees,

Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

The last time I wrote I was in Aravade at the Deity installation. The grand procession was on the Friday night, and during it Lokanatha garlanded me with a garland of 50 Rupee notes, which I think walked around with for the whole evening, much to the amazement of many of the locals. When they saw me garlanded in that way many of them offered obeisances, which of course tends to happen when one is a sannyasi, but now it seemed more were doing so, and I wondered if it was the special garland!

Then the Saturday was the installation of Radha Gopala, and Sunday was a special public programme with a number of the major local politicians attending. The Finance Minister from the Maharastian state government was there, and I gave a talk in which I asked the people gathered, about 5000 or more, if they would like it if the government gave some money for the temple. The people were very enthusiastic about that. Then the minister got up and said they will give one crore of Rupees (more than $200,000)!

I think they had already decided to give that donation before I spoke, though.

On Sunday we installed Deities of Viththala Rukmini. Viththala is a form of Krishna Who was worshipped by the saint Tukarama, who was a disciple of Lord Caitanya referred to in Caitanya-caritamrita:

tatha haite pandarapure aila gauracandra
viththala-thakura dekhi’ paila ananda

“From there Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Pandarapura, where He happily saw the temple of Viththala Thakura.” (Caitanya-caritamrita Madhya Lila 9.282)

In his purport Srila Prabhupada says: “The city of Pandarapura is situated on the river Bhima. It is said that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu initiated Tukarama when He visited Pandarapura, and thus Tukarama became His disciple. Tukarama Acarya became very famous in the Maharashtra province, and he spread the sankirtana movement all over the province. The sankirtana party belonging to Tukarama is still very popular in Bombay and throughout the province of Maharashtra. Tukarama’s book is known as Abhanga. His sankirtana party exactly resembles the Gaudiya-Vaisnava sankirtana parties, for they chant the holy name of the Lord with mrdanga and karatalas. The Lord Viththaladeva mentioned in this verse is a form of Lord Visnu with two
hands. He is Narayana.”

One of the chief priests from the Viththala temple in Pandapura came for the installation, and led the whole procedure. He was a very friendly fellow and somehow took a liking to me and would periodically come and talk with me in Marathi, which is somewhat similar to Hindi, and I would try to understand him and reply in my broken Hindi, which he appreciated.

There is a special practice in Maharastriya that when sadhus or special guests are honoured at a programme, the hosts put turbans on them, and this is what happened with us. But putting on a turban is not a small job, and maybe these men were also not expert at it, and we found them pulling the cloth around our heads really tightly, and one of them, when he tucked some cloth in under the bottom of my turban, scratched my head with his finger nails. There is still a scab on my forehead from the wound.

There are some photos of this part of the programme included with this report.

The next morning I flew from Kolhapur back to Bombay and then to Calcutta, and the Temple President of our Juhu temple kindly arranged for a devotee to come to the Bombay airport with some prasadam for me. It was another amazing feast, of exotic prasadam. Devotees are very nice.

I landed in Calcutta at 8pm that evening (the 9th) and was met in the airport by Saci Kumar and Isvara Puri, two of my disciples from South Africa, and we drove very slowly back to Mayapur, arriving there just after
midnight.

Mayapur is a very amazing place. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura describes: “Sri Caitanya’s incarnation, however, is most uncommon. By His mercy, a serious person, though filled with offenses, can quickly obtain love of God. When someone calls out the names of Nitai and Caitanya, Krsna prema comes looking for him. Offenses do not hinder his progress, and he soon sheds tears of ecstasy out of pure love of God. By the mercy of Lord Caitanya, all the offenses quickly flee away, the heart becomes pure, and love of God fully
blossoms. Because people in Kali yuga commit unlimited offenses, which are difficult to check, there can be no means of deliverance other than Gauranga’s name. Therefore, in Kali yuga, I see no alternative to Sri
Gauranga. This is also the proclamation of the scriptures.

“As Sri Gauracandra appeared in Navadvipa, it is therefore the crest jewel of all holy places. Offenders are the object of punishment at other holy pilgrimage places, but in Navadvipa dhama they are purified. The example is the two brothers Jagai and Madhai, who committed great offenses yet still received Nitai and Gaura. What to speak of other places, at Vrndavana the offenders are punished. But a person who has committed hundreds of offenses can easily receive the mercy of Nityananda Prabhu and overcome those
offenses in Navadvipa dhama. For this reason, sages endlessly praise Navadvipa of Gaura mandala.”

I have to take part in the GBC meetings, which started on the 12th, but that meant I had a couple of days to reflect on my experiences here in previous years before things really got started.

I first came to Mayapur in 1976, on my first visit to India. India was a completely different place in those days. We arrived at night and I took rest on a single chadar on the plain concrete floor. The only water supply
was a hand pump by the front gate, and we used that for bathing, washing clothes and drinking. Needless to say we all got sick, and it became quite chronic.

One of the devotees was passing stool in a field nearby and a man came up to him with a knife and demanded his watch, right in the middle of him dealing with his call of nature. It was dramatic!

The kirtanas were amazing, and I was always in the middle of them. One evening Visnujana, the famous kirtana leader, was singing for the evening arati and all the devotees were completely wild in ecstasy, but the next morning he had disappeared, and has never been seen since then.

Every mosquito bite became septic and swelled up like a balloon and left a horrible sore, the scab of which would immediately be eaten by the flies that were so aggressive that you couldn’t swat them away. If you succeeded they were back before you could swat them again.

Still it was an amazing experience, and Srila Prabhupada was there, so that made up for all the austerities. Chanting japa was so easy. We all found we could chant the whole day and never felt tired or distracted. Such is the nature of the holy dhama, particularly Sri Mayapur Dhama.

But this time I was here for the GBC meetings, and that is a very serious responsibility. Every year the GBC Body meets in Mayapur in February/March time, and then in Bombay in October, and considers some of the very important subjects facing the movement. So far we have had 4 days of the meetings, and perhaps the most important thing to be discussed has been the new Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

There are still some permissions needed before we can begin construction, but the project leader Ambarish prabhu (Alfred Ford) told us that as soon as the permission are through we will be able to start in 60 days. All the plans are done, and he is going to contribute some millions of dollars to start the construction.

Otherwise, Mayapur is beautiful and the conditions are wonderful, and one can feel the presence of Lord Caitanya everywhere. Srila Prabhodananda Sarasvati prays:

“Creating great tidal waves in the ocean of mercy, splendidly dressed in wonderful saffron garments as glorious as the sunrise, and glowing with the nectar of pure love of Krsna, may the wonderful and handsome moon of Lord Caitanya, which has risen from the milk ocean of Saci’s womb, enter the sky of your heart.

“Chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, His own holy names which bring auspiciousness to the world, His hand trembling with love as He touches the knotted string about His waist to count the number of names, His face bathed in tears as He comes and goes, eager to see His own form of Lord Jagannatha, and bringing great delight to the eyes of all, may the golden form of Lord Hari protect you all.

“Uprooting the dense darkness in the hearts of the entire world, making the nectar ocean of the bliss of pure love of Krsna overflow its shores without limit, and cooling this universe tormented by the threefold miseries, may the splendid moonlight of the moon of Lord Caitanyacandra eternally shine within your hearts.”

At the end of the meetings I will write more. In the meantime I will post a couple of classes I have given, over the next few days.

Hoping this meets you well.

Your servant,

Bhakti Caitanya Swami

"The scientific discoveries of the material world can also be equally engaged in carrying out His order. "

- Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.36

On the 200th anniversary of his birth, the Church of England apologised to Charles Darwin [link via wikipedia]

Good Religion Needs Good Science
by Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, Director of Mission and Public Affairs, Church of England

The trouble with homo sapiens is that we’re only human. People, and institutions, make mistakes and Christian people and churches are no exception. When a big new idea emerges which changes the way people look at the world, it’s easy to feel that every old idea, every certainty, is under attack and then to do battle against the new insights. The church made that mistake with Galileo’s astronomy, and has since realised its error. Some church people did it again in the 1860s with Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. So it is important to think again about Darwin’s impact on religious thinking, then and now – and the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth in 1809 is a good time to do so.

Theories raised moral questions

But if Darwin’s ideas once needed rescuing from religious defensiveness, they may also now need rescuing from some of the enthusiasts for his ideas. A scientist has a duty to the truth: he or she is called to be fearless in discovering the way the world works. But how a scientific theory is used, and the ways in which ideas can be deployed politically or ideologically, are the responsibility of a less easily defined constituency. 'Darwinism' has become something bigger than Darwin’s own theories, and raises many moral questions. This doesn’t make the church of the 1860s right to have attacked Darwin, but it does suggest that the question is deeper than deciding whose side you would have been on in that historic debate between Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, and Darwin’s supporter, Thomas Huxley.

Nothing in scientific method contradicts Christian teaching

Darwin was, in many ways, a model of good scientific method. He observed the world around him, developed a theory which sought to explain what he saw, and then set about a long and painstaking process of gathering evidence that would either bear out, contradict, or modify his theory. As a result, our understanding of the world is expanded, but the scientific process continues. In science, hypotheses are meant to be constantly tested. Subsequent generations have built on Darwin’s work but have not significantly undermined his fundamental theory of natural selection. There is nothing here that contradicts Christian teaching. Jesus himself invited people to observe the world around them and to reason from what they saw to an understanding of the nature of God (Matthew 6: 25–33). Christian theologians throughout the centuries have sought knowledge of the world and knowledge of God. For Thomas Aquinas there was no such thing as science versus religion; both existed in the same sphere and to the same end, the glory of God. Whilst Christians believe that the Bible contains all that we need to know to be saved from our sins, they do not claim that it is a compendium of all knowledge. Jesus himself warned his disciples that there was more that he could say to them and that the Spirit of truth would lead them into truth (John 16: 12–13). There is no reason to doubt that Christ still draws people towards truth through the work of scientists as well as others, and many scientists are motivated in their work by a perception of the deep beauty of the created world. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that scientific theories can be overtaken in their turn even as old ideas prove to have an enduring quality. Most of us get by with some version of Newtonian physics and understand little of Quantum Theory. Newtonian ideas suffice for most of our everyday needs – but we now know that we can’t push them too far as there is plenty that they do not adequately explain.

Reaction now seems misguided

Darwin’s meticulous application of the principles of evidence-based research was not the problem. His theory caused offence because it challenged the view that God had created human beings as an entirely different kind of creation to the rest of the animal world.

But whilst it is not difficult to see why evolutionary thinking was offensive at the time, on reflection it is not such an earth-shattering idea. Yes, Christians believe that God became incarnate as a human being in the person of Jesus and thereby demonstrated God’s especial love for humanity. But how can that special relationship be undermined just because we develop a different understanding of the processes by which humanity came to be? It is hard to avoid the thought that the reaction against Darwin was largely based on what we would now call the 'yuk factor' (an emotional not an intellectual response) when he proposed a lineage from apes to humans.

But for all that the reaction now seems misjudged, it may just be that Wilberforce and others glimpsed a murky image of how Darwin’s theories might be misappropriated and the harm they could do (see the section Darwin and the Church). Even if they were blind to the future, it remains that the legacy of Darwin (rather than Darwin’s own achievements) has had a shadow side.

Social misapplication of Darwin

If evolution is continuing, and humanity as we know it is not the final summation of the process, it is not difficult to slip into a rather naïve optimism which sees the human race becoming better and better all the time. Despite our vastly expanding technical knowledge, even a fairly cursory review of human history undermines any idea of constant moral progress. Humanity’s advance in terms of technical prowess and achievements has not, to most people’s eyes, fully liberated us from our burdens. Christians believe that all of us are constrained by sin and that only through the death and resurrection of Jesus can we move beyond what constrains us, to a fuller and more human way of living. But Christians are not the only ones who are sceptical of the idea that evolution means moral progress.

Natural selection, as a way of understanding physical evolutionary processes over thousands of years, makes sense. Translate that into a half-understood notion of 'the survival of the fittest' and imagine the processes working on a day-to-day basis, and evolution gets mixed up with a social theory in which the weak perish – the very opposite of the Christian vision in the Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55). This 'Social Darwinism', in which the strong flourish and losers go to the wall is, moreover, the complete converse of what Darwin himself believed about human relationships. From this social misapplication of Darwin’s theories has sprung insidious forms of racism and other forms of discrimination which are more horribly potent for having the appearance of scientific “truth” behind them. Darwin’s immense achievement was to develop a big theory which went a long way to explaining aspects of the world around us. But to treat it as an all-embracing theory of everything is to travesty Darwin’s work. The difficulty is that his theory of natural selection has been so effective within the scientific community, and so easily understood in outline by everybody, that it has been inflated into a general theory of everything – which is not only erroneous but dangerous.

Capacity to love consistent with Darwin

Christians will want to stress, instead, the human capacity for love, for altruism, and for self-sacrifice. There is nothing here which, in principle, contradicts Darwin’s theory. Humanity has acquired the capacity to reflect, to imagine, and to reason from what is known to what is not yet known. Some animals may have these features in a very rudimentary form, but the human capacity is so much greater as to be effectively unique. It is our capacity to imagine other people as more than bodies, but as persons, which marks us out. It is that, above all, which has enabled the human mind and will to achieve so much. And if this capacity – which we can characterise as the capacity for love – is consistent with Darwin’s ideas of natural selection, it suggests that our capacity as a species to act in ways which appear to be against our personal interests has, paradoxically, enabled us to survive as “fitted” to our context and environment. So the pseudo-Darwinian reductionism, which elevates selfishness into a virtue and celebrates power and dominance, is not only a misunderstanding of Darwin but may even contribute to human decline by eroding those aspects of being human which have given us such a natural advantage. Even the more sophisticated versions of 'Social Darwinism', which interpret all human behaviour in terms of the struggle for dominance and the maximisation of genetic advantage through the generations, risk presenting us with an image of being human which makes us slaves to some kind of evolutionary imperative, as if we are programmed in ways we cannot over-rule. But the point of natural selection is that it is precisely by being most fully human that we demonstrate our fitness. And being fully human means refusing to abdicate our ability to act selflessly or lovingly and to challenge thin concepts of rationality which equate “being rational” to material self interest. It is vital that Darwin’s theories are rescued from political and ideological agendas that are more about controlling human imagination and unpredictability than about good science.

Discerning where culture threatens Christianity

All that I have said so far will remain contentious in some circles. Some Christian movements still make opposition to evolutionary theories a litmus test of faithfulness and – the other side of the coin – many believe Darwin’s theories to have fatally undermined religious belief and therefore reject any accommodation of one by the other. Why should this be?

The Church of England in 1860 was already facing challenges to its former pre-eminence. Freethinking and non-conformist Christianity were confronting the power of the established church – and then came Darwin. These were nervous times for Anglicans, and when worldly power is thought of as God-given, threats to power are perceived as attacks on God. What was true for Anglicans in 1860 is largely true for all kinds of Christians today, although (depending where you are in the world) the threat may be perceived to come from radical Islam, secularism, consumerism or atheism. The cultures within which Christians try to be faithful are widely seen to be hostile, at least in some respects, and discipleship means, at some level, standing against some social trends. The problem for all Christians is discerning where the surrounding culture is really a threat and where it is compatible with our understanding of God. Because “science” has been widely regarded as offering a total theory of everything; because some scientists have encouraged this claim; perhaps because we all know how reliant we are on scientific ideas which we barely understand and which make us nervous of our ignorance; and perhaps because the churches have not been good at equipping people to see God at work in the contemporary world – for all these reasons and others, a parody of science has become a focus for certain forms of social unease. In so far as the practice of science has its hubristic side, there is a case for science to answer. In so far as 'Social Darwinism' has diminished our sense of being human and being in relationships, there are real problems to address. But first it is important to recognise that the anti-evolutionary fervour in some corners of the churches may be a kind of proxy issue for other discontents; and, perhaps most of all, an indictment of the churches’ failure to tell their own story – Jesus’s story – with conviction in a way which works with the grain of the world as God has revealed it to be, both through the Bible and in the work of scientists of Darwin’s calibre.

Rapproachment between Darwin and Christian faith

At a university in Kansas, I asked a biology professor how he coped with teaching Darwin’s theories to students whose churches insisted that evolution was heresy and whose schools taught creationism. “No problem,” he replied, “the kids know that if they want a good job they need a degree, and if they want a degree they have to work with evolution theory. Creationism is for church, as far as they’re concerned. Here, they’re Darwinists.” Perhaps he was over-cynical. But he was also pointing to young lives which could not be lived with integrity – the very opposite of how Christians are called to live. There is no integrity to be found either in rejecting Darwin’s ideas wholesale or in elevating them into the kind of grand theory which reduces humanity to the sum of our evolutionary urges. For the sake of human integrity – and thus for the sake of good Christian living – some rapprochement between Darwin and Christian faith is essential.

Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. We try to practice the old virtues of 'faith seeking understanding' and hope that makes some amends. But the struggle for your reputation is not over yet, and the problem is not just your religious opponents but those who falsely claim you in support of their own interests. Good religion needs to work constructively with good science – and I dare to suggest that the opposite may be true as well.

By Ananda Tirtha das

The second day of the GBC meetings opened with a presentation by the Law Book Committee. Aniruddha Prabhu presented the progress of the committee in revising the current law book which contains constitutional principles, action orders, rules of order, administrative guidelines and governing law. The committee is working to classify and update the new law book for ease of use. A major highlight of their work has been the creation of a searchable wiki with the last ten years of GBC Resolutions and previous version of the Law Book.

Have added new hyper-links to several YouTube accounts that I find inspirational, hope that you all enjoy them too. Also their is an added link in ISKCON spiritual masters to HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, again very inspirational. Some lovely classes and kirtans can also be found of his via ISKCON melbourne, included are the links. ISKCON Melbourne official [...]

The second day of the GBC meetings opened with a presentation by the Law Book Committee. Aniruddha Prabhu presented the progress of the committee in revising the current law book which contains constitutional principles, action orders, rules of order, administrative guidelines and governing law.

read more

Dear Lord, here is the great King Nâbhi, whose ultimate goal in life is to have a son like You. Your Lordship, his position is like that of a person approaching a very rich man and begging for a little grain. Mahârâja Nâbhi is so desirous of having a son that he is worshiping You for a son, although You can offer him any exalted position, including elevation to the heavenly planets or liberation back to Godhead.

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 5 Chapter 3 Verse 13

In his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.32 Srila Prabhupada writes, "Undoubtedly Bhagavad-gita was spoken by the Lord on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra just to encourage Arjuna to fight, and yet to complete the transcendental knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, the Lord instructed Uddhava. The Lord wanted Uddhava to fulfill His mission and disseminate knowledge which He had not spoken even in Bhagavad-gita.? Chapters 7-29 of the Srimad Bhagavatam?s 11th Canto are known as the ?Uddhava Gita."

Date: February 12, 2009
Verse: Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.23.52
Speaker: Bhakti Dhira Damodara Swami

brahman duhitrbhis tubhyam
vimrgyah patayah samah
kascit syan me visokaya
tvayi pravrajite vanam

read more

Feb 14,2009, SBG 3.23.53 etavatalam kalena vyatikrantena me prabho indriyartha-prasangena parityakta-paratmanah

TRANSLATION: Until now we have simply wasted so much of our time in sense gratification, neglecting to cultivate knowledge of the Supreme Lord.

read more

this is a cover from Bob´s Great inspiration, i…

Oh dear...

A 'fraud' bigger than Madoff
Senior US soldiers investigated over missing Iraq reconstruction billions

In what could turn out to be the greatest fraud in US history, American authorities have started to investigate the alleged role of senior military officers in the misuse of $125bn (£88bn) in a US -directed effort to reconstruct Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The exact sum missing may never be clear, but a report by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) suggests it may exceed $50bn, making it an even bigger theft than Bernard Madoff's notorious Ponzi scheme.

Full story on the website of the UK's Independent.

My comment: Absolutely criminal.

rasa108@gmail.com

ys

Rasa Rasika das

GOOD DOGMA UNITES, BAD DOGMA SEPARATES 7:26pm
One of the reasons i became a devotee of lord Krishna was the a ability of standing firm to the Bhakti process while seeing other paths as part of krishna's plans to help everyone out of this mess we put ourselves in, depending where ones consciousness is. After talking to many other persons on other paths for over two weeks now I know why I hated Religions in the first place and why I never wanted to be apart of them. This is the only process that can explain other processes of the world, in a way that is logical and commonsensical. What I've heard in the last week in a lot of other paths is the inability to explain why other processes exist without putting them down and trying to rip them apart. Even trying to find the commonness between us like compassion for all, Karma and for some reincarnation, the most I get is you're the devil trying to convert us [christians] there's nothing in common between "my" buddhism and "your" Hinduism [Buddhism] "like i own Hinduism" There are some people willing to listen and talk on other groups but usually they become over shadowed by the others who are not so into finding a common understanding between us. This to me was an experiment on other paths and where people are at in their beliefs. Not much has changed!!! This view is the Bad dogma I have always hated in religions, everyone has to accept a Dogma, but the Dogma that can unite, is one that is in accordance with all the scriptures of the world not including the satanic scripture. And a Dogma that causes separation, alienation, hatred and disunity is one that has nothing to do with any of the scriptures of the world. I have a better understanding where most religious people are at now. And all i can say is thank you Krishna for allowing me to see your words.

raja-vidya raja-guhyam
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyaksavagamam dharmyam
su-sukham kartum avyayam


TRANSLATION

This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed

================================================================== Thought for the Day--Monday 16 February 2009 ================================================================== Dedicated with love to you, our treasured readers, and to ISKCON Founder-Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Our purpose is to help everyone awaken...

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.14 (cont.) - To get nourishment from Lord Caitanya's shower of mercy we need to let go of our material attachments.

Bhagavad-Gita As It Is 13.1-3

On the morning of Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Kadamba Kanana Maharaja gave first initiation to Bhaktin Lovela, who serves in Melbourne temple's single women's ashram.

 
Still immersed in meditation on Lord Nityananda following His Appearance Day, Maharaja extended Nitai Mahasaya's mercy to his new disciple, and gave Lovela Prabhavi the name Guna Mani Nitai dasi. Please also give your blessings for her continued progress in spiritual life.

Here is a brief extract from Srila Prabhupada's purport to Nitai Guna Mani Amara:

This is a song by Locana Dasa Thakura, almost a contemporary of Lord Catanya Mahaprabhu. He has got many books on the life and precepts of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So he is saying that Lord Nityananda is full of good qualities, guna-mani. Guna mani means the jewel of all good qulities. So nitai-guna-mani amar nitai guna-mani. He is repeatedly uttering that Lord Nityananda is the reservoir of all good qualities. Aniya premara vanya bhasasilo avani. And on account of His spiriual qualities, He inundated the whole world by the flood of love of God. It is by His kindness people feel what is love for God.

You can also see a slide show of the yajna.

Wikipedia entry on Charles Darwin.

We’ve just instituted a new policy in our home. The computers go off at seven pm. Right now it’s 6:49, so this is going to be short. Emails are a cold form of communication. Face to face, we can say almost anything to people we like, and even give them a slap, “What the hell’s the [...]

Dear well wishers,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I am happy to announce that HH Bhaktimarga Swami has been discharged from the hospital. He has been sent home to continue his treatment. Saturday was the best day he has had since the catfish incident. The healing process is still slow.

Last night he had a restful sleep, the first one since the incident. He will be giving class tonight at the Toronto temple, though we have not worked out all the logistics of how to get him to the temple room.

The issue now is that the infection is now in the bone of his foot and the recovery of which will take some time.

Please continue to pray.

your servants,
Remuna dd and Krishna Chaitanya dasa,
Secretaries to HH Bhaktimarga Swami

namo narayanaya, krsne matir astu

1968 February 15: "I am servant of the servant of Krishna, and because you are all sincere servants of Krishna, I am your servant. I shall be glad to stay wherever like me to stay."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1967 February 15: "We should not ask Krishna to give us a house - let Krishna give us when He likes. We should only wait for Krishna's mercy and not jeopardize the hard earned money."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1968 February 15: "Regarding apartment: we are mendicant, we can adjust things in any kind of place. I shall stay in any place hell or heaven, if it is approved by you."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

Two of my biggest role models here in Sri Mayapur dham are HG Pankajanghri prabhu and HG Jananivas Prabhu. I'd like to talk about HG Jananivas prabhu today. I've been meaning to write about this for a long time now because there is something that I witness Prabhuji do every morning that really touches my heart. As you may or may not know, HG Jananivas Prabhu is the head pujari for Mayapur Chandradoya Mandir. He has been doing this service steadily for over 30 years. That being said, Prabhuji is probably one of the most humble people I have ever had the good fortune of meeting in my life. See, being humble implies action. It's not static state of being. But oftentimes, at least for me, to understand how one can show humility in action is very difficult. I feel so grateful that there are devotees like HG Jananivas Prabhu who demonstrate so naturally through their actions what it means to be humble.

Every morning after darshan aarti guru puja is performed. Everyday, the guru puja is performed by a senior devotee to the accompaniment of a very ecstatic kirtan. And everyday, I see Jananivas prabhu acting as a helper to the devotee who is doing the guru puja. Prabhuji will pour the acamana water into the hand of the devotee offering the worship (this is done between offering each article of worship), he will hand all the articles of worship to the devotee and after each article is offered, he will receive it. He does this with such attention and love and one can see he truly enjoys this service.

I find this so instructive. As the head pujari, HG Jananivas prabhu could easily be offering guru puja, offering aarti to Radha Madhava or Panca Tattva, but instead he actually likes taking the position of a humble servant.

I beg and pray that this impression remains forever carved in my heart and that I may also follow in his glorious footsteps of showing humility in all my actions.

This is something that I have a lot of experience with. As someone who is fortunate to make garlands every morning, I get to experience blissful anxiety almost everyday.

However, it's certainly a different kind of blissful anxiety when you only have 1 1/2 hours to dress Radha and Krsna! Whew! It's like a marathon. It is only by the blessings of the devotees, in particular HG Pankajanghri prabhu, that I somehow managed to finish in time! I took the advice of my dear godsister, and experienced pujari, HG Krtamala prabhu who told me "Don't panic and keep your eye on the time." So, I decided to allot time to do different things: 20 minutes to dress Krsna, 20 minutes to dress Radharani, 20 minutes to add all the flower ornaments and pin up the fabric and garlands, 30 minutes to make Krsna's garland and then 20 minutes to wrap things up, fix whatever had to be fixed and clean up.

Here's the result:

By Mayapur.tv

The Mercy of Pancha-Tattva Within Everyone's Reach. Six fancy cameras have been installed in the temple room with a high-speed internet connection. A broadcasting/mixing room has been constructed and a film crew have come from the UK to film around the campus

p>Enjoy this week's Sunday Feast featuring the class by HG Rupanuga Das. Sound will be off from 7:20-8:00pm and will resume for the Arati at 8 p.m.
Hare Krishna!

PS: Don't forget to tune in next week for the program with HH Indradyumna Swami! Details coming soon!!

Live Broadcasting by Ustream

I have recently been inundated with questions on my view about both HH Narayan Maharaja and on the ritvic issue. I don’t have a view simply put. These things are for me a distraction to devotional life to become embroiled in who is right; who’s wrong means less effort is being put in following my own guru [...]

Each week I select a verse from the Bhagavad-gita and compare/contrast four different translations. These translators all subscribe to the Gaudia-Vaisnava philosophy. This examination isn’t to prove one more superior to another, but to highlight the similarities and learn from the differences in ideologies.

The four Gitas are:
-Bhagavad-gita: As It Is by Srila Prabhupada (1972 edition)
-Bhagavad-gita: It’s Feeling and Philosophy by Tripurari Swami
-Srimad Bhagavad-gita by Narayana Maharaja
-Bhagavad-gita: The Beloved Lord’s Secret Love Song by Garuda dasa (Graham Schweig)

This week, our verse is taken from the last chapter. It’s one of the final instructions to Arjuna from Krishna. Srila Prabhupada entitles this chapter “The Perfection of Renunciation.” However Narayana Maharaja and Tripurari Swami call it “Moksa Yoga” and “Yoga of Freedom.” In this chapter we find that surrendering to God is actual freedom. And this verse explains that through surrendering to God, we gain true freedom from religion. It’s pretty intense.

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah

Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.
-Srila Prabhupada

Forgoing all religious injunctions, take exclusive refuge in me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.
-Tripurari Swami

Completely abandoning all bodily and mental dharma, such as varna and asrama, fully surrender to Me alone. I shall liberate you from all reactions to your sins. Do no grieve.
-Narayana Maharaja

Completely relinquishing
    all forms of dharma,
    come to me
    as your only shelter.
I shall grant you
    freedom from
    all misfortune -
    do not despair!
-Garuda dasa (Graham M. Schweig)

This was the first verse that I was to memorize when I moved into a temple. I got the English down without too much of a struggle, but the Sanskrit was tough and it took me about a month of daily recitation for much to stick. Today, twelve or thirteen years later, I still know the first two lines. The third line is completely wiped from my Kali-yuga memory, but the last line, with the fun-to-say word “moksayisyami” and the fun-to-quote “ma sucah” is still there. Plainly, I cannot memorize stuff very well. I’m surprised that I’ve retained as much of this as I have.

The first line, sarva-darman parityajya, is translated as “abandoning (or forgoing) all dharma.” Now, to me, it’s sort of impossible to translate from a language while still using bits of that language. And while Srila Prabhupada and Tripurari Swami accommodate this idea, Narayana Maharaja and Garuda dasa both stick to the word “dharma.”

All here agree that parityajya means to abandon. Srila Prabhupada and Narayana Maharaja both use that word specifically. Tripurari Swami uses “forgoing,” and Garuda dasa uses “relinquishing.” They all basically mean the same thing.

Also, all agree that the first word, sarva, means “all.” But with dharman, we get some difference. This isn’t surprising since dharma can mean a slew of different things. Srila Prabhupada’s seems to be the most bold here. He tells us to “Abandon all varieties of religion….” Tripurari Swami’s seems a bit more specific with “Forgoing all religious injunctions….” But in Narayana Maharaja’s and Garuda dasa’s, their use of a Sanskrit word in their translation seems odd.

Narayana Maharaja’s edition adds quite a lot to the verse: “Completely abandoning all bodily and mental dharma, such as varna and asrama….” He not only uses dharma, but also varna and asrama. In his case, that’s fairly forgivable since his audience is not the neophyte. He’s writing for folks who already have an understanding of these words. Also, in his very long purport (like in Srila Prabhupada’s and Tripurari Swami’s) he fully explains the verse.

Garuda dasa’s use of the word dharma is, to me, troubling. “Completely relinquishing all forms of dharma….” Certainly translating dharma in such a collegiate book would be controversial. His footnote for this verse simply states: “Forms of dharma: Translates the plural form of dharma.” Now, his job isn’t to explain every aspect of the Gita. He is simply a translator. His short explanation of the Gita as a whole, in the back of the book, sheds no more light onto the subject.

This verse’s second line, mam ekam saranam vraja, also shows some difference, but ultimately, they are in concert. Srila Prabhupada and Narayana Maharaja are the most closely related. Srila Prabhupada’s “just surrender unto Me” and Narayana Maharaja’s “fully surrender to Me alone” both cover the same ground. Tripurari Swami has it as, “take exclusive refuge in me.” While I don’t agree with how he has decapitalized “me,” I do appreciate “refuge.” Garuda dasa’s “come to me as your only shelter” also is very nice. The more strict translation of saranam as “surrender” could be carelessly taken the wrong way. This certainly isn’t the fault of Srila Prabhupada or Narayana Maharaja - in both of their purports this is cleared up.

Narayana Maharaja adds Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s translation of “take exclusive shelter in Me.” Srila Prabhupada explains, “with faith and love, one should surrender unto Him [Krishna].” This isn’t submission or coercion. This isn’t a surrender after being defeated by guilt or so-called “fear of God.” This is surrendering through love. This truly is taking “shelter,” taking “refuge.”

The third line and a bit of the fourth, aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami, is translated by Srila Prabhupada, Tripurari Swami and Narayana Maharaja in nearly identical ways. Both Srila Prabhupada and Tripurari Swami translate: “I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction,” though Tripurari Swami makes “reaction” plural. Narayana Maharaja puts it, “I shall liberate you from all reactions to your sins.” It’s basically the same, though he specifically mentions “liberation” and glosses moksayisyami as “shall free” rather than “deliver.”

Garuda dasa, again, seems to vague-up the translation. He has it, “I shall grant you freedom from all misfortune….” While “freedom” would be a great word to use if he also used the word “surrender” earlier in the verse, his use of the word “misfortune” is odd. Throughout the Gita, we learn that misfortune comes from reaction to our “sins.” Now, in Sanskrit, there really isn’t a word for what we in the west know as “sin.” It’s not that we believe sinful actions don’t exist, it’s just a different understanding of “sin.”

I was raised with the idea of “original sin” and have talked about that a long time ago here. Because of this upbringing, I’m no fan of the word “sin.” However, in this verse, Krishna is not attempting to use guilt or fear to get us to surrender to Him. He simply states “I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction.” The key word here is “reaction.” It’s clear that He is speaking of our karma. This would naturally include not only our “bad” karma, but also our “good.” But here He specifically uses papebhyah, glossed by all as “sinful reactions.”

Though I’m no fan of the word “sin,” I am less of a fan of the use of the word “misfortune” in its stead. Though it is not the point of the verse, it makes it clear that it is not simply “misfortune,” it’s not that some crappy accidents keep happening to us, it’s a reaction for the things we have done. God will deliver us from our own evil (to use a biblical expression) if we take shelter in Him alone.

The last phrase ma sucah, is comforting. Srila Prabhupada and Tripurari Swami both translate it “do not fear.” Narayana Maharaja chose “do not grieve,” and Garuda dasa uses “do not despair.” These are interesting takes on it. Grieving and despair are essentially fear.

Visvanatha Cakrabarti Thakura, in his commentary (as given by Narayana Maharaja) sums this up in a really nice way:

“Ma suchah means, “Don not grieve for yourself or others. I am bound by My vow to carry the burden of freeing any person like you from all his sins and deliver him from the cycle of birth and death. If such a person fixes his mind upon Me, completely giving up all his [dharma] and remains happily situated having surrendered to Me, I am also bound to carry the burden of providing him with the means ot achieve Me. What more can I say? I am even ready to accept the burden of maintaining his material life, as I stated when I spoke ananyas cintayanto mam (Gita 9.22).

“Do not grieve by thinkng, ‘Alas! I have placed such a heavy burden on my Lord and master!’ There is absolutely no labor involved in accepting this burden for Me….”

Srila Prabhupada puts it in much simpler terms, “The particular words used here, ma suchah, ‘Don’t fear, don’t hesitate, don’t worry,’ are very significant. One may be perplexed as to how one can give up all kinds of religious forms and simply surrender unto Krishna, but such worry is useless.”

He quoted a verse from Srimad Bhagavatam saying that "Only those who show compassion to others can go to spiritual world". This means that when we care about others, showing compassion to them our hearts are opened, we develop bhakti and service towards others and also our spiritual life is protected. I also remember one saying from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that we should chant and serve the vaisnavas. This is another fact that service is one of the main things that goes with japa. Our japa needs to go with service, being eager to please devotees and our spiritual master and this surely will satisfy Srila Prabhupada. Association in this case is very very important, because it makes us grow together, gives us the opportunity to see others necessities and show compassion...besides that we can also learn from them.

1973 February 15 : "If no one hears you the walls will hear. My Guru Maharaja said it does not matter if anyone comes to hear. You go on with your chanting."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1972 February 15 : "We have just purchased a very large and beautiful plot in Bombay so I shall be staying in India one month longer. When I go to Australia I shall gladly stop for a visit in Djakarta."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 February 15 : "I have just received a cable that Mr. Saraf has given us the land. So draw up all the legal papers and we shall settle up our Vrindaban program when we meet in Mayapur."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1971 February 15 : "From the beginning it was my program in India not to sell books but to make life members. They are not accustomed to pay so much for books but when we speak of membership they agree very easily."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1968 February 15 : "There is variegatedness in transcendental activities. Sometimes we like to chant, sometimes we like to wash dishes. There is no difference on the Absolute plane."
Letters :: 1968

1968 February 15: "Regarding apartment: we are mendicant, we can adjust things in any kind of place. I shall stay in any place hell or heaven, if it is approved by you."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1968 February 15: "I am servant of the servant of Krishna, and because you are all sincere servants of Krishna, I am your servant. I shall be glad to stay wherever like me to stay."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1967 February 15: "We should not ask Krishna to give us a house - let Krishna give us when He likes. We should only wait for Krishna's mercy and not jeopardize the hard earned money."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

Critical Thinking teaches your child to think logically, present well-developed arguments, and see through unsupported arguments. Grades: 7-12+ Subject: Critical Thinking ISBN: 978-0-89455-641-8 Activities: 70 Pages: 178 Develops logical thinking for superior reading comprehension and test success. Book One helps students develop the fundamentals of logic, argumentation, and critical reading. www.criticalthinking.com/getProductDetails.do?code=p&id=01201 Grades: 7-12+ Subject: Critical Thinking ISBN: 978-0-89455-059-1 Activities: 66 Pages: 247 Book Two builds on the skills developed in Book One, while teaching more advanced concepts. www.criticalthinking.com/getProductDetails.do?code=p&id=01203

by Deena Bandhu das

Yesterday, our Prison Preaching team went for their regular program in the Bharatpur Jail, just forty km from Vrindavan in Rajasthan. They were wonderfully surprised when they reached the jail: the prisoners were having Srimad Bhagavatam class.

On their own, around fifty prisoners who are practicing Krishna consciousness have set aside time daily for Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam class. Many of this group are chanting thirty-two rounds, others sixteen rounds and follow the four regulative principles.

read more

As part of the regular Saturday practical Krishna Conscious activities, children from the Sri Mayapur International School went on harinama around Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi on Saturday afternoon.  Nanda-Nandana mesmerized everyone with his expert kirtana leading, boys played their mrdangas enthusiastically, and the girls displayed some of their best dancing skills. Tamala and Laksmana also bravely took the microphone to lead kirtana – it takes quite a bit of courage for the small children to lead kirtana in public.

read more

Inspired by my reading of "Vaisnava Compassion" by HH Satsvarupa Maharaja

In conjunction with our recent pieces from Thomas Merton on the importance of depth and sincerity in prayer, Maharaja's piece on "Trusting Krsna" opens up the reality of our relationship with Krsna, and how it is a fool's lament to feel that Krsna will ever abandon us in our times of need and joy.

Of course, we know that we should never see Krsna as an order-carrier, there simply to fulfill our whims and urges. Our prayers to Krsna should be simple and selfless: O Lord, O energy of the Lord, please engage Me in your service.

From that foundation, our self-realization can only deepen, and we can begin to understand the never-ending and unyielding compassion Krsna has for us at every single moment.

Indeed, He is always trying to deliver us. In the purport to S.B 8.3.17, Prabhupada writes

"He is within our hearts and is not at all inattentive. His only aim is to deliver us from material life. It is not that He becomes attentive to us only when we offer prayers to Him. Even before we offer our prayers, He incessantly tries to deliver us. He is never lazy in regard to our deliverance."

Imagine that. Krsna doesn't even need our prayers to make the attempt to deliver us, so if our prayers to him are selfless and sincere, then His efforts to bring us back home will be even more potent.

As Thomas Merton mentioned, for some, this is actually too intense, because it means Krsna will carry away any material impediments we may have to loving and selfless devotion to Him. If we are too comfortable in our material lives, then certainly our prayer will not come to this level of intensity and sincerity.

But it is to our ultimate benefit to go deeper, for it is through our prayers that we make the vital connection to Krsna. Maharaja writes:

" Prayer is a flexible concept. It is the state of Krsna consciousness behind any activity we perform that helps us break through into emotion into Krsna. It is the activity that carries us past the mechanical into the feeling."

Our intellectual and close-hearted tendencies will leave us only with an impersonal realization of who Krsna is and what He wants to do for us. This is also the result of mechanical chanting, prayer, service mood, etc, and we have to go beyond this. Maharaja writes:

"If we are open to Krsna's presence in our creativity and in nature, for example, we will feel grateful to Him for His mercy. We will be able to see His compassionate nature to our prayers, and we wil give up our narrow-mindedness in deciding how we expect Him to act on our behalf. We will grow past our stereotypes of who Krsna is, and we will learn to see Him as a person"

He is our best friend, our ever-well wisher, our most beautiful companion, truest guide, and wisest giver of knowledge.

We should never forget our gratitude towards Krsna's compassion for us poor, conditioned souls, and we should always try to return the favor, by serving each other, serving Prabhupada's mission, and trying to serve every spirit soul by helping them to remember Krsna and the love He has for them.

Remember that this Wednesday is Bushfire night at Atma - all proceeds are going to help the bushfire victims in Victoria, so come along and support the cause doing yoga.

Here’s some exciting news: the Melbourne Hare Krishna temple is doing food relief at the Whittlesea Bushfire Crisis Relief Center. We’ll be supporting their efforts, so your yoga will go to providing nutritious, hot vegetarian meals for the people affected by the Bushfires.

Come along on Wednesday, and drag a mate along with ya!

Apologetics: is a field of theology that aims to present a rational basis for the faith, defend the faith against objections, and expose the perceived flaws of other world views.

Read about Christian Apologetics on wikipedia.

Simhachalam

The 2009 Annual General Meeting of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission commenced with arati and guru-puja kirtana to Srila Prabhupada, who is present in murti form in the meeting hall. Apart from the large murti, this year there is a small murti of Srila Prabhupada fixed on a beautiful altar near the Chairman’s seat. After the reading of Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.9.16, Ramai Swami, Chairman, began the proceedings by explaining the absence of several members, mostly due to health issues. He also gave a brief summary of the Executive Committee’s work during the year.

read more

The following is a lecture on Sri Nityananda Trayodasi by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami at ISKCON Ujjain.

To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either “Save link as” or “Save target as”

The following is a lecture on Sri Nityananda Trayodasi by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami at ISKCON Ujjain. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo;

The following is a Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja at ISKCON Ujjain.

To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either “Save link as” or “Save target as”

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.21 - Chapter 9: Brahmā’s Prayers for Creative Energy

The following is a Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja at ISKCON Ujjain. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo; Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.21 - Chapter 9: Brahmārsquo;s Prayers for Creative Energy

The following is a Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja at ISKCON Ujjain.

To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either “Save link as” or “Save target as”

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.25 - Chapter 9: Brahmā’s Prayers for Creative Energy

The following is a Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja at ISKCON Ujjain. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo; Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.25 - Chapter 9: Brahmārsquo;s Prayers for Creative Energy

In this material world everyone is looking for the nectar of unlimited peace and happiness. But unfortunately due to their being covered by ignorance they are looking in all the wrong the places. Therefore they become frustrated and confused. Instead of living in their actual identity as eternal, blissful, knowledgeable transcendental beings they are...

On behalf of Hare Krishna Food for Life (HKFFL) Bhakta, Stoka Krishna and Charu Caitanya Prabhus are developing a team of devotees to serve prasadam to fire victims at the Whittlesea Bushfire Crisis Relief Centre.

If you can spare some time to help serve prasadam, or can contribute to this project in any other way, please contact the manpower co-ordinator Bhakta dasa on 0431-829-463, or Yogeshwara Govinda dasa on 0419-493-694. For donations, contact Charu dasa on 0412-696-559, or Prabhu dasa on 0424-257-507.

The first days we will serve prasadam are Thursday Feb 19 and Sunday Feb 22. With your help, the Food for Life team will offer lunch prasadam to more than 400 people per sitting. We hope Food for Life support to the Whittlesea community will continue as needed.

Bhakta dasa Prabhu - who visited Whittlesea personally to speak with the Crisis Kitchen Co-ordinator - understands that this service may continue for several weeks or a period of months until permanent recovery plans are put into place.

All donations made out to Hare Krishna Food for Life are tax deductible. Any balance of funds left over after serving the community in this crisis will stay in the HKFFL Emergency Account to enable us to assist more rapidly in a future crisis.

With your support we will support this fire-affected community in their hour of need.

There is some real nectar available from the Mayapur Festival this year: live internet broadcasts of expertly produced high quality video from the Holy Dhama.

   
To date the broadcasts are expected to start around February 17th. For a sample, go to Dandavats.com.

From Giridhari Shyam dasa on behalf of mayapur.tv team: 

This year we are making a special offering to Srila Prabhupada by putting Srila Prabhupada’s annual Gaura-purnima festival in Sree Dham Mayapur online, and six fancy cameras have been installed in the temple room with a high-speed internet connection (at £200 per month - so it had better be good). A broadcasting/mixing room has been constructed and a film crew have come from the UK to film around the campus. So this should be a really big deal for all our members, within temples and in the congregation.

Everyone will be able to hear the lectures of GBC members Live, view the Panca-tattva abhisekam, as well as the daily deity worship...and much more.

Just go to http://www.mayapur.tv

Does Kazakhstan have a heart after all?

Kazakhstan, a key U.S. economic partner in Central Asia, has dramatically reversed legislation curtailing religious freedoms after the measure and the jailings and expulsions of two religious activists caused an international outcry.

With little explanation, the country's constitutional council announced Wednesday that amendments to a religion law were "inconsistent" with Kazakhstan's constitution.

A spokesman for the Kazakh Embassy said Thursday that the amendments did not dovetail with international human rights law and were sent back to committee.

Yesterday we celebrated Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada's Appearance Day.

  The highlight for me was a sweet and ecstatic kirtan led by Kadamba Kanana Maharaja. Here is the briefest of slide shows. Unfortunately I thought I could get away with not using a tripod for the camera: not so.

Don't forget that Maharaja is scheduled to give the Sunday Feast class this evening.

Friday, 9th Jan, 2009. I awoke late. Breakfast was not as Gujarati as usual. I suspect the ice cream conversations the night before hadn’t ended as well as sweet as the ice cream. The boys were happy with toast but I was missing India. We had desert in Sakhi Roy’s house today. It was Vraja Kumari’s fake b’day. We had moved it in honour of Sanatani’s (or Sivanjanjali’s) son’s b’day. There was one of those confusing Hare Krsna happy birthday songs. Can the GBC make a ruling on this please?!

Rajesvari Mataji made an uba awesome massive “carob” cake (actually it may have even been real carob!). After some cake the crew took off to harinam on the Sunshine Coast. Me and Domo had a few other missions. We were ordering our second stock of CD’s for the tour. We had sold our first 100 and needed some more. We also had to take some care of my car after we had mistreated it by overloading it and over using it through the last month. We fixed it a date at Ultra Tune.

We were picked up from the mechanic by our illustrious host. We brought Sadhu his share of the cake that his wife had saved him. It had been cruising in the car for a while and was a bit unrecognisable. I think an advertising slogan comes into context here: “deliciously ugly”.

It came lunch time and the Gujurati factor that was well missed at breakfast time now manifested. It reminded me of the Goswami family we had dinner with in Vrindavana. Me and Domo were having a chapati contest (now that I can spell it). There was some srikan from the day before, the one I had missed. We had a great feast and then crashed down where we could to recover.

Sadhu crashed the couch spot and busted the bollywood on again. I left in fear of becoming hindi-a-nized. I found myself downstairs. I remembered to call the mechanics and ask them to check a screaming engine belt. “Yeah man we’ll get right on it.” After an hour or so me and Domo did the pick up. The mechanic had a loooong list of problems that needed to be fixed within in the next month or so. Break pads wearing, oil seals pealing, etc, etc, etc. He mentioned nothing of the engine belts or maybe I had just stopped paying attention. The car had now become an anxiety. I wasn’t exactly earning money but the car was looking to cost me some.

Me and Domo did a stake out of our CD printers. We had to pick up the CD’s we ordered that morning. For those who are secret agents or even stalkers, a good stake out requires some serious junk food and soft drink. Stake outs can be hours or days or even weeks. Fortunately for us, our stake out was 5 or 10 minutes. It was a good excuse for some maha junk food though. We picked up the new stock of shinier and relatively cheaper CD’s.

We returned and Sadhu was still going Bolly. The epic singing, dancing cheap romance was never ending. I question all Bollywood script writers why the girl always falls in love with the wrong guy and it’s always based on nothing? It is to much of an unrealistic example of a real life situation.

I voided out on the computer to avoid the Bollywood factor. I found a positive note from Sitapati Prabhu on our show and how his young son, Prahlad, had enjoyed it so much. It was a great thing to hear that the young gurukulis or second generation kids could absorb this amazing experience. Such things will give them faith in the adolescent years that we’re not just a bunch of sheet wearing cultists.

After sorting out some laxmi with Domo and FINALLY catching up on some book table organising, I decided I was going to do some transcendental follow up work. I got onto the emails I received from Peat’s Ridge. I tried to write Hamish who first found us in Mona Vale and purchased a Gita. His email didn’t seem to work. I tried to spell it out about 8 different ways before I decided to save it for late. Scotty, the man curious of a personal God, never wrote in either. I wrote Julie and it seemed to go through.

I decided to sacrifice my early night to get my out of date diaries closer to the margin. I decided to go to bed when Domo joked to do things to me in the morning if I didn’t wake up. I had to sleep with my QANTUS blindfold as Sadhu’s laptop was emanating an effulgence competing with the brahmajhoti. Tomorrow was to be our last festival in our Brisbane leg and Sunshine coast was a mighty drive. All the sleep we could get was now crucial.

Saturday, 10th Jan, 2009. I awoke to my alarm in caution of any surprises. We diddle dawdled till late and then went to Sakhi’s. We all headed off in a fleet of about 6 cars. We were all making faces and gestures out the windows at each other as we swapped positions in the big road train. It was an epic sight to see when the first car indicated and 5 other cars followed. A lane change was a big thing.

So we were late. So what happens to people who are late? What is the karmic reaction for being late? That would be, becoming later. We found our self in grid lock. Someone played kiss chasy with their cars. We decided to take the first exit after the crash to restock on fuel and whatever else. It was hard to reassemble the fleet after for some reason.

We reached the town for harinam, or more to village. There was a big market, probably bigger than the village itself. I tailed Domo to the venue…well where is the venue? Domo sent me to ask directions. I lead the way and DIDN’T get lost. So as far as I knew the venue was in Noosa Heads, the harinam was somewhere else and so was the restaurant. I came to realise that Sunshine Coast was a BIG place, and was in fact a few places.

I was sent back to pick up some troopers and get to the restaurant. I had to pick up a couple of the mothers and Chandra. Where is Chandra? After a few minutes wait it was time to go to the restaurant. And where is that? No one really told me this part. I had to call Sakhi just to make sure I was heading in the right direction. 50-50, north or south. I chose both.

We located Govindas. The guys were waiting to serve. The crowd was a little late. All of a sudden Prahlad, who came to Peat’s Ridge, rolled in the door. It was one of those totally impossible meetings you seem to have all the time as a devotee. He dined with Chandra, who couldn’t handle the wait, had a chat with me and the boys went surfing.

The crew rolled in. They were hungry. It was hard to keep my spot that I had been sitting on for almost half an hour. I had noticed a Krsna’s café in the village we were doing harinam in. Chandra questioned why we didn’t have lunch there and drove all the way down here instead. I found some “new” devotees had taken it over and were selling food with eggs?! And even someone else had run it and sold meat?!!

Me and the boys chowed down on some delicious prasad. It was well needed after a long day. It was worth the austerity of waiting to enjoy the association of the assembled vaisnavas. It was so joyful that we almost forgot to get take aways for the stage crew. Such a sinful activity would not have been forgiven even after bathing in the ganga hundreds and hundreds of times.

It was time to head out. I sussed out a couple ways to get back to the hall on the way into the town. I thought I might try a “short cut”. I took off from the main fleet of cars and Gaura Hari decided to follow. The road didn’t end up to be much of short cut, more of an alternate route. I some how found the road I was on was going in a totally opposite direction. But not to fear a small turn around and I was in Noosa Heads! And now I am in Noosa Heads…but where is the hall. At this time I get a call from Gaura. “Maddy. I have lost all faith in you.”

So there I was, in Noosa heads, with a car full of anxious people and being followed by a car full of angry matajis, Gaura and Sri P. They were all tired from harinam. I did what Domo did, stopped and asked for directions. This is what always saves the day FOR EVERYONE BUT ME. It’s like when I ask someone directions while driving they are even more lost than I am. It’s not actually possible to be anymore lost than I am but people really do try.

So I’m not sure what I did next but I had a funny feeling to take some road. It wasn’t Noosa Heads but hey I was already failing. It was time to try out another town. So as I am driving I come to a familiar set of lights. I take a left, go past a familiar school, take another left, past a familiar church. Yay! We made it there, by the lord’s arrangement. It was times like this I wished not to have a car or a false ego. None had helped me so far. In the end the only discouragement I felt was letting the guys down. There are times you have it and there are times the lord takes it away. Krsna was giving me that strange favour on these occasions.

I made my way to the venue. First thing I saw was one young guy hanging around with an eager look on his face. I started to bump into heaps of friends from Brisbane and other areas. I hadn’t lost these people on the way so there was all favour to me. I took some encouragement from the book table/tables. They were both very nicely set up before I arrived. One young lady and a gentleman friend on a wheel chair asked about the show. I told them about our awesome stage performances and mentioned we were Hare Krsnas. They said the only thing they knew about Hare Krsnas was George Harrison. This is a great introduction to the Krsna Book or Chant and Be Happy.

I found my good friend from the Sunshine Coast, Marli (Tamal). I had a good ole catch up session. We hung out on the side of the building till I started to feel anxious about the show. Normally if I take time to myself it ends up with someone looking for me in frustration so I learn to make myself in sight and relatively available on tour (which translates into stand around and don’t do much). On the way in I bumped into Sri P and his family. I had been neighbours with the guys for a long time in Murwillumbah. It was a bit of a reunion. The only one that wasn’t there was Vraja who was my good friend from as early as 4 or 5 years old.

After our little meeting it was time for the show. We were having some good ole fashion back stage fun as per usual. Chandra rocked up just in time just after his extensive surf session. He was trying to link surfing to Krsna but wasn’t having much philosophical success. I mentioned that many people had tried to make this link in the past and had failed. The crowd wasn’t so big this time around but boy could they cheer.

It was pretty nice on the book table. We sold a few Gitas. I saw one girl eyeing the Gita out for so long. She was reading snippets, looking at pictures but in the end she let it go. It was tough to see people give up such gold. I met the boy who had been hanging around at the start. His name was Rori. He had been interacting with devotees for a while and been reading a fair bit, which explained his eagerness. I threw him my email. Marli came to the table and I tried to get him to take a Gita to get it signed by HH Indradyumna Swami. It’s hard when they already have like 3 or 4 Gitas.

We snacked out on the pack up. Rori was hanging around almost till the very end. I was there almost till the very end. Domo loaded my car and ordered me to leave. I had already scored my junk and snacks so I wasn’t complaining. I had a maha chat session with Dina Dayal all the way home in the late night. We discussed ways to make my dreams of a travelling harinam sankirtana party made of youths work in Australia. He fed me heaps of good ideas from his experiences ion Europe. He then started quoting jokes from Sivarama Swami’s Pod cast.

I didn’t focus on making my way home this time. I just tried to pray for Krsna to take me home. It was to late to get lost. It would be detrimental to my future vaisnava relationships if I were to be lost at this time. Fortunately Krsna led the way and we made it home in reasonable time. Our Brisbane shows were over. Soon we would be moving onto other things. I was hoping for one more Gujurati breakfast though.

Dear Devotees, Hare Krishna and please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

As many of you know, for many years I have been an initiated disciple of Hridayananda Goswami. However, on account of recent news of his blessing of homosexual nuptials and his less-than-straightforward response to the devotee community about his involvement, I have formally ended my relationship with him as his disciple.

That is all.

Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada,

Krishna Kirti Das

read more

My friend Ekendra, who runs the Iskcon News Weekly website, has assembled an archive of my recipes that he has published so far. It's become quite a sizeable and useful resource.. Check it out.

Toronto, Ontario

While in Vrindavana, India, sometime in the seventies, our guru, Srila Prabhupada had received a serious cut in his foot. It brought on an infection with swelling that grew up to the calf of his leg. He then arranged a poultice of neem, tumeric and mustard oil and wrapped this around his leg with a banana leaf as a bandage. The swelling reduced back to normal after five days. It was painful but being detached he hardly lodged a complaint.

What has eased my pain has been the visits I’ve received. Just having sympathizers, well-wishing folks come, makes it an opportunity to know one another more. One group of youth en-route to Montreal dropped by to see me as a send-off blessing. I admire them so much. When youthful energy is harnessed to provide mutually benevolent service then you have a real powerhouse. When that same youthfulness is left unchecked expect a house of destruction.

The group that sat before me prior to leaving for their journey shone like a band of angels. It’s a sight like this with its devotional vibration that provides me a boost. Whether its herbs, medicines, get-well messages, personal visits, the massages and/or offers to help all contribute to the healing process.

When our guru was on this earthly plane he fell ill on numerous occasions. Much support was there for him. He always reciprocated so well.

Toronto, Ontario

I was discharged from Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital yesterday and returned to my home in the temple. Treatment continues though. Strapped to my torso is an intervenes pack which gets checked by a nurse who loves house calls daily. Swelling and pain of the right infected foot has gone down incrementally.

I found that my reason for being in the hospital and my vocation came to be some kind of fascination for attendants at the hospital. The woman who did my bone scan was from the Christian Alliance community and with no prejudice or sarcasm asked about how I go about my pilgrimages.

“You basically depend on the grace of God,” I said which seemed to satisfy her fine.

Another nurse thought she had my identity pegged down. When looking at a picture I had beside my hospital bed of a smiling Prabhupada (my guru) she wanted to come across as knowledgeable and presumed that it was a picture of the Dalai Lama. Hungry to learn she wanted to know how someone can be gratified simply living the life of a monk for thirty-six yeas.
“It’s a natural life – few headaches.”

Another nurse admittted to being a student of “Hatta Yoga” I gave her my copy of The Gita and suggested that this is the book on “cool yoga”

I made friends just lying there without walking. I am lead to wonder whether the catfish I stepped on was either a curse or a blessing?

Walking on crutches will have to be tolerated for awhile.

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.14 - Blaming Krsna for the reactions to our sinful activities impedes our love for Him.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura comments that saralata, or simplicity, is the first qualification of a Vaisnava, whereas duplicity or cunning behavior is a great offense against the principles of devotional service. As one advances in Krsna consciousness, one must gradually become disgusted with material attachment and thus become more and more attached to the service of the Lord. If one is not factually detached from material activities but still proclaims himself advanced in devotional service, he is cheating. No one will be happy to see such behavior.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Antya 2.117

Indradyumna Swami and Sri Prahlad das gave an interview on AM 700 this morning.  Topics include the persecusion of the Russian devotees, the Festivals that Maharaj produces around the world, and the Bhagavad Gita. 

The audio quality isn't all that great, I recorded this off the air and had to do a lot of processing to remove the bad reception. 

Dallas, TX
2009-02-14

Download: 2009-02-14 - Indradyumna Swami - Radio Interview.mp3

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, 10th Canto, 89th chapter, we read of Krishna and Arjuna going to see Lord Mahavisnu in order to help Arjuna keep his vow to retrieve the nine children of a Brahmana, children who died immediately after their births. Lord Mahavisnu says this to Lord Krishna when the Lord comes to Him (SB10.89.58): "I brought the Brahmanas sons here because I wanted to see the two of you, My expansions, who have descended to the earth to save the principles of religion?."

More of the good old Hare Krishna Mantra.
I tell you what. Chanting is good. Real good.
It may not help me out with the ladies but it sure does make me feel 'Closer to God'

February 11, 2009


Dear Friends,

Hare Krishna!

Thank you for your support. Herein is the February update letter.

Cows
I (Chayadevi) have been replacing Balabhadra and Lakshmi in the everyday care of the cows in the barn. Ray has been coming almost every day to help me and he has been a tremendous help especially with the heavier tasks. I have finally learned how to pitch hay more efficiently than ever before :).

Now we are having some warm weather, but we had a full month of very cold weather, sometimes -8. There was also lots of ice and snow. I wanted to get you all pictures of this weather but it was a challenge just to get the tasks done in the freezing temperatures.

The water system broke down in the geriatric barn on one of the very cold days. Tejo, our devotee plumber, came and worked on it in the freezing cold for hours. He was very determined to make sure the cows would have water. He achieved a temporary fix that will have to be dealt with when the temperatures are consistently warm.


Everyone is happy with plenty to eat and a warm sunny winter day after freezing temperatures.

It is quite amazing how the cows do not seem to feel the cold, even the Brahmans. They have all grown their thick furry coats. As long as they have plenty to eat and drink, they do fine. Of course, nothing compares to grazing on green pastures. I have noticed that in the very cold weather they eat and drink more. Due to the presently warm weather, they are now in the barnyard enjoying the sun and warmth. Since the lower barnyard was covered with snow and ice, they did not venture beyond the immediate barn area for a month. I do expect that we will get cold weather again before the official winter season is over, but the warmth is a nice reprieve for everyone.

Winter temperatures in the barnyard.

Balaram receiving some love from Madhava on a warm sunny winter day

Health Update
As receivers of the previous updates, you know that Balabhadra had a heart attack and a leg and knee problem that prevented him from walking for over a month. Our recent visit to the heart doctor gave us some information. He has coronary artery disease. One of the main arteries on one side of his heart is blocked. It is very thin in one area and then shortly after is completely blocked. Because the other arteries are in very good condition and the other side of his heart in good condition, he has done very well for so long without incident. Now he is on a cocktail of heart drugs that he seems to be tolerating well and keeps his high blood pressure down.

Due to his acupuncture treatments, he is now walking for short periods of time and short distances. There is still a degree of pain. We have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon on February 18. Due to the help of Dr. Piyush Gupta, we have gotten an MRI of his hips and knee and this appointment. Now we have quite a collection of MRIs and X-rays to show the surgeon, since up until now we have been sent for tests but not been given a diagnosis. We will have more to tell you after this appointment.

You also know that our daughter Lakshmi broke her wrist and is now wearing hardware on her wrist and arm. She is the one that usually takes care of the database, monthly letters, gifts, etc. The bones are healing very well and the pain has decreased greatly. A few days ago, the stitches came out. She is now holding down her meals as before the pain medicine made her nauseous. She has the use of only her left hand. Maybe in 3 to 6 weeks the hardware will come off and then she will be in a splint, still with restricted movement. Her pregnancy is progressing nicely and according to her OBGYN her baby is in good health despite all the trauma.

Our Services to You
We want to thank all of you for all the letters of concern and encouragement. We know this time will pass, as everything does, but it sure is helpful to hear encouraging words from all of you. Please be patient with our services to you, monthly update letters, gifts, etc. I have been putting most of my energies into taking care of the cows and now I hope to see to some of the paper work since lakshmi and Balabhadra are feeling a little bit better. As you may have guessed I have never had the inclination or physical capabilities for this part of the service and at 63, I thank Krishna that I have been able to do it. It is actually fun, I just wish I was a bit younger :).

Praying that this letter finds you well,

Coming back from serving the cows at the barn

Your Servant,
Chayadevi
(Irene M. Dove)
ISCOWP Co-Managing Director

A Hare Krishna festival in Uzbekistan's central city of Samarkand [Samarqand] in the north-western Karakalpakstan [Qoraqalpoghiston] region, was raided and halted by the authorities, police have confirmed to Forum 18 News Service. Police are gathering evidence to open administrative cases against Zafar Kasimov, a Hare Krishna devotee in Samarkand.

This Valentine’s Day seems a good time to consider booking a spot at ISKCON’s first “Vaishnava Marriage and Family Fest,” hosted at the Festival of Inspiration in New Vrindaban, West Virginia this May 8 – 10 by the Grihastha Vision Team (GVT), a group of professional marriage and family educators and therapists.

This year a very special offering is being prepared for Srila Prabhupada. Using the facility of modern technology a team of devotees from Mayapur.tv (www.mayapur.tv) will bring the Sridham Mayapur and Gaura Purnima festival into your home or your temple, live on the Internet.

Through the revival efforts of Ram-Lila Dasa and a host of other members from the ISKCON community in Guyana, Padayatra once again graced the village streets of Guyana from January 26 – February 1. During this week long festival, devotees, well wishers, and enthusiastic onlookers covered approximately 40 kilometers through some of the most populated villages en route to Georgetown, the capital city of Guyana.