ISKCON Desire Tree's Posts (18379)

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Bhaktivedanta Research Centre

Bhaktivedanta Research Centre: This is a postcard written by Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur to Mahendra Nath Datta. BRC Bengali librarian Bharati Roy has translated it as follows: “Niskincanasya”.. read this sloka all the time, try to understand its meaning, that is the main thing of Bhajana. You may know that Karma Marga and Prakrtarasanusilana both are against the life of a devotee. We are living a sorrowful life as we cannot do Harinama. You are a veteran Vaisnava, so you may protect us by your Bhajana. Vaisnavadasanudasa Dina akincana Sri Bimalaprasad Siddhanta Sarasvati.

Bhaktivedanta Research Centre: This is a postcard written by Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur to Mahendra Nath Datta. BRC Bengali librarian Bharati Roy has translated it as follows:
“Niskincanasya”.. read this sloka all the time, try to understand its meaning, that is the main thing of Bhajana. You may know that Karma Marga and Prakrtarasanusilana both are against the life of a devotee. We are living a sorrowful life as we cannot do Harinama. You are a veteran Vaisnava, so you may protect us by your Bhajana.
Vaisnavadasanudasa
Dina akincana Sri Bimalaprasad Siddhanta Sarasvati.

 
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Srila prabhupada and Yamuna

Yamuna: One day I made Bengali meals and arranged them on the thalis in a Bengali fashion. Srila Prabhupada sat behind his desk, and Pishima sat on the floor directly opposite Srila Prabhupada. As soon as I brought the thalis in and set them down, Srila Prabhupada started making little comical, teasing remarks about his sister. He said, “You know, she says that it is water. I say it is fat.” I thought, “My goodness. He is talking about her weight. What’s going on?” Since Prabhupada’s voice was light-hearted, Pishima started chuckling. He said, “All this,” he was flapping his arms back and forth, “is fat but she calls it water.” He started talking about the days in their childhood when they flew kites, and he said, “I always used to beat her at kites.” He spoke very brother-sisterly about his little sister, and she was laughing, although she didn’t understand a word. In the course of all this jesting, I was bringing in chapatis. When Srila Prabhupada finished his meal, he piled every katori (the little round bowls that all of the moist preparations are in when serving a thali) one on top of the other from the largest to the smallest, nearly twelve inches high. When I walked into the room, Prabhupada knocked down the whole stack with his finger and said, “Yamuna dasi mayi ki jaya!” I said, “Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!” Pishima said, “Gaura Nitai ki jaya!” Then I said, “Oh, Srila Prabhupada. You ate everything.” Srila Prabhupada said, “Excellent!” This was my first meeting with Pishima, and Prabhupada’s mood was light, sweet, jovial, and humorous. Although she didn’t understand a word of what was going on, Pishima truly loved it. She was very fond of Srila Prabhupada. From the day I met her until the very last day I saw her with Srila Prabhupada in 1976 in Vrindavan, I saw that she worshipped her brother, and that he was obviously very fond of her. Read more: https://goo.gl/UQhDy5

Yamuna: One day I made Bengali meals and arranged them on the thalis in a Bengali fashion. Srila Prabhupada sat behind his desk, and Pishima sat on the floor directly opposite Srila Prabhupada. As soon as I brought the thalis in and set them down, Srila Prabhupada started making little comical, teasing remarks about his sister. He said, “You know, she says that it is water. I say it is fat.” I thought, “My goodness. He is talking about her weight. What’s going on?” Since Prabhupada’s voice was light-hearted, Pishima started chuckling. He said, “All this,” he was flapping his arms back and forth, “is fat but she calls it water.” He started talking about the days in their childhood when they flew kites, and he said, “I always used to beat her at kites.” He spoke very brother-sisterly about his little sister, and she was laughing, although she didn’t understand a word. In the course of all this jesting, I was bringing in chapatis. When Srila Prabhupada finished his meal, he piled every katori (the little round bowls that all of the moist preparations are in when serving a thali) one on top of the other from the largest to the smallest, nearly twelve inches high. When I walked into the room, Prabhupada knocked down the whole stack with his finger and said, “Yamuna dasi mayi ki jaya!” I said, “Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!” Pishima said, “Gaura Nitai ki jaya!” Then I said, “Oh, Srila Prabhupada. You ate everything.” Srila Prabhupada said, “Excellent!” This was my first meeting with Pishima, and Prabhupada’s mood was light, sweet, jovial, and humorous. Although she didn’t understand a word of what was going on, Pishima truly loved it. She was very fond of Srila Prabhupada. From the day I met her until the very last day I saw her with Srila Prabhupada in 1976 in Vrindavan, I saw that she worshipped her brother, and that he was obviously very fond of her.
Read more: https://goo.gl/UQhDy5

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An Unforgettable Experience


By Radha Dasi

Hare Krishna, dear devotees! My name is Radha, I’m 19 years old and I am a student in my final year at Sri Mayapur International School. I want to share with you my incredible experience of book distribution in London this summer. I hope that it will please the senior devotees and reassure them that book distribution is still alive and well. And I hope it will encourage all the devotees of my age to give it a try.

Here is how it started: for a long time I had wanted to feel myself like a real, active preaching brahmacarini from Srila Prabhupada’s time. Last year, my Bhakti Shastri teacher, Prabhupada Priya Mataji, a seasoned book distributor, and her husband, Yajna Murti prabhu, took a group of girls to London to try distributing books. Sadly, I was not one of them. But this year, by Krishna’s grace, I got the opportunity. Prabhupada Priya mataji and Yajna Murti Prabhu were very kind to me. They didn’t just agree to take me with them but also helped me in many ways to make this trip possible. My parents also kindly allowed me to go, even though they were quite worried about me.

It was really one of the best times in my life! We stayed In the temple, had bombing harinams, amazing prasadam, association of wonderful devotees and most importantly the unforgettable experience of feeling oneself like an active member of Srila Prabhupada’s movement. Six days of the week we would go out on book distribution, each day to a different place. In that way we also got to see a lot of London. On our “rest” days, we did other amazing things: once we visited Bhaktivedanta Manor, another day we did a pilgrimage guided by Jaga Mohini Mataji of all the places in London where Srila Prabhupada went, and another day we went to Crawley Ratha Yatra. Then there were the Saturday night harinams.

Yes, harinam in London is awesome! You know London is the place where things really happen. And when we were out there we were proud to represent Srila Prabhupada to the whole world. We danced and danced and danced… Many random passersby got swept along and joined the fun, enthusiastically trying to sing along and copy our dance moves. Although, we didn’t know each other at all, we would dance and sing together like brothers and sisters. At one point, Prabhupada priya Mataji’s knee started hurting from all the dancing and Krishnabhava was very tired so they had decided to go back to the temple. But the problem was that they just couldn’t stop! Somehow they stayed til the end. Then, absolutely tired but blissful, we all returned to the ashram in the temple of Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara – the most beautiful deities who stole our hearts and blessed us with inconceivable mercy.

Staying in the ashram was a lot of fun. It really gave a feeling of leading a surrendered life. It felt special to stay in that same room where the previous acaryas – bramacarinis like Prabhupada Priya mataji – had stayed when they were new devotees. All our time was fully busy with service to Krishna. Literally every step was a dance and every word was a song! Each morning we would have such a long singing program. Then, wherever we would go with a lot of devotees we had to have a harinama on the way. In this way, we would end up singing the holy names and dancing all day!
I tell you Prabhupada Priya mataji, Subhadra and Krishna Bhava are truly fun to be with! They have great devotion for Srila Prabhupada and they are very serious about serving Krishna. At the same time, they are so jolly – somehow they find something funny about everything, literally. I felt so comfortable and at home with them.

The morning program, the class, the prasadam… these were our inspiration which would recharge our batteries before going out. And then we would pack our trolley with books and hit the streets, carrying the memories of the morning program and the mangal sweets with us.

At first, I was worried about how the posh London people would respond to me, a simple Russian girl, but when I got there I found them very open and friendly, though often very busy. The most funny part was how London people would address us as “darling” “babe” and “love.” I was a bit shocked at first and thought it was not very polite but later got used to it. I would say, “Excuse me” and they would say, “What is it darling?” or they would say, “No!” Once I approached one girl and she responded with a vehement “No!” So I got frustrated and said, “Do you even know what you are saying no to?!” “No,” she mumbled, ‘what is it?” In the end, ironically, she gave me a donation and took a book!

Sometimes the books would get distributed almost effortlessly, and sometimes they wouldn’t, no matter how hard I tried. So Krishna really made me understand who’s the boss. Although I am not quite sure how much I learned to surrender to Krishna, I can tell you one thing with confidence: being not surrendered is tough. You try to make people take the books. You try this way and that way – being nice, smiley, pushy and blocking the way, you can be super friendly, but if Krishna doesn’t want they just won’t take it. But if you simply and humbly just accept that we are not the controllers, then it is much easier.

We would get all kinds of people. Some would say, “Good job, keep going!” Others would shout, “ We just want you to go away from here!” Some people would support us and appreciate our work and others would say, “It is voodoo and mumbo jumbo.” Some would run up to us and say, “Are you the Hare Krishnas? Here is donation. Can I have a book?” Others would mumble, “I hope you are not any religious organization like the Hare Krishnas.” Two ladies once told Mataji that she was an angel. And another lady told me that religious organizations like Hare Krishnas are coming from the devil. These were the opposing opinions we would face – complete extremes. But both were good because even when they blasphemed us they got purified. And it also taught us to be tolerant and patient.

Sometimes people would get very excited about the book and that was so pleasing to the heart. Like once I gave The Science of Self Realization to one Brazilian girl. She loved science and got so excited that she even gave me a hug. Another time, after I gave a book to a group of teenagers they shouted, “We got a book!” and two girls had a high-five. Then they opened it and started reading it out loud. It was really Srila Prabhupada’s mercy.

It was super fun to try new crazy things out. One time when I was lacking two pounds to make one hundred pounds for the day, me and little Krishnabhava ran down to distribute one more book for two pounds. I was very happy that day and I ran around smiling and laughing and approaching people in funny ways. Finally I got one person to buy a book by begging him, “Please! Please!” I acted so silly that he finally had pity on me and gave up. Ha ha ha! I never knew that this could work…

Even Krishnabhava distributed books although she is only 12. She would do especially well on harinama. She is also a very good cook. And while staying in the ashram she helped her father cook mangala sweets for Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara so that they would get pleased and bless us to distribute more books. Seeing her devotion, I started really appreciating how Vaishnava kids naturally have this devotion for Krishna deep within them, even though we may not always notice it.

I think book distribution is the most essential part of our society. Srila Prabhupada has given us so much and we are all so indebted to him. Book distribution is a tiny way by which we can make him happy. And when you know that Srila Prabhupada is pleased, you feel so satisfied, like you have really achieved something. It gives you a peaceful mind, a feeling of having your duty completed, and after that you sleep very well.
Just think about it -when we are out there we are face to face with Maya. The difference between devotees and non-devotees is seen very clearly. Wouldn’t it make you believe more in our process in Krishna consciousness and be proud to be a part of it? Let us challenge Kali-yuga! We are not scared of it when we are under the shelter of Srila Prabhupada. In fact, I would become so confident and secure about my position that I was ready to do anything for Srila Prabhupada.

Maybe it is because by nature I have some passion in me and when by Prabhupada’s grace I have an opportunity to utilize it properly in the mode of goodness then I get very excited. I think that many teenagers have got a lot of energy and passion. And many don’t know where to utilize it. So here is the answer: try out book distribution. Trust me, you won’t regret it! You will make Srila Prabhupada happy, you will have fun yourself, you will help many conditioned souls. You will be proud to step up and say, “We are a servants of Krishna!” We are eternally related to Him and to each other. Therefore let us get together and flood this world with Lord Caitanya’s mercy!

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Help Take ISKCONOnline.com to the next level

We’re happy to announce that since our web site ISKCONOnline.com was launched over 8,000 people have visited our site, more than 200 devotees completed our online participation form and over 450 subscribed to our newsletter.

Thus we have had a good start towards our primary purpose of “creating an association of interested devotees who will improve the quality, relevance and relatability of ISKCON’s presence on the internet.”

Now, we want to take this effort to the next level by engaging a qualified devotee as the ISKCONOnline.com Site Director.

If you are interested in this kind of service or if you simply want to stay informed, please take a moment to read the service description at http://iskcononline.com/site-director-needed

If you are personally interested in exploring the possibility of taking on this service, please write to Pancharatna@ISKCONOnline.com with a short message about how you would approach the service, including any particulars about your personal needs related to this service. Please also include your Skype ID and details on the best time to reach you so we can arrange a follow-up conversation.

And, if this service is not for you, please share this announcement with anyone you think might be interested.

This is the first service description we have developed as we begin to build our teams and projects. We are working on several more that are connected to our first major outreach project. We anticipate opportunities for content developers, web developers, graphic artists, programming, and more. So, if the Site Director service is not something you would like to consider, there will be many more opportunities.

Please write with any questions or suggestions. We look forward to hearing from you and we hope you are pleased with our efforts to serve the devotional community in becoming more relatable and relevant on the internet.

Thank you for your attention. We beg to remain,

Your servants,

Gopal Bhatta das and Pancharatna dasa

ISKCON Online

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By ISKCON 50 Global Office

The Global Office of ISKCON’s 50th anniversary has requested temples around the world to try and observe the fiftieth anniversary of two poems that Srila Prabhupada wrote on board the Jaladuta in September 1965.

Srila Prabhupada wrote the first poem, ‘Prayer to the Lotus feet of Krishna’ on 13th September 1965 on board the Jaladuta, and the second one, ‘Markine Bhagavata Dharma’ while the Jaladuta was docked at Boston Harbour on September 18th 1965.

While writing about the first poem, Srila Prabhupada mentions in his Jaladuta Diary: “Today I have disclosed my mind to my companion Lord Sri Krishna. There is a Bengali poem made by me today in this connection.”

To observe the 50th anniversary of these two poems, temples can do the following:

· Announce the anniversary of the poem on the day (13th and 18th September) at Mangala Arati

· Sing the song before Bhagavatam Class

· Have a special morning class explaining the purport of the song on each of the two days

· If possible, have a special evening programme inviting members of the congregation to join in singing the song, and having another class with senior devotees sharing their realisations

“These are very important compositions where Srila Prabhupada has revealed the mood in which he completely depended on Krishna before he visited America,” said Romapada Das, International Coordinator for the 50th Anniversary. “By meditating on the purports of these two songs, we can appreciate Srila Prabhupada’s prophetic journey on the Jaladuta even more. We would like to encourage temples around the world to base their morning and evening programmes on September 13th and 18th around these two poems. ”

Click here for the lyrics
and here for a video clip
of the song Prayer to the Lotus Feet of
Krishna.

Click here
for the lyrics
 and here
for a video clip
 of the song Markine
Bhagavata Dharma.

For more information please contact:

The ISKCON 50 Global Office: info@iskcon50.org

ISKCON 50 International Coordinator: romapada@iskcon50.org

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A Sea Of Devotees (Photos)

By Indradyumna Swami

The Sadhu Sanga Festival is taking place this week on the Black Sea coast in southern Russia. But infinitely more beautiful is the sea of 6,500 devotees chanting and dancing in great ecstacy here. Today myself and Bada Haridas are departing for Mongolia. It is difficult to leave this historic event and the association of so many loving devotees!






























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Material Elements and Yoga

Lecture on Material Elements and Yoga by HH Bhakti Charu Swami on 09 Jun 2015 at ISKCON New Jersey

(HH Bhakti Charu Swami was born in Bengal in 1945, he met with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada at the end of 1976.From their very first meeting, Srila Prabhupada gave His Holiness the assignment of translating his books into Bengali and made him his Secretary for Indian Affairs.)

To Listen and Download - click here

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Bhagavada Gita Chapter - 18, Text - 19,22

Love and Bhagavada Gita Chapter - 18, Text - 19,22 by HH Lokanath Swami on 09 Aug 2014 at Vrindavan

(Lokanath Swami born in Aravade, a small village Maharashtra, Indian, he went to Mumbai for studying. In the year 1971, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was touring India with his foreign disciples and had organized a pandal program in Mumbai.Intrigued, maharaj attended the whole Hare Krsna Festival and heard from Srila Prabhupada.)

To Listen and Download - click here

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Festivals - Radhastami

Lecture on Festivals - Radhastami by HH Kadamba Kanana Swami on 02 Sep 2014 at ISKCON Mayapur

( HH Kadamba Kanana Swami joined ISKCON in 1978 in Amsterdam. Until 1984 he managed projects in Vrindavana. From 1985 through 1990 he coordinated the construction of Srila Prabhupada’s samadhi in Mayapur.)

To Listen and Download - click here

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Independent Desires

Lecture on Independent Desires by HH Niranjana Swami on 13 Aug 2015 at Dnipropetrovsk

(His Holiness Niranjana Swami was born on December 10, 1952, in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. In 1972, his spiritual search took a turning point when he saw a Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, on the counter of a bookshop in Washington, DC.)

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The Absolute Nature of the Vedic Literature

By Mayesvara Dasa ACBSP

The Best of All Verses…?

It is not uncommon that when the four seed verses of the Bhagavad Gita are discussed it will often spawn a second conversation related to the immaculate nature of all 700 verses spoken by the Supreme Personalikty of Godhead.

A similar conversation comes up when someone asks a devotee: “What is the best book for me to read?” How can one actually say the Bhagavada Gita is “Better” than Sri Isopanishad, the Nectar of Instruction, or any of the compilation BBT books such as: “The Science of Self Realization”, “Beyond Illusion & Doubt” or “The Journey of Self-Discovery?” To do so would be like trying to say that the cure for a stomach ailment is better than a cure for a skin rash. They may both offer valuable remedies, but one may be more relevant than the other depending on the nature of ones illness.

If the first piece of transcendental literature someone ever received even happens to be a Back To Godhead magazine, then it is understandable how that individual might personally feel that particular issue of BTG is the most important literature ever published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. The imprint made by the vehicle that carries us from a material modality to the lotus feet of Sri Krishna is so in-comparatively powerful and special that we will always think of it with fond memories. This remains true even if there appears to be some type of grammatical, technical or mundane flaw found in that publication.

“On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world’s misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest.” – Srimad Bhagavat Purana Canto 1 “Creation,” Chapter 5. “Naradas Instruction on Srimad Bhagavatam for Vyasadeva” Text 11.

Yet still it is understood that ALL the verses authored by Sri Krishna are beyond comparison, so how could some be better than the others? This line of reasoning is behind the practice of those who sometimes playfully reach to get a random dose of transcendental nectar when there is no particular pressing issue. At that time some Vaishnavas will just pick up a Scripture like the Bhagavad Gita and randomly open it up to any chapter/verse to glean a divine message that they accept as an appropriate lesson for that particular moment. While this approach to sacred literature may be a bit unconventional, there is no harm in it as long as one is not randomly diving into the more esoteric stories related to Krishnas pastimes with the gopies. Highly advanced devotees have cautioned the neophytes from delving into those stories because it is too easy for the conditioned soul to perceive them from a mundane point of view.

This brings us back to the tricky dilemma of having to overlay some type of prudent discretion even on divine literature. It is historically evident that even His Divine Grace was sensitive to the fact that when he translated the Fifth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, some would find the descriptions of the hellish planets very disturbing. Therefore he chose to translate the Caitanya Caritamrita prior to moving forward into that portion of the Bhagavatam. This provided more time for his fledgling disciples to increase their faith and become better prepared to embrace the contents of the Fifth Canto. That was a wise decision on his part because we now know the Fifth Canto also introduced us to descriptions of the solar system which are radically different from the heliocentric model of the universe that Copernicus described and everyone simply accepts.

Not All Puranas Are the Same

We can also understand that the various chapter titles offered in both the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavat Purana are a form of taxonomy that arranges the subject matter they contain in ways that simplify our ability to find relevant information when we need it. So for example one desiring to better understand God’s opulence can easily find that type of information in Chapter 10 of the Bhagavad Gita based on it’s title: “The Opulence of the Absolute.” Similarly those seeking clarification about how to distinguish between a conflicted individual and a pious man would find those guidelines in Chapter 14; The Three Modes of Nature And; Chapter 16; The Divine and Demoniac Nature.

So on one hand it is in-appropriate to declare any particular aspect of spotless Vedic knowledge as “Better” than any other portion, yet it is also accepted that for pragmatic reasons these sacred scriptures are broken into various topics to help us find the material we are looking for. This is particularly true in regards to understanding the 18 different Puranas.

There are six Vedic Puranas specifically written for audiences found in each of the three modes of nature; Goodness, Passion & Ignorance. These divisions are provided by the Supreme Lord specifically so all living entities have access to reliable knowledge. The various Puranas were brilliantly composed with a specific target audience in mind. In this way there is material available to help everyone lift their soul from conditional life to a higher stage, regardless of which mode of nature their consciousness happens to be entangled with. This also provides some explanation for why the followers of Lord Siva are as strongly persuaded by the truths found in the Shiva Purana, as the Vaishnavas are about the conclusions found in the Bhagavata Purana. Both scriptures original from the same divine source! However those with good discretion can understand that the Bhagavata Purana is written for a more astute/satvic audience. The Puranas are perfect in the sense that they all come directly from the Supreme Lord, but because they are addressing different issues pertinent to the awareness level of the reader, we separate them into the hierarchy of the tri-gunas, the three modes of nature for the benefit of the reader.

The Seed Verses of Bhagavad Gita (Bg 10.8-11)

The word seed suggests that it has the potential to grow into something bigger then itself. The verses that are accepted as the “Seed” verses of the Gita do exactly that. They are also sometime referred to as the Catur-Sloka because there are just four (Catur) seed verses (Slokas). The 700 verses of Bhagavad Gita are generally accepted as the summary study of the entire body of Vedic knowledge. Yet within the Gita these “Seed verses” are acknowledged for how nicely they summarize the essence of the Gita’s message into four concise sutras.

Now consider these four powerful Sanskrit verses provided below. If you can enter into their profound meaning, you will have effectively attained the highest stage of realization that the entire cannon of Vedic literature points towards.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna unequivocally declares:

“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” (Bg 10.8)

IN this verse we are told where everything originates from & what wise people do when they realize that they have an eternal relationship with that Supreme Lord.

“The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.” (Bg 10.9)

This further emphasizes the purpose of life and the experience of clarity and happiness that one will have if they take up the practice of Bhakti Yoga. (The Yoga of Love and Devotion)

“To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” (Bg 10.10)

Here Krishna is again giving His personal promise that He is rewards those who reach out to Him the understanding they need in order to escape the tribulations of this world and return to Him.

“To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.” (Bg 10.11)

This sums it all up. We are living in the darkness of chronic ignorance but most people are in denial of that stark fact. Krishna’s inferior material energy is designed to keep reminding all of us via the various ways we suffer that this world is not our proper place. It doesn’t take too long for those who are wise to understand this and recognize how their life is out of control and they are completely lost. If they are fortunate enough to come in contact with a devotee then they can take advantage of the wealth of knowledge provided in the Vedas to guide the conditioned soul thru the material quagmire back to Godhead. Here Krishna confirms that He is in everyone’s heart. All we need to do is surrender to his guidance. To whatever degree we do that, Krishna is informing us here that He will relieve his devotee from all forms of (misery due to) ignorance.

Then next gathering of the American Vedic Association Is:

2nd Tue: Sep 15, 2015: Seed Verses Of Bhagavad Gita will be discussed at the American Vedic Association Bhagavad Gita As It Is Fellowship: The Gita is the most philosophically profound sacred scripture in the world. It consists of 700 perfectly composed Sanskrit verses and is summarized with four seed verses! ● 7:30pm 640-0405 Always Free!

Ojai Days October 17, 2015

Every year Ojai holds a street festival that draws out a wide variety of artists, musicians, dancers and of course, all sorts of social, religious and philanthropic groups. This little town hosts a bizarre collection of diverse lifestyles that make it easy to think of Ojai as the Californa version of Sedona, the mecca for New Age thought.

On the third Saturday of each year main street Ojai shuts down for “Ojai Days.” I have booked a spot to bring out the Sastra Rath to present Srila Prabhupadas books and reach out to those in the community that are ready to graduate to something more than just an imaginary relationship with God.. This is an all-day affair and a it offers a great opportunity to share what you have learned at the Bhagavad Gita As It Is Fellowship Discussions with those who are lost in the sea of speculative thinking.

I would like to invite those who have the time to come by the AVA / Jagannatha Enterprises booth and spend time sharing what you can with those who want to know more about our gatherings. It makes for an interesting day and is all part of becoming more fixed up in our relationship with Krishna.

For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. – Bg 18.68

I hope this meets all of you in good health and continuous thoughts about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna!
Thank You!
Mayesvara Dasa

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By Chaitanya Charan das

Sankirtan Prabhu, who departed on the auspicious day of Janmashtami after a sustained battle against cancer, was a frontline fighter in Lord Chaitanya’s army. He was on the frontline in striving to share bhakti wisdom in China, despite the many restrictions and obstacles there. While that service is glorious, I, as an author, appreciated most his frontline outreach through writing.

I first had his association in a student-teacher relationship when he was one of my Bhakti-shastri teachers in Pune. Thereafter, when he started writing, he very kindly started treating me like a friend, sharing his plans and challenges in writing and seeking my inputs. Though English was not his first language (as it is not mine either) he strove vigorously to share the universal spiritual truths he had learnt in this contemporary lingua franca.

The feature that struck me most about his writing was what could be called its inter-disciplinary scope. He brought bhakti wisdom into a mature dialogue with the yoga tradition in his book Bhakti-Yoga Pilgrimage and with contemporary psychology in his other writings. Drawing pertinent points eclectically to address various current concerns, he then insightfully illumined the underlying issues with the light of aptly distilled devotional insights. Overall, he was one of the pioneers in our movement in striving to penetrate the huge and largely untapped self-help genre of writing.

With a heavy heart at the departure of a fellow author and friend, I seek his blessings for continuing in my own small way the literary legacy of our tradition.

ys
ccdas

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Madhudesha commemorates Jaladuta anniversary






By Romapada das

Madhudesh Yatra, celebrated the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s visit to the country with a programme in a port city in the country on 3rd September 2015.

After Srila Prabhupada departed Kolkata in August 1965 on board the Jaladuta, the ship docked in Colombo, Cochin and a port city in Madhudesha on 3rd September, before arriving in Boston.

“The special program was celebrated in a factory on the banks of an international canal,” explained Govardhandhari Das. “Several hundred people attended the celebration which featured kirtan, aratik, a lecture on Srila Prabhupada’s life, and how he stopped in Madhudesha on his way to Boston. Madhudesha is the only Arabic country that Prabhupada visited, and therefore this is a very important place for ISKCON.”

After visiting the port city in Madhudesha, Srila Prabhupada made several positive comments about the country.

“Last year I went to Madhudesha, spending twenty five days,” said Magudi Subramaniam, who preaches here. “During this period, I visited several Indian families, who got together to establish a yatra in this country exactly a year ago. Thus, the 50th anniversary celebrations coincided with the first anniversary of the Madhudesha Yatra.”

The ISKCON congregation in Madhudesha caters to both Indian and Arabic speaking devotees.

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From Kibbutz to Krishna


From left to Right: Dorit, Tali

By Visakha Priya dasi

The Hebrew word kibbutz (kibbutzim in the plural) refers to a voluntary democratic community based on the principles of communal ownership of property, social justice, and equality. Kibbutzim started around one hundred years ago, when a group of idealistic young Zionists, many of them from wealthy landed families in various parts of the world, traveled back to their ancestral land, the biblical land of Palestine, with the idea of building a whole new kind of society. One such idealistic person was Tzechka Brauer. Born in Poland, she joined the movement there, and at the age of eighteen she came to Israel with a group of other youths to start a kibbutz. That kibbutz was named Gan Shmuel, “Garden of Samuel,” and it still exists today.

In the early days of the kibbutz movement, kibbutzim were based on agriculture and all kibbutzniks(members) worked in some section of the kibbutz economy—orchards, factory, dairy, fishponds— or in one of its maintenance units. Routine jobs such as dining room duties, laundry duties, etc., were rotated among members. As time went, kibbutzim branched off into industry. Gan Shmuel in particular became a big manufacturer and exporter of fruit juices.

Although a few kibbutzim were—and still are—religiously centered, Gan Shmuel was atheistic from day one. And not just atheistic actually, but thoroughly anti-religious—to the point of having barbecue parties purposely on Yom Kippur. (Yom Kippur is a strict religious fasting day for Jews, whereon all regular activities, including traffic, are suspended). As far as Gan Shmuel residents were concerned, God was irrelevant, a crutch for the losers, not for intelligent independent people like themselves who (seemingly) had full control over their lives.

Tzechka was a powerful, charismatic person, and she soon became one of the prominent leaders in the kibbutz. She married, and in 1924 gave birth to a daughter named Yael. Yael grew up in the kibbutz, where she married her husband, Betzalel Lev, who came from Tel Aviv. In those days there was no army, and so, when he finished school, Betzalel joined the kibbutz. He and Yael had three daughters, including my friend Tulsidevi, also known as Tali.

Tali was born in 1952 in the kibbutz hospital, and right away she was put in the nursery with all the other babies. Mothers would come to breastfeed their children and then returned to their separate residences, leaving their babies in the care of women assigned to the task. The idea behind separating parents from their children was that both men and women “should be free from the burden of looking after their children” in order to fully concentrate on their work at the kibbutz. Children would visit their parents’ homes daily from 4 pm to 8 pm, but they never lived there, except when they were ill. The concept initially arose from sheer necessity, but later on it became an ideology. Getting back to baby Tali, she would still be hungry at night sometimes, and in the absence of her mother, another compassionate soul breastfed her until she was weaned.

In those days the children’s section of the kibbutz was completely separate from the other sections. From the nursery to the kindergarten and all the way up to the end of their school years, children were put together in groups. Between the age of 2 and 3 they were in groups of 6. As they grew up, the groups became larger, comprising up to 20 children. By the time Tali was two years old she was put in a group that included another little girl born in 1952 at the kibbutz: Dorit Rozenzweig. Also from Poland, Dorit’s parents managed to survive the Holocaust and came to Israel in 1947 to join the kibbutz.

There was an intercom in the children’s quarters, and at night a child in need was supposed to stand in front of it and speak up. But Tali, who always worried that something terrible might be the cause of her parents’ not being with her, had her own method to attract attention: she would stand in a strategic spot at one of the dormitory’s windows and scream relentlessly until someone personally came. Her parents would be dragged regularly to the dormitory in the middle of the night, until, after a long time, the community decided that Tali’s parents could take turns staying in the children’s house at night. Generally, however, there were no special privileges for anyone, be it clothes, food, lodging, conveyances or appliances.

The children did everything together: cleaning their classroom, the kitchen, the dormitory, and other areas; feeding the animals—goats, rabbits, peacocks; and working in the vegetable garden. Each group took its turn doing those tasks.

Dorit was a thoughtful little girl. She too spent her nights crying, especially from the age of 8, when her precocious intelligence started posing existential questions: “How will it be when I am no longer in this world?” she pondered. The question kept her awake at night. She was told to count 1, 2, 3 to fall asleep, but it didn’t work. “How is it possible that something will be without me?” “What does it mean ‘not to be’”? Thinking thus in the dead of night, she silently cried and, like Tali, was afraid of death.

As the girls grew up they were confronted with the consequences of the kibbutz ideology regarding gender equality. Being “equal in all respects” boys and girls had always shared the same facilities, including dormitories and bathrooms. But upon reaching puberty some of the girls rebelled against the system. It took a long time for the kibbutz authorities to acknowledge and approve their request that they not be forced to take their morning shower along with the boys.

In accordance with the ideology, military service also was for everyone. Thus, upon completing their studies, Tali and Dorit did their compulsory two years. Dorit, who knew Arabic, served in one of the intelligence units and Tali in the army’s book-publishing unit.

Having completed her military service Dorit came back to live at the kibbutz. At the same time, she studied philosophy and mathematics in the university. And the same questions which had haunted her childhood returned stronger than ever: What is the truth? Who am I? What is the purpose of my life?

Dorit always felt obliged to her parents and to the kibbutz. Yet, she knew that in order to find the truth she had to go elsewhere. And so, after three years in the kibbutz, she moved to Tel Aviv and got married. One evening in 1978 Dorit and her husband saw a television program featuring Murari Chaitanya Das, a Hare Krishna devotee who had just become the ping pong champion of Israel. He was openly speaking about his experience of Krsna consciousness and Dorit was impressed. On the beach the next morning her husband saw a Hare Krishna devotee and stopped him, thinking him to be Murari Chaitanya. The devotee, Locanananda, told him that their spiritual leader was presently visiting Israel and invited him to come to a public program where the guru would speak. So they went, and Dorit listened attentively. The guru’s words inspired her to start practicing Krsna consciousness. Her husband went along with it.

After a short time, some unscrupulous would-be devotees cheated them monetarily, and they turned their back to Krishna consciousness. By Krsna’s mercy they came back when Bhagavan das, the leader they had previously heard from, visited Israel again. And because his headquarters were in France, they moved to France. For the next two years Dorit stayed in different European countries – France, Italy, Belgium and Spain – doing sankirtan with Bhagavan’s disciples. Her husband chose another path which she did not agree to follow.

Back in Tel Aviv in 1980, Dorit undertook the translation of Srila Prabhupada’s books in Hebrew and lived in the Sankirtan House. I first met her in 1982 at the Nouvelle Mayapur rural community in central France where Srila Prabhupada installed the beautiful deities of Krishna and Balarama. She was one of the glorious devotees being praised at the festival that year. Her name was now Devahuti and she was completely absorbed in the mood of sankirtan.

Meanwhile, just before Tali completed her military service, her father died. Out of respect for her mother, Tali spent one month with her in the kibbutz. But her heart was not in it. Kibbutz life was not what she was hankering for. In fact, for many years, she had been feeling oppressed by the environment and lost her sense of identity. So she moved to Tel Aviv, where she met Gad Charny, the son of an American-born Jewish poet and a sculptress mother. He was preparing to go to London, and she joined him there in 1974. He was studying industrial design at the Royal College of Art and she studied sculpture at another college. She came back alone in 1978 to work on her art exhibition and lived in Gad’s father’s empty house in the artists’ village of Ein Hod for two years. One day, walking in the streets of Tel Aviv, she spotted Dorit amongst a group of strangely clad people singing and dancing and distributing magazines. Realizing it was a religious group Tali felt embarrassed for her childhood friend and carefully avoided her. She was very upset to see Dorit, whom she had always deeply appreciated and felt a lot of respect for, wasting her life in this way.

In 1981 Gad and Tali got married. Soon after, their first child, Alina, was born. They settled in Tel Aviv, he as a professor of industrial design, she as a fulltime mother. Their son, Iddo, was born five years later. When the children were a little grown up, Tali again became active professionally, doing stage design for a few years with Alina on her back, stylish hairdressing during Iddo’s kindergarten hours, and textile printing at home, to name just a few of her varied occupations.

As a college professor at Holon Institute of Technology, Gad would periodically go on sabbatical and travel abroad with the family. One year they toured the USA and Mexico for 7 months. Another time they roughed it up in Laos. And they also went to India a few times, as Gad would also teach there every now and then. Inexplicably, Tali became attached to India. Although she was not able to live there because of the noise and filth–to name only a few reasons–she was not able to leave it either. One thing that struck her was that Indian people had a different attitude to life: they were simple, warm, and not acting as if they were the center of the world. Of course, she had many objections. She couldn’t believe in God and felt that in any case Judaism was superior to Deity worship. Her outlook was sarcastic. To her, Hinduism was just folklore, and she couldn’t bear to go into temples full of rice and water, getting smeared with red powder, and so on. It was a cultural reaction, but it was superficial. Deep down she was intrigued.

In 2004, after more than 30 years of not seeing each other, Tali and Dorit coincidentally met at Gan Shmuel while visiting their sick mothers. Tali asked Dorit what she was doing, strongly wishing in her mind—almost “praying”—that she would have given up her Hare Krsna connection. Dorit, who by now had been re-initiated by His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami as Varsabhanavi devi dasi, replied that she was running yoga philosophy classes in Tel Aviv. At that time, Tali was reading about the Dalai Lama and other spiritual materials. But she was looking for something deeper and more meaningful and decided to join Varsabhanavi’s classes. Unexpectedly, from the first class, she never looked back and felt at ease—even with the Hare Krishna kirtan that had once upset her so much. In the same way Arjuna, realizing the greatness of his friend Krishna, became his student, Tali began to see her childhood friend as her revered teacher.

From the time Varsabhanavi returned to Israel in 1980 until the time she and Tali again met at Gan Shmuel thirty years later, her life underwent many changes. To begin with, when Bhagavan das left ISKCON in 1986, the Sankirtan House in Tel Aviv disintegrated and the GBC in charge left the country with his followers. So there was no GBC or temple president, and she found herself on her own, trying to raise funds for printing Bhagavad-gita As It Is and the book KRSNA in cheaper editions. Although she was greatly disappointed by the fall of her guru, she was grateful to be situated in Krsna consciousness and for the ability to strictly follow that path. In 1986 she married Gunavatar das, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada who also served the Hebrew BBT, and the two of them continued their services as a team. She met His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami in 1989 and became his disciple on Nityananda Trayodasi 1991 in Vrindavan.

His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami fully supported the book distribution program, and as a result a number of Israeli-born devotees were made. Perhaps because of the unusual way in which most of them had been raised, a number of them suffered from severe emotional traumas and Varsabhanavi had a hard time dealing with them.

Tamal Krishna Goswami pushed Gunavatar to go to University and study there. His strategy was that devotees should learn to coexist with the establishment rather than try to conquer it—in order to ultimately conquer it. As Srila Prabhupada said, “In like a needle, out like a plow.” Of course, such strategy requires one to be firmly situated in the mode of goodness.

In 2000, H. H. Tamal Krishna Goswami spent hours with Gunavatar and Varsabhanavi, probing into their motivations and forcing them to reevaluate all their concepts of Krsna consciousness for the purpose of making them better preachers and bringing them to a higher level of spiritual existence: “I am not a devotee because it’s the right thing to do but because I love Krsna.” Toward the end of that year, Gunavatar and Varsabhanavi, along with some of the devotees they had made in Tel Aviv, moved to the now-growing township of Harish, not far from Gan Shmuel. Delighted by the move, Varsabhanavi’s parents bought her a house there.

Since then, despite severe hardships, their little community has been slowly but steadily growing to fifty devotees, including children. They meet weekly for vibrant, joyful kirtans, classes, and prasadam. The divorce rate over the last fifteen years is a steady zero percent. During the week (which in Israel starts on Sunday and ends on Friday evening), Varsabhanavi teaches Bhagavad-gita in cities, towns, and villages such as Tel Aviv, Nazareth, and Ein Hod (an ancient Arab village which has become an Israeli artists’ colony and the home of Gad and Tulsidevi). Gunavatar teaches in colleges and universities. Both husband and wife are the father and mother of the community and command great respect and love among them. The community now boasts 23 initiated devotees and around one hundred congregation members outside of Harish.

Along with Gunavatar and Varsabhanavi, a few families have been visiting India regularly, especially to attend the VIHE Govardhan and Japa Retreats. On one such occasion about nine years ago I met Tali. Then, in 2010 in Vrindavan, she approached my spiritual master, His Holiness Giriraj Swami Maharaja, for spiritual shelter. Her husband was very supportive. She got initiated on Skype a couple of years ago, and this year in May, they sent me a return ticket to visit them. I was there for almost five weeks. Dare I tell you? After nineteen years of steady residence in Sri Vrindavan-dhama, I lost my heart in Israel!

The story of how it happened is another one altogether. Suffice to say for now that my heart was not won by a single person but by the whole community.

Sankirtan yajna ki! Jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki! Jaya!

Gaura premanande! Hari Harish bol!

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Krishna adherent will provide the keynote address for area faithful

By Allan Turner

September 7, 2015

If not for bad timing, Alfred Ford might not have been booted from the family home.

But the young great-grandson of auto magnate Henry Ford chose to announce his conversion to the Hare Krishna movement just as Detroit newspapers trumpeted the Hindu spiritual awakening of Elizabeth Reuther, daughter of United Auto Workers Union president Walter Reuther. Fords and Reuthers mixed as well as motor oil and water, and even a bit of guilt by association was too much for the Ford clan.

“They kicked me out of the house,” Ford said of his angry parents.

Within a few years, the familial crisis subsided, and today Ford, sometimes known as Ambarisa Das, has become an international ambassador for the Hindu-based teachings for the late Abhay Charan De, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Ford will be featured speaker Sept. 12 as thousands of Houston-area Hindus gather at the George R. Brown Convention Center for the citywide Janmashtami celebration marking the anniversary of Lord Krishna’s birth. Sponsored by Hindus of Greater Houston and the Hare Krishna Movement, the free event will feature food, entertainment and educational presentations.

Deeper meaning sought

Ford, now in his mid-60s, described his younger self as a frustrated Episcopalian in search of life’s deeper meaning.

“I went to church once a week, but I wasn’t all that serious about it,” he said. “I really didn’t understand it. It just didn’t seem that deep to me.”

As a college student in the late 1960s, he was aware of growing popular interest in Eastern religion. But, that, too, seemed like “a lot of gobbledygook,” he said. “It didn’t resonate with me.”

Ford’s spiritual quest eventually led him to Vedic scripture, and an encounter with De’s translation of “Bhagavad Gita” – the Hindu scholar by then was known as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada – was transforming.

“A bell rang,” Ford said. “I was hooked. The main aspect in Krishna Conciousness and Hinduism is that God is a personality. He’s not a void, not a formless, wrathful old man. He’s youthful. He’s the most beautiful, most attractive, the most intelligent. … We all have relationships with him that are eternal.”

The group draws beliefs from the Hindu tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnava, practiced in India since the 15th century. Vaishnava adherents – about 350 million are thought to follow the tradition worldwide – have been active in America since the early 1900s. De arrived in the United States in the mid-1960s, and he spent the last decade of his life establishing the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Ford said acceptance the Hare Krishna doctrine seemed natural.

“My gurus used to say that Krishna Consciousness is not a religion, it’s a spiritual science,” Ford said. “It was not a great leap for me. I was already a vegetarian. The meditation, the devotional service … changed my life for the better.”

The tenets of Hinduism were not totally alien to Ford’s family, either.

“Henry Ford believed in reincarnation,” his great-grandson said. “He could take watches apart and put them back together, although he had no training. He came to believe that those were skills that he acquired in past lives.”

‘We’re not a cult’

The elder Ford at one point acknowledged that a belief in reincarnation, which he adopted in his mid-20s, negated the pressure to learn and do everything in a single lifetime. At one point, Alfred Ford said, the auto pioneer brought an Indian mystic to the U.S. to aid him on his spiritual journey.

“In the 1960s and ’70s, the Hare Krishnas were lumped in with a lot of cults, but we’re not a cult,” Ford said. “It’s a very ancient tradition with very deep roots.”

In the decades since his conversion, Ford has endeavored to help the Hare Krishna Movement “become more entrenched in regions around the world.”

He has been instrumental in building temples in Hawaii and India. Together with Elizabeth Reuther Dickmeyer, he helped purchase a Detroit mansion for use as a religious center.

“We still chant in the streets,” he said. “We still have books we distribute. But behind this is a sublime philosophy that should be able to resonate with anyone.”

Source: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Car-maker-s-great-grandson-a-Krishna-disciple-6489725.php

More Information

A Celebration of Krishna’s Birth

What: Janmashtami

Where: George R. Brown Convention Center

When: 6 p.m., Sept. 12

Admission: Free

Source: Hindus of Greater Houston

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The Perfect Civilization

The whole material world is thriving on the delusion of becoming independent of the laws of nature. 
 
Beginning from Ravana, who wanted to prepare a direct staircase to the planets of heaven, down to the present age, we are trying to overcome the laws of nature. We are trying now to approach distant planetary systems by electronic mechanical power. But the highest goal of human civilization is to work hard under the guidance of the Lord and become completely dependent on Him. 
 
The greatest attainment of perfect civilization is to work with diligence but simultaneously depend completely on the Lord. The Pandavas were the ideal executors of this standard of civilization. Undoubtedly they were completely dependent on the good will of Lord Shri Krishna, but they were not idle parasites of the Lord. They were all highly qualified both by personal character and by physical activities. Still they always yearned for the mercy of the Lord because they knew that every living being is dependent on Him as conditioned by our constitutional position.
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The False Attempt

In the material world, to be dependent on the mercy of someone else is the utmost sign of misfortune, but in the case of our transcendental relation with the Lord, it is the most fortunate case when we can live completely dependent on Him.
 
As we can envision from our holy scriptures, that the sagacious Pandavas are most fortunate because with all good fortune they were entirely dependent on the mercy of the Lord. The material disease is due to thinking of becoming independent of everything. But the cruel material nature does not allow us to become independent. The false attempt to become independent of the stringent laws of nature is known as material advancement of experimental knowledge.
 
Therefore, by becoming cognitive of this false attempt to live independently of the Lord and become overtly dependent on material subjects, we need to reestablish our lost relationship with the Divine and channelize our energies towards redefining the real purpose of life which is having complete faith in Him.
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A book that can transform your life

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Read more about this inward spiritual quest by ordering the book from:
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