Verse 4.37: As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities.

Motivation. It's the hidden catalyst behind everything we do. Whether we acknowledge those reasons or turn a blind eye to them, the fact remains, we are motivated beings.

Those motivations lead us to act which naturally bring some type of result; that is essentially what karma is all about.

This verse, however, indicates that there is a missing component to the karma equation. That component is intention. 

The difference between motivation and intention is a subtle, but an important one. Whereas motivations deals with the reason or willingness to do something, intention reflects a specific purpose or attitude in performing an action.

It is the intention behind our actions that deems whether any karma is associated with it. An action in and of itself is neither good or bad. It is neutral. It is our intention that colours it.

Today's verse highlights the power of intention.

It also encourages us to do the inner work that is necessary. This begins by taking a good look at our motivations. Although we can try to change our intention without looking into our motivations, it can, sometimes be premature. Looking into the reasons why we do things, forces to face what we are looking for, whether it be validation, power, security, love, etc. 

Personally, it is something I struggle with on a daily basis since it can be extremely confronting and disheartening. It's much more convenient to turn a blind eye to our motivations.

But turning a blind eye handicaps us. When we see the reason why we do things, we become aware of not only ourselves but why we behave in certain ways with certain people. From there, we can start to tangibly work on transforming our intentions.

Every week now, we are challenging ourselves to practically apply the Gita in our lives. This week's challenge is to take five minutes out of your day to reflect on one action you took and ask yourself why you acted the way you did. Feel free to leave your observations in the comments below!

Source : http://gita-asitis.blogspot.in/2015/03/ask-yourself-why.html

One of the few physical features that distinguish Buddhi Wilcox is a small pigtail.  But the otherwise ordinary appearance hides a compassionate being, dedicated to helping the less well off in his community.

Buddhi, a member of the Hare Krishna faith, set up the Food For Life programme in Whangarei, feeding the poor, the homeless and children who would otherwise go hungry.  But behind the good work is a big team of supporters committed to the vision.

“It’s not just the community we feed but we meet a need for other sectors such as businesses who want to donate their products, money or services to Food For Life. There’s also a large number of people who want to volunteer their labour to help others in the community with worthy projects such as Food For Life.”

Buddhi says organisations such as the Northland Regional Council and the Whangarei District Council have also played a role in the success story of Food For Life.

“Both councils have been quite helpful [regional council provides the building rent and rates free and district council has helped with food hygiene oversight] but it’s really the relationships we have that have made the difference.”

He says that is especially true of Whangarei District Mayor Sheryl Mai.

“She has been generally supportive for what we do and it means a lot to have that. Sheryl has had more to do with our work and organisation – especially on the cultural side – than you would normally expect from a mayor.

“She has a strong sense of community.

“We’re a minority group and we rely on the support of the community – having the backing of the mayor is significant for what we do.”

Buddhi added that Sheryl’s involvement reflects a wider ‘caring’ within the community.

“Whangarei has one of the highest rate of volunteers per capita in the country – it’s a great place to live.”

Source : http://sherylmai.com/strong-community-connections/food-for-life/

World Holyname Week is celebrated throughout ISKCON fraternity every year to propagate congregational chanting of the holy name.

The world holy name week (WHNW-16) was celebrated globally from 28th Jul – 14th Aug 2016. Devotees in Singapore at the Gauranga Centre, played their part of spreading the glories of holy name by doing harinaam sankirtan.

Indeed, the holy name week had a rousing start as devotees were led by a senior kirtaniya to an ecstatic round of kirtan. In Singapore owing to a hectic work schedule, devotees decided to dedicate their evenings after work to engage in the service of the holy name sankirtan for over ten days.

In what is the 50th year of incorporation of our society it was just apt that the devotees were able to account for over 50+ hours of harinaam sankirtan during the 2016 WHNW celebrations. This included 3 days of intense 12 hour harinaam sankirtans apart from the daily two and half hours of kirtan that was done on weekday evenings.

Devotees coming together and chanting the holy name after their hectic day was a treat to the eyes, ears as well as souls present. After all the soul stirring kirtans were just the right relief for the fatigued souls.

What better way could there be then to offer the over 50 hours of kirtan at the lotus feet of our beloved grandfather HDG AC Bhakti Vedanta Srila Prabhupada.

This year we had different congregations getting together on different days to come to along and for the pleasure of the lord and his devotees not only engage in doing the kirtan but also engaged in various other services aligning with the celebrations.

The enthusiasm for kirtan was there for all to see as devotees engaged in various services and kept themselves involved in the various engagements related to the WHNW.

It was indeed befitting to the occasion that the devotees asked for more and more frequent kirtan and we were also requested to do 12 hour kirtans more frequently.

At this unique occasion, we pray to his divine grace to give us the serenity and the capacity to endeavour to spread more and more of the holy name to the people in general who are in extreme need of this medicine and to give us the strength to be an instrument for the same in the hands of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev and at the same time seeking the blessings of Vaisnavas to achieve the same.

Kaliyug Tapavan Bhuvan Mangal Harinaam Sankirtan Yagya ki Jay

Srila Prabhupad ki Jay

Srila Gurudev ki Jay

Source : http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31079#prettyPhoto

Radha Damodar Das, One of the First Devotees in the Soviet Union passed away on September 3rd evening succumbing to lung cancer.

ISKCON Communications Director Anuttama Dasa remembers:

"Radha Damodara prabhu was a true, humble and dedicated servant of his guru maharaja and Srila Prabhupada. Despite the dangers and troubles of being a Krishna devotee in the early years in Russia, Radha Damodara was fully committed to Lord Caitanya's mission.

Later as leader of the Communications team in Russia he was a steady and sattvic voice, looking towards the long term development of our society while dealing appropriately with short term challenges and opportunities.

Radha Damodar prabhu was a Vaishnava gentleman. He didn't just talk about devotion, he was a practical example of a dedicated Krishna conscious person. He was an inspiration for many devotees, both inside Russia and beyond. He was a kind person, a thoughtful person. A true friend.  

He will be sorely missed."

Source : http://iskconnews.org/radha-damodar-das-one-of-the-first-soviet-devotees-passes-away,5788/

Question: I was wondering why earth is so special? Why did Krishna manifest his pastimes here instead of some other planet?

Well, what “other planet” should he appear on? Life is centered on Earth.

Yes, there are many dimensions to the earth, sky, heavens, and under-earth, but these multi-dimensional realms (loka) are not literally identical to our modern astronomical conception of “planets.” The modern astronomical model is not the same model presented in the Purāṇa. It also describes reality, yes, but from a different point of view and for a different purpose.

The Purāṇic point of view is that the Earth is the central focus of life, but there are many Earth’s paired with many Suns, each with their own “solar-system” (to use modern lingo) of multi-dimensional realms (loka).

So if you ask, “Why did Krishna manifest his avatāra only here on our Earth,” the answer is that he does not. He manifests on every Earth in synchronous successions, such that his manifestation constantly appears on one Earth or another.

Question: I also understand that the anti-gods have tried to capture the earth in efforts to further their advance on the upper heavenly realms. Does the earth really hold such a special place in the cosmos?

The anti-gods are not interested in Earth, but are interested in Paradise, which is a higher-dimensional realm connected to the heavens from our point of view – called svarga in Sanskrit. However, the earth is like a “mining colony” or “powerplant” for Paradise – because the humans here perform sacrifices which make the gods there more powerful. So, the anti-gods have a strategy to disrupt religion, sacrifice, etc. and thereby weaken the gods, making it much easier for them to storm Paradise.

Question: Is bhakti available only here on Earth?

The human form of life is unique. Only human beings generate karma. The rest of the forms of life are for experiencing the results of karma. Microbes, plants, and animals don’t generate karma because their intellect is not sufficiently developed to permit the possibility of true freedom of choice. Superhuman life forms (like gods and anti-gods, for example) do have very developed intellect, but don’t have much opportunity for choice between good/bad right/wrong because they mostly experience only good things and good situations.

There is a difference between a “sin” (adharma orpapa) and a “hatred” (a.k.a “offense” – aparadha). “Hatred” is “sin” but not all “sin” is “hatred.” “Hatred” is a special subset of “sin” – it is the worst type. It is so bad that it is considered in a separate category.

A “sin” is simply failure to fulfill our duty, responsibility and function. A father, for example, sins if he cannot provide physical and mental security for his family. The acts he does which contribute to this failure are also “sins.” 

A “hatred” (aparadha) is an intentional hurt or slander against a person who deserves to be respected or loved. Sin can happen by mistake or out of weakness, but hatred (aparadha) is willful and intentional by definition. 

One example of aparadha: The teacher comes into the room, and the studentrefuses to stand. Another example: A father yelling at his daughter for wanting his attention and affection. 

An aparadha is not a mistake, it is intentional. Because aparadha are intentional, they are worse than ordinary “sin.”

A student who didn’t know he was supposed to stand when the teacher entered the room isn’t so much an aparadhi as a mild papi. A father who unintentionally fails in his relationship with his daughter is again more a papithan an aparadhi.

It is far worse to be an aparadhi than to be a papi. In Gita, Krishna says that the worst type of sin is kama – selfish desire. This is because kama is the root of aparadha. When we want things for ourself (kama), we will inevitably hate (aparadha) those who frustrate our desires. 

We have wasted a lot of our time and breath criticizing “materialistic people” for their “sins” but we are far, far worse than they are because of our aparadhaagainst the most lovable entity, Krishna.  We know that we should be attentive and affectionate towards Krishna’s name, image, wisdom (the Veda) and to those who teach and exemplify it (the gurus and sadhus), but we continue to refuse to make that effort.

Our lack of progress in bhakti-yoga is due to aparadha, but aparadha is based on our failure to develop proper comprehension of the goal (prayojana), the process (adhideya), and the components of reality (sambandha). The tendency for hatred goes away the more deeply we comprehend our relationship to other people and reality as a whole – i.e. the more deeply we understandsambandha-jñana. So the best cure for the worst evil is careful study of śastraunder the guidance of a guru who deeply understands them.

..so this is the biggest problem …on the one hand we think I really want Krishna, I really do, I really want spiritual life but on the other hand we can’t: on the other hand there is another part in us that wants something else. Sometimes when we are in the spiritual mode we don’t want that part of our self, we say “I wish I didn’t have that” but then we snap out of the spiritual mode and we again don’t want spiritual life, so much. Somehow we are accepting and then we are giving up and we are accepting, giving up and sometimes take to spiritual life and sometimes take to material life. 

So we are caught in these changing states of consciousness. When we embrace spiritual life, as they say in English “the grass is greener on the other side” so when we are enjoying the material energy we want to give it up and we want to take to spiritual life and when we are practicing spiritual life then we start to think about the material energy. So we are going up and down in these two states. So this is a very intense state in spiritual life. That is the state where one has to hold on very close…very close to devotees. One should always be with devotees. Not for a moment go away from the devotees. “never go out alone,” as they used to say to us in the early days when we joined that “you can not go out alone” it was not allowed, it was against the codes of the temple …nowadays noone really cares about that but in the old days, “oh no you can not be alone for a moment ..always associate with the devotee”

Well it is a fact that when one is in the stage of (Sanskrit)(up and down) it is dangerous not to associate with the devotee because one is so weak…maya is still so strong. Although we desire spiritual life we just don’t feel we have the strength for spiritual life. So the more we are with devotees who are betyond this state of (Sanskrit) who are no longer giving in into the senses, who are actually living a life free from sense gratification, a life free from sexual involvement , a life free from just satisfying the tongue this way and that way and who is only taking Krsna Prasadam and everything is pure…..then we get strength from this association. ….So one must be in that association.

Source : https://www.kksblog.com/2009/08/getting-strength-from-association/

I have read and re-read the Foreward to The Science of Self Realization by Mukunda dasa Goswami many times now, and every time I am moved by this written account.

From the very start, I knew that His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was the most extraordinary person I had ever met. The first meeting occurred in the summer of 1966, in New York City. A friend had invited me to hear a lecture by “an old Indian svamī” on lower Manhattan’s Bowery. Overwhelmed with curiosity about a svamī lecturing on skid row, I went there and felt my way up a pitch-black staircase. A bell-like, rhythmic sound got louder and clearer as I climbed higher. Finally I reached the fourth floor and opened the door, and there he was. (Mukunda dasa Goswami from Foreward to The Science of Self Realiztion)

The Science of Self Realization
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Foreword
by Michael Grant
(Mukunda dasa Goswami)

From the very start, I knew that His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was the most extraordinary person I had ever met. The first meeting occurred in the summer of 1966, in New York City. A friend had invited me to hear a lecture by “an old Indian svamī” on lower Manhattan’s Bowery. Overwhelmed with curiosity about a svamī lecturing on skid row, I went there and felt my way up a pitch-black staircase. A bell-like, rhythmic sound got louder and clearer as I climbed higher. Finally I reached the fourth floor and opened the door, and there he was.

About fifty feet away from where I stood, at the other end of a long, dark room, he sat on a small dais, his face and saffron robes radiant under a small light. He was elderly, perhaps sixty or so, I thought, and he sat cross-legged in an erect, stately posture. His head was shaven, and his powerful face and reddish horn-rimmed glasses gave him the look of a monk who had spent most of his life absorbed in study. His eyes were closed, and he softly chanted a simple Sanskrit prayer while playing a hand drum. The small audience joined in at intervals, in call-and-response fashion. A few played hand cymbals, which accounted for the bell-like sounds I’d heard. Fascinated, I sat down quietly at the back, tried to participate in the chanting, and waited.

After a few moments the svamī began lecturing in English, apparently from a huge Sanskrit volume that lay open before him. Occasionally he would quote from the book, but more often from memory. The sound of the language was beautiful, and he followed each passage with meticulously detailed explanations.

He sounded like a scholar, his vocabulary intricately laced with philosophical terms and phrases. Elegant hand gestures and animated facial expressions added considerable impact to his delivery. The subject matter was the most weighty I had ever encountered: “I am not this body. I am not an Indian…. You are not Americans…. We are all spirit souls….”

After the lecture someone gave me a pamphlet printed in India. A photo showed the svamī handing three of his books to Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The caption quoted Mr. Shastri as saying that all Indian government libraries should order the books. “His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta swami Prabhupada is doing great work,” the prime minister said in another small tract, “and his books are significant contributions to the salvation of mankind.” I purchased copies of the books, which I learned the svamī had brought over from India. After reading the jacket flaps, the small pamphlet, and various other literature, I began to realize that I had just met one of India’s most respected spiritual leaders.

But I could not understand why a gentleman of such distinction was residing and lecturing in the Bowery, of all places. He was certainly well educated and, by all appearances, born of an aristocratic Indian family. Why was he living in such poverty? What in the world had brought him here? one afternoon several days later, I stopped in to visit him and find out.

To my surprise, Srila Prabhupada (as I later came to call him) was not too busy to talk with me. In fact, it seemed that he was prepared to talk all day. He was warm and friendly and explained that he had accepted the renounced order of life in India in 1959, and that he was not allowed to carry or earn money for his personal needs. He had completed his studies at the University of Calcutta many years ago and had raised a family, and then he had left his eldest sons in charge of family and business affairs, as the age-old vedic culture prescribes. After accepting the renounced order, he had arranged a free passage on an Indian freighter (Scindia Steamship Company’s Jaladuta) through mutual friends. In September 1965, he had sailed from Bombay to Boston, armed with only seven dollars’ worth of rupees, a trunk of books, and a few clothes. His spiritual master, His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvatī Ṭhakura, had entrusted him with delivering India’s vedic teachings to the English-speaking world. And this was why, at age sixty-nine, he had come to America. He told me he wanted to teach Americans about Indian music, cooking, languages, and various other arts. I was mildly amazed.

I saw that Srila Prabhupada slept on a small mattress and that his clothes hung on lines at the back of the room, where they were drying in the summer afternoon heat. He washed them himself and cooked his own food on an ingenious utensil he had fashioned with his own hands in India. In this four-layer apparatus he cooked four preparations at once. Stacked all around him and his ancient-looking portable typewriter in another section of the room were seemingly endless manuscripts. He spent almost all of his waking hours - about twenty in twenty-four, I learned - typing the sequels to the three volumes I had purchased. It was a projected sixty-volume set called the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and virtually it was the encyclopedia of spiritual life. I wished him luck with the publishing, and he invited me back for Sanskrit classes on Saturdays and for his evening lectures on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I accepted, thanked him, and left, marveling at his incredible determination.

A few weeks later - it was July 1966 - I had the privilege of helping Srila Prabhupada relocate in a somewhat more respectable neighborhood, on Second Avenue. Some friends and I pitched in and rented a ground-floor storefront and a second-floor apartment, to the rear of a little courtyard, in the same building. The lectures and chanting continued, and within two weeks a rapidly growing congregation was providing for the storefront (by this time a temple) and the apartment. By now Srila Prabhupada was instructing his followers to print and distribute leaflets, and the owner of a record company had invited him to record an LP of the Hare Kṛṣṇa chant. He did, and it was a huge success. In his new location he was teaching chanting, vedic philosophy, music, japa meditation, fine art, and cooking. At first he cooked - he always taught by example. The results were the most wonderful vegetarian meals I had ever experienced. (Srila Prabhupada would even serve everything out himself!) The meals usually consisted of a rice preparation, a vegetable dish, capatīs (tortilla-like whole-wheat patties), and dal (a zestfully spiced mung bean or split pea soup). The spicing, the cooking medium - ghee, or clarified butter - and the close attention paid to the cooking temperature and other details all combined to produce taste treats totally unknown to me. Others’ opinions of the food, called prasadam (“the Lord’s mercy”), agreed emphatically with mine. A Peace Corps worker who was also a Chinese-language scholar was learning from Srila Prabhupada how to paint in the classical Indian style. I was startled at the high quality of his first canvases.

In philosophical debate and logic Srila Prabhupada was undefeatable and indefatigable. He would interrupt his translating work for discussions that would last up to eight hours. Sometimes seven or eight people jammed into the small, immaculately clean room where he worked, ate, and slept on a two-inch-thick foam cushion. Srila Prabhupada constantly emphasized and exemplified what he called “plain living and high thinking.” He stressed that spiritual life was a science provable through reason and logic, not a matter of mere sentiment or blind faith. He began a monthly magazine, and in the autumn of 1966 The New York Times published a favorable picture story about him and his followers. Shortly thereafter, television crews came out and did a feature news story.

Srila Prabhupada was an exciting person to know. Whether it was out of my desire for the personal benefits of yoga and chanting or just out of raw fascination, I knew I wanted to follow his progress every step of the way. His plans for expansion were daring and unpredictable - except for the fact that they always seemed to succeed gloriously. He was seventyish and a stranger to America, and he had arrived with practically nothing, yet now, within a few months, he had single-handedly started a movement! It was mind-boggling.

One August morning at the Second Avenue storefront temple, Srila Prabhupada told us, “Today is Lord Kṛṣṇa’s appearance day.” We would observe a twenty-four-hour fast and stay inside the temple. That evening some visitors from India happened along. One of them - practically in tears - described his unbounded rapture at finding this little piece of authentic India on the other side of the world. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined such a thing. He offered Srila Prabhupada eloquent praise and deep thanks, left a donation, and bowed at his feet. Everyone was deeply moved. Later, Srila Prabhupada conversed with the gentleman in Hindi, and since what he was saying was unintelligible to me, I was able to observe how his every expression and gesture communicated to the very core of the human soul.

Later that year, while in San Francisco, I sent Srila Prabhupada his first airline ticket, and he flew out from New York. A sizable group of us greeted him at the terminal by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Then we drove him to the eastern edge of Golden Gate Park, to a newly rented apartment and storefront temple - an arrangement very similar to that in New York. We had established a pattern. Srila Prabhupada was ecstatic.

A few weeks later the first mṛdaṅga (a long clay drum with a playing head on each end) arrived in San Francisco from India. When I went up to Srila Prabhupada’s apartment and informed him, his eyes opened wide, and in an excited voice he told me to go down quickly and open the crate. I took the elevator, got out on the ground floor, and was walking toward the front door when Srila Prabhupada appeared. So eager was he to see the mṛdaṅga that he had taken the stairway and had beaten the elevator. He asked us to open the crate, he tore off a piece of the saffron cloth he was wearing, and, leaving only the playing heads exposed, he wrapped the drum with the cloth. Then he said, “This must never come off,” and he began giving detailed instructions on how to play and care for the instrument.

Also in San Francisco, in 1967, Srila Prabhupada inaugurated Ratha-yatra, the Festival of the Chariots, one of several festivals that, thanks to him, people all over the world now observe. Ratha-yatra has taken place in India’s Jagannatha Purī each year for two thousand years, and by 1975 the festival had become so popular with San Franciscans that the mayor issued a formal proclamation - “Ratha-yatra Day in San Francisco.”

By late 1966 Srila Prabhupada had begun accepting disciples. He was quick to point out to everyone that they should think of him not as God but as God’s servant, and he criticized self-styled gurus who let their disciples worship them as God. “These ‘gods’ are very cheap,” he used to say. one day, after someone had asked, “Are you God?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “No, I am not God - I am a servant of God.” Then he reflected a moment and went on. “Actually, I am not a servant of God. I am trying to be a servant of God. A servant of God is no ordinary thing.”

In the mid-seventies Srila Prabhupada’s translating and publishing intensified dramatically. Scholars all over the world showered favorable reviews on his books, and practically all the universities and colleges in America accepted them as standard texts. Altogether he produced some eighty books, which his disciples have translated into twenty-five languages and distributed to the tune of fifty-five million copies. He established one hundred eight temples worldwide, and he has some ten thousand initiated disciples and a congregational following in the millions. Srila Prabhupada was writing and translating up to the last days of his eighty-one-year stay on earth.

Srila Prabhupada was not just another oriental scholar, guru, mystic, yoga teacher, or meditation instructor. He was the embodiment of a whole culture, and he implanted that culture in the West. To me and many others he was first and foremost someone who truly cared, who completely sacrificed his own comfort to work for the good of others. He had no private life, but lived only for others. He taught spiritual science, philosophy, common sense, the arts, languages, the vedic way of life - hygiene, nutrition, medicine, etiquette, family living, farming, social organization, schooling, economics - and many more things to many people. To me he was a master, a father, and my dearmost friend.

I am deeply indebted to Srila Prabhupada, and it is a debt I shall never be able to repay. But I can at least show some gratitude by joining with his other followers in fulfilling his innermost desire - publishing and distributing his books.

“I shall never die,” Srila Prabhupada once said. “I shall live forever in my books.” He passed away from this world on November 14, 1977, but surely he will live forever.

Michael Grant
(Mukunda dasa)

Source : https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/09/05/the-most-extraordinary-person/

Radharani’s 3 baths, 7 places, 8 pets, 8 yogapithas, 16 & 10 Names

Radhika’s Three Baths:

Karunyamrta – the nectar of grace

Tarunyamrta – The nectar of youth

Lavanyamrta – the nectar of beauty

Seven moonbeam-like Meeting Places of Radha & Krishna

1) Vrindavan (on the bank of the Yamuna river under a huge desire-tree)

2) Yavat (in the woods behind Radha’s palace there)

3) Radha-kunda (on the bank of Radha’s lake)

4) Govardhana Hill (upon the top of the hill)

5) Barshana (near the palace of Radha’s parents)

6) Nanda-gram (near the palace of Krishna’s parents)

7) Sanket (in a grove halfway between Nanda-gram and Barshana)

Radhika’s Pets

1) Many cows: Sunada (one who makes nice sounds), Yamuna (one like the Yamuna river), Bahula (the black one) etc.

2) A She-calf: Tungi (the tall one)

3) An old female monkey: Kakkhati (the staunchly determined one)

4) A She-Deer: Rangini (she who is nicely-colored)

5) A Chakori-Bird: Caru-candrika (one like pleasant moonbeams)

6) A She-Swan (who stays in Radha-kunda) Tundikeri (the nicely-beaked one)

7) A Peahen: Tundika (she who has a nice beak)

8) 2 talking parrots: Suksma-dhi (she of fine intelligence) and Subhaa (the auspicious one)

Eight Yogapithas of Radha & Krishna

From Bhakti Ratnakara

1) Chandravali-duradharyam – the place that has cast Chandravali far away

2) Radha-saubhagya-mandiram – the Temple of Radha’s conjugal delight

3) Sri Ratna-mandapam – the Pavilion of divine jewels

4) Srngara-mandapam – the Pavilion of intimate adornments

5) Saubhagya-mandapam – the Pavilion of auspicious fortune

6) Maha-madhurya-mandapam – the Pavilion of grand sweetness

7) Samrajya-mandapam – the Pavilion of universal sovereignity

8) Surata-mandapam – the Pavilion of intimate amorous love

Radha and Krishna are one

anadir ayam purusa eka evasti tad-eka-rupam
dvidha vidhaya samaradhana tat parobhut
tasmat tam radham rasikanandam veda-vido vadanti

Bhagavan, Who is adi-purusa, is one and only one. But from time beyond antiquity, because of His desire to worship Himself, He became Two. Therefore, wise men well-versed in the Vedas call Sri Radha “Rasikananda” – She who delights in relishing.
 (Shyama-Rahasyopanisad)

ye radha yas ca krsno
rasabdhir dehadhaikah
kridanartha dvidhabhut

The combination of Radha-Krishna is an ocean of bliss. They are not separate entities. They assume separate forms for the purpose of lila. (play)

(Radha-Tapani-Upanisad)

Sixteen Names of Sri Radha

Spoken by Lord Narayana in the Brahma-vaivarta Purana

1) Radha – She Who is the bestower of ultimate divine bliss

2) Rasesvari – She Who is the Godess of the rasa-dance

3) Rasa-Vasini – She Who always lives within the rasa-dance

4) Rasikesvari – She Who is the Goddess of those who relish divine mellows

5) Krishna -pranadhika – She Who is dearer to Krishna than His own life

6) Krishna -priya – She Who is Krishna ’s most dearly beloved companion

7) Krishna -svarupini – She Whose form resembles Krishna ’s in many ways

8) Krishna -vamanga-sambhuta – She Who is generated from Krishna ’s left side

9) Paramananda-rupini – She Who is the personification of supreme ecstacy

10) Krishna – She Who bestows the best form of supreme liberation

11) Vrndavani – She Who always lives in Vrindavana

12) Vrnda – She Who always lives in the company of Her girlfriends

13) Vrndavana-Vinodini – She Who enjoys many pleasures in Vrndavana

14) Chandravali – She Whose forms has many moons

15) Chandra-Kanta – She Whose effulgence is like the moon

16) Sarac-candra-prabhanana – She Whose face glows like the full moon of August

Prayer Containing Ten Names of Radha, 
Ananda-candrika (The Moonlight of Bliss) by Srila Rupa Goswami

radha damodara-prestha
radhika varsabhanavi
samasta-ballavi-vrnda-
dhamillottamsa-mallika

1. Radha , 2. She who is dear to Lord Damodara, 3. His greatest worshiper,

4. the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, 5. She who is the crowning garland of

mallika flowers on the decorated braided hair of all the gopis,

Text 2

krishna -priyavali-mukhya
gandharva lalita-sakhi
visakha-sakhya-sukhini
hari-hrd-bhrnga-manjari

6. the first of Krishna ’s beloveds, 7. an expert singer and musician, 8.

Lalita’s friend, 9. She who is delighted with the friendship of Visakha, 10.

the flower blossom that attracts the black bee of Lord Hari’s heart.

Text 3 and 4

imam vrndavanesvarya
dasa-nama-manorama
ananda-candrikam nama
yo rahasyam stutim pat het
sa klesa-rahito bhutva
bhuri-saubhagya-bhusitah
tvaritam karuna-patram
radha-madhavayor bhavet

He who reads this confidential prayer, which bears the title Ananda-candrika (The Moonlight of Bliss), and which is beautiful with ten names of the queen of Vrndavana, becomes free of all troubles and decorated with great good fortune. He quickly becomes the object of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava’s mercy.

Speaking of honesty - for a deep cleansing of the heart.
Sajjana Ashraya das: In the vocabolary of italian language we read: Honesty, from the latin “honestate” is the quality of an honest person, that acts with rectitude, with loyalty, justice, abstains from doing evil, a conscientious person, responsible, aligned to moral principles, that has dignity and decorum, that expresses decency and modesty. Living with dignity, with decorum, with politeness, elegantly.
It is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam that those who lives in Krishna consciousness are animated by a deep honesty. 
Thus being honest is very important; there are various levels of honesty, ordinary, where we do not do things like stealing etc; intellectual, where for example we admit we also can make mistakes and spiritual, where we admit the existence of God.
As members of a spiritual movement we are called to be deeply honest at every level. Honesty, in every circumstance, even in small things, helps us to be spiritually honest. 
Truth, like honesty, has various levels and only a deep and complete honesty will make us eligible to receive the complete spiritual Truth, and the more honest we are about our shortcomings and struggles, the more help we get from above–so honesty will lead us to the complete Truth.
But if we do not cultivate honesty in all its aspects, we can come to the point of cheating ourselves even without being aware of it, and this will not please the Lord.
Being dishonest and cheat others can sometimes be worse than not following the four regulative principles. Not following these principles is not good at all, but cheating, falsity and betrayal provoke disgust and bitterness. Not only that, when a person behaves badly everybody will know, and sooner or later that person will be alone.
All members of ISKCON knows the universal law of karma and thus know, if you rob you will be robbed, if you cheat you will be cheated; and this can be a deterrent, but to those who practice spiritual life, and to tell the truth, to even those who do not, as soon as we do something wrong, Diiiiinn! We feel something inside us, a wrong note, a slight quiver, a start. “Something is wrong” The Supersoul, the innermost friend of our heart, is telling us that what we think is not right. 
Obviously we should not become expert in dismantling this natural alarm system, but we should always try to hear the innermost voice of our heart that is leading us to the right path.
Coming from material life, we bring with us a suitcase full of many good intentions and sincerity, but we could also bring with us some wrong conceptions, some mental rubbish, as cheating, cleverness, enviousness, fault finding, so prominent in today society.
It takes time; but all this garbage must be thrown away. In spiritual life there is no place at all for that. We have to find the courage to be deeply honest, even if we heard the saying “The world is of the clever” But it is not truth. It is said: “Those who follow dharma will be sustained by dharma, but those who trample on dharma will be trampled upon by dharma.”
Sesa Prabhu, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, told of a day when he knew he had to pay a fine; so he went to the government office to pay it. The officer told him that the American government sent that fine to thousands of people, and to tell the truth, he said, you can postpone the payment, or even not pay the fine at all. But Sesa Prabhu preferred to pay it anyway, and his motivation was, “To maintain a very deep sense of honesty” Such an important quality for him, more important than money.
As we know, the concept of yukta vairagya tells us to use everything in the service of Krishna, so we can use money and objects, and thus, we can certainly also use honesty, rectitude, loyalty in the service of the Lord.
For those that practice a serious spiritual life being honest is natural, and it is natural to have good feelings for others and try to inspire them with our good behavior.
We need speaking often of honesty and then practice it daily. If a topic of such an importance is neglected, it loses importance and then it can almost disappear. If our background was not the best, our spiritual practices are superficial, we never talk of honesty and especially if we criticize or even worse, offend others, Krishna will take away our spiritual intelligence and we would become again dishonest.
We can not give for granted that we are perfect just because we are part of a spiritual movement. We have to cultivate good qualities and earn other’s appreciation.
Paraphrasing Srila Prabhupada, “ What will be the use of your verses and erudition if you do not behave well? Nobody will believe you.”
Good qualities are our only wealth, they are the things that attract other persons and Krishna. We have a great responsibility, of maintaining the deepest honesty.

Source : http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31114

The Puranas relate a story concerning the divine appearance of Shrimati Radharani as follows. One day, Vrishabhanu Maharaja, who was living at Ravel at that time, went to the bank of Yamuna at around noon to take a midday bath.

As he approached the bank of the Yamuna, he saw a golden lotus flower floating on the water and shining brightly like a thousand suns. Vrishabhanu immediately waded into the river and when he came near to the golden lotus flower, he beheld the most beautiful and radiant form of baby girl lying within the petals of the lotus.

At that same moment, Lord Brahma suddenly appeared in the sky and speaking in a grave voice, informed Vrishabhanu that in his previous life, Vrishabhanu and his wife Kirtida had performed great austerities in order to get the consort of Lord Vishnu as their daughter.

Lord Brahma told Vrishabhanu that this girl was the origin of the goddess Lakshmi and that he should take great care of Her. Lord Brahma then placed the baby girl in the arms of Vrishabhanu who became overjoyed, and after taking permission from Lord Brahma, returned to his home.

Seeing the beautiful baby girl shining like millions of autumnal moons, mother Kirtida was overcome with joy and immediately arranged for all kinds of religious rites to be performed and donated thousands of cows to the brahmanas.

At that time baby Radhika was placed in a gem-studded cradle and gently rocked back and forth by all the little girls of the village. Day by day Her luster increased just like the digits of the moon.

Within a short while it was observed that the baby girl made no noise and had not yet opened Her eyes. Vrishabhanu and his wife feared that their baby girl was perhaps blind from birth and also dumb.

At that time, Srila Narada Muni visited the home of Vrishabhanu and informed him that regardless of the girl’s apparent blindness, they should continue with the birth celebrations.
Vrishabhanu therefore made elaborate arrangements for a lavish birth celebration and sent out invitations to all the residents of Ravala and Gokula and especially to his dear friend Nanda Maharaja and his family.

On the appointed day, the guests had assembled and the birth celebrations were going on in great jubilation. Nanda Maharaja and Yashoda Mayi had arrived with Rohini and also brought their small children Krishna and Balarama.

Kirtida met with Yashoda and told her that she was very happy to have such a beautiful daughter, but was feeling rather distraught because her child was both dumb and blind.

Krishna had just passed His first birthday and was happily crawling around the courtyard on His hands and knees. Arriving at the cot in which Radhika was lying, Krishna held on to the sides and managed to lift himself up, He then peered into the cot where His gaze fell upon the beautiful moon-like face of baby Radhika.

As soon as baby Radhika smelt the exotic fragrance of Krishna’s transcendental body, She immediately opened Her eyes for the very first time, and looked directly at Krishna, who was the first person that She had ever seen.

As Krishna gazed lovingly at baby Radhika, He began smiling ecstatically. Radhika then suddenly began to cry and for the very first time she made a sound. Vrishabhanu and Kirtida, along with all the assembled Vrajavasis, were overjoyed to find out that their beloved daughter Radhika, was not blind nor dumb after all.

In the Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi it says. “So powerful is the glancing of Her eyes, that the flute slips from Krishna’s hands, His peacock crown starts to slip, and His yellow shawl becomes displaced as He swoons and falls to the ground. Alas, will I ever get the chance to serve with love and devotion such a person as Radharani.”

Source : http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31125

"In the case of a tree, in the beginning there is but a small stirring in the soil. But as the years pass the small sapling grows into a magnificent, tall tree with many branches and hundreds of twigs on every branch."

At sometimes 200 – 300 feet high, the sequoia tree is one of the largest living things in the world and can live for more than three thousand years.  A tree like this can produce 250 seeds from every cone. And a mature tree can produce thousands of cones.

Now, the seed of the sequoia is tiny – only 5 millimetres long. Yet inside a tiny seed is everything needed to grow an entire tree. Think of that for a while. An entire tree inside a tiny seed. Something that will live for three thousand years, inside a tiny seed. Inside the cone is a special chemical which only allows the seeds to fall when the moisture level is just right. Inside the seeds there are so many working parts with wonderful names: vacuoles, ribosomes, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. And inside them there is intricate coding – every single detail of the future tree is there.

So within the seed is both the essence of the sequoia tree – the essence that will make it different from all other trees – as well as the specific coding that will form the trunk, branches, twigs and cones, coding that will help the tree to grow, stand tall, and endure for centuries. The essence and the structure – both are needed.

In any area of human life, when someone begins an endeavour  – especially one they hope will endure for a long time, they are, in effect, planting a seed. By their aspirations, their vision of the final result, and by their determination, they plant a seed. And, provided the conditions are right, it will grow.

The growth of a spiritual movement, such as ours, depends on the flow of grace from the divine source and the aspirations and channelled energy of the spiritual seeker. It is said that God reaches down to the soul and the soul reaches upwards to God. And where they meet is called the guru.

The interplay between guru and disciple allows for the transmission of intricate spiritual coding. By sincere enquiry and service, by following the compassionate guidance of the guru and making himself a vessel for the guru’s wisdom and grace, the disciple can begin to grow upwards. But through the disciples the guru also grows. His ability to help the world grows as his disciples reach out to others. They multiply his ability to give Krishna. Guru and disciple together make a spiritual movement.

In the case of a tree, in the beginning there is but a small stirring in the soil. But as the years pass the small sapling grows into a magnificent, tall tree with many branches and hundreds of twigs on every branch. In the case of a spiritual movement, inspired followers attract more followers and a small band of disciples grows into a movement. It takes time, and the growth may not always be apparent, but it grows.

From this small seed comes a tree that can grow to three hundred feet and last for thousands of years. With the establishment of ISKCON Srila Prabhupada planted a seed for centuries to come.

50 years ago, our founder and acarya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada planted a seed. He brought into existence a society whose specific name he chose and whose specific shape he carefully formed. The original group of early followers might have been bemused to learn the name of the organisation typed up on the deeds of incorporation: the International Society for Krishna Consciousness – ISKCON. There were no assets to speak of and with only one room in a back street of New York there was no way it could be described as even the New York State Society for Krishna Consciousness, what to speak of the American Society for Krishna Consciousness. And international? What a preposterous and utopian idea!

Yet with the signing of that document – the planting of the seed for his future organisation – Srila Prabhupada gave all the natural coding for the growth that was to come. The love and gratitude of his disciples, their enthusiasm to do his bidding, and his daily teaching and careful guidance, all formed the perfect setting for growth to take place.

There is an old Irish story of a farmer who looks up from his field towards the nearby road and sees a saintly man walking. “Where are you going, sir?” he asks. “Oh, I’m going to start a religious movement,” replies the saint. Then the farmer sees the devil walking some yards behind and asks him: “Why are you following the saint?” “Oh, I’m going to help him organise his religious movement,” he replies with a grin.

We don’t trust organisations. They can be very tricky things. It’s not always easy for human beings to work together as an organisation – we are all independent and we are needy in so many ways. Yet an organisation is, in effect, nothing more than a living organism- like this tree – but made up of humans. An organism is something alive that contains organs – parts that perform certain functions for the welfare of the whole body. An organisation is an organism where those organs are made up of teams of humans working together.

Now, it is true that sequoia trees, or anthills, or beehives, function much better as living systems than humans do when they try to work together. We just don’t get along like ants or bees, or like the living organism of the tree. A survey conducted by Yale University found that in the 20th century the lifespan of the average S&P Index listed American company fell from 67 years to just 15. So at 50 years old, ISKCON is already bucking the odds by a factor of three.

Our company, ISKCON, is by ordinary calculation a company that should either be struggling or have gone out of business already. Consider the fragility of an organisation that promotes education in spiritual values, pays its members no dividends and depends mainly on voluntary contributions; that extols virtues that most of the world considers vices, and that runs counter to many of the intellectual notions held sacred by the world. Surely such an organisation should have collapsed by now.

Yet against all the odds, and despite some irregularities, Srila Prabhupada’s movement has endured, grown and prospered – and has reached its half century. This is something to be applauded. The secret of ISKCON’s success so far is an open secret: Srila Prabhupada planted the seed and the information content of that seed was very high. Not only the Sanskrit texts and teachings of ancient wisdom, but the careful guidance of how the structure was to grow, flourish and expand. How the members of his movement should work together, and how the resulting movement would spread and sweep up many more people in its embrace.

At the heart of it is the relationship of those early disciples with their master; a special friendship grounded in the sincere exchange of enquiry and revelation. From the master came wisdom so encouraging that it changed their young lives, and they offered grateful service to a person who they knew loved them. It was the oldest of all relationships, the guru-sisya sambandha.

Disciples gave their entire youth to Srila Prabhupada. The years normally spent in learning and making a home were sacrificed so that the seed of his divine tree, ISKCON, could be planted. We who enjoy membership of ISKCON today know that without those early disciples and their love for their spiritual master, we would not be here. So today we salute them and we thank them for their life of service. Some of them are gathered here today. We thank you and applaud your gift to us. This garden, this guru-sisya udyana, is dedicated to you and your relationship with Srila Prabhupada. Let this garden always remind us of how you served him, of the divine exchange between guru and disciple, and of the efforts you took to bring us all to Srila Prabhupada, and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. 

Source : http://iskconnews.org/learning-from-a-tree,5789/

From left to right: Mr. Krish Kumar (eThekwini City Treasurer), Mr. Ashwin Trikamjee ( President of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha), Mr. Thembinkosi Ngcobo (Thekwini Parks, Recreations and Culture), Bhakti Charu Swami, Mr. Vivian Reddy (Businessman), Bhakti Narasimha Swami, Bhakti Prema Swami.