I think that the only thing that can really bond us together is friendship. Just common acceptance of Krsna as the Supreme Lord will bring us together from time to time – we will come together at the temple and festivals – but friendship will take us so much further. Because it is in friendship, in real friendship that we are going to stimulate each other so much more than by just being colleagues!

I have often given this example of how we can be together like colleagues. We are all devotees of Krsna and we are all colleagues. We are all devotees in the same temple and we are all colleagues. We are all chanting Hare Krsna and we are all colleagues. We are all dancing in the kirtan party as colleagues. But when there is no friendship, it is not enough.

If there is friendship, then friendship is different. Friendship is like a family spirit. When your colleague is not performing well and it disturbs your work, you can say, “Get it together! You know, they’ll throw you out of here one of these days if you don’t get it together.”

That is what you say to a colleague but to a family member, you say, “When in the world are you ever going to get it together? But we can’t throw you out because you’re part of the family.”

That is different. That is friendship and in that friendship there is trust. We know we are going to be accepted. We do not have to have a masquerade where everyone acts out to be a pure devotee in a Hare Krsna community. We can just be more honest. If there is friendship, we can just be who we are and still be accepted. In that way, we can get some real human support which is what we need!

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/10/the-bond-of-friendship/

ISKCON-Tirupati celebrated Sri Krishna Janmastami -2016 in a grand manner. On the occasion of 50 years Golden Jubilee celebration this year we were blessed with our special guest for Janmastami, His Holiness Sivarama Swami Maharaj, from Hungary. The celebrations went on for 3 days from 24-08-2016 to 26-08-2016. People from all over Tirupati and Andhrapradesh attended  to receive blessings of their Lord ships Sri Radha Govinda and Srila Prabhupada. Around three hundred thousand plates of prasadam were distributed and at Mid Night 12’o clock Maha Shanka Abisekha was performed for the deities.

As Part of Janmasthami celebrations we erected a Huge (30 feet width and 40 feet height) Diorama of Srila Prabhupada and the countries he preached around the world for ISKCON 50 years Golden Jubilee Festival at TTD Grounds opposite to ISKCON, Tirupati temple.

HH Sivaram Swami  Maharaj  ,  HG Revati Raman Prabhu , Sri Ramireddy garu   S P F (Special Police Force) Commandant TTD , Sri Vijaya Saradhi garu  TTD estate officer  , Sri Guruswami garu  Senior Advocate TTD and others  gave the Janmastami message  to the all the devotees.

On 26th August, the Appearance day of our Beloved Founder Acarya His Divine Grace Srila A.C Bhakti vedanta Swami Prabhupada was celeberated in a very grand manner with Maha Shanka abhisekha for Prabhupada’s murthy followed by Pushpanjali, then H H Sivarama Swami Maharaj spoke on Prabhupada glorifying his achievements and his compassionate nature elaborately .

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31994

The conference was entitled “Fifty Years of the Krishna Consciousness Movement: Srila Prabhupada, Messenger of Peace and Spiritual Knowledge” and it was held at the Chamber of Deputies, one of two houses in the Italian Parliament’s bicameral legislature and a spot where all major political decisions are made.

At least one hundred devotees of different ages and “ashramas” or stages of life represented ISKCON at the conference, and the Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies introduced it. There were be speeches by Madhusevita Das, President of the ISKCON Italian Confederation, and Parabhakti dasa in the role of Italian Confederation Vice President and Communications Director.

The event included also bhajans, a prasadam buffet, and a screening of the twenty-minute documentary film Hare Krishna: 50 Years of Service and Joy, which showcases ISKCON’s many impressive contributions to the world.

All Members of Parliament received Italian language editions of the ISKCON 50 magazine “The Hare Krishnas: Celebrating 50 Years” in their mailboxes. The magazine is an easily accessible introduction to ISKCON and its founder, history, beliefs and works.

There was a strong media presence at the conference, as it was considered to be a historic event for ISKCON Italy.

“The Parliament remains the most prestigious place to celebrate an event, and this is the first time we’ve done something directly related to our society there,” Parabhakti said. “I believe it will give us strong credit in the political, academic and cultural spheres. And in general, it will have a positive effect on public opinion that remains long after the conference is over.”

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=32002

Photo Gallery Click here

The year 2016 is a special year for Hare Krishna communities around the world as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of ISKCON, which was incorporated by our beloved founder Srila Prabhupada in 1966.  Celebrations have been taking place in 600 cities across 75 countries since August 2015 and until December 2016. Here in Canada, the Right Honourable Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau has shared a congratulatory message for our Canadian Hare Krishna communities! 

Special thanks to one of our dynamic young devotees of our community, Preya Maulkhan for helping to coordinate the official congratulatory message from the Prime Minister's Office! 

Source:http://iskcontoronto.blogspot.in/2016/10/iskcon50-congratulations-from-pm-justin.html

Kadamba Kanana Swami: I think that the only thing that can really bond us together is friendship. Just common acceptance of Krsna as the Supreme Lord will bring us together from time to time – we will come together at the temple and festivals – but friendship will take us so much further. Because it is in friendship, in real friendship that we are going to stimulate each other so much more than by just being colleagues!
I have often given this example of how we can be together like colleagues. We are all devotees of Krsna and we are all colleagues. We are all devotees in the same temple and we are all colleagues. We are all chanting Hare Krsna and we are all colleagues. We are all dancing in the kirtan party as colleagues. But when there is no friendship, it is not enough.
If there is friendship, then friendship is different. Friendship is like a family spirit. When your colleague is not performing well and it disturbs your work, you can say, “Get it together! You know, they’ll throw you out of here one of these days if you don’t get it together.”
That is what you say to a colleague but to a family member, you say, “When in the world are you ever going to get it together? But we can’t throw you out because you’re part of the family.”
That is different. That is friendship and in that friendship there is trust. We know we are going to be accepted. We do not have to have a masquerade where everyone acts out to be a pure devotee in a Hare Krsna community. We can just be more honest. If there is friendship, we can just be who we are and still be accepted. In that way, we can get some real human support which is what we need!

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=32009

This morning I happened to visit the Sampradaya Sun web page. Rocan Prabhu has been doing a series entitled ” A journey through India: border to border, bhoga to prasadam” and in the last week has done a two part article on ‘Ghee’. We have reprinted both the first and second part here.

Prasadam – Ghee
by Sun Staff

…the Mother of all ingredients is milk, and all its glorious byproducts. Today we’ll begin an exploration of ghee, which is one of the final foodstuffs derived from processing milk. Cow’s milk is said to possess the essential sap of all plants, and ghee is a most valued derivation of that nutritious stuff. The clear golden liquid known as ghee is the crown jewel of oils, and is one of Srimati Radharani’s most favored ingredients.

The word ghee comes from the Sanskrit ghrta [ghrit], or “sprinkled”. Aayurghritam means ‘ghee is life’, and this is reflected in the many sacred ways the stuff is used in devotional practice, from cooking to feeding the sacred fire, or performing abhisheka with panchamrta. Use of ghee as a substance to anoint the Deities is mentioned in Yajurveda, and the Rgveda has many references to butter and ghee.

Lord Prajapati, the primordial lord of the creatures and father of the seventh lila-avatar incarnation, Yajna, first created ghee by rubbing his hands together, churning butter and producing ghee that was poured onto the sacred fire to engender his progeny. One of the hymns in Rgveda is sung in praise of ghee:

This is the secret name of Butter:
“Tongue of the gods,” “navel of immortality.”
We will proclaim the name of Butter;
We will sustain it in this sacrifice by bowing low.
These waves of Butter flow like gazelles before the hunter…
Streams of Butter caress the burning wood.
Agni, the fire, loves them and is sa0tisfied.
Rgveda describes ghee/butter in relation to the purusha:

“It was Purusa, born in the beginning, which they sprinkled on the sacred grass as a sacrifice. With him the gods sacrificed the demi-gods and the seers.

From that sacrifice completely offered, the clotted butter was brought together. It made the beasts of the air, the forest and the village.

From that sacrifice completely offered, the mantras [Rgveda] and the songs [Samaveda] were born. The meters were born from it. The sacrificial formulae [Yajurveda] were born from it.”

Not surprisingly, modern history tells a different story about the original creation of ghee, not taking into account the ancient Vedic history, which is Absolute. In addition, many early academic references to butter would be more accurately translated as ghee.

Modern historians point to an ancient trade manuscript, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, which indicates that ghee was a trading commodity as early as the 1st century A.D. Of course, Sri Krsna was chasing after Mother Yasoda’s butter (what to speak of the butter of neighboring households) during Hs Vrindavan lila pastimes. Krsna was gleefully eating butter, throwing it at Balarama, and feeding it to the monkeys, and Yasoda Ma was reducing the butter to golden ghee, making wondrous preparations to offer Krsna. Sadly, consumers of modern history are left with the dry tale that butter was first created accidentally, when milk was being transported in skin bags and got churned while traveling over rough terrain. Just see how glorious Krsna Conscious reality is compared to mundane notions.

Ghee is known by many other names around the world. In Hindi it is ghi; in Bengali and Urdu, ghi ; in Nepali it’s ghyu; in Punjabi, ghyo; in Marathi and Konkani it’s tup; in Kannada, tuppa; in Tamil and Malayalam it’s ney; and in Telugu it’s neyyi.

Pure ghee is made by simmering butter churned from the cream portion of cow’s milk. The butter is cooked over a slow fire until the impurities rise to the top and the whey separates, dropping to the bottom. Sandwiched between these two layers is a depth of pure, golden liquid that is carefully separated out.

The quality of ghee is dependent on many things, first and foremost, the quality of life of the cow. Cows treated properly as the sacred Mother are invited to pasture on good quality grasses which produce the richest milk. The richest cream separated from the milk is churned into butter, and separated out from the concentrated butter fats are the liquids, known as buttermilk and skim milk. It takes about five gallons of whole milk to produce just two pounds of butter.

In India and many other countries, ghee is also produced from the milk of other animals, including buffalo, yaks, goats and sheep. Without questions, cow’s milk is far superior to all of these. High quality cow milk ghee can be identified by its color, flavor, and aroma, among other qualities. Lower quality ghees are not a deep golden, but vary from shades of yellow to nearly white. Only pure cows milk ghee is bona fide for use in Deity worship or fire yajna.

Pure cow milk ghee is actually the most potent form of the milk, having been transformed by heat. In Ayurveda it is considered to be sweet in taste, cold in nature, with a sweet aftertaste (vipaka). Buffalo milk ghee is colder in nature, oilier and heavier than cow ghee, and eating it tends to make one lethargic. But as any Krsna Prasadam aficionado knows, high quality bhoga cooked in ghee, offered with love and devotion, results in foodstuffs that leave an amazingly light ‘footprint’. Even the richest ghee-laden and ghee-fried foods can be eaten in great quantities, and do not ruin one’s energy for the remainder of the day, or the next, as feast preparations cooked in lesser oils are likely to do.

Prasadam – Ghee, Part Two
by Sun Staff

There are significant differences in the way ghee is produced in India, compared to the West. In the West, the artisan process is to use fresh, whole cow’s milk, let the cream rise to the top, then churn the heavy cream to butter, and finally slow cook the butter to separate the milk solids and whey from the liquid golden ghee. Unfortunately in the West today, few creameries make their butter by actually churning the cream. Instead, the milk is extruded through a fine screen. The larger fat molecules are captured, and the rest runs off as the commercial equivalent of buttermilk.

The problem with this process is that without churning, the all-important transformative energy is eliminated. The agni quality that was embodied in Lord Prajapati’s churning of butter into sacrificial ghee is absent. In India, butter is traditionally made by hand-churning and hand-working the butter, which imparts a quality much improved over the commercial process due the churning motion. While the differences are subtle, they are among the qualities inherent in sattvic practice.

Ghee-making in the West is sometimes confused with making clarified butter, which is not really ghee at all. Clarified butter is butter that is boiled to eliminate the moisture content, leaving it with a frothy foam on top of the yellow liquefied butter. When making ghee, many Western cooks simply place blocks of unsalted butter in a pan on very low heat, removing the ghee as soon as it has separated, and allowing little carmelization to occur. Indian cooks often encourage carmelization on the bottom of the ghee pot, because it sweetens the entire ghee batch in a lovely way.

In India, ghee making not only ends differently – it begins differently. The whole milk is typically not allowed to sit until the cream rises. Instead, the milk is boiled to eliminate bacteria, then cooled. Next the milk is cultured with yoghurt and allowed to rest, covered, for several hours or overnight, slightly souring the milk. Next morning, a thick layer of yoghurt and cream is removed from the top. The curd is then hand-beaten, and after about 30 minutes of churning, a frothy layer of butter begins to take shape in the bowl.

Gathering together the fresh made butter, it is next placed in a heavy kadai and melted over a medium-low fire. The brown, gritty stuff that layers the bottom of the pan is saved after the golden ghee is poured off, and the leavings are then mixed with sugar as a treat for children, or else it’s thrown into the dal pot, or mixed into the day’s sabji.

Ghee is best made in a stainless steel pot, and aluminum pots should always be avoided, as they leech toxins into the food. The heavier the pot, the more effectively heat will be distributed across the bottom. Whenever possible, make arrangements to cook your ghee over fire, rather than electrical heat. Again, the sattvic qualifies will be much improved this way.

Never stir the pot when you’re making ghee, at any point during the process, as it’s important to let the heat do the job of separating out all the impurities and milk solids, so you can drain off only the pure liquid oil.

Depending on the quality of the butter being used, the milk solids and impurities will rise to the top and drop to the bottom in somewhat different consistencies. If you use salted butter, most of the salt will get thrown off as impurities, in a brown crust that forms on the surface, although some of the salt will remain. Unsalted butter is far preferable to use for ghee.

On the bottom of the pan a whitish liquid forms which is technically ‘precipitated protein’, commonly referred to as whey or curd. The whey still contains 50 percent or more butterfat, which makes it a wonderful ingredient on its own. The whey can be frozen for later use, or immediately cooked into sabjis or dals. One of the best uses for whey is to add it to the water when boiling peeled potatoes. The potatoes hold a much firmer texture after cooking, which makes them perfect for stuffing. Below is our recipe for Stuffed New Potatoes in Saffron Cream, which puts to excellent use the whey leftover from ghee making.

Depending on the size of the pot and temperature, ghee will be done anywhere from a few to several hours. Undercooking it means that there will still be too much moisture in the ghee, and this causes it to splatter when frying, and lessens the shelf life. Over-cooked ghee gets a nutty taste which many find pleasant, although the purest ghee flavor is desirable for many recipes.

Making Ghee in the Oven

When cooking over open fire isn’t possible, our next preferred method of ghee-making is to cook it overnight in the oven. Placing the desired quantity of butter in an uncovered stainless steel pot or pan, leaving it in the oven overnight at about 170 degrees F. In the morning, the end product will be three distinct layers of semi-solids and liquids. The top crust will contain all the butter impurities, the whey collects at the bottom, and the golden oil is between.

In the morning, remove the pot from oven and let it sit for 10 minutes, so the crust hardens even more. This makes it easier to skim off the crust, which you can set aside for later use. These milk/salt solids are wonderful cooked into sabjis and vegetable dishes. Skim the crust off carefully with a spatula or flat utensil, gently getting up under the crust and lifting it off in chunks. Remove as much as possible, on top and around the edges.

Next, pour off or ladle off as much of the golden ghee as possible without mixing in any of the whey. This takes a little practice. The white liquid will want to bubble up into your ghee, as hey don’t naturally mix (like oil and water). When you get whey in with the ghee, then heat the ghee on a hot fire, the whey will ‘pop’ or explode, just like water hitting hot oil, so you’ll want to eliminate that messy event. And again, the whey creates a culture that attracts bacteria, and shortens storage life.

Carefully pour off, then spoon off as much of the golden ghee as you can. When you get down to the point where you just can’t keep the whey from mixing in, stop and set the pan in the refrigerator for an hour. This causes the remaining ghee to solidify into a solid yellow block. They liquid whey beneath it won’t harden.

Remove the pan from the fridge and tip it, just enough to slide the solid block of ghee aside so you can pour off the whey into a separate container. Now take the ghee ‘block’ out of pan, and any whey that remains on the bottom of the block can be easily patted off with paper towel or scraped off with a knife.

Mahamrtunjaya Mantra

According to Vedic tradition, there is a mantra one can chant when making ghee, known as the Mahamrtunjaya Mantra, or the Tryambakam Mantra. This hymn is found in the Rgveda (RV 7.59.12), and also in Yajurveda (TS 1.8.6.i; VS 3.60). The mantra addresses Lord Shiva as Tryambaka, the ‘three-eyed one’: tryambaka yajamahe sugandhi pushti-vardhanam urvarukam iva bandhanan mrityor mukshiya mamritat

Sugandhim refers to the sweet fragrance, and pushti to attaining a well-nourished condition. Vardhanam is one who causes health and strength to increase.

Source:https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/10/05/ghee-is-life/

There is so much realization in the pages of the Bhagavatam given by great saintly sages and rishis. There is deep refined wisdom in the pages of Bhagavad Gita spoken directly by the Supreme Being Sri Krishna. There is so much evidence around us in our immediate vicinity and far away to ascertain the truths as enunciated by these saintly scriptures. Yet, we are convinced we can be happy here and that Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam is for dry philosophers that which is not practical in this day and age!

So while there is ‘raja vidya’, king of knowledge accessible by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, that king of knowledge is rendered ‘raja guhyam’, king of secrets. Why - because we do not see the futility of material life. Therefore, unless we deeply realize from the core of our heart the futility of this world, we will not truly take full shelter of the ‘raja vidya’ and till we take shelter, this will remain ‘guhyam’ or secret and rendered dry philosophy from our vantage point!

Hare Krishna

Source:http://servantoftheservant-ananda.blogspot.in/2016/10/prerequisite-to-take-shelter.html

Niranjana Swami: Everybody really likes to be independent. It’s one of the characteristics of being in the material world is that we like our independence. We don’t want anybody telling us what to do. We don’t want to become completely dependent upon anybody, because to become completely dependent upon somebody in the material world is a sign of misfortune. As soon as you become completely dependent upon somebody then you are obliged, you have to do so many things - things that you don’t want to do, but you feel like you have to do because, “I am dependent on that person.”
And then we always try to make some kind of separate arrangements so that we can gradually release ourselves from the clutches of that dependence. But when we try to release ourselves from the clutches of that dependence, than we have to become dependent on somebody else. But we don’t realize it. Or we may think, “At least this is a better type of dependence. It was better than the previous one.”
And actually that is what Srila Bhaktisiddhanta talks about here in this quote. He is describing what is actual independence. The quote begins with the statement,
“To try to become God is non-devotional. The desire to become independent in this world means to become the servant of others. Material independence is simply a covered form of dependence. Complete independence is obtained by becoming dependent on the Lord, who is full of eternality, knowledge and bliss, and desiring only to serve Him. As long as the living entities hold the rope of the Lord’s mercy they are known as His servants. Those who think themselves self-dependent, or independent, should know that they are actually dependent on others. Only those who depend on the Supreme Lord are truly independent. When we attain actual independence than the conception that we are eternally dependent on Sri Hari becomes prominent. Any object that is a complete whole is transcendental.”
This is an important point to explain.
“Service to, or dependence on that transcendental, absolute truth Sri Hari is actual joyful independence. Otherwise, the show of independence, while identifying oneself as the doer or master, brings only distress. It is nothing but subordination under maya.”

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=32011

By Varsana Swami

The efforts, austerities, and practices involved with the acceptance as a disciple do not end with initiation.  Rather they begin, in a formal sense, at that point. Whatever outer challenges or inner demons we have, will be overcome by Krishna’s grace for those who persevere in their vows.  It is only those who quit who will suffer defeat.

Even as the connection and dependency between the words “disciple” and “discipline” are obvious, some devotees tend to be more attentive to the fruits than the root.  Disconnected from her root, thebhakti-lata will wither.  However much we may balk or resist the concept, it is discipline  that forms the soul of vaidhi-bhakti and reveals the heart of raganuga-bhakti in due course of time.

Discipline applies to four levels of spiritual development, each successively deeper and subtler: body, mind, words, and emotions. Herein lies the comparison of the outcome of a disciple’s life in contrast to the undisciplined one.

The humility worthy of a servant of Krishna, acknowledges that discipline alone is inadequate to elevate us substantially in spiritual life.  Rather, discipline attracts grace and protects it in its tender growth as it reaches for the sky and blossoms into love of God.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31953

By Jayapataka Swami

Srila Prabhupada was given the whole world as his frontier for preaching. He wanted to fulfill Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction that His holy name would be spread all over the world. Prithivite ache yata nagaradi grama / sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama (Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya 1.117). Srila Prabhupada traveled the world eleven times, published volumes of Krishna conscious books and established 108 temples and centers. Everything was a massive success.

Srila Prabhupada was the pioneer who paved the way for the future of Krishna consciousness. Millions of his books were distributed, yet at the same time he realized there were not as many devotees to match the numbers of books that had been distributed. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada said, “Training is needed.”

That training is fulfilled by congregational preaching, which emphasizes small group cultivation of people, and training in the principles of devotional service. He wanted to see Krishna conscious communities develop all over the world. His vision was that people will practice and preach Krishna consciousness from their homes. The congregation can help preach alongside and support the temple preaching in various ways.

“Make Homes Into Centers”

Congregational development is an untapped field that presents new opportunities for all kinds of preachers,. It incorporates a systematic method for contacting and cultivating new devotees and engaging them in service. New people and potential devotees should, as far as possible, be brought into the loop, their details taken and follow-ups commissioned. As Srila Prabhupada said, we have to fan the fire and cause it to burn.

In the developmental stages of Krishna consciousness, new members can serve from their homes, and participate in programs at the temples. Everyone can be engaged in congregational development; everyone can be a part of the rich programs that bring in new devotees. There are possibly over one million people already in the Krishna consciousness movement. Yet we must ask ourselves, “Is everyone engaged? Particularly, is everyone engaged in bringing in new devotees?”

It is very important that people utilize their talents and abilities to give other people Krishna consciousness. This was the mood of Lord Caitanya. This is what He told the brahmana in Kurmaksetra.

“Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krishna as they are given in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.”

—Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 7.128

The Lord instructed His follower, “Stay in your home and make your country people Krishna conscious. You do not have to become a sannyasi.” This is the idea motivating congregational preaching: It is spread by those empowered by the mercy of Lord Caitanya. If the Lord desires, a devotee is able to tell people about Krishna consciousness. And there is no limit to Lord Caitanya’s mercy.

Every devotee should be engaged in spreading Krishna consciousness. There is no limit to how many people can become involved and we need to get everyone involved. Everyone should see that they have a very important part to play in developing Krishna conscious communities.

People in many parts of the world are not so favorable to organized religion due to previous negative experiences. When congregational development is at the forefront of the preaching, however, people can be taught how to practice in their home, a pressure-free environment. After that, it is up to the individual to determine how much he or she wants to be involved in organized temple programs. The home can be made into a suitable place for practicing Krishna consciousness. The point is that everyone should practice Krishna consciousness. Krishna consciousness is a very open process – at any place and in any circumstance, everyone should chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and read Srila Prabhupada’s books.

As one becomes more and more Krishna conscious, the temple festivals and preaching activities become naturally more attractive. Sometimes people are allergic to Krishna consciousness because they think that joining the movement means becoming a monk or living a monastic life. Of course we have that option for people who want to live as monks, but we also have the option for people to practice Krishna consciousness from their homes. Srila Prabhupada said you do not have to shave your head or join the temple. Krishna consciousness is very relevant to everyone. Congregational outreach programs bring new opportunities and new challenges. These programs save people from illusion and contamination from the material world. Krishna consciousness gets rid of the binding illusion of the material world and liberates us from material identification. We need to give people this contact with Krishna consciousness, and this is where congregational development becomes essential. Congregational development reaches out to people in various ways and gives a range of options for a variety of prospective devotees.

Another important aspect is that as the congregations grow, it becomes difficult for the temple presidents and temple devotees to care for the congregational devotees. Temple devotees have time-consuming services, deity worship, and the routine work of the temple. Caring for the congregation and training them can be done by the congregational members themselves. Helping the congregations to develop is a very exciting aspect of preaching. The more devotees are trained and inspired in Krishna consciousness, the more effulgent they become. The more active they are, the more instrumental they become in spreading the sankirtana mission..

Sometimes we do not know how to engage new devotees, especially devotees in the congregation. But the idea is that everyone can be a preacher. Lord Caitanya told the brahmana to be a preacher. Anyone can share what they know; even new devotees have something to share. They can tell their relatives, friends and neighbors about how wonderful Krishna consciousness is. Every man, woman, and child has the potential to be empowered by Lord Caitanya and do service for the temple and for the conditioned souls.

Many senior devotees have experience in the temple and in congregational preaching but don’t know how to engage their talents and abilities in expanding Krishna consciousness to meet the demands of the times. This wealth of experience can be actively utilized in congregational preaching. I know some devotees who have their own Nama-hattas or Bhakti-vrikshas and they engage their time in cultivating people in Krishna consciousness. One example is Matsya Avatara Dasa, who has his own center in Italy for training people. (Prabhu’s testimonial is included in this book.) Some devotees may preach in a big way, and some may preach in a small way from their home. By “preaching” we do not mean in a negative, pushy way. Effective preaching means sharing information and distributing our wealth of experience to help new people see the value of taking up the process of bhakti-yoga. Congregational preaching offers a wide range of opportunities for devotees to help people go back to Godhead. If one person goes back to Godhead, then the person who helped them gets a free ticket to the spiritual world.

We know that when we help others come to Krishna consciousness, our own spiritual progress is increased. I know some families who were living in an environment unfavorable to spiritual life. But when the family worked together to spread Krishna consciousness, the whole environment changed. The family members became preachers, soldiers in Krishna consciousness, serving in Lord Caitanya’s army to deliver the conditioned souls.

Another avenue where congregational preachers may have considerable influence are yoga and vegetarian societies. Millions of gurus and organizations promoting different varieties of yoga and vegetarianism. People are interested in things that are favorable to a Krishna conscious lifestyle. Hare Krishna devotees can try to make bhakti-yoga attractive to them. We can propose, “Why stop at hatha- yoga when you can go for the topmost yoga, bhakti?” This is an opportunity for our devotees to bring practitioners of other types of yoga to higher levels.

Congregational development was the original preaching program of Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada

Srila Prabhupada mentioned that Lord Caitanya did not personally establish any temples. Lord Caitanya spread the congregational chanting of Hare Krishna by preaching everywhere He went. Lord Nityananda started the Nama-hatta. But even before Lord Nityananda and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu started thesankirtana movement, Srila Krsna Dasa Kaviraja Gosvami described in Caitanya-caritamrta that Advaita Acharya, Srivas Thakura, and the Vaisnavas of Nadia district held meetings in the devotees’ homes. From Sri Caintanya-bhagavat (2.111) we find that Srivas Pandit and his brother loved to chant the names of Hari in his house.

After Lord Caitanya went to Sri Jagannath Puri, He sent Lord Nityananda to Bengal to start Nama-hatta. Then there was a gap of four hundred years. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura revived Nama-hatta and wrote about the importance of congregational preaching. He had over five hundred Nama-hatta groups all over Bengal. These groups were more developed than what we call Nama-hatta today. Some of the groups would meet daily. Bhaktivinoda Thakura required that every full-time member of the Nama-hatta visit five homes per day with a flag in their hand. The name of the flag was the “Victory Flag of the Holy Name.” The devotees would go door-to-door and chant Hare Krishna just like the original followers of Lord Caitanya. This style of preaching is very good for learning how to surrender to Krishna.

The Nama-hatta groups were called prapanna ashram (a center of surrender), and the homes that were Krishna conscious were called sraddha kutirs (a home of the faithful). Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura developed very extensive programs to involve people in preaching and, with his followers, organized different festivals called maha-utsavas.

Later, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati took over the birth place of Mahaprabhu and formed a matha. He established 64 temples and preached in London and Bangladesh. He said book distribution was thebrihad mridanga. Book publication was most important in his vision, yet when he gave his final address to his disciples, he conveyed a more holistic view of the preaching: he talked about the importance of developing the Gaura Mandal parikrama. He stressed the importance of devotees serving the holy dham. Book publication and distribution and Nama-hatta preaching will bring more people into the Mayapur parikrama. With the development of Sri Dham Mayapur and increased book distribution and Nama-hatta groups, congregational development will take on even more importance.

Preaching Is the Essence

The Congregational Development Ministry is trying to develop different strategies to stimulate the preaching work. These preaching methods can be standardized, copied, refined, and perfected. Some of the preaching programs were developed by devotees in the field. Some approaches (like the cell-program) already existed, and we adapted the method to suit our Vaisnava tradition. Some things were done by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu 500 years ago, and we are continuing in the tradition He established. And, of course, we are always trying to improve in every respect. Presently we have many Nama-hatta groups, and the devotees are holding kirtana, lectures, and distributing prasada. One of the interesting priorities is identifying and recognizing Krishna conscious families. We want to give them recognition by calling them Sraddha Kutirs. We need millions of Krishna conscious families in the world to be bases for Krishna consciousness.

The activities of many groups will be discussed in this book so that readers can understand the different systems in summary. Of course, if one wishes to delve deeper into any of the subjects, The Bhakti-vriksha Manual and the Congregational Preaching Journal are available from our Ministry library and give more detailed information. In The Nectar of Congregational Preaching some of the programs that will be discussed are:

• Nama-hatta

• Sadhu-sanga groups

• Counselor groups

• Bhakti-vriksha

• Various temple-based programs

• Sunday school

• Sunday Feast

• Outreach programs

• Prison preaching

In the future we are certain that new ideas will arise as devotees become more and more determined to spread Krishna consciousness. The different kinds of preaching are like links in a chain. Books are the basis, preaching is the essence. To pull people out of material suffering, we need a strong chain of different kinds of connected preaching. We want to pull this civilization up. We want an ISKCON where congregational preaching is very strong. We need many expert preachers. For that purpose, we have compiled this book. We hope that people take some inspiration from it, get a vision from it, and get some ideas about what they can do within their realm of congregational development.

What is congregational preaching?

Even after many years, a clear understanding of congregational preaching has yet to emerge in many devotees’ consciousness. Many devotees seem confused, even mystified, about what congregational preaching is. They are not able to grasp that what has actually developed in this field is relevant to them. Congregational preaching is relevant to every person in the Krishna consciousness movement. It’s a basic necessity for us to preach. We hope that The Nectar of Congregational Preaching will provide basic information about the field. We seek to clarify what congregational preaching is and give an overview of many of the basic programs. We hope that all of the mysteries will be revealed and that devotees will become part of the inner circle by reading this book. We want that preachers and devotees at all levels get a taste of the nectar by reading this book.

We have compiled testimonials of various senior devotees, sannyasis, preachers, gurus, and devotees who have direct, hands-on experience in congregational preaching. We have tried to address the following questions:

• What is the importance of congregational preaching?

• What are the highlights?

• What are the experiences of the devotees in the field?

• What are their needs?

• Where are we lacking?

It is important to hear from the congregational field preachers, the people who are actually serving as congregational preachers as their primary service to Lord Krishna. When we read their realizations, it’s enlightening for all of us. What do they feel? What do they experience? What are the challenges that they face? What are the goals that they have? We hope that some of these questions will be answered in the following pages.

Sometimes Srila Prabhupada criticized inactive Hindus who just believe, but don’t practice defending, propagating, or protecting their own religion. We want to avoid a static congregation. Static congregations don’t help spread the Krishna consciousness movement, don’t help support the temples, nor help in saving the conditioned souls—this is what we don’t want. There’s a need for engaging everyone in congregational preaching. We want dynamic congregations in every temple. We want congregations that are actively preaching and are empowered, enlivened, and enthusiastically bringing in new devotees. We want congregations that are supporting Krishna conscious programs to their capacity. Everyone has their different capacity. Many devotees have household duties, and it is understood that there will be a limit to the amount of time they can give. But there’s a need for everyone to identify themselves as congregational preachers to make a bigger community. We need everyone to give some time and some energy to make it all progress.

In 1972 or 1973, Srila Prabhupada urged the English devotees to reproduce the wonderful book distribution results of their American godbrothers. The boxes of Krishna books and The Teachings of Lord Caitanya filled the book room at the Bhaktivedanta Manor and devotees were wondering how they could distribute so many books. Tribhuvanatha Dasa, who was very enthusiastic about Hare Krishna festivals and who had been very much encouraged by Srila Prabhupada, became concerned that perhaps he should stop the festivals and simply distribute books instead. When he expressed this to him on a morning walk, Srila Prabhupada quickly turned around, struck the end of his cane on the ground, and said very firmly: “No. Everything should go on simultaneously – side by side.”

Temple devotees should be trained in congregational preaching so that they can make new devotees from people who don’t fit into the temple devotee profile and make them part of the congregation. We have options to offer. Everyone should know what those options are and the methods by which we identify whether a person is suitable to be a temple devotee or is better situated as a congregational devotee. Then we can preach accordingly.

Hare Krishna,

Jayapataka Swami
Minister, ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31957

“Krishna says, svakarmana: ‘Whatever talent you have got, you can serve Me and be perfect.’ That is the program.”

“Yes, it is your good fortune that you can serve Krishna in so many ways — to work, to write, to speak, to paint, to build — all of these talents must be employed in Krishna’s service. That will make you perfect. We are so fortunate to be in this human form of life, and to have the opportunity and the capacity to serve Krishna, and as there is very little time, we must do as much each day as we possibly can to serve Krishna, and to become always engaged in thoughts and activities of Krishna. Maya may try to pull us from Krishna’s service, and try to engage us in her service, but we must simply persevere, and try to do as much as possible for Krishna each day, and gradually it will be easier and easier to keep engaged in Krishna Consciousness activities. And pray to Krishna to please keep us always engaged in the service of His Lotus Feet. Krishna is very kind, and He is never ungrateful, and will give you more and more opportunity to serve Him. That is His Mercy.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, November 12, 1968)

“So our this movement is based on practical activity. Whatever talent you have got, whatever little strength you have got, education you have got… You haven’t got to learn anything. Whatever you have got, in whatever position you are, you can serve Krishna. Not that you have to learn something first and then you can serve. No. The service itself is learning. The more you try to render service, the more you become advanced how to become experienced servant. We don’t require any extra intelligence.” (Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Mayapur, March 1, 1977)

“Krishna says, svakarmana: ‘Whatever talent you have got, you can serve Me and be perfect.’ That is the program.” (Srila Prabhupada Conversation, January 16, 1976)

“Simply offer all your talents and energies in this service of the Lord and know that Krishna promises that for one who surrenders fully unto Him, He fully protects such devotee from all kinds of material distresses and sinful reactions.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 4, 1971)

“I wanted that you Americans use your talents in spreading this cult, and I can see that you are doing that. In all departments you can use your talents and thus do the greatest benefit for the entire world. So my mission has come out a success by the mercy of my guru maharaj who sent me on this mission. That was my only qualification in coming to your country, that I had the blessings of my guru maharaj.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, October 17, 1974)

“I wish that you can utilize your best talents in business organization and the result utilize for Krishna’s satisfaction is on the absolute platform. To make the idea more clear, if I am translating Srimad-Bhagavatam, and if you are contributing for its publication and helping for its distribution, this means there is no difference between your service and my service. In the absolute platform there is no such distinction. And service is always on the absolute platform. One has to make the best use of his talent for the service of Krishna. That is wanted. Best example is Arjuna, that he utilized his talents, military science, in the service of Krishna.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 7, 1968)

“I am so glad you are playing music for Krishna. It is a great service of your talent. Anyone’s special talent should be engaged in the service of the Lord, and thereby becomes successful in his life. I think that you can go on playing on your guitar and make it successful for Krishna kirtana. You do not require to learn freshly about sitar. We are not meant for learning something new for the service of the Lord; but we have to engage whatever talents we have already got. Our life is short but any type of education is great and long; so the best part of valor is to utilize properly whatever qualifications we have got for the service of the Lord. If you think still that you want a sitar, I will request you to make correspondence with Messrs Dwarkin and Sons, Esplanade Calcutta.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, August 3, 1967)

“Now you have got some good understanding of our Krishna consciousness so you write it for publication. I am very glad to know that you have got the experience and talent as well as the desire to write Krishna conscious children’s books.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, July 19, 1970)

“I think it would be very nice if you would make nice silver jewellery for the Radha-Damodara Deities and in this way your talent will be used in the most perfect way.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, December 16, 1974)

“I am very much pleased to see your good handwriting. I shall therefore request you to utilize your talent in the service of Krishna. I think if you write Hare Krishna Hare Krishna in the same style as you have sent me one specimen, on bigger type on canvas, say 30 inches by 20 inches in color or black and white, it would be a very good engagement for you and at the same time we can utilize those sign boards hanging in nice places. So if you have got time you can prepare immediately such signboards Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare, as you have sent me the specimen, on canvas. Make the canvas colored bluish Krishna color and write Hare Krishna in white. It will be very nice.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, May 5, 1967)

“You mention that you were applying your artistic abilities with the deities working with Govinda dasi in Hawaii. If there is more engagement in that way take it up, or try to paint for our books. We can use unlimited amounting paintings for the Bhagavatam, as well as for our temples.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 21, 1977)

“Krishna has given you nice talent for doing business, and I am glad to see that you are using it well.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 17, 1969)

“Now by the grace of Krsna your talents are being utilized in His service. That is what we require in Krsna Consciousness. We do not require to qualify very extraordinarily to serve Krsna. Krsna is Self-sufficient, He does not require anyone’s service, but still the more we render service unto Him the more we become happy.

The example is given in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that the decoration on the face of a certain person is not seen by him, but when he sees his face on the mirror he enjoys. In other words, whatever we offer to the Lord, it is actually enjoyed by us. Just like we prepare so many delicious foodstuffs for Krsna, but we eat the Prasadam remnant of foodstuff offered to Krsna. The whole idea is that everything should be offered to Krsna, and afterward we shall enjoy the effects.

You have painted so many pictures of Krsna, and when you see to the pictures you enjoy and at the same time Krsna is pleased. Similarly the foodstuff prepared for Krsna actually we partake for it, but at the same time Krsna is pleased. Those who are cooking for themselves and eating them without offering to Krsna cannot enjoy such blissful life like the devotees.

By serving Krsna we are not the least loser, but we are simply gainer more and more transcendentally. Keep this point always in front, and work for Krsna and be happy.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, May 9, 1970)

“Expert means whatever he is doing, he must do it very nicely That’s all. Suppose you are sweeping this room. You can do it very nicely, to your best knowledge. That is expert. The people will say, ‘Oh, you have very nicely done.’ Any work you do, do it very nicely. That is expert. Don’t do it haphazardly. To your best talent, to your best capacity, try to finish it very nicely, whatever it may be. You are entrusted with some work. Do it nicely. That is expert. If you think that you are unable to do that work, then whatever work you can do, you take. But do it nicely. That is expert. Don’t imitate. ‘Oh, I have no capacity to work in that way, but I want to imitate. Oh, he is doing that. I shall do that.’ Don’t do that. That is not expert. You take up what you can do very nicely and do it nicely. We have so many works. Krishna is not that He is static. He is dynamic force.” (Srila Prabhupada Conversation, July 16, 1968, Montreal)

“I am in due receipt of your letter with enclosures and have seen the balance sheet. I have seen also the check account. Thank you very much. I think you are now expert account keeper may Krishna bless you for talents and sincere endeavour for service of the Lord. The more you serve the more you become expert in everything.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 3, 1967)

“So that will be the supreme perfection of our existence, to come to that point of being best friend, best devotee of Krishna. And how is that? If we become simply engaged in His preaching work, trying with whatever talent or education or experience or material advantages we have got, to spread Krishna Consciousness message all over the world. That is best friend of Krishna, that is Krishna’s pet dog.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter to George Harrison, Jan. 4, 1973)

“So I can understand that you are very talented boy from your wonderful script, so I think you should apply your talent for painting nice pictures of Krishna and the acaryas in our line, and also you may help Mohanananda in designing work for his press operation there in Sydney.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, May 22, 1972)

“There is no need of artificial talents. One has to serve Krishna sincerely with whatsoever talent one may have. Guidance of the Spiritual Master and sincere service to the Lord will give us all strength in the science of Krishna.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, September 20, 1967)

“Learning Spanish is a difficult job. How can you learn? I am very much enthusiastic about expansion of our branches, but if it is dependent upon learning of Spanish language, don’t take this adventure. We should serve Krishna in whatever talents we have already got. However if you are still very much anxious to go there, and you think that you shall be able to get along without knowing Spanish language, then you may go there immediately and push on this Movement. The idea is to recruit active speakers who also speak English to translate and be trained for administering things locally — you simply organize everything and instruct them, and gradually they will take over full management.”

(Srila Prabhupada Letter, November 15, 1971)

“Expertness is you just try to do which is easily performed by you. You don’t accept anything heavy task because Krishna does not want that you have to do this heavy task. Whatever you know, you just apply it. You dovetail it in Krishna consciousness. Krishna does not say that you have to become like this, like that, like that, then you can serve Him. Does not say. Just like this cow. Just see. What does it know? He’s an animal. You see? But the calf knows to brush his head and tongue like this, in love. It is doing and Krishna accepting, ‘Yes.’ That is expert. First of all find out what is easily done by you. Don’t take anything which is not easily done by you. You find out what is your occupation, what you can very nicely and easily perform, and do it for Krishna. That’s all. Is that clear? Expert? This is expert. Expert does not mean that I do not know how to drive motor car, and I will have to imitate somebody, ‘Oh, I shall become driver.’ Why? If you do not know driving, why should you attempt driving? Whatever you know, you just try it, that business, and try to satisfy Krishna. If you know driving, that’s all right. But don’t take… My Guru Maharaja explained that you haven’t got to learn anything extra for Krishna’s service. Whatever you know, you just apply it… Then you become successful. Because our time is very short. We do not know when I am going to die. As soon as I am out of this body, I am completely under the grip of nature, and I do not know what kind of body I am getting next. Of course, Krishna assures that His devotee will never be vanquished. He will get good body. But I do not know what kind of body I am going to… Therefore before finishing this body I will have to develop Krishna consciousness very nicely. That is my success.” (Srila Prabhupada Conversation, July 16, 1968, Montreal)

“The two essays which you have sent are very nicely written. It appears that you have good talent for writing, so kindly continue to develop in this way and write more and more of your realizations based upon our books. There is no need to concoct anything new. You simply have to study carefully our books and then in your own words try to express what you have read. This will automatically make you a very successful preacher.

There is no need to learn Bengali. I do not encourage learning any new skills. Whatever material abilities one has when he comes to Krsna consciousness, let him learn to engage these in Krsna’s service: that is sufficient. There is no need of learning new skills now. That will simply be a waste of time.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, May 13, 1977)

“I am very glad to hear that you are continuing your drawing work nicely. This is your business. Krishna has given you some special talent and you are using it for spreading His glories. This is wanted.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, May 19, 1975)

“You have a nice talent for writing, practice makes perfect, so continue, it will be appreciated.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, August 23, 1973)

“Everyone has got some special talent given by God. We should cooperate. That’s it. The hand can work in this way. We cannot walk with hands. That is the business of the hand. Similarly, I cannot cut the papers with leg. So all living entities are endowed with special… We should cooperate. The hand and leg should cooperate for maintaining the whole body. Similarly, everyone should use his talent for satisfaction of Krishna. That is perfection. Not compete with one another. That is mistake.” (Srila Prabhupada Conversation, November 10, 1971, Delhi)

“We should utilize our talents without being envious of others. You should do your best, but you should not be envious of others. In material life there is simply envy of others progress, but in spiritual life one encourages another, Oh you are doing very nice. That is Radharani. She says oh here is a very nice devotee. Please Krishna, you accept him.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, October 6, 1974)

“You have expressed a fear of becoming attached to your musical activities, but attachment for Krishna’s service is not bad. If you can engage your talent for Krishna’s service, then this attachment will increase your Krishna Consciousness status.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, May 13, 1969)

“You have tried to explain the reasons for your recent traveling excursions, but there is no need to explain; the reason is that you are restless. I wanted you to concentrate your mind on painting and utilizing your talents for Krishna’s service, but you do not hear me. Any place that you want to live, that is all right, but why don’t you use your talents? That you cannot do, and it is your misfortune.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, January 13, 1969)

“Your specific talents are to be engaged under direction of the Spiritual Master. Everything, every talent can be employed in Krishna’s service, and how to do it is known to the Spiritual Master. You have the tendency for botany, you can grow nice flowers and fruits for Krishna, that is the utilization of your natural tendency.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, November 11, 1968)

“When you are typing, you should know that it is as good as chanting, because the work is also on the matter of Krishna. Chanting on the beads and chanting on the typewriter Composer machine are both transcendental sounds of Krishna. Krishna’s Name, His Fame, His Qualities — all of them are on the absolute platform, and therefore there is no difference between one and another. So do not be misled that you are typing and not chanting.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 16, 1969)

“I beg to thank you very much for your letter and I have received your presentation and the prasadam I have distributed to all the devotees. I have read the headline prayer. It is nicely written, correctly spelled, which shows that you are a very intelligent girl and you can use your talent and intelligence for serving the Lord. Young boys and girls are sometimes agitated in mind but if we follow the regulative principles and chant Hare Krishna mantra regularly the onslaught of material nature can be checked. The whole process is, of this Krishna Consciousness movement, to meet the waves of material nature. The waves are called agitation by hunger and thirst, lamentation, confusion, illusion in so called love and affection, pangs of old age and disease and at last meeting with death. All these things can be changed simply by engaging ourselves in the service of the Lord which keeps us always in the transcendental position. Some way or other if we are able to keep in the transcendental position by devotional service we remain completely untouched by the contamination of matter. By the grace of Lord Caitanya things have been reduced to a very easy operation: by chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, October 7, 1971)

Source: https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/10/03/engage-your-talent-in-krishnas-service/

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31912

“No man is an island,” the great poet once wrote.

We are not alone in our suffering, in our diseases. We are not alone on the highway on the way to work, in the football stadium, watching the tv. We are not alone in our grief, in our outrage, in our happiness. Yet at times we feel so alone, so estranged, so disconnected, even in a crowd.

And so lonely.

Who has not known it, or felt it, or seen it?

We are lonely because we have forgotten Krishna, and forgotten who we are. We have forgotten that Krishna is with us in the heart. The Upanishads describe it’s like two birds in a tree, one is busy eating the fruit, and the other watching. the supersoul, the watching bird, is always with us. Always. But he waits for us to make the first move, to turn to him and say something. Truly we are never alone. Ever.

Try this when you are swept with a sense of loneliness, and the fear and sadness with it. This often happens at night as we lay down to sleep, or if we are ill. “I am situated in everyone’s heart’, Krishna says in the Gita, ‘ and from me comes knowledge, remembrance, and forgetfulness.’ Just think of Krishna, the original personal source of divine love, power, beauty, and energy. Feel loved and supported. Talk to Him. Or just be still in the connection.

The absolute truth is not an idea, it’s a relationship. It’s not about being correct, but of being connected. Krishna, the supersoul ‘bird’ in the heart is not leaving us, no matter who we are or what we have done. We need to turn and exchange with Him. When we face the sun our shadow falls behind us. So too when we connect with Krishna – the shadow of loneliness will be behind us. Forever.

Source:http://iskconofdc.org/we-are-not-alone/

In 2010, I visited Athens and the historically interesting Pnyx Hill, with its special atmosphere and amazing views of the Acropolis and the Parthenon, the temple that reminds everyone of the glory and the decline of the ancient Greek world. Between visiting members of the Hare Krishna movement and speaking with contemporary Greeks about Sri Krishna, the Supreme Being, I learned of a remarkable resemblance between Classical Greece and the Vedic culture of India. Classical Vedic literature makes a couple of references to very old relations between India and Greece. So it happens that Krishna’s teachings about the transmigration of souls, the creation, and the importance of understanding ultimate causes are all plainly reflected in Plato’s philosophy and cosmology. 

Tad Brennan writes in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

“The idea that the soul is the true locus of personhood, that its welfare is vastly more important than the body’s welfare, that … it survives death, is judged for its actions and may be reincarnated, that the post-mortem fate of the soul provides reasons to embrace a life of earthly virtue—for all of these Socratic commitments there is Presocratic precedent.”

There is a precedent for these Socratic commitments in the Bhagavad-gita, too. There Krishna explains that we are part of Him and will end our transmigration through various bodies when we function naturally in immediate service to Him. We each have a unique relationship with God, and when we properly follow Him, we develop love for Him. The ancient Greeks did not have the refined theology of the Vedic literature, but the citizens of Athens abided by its laws out of love for their city and its patroness, Athena, the virgin-warrior goddess of art, wisdom, and invention (the Greek word parthenos means “virgin”). 

Consider the fascinating parallels between the Vedic account of creation and Plato’s cosmology. The Vedic tradition describes the Vedas as blueprints supplied by Krishna to Brahma, the secondary creator of the universe. The Srimad-Bhagavatam teaches that the shining impersonal spiritual sky, the brahmajyoti, contains the seeds for all species. The seeds come from Krishna. He says, “I am the seed of all beings… . the generating seed of all existences" (Bg.7.10, 10.39). The brahmajyoti, the impersonal aspect of the Absolute Truth, rests on Krishna, the personal and most complete aspect of the Absolute Truth, or source of everything (Bg. 14.27). Brahma brings forth the universe from seeds in the brahmajyoti, as Srila Prabhupada describes in a purport toSrimad-Bhagavatam (2.5.11):

"Just as the small seed of a banyan fruit has the potency to create a big banyan tree, the Lord disseminates all varieties of seeds by His potential brahmajyoti (sva-rocisa), and the seeds are made to develop by the watering process of persons like Brahma. Brahma cannot create the seeds, but he can manifest the seed into a tree, just as a gardener helps plants and orchards to grow by the watering process." 

Similarly, Plato describes a creator god who envisions an impersonal, self-existent ultimate source and a realm of unchanging ideal Forms and then is able to manifest those Forms in pre-existing matter. Plato concludes that all Forms must have a single, ultimate source, the Form of all Forms, the essence of all essences. Calling this the Form of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, Plato examines those absolute values.

Frederick Copelston, a Jesuit priest who wrote a nine-volume history of philosophy during the mid-1900s, thought that Plato’s main point about the Forms is this: "By rational reflection, we can certainly come to the knowledge of objective and indeed transcendentally-grounded values, ideals, and ends." 

Transcendent goals and values are a dimension of the Absolute Truth, and seeking them is the essential human experience, whether we do so by reflection or by learning a sacred history from gurus or virtuous philosophers. The Vedanta-sutra (written by Srila Vyasadeva, the literary incarnation of Krishna) says athato brahma jijnasa: ”Human life is meant for inquiring about the nature of the Absolute Truth.“ 

"We cannot afford to dismiss a priori,” writes Copelston, “the notion that what there is of order and intelligibility in this world has an objective foundation in an invisible and transcendent Reality.”

Whenever people dismiss transcendence, their intelligence does not extend beyond the need to eat, sleep, mate, and defend. Thus the eternal self remains bound to repeated lives of sense enjoyment. 

Plato mentions that the creator god made the stars, planets, and celestial gods and assigned to the gods the task of fashioning the mortal parts of the various souls. Similarly, the Bhagavatam says that Brahma assigned to certain higher beings the generation of the material bodies for the species of life. 

Evidently, people in ancient times had a much different view of the creation than the dominant view today, and the Greek view was broadly consistent with the Vedic tradition. My friend Sadaputa Dasa (the late mathematician Richard L. Thompson) wrote about antiquity, and this is a paragraph of his:

“The ancient Greek writer Aratos tells a story about the constellation Virgo, or the virgin. Virgo, he says, may have belonged to the star race, the forefathers of the ancient stars. In primeval times, in the Golden Age, she lived among mankind as Justice personified and would exhort people to adhere to the truth. At this time people lived peacefully, without hypocrisy or quarrel. Later, in the Age of Silver, she hid herself in the mountains, but occasionally she came down to berate people for their evil ways. Finally the Age of Bronze came. People invented the sword, and ‘they tasted the meat of cows, the first who did it.’ At this point Virgo 'flew away to the sphere’; that is, she departed for the celestial realm. The Age of Iron followed. It is noteworthy that Aratos’s story specifies the eating of cows as a sinful act that cut mankind off from direct contact with celestial beings. This detail fits in nicely with the ancient Indian traditions of cow protection, but it is unexpected in the context of Greek or European culture.”

The description of Virgo illustrates that the Greeks held a widespread belief in a succession of four ages, just as the Indians did. Krishna says that a thousand cycles of four ages constitute a day of Brahma (Bg.8.17), andSurya-siddhanta, the Vedic astronomy text, calculates the length of his day as 8.6 billion years. 

Srilla Prabhupada cites references in Vedic texts to relations between Greece and India. He says that for many reasons culturally advanced ancient people migrated to Europe from “greater India” (which included the Caucasus). For example, when the avatar Parasurama started killing all the degraded ksatriyas (rulers) on the subcontinent, most of the ksatriyas who fled went to Europe, and some settled between Europe and Asia, in Turkey and Greece.

Perhaps Greece and India once shared a common culture that included knowledge of philosophy and astronomy (two of Sadaputa’s books explore the geocentric universe they both envisioned). Over time, great cultural divergences would have developed, but many common cultural features may have remained as a result of shared ancestry and later communication. Srila Prabhupada said that the Greeks kept a connection with India’s culture through their worship of gods, many of whom clearly resemble the demigods mentioned in the Vedas. 

Edwin Bryant, an associate professor of religion at Rutgers University, writes, “The earliest archaeological evidence of Krishna as a divine being (under the name of Vasudeva) is the Heliodorus column in Besnagar, north-central India, dated to c. 100 BCE. The inscription on the column is startling because it reveals that foreigners had been converted to the Bhagavata [Krishna] religion by this period—Heliodorus was a Greek. This would seem to suggest that the Krishna tradition was prominent and prestigious enough to attract a powerful foreign envoy as a convert at the end of the second century BCE.”

After the fall of Rome, the burning of the famous library at Alexandria, and the general destruction of records of the ancient past, the relations between Greeks and Indians diminished and became obscured. Recent studies of the relationship are Thomas McEvilley’s The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies and Edwin Bryant’s The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate.

For various reasons, the West, in the course of two millennia, differentiated itself from certain early Greek understandings and ultimately overturned the order rooted in Plato. But Westerners who study Plato today can acquire some historical self-knowledge and new insights into how ancient thought has shaped their thinking.

In India, the history of ideas has changed less. So, now, as Krishna’s teachings spread worldwide, Westerners encounter a venerable worldview much different from their own—a worldview that inspires spiritual progress, the highest goal of true culture.

Source:http://tvdas.tumblr.com/post/52766365741

Dear Maharaja and Prabhus,
Please accept my humble obeisances at the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Greetings from Sridhama Mayapur and blessings from Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Pancha Tattva and Sri Nrsimhadeva.

The TOVP Team, consisting of Their Graces Jananivas, Ambarisa and Svaha prabhus along with myself, and led by Lord Nityananda’s Padukas and Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Satari, recently concluded its ten day tour of South Africa on a highly successful note.

This is our second visit to South Africa and the tour took us to Durban, Capetown, Johannesburg and Botswana, as well as some smaller cities. We were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, support, cooperation, attentiveness and generosity of the South African Yatra leaders and general devotees, especially considering this was our second visit. We received pledges well over $2 million, matching the amount pledged on our first tour two years ago. The overall feeling was one of deep commitment to the project and unity of purpose. As reported by Swarupa Damodar prabhu, the Regional Secretary of Durban: *“The TOVP team made such exciting and inspiring presentations and although about $1m was ‘liberated’ from the Durban yatra, everyone, including the managers and devotees were so blissful.

This is clearly a project that can unite us all on a macro level, and if we can all band together behind it, we can learn from those unifying elements to work together here in South Africa.”* In addition to the unification that this single-mindedness to the order of Srila Prabhupada can bring about, the tour clearly revealed to us several other important facts. First of all, despite some serious set-backs this year, we see that the Lord’s mercy and blessings transcend any material impediments. With the desire of Srila Prabhupada in the forefront we can accomplish anything. Secondly, we also found that many people outside of ISKCON were ready to support us thus expanding the scope of our donor base. Thirdly, and perhaps most important, we realized even more deeply a concept presented by His Grace Ravindra Svarupa prabhu in his treatise on the TOVP, *Revealing the Heart of ISKCON,*based on an article by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur: “When this central temple (the TOVP, ‘Parent Temple’), by the mercy of devotees, extends outward from its inherently sacred environment into profane regions, these expansions or branches, even though distant from their source, are essentially identical with it.

The analogy of “one lamp lighted by another,” employed by *The Harmonist*, is taken from *Brahma samhita* (5.46), where it is used to elucidate the relationship between Lord Krsna and His expansions, like Balarama, Maha-Visnu, and so on. The use of the metaphor here implies that all the institution’s temples, as integral components of a spiritual organization, will be equally potent, even though one is the original, and the others, its branches or branches of branches.” This concept from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta further solidifies a statement by Srila Prabhupada regarding all ISKCON temples benefiting by serving the ‘Parent Temple’: *“The more you help develop Mayapur, the more Lord Chaitanya will bless your area of the world and it will flourish”* This was also the practical experience of Swarupa Damodar from Durban: “I am also convinced that if the South Africa yatra puts its full weight behind building the TOVP, our own yatras will flourish since the flood of love of Godhead will flow with tremendous current here..

So, I encourage our yatra leaders here to take a leap of faith and support this project whole heartedly and as Jananivasa prabhu comments, “It will be good for the world and it will be good for you.” It is our conviction that not only can all of ISKCON be unified on a grand scale by this purpose of constructing the TOVP, but that each temple will be spiritually nourished and surcharged by such focus of service. In our attempts to fundraise throughout the world this is always our message. Thank you for your time and attention to this brief report of our activities in South Africa. We hope to provide more ecstatic news from our upcoming tours throughout India.

Your servant, Braja Vilas das
Global Fundraising Director

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31923

International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
But what Is Krishna Consciousness?
These are notes found in a handwritten diary kept by Srila Prabhupada, outlining how he intended to present the teachings of Krishna consciousness to the Western world.
1. Krishna consciousness means clear consciousness.
2. Material existence means hazy consciousness.
3. Identifying the body as self is hazy consciousness.
4. One has to understand himself first before making progress in Krishna consciousness.
5. Constitutional position of a living entity is being eternal servant of Krishna, or God.
6. God or Krishna means the Supreme Person and the supreme cause of all causes.
7. Forgetfulness of the eternal relationship to God, or Krishna, is the beginning of hazy consciousness.
8. To revive the original clear consciousness of the living entities, the Vedic literatures are there.
9. The Vedic literatures are as follows:
a. The four Vedas.
b. The Upanishads - numbering at least 108.
c. The Vedanta philosophy.
d. The 18 Puranas.
e. The Ramayana (original Valmiki).
f. The Mahabharata.
g. And any book following the tenets.
10. The Bhagavad-gita is part of the Mahabharata.
11. The original Veda is Atharva-veda, later on divided into four for divisional understanding.
12. Mahabharata is called the fifth Veda and is meant for less intelligent class of men who love history more than philosophy.
13. Bhagavad-gita, being part of Mahabharata is the essence of all Vedic knowledge for less intelligent class of men in this Age.
14. B.G. is called the “Bible of the Hindus,” but actually it is the Bible for the human race.
15. In the B.G. the following subject matter has been discussed:
a. What is a living being.
b. He is not the body but spirit soul.
c. The spirit soul is encaged in material body.
d. The body is subjected to birth, death, old age, and diseases.
e. The spirit soul is eternal, never takes birth or dies but he exists even after the annihilation of the material body.
f. The living entity is transmigrating from one body to another.
g. He can however stop this transmigration process and attain eternal, blissful life of knowledge by Krishna consciousness.
16. What is God.
a. God is individual person. He is chief of all other persons of different parts — namely the demigods, the human beings, animals and the birds, insects, trees, and aquatics.
b. All these living entities are sons of God, and therefore they are all servants of God.
(Reprinted from Back to Godhead Magazine)

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31926