Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 1, Chapter 2, Text 16 by Giriraj Swami.

Dallas, TX
2009-03-20

TRANSLATION

O twice-born sages, by serving those devotees who are completely freed from all vice, great service is done. By such service, one gains affinity for hearing the messages of Vasudeva.

PURPORT

The conditioned life of a living being is caused by his revolting against the Lord. There are men called deva, or godly living beings, and there are men called asuras, or demons, who are against the authority of the Supreme Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita (Sixteenth Chapter) a vivid description of the asuras is given in which it is said that the asuras are put into lower and lower states of ignorance life after life and so sink to the lower animal forms and have no information of the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. These asuras are gradually rectified to God consciousness by the mercy of the Lord's liberated servitors in different countries according to the supreme will. Such devotees of God are very confidential associates of the Lord, and when they come to save human society from the dangers of godlessness, they are known as the powerful incarnations of the Lord, as sons of the Lord, as servants of the Lord or as associates of the Lord. But none of them falsely claim to be God themselves. This is a blasphemy declared by the asuras, and the demoniac followers of such asuras also accept pretenders as God or His incarnation. In the revealed scriptures there is definite information of the incarnation of God. No one should be accepted as God or an incarnation of God unless he is confirmed by the revealed scriptures.

The servants of God are to be respected as God by the devotees who actually want to go back to Godhead. Such servants of God are called mahatmas, or tirthas, and they preach according to particular time and place. The servants of God urge people to become devotees of the Lord. They never tolerate being called God. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was God Himself according to the indication of the revealed scriptures, but He played the part of a devotee. People who knew Him to be God addressed Him as God, but He used to block His ears with His hands and chant the name of Lord Vishnu. He strongly protested against being called God, although undoubtedly He was God Himself. The Lord behaves so to warn us against unscrupulous men who take pleasure in being addressed as God.

The servants of God come to propagate God consciousness, and intelligent people should cooperate with them in every respect. By serving the servant of God, one can please God more than by directly serving the Lord. The Lord is more pleased when He sees that His servants are properly respected because such servants risk everything for the service of the Lord and so are very dear to the Lord. The Lord declares in the Bhagavad-gita (18.69) that no one is dearer to Him than one who risks everything to preach His glory. By serving the servants of the Lord, one gradually gets the quality of such servants, and thus one becomes qualified to hear the glories of God. The eagerness to hear about God is the first qualification of a devotee eligible for entering the kingdom of God.

Download: 2009-03-20 - Priti and Sam Home Program - 4 - Giriraj Swami - Lecture on SB 1.2.16.mp3

1971 May 6: "I have come to Malaysia. This place appears to be very prospective for our preaching work. People are inclined to give us land and a house. I'll try to open a branch immediately, either in Kuala Lumpur or Ipoh or Teluk Anson."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1973 May 6: "I am very glad to know that Ananda Prabhu is staying with you. Please offer my dandabats. He is my old god brother. Sincere Vaisnava. Please treat him like your father. Do remain in full cooperation."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1973 May 6: "Please continue to send men out into the interior, village to village and town to town. I am very glad to hear how our festival program is going on so nicely in Germany. That you have opened one branch in Stockholm, Sweden is very good to hear."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1968 May 6: "Now you have to find out some person who can distribute our literature. If we have no outlet for selling the books it will be a problem. If there is nice distribution arrangement, then at least two to four new books we can publish every year."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1969 May 6: "There are at least twenty-five important cities in your country, so if we distribute at least 1,000 copies in each city, that is 25,000 copies in your country alone. So it requires only organization."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1970 May 6: "I tried to give aural reception to the words of my Spiritual Master and thus I tried to engage my tongue in repeating the same words without any change. I delayed to execute His order by so many years. But it was better I began late than never."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1973 May 6: "As GBC member it is your duty to carefully make a broad program for implementing Krsna Consciousness in every sphere of life, in this way we will become respected as the most important members of human society."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1973 May 6: "They are simply cheating the mass of men by making false propaganda. We must expose these rascals by strong preaching and profuse distribution of these Krsna Conscious literatures."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1968 May 6: "Now you have to find out some person who can distribute our literature. If we have no outlet for selling the books it will be a problem. If there is nice distribution arrangement, then at least two to four new books we can publish every year."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1969 May 6: "There are at least twenty-five important cities in your country, so if we distribute at least 1,000 copies in each city, that is 25,000 copies in your country alone. So it requires only organization."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1970 May 6: "I tried to give aural reception to the words of my Spiritual Master and thus I tried to engage my tongue in repeating the same words without any change. I delayed to execute His order by so many years. But it was better I began late than never."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1971 May 6: "I have come to Malaysia. This place appears to be very prospective for our preaching work. People are inclined to give us land and a house. I'll try to open a branch immediately, either in Kuala Lumpur or Ipoh or Teluk Anson."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1973 May 6: "Please continue to send men out into the interior, village to village and town to town. I am very glad to hear how our festival program is going on so nicely in Germany. That you have opened one branch in Stockholm, Sweden is very good to hear."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1973 May 6: "As GBC member it is your duty to carefully make a broad program for implementing Krsna Consciousness in every sphere of life, in this way we will become respected as the most important members of human society."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1973 May 6: "They are simply cheating the mass of men by making false propaganda. We must expose these rascals by strong preaching and profuse distribution of these Krsna Conscious literatures."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1973 May 6: "I am very glad to know that Ananda Prabhu is staying with you. Please offer my dandabats. He is my old god brother. Sincere Vaisnava. Please treat him like your father. Do remain in full cooperation."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

“THE SCIENCE OF MEDITATION”

Lecture by Matsya Avatara Dasa

Naples, Castello Angioino, 20th December 2008

Conference “The Science of Meditation”

THE UNCONSCIOUS "PEOPLE"

During our introspective journey we encounter a number of experiences that the individual lives unconsciously, almost unknowingly, but that keep interacting with him every day. These unconscious experiences can be individual or common to various creatures, and constitute an integral part of this universe in its entirety. This is the case of the collective unconscious described by Jung. The collective unconscious constitutes the world of archetypes, the world of symbols, where eventually an American, an Indio, a person who lives in Cape of Good Hope, an Eskimo or a Chinese, have the same essential reference systems: this is indeed the universal nature of symbols. Such is the crucial importance of the concept of memory or remembrance, in Sanskrit smritaya: what can be remembered both at conscious and unconscious level.

These memories are all the more conditioning when they are unconscious, because a memory or a conscious thought can be temporarily or voluntarily put aside by a person who may be trying to concentrating on something else, while an unconscious memory, precisely due to its nature, cannot be directly and consciously managed by the individual, who becomes agitated by such memories. Similar experiences stored in the deep unconscious or karmashaya are called samskara, where sam means "together" and kara comes from the Sanskrit root kr meaning "to do". In themselves these experiences have no positive or negative value, but their importance is in the powerful influence they have on the individual, who generally and incorrectly thinks that he is the author of his actions. Similar experiences attract one another and dig deep grooves into the unconscious psyche, veritable paths on which the individual always treads, reinforcing them more and more. Such psychic grooves are constituted by the individual tendencies, vasanas, that are also positive or negative. So we are often agitated by the unconscious without knowing it, pushed by our tendencies that may be artistic, scientific, harmonizing or oppressing, pacific or hostile, and obviously in order to really become the masters of ourselves, we must clean out such tendencies, especially the negative ones. There are very precise and effective techniques that enable us, through the use of will power, to transform the contents of the unconscious: a fundamental work in order to engage in the path of meditation. Only in this way we will be able to free our intuition power, the "path of the heart", that we can successfully walk only if the heart has been properly purified.

INSTRUMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE: INTUITION BEYOND PERCEPTION

In order to attain knowledge we can not depend on sense perception, that as we have seen already, allows us to know maybe the 0.1% of the external and internal reality, and we cannot even depend on the information broadcast in society, especially in a society like the one we live in, highly technological, completely extroverted and finalized to the realization of external projects, where judgments are often prejudices. In this case discrimination constitutes the application of Socrates' motto, "knowing we do not know", and is an invitation to question oneself, to not accepting something blindly only because it appears to our senses or to our reason, to constructively question our deep beliefs. In this way it will be possible to overcome the concept of reality that is anchored to the physical and psychic world, overcoming the mere rational function, the "short-winged" intellect (in Dante's words) and by rediscovering the pure intuition faculties, typical of the child psyche, that are at the basis of modern scientific research. In this perspective we do not want to deny intellect in general, the "treasure of intellect" (again, in Dante's words), because it constitutes a valuable instrument of research when it is not misused to damage other channel of knowledge, that must be properly used but with detachment - just like in pole jumping, the athlete must use the pole to make the jump and then drop it in order to complete the leap. 

All the great discoveries come from brilliant intuitions and only later they are verified experimentally through positive sciences such as mathematics, physics and chemistry, so that they become evident for all and not only for those who have "given birth" to them in the first place. Explaining, or sharing our discoveries and realizations with others, constitutes the sentiment of compassion, karuna, and transmitting them in a convincing manner with the typical respect of the spirit of offering, is fundamental for the growth of the individual as well as for the good of others around us. Because whatever we give to others always comes back to us, and there is no better way of benefiting ourselves but doing good to others, offering them what is most precious for ourselves.

Jim Kohr was the all-American boy. Handsome, strong, intelligent born in an upper middle-class family. A good student, he took a degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University.

The following is the speech H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami gave at the United Nations Headquarters, New York City, NY, USA for the Panel Discussion on “Forgiveness: a pathway to human transformation”.

United Nations Headquarters

What I will present here today is the Vedic perspective of forgiveness and the appropriate means to cultivate and demonstrate that noble quality. Vedas is the wisdom that descended from the spiritual reality, since time immemorial – since the time of creation. Just as, along with a machine comes the operation manual describing what is the purpose of the machine and how to operate it, the Vedas describe the purpose of this material nature, how it functions and how we should achieve our desired goal here.

Vedas generally do not deal with the immediate effect, rather with the cause behind the effect. For example, the Vedic branch of medicine, “Ayurveda,” does not deal with the symptoms of the disease only, rather with its inherent causes. It deals with the three elements of the body – mucus, bile
and air, whose imbalance manifests in the form of disease.

According to the Vedic understanding, we act according to the three modes of material nature, namely, the mode of goodness, the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance.

Goodness is motivated by spiritual understanding; passion is motivated by the desire to enjoy this world and ignorance is total oblivion of the actual reality. For example, one person gets hit by a bicycle. If he is in the mode of ignorance he will start crying due to pain. If he is in passion he will grab the cyclist by his throat and start beating him up. However, if he is in goodness, he will brush the dust off his body and will tell the cyclist that everything is alright and there is nothing to worry about. Those who are in the mode of goodness are generally known as “saintly”. Qualities such as tolerance, mercy, compassion and forgiveness are their natural ornaments.

One of the most wonderful demonstration of compassion and forgiveness is when Jesus was being crucified. He was praying to the Lord, “Please forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.”

How could one display such tolerance and compassion? It is because of his love for them. Although they were treating him in such a brutal way, he just saw them as his brothers who did not know what they were doing. Just as an elder brother sees the wrong doings of his younger brothers, and when fails to correct them in spite his repeated endeavors. Knowing well how angry the father will become, he appeals to the father to forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.

One can develop such an attitude only when he becomes situated in the mode of goodness. Then only he becomes saintly by being enlightened with true knowledge of understanding God and developing his loving relationship with Him.

People in general are acting in the mode of ignorance. They have to be reminded about their mistakes and help them to rectify their mistakes. They must be brought to the platform of knowledge. They have to be educated.Punishment alone will not achieve that noble cause. We have to make them understand that for their own benefit as well as for the collective benefit of the world, they should refrain from such actions.

In order to assume the role of the elder brothers and guide them on a proper path, we ourselves have to become situated in the mode of goodness first; we have to become saintly and develop the qualities that will truly benefit the misdirected civilization of today.

In order to develop this universal brotherhood, we have to recognize our Supreme Father. It does not matter by which name we identify Him or call Him, but we have to recognize His presence and His affectionate influence in our lives. Then only can we develop our loving relationship with each other.
Subsequently the divine qualities such as mercy, tolerance, compassion and forgiveness will become the natural ornaments of our noble characters. At that time we will be able to help this planet to become transformed into paradise.

At the end of last school year, a parent brought sugar cookies decorated with faces in for a farewell treat. Since my kids are on an eggless diet, they knew those cookies were not for them. But could you blame a kid for desiring? As per their request, I baked up a few batches of eggless face cookies for them to delight in last year.

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world...simply send me an introduction email and I will be happy to make you a member:

rasa108@gmail.com

ys

Rasa Rasika dasa

Radha Krisna prabhuval itt vagyunk a reptéren, úton New York felé. Onnan tovább megyünk Új Vrindavanba a “Festival of Inspiration” rendezvényre. Hogy miért is megyünk arról a következo napokban fogok mesélni. Ha sikerül, errol az útról lesz videós beszámoló. Persze, ha érdekel valakit…

Örömmel tudatom veletek, hogy kiadtuk Srila Indadyumna Maharaja “Egy utazó prédikátor naplója” sorozatának első két könyvét. Ez a két könyv egy kötetben jelent meg, 190 oldalas kiadvány lett, melynek szövegét újra lektoráltuk. Maharaja nagyon örült, hogy mostmár magyar nyelven is elérhető lett a könyve és reméli, hogy minél több bhaktához eljut.

Ezen a linken, illetve a templomi shopokban megveheted.

Felmerül a kérdés, hogy miért vegye meg az ember, ha online is elérhető a napló?

1. A neten elérhető verziókat a tanítványok fordították, hogy mihamarabb elolvashassák a bhakták. Sajnos nyelvi lektorálásra nem volt idő, ezért a Gabhira prabhu sok-sok órát fordított arra, hogy a könyvben található anyag elkészüljön.
2. Egy könyvet a kézbe fogni és olvasni még mindig más érzés, mint egy monitoron olvasni. Nem tudom, hogy mások ezzel hogy vannak, lehet, hogy csak én vagyok ilyen maradi.

A könyvet online, ezen a linken vásárolhatjátok meg.

It is once again time for a guided meditation on the ripened fruit of the tree of Vedic knowledge, the Srimad-Bhagavatam

I humbly ask you to read first the translation and Bhaktivedanta purport to today's verse, the 10th verse from Ninth Chapter of the Third Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

ahny āpṛtārta-karaṇā niśi niḥśayānā

nānā-manoratha-dhiyā kṣaṇa-bhagna-nidrāḥ

daivāhatārtha-racanā ṛṣayo 'pi deva

yuṣmat-prasańga-vimukhā iha saḿsaranti

Such nondevotees engage their senses in very troublesome and extensive work, and they suffer insomnia at night because their intelligence constantly breaks their sleep with various mental speculations. They are frustrated in all their various plans by supernatural power. Even great sages, if they are against Your transcendental topics, must rotate in this material world.

I just wanted to appreciate and offer some meditations on a recent class done by our esteemed guest HG Damodar Gopal Prabhu of Montreal and Chowpatty on this verse. I hope I may add something to his already wonderful and profound observations.

I must admit I'm always tickled with these kinds of verses, in which the minute fallacies of our contemporary civlization of vice and conceit are placed in the proper light of the parampara.

After all, what is more revolutionary that "you are not your body, you're spirit soul!" Every activist group of progressive minds is actually aiming at this ideal, this liberation, this freedom against the clearly perceived injustices of our material existence.

The complete vision that Prabhupada has given us actually makes him the supreme activist, the one who can give us what we really lack and want: our selves, in real, eternal freedom, and what's more, he can give us our loving relationship with Krsna once again, if we sincerely desire it.

Our contemporary post-modern hodge-podge of gadgets, guns, and gonzo living is a veritable monster, on the loose, devouring our forests, hedge funds, idealistic politicans, and so many senses of decency and piety. It is a monster of lust, a capitalistic, industrialized, over-technological creature of comfort.

We are its victims as well as its confidants, its bridegroom and its divorcee. Prabhupada could clearly see this from the core of his vision, and his strong and crystal-clear writings on the precarious situation we have put ourselves in as a collective people stand with and above all such revolutionary expressions.

In the purport to this verse, Prabhupada writes:

"As described in the previous verse, people who have no taste for the devotional service of the Lord are occupied in material engagements. Most of them engage during the daytime in hard physical labor; their senses are engaged very extensively in troublesome duties in the gigantic plants of heavy industrial enterprise.

"Factory" is another name for hell. At night, hellishly engaged persons take advantage of wine and women to satisfy their tired senses, but they are not even able to have sound sleep because their various mental speculative plans constantly interrupt their sleep. Because they suffer from insomnia sometimes they feel sleepy in the morning for lack of sufficient rest. By the arrangement of supernatural power, even the great scientists and thinkers of the world suffer frustration of their various plans and thus rot in the material world birth after birth."

We think this is normal. We rotate our entire lives around the expectations of some such temporary pleasure to be derived from this vicious cycle. And Prabhupada clearly states that even the so-called "great minds" are not immune. Indeed they are often the ones, consciously or unconsciously, creating the social and economic spheres for the monster to stomp around on us.

It boils down to hankering and lamenting. This is the essence of the material nature. We are trying to enjoy seperately from Krsna, and we are in a world filled with so many different varieties of sensual delights.

We desire, we obsess, we think, we feel, and we act. In Calcutta on 1-27-73, speaking on verse 7:1 from the Gita, Prabhupada spoke the plain truth about this:

"Because in the karmi stage we have got two diseases: hankering and lamenting. Whatever you have got, if it is lost, then I lament. "Oh, I got this and that and it is now lost." And whatever we do not possess, we hanker after. So for possessing, we hanker, we work so hard. And when it is lost, we again lament and cry. This is karmi stage. So brahma-bhutah stage... Jnäna stage means he has no more lamenting or hankering. Prasannätmä. "Oh, I am, aham brahmasmi. What I have got to do with this body? My business is to cultivate transcendental knowledge, brahma-jnäna. So in that stage, brahma-bhütah prasannätmä na socati na känksati samah sarvesu bhütesu [Bg. 18.54]. That is the test. He has no lamenting. He has no hankering. And he's equal to everyone. Panditah sama-darsinah."

Again, what is more revolutionary than this? This is the summit of all progressive human aspiration, and beyond.

Another point that Damodar Gopal Prabhu made was that our contemporary system of education is the feeder into this ideology of impersonal and demonic exploitation. As I can relate from my own experience, your normal everyday, idealistic young college student is fed into a spiral of credit and debt, consumption and need...a veritable slaughterhouse.

Prabhupada writes from "The Art of Dying" from The Science of Self-Realization:

"The modern setup of human civilization is a risky one because it offers no education about relevant inquiries into the essential principles of life. Like animals, people do not know that they are going to be slaughtered by the laws of nature. They are satisfied with a bunch of green grass, or a so-called jolly life, like the waiting goat in a slaughterhouse. Considering such a condition of human life, we are just trying to make a humble attempt to save the human being by the message of Back to Godhead. This method is not fictitious. If there is at all to be an era of reality, this message of Back to Godhead is the beginning of that era."

It is our spiritual foundation, the house that Prabhupada built, that is our gift to all progressive-minded living entities. To dovetail our aspirations for a more just, humane, and equitable world into the vision that Prabhupada has given insures that our efforts will rise above the modes of nature.

Without a God-centered core, the modes of nature, the monster, will gradually and with great steadiness eat away at all of our energies and sincerity.

Prabhupada's vision is a mix of the urban and the rural. The lynchpins are book distribution (and all the dynamic city preaching and shelter that comes along with it) and self-sufficient, spiritually centered farm communities. This could save the world...at least temporarily, in a Golden Age kinda way.

It could save many souls, giving them back exactly what they are looking for in their protests, occupations, petitions, hunger strikes, martyrdoms, etc.

Satsvarupa Maharaja states this excellently here in an excerpt from his book Living With The Scriptures:

When the devotees regularly produce excellent books and magazine articles, and as they continue to distribute Prabhupäda’s books more and more, and when they establish successful farm communities, and when they solve their own problems of education, marriage, and community cooperation, and when they demonstrate the perfect Vaisnava etiquette of ladies and gentlemen–not just with a handful of members, but with thousands–then eventually the dull brains of the suffering population of Kali-yuga will come to realize Prabhupäda’s message, and we can be satisfied by fulfilling his request.

If there is truth in the homely proverb “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door,” then it should not be very long before the practical ability of devotees to solve their problems and the problems of other people in the world begins to manifest more clearly to everyone, and the world’s citizens begin a mass movement of beating their path to the Krsna consciousness movement and back to Godhead.

My heart always remains connected to the progressive vibe, to the movement of the people. I pray very humbly, knowing I have little ability on my own, to Guru and Gauranga, for the guidance and ability to serve these striving humans and spirit souls by allowing them to understand the sublime message of Krsna Consciousness.

By Deena das

For the pleasure of the devotees this coming Nrsimha Caturdasi, below is Chapter 231 of the Garuda purana, where Mahadeva Shiva calls on Lord Narasimhadeva.

By Akruranatha das

The volunteers were members of Pancajanya Project (www.MotelGita.org), a branch of ISKCON dedicated to placing at least 1 million Bhagavad-Gitas in guest rooms across the U.S. and Canada.

Based on a talk with H.G. Atmatattva Dasadhikari. On the 24th of March, 1984, at 12:20 a.m., thirty-five dacoits armed with weapons and bombs attacked Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir. They harassed the devotees and treated them with derision. But the greatest shock came when the dacoits decided to steal the Deities of Srila Prabhupada and Srimatl Radharani. Fearlessly, the devotees challenged the attackers. How could they see Srila Prabhupada and Srimatl Radharani carried away? Shots were fired, a few dacoits fell, and their plans were foiled. Srila Prabhupada was rescued, but that beautiful form of Srimati Radharani would no longer grace the main altar.

read more

Some of us have experienced life in a desert. Statistics reveal how increasing desertification is a sign of deteriorating environment. This is written in the Srimad Bhagavatam as part of the sinful reaction land had to accept in an exchange with Lord Indra.

Suhki Krsna Prabhu’s bhajan on Gaura Purnima 2009. ISKCON WALES.

Interesting article from the BBC which shows the increasing use of alcohol in the UK; including a shift in the age group that drinks the most, read it here: Female binge drink rates \"Double\" Interesting though they do not look at the reasons why although the long term medical effects are know by most, intelegance is not [...]

We have just received this letter from a searching soul that was finally united with Srila Prabhupada’s guidance in the form of his books. Name and names of places are withheld.

Dear Friend,

Greetings and Hare Krishna from my home in Xxxxxxx. There is much I would like to talk with you about and ask you, though I am not exactly sure where to begin. This letter being the first of what I hope to be several correspondences, I suppose it makes sense for me to start at the most recent and significant turning point in my spiritual development and continue on through the present. I must first admit that even though I am extremely eager to learn about the Krishna consciousness movement, I am equally uneducated in terms of self-realization and spirituality in general, and apologize for any ignorance on my part. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and hopefully respond to my inquiries.

 

A little over a year ago while in the midst of one of my darkest times of overwhelming sadness, anxiety, and depression, a book entitled A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose was placed in my hands by my father who had sensed how much I was suffering and struggling with life at the time. Judging by the cover, my first impression was that it appeared to be some sort of self-help book; a topic in which I had little faith in at the time and did not want to hear much about while experiencing my intense mental anguish. Also, being endorsed by Oprah’s Book Club (a person for whatever reason I had developed a sort of contempt for) I was skeptical to say the least. It is safe to say that on any other day I would have paid it no mind at all had I not been feeling so beaten down and broken. I decided I had nothing to lose by reading it, and in fact, ended up gaining much more than I could have imagined.

I won’t go into too much detail here about the content of this book, but the important thing is that it seemed to be the catalyst I needed to begin discovering my true nature as a spiritual being. He spoke clearly and eloquently about how we are not actually who we think we are (”we” being those who are still completely associated with the physical realm of form) and that our imagined selves, or the ego, was created as a result of us being lost in the world of thought and sensations. He also spoke about how humanity as a whole was suffering from this common “mental illness” of materialism and uncontrolled thought. Every word seemed to resonate with truth in my heart, and as I read, what I originally thought to be myself was slowly peeled away to reveal the essential truth beneath. I was becoming conscious of myself, my true self.

What I found most beautiful about this book was that it did not seem to be a “new” teaching or religion, as there seems to be a new school of philosophy or spirituality packaged and churned out every week, but more or less a re-teaching or simplification of what the heart of all world religions seem to be pointing towards. Whatever the reason, it definitely awoke something in me that had been dormant for my whole life. This was my first actual experience of recognizing and realizing my true essence as a spiritual being and my eternal connection with God. For the next week or so after awakening, I walked around in a state of pure bliss and clarity, and spoke to all who would listen about this wonderful experience that had happened to me. I felt like I had been gifted with the most significant piece of knowledge and that virtually all my friends and family were missing out on this vital realization.

Eventually, this feeling of unity and unconditional love began to slip away from me and the sensual pleasures and pains of life once again crept into my life. This vision of clarity had all but disappeared when I began searching frantically to find this level of consciousness again. I poured through as much literature as I could about spirituality, philosophy, religion, science, and the metaphysical. I attempted volunteering at a local church and homeless shelter, spoke with friends, family, and acquaintances about spirituality, and even tried experimenting with hallucinogenic substances to try to recapture the gem I had lost. All these things seemed to hold bits and pieces of the answer, but not the answer itself. Though I could attain intermediate states of self-realization, I could not hold on to this feeling for more than a day or so before once again becoming confused and lost in the world. This has more or less been the state of things for the last year; swinging between glimpses of enlightenment and selfishness and despair.

The ideas of quitting my job, getting rid of what few physical possessions I have left, and leaving my home, family and friends in pursuit of a spiritual guide and a spiritual life have been on my mind ever since I had this first taste of God. My original plan was simply to set out with the faith that wherever I needed to be, I would end up. Literally the same day that I made the decision that I was actually going to take the leap of faith and embark on this spiritual journey, I noticed a book sitting on a friends cluttered desk entitled The Science of Self-Realization by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada which I’m sure you are familiar with. I began reading and immediately felt a direct connection with what was being taught. After reading through twice cover to cover, I have come to believe that Krishna consciousness could be the path I have so desperately been searching for in order to develop and sustain my connection with God.

What I am now looking for is a physical place where I can go to study and practice this lifestyle and be surrounded with others whose purpose is one and the same; to know, love, and serve God. It is my understanding that I can practice this path from home or wherever I may be, but I feel it is imperative for me at this point to be in the center of this movement until I have a firm grasp and understanding. I do not want to run away from the problems going on in my life, but I feel that it is important for me to distance myself geographically (at least for a while) from my current unclean way of living and let go of certain unhealthy relationships if I want to find any lasting peace in life. I keep getting the feeling that removing myself from my current life situation would be most conducive to spiritual growth, but I’m just not sure where to go. Is there a place where I can come to learn and practice this pure way of life, or do you recommend I stay in my own community and try to cultivate this practice on my own? Is there a center for new and serious devotees to congregate, live, and grow together? Do you know of any sort of Krishna conscious community in Xxxxxxx? Where do I go from here? These are the questions that have been foremost on my mind the last couple of weeks, and I would love to get some feedback on them from someone with a little experience. Once again, thank you very much for taking the time to read this and I hope we can open a line of communication so I am not feeling so anxious and alone right now in my spirituality. As I’m sure you’ve probably realized, most people (at least in my experience) are not interested at all in this kind of talk or have absolutely no idea about what I’m trying to say. At times I feel rather alone on my quest for truth. Thank you!

Hare Krishna,
Xxxxx Xxxxxx

"Udgirna" means, "erupting". We should deeply cultivate our bhajan in such a way that the pressure in our heart increases more and more, until it explodes like a volcano.

Such eruption from the heart is real preaching in the line of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Not that our bhajan, and preaching are like a fireworks display -- an artificial show that looks impressive, but lacks substance and duration.

Savarana-Sri-Gaura-Pada-Padme ( Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Sri Gauranga - from Prarthana, Sri Narottama Das Thakur)

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.8.11 - Perfection of renunciation is yukta vairagya.

On Thursday, May 7th 2009, Toronto's Hare Krishna temple will be celebrating Nrsimha Caturdasi. This is the appearance day of Lord Nrsimhadeva, Krishna’s half-man half-lion incarnation. Lord Nrsimhadeva appeared in order to deliver the saintly child Prahlada from the persecutions of his father, Hiranyakashipu.

In the summary to chapter nine in the Srimad Bhagavatam's sixth canto, we find this passge, written by Srila Prabhupada:
"Because women accepted one fourth of the sinful reactions, they are untouchable during their menstrual
period."

Toronto, Ontario

When Antonio Banderas came to Toronto to shoot “Take the Lead”, a film based on a true story of a school teacher who took some ghetto kids and jacked-up their spirits through dance, he not only “cut the rug” but the movie producers tore up the rug to replace it for a good hardwood floor.

The two owners of this old ballroom located on floor 3 at 2 Carlton St. are two happy yoga teachers, a sister team, Cynthia and Kimberly. “This large room received a new floor,” they explained to me as we were talking about the success of this evening’s program. Where Antonio had strutted his stuff, we now conducted an entire bhakti program, which included chants by bhajan band “Gaura Shakti’, a talk about devotion, eating marvelous prasadam (veggie food) and ecstatic dancing by an entire yoga community. The floor was put to good use.

Deva Datta, whom I sometimes call the moody monk, was the principle organizer. He did a splendid job. Because of his powerful presence, a beautiful orchestration of mobilizing people took place. To the beat of the mrdanga drum, folks took to dancing like ducks take to water.

My morning was equally as exciting. I spoke to a group of Unitarians from Brooklin (not to be mistaken for the mammoth city in the U.S.) about the philosophy of Krishna Conciousness. From their gentleness and kindness I could appreciate that here were a group of brahmans. And I told them what I thought. “You are brahmans by nature and you know by your own inclinations that you are caring people. People are drawn to you for your strength of character. By the qualities that are outlined by the speaker of Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna, you are brahmans. And brahmans have an obligation to inspire others and to give.”

In any event I spent a day with brahmans and yogis. That’s good company.

7 Km

May 5, 2:00 A.M.

I didn’t get much sleep last night. I woke up in the middle of the night with a headache, took a medication and went back to sleep. A few hours later, I woke up with another headache and decided to get out of bed. At 2:00 A.M., I took more medication for headache and gradually began to get better.

4:16 A.M.

It’s now 4:16 A.M. I’ve chanted over eight rounds.

I got the name Satsvarupa dasa from Srila Prabhupada in 1966. He said it meant the inner form of truth. So that means that I am not the inner form of truth, but I am the servant of the inner form of truth. Another time, he told me the name means the truth personified. So I’m a servant of the truth personified, who is Krishna. In 1972, he added on the name Goswami. That was when he gave me sannyasa. I asked him what my name would be on taking sannyasa. He said, “Just add “dasa Goswami.” So I always favor keeping the first name of diksa initiation and just adding “Swami” for those who are taking sannyasa because that’s what Prabhupada did. I don’t know how long I’ll last night, being able to chant without getting sleepy, but so far, so good. I hope I’ll be able to write today. There are so many things to write about, but they’re not all Krishna conscious. I’ve been noticing the birds lately. It’s springtime. But it’s been wet and cold. I’ll ask Baladeva to come up at 5:00 A.M., and we’ll go out to the beach.

Life is actually nice living in the yellow submarine and following my daily routine. The broken shoulder is an inconvenience, and that irritates me in all different ways, so that I don’t have enthusiasm for acting and writing. It seems to rob my mind and distract me. But it’s supposed to heal in a few weeks. Let’s see if it does. Baladeva wants me to get a three-wheeled bicycle and continue bike riding around the neighborhood, but I’m a little hesitant about it.

I hope I’ll be able to write a prayer to Krishna today. Yesterday I just didn’t have it in me. You should always be able to pray to your Lord, even if it’s a simple prayer. I’ll try. I wrote a book called Forgetting the Audience in 1993, but in this writing of the journal, I’m speaking to an audience. But it’s not a formal address, like at a graduation exercise. I’m speaking to myself, and at the same time, speaking to my friends. I’m telling them where I’m actually at, my failings and shortcomings and trying to encourage them by showing them that I’m still struggling despite the deficits. That’s my style.

I had been happy to be writing a poem about japa every day, but now I can’t use my hand to write, and it’s hard to compose a poem in your mind. My chanting this mornign was in my mind and mechanical, but it was fast—under six minutes. I’m so grateful to Baladeva for being like a fireman and being ready to answer my call at any time of the day when I need him. I couldn’t get around without him nowadays. Dattatreya helps, too. He does the life-saving work of typing the journal every day. The journal is my main service, my main source of satisfaction. I’m receiving letters from people who say they like it, and that’s nice. So I’ve got to keep it up, both for my own joie de vivre and for my audience. Now I’ll go back and do a little more chanting.

4:30 A.M.

From Forgetting the Audience (1993): “With these japa retreat diaries in March, 1993, I am going a step beyond writing a book of my self-discovery intended to be shared with friendly readers. Now I am freer to write just because I write. To see it more for what it is as a raw exercise—and not at that same time try to shape it into usable literature in the form of a book.

“The artist has predominated in other free-write books. Now even he is taking a back seat. Writing is writing itself.

“If I want to write, I will; if I want to pause and not write, I will—I like to think I have those options. I’m not driven to communicate or express. I’m free. (I shouldn’t hold on to a ‘romantic’ or even ‘tragic’ or ‘heroic’ image of myself as an artist-writer who is compelled to write by a higher source of power.)

“I’m going a step further. But still a writer. Just doing it as bhajana—I hope it will be acceptable to Krishna as such.”

(Composed on the tongue)

Japa man, japa man, chant your merry way.

If you slip, pick yourself up

and continue through the day.

Don’t forget it is your most important duty,

so even when it’s not so pretty,

continue to paint the words.

Krishna likes it in any form,

although He’d like it best.

Japa man, japa man, I give you full support.

Japa man, japa man, I’ll make my little reports.

We’re going to see how we are doing

keeping record of the scores.

Never fail to do sixteen

then you’ll try for more.

6:50 A.M.

My name is Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. I am sixty-nine years old. For the first twenty-six years of my life, my name was Stephen or Steve or Stevie Guarino. My mother gave me the middle name Thomas for Catholic confirmation. Up to about age sixteen, people called me Stevie. As a freshman in college, I insisted on being called Steve. As I think of it, almost all of my life has been spent within institutions—public school, high school, college, and in the Navy, which was a very heavy institution. After the Navy, I exploited my freedom for several years, although I did work in the welfare department of New York City. In 1966, I joined ISKCON. For the first six months, it did not seem like an institution but a family. Gradually, however, it grew into an institution, a religion, a mission meant to take over the world. I was placed by the founder-acharya, Srila Prabhupada, into positions of leadership in the institution. I was an original member of the GBC (the Governing Body Commission) and was appointed to the elite corps of renounced sannyasis. As ISKCON became more of an organization, I began to feel the institutional laws that governed it as similar to the Navy. Dealing with the other young leaders became stressful. Many of them had “alpha” characters—dominating and seeking to increase their powers. My character was just the opposite of alpha, but I had been placed in the elite positions because Srila Prabhupada liked my obedience. He even wrote in a letter, “You are not a good manager, but I keep you on the GBC because you do what I say.”

There were lots of politics among the GBC members, especially at their annual meetings. I was always very quiet at those members, and members would even say to me, “Why don’t you speak?” New assignments were often given out at the yearly meetings. I did not jockey for particular positions or attempt to increase my geographic area of control. But I was given more areas every year. The temple presidents, who were supposed to be subordinate to me, actually acted as controllers and used me to rubber stamp the policies in their temples. This became complicated when I had to accept their estimations of my disciples (I had been appointed a guru), and my disciples sometimes became disappointed in me. Around this time, my health broke down, and I developed a severe case of migraine headaches, which were definitely connected to the work in the institution. The migraine attacks were so painful, I had to resign from the GBC because I could not perform my duties. This did not stop the headaches, which I still have to this day (now going on thirty years). I suffer from a traumatic experience of life in the ISKCON institution, but I maintain my membership out of loyalty to my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. For years after leaving the GBC, I remained active as a traveling preacher and writer of books. Due to an act of misbehavior, I have been removed from any remaining managerial roles I held. I’ve also been asked to reduce my spiritual profile and not initiate any more disciples. I now lead a quiet, internal life, writing a daily journal on my website and concentrating on my bhajana of chanting and hearing. This is a little resume of my life in the institution.

“Blue Pearl.” Smooth and sweet and upbeat. Right away you think of Krishna, a blue pearl. Pearls are so rare, but can you imagine a blue one? Krishna used to wear pearls around His neck, and Radharani wore them, too. But the blue pearl, perfectly shaped and colored like a fresh rain cloud, is Krishna. Bud Powell grunts a little as he plays. He can’t contain his ecstasy. Not exactly grunts, but makes a sound, like talking, like chattering. He wrote the melody and makes the improvisations. It’s now very familiar, and yet fresh. It’s not a popular tune. It’s more or less played by Bud alone, Bud and his trio. An ode to the blue pearl. The rarest of gems. Where does it come from? It’s self-manifested, not from an oyster. He plays it twice on this CD because he likes it so much. It has a rich melody. I could think of lots of friends who haven’t heard it and would like it. I’d like to introduce them to it, show them the blue pearl and say, “Isn’t this nice?” Introduce them to Bud’s “Blue Pearl” and the original Blue Pearl. He moves his feet in rhythm and bobs his head as he plays. He lives in his own world when he plays. The miseries of hard life begin when the tune is over. That’s why he wants to play as long as possible. He once went into a night club where someone else was playing the piano and asked him to move over: “Let me play!” The other piano player relented without resentment because he knew Bud was special.

“Keepin’ in the Groove.” This is classic bop. “In the groove”means you’re doing well, you’re swinging, you’re in the right order. It’s an old-fashioned saying now, “that’s groovy.” But the meaning is the same. Like the grooves in the old-time records. Staying with Krishna in parampara. No broken records, please. Stay in the groove. Don’t concoct something, but play it the way it’s laid down. The experts, the acharyas, stay in the groove. They don’t get lost or confused.

“Some Soul.” This is soul music. The word “soul” has become a cliche. Everything is soul. It’s commercial. But the original soul means spirit soul, fresh and eternal. Small as one thousandth the portion of a hair but more powerful than thousands of suns. Out of millions of soul, some soul comes to Krishna. He’s lucky, he’s fortunate. He meets a spiritual master. As for “soul,” it means the blues. We think of it as Afro-American music. It’s right on. It has a feeling of genuine emotion. Soul is similar to spirit soul in that it’s genuine stuff. They play it from the soul. The heart is close to the soul, so when you play from the heart, you’re close to playing from the soul. You’re calling out to Krishna. It’s not fluffy, commercial stuff. And that’s what the spirit is—genuine, non-phony spirit. Not like a bogus yogi. Not like a commercial musician but the piano of Bud Powell playing “Some Soul.” Some soul out of millions. Some souls are all covered over with very little chance of exposing the nakedness, which is needed. Some souls are in the mode of goodness and come back to this world to become a poet or professor again and again. But some souls get free by contact of another spirit soul who’s free. We say, “He’s some soul!” He’s the pure devotee, devoid of interests except the pleasing of the Lord.

My Dear Lord Krishna... A Prayer Essay

Which are better, the prayers which are perfectly written in the sastras or ones which are spoken from the heart of a pure devotee? One is as good as the other. The thing is, they have to be spoken sincerely. If you take a perfect prayer from the scriptures but just recite it in an empty way or with pompous rhetoric, then it’s not so good. The humble prayer, even spoken in broken words, is better if it comes from the heart. But if you can take a prayer that you’ve memorized from the Brahma-samhita and speak it with the same breath as Lord Brahma, then you’re praying perfectly. It’s all a matter of heart.

Prayer means to speak to the Lord, to implore Him, to praise Him, to thank Him. He comes in different flavors. But they should come with some knowledge of who God is, who you’re talking to. You must come with sincerity. The best prayer is the prayer of the heart. The prayer with desperation in it. The prayer with calmness in it. The prayer with the sound as sweet as the flute. The prayer stolen from Krishna. The prayer Krishna makes to Radharani, and you repeat it in His mood. The prayer the spiritual master gave you and that you repeat with obedience and loyalty. The prayers you enact, which he gave you to carry out. The best prayer can be long, like the fourteenth chapter of the Tenth Canto, or it can be just one verse. Some prayers are so wonderful that most devotees are not qualified to say them. There’s that prayer by Radharani which only Madhavendra Puri and Lord Caitanya can say. Others are not qualified to say it. We should pray as we can, not as we can’t. I like the prayers by the gopis, where they’re thinking of Krishna in Mathura, with the sophisticated ladies there. They ask whether Krishna will ever come back to them. Does He think of them? Will He ever touch them with his aguru-scented hand? And I like the prayer by Maharaja Pariksit, where he says to the gathered sages, “Let the snake bird or whatever magical thing come to bite me, but you just go on praising the glories of Lord Govinda.” And in the next verse, he says, “And if I have to be born again in this material world, let me be born in the association of devotees and let me be kind to all living entities, and let me love Krishna more than anything else.” Something like that. From time to time, you have different favorites. The more, the better. And of any choice of favorite prayers, you’d have to pick the prayers written by Lord Caitanya, the Siksastaka. And a little prayer that rose out of your own heart, full of pathos and sincerity. Vandanam is one of the nine ways to perfection in the process of devotional service.

the yellow submarine, my bhajana kutir #62→

1967 May 5: "We have to popularize this movement everywhere. If there are three or four mrdangas played at the park and there are about 20 pairs of cymbals then the kirtana will be more beautiful."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967:

1967 May 5: "If you can organize the sales of my books then there is no question of scarcity of money. I can go on printing so many books. But because the books are not selling nicely, neither there is sufficient money, so I am handicapped."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967:

1968 May 5: "So you have got good intelligence, you are born of a great nation, and good family; just utilize this opportunity to finish the business of Krishna Consciousness, without waiting for further incarnation."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968:

1971 May 5: "So far as distributing the $15,000 donation, I would advise you to send this money to ISKCON PRESS for printing Bhagavad-gita As It Is enlarged edition. So if you can kindly let me know your decision."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1972 May 5: "So far your concern about management, the solution is to be always thinking of Krishna and the Spiritual Master, then maya cannot touch you. If you very strictly follow there is no question of ever falling down."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972:

1972 May 5: "Always there will be obstacles placed in our path by the demons and atheists, but if we can remain pure, nothing will be able to stop this great transcendental movement from spreading God consciousness all over the world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972:

1974 May 5: "We have given these houses with the purpose that they should execute devotional service exactly like the Brahmacaris and sannyasis. Otherwise, why purchase houses near the temple?"
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974:

Prabhupada once said, "Why are we distributing all these books? We just want to see our master smile."

SDG: You Cannot Leave Boston 10: October 1969

1971 May 5: "So far as distributing the $15,000 donation, I would advise you to send this money to ISKCON PRESS for printing Bhagavad-gita As It Is enlarged edition. So if you can kindly let me know your decision."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1967 May 5: "We have to popularize this movement everywhere. If there are three or four mrdangas played at the park and there are about 20 pairs of cymbals then the kirtana will be more beautiful."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967:

1967 May 5: "If you can organize the sales of my books then there is no question of scarcity of money. I can go on printing so many books. But because the books are not selling nicely, neither there is sufficient money, so I am handicapped."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967:

1968 May 5: "So you have got good intelligence, you are born of a great nation, and good family; just utilize this opportunity to finish the business of Krishna Consciousness, without waiting for further incarnation."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968:

1972 May 5: "So far your concern about management, the solution is to be always thinking of Krishna and the Spiritual Master, then maya cannot touch you. If you very strictly follow there is no question of ever falling down."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972:

1972 May 5: "Always there will be obstacles placed in our path by the demons and atheists, but if we can remain pure, nothing will be able to stop this great transcendental movement from spreading God consciousness all over the world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972:

1974 May 5: "We have given these houses with the purpose that they should execute devotional service exactly like the Brahmacaris and sannyasis. Otherwise, why purchase houses near the temple?"
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974:

Continuing on the theme of Krishna Conciseness and Hospital analogy incorporating the thought on questions and if they are actually beneficial or not. Nursing care and history is fascinating especially for one who works in the profession, a lot of practice was done over the years that was considered for the good of the patient but [...]

Giriraj Swami singing the bhajan "Jaya Radha Madhava" prior to his lecture.

Dallas, TX
2009-03-20

Download: 2009-03-20 - Priti and Sam Home Program - 3 - Giriraj Swami - Jaya Radha Madhava.mp3

Last Sunday I had 3 Devotee friends from Berlin over to my place and I invited friends from Uni also. One of them is a Jehova's Witness and we had a very interesting discussion on "violence". What it is and when and how it can/ should be applied... We agreed that violence is if you neglect to help somebody who is in need of help and generally nothing should be considered violence what elevates

About 2 weeks ago as I was listening to the Nectar of Devotion class, part of our Bhakti Shastri program, the topic of discussion was Mercy. How without Mercy we cannot go anywhere in our spiritual life.Mercy according to webster's is: A blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion.Mercy comes in many ways, we only have to recognize it. My mind was conjuring up images of a stationary

Amint tudjátok én is a Bhaktivedanta Hittudományi Főiskolára járok. A legjobb fősuli a világon!

Nemsokára lejár a jelentkezési határidő. Ha szeretnél te is itt tanulni, akkor még most jelentkezhetsz.

Két szak indul:

• Vaisnava teológus szak
• Jógamester szak

A jelentkezési határidõ: május 18.

Bővebb információ:  www.bhf.hu

In the last issue we discussed how Ticket Collecters (TC) in the train harassed the devotees and by one man's help all the TCs stopped interfering. That man has an interesting story:

Mohan is a very senior officer in the railways. Earlier if he would catch a devotee doing wrong he would heavily fine the person and if the offender could not pay, he would put him behind bars or detain him till the family members came and paid the fine, for which he almost never issued receipt. With the bribe money he nearly every day ate meat and drank in hotels. But all these years, he says, he could never sleep peacefully.

One day, he got a heart attack, but survived. He was advised complete bed rest for three months. While recuperating, his daughter gave him a Krishna book. "God has saved you," she said, "please read about Him in this book." Mohan read the entire book. "God is so beautiful and nice," he discovered and from then on began to pray regularly. "I felt much more peaceful after reading Krishna book," he says.

"I read Bhagvad Gita and found that all my suffering was a reaction of my bad karma."

The reading of Bhagvad Gita and Krishna book completely changed Mohan. He gave up his bad activities, and began to associate with devotees. He formed an organization that performs final rites for the unclaimed dead bodies of the destitute in Mumbai. Sometimes people call him in the dead of the night to claim dead bodies.

Every one is amazed to see such a turnaround in him. He says it's the effect of reading Krishna book. In the December Marathons he makes sure the devotees get all the permission needed.

In the next issue: "Stop this nonsense!" the man shouted. "Whatever you say is all bogus." As the amazed crowd stopped to look at the heckler, the devotee prepared to meet this new challenge. What happened next? Find out in the next letter, "The Soul is not in the Heart."

your servant Murari Gupta das (Text D:638239) --------------------------------------------

------- End of Forwarded Message ------

Continuing with the sweet images from this weekend's Radha-Muralidhara Reunion Festival here at the East Village Temple.

The harinama and arrival of Chota Radha-Muralidhara, from the most loving hands of HG Mother Kamagiri Devi Dasi to us...

Question: In Bhajan Rahasya, Thakura Bhaktivinoda writes that in the beginning for some days one should engage in the chanting of the Holy Names according to the first sloka of Siksastaka.

Once, Srila Prabhupada had finished his morning walk and was already in the car. The car door was closed. One of his disciples who had been on this morning walk but had not had a chance to ask a burning question, stepped forward. It was an awkward moment. The car engine was already started and the car was moving, but this devotee really had a question and he had to ask it then. “Prabhupada, may I ask a question?” Prabhupada looked at him, and he must have seen the urgency in the devotee’s eyes and nodded. “Prabhupada, what is necessary to become Krishna conscious?” Prabhupada looked at him and gave his one-word answer: “Desire”.

You can continue reading this article from this link:

http://www.saranagati.net/index.php?S=3&Article=563

Hope your week is being full of nice chanting and spiritual realisations.

your servant,

Aruna devi

In the last issue we discussed how Ticket Collecters (TC) in the train harassed the devotees and by one man's help all the TCs stopped interfering. That man has an interesting story:

Mohan is a very senior officer in the railways. Earlier if he would catch a devotee doing wrong he would heavily fine the person and if the offender could not pay, he would put him behind bars or detain him till the family members came and paid the fine, for which he almost never issued receipt. With the bribe money he nearly every day ate meat and drank in hotels. But all these years, he says, he could never sleep peacefully.

One day, he got a heart attack, but survived. He was advised complete bed rest for three months. While recuperating, his daughter gave him a Krishna book. "God has saved you," she said, "please read about Him in this book." Mohan read the entire book. "God is so beautiful and nice," he discovered and from then on began to pray regularly. "I felt much more peaceful after reading Krishna book," he says.

"I read Bhagvad Gita and found that all my suffering was a reaction of my bad karma."

The reading of Bhagvad Gita and Krishna book completely changed Mohan. He gave up his bad activities, and began to associate with devotees. He formed an organization that performs final rites for the unclaimed dead bodies of the destitute in Mumbai. Sometimes people call him in the dead of the night to claim dead bodies.

Every one is amazed to see such a turnaround in him. He says it's the effect of reading Krishna book. In the December Marathons he makes sure the devotees get all the permission needed.

In the next issue: "Stop this nonsense!" the man shouted. "Whatever you say is all bogus." As the amazed crowd stopped to look at the heckler, the devotee prepared to meet this new challenge. What happened next? Find out in the next letter, "The Soul is not in the Heart."

your servant Murari Gupta das (Text D:638239) --------------------------------------------

------- End of Forwarded Message ------

The following are the lectures given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in Boston, USA. These video are posted on the website of ISKCON Boston. Please visit this wonderful site.

Click to view the video lectures ->

You can find the audio lectures here (posted earlier)

Evening lecture
by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami
Wednesday, April 29, 2009.
Duration - 57min. 27sec.

Download video (QuickTime file, 330MB)
(Right click and select “Save Target as” or “Save Link as” to download)

Lecture on “Srimad Bhagavatam” 2.5.20
by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami
Thursday, April 30, 2009.
Duration - 55min. 10sek.

Download video (QuickTime file, 190MB)
(Right click and select “Save Target as” or “Save Link as” to download)

The following is a Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 3 May 2009 at Manhattan, USA.

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

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.11 - Chapter 9: Brahmā’s Prayers for Creative Energy

The following is a Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 3 May 2009 at Manhattan, USA. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo; Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.9.11 - Chapter 9: Brahmā's Prayers for Creative Energy

The following is a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in New Jersey, USA.

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

The following is a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in New Jersey, USA. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo;

The following are the lectures given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in Boston, USA.

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

The following are the lectures given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in Boston, USA. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo;

Please take darshan of first week of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava Chandan Yatra darshan. Every day, small Radha- Madhava is dressed very beautifully by Gurukul boys and girls, depicting various pastimes of the Lord. Because of special deity dressing, it takes around 15 minutes more for Sri Sri Radha-Madhava curtain to be opened for darshan arti after Sri Pancha-tattva Sringar Arti.

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The following is a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in New York, USA.

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

The following is a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami in New York, USA. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo;

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

Chemical Evolution: A Molecular Concept Of Life

By The Late Dr T.D Singh (HH Bhakti Swarup Damodar Maharaja)

The theory of chemical evolution rests upon three assumptions:

1) The hypothetical primitive atmosphere must have been either reducing or neutral. This means that there was no free oxygen in the atmosphere in the earth’s distant past.

2) Simple molecules like amino acids, purines, pyrimidines and sugars were formed within this atmosphere under the action of ultraviolet radiation, electrical discharges, radioactivity, thermal energy and so on.

3) In the course of time, these molecules gave rise to proto-proteins, protonucleic acids and other protocellular components, which in turn gave rise to the so-called protocells and finally to the living cell.

We can briefly analyze these assumptions by purely scientific reasoning and argument. It is a foregone conclusion of many molecular evolutionists that the primitive atmosphere consisted of carbon in the form of hydrocarbon, such as methane, nitrogen in the form of ammonia, oxygen in the form of water and sulfur in the form of hydrogen sulfide. This was first proposed by Oparin, the Russian evolutionist, and Urey, the American physicist.

Based on this assumption, Miller performed an experiment in 1953 in which he passed an electric discharge through a gaseous mixture of methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water vapor. Amino acids such as glycine, alanine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid were observed as some of the components of the reaction products. Since amino acids are the smallest units of the protein molecule, Miller’s experiment gave the molecular evolutionists great hope and encouragement for their idea of the chemical origin of life. They claim that such steps are the ones that will finally lead to life. However, in the light of many experimental findings, such a claim is far from truth. It is just the wishful thinking of the chemical evolutionists.

The idea of the primitive reducing atmosphere has received strong and serious criticisms from scientists of various disciplines. Their arguments suggest overwhelming drawbacks in the conjecture. Available data from geology, geophysicists and geochemistry argue strongly against this idea. Abelson, for example, argues that there is no evidence for the reducing atmosphere, and that ammonia would have quickly disappeared because the effective threshold for degradation by ultraviolet radiation is 2,250Å. He suggests that a quantity of ammonia equivalent to the present atmospheric nitrogen would be approximately 30,000 years.

Abelson has also suggested that if the primitive atmosphere contained large amounts of methane gas, geologic evidence for it should be available. Laboratory experiments show that irradiating a highly reducing atmosphere produces hydrophobic organic molecules that are absorbed by sedimentary clays. This suggests that the earliest rocks should have contained an unusually large proportion of carbon of organic chemicals. However, this is not the case.

From observations based on the stratigraphical record, Davidson concludes that there is no evidence that a primeval reducing atmosphere might have persisted during much of Precambrian time. Brinkmann shows from theoretical calculation that dissociation of water vapor by ultraviolet light must have generated enough oxygen very early in the history of the earth to create an oxidizing atmosphere.

Besides these, there have been huge numbers of other arguments and findings against primitive reducing atmosphere. Recently, many geo-scientists have also expressed great doubt about it. In light of these arguments, the idea of a primeval reducing atmosphere does not seem tenable.

As we are upgrading www.mayapur.com website, for few days, we were not able to post any report, pictures and updates. From today, we could upload posts, pictures but still gallery could not be accessed. Shortly, gallery services will resume. All the Chandan Yatra pictures of small Sri Radha-Madhava and big Sri Radha- Madhava will be posted in the gallery.

and his lineage. They are still talked about for their innate decency and respect of the enemy and women. There exist old palm-leaf inscriptions on these topics. They are known to many a Kshatriyan families which still believe in the old ways of virtuous Kshatriya living. A trained Kshatriyan -it is said- is never trained till he knows and follows the codes of war.
The Kshatriyan codes of war are stuff of legends and folklore in India. Mahabharatha a Hindu epic also talks about war codes. Conclusive archaeological evidence has not yet been obtained but more or less all sources agree that such codes of war existed and they were followed. Some of the more important codes are listed below.
War should not affect the unarmed - meaning that the civilian population should not be attacked for any reason nor should the disarmed and seriously wounded soldiers or warriors unless it is for killing them as an act of mercy.
Rest should be provided for both sides - meaning that the war should not continue after sunset unless or otherwise it is a guerrilla war.
All foes should be defeated - meaning that even if your kinsman fought against you, you should not hesitate to defeat him.
Raids should not be undertaken unless completely necessary - meaning that a raid should not be undertaken unless the motive is to compensate for past losses or to humiliate the enemy.
Women should not be looked at unless she challenges you - meaning that unless a woman is in your enemy's army as a soldier or warrior you should not attack her. If the woman is the ruler then she can be attacked or asked to surrender only after the whole army is defeated.
A guerrilla war should not be waged unless the objective is victory - meaning that the warriors chosen for a guerrilla war should be the best, able to defeat any large army in the given situation and such an attack should be done only to attain a political goal and not to raid the enemy's supplies.
A traitor should never escape death - meaning that a traitor or defector of ones own army should be guaranteed death.
Kshatriya Dharma
Kshatriya Dharma is the rules to be followed by a Kshatriyan to do justice to his caste and status. It still exists in the more logical and evolved forms.
It used to be unthinkable for a Kshatriya to marry outside his class. It would be breaking the biggest tradition of his family and would cause disgrace to his whole family and community; this has still not changed for most families even today. There is a very strong emphasis on following the customs and traditions of the class which have evolved over centuries. In addition to these, further traditions specific to particular prominent Kshatriya families have been handed down through the generations. Following these traditions is a matter of such great honour and importance that breaking them has resulted in families splitting up or being excluded permanently from the caste (jāti) even in present times. The joint family system is still widely practised among the Kshatriya families and the family elders have the final say on all important decisions. It was believed that the Kshatriyas were assigned to be protectors of Dharma (duty/justice) and their people. They were sanctioned by God to serve humanity. The noble king is regarded as a Dharma Raja (Just Ruler). People ruled by aryas (honourable men) are led by the Divine light.
Kshtariya Dharma is specifically described in the Mahabharata: "Have you never heard the Kshatriya Dharma: Stand straight and never bow down, for this alone is manliness. Rather break at the knots than bend!"


These are codes long lost into days wars where women, children and the elderly are constantly put in harms way. Uncouth leaders and people of today think that our time is less barbaric and more civil then the older time but as stated by Srila Prabhupada when a society does not protect women, children, elderly and animals [these being more defenseless then most] it is not a human society but an animal one.

Mar.10.2009 NewGoloka NC USA

In Kartika (October-November) Krishna's Tour of India will visit Mayapur, Puri and Vrndavana once again this year.

Visit the holy Dhamas in the association of the vaisnavas. Contact Kesava on 0405-577-453 or keshava.tkg@pamho.net for details.

Look out for two special visitors to the Mandir over the next fortnight.

Prabhavisnu Maharaja (left) arrived yesterday and will be giving morning classes until Friday (May 8th.).

Next week, Veda Vyasa Priya Maharaja (below) will be giving Bhagavatam classes from Wednesday (May 13th.) till Sunday (May 17th.).

BY HIS DIVINE GRACE A. C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA My advice to you under the circumstances is that at least for one hour you must all go to have sankirtana outside on the streets or in the park. That is your life and soul, first business. The next business is completing the chanting of 16 rounds [...]

http://srimadbhagavatam.com/1/1/18/en

http://srimadbhagavatam.com/1/1/19/en

Maharaj discusses the many thousands of forms of incarnations of the Lord who appear for the maintenance of the universe (Visnu) and the protection of the devotees.  All such incarnations are an expression of the Lord’s internal energy, and since the activities of the Lord exist on an absolute plane, they benefit those who are present during those pastimes as well as those who hear the transcendental narratives about them.

From the second sloka, we learn that Uttama means “above the plane of nescience.”  It is because the pastimes of the Lord are transcendental, a devotee never tires of hearing of the activities of the Lord.   This is contrasted with the Mayavada practitioners who chant to achieve liberation, but who ultimately fail to overcome the need to satisfy their desires.  Of the three planes — exploitative, renunciated and dedication — only those who learn to redirect their desires to the satisfaction of Krsna can overcome the material entrapment and achieve liberation.

Here is the recording of 05 May 2009 satsanga.

Please click below links….

Download (Downloads 45)

Servant of Servants.

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.8.10 - An intelligent human being should take the essence from all religious scriptures.

A full cleaning of Radha Kunda and Syama Kunda has finally begun and will continue for the next month and a half. The last cleaning took place in 1987

May 4, 2:30 A.M.

A typical night of sleeping and waking. I got up at 2:30 A.M. I’m ashamed to say I wet my pants while I was stuck in my chair and couldn’t get out. That delayed me, as I had to change my clothes. I’m behind on my rounds. I’m still feeling drowsy.

12:16 P.M.

A rainy, chilly day. Not very cheerful. I can’t think of things to write about. Baladeva suggested the subject “the pros and cons of quiet living,” but I told him I can’t think of any cons of quiet living. I like it. It would be good, however, if I were profound. I could be able to write something deeply spiritual about Krishna. Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I received an invitation to give a lecture at the end of the month, but I don’t think I will accept it. My excuse is stress from headaches. They want me to speak at the Baltimore temple on the occasion of snana-yatra, the time when Lord Jagannatha gets His bath and catches a cold. I could look up material from the Caitanya-caritamrta, if there is something there about it. I could say how Lord Caitanya became so bereft when Lord Jagannatha was not on the altar, due to His being in retirement with a cold, that Caitanya Mahaprabhu left Jagannatha Puri and went to live in Alalanath. He had a deep attachment for Lord Jagannatha. It was connected to His feelings of separation from Krishna while in the mood of Radharani. When He went to Alalanath, someone came to get Him and said that all the devotees had come from Bengal to see Him, and so they convinced Him to go back to Jagannatha Puri to meet them. They said I could set up a table to sell my books there at the temple. It’s a nice opportunity. But I get stress from headaches, and that’s the main excuse for not going and giving a lecture. I’m so much out of practice in giving lectures. I prefer to write quietly in the yellow submarine. But if I can’t even write, what then?

I’m disturbed because I had such a slow start this morning, not going to the beach and having that accident with urination in the chair. I’m behind in my rounds. Baladeva won’t be here to cook lunch. He’s gone to Sam’s Club to shop with Sastra. It will be just Dattatreya and I for lunch. Actually, Baladeva has cooked the lunch and left it for Dattatreya to warm up.

We’re getting visitors. From July 20 to August 24, Yadunandana Swami will be living in our house. In September, Suresvara wants to come to visit me.

From Forgetting the Audience (1993): “High point in morning. Now I have to follow it up. Dry chanting 10:30 to 11:00 A.M. Kirtana-rasa left us, his cheery countenance, willingness to cook, sense of protectiveness of another one in the house—I sit in ‘his’ room and feel his absence. I wish him well. All friends moving here and there under Krishna’s protection, but death is inevitable. He wishes me a safe journey to Italy.

“I don’t write this only for effect.

“The blue page, and over it, the moving shadow of my hand, a strange, lumpy shape.

“The tide is high, but the water is not rough. Sun coming in and out on the water. At the end of every sentence is silence and a potential stuck point, admitting we’ve run out of gas.

“I want to hear those tapes. At breakfast (upma) we heard Srila Prabhupada talking to devotees in a room in India. They laughed like children at his strong logic, defeating an atheistic argument. The challenge was, ‘They say no one knows anything.’ Srila Prabhupada replied that if they say that, then they also don’t know. Ttherefore they are wrong when they claim, ‘No one knows anything.’

“He spoke of how the imperfect suggests the existence of the perfect. A devotee spoke: ‘They say Indira Gandhi knows.’ Srila said, ‘Yes, she has chastised the Pakistanis [this was just after the war of 1971], but she has not chastised the cow slaughterers. Pakistan killed only a few men, and she took stern measures and went to war, but thousands of innocent animals are being slaughtered. Why doesn’t she do something?’

“He spoke of the relative world and the absolute. Indira Gandhi is relatively strong. Therefore India could conquer Pakistan. But if America or China had entered the war against India. . . our strengths are relative.

“I retain this here by putting it in writing. I like such preaching. I also want to hear what Radha and Krishna are doing. It is all one philosophy. I need the foundation—the argument against the atheist who threatens the entire structure of K(r)ß?a consciousness. It is not mythology. Srila Prabhupada will protect me from that. He will also take me to Vrndavana.

“He spoke of a preacher’s compassion. He said we may not be compassionate, but someone else is—the preachers, who are concerned for everyone, who want to give out Krishna consciousness as the solution to misery.

“Hear the whole spectrum. Write some of it here.

“You mean it’s just like notes in a diary?

“I mean writing practice. Practicing to trust the mind and write deeply, what comes, unafraid.”

1:40 P.M.

“Bouncing with Bud.” This is Bud Powell with a group of instrumentalists on horns. It’s nice jazz. It’s his original. If you’re bouncing with Bud, you’re lucky. I think it’s Sonny Rollins joining them, so they’re really bouncing. To play with a jazz band and make it kirtana is the ultimate bounce. It’s an ensemble. It’s upbeat and happy and cheerful. No broken bones here. Life can be this way sometimes, too. Everything goes your way when you’re with a genius. You bounce with him, and he takes you on a ride. It’s rhythmic and sweet. The pianist has invited you to bounce with him, and so you’re fortunate. This is called sanga, to be with good fellows who play together for Krishna’s glories. The bassist binds you. You can take three alternative takes, and you don’t get bored, because each one is a little different. And anyway, you like their association. Who wouldn’t be pleased to place with Sonny and Aindra, Vaisisekha and Agni?

“Dance of the Infidels.” A strange title. Is this a dance for demons? It sounds sweet enough. But demons sometimes take beautiful forms just to bewilder. This is a Bud Powell original. I think he’s just being playful, not malicious. But you never can tell. He’s against authorities, like the police, so they call him an infidel. But he’s actually a free spirit and wants to spread joy. It’s been branded “Dance of the Infidels” by government officials, but maybe it’s really a dance of free spirits. Krishna was considered an infidel by Kamsa and by the husbands of the gopis. So it depends on whose viewpoint you take. Judge by your own palate. This sound’s too sweet to be infidel, to be evil.

“You Go to My Head.” Like a glass of champagne. It’s said that when you meet a mahabhagavata, you fall in love with Krishna just by seeing him. He makes you intoxicated. That’s the power of a pure devotee. You don’t stay sober in his association. You dance and embrace and cry tears, and your hair stands on end. You go to my head. What to speak of Krishna. What to speak of Srimati Radharani. If you get a scent of Their presence, a hint of Their association, you lose all your balance, and you’re overcome with love. Bhakti yoga is not a dull religion.

“Un Poco Loco.” A Latin beat. One time, Bud Powell was taken to the police station on racist, trumped-up charges. The police beat him mercilessly on the head with their nightsticks. He was never the same. Lost his sanity. He was one of the most ill-treated geniuses, like Van Gogh. The world treated him badly. But he made a song out of it. He knew he was un poco loco, but it wasn’t his fault. You could say it was his karma for things he did wrong in the past, but in his lifetime, all he wanted to do was make beautiful music to please people. And he was one of the most beautiful musicians of his time. So he was serving Krishna, and he got mistreated. This tune sounds a little loose in the head, but he’s harmless. He never meant ill toward anyone. He was well-loved in France, but not in his own country. He was too black, and this was in the 1940s. Three takes. A little too much. But no lack of natural, polished talent. I lived in a furnished room on 76th Street in Manhattan and took a Bud Powell record out of the library. I used to play it over and over, especially one tune, and it drove my neighbor crazy. She was a pianist and lived with her piano teacher. The tune I played was “Tea for Two.” Finally, after hating it for so long, she came to my room and admitted that she thought he was a beautiful musician.

3:25 P.M.

If I didn’t have a fractured collarbone, my life would be much easier. It woudn’t be an ordeal to get out of the chair. Now I can’t get out of the chair because I can’t use my right arm as a support. I have to try to wriggle out, wriggling my buttocks and leaning forward. I can sit in a less comfortable chair and get in and out of it easier. That is not real pleasant, either. I would also be able to put on my jeans for going to the beach. Now I cannot do it without help from either Baladeva or Dattatreya. I also can’t dry myself off after taking a shower. I am not able to eat with my right hand, which sometimes makes for a mess. I can’t do anything with my right arm. But sometimes inadvertently I make a move with my right arm, and then I get a sharp pain and probably hamper the healing. I wear a sling at all times, but I can’t put the sling on and take it off myself. It has to be done for me. If I’m wearing my sling and a sweater and it feels too warm, someone has to come and take the sweater off for me and put the sling back on. I can’t do it myself. I have a radio to call the men to come and help me to do these different things during the day, but sometimes, like right now, they’re both out of the house. These are some of the things I could do if I didn’t have the fractured shoulder. But since I do have the fracture, there’s no sense in my mentioning them, because there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m helpless to do these things by myself. [...]

the yellow submarine, my bhajana kutir #61→

Enjoying your Prema

Vaughan, Ontario

Walking territory was the grounds of the country’s largest university, Toronto’s downtown U of T campus.

A group of youth, brahmacaris and I observed the stop light at an intersection. Lit up was the upraised palm of the right hand. In the Vedic culture of India this is a symbol of a blessing coming from a superior. Usually divinities in the form of deities stand with the right hand palm extended for a benediction and often show a smear of red kunkum powder over that palm.

In any event, the image of the red stop image for a pedestrian took on a different meaning for us. When you really think about that STOP HAND, it is indeed a blessing for those who honour it.

My afternoon was time well spent, sitting as director to the drama “The Eighth Boy” in preparation for ‘The Festival of Inspiration’. It’s a great crew and my main choreographer, Nitai Priya, recommended using Michael Jackson’s foot stepping from ‘Thriller’ for our demon scene. So I said, “Yes, it should work.”

To put the demons within out of their misery, our head traveling monk, brahmacari Jaya Kesava, two more men and I headed for a gathering of the Prasher family, a very outgoing Punjabi group. The family has opened a massive room for puja, worship and bhajan, devotional song. We were invited to speak, sing and enjoy their great food.

The highlight of the day was speaking to a curious chap at the benediction hand.

“You guys are monks?”

“Yes, we are,” I said

“What do you believe?” he asked as he lit up his smokey cigarette.

In so many words I explained that our objective is Prema, love of the supreme. For some reason he held that word in his head. As he gestured to leave us he said, “Well, enjoy your prema!”

7 Km

Striking Happy Cords

Toronto, Ontario

The cook in the pizzeria was reeling his dough in the air and thumping to our beat as we passed by. The two store attendants, with their chic clothes, suddenly lit up, looked at each other and broke into big grins as we passed by. The jeweler tossed a generous wave of the hand as we passed by. And the enthusiastic photographer took shots of us as she walked backwards on the street, accidentally falling into a back-roll but quickly springing back up into action.

These were just samplings of responses by people towards our chanting party on Bloor Street.

Organizing the chanting parties is Krishnadas, a devotee and successful family man, who arranges time for this sought-after activity. He and his godbrother, Dharmaprana, a monk at the temple, look forward to being the main core of the chanting group. Both are approaching 60 but are not discouraged by the energetic activity of chanting on the streets to the sound of Krishnadas’s drum. They welcome anyone to join in this joyful expression of the soul. We are very fortunate to have such mature men who demonstrate their loyalty to this chanting, which is normally the exercise of the youth.

We can credit Chaitanya, the early sixteenth century avatar, who introduced this light-hearted brand of spiritualism to the world.

4 Km

What’s Your Shloka?

Toronto, Ontario

One very positive way to engage the mind and avoid distractions while walking is by reciting shlokas. The Bhagavad-Gita is a rich source of shlokas, verses rendered in the ancient Sanskrit language, the mother tongue of many European languages. In the Gita there are seven hundred couplets in Sanskrit, each carrying a strong message.

If you simply take a catchy phrase from one of these shlokas, so much is told about the realities of life. For instance, the phrase sookha dookha refers to the dualities of the world, meaning happiness and sadness respectively. A jazz band picked up on this perky phrase and decided to name themselves “The Sookha Dookha Band”.

Yam yam vapi smaran bhavan…(Gita 8.6) is a sweet sounding line that addresses reincarnation, “Whatever you are thinking of at death that state you will attain in the next existence.”

If it’s not the sound then the message is captivating. For instance, one of my favourite sayings from the Gita is Krishna’s commitment about support. He says about our shortcomings, “I preserve what they have and carry what they lack.” For one approaching spirituality in a sincere manner, there is a guarantee of a mystical backing. That is very reassuring.

There are different shlokas for different folks. What is your favourite phrase or verse (shloka) from the Gita?

Use it when walking. It’s powerful.

5 Km

Muddy Trail

Toronto, Ontario

We slid and got wet and muddy. The base of the ravine became the passage for late April rain as we, a group of five monks, marveled at this concept. You have earth which grips. You have water which flows. You combine the two and you have a slimy, slippery substance which causes one to slide. It seems to be a spring texture.

We met an elderly couple on this slippery trail. With binoculars in hand, they were immersed in a popular hobby – birding. They told us they had viewed several species. Spring does that. It invites a vast array of our feathered friends. Birds flock like crazy during this season.

The couple expressed that they are lovers of these creatures. They complimented us for our food which they had dined on at our temple a while back.

I relished today’s trek like anything because of the good signs, including the muddiness and especially the good company. They were young men interested in developing there spiritual life. The setting is perfect. Buds are bursting on trees on this forested Old Milkman’s Lane which passes by the former brickworks factory and edges by Mount Pleasant cemetery.

I’m a sucker for these trails. Whenever I see a forest I immediately think, “Oh, here’s a place where I can chant, a place where it becomes easy to adjust our consciousness to a better state.”

7 Km

At first, Draupadi had tried to hold on to her sari. But what could she do? After all, she was a woman, and the Kurus were trying to strip her naked. So she cried and prayed to Krsna, "Save my honor," but she also tried to save herself by holding on to her sari. Then she thought, "It is impossible to save my honor in this way," and she let go and simply raised her arms and prayed, "Krsna, if You like You can save me." Thus the Lord responded to her prayers.

Therefore, it is not very good to try to save oneself. Rather, one should simply depend on Krsna: "Krsna, if You save me, that is all right. Otherwise, kill me. You may do as You like."

>>> Ref. VedaBase => TQK 7: Dangerous Encounters

I just returned from Amsterdam where we had a huge Hare Krishna procession for the annual Queensday festival. I’ve never seen such crowded streets in my whole life. As we weaved through the revelers, chanting the famous Hare Krishna mantra, everyone smiled, many sang along, and some enthusiastically danced with us without a care in the world. The chanting seemed to break the barriers of caste, creed or culture and penetrated their hearts on a much deeper level. As I observed our party – men, women, young, old, from all backgrounds economically, socially and politically – all chanting together in great joy, I realized that this really is the process that has the power to unite the world.

The world is desperately searching for the common ground we need for world peace and unity. The great saint Srila Prabhupada who founded this movement once walked by the United Nations building and remarked – “they call this the United Nations, but every time I come here there are more and more flags!” Without a spiritual foundation, we may at best manage some superficial unity and cooperation – but on a deeper level the division will remain.

Real peace and unity comes from seeing the spiritual equality of all beings. Such a vision destroys all racism, nationalism, ageism, sexism – even ‘species-ism’ (the idea that humans are superior to all other animals and can treat them in whatever way they want). Prabhupada was commended as “having built a house in which the whole world can live”. This house is not simply some physical building, but rather a house of profound spiritual consciousness. It’s a house which is centered around the Supreme Person, but not in a way that alienates or marginalizes any living being. It’s a house in which the chanting of the holy names is the activity which creates and sustains the spirituality. Most importantly, it’s a house open to any sincere spiritual searcher who wants to really find the essence in life.

The mind of the spiritualist is compared to a great ocean. As the ocean is deep, the contemplations and thoughts of one on the spiritual path are also deep. As the ocean is clear, the spiritualist also has great clarity in his daily decisions and judgments. As the ocean is continually being filled by rivers but never overflows, similarly, the mind is constantly bombarded with various material desires but the spiritualist remains unaffected. This is quite amazing.

The rich man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least. We may have an abundance of possessions, good reputation amongst our social circle, nice relationships with those around us, but if our desires are endless we will never feel satisfied. In the world we live in enough is never enough. We fill the internal void, by trying to accumulate and arrange externally.

Socrates was once in Athens when he passed a shop window. He stood there gazing intently at all the different items on display. This went on for a few hours. One man who had passed by a few times finally questioned the great philosopher. "Is there something you need - something I can get you? Maybe the shoes or those clothes?" Socrates replied to him - "No, No, I am simply amazed by seeing how many things there are here that I don't need!"

So next time one of those desires pop up in the mind, we may want to consider whether to take it seriously or not.

A hétvégén Krisna-völgyben voltam. Két fesztivál is volt. Illetve, ha úgy vesszük, három is.

Szombaton tartottuk a Nrsimha Caturdasit. Ezen nagyon sok bhakta vett részt. Ennek keretében 25 bhakta avatást is kapott. Mivel ezen a napon tartották Srila Indradyumna Maharaja Vyasa-pujáját is, ezért nagyon sokan érkeztek külföldről.

A másik napon Srila Sivarama Maharaja Vyasa-puja ünnepségét tartottuk. Sri Sri Radhe-Syama nagyon különleges darshanjukat láthattuk.

A telefonommal néhány képet is készítettem. Ezeket itt megnézhetitek.

Govinda Maharaja sok képet készített. A Facebookon szokta rendszeresen publikálni. Ezen a linken megnézhetitek a most készülteket. Igazi Krisnás paparrazzi.

Egy másik adag képet itt nézhettek meg. Talán Manjari mataji vagy Nandagopa prabhu fényképei.

Ksatriya is feltöltött néhány képet és videót.

Nirriti is beszámolt a rendezvényről.

Kisordas leírása :)

Illetve Sivarama Maharaja oldalán folyamatosan frissül a bhakták által küldött fotó és videó lista.

Indradyumna Maharaja fotói.

Az avatásról Vijay Gouranga prabhu videója.

Ha a rendezvényről ti is csináltatok képeket, videókat, akkor a hozzászólásoknál osszátok meg velem kérlek. Köszönöm.

1966 May 4:
"Purnima. Today I went to search out Sakar but I was lost in the Subway. In the evening the meeting was nice. Seven gentlemen attended. Mr. Carl was very kind to give me over the Tape Record which is better than the one I have lost."
Prabhupada Journal :: 1966

1949 May 4: "Mahatma Gandhijee took up this cause to begin with but he is gone without further progress in the matter. If we are intelligent enough we should again take up the matter more scientifically and do the job very nicely for the peace of the world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1947-64

1949 May 4: "Mahatma Gandhijee took up this cause to begin with but he is gone without further progress in the matter. If we are intelligent enough we should again take up the matter more scientifically and do the job very nicely for the peace of the world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1947-64

1966 May 4:
"Purnima. Today I went to search out Sakar but I was lost in the Subway. In the evening the meeting was nice. Seven gentlemen attended. Mr. Carl was very kind to give me over the Tape Record which is better than the one I have lost."
Prabhupada Journal :: 1966

1967 May 4: "One can be peaceful and elevated in Krishna Consciousness only by the mercy of a bonafide Spiritual Master. Your humbleness and sincerity will make you more and more advanced."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967