1967 March 4: "The money and society is yours. You can spend in any way but it is my duty to give you guidance as ever well wisher. Pray to Krishna for your successful transaction."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1968 March 4: "There is no doubt about our success if we can make this Kirtana party successful. We shall never be professional; we shall try to make the Kirtana party perfect from the point of view of Krishna Consciousness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1970 March 4: "This Krsna Consciousness movement has such a vast potency that by its philosophy the whole human race can be united politically, socially, religiously, and culturally."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1972 March 4: "I am glad you are entering politics. But our platform must be very simple, that there is no other sacrifice necessary for the well-being of the citizens save and except this Sankirtana yajna."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 March 4: "We are not very much keen to engage Christians in argument because for the most part they are sentimentalists and have no philosophy and this type of person we cannot change."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1973 March 4: "It is good that you have invited the other devotees. Let them come, and combine together in cooperation, not to be aloof. We must, in Krsna consciousness, do the needful and cooperate."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1974 March 4: "Since you have gone we have not gone an inch forward. It is still lying there and they do not say yes or no. There is no sanction as yet. Our position is not clear. I require your help very much."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 March 4: "It is very encouraging that you are preaching and getting good reception from the student class. Please go on and try to establish something substantial there and develop it."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

Once a leader in the San Franciso Haight-Asbhury of the sixties said to me, "Hey! We're living in Kah-leefornia." He thought it was great. But there's some truth to his feeling.

Although the iron age of quarrel is a miserable age in which to live, the Srimad Bhagavatam extols this yuga as being highly conducive to spiritual advancement.

read more

The wind is one of the twenty-four gurus described in the 11th canto (7.40-41) of the Srimad Bhagavatam. It teaches us that the soul does not get contaminated even when it is temporarily conditioned. Cool breezes feel soothing in hot weather and icy in the winter. As hair conditioners and air conditioners don't change the atomic or molecular structures of hair or air, the constitutional position of the soul is remains the same regardless of its ephemeral surroundings.

Maha Nrsingha das: Gaura Purnima in London! Such good quality you'll think you're there! Devotees worldwide are welcome to celebrate Gaura Purnima with Iskcon London devotees and take darsana of Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara & Sri Sri Gaura Nitai.

Wesley Camp: We have new dates for the Atma Yoga Teacher Training taking place this summer in Atlanta. The program will run from May 2 - August 9. Classes will meet every other weekend, Saturdays and Sundays 8:00am - 8:00pm.

Jagabandhu das: I see dead people. And dying people. Suffering and sad people. Everywhere. Others are disposed to pre-occupy the mind with considerations of ecclesiastical authority and who shall wield such absolute might.

Shastra dasa: We would like to introduce you to our new weblog, where we can regularly share new pictures and updates with you. In this way you can remain connected to our Harinama and Food For Life activities in Mayapur wherever you are, and also show your friends something about our program here.

By Divyambara dasi

I am happy to offer you an invitation to the Level 1 & 2 Japa Retreats in New Vrindavan this April. For the first time they will be held in the most sacred place in North America - Srila Prabhupada's Pushpa Samadhi Mandir at the Palace of Gold !

Krishna Priya dd was born and grew up in the doomed village Schmiegl in eastern Poland. There had been a hospital where thousands of people had left their bodies, infesting the village with ghosts. In the neighboring house to where Krishna Priya lived, a woman was constantly calling them up. As a result, her mother became haunted, her father was an alcohol addict. As a result, Krishna Priya from the early age of 7 started maintaining the family and doing the household at the same time. On the way to school children often threw stones at her. But she always took shelter of Mother Mary and Lord Jesus, spending hours in the local church, and was blessed with Their reciprocation.

At age 17 she moved to Antwerp, Belgium, where she promptly married and kept on working hard, wearing out her body. She bore a child, which was heavily invalid, especially mentally retarded. It was greatly aggressive from the beginning and often bit its own mother, as she carried her down the stairs, day by day. When it reached the age of eleven, it showed its mother the first affection. Due to the handicap, the child as it grew up continuously frequently passed liquid stool in its dipers, sometimes 4 times in a row as if to tease the mother, who had to change them and clean the child.

Krishna Priya, who was in close touch with the Lord, met the devotees of Krishna first when her child was about 13. Soon after her husband passed away. As a widow and single mother, she now dedicated herself more and more to Krsna consciousness. Upon receiving Bg she just read through the night profusely shedding tears, as all this information had been known to her since her childhood, but everybody considering her crazy she had been compelled to hide her understanding for herself.

Her first action was buying heaps of these books and rushing onto the street to distribute them to everyone in Antwerp. But the time was not ripe, Krishna made her understand, after she had come home crying, because nobody wanted a book. Soon after, however, mataji started distributing sweetballs and books on a daily basis on the street, and single-handedly run a weekly nama hatta program, besides serving countless Deities, who come to her one after another.

She has always prayed to suffer for others. Presently she is recovering from a heavy hip operation and is in constant pain. But her consciousness is with opening a big temple in Antwerp for expanding the preaching. Her courageous, complaintless suffering in itself is major preaching work to all the devotees.

Janmastami dasa, Antwerp, Belgium

To know and not to do, is really not to know. To learn and not to do is not to learn. In other words, to understand something but not apply it is really not to understand it. It is only in the doing, the applying, that knowledge and understanding are internalized.

For instance, you could study tennis as a sport by reading books and hearing lectures, but until you've actually played it, you wouldn't really know the sport. To know and not to do is not to know.

There are at least four approaches you could take in applying what you learn in any book:

1. The first would be to simply read the book straight through. Then decide what you want to apply in your life and work. This is the way most people approach a book. It reflects the desire many of us have to get emotionally or mentally connected with a flow of ideas in a book and then run with it.

2. The second approach would be to read through the entire book and then use the comprehensive understanding and cumulative motivation to go back and read the book a second time — this time with the intent to apply as you go. This could work very well for many.

3. A third approach — one that I personally believe will yield the greatest results — would be to adopt it as a yearlong personal growth and development program. Take a month for each of the remaining twelve chapters. Start by reading the next chapter, teach it and then apply it the rest of the month. You will find that if you will actually seek to apply what you learn in each chapter for a month, the insight you gain in the chapters that follow will profoundly increase.

4. The fourth approach is simply to adapt the third approach to your own timeline. Some readers might want to go faster or slower than one chapter a month. Read and apply a new chapter every week, every two weeks, every two months, or in whatever time frame you choose. This retains the power of the third approach yet allows you the flexibility to adapt it to your own desires and circumstances.

Action Steps for each chapter:

1. Read the chapter.

2. Teach the chapter to at least two people, including work colleagues, family members, friends, etc.

3. Make a sincere, concerted effort to live the principles included in the chapter for one month.

4. Report the results and your learnings from seeking to live the ideas in the chapter to a trusted colleague, family member or friend.

- From "The 8th Habit" book

The following is an email I received yesterday from my friend Lila Suka (pictured two posts ago) and her partner, Saranam. They have been selling compostable dinnerware for a few years now and are ready to move onto their next success in life. This is a great opportunity for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit to break into the rapidly growing market of sustainable, ecologically minded business.

This ad was sent out to a few of us Hare Krishnas, so if you are not in the cult don't be put off by the insider jargon. It would be great for the Hare Krishnas if one of them owned a business which could employ large numbers of its followers. You know, like the Mormons have with Marriott, but without the porn. Regardless of your affiliation, this business is for sale. Interested? Read more.

FULL CIRCLE Industries, LLC is a wholesale compostable dinnerware and cutlery business currently located in North Carolina, USA. It can easily be relocated anywhere in America.

Green Business is something that has longevity and is in the mode of goodness. In starting this company 3 years ago, our initial hope was to supply all of Krishna's temples with these products and weed out foam and plastic. This vision grew into a full service wholesale supply of products that now have a HUGE market. Everybody is looking for eco friendly products and trying to figure out what they can do that is "green". Turning our sights to a different aspect of business, we are now selling this business. At 3 years old, it is at a point to grow much larger.

This is the second business we have developed and sold. The first was a granola company, which was sold to devotees in Atlanta, who are now very successfully running a large-scale prasadam distribution business, initially developed by us.

Estabilshing devotee owned, devotee run businesses that can hire within the society gives much strength and stability to this movement. We are hoping to keep this one in the 'family'

The sale includes $75K worth of inventory, developed website, logo, marketing materials, client and supplier lists, membership to Co-op America etc... The selling price is $108K.


** We are stating the price because we want serious inquiries only please. ***

Please Contact:
Saranam Olivier
919-245-0500
Shar@fullcircleplanet.com
www.fullcircleplanet.com

Tuesday, 13th Jan, 2009. Me and Domo received a special wake up call. The mangal arati mayhem rush. Everyone was scuttling through the front room past our heads with large loud thumps. I’m calculating the sleep factor to be 3 hours. I considered to stay in my slumbering ignorance until an appropriate time when I could peal my face off the floor and into the shower. I picked Gurupuja time haha.

I was re introduced to Krsna Nagra upon awaking. Last time I had seen him was a year before chasing Udhava around the ashram with a bucket of water. Udhava wasn’t here but the man was ready for some fun. He hooked me up with my room for the next leg of our journey. It was Melbourne time!

I caught the end of Gurudeva’s class from outside the door. I still felt like a visitor, getting up so late and missing all the action. I caught up with their Lordships Radha Balaba, Jagannatha Baladeva Subhadra and Gaura Nitai. It was ecstatic to see these magnificent deities beaming their blessings once again. For me this was a significant moment as my last Le Carnaval Spirituel Tour started in Melbourne on a invite from my parents. I was well out of the age to receive parental donations but my parents decided to save my life and send me down for what was supposed to be a 3 day weekend of fun. This 3 day weekend ended up being 2 weeks of ecstatic touring with shows and harinams.

After paying my respects to the Lordships it was time to time to track down the Le Carnaval Sprituel crew. I bumped into Dina Dayal first, our brahmacari Ninja. He was sporting a white T-shirt and he had us all worried. I found Gaura and we told Dina how Gurudeva had seen his shirt in kirtana and was looking a bit worried. He already lost the twin yogis to the “white side”. Dina decided to make it a priority to change out of his white shirt, have it dyed asap and change into a dull brown shirt to pacify the masses. Ki Jai!

After catching up with the boys it was time for the traditional Melbourne breakfast prasada. I scoffed down some serious mercy including the daily hot milk and whatever I could score from the milk sweets. Jai, back to Melbourne milk sweets! I had to fill the gap since Sydney, when I was stealing almost daily from the maha tray.

After breaky I took a sneak off from the social scene to do some spiritual sight seeing for my selfish self. I slotted into Prabhupada’s room. This is where it all began. This is where I started my touring. Over a year before I snuck into the room looking to get a boosted japa session (something I could do with these days). I found myself accidentally in HH Indradyumna Swami’s ishta goshti! Not only that I was front and centre (well to the left because that’s where Indradyumna Swami was sitting). I was a reach away from his lotus feet and he was rapping something awesome. Festivals, harinams and non stop action.

After an inspiring little tour and a look at the past I flashed back to now. What I was hearing in that ishta goshti then was in the present moment the reality. Domo gave me my daily mission statement. We had a car full of gear that made our show roll on and it wasn’t even in Melbourne!? So Domo was going to locate a car and I was going to call up the mechanics and see how my jet plane was flying.

We were hoping to pick the car up that day but we had no idea how hard it was to find “vacuum lines”. So I called them up. There was a problem. “Oh no it’s not going to be ready today?” I questioned. “No mate. Your motor has blown up” replied the mechanic. “So it’s totally gone?” “Yeap. The timing belt snapped and the pistons smashed through the engine.” “It’s basically written off than? Unfixable? “Not unless you wanna throw in 5 grand or something.” “Oh ok. Well that’s alright. It’s not worth fixing that so I suppose it’s not going to cost me anything to repair at least.”

So now what to do? I decided to make my first visit to the boys’ room in Prabhupada’s house. I told Domo the news. I don’t know if he was as thrilled as I was. I left Domo to think up some corrective action while I called my father to see what was worth flogging off my car for cash. The mourning process hadn’t set in yet, because frankly I didn’t really care. I was just seeing what laxmi I could score for youth preaching projects and my festive Krsna Conscious jet setting. On the plus side I didn’t have to fix the paint job, panels, or get lost anytime soon (and I was going to score a few measly bucks for it).

Domo organised a ride. He found me and was concerned if I felt at all that the tour was responsible for the imminent death of my car. I explained it was the timing belt that the mechanics and I neglected to perceive and our reckless abuse of the car had nothing to do with it’s overall destruction. We headed off to pick up the contents of the car, write it off to the wreckers and do the last rites. Domo looked a little morose. I softened him up by relentless jokes about not having a car. “I’ve never seen anyone so happy after just loosing their car” he said in astonishment. I invited him to join in on the slander.

We arrived and quickly located the chariot. We quickly got to work. “Screw driver!” I cried. Domo started unloading and I started robbing the vehicle before the wrecker took it off my hands. I ripped the CD player out and stole the number plates. We found what was left of our junk food that was still edible and had a little feast in honour of the car.

After cleaning the car’s insides, neglecting the filthy exterior, I embraced it with tears in my eyes and awaited the near approach of the executioner/wrecker. He arrived shortly and I signed off the chariot to him. He gave me a measly deposit check in return. This seemed to be transmigration into a lesser of the 8,400,000 species of life so I was a little worried if it would go back to Godhead in the end. The Wrecker eased it on the back of the truck and Domo did the last rites, throwing water on the car and uttering prayers. I took this time to look back on the times I shared with my navy blue companion.

(The sentiments in the following few paragraphs may be classed as fiction.) I remembered those aimless rides to the beach with gurukulis friends. Those speedy drives down windy country roads. The occasional burn outs. The slow, fuel conserving trips to University. The daily, expensive trips for harinams and sankirtana while I was in the ashram.

In honour of the car we have collected some statements. The first is a testimony from the early days from Ekendra Prabhu: “It was a nice car. Took us to Byron to do harinams and book distro. Took us to Surfer's to eat at Govindas and try to do book distro. Never smelt bad. Big enough trunk. Ahhh. What a lovely car it was.”

Now some statements from the Matajis from tour starting with Radha Valaba: “your car picked me up from the airport, and dropped me at govindas in sydney...it also got us lost with sri prahlad and tribi on the way to peats ridge. and we got told many stories...that was fun.” And another statement from Mathuresvari: “oh, a wonderful car, a beautiful car. You could get any devotee of the tour to a needed destination. You was a really good friend. You was a good place for listening to music, chatting, having a nap, vewing different sceneries. And your previous owner still has a deep attachment to you.”

Most mentionable contribution to these testimonies was from Gaura Hari who wrote “Ode De Car” in honour of our beloved tour vehicle. This can be found on his face book notes in it’s immortal glory. We encourage everyone who knew the car to come forward with more loving sentiments which they would like to share with us all and post them on the comment section of this note (we apologise to planet ISKCON for the nectar they may miss out on in such connection). A few more little statements from the crew. Lal Krsna: “You just killed my car!” Rajesvari (in Vraja Kumari‘s voice): “It was a piece of junk anyway.”

Me and Domo drove off. We eased our pain with a trip to Aldi for some soft drinks and ice creams. We decided this was not enough although it was very much appreciated. We decided to pay a visit to the Pony Music headquarters in Melbourne. For over a month we had been having trouble trying to receive a sound product we purchased from them. Apparently it was lost in the Christmas post madness. That wasn’t the big deal though, the big deal was EVERYTIME we called them up they left us with the same situation. “We’ll call you back for sure” they would say and they never did.

Now days with phone business and internet marketing you can get away with a lot of things. But nothing can protect you from a bunch of angry clients rocking up at your distribution warehouse looking for blood. We found the place with some hectic navigational skills, heavy traffic and a lot of exposure to the heat wave that was hitting Melbourne at the time. This was good formula for some pretty extra upset individuals. Now that the car curse was lifted I was all of a sudden a perfect navigator (once I put my bead bag down and surrendered to the service) so we found our destination. Pray to Krsna nobody dies in this chapter of our quest.

We went in there. It was a little good cop bad cop. It was default roles really. The heat had baffled me to be a good slow individual and had the aggressive effect on our pure Domo man. He was green like Rama (or the Hulk). I could tell straight away that the person we were dealing with knew nothing of the situation but Domo had been mucked around a little to much and for him there may have been a little lost in translation. After Domo blew off a little steam, the guy loosened his guard and we were reassured steady action, Domo very politely asked if we could check out some light gear for the show.

It was a complete flip on the ying n yang side of things. Domo was keenly back in his favoured serving roll. After purchasing some little things we nicely waved goodbye to our new made friends from Pony and eased through easy traffic back to the temple. After KG (Krsna Nagara) showed me some prasadam spots it was time to unload our car/van of equipment from my deceased vehicle. Before I could pick where the time had gone I was eating dinner with KG and filling in my diary as I always seem to be. Ki jai.

If you missed tonight's ABC1 TV episode of The Cook and The Chef, dedicated to vegetarian cooking (with a 3-minute section on me), you can see it repeated again next Saturday at 11.30am (provided you live in Australia).

Simon cooked one of my recipes - Saffron, Cardamom, Flaked Almond and Sultana Semolina Halava.

If you want to watch the episode in your own time, especially if you live overseas, you can download the complete episode via WMV, MP4, or Vodcast.

Warm thanks to producer Mark Stanforth and crew, to Simon and to Maggie. I'm very happy with how it all turned out. What did you think?

Caitanya Jivan Das: The First Ever UK and European Brahmacari Convention is going to be held 1st – 4th July, we would like to invite you and all brahmacaris to Bhaktivedanta Manor for this event.

A lakóhelyemtől 5 perc sétára van egy nagy bevásárlóközpont. Általában itt szoktam vásárolni. A tiszítószereket 7 sorban lehet megtalálni. Most fedeztem fel, hogy az egyik sor 1/7-ben öko tisztítószerek találhatók. Persze lehetünk telhetetlenek, hogy csak ennyi, de nézhetjük úgy is, hogy mostmár ennyi részt az ökotermékek tesznek ki. Lassú víz partot mos.

A tudatos vásárló sok mindent megtalálhat és megvehet ezeken a helyeken is és már nem csak a bio/ökoboltok sajátossága a környezetbarát termékek forgalmazása. Ez szerintem jó hír.

HH Sivarama Swami

Autumn is here, and - in the weeks of March - the Mandir will host a series of travelling preachers:

• Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Maharaja arrived yesterday and stays with us until Thursday the 12th.

• Bhanu Maharaja arrives tomorrow and also stays until the 12th.

• Ramai Maharaja will arrive on Saturday the 14th. to stay until Friday the 20th.

• Devamrita Maharaja is scheduled to return on Wednesday the 18th. to prepare for a weekend farm retreat at Hare Krishna Valley, and then leave on Sunday the 22nd.

As Maharaja Yudhisthira said to his Uncle Vidura: '....devotees...are truly holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.' (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.13.10)

Please come to the Mandir and get some mercy.

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the most merciful incarnation, who is freely distributing love of Krishna: maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te (Srila Rupa Goswami, in Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya 19.53) Mahaprabhu's Appearance Day is non-different from Him, and it is just seven days away!

Both Bhanu Maharaja and Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Maharaja will join us for the celebrations. Our program starts at 4;30pm with arati and kirtan. followed at 5:00pm by a yajna.

You can offer arati trays to Mahaprabhu from 5:00pm.

5:45pm brings class, 7:00pm the wonderful abhiseka of Mahaprabhu, and arati. Devotees will distribute the Lord's prasadam feast to everyone at 8:00pm.

Lord Chaitanya directly instructed Srila Sanatana Goswami to note the observance of important festivals as Janmastami (and Gaura Purnima) along with the daily and monthly duties of a vaisnava (Chaitanya Caritamrta, Madhya 24.340). So you can see how much mercy is to be found in celebrating the Lord's Appearance Day next Wednesday.

Please join us.

I used to have a bright orange Columbia ten-speed. I loved it dearly. I rode my bike to my friends’ houses. I rode bike to houses of girls I wished were my girlfriends. I rode my bike to the store. I rode my bike simply because I loved to ride my bike. I was too [...]

Well, maybe not, but there's no prizes for guessing what I did last Sunday.

I taught the second of my new season's big classes at Gopal's Restaurant in downtown Melbourne. We had a great time. That's Sam and Liam adding fresh things to the dal.

That fine golden spray of magic faery dust is the famous asafetida. I just can't live without it.

I like this shot. It sort of sums up the flavour of my classes. We're all united in a single purpose - in this case, getting those panir steaks done so we can sit down to lunch!

Twenty-four happy punters line up for the grand finale.

Colourful sisters Louise and Olivia poised for lunch. Thanks to Crystal for supplying some of these photos. A few places are still available for the next Gopal's class on Sunday May 3. Don't miss the fun!

A couple of people have recently criticized our upcoming around the world lecture tour because of it's expense and its carbon footprint. While billions of dollars are being spent every day on nonsense material sense gratification, which is degrading the human society more and more and bringing it to the brink of the complete collapse, if we try to travel...

The New York Times just published an article which posits the question: It's Organic, but Does That Mean It's Safer?

This March 2009 is Sustainability Month at Gaura Yoga. In connection with the Institute for a Sustainable Society we will be having lots of events and activities focused creating a sustainable planet. These include:

• Biweekly Saturday movie nights starting on March 14th
• Sunday Festivals with (really good!) presentations focused on different aspects of sustainability
• Weekend eco-retreats at Gaura Haven. Gaura Yoga’s eco-retreat center near Otakti (talk to any of the staff at Gaura Yoga to make a booking).

This Sunday at Gaura Yoga is the annual Golden Moon Mantra Jam. Beats, chants & rhymes and jamming ’til dark.

Devamrita Swami, a world famous author and practicing monk will give talk on:
Excellence through Passion: the Illusion of Material Progress

All for just $5, including an all-you-can-eat vegan dinner

Sunday 8th of March ‘09 from 5pm.

Calling all devotees (especially the youth)!

Please come and join the Pandava Sena youth group this Saturday, March 7th for the temple morning program. Saturday is also Amalaki Vrata Ekadasi, which will make the program even more sweeter, auspicious and special.

The program will start at 4:30 AM and will conclude with breakfast at 9:30 AM. The program will include arati, kirtan, mantra meditation, class and, of course, breakfast.

If you would like to come, please email info@psena.ca so that we can arrange enough breakfast for all!  Also if you need a ride, please email us and let us know and we will try to arrange a car pool.

See you all there!

1974 March 3: "We cannot deviate even an inch. Our ideal Vedic community will attract everyone on its own merit and we shall be glad to welcome everyone without compromising in order to attract them."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 March 3: "Your plan to convince Prince Charles about Krsna Consciousness is another utopian idea. Do not work at it. Live with your Godbrothers and prosecute our standard practices."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1968 March 3: "Do not feel any feeling of uselessness. On the transcendental plane, one service is as good as another. There is no question of higher or lower."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1966 March 3: "Today Ekadasi observed. In the evening two visitors came. Dr. Mishra wants my kirtan in his meetings. I am considering the proposal. Jones presented me a copper cup. Very nice. Thanks."
Prabhupada Journal :: 1966

1968 March 3: "Responsive chanting is very nice; one good singer may lead, and the others may join in. That is the system. You may also have melodious accompaniment instruments, and amplifiers."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1970 March 3: "It is very encouraging that you are regularly chanting twenty rounds daily. Be careful never to decrease but increase the number and you will become more strong in Krsna Consciousness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1968 March 3: "My mission of one God, Sri Krishna; one scripture, Bhagavad-gita; and one mantra, Hare Krishna. This idea is not manufactured by me, but it is authoritative statement in the Gita Mahatma Skanda Purana."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1968 March 3: "I have tested it definitely that melodious vibration of Sankirtana performed by serious devotees can attract from the very spiritual platform."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

Time is passing us by. February has gone, Sydney's summer is over. While we merrily 'row, row, row our boats' gently down the stream of life, the dream-like time in this present body is ebbing.

On a more practical note: Before this life is over, I suggest you try the recipe below, at least once.

Stuart from Kent, United Kingdom wrote:

"Hi Kurma, I saw one of your cookery shows many years ago and would be grateful if you could refresh my memory on how to cook the potato and cauliflower curry. You added cream and fried the potatos as i recall. My mouth is watering at the thought of tasting this dish again. A recipe would be wonderful! Thank you kindly Kurma."

I replied: "Here it is!"

Creamy Cauliflower and Potato Supreme (Gobi Alu Bhaji)

For best results with this North Indian favourite, use pure ghee as the frying medium. Serve this tantalisingly rich vegetable dish for special occasions. Serves 5 or 6 persons.

2 large baking potatoes peeled and cubed ghee or oil for deep frying 1 medium cauliflower cut into flowerets ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper ½ teaspoon ginger powder ½ teaspoon turmeric ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream 1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander or parsley

Heat the ghee to 190°C/375°F. Fry the potatoes until golden brown (8 - 10 minutes). You might need to fry in 2 batches. Remove and drain the potatoes. Deep-fry the cauliflowers until they're cooked but slightly firm. Remove and drain them.

Combine all the spices, salt, yogurt or sour cream and fresh herbs in a large bowl.

Gently fold in all the vegetables while they are still warm, and serve immediately. If not serving immediately, keep the vegetables in a low-heat oven and fold in all the remaining ingredients just before serving.

Let’s Not limit the Notion of Charity.

Markham, Ontario

“Those three kids, street kids that acted in Slumdog millionaire now have money that will be put into a trust so that they can have a decent future. The movie producer is helping them with that and that is real charity. Not this promotion of vegetarianism and saving the cow.”

So argued a woman to me at an evening gathering at a residence of one of our congregational members. It was a deja-vu. Particularly her unwillingness to acknowledge animal cruelty and dismissing it as something not to be concerned with. The lady had a n attitude that remained unchanged for over twenty years since I’ve known her. I had had the same argument with her before.

I was on my first visit and outreach engagement since the catfish stung me and here we start with a fight. I did not dispute the slumdog Samaritan act, in fact I supported
The work of the movie producers in helping the kids. My point is let’s extend compassion and see that animals also have rights being psychologically and biologically like humans.

I took the stand, “The cow is our mother.”

“I don’t agree”. She protested.

“Is nature our mother?” Let’s broaden our perspective on the concept of motherhood”, I suggested.

She was kind for listening to that point and courteously (in a motherly fashion) said, “I don’t want to continue right now because dinner is waiting. “ Although not the host she did extend her hand to show me where dinner was being served. The smorgasbord array of delicious items was comprised of raita, a yogurt based prep, spiced rice with butter, paneer subji, a curd and tomato curry, lassi, a milk drink and more. Much of the prasadam dinner was dairy-based from the cow. I hold my ground on the position of seeing that animal slaughter is an exploitation to the cow and bull. Protecting animals and prescribing to a meatless diet is charity. And that’s no Bull.

Encouraging are the Words

Toronto, Ontario

Today I picked up speed although I would still classify the brief walk as a stroll. Patrick, a regular temple-goer, agreed to be my walking companion through posh Yorkville area. He set the pace to his normal speed but I had to remind him if you want a partner then you have to slow down.

Patrick has as interesting mind and is meticulously analytical with names and numbers carefully calculating subtle meanings behind what he observes. I personally have a hard time keeping up to his analytical brain. I just find it fascinating that the world has within it such incredible diversity. Patrick is unique but I’m glad to have someone near me on the stroll.

While On Yonge st. we bumped into Devadatta, one of the brahmacaris from the ashram on his way back from yoga lessons. Deva is taking an intensive course in order to be able to train people in concentration, relaxation and ultimately a focus on bhakti, the science of devotion. With the coming certification he will be recognized as a registered yoga teacher. In my heart I want him to do well and to become an outstanding yoga master.

As Patrick and I proceeded on we encountered at least three homeless people. It was they who seemed to have no apprehension about saying those two magic words upon seeing us, “Hare Krishna”, in a cheerful tone bounced off their tongues. For me it was the sound of cheerleaders saying, “keep going! You’re doing good and you’ll get back to regular walking before you know it.”

God was speaking through them so it was profound.

3 Km

The whole business is how to develop attachment for Krsna. If you have developed that attachment within a second, oh, then the business is finished within a second. And if you cannot develop that attachment for years, then it is very difficult. The only test is how you have developed your attachment for Krsna. If you are serious about it, it can be done within a second. If you are not serious about it, it cannot be done in many lives. So that depends on your serious nature. Krsna is not a material thing that it requires one particular time or... No. The only thing is mayy asakta-manah. You have to develop your full attachment for Krsna. That you can test, whether you have full attachment for Krsna. Then it is..., the business is finished.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 7.1 -- San Francisco, March 17, 1968

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.50 - Daivi varnasrama-dharma.

I was interested in the many suggestions on what to do about the offensive behaviour shown towards the deities by a new client, The reminder that as Krishna is transandental to material reality thus excluding him from the scripture was inspirational plus the analytical dictionary use of the difference between idol and deity. But I feel [...]

Durlabha manava janama sat-sange, taraho ei bhava sindhu-re

"O my friend, having obtained this very rare form of human birth, please take shelter of saintly persons and cross over this material ocean"

- Saint Govinda, c17

The rarity of the human form of birth is illustrated in the Vedic tradition thus:

Imagine a dolphin swimming in the ocean. Somewhere on the vastness of that ocean floats a wooden ring slightly bigger than its head. The dolphin pops up periodically to breath air. The odds of obtaining the human form of life are comparable to the odds of the dolphin popping up to get some air, and putting its head exactly through that wooden ring.

The rarity of the human form of birth is illustrated in evolutionary theory thus:

Imagine a one hundred story building. This building represents geological time, with each of the stories of the building a different geological period. The amount of time that modern humans have been around is equal to 1/50th of an inch. That is the depth of the coat of paint on the very top of the building.

bramanda-bhramite bhagyavan konya jiva, guru-krishna prasade paya, bhakti lata bhija

The living entity wanders through species of life for millions of birth, before somehow, by good fortune, taking the human form of life and obtaining the opportunity for self-realization.

The species on the other floors of the building do not have the self-awareness that human beings have. Animals are aware, but they are not self-aware. There are few animals that can recognize themselves in a mirror, what to speak of having the capacity to understand the difference between cognition and consciousness of cognition, which is where metaphysical thought begins.

The human form of life, with its capacity for self realization, is extremely rare, however you look at it.

Thinking about it every day - climate change harinam!

A great drama by the Youth Bus Tour cast on the Three Modes of Nature.  This is the first time they performed the english version -- they've been doing this drama in Mexico up to this point.

Houston, TX
2009-01-03

Last year around this time, when my daughter suffered with pneumonia, I was grounded and having nothing much to do, I started listening to classes (with more seriousness),by HH Bhakticharu Swami. The very first class that I chose was the Brhad Bhagavatamrta and I got hooked to hearing about the Lord and His devotee, Gopa Kumar. Today, again I was hearing about the rarity of human life and made this collage as a reminder to myself when faced with taking appropriate actions (karma) in the crossroads of life. The times when transcendence or Krishna takes a backseat and the modes take over the reins.

• Take birth as an animal

• Go back to Goloka Vrindavan, Spiritual World

• Take birth as a human being again

• Go to the higher planets and enjoy a higher level of sense gratification.
  

I vote for devotional service in this transit lounge of life, trying to make myself qualified or deserving before I can desire to reach my final destination.

The basic principle of devotional service is detachment from material activities and attachment to the transcendental service of the Lord.(Bhagavad Gita As it Is 15.1 purport).
http://www.asitis.com/15/1.html

Prabhupada: Because it is a science. Religion means a kind of faith. It is not faith. It is a science. Science must be based on logic and philosophy. Science means that. And religion means sometimes sentiments. So religion without philosophy is sentiment, and philosophy without religion is mental speculation. Both must be combined. Then it is perfect. You cannot have religion without philosophy. That is sentiment, fanaticism. And if you simply take philosophy without religion, without sense of God, this is mental speculation. So religion must be on the basis of science and logic. That is first-class religion. (Lecture, Bhagavad-gita 7.1-3 -- Stockholm, September 10, 1973)

Applying SP's statement here in ISKCON's present social and ideological context, I find the sentiment expressed by some that ISKCON cannot be subverted by maya to be an example of religion without philosophy. On a number of occaisions, Srila Prabhupada himself expressed apprehension that his society might be destroyed as had his own guru maharaja's mission. I don't need to quote anything here. By now everyone receiving this message is well aware of these occaisions and statements. But here is one statement worth quoting, nevertheless:

Prabhupada: My Guru Maharaja used to say, "When our men will be sahajiya, he will be more dangerous."
Satsvarupa: Our own men.
Prabhupada: Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he said that "When our men will be sahajiya, oh, they'll be more dangerous." So our men are becoming, some of them, sahajiyas. This very word he said, that "When our men will be sahajiyas he'll be more dangerous." (Room Conversation -- January 24, 1977, Bhubaneswar)

But anyway, as as to whether ISKCON itself could become something mundane and sahajiya, or whether ISKCON is in fact heading towards sahajiyaism, all I can say is make up your own minds.

Company men are always going to stay with the company, no matter what.

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Celebrating the 523rd Appearance Day Anniversary of Lord Caitanya!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Everyone is invited to celebrate Gaura Purnima at the temple starting with morning class at 8:00am and kirtans/bhajans from 9:00am - 4:30pm. 

4:30pm   Harinam parikram — start in front of the temple deities and circumambulate the small lake outside.
5:30pm   Lecture by Indradyumna Swami
6:30pm   A transcendental drama, led by Damodara das
7:00pm   Arati, Kirtan and an Abhisek for all devotees
8:00pm   Feast and Raffle Drawing Prizes will be awarded

Devotees are encouraged to present their bhoga offerings to the Lord, and bring them to the pujari room before 6:00pm.

Volunteers are needed!!  If you would like to lead a kirtan during the day, help decorate the temple with balloons, pass out raffle drawing tickets in the lobby or do anything else to help, please contact Vyapi or Rasa Priya at 845-1080.  Thank you!

namo maha-vadanyaya  krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah“O most munificent incarnation! You are Krsna Himself appearing as Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krsna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.”

 

 

I am not thinking about this blog or planning anything, but when relevant thoughts or exchanges come up, i will post them here. I have email exchanges with a few friends and this one just happened. As they say, "if the shoe fits...wear it."

Since i did not ask this godbrother's permission to post his words, he will remain anonymous (although he is one of the regular readers of this blog, and if he has an objection, i will hear from him.)

From a godbrother:

"But we have to face it that the majority (including devotees) is, well, alpa medhasha – less intelligent. I am not claiming that I am super intelligent but I think that I can safely say that I am somewhat thoughtful. For myself I have resolved that in spite of advanced age and the days flying by I still have to practice to be patient. So, for now, I am concentrating on Shaastra – reading, translating, and publishing. I just feel safe that way. But even for that I really have to discipline myself, especially the initial inertia. I still visit the SUN almost every day, but find myself skipping a lot of contributions as I look at the names of the contributors. A lot of it is just a modern form of Prajalpa.

"Your recent blog entry regarding puppets gave me another confirmation as to how make the best use of the valuable time. 'Some of the best atheists are the clergymen and commissioners of the churches and temples of this world.' Something similar went through my mind during my last visit to the Mayapur festival and on my now rare visits to Dandavats.com."

And part of my response to him via email:

Everyone hears what they want to hear. In reality the spiritual path is the most wide, all-inclusive, truly non-sectarian, the only truly personal path. But it is not experienced like this for most neophyte devotees because they are confronted by materially tinged interpretations of higher reality from their peers. i think that is why Jesus said that the spiritual path is the most narrow one. Because if you really want to walk on it, you need to disregard conventional wisdom and politically motivated approaches, including those of your spiritual peers. You need to let go of anything that conflicts with your own higher understanding. So it is a sign of your progress that you have a sense of higher understanding and this is what guides you. Progress must follow if you act on your understanding, despite the cost.

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

1966 March 3: "Today Ekadasi observed. In the evening two visitors came. Dr. Mishra wants my kirtan in his meetings. I am considering the proposal. Jones presented me a copper cup. Very nice. Thanks."
Prabhupada Journal :: 1966

1968 March 3: "Do not feel any feeling of uselessness. On the transcendental plane, one service is as good as another. There is no question of higher or lower."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1968 March 3: "Responsive chanting is very nice; one good singer may lead, and the others may join in. That is the system. You may also have melodious accompaniment instruments, and amplifiers."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1968 March 3: "I have tested it definitely that melodious vibration of Sankirtana performed by serious devotees can attract from the very spiritual platform."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1968 March 3: "My mission of one God, Sri Krishna; one scripture, Bhagavad-gita; and one mantra, Hare Krishna. This idea is not manufactured by me, but it is authoritative statement in the Gita Mahatma Skanda Purana."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1970 March 3: "It is very encouraging that you are regularly chanting twenty rounds daily. Be careful never to decrease but increase the number and you will become more strong in Krsna Consciousness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1974 March 3: "We cannot deviate even an inch. Our ideal Vedic community will attract everyone on its own merit and we shall be glad to welcome everyone without compromising in order to attract them."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 March 3: "Your plan to convince Prince Charles about Krsna Consciousness is another utopian idea. Do not work at it. Live with your Godbrothers and prosecute our standard practices."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

 

“Ganges is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta (Krishna) is the su¬preme among deities. Lord Shambhu (Shiva) is the greatest of all Vaishnavas and Shrimad Bhagavatam is the greatest of all the Puranas.” Srimad Bhagavatam 12.13.16 (more…)

"Even if some one of the level of the supremely powerful devotee and gunavatara Lord Shiva blasphemes a devotee, he will soon be destroyed. This is the verdict of all the scriptures." (CB Madhya 22.56)

"What to speak of others, even the supreme mother of the Supreme Lord Himself , Gaura Simha, was not exempt from being considered an offender of a Vaisnava." (58)


Lord Gauranga Himself replied," I can give instructions on how to eliminate the aparadha (like in the case of Durvasa and Ambarish), but I Myself, even though being the Supreme Lord, am unable to destroy an offense against a Vaisnava." (32)


People have an unnatural enthusiasm for gossip. It seems to make the material world go round.
So it's always unfortunate when gossip, and that material mentality, trickles into our spiritual lives.

There are three sides to the rumor/gossip/criticism issue : the person spreading it or doing the criticising, the person listening to it, and the person who is the target. Usually the recipient of juicy gossip becomes the giver of juicy gossip (it's the way of the gossip parampara :)

If we are the ones responsible for spreading rumors or sharing gossip, we should keep a few things in mind :
- everytime we spread rumors or gossip about other devotees, we actively take away from our time with Krsna and the potency of our Krsna consciousness. There's a reason that the offense 'To blaspheme devotees who have dedicated their lives to propogating Krsna Consciousness' is top of the list and known as the 'mad elephant offense' - It destoys the creeper of bhakti within our hearts.
- everytime we spread rumors or gossip about, or criticise, other devotees, we make a conscious decision to hurt someone else, someone who is a vaisnava and, despite our own feelings about them, very dear to Krsna.
- everytime we spread rumors or gossip, our own reputations are ruined. Our intention may be to malign someone else, and chip away at their reputation, but being known as a gossip does nothing for our own.
- everytime we spread rumors or gossip, we should know that we could be potentially responsible for someone turning away from ISKCON and Krsna consciousness.

Our need to gossip stems from envy, dislike and our own shortcomings as devotees. But sometimes we feel that our criticisms are justifiable, after all "He did this, this and that 3 years ago." But it is stated that:

One should never criticize a devotee for his:

1) Social background;
2) Past sins or faults;
3) Unintentional sin or accidental falldown.

Srila Gaura Govinda Swami gave a brilliant description of the first offense:
"Bhakti-devi completely disappears by committing Vaisnava aparddha. Vaisnava aparddha means to blaspheme, find fault, criticize or speak ill of devotees. Generally, this is done out of fear and enviousness. Vaisnava aparddha takes place where there are fear and enviousness." When Vaisnava aparddha is committed the offender will become very angry with that Vaisnava. He's afraid of that Vaisnava because he is a very powerful Vaisnava. Therefore, he thinks, 'He's making rapid advancement and I'm not making such advancement.' He becomes afraid and envious of that Vaisnava." Fear comes and therefore he criticizes, finds fault, and speaks ill of that Vaisnava. He commits Vaisnava aparddha and becomes angry with that Vaisnava. It is only because of enviousness of that Vaisnava that this hatred and criticism arises. And therefore, he speaks ill of that Vaisnava and concocts stories. The sieve is full of a thousand holes and he's criticizing the needle, 'Hey needle, there is a hole in your back.'"Are you perfect yourself? If you have some defects yourself, then why do you find fault with others? Sages say don't see bad in others, but see the bad in yourself. If you have that nature or tendency to see bad, then see what bad is there in yourself. But see the good in others. "If you find something good in some person, then just accept that. Think, 'Yes, that is good in him. Let me accept that.' Close your eyes on the bad things, and open your eyes to the good things. Paramahamsas never see anything bad. In their vision everything is related to Krsna. Speaking ill of others is a great anartha for the sadhaka who has come to the path of bhajana.

There is a wonderful quote by Srila Prabhupada that applies to this and so many other situations:
"We must know that Krsna is present, and as such we must be careful in our dealings, talking and behaviouir, as we are present before Krsna directly." May 6, 1968
So we should practice - whatever I am about to say, I should be able to say if Krsna were standing right beside me, listening.

***

And if we're listening to, or entertaining any gossip or criticism, then we're pretty much in the same boat as the person we're listening to. As devotees we have to:
- try our utmost not to listen to any gossip - for the sake of our own spiritual lives.
- even if we hear something about some other devotee, we have to be intelligent enough to know that there are always three sides to a story: what A said, what B said and what REALLY happened! And even still;
-we have to be even more intelligent and remain impartial and uninvolved. It is not our job to judge others, especially based on something that we have no actual knowledge or experience of.
-and again, when we listen to or engage in gossip, we can potentially play a part in giving someone a bad experience of the temple or ISKCON. It is our duty to be representatives of Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON, and to always act as such.

So what do we do?

The Srimad Bhagavatm states: "Anyone who fails to immediately leave the place where he hears criticism of the Supreme Lord or His faithful devotee will certainly fall down, bereft of his pious credit."SB 10.74.40

***

And finally there is the person who is the subject matter of criticism or gossip. A person in that position (and I think that we've all been there at some point in time or another) has several options:
- Retaliate with your own criticms and gossip, and become a part of that vicious, bhakti-destoying cycle.
- Defend yourself. My personal thoughts are that, again, you're taking time away from your own spiritual life because of another persons petty issues, and secondly, if people are so small-minded and unintelligent that they choose to engage in gossip and pass judgement, than does it REALLY matter what they think anyway? If anything, it should be lesson that you should choose your association wisely, and associate with those devotees who will further you in your spiritual life.


I remember reading an article some time ago. The devotees approached a gentleman who had been coming to the temple for many, many years and was chanting 16 rounds and following all the regulative principles. They asked him why he hasn't made more of a commitment and taken initiation. He replied, "I see how you treat guests and I see how you treat each other. I would rather remain a guest."

We are all trying to achieve the same thing, serve the same God, reach the same destination. We should try to to help each other out, not bring each other down, so that we all serve Krsna better.

On March 1st 2009, HH Jayapataka Swami left Sri Mayapur Dham to go Mumbai (Bombay) to continue with his treatment for a month. On his way to Kolkata airport, Gurumaharaja who is known to be addicted to preach, went to Suvarna Bihar the holy place where all the devotees of the international parikram were assembled to hear lectures from the senior devotees about the pastimes of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and his associates.

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By Praghosa das

In the last week of February 2009, Gopal Agarwal (who resides in USA) along with his son Brij spend a couple of days in Mumbai and one of their first trips in the city of Mumbai was to ISKCON Juhu to take darshan of Sri Sri Radha Rasabihari.

Inspired by my readings of "Contemplative Prayer" and "Contemplation In A World Of Action" by Thomas Merton

Living in an ashram\monastic environment is a highly revealing experience, in terms of our own self-awareness.

Here, amongst the determined and enthusiastic, we get continuous chances to apply the simple yet profound: trnad api sunicena\taror api sahisnuna\amanina manadena\kirtaniyah sada harih.

In my own experience, living with the brahmacaris of the Bhativedanta Ashram here in NYC gives me the opportunity to do two things: rise above the negative aspects of my introspective nature (too shy, too lazy, etc) and use the positive aspects of my introspective nature in application of my Krsna-given abilities of writing, preaching, and communicating.

Merton writes about the benefits and pitfalls of these introspective aspects in the monastic\spiritual atmosphere in Chapter IV of Contemplative Prayer. He writes:

"Many of the obstacles to the life of thought and love which is meditation come from the fact that people insist on walling themselves up inside themselves in order to cherish their own thoughts and their own experiences as a kind of private treasure. They misinterpret the gospel parable of the talents, and as a result they bury their talent in a napkin instead of putting it to work and increasing it. Even when we come to live a contemplative life, the love of others and openness to others remain, as in the active life, the condition for a living and fruitful inner life of thought and love. The love of others is a stimulus to interior life, not a danger to it, as some mistakenly believe."

Here in the Ashram in the Apple, there is little room to hide, at least for myself in the negative, selfish sense that always opens the door for my favorite maya to sneak and snake in.

Our mood here is contagious, and for the first time really in my life, I live in a community of people in which I'm not so much afraid to express myself, to be myself, and to try to be talented and dynamic in the service of the servants.

It is a fine line, a razor's edge as always. The mood of the ashram, of monastic life, asks us to go deep, but we cannot hide inside ourselves any longer. We reveal to ourselves and then we we reveal to others, sharing our insights, our deepest thoughts, in order to grow and to preach. Merton writes:

"Many serious and good monks, idealists, desire to make of their lives a work of art according to an approved pattern. This brings with it an instinct to study themselves, to shape their lives, to remodel themselves, to tune and re-tune all their inner dispositions-and this results in full-time meditation and contemplation of themselves. They may unfortunately find this so delightful and absorbing that they lose all interest in the invisble and unpredictable action of grace. In a word, they seek to build their own security, to avoid the risk and dread implied by submission to the unknown mystery of God's will"

As HH Radhanath Swami has said, there is nothing more valuable that our relationships with our fellow Vaisnavas. The loving example of these relationships is one of the most valuable things we can give to people through our preaching.

Living in an ashram, in close brotherhood and association, gives us the most valuable chance to use our inner development to create and enhance these relationships, in a mood of aspiring surrender to the full will of Krsna.

But it is our constant struggle and choice, especially for those in an introspective mood, to give up our attachments to the mood of selfish individualism and the desire to be respected. These can only ruin us on the path of real self-realization, of our never-ending dependency on the shelter of the devotees to keep us safe and keep us dynamic and active in Prabhupada's mission.

We would like to invite all devotees to the Vyasa Puja celebration of the great personality, Srila Bhakti-Tirtha Swami Maharaja, on Wednesday 4th March 2009 at Sridham Mayapur.

Read below the extended schedule of the event.

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Karnamrita das: The naked form of matter giving misery, heartbreak false promises from good advertising birth potential smiles rising up through youth education, training, titles desires to earn only for a few years...

Radhikakrpa: FICCI Ladies Explore ISKCON Food Relief Foundation (Federation of Indian Chambers Of Commerce and Industry) FICCI Ladies Organization kept their date with ISKCON Food Relief Foundation on the February 28th afternoon.

Jaya Radhe dasi: Kishori Yatra girls’ tour is an all-inclusive, spiritual adventure tour bringing girls, ages 11-15, to different temples and communities around the US during the summer.

By Patita Pavana das Adhikary

Once Prabhupada noted, "When Krishna was here, few could understand that he was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Maybe a few hundred people, that's all."

By Jagabandhu das

It was recently announced in the news about how an 18 year old autistic boy from Ohio/USA is being charged for murder after his university professor mother (who was apparently very dedicated to his care-giving) died from injuries received from her son during a violent outburst.

These beautiful Lordships are Sri Sri Nitai-Gaura Hari from Johannesburg, South Africa. "Sangopangastra-parsadam further indicates that Lord Caitanya is Lord Krsna. His body is always decorated with ornaments of sandalwood and with sandalwood paste. By His superexcellent beauty He subdues all the people of the age. In other descents the Lord sometimes used weapons to defeat the demoniac, but in this age the Lord subdues them with His all-attractive figure as Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Jiva Gosvami explains that His beauty is His astra, or weapon, to subdue the demons. Because He is all-attractive, it is to be understood that all the demigods lived with Him as His companions."
[ SB 11.5.32]

with Akrura prabhu in manchester

My husband once told me that when flying a plane the pilots have a special diet. It has to be nutritious and light. Hence a preacher, in his opinion should also eat light nutritious meals. I agree that it is very difficult to focus nicely when the belly is too full.

















Taking the above into consideration i made: Zucchini, celery, chickpeas in tomato gravy and garnished with small blocks of cheese and home made bread.

Subji Ingredients:

3 stalks of celery
1 small try of zucchinis
1 cup of boiled chickpeas
2 tomatoes blended into puree
pinch of hing
salt to taste
1/2tsp cumin seeds
1/2tsp tumeric powder
fresh crushed ginger to taste
1tsp ghee/olive oil

Method: Chaunce spices ie. hing, cumin seeds, ginger and tumeric powder. Add all vegetables and salt and slow cook until vegetables are tender. Offer to Krishna and serve!

Bread:

2 and half cups of brown bread flour
2 and half cups of white flour
1tsp salt
2 tbl sp brown sugar
1 sachet instant yeast
1/3 cup oil
500mls of luke warm water

Method: Mix salt, sugar and yeast together. Add both flours. Make a well in the centre and add oil. Mix and add water gradually to make soft pliable dough. Leave to stand for 1 hr. Turn on oven. Reknead the dough and form into loaf in loaf tin that is greased. Bake at 180 degrees for exactly40 mins. Remove from pan and cool then store in airtight container. Offer and serve!

Sometimes in Krishna consciousness the going gets tough. That's when those who are tough really get going. It's a fact that perseverance furthers. When everything seems hopeless this is when we have strengthen our faith in Krishna and push onward through the fog. The times when things are difficult are the times that we can make the quickest advancement...

Though she has been around from a long time, she looked no older than a little girl with shiny black eyes and a cheery smile. Wearing a white gown dotted with flowers and with the Mahaprasadam flowers tucked in her hair, she polished off the vadas with gusto and then narrated the following story of how she had the chance to obtain the dust of Srila Prabhupada on her head and how she was humbled by this pure devotee of the Lord, in a conversation with his disciples.

In conversation with a devotee of science the other day I pointed out that science does not have a good grasp on consciousness.

(The conversation was carried out in a semi-public forum (viewable if you are on the proprietary platform Facebook). I am thinking to ask him if I can paste it here to share it with a wider audience. I think it is very illustrative of the concerns that those of a scientific persuasion have.)

My conversation fellow responded that science does have a good handle on consciousness and recommended I read "On Intelligence" by Jeff Hawkins [wikipedia]. Wikipedia revealed that Jeff Hawkins is the founder of Palm Computing, and the inventor of the Palm Pilot and Treo handheld computers. He is also a neuroscientist and author.

Praise be to the Lord who works in mysterious ways, and I had the audio book and a pdf of "On Intelligence" in short order.

I am still working my way through it (you can't have a real discussion if you don't actually understand the perspective that you are "arguing against"). My initial realization is that there is a distinction between cognition, which is what this book describes in a brilliant way, and consciousness.

Cognition is the physical chain of events involved in perception of the physical environment. Consciousness, on the other hand, is awareness of cognition. Cognition is physical. Consciousness is metaphysical. It's a subtle distinction, and one that those in the scientific paradigm may not wish to pursue, especially since it means abandoning all of their empirical tools. In a metaphysical conversation with another scientific friend he confided in me that this was his situation - he didn't want to consider the question because it went beyond his methodology, and he was uncomfortable with that.

I respected that, and he didn't feel the need to invade my space in defense of himself. Live and let live. Empirical science works.

In terms of demonstrating the value of the Vedic metaphysical toolkit to persons such as this, the best approach is to put it this way: "Let us see where this takes us, and if it can produce useful outputs and insights in the world of empirical measurement."

That's actually a scientific approach: one of open-mindedness, healthy doubt, and a willingness to see where the data takes you. Good scientists approach problems in this way.

Srila Prabhupada explains this in the Introduction to Bhagavad-gita (given as a lecture):

So according to the statements of Bhagavad-gita or the statements of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita, we should at least theoretically accept Sri Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and with that submissive spirit we can understand the Bhagavad-gita

It is not that someone has to dogmatically accept, or "believe", or "take it on faith" at all. All that is necessary is to investigate with an open mind and see where it takes you. Can a metaphysical system give useful insights and outputs in the empirical world? Srila Prabhupada obviously thought that Bhagavad-gita's metaphysic could stand on its merits, and invited readers to investigate and see for themselves.

Religious Fundamentalists:

• Don't have a superior scientific model to supplant evolutionary theory.
• Insist on attacking scientists and characterizing anyone who accepts evolutionary theory as the current best fit model on a material level as being unintelligent and ill-motivated.

Scientific Fundamentalists:

• Don't have a superior metaphysic to explain ultimate causality.
• Insist on attacking religionists and characterizing anyone with a metaphysical approach as being unintelligent and ill-motivated.

Hmmm... who's going to put down their guns first, and stop feeding ammunition to the other side?

Don't bother accusing me of seeking popularity. I refuse to compromise with either one. Currently I'm the guy being attacked from both sides — the one who is happy to work with evolutionary theory and open to considering things from a metaphysical perspective.

Word up evolution-haters!

The Theory of Evolution is a model. The way that science works is that it approximates the universe through theoretical models. Models are deemed useful when they provide a framework to explain observable phenomena, and make predictions which can be tested and (verified or falsified).

Evolution as a theory has widespread scientific support because it fulfills this role better than any current alternative.

You do not "defeat" the theory of evolution by raising objections one-by-one to different details, trying to poke holes in it. All this does is establish that it requires further investigation and more explanation. You can only defeat it by supplanting it with a theory which proves to be more powerful in explanation, prediction, and for the approval of the masses - production of concrete technologies.

Here is a comment I recently wrote to Shiva das, who through his comments has expressed a desire to supplant evolution as the dominant paradigm in modern biological science.

You have two problems that you need to overcome:

1. The fossil record shows billions of years of life, with many different species that we no longer see. We also see a clear gradation from more primitive forms to more sophisticated forms of life. There are clearly different species, and a different set of species at different historical periods.

You need to advance a model that can explain this. One is not explicit in your scripture, so you need to advance one on the basis of material science.

2. Your model, if it involves the direct action of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or aliens (extraterrestrials like "Lord Brahma" or "demigods"), will represent a break from the otherwise seamless and automated systems that we observe in physics, chemistry, and the biological processes that give rise to "variation", as you call it.

In order to establish something like that you are going to need a large amount of evidence.

Over the past 150 years science, including genetics, has served to strengthen the case of evolution through natural selection. It has made testable predictions, explained observable phenomena, and generated technologies that are in use today.

Your model will have to do the same, to a superior level.

As for me, I'm happy with the current model. It doesn't conflict with a theistic conclusion, nor does it fundamentally violate the metaphysics of the Veda, which remain metaphysics.

I'm happy to work with any prevailing material science which can be harmonized with the Vedic siddhanta. if you can establish yours I'll not complain.

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Areas where evolutionary theory reaches its limits are:

"What is life?"
"How does life begin?"

Like other contemporary sciences it is an analysis of intermediate manifestation, and does not address ultimate causality, which is a metaphysical issue. In these areas the Vedas have a concrete and clearly superior contribution to make.

In the area of the intermediate steps, see the above two points.

1969 March 2: "Never mind if one is Christian, Jew, or Moslem, most people are Godless and don't care for God. They simply take an official stand. They have no idea what is God."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1970 March 2: "One should be very careful to estimate how every moment of his life is being utilized. Save more time from this materialistic business and utilize it for Krsna's service."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1969 March 2: "We should train our disciples in such a spirit that even if the whole world is against us the Sankirtana Movement must be pushed on."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.48-49 -  Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krsna Himself in the mood & complexion of Radharani

Bhagavatam class given on Monday, 2nd March, 2009

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.47 - Performing severe penances is not the way for self realization in this age.

Bhagavatam class given on Sunsay 1st March, 2009

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.46 - The key to conquer material energy is to understand that Krsna is the primary enjoyer & we are secondary.

1966 March 2 :
"Dr. Mishra gave me a pot for drinking milk. Robert brought some whole wheat flour. Cohen brought one cotton jersey for me. Thanks."
Prabhupada Journal :: 1966

1969 March 2: "We have nothing to do with compromising with Christians or Buddhists. Our principle should be to preach Krishna Consciousness as it is spoken in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1969 March 2: "There are many things to criticize in any faith, and if we want to criticize we can, but it will simply increase our enemies. Better let us try to invoke the dormant transcendental emotion by chanting and dancing."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1970 March 2: "Maya is covering all the material energies, therefore one who is materially advanced, covered with riches, covered with learning, covered with fame or any material opulence, he is understood to be covered with Maya."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970