Radha Kunda Seva - January 2016 Photos and Updates (Album with photos) 
The crowds gathered in Radha Kunda on New Year’s Eve are a sure sign that the world is discovering the speciality of this most glorious holy place. It’s amazing, really, how many people are able to squeeze into this tiny town. And yet, what a perfect way to launch the New Year – by visiting Radha Kunda.
Even better… what a perfect way to spend each and every day - by serving in Radha Kunda!
The fog was late this year, but it finally showed up mid-month. There’s something so magical and mysterious about the fog, the way it closes in on you and isolates you from the world around you. The cleaning and prasadam distribution continued, each cleaner bustling about in his or her little fog bubble and each prasadam recipient emerging from their fog to join the happy prasadam bubble.
We conducted an informal survey of the widows to get a sense of what their needs are. When it comes to shelter, it is very important to them that they have their own independent housing situation. Most of them have a room that they can use for the remaining years of their life while paying a very minimal rent each month. Since they cannot afford gas for cooking and their rooms don’t have the ventilation to allow them to cook using cowdung, and since some are too elderly and feeble to cook for themselves, they are very grateful to receive a fresh, hot meal each day. The main lacking they expressed is medical care. For a while, we were providing medical care to one particularly old and invalid widow, Guru dasi. And we are finding out, as we suspected, that there is a larger need for medical care among the widows in general.
We are also always thinking of ways to engage the widows who are able in some service. A good number of them are already involved in cleaning and prasadam distribution, and the most recent idea is to set up those who will with book tables selling books on the practice of Bhakti Yoga by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. We already have a widow who is eager to take up this service and we should be launching this project soon.
Meanwhile, we are going ahead and sharing the finished plans for the kitchen and asramas with you. We are waiting for government approval at which point, as soon as the funds are in, we will be ready for construction!
We are so grateful for your blessings and support. Jai Jai Sri Radheeeee, Shyam!
Please browse our latest photos and join our efforts by visiting www.radharani.com.
Your servants, Mayapurcandra dasa, Campakalata Devi dasi, Padma Gopi Devi dasi, and Urmila Devi Dasi.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/G1YEis

Jivan Shaili by HH Lokanath Swami on 07 Feb 2016 at ISKCON Noida (Hindi)

(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.)

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By Purushottam Nitai Das

At the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna put aside his weapons and with tears in his eyes looked at Krishna expecting compassion. But in return he got chastisement. Tears of sorrow did not impress Krishna but rather it displeased him. If a child refuses to appear in an exam then his mother won’t be sympathetic although her child may give several reasons for not giving the exam. Mother being the best well -wisher of her child knows how important exam is for her child’s career.

Krishna being the best friend of Arjuna expected him to exhibit exemplary qualities befitting a great personality. Tears of lamentation, moroseness and reluctance to do once ordained duty isn’t appreciated by Krishna. These are the qualities of people in mode of ignorance. And devotees are expected to come to mode of goodness which is characterised by enthusiasm, hard work, patience and perseverance. Off course devotees of the Lord do their duties keeping Lord in the centre so they rise above goodness. 

The celebrated devotees of the Lord are not those who gave up their responsibilities whimsically but are those who were highly dedicated and devoted in their duties. Victory or defeat never bothered them; they were just driven with a service attitude to please the Lord. Jatayu fought ferociously but lost the battle with Ravana but won the heart of Lord Rama.

We generally lose the crucial battle of life not because of lack of skill or any external circumstances but we lose because we are internally too weak or too tender hearted to overpower our emotions. We fail to take right decision at the right time. We prefer remaining captivated by our own reasoning or else remain more concerned about other people’s reactions to our decisions.
Arjuna gave various reasons not to fight:
How can I fight against my dear grandfather Bhisma, adorable gurus like Drona and Kripa, my relatives and friends.
If I fight and become cause of their death then I will incur sins.
Even if I am able to win the war then how will I enjoy the kingdom in absence of all my friends and family members?
War will lead to destruction of dynasty which will lead to overall devastation of family tradition which will give rise to irreligion.
Luckily Arjuna did not allow his own reasoning to subdue him but he without delay sought Krishna’s advice.
Krishna gradually and systematically removed Arjuna’s ignorance. He step by step took Arjuna to the path of righteousness and finally revealed the highest knowledge to achieve highest perfection.
First Krishna educated Arjuna about the science of soul. “You are not this body but a soul currently occupying a body, as a soul you are eternal and so are all the living beings. Soul never dies; it just transmigrates from species to species as per their karma.” (Bhagavad Gita 2.20- 2.25)
As a Kshatriya it is your duty to protect the religious principles, so you should fight. If you forego your duty then you will suffer the consequences. B.G. 2.33
There is no glory in not doing your prescribed duty. If you fight and win then you will enjoy the kingdom and if you lose and die in the war then you will attain heavenly kingdom and enjoy heavenly pleasures. B.G. 2.37
Perform your duty equipoised abandoning all attachment to success and failure. By doing so you will free yourself from the results of work in this material world and you can free yourself from the cycle of birth and attain and attain liberation. (B.G. 2.48 – 51).
And finally, Krishna imparted the highest knowledge to Arjuna – “Work for me and offer all the results of work to me. If you do so then you will surely attain me and return to my kingdom where there is no misery, no envy, no disease and no death.” B.G. 9.27 – 9.28. By this time Krishna had already revealed to Arjuna that he is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

After speaking elaborately and eloquently, Krishna did not impose his will on Arjuna. He gave Arjuna a choice to follow him or not to follow him. Krishna said, “Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.” B.G 18.63

Arjuna had cast aside his weapons, had refused to fight and with tearful eyes had asked for Krishna’s counsel. But now after hearing Krishna, he was thoroughly enlightened and without any doubt and hesitation, he picked his weapon and with renewed vigour and determination looked into Krishna’s eyes and said, “My dear Kṛishna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.” ( B.G. 18.73)

Arjuna’s tears were wiped by Krishna’s grace and he ultimately won the battle for Krishna. In our life too challenges will come bringing tears in our eyes but we should not get torn apart by any unpleasant circumstances. We may not have the fortune to have Krishna with us in his original transcendental form. But if we take shelter of Gita’s life transforming message then we would experience Krishna’s presence in our life and we too will find solutions to our problems and get tremendous strength to do our duty with grit and enthusiasm. And we also will then become competent enough to do something wonderful in this world to please Krishna, just like Arjuna.

(Purushottam Nitai Das is a member of congregation at Iskcon Kolkata. He blogs at http://krishnamagic.blogspot.co.uk/)

If one desires to see the remnants of an ideal village, then Peddaganjam becomes a frontrunner. It is located away from the messy cities. The history of this village is that there existed a great civilization ruled by Vaishnava kings. The clear proof of this is the existence of a stone carved Sri Bhava Narayana Swami temple. The archaeological survey indicates that the temple could be 700 years old. The main occupation in the village consists of agriculture and salt production (known as uppukotharalu locally). The village is very close to Bay of Bengal and one experiences soothing ocean breeze in the evenings. According to the modern day parameters of development, the village is considered underdeveloped, but by Vedic standards it has a rich ancient culture.

There are many kirtaneers in the village and it still has a culture of 24 hours mahamantra kirtan (they chant hare rama first) during temple festivals or any household events like marriages and samskaras. There is one week mahamantra festival in Kartik month where many kirtan groups are invited and only mahamantra is chanted 7*24hrs. ISKCON devotees from Chirala participate in such festivals in the village. Groups of devotees from the village visit either Tirupathi dham (nearly 280kms from the village) or Bhadrachalam dham (famous Sri Rama temple in Andhra Pradesh—nearly325 kms from the village). This visit goes on every year. They walk the whole distance which in itself is a big ceremony in the village. The devotees going on pilgrimage are felicitated both before and after the Yatra.

The Yatra (bus) reached the village after an hour’s journey from the earlier base at Vetapalem on January 13, 2016. We were cordially received and all the devotees were given seats and were served with water and coconut water. Thereafter, all the ingredients for cooking were offered and the villagers under the direction of local temple brahmanaenthusiastically fetched all the paraphernalia for the evening program. The village head offered his well-furnished guesthouse for our stay.We had to begin the program early in the evening due to absence of street lights. A group of devotees went on for Harinaam in all the main streets of the village. There was traditional Gopuja to invoke auspiciousness. The villagers were awe struck seeing the modern equipment like audio and video systems. The program proceeded with different presentations on the glories of Bhagavad-gita, Holy Name and the mother cow. The local purohit also spoke about the glories of mother cow and encouraged the villagers to take up chanting of mahamantra on the beads and requested them to purchase Srila Prabhupada’s books. We were told that purohit’s son likes to read Srila Prabhupada’s books and he reads from Krishna book in temple mike whenever he is in the village. After the program many villagers commended the presentations. People from the adjacent villages also invited us to visit them and organize many more such programs. Because of their strong request we were obliged to conduct the program in Gollapalem village in morning, though it was not in our schedule.

Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra ki jai!

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!

Source: http://www.iskconvarnasrama.com/home/yatra-to-peddaganjam-village/

"What does God look like?" asked Todd Burpo, father of Colton who had an NDE

The famous best-selling book and movie Heaven Is For Real describes the experiences of Todd Burpo's son, Colton, who had a NDE (Near Death Experience).  Therein the young boy describes the spiritual world, the kingdom of God and also the instructions that he had been told by the divine personality, Jesus.

However when asked specifically about God the father, by his own father, the boy exclaimed something extraordinary.

Source: http://iskcondallas.blogspot.in/2016/02/what-does-god-look-like-asked-todd.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+iskcondallas+(Kalachandji%27s+Community+Blog,+ISKCON+Dallas)

Lecture on Feelings of Separation in Ramayan by HG Sri Giridhari Prabhu (Tamil)

(His Grace Sri Giridhari Das was introduced to krishna consciousness in the year 1999 and was initiated by HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami Maharaj in the year 2002. He currently serves as Editor of Tamil division of Bhaktivedanta Book Trust(BBT) as well as the Editor of Back to Godhead(BTG) Magazine in Tamil.)

To Listen and Download - click here

e Veda presents four goals of life. The first isKĀMA – “pleasure.” This is the root of every goal, for everyone – from insects to gods.

More evolved people, however, don’t just focus on immediate pleasure, they try to insure that they can also enjoy tomorrow. This is the second goal,ARTHA – “wealth.” The purpose of which is to make pleasure sustainable.

Still more evolved people don’t just try to earn wealth, they try to protect it. Eventually they realize that the most effective way to do that is to create a cooperative society where people respect one another’s property and rights. This is the third goal of life, DHARMA – “morality.”

Very evolved people who pursue pleasure through moral wealth eventually come to realize a few things: (1) the rules of morality are often impositions, they want more freedom, (2) they get tired making money, they need a break, (3) their concept of pleasure seems flawed. Thus, people eventually evolve to desire the fourth goal of life, MOKṢA – “liberation.”

The Veda lauds mokṣa as the highest goal of life because liberation is the most refined pleasure, mokṣa is the most refined kāma. It is so because it frees pleasure from being dependent on external objects and situations, and by so doing, frees us from all sources of pain and suffering. Without pain and suffering, we can experience an existence that is carefree, peaceful and tranquil, unbounded, and effortless to maintain.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s school, however, brings out a fifth goal from the Veda – one which Vyāsa makes particularly clear in his book dedicated to it: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. This goal points out that pleasure is not merely freedom from suffering. Within the purely conscious self accessed by a liberated soul, one can discover the Superself; the root of oneself, and the root of everything – Krishna. Discovering this all-important and all-attractive entity, one falls in love!

It is not the love of an external object. It is love for the root of one’s own being! Since the object of love is not extrinsic to one’s own conscious being, it does not have the flaws of external kāma, flaws which demand money (artha)and laws (dharma). It is love built on the freedom and enlightenment of liberation (mokṣa) – but without mokṣa’s shortcoming of merely being tranquil, and not being passionate and thrilling. Love is superior to freedom, because the thrilling pleasure of love vastly outclasses the peaceful pleasure of freedom!

Thus PREMA truly is the supreme goal of life, the “fifth goal” of the Veda.

Source: https://vicd108.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/love-is-the-highest-goal/

Posted By Uddhava dasa on January 27, 2016

QUESTION: “I HAVE THE TENDENCY TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME STUDYING, AND THEN FORGETTING ALL I’VE STUDIED. SAME GOES FOR HEARING CLASSES AND NOTETAKING. HOW TO STUDY SASTRA/HEAR CLASSES IN SUCH A WAY AS TO REMEMBER EVERYTHING, AND ESPECIALLY NOT LOOSE THE MESSAGE/OR ESSENCE IN THE PROCESS?

Budhi (intellect) has three functions:

(1) detecting patterns in the data it gets through the ears, eyes, etc.,

(2) comprehending those patterns by matching them with the fully or partially comprehended patterns it has stored in memory, and

(3) (a) filling up the “memory” with comprehended patterns through “education” and (b) keeping those patterns sharp and organized for efficient indexing and access.

When you study or listen to a teacher, you are doing “3.a.” You are asking about a “memory leak” – where the patterns seem to go in, but then leak back out.

Patterns leak out of memory when they are not frequently used.

Budhi is an organic, hyper-physical supercomputer. It keeps its “hard disk” (memory) efficient and organized. One way it does so is by deleting unimportant “files” (comprehended patterns). The deletion is gradual, just as modern computer OS’ first move the file to a “trash bin” and only later “empty the trash.” Similarly, memories “fade” as they get more and more flags from the budhi “OS” marking them as candidates for deletion.

The key to remembering what you learn is to use and interact with it regularly.

A “file” of information in your memory will be marked for deletion if it hasn’t been used in a while. So the key to remembering what you learn is to use it and interact with it regularly.

If you learn something from a book or a class, for example, you should immediately try to write it in your diary or notebook in your own words, and try to make it relevant and useful by linking it to other “patterns” in your life, investigating what it means in context of various things you believe or do or think. This will put a “useful” flag on the bit of info, which is very important.

If you want to remember something – ask questions about it! Ask the author, ask the speaker, ask your mother’s uncle, or even ask yourself – but ask! The more clearly you understand the relevance of information, the longer it will persist in your memory. Like Google, when things are related to other things, they are more “relevant,” and so come up more frequently in “searches” and thus get more “traffic.” The more traffic a bit of memory gets, the more important it must be, and thus the more carefully budhi keeps it stored.

Ask questions WHILE learning. Otherwise the info won’t get “written to the Hard Disk.”

Asking questions and writing the ideas out in your own words right away is very important for remembering things, because information has to be marked “useful” soon after we get it, otherwise it will not be transferred from short- to long- term memory, but will instead disappear when the short term memory is “refreshed” (which happens frequently). Just like a regular computer, buddhi has “RAM” (immediate, working memory), which it cleans much more frequently and than its “Hard Disk” (long term memory). So, if you immediately try to use the info you’ve learned by putting it in your own words or asking how it relates to other things that currently exist in your own life and outlook, then you mark the info as useful while it is in “RAM” short-term memory, and thus allow it to survive the dangerous and frequent “RAM refreshes” and get transitioned to the “Hard Disk” (long term memory).

APPLY the new information to how you live, how you act, and how you see the world. This will keep it relevant – and budhi will then make sure it remains sharp and clear at the top of your “memory stack.”

Once information is on memory’s “Hard Disk” you still have to utilize the pattern, or it will fade gradually. You do this by applying the pattern of information to how you live, act, and see the world. This keeps it relevant – and budhi will then make sure to keep it sharp and clear right at the top of your “memory stack.”

So, to reiterate, we remember useful things. So if we want to remember something from a book or a lecture, we have to make it useful to us – which means we need to incorporate it into our daily life – our conversations, our actions, and our way of looking at things.

Vraja Kishor

www.vrajakishor.com

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18759

An exceptional presence today in the subway :-)
Srila Prabhupada story: Srila Narada Muni came!!!
One night an extraordinary thing happened. Prabhupada led the first kirtan and then gave a lecture. I sat on the floor just to his right with the harmonium, and after the lecture, I began leading the second Hare Krishna kirtan. All of a sudden, Srila Prabhupada’s voice cut through the auditorium with the potency of Lord Nrisimha, right in the middle of my chanting. I had never heard Prabhupada do that, nor had I heard the words he chanted. ‘Narada Muni bhajaya vina radhika ramana namne,’ he sang. And then again he repeated it. I looked up, and he looked down at me, signaling me to carry on. So I continued chanting Hare Krishna, and he continued singing his prayer to Narada Muni into his microphone. I closed my eyes and carried on, not knowing what was happening. Then he started leading with me. We could all understand that something inexplicable but amazing was happening. Everyone was literally jumping off the ground, leaping in the air; even little baby Saraswati was two feet off the ground, and the audience was leaping into the air. We jumped off the stage and all of us began running around the perimeter of the auditorium with the audience. It was one of those Krishna magic moments. Just amazing! The next morning I asked what had happened the previous night. “Didn’t you see?” Srila Prabhupada said. “Narada Muni came to our kirtan.” “No, I didn’t see him,” I answered. “Yes, Narada Muni came.” ( Yamuna devi dasi – London 1969 )

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18757

By: Satsvarupa dasa Goswami for ISKCON News on Feb. 8, 2016

Dissolving the “Illusory Prabhupada” 

We have to be patient with ourselves as we serve Prabhupada.  It is natural to select certain instructions that we think fit our situations and our personalities.  When we try to relate to the spiritual master as preachers, we even encourage newcomers to find something in Prabhupada’s teachings which they can follow wholeheartedly.  We just have to be careful not to present a watered down version of what Prabhupada is teaching.  Until we are pure, there will always be some trace of compromise in our ability to follow, but we should always seek to increase our surrender and to know internally who our spiritual master is and what he wants from us.  Even if there is some trace of illusion in ourselves, ultimately, there is nothing illusory about Prabhupada. 

A duality can sometimes exist between Prabhupada as he is and one’s conception of Prabhupada as we want him to be.  (There are many “Prabhupada saids” floating around our movement – how often do we hear “Prabhupada said” offered by someone trying to end an argument?)  Therefore, it is good for us to expose ourselves to the “real” Prabhupada as he wrote letters to people, as long as we carefully understand the context from which he is speaking.  Exposing ourselves to Prabhupada’s books and letters replaces any imagined idea of Prabhupada with the real person.  A search for the real Prabhupada has to be in a sensitive and ongoing way. 

We should not be afraid of the possibility that we have created an “illusory Prabhupada” within our minds.  It’s not like the “illusory Vasudeva” which the demon Salva created to dishearten Krishna on the battlefield.  Salva said, “Krishna, I have Your father here, and I’m going to cut off his head.  There’s nothing You can do about it.”  Salva then cut off the head of his mystic illusion.  When Krishna saw it, He appeared to be unhappy for a moment.  But since Krishna is never overcome by illusion, He then grew more determined to fight.  Any service to Prabhupada is valid.  If we are determined, we will gradually work out our misconceptions of Prabhupada.  We are never cut off from the mercy.

The Prabhupada we worship and who appeals to us is our inspiration for devotional service.  Salva used the “illusory Vasudeva” in an attempt to harm Krishna.  But if we worship Prabhupada, we will always be benefited.  With confidence in Prabhupada’s mercy, we can strive to cut away too much compromise in our service and to respond to Prabhupada as he is.

Source: http://iskconnews.org/iskcon-50-meditations-february-8-2016,5369/

By N. Swaminathan, Ph.D.

A pilgrimage to ISKCON’s grand complex in Lord Chaitanya’s land provides indelible inspiration for an engineer and his family.

When I entered the spacious temple and looked to the right, I was stunned on seeing the huge and extremely beautiful deities of Radha-Madhava, with four sakhis on each side gazing at the perfect beauty of Lord Madhava and Srimati Radharani and very eager to serve Them. The temple was full of devotees offering ghee lamps, an act that symbolizes how our heart burns in separation from Krishna. My family and I also got ghee lamps and offered them to Radha-Madhava and the eight sakhis.

We then went to the adjoining hall, also spacious. When I saw the huge golden Panca Tattva deities, I couldn’t imagine ever having to leave Mayapur. The devotees’ graceful dancing and the beautiful kirtana enchanted me. And before I could recover, I was in front of the deity of Nrisimha. Dressed in silver, He looked like silver fire. He was so ferocious, and yet so assuring. I don’t remember how many times I offered obeisances to Him, or maybe I didn’t at all.

Thank you, Srila Prabhupada. Even though you were satisfied with whatever Krishna provided to you, you undertook great hardships to create such a beautiful place and a real society of devotees so that people like me would be attracted to spiritual life.

I work in an engineering software company, and I had been attending a Bhagavad-gita class conducted by ISKCON for four months when our teacher invited my family and me for a four-day pilgrimage to Mayapur during the auspicious month of Damodara (Karttika). Mayapur is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who in the sixteenth century propagated the chanting of the holy names of Krishna, the recommended spiritual practice for Kali-yuga, the current age.

Our reception at ISKCON Mayapur’s Gada Bhavan was most magnificent. We were garlanded with flowers, and cool sandalwood paste was applied to our foreheads. This is how guests are received in the Vaishnava tradition, said our hosts.

The next day we got up really early and bathed in unheated water. We attended mangala-arati at Prabhupada’s Pushpa Samadhi and then at the Radha-Madhava temple. I completed sixteen rounds of chanting before 7:00 A.M., and I had a full day ahead of me.

While walking to the goshala, we were shown the grihastha quarters and a building that’s home to brahmacharis two months a year. The rest of the year they are out traveling in buses and distributing Prabhupada’s books. We also were told about four schools: one with the CBSE pattern, one with the Cambridge Board, one a girls’ school, and one a Vedic gurukula. The first three have a mixed curriculum, modern with Vedic, but the last is purely Vedic. We were surprised. What about the future of these boys? We learned the answer, a very instructive one, when we went to the gurukula in the evening.

The goshala has four sections: for old cows, younger cows, calves, and bulls. We had kirtana and a wonderful lesson on the importance of cow protection and cow’s milk. Bala Govinda Dasa, our guide and teacher, also told us that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is not a great saint but the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. To make the best of this pilgrimage, he advised us to (a) abstain from prajalpa, or useless mundane talk, (b) chant as much as possible, (c) listen very carefully to the glories of this place, and (d) maximize our association with the devotees.

We felt great honor in feeding the calves with straw and date-sugar balls. The children enjoyed this a great deal. I was thankful to Lord Krishna for His being as accessible and loving to children as to adults. I remembered our visits to many South Indian temples when the children got bored and we couldn’t sustain their enthusiasm. But in Mayapur it was different. The children woke up the parents because they were eager to start the day early.

The evening took us to the Vedic gurukula. The students learn Vedic mathematics, English (and through it, other languages, including Sanskrit), music, martial arts, Vedic mantras, Vaishnava texts, and leadership and organizational skills. They do menial tasks such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, and filling water containers. They use only oil lamps at night and cook with cow dung as fuel. We asked them if they worried about their future. They are completely cut off from current affairs and modern education. Even their Vedic degree is not recognized outside ISKCON. What if they decide to do something outside ISKCON?

The answers we got, in the form of rhetorical questions, were an eye-opener: What do we need to a job for? Do we trust our boss more or Krishna more? How did Prabhupada manage in the U.S. with no money? How does a dog survive without current affairs and degrees? How does an ant get its food? Are we worse than dogs or ants?

The answers showed us the depth of these boys’ faith and the shallowness of ours. How can Krishna reciprocate with us when we have no faith in Him? That made us worry. And indeed, by Krishna’s mercy these boys become gurukula teachers, run establishments, and assume important roles that require relational and managerial skills rather than academic degrees.

The next day, after mangala-arati we saw a diorama exhibition of Lord Chaitanya’s pastimes. Then we walked along the road outside the temple campus to board a boat to one of the islands in Navadvipa.

Out of respect for this holy land, I stopped carrying my mobile phone and started walking barefoot, feeling nourished by the cool Mayapur sand under my bare feet.

Godruma-dvipa

The boat glided on the whitish Ganga, which met the Jalangi, dark like the Yamuna. On the Jalangi shore we formed a sankirtana party as we walked to Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house on the island of Godruma-dvipa. We learnt that he had started life in a modest manner and later rose from clerk to magistrate. He was extremely punctual and efficient and thus was respected by the British. To convince him to postpone his retirement, they built a railway line just to ferry him to and from his office. He was the father of ten children. He wrote prolifically in Bengali to bring people the rich Vedic texts in the form of poems and songs. He discovered the birthplace of Lord Chaitanya and built a temple there by collecting mostly small donations from the local people. He eventually organized two thousand village groups for practicing and spreading Krishna consciousness. He is an inspirational, ideal grihastha.

The name of this island (dvipa) comes from the words go (cow) and druma (tree). Long ago, Surabhi, the mother of all cows, performed austerities under a banyan tree here to please Lord Vishnu. In another incident associated with this sacred place, the sage Markandeya once wanted to see Lord Krishna’s maya, or illusory potency. Fulfilling the sage’s request, Krishna flooded the entire world. Markandeya was washed away but landed safely at Godruma-dvipa, the only place above water. There he saw a beautiful baby on a banyan leaf, sucking His own toe. The baby was Krishna, who wanted to experience the taste of His own lotus feet, a taste that steals the hearts of all devotees and great sages. Suddenly, the baby sucked the sage into His stomach, in which the entire universe was visible, and just as suddenly expelled him. Thus Markandeya saw how the entire universe is contained within Lord Krishna while He is simultaneously aloof from it.

We then returned by boat with a stopover for bathing in the Ganga. Mother Ganga flows from the feet of Krishna and is very sacred. People with material eyes cannot see the purity of the Ganga and the spiritual benefits she can provide. We prayed for Mother Ganga’s permission before entering, and while bathing we prayed that her pure water might cleanse our hearts of impurities, which stand in the way of reviving our original Krishna consciousness. The children had a wonderful time in the cool water, and we had tough time getting them out.

Prabhupada’s Samadhi

In the evening we visited Prabhupada’s samadhi. Its circular shape allows many people at once to view Prabhupada sitting majestically on his altar. Inside the dome, tile mosaics depict various landmark events in Prabhupada’s life. I was touched by the picture of him guiding an American child in writing a Sanskrit letter. On the first floor are dioramas depicting Prabhupada’s life-his own Rathayatra at age four, writing his heartfelt poem expressing his full surrender to Krishna as he reached America, his first public kirtana in the U.S., and so on. At an advanced age, in a foreign land, with almost no money or support, he transformed misguided American youth into spiritual practitioners and leaders, established more than a hundred temples all over the world, and produced dozens of books based on Vaishnava philosophy. How could he do all this? Because he had faith in his guru and Krishna.

After mangala-arati the next morning, we offered our obeisances to the Panca Tattva and thanked them for allowing us to enter the dhama. We prayed for their grace to help us steadily progress in Krishna consciousness. We begged forgiveness for any offenses we may have committed during our pilgrimage. And we requested their permission to leave the dhama.

Yoga-pitha

From the ISKCON complex, a bus took us a short distance to the birthplace of Lord Chaitanya, known as Yoga-pitha. The deities here are Radha-Madhava; Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with His consorts (Vishnupriya and Lakshmipriya); Sri Jagannatha Misra and Saci Devi, Lord Chaitanya’s parents; and the Adhokshaja (Vishnu) deity worshiped by Lord Chaitanya’s parents and discovered by Bhaktivinoda Thakura while the temple foundation was being dug.

After spending some time at Yoga-pitha, we prayed to Lord Chaitanya for love of Krishna and left for ISKCON’s Jagannatha temple in Simanta-dvipa, a little farther up the road. Before entering the temple we heard from Murari Dasa about the appearance of Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra there, and how the temple came under the care of ISKCON. The place gives devotees the same spiritual benefit as visiting the Jagannatha temple in Puri. The island’s name refers to a time when Goddess Parvati prayed here to Lord Chaitanya. When the Lord appeared, she put the dust from under His feet on the part (simanta) of her hair.

Back in Kolkata, I realized that Mayapur is an example of how one can live a completely spiritual life right here in the material world. “O Lord!” I prayed. “When can I return to Mayapur?” And I recalled the caption I’d seen under a picture of ISKCON Mayapur’s Sri Radha-Madhava: “Meet your new boss.”

Why Biology is Beyond Physical Sciences?
Abstract: In the framework of materialism, the major attention is to find general organizational laws stimulated by physical sciences, ignoring the uniqueness of Life. The main goal of materialism is to reduce consciousness to natural processes, which in turn can be translated into the language of math, physics and chemistry. Following this approach, scientists have made several attempts to deny the living organism of its veracity as an immortal soul, in favor of genes, molecules, atoms and so on. However, advancement in various fields of biology has repeatedly given rise to questions against such a denial and has supplied more and more evidence against the completely misleading ideological imposition that living entities are particular states of matter. In the recent past, however, the realization has arisen that cognitive nature of life at all levels has begun presenting significant challenges to the views of materialism in biology and has created a more receptive environment for the soul hypothesis. Therefore, instead of adjudicating different aprioristic claims, the development of an authentic theory of biology needs both proper scientific knowledge and the appropriate tools of philosophical analysis of life. In a recently published paper the first author of present essay made an attempt to highlight a few relevant developments supporting a sentient view of life in scientific research, which has caused a paradigm shift in our understanding of life and its origin [1]. The present essay highlights the uniqueness of biological systems that offers a considerable challenge to the mainstream materialism in biology and proposes the Vedāntic philosophical view as a viable alternative for development of a biological theory worthy of life.
Recently our Institute scientists published a paper entitled Why Biology is Beyond Physical Sciences? in the Journal Advances in Life Sciences. This paper discusses some of the points that are under discussion in this group. Details of this paper are given below.
Cite: Bhakti Niskama Shanta and Bhakti Vijnana Muni (2016) Why Biology is Beyond Physical Sciences?, Advances in Life Sciences, Vol. 6(1), pp. 13-30. doi: 10.5923/j.als.20160601.03
Full-text HTML: http://dx.doi.org/10.5923/j.als.20160601.03
Full-Text PDF: http://www.sapub.org/global/showpaperpdf.aspx?doi=10.5923/j.als.20160601.03

Krishna Conscious HIP HOP ALBUM.
Milan Parmar is an individual who is part of the youth group ISKCON Pandava Sena. He has been practising Krishna Consciousness for over 5 years by reading and studying the Bhagavad Gita where he finds, what he likes to call - “every moment”, inspiration and in depth meaning to life. Milan became more involved with Pandava Sena late 2014 and found himself engaging in different services instantly such as, the Pandava Sena Janmashtami play and Something Spiritual (A creative arts group that aims to spread Krishna Consciousness in fun and dynamic ways). For over 10 years, he has been writing poetry and music lyrics where he finds he can express his inner thoughts and realisations to a wider crowd. He has released 3 Hip-Hop mixtapes over a 3 year period which were his experimental points to find himself within his musical field. On January 29th 2016, he released his first album called “When A Soul Acknowledges” through PandavaSena and aims to connect the World to Krsna Consciousness through Hip-Hop & music. When A Soul Acknowledges is a Hip-Hop album that portrays a story of an individual soul within a material lifetime. A journey that starts from birth into the material world, to growth of this body, experiencing the ‘pleasures’ of material life and finding no real essence in them, to becoming realised of the true self and finding a Guru who has shown this individual the truths of life, then taking on a spiritual life and finding the greatest love towards the Supreme and finally, the soul leaving the body and returning to the spiritual realm where the Supreme resides. This album is compiled of 10 tracks that allow you to immerse yourself in different stages of this individual’s lifetime and finding a deeper meaning through each chapter of their story. A symphonic book which many, if not all, can relate to and take on lessons that lie within each lyric, verse, song and the album as a whole. All proceeds for the album go to Pandava Sena. You can also view a video on the PandavaSena YouTube of the album highlights here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2co-8jHUllQ When A Soul Acknowledges is available to download/stream from all digital media formats iTunes: https://itun.es/gb/TIvuab Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Btlr3pwzqkq7lav2x3q4tyz25li Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7o3bYfrTHk3BPn6Czp1GGC Amazon Music: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01B6YOE7S?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Tulasi, or Tulsi, does not need any introduction in India for her magnanimous qualities. Ancient medical science, Ayurveda, has all praise for Tulasi and now even modern science also has come to learn about her unmatched health benefits.

Indian scientists have deciphered the entire genetic make-up of Tulsi, a herb widely used for therapeutic purposes. The genome map will help in making new medicines using the plant. A multi-institutional team led by Sowdhamini Ramanathan from the … Indian scientists decode Tulsi plant genome – The Hindu

The report says the plant synthesises a wide range of bioactive compounds, known for their anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-pyretic and anti-cancer properties. They found that these compounds are metabolites, compounds that are a by-product of plant metabolism, typically used for plant self-defence. However, these metabolites are very poorly understood because of lack of genomic information.

“Ayurveda mostly uses Rama and Krishna tulsi,” said Nitish Sathyanarayana of NCBS and a co-author of the paper. Of the various parts of the plant, the leaves were found to have the highest concentration of the metabolites; roots and stems contain only … Medicinal properties of tulsi unravelled – The Hindu

Did you know that just by being around Tulsi plants and simply by inhaling Tulasi leaves one can cure chronic diseases? However, one must not treat Tulasi leaves as ordinary. Tulasi leaves must be offered first to Lord Vishnu before they are used for any other purpose. Also any herbal products made out of Tulasi must not be applied below waist. This is the reason commercially produced soaps using Tulasi are not used by devotees.

In Vedic culture, Tulasi devi, or Goddess Tulasi, is worshiped along with Lord Vishnu or Krishna. As explained in this article, the reason devotees worship Tulasi devi, also known as Vrinda devi, is not because she possesses great medicinal value; it is the other way around, that is, because she is very dear to Lord Vishnu, she automatically is endowed with great qualities that benefit human beings.

Tulasi devi is not merely a herbal plant: she is an eternal associate of Lord Krishna in the spiritual world known as Goloka Vrindavan. Only out of her causeless mercy has she descended on this planet so that by serving her we can attain the supreme goal of life.

Krishna devotees around the world regularly worship Tulasi devi by watering her plant, by chanting prayers and by circumambulating her. Tulasi beads are used for chanting the holy names of Lord Krishna, and for making kanthi malas that devotes wear around the neck for invoking blessings.

We find the following on http://www.salagram.net/Tulasi.htm  in glorification of Tulasi devi.

“Vedic scriptures are full of pastimes that reveal the potency of Tulasi devi in developing devotion for the Lord. The Srimad Bhagavatam talks about this pastime with the four Kumaras, the sons of Lord Brahma who were very much attached to the impersonal aspect of Godhead.

‘When the breeze carrying the aroma of Tulasi leaves and saffron from the lotus feet of the lotus-eyed Personality of Godhead entered through the nostrils into the hearts of those sages [the Kumaras], they experienced a change in both body and mind, even though they were attached to the impersonal Brahman understanding.’

Thus by simply smelling the fragrance of the Tulasi leaves the four Kumaras became pure devotees of the Lord.

http://i2.wp.com/mayapurvoice.com/svagatam/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/krishna-and-tulasi.jpg?w=478 478w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" src-orig="http://i2.wp.com/mayapurvoice.com/svagatam/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/krishna-and-tulasi.jpg?resize=300%2C217" scale="1.5" />

In Chaitanya lila Srila Advaita Acarya was very much disturbed to see the growth of irreligiosity. Therefore He decided to call for the Personality of Godhead Krishna to descend by worshiping the Lord with Tulasi leaves and the water of the Ganges. When Sri Krishna was pleased by this devotion He descended as Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Haridasa Thakura a great devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu purified a prostitute, who had come with the intention of seducing him, with instructions to chant the holy name and worship Tulasi. She became so elevated by this service that even great Vaishnavas would come to get her mercy.

Quoting from the Gautamiya-tantra, the Hari-bhakti-vilasa states:

tulasi-dala-matrena jalasya culukena va 
vikrinite svam atmanam bhaktebhyo bhakta-vatsalah

‘Sri Krishna, who is very affectionate toward His devotees, sells Himself to a devotee who offers merely a Tulasi leaf and a palmful of water.’

In the Nectar of Devotion, service to Tulasi devi is glorified as one of items of devotional service. In the Srimad Bhagavatam (3.15.19) it is said that although flowering plants like the mandara, kunda, kurabaka, utpala, campaka, arna, punnaga, nagakesara, bakula, lily and parijata are full of transcendental fragrance, they are still conscious of the austerities performed by Tulasi, for Tulasi is given special preference by the Lord, who garlands Himself with Tulasi leaves.

In the Skanda Purana there is a statement praising the Tulasi tree as follows: ‘Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Tulasi tree, which can immediately vanquish volumes of sinful activities. Simply by seeing or touching this tree one can become relieved from all distresses and diseases. Simply by offering obeisances to and pouring water on the Tulasi tree, one can become freed from the fear of being sent to the court of Yamaraja [the King of death, who punishes the sinful]. If someone sows a Tulasi tree somewhere, certainly he becomes devoted to Lord Krishna. And when the Tulasi leaves are offered in devotion at the lotus feet of Krishna, there is the full development of love of Godhead.”

All glories to Srimati Tulasi devi..!

Source: http://mayapurvoice.com/svagatam/scientists-astonished-by-tulasi-plants-medicinal-properties/

Dearest Srila Prabhupada

Please accept our most humble obeisances unto your lotus feet. All glories to your divine grace. All glories to your sincere followers, who are leading us forth, showing the way to please you and make you smile!

For your pleasure Srila Prabhupada, the Toronto chapter of your Sankirtan Army, had a glorious year 2015. We organized many sankirtan festivals, participated in several multicultural festivals in and around the city, knocked on thousands of doors, placed books in countless venues from hotels to homeless shelters. We distributed several thousands of books, distributed huge quantities of prasadam and reached out to many more souls, with a hope to connect them to you. The Toronto Sankirtan Family has grown beautifully in the past one year.

While book distribution continued throughout the year, our final push for your pleasure came towards the end of our annual book marathon. The goal seemed far and our options seemed few, but armed by the mantra “With blessings everything is possible”, we marched ahead determined to try our best – the worst we thought was that we’d fail, but you have assured us that simply by the attempt, we will attain all perfection! And the final push began… everyone stretched beyond their comfort zones – some headed out on the streets to distribute books in chilling winds, some knocked door to door for hours on end, others got on the phone and reached out to all their contacts with a plea to accept your books – everyone worked together for the one goal – to make Srila Prabhupada reach up the Jaladuta.

On December 27th, with 5 full days for the marathon, the Toronto Sankirtan Team smashed all its goals. This year for your pleasure Srila Prabhupada our total remittance to your BBT was 13% that of last year (supporting team North America in the goal of 10% increase), we distributed 108 sets of Srimad Bhagavatam and Sri Caitanya Caritamrita and raised Sastra Dana sponsorships for over 10,000 Bhagavad Gitas to be placed throughout the year.

Service to your sankirtan movement has created a flourishing family of devotees here in Toronto – all united under your umbrella. As we enter in to 2016,the 50th year of ISKCON, we humbly pray to be able to please you – by increasing our efforts to bring your books to more and more people. We pray to work inwards and share the overflow. We pray to remain grateful for the opportunity that we have been awarded and we pray for the maturity to serve with compassion all the devotees who you have kindly sent our way.

“Simply by this attempt you will get superior strength and knowledge about Krishna Consciousness. It doesn’t matter whether a man is convinced or not, but your sincere attempts to convince others will help you progress.”

Holding on to your word, falling and tripping, we, are trying to somehow stay afloat and carry the march forward. Please always keep us in your shelter

In your service
Toronto Sankirtan Team

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18777

The Yogi’s Wager.
A servant of a very rich man came before his master one day and told him of an interesting yogi he had seen in the river. The servant said that this yogi claimed he could stay in the water all night in the middle of the river without any outside heat. The yogi was willing t take a wager with anyone to prove that he could do it. When the rich man heard this, he decided to wager against the yogi. So the bet was made to see whether the yogi could stay in the water all night. The yogi went into the water, and the rich man and his servant went home. The next day word came that the yogi had successfully stayed in the water all night. The rich man went out to see the yogi, and indeed he was still standing in the water. Therefore by all rights the rich man had lost the wager. But then a friend of the rich man said, “Wait! See that light?” He pointed to a small flame far away in a temple. The rich man’s friend said, “By his mystic power, this yogi has been using the heat of that light to keep warm in the water. So he shouldn’t be paid, because the bet was that he would stay in the water without taking any heat.” Taking advantage of this word jugglery, the rich man said, “Yes I’m not going to pay you. You’ve tricked me.” Then the rich man and his servant went back to the house. The rich man asked his servant to quickly cook him a nice breakfast, but after waiting for some time, the servant had not produced anything. The rich man expressed his impatience, but the servant replied, “Please wait. I’m cooking.” The rich man waited, but it got later and later and no food was brought. When he demanded food from his servant, the servant only replied, “I’m cooking. It’s going to be ready soon.” Finally the rich man became angry and walked into the kitchen. “What is this cooking?” he demanded. And there he saw that the servant had a very strange arrangement for cooking. He had a very small fire on the ground an a tall bamboo tripod to hold the pot he was supposed to be heating high near the ceiling. Obviously, the small flame would never be able to reach the pot to heat it. “What do you think you’re doing?” demanded the rich man. “Well,” said the servant, if you claim that the yogi was keeping warm in
the water by that light, then I am also cooking.“ The man could understand that his servant was dissatisfied with the outcome of the wager with the yogi. And so he went and paid the yogi the wager.
MORAL: If you practice Krishna consciousness "part time” you can’t expect to be “completely cooked”. If the fire of purification you apply is too far and weak won’t be able to separate the impurities and create a nice ghee for Krishna :-)
To watch this parable in video: https://goo.gl/jzzZP3

Where did we begin our karma and when and why?
Answer by Radhanath Swami: I will answer briefly because this is the very long explanation but i.e. certain point in our existence as part and parcel of Lord Krsna. We have given free choice to either serve Krsna and love Krsna or to exploit what is the property of Krsna. When you made that choice you have given entrance into the material creation. And in the very beginning at the don of our existence in material creation we began to perform activities in the realm of exploitation and then our karma begins. Sometimes we exploit in a pious way and we get good karma. Sometimes we exploit in an impious way and we create bad karma. But Srila Prabhupada rarely would become very specific in regard to this question of our origin in this material creation. In fact generally when devotees would ask him he would very purposely answered in an indirect way. Generally when people would ask him this question he would say the problem is you are in Maya. Now how you got here its not so important what’s important is to get out. The Scriptures explain in specific detail how we come here. But Srila Prabhupada he would say if you are drowning in an ocean and someone comes to throw you a life preserver while sitting on the boat and says- come, I will pull you up to the boat and you say- wait! first I want to know when I fell on the ocean and why I fell on the ocean. Mean while there is sharks surrounding you ready to eat you alive. In the same way the shark of death is ready to devour us. It is not so important to understand why and how we came but it’s essential to hold on to the life raft and to get out. How our karma began through perhaps millions and millions and millions of births it has developed but the point i.e. of concern now is you have the opportunity to be free from all karma now. Krsna says in Gita- Abandon all varieties of religion, abandon all varieties of speculation and just surrender to Me. I shall protect you from all sinful reactions of whatever you have done, whenever you have done.
Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. In this way you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this. So guru maharaj put all the emphasis on the here and now. Here is the life raft the association of devotees, the Holy Name, his transcendental books which teaches us how to live in such a way today by which can get out. And as far as he was concern the only real subject matter of any importance in regard to our origin in this material existence is that we misuse our independence exactly when, exactly how is not important. So what is important is we have misuse our independence? And why is it so important because we are still misusing our independence. So let us utilizes this independence for Krsna and become librated from the cycle of birth and death because you see theoretically we can explain these things but you will not understand it until you Back Home Back to Godhead. Ha… So therefore our concern is- you Back Home Back to Godhead and understand that realization and not put so much effort on trying to theoretically understand what we can’t understand. Is that answers question? So chant Hare Krsna Be Happy. Go Back Home Back to Godhead. You may have been worm, you may have been snake, you may have been reptile, a bird, a pig, a human being, a Mataji so many things. This is anything wrong with Mataji now you are brahmachari matajis are devotees you know all devotees we were so many things, we don’t care for any what we been we are concern with where we are going. Where been in this life. We are not concerned. Jagai and Madhai sinful didn’t matter when they took to Krishna Consciousness they became pure, pure than the pure. Doesn’t matter what we have done, where we come from all that matters is where we are going. So take Krsna. Lord Nityananda prayed in this way. Take Krsna. The only price is that you accepting with faith. Hare Krsna.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=18779