1971 March 16: "Print 200,000 BTGs without fail. Each center must collect at least 25 cents per copy as donation. Henceforward this policy should be followed amongst the temples."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1974 March 16: "Our movement is unique, not just India, but from all countries they are joining and becoming Vaisnavas by chanting Hare Krsna and refraining from the pillars of sinful life."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974March 16: "I am now especially concerned to distribute prasadam all over India. If the people do not even have sufficient food even how they will be able to receive spiritual instructions."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

Undercover animal rights investigator “Pete” with pig he befriended while secretly filming abuse that can be seen Monday on HBO’s “Death on a Factory Farm.”

Working on a farm that raises animals for food is not the ideal job for a vegan.

But cracking down on animal cruelty and exposing the suffering is a rewarding career for one vegan undercover animal rights investigator, who goes by the name “Pete.”

“It’s cool to do something, document it, and blow the lid off it,” said the fearless animal activist, who has spent the last seven years secretly recording the atrocities in U.S. puppy mills and factory farms.

His work documenting the abuse on a central Ohio pig farm will appear in the HBO documentary “Death on a Factory Farm,” which airs Monday.

The powerful film follows the undercover investigation of Wiles Hog Farm by the animal rights group The Humane Farming Association and the resulting court case against some of the farm’s practices.

Warning: Barring the final scene, this film is not pretty. Wearing a hidden camera, Pete spent six weeks secretly videotaping the horrors of abuse: squealing piglets being hurled like bags of rice into overcrowded crates, a sickly piglet “euthanized” by slamming it against the wall, and a sick hog being hung by a chain from a fork-lift until it choked to death.

“Ignorance is bliss, but people need to see this up close and personal,” said Pete, whose previous undercover work was the basis for the 2006 HBO documentary, “Dealing Dogs,” which exposed the abuses that took place at the Martin Creek Kennel, in Arkansas, which was eventually shut down.

His work this year included grueling stints at a turkey factory farm and two California egg farms, which highlighted the plight of hens raised in battery cages.

Those investigations helped lead to last year’s passage of California’s Proposition2, which bans the cruel confinement of veal calves, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens in tiny crates and cages on industrial factory farms.

“When people see cruelty with their own eyes, it leads to policy reforms and other positive changes for animals,” said Michael Markarian, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, which sponsored the bill.

Getting the goods, however, is dirty work. The low-paying job is risky, highly emotional and desperately lonely, says Pete, who is never seen without dark sunglasses, has twice legally changed his name and hasn’t had a date in years.

Maintaining his cover also requires sacrificing his morals and learning to shut down his emotions. The devout vegan will even eat meat on the job and will harm an animal for the sake of getting on tape what’s needed in court to end the abusive practices.

Still, he does what he has to help change laws and people’s perceptions.

“There’s always times I have to shake my head and think I can’t believe this is in front of me,” he said. “But we have to change ourselves first if we expect there to be change around us.”

The Toby Project will offer free spay/neuter surgery in the Bronx this weekend to pet owners who can show proof of public assistance. The upcoming dates are tomorrow at Capuchin Way; Friday at Edenwald Housing Development, and Sunday, March 22, at Capuchin Way. For more info go to www.thetobyproject.org.

Taken From: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2009/03/13/2009-03-13_he_hogties_abuse_on_hbo_documentary_deat.html

Tagged: animal rights, documentary, factory farming, HBO, vegan

HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj remembers a time when Srila Prabhupada imparted to him the importance of counting his rounds. Tagged: Videos

I finally got around to uploading the few pictures and one movie I took at our Gaura Purnima celebration here in Austin this year. Our celebration consisted of kirtans, bhajans (Sri Krsna Chaitanya Prabhu), a discourse on Lord Caitanya (given by HDG Sriman Sankarshan das Adhikari), moon rise arati,  and an opulent feast prepared by [...]

We are calling all youth to come this Saturday March 21 from 1pm till 3pm help to clean up the temple. We will be cleaning and re-organizing one room on the balcony and the dry items area beside the kitchen.

If cleaning is not your thing, there is also cutting up vegetables for the Food Expo which the temple is a part of that weekend. The temple is expected to distribute hundreds of plates using the vegetables that we will be helping with!

There will be treats for all the volunteers that come. If you are interested please email the Pandava Sena youth group at info@psena.ca

We sometimes inquire from our conscience. Conscience says, "No, don't do this." But still we do it. Still we do... That is our avidya. Because we do not know, in ignorance, in spite of the Supreme Soul, Supersoul is forbidding, "Don't do this," still, we shall do it. That is called anumanta. We cannot do anything without the sanction of the Supersoul, but when we insist that "I must do it," then He says, "All right, you do it, but you'll suffer your sequence. My word is, Supersoul order is, that 'You give up all this nonsense. Simply surrender unto Me. I will give you all protection.' " But no, that he'll not do.

Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Bhagavad-gita 13.4, Bombay, September 27, 1973

Our life can be summarized in two words: challenge - response.

We have the capacity to subordinate our impulses, moods, feelings and conditions, to values based on principles or natural laws.

Gopalhari dasa: Boise Idaho, New Biharvan, is beautifully situated in the peaceful Treasure Valley. Our temple has a stable grihasta community and was established in 1986.

Padmapani das: After being offline for a few months, The Prabhupada Connection is back by popular demand. We've received many letters urging us to continue and so we hope to serve you for a long time to come. Please drop by and enjoy Srila Prabhupada's online association.

BY JEYANTHY PILLAI SUBANG JAYA, MALAYSIA - My children were so very excited to return after their maiden sojourn trip to Mayapur this year. Not that Mayapur was boring….far from it. They had an amazing time. It was like living in Srila Prabhupada’s books that we had painstakingly preached to the children all these years.  They [...]

By Paramatma Dasi

Wednesday, March 11th, at the Aula Magna of Centro Studi Bhaktivedanta Foundation, Shriman Matsyavatara Prabhu held the second session of his course titled “How to Project and Make your Dreams come true”.

By briefly going back to the topics discussed in the previous session, the speaker continued and further developed this theme that is complex and determinant for everyone’s life. It is essential to understand, as it is stated in the Upanishads, that what we become is in accordance with what we desire. People’s minds and hearts – Shriman Matsyavatara Prabhu explained – are filled with images that work against them and fulfil their negative prophecies. The psychic structure, in fact, does not distinguish if the person is dreaming, thinking, fearing with his eyes open or shut, rather it elaborates images that pass through the mind and “lay out a plan” according to them.

Automated, rigorous and repetitious thoughts clip the wings of creativity and planning and of the capability of dreaming and realizing ones dreams. Trust, faith and mainly fervent devotion, on the contrary, produce serenity, courage and Love for God’s Creation and His Creatures.

Our fears may be justified (with an objective cause), or unjustified. In the latter case they are often due to indecision, doubts and habits that are trigged in the individual behaviour. Such fears induce the subject to create alibis to hang on to, favouring the development of psychophysical illnesses and most of all, obstructing the realization of dreams.

As already explained in the first session, even constructive day dreaming needs planning. However, it is not enough. Priority is another fundamental ingredient. Too many dreams, maybe even in contradiction with each other, cannot be planned at the same time. If we did so, we would only feel deprived of our energies and we would not obtain what we desire. A dream which has good chances to become reality should be well defined, have an evolutionary orientation and a plan for realization, which can be integrated on the way. The engine power, in any case, consists of intensive desire. If desire is weak and lukewarm, even the less relevant obstacles will prevail.

In this occasion, as in the previous one, the time spent entertaining questions and answers was very intense, and became an opportunity to develop relevant topics. Among the discussed and developed subjects were: taking advantage of failures to start a new journey with more clearness and vitality, unconscious fears, dreams, karma and divine willpower, wishing for dreams realization and pessimism, states of consciousness and reality levels, and at last, the variable influence of the planets on human beings.

The evening finished with a happy ending, a delicious dessert, and with the proposal to meet at the next appointment on Wednesday, March 18th at the same place, at 8,30 PM, for the third and last session of this course.

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.com

HG Narasingha Gurudas (a.k.a Martin Lyons) was gracious enough to share with us a few excerpts from his upcoming book, in which he plans to establish the Krsna Conscious positions of evolution and creation in opposition to some of the fallacious dogmas of modern religion and science.

Here is the second excerpt he shares with us, about a little "planned obsolescence"

Thirteenth Argument: Planned Obsolescence

One of the innumerable natural phenomena that we take for granted and thoughtlessly assume to be just another product of evolution is the aging process. This process really begins at the very beginning of every creature’s life. Immediately there is development, or maturing, whether from insect egg to larva to pupa to winged adult; or from seed to seedling to mature plant, producing first flowers and then fruit; or with humans, where we mature from baby to toddler to youth to adulthood, middle-age and old-age.

At each and every stage, there are specific abilities and processes and functions and related cellular structures. It’s not a random or chaotic break-down, but there is a continual coordinated theme at each and every stage. We are each made up of so many individual cells, which are replaced so many times during our lives. And this detail quite distinguishes us as living organisms, as distinct from a machine such as a car, for example.

The molecular structure of a car is not in a constant state of flux, at least, not in the sense that ours is. Of course, there are some ongoing chemical changes, such as heat-stress, oxidation, rust, salt damage and so on. But the original atoms and molecules that form all its structures are not being replaced as the car ages. Just like its tires – as time goes on, they wear down, their outer layers are simply rubbed away by the roads, but fresh layers of rubber do not grow back.

This of course is quite opposite to our situation as living organisms. For example, the outermost layers of skin are constantly wearing off (much of the dust in our own homes is in fact the debris of our own cast-off skin cells), but new cells are being constantly created underneath. This would be incredible enough, that our bodies are replete with self-replicating living cellular ‘machines’ … but the replacement cells are not in fact replicas of the ones that they are replacing. They introduce new features, which provide for definite changes in function, purpose and appearance.

The cells that make up the bones of a baby allow for greater flexibility than the bones of a youth, although they are not as strong, nor do they need to be. Meanwhile, the bones of an old person are brittle and easily damaged. This cannot be compared to the rusting of a car’s metal body, for example, which is indeed much weaker in its ‘aged’ condition. And why not? Because rather than the individual cells having ‘rusted’ as it were, they have been altogether replaced by cells with a different molecular structure. Similarly with the ways our skin wrinkles and our hair silvers as we age. It is not that individual cells are shrinking and drying up or losing color; but that they are being replaced by cells which are following different design instructions, as passed down via the genes. And at the same time, there are accompanying changes occurring within all the different cells and organs of the body, so that there is a coordinated development whereby the body as a whole is still functioning as a single unit, but at a different level of efficiency. In other words, there is still a definite and distinct structure affording a definite and distinct level of functioning and purpose; and this changes so many times during our lives.

As already mentioned, aging does not merely include the declining stages of life, where the hair turns grey and falls out, and the skin, bones, muscles and organs in general weaken. But it includes all the stages, including the earlier growing and strengthening and reproductive stages, from pre-pubescence to pubescence to menopausal. The complexity and variety of biological precision, of structure and purpose, is utterly incomprehensible. And it cannot begin to be accounted for by some impersonal random and purposeless evolutionary process. For example, how and why should there be a process by which the genes and relevant cellular structures change the color of our hair from blonde or dark or whatever to white? How and why are all our cellular processes altered, with the replacement cells themselves being differently structured, so as to effect what we call the aging process?

We can all understand the natural need for aging – if we didn’t age and die, then we’d swiftly overpopulate. Of course, if we didn’t reproduce, then eternal life via continual self-replication of our cells wouldn’t be so much of a problem … although identical self-replication by the cells would also mean that we would never develop past our original form, there would never be any growth or development or change. It is truly amazing how this all fits together: growth, reproduction, aging, death – how it all makes such perfect sense. But when we’re talking about sense and purpose and reasons why things need to happen, we’re then referring to a world given by planning and design, as opposed to life randomly developing via some impersonal ‘evolutionary’ processes. It is very curious how so many scientists, possessed of rational intelligence, looking for reason(s) behind existence, believe that the answer is this random process that itself lacks any reason or purpose of its own.

We must be very clear: there is no intelligence or plan implied by the concept of evolution. There is no purpose or guide behind it. Even if we overlook that it cannot explain any ‘urge for survival,’ still, that urge itself does not explain the existence of inconceivably complex and precise mechanisms for effecting survival. So it’s all very well to recognize reasons for why such a mechanism as aging is necessary and natural … but evolution neither endorses nor offers any such reasons. We cannot begin to explain the aging processes by evolution, how and why they should exist, how the entire genetic informational system within an individual is constantly changing the overall cellular structure of each individual, and in such a coordinated and precise, non-chaotic manner.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As an adjunct to this line of thought, consider how you might sometimes see woods and forests stretching away into the distance, perhaps when going on a long drive. Do you ever wonder how it is that those distant tree-lines are so even, how the trees are all growing to around the same height? What is maintaining that status quo?

Surely if everything was going on under the dictates of evolution, random mutation and natural selection, with everything vying for some new advantage, we would not expect to see so much conformity; rather, we would see so many individual trees going beyond the limitations of their species and growing taller and broader so as to catch the lion’s share of the sunlight and also to shoulder aside the competition for soil and space. In other words, there should be unrestrained growth and fecundity, filled with mutation upon mutation to facilitate greater survivability. But there isn’t. Rather, everything is held in check, it’s balanced: there’s a pattern – actually, there are so many patterns, one within another within another, all interconnected within a single great cosmic order. It’s not just a wild, uncontrolled and urgent race for survival, randomly bursting out every which way. It’s all regulated.

We understand that the genes are the agents for such regulation. The processes of aging also occur under their direction. The limits within which individual trees are growing are set by the genes. All species are conforming to specific directions as established by their respective genes. So that the million dollar question is then, again, what is regulating the genes, and giving them the directions they pass on?

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The word "flutter" according to Random House Webster's is to wave, flap, or toss about: as banners fluttering in the breeze; to move in quick, irregular motions; vibrate; to beat rapidly, as the heart; to be tremulous or agitated; to go with irregular motions or aimless course as to flutter back and forth.

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Of the two energies manifest [spirit and dull matter], beings possessing living force [vegetables, grass, trees and plants] are superior to dull matter [stone, earth, etc.]. Superior to nonmoving plants and vegetables are worms and snakes, which can move. Superior to worms and snakes are animals that have developed intelligence. Superior to animals are human beings, and superior to human beings are ghosts because they have no material bodies. Superior to ghosts are the Gandharvas, and superior to them are the Siddhas. Superior to the Siddhas are the Kinnaras, and superior to them are the asuras. Superior to the asuras are the devatas, and of the devatas, Indra, the King of heaven, is supreme. Superior to Indra are the direct sons of Lord Brahmâ, sons like King Daksha, and supreme among Brahmâ's sons is Rudra. Since Rudra is the son of Lord Brahmâ, Brahmâ is considered superior, but Brahmâ is also subordinate to Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because I am inclined to the brâhmanas, the brâhmanas are best of all.

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 5 Chapter 5 Verses 21-22

Visiting the cows in the new Goshalla at Bhaktivedanta Manor letchmore heath, donated by George Harrison of the Beatles in the 1970’s

We will be uploading pictures and a report from Sunday's Holi celebrations today (Monday) so stay tuned!

Tonight’s Sunday feast lecture was especially phenomenal.  My Guru Maharaj, His Divine Grace Sriman Sankarshan das Adhikari seemed to be especially fired up perhaps in light of their departure for yet another world preaching tour tomorrow morning. The verse Maharaj spoke on was Bhagavad-Gita 9:14 namely: satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha-vratah namasyantas ca mam bhaktya nitya-yukta upasate Always chanting [...]

What comes to sadhana and chanting- the last few weeks haven't been particularly good, but some small realizations have been there.
When we go on chanting the holy name we should gradually develop more understanding about ourselves. What is the gross body....what is the mind....what is intelligence....what is false ego and what is our real self, the spirit soul.
Sometimes in some a semi-sleep condition, we can especially clearly see these different levels. During our sleep, the mind is not controlled and our mind may start to meditate on different kali-yuga activites like taking intoxicants or having sex life.
It is sometimes said that dreams are one kind of parameter to our Krsna consciousness - if we are strongly connected to the spiritual energy, we are Krsna conscious even in our dreams...if not, we will see our anarthas and attachments in our dreams.
Just recently I woke in a middle of the night to kind of semi-sleep and was in some non-devotional meditations, but slowly I started to realize that it is just my mind and not myself - I was an observer....then slowly I started chant and soon woke up.
It made me think that I am so lucky that I have the maha-mantra by which to control and purify my mind - most of the living entities are completely obsessed by the three modes of nature and forced to follow the impulses of their minds.

Today is D-day. The world tour begins at 10:30am. We are launching another assault against the deeply entrenched material civilization. After many weeks of careful preparation we are finally heading out. In regards to traveling and preaching all over the world, Srila Prabhupada explains: "The life of a sincere devotee of the Lord is thus explained...

1970 March 15: "When I remember you all and George Harrison, I become very happy. Whenever this nice boy comes to our Temple, please receive him very nicely. Give him Prasadam and talk with him about Krishna."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1973 March 15: "If Members of Parliament join that will be a new chapter for us. India is the spiritual leader of the world but fools and rascals are trying to sabotage."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1974 March 15: "It is all right if you live independently but speak the philosophy exactly right as it comes in disciplic succession. You must speak Krsna Consciousness knowledge with no interpretation of your own."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 March 15: "History is also eternal. There is a saying, 'History repeats itself.' Why make a distinction between history and eternity? Things are happening eternally; this is history."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1975 March 15: "Your proposal is very nice. I want to take a party of sankirtana movement all over India if some of the leaders like you co-operate. Please come and see me at my Bombay center."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1966 March 15:
"Navami. In the evening five ladies and gentlemen visited. There was some talks. Mrs. Leblanc is now losing interest since she has learnt it that Bhagwat Geeta does not support monism. No income today."
Prabhupada Journal :: 1966

1969 March 15: "No letter from you is useless for me - they are all important. And you can write as long a letter as you can. I shall read them carefully with attention in spite of my various duties always."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1969 March 15: "Your only business is how to become pure devotee of Lord Krishna. Then everything is all right. Please remember this truth always, and do your duty for strongly pushing on this Krishna Consciousness movement."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1969 March 15: "Govinda dasi misled me - there is no abundant supply of nice mangos. The fruit will not be ripened until late May or June so I shall soon be returning to the mainland for my other engagements."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1970 March 15: "When I remember you all and George Harrison, I become very happy. Whenever this nice boy comes to our Temple, please receive him very nicely. Give him Prasadam and talk with him about Krishna."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1966 March 15:
"Navami. In the evening five ladies and gentlemen visited. There was some talks. Mrs. Leblanc is now losing interest since she has learnt it that Bhagwat Geeta does not support monism. No income today."
Prabhupada Journal :: 1966

1969 March 15: "No letter from you is useless for me - they are all important. And you can write as long a letter as you can. I shall read them carefully with attention in spite of my various duties always."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1969 March 15: "Your only business is how to become pure devotee of Lord Krishna. Then everything is all right. Please remember this truth always, and do your duty for strongly pushing on this Krishna Consciousness movement."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1969 March 15: "Govinda dasi misled me - there is no abundant supply of nice mangos. The fruit will not be ripened until late May or June so I shall soon be returning to the mainland for my other engagements."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1973 March 15: "If Members of Parliament join that will be a new chapter for us. India is the spiritual leader of the world but fools and rascals are trying to sabotage."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1974 March 15: "It is all right if you live independently but speak the philosophy exactly right as it comes in disciplic succession. You must speak Krsna Consciousness knowledge with no interpretation of your own."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 March 15: "History is also eternal. There is a saying, 'History repeats itself.' Why make a distinction between history and eternity? Things are happening eternally; this is history."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1975 March 15: "Your proposal is very nice. I want to take a party of sankirtana movement all over India if some of the leaders like you co-operate. Please come and see me at my Bombay center."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

Every Town and Village is our ongoing attempt to fulfil the instruction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu to chant the Holy Name in every town and village. Our definition of a "town or village" is a suburb with a distinct postcode. Since 2007 we have chanted in more than 50 of Brisbane's 150 postcodes. You can read more reports here

This weekend a small but dedicated party visited the sleepy suburb of Carina to chant the Holy Names. Materially a "failure", but spiritually a success. The name was chanted, and within the closed system of the physical universe the metaphysical understanding of a world outside and the personal origin of consciousness moved matter.

The people were cold and the sun was hot. Nobody came out of their house to see us, and those who were outside frostily returned our waves, ignored us, or ran inside and closed the doors.

However, one day in the future, someone will be retelling how they became a devotee, and they will say: "...one day the most random thing happened. Some devotees came past my house in the afternoon doing harinam. It was weird."

The Lord moves in mysterious ways, or as Srila Rupa Goswami puts it: the way of love is crooked, like a snake. While we are on harinam I often think of this as I see the harinam party weaving its way through the material energy.

Today's camera man (for the first half at least) was Prahlad, who also took this self-portrait:

I read the other day on H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami's blog:

Lila-avatara asked me why devotees aren’t going on harinama in the streets and why they aren’t distributing books like they used to. I had no good answer.

Really the only question that we can ask and answer is this: "Why am I not going out on harinam?"

And if you are going out on harinam, why not share with some photos, a report, or a youtube video?

1949 March 14: "Some way or other your mill area has been named as the Jagannatha Puri and I suggest that an actual temple of Sri Jagannathaji may be erected for the benefit of these mill workers."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1947-64

1966 March 14: "I have lost today the good fountain pen given to me by Gopal. I am very sorry for this but I should not lament because it was given by somebody and it is taken by somebody else."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1966

1967 March 14: "They are never for public show. They are very confidential and meant for advanced devotees who know Krishna fairly well. The neophytes will be misguided by such pictures. I hope you will understand me right."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1969 March 14: "There is no material advancement here, I am seeing practically. The Western type of civilization, industrialism and capitalism, is not material advancement. It is material exploitation."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1970 March 14: "I am very happy your son is growing strong and blissful. That is good news. We need as many Krishna Conscious souls as possible, trained from the very beginning of their lives, to carry on our mission and purify society."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1975 March 14: "It appears these scientists have become intelligent. Try to meet with them and make arrangement for them to meet with me when I come for Rathayatra. That will be nice."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1974 March 14: "As he is their elder, they should show the proper respect. It is sometimes difficult for elderly people to live in our ISKCON society, so you have to make it as congenial as possible for them."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1972 March 14: "Proceed Vrindaban immediately. Await instructions. Bhaktivedanta Swami."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

...is that they talk nonsense

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 2.5.13

1975 March 14: "It appears these scientists have become intelligent. Try to meet with them and make arrangement for them to meet with me when I come for Rathayatra. That will be nice."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1974 March 14: "As he is their elder, they should show the proper respect. It is sometimes difficult for elderly people to live in our ISKCON society, so you have to make it as congenial as possible for them."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1972 March 14: "Proceed Vrindaban immediately. Await instructions. Bhaktivedanta Swami."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1949 March 14: "Some way or other your mill area has been named as the Jagannatha Puri and I suggest that an actual temple of Sri Jagannathaji may be erected for the benefit of these mill workers."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1947-64

1966 March 14: "I have lost today the good fountain pen given to me by Gopal. I am very sorry for this but I should not lament because it was given by somebody and it is taken by somebody else."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1966

1967 March 14: "They are never for public show. They are very confidential and meant for advanced devotees who know Krishna fairly well. The neophytes will be misguided by such pictures. I hope you will understand me right."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1970 March 14: "I am very happy your son is growing strong and blissful. That is good news. We need as many Krishna Conscious souls as possible, trained from the very beginning of their lives, to carry on our mission and purify society."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1969 March 14: "There is no material advancement here, I am seeing practically. The Western type of civilization, industrialism and capitalism, is not material advancement. It is material exploitation."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

read more

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

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 Swami

Upon 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 Maharaja

For 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.

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

Gaura Purnima Lecture - MP3 format given by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami on 10th March 2009. More at sdgonline.org

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 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 Shriman Matsyavatara Prabhu, 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 - Matsyavatara Prabhu 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

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.

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.

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.

'Man (humankind) is created in the image of God' from Genesis 1:25. This means that God is a Person.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is 1.1 - The potency of hearing Bhagavad-gita from authorised sources.

nityananda

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?”

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