Mahotsaha das: Bhakta Cesar and I distributed 667 books over a long weekend at the annual comic book convention.

The comic convention is where over 100,000 people come to the Javits Center by Penn Station in NYC and buy paraphernalia related to their favorite comic book characters. So, of course we made sure they also received some of Srila Prabhupada’s books, the original comic books.

We encountered many costumed characters. I encountered one of the most peculiar people at this event while meditating on the third verse of the prayers to the guru we chant every day:
“He who has given the gift of transcendental vision is our lord, birth after birth. By his mercy divine knowledge is revealed within our hearts, bestowing pure love for Kṛṣṇa and destroying ignorance. The Vedic scriptures sing of his character.”
He was a young boy with blood splattered on his clothes and lips and face painted white.

To grab his attention, I asked him how he did his make-up and he took a few minutes to explain the process. The attendees spent so much time and money on their costumes that they were happy to showcase their efforts.

I then glorified the Bhagavatam offering him a copy. 
“This book is 5,000 years old and will help you distinguish reality from illusion.”
Convinced, he took the book and while looking for his wallet told me some of the terrible things he had experienced.
“I have had it rough all my life. I’m seventeen years old and no one in the world loves me. My father was the only one that ever loved me and he passed away recently. My mother pretends to love me but only when other people are around. She physically abuses me when we are alone, because she never wanted me. I am also constantly beaten up and harassed in school by bullies.” 
He continued:
“I was recently in the psych ward, they put me there because I showed my counselor the book I wrote where I mentioned a 100 ways I planned on killing the bullies.” And with a crazed look in his eyes he admitted, “I was even going to do it, but then they tied me up in the psych ward with chains and all I could do was bang my head into the walls. After some treatment they let me out. To be honest, I feel like I have been transforming into the character I’ve dressed up as.”
His costume was "Jeff the killer,” from an Internet horror meme. By taking that Easy Journey to Other Planets book he will have the opportunity to change the course of his life from an easy journey to the darkest regions of ignorance to the realms of eternal bliss and full knowledge.

So many we met were just like this boy, pretending to be a particular character in this miserable world. Dressed in their costume (their body) they walk around convinced that they belong to this temporary ocean of misery. By Srila Prabhupada’s mercy “Jeff the Killer” and hundreds of others received the gift that by reading or even touching can destroy the ignorance that has kept them suffering in the ocean of samsara. We pray that we can continue to serve as instruments of this divine mission.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33423

Transcribed by Suvilasi Madhavi Devi Dasi

Hare Krishna!
This morning we are reading from Granthraj Srimad Bhagavatam Canto Six, Chapter Three entitled “Yamaraja instructs his messengers”, Text 26.

(invocation prayers)

evam vimrsya sudhiyo bhagavaty anante
 sarvatmana vidadhate khalu bhava-yogam
te me na dandam arhanty atha yady amisam
 syat patakam tad api hanty urugaya-vadah

Translation:
“Considering all these points, therefore, intelligent men decide to solve all problems by adopting the devotional service of chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is situated in everyone’s heart and who is a mine of all auspicious qualities. Such persons are not within my jurisdiction for punishment. Generally they never commit sinful activities, but even if by mistake or because of bewilderment or illusion they sometimes commit sinful acts, they are protected from sinful reactions because they always chant the Hare Krsna mantra.”

HH Indradyumna Swami :
So if you were listening carefully, you will understand there are many, a number of very important points in the verse and Srila Prabhupada’s purport and his explanation of the verse today. The first thing that comes to mind is the first point that Yamaraj is stressing “evam vimrsya sudhiyo bhagavaty anante” which means that all problems are solved by devotional service. And he explains that devotional service, interestingly enough, as the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. So in this age, that means the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

In twelfth Canto of this great work Srimad Bhagavatam it is stated,

krte yad dhyayato visnum
 tretayam yajato makhaih
dvapare paricaryayam
 kalau tad dhari-kirtanat (SB 12.3.52)

A famous verse amongst kirtaniya’s. Whatever results was attained in Satya yuga by meditating on Visnu, in the Treta yuga by performing agnihotra’s or sacrifices and in Dvapara yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet which meant technically going to the temple, can be obtained in Kali yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.

So the conclusion is that to solve all problems of life we simply need to chant
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

It may seem almost too simple to the non-devotees but they have a saying “nice things come in small packages “.

It is interesting to note that although the Lord has unlimited names. We hear that Ananta Sesa from time immemorial, which means eternity, one of his seva’s or one of his service’s is to always be glorifying the Lord by chanting His holy names and he has never chanted the same name twice. Since the beginning of creation Ananta Sesa is chanting various names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which correspond to His personality, His characteristics, His pastimes, etc.

So there is unlimited names of the Lord. But we are instructed in that particular verse from the Twelfth Canto and other verses as well and by the most recent incarnation of the Lord, Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and our acaryas to chant Krishna’s name. If all the names of God are Absolute, why then do we chant the name of Krishna in the Hare Krishna maha-mantra?

There is a number of reasons for this. Actually Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has illuminated this subject matter, enlightened us in this subject matter. He has described that although all the names of Krishna are Absolute, nama cintamanih krsnas caitanya-rasa-vigrahah (Padma Purana), they are all non different from the Lord. Some names he describes he uses the word primary and other names he describes as secondary.

Another way to say this is that some names of God are of the utmost importance and some of them may be of lesser importance. Of course, no name of God is less important but the idea is that some names of God have more power and more potency than others. For example in the Visnu Purana its stated that one thousand names of Visnu are equal to one name of Rama and three names of Rama are equal to one name of Krishna. There’s an example. Some names have more potency. The name of Krishna has full potency and Bhaktivinoda Thakura writes that the secondary names essentially describe the greatness of God like Maha Visnu. Visnu denotes Krishna and His expansion is Narayana Visnu and maha means great like we say ‘maha prasadam’. We have prasadam, but we have ‘great prasadam’, (laughs) great mercy when it comes off the altar from the deities.

So Maha Visnu. This is the name of the Lord which denotes His greatness. And Paramatma, the Supersoul. These are secondary names of the Lord. Or we could even go so far as to say, we can be liberal and respect our Christian brothers and sisters, and Muslim brothers and sisters and Buddhists, although they are impersonalits, voidists. But still, Allah means the ‘great one’ – al akbar hamdullah – is that correct ? al akbar hamdullah – ‘God is great’ or as they say ‘there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is His prophet .’ This was one mantra that I learnt in the early 90’s. It got me out of some very difficult situations when I was travelling in Muslim countries. I would come in non-devotional dress, you know and they would be a little suspicious, you know finding saffron cloth in my bag and my neck beads tucked underneath, you know, whatever. They would get a little suspicious, ‘who are you?” – al akbar hamdullah- all right! You can go! (laughter) this was one good mantra!

And Buddha means the, actually technically it means the intelligent one because we have buddhi which means intelligence. As human beings we are distinguished from all other created beings as we have buddhi, intelligence. Krishna say, “One who reads this Gita, worships Me with intelligence. “ So Buddha means the intelligent one or one who has utilized his intelligence to perfection and become enlightened. This is the real use of the intelligence, to utilize it to become Krishna conscious, Buddha.

So these are different names, secondary names, Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, which indicate the power or the majesty or the awesomeness of God. Like today in modern society there is a word – oh! That’s awesome! – so the awesomeness, no one can be more awesome than the Lord Himself.

But then he describes the primary, the first most important name, he said like Yasodanandana, Gopijanavallabha, Girivaradhari. He said that these names have more potency because they reveal the very sweet and confidential nature of God, of His characteristics, His pastimes, in particular His pastimes in Vrindavana.

The result of chanting such primary names of God, more intimate names of God is very nicely described by Srila Rupa Goswami in his compilation of verses called Padyavali. Padyavali is a very wonderful book for shlokawallas. What is a shlokawallah, devotees like Vaisesika Prabhu my God brother who loves to learn and quote Sanskrit verses. His classes are just full of many wonderful verses, following in the footsteps of Srila Prabhupada. Even quotes verses to the non-devotees in the street when he is distributing books to serve the authority of Krishna consciousness. So one time I was at his home and I was looking around at his things in his room and I found his verse book. It was this thick (laughter), and I was really impressed.

So Srila Rupa Goswami, whom Mahaprabhu instructed to go through all the Vedic literatures and determine, or conclude, or prove, that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
isvarah paramah krsnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam (BS 5.1)

He actually went through all the Upanishads, Itihasa’s ands the Purana’s and took out the select verses to show who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and then he wrote his Bhakti sastra’s.

So in doing so he discovered many nice verses which he personally liked and he wrote them down with his iron pen, put them on the palm leaves and that became Padyavali, his personal verse book and I carry that book with me because he is śrī-caitanya-mano-’bhīṣṭaṁ. He is a special personality because he understood the mind of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he understood the heart of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he understood the mood of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, number one in establishing the chanting of the Hare Krishna as the yuga dharma and number two that Mahaprabhu was in the mood of Radharani, of Krishna trying to understand Radharani’s mood of love for Krishna .

So he wrote very nice verse which describes the effect of chanting these primary names, not the secondary names, with all due respect, but the primary names. What happens? He writes :
“May my respectful obeisances be given to the shoes of those wise entities who have learnt the technique of liberating the poor creatures who are caught in the stinking mud of the ocean of material existence. On simply hearing the two syllable of Krishna’s name , these devotees are overcome with bliss and their bodily hairs stand erect. “

So chanting the secondary names of God awakens in us an appreciation of the awesomeness of God, which is part of our process. Actually we worship Radha and Krishna in the mood of Lakshmi Narayana in full opulence but culminating in pure devotion to the Lord. So its important to chant the secondary names as well to appreciate how great God is. But chanting the primary names of God, His names in Vrindavana are special because it awakens a deep love for the Lord.

And of all primary names of God the most important is God’s original name. What is His original name? We have to go to His home town Vrindavana and there His devotees call Him by His original name. Therefore it’s the most important name, Krishna.

And this is not just our biased opinion because we are Krishna bhaktas. No, its stated in sastra. In his commentary on the Sri Visnu Sahasranama Stotra, which is the thousand names of Visnu, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana who was an illustrious disciple of Srila Visvanath Cakravarti Thakura and to whom Srila Prabhupada dedicates his translation of the Bhagavad Gita, to his Govinda bhasya, he glorifies, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana. So in his commentary of Sri Visnu Sahasranama Stotra, Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana states very clearly that for Gaudiya Vaisnavas the name of Krishna is the most important name. He says,
“ Of all the names of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna is the most important as the Lord Himself has confirmed by saying, ‘ My dear Arjuna, Krishna is the most important of My names.’”

There you go, from the Lord Himself. Baladeva Vidyabhusana gives a quote he says, ‘of all these names….’ But then to give authority to his statement he quotes the Lord. The Lord says, ‘ My dear Arjuna, Krishna is the most important of My names.’ This is in a commentary on the Visnu Sahasranama Stotra, I found out. So interesting!

So Krishna is the primary name of the primary names. And by His causeless mercy that name Krishna, which has several translations, the most attractive person. Rupa Goswami also gives another translation of Krishna’s name. Krishna means – He who frees you from the repetition of birth and death.

So that name is so important that it descends as a veritable incarnation in the age of Kali. Narottama says, goloka premdhana harinama sankirtana, this harinama sankirtana composed of chanting,

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

Where does it come from? goloka premdhana harinama sankirtana, it comes from Goloka, it comes from the topmost planet in the spiritual world. So its an avatar. What’s an avatar? Avatar is not a movie. (laughter). No, avatar is a word in Sanskrit which means ‘He who descends from the spiritual realm’, either the Lord or His representative, His pure devotee. The Lord comes in various incarnations,
ete camsa-kalah pumsah
  krsnas tu bhagavan svayam
indrari-vyakulam lokam
  mrdayanti yuge yuge (SB 1.3.28)

Unlimited incarnations. His pure devotees also come. I was listening recently to a class of my God brother HH Gaur Govinda Maharaj. And he said there is two types of pure devotees who come from the spiritual world. Those who seeing the fallen condition and suffering of the living entities in this world come out of their own compassion. And there are those special souls who are chosen, and deputed by the Lord Himself, they receive an order from Krishna – “You go to the material world and preach Krishna consciousness.”

One such personality is our beloved Srila Prabhupada. He recounted one time in a moment of intimacy, how the Lord instructed Him to come. He said that “I am not very used to austerities” he said to the Lord and the Lord said, “Don’t bother. You go down and just write, translate books on the science of Krishna consciousness and I will arrange everything else for you.” which He did.

So this is the definition of avatar – when one who descends from the spiritual world. So it is very significant to note that this primary name of the Lord, the original name, or the most important name according to Krishna, comes as an avatar. More specifically Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami says, author of Caitanya Caritamrta, which was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati’s favourite book,
kali-kale nama-rupe krsna-avatara
nama haite haya sarva-jagat-nistara (CC Adi 17.22)

In this Age of Kali, the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, is the incarnation of Lord Krsna. Simply by chanting the holy name, one associates with the Lord. Anyone who does this (meaning all of you) are liberated.

Now, generally when an incarnation comes to this world, what does he do? That’s a good question! Someone might ask, “When the Lord comes, like, what does He do?” you know, a non-devotee, inquisitive person. Well all questions are answered in Krishna consciousness. This is the beauty of our philosophy. There are no ifs ands buts or maybe’s , there is something you know quasi spiritual. In our movement we have the answers to each and every question, perfect answers, perfect questions perfect answers.

So what Krishna does He tells, as Radhanath Swami Maharaj says. “Krishna tells.” Krishna says that Maharaj always says Krishna tells. Krishna tells in the Bhagavad Gita
paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge (BG 4.8)

To deliver the pious, one; to annihilate the miscreants as well as to re establish dharma, principles of religion, I Myself appear millennium after millennium.

So if according to Kaviraj Goswami the holy name of Krishna is an incarnation in this age, we would expect to see the holy name as an avatar accomplish those three missions of the Lord when He comes to this world. To deliver devotees, to kill miscreants, annihilate them, just don’t kill them, like annihilate them, just like there’s nothing left (laughter) and to reestablish principles of religion like cleanliness, truthfulness, mercy, austerity.

So does the holy name do that? Does the holy name first of all deliver devotees? Go look in the mirror. The holy name not only delivers the devotees, the holy name is so kind, the holy name makes devotees, out of those who have no qualification of becoming devotees. This is the special mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the yuga avatar. That’s for the most part you and me, not our second generation, they are all…Prabhupada said,” the devotees….. the children of my devotees…children of your children will be pure devotees. “ Prabhupada said. They are taking birth all over the world because there is an institution which they can take birth in, become perfected, and help spread the chanting of the Hare Krishna. This is the importance of our gurukula.

So take a, look at a photo of yourself before you became a devotee and look at a photo of yourself now. Even though you may be much older and not so attractive, if you compare the two, previously you looked like a Yamaduta (laughter). And Prabhupada said, ‘now that my disciples have joined this movement and they have put on, they have shaved their heads, or covered their heads with a saree, and put on kanthi mala, and chanting, they look just like they have come from Vaikuntha. “ So yes, paritranaya sadhunam the holy name rescues the devotees.

And does the holy name annihilate the miscreants? Well, Prabhupada gave an interesting interpretation on this, or angle of vision. He said that, “the holy name is so merciful that it doesn’t destroy the person, but destroys all his bad qualities, by ceto darpanam marjanam, by purifying the heart.” So this is, therefore Rupa Goswami says,
namo maha-vadanyaya
krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-
namne gaura-tvise namah ( CC Madhya 19.53)

There is no more merciful incarnation than You, Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Prabhupada said one time here in Mayapur, ‘ The Lord is, Lord Caitanya is so kind, He doesn’t take into consideration our offenses, He only takes into consideration our service.”

And does the holy name reestablish religion? Well, like I said, religion, the fundamental principles, the foundation of religion, by which we can become purified, and thereby awaken our love for Krishna. The principles of religion are cleanliness, truthfulness, mercy and austerity, practically non-existent in Kali yuga. Just a little bit of truthfulness by which people can appreciate this Krishna consciousness movement.

But by becoming a devotee you become clean inside and out. You become truthful, you always speak about the Absolute Truth, Krishna. Mercy, we all practice mercy. The distinguishing characteristic or quality sadhava sadhubhushanah, of a devotee who has all good qualities or manifests all good qualities is his compassion for the sufferings of others. Other transcendentalists, with all due respect, they are more or less concerned with their own deliverance. But a devotee he is not happy to go back to Godhead alone. He wants to rescue as many fallen souls as possible or take them back to Godhead.

So cleanliness, truthfulness, austerity and mercy. No ones more merciful than a Vaisnava, chadiya vaisnava seva, Narottama says, who has ever been delivered, who has ever achieved liberation from this world without the mercy of a Vaisnava? So Vaisnava’s are the embodiment of compassion. This is all accomplished by chanting

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

So this incarnation, this maha-mantra appeared from the lotus lips of Caitanya Mahaprabhu 500 years ago and slowly spread around Navadvip and Mayapur. Then Mahaprabhu spread it to South India but His desire was that this holy name would go to every town and village of the world. Why? Because Krishna is the seed giving father of all living entities. He is not just the God of the Hindus! No! All living entities, even the bugs and the germs are Krishna’s devotees. George Harrison said, “Everyone is a devotee of Krishna. Some know it and some don’t.” George Harrison, Bhakta George. “Everyone is a devotee of Krishna. Some know it and some don’t.”

So this holy name was meant to go beyond the borders of India and go to the Western world. And its been busy doing these three things since 1965, an important moment in history 1965 when Prabhupada brought the holy names to the West. One time Prabhupada said in London, “ if it weren’t for the Hare Krishna movement, you could not imagine how a deplorable condition this world would be in this moment.” That it is, but if it wasn’t for the chanting, the congregational chanting,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

This was all due to the chanting of the holy name which in every circumstance purifies everything. We used to sing on the streets in the old days, you know. We’d sing the mantra, but we were new devotees, we would sing songs (laughs) sometimes to glorify the Lord. One of my God brothers Mangalananda was very expert at writing songs and he’d come with a song that streets in Cleveland Ohio, or Detroit in 1970, 1971. He had one song,

Changing the face of the earth
Giving her people new birth
Turning our eyes to the spiritual sky
Telling us what life is worth.

It’s true. Holy name is changing the planet, all these trends that are popular these days, vegetarianism, the belief in karma, so many things. This is really due to the propagation of the sankirtana movement. Meaning holy names, prasadam and Srila Prabhupada’s books. People are trying so many complex and radical ways to solve the world’s problems. Problems like war, environmental destruction, crime, mismanagement in government. But the key according to this verse where it says that all problems are solved by devotional service which means chanting Hare Krishna, the key to solving these problems is chanting the holy names.

I remember one time we were in London and Prabhupada called my God brother Bhagavan dasa to his quarters and he said, I heard him say it. He said to Bhagavan dasa, “You should write a book on how Krishna consciousness can practically solve all the problems of life like crime and hunger and famine and mental problems and drug problems.” He said like that. He said, “You can call the book, what did he say, ‘Spiritual solutions to material problems’.“ and Prabhupada himself would have discussions like that.
There is that chief police, chief of police in Chicago, I think his name is officer Daley or something, I forget. And Prabhupada talked to him about how chanting Hare Krishna can solve the crime problem. And the officer said like how? Because Prabhupada said when you are satisfied in your heart you don’t become greedy for things that you don’t need. So if people chant

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

They will be so satisfied spiritually within they can live with the basic necessities of life. We could go on for hours like you know how chanting Hare Krishna can solve practical problems of modern society but I only have ten minutes left.

But this is a challenge for some skilled devotee author to write a book ‘Spiritual solutions to material problems’. But from the Absolute platform we can say that the process of Krishna consciousness, chanting Hare Krishna eventually does solve all problems of life because by chanting Hare Krishna you go back home, back to Godhead. (laughs) and whereas this world is temporary, full of suffering and ignorance, the spiritual world is just the opposite, its eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. Where this world is characterized, Krishna says an intelligent person, he can perceive the evils of this world, which Krishna describes as birth, disease, old age and death. But these things are conspicuous by their absence in the spiritual world.

So really we can say with full authority that by chanting of Hare Krishna is the panacea, panacea is a powerful word that means a solution to everything. They have been looking you know, for two things, from time immemorial – the fountain of youth and the panacea, the solution to all problems of this world. That’s chanting,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

One single stroke, Prabhupada said, one stroke all problems solved.

One time a devotee asked Prabhupada, “when we get back to the spiritual world, do we remember the time spent in the material world?”

So Prabhupada paused, closed his eyes and thought for a moment and he said, “Yes you will remember your sojourn through the material world like a bad dream, like a nightmare.” He said. Just like sometimes you wake up at night because you had a bad dream, a nightmare and your tendency is not to go back to sleep, for fear of having the same dream again. So Prabhupada said, Krishna says, punar janma na vidyate, once you attain My abode you don’t come back. This is one of the reasons, you compare the two. I am not going back there, I am not going back to New York or London or Sydney or Kiev or Moscow, now that I am in Sri Vrindavana dhama.

So the whole world can benefit from this primary name, the original name of God. Therefore we should distribute it. Chanting means more than japa retreats and kirtan mela’s. That’s nice for devotees. But really this holy name descended for a specific purpose, that is to flood this planet, every town and village with the chanting of,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura at one initiation lecture in 1931, he said,
“This, distribution of these holy names, this preaching would do good for the preacher and for the people who hear the preaching.”

So we have a powerful tool to extradite ourselves from the entanglement of material existence and save the world. And the idea is that this, by going out and distributing this holy name, it has a domino effect. You know domino effect. You probably don’t play dominos. I don’t even know how this expression came about. The domino’s those little black you know wooden pieces and they have little white dots on them. If you line them all up, its is an interesting phenomenon, you push one and tododo..tododo..tododo, the domino effect is all the dominos fall down.

So the domino effect of any devotee according to their means, according to their abilities in preaching Krishna consciousness is that it makes other devotees. There is a beautiful verse underlining this principle in the Brhad Narayana Purana, that’s a nice Purana. Purana means very old, we usually quote harer nama harer nama…but I found another very beautiful verse in the Brhad Narayana Purana which underscores how the holy name will spread, the domino effect. And that verse is as follows, and you will love it,
“Chanting the holy name constantly can purify even the most fallen sinner. And after he becomes purified, he in turn is to be counted amongst the saintly persons who can purify others by his association.”

Isn’t that nice? I love that verse.

So all this is accomplished by chanting. Therefore although we sing many bhajans and many names of the Lord, mainly we should chant
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Its more powerful than all the other holy names combined. This is just understanding, refining the science of chanting. All names are important to us but we have been initiated into the maha-mantra. It’s the mantra we have been given by our Guru Maharaj and it takes us to Goloka Vrindavana.

In his Krishna Sandarbha, Srila Jiva Goswami, write and I quote
“Krishna is the original name of the Lord and all other names are simply part and parcel of the original name of Krishna. The original name Krishna is more powerful than the other names and the result of chanting the name of Krishna is greater than that of chanting all the other names of the Lord together.”

So when we hear these glories of the holy name it is meant to increase our sraddha or our faith. It is meant to help us devlelop nama ruci, so that when we sit down we chant as Sacinandana Swami tells us, with the three P’s – Posture, Pronunciation and Prayer. Prabhupada said, “sit properly!” (laughs) and pronunciation, not too fast to finish. But to savor and glorify the Lord and with some feeling. We may not have bhakti, we can be honest. But we have appreciation – Guru Maharaj, Mahaprabhu, Radha Krishna have delivered me from the ocean of material existence. We have that appreciation, eventually through the process, appreciation turns into affection and affection evolves into love.

So we are on the right path, we are on the path of pure devotional service. One time Prabhupada said, “all my disciples are pure devotees.” Because we are on the path of pure devotion. So these discussions are meant to increase our faith in the holy names and none of, anything I have said is not an exaggeration. These are not statements by sastras or acaryas to trick us into chanting Hare Krishna. It’s the transcendental truth. We have to have faith. It’s so important. The amount of faith you have will determine the value, the benefit of your constant chanting.

Skanda Purana encourages this faith. The Skanda Purana says, “ I see that Kali yuga is like a black poisonous snake with a gaping mouth and fangs. But please be unperturbed my dear devotees, and listen with faith. Once the holy name of the Lord is chanted it is like igniting a forest fire which will burn to ashes the poisonous snakes within the forest.”

So in order to advance properly in Krishna consciousness we have to be conscious of the unlimited good fortune we have inherited. What is the most valuable possession we have? What our Guru Maharaj has given us
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Sometimes we just have to step back for a moment and analyze what we have. Because very often we make the mistake of taking our good fortune for granted, familiarity breeds contempt. All too often we are lamenting for what we don’t have. But better to stand back and appreciate what we do have. Remember how fortunate we are to have been blessed with this chanting of Hare Krishna, which will not only solve all our problems, it will bestow upon us love of God, which is the ultimate benefit of chanting.

So Rupa Goswami advises us again in his Padyavali how to appreciate this good fortune. He says,
“O Lord! Just as a miser continually collects, counts and remembers money. In the same way lets us devotees continually collect, count and remember Your holy names. “

Sometimes devotees lament, they get discouraged, they get depressed that no matter how hard it gets, no matter, what’s the common saying –life throws at you – we can always be inspired by remembering the list of our good fortune. Like they have what’s called a wish list. But the karmis are so crazy, the ten things to do before you die – go to Disneyland, visit the Pyramids of Egypt, like what!

So we have our list, we are on the path of devotion,
adau sraddha tatah sadhu-
sango ’tha bhajana-kriya
tato ’nartha-nivrttih syat
nistha ruci bhava prema

We have our, these are our road signs and we want to know where we are and what’s the next step, you know. And we have the means to achieve that, to extradite, we have the tools to extradite ourselves from the jungle of material existence. We have been blessed with certain items that are very dear to our heart. So we have no reason to lament.

Like Raghunath dasa Goswami, he made a list of his good fortune. And his list should be our list of good fortune. Like he says in his Manah Siksa famously, what is his list,
“O mind! I grasp your feet and beg you with sweet words. Please throw away all your pride and develop intense and extraordinary love for my spiritual master, Braja bhumi, the people of Braja, the Vaisnavas, the brahmana’s, the Gayatri Mantra, the holy names and the transcendental shelter which is the youthful couple of Braja.”

This we all possess being members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness by Srila Prabhupada’s grace. So we have to sometimes just take a little time off and reflect.

That is the advise of Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He states the following,
“ The devotee should make it a regular practice to spend a little time alone in a quiet place and concentrate deeply on the holy names. He should utter and hear the name distinctly. It is impossible for the jiva to single handedly avoid and overcome the illusion of distraction. But by the mercy of the Lord however this is accomplished with ease.”

And what is that mercy? The name itself,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Certainly Bhaktivinoda Thakur was one such person who had that sraddha, that faith in the name. In chapter one of Harinama Cintamani, he writes,
“My dear Lord, my only hope lies in the limitless nectar of your holy names.”

And what type of chanting does he recommend? He recommends the type of chanting that Mahaprabhu recommended, kirtaniya sada harih, always chanting, or as Prabhupada paraphrased it –“ If you’ve got time chant Hare Krishna.”

That’s also an instruction of Prabhodananda Sarasvati, in his Caitanya Candamrta, he says,
“O sadhu! If you cannot suddenly renounce this dream like world, then day and night meditate on Vrindavana, worship Vrindavana’s king and queen and always chant their holy names.”

So we should arrange things, we should arrange our life in such a way that we don’t become overburdened with unnecessary things and so our whole life revolves either around chanting the holy names or distributing the holy names to others. This is the Internationals society for…this is our business. To get up in the morning and chant, to join the congregation of devotees and chant and somehow assist the sankirtana movement. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go out and practically distribute the books. You can raise children, that’s a long term investment, but absolutely required. The next flood of ecstasy will be our children and their children. Or you can build beautiful temples that after people read the books, how do I practice Krishna consciousness, I don’t know what to do! Come to the temple! Or you can open restaurants! Or you can just have a Namahatta in the middle of nowhere and invite your neighbours over. There’s so many varieties of ways for sanyasis, and vanaprasthis, and grhasthas, and brahmacaris, to preach Krishna consciousness, but this is really the mood of ISKCON, all together now. All together now. Sankirtana means the complete glorification of the Lord and everyone should be engaged under good leadership to know the importance of chanting and our responsibility as the modern day representatives of the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition to loudly broadcast,
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

This is the advise of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. In his purports to the Sri Caitanya Siksamrta he writes,
“In the teachings of Sriman Mahaprabhu, there are only two principle instructions. Develop a taste for chanting the holy names and display compassion for the fallen souls.”

I will read that again,
“In the teachings of Sriman Mahaprabhu, there are only two principle instructions. Develop a taste for chanting the holy names and display compassion for the fallen souls.”

So we are blessed with the original name, chanting the original name and this formula will save us and its so powerful it can save the world. One time Prabhupada said in London, “One day scholars will note how this Hare Krishna movement saved the world in its darkest hour.”

And what does it mean to be saved? Brhad Narayana Purana states,
“ The extraordinary result derived from chanting the transcendentally empowered and eternal name of Krishna just a few times, cannot be satisfactorily described even by persons like Lord Siva or Lord Brahma. So marvelous is the holy name that immediately upon chanting the chanter attains the supreme destination.”

And that means all problems solved.

Hare Krishna!
Thank you very much!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Granthraj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jaya!
Gaur premdhana Harinama sankirtana yajna ki jaya!
Hare Krishna!

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15249

Recently I got an opportunity to attend the conference on Rural development based on cows, conducted by National Institute for Rural Development (NIRD) & Panchayati raj (Ministry for Rural Development, Government of India) Rajendranagar, Hyderabad on 3rd of November, 2016.

As a pleasant surprise, I met Rupavilas prabhu (Venumadhuri trust director) who was also giving a seminar sharing his experience about Venumadhuri NGO activities. Seminar was well organized by NIRD inviting the elite group consisting of Senior IAS officers, scientists, doctors, scholars, NGO’s directors. I was the only odd man out representing a spiritual organization. It took me a while to convince the gate keeper to allow me in as he couldn’t believe that in saffron robes I was also a participant.

The seminar begun with welcome speech by the coordinator of the seminar Dr. Siddayya and NIRD Director General W.R Reddy (IAS). The gist of the speech was how awareness about multi usages of cow products was growing and the the need of scientific world to support it by standardization and scientific validation of the cow products for safe and mass consumption. Later Sri T.Vijay Kumar (IAS Retrd.) gave the key note address. His speech was astounding and applauded by many participants. He basically sounded antagonistic towards the modern agricultural practices and green revolution program which was taken up in India. He scientifically explained the fallacies in modern agriculture and environmental hazards due the so called Green revolution program and also eulogized the Vedic system of agriculture, especially the cow based agriculture. He shared his personal experience of training around five thousand farmers in Kakinada (a big city in Andhra Pradesh) in cow based agriculture and the miraculous results in applying the age old system. Mr. T. Vijay Kumar who retired after chairing many Government organizations is presently the Chief Advisor for Rural Development, especially for Agriculture in Andhra Pradesh, to the Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Sri N.Chandrababu Naidu.

After a short break, seminar again continued, Mr. K.B Narayana shared his experience about the important role of cow for sustainable agriculture. Then Mr. R. Mallikarjuna Reddy presented a talk on the Livestock production systems and the status of indigenous cow. Later Dr.Saibutcha Rao gave an interesting talk on curing diabetes by using cow ghee. He brought the cured patients who shared their personal experience how cow ghee had miraculously helped them cure the deadly diabetes disorder.
The session ended for lunch and it resumed allowing me to give the first afternoon seminar. I spoke on Developing Sustainable Communities based on Mother Cow.  I shared the activities of IDVM-India (ISKCON Daiva Varnashrama Ministry) and OM Sri Surabhi Campaign. After the seminar some delegates passed positive comments on ISKCON’s activities. Later there was talk on therapeutic uses of cow urine by research scientists. Later I couldn’t attend the rest of the seminars as I had to leave to Chirala for Srila prabhupada’s disappearance day celebrations.

Following are some of the remarks made by some delegates in personal meeting with them.

*  Mr. Mohan Rao (one research scientist) commented that I thought ISKCON is only into building big temples, but I am pleasantly surprised that they are actively involved in Agriculture and Cow care.
*  One delegate I couldn’t get his name said that ISKCON is doing great service in restoring the lost Vedic culture in a big way.
*  Mr. P.Venugopal Reddy (Chairman of Ekalavya Foundation), NGO offered to work with ISKCON in the matter of Cow protection.
*  Dr. W.R Reddy (Director General of NIRD) expressed his willingness to extend his cooperation to rural development activities taken up by ISKCON.
* Sri T.Vijay Kumar actively involved in training farmers in cow based agriculture gave invitation to join his training program.
* Dr. Siddayya, the coordinator commented that he was deeply touched by hearing how care for Mother Cow can stop cultural degradation.

Overall it was a pleasant experience that the educationists are seriously thinking about Cow care. There was also a revolutionary proposal that in future a university should be developed to simply study Mother Cow.
Om tat sat.
Below is the Power Point Presentation prepared for seminar as requested by NIRD for their publications.

Caring for Cows

In this age of rapid industrialization and unprecedented communication explosion, human values have been distinctly neglected. Though there are advertisements exclaiming advancement in comfortable and happy living conditions, but the facts give a strikingly different picture as we keep hearing the horrendous stories of increasing new facets of violence, dwindling health status of the people mainly due to psycho-somatic diseases, diminishing social, moral and culture values and alarming environment hazards. If we probe into the matter logically from Vedic perspective, the root cause of all problems becomes very evident. One of the prominent factors is the neglect of Mother Cow.

From the spiritual perspective, cow plays a vital role in providing core ingredients for worship. The worship becomes redundant without those ingredients. Cow largely influenced social life and economy in the ages when Bharath was the place for peace and prosperity, attracting the attention of the whole world. The intellect of the people has pathetically stooped low as cow is seen simply as food rather than provider of food. The Vedic scriptures describe cow to be the dearest pet animal of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, whose insignificant portion of energies engage in creation, maintenance and destruction of numberless universes. One can imagine the magnitude of offense committed to the Mighty Lord by mistreating His cows.

Therefore the mankind needs focused training in taking care of cows. This would be for the good of the whole existence whether it be humans, animals or cosmos as a whole, lest it would all be at stake. Following are some observations on present status of Cow Care and the actions undertaken to protect cow and what more can be done.

Present status

* Cows, world wide, are mostly seen as food (beef), now even in India (which has good standing in the world trade in exporting beef).

* Even if cows are taken care, this is also only until she gives milk (milk giving machine) and later they are neglected or sent to slaughter houses.

* Indigenous cows are replaced by other cross bred cows or buffalos for getting high milk yield.

* Consumption of cow milk is discouraged due to some misconceptions like cow milk creates more heat in the body. Meanwhile buffalo milk is widely used. Now a days people prefer buffalo milk because of its high fat content.

* The methods adopted for slaughtering cows are very heinous.

* Due to mechanized agriculture, bulls are out of work and thus they are ill-treated more than cows.

* Situation of cows on the street is very miserable. We see cows usually feeding on filth, plastic and other toxic material.

* Cow according to Vedic texts is to be treated as mother, but their getting beaten up or getting ill treated in many ways is a common sight in many streets all over India.

* The land officially allocated for cow grazing is encroached and used for purposes different from the actual cause.

* Huge consumption of junk food and synthetic foods has also resulted in loss of general interest to consume sattvik food like cow milk or cow milk based products.

* Rapid dwindling down of villages and village population is also an important cause for neglect in Cow care.

Ongoing activities to protect Cows:

* Awareness programs about the importance of cows are conducted widely across the country (India) by many organizations (like Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra undertaken by ISKCON Daiva Varnasrama Ministry- India, OM (Our Mother) Sri Surabhi global Campaign undertaken by IDVM-India and many more ).

* Various cow products like milk products and pachagavya medicines are brought in use all over the world especially in India.

* Many goshalas are established hosting varieties of indigenous breeds.

* There are focused efforts to preserve the existing indigenous breeds.

* Lot of advance research works are undertaken to validate and support the therapy using panchagavya

* There are revolutionary usage of cow dung and urine in agriculture as natural fertilizers and pesticides proving to give far better yields compared to chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

* There are many inspiring speeches, articles and books written by many cow lovers invoking good sentiments and reverence for cows.

What more can be done:

* Awareness programs to be organized on war footing without presenting the cows just for her valuable products, rather as a prime parameter to restore the quickly degrading Vedic culture.

* Regular worship of the Sacred Cow has to be encouraged in every house hold.

* The advantages of using bulls in agriculture and in other traditional occupation (eg.oil ghani) as against the machines needs to be propagated widely.

* Individuals especially the village dwellers and more so farmers have to be encouraged to keep cows and caring for them as their own family members.

* Usage of cow products has to be promoted more widely.

* Caution has to be exercised in accepting only ahimsa milk or cow products.

* Distinguishing the nutritional values of A1 and A2 milk types

* Promotion of cow products especially cow urine and dung based agriculture, as the only hope and resort to the distressed farmer, especially in India.

* Setting up Panchagavya therapy Clinics and hospitals.

* Holding different seminars and workshops for the people from different backgrounds to study the importance of cow and get trained in preparing different products made out of panchagavya whether it be medicines or agriculture needs or food products.

* Attractive fairs, expos and exhibitions displaying cow products can be set up to give exposure to the common man.

* A curriculum could be developed and introduced in the Universities to exclusively study the holy cow.

*Media which is promoting so many not so socially helpful programs can be put into proper use by presenting programs broadcasting importance of Cow care.

* Many more articles and books explaining glories of cows need to be printed and distributed widely.

* Developing existing village communities or creating new communities based on the principle of “Simple living and High thinking”, which focuses on depending on land and cow to procure all our material needs.

* The affluent class should step forward to adopt villages, especially adopting the cows to assist the auspicious program of Cow-seva and thus restoring the lost prosperity of villages.

* Keeping and caring for cows should become the sign of prosperity.

* Of all the above measures, the quickest way is to work towards raising our consciousness from temporary, destructive material consciousness to eternal, all pleasing God consciousness. In this matter ISKCON, a spiritual organization promoting Krishna (Supreme God) consciousness has changed many people in huge numbers from varied cultural backgrounds all over the world from passionate cow meat eating to divine cow worshiping.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33430

Ignited with the Fire Of Krsna Consciousness.
I want to thank you for being a critical part in my life. Without the distribution of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s books, I would never have been ignited with the fire of Krsna consciousness. My first contact with Krsna was at my friend’s house. I saw the book The Science of Self Realization lying on the floor, and at that moment I felt an overwhelming, irresistible attraction to borrow the book. I read a few pages and knew I had finally found the truth. I’ve now read about half of your books but had little association with devotees. My goal right now is to join an ISKCON farm community. Hare Krsna.
Jimi
Vashon Island, Washington, USA
“Krsna! Krsna!”
I am writing to express my deepest and profound gratitude for your kindness in sending me the book Your Ever Well-Wisher. I am in turn humbled, brought to tears, dipped in melancholy, and then finally I find myself saying, “Krsna! Krsna!” This book is one of the dearest and most valuable gifts I have ever received. I am chanting every morning and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books every day. Thank you again for this wonderful kindness.
Scott
Pemaquid, Maine, USA
Standing Her Ground.
Recently, I had the pleasure to meet some of your nice people while I was vacationing in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. I was so pleased to come in contact with them, because I have always been interested in the Hare Krsna movement. I was so grateful when your people handed me a book The Path of Yoga and your address was in it. At the time I was intimidated because the people with me did not approve of the Hare Krsnas, but I stood my ground and bought the book. And I’m glad I did. The others poked fun at me and said I’d been taken. I simply told them I wanted the book because I like the Hare Krsnas and enjoy reading their books. My friends became quiet after that. The book is great, and it has helped me a lot. Thanks!
Vivian
Kentucky, USA
A Dusty Gem.
It has to be the most fortunate thing that could happen to anyone a person’s whole life changed. It happened one afternoon while I was going to the shop. I saw a book lying on the side of the road. I walked past it, spoke to some friends, bought whatever I needed, and was on my way back when I again noticed the book. I stopped and picked it up, although I normally wouldn’t pick up something from the road as bad-looking as this. It was dirty, torn, and old.
I was a sinful person at that time, and a great meat-eater.
I went out in the evening with friends. When I returned home, I sat and read a few magazines and then picked up the book I had found. I dusted it off and read the title: Coming Back. I began to read and I read and read and read.
I had never read anything as clear, pure, easy, and truthful as this book. I was amazed and shocked. I began to think how sinful I was. I completed the book the next day and decided to change my life by becoming spiritually conscious.
The next month I gave up eating meat, went to the temple, and started learning more about Srila Prabhupada and the all-glorious Lord Krsna. I have now been a devotee for three years, and I enjoy every minute of it. All this happened because I decided to take a walk to the shop one day. That is the power of the Lord, Sri Krsna.
Govindasamy
Durban, South Africa
Freedom from the Misery of Materialism.
I had just arrived at Denver International Airport when a young man handed me a book called Bhagavad-gita. I gave him a donation and took the book. I read from its pages and couldn’t stop reading. I agree with all I have read, and I see the need and the joy in becoming free from material addiction. I have thought about this a lot and know that I’m ready to embrace this truth. I would give all I have to be free from the misery of materialism. What you teach is true, and I genuinely would like to thank you.
Jonathan
Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
Navina Nirada Dasa

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33434

Getting congregation members to  sponsor books

The story of this year’s Czech Padayatra began in autumn 2015 when we were thinking how to best  celebrate  the 50th anniversary of ISKCON and how to please Srila Prabhupada. Our first beacon was Lokanath Maharaja’s appeal to organize at least 50 padayatras around the world. This was our first “DOUBLE IT” moment – to double the number of padayatras in Central Europe.  This year we managed to again have a padayatra in  Czech Republic and also to inspire our brothers and sisters in neighboring Slovakia to revive the tradition of Slovakian Padayatra and hit the road too.

Another answer to the question, “How to please Srila Prabhupada?”, concerned the number of books distributed. This was our second “DOUBLE IT” moment! In 2015 we distributed 2000 books in two weeks, so this year it meant that at least 4000 books must go out. It sounded crazy but we immediately made the decision public and started to take practical steps.  We first extended the duration of the walk by one week and made sure we had enough books in advance. But our greatest efforts went to obtaining a sufficient number of experienced book distributors as well as new ones. We also wanted to distribute 50 small sets of Srimad-bhagavatam, therefore we made an offer to the congregation: they could donate for any amount of books which we would then distribute in their name. Overall we got sponsors for 1382 books.

Padayatra: too hot to drink but too sweet to resist

Padayatra itself was like a hot sugarcane syrup: so hot it was nearly impossible to drink it, but so sweet that most of us were very eager  to drink it again and again for the whole three weeks. To cool us a little bit, Krishna sent us a few cloudbursts. The worst one was so strong that the wind started to push our cart although it was stationary. Soaked by continuous torrents of rain we had to put a big ladder under the wheels to stop the cart from moving. Frequent evening rains affected attendance of our cultural programs, but since this year we had bet on intense Facebook advertisement and bought two spacious folding tents, we still had an attendance of at least 60 to 100 people, even during the rain. It may not look like much but Czech towns and villages are like ghost towns during summer. It often happens you meet only two or three people outside during the day.

Compared to  last year, the gross number of visitors increased by 50%, from 1200 to 1800: we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of ISKCON, aren’t we?  We distributed several hundred plates of tasty prasadam  consisting of potato pakora, cucumber raita and fresh cherry tomatoes, and hundreds of  bananas flew off into people’s hands. During surveys  and competitions, we gave more than 200  prizes to happy winners. These prizes were mainly Srila Prabhupada’s books, but kids could also choose toy cows, pictures of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, and the  first three winners got  maha garlands.

Sankirtana madness unleashed on padayatra to reach the goal of 5000 books

And how did it go with our book quota? At the beginning it was hopeless. Every day we were behind our quota, but Krishna appreciated our determination and  the long preparations we had made, and gradually we boiled up to a right working temperature – around 108 degrees Celsius. We had several strategic meetings preceding padayatra and daily “war councils” during the whole walk. The most important thing was that we managed to secure the participation of a heavy cavalry sankirtana unit from the Prague temple (Czech Republic being a  small country, this “heavy cavalry” consisted of three brahmacaris in a sankirtan van ). Our own padayatra sankirtana party was also running full speed during all three weeks and occasionally we were joined by other sankirtana warriors from Czech Republic and Slovakia. Gradually we got to the right rhythm and the goal of 4000 books was becoming a reality. Sankirtana devotees were distributing on and on, everywhere and to everybody. All other services were managed in such a way that book distributors would have maximum support and ideal conditions for their sadhana and distribution service.

After two weeks it was clear that we would be able to distribute 4000 books  and the hope started to arise that we could reach the 5000 book target.  50th anniversary and 5000 books go nicely together, don’t they? That’s what we thought, and it unleashed a veritable  sankirtana madness on padayatra.  What was the result? By the end of the walk we had distributed 5141 Srila Prabhupada’s books, which is one and a half times more than what we did last year.

Fantastic programs organized in the aftermath of padayatra

During this padayatra Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar revealed Their sweet hidden plan and us padayatris,  although sweetly tired and exhausted,  celebrated Their wonderful victory in ecstasy.  The nectar continued even after padayatra had ended. As we did last year during evening programs, we had also collected questionnaires with contact information of people who had serious interest in our future programs and events. Once padayatra was over we started sending them a small internet magazine called “Peace and health” which contains information on practical topics such as relationships, work, and health. It also contained an invitation to a program that we had arranged in the towns through which we walked. Only two months after the end of the summer padayatra  we have already organized altogether nine successful programs (lectures, concerts and cooking courses), and we are now preparing more lectures for a high school. Sometimes we have even three programs during a week in different towns. In one of these towns we launched Saturday feasts two times a month and we even got a personal support from several members of the city council.  The mercy of Lord Gauranga and Nityananda is limitless and a few drops also fell on our unqualified heads. We beg all of you, dear Vaisnavas reading this report, for your blessings to be able to continue  this ecstatic preaching program year after year.

The motto for our 2017 Padayatra: DOUBLE IT!

Like last autumn we are now already preparing our  2017 Padayatra. Guess what is our goal? “DOUBLE IT!”  We beg your blessings to distribute at least 10 000 of Srila Prabhupada’s books. So far  we organized a  two-day sankirtana seminar which was attended by 50 devotees. The result? Several devotees decided to prolong their participation in Prabhupada’s Christmas marathon, others set higher quotas for themselves, some decided to begin distributing occasionally and one devotee decided to distribute full-time.

Dear padayatris brothers and  sisters, what about you? Will you leave us alone? Join us! The year 2017 is coming soon and the  51st anniversary of ISKCON will never happen again. DOUBLE IT! Double at least something:  the duration of padayatra, the number of devotees participating  and, if it’s possible, the number of books you distributed in 2016.  Because the world has gone mad, it is getting increasingly more and more crazy, and every man and woman today needs Srila Prabhupada and his books!

Source:http://www.padayatra.com/czech-republic-2016-double-it-double-it-again-and-keep-on-increasing/

I read this article about organ donations. Someone sent it around and the article described how you cannot take organs from a dead body. It is not possible because then the organs are spoilt already and can no longer be used for transplant. Therefore you still have to be ‘alive and dead’ at the same time to donate an organ. So this type of death where you can be ‘alive and dead’ at the same time is called brain-dead, the heart still beats but the brain is dead. So people that are heavily injured especially with brain injuries go into a comatose condition and then at one point, when there is no brain activity measurements showing up with the electrodes, then the person is declared brain-dead. 

So then bring the scalpels, bring the saw, bring the scissors and let us cut it out… At first, take the eyes, then take a kidney and systematically take out all the organs in a sequence so that the person does not ‘die’. 

Now sometimes the blood pressure goes up as they are removing organs, just like in the case of someone who did not get enough anaesthesia for an operation, then the doctors have to give a little more. Even though the donors are brain-dead, sometimes they start jerking as they are being cut! No problem, they fix that also, they just give some medicine which causes paralysis so there is no jerking – no problem! The donor just lies there peacefully and they take out the organs. If anyone stills wants to donate organs then you are very brave. Me, definitely not!

We can see how the demoniac tendencies of society are infiltrated to something mainstream. And how it is very nicely glossed over and how it is very nicely covered with an image of compassion… real compassion and kindness, ‘Do you want to donate some organs, do you?’

So like that, the demoniac mentality is deeply ingrained in society. But no matter how far it goes, the laws of nature are very intricate and there will always be a response from the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the laws of nature. There is a Bengali proverb which describes that an artist tried to make a statue of Lord Siva but in the end it looked more like a monkey!!

Similarly in the name of world peace, as Srila Prabhupada explained, they made a nuclear bomb but with it, they hung impending death above their heads. In the name of defense and it is true if we look at history, it was inevitable, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings were the only way to stop the devastating force of the Second World War; there was no other way.

But meanwhile, we have hung death above our head and ever since, we have lived with this idea of the atomic bomb. In the sixties and the seventies era of the cold war, this was a big thing. Lately the cold war is again coming a bit more to the foreground and like this, we see that the demons will again and again misuse their powers. Of course, devotees – we just depend on Krsna for our protection.

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/11/compassionate-or-demoniac/

During the month of November, every day early in the morning the young daughters of the cowherds would take one another’s hands and, singing of Krishna’s transcendental qualities, go to the Yamuna to bathe.

Desiring to obtain Krishna as their husband, they would then worship the goddess Katyayani with incense, flowers and other items.

Source:http://www.ramaiswami.com/katyayani-vrata-2/