Jashodev chatterjee: How do we know for sure that Srila Prabhupada did indeed send such a letter to Mahatma Gamdhi? Did Prabhupada keep a copy with himself? Did Gandhi's secretary or someone like that hand over the said letter to ISKCON?
March 15, 2009
Dandavats.com : Ananta Printing’s New Website
Nabadwip das: We’ve gone green! Ananta now uses soy/vegetable inks and zero VOC Solvants on all of our printing jobs. Customers also have the option of choosing recycled paper.
Radha Priya dd, Austin, TX, USA : Leaving ISKCON: Compromise vs. Compassion (Part II)
The last blog entry I posted provoked discussion which has given me a lot of fodder for further musings…so much so that I’m not sure when I’ll get around to blogging about the initially planned Part II regarding future devotees leaving ISKCON before they really even got their feet wet….or perhaps this will somehow tie [...]
Dandavats.com : Sri Gaur Purnima @ ISKCON Baroda
By Basu Ghosh Das
On March 10 & 11, 2009, both considered the full moon days in the month of falgun, the “Holiotsava” (festival of “holi”) and Sri Gaur Purnima, the 523 annual appearance day of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were observed by huge crowds who gathered at ISKCON Baroda
Carana Renu dd, Brazil : Prabhupada in the Paper
Recently our Srila Prabhupada murti made an appearance in the local newspaper, along with his Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, my husband, and even our Gaura Nitai deities in the background:
The article was short but sweet and the reporter got almost everything right, including key terms like Krishna, Hare Krishna, ISKCON, Vrindavana, and Mayapura. It was part of a larger section about India.
Brazilians are crazy about India these days, partly because one of the big Brazilian TV channels has a very popular new soap opera that is set in India. Due to this we are seeing an increased interest in Krishna consciousness here. People come to Krishna for a variety of reasons and we are happy to receive them all.
Dandavats.com : No More Car Accidents!
By Patita Pavana das Adhikary
The two major car accidents this week have cast a cloud of sadness upon the entire ISKCON movement. I remember ISKCON's first such car accident, two devotees, Vaidyanath and Maranda, were killed in Arizona in 1970 when a truck pushed their VW off a mountain slope in Arizona.
Dandavats.com : Catching car rides to and from the dhams
By Radhacaran das
Today marks 7 years to the day since my spiritual master, HH Tamal Krishna Goswami and Vrindavanisvari Mataji passed away in fatal car crash on the way to the Calcutta airport. My godbrother Aghabit prabhu was also badly injured in that crash.
Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN : Q&A: ecstasy rolls
March 14 2009
The true bliss of kirtana
Here’s a question I just got from my godsister Urmila dasi:
I just got a letter from a devotee as follows and wondered if you had any experience of this happening in Prabhupada’s presence and, if so, how he reacted.
Your servant, Urmila devi dasi
Here is the letter
Question - was leading bh’jan Gaura P. night someone went weird - he started making bharat natyam ish poses, made pranams, fell on floor, started to to shake. got back up carried on in similar way. i arranged for him to be taken out side. they tried to communicate but he was in own world.
Next day spoke to him- he said he sat down for while then went to friends house embarrased.
Its happened few times here with him - says especially when he focuses deeply on H. Name
I asked if if he had ever seen any senior devotee do that - or S.P. - no of course.
He says he feel it start but can usually control. i said if u feel start - MUST leave temp room.
and told him to ask a senior dev about it.
I hated it mother it messed up the mood of the kirtan I felt I had to stop the Kirtan, we were on web cam. lots of the Mataji’s felt very awkward. it was I felt really uneasy and annoyed. when confronted him bout it I wanted to smash him - “what d’you think your doin your just taking ecstacy and being an idiot but did’nt feel confident I was100% correct so we just had a friendly caring but serious talk.
I definately want to stamp this out if it is maya so how should I proceed from here?
My answer:
Hm. Definitely something to be wary of.
I do remember an incident when I was temple commander in Vrndavana, around Janmastami time 1975. There was one American devotee who was part of the temple–let’s call him ‘Krishna Das’. One night a large group of villagers came. Remember that at that time the Krishna Balaram mandir had only just been opened some months before so most people didn’t know us, nor did we get large crowds.
During the Janmastami period we started getting large groups of people from various villages coming and checking us out. So evening aratis were usually very ecstatic, almost all the devotees were western and we would really rack it up during Gaura arati. It was a big attraction for the local villagers.
So this particular night, one young village man in his early 20s, started dancing with us. He got more and more exhuberant, starting spinning around on the spot and finally fell to the floor in a dead faint (apparently). We had never seen anything like it before and didn’t really know how to deal with it. So we just shrugged and kept on with the kirtan, figuring eventually he would just get up when he realized noone was taking any notice of him, and go on his way.
Good old Krishna Das however had different ideas. He steps forward to the prostrate body of the boy, peers right over his face, steps back — and kicks him right in the head! — several times! Then he grabs the boy by the arm and starts dragging him out the temple through the door just next to the altars, on the guest house side.
Namahatta.org : Road Accidents following Gaura Purnima
Following this year's Gaura Purnima celebrations, two serious road accidents took place, involving seven ISKCON devotees—five left their bodies, and two have been critically injured. All of them have been working with ISKCON's Congregational Development Ministry, as community preachers (Mathuradesh) and editorial staff (Mayapur).
Both accidents took place the day after Gaura Purnima, 12 March 2009.
Kripamoya dasa, UK : Jehovah’s Witness woman converts to Krishna while giving birth
One of the energetic members of Ilford Hare Krishna youth group spreading the word
Please excuse the headline. But I thought it would get your attention, and it’s also a true story.
On Friday night I went to the monthly gathering of the Hare Krishna youth over in the east end of London. The group is particularly lively and in addition to regular get-togethers for kirtan and class, also puts on some hilarious topical theatre. The prasadam at the end of the evening - around 10pm - is also delicious. In fact, I am torn as to which is the best local ISKCON group prasadam: Ilford or Guildford.
Although the names of both towns sound the same, they are miles apart in terms of the local culture. Guildford is perhaps the most English town in England, and Ilford - or Upton Park, where the group holds its meetings - is predominantly Asian and Muslim.
That being the case, I gave a class that repeated some of the elements of my talk at the London temple on the morning of Gaura Purnima. Last Tuesday, for the festival, I explained how Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had appeared not only within the world of Kali-Yuga but in a part of India dominated by Muslim sharia law. Under that law Srila Haridas Thakur was whipped without mercy for being a Muslim convert to Hinduism, and the local Hindus of Nadia were regarded as dhimmis or subjugated citzens whose religious preferences were grudgingly tolerated.
My point - amongst many other points - was that the sankirtan movement began amongst such oppression and flourished according to the transcendental arrangement of the Lord. When we act for the Lord, even though there seems to be a completely unfavourable or even oppressive local climate, we can take part in that same transcendental arangement.
The religion for Kali Yuga is factually the congregational chanting of the names of God. The God to be worshipped is Lord Krishna who came in the form as His own devotee: Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. While other avataras also come with the dual mission to uplift the pious and vanquish the evildoers, they do so with divine weapons. Lord Chaitanya has no such weapons; but he has his holy associates who, like Him, raise their weapon-less hands in divine song and dance. While all incarnations of God are eternally blissful and omnipotent, Lord Chaitanya actually feels Himself to be a humble devotee, and experiences the devotee’s anxiety at seeing so many souls forgetful of their eternal relationship with Krishna. To relieve the anxiety He feels we tell others about Krishna, according to His own request. Serving God in this way - by telling others and helping them along the path - is thus the perfect divine service for Kali Yuga.
Srila Prabhupada didn’t use the word ‘conversion’ to describe the act of taking to Krishna consciousness. As Vaishnavas we are not ‘converts’ he said, since all we have done is to accept the identity we have had for millions of lives. In accepting that spiritual identity we are simply reverting to what we once were: eternal servants of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So ‘reverts’ not ‘converts.’
But people can change so much in their daily habits that it can seem that everything about them has converted. Which brings me nicely to the story that is the subject of my blog header. We’d just an energetic kirtan when she came up to me and told me her story.
I’ll keep her name private, but she is happy for others to know what happened. She was a Jehovah’s Witness for seven years, attending her local Kingdom Hall weekly and going out door-to-door to convince others armed with the Watchtower. Then, when she was in hospital delivering her first baby, and after praying to Jehovah for a safe delivery, she heard the name of Krishna within her mind.
With the pain of labour, the intensity of impending delivery, and the gas and air mixture she at first thought she was hearing someone’s conversation or the radio. But then she realised that something else was happening and began repeating Krishna’s name. When her son was born she changed his planned name to Arjuna and began seriously inquiring about Krishna consciousness. Now she reads the Gita daily and chants rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra on her wooden japa beads. And although the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been to her house many times to request her to return she says that now she cannot.
Just one more tale from Lord Krishna’s congregation here in England.
You can check out the new website of the Guildford devotees here
Bharatavarsa.net : Book distribution seminar: a surprise
As usual, I was having a hard time on the main street in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Being repeatedly rejected is something I can get used to, and I practice this
skill on days like these. After about six hours in the same spot I was
ready to call it a day, even though there was an affluent young couple
approaching on an otherwise empty street. Despite all of the convincing
arguments presented in my mind I decided to try stopping them with my usual
line, "Are you guys local, or outta town?" Immediately after saying this I
remembered that I had tried to stop them earlier in the day. In fact, they
were the first persons to give me the cold shoulder and now, hours later, it
just so happened that my two feet were in the exact same position and I was
using the exact same line. They angrily responded, "We've already told you,
no! Do you stand here all day doing this?!" Somehow I was able to counter
their offensive with a snappy comeback, a witty remark, and a rushed
presentation of the Bhagavad Gita. As it turns out, they were very
interested in the subject matter and paid for the book with much
enthusiasm. We went our separate ways as new-found friends, but they
followed me back to my book box a few minutes later to give another 20
dollars out of appreciation for our hard work, and for patiently tolerating
their harsh behaviour. In Lord Caitanya's sankirtan movement it's sometimes
hard to tell who is the most fortunate!
your servant, - Yasodeva das
Bhakta Eric, USA : Bhagavad-gita: the highest intelligence (10.10)
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)
Though I’m hardly qualified to do so, I dissect each translation, sometimes interjecting my own unsolicited commentary. More on this can be found here.
For the month of March and for this Gaura Purnima time of year, I’ve decided to tackle the chatur shloki. The chatur shloki are the four verses that pretty well sum up the contents of the Bhagavad-gita. If you’re only going to read four verses from Bhagavad-gita, these are the four to read.
In the last two verses, Krishna reveals that He is the source of everything and those who are wise love Him because of that. The wise also enjoy enlightening each other with talk of Krishna.
This week’s verse explains what is given in return for that love.
Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 10, Verse 10
tesam satata-yuktanam
bhajatam priti-purvakam
dadami buddhi-yogam tam
yena mam upayanti te
To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.
-Srila Prabhupada
To those who are constantly devoted, who worship me with love, I give the power of discrimination by which they come to me.
-Tripurari SwamiUpon those who perform bhajana to Me with love, yearning for My eternal association, I bestow the transcendental knowledge by which they can come to Me.
-Narayana MaharajaFor them, who are constantly absorbed in yoga, who offer loving service with natural affection I offer that yoga of discernment by which they come close to me. -Garuda dasa (Graham M. Schweig)
Here again we have four good examples of how to say the same thing four different ways. From these four ways, we can learn not just one thing, but four different angles on that one thing.
The first line of this verse, tesam satata-yuktanam, Krishna refers to “the wise” from the two previous verses. With this referring, He adds another description: satata-yuktanam. Here is where four different translations can add four different levels of understanding.
Srila Prabhupada translates it as “always engaged” in his word-for-word section, but as “constantly devoted” in his verse translation. There is a definite difference between the two. In his word-for-word, he is usually very literal as to what the Sanskrit actually says. In his verses, however, he sometimes takes liberties, explaining rather than directly translating.
Possibly following the lead of Srila Prabhupada, Tripurari Swami uses “constantly devoted” in both cases. He supports this definition by quoting Madhusdana Saraswati, the Advaitist philosopher from late 1500’s Bengal, in his purport.
Narayana Maharaja hints at yoga (meaning “linking” or “connecting”) in his translation, using “who desire My eternal connection.” In his verse, he flips a couple of lines around, but says “Those who … [yearn] for My eternal association.”
Taking the yoga idea a step farther, Garuda dasa translates “who are constantly absorbed in yoga.” He is, I assume, referring to the definition of yoga meaning “to link with the divine” and not the physical exercise of yoga. His choice to use this Sanskrit word when that word doesn’t appear in the original Sanskrit is, to me, troublesome and potentially misleading.
Our second line, bhajatam priti-purvakam, is generally glossed as “those who worship with love.” Srila Prabhupada uses “devotional service in loving ecstasy” in his word-for-word.
Both Tripurari Swami and Narayana Maharama translate it to “those who worship me with love.”
Garuda dasa somewhat splits the difference with: “[For them,] who offer loving service with natural affection.” In the Sanskrit “natural affection” may be implied, however, our other translators do not acknowledge that it is.
After describing “the wise” in the first two lines, He now descries the exchange, dadami buddhi-yogam tam. In his purport, Srila Prabhupada describes buddhi-yogam in great detail. He refers to the Gita’s second chapter where Krishna explained buddhi-yoga, here described as “the process by which one gets out of the material world.” Also, he states that it is “action in Krishna consciousness” and “the highest intelligence.” There seems to be many ways to take buddhi-yoga.
In his word-for-word, he uses only “real intelligence.” For his verse, he translates the line as “I give the understanding…”
Narayana Maharaja’s take on it is similar. He glosses buddhi-yogam as “transcendental knowledge,” also using it in his verse.
Both Tripurari Swami and Garuda dasa seem to translate buddhi-yogam to mean “the power of discrimination” (or “yoga of discernment” in GD’s). Here, it’s easy to see why Garuda dasa used “yoga,” but it’s interesting that both use discrimination/discernment. In his purport, Tripurari Swami also translates it as “yoga of wisdom,” a nice call back to “the wise” from the previous two verses. Like Srila Prabhupada, Tripurari Swami remembers chapter two. “From his [Krishna's] use of the therm buddhi-yogam in this verse, it is apparent that Krishna’s use of the same term earlier in the second chapter, while overtly referring to niskama-karma-yoga, implies bhakti-yoga. The full sense of buddhi-yoga is bhakti.”
He describes this “discrimination” as a cognitive aspect of bhakti proper. Bhakti, according to Tripurari Swami’s glossary, is a “discipline of love and devotion to God.” This love and devotion gives us the power of discrimination, discernment. Tripurari Swami describes the uses for this power in his purport.
What that “real knowledge,” that “power of discrimination” gives us is told in the last line, yena mam upayanti te. All translators agree that it means “by which they can come to Me.” Narayana Maharaja glosses upayanti as “approach,” which gives a slightly expanded meaning when compared to Srila Prabhupada and Tripurari Swami’s choice of “they come.” Garuda dasa expands it also, using “come close.” It seems that upayanti implies not only the destination (Krishna), but the journey (devotion) as well.
Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains in his commentary (as translated by Narayana Maharaja) that buddhi-yoga cannot be achieved by individual effort. “It is bestowed by Me alone and only such loving bhaktas (devotes, lovers of God) are qualified to receive it.”
This verse is stated by Krishnadasa Kaviraja in his Caitanya-caritamrta (a biography of the life of Caitanya Mahaprabhu). Srila Prabhupada’s purport to this verse (Adi-lila 1.49) sums everything up very well.
The Lord declares that by enlightenment in theistic knowledge He awards attachment for Him to those who constantly engage in His transcendental loving service. This awakening of divine consciousness enthralls a devotee, who thus relishes his eternal transcendental mellow. Such an awakening is awarded only to those convinced by devotional service about the transcendental nature of the Personality of Godhead. They know that the Supreme Truth, the all-spiritual and all-powerful person, is one without a second and has fully transcendental senses. He is the fountainhead of all emanations. Such pure devotees, always merged in knowledge of Krishna and absorbed in Krishna consciousness, exchange thoughts and realizations as great scientists exchange their views and discuss the results of their research in scientific academies. Such exchanges of thoughts in regard to Krishna give pleasure to the Lord, who therefore favors such devotees with all enlightenment.
Book Distribution News : a surprise
As usual, I was having a hard time on the main street in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Being repeatedly rejected is something I can get used to, and I practice this
skill on days like these. After about six hours in the same spot I was
ready to call it a day, even though there was an affluent young couple
approaching on an otherwise empty street. Despite all of the convincing
arguments presented in my mind I decided to try stopping them with my usual
line, "Are you guys local, or outta town?" Immediately after saying this I
remembered that I had tried to stop them earlier in the day. In fact, they
were the first persons to give me the cold shoulder and now, hours later, it
just so happened that my two feet were in the exact same position and I was
using the exact same line. They angrily responded, "We've already told you,
no! Do you stand here all day doing this?!" Somehow I was able to counter
their offensive with a snappy comeback, a witty remark, and a rushed
presentation of the Bhagavad Gita. As it turns out, they were very
interested in the subject matter and paid for the book with much
enthusiasm. We went our separate ways as new-found friends, but they
followed me back to my book box a few minutes later to give another 20
dollars out of appreciation for our hard work, and for patiently tolerating
their harsh behaviour. In Lord Caitanya's sankirtan movement it's sometimes
hard to tell who is the most fortunate!
your servant, - Yasodeva das
HH. Satsvarupa das Goswami : Gaura Purnima lecture
Gaura Purmina Lecture - MP3 format given by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami on 10th March 2009. More at sdgonline.org
Matsyavatara das (ACBSP), Italy : Food as a Complementary Practice for Spiritual Life
By Matsyavatara Dasa
In accordance with Indovedic literature, what we eat does not only determine who we are, but can also determine what we want to become. By choosing our diet carefully, we can thoroughly change our approach to life, our feelings and our relationship with others.
Food provides nutrition at all levels and nourishes both, the body and the mind. The wellbeing of the individual and its entire psycho physical constitution depends on the quality of this food. Furthermore and mainly, food should be prepared and cooked as a mean to sharpen our consciousness and its superior qualities, in order to favour a higher ethic-moral and spiritual elevation.
Therefore choosing a diet is as important as cooking. Our suggestion is to offer whole food products served in a sufficient quantity and use appropriate cooking methods to keep these products healthy and well-balanced.
A proper diet should be vegetarian and in accordance to the rules followed when food is offered to God (neither meat, nor fish, nor eggs) and should also be harmonized with the fundamental principles of a healthy nutrition. Most of the times, because of distraction and for the little importance we give to alimentation, we tend to indulge in feeding ourselves for our sense gratification, with the result of a mere superficial pleasure. Bad habits like eating fried food, too much sugar, the same kind of grains and cereals, a lot of spicy and fat condiments, make us ill, unsatisfied and certainly not brighter. This is unproductive on a spiritual level too, because such type of a diet does not favour our efforts in the practices to elevate our level of consciousness.
by noreply@blogger.com (Anantadeva dasa) at March 15, 2009 08:51 AM
Matsyavatara das (ACBSP), Italy : How to Realize Dreams - Part I
By Paramatma Dasi
Wednesday, February 25th at the Aula Magna of Bhaktivedanta Study Centre, took place the first lesson of the course “How to project and make your dreams come true”, held by Marco Ferrini, CSB Founder and President.
The man of today, centred on pragmatism and exteriosity, seems not to have any time left to dream. Dreaming, poetry, creativity are activities which take time away from concrete things, the ones which really matter. Nevertheless behind the concreteness of the world we run after, there is no comprehension of the subtle and more important dynamics that hide unseen. We should give the right consideration to our inner dynamics because desires, ideas, thoughts and dreams are the basis of physichal events that will show in our life later on.
Although while talking about dreams, we usually think of an unreal or even evanescent world, we should reconsider the reality of dreaming from a different point of view, which is the way to convert dreams into reality. Transfering dreams from a sensitive dimension to an empirical dimension is a kind of alchemy - Ferrini explained - this alchemy may be possible if we learn to dream by making projects. Dreaming and projectuality: are they in contrast with each other? Of course not, even more, they need to be tightly joined if we want our dreams to descend from a platonic world of ideas and become part of our reality.
Dreaming is persecuted by a killer that can wear differen masks: fear. Although fear is but a ghost of the mind, it may ruin the life of many people, in a concrete way, by making them withdraw, abstain from the activation of personal projects, foresee dreadful consequences, for istance, critic, desertion, solitude, desease or others.
The person inhibited by fear becomes mediocre, insecure or unproductive, and cannot realize dreams.
In order to prevent the sabotation of our dreams because of fear, we have to intensify our desire, to light it up, to make it intense, vibrating and match it to our perception of feeling. In this way it is possible to activate energies able to make all that we desire come true.
Dreaming with your eyes wide open is possible and it works efficiently, with the help of an active vizualization, visualizing the way we would like to live, who to live with and how.
A vibrant meditation focused on our ideal model will enable us, with time, to bring us where we would like to be.
This practical and involving lesson, carried on naturally with a stimulating exchange of questions and answers, in the meanwhilel other themes were developed like illusionary dreams and dreams our mind will be able to realize, sharing a dream for two and join the same life style, how to overcome fear and transform reality by adopting the right process.
The whole event with the projection of images, the explanations, the exchange of thoughts between the speaker and the public, and the dessert in the end, offered to all the participants a very pleasant and interesting evening, rich of teachings. By joining the ancient tradition of the Veda and modern psychology, they create solid and working basis to start feeding our strongest dreams and our deeper instances.
Further details and explanations will be given in the second lesson, on Wednesday March 4th, at the main office of CSB at 8,30 PM
by noreply@blogger.com (Anantadeva dasa) at March 15, 2009 08:40 AM
Bhakta Chris, New Vrndavan, USA : Belovedness
“Beloved”
The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III
Dean of Washington National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral
Epiphany I
January 8, 2006
Raymond Carver, one of the finest writers of our time, died before he should have. He had lived a hard life including alcoholism, until near the end he found the love of his life and pulled things together. And then lung cancer hit. Just before he died he wrote a fragment of a poem, that goes like this:
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
That’s not such an unusual wish, I would guess. Isn’t that something we would all like to say when our life comes to an end—that we have been beloved, that our lives have been defined by receiving and giving love?
“Beloved” is the word that Jesus heard in our gospel lesson today as he began his ministry. Stepping down into the Jordan River, Mark says the heavens opened, and a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my son, my beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
It’s also the implicit message in our first lesson today, the opening words of the great poem that begins the Bible. “Let there be light!” God declares. And immediately God sees the light and declares that it is good. And after each of the days of creation God confirms the same thing, until the last when he affirms, “It is very good.”
Belovedness, goodness—that in fact is the core message of the Christian faith, the simplest, and in many ways wildest assertion of all: That for reasons we can’t begin to fathom, every one of us is beloved by the heart of reality. Many Christians grew up hearing that the deepest truth of our lives is our original sin, our rebellion and rejection of God. But both of our lessons say that the deepest truth of the world is not original sin, but original blessing, a world that God creates in gladness and calls beloved.
Mark tells the story vividly—with the heavens being torn open, the Spirit descending like a dove, and a voice speaking from heaven—all of it a vivid language to describe a reality beyond words—that Jesus experienced himself as delighted in, believed in, held by the one he called Abba, an informal word for Father, something like “Daddy.” And that awareness was so overwhelming that Jesus spent the rest of his short life trying to get others to discover it for themselves.
Belovedness. My guess is that most of us spend a good deal of our lives searching for a sense of belovedness. Therapists tell me that the search for belovedness is at the bottom of most of our human struggles. We Christians believe that God took on a human face in Jesus of Nazareth, and the face we see in him bears the look of compassion and delight. So how painful it is that religions themselves have so often failed to communicate this bedrock reality. In fact, you hear more and more these days the notion that religion is one of the great perpetrators of hate in the world, and is actually a big part of the world’s problem, not part of the answer.
Just list the conflicts—Israelis and Palestinians, Irish Catholics and Protestants, Hindus and Muslims in India and Pakistan, Moslems and Christians in Serbia and Croatia. Each side has its own vision of God, and often that god is a projection of the fears, resentments, and angers that one group has held against another.
Anger and division have invaded our Episcopal Church too, where different portions of our denomination are declaring that they have no need of each other and are perfectly willing to pull away and part company.
A Roman Catholic writer named Roland Rolheiser says that both conservative and liberal Christians these days have been holding up a God whose primary facial expression is a frown. The God of conservatives, he says, is looking at the world and seeing moral laxity, sexual promiscuity, and laziness. This God is often angry at us sinful human beings. The God of liberals is different, Rolheiser says, but is also mostly frowning. This God is worried, hypersensitive, politically correct, a workaholic. This God is frowning in disapproval at the world’s selfishness and lack of social conscience.
Now I am sure there is much about our lives as human beings that saddens and even angers God—our self-absorption and greed, and our lack of compassion for the suffering of the world. But the God we see in Jesus is nevertheless not a God of bitterness and rejection, but of relentless compassion and eagerness to forgive and start again.
Well, if belovedness is what Christian faith is all about, how did this faith lose the fire of that original vision? Over the centuries Christianity has often become a matter of believing the right set of things. Agreeing to correct doctrines. It began to emphasize that the whole point of faith is not what we do in this life but what will happen in the next—are we going to be saved or not? And so Christian life often became a set of requirements and rules to get our ticket punched for heaven.
But Christianity was and is about a relationship with God in Jesus Christ, about living in Jesus’ way, knowing God in our lives, and about our growing deeper, wiser, and more open-hearted in how we live our days.
Jesus’ whole ministry is shaped by the experience recorded in our gospel today. “You are my beloved child in whom I am well-pleased.” And he seems to have spent the rest of his ministry after that moment living out of a consciousness, a way of seeing the world, shaped by this moment. Because he knows his own belovedness, everyone and everything he saw was also beloved.
And so when Jesus saw the heart-broken, the deathly ill, the hungry and the poor, he saw them all as beloved. As Roland Rolheiser suggests, it is as if God kept whispering in his ear that same blessing all along—“You are my beloved, my child, in you I am well-pleased.” And because he felt that so intensely himself, he couldn’t keep from seeing everyone else the same way.
There’s a contemporary Buddhist parable that opens to us what this is really all about. One day the Buddha, badly overweight, sat under a tree, and a handsome young soldier came along, looked at him and said, “You look like a pig!” The Buddha replied, “Well, you look like God!” “Why would you say that?” asked the surprised young soldier. “Well,” said the Buddha, “we see what’s inside us. I think about God all day and when I look out that’s what I see. You, obviously, must think about other things.” (From The Holy Longing, by Roland Rolheiser.)
What we see outside us is profoundly shaped by what is inside us. Because Jesus had lived moment by moment with a deep sense of God’s love, when he looked at the world around him, everyone was radiant with God’s light. The whole world was beloved.
The essence of Jesus’ experience was his belovedness, but there is another dimension to this story. His experience was not one cut off from the world around him. John the Baptist was offering a baptism of repentance. The people of Israel were coming there to be cleansed from their sins and failures. Jesus chose to go into the water of their sin with them. And it was there in the rough and tumble of a dusty, raucous crowd that he experienced God’s belovedness, not in a remote mountain, not off by a beautiful lake.
The monk and writer Thomas Merton first entered a Catholic monastery in 1948, and for the first decade or more he devoted himself to leaving behind the world and seeking to know God’s belovedness for himself. But some years later he had his own Jordan River experience on a day he had left the monastery to run some errands in nearby Louisville, Kentucky. This is how he describes it in his journal:
In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness…to take your place as a member of the human race…I have the immense joy of being…a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate…If only everybody could realize this!…There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.
It was belovedness Merton experienced, just as Jesus had at the Jordan River. Merton, like Jesus, was able to see the holiness of every creature, of the earth itself, all of it shining like the sun.
The importance of the baptism of Jesus is not that it happened once for him two thousand years ago, but that it is meant to happen for us too. This is a revolutionary insight, this belovedness. If we could know our own belovedness moment by moment and could look at the world through those eyes, wouldn’t that change the angry, conflicted world we’re in?
If we really knew our belovedness, what would happen to the ways we live with each other at work and at home?
What might happen if we Episcopalians actually saw the belovedness of those with whom we deeply disagree?
What would happen if we really saw the belovedness of a mentally ill street person babbling away to himself, left to drift from street grates to shelters?
What would happen if we saw the belovedness of a child orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in southern Africa? What might we do? Just before Christmas I met a couple here after church, both of them doctors, who are raising their children in Kenya where they work to ease the misery of God’s beloved ones there.
Knowing our own belovedness can help us slow down the rat race we live in, honor the goodness of the day in front of us, love those near to us, serve those who need us.
Belovedness is the gift buried in us all that the church is here to help us uncover. Has belovedness ever broken through to the center of your spirit? There is no more subversive message to all the powers that would shrink and control human life. Belovedness healed broken marriages and unlocked the prisons of addiction. It has brought down dictators, has spread a faith around the globe, and has carried people in crisis through the darkest times. It is the key that can change the life of our city, our world, our church, even this cathedral.
And it starts with a handful of people who begin knowing this belovedness for themselves—who somehow discover it in the support of a friend, or a gesture of help when they thought it impossible, in the silence of prayer or in the words of a book, in serving those who need us or in a piece of bread and a sip of wine that say “You are my beloved.” And when they glimpse it, they will begin to see everyone shining like the sun.
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
Sam Lloyd
And a poem by Edwin Muir, written about 1957 near the end of his life, remembering two of his brothers who died young.
THE BROTHERS
Last night I watched my brothers play,
The gentle and the reckless one,
In a field two yards away.
For half a century they were gone
Beyond the other side of care
To be among the peaceful dead.
Even in a dream how could I dare
Interrogate that happiness
So wildly spent yet never less?
For still they raced about the green
And were like two revolving suns;
A brightness poured from head to head,
So strong I could not see their eyes
Or look into their paradise.
What were they doing, the happy ones?
Yet where I was they once had been.
I thought, How could I be so dull,
Twenty thousand days ago,
Not to see they were beautiful?
I asked them, Were you really so
As you are now, that other day?
And the dream was soon away.
For then we played for victory
And not to make each other glad.
A darkness covered every head,
Frowns twisted the original face,
And through that mask we could not see
The beauty and the buried grace.
I have observed in foolish awe
The dateless mid-days of the law
And seen indifferent justice done
By everyone on everyone.
And in a vision I have seen
My brothers playing on the green.
by Club 108 (noreply@blogger.com) at March 15, 2009 08:00 AM
H.H. Mukunda Goswami : God is a Person
'Man (humankind) is created in the image of God' from Genesis 1:25. This means that God is a Person.
ISKCON Melbourne, AU : Sunday Feast Class - Ramai Swami
Bhagavad-gita As It Is 1.1 - The potency of hearing Bhagavad-gita from authorised sources.
Japa Group : The Power of The Sound Vibration
Hare Krsna dear devotees. I hope you have had a nice week of chanting and that your Gaura Purnima has been full of nectar from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
I have been having a wonderful week... first because I had devotee's association and nice realisations that Nama prabhu is my constant protector as well. My week was very busy, I had lots of work at school....an international test to do....write posts for my Indian cooking blog and on my mind I was with the sweet holy names of the Lord coming and going - praying so He could protect me in all these situations which my only objective is to offer Him a better service now and in the future.
Chanting japa nowadays for me has been very early in the morning and whenever I have available time but I still need to improve the quality. I was wondering how could I create a good mood for chanting and have the right conscious before japa so I remembered what I heard in the japa room once....just sing the mantra out loud and pray to the Lord or maybe listen to a nice bhajan while you prepare your body to chant and your mind will also be prepared by the sound.
Chanting japa nowadays for me has been very early in the morning and whenever I have available time but I still need to improve the quality. I was wondering how could I create a good mood for chanting and have the right conscious before japa so I remembered what I heard in the japa room once....just sing the mantra out loud and pray to the Lord or maybe listen to a nice bhajan while you prepare your body to chant and your mind will also be prepared by the sound.
The sound is the most powerful tool nowadays... so when we try to engage our minds on chanting the holy names or listening to bhajans it will be properly occupied, otherwise the mind will try to find some other sound rather than the sound vibration of the Holy names....we have to be always aware of it.
In my gurudev's site there are nice bhajans... they enhance my desire to chant and to listen about Krsna because they are sung in a loving mood. This is the site so you can also be inspired www.girirajswami.com
Here follows a nice quote from Srila Prabhupada about the power of the sound vibration:
This is the importance of constantly hearing about the philosophy and the holy names so we will be relishing the nectar of the Lord's association and experience the effects of attentive chanting.
In my gurudev's site there are nice bhajans... they enhance my desire to chant and to listen about Krsna because they are sung in a loving mood. This is the site so you can also be inspired www.girirajswami.com
Here follows a nice quote from Srila Prabhupada about the power of the sound vibration:
"There are two conceptions: the physical conception and the vibration conception. So physical conception is temporary. The vibration conception is eternal. Just like we are... relishing the vibration of Krishna’s teachings. So by vibration He is present. As soon as we chant Hare Krishna or chant Bhagavad-gita or Srimad Bhagavatam, He is present immediately by His vibration. He’s absolute."
Lecture on SB 7.19.12 - August 18, 1968 - Montreal
May Krsna bless you with knowledge, peace and attraction to His holy names.
Hare Krsna.
your servant,
Aruna dd
Hare Krsna.
your servant,
Aruna dd
Gouranga TV : nityananda
nityananda
Bhaktin Jeanette, USA : Cow pic of the day!
Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN : Time I am…
March 15 2009
kalah kalayatam aham
“Of subduers I am Time.”
Lord Krsna [Bg 10.30]
Astrology, or Jyotish, is one of the tools given to us by Krsna for understanding the progress of our lives. Although it is largely dismissed by ‘educated’ modern man, its use is gaining in popularity even in such areas as the economy.
Here’s an article I fished out of my 2008 emails about the use of astrology to predict financial markets. Makes interesting reading considering the current turmoil. According to this, just wait till 2012:
Paranormal & Unexplained,
Written by Danny Penman
Christeen Skinner blinks at the screen of her computer and takes another slurp of coffee. It’s half past seven in the morning and she’s preparing for a crucial meeting with the chief executive of the High and Mighty fashion chain.
Apart from the black cat dozing on her lap, the only clue to Christeen’s occupation as a 21st century astrologer is a copy of an Ephemeris that lies open at a page marked “Mercury March 25th”.
“The financial crisis has ensured that I’m busier than ever,” says Christeen. “People in the City need to know what is just around the corner. I can help with that.”
Christeen is one of a growing, albeit secretive, network of astrologers who work for seemingly conservative British institutions such as high street banks, City investment funds and retailers. Desperate to avoid financial meltdown in the ongoing ‘credit crunch’ and to spot fashions and consumer trends before they start, these institutions have turned to the stars to divine the future.
“Most academics distrust astrology and regard it as mumbo-jumbo,” she says. “The thing is, it works. Nobody’s sure how it works but it does. Most of my clients are businesspeople who are very canny. If it didn’t work for them, then why
would they use it?”
Sita-pati dasa, AU : Christians vs Atheists
The other day I watched a debate between Dinesh D'Souza and Christopher Hitchens on Gauranga Kishore's blog.
I found that I agreed with a number of points on both sides of the debate, and that overall I found both sides unsatisfactory because both argued from an unspoken assumption that the self is the body, or an emergent property of the body.
That's the great weakness of Christianity that makes it particularly vulnerable to philosophical attack (coupled with the historical relationship between the Church and political power in Western Europe).
H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA : Sunday 15 March 2009--Getting Ready for the Road
Tomorrow we embark on our spring 2009 around-the-world lecture
tour. Again Krishna is blessing us with the opportunity to
broadcast His glories around the world. There is nothing sweeter
or more relishable than this because now more than ever this
planet is desperately in need of Krishna consciousness. While
others travel the world for making money...
by course@ultimateselfrealization.com at March 15, 2009 02:30 AM
Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA : Lecture - Kavicandra Swami - SB 8.1.20-33
Lecture by Kavicandra Swami on Srimad Bhagavatam canto 8, Chapter 1, texts 20-33.
Dallas, TX
2009-01-20
Download: 2009-01-20 - Kavicandra Swami - SB 8.1.20-33.mp3
by Rupa Schomaker (rupa@rupa.com) at March 15, 2009 01:35 AM
H.H. Bhakticharu Swami : Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā 4.56
The following is a Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā 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”
Chapter 4: The Confidential Reasons for the Appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
The following is a Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā 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; Chapter 4: The Confidential Reasons for the Appearance of Śrī Caitanya MahāprabhuJahnavi, UK : After Midnight, Birthday Thoughts.
Birthdays are funny things. They come along, regular as clockwork - that one day of the year where something is supposed to happen - something is supposed to feel different. Another year older, not necessarily wiser. It’s a day that we celebrate, for reasons I can’t quite understand. I’m always a bit uncomfortable with the attention, and the fussiness of it all. I tell myself it’s just another day, but then, I know I’d still feel disappointed if no one wished me a happy birthday, or if I didn’t get a single card. It’s culturally ingrained - the day you were born is a day to celebrate and enjoy the life you live! Have fun! Have some cake! How does it feel to be another year older? Did you get lots of presents? You are having a party aren’t you?
I did have a nice day today though. I went to the temple very early in the morning, relishing the sweet dawn prayers in the darkened temple room. If nothing else, my birthday helps me to remember Krishna. It serves as a yearly marker - a reminder of all the ways that Krishna has protected and guided me throughout the past year. I reflected on this a few days ago, and wrote a prayer:
On Gaurapurnima night in 1987, I was blessed to be born to parents that already worshipped you. Now 22 years have passed. Though a short time in the scheme of things, considering what some people achieve in two decades, my progress towards you has been pitifully slow. Taking my fortunate birth and upbringing for granted, I have squandered the wealth of knowledge and opportunity that is offered to me. The passing years have rendered me scarcely more intelligent than that slippery, screaming baby, being passed from hand to hand. Yet I see the ways in which you draw me closer, day by day.
I humbly pray that just as the fixed position of a shining full moon remains unmoved by the passing clouds, may your moonlike presence within the passing lifetimes of this soul remain ever steady. In the daytime, the moon becomes less visible, and sometimes in times of happiness, I forget you are there, or ignore you. But please remain there my Lord. I was once a worm, and once a tree. I was once a man, and once I flew over mountains. Now I am known as Jahnavi, and after 22 years, I still pray to one day be your servant.
H.H. Bhakticharu Swami : Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.10.4
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 3.10.4 - Chapter 10:Divisions of the Creation
The following is a Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharajanbsp; 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 3.10.4 - Chapter 10:Divisions of the CreationH.H. Bhakticharu Swami : Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.10.3
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 3.10.3 - Chapter 10:Divisions of the Creation
The following is a Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharajanbsp; 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 3.10.3 - Chapter 10:Divisions of the CreationH.H. Bhakticharu Swami : Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.10.1-2
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 3.10.1-2 - Chapter 10:Divisions of the Creation
The following is a Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami Maharajanbsp; 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 3.10.1-2 - Chapter 10:Divisions of the CreationMarch 14, 2009
H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami : Thursday, March 12th, 2009
Toronto, Ontario
THOSE WERE THE DAYS, MY FRIENDS!
We can't take much credit for anything, but as His agent, God gave the idea to this humble head to initiate a program, "Those Were the Days". To make it less cliche, I tried "Those Were the Days, My Friends!" I suppose you can't win with either. In any event, I had a desire to welcome the now maturing members of our society, or better still, the pioneers of higher consciousness to the west to try their hand at sharing with words their past inspirations.
Our guest was Lila Katha. To our local monks she is known as "the cake lady" because she makes these fabulous egg-free cakes that could sweeten up any old sour-puss. Now with all ears, the monks of the temple are hearing from her beyond sweet things. Born in Quebec, she had decided with her boyfriend years before to join a spiritual society. Eventually she married and moved to a rural community in West Virginia, and gave birth to three boys.
Life was rigid and the daily compulsory body shower was without heat in the winter chill. The community kitchen offered oatwater for breakfast while pokeweed was the natural vegetable growing locally to substitute Indian subjee. In the floor below them were cow stalls full of those moo-juice producers. Lila told us in her presentation, "Wherever we went, people noted that we smelled like cows!"
She had us listeners excited about miracles and mystical experiences, but her strongest message was one of service to others, to guru and Krishna. I especially appreciated her loyal commitment to morality and duty. She had challenges in her life, but she always shrugged off worry and pain to replace with a forward march. She is a trouper - a real one and she made friends with us all.
I got enthused listening. I managed on this day, with still a limp, an enjoyable...
6 Km
THOSE WERE THE DAYS, MY FRIENDS!
We can't take much credit for anything, but as His agent, God gave the idea to this humble head to initiate a program, "Those Were the Days". To make it less cliche, I tried "Those Were the Days, My Friends!" I suppose you can't win with either. In any event, I had a desire to welcome the now maturing members of our society, or better still, the pioneers of higher consciousness to the west to try their hand at sharing with words their past inspirations.
Our guest was Lila Katha. To our local monks she is known as "the cake lady" because she makes these fabulous egg-free cakes that could sweeten up any old sour-puss. Now with all ears, the monks of the temple are hearing from her beyond sweet things. Born in Quebec, she had decided with her boyfriend years before to join a spiritual society. Eventually she married and moved to a rural community in West Virginia, and gave birth to three boys.
Life was rigid and the daily compulsory body shower was without heat in the winter chill. The community kitchen offered oatwater for breakfast while pokeweed was the natural vegetable growing locally to substitute Indian subjee. In the floor below them were cow stalls full of those moo-juice producers. Lila told us in her presentation, "Wherever we went, people noted that we smelled like cows!"
She had us listeners excited about miracles and mystical experiences, but her strongest message was one of service to others, to guru and Krishna. I especially appreciated her loyal commitment to morality and duty. She had challenges in her life, but she always shrugged off worry and pain to replace with a forward march. She is a trouper - a real one and she made friends with us all.
I got enthused listening. I managed on this day, with still a limp, an enjoyable...
6 Km
by Bhaktimarga Swami (noreply@blogger.com) at March 14, 2009 11:46 PM
H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami : Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
Toronto, Ontario
SUPPORT AND LOVE
Professor David Miller of the Department of History Studies at the University of Toronto explained to a small group of us monks about the years when he witnessed our monks working hard to establish ourselves. Just as we were about to sit in his classroom to teach of spiritual teachers, Madhavacarya and Chaitanya, and as students were settling in their seats, he brought us back to the 70's. At that time, he was teaching in Concordia University in Montreal when Krishna devotees found themselves in court. The issue was over distribution of spiritual literature and encounters with the police. Professor Miller had come to offer help in establishing a greater understanding between the authorities and the monks. When Prof. Miller went up to the stand to offer his historical perspective on Krishna Vaishnavism, the judge protested, "I am not interested in hearing this", dismissing the theologian's offer.
I was given a good hour to speak and expand on Chaitanya's life and life as a monk who sometimes takes long treks. The finale was a kirtan, chanting session, which students and teacher took to fully. I then invited Prof. Miller to attend our summer walking festival, Ratha Yatra, which he graciously accepted.
Anyone who has in the past stepped up to support the spiritual mission is very much loved by those devotees, and I'm sure, by their Lord.
0 Km
SUPPORT AND LOVE
Professor David Miller of the Department of History Studies at the University of Toronto explained to a small group of us monks about the years when he witnessed our monks working hard to establish ourselves. Just as we were about to sit in his classroom to teach of spiritual teachers, Madhavacarya and Chaitanya, and as students were settling in their seats, he brought us back to the 70's. At that time, he was teaching in Concordia University in Montreal when Krishna devotees found themselves in court. The issue was over distribution of spiritual literature and encounters with the police. Professor Miller had come to offer help in establishing a greater understanding between the authorities and the monks. When Prof. Miller went up to the stand to offer his historical perspective on Krishna Vaishnavism, the judge protested, "I am not interested in hearing this", dismissing the theologian's offer.
I was given a good hour to speak and expand on Chaitanya's life and life as a monk who sometimes takes long treks. The finale was a kirtan, chanting session, which students and teacher took to fully. I then invited Prof. Miller to attend our summer walking festival, Ratha Yatra, which he graciously accepted.
Anyone who has in the past stepped up to support the spiritual mission is very much loved by those devotees, and I'm sure, by their Lord.
0 Km
by Bhaktimarga Swami (noreply@blogger.com) at March 14, 2009 11:43 PM
H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami : Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Toronto, Ontario
HARVARD DR. SPEAKS ON THE KRISHNA MOVEMENT
On the calendar for the Krishna devotee community is something called "Gaura Purnima". It is our actual New Year and commemorates the birth of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It was he who conducted a demonstration, a peaceful civil disobedience march to oppose the injunction against public chanting. His mission was successful as he was able to capture public sympathy at the turn of the 16th century in West Bengal. What Gandhi was hailed for over four hundred years later, Chaitany had established long before. Gandhi had struggled for national independence, whereas Chaitanya wrestled with political powers over the right to freedom of spiritual expression in a public setting.
Unofficially, the Hare Krishna movement started from here. In the words of Harvard professor, Dr. Diane Eck:
"The Krishna Consciousness movement is part of an important and distinctive tradition of devotional faith, the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition which began in the sixteenth century with the great saint, Sri Chaitanya, but which participates in a much older movement of devotion dating back to at least the second century B.C.
The devotional faith is called bhakti, which means devotion to God, or love of God. Bhakti expresses the relationship between human beings and the Lord. It is a relationship of shared being and of natural love.
The Bhakti tradition found a full expression in the ancient Bhagavad-Gita, 'The Song of the Lord'... and existential dialogue on some of the most deeply significant human questions... What is human life? What is transcendence? How can one be actively engaged in the world without being ensnared by it?"
4 Km
HARVARD DR. SPEAKS ON THE KRISHNA MOVEMENT
On the calendar for the Krishna devotee community is something called "Gaura Purnima". It is our actual New Year and commemorates the birth of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It was he who conducted a demonstration, a peaceful civil disobedience march to oppose the injunction against public chanting. His mission was successful as he was able to capture public sympathy at the turn of the 16th century in West Bengal. What Gandhi was hailed for over four hundred years later, Chaitany had established long before. Gandhi had struggled for national independence, whereas Chaitanya wrestled with political powers over the right to freedom of spiritual expression in a public setting.
Unofficially, the Hare Krishna movement started from here. In the words of Harvard professor, Dr. Diane Eck:
"The Krishna Consciousness movement is part of an important and distinctive tradition of devotional faith, the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition which began in the sixteenth century with the great saint, Sri Chaitanya, but which participates in a much older movement of devotion dating back to at least the second century B.C.
The devotional faith is called bhakti, which means devotion to God, or love of God. Bhakti expresses the relationship between human beings and the Lord. It is a relationship of shared being and of natural love.
The Bhakti tradition found a full expression in the ancient Bhagavad-Gita, 'The Song of the Lord'... and existential dialogue on some of the most deeply significant human questions... What is human life? What is transcendence? How can one be actively engaged in the world without being ensnared by it?"
4 Km
by Bhaktimarga Swami (noreply@blogger.com) at March 14, 2009 11:40 PM
H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami : Sunday, March 8th, 2009
Brampton, Ontario
THREE PATHS
I had received a call from a Vancouver devotional enthusiast who is combing through the Bhagavad-gita for about the third time. Ralph Waldo Emerson describes the Gita as "the voice of an old intelligence." My caller is exploring the beauty of its message and with particular reference to the personal versus impersonal spiritual direction to take. To explain a bit deeper, in spiritual searching, one may be drawn to the aspect of the Absolute as a force or energy of light or may be attracted to God as a supreme divine person. Both thrusts are historically pursued depending on one's particular attraction. Much clarity on the topic of these two paths is elaborated upon by the purport of Srila Prabhupada.
What was fascinating to my caller from British Columbia was the discovery of a middle path referred to as paramatma realization. On this path of transcendentalism, the yogi sits in solitude and feels a satisfaction in having the presence of an impartial God manifested in the heart. On this path there is little sense of emotional feeling, but more a sense of 'being' as a soul accompanied by a supersoul, God.
I chose this very topic, the middle path, to speak on at the ISKCON Brampton Centre. As the Gita itself confirms in Chapter Six, the path of devotion, the realm of personalism, the notion and practice of service is most favourable amongst the three paths and is the most emphasized in the Gita. For the rest of the evening I had been moving my mouth more than my legs. A second talk about a pilgrim, Madhavendra Puri, at ISKCON Toronto which I delivered helped me to recall the extraordinary life of this personalist ascetic. From what we know of Madhavendra's life, there were no options open towards the various approaches of God for him. He was profoundly in love with the Absolute.
And when we speak of success on the spiritual path, love (or prema) is the thing.
THREE PATHS
I had received a call from a Vancouver devotional enthusiast who is combing through the Bhagavad-gita for about the third time. Ralph Waldo Emerson describes the Gita as "the voice of an old intelligence." My caller is exploring the beauty of its message and with particular reference to the personal versus impersonal spiritual direction to take. To explain a bit deeper, in spiritual searching, one may be drawn to the aspect of the Absolute as a force or energy of light or may be attracted to God as a supreme divine person. Both thrusts are historically pursued depending on one's particular attraction. Much clarity on the topic of these two paths is elaborated upon by the purport of Srila Prabhupada.
What was fascinating to my caller from British Columbia was the discovery of a middle path referred to as paramatma realization. On this path of transcendentalism, the yogi sits in solitude and feels a satisfaction in having the presence of an impartial God manifested in the heart. On this path there is little sense of emotional feeling, but more a sense of 'being' as a soul accompanied by a supersoul, God.
I chose this very topic, the middle path, to speak on at the ISKCON Brampton Centre. As the Gita itself confirms in Chapter Six, the path of devotion, the realm of personalism, the notion and practice of service is most favourable amongst the three paths and is the most emphasized in the Gita. For the rest of the evening I had been moving my mouth more than my legs. A second talk about a pilgrim, Madhavendra Puri, at ISKCON Toronto which I delivered helped me to recall the extraordinary life of this personalist ascetic. From what we know of Madhavendra's life, there were no options open towards the various approaches of God for him. He was profoundly in love with the Absolute.
And when we speak of success on the spiritual path, love (or prema) is the thing.
by Bhaktimarga Swami (noreply@blogger.com) at March 14, 2009 11:37 PM
Vrndavana Vinodini dd, Toronto, Canada : Vrndavana!
By the mercy of the devotees and Srimati Radharani I'm in Sri Vrndavana dham! It never ceases to amaze me how Srimati Radharani prepares me for coming to Vrndavana.
This time I was flying in to Delhi from Mumbai with a friend who had arranged for a taxi to pick us up. Both of us were in anticipation to get to Vrndavana. So we arrived at the airport and typical, there was no taxi. That's pretty common in India, and so after calling we were informed that the taxi was caught in Delhi traffic. Already in separation, we resigned ourselves to the fact that Radharani wanted us to be even more eager to come and so we sat and chanted for about 1 hour. The taxi finally arrived and to our surprise we found that there was another devotee sitting with the driver. Thinking nothing of it, we got in and were asking how long it would take to reach Vrndavana.
Imagine our surprise when we were told that we weren't going to Vrndavana straight but instead the taxi was going to Radha Partha-Sarathi temple. We couldn't believe it. What was going on!? We wanted to see Krsna Balarama!!! After sitting impatiently in Delhi traffic for over 1 1/2 hours we finally reached Delhi temple and immediately arranged for another taxi to take us to Vrndavana.
Finally after another 3 hours we saw the initial signs indicating Varsana, Govardhan and Vrndavana! There's no other way to describe my feeling of arriving in the dham short of saying I was euphoric. Finally, Vrndavana! Vrndavana dham ki JAI! Srimati Radharani ki JAI!
This time I was flying in to Delhi from Mumbai with a friend who had arranged for a taxi to pick us up. Both of us were in anticipation to get to Vrndavana. So we arrived at the airport and typical, there was no taxi. That's pretty common in India, and so after calling we were informed that the taxi was caught in Delhi traffic. Already in separation, we resigned ourselves to the fact that Radharani wanted us to be even more eager to come and so we sat and chanted for about 1 hour. The taxi finally arrived and to our surprise we found that there was another devotee sitting with the driver. Thinking nothing of it, we got in and were asking how long it would take to reach Vrndavana.
Imagine our surprise when we were told that we weren't going to Vrndavana straight but instead the taxi was going to Radha Partha-Sarathi temple. We couldn't believe it. What was going on!? We wanted to see Krsna Balarama!!! After sitting impatiently in Delhi traffic for over 1 1/2 hours we finally reached Delhi temple and immediately arranged for another taxi to take us to Vrndavana.
Finally after another 3 hours we saw the initial signs indicating Varsana, Govardhan and Vrndavana! There's no other way to describe my feeling of arriving in the dham short of saying I was euphoric. Finally, Vrndavana! Vrndavana dham ki JAI! Srimati Radharani ki JAI!
by Vrndavana Vinodini dd (noreply@blogger.com) at March 14, 2009 10:13 PM
HH. Satsvarupa das Goswami : My dear Lord Krishna…
I am writing to You. You and Radha are so close there is no duality in Your relationship. Sometimes Radha becomes so absorbed in Your qualities, such as Your expertise in love arts, Your musicianship, Your dancing, etc., that She cannot see Your presence before Her as a person. And sometimes She becomes so absorbed in Your personhood, such as in Your embrace, that She forgets Your qualities. I read this in an authorized book, commented on by Rupa Goswami, Jiva Goswami, and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura. This is how I know You and think of You. I greedily pick up the tidbits of transcendental knowledge about Your love for Srimati Radharani. It becomes more real to me as I go on hearing.read more - part 10>>
ISKCON Melbourne, AU : Daily Class - Ramai Swami
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.7.6 - Krsna's pastimes on the earth planet are a mere glimpse of His pastimes in the spiritual world.
Bharatavarsa.net : Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Seeing Krsna, by Krsna's mercy
There is no mechanical process to see the form of the Lord. It completely depends on the causeless mercy of the Lord. We cannot demand the Lord to be present before our vision, just as we cannot demand the sun to rise whenever we like. The sun rises out of his own accord; so also the Lord is pleased to be present out of His causeless mercy. One should simply await the opportune moment and go on discharging his prescribed duty in devotional service of the Lord... The Lord is completely independent of all obligations. He can simply be bound up by the tie of unalloyed devotion. Nor is He visible or perceivable by our material senses. When He pleases, being satisfied with the sincere attempt of devotional service depending completely on the mercy of the Lord, then He may be seen out of His own accord.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.6.19
Japa Group : Chanting With Faith
In this episode of his video blog, Mahatma Dasa describes the importance and power of chanting with firm conviction and faith.
by Rasa Rasika (noreply@blogger.com) at March 14, 2009 07:56 PM
Manorama dasa : Twitter frissítések - 2009-03-14
- Szanszkrit ZH. Azt hiszem jól sikerült. #
HH. Satsvarupa das Goswami : March 13
Al life of bhajana is not boring but is filled with waves of emotion. Simply by hearing about Radha and Krishna and chanting Their names, the advanced devotee swims in the ocean of transcendental bliss. The vaidhi bhakta performs his devotional activities because he is supposed to, but he doesn’t relish ecstasies. He seeks happiness elsewhere, in external things. He likes to dress and eat nicely and maybe watch a movie. But when he arranges for a public festival or collects funds for the propagation of his spiritual master’s mission, he is not engaging in external affairs. These efforts are as good as solitary bhajana, and they may produce the same results, if Krishna is pleased.
read more - part 9>>
ISKCON Education : Vaishnava Saints
By Ananta Shakti das & Vishaka devi dasi
Vaishnava Saints set the ideal example of how to follow the godly way of life. They form a line of spiritual masters who descend from the spiritual world just for our benefit. By reading of their uncommon activities we can learn about the character of pure devotees and understand how they dedicate themselves to the mission of God. Younger readers and adults will enjoy these summary stories about great devotees.
Softbound, 8.5 x 11, 144 pages, Illustrated
ISBN 1-887089-19-5
David Haslam, UK : Drama Nimai and The Puppy
Hare Krishna,
This is a lovely drama done by ISKCON Wales and well worth checking outNemi and the Puppy
Go check it out
Namahatta.org : SDGonline.org: The Yellow Submarine. My Bhajan Kutir
Writing to Krishna. Running to You with my eyes closed. Praying to You with the mahamantra. Not knowing what to do for You. The best thing is to give people Krishna consciousness. That is better than food or medicine or weapons or “education.” Give them direct Krishna consciousness. There are tactics for that. They used to do it largely by dressing as civilians and approaching people to sell them Prabhupada’s books. Dressing as devotees and going in the streets to sing the Hare Krishna mantra. Lectures in the colleges. Giving out prasadam to materially needy people. Festivals on Sunday at the temple or ratha yatras in the streets and parks. Setting the example by running a “self-sufficient” farm, growing crops and protecting cows (never really done self-sufficiently). Bringing people to the holy dhamas of India. Teaching astanga yoga. Holding lectures, kirtanas and feasts in your home and inviting neighbors and friends. Publishing books and Back to Godhead magazine. Selling CDs, videos on the Internet; running a webpage on the Internet. Building temples. And many more tactics performed by enthusiastic preachers. read more - part 8>>
Bharatavarsa.net : Prabhupada letters
1974 March 13: "Arrange a solid program of translation, printing and distribution of my books by sankirtana party and you will find the devotees willing to help you in this noble project."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
Bharatavarsa.net : Prabhupada letters
1974 March 13: "My Guru Maharaja stressed printing and distribution of literature even over gorgeous temple construction. So you follow the footsteps of the previous acaryas while always strictly following the regulative principles."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
Bharatavarsa.net : Prabhupada letters
1975 March 13: "I was very happy to see all you bright-faced children and I am already thinking of when I can come and visit there again. Chant Hare Krishna all day, eat nice Krishna Prasadam and go back to Home, back to Godhead."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
Bharatavarsa.net : Prabhupada letters
1966 March 13: "Saptami. In the evening two ladies and Mr. Susman came. There was some discussions, one of the ladies brought bread for me. No income and no expenditure."
Bharatavarsa.net : Prabhupada letters
1968 March 13: "Today we had a very nice lecture at the State College; the attendence was very nice, and the meeting was successful. They have arranged many other meetings which I shall attend one after another."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
Bharatavarsa.net : Prabhupada letters
1969 March 13: "There may be a temple or not, it does not matter; you are doing very nicely, more than having a temple. You six together are doing so nicely that I am very much proud of you. Be blessed and go on like this."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
Bharatavarsa.net : Prabhupada letters
1970 March 13: "They say that nobody could act so wonderfully as I am doing. Perhaps it is right. But I do not know how such things are happening. The only reason that can be adduced is that I am presenting Bhagavad-gita as it is."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Bharatavarsa.net : Prabhupada letters
1970 March 13: "If we limit ourselves to Hindus, then there will be many competitors. But if we preach the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness in right earnest, it will be accepted throughout the whole world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA : Too. Tired. To. Post. Too. Much. Life. To. Live.
Gaura Purnim. Alachua. Very Good. Gurkula. Kids. Videos. Singing. Nice.
by Devadeva Mirel (noreply@blogger.com) at March 14, 2009 04:41 PM
1968 March 12: "Outside the Temple householders may wear American gentleman's dress, with Tilaka, flag, and beads. If they so desire, for ceremony, they can dress in dhotis for Kirtana."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at March 14, 2009 04:24 PM
1975 March 13: "I was very happy to see all you bright-faced children and I am already thinking of when I can come and visit there again. Chant Hare Krishna all day, eat nice Krishna Prasadam and go back to Home, back to Godhead."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at March 14, 2009 04:23 PM
1974 March 13: "My Guru Maharaja stressed printing and distribution of literature even over gorgeous temple construction. So you follow the footsteps of the previous acaryas while always strictly following the regulative principles."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at March 14, 2009 04:23 PM
1974 March 13: "Arrange a solid program of translation, printing and distribution of my books by sankirtana party and you will find the devotees willing to help you in this noble project."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at March 14, 2009 04:22 PM
1970 March 13: "They say that nobody could act so wonderfully as I am doing. Perhaps it is right. But I do not know how such things are happening. The only reason that can be adduced is that I am presenting Bhagavad-gita as it is."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at March 14, 2009 04:22 PM
1970 March 13: "If we limit ourselves to Hindus, then there will be many competitors. But if we preach the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness in right earnest, it will be accepted throughout the whole world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at March 14, 2009 04:21 PM
1969 March 13: "There may be a temple or not, it does not matter; you are doing very nicely, more than having a temple. You six together are doing so nicely that I am very much proud of you. Be blessed and go on like this."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at March 14, 2009 04:21 PM
1968 March 13: "Today we had a very nice lecture at the State College; the attendence was very nice, and the meeting was successful. They have arranged many other meetings which I shall attend one after another."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at March 14, 2009 04:21 PM
1966 March 13: "Saptami. In the evening two ladies and Mr. Susman came. There was some discussions, one of the ladies brought bread for me. No income and no expenditure."
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at March 14, 2009 04:20 PM
ISKCON Klang, Malaysia : AGM - ISKCON GBC February 17/02/2009 (Day 6)
Source: Dandavats.com
BY ANANDA TIRTHA DAS
MAYAPUR, INDIA - February 17 was the final day of the strategic planning portion of the AGM. After the opening kirtan, Srimad-Bhagavatam reading and quorum check, the subcommittees met and then reported back to the meeting hall at 12:30 pm. There are nine strategic planning subcommittees, seven of which made presentations:
1. [...]
ISKCON Klang, Malaysia : AGM - ISKCON GBC 15-16/02/2009 (Day 4-5)
Source: Dandavats.com
BY ANANDA TIRTHA DAS
MAYAPUR, INDIA - For the last several years, strategic planning has been a major theme of the GBC meetings. Several days of the Annual General Meeting, as well as the second GBC meeting later in the year, is exclusively focused on this important theme. This year was no exception. Days four [...]
ISKCON News.com : Rare Bathing Ceremony Held at ISKCON Mayapur
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This February 25 saw the second-ever Maha Abhishekha, or great bathing ceremony, of ISKCON Mayapur’s Pancha-Tattva deities at the West Bengal community’s annual Gaura Purnima festival. The Pancha-Tattva, comprising of Sri Chaitanya and his four associates Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita Acharya, Gadadhara Pandita, and Srivasa Thakura, are the 15th century founders of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, the basis for ISKCON. |
ISKCON News.com : Mayapur Residents Recovering After Car Crash
 |
Two ISKCON Mayapur residents, Jahnudvipa Dasa from Denmark and his wife Braja Sevaki Dasi from Australia, were badly injured on March 12 when their taxi collided head-on with a truck near Kolkata airport in the early hours of the morning. |
ISKCON News.com : Shri Vaishnavas Join ISKCON Chennai for Peace Walk
 |
ISKCON devotees and the Sri Vaishnava followers of 11th century saint Ramanujacarya came together this March 8 for a “Peace Walk” in Chennai, South India. The event, organized by ISKCON Chennai and Sri Vaishnava group Saran Darshan, drew over one thousand devotees eager to promote world peace and prosperity. |
David Haslam, UK : MacBook problems (fragile and unreliable)
Well it will be a while before I can start writing again, my MacBook has left it’s material body (only 2 years old)
The people from Apple think they may be able to give it the kiss of life but the indicators are that the part will cost over £400, this is near the price of [...]
ISKCON News.com : B.V. Puri Maharaja Given “Samadhi” Burial in Puri
 |
Srila Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Goswami, one of the foremost Gaudiya Vaishnava teachers of the 20th century, has been given a traditional Samadhi burial in the holy city of Jagannath Puri. Puri Maharaja, who left this world at Vishakhapatnam, Andra Pradesh on March 3, was transported to Puri later that evening in a refrigated van driven by devotees from the Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mission, which he founded in 1966. |
ISKCON News.com : Ganges River Advent Celebrated at ISKCON Mayapur
 |
Hundreds of devotees from all over the world, including ISKCON gurus Chandramauli Swami and Maha-Vishnu Swami, gathered outside the Radha-Madhava Chandradoya temple in ISKCON Mayapur this March 7 to celebrate Gangapuja – the occasion of the celestial Ganges’ descent from heaven to earth. |
ISKCON News.com : Birth of Sri Chaitanya Celebrated in ISKCON Punjab
 |
This March 11, ISKCON devotees in Ludhiana, Punjab, celebrated the appearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism in the fifteenth century. The festival, popularly known as Gaura Purnima, drew a large, enthusiastic crowd of devotees and congregational members. |
ISKCON News.com : Despite Constitutions, Intolerance Persists In Central Asia
 |
On March 5, the Tajik parliament adopted in the final reading a new law on religious organizations. The new law is much less liberal than one adopted in 1992. Although deputies who spoke in favor of its passage said it treats all faiths equally, it in fact gives priority to the Hanafi school of Islam, to which 90 percent of the population of Tajikistan adheres. |
Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA : Gainesville Farmers Market
Wednesday we checked out the Union Street Farmers Market. Here's what we saw:
Those Hare Krishnas are *everywhere*!
The Tempeh Shop: The First and Only Certified Organic Tempeh Maker in Florida
Fresh organic produce from Kumarie's garden! Yeah, I know...more Hare Krishnas! I'm telling you...they are *everywhere* around here!
Fragrant ripe strawberries...irresistable.
Well, look who it is! Rukmini and Ganesh. I was so happy to run into them since I owed Mallika (Rukmini's daughter) fifteen bucks. It's good to pay off debts in a timely manner. Especially when the money is owed to Hare Krishnas ;)
Baked treats from The Flour Pot Bakery.
I haven't even hit the top of my game yet as far as my croissants go and I feel like they already look better than these. Not that it's a competition or anything.
Bread. Radharadhya...you are going to kick some doughy butt when you get down here!!!
Another vendor's baked stuff.
You can't have a farmers market without some good looking tomatoes.
So that's just some of the spread. There was not a lot of stuff to "eat there." Samosas, meat pies (if you consider that, ahem, food) and some cookies. Monday an almost-architect is coming over to measure out my upstairs kitchen and then the plans will be drawn up. I need to submit the plans for the caterer's license as well as applying for a Home Occupation license.
Let the bureaucracy begin!
buyhumanmade.com
by noreply@blogger.com (Devadeva Mirel) at March 14, 2009 10:44 AM
Dandavats.com : New restrictions at Delhi airport
Urmila devi dasi: One devotee was just refused entry to get her flight from Delhi to Germany because new restrictions have been put on flights.
Dandavats.com : Needed: Devotee Video Game Producer
Ila devi dasi: HH Mahavishnu Swami is presently in the process of making a contemporary preaching film. He needs a devotee with the ability to make a video game that will accompany the release of the film.
Japa Group : Coming to The Mode of Goodness
I was discussing this point with a devotee during Skype Japa....we were talking about how by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra and following sadhana bhakti, we rise to the mode of goodness, which is the launch pad for sudha sattva, or transcendental goodness. In the mode of goodness we may be very happy materially speaking, but that is still within the realms of the material world and we should be careful not get stuck in this mode. Sudha sattva means we see everything in relation to service for Krsna and therefore we see everything in relation to Krsna's pleasure.
To come to the mode of goodness we need to chant the Hare Krsna mantra on beads very seriously....this will purify our minds, hearts and consciousness so that we may gradually come to see our lives based on giving pleasure to Krsna. There is a nice quote from Srila Prabhupada about this subject:
"Everyone of you should be thoroughly convinced of the power of the Hare Krsna mantra to protect you in all circumstances and chant accordingly at all times without offense. Then advancement will be swift and you will gradually come to see everything clearly so that you may act for the pleasure of the Lord without uncertainty. When one is spontaneously engaged in this way, always in the service of the Lord and anxious to avoid all mundane activities, he is actually experiencing the taste of bliss in Krsna consciousness."From a letter to Damodara - January 10, 1971
We will also feel the bliss of Krsna consciousness and we will want to avoid all mundane activity due to experiencing this higher taste.
Hoping your chanting is going well and you are able to concentrate very carefully.
Hare Krsna,
Rasa Rasika dasa
by Rasa Rasika (noreply@blogger.com) at March 14, 2009 09:34 AM
ISKCON News.com : LA Yoga Magazine Features Krishna Philosophy
“Sex is like a Ferrari. If someone gave me a brand-new Ferrari I wouldn’t take it off-roading. It would trash the car. I would only drive it where it’s supposed to be driven…Sex is a God-given gift. What’s happened to sex, like this Ferrari, is we’ve taken it off-road. Many people have taken this God-given gift and used it in a God-forbidden way. It’s going to be great for a while but I don’t think its going to have ultimate spiritual result until we do it the way God intended it. One woman, one man in a marriage,” he said. |
Namahatta.org : SDGonline.org: Questions and answers
"Saturday with ISKCON congregation"
Q: In facing difficulty and adversity what is it that sustains you most and gives you so much courage?
A: In facing adversity I try to accept that what happens it the arrangement of providence. Somehow there is something good to learn in the adverse situation. At least we have the opportunity not to despair but to depend on Krishna. Everything is happening to us by his will even if we cannot understand it. We should not think we are victims of unfair treatment by the Lord, but take shelter in Him and beg him for the courage to survive the adversity. Ultimately we cannot protect ourselves from infamy, decease, poverty or even death. We should practice chanting Hare Krishna. Knowing I am tiny and Krishna is great and that he is my only protector is the way I sustain myself.
ISKCON News.com : Gaura Pūrṇimā 523
 |
Five hundred and twenty three years ago, on a full moon night in the month of Govinda, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in the world, the avatāra descended to deliver Kṛṣṇa prema to the extremely fallen people of this Kali-yuga. |
Club 108, New Vrndavan : Darwin Is Dead!-The Mathematical Impossibility of Evolution
If you would like to contribute to our year-long "celebration" of Darwin's 200th birthday, please send your articles, editorials, or any other creative and informative pieces to nvclub108@gmail.comHG Dau Prabhu aka "Master Dau", the wise sage of our Bhaktivedanta Ashram here in NYC, has brought to our attention an article in his field of specialty, mathematics, which explains the impossibility in numbers of the processes of random mutation and natural selection creating the evolution of species.
Click here to read the article
And click here to read a similar piece titled "Can Life Arise By Chance?" that originated in the classic BBT magazine Origins
by Club 108 (noreply@blogger.com) at March 14, 2009 08:00 AM
H.H. Mukunda Goswami : Victims of Desire
Sridhara Swami explains that bees are victims of smell, being sometimes being swallowed up at night by flowers; male elephants are victims of sex desire when hunters display female elephant before a large camouflaged pit; deer are victims of sound when their human predators blow a bugle known as a deer call; fish are victims of their sense of taste when they bite the bait on a fisherman's hook; moths are victims of sight when the hurtle at flames that instantly destroy them.
Similarly, human beings are constantly victimized by all five organs of acquisition.
ISKCON News.com : Pancha-tattva Abhiseka 2009
ISKCON News.com : Pancha-tattva Abhiseka 2009
Gouranga TV : Advaita abhisek in Mayapur
Advaita Acharya Appearance Day celebration in ISKCON Mayapur, Feb 2009.
Advaita Acharya Appearance Day celebration in ISKCON Mayapur, Feb 2009.
ISKCON News.com : Pancha-tattva Installation 2004
ISKCON News.com : Pancha-tattva Mangala Arati
Pancha-tattva mangala arati in ISKCON Mayapur temple, March 1, 2009
ISKCON News.com : Deep in the Heart of Texas
If the selection above is hosted by YouTube then after the video plays there will be several links presented to other videos. ISKCON News Weekly has no control over the selections presented and is not responsible for their contents.
Partha-sarathi das, ISKCON Iraq : What does Lord Caitanya mean to me? (From the notes of HH Kadamba Kanana Swami Maharaja)
Reflections on Lord Caitanya
What does Lord Caitanya mean to me? (From the notes of HH Kadamba Kanana Swami Maharaja)
*
I’m seeing Lord Caitanya as invisibly always there- at least I’m thinking of Him like that. When I think of a verse in the Caitanya Caritamrta, which is katahncana smrte yasmin duskaram sukuram bhavet, that by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, difficult things become easy; that I am concluding that Lord Caitanya is there to block out difficulties.
*
(Story of Ajamila): the description is not as graphic as what you might see today; today you might see things that are a lot worse than what Ajamila saw and we are generally not as qualified as Ajamila. So Srila Prabhupada is addressing this point and he is saying then, what is the chance of the modern man? But it is because Lord Caitanya is there that things are going on and somehow or other that we can do what Ajamila couldn’t do. Lord Caitanya is sort of blocking all the attacks of Maya; He gets in between all the time and we are walking around thinking, ‘I’m getting pretty advanced! I’m really quite a great devotee now!’ Lord Caitanya saves us again and again. He saves us all the time. He’s personal, He’s very much with us, He’s very active in our life.
*
He is so terribly generous; He couldn’t serve prasadam for less than 3-5 people. Even if there was one, He’s got enough for three because His hand cannot serve less, He cannot do it, He has to give more, it’s just His nature to be overwhelmingly generous.
*
That generosity extends beyond giving things because giving things is not completely generous. In the end generosity means giving everything- giving yourself. So Lord Caitanya especially gives Himself to His devotee- very much so. Krsna also, but Lord Caitanya much more! Still much more easily available to His devotee.
*
Therefore Lord Caitanya is very much present in our life- very much so. One has to meditate on the mercy of Lord Caitanya.
An open invitation:
sri-krsna-caitanya-daya karaha vicara
vicara karate cite pabe camatkara
If you are meditating on the mercy of Lord Caitanya then in your heart, you will find it to be wonderful and you will be amazed.
It’s the key to understand Lord Caitanya, in approaching Lord Caitanya. How to approach Lord Caitanya? Think about His mercy! That is what Krsnadas Kaviraja Gosvami says. Understand how Lord Caitanya is more and merciful, and think about it, meditate, and the more you do, the more amazed one becomes in the heart. The more the heart becomes involved, then spiritual life becomes very easy. To do something and if the heart is not into it is called DUTY and duty is such a thing…in this age especially, we don’t like duty. So the heart must be into it. It’s the key to be a devotee of Lord Caitanya…
ISKCON News.com : Om Namo Narayana
ISKCON News.com : Holi Celebrations Drench Vrindavan with Joy
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Vrindavan: Myriad colours of Holi have drenched Mathura and Vrindavan in joyful festivities. Though Holi is a single day affair elsewhere in the country, for the Brijwasis (people of Vrindavan where Lord Krishna spent his childhood days), the festival is celebrated for 16 days to commemorate the divine love of Radha for Lord Krishna or 'Dhulandi'. |
ISKCON News.com : How I Learned Not to Fear the Anti-God Squad
As I read celebrity atheist Christopher Hitchens's recent Newsweek attack on the pope in particular and Roman Catholicism in general, I remembered an incident that happened when I was in the U.K. in early January. Walking out of London's Victoria Station, I was stopped by a TV reporter who asked me what I thought about the British atheists' newest ad campaign. |
ISKCON News.com : India Protects Traditional Medicines from Foreign Patents
In the first step by a developing country to stop multinational companies patenting traditional remedies from local plants and animals, the Indian government has effectively licensed 200,000 local treatments as "public property" free for anyone to use but no one to sell as a "brand". |
ISKCON News.com : Indian Visas Restricted for Single Russian Females
Visa restrictions for single women traveling to India; 2) Indian visas for Russian female singles; 3) Female, under 45? – No entry. In late December 2008, the Russian electronic media brought bad news for female tourists going to India. Reports were circulating that the Indian Embassy in Moscow stopped granting visas to single women under 45 years of age. |
ISKCON News.com : The Old Man and the Cow
 |
Ken Simmons starts cycling around 8am, a homemade rucksack made of twine and sacking lying limp upon his back. He pops in to a couple of properties on the way, collecting scraps of straw to fill his bag. About 30 minutes and three kilometres later, he stops at a lifestyle block, and looks out across the paddocks. There she is. |
Last updated:March 15, 2009 06:14 PM
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- Aja Govinda das, Oxford, UK (feed)
- Akrura das, Gita Coaching (feed)
- Ali Krishna dd, Gainesville, USA (feed)
- Ananda Subramanian, Iowa, USA (feed)
- Anuradha Kesavi dd, Dubai, UAE (feed)
- Arcanam: Worship of the Deity (feed)
- Atma Yoga, Brisbane, AU (feed)
- Avadhuta-priya dd, Jaipur, India (feed)
- Babhru das (ACBSP), Alachua, USA (feed)
- Balabhadra dasa (feed)
- Balarama Chandra das, New Vrindavan, USA (feed)
- Bhakta Chris, New Vrndavan, USA (feed)
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- Bhakta Ryan, Brisbane, AU (feed)
- Bhakti Lata, Alachua, USA (feed)
- Bhaktin Jeanette, USA (feed)
- Bhaktin Sol, Spain (feed)
- Bhaktin Yaitza, New Vrndavan, USA (feed)
- Bharatavarsa.net (feed)
- Book Distribution News (feed)
- Caitanya Mangala, CA, USA (feed)
- Candidasa dasa, UK (feed)
- Carana Renu dd, Brazil (feed)
- Clemens Both, Germany (feed)
- Club 108, New Vrndavan (feed)
- D.A.S.I, Devotees Associating with Spiritual Intent (feed)
- Dandavats.com (feed)
- (feed)
- David Haslam, UK (feed)
- Deva Gaura Hari, AU (feed)
- Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA (feed)
- Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA (feed)
- Ekendra das, Alachua, USA (feed)
- Ekendra dasa, AU (feed)
- Erin Sanders, Wgtn, NZ (feed)
- Friends of the BBT (feed)
- Gaura Nitai das, Mayapura, IN (feed)
- Gaura Sakti das & Adi Radhika dd, New Vraja Dham, Hungary (feed)
- Gaura Vani, USA (feed)
- Gaura Yoga, NZ (feed)
- Gauranga Kishore das,USA (feed)
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- Giridhari das, Brasilia, Brazil (feed)
- Giriraj Gopal das, Bn Sara, and crew, USA (feed)
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- Gopal Nandini, North Carolina, USA (feed)
- Gopala Guru dasa, NZ (feed)
- Gouranga TV (feed)
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- H.G. Jagattarini dd, AU (feed)
- H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA (feed)
- H.H. Bhakti Caitanya Swami (feed)
- H.H. Bhakticharu Swami (feed)
- H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami (feed)
- H.H. Devamrita Swami (feed)
- H.H. Giriraj Swami (feed)
- (feed)
- H.H. Jayadvaita Swami (feed)
- H.H. Kavicandra Swami (feed)
- H.H. Mahavishnu Swami (feed)
- H.H. Mukunda Goswami (feed)
- H.H. Niranjana Swami Podcast (feed)
- H.H. Prahladananda Swami (feed)
- (feed)
- H.H. Umapati Swami (feed)
- HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Swami, Bhaktivedanta Institute (feed)
- HH. Satsvarupa das Goswami (feed)
- Hanuman das, Croatia (feed)
- Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN (feed)
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- ISKCON Canberra, AU (feed)
- ISKCON Communications, USA (feed)
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- ISKCON Dallas, USA (feed)
- ISKCON Education (feed)
- ISKCON Klang, Malaysia (feed)
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU (feed)
- ISKCON New York, USA (feed)
- ISKCON News.com (feed)
- ISKCON Orlando, USA (feed)
- ISKCON Perth, AU (feed)
- ISKCON Tech (feed)
- ISKCON Toronto, Canada (feed)
- Jahnavi, UK (feed)
- Jai Nitai dasa (feed)
- Japa Group (feed)
- Jauvana Prabhu, ACBSP (feed)
- Jaya Kesava Das, USA (feed)
- Kaunteya das, Mayapura (feed)
- Kirtans in Oxford, UK (feed)
- Kosa Rupa dd, Alachua, USA (feed)
- Kripamoya dasa, UK (feed)
- Krishna Camp, USA (feed)
- Krishna Consciousness & Ecological Awareness (feed)
- Krishna Culture Festival Tour, USA (feed)
- Krishna Dharma dasa, UK (feed)
- Krishna Food, Brisbane, AU (feed)
- Krishna Geeks.com (feed)
- Krishna Ksetra Das (feed)
- Krishna-kripa das, Mayapura (feed)
- Krishna.com (feed)
- Kurma dasa, AU (feed)
- Lilamayi Subhadra dd, SA (feed)
- Maddy Jean-claude Durr, New Govardhana, AU (feed)
- Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA (feed)
- Madhavananda das, Orissa, IN (feed)
- Madhavi Mangu, Toronto, Canada (feed)
- Madri dd, South Africa (feed)
- Malati dd, USA (feed)
- Mandakini dd, NC, USA (feed)
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- Manoj, Melbourne, AU (feed)
- Manonatha dasa (feed)
- Manorama dasa (feed)
- Matsyavatara das (ACBSP), Italy (feed)
- Mayapur Katha Magazine (feed)
- Mayapur Online (feed)
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- Mukunda Charan das, SA (feed)
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- Nama Rasa das and Chaitanya das, New Jersey, USA (feed)
- Namahatta.org (feed)
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- New Govardhana, Australia (feed)
- New Talavan Farm (feed)
- New Vrindavan Nectarflow (feed)
- New Vrndavan, USA (feed)
- Nitai Nam das, NZ (feed)
- Nitai das & Rasikananda das, USA (feed)
- Nitya Navina dd, New Jersey, USA (feed)
- Nityananda Sena, Melbourne, Australia (feed)
- Omkara das, LA (feed)
- On the Web (feed)
- Pandu das (feed)
- Parama Karuna dasa (feed)
- Partha-sarathi das, ISKCON Iraq (feed)
- Prahlad Wulf, Brisbane, AU (feed)
- Prema-Rupa dd, USA (feed)
- Premavatar das (feed)
- Priya Gopal, USA (feed)
- Radha Priya dd, Austin, TX, USA (feed)
- Raivata das, Christchurch, NZ (feed)
- Ravindra Svarupa das, USA (feed)
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- Rishi Shonpal, UK (feed)
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- Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA (feed)
- Sankirtana das, USA (feed)
- Sastra Dana, LA, USA (feed)
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- Shyam Pandey, USA (feed)
- Sita-pati das (feed)
- Sita-pati dasa, AU (feed)
- Spiritual Scientist (feed)
- Sri Nandanandana das (feed)
- Srila Prabhupada QOTD (feed)
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters (feed)
- Subuddhi Krishna dasa, Chicago, USA (feed)
- Sutapa das, BV Manor, UK (feed)
- Suvilasa dd, Brisbane, AU (feed)
- Syamesvari dd (feed)
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- The Loft, Auckland, NZ (feed)
- Tirtharaj dasa, AU (feed)
- Tri-yuga das, AU (feed)
- Tulasi Priya dd, Alachua, USA (feed)
- Utah Krishnas, USA (feed)
- Vasu Murti, USA (feed)
- Vidyapati dasa (feed)
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- Visnu-maya devi dasi, NZ (feed)
- Vraja Dhama dasa, AU (feed)
- Vrndavana Vinodini dd, Toronto, Canada (feed)
- Vyenkata Bhatta dasa, USA (feed)
- Yogesvara das, USA (feed)
Hare Krishna on the Web:
- New Vrndavan Bloggers
- ISKCON Vaisnava Calendar Site
- ISKCON Deity Worship Site
- Dandavats.com
- ISKCON News.Net
- Hare Krishna Resource Network
- Vedabase Online
- Krishna.com
- ISKCON.com