On Thursday, the new Boeing Starliner made history by successfully docking with the International Space Station (ISS).  One of the two astronauts aboard, Sunita Williams, brought some “essentials” along on the mission, including the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and some homemade samosas.  

Navy Officer Williams was first selected for NASA’s astronaut program in 1998. This flight is her third space mission and the first time a woman has piloted a new orbital spacecraft. Williams, 59, the daughter of an Indian father and Slovenian mother, danced with joy when they safely docked on Thursday. Sunita and fellow astronaut Barry Wilmore, were warmly welcomed by the Space Station Expedition 71 crew.  She is no stranger to the ISS, having already spent over 320 days in space. 

This voyage is not the first time she has brought sacred texts to space. In a 2013 interview she mentions bringing the Gita to the ISS, “I really appreciate my Indian heritage and was glad I could bring part of it with me to space.” In addition to the literature and samosas, Willaims also carried a small murti of the Hindu demigod Ganesh. Readers can follow her on X/Twitter. 

Source: https://iskconnews.org/astronaut-brought-the-bhagavad-gita-on-historic-starliner-flight-to-the-iss/

 

Over Memorial Day weekend 2024, more than 3,100 devotees gathered in Frisco, Texas, for the 11th annual US-based Sadhu Sanga Kirtan Retreat, organized by Indradyumna Swami. The sold-out event was held at the Frisco Convention Center near Dallas, Texas and welcomed devotees from 46 states and 14 countries.

Attendees enjoyed 24 hours of joyful kirtans from Acyuta Gopi Dasi, Bada Haridas, Gaura Vani Dasa, Indradyumna Swami, Madhava Dasa, Mayuri Gandharvika Priya Dasi, Mukunda Datta Dasa, Vaisesika Dasa, Radhanath Swami, Sri Prahlada Dasa and Srikar Valluri. Each day began with a full morning program, including Srimad Bhagavatam classes given by Vaisesika Dasa, Radhanath Swami, and Mukunda Datta Dasa. Vaisesika Dasa also served as this year’s MC.

In addition to the kirtaneers, devotees relished the association of so many devotees, including senior leaders such as Giriraja Swami, Danavir Goswami, Bhakti Sundar Goswami, Rtadhvaja Swami, Candramauli Swami, Anant Krishna Swami, Jananivasa Dasa, Sesa Dasa, Caturatma Dasa, Nirakula Dasi, Kosa Rupa Dasi, Pranada Dasi and several other disciples of Srila Prabhupada. A massive team of volunteers served over 25,000 plates of prasadam over the course of the holiday weekend, including a 14-item salad bar for lunch and dinner.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/sadhu-sanga-kirtan-retreat-returns-to-texas-with-record-breaking-attendance/

The Bluffs, situated at the west coast of Lake Ontario, are a real gem to visit. The cliffs and accompanying what appears like huge ant hills are a sight to see, so for our Tuesday morning outing, our local Bhakti Academy students and I went for some hours to explore. The beach is clean, so is the water, the trails and trees are a paradise. The peninsulas formed (by man) are pleasant parks and to some degree protect the bluffs from erosion. The natural beauty and the human implementation are a display of tax payers funds well spent. The more green, the better is life. The Bluffs are a 15 kilometre stretch.

We chanted (without instruments). We napped. We lined ourselves in massage rows. We beach walked. Discovering a beaver's dam was intriguing. Smelling the honey suckles and the cedars was special. And seeing that blackbird chasing the larger crane was compelling. One water lily was plucked and we observed it, smelled it and spoke of how Krishna points that lovely pictorial image of the lotus in the Gita by saying we must be like the lotus, being in water but not being wet - be in the world but do not get entangled in it. We also relayed the water pastimes of monk, Sri Chaitanya.

Our hours at the bluffs was truly enjoyed by all and our appreciation for Krishna's creativity was enhanced.

Today, when we are noticing an increasing number of terrorist attacks across the world, when lives are being taken mercilessly in the name of religion, when it is no more easy to trust and provide shelter to another, when intolerance and hate is brewing in the society like never before, it is time to introspect into the very values and principles that make us humane and civilized, distinct from the animals.

The oldest texts of the world, the Vedic literature, give us the much required insight into the current scenario. The teachings of the Vedas has been handed down through the ages by means of a guru-disciple tradition, also known as parampara. The fact that the Vedic literatures are the oldest in the world, can be historically, linguistically and philosophically proven. Sanatana Dharma or ‘Eternal Religion’ is the way of life of those who adhere to and practice the teachings and conclusions of the Vedic science. Even today, one who is sincere, may connect to a bonafide disciplic succession , to receive and imbibe the unadulterated, timeless wisdom of the Vedic scriptures.

What is Dharma ?

‘Dharma’ is a word that is often translated to Religion, according to the modern English dictionaries. But actually the word dharma originates from the Sanskrit word ‘dhr’ which means ‘to hold’, ‘to bear’ or ‘to support’.
Dharma is incorrectly translated to ‘religion’. A religion or faith of a person might change, but Dharma,by definition, is something which cannot be separated from the entity; infact it is the characteristic of the particular entity. For example, Heat and light cannot be separated from Fire. Heat and light are the dharma or characteristics of fire. Similarly sweetness is the Dharma of sugar, and liquidity that of water.

So what is the Dharma of human beings or more correctly all living beings ?
The Vedic literatures instruct us that we living beings(including plants and animals) are essentially spirit souls and are all eternally the servants of God. Infact, it is quite noticeable in our day-to-day life, that we are all impelled to serve someone or something. The mother serves the son, the son serves his wife and family, the employee serves his boss, the king serves his subjects and so on. If someone has none to serve, then he/she keeps a pet dog or cat in order to serve him. 
This service attitude, according to the Vedic scriptures, cannot be separated from the living entity and hence constitutes its Dharma.

The Predicament of the Modern world

The Problem with us living beings in this world is that our dharma, the service attitude, is wrongly directed. The Vedic literatures instruct us that we are all eternally the servants of the Lord. Without the Lord in our lives, we are like that fish out of water, who cannot be satisfied with no matter how much pleasure is provided on the land. But the problem with the world is that, instead of serving the Lord, we are busy serving our senses and sense objects. And inspite of serving to the best of our ability, neither are we satisfied nor is the person whom we are serving, satisfied. The more we become a servant to our senses and brood over sense objects, the more we end up suffering.

Misdirected Service on an individual level

In the course of satisfying their senses, people indulge in intoxication, in illicit relationships, in gambling, etc. Any of these habits can wreak havoc in one’s life, as we all know. They destroy relationships, destroy consciousness , destroy families. Hence ironically, indulgence in all these bad habits, instead of pleasing and satisfying us, destroy our lives, and only gives us more reasons to lament.

Another symptom of such misdirected service, is envy and jealousy towards the others. Being frustrated by his futile endeavors to satisfy his own senses, the sense gratifier finds it difficult tolerating the peace and happiness in others’ lives. Sometimes such persons with their uncontrolled senses, develop a strong attraction towards others’ possessions, and might even resort to hostile means to try and obtain them.
The Bhagavad Gita (2.62,2.63) describe the predicament of such bewildered materialists :
While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. From anger, delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost, one falls down again into the material pool.

Hence we understand, that serving our senses , can never end up satisfying us. It has a disastrous effect on our lives and ends up creating more problems for others. When the frustration spills over, such people can even resort to harming others. Mass shootings which have become a commonplace in today’s world, are usually the work of such overly frustrated sense-serving maniacs. In 2015, more than 330 mass shootings have been reported in the US alone, which has ended up killing more than 600 people. (Source – http://shootingtracker.com/wiki/Mass_Shootings_in_2015)

Misdirected Service on a societal level

Another problem with today’s world is that the people are increasingly misidentifying with their bodies. The Vedic literatures instruct us that we, living beings, are not bodies but spirit souls. The Bhagavad Gita tells us that “As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones. The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same”

Ignorant of their real self and considering themselves a product of matter, people start identifying with their bodies and indulge in serving others of the same society, community or nation. Failing to appreciate that others are also spiritual beings like themselves and children of the same father, people nurture the intentions of proving their supremacy, or imposing their ways of life or ideologies upon the others, sometimes even resorting to violence to get their ways. Most of the wars that are fought between nations are as a result of such misconceptions.

Another factor that often leads to fights and bloodshed is the element of greed. Again when the service attitude is misdirected towards the sense objects and the phenomenon occurs on the level of the nation or society, the resultant lust and envy may lead to fights or in extreme cases wars. 
There is a beautiful verse in Sri isopanishad in this regard :

īśāvāsyam idam sarvaṁ
yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat
tena tyaktena bhuñjīthā
mā gṛdhaḥ kasya svid dhanam

Translation : Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.

Hence, if we all start loving all other living beings as our own brothers and sisters, and be content with the possessions that the Lord has mercifully granted upon us, the world would become a much better place.

Imperfect Ideologies

When a living being renders his service attitude towards imperfect ideologies or philosophies, not only does he bring misfortune upon himself, but his actions might also be a cause of concern for others. Instead of keeping the lord in the center, and loving the fellow living beings as the children of the same father, these people develop hatred towards the others who refuse to follow their ideologies. 
Serving such imperfect ideologies and nurturing the wrong ambitions, they further harden their hearts and destroy their own conscience. Their false ego cannot stand the others leading different philosophies and lifestyles, and they sometimes even try to overcome/subdue them with the use of force.
The growing instances of the terrorist attacks across the world, or the clashes between the communists and the capitalists of the cold war era, are symptoms of such misdirected love towards imperfect ideologies.

The Perfect Dharma (Service)

The supreme occupation for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self [SB 1.2.6]

Actually the living entity is entangled in the material existence since time immemorial, an existence which is temporary and full of miseries. They are trying extremely hard to satisfy themselves by pleasing their senses or sense objects, but are only getting frustrated in the process. The reason being, as discussed above, that their Dharma (or service attitude) is misdirected.
According to the Vedic civilization, the perfection of life is to realize one’s relationship with God. In the Bhagavad-Gita, which is accepted by all authorities in transcendental science as the basis of all Vedic knowledge, we understand that not only human beings but all living entities are parts and parcels of God. The parts are meant for serving the whole, just as the legs, hands, fingers, and ears are meant for serving the total body. We living entities, being parts and parcels of God, are duty-bound to serve Him.

If we want to render service to a tree, we must water the root. If we pour water on the leaves, branches, and twigs, there is little benefit. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead is served, all other parts and parcels will be automatically satisfied. Consequently all welfare activities as well as service to society, family, and nation are realized by serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The Bhagavad Gita emphasizes the superiority of loving devotional service in the following verse :
And of all yogīs, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself and renders transcendental loving service to Me – he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion. [BG 6.47]

So when we render loving devotional service to the Lord, we, living beings, become completely satisfied and inspiring others to experience the same is the greatest welfare activity that can ever be performed. Hence all we need to do is switch from an ‘I’ centric life to a ‘God’ centric life to bring about peace and happiness in this world. 
Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, descended to perform His beautiful pastimes on this earth, 5000 years ago, in a small village in Northern India, called Vrindavana. We need to connect to a bonafide disciplic succession, to receive the message of Godhead as it is without adulteration, and try to cultivate the mood of the residents of Vrindavana , in order to lead the perfect life of devotional service. The residents of Vrindavana were engrossed in their service to little Krishna 24 hours a day- whether it be as servants, or in friendship, in parental relationship or as lovers.
While the description of Krishna’s beautiful pastimes in Vrindavana, is out of scope of this article, the reader is advised to relish the same from the pages of Bhagavata Purana.

How to Revive our Love for God?

Well, to revive our love(devotional service) for God, we need to pray to Him to engage us in His service. In the Srimad Bhagavatam it is mentioned that “although Kaliyuga is full of faults, there is still one good quality about this age. It is that simply by chanting Hare Krsna maha mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.” (Srimad Bhagvatam 12.3.51)

Hence, although the situation seems to be very gloomy in this dark age of quarrel and hypocrisy, and people in general are ignorant and averse to spirituality, still there is a ray of hope in the form of chanting of the holy names of the Lord, which can not only counter all the ill effects of Kali Yuga, and relieve one of the pangs of material miseries, but also make one situated in the perfect stage of pure love (devotional service) with the Lord.

Chanting the holy name of the Lord is especially advised in this age of kali, and described as the only means of deliverance. In Brhad Naradiya Purana(38.126) for instance, it is mentioned : “In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.”

In the Kali Santarana Upnishad (1-11), the Hare Krishna Mahamantra is established as the only means of deliverance in this age of kali .
Lord Brahma replied, “The sixteen words-

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, 
KrishnaKrishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama,
Rama Rama, Hare Hare

are especially meant for completely destroying all the contamination of Kali. To save oneself from the contamination of Kali-yuga, there is no alternative in all the Vedas except the chanting of this sixteen-word mantra. “

Hence let us all chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and make the world a happier and a more peaceful place to reside in.

I leave you with the purport to the Hare Krishna mahamantra given by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ,founder Acharya of Iskcon, who fulfilled Lord Chaitanya’s prediction that the Holy name of the Supreme lord will one day be distributed to every town and village of the world :

“This transcendental vibration–the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare | Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare – is the sublime method for reviving our Krsna consciousness. As living spiritual souls we are all originally Krsna conscious entities, but due to our association with matter since time immemorial, our consciousness is now polluted by material atmosphere. In this polluted concept of life, we are all trying to exploit the resources of material nature, but actually we are becoming more and more entangled in our complexities. This illusion is called maya, or hard struggle for existence over the stringent laws of material nature. This illusory struggle against the material nature can at once be stopped by revival of our Krsna consciousness.

Krsna consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind. This consciousness is the original energy of the living entity. When we hear the transcendental vibration, this consciousness is revived. And the process is recommended by authorities for this age. By practical experience also, we can perceive that by chanting this maha-mantra, or the Great Chanting for Deliverance, one can at once feel transcendental ecstasy from the spiritual stratum. When one is factually on the plane of spiritual understanding, surpassing the stages of sense, mind and intelligence, one is situated on the transcendental plane. This chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare | Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is directly enacted from the spiritual platform, surpassing all lower states of consciousness–namely sensual, mental and intellectual. There is no need of understanding the language of the mantra, nor is there any need of mental speculation nor any intellectual adjustment for chanting this maha-mantra. It springs automatically from the spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in this transcendental sound vibration, without any previous qualification, and dance in ecstasy.

We have seen it practically. Even a child can take part in the chanting, or even a dog can take part in it. The chanting should be heard, however, from the lips of a pure devotee of the Lord, so that immediate effect can be achieved. As far as possible, chanting from the lips of a nondevotee should be avoided, as much as milk touched by the lips of a serpent causes poisonous effect.

The word Hara is a form of addressing the energy of the Lord. Both Krsna and Rama are forms of addressing directly the Lord, and they mean “the highest pleasure, eternal”. Hara is the supreme pleasure potency of the Lord. This potency, when addressed as Hare, helps us in reaching the Supreme Lord.

The material energy, called as maya, is also one of the multipotencies of the Lord, as much as we are also marginal potency of the Lord. The living entities are described as superior energy than matter. When the superior energy is in contact with inferior energy, it becomes an incompatible situation. But when the supreme marginal potency is in contact with the spiritual potency, Hara, it becomes the happy, normal condition of the living entity.

The three words, namely Hara, Krsna and Rama, are transcendental seeds of the maha-mantra, and the chanting is a spiritual call for the Lord and His internal energy, Hara, for giving protection to the conditioned soul. The chanting is exactly like a genuine cry by the child for the mother. Mother Hara helps in achieving the grace of the supreme father, Hari, or Krsna, and the Lord reveals Himself to such a sincere devotee.

No other means, therefore, of spiritual realization is as effective in this age, as chanting the maha-mantra, Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare | Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=21936

Bhakti-yoga involves practice, and therefore repetition, but done right, it never gets stale.

Like Lord Krishna Himself, the regulated practice of devotional service to Him never gets old when undertaken with seriousness and sincerity.

Srila Prabhupada had an extraordinary ability to say something repeatedly, something we’d heard him say many times before, but say it in such a way that we appreciated it afresh. We’d hear the statement as if we’d never heard it before, although in fact we’d heard some version of it multiple times.

Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.30.20) explains this remarkable phenomenon: “Always engaging in the activities of devotional service, devotees feel ever-increasingly fresh and new in all their activities. The all-knower, the Supersoul within the heart of the devotee, makes everything increasingly fresh.”

The Sanskrit words for these sentences are revealing: navya vat – ever-increasingly fresh; hridaye – in the heart; jnah – the supreme knower, Paramatma. This means that by the grace of Krishna, the all-knowing Supreme Person who resides within our hearts as the Supersoul, we experience what’s apparently old to be new, invigorating, and life-giving.

In other words, rather than trying to impress us with new information and thus increase our stock of knowledge, Srila Prabhupada injected new life and relevance into what we had already learned from him. This, to me, is a sign of Srila Prabhupada’s brilliant, assimilated, and realized wisdom: he consistently and repeatedly made basic concepts – such as we’re not our body or mind but spiritual beings – awaken from some inert state, shake off their slumber, and pirouette attractively before us. To have a glimmer of spiritual awakening is a uniquely freeing, elevating feeling, and all we have to do to attain it is to pay attention to Srila Prabhupada’s words – to actually listen to what he says. Which, despite its apparent simplicity, is immensely difficult. Yet this is the key to the fresh spiritual experiences we yearn for.

Krishna’s Ever Freshness

One of Krishna’s innumerable transcendental qualities is that He’s ever fresh. The Nectar of Devotion, Srila Prabhupada’s summary study of Srila Rupa Goswami’s Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, explains it this way:

Krishna is always remembered, and His name is always chanted by millions of devotees, but the devotees never become saturated. Instead of becoming disinterested in thinking of Krishna and in chanting His holy name, the devotees get newer and newer impetus to continue the process. Therefore Krishna is ever fresh. Not only Krishna Himself, but also Krishna’s knowledge is ever fresh. Bhagavad-gita, which was imparted five thousand years ago, is still being read repeatedly by many, many men, and still new light is always being found in it. Therefore, Krishna and His name, fame, qualities – and everything in relationship with Him – is ever fresh.

Other evidence of Krishna’s quality of ever freshness is that the goddesses of fortune, who are very fickle, restless, and prone to leave the people they once favored, cannot leave Krishna for even a moment because of Krishna’s ever-fresh attraction.

One of Krishna’s innumerable names is Nava Yauvanam – “He who possesses ever-fresh youthfulness.” And Krishna’s relationships and loving exchanges with His dear devotees are also ever-increasingly fresh in their sweetness.

Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami writes:

extract]

Seeing His own beauty, Lord Krishna began to consider. “My sweetness is wonderful, infinite and full. No one in the three worlds can find its limit. Only Radhika, by the strength of Her love, tastes all the nectar of My sweetness. Although Radha’s love is pure like a mirror, its purity increases at every moment. My sweetness also has no room for expansion, yet it shines before that mirror in newer and newer beauty. There is constant competition between My sweetness and the mirror of Radha’s love. They both go on increasing, but neither knows defeat. My sweetness is always newer and newer. Devotees taste it according to their own respective love.” (Chaitanya-charitamrita, Adi 4.137–143)

Similarly, in Krishna’s realm, the spiritual sky, there’s nothing but freshness. There the flowers don’t fade in attractiveness or fragrance even after they’re picked, for in that realm everything is spiritual and so never loses its newness and vitality. Srila Prabhupada explains, “The significance of spirituality is that everything is eternal and inexhaustible.” (Bhagavatam 3.28.15, Purport)

Our Ever Freshness

As Krishna’s integral parts, we want freshness. We work for a while and then need a vacation. We tire of the vacation and return to work. We try new tastes and long for new sights, sounds, and experiences – sometimes a new house, sometimes a new spouse, and always a new device. Getting these may satisfy for some time, but the reality is that in the mundane world what’s new becomes old and stale. Freshness fades.

Yet the process of sadhana-bhakti – regulated devotional service – basically means repeating the same daily routine: chanting the names of God, participating in ceremonies, studying the scriptures, and so forth. Externally, sadhana appears repetitious – the same activities every day. If we practice sadhana conscientiously, however, internally we’ll discover that rather than getting stale and hackneyed, sadhana heralds self-discovery. Sadhana is exciting. As long as we pay attention, resisting distractions, we’ll always find there’s something new to absorb, something that will help us progress on our spiritual journey. As Krishna doesn’t become old, similarly chanting His names, learning about Him, and hearing His instructions, which are nondifferent from Him, also don’t become old and hackneyed.

Srila Prabhupada explains, “We have got immense literature. If lifelong we try to understand, there is sufficient stock. It is not hackneyed. You’ll get nava-navayamana. Newer and newer things you’ll get, experience. Anandambudhi-vardhanam. And the more and more you get relish in Krishna consciousness, your transcendental pleasure becomes more and more appreciated. It is so nice.” (Lecture, August 29, 1968, Montreal) Ananda means bliss; ambudhi – the ocean; vardhanam – increasing. Anandambudhi-vardhanam means the expanding blissful ocean of transcendental life, and it implies that if we engage in authentic spiritual practices, like chanting Krishna’s names, studying His teachings, and remembering Him, we’ll feel our distress lessen and our sense of satisfaction rise. Sadhana-bhakti is practical, its joy experiential.

In other words, the oldest person, Krishna, the origin of everything, is at the same time the most contemporary person. Similarly, Krishna’s movement – the Krishna consciousness movement – is primeval, just as He is, and because His movement is spiritual, just as He is, it’s also ever fresh. For those who participate in the Krishna consciousness movement conscientiously, it brings continued delight. Srila Prabhupada said, “We are presenting this movement all over the world, and anyone who has taken, he is happy. But one must be sincere and serious. Then it will act.” (Lecture, February 15, 1971, Gorakhpur, India)

How do we maintain this spirit of freshness amid the apparent sameness of sadhana? In one word, by our enthusiasm. Enthusiasm means to endeavor for spiritual progress with intelligence while following the rules and regulations of sadhana-bhakti, which Srila Prabhupada called “the regulative principles of freedom.” In endeavoring to progress spiritually, we may do any devotional service that’s needed and requested of us by our spiritual authorities. More than likely, however, sooner or later we’ll also want to use our innate proclivities in devotional service – we’ll want to serve guru and Krishna according to our natural propensities, whether with our hands, hearts, or heads, for in this way we’ll feel spiritually grounded, invigorated, and determined despite whatever’s happening externally.

To maintain such enthusiasm, it’s essential to have a spirit of service. As soon as we lose this service spirit, we’ll lose our feeling for Krishna, and our attempt to become Krishna conscious will be a burden rather than an adventure. Our higher taste, the taste we have for spiritual practices, will wane, and we’ll let our spiritual opportunity slip away.

The value of enthusiastic service is inestimable. Srila Prabhupada said this spirit was “individual and spontaneous and voluntary.” He wanted temple managers to always try to generate an atmosphere of fresh challenge, so that devotees would enthusiastically agree to rise and meet it. He wanted us all to sacrifice some energy for Krishna with a spontaneous loving spirit. And he cautioned us against seeking material comforts, for those could make us complacent. He wrote, “There must be always some tapasya, strictly observing the regulative principles – Krishna consciousness movement must be always a challenge, a great achievement to be gained by voluntary desire to do it, and that will keep it healthy.” (Letter, December 22, 1972) An important gauge of that good health is the ability to hear what we’ve already heard but to gain fresh insight from that hearing, to be rejuvenated anew by the so-called old.

Vishakha Devi Dasi has been writing for BTG since 1973. The author of six books, she is the temple president at Bhaktivedanta Manor in the UK. She and her husband, Yadubara Dasa, produce and direct films, most recently the biopic on the life of Srila Prabhupada Hare Krishna! The Mantra, the Movement, and the Swami Who Started It All. Visit her website at OurSpiritualJourney.com.

Source: https://btg.krishna.com/ever-fresh/

Love is our innermost longing. Gita wisdom declares that our longing for love is best fulfilled when we learn to love Krishna. Let’s understand this central Gita teaching in five parts:

1. Loving Krishna enables our love to break free from all limitations,
2. Krishna is eminently lovable,
3. Krishna loves all of us impartially,
4. Krishna’s love for us is unconditional and
5. Krishna engages his omnipotence to help us when we choose to love him.

1. Loving Krishna enables our love to break free from all limitation

Our love constantly longs to rush forth beyond all limitations. But as long as we love any material object or person, the flow of our love remains constrained by two often-subconscious fears:

1. We limit the love that we offer to others due to the fear that it may be at worst rejected insensitively or at best reciprocated inadequately.
2. We also fear that focusing our love on one person may limit our capacity to love others.

However, when we consciously and consistently offer our love to Krishna, we gradually discover that it breaks free from both these limitations. Here’s why:

1. Krishna notices attentively every drop of love that we offer him and reciprocates perfectly by flooding our heart with fulfilling waves of love. When we experience his magnificent reciprocation, we feel inspired to offer him all the love of our heart and more still.
2. Krishna being the source of everyone and everything encompasses all of existence; all living beings are his beloved children. So the love that we offer him doesn’t stay stuck with him, but returns through him to embrace as many living beings as our heart desires. That’s why, when we focus our love on Krishna, we become increasingly capable of loving more and more people. The Bhagavad-gita points to this majestic expansion of our capacity to love when it states (12.13) that devotees who love Krishna become the benefactors of all living beings.

Thus, by loving Krishna, we let our love break free from its limitations and flow freely, bringing the supreme happiness in our own lives and the lives of many others.

2. Krishna is eminently lovable

Krishna is so given to love that he renounces everything, even his godhood, for the sake of love. Of course, he always remains God, but he renounces his godhood in the sense that he conceals his godhood and acts as if he were not God just for the sake of love. His love for love makes him eminently lovable. Let’s see how.

Because Krishna performs childhood pranks like stealing butter, many people who know about Krishna through their culture or tradition consider him amusing. However, the Bhagavad-gita (04.09) declares that those who actually know Krishna attain a result far greater than mere amusement – they attain liberation.

How can knowing Krishna bestow liberation?

Because when we know him, we fall in love with him, thereby opening the door to liberation. When we actually understand Krishna, we cannot but be amazed at how he chooses to take on the role of a sweet and naughty child just to reciprocate love with those who love him.

Isn’t it amazing that God, who is the eternal and ultimate father of all, becomes a tender child for the sake of love? Isn’t it even more amazing that God renounces that which everyone in this world longs to have – the majesty of godhood – just to relish the intimacy of love? And isn’t it most amazing that God, though he has the love of billions and billions of his devotees, considers our love for him so invaluable and irreplaceable and indispensable that he personally descends to this world to invite us with his love-call?

Indeed, how can we not love the Lord who is so given to love and therefore is so supremely lovable? And when we choose to love him, how can he stop himself from fulfilling his heart’s longing to take us back to him and reinstate us in his world of love?

Thus, proper philosophical vision helps us cross the bridge from amusing to amazing in our understanding of Krishna. And when we thereby fall in love with him, he helps us cross the far greater bridge from the material world to the spiritual world.

3. Krishna loves all of us impartially

The Bhagavad-gita (9.29) reveals two paradoxical features of Krishna’s nature:

1. He is equal to all and does not consider anyone to be an object of aversion or affection.
2. For those who offer themselves to him and worship him with devotion, he offers himself to them in return.

These two features suggest that Krishna is both partial and impartial. How can that be?

The key to understanding Krishna’s mysterious nature is to remember that he is not an impersonal principle but a sentient person. Being a person, Krishna is neither neutral, nor partial; he is reciprocal. When we try to avoid him, he reciprocates by not interfering in our lives and by letting us stay under the supervision of the impartial law of karma. When we try to love him, he reciprocates by showering his love on us and by intervening to take special care of us.

If Krishna exhibited stone-like neutrality towards all, there would be hardly any possibility of developing a loving relationship with him. After all, how many people, if any, can love a stone?

If Krishna were not reciprocal, love for him would remain mostly an abstract intellectual conception. It is Krishna’s reciprocity that makes his personality emotionally tangible and eminently lovable. It is Krishna’s reciprocity that makes love for him real.

As Krishna is reciprocal, he is indeed partial to those who try to reciprocate love with him – his devotees. He offers them special protection and grace. But as he is universally reciprocal, he allows everyone to love him and thereby benefit from his partiality. In fact, he publically declares his partiality so that everyone will become attracted and come to benefit from it.

Thus, Krishna is impartially partial: he impartially leaves the doors to partiality open for everyone.

4. Krishna’s love for us is unconditional

At this point, we may wonder, “If Krishna loves all of us impartially, then why can’t we feel his love now? If we can feel it only after becoming pure, then doesn’t that make his love conditional, dependent on the condition of purity?”

Gita wisdom answers that Krishna’s love is unconditional; our capacity to experience his love is conditional. And the conditionality of this capacity is also an evidence of his love for us. Let’s see how.

First we need to understand the difference between the objective fact of Krishna’s love and our subjective experience of his love.

Objectively, Krishna loves all of us irrespective of whether we act piously or sinfully. No matter what misdeeds we do, he still keeps residing in our heart and helping us as much as we allow him. He never quits our heart; he never abandons us; he never gives up on us. Just as the sun gives light to everyone irrespective of their moral or immoral behavior, so does Krishna. Thus, his love is definitely unconditional,

But just as our eyes need to be open to see sunlight, our heart needs to be pure to feel Krishna’s love. So what is conditional is not Krishna’s love, but our capacity to feel his love.

At the same time, while open eyes may be a prerequisite for seeing the sunshine, that is also the natural state of the eyes. Similarly, while a pure heart is the prerequisite for feeling Krishna’s love, that does not make it conditional, for purity is the heart’s natural state.

To understand this point better, let’s get a sense of two related but distinct meanings of the word “condition.” Firstly, it can refer to a demand that needs to be met for something to be valid, as in “Your job appointment is conditional to your passing the graduation exam.” Secondly, it can refer to the state of a thing, as in “People can’t think straight when they are in a condition of great joy or great grief.”

Is Krishna’s love conditional in the demand sense of the word? No because he doesn’t place any demands that we have to first meet before he starts loving us. He loves us, always.

Is Krishna’s love conditional in the state sense of the word? No and yes. No because Krishna loves us irrespective of the state of our heart. Yes because we can feel his love only when our heart is in a particular state, the state of purity.

Still, we might argue, “Krishna, unlike the sun, is omnipotent. So he can make me feel his love even when my heart is not in the right state. Why doesn’t he do that?”

Because he loves us. That Krishna doesn’t force us to feel his love in our present state is a sign of his love. Out of his love for us, he has given us free will. By our past misuse of free will, we have chosen to replace him as the object of our love with various substitutes. When we have thus shown our apathy or even antipathy towards him, for him to force us to feel his love would be to disrespect our free will. And respect is a basic pre-requisite for love.  Due to his respect for us as individuals with independent will, he never forces us to feel his love. Thus, Krishna’s respecting our free will is also a sign of his love for us.

5. Krishna engages his omnipotence to help us when we choose to love him

At the same time, Krishna does use his omnipotence to help us if we express the desire to love him. Let’s understand how Krishna helps us in two ways:

1. He makes himself constantly available to us
2. He accommodates us when we falter in our attempts to love him

1. i.                    Krishna makes himself constantly available to us

In the Bhagavad-gita (15.15), Krishna states that he personally resides in the hearts of all of us for guiding us to our ultimate good. He uses his omnipotence to manifest himself in innumerable expansions as the Supersoul, who resides in the heart of every living being. The Supersoul acts like Krishna’s personalized incarnation for each and every one of us. There, he waits for us to voluntarily express our love for him or at least our desire to love him. We can express this desire by rendering devotional service according to scriptural guidelines. When he sees our sincere desire, he reciprocates by using his omnipotence to remove the roadblocks on our path to purity.

From his strategic vantage point in our heart, Krishna observes our misadventures in material existence and strives to bring them to an adventurous, auspicious ending. Let’s see how:

Krishna is ever-waiting: In a friendship, if one friend neglects the other for a long time, it’s natural and reasonable for the neglected friend to give up the neglecting friend. But Krishna’s love for us far exceeds the bounds of the natural and the reasonable; although we have neglected him for so many lifetimes, he neglects our neglect and waits patiently for us to renew our friendship with him.

Krishna is ever-willing: If a person not only neglects but also offends a friend, that friend would be entirely justified to severe the friendship. But Krishna is such an unfailing and unflinching friend that, despite our many misdeeds through which we have repeatedly offended him, he remains ever-willing to resume our relationship with him.

Krishna is ever-working: Krishna being God is perfect and complete. He has no work to do and has nothing to gain from his relationship with us. Yet due to his selfless and tireless love for us, he voluntarily and constantly works to help us return to him and thereby become eternally happy. Srimad Bhagavatam (8.3.17) states that Krishna is tireless (alayaaya) in his endeavors to help us. Srila Prabhupada elucidates this in his commentary, “He [Krishna] is within our hearts and is not at all inattentive. His only aim is to deliver us from material life. It is not that He becomes attentive to us only when we offer prayers to Him. Even before we offer our prayers, He incessantly tries to deliver us. He is never lazy in regard to our deliverance.”

When we understand how much Krishna loves us and to what lengths he is ready to go in his love for us, how can we not reciprocate?

1. ii.                 Krishna accommodates us when we falter in our attempts to love him

When we strive to love Krishna, we often falter and fall due to our attachments and weaknesses. Krishna accommodates us despite our lapses, as is movingly demonstrated through a two-verse sequence in the Bhagavad-gita (9.30-31).

First (9.30), Krishna urges us to recognize as saintly a devotee who, though guilty of grievous misconduct, is still determined to serve him. Next (9.31) he assures that such a devotee will soon get reformed and then proclaims that due to his unfailing love he will forever protect such a devotee.

The first verse offers a glimpse of the unconditional nature of Krishna’s love: there is nothing that we can ever do, no matter how vicious, that can stop Krishna from loving us.

At the same time, though love can be unilateral, a loving relationship cannot; it must always be bilateral. That’s why the second verse (9.31) indirectly urges one who has made a mistake to return to a virtuous, devotional lifestyle that will engender a pure heart receptive to Krishna’s love. It does so by first unequivocally reassuring us that such a change of heart is definitely possible, even inevitable and imminent (kshipram bhavati dharmatma). Then, knowing that an inner battle is necessary for attaining that state, it inspires us to fight by declaring that Krishna with all his omnipotence will protect us (na me bhaktah pranashyati).

If we just let Krishna help us by expressing our desire to love him, he will expertly guide us to overcome all inner and outer obstacles, and grow and go towards his eternal abode, the world of endless love.

To summarize, when we choose to love Krishna, our love breaks free of all limitations and finds the most eminently lovable object of love, who loves us impartially and unconditionally and who engages his omnipotence to help us love him.

No wonder Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.6) declares that when we learn to love Krishna purely, the result is yayatma suprasidati: our heart and soul become content fully and forever.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=12275

A life of Krishna consciousness provides plenty of freedom to satisfy our inspiration to create.

Our creative urge, born of our being part of Krishna, will be most fulfilling when connected with His purposes.

Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the original creator. In the Bhagavad-gita (10.8) He says,

“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me.” The invocation verse of Sri Ishopanishad says that because He is perfect and complete, His creation, taken as a whole, is also perfect and complete. But one may question, “How is that? The world appears to be rife with imperfections and insufficiencies.” The answer lies in the purpose of the creation.

The creation is to give a chance to us, the spirit souls (jivas), to return to Krishna.

In Srila Prabhupada’s words, “Even for our manufacturing enterprises, we require so many raw materials like metal, sulphur, mercury, manganese, and so many essentials – all of which are supplied by the agents of the Lord, with the purpose that we should make proper use of them to keep ourselves fit and healthy for the purpose of self-realization, leading to the ultimate goal of life, namely, liberation from the material struggle for existence.” (Gita 3.12, Purport)

A second purpose of Krishna’s creating the material world is to give us, the jivas, an opportunity to try to enjoy ourselves. This is not what Krishna Himself wants for us or what He ultimately wants His creation used for, but it’s what we want to use it for. Krishna kindly facilitates our desire.

If we forget the purpose of human life and simply take supplies from the agents of the Lord for sense gratification and become more and more entangled in material existence, which is not the purpose of creation, certainly we become thieves, and therefore we are punished by the laws of material nature. A society of thieves can never be happy, because they have no aim in life. The gross materialist thieves have no ultimate goal of life. They are simply directed to sense gratification. (Gita 3.12, Purport)

Krishna’s material creation is perfectly suited to both allow us to reunite with Him and to allow us to try to enjoy ourselves apart from Him.

The First Created Being

Brahma is the first being Krishna creates within this and every material universe. Brahma is born into darkness and doesn’t know who he is, where he is, or what he’s supposed to be doing. At first he searches here and there to find answers to these questions, but makes no progress. “Lord Brahma, the first spiritual master, supreme in the universe, could not trace out the source of his lotus seat, and while thinking of creating the material world, he could not understand the proper direction for such creative work, nor could he find out the process for such creation.” (Bhagavatam 2.9.5)

After receiving a hint from the Lord that he should practice penance, Brahma meditated with full faith and sincerity for a thousand celestial years, at the end of which he said, “I am now engaged in manifesting His [Krishna’s] diverse energies in the form of the cosmic manifestation. I therefore pray that in the course of my material activities I may not be deviated from the vibration of the Vedic hymns.” (Bhagavatam 3.9.24) And Krishna reciprocated with Brahma. Srila Prabhupada explains:

The mercy the Lord bestows upon a particular person engaged in executing the responsible work entrusted unto him is beyond imagination. But His mercy is received due to our penance and perseverance in executing devotional service. Brahma was entrusted with the work of creating the planetary systems. The Lord instructed him that when he meditated he would very easily know where and how the planetary systems must be arranged. The directions were to come from within, and there was no necessity for anxiety in that task. (Bhagavatam 3.9.30, Purport)

However, Brahma’s creation of our universe, an incredibly complex, diverse, and gigantic task, did not go completely smoothly. For example, at one point Brahma had to turn to the Lord to protect him from his own created beings who were about to attack him: “My Lord, please protect me from these sinful demons, who were created by me under Your order.” (Bhagavatam 3.20.26) At another point, Brahma created four sons, the Kumaras, whom he wanted to help populate the universe, but they refused because they wanted to remain celibate and focused only on freeing themselves from material bondage. At this, Brahma became angry, and although he tried to control his anger, it came out from between his eyebrows as Rudra, also known as Shiva. Brahma asked Rudra to increase the population, and Rudra obeyed, but later Rudra’s unlimited numbers of sons and grandsons assembled and tried to devour the universe. Seeing this, Brahma himself became afraid and told Rudra, “O best among the demigods, there is no need for you to generate living entities of this nature. They have begun to devastate everything on all sides with the fiery flames from their eyes, and they have even attacked me. My dear son, you had better situate yourself in penance, which is auspicious for all living entities and which will bring all benediction upon you.” (Bhagavatam 3.12.17­–18) Fortunately, Rudra agreed and left for the forest to perform penances, and Brahma was able to continue creating.

Our Creative Powers

Krishna creates, and we jivas, as integral parts of Krishna, also have the desire to create, to express our heart in an aesthetically pleasing way. As Krishna’s creation has its purposes and is finely suited to fulfilling those, our creations should be attuned to Krishna’s purposes to be fulfilling to ourselves and pleasing to guru and Krishna. It’s not that anything goes. Srila Prabhupada wrote, “Yesterday I have been in a Unitarian Church and there I saw two pictures of only logs and bamboos, and I was explained by our great artist Govinda dasi that these are modern abstract arts. Anyway I couldn’t see in them anything but a combination of logs and bamboos. There was nothing to impel my Krishna Consciousness.” (Letter to Jadurani Dasi, April 8, 1968)

By the standards of Srimad-Bhagavatam it’s better for us to create something flawed for Krishna’s pleasure than to create something perfect that’s not Krishna-centered. “Transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest.” (Bhagavatam 1.5.11) Conversely, “Those words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered by saintly persons to be like unto a place of pilgrimage for crows.” (Bhagavatam 1.5.10)

In other words, devotees are encouraged to present Krishna consciousness in fresh and novel ways, but they are discouraged from presenting anything that is not grounded in the scriptures. Srila Prabhupada explains it this way:

One must have full confidence in the previous acharya, and at the same time one must realize the subject matter so nicely that he can present the matter for the particular circumstances in a suitable manner. The original purpose of the text must be maintained. No obscure meaning should be screwed out of it, yet it should be presented in an interesting manner for the understanding of the audience. This is called realization. (Bhagavatam 1.4.1, Purport)

* * *

Just like in law court two lawyers are fighting, but the lawyer who is giving evidences from the law book, he is accepted by the judge. And therefore, generally you will find, whenever we speak something, we give evidence from the shastra in Sanskrit, in all our books. That is the way of proving that whatever I am speaking, it is fact. (Room Conversation, April 7, 1972, Melbourne)

In His teachings to Sanatana Goswami, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu pointed out that some unscrupulous persons make up stories that are not in accord with scriptural conclusions. Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami writes: “Illusory stories opposed to the conclusions of Krishna consciousness concern the destruction of the Yadu dynasty, Krishna’s disappearance, the story that Krishna and Balarama arise from a black hair and a white hair of Kshirodakashayi Vishnu, and the story about the kidnapping of the queens. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explained to Sanatana Goswami the proper conclusions of these stories.” (Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya 23.117–118)

To see how Srila Prabhupada applied these principles practically, we can study how he guided the many artists who illustrated his books. To three of them he wrote, “The best thing will be that you paint pictures to your best discretion and in controversial points you can write to me and I will send instructions. All of you are expert painters, so your mutual decision for painting a picture is more valuable than my suggestion. The descriptions are already there, given in the book, so there is no difficulty to take out the points and prepare a sketch.” (Letter to Jadurani Dasi, Bharadvaja Dasa, and Muralidhara Dasa, June 4, 1970)

Once in a while, when an artist created a painting without following scriptural descriptions, Srila Prabhupada would correct that person, sometimes strongly. On one such occasion he wrote, “Krishna and Balarama fighting as bulls is completely rejected by me. It is not good. You have made it demoniac. Make Them as they are themselves, as boys fighting. Never show like this. Everything is there in the Krishna book. Don’t imagine.” (Letter to Jadurani Dasi, August 9, 1974)

The Sum and Substance

Many of us have a deep-rooted desire to create, whether through writing, art, or some other endeavor. This is natural because we are part of Krishna, the supreme creator, and we share His qualities, including the creative urge. This urge is misused, however, if we don’t keep our creations within scriptural boundaries. This is not repression of our creativity, but freedom for it. One asks, freedom through boundaries? Yes. In the Bhagavad-gita (2.64) Krishna explains that “a person free from all attachment and aversion and able to control his senses through regulative principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord.” By controlling our senses through following regulative principles, we free our minds to think of Krishna. Similarly, by following scriptural guidelines when we create, we can please the spiritual master and Krishna and thus be gradually released from the grip of material illusion. Otherwise, if we allow our creative impulses to be unbounded, we may become well known for our creations but we will also be further entrenched in material consciousness.

Earlier I quoted a letter to Jadurani Dasi in which Srila Prabhupada criticized abstract modern art as having “nothing to impel my Krishna Consciousness.” He continued, “So, if you want to be a great artist in that way, I will pray that Krishna may save you. . . . We are meant for satisfying Krishna, not anybody’s senses. That should be the principle of our life.”

Source: https://btg.krishna.com/the-boundaries-of-creativity/

On June 5th, 2024, a group of Greek-Catholic seminarians visited the ISKCON Kyiv temple with their professor as part of their religious studies curriculum, which includes learning about other spiritual traditions.  

Under the guidance of Acyuta Priya Das and Bhakti Caru Das, the group of seminarians experienced a warm and welcoming atmosphere at the New Navadvipa Mandir Temple. The guests actively participated in a lecture, posed thoughtful questions, and were treated to prasadam and kirtan. In a beautiful display of mutual respect, the seminarians concluded their visit by offering a prayer dedicated to Jesus.

Acyuta Priya Das, the new Co-GBC for Ukraine and GBC for Moldova, is now living in the country as part of his service to the thousands of devotees who have remained there despite the difficult conditions. The Kyiv community, like many others, continues to face severe hardships due to the ongoing war. “During the many air raid warnings, devotees go to a bomb shelter with the Deities,” said Acyuta Priya Das, “Electricity is being cut off regularly for 5-6 hours, then on for some time, then cut off again. But kirtans are still very happy, and visitors are still coming to the temple regularly.”

Devotees can offer support to different causes in Ukraine by visiting the Share Your Care Project.  Please visit its website to learn more.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/greek-catholic-seminarians-visit-iskcons-new-navadvipa-mandir-in-kyiv-ukraine/

By Radhapriya

The Muskoka Cultural Centre in Huntsville, Ontario celebrated its Grand Opening during the 3rd week of May 2024, with the aim of spreading Krishna Consciousness, prasadam, and kirtan in a welcoming environment to the local and larger community.

By Srila Prabhupada’s mercy, devotees are always trying to spread goodwill through the preaching of bhakti-yoga. One aspect of that is bringing people access to Vedic literature, darshan of the Lord, prasadam, kirtan, and association through centres of worship.

With this goal in mind, a few devotees, under the guidance of Bhaktimarga Swami, came together in 2021 with a dream to open a centre in cottage country in Northern Ontario, Canada. Initially, the idea was to look for a facility for seniors to live in a community of like-minded Krishna-conscious individuals. However, a unique opportunity presented itself. Often, devotees are able to procure and convert churches into temples; in this case, a building with two adjacent movie houses in the heart of Huntsville, Muskoka, became available.

The building had immense potential with its high ceilings, lobby, concession area, and location right on Main Street, where tourists and locals converge. A lot of work, creativity, skills, and acumen were involved. Lajpat Prasher and his son Ravi brought their expertise in building and design as well as the financial backing to make the project a reality; Vyasacarya Das and his brother Jay Gopal Das, who have a background in lodging, brought their hospitality and people skills; and Bhaktimarga Swami served as a spiritual guide. Many “Brahmanstorming” sessions were held in Srila Prabhupada’s quarters at ISKCON Toronto.

Two and a half years since the seed of the dream, the Muskoka Krishna Cultural Centre came to fruition. The facility is located in Huntsville, Ontario, which is approximately 215 kilometers (134 miles) north of Toronto, a hilly terrain in the center of the Canadian Shield, the world’s oldest rock, and dotted with many lakes and natural surroundings. The Centre is a three-minute walk from the Muskoka River and right next to the Trans Canada Trail, the longest multi-use trail system in the world at 28,000 kilometers, which traverses all across Canada.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/canadian-devotees-open-unique-cultural-centre-in-northern-ontario/

By Karuna Dharini devi dasi, disciple of Virabahu Maharaja

Ecology: the study of the relationships between living organisms and their interactions with their natural or developed environment. 1

We have been hearing the term ecology popularly in use since the seventies. People have become very concerned with nature’s welfare. Some scientists spend their entire lives researching how to save a particular community of animals. There are organizations to save the elephant, Panda, plankton, frog, jungles, etc. This is only natural because the spiritual world is the beautiful, natural environment with which we are originally associated. In His Vrndavana, Sri Krsna protects cows, prevents fires, talks to the animals and enjoys the pure forest atmosphere. The cowherd boys are decorated with minerals from the caves and newly sprouted leaves and flowers.

Meanwhile, in the material world, billions of dollars’ worth of research and adjustments cannot save many of earth’s ecosystems. Life is threatened by a development that has only recently come to the attention and debate of the greater public: climate change. Carbon dioxide and methane emissions are increasingly trapping heat from the sun light into earth’s atmosphere.

The planet is warming to a degree beyond what many species can handle, altering or eliminating habitat, reducing food sources, causing drought and other species-harming severe weather events, and even directly killing species that simply can’t stand the heat. In fact, scientists predict that if we keep going along our current greenhouse gas emissions trajectory, climate change will cause more than a third of the Earth’s animal and plant species, to face extinction by 2050 — and up to 70 percent by the end of the century. Such a catastrophic loss would irreversibly diminish biodiversity, severely disrupt ecosystems, and cause immense hardship for human societies worldwide.2

If climate change is for real, it is very bad news for life on our planet. Srila Prabhupada said a devotee is so compassionate that he will hesitate to harm even an ant. Are we powerless to do anything? Why does the sun, which the Vedas describe as the symbol of the eye of God, feel as though it is torching the planet on which we live?

Scientific Explanations

Some say climate change is purely an act of nature. Others say it is human driven, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels into earth’s atmosphere. The International Governmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of 1,300 scientists from all over the globe, under the auspices of the United Nations concluded in their presentation to the public sector that there is more than a ninety percent probability that human activities over the past two-hundred fifty years have warmed the planet.

The Union of Concerned Scientists describe that one of the most practical empirical evidences is the measure of carbon dioxide in the air. What’s more, analysis of carbon dioxide indicates its source. Finer, lighter carbon dioxide is the result of fossil fuel burning. Analysis of very old air bubbles found in ice cores reveal that the lighter version of carbon dioxide was not much present before the industrial revolution. Two-hundred fifty years later it is very much present, and the stats for the future look staggering.

Future of Fossil Fuel Emissions

To understand the future of the changes we are making to earth’s atmosphere, there are three key figures. The first is 2 degrees Celsius. That is the number that the Copenhagen Climate Conference selected as the absolute maximum amount of warming that can take place without extreme consequences. This 2 degrees is the “bottomest of lines,” with any higher temperatures to result in total acidity in the oceans, complete melting of artic ice, increase in humidity above oceans to trigger disastrous storms and flooding, as well as cataclysmic destruction to the environments in Africa, Australia and other drought prone countries.3 (Drought is the most common cause of crop failure in India where a farmer’s suicide occurs once every thirty minutes.4)

The second number to take note of is 565 gigatons. That figure directly relates to how much additional carbon can be burned into the atmosphere without sending the average planet temperatures above 2 degrees Celsius.

The third figure is 2,795 gigatons:

2,795 gigatons is the amount of carbon already existent in the proven oil and gas reserves of the fossil fuel companies. In short it is the fossil fuel we are already planning to burn. Five times greater a number than the number of 565, which would hold us to the 2 degree Celsius warming limit. This coal and gas is technically in the soil. But it’s already economically above ground. It’s figured into share prices, companies are borrowing money against it, and nations are basing their budgets on it. Those 2,795 gigatons of carbon emissions are worth $27 trillion…We might as well burn all that carbon and investors will do fine, but if we do, the planet will crater.5

The second largest cause of global warming is methane gas. 27% of methane gas emissions are the by-product of animal farming. Ruminating animals such as cows, sheep, and goats exude methane gas during their digestive processes and from their dung.

Grain fed meat production heavily depends on using fossil fuel. With third world countries predicted to greatly increase their factory farming, industry and auto driving in the coming century, Co2 and methane levels will spike dramatically.

Wildlife and Domestic Animals; Souls in Peril

While we fill the air with carbon dioxide, blindly putting life on earth at risk, materialistic society continues to lavish love on pets and wildlife. Organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have gained strength, popularity and some legal clout over meat producers, puppy farms, circuses, rodeos, zoos, etc.

Yet with respect for the work of these pet rescuers, humane law enforcers and ecologists, devotees can easily see the dissonance in their proactivity. For example, “humane slaughter” laws do little to protect livestock. The pet industry profits greatly from the meat industry. Ecologists have become helpless to re-establish countless destroyed or sun baked habitats. Maya’s influence is very strong. If any change is to take place, it will have to start with the spiritual mental health inside of ourselves, not only with a web site or a green t-shirt.

We are now unprecedented in the destruction of unwanted

pets. In the U.S. it is 2.7 million per year.6 As for wildlife, we are the

driving force of an extinction rate estimated one thousand times

greater than the rate which occurred before human alteration of the

planet.7 Slaughter house technology takes the lives of nine billion farm

animals in the United States. The estimate for world slaughter is one

hundred–fifty billion yearly.8

Animals are bound by the laws of nature. Unlike humans, they do not break the laws. They are, in their own artless ways, more in touch with their creator than the modern Kali-yuga man who has become an expert at sense gratification. The eight million, four hundred thousand species of life are still trying, although it is perhaps the most pathetic struggle in their history, to simply sustain their lives in the midst of relentless peril due to human competitors, predators and exploiters. Repeated birth and death is the fate of all embodied souls, but now the tables are turned in such a way that the variety of amazing life forms will be no more. At the end of Kali-yuga, when Kalki is about to appear, the earth becomes twelve times hotter and reduced to dust.

Srila Prabhupada challenged many times, Mr. Scientist, you have invented so many ways by which to kill. Can you invent any means by which man may live? Can you put an end to repeated birth and death?

Life on earth is misinterpreted by materialistic modern science, politics, and animal husbandry. They fail to see Krishna’s reason for the creation. The Vedic wisdom tells us that the eight million, four hundred thousand species of life we see on earth are a series of temporary terms of existence designed by our creator for repeated birth and death. When we arrive at the human form of life it is a time of awakening. It is a time for the cultivation of divine appreciation, not nuts and bolts.

One who sees all living entities as spiritual sparks, one in quality with the Lord, becomes a true knower of things. What, then, can be illusion or anxiety for Him?

-Sri Isopanisad 7

This World is not our Home

As devotees we like to show respect for Krishna’s creation. We may drive a car with fewer emissions, or use public transportation. We may purchase or grow ethically farmed foods, recycle our recyclables and practice cow protection. Simply being vegetarian means we contribute a great deal less to toxic waste problems than non-vegetarians do.

While there are no easy, quick fix solutions, this time of global uncertainty is excellent impetus for self-realization. We can garner a lesson which has been a long time in the making. Climate change convinces us that the universal, infallible law of justice is a scientific fact.

We are very conditioned to the convenience og the amenities that we grew up with, filling our tanks and driving all over, flying in planes, taking much advantage from running electric appliances. Now a huge karmic fallout is making its debut. It will cause financial and physical hardships for future generations and for also us in this very lifetime: acidic oceans, desertification, severe weather events, scarcity, drought, famine and devastation to at least some of earth’s natural beauty.

How to make a difference? The way that material civilization is arranged at this time in history makes it nearly impossible to go about one’s daily duties without leaving a “carbon footprint.” To completely stop it all together we have two extreme choices: 1) give up all forms of work entirely, 2) become so expert in self-sufficiency we do not interact with any agency of further environmental contamination.

But Srila Prabhupada did not recommend that we limit ourselves in devotional service, or in what we could do to further the mission of Krishna consciousness. Working for Krsna and the spiritual master is not contaminated by material interactions. He did not even suggest that we give up the ordinary work which is born of our own nature:

Every endeavor is covered by some fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore one should not give up the work born of his nature, O son of Kunti, even if such work is full of faults.

From the purport,

This example of the fire and the smoke is very appropriate. When in wintertime one takes a stone from the fire, sometimes smoke disturbs the eyes and other parts of the body, but still one must make use of the fire despite disturbing conditions. Similarly, one should not give up his natural occupation because there are some disturbing elements. Rather, one should be determined to serve the Supreme Lord by his occupational duty in Krsna consciousness. That is the perfectional point. When a particular type of occupation is performed for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, all the defects in that particular occupation are purified. When the results are purified, when connected with devotional service, one becomes perfect in seeing the self within, and that is self-realization.

-Bhagavad-Gita 18.48

Prabhupada’s message is appropriate now more than ever. We are surrounded by a rather insipid, invisible smoke which increasingly pervades earth’s atmosphere. When nearly every place in nature has been compromised by it, devotees should not loose heart. There is simply nothing we can do that will satisfy us as much as to continue to serve Lord Krishna. Making huge material adjustments will not bring any happiness or relief. Self-realization is the only gentleman’s way out of here. Goloka Vrndavana is the pristine destination. That is the only perfectional point. This is a non-permanent, miserable place, it is not our real home and it never will be.

Scientists and politicians will certainly grapple to put forth a positive solution for the problem of climate change. Meanwhile devotees need only try to make this earth as nice as possible in the form of Krishna conscious environments such as nice temples, big kirtans, eco-friendly farms, prasadam restaurants, etc., in order to encourage others and our own selves in self-realization. At the same time we keep in mind that Krsna has meant this planet for our rectification, not for permanent residence. The ecology of the heart is the beginning of any hope for external change. Ecology devoid of the study of humanity’s relationship with the Supreme Living Being will always be the study of living beings in a crisis.

1 Encarta Dictionary

2 Center for Biodiversity, 2015

3 Rolling Stone Magazine, McKibben, July 2012

4 Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2014, Shasank Bengali reporting from Savargaon, India

5 Rolling Stone Magazine., McKibben, July 2012

6 Washington Post 12-3-14

7 Livescience.com, 9-18-14

8 www.adaptt.org/killcounter

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20550

I sent a telegram to Prabhupada saying, “Can I get out of here?”

Brahmananda: In 1971 Prabhupada was having big public programs in India, and one evening an Arya Samajist challenged Prabhupada. He said, “Oh, Swamiji, you have come to India with your western chelas, but we know all these things. This is our culture. Better you go to the other places and do your work there. All right, you have been to the West, but what about the Muslim countries? What about Pakistan?

You should go to Pakistan and preach there. Make them devotees.” This was in a public pandal with thousands of people. Prabhupada said, “You are challenging us to go?” The man said, “Yes. I challenge you. You must go to Pakistan.” Prabhupada said, “All right. We will go.”

Prabhupada wrote a letter to me, “Immediately go to West Pakistan.” He also wrote to Gargamuni, “Immediately go to East Pakistan.” We got these letters and we left the next day. I didn’t have any money. Somebody paid for the bus from Florida to New York. Gargamuni had money so he flew. I had to go by overland to India— hitchhiking, buses, trains, whatever way I could go.

At that time a war was starting. Prabhupada found out about the war and the hostilities between Pakistan and India afterwards and then wrote a second letter saying, “I don’t advise you to go at this time.”

But we never got that letter. We had already left. We walked right into a war situation. It was difficult, but we were preaching and trying to do something. I was in Karachi. North of Karachi is the Singh Desert, the hottest place in the world, averaging 125 degrees. It was May, the hottest month, and I was sick with dysentery.

I had no books, people were spitting on me on the street, threatening to put a knife in my back. When we had kirtan, people would rub off our tilak and spit. What a situation!

Then a report appeared in the Pakistani and Indian newspapers saying, “Four Hare Krishna Missionaries Shot.” In Bombay, Karandhar showed Prabhupada the newspaper report. It didn’t give any names.

Gargamuni was with Pusta in the east, and I was with Jagannivas in the west. There were four of us. Prabhupada was very disturbed. He thought that we had been shot.

I sent a telegram to Prabhupada saying, “Can I get out of here?” Prabhupada sent a telegram back, “Come immediately, Bhaktivedanta Swami.” Four words. Those were the best four words. To get out of the country was a big thing. Somehow we were able to get out. I came to Bombay and went to the Akash Ganga Building where Prabhupada was staying.

When I walked into his room, Prabhupada immediately got up, came over, put his arms around me and hugged me to his chest. He was putting his hands all over me just like a mother would touch her child if she thinks that he has been hurt. The mother wants to see that the child is still intact.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=18883

From Back to Godhead

Though he sought enlightenment on an isolated beach through music, meditation, and marijuana, it came to him in a way he’d never expected.

Having had some mystical experiences as a teenager that convinced me of the existence of God, I left my native country, Argentina, for Salvador, capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia, famous for its mysticism and magic. I arrived in the area without plans, money, or acquaintances and moved into a straw hut by the beach a couple of miles from the nearest fishing village and fifty miles from civilization. It was an ideal setting of palm trees, a small lake, a river of crystalline water, and the turquoise Atlantic Ocean, in year-round eighty-degree weather.

I made a new friend there. He was reading the Bible and other books about God, playing music for God, and smoking marijuana to keep in touch with “the subtle world of God consciousness.” While I played saxophone and recorder, he would play guitar. We intended to satisfy God with our musical spontaneity.

I read a book by a Japanese doctor who claimed that everyone had inherent healing powers that could be awakened just by practicing austerities like fasting and chanting mantras. Since our eating depended on what God would send, fasting wasn’t unknown to us, although God would almost daily send someone with something to eat, or drop some green coconuts to the ground. To try to attain enlightenment, I was already planning to undergo a forty-day fast. So I followed the Japanese doctor’s program and, by the grace of God. I developed some healing powers. I could close wounds and heal minor afflictions.

My friend and hut-mate, David (as he wanted people to call him after the biblical character), made bamboo flutes, which we decided to try selling at the artisans’ market in Salvador. For the first time in months, I put on a shirt and sandals. I walked along the beach to the next village (there was no road) and caught a bus into the city.

Although the contrast between the city and the beach was shocking, my mind was peaceful because I was always thinking of finding the way to God. I walked around the market playing a flute. I sold a few and then went to the telephone company to make a long-distance call.

A young woman in a wheelchair waiting for her turn to use the phones attracted my attention. Here was a serious case I might be able to cure. Without hesitation. I went up to her and revealed my intentions.

“By the grace of God,” I said, “I have some healing powers that might enable you to walk. I’m not going to touch you or charge you anything, nor is it going to hurt you to try.” I waited for her answer,whichcame in a way I’d never expected.

“You are very kind in trying to help me,” she replied, “but you should also consider that I suffer no more pain than what your body gives you. I’ve been in a wheelchair since birth. I have never walked; nevertheless, I’ve always gotten where I wanted to go. This is the body God gave me after many past lives of sinful activities; therefore I deserve it. And more important than all this,” she added, “is that I, the person, live in this machine we call the body. I need spiritual, not material, help, and in spite of your good intentions, I don’t think you are ready to give that yet.” After saying this, she smiled and waited for my reaction.

I was dumbfounded. It took me a while to recuperate. Then I said, “What you just said sounds like the absolute truth, which I had not expected to hear from someone in your circumstances.”

My experience was that many persons confined to wheelchairs were easily irritated and seemingly resentful of their condition. I asked her not to go away. I wanted to make a call and return to talk at length. She promised to wait. When I returned I pushed the wheelchair outside and asked her where we should go.

“Let’s take a taxi to a restaurant,” she said.

“OK.” I said, thinking, Taxi? I never thought I’d ever ride in one again. I had the same feeling about going to a restaurant.

Once in the taxi she asked me if I was a vegetarian. I replied that where I lived there was no meat, so circumstantially I was. But why?

She explained that killing animals or eating them is sinful and should be avoided by all means. This made sense to me, and I promised her that I would become a total vegetarian. I could see that she was serious about spiritual life, so I asked. “Is there any other prohibition?”

“Yes. No gambling.”

“Fine with me.” I said. “What else?”

“No illicit sex.”

I had given up sex entirely some time before, understanding that it doesn’t help in the pursuit of spiritual life. So I had no problems with that either.

“What else?” I asked.

“No intoxication.” she replied shyly, knowing from my long hair and beard that I was probably rather involved in this particular area.

“What do you mean by ‘No intoxication’?” I asked her quickly.

“No alcohol, drugs,tobacco, coffee, tea …”

I then admitted to smoking marijuana to keep in constant touch with God, but at the same time I began to doubt this method of God realization.

“Where did you get the philosophy you were speaking back at the phone company?” I asked.

She calmly replied. “From the Hare Krsnas.”

I searched my mind for some information about the Hare Krsnas. I told her I’d read long ago in a popular magazine that their diet consisted of lettuce and walnuts and that George Harrison of the Beatles paid all the bills. I also saw them once selling books, incense, and oils at the Buenos Aires subway. She laughed at my poor description.

I then asked. “How do they get in touch with God if they don’t smoke marijuana?”

“They chant Hare Krsna. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna , Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”she said.

Since I was already chanting some words to help with my healing powers, this made sense to me. I thought. These Hare Krsna people don’t look like anyone else, so they easily could have something that no one else has, and why not exactly what I am looking for: the Absolute Truth? What wouldn’t I give for that priceless gift!

I asked, “What should I do?”

“Go live with them,” she said.

I felt far too ignorant of their philosophy to just walk in and say, “Well, I’m one of you now.” So I proposed that we spend a few days together so I could learn the basics of Krsna consciousness. She agreed.

We took a boat across the bay from Salvador to an island where she lived with some friends. For the next few days she taught me the basic philosophy, answered my questions, and gave me a Krsna book and a volume of Srimad-Bhagavatam. She showed me japa (chanting) beads and explained many things about the devotees’ life. I was fascinated. I bid her farewell and took a boat back across the bay and a bus to the temple.

I met the temple president Hankara dasa, who asked, “How did you get to know about us?” I briefly related my story, and he started explaining different aspects of the philosophy in a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish. I told him I wanted to become a pure devotee. Seated beside him was a young man with long hair (not as long as mine, but long enough to distinguish him from the shaven-headed devotees) who seemed absorbed in chanting on his beads, quite loudly, but also in listening to our conversation. I tried to appear unaffected by this strange sight.

Then came the prasadam (food that’s been offered to Krsna). To the girl, prasadam was a magic word. Yet despite her descriptions of celestial, divine, delicious prasadam. I thought it was terrible. But I silently ate every thing on my plate. Later I learned that the cook was new and that the food I’d eaten, except for the bread Hankara had made, was well below standard. Still, the philosophy was so satisfying that nothing was going to discourage me from living with devotees. They let me stay overnight not in the asrama but in the reception room. with no blanket or mat or pillow. My spontaneous attraction to the philosophy made them suspicious, and they were afraid I was just there to steal something or do something crazy.

They woke me for mangala-arati, the ceremony of worshiping the Deities that begins the day. That afternoon a devotee accompanied me to my hut. I wanted to pick up my belongings and tell my hut-mate the good news: finally I’d found the process of awakening the soul from the slumber of material illusion and the torture of mental speculation. But my friend had left

The next day, I rode the night bus to Recife, a city twelve hours north of Salvador, with the president of the Recife temple and a younger devotee. I was going there to join the program for newcomers. At about 9:15 P.M. the younger devotee asked me if I was chanting Hare Krsna. “Well, nobody told me to,” I said, “so I guess I’m not ready yet.” He laughed, gave me his own beads as a gift and taught me how to chant. By 10:00 P.M., after chanting three rounds, I fell asleep.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33701

To identify the subtle challenges to our devotional progress, we need the help of scripture and other devotees.

As with any serious endeavor, the pursuit of the true goal of life presents challenges for aspiring devotees, but we need not face them alone.

The purpose of every human life is to go back to Godhead, and the path to Godhead is pure devotional service. Those of us walking on this path will encounter challenges. Identifying these challenges and working to overcome them will accelerate our progress. Since devotional service has to do with our consciousness, which is very subtle, the challenges are also subtle. To detect gross challenges is easy because they are visible. To identify the subtle challenges to our devotional progress, we need the help of scripture and other devotees.

One of the major challenges is the habits we acquired before coming to devotional service. These habits are learned in our post-modern society and education system and require unlearning. The more we unlearn our past habits, the easier it becomes to learn and adopt the principles of pure devotional service. We need to understand the fallacies that modern society and education eulogize; we need to see how they harm our devotional service; we need to cleanse ourselves of misconceptions and make ourselves immune to them. One of the six aspects of surrender to Krishna listed in the guidebook Hari-bhakti-vilasa (11.676) is pratikulyasya varjanam – giving up things unfavorable to devotional service.

Materialism Distracts Us

Materialism is one of the strongest misconceptions taught and propagated by modern society. Capitalism, industrialization, and consumerism are catalysts in propagating materialism. The money spent to promote products through advertisements in various media is often greater than that spent on their production. The modern education system, being influenced by capitalism, aims to produce people who are expert in making and marketing goods on the one hand and becoming expert consumers of goods on the other. Students are made to believe that fat paychecks and corporate success are the ways to happiness. The role models are the billionaires who possess lots of material assets and the sports stars and movie stars who possess material talents and skills. Everyone is valued based on their net worth. 

“Things” are unconscious, dead, and unable to respond or reciprocate, but people are conscious and can reciprocate and respond to stimuli. We have an innate need to love and be loved, to exchange emotions and share knowledge. The things of this world can at most satisfy our gross physical needs. They are not at all equipped to satisfy our inner needs. To fulfill these vital needs that make us happy, we need to relate with other people. At most, the things of this world can serve as means to express love, communicating our emotions to others.

Increasing materialism propelled by technology and consumerism causes people to value things over people. A smartphone is more loved than one’s spouse, a car more cherished than one’s own children. Our real focus should be to love people and use things, and not the other way around. For example, when a mother suckles her baby, what counts the most for the baby is not the milk but the love and care with which the mother feeds the baby. The milk is a means of expressing that love.

In the personal financial classic Your Money or Your Life, authors Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin describe the curve that demonstrates how fulfilment varies with increase in consumption of resources. Up to the point where our basic survival needs and comforts are addressed, our fulfilment increases with the increase in consumption of resources. After that point, our fulfilment reduces with the increase in consumption of resources, following the law of diminishing returns.

Our thoughts count more than things. Our happiness depends on things that money cannot buy. The fact that we are not the material body but the spirit soul is a basic tenet of Krishna consciousness. As spiritual beings, our ultimate happiness cannot be based on something material. Lord Krishna cautions in the Bhagavad-gita (2.44) that the resolute determination for devotional service cannot be found in those attached to material enjoyment and opulence.

The best way to overcome the materialistic tendency is to engage our material possessions – wealth, assets, skills, body, etc. – in devotional service and experience a higher taste. As we increasingly experience the spiritual higher taste, we easily overcome materialistic conceptions. Spiritual practitioners must also distance themselves as much as possible from the propaganda and propagators of materialism. Studying the wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam to educate ourselves on how materialism is futile will lend a helping hand at times of materialistic temptations.

The path of devotional service involves two aspects – disconnecting from matter and reconnecting with Krishna. They are carried out in parallel, not one after the other. For example, a patient has to accept a restricted diet (to prevent further infection) along with medicine and other treatment (for healing). We reconnect with Krishna through nine processes of devotional service, beginning with hearing about Krishna, chanting His names, and remembering Him. To practice the nine processes of devotional service we need the association of devotees. Our advancement in devotional service depends greatly on the quality of our association with devotees.

Insensitivity Makes Us Impersonal

One of the challenges in dealing with devotees is insensitivity. Because the world is primarily conducted by the modes of passion and ignorance, sensitivity is hardly a priority for most people.

Though practicing devotees may mostly abstain from materialism, they may carry materialistic leanings into the association of devotees and treat them the way one deals with matter. Material things don’t get back at us if we neglect or mishandle them. When my smart phone malfunctions and I yell at it, it doesn’t protest. But if we become callous towards people, they may become callous towards us. We all need help in our practice of devotional service, and we associate with devotees to get that help in various forms, such as inspiration, opportunities, and blessings. Unless we put our heart into our dealings and interactions with devotees, we cannot expect wholehearted reciprocation. We must treat devotees as valued persons and do our best to cater to their emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (4.11), “As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly.” Our surrender to Krishna is expressed through our taking shelter of devotees and serving them. Krishna chiefly reciprocates through His devotees. We please Krishna to the extent we please them.

To cultivate sensitivity, we need to aspire to be sensitive. If we deliberate on devotees’ sensitive dealings with us and also study in the scriptures about the devotees’ and the Lord’s dealings, then we will naturally be inspired to become sensitive in our dealings. Cultivating the mode of goodness helps us better understand others’ needs and interests. In goodness one’s speech and behavior naturally become polite and pleasing. We can also take guidance from mature and experienced devotees on how to cultivate sensitivity in our dealings with devotees around us. And we should understand the detrimental effects of displeasing devotees.

Self-centeredness Makes Our Heart Dry

Besides insensitivity, another obstacle one may encounter in dealing with devotees is one’s own self-centeredness – “What is in it for me?” Only a selfless gesture can touch the heart of another person and potentially invoke favorable reciprocation. Sensitivity is not sustainable and looks superficial when based on selfishness. What comes from the head touches only the head; what comes from the heart touches the heart.

The disease of “I and mine” plagues modern society. British author David Mitchell writes, “Selfishness uglifies the soul.” If we value ourself over others, our world contracts. When we don’t value others, they neglect us. Then our need for fulfilling relationships remains unfulfilled. We start to feel dissatisfaction, which if unaddressed can lead to depression and even suicide.

Selfless Service

The central point of bhakti is selfless service to the Supreme Lord Krishna and His devotees. Selfless service to the Supreme Lord is the original, constitutional position of every one of us. Self-centeredness is diametrically opposite to this. Krishna condemns this mentality in the Bhagavad-gita (3.13), stating that selfishness is tantamount to sin.

We can develop the inspiration to become selfless by deliberating on the selfless sacrifices of the devotees who help us in our Krishna consciousness. We can also contemplate the selfless sacrifices of our acharyas. We are especially indebted to Srila Prabhupada for his great sacrifices in spreading Krishna consciousness all over the world. At first, because sacrifice seems unnatural to us, we can practice it as an austerity. But as we progress spiritually, we will taste the sweetness of selfless service; it will become natural. Understanding how a selfish life is a source of misery can also help us in this regard.

The obstacles discussed in this article – bad habits, materialism, insensitivity, selfishness – are connected to two primary obstacles to our progress in devotional service: sins and offenses. We commit sins because of our habits born of materialism, and we commit offenses owing to insensitivity and selfishness. Unless these obstacles are cleared, we cannot practice devotional service with one-pointed focus. To the extent these obstacles are cleared, we can realize the effects of devotional service, including faith in all-merciful Lord Krishna and attraction to His devotional service.

Source: https://btg.krishna.com/clearing-our-way-back-to-godhead/

By Atma Tattva Das

A tornado has caused significant damage in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, resulting in the loss of eleven lives and injuries to more than 50 people. The town of Tongaat was one of the most affected areas, with numerous homes suffering extensive destruction.  In response to the disaster, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) South Africa and its charitable organization, Food For Life (FFL), promptly launched relief efforts to assist the affected residents.

One day after the destructive storm, volunteers from ISKCON, led by Gomatila and supported by the FFL South Africa team, commenced the distribution of prasad to the survivors. Bhakti Caitanya Swami, ISKCON GBC of South Africa, took part in the food distribution, providing wisdom, encouragement, and support to the volunteers and recipients.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-south-africa-and-food-for-life-rushes-aid-to-tornado-victims/

By Tattvavit Das 

The four-day ISKCON Communications conference held at Radhadesh on May 25–28 was the thirtieth conference organized by ISKCON Communications Europe (ICE). The first day was dedicated to this anniversary. 

Mahaprabhu Dasa, ICE’s current director, invited Mukunda Goswami, the original director of ISKCON Communications worldwide, to open the conference by video. 

Mukunda Goswami spoke from Australia, telling sixty participants how he rescued a Los Angeles devotee abducted by her parents and deprogrammers. He filed a police report, and then talked to a Los Angeles Times reporter. When she escaped, she put herself in the custody of policemen, who reunited her with the ISKCON temple by helicopter from their police station in another city. Eventually, she sued her parents for seventeen thousand dollars. Mukunda Goswami’s first major international media success was lining up excellent news coverage of the opening of the ISKCON temple in Juhu Beach, Mumbai, in January 1978. 

Then Shaunaka Rishi Dasa from Ireland and Anuttama Dasa from the USA spoke in person about Mukunda Goswami’s recruiting them into ISKCON Communications. 

There is a very, very special dhama located in central Spain about 100 kilometers east of Madrid, Spain’s capital city.
It is geographically right outside the little town of Brihuega, near Guadalajara the nearest city. It is a small farm community, complete with flower and vegetable gardens, a couple of small greenhouses, a beautiful goshala right across the road from the temple, and then a larger goshalla down the road. They have approximately 12 cows and 2 bulls. The five cows that are kept in the goshalla close to the temple are definitely pampered and adored. They provide the milk for the milksweets and curd used in the daily Deity offerings. The farm is about 300 hectares in size and has roughly about 40 devotees living on and close to the land. But the most wonderful residents of New Vraja Mandala are Their Lordships, Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda Chandra, Sri-Sri Gaura-Nitai, and a most beautiful golden, Laksmi-Nrshingha sitting atop Ananta Sesa. Of course, we can’t forget Giri-Govardhana and also a stunning Garuda atop a pillar gazing in adoration of Their Lordships on the altar.

Although it is a struggling farm community, it is rich in both spirit and in devotional service. The Deities are always dressed in the most exquisite outfits bedecked with hand-sewn jewels and embroidery. Many of the outfits are sewn by the devotees, and some are made in India, but all are intricately designed and sewn with true Krishna Prem. All the flower garlands used in the warm seasons are from the garden, where they grow many different types of marigolds, nastursiums, zinnias, roses, and big smiling sunflowers. The altar vases are also made up from these flowers.

They have begun the Bhaktivedanta College for Vedic studies there, by the grace of Yadunandana Swami and is now in it’s second year. This is helping to bring new devotees to the farm, where they study and also participate in all the temple acivities and perform devotional service. There is talk of adding some English classes to make the studies more available to devotees that don’t speak Spanish. And I think that will help boost the number of residents nicely.

On Janmastami, they have programs throughout the day, wth readings and kirtan throughout the day. The evening brings a swanboat ride for the small Radha-Govinda Chandra Deities on their little “ghat” – a large swimming pool. Some devotees climb in the pool to steady the swanboat while the other devotees take turns pulling the rope on the front of the boat, while another devotee fans their Lordships from inside the pool. Of course, there is constant kirtan while this pastime takes place. This year the weather had been so hot, about 40 degrees Celsius which is in the 90’s F. so all the kids wound up in the pool alongside the swanboat, splashing and laughing, and having a wonderful time in the association of the Vaisnavas. No one had the heart to tell the children not to be in the pool due to the heat, so a good time was had by all.
After that the temple activites begin with kirtan, plays, dancing, and abishek. Midnight finally approaches and the altar curtains open, it is filled with the offerings of all the preparations devotees had been making throughout the day, and then the midnight arotik, and finally the presentation of the Lord’s “birthday gifts.” The night ends with the taking of prasadam. This year’s feast was cooked by some visiting gurukuli’s and local gurukuli’s who both bought the bhoga and cooked the feast. Janmastami celebration Ki Jaya!!

Each year at Janmastami time, they also have a wonderful festival called – “El Dia De La Vaca; it’s kind of like Gopastami. They start the festival by carrying Srila Prabhupada’s murti down to the goshalla, accompanied by a big harinam. Then they have GuruPuja in the Goshalla, and then an arotik in honor of the Cows. Then they bring Srila Prabhupada back to the temple. There is also a huge feast offered on the day with lots of sweet rice and curd preparations in honor of the Cows. Then at night, everyone goes back down to the Goshalla for the “party.” First Yadunandana Swami gives a little talk in thanks to the wonderful devotees headed by Bhakta Roberto, who take care of the cows. And then he tells about the progress over the past year, and then opens the night to entertainment, prasadam, plays, dancing, kirtan, and fundraising for the goshalla. Everything sold that night is to raise laksmi for the cows, they usually have t-shirts, incense, cow chaddars, calendars, books, and misc. items along with veggie burgers, cookies in the shapes of cows, cake, drinks, and snacks. Then the fun begins with some Bharat Natyam dancing, a play and the highlight of the event, “Cows in Love” – the local Hare Krishna Band, that sing delightful Krishna music to R& R and Reggae beats. By the end of the night, no one is sitting, everyone is dancing and laughing and coming together as family under the beautiful starlight Spanish skies. Every year, I’ve been there, it has been ECSTATIC!!!!!

This year besides the joys of celebrating Janmastami, Prabhupada’s Vyasapuja, and the Cow Festival, we had the wonderful association of Yadunandana Swami, BhaktiVaibhava Swami and Vedavyasa during the festival and then on the Dia De La Vaca, Kadamba Kanana Swami arrived to join in the celebration. The first Spanish Kirtan Festival was inaugurated by Bhaktivaibhava Swami with enlivening classes each morning and then following breakfast, the kirtan festival began for three days. We had all the swamis leading, as well as Vedavyasa das, Jagadananda das from Belgium, Krishna Das, from Mayapur, Atmarama das from Madrid, and several others. Anyway, it was an outstanding festival. I can sincerely say that visiting this very special farm community is a most wonderful way to celebrate the appearance of the Lord, and the appearance of our beloved Spiritual Acarya, Srila Prabhupada.

So I would like to invite everyone to experience one of Iskcon’s best kept secrets, Nueva VrajaMandala, for themselves and visit.

A Friend of New Vraja Mandala

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10866

From Back to Godhead

The Golden Avatar delivered the gold standard of spiritual practices for this age.

In general, people like gold. It represents wealth and success. A golden age refers to an era of goodness and plenty, acknowledged in Greek, Roman, and Indian cultures. If you have everything, you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth. The Golden Rule is the epitome of cosmic justice or fairness: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. As the saying goes, “As good as gold.”

In Krishna consciousness we have the Golden Avatar, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the best of divine incarnations. He is Radha and Krishna combined, and it doesn’t get any better than that. To be more specific, He is of golden hue because, though Krishna, He has taken on Sri Radha’s mood and complexion (radha-bhava-dyuti suvalitam). Thus, He is female and male, a particularly profound manifestation of the supreme. His golden complexion is emblematic of His intense beauty.

What’s more, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu brings with Him a snippet of the Golden Age. That is to say, within the darkness of Kali, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy in which we now find ourselves, we can access an age of love. It is a facsimile of Satya-yuga, a time, millions of years ago, when all beings lived happy and prosperous lives. Mahaprabhu Himself initiated this modern reflection of the Satya age when He appeared in India some five hundred years ago, and all who partake of His process—the chanting of God’s holy names—can avoid being victimized by the horrors of Kali. Instead, they can bask in the glories of prema, or love of God.

Lust vs. Love

Prema is itself compared to gold. The Chaitanya-charitamrita (Adi-lila 4.164) tells us, “Lust and love have different characteristics, just as iron and gold have different natures.” The next text elaborates (4.165): “The desire to gratify one’s own senses is kama [lust], but the desire to please the senses of Lord Krishna is prema [love].”

One might compare lust to the misuse of gold or think of it as gold’s bad side. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.17.39) we learn that gold can encourage falsity, intoxication, prostitution, envy, and enmity. Similarly, countless books and songs have been written about the pains associated with “love” in the material world, about the horrors of being betrayed or deceived, as when one’s beloved goes off with another.

How can something so pure lead to something so bad? The answer is that in this world when love leads to hardship and pain it is usually not love at all. It is, rather, lust, or love’s grossly materialistic counterpart. As in the Chaitanya-charitamrita verse already mentioned, we can understand the distinction between the two quite simply: When our love is egocentric, focused on our own gratification, it is merely lust—iron, not gold. And when it is theocentric, focused on God and in a spirit of selflessness, it is true love. Indeed, it is gold.

Even in the material sphere we can see that when we are selfless and giving in our relationships, they bear sweeter fruit. But still we can be exploited. The highest kind of love, then, is love of God. This is the true gold standard, for it takes us out of the world of exploitation and into the realm of dedication, where true love becomes the very fabric of our being: It is expressed towards God directly, and through Him to all living entities, who are brothers and sisters under God’s fatherhood.

Distinguishing Iron from Gold

The Golden Avatar brings with Him a golden process meant to help us distinguish between lust and love, between cheap iron and valuable gold. Simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—one can partake of this golden opportunity.

In fact, it is this chanting process that makes this age truly golden. As Shukadeva Goswami says in the Bhagavatam (12.3.51), “My dear King, although Kali-yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom.”

But chanting, like all other forms of meditation, must be executed in the proper way. The seed of the sacred sound comes through a bona fide preceptor. Srila Prabhupada traveled to the United States in 1965 and shared the goldmine of the holy name by initiating people into Krishna consciousness, thereby making them shine like molten gold. Hari-bhakti-vilasa (2.12) tells us, “As bell metal can be transformed into gold when treated with mercury, a disciple initiated by a bona fide guru immediately attains the position of a brahmana.”

A Vedic text defines brahmana as “one who knows Brahman.” Knowledge of Brahman, spiritual truth, descends into the heart of a sincere disciple through hearing from a self-realized spiritual master and committing to the process he or she offers. This knowledge and commitment blossoms into divine love, making the disciple golden in every way. It is this blessing that the Krishna consciousness movement seeks to share with the world.

Question: Maharaj, sometimes we try to restrain our urges such as eating less. For some time we can but after a while we feel dissatisfied and cannot continue with our practices. How can we practically apply this in our lives and maintain the standard?

Answer: Everything should be done with moderation. There is a famous saying: ‘Haste means waste. Slow and steady wins the race.’ If we are given something very palatable we may say, ‘No, no. Take it away.’ But inside we are meditating on that sense object. The Gita describes this as mityacara (pretender). He wants to eat that item but forcible, against his will, he is rejecting it. Ultimately that won’t work. When alone, he will indulge much more than he normally would. It is better to be balanced. Take a little of that item and be satisfied. That is the teaching of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur. He instructs that we should not overly suppress our urges, rather moderately try and restrain them. When there is a feast, take a small amount of tasty prasad, not too much. And see how it is reacting upon your mind.

How does a yogi control his eating? What we think we can eat, eat half of that. A quarter should be kept empty and the other quarter should be filled with water. By following this one can have reasonable control over the senses. Apart from that one should not take foodstuffs that are highly spiced, contain excessive amounts of ghee or oil, which have too much protein and are too sweet.

One who has more spiritual strength will be able to kick out unfavourable thoughts from the mind. One who has less, may be overpowered and instead of conquering the mind, the mind will conquer him and there is a chance that we may break the principles.

It is said that the higher authorities are always observing us. The sun, moon, air, fire and the ten directions, they are noting our actions. We cannot escape this. A sadhu, who by dint of his spiritual advancement can perceive this, refrains from committing sinful activity, even though apparently no one is watching. Even after knowing about all of this, sometimes we get carried away. Why? Because of kama (lust). Therefore Krishna instructs us that we should first curb this lust. Because of this we are forced to act in such a way, even though we know we shouldn’t. If one can control this then he is advanced. It takes time.

We all have some internal enemies: kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, matsyara. Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains that some of these anarthas can be controlled by our spiritual strength and some can be controlled by sincere prayer to the Lord. During Krishna’s pastimes, Balaram killed some demons and so too did Krishna. These demons represent different anarthas that we all have. With earnest prayer we can overcome the anarthas represented by the demons Krishna killed. And with our spiritual strength, our sadhana, we can surpass the anarthas represented by the demons Balaram killed.

In his purport to the song ‘Bhaja hu re mana’, Srila Prabhupada says that the mind can either be the best friend or the worst enemy, depending on how we act. We should make our minds our servant. Whatever it says to us, just ignore, ignore, ignore. The mind’s tendency is to make us do something that we should not. Ultimately in the long run we will find the mind gradually coming under control. Bhaktivinoda Thakur compares the mind to a spring. If we suppress it too much then it will jump. ‘I won’t eat anything good. Nothing at all.’ One day we will find that we eat so much that we crash out!

In the society, there are individuals that somehow or other can control the senses whilst others are not so confident. Such persons are given a license for sense gratification, although this is regulated. The purpose however is to ultimately give up this desire for sense gratification. This is called pravrtti and nivritti. Therefore Thakur Bhaktivinoda says that occasionally we should give a little license of sense gratification to the mind and then immediately take it away. At the end of the day, everybody has to control their mind and senses.

Baladev Vidyabhusana explains that if we chant the Hare Krishna mantra very nicely, and keep all our senses engaged in the service of the Lord, then and only then can we control our senses, control our mind and become Krishna Conscious. Then we won’t easily become carried away. The moment even one of the senses is not engaged, maya can take over.

If however we cannot control the mind, it will lead us to hell. The uncontrolled mind will make us do things that we can never even imagine. Prabhupada says that if one can first control the tongue then the other senses can be controlled.