By Vani Devi Dasi

Four years ago I got a phone call at three in the morning. Minutes later I couldn’t control my tears and the only thing I knew to do was to take shelter of Panca Tattva. Standing in front of their Lordships in a daze the tears came again as I felt your absence. My heart hurt, my heart still hurts. Your love for Krsna, Prabhupada, and all of us met no bounds, and a moment with you was like a hundred as time stood still and I couldn’t take my eyes from you. Your love was real, your spiritual vision was real, your taste for the holy name was real, your Bhakti was real, your loyalty to Prabhupada was real, and sitting at your feet experiencing all this I couldn’t move, completely overwhelmed.

But Aunty, four years later and I feel your absence less and less because my memories of you are ever strong. Whatever glimpses of taste you gave me burn ever encouraging in my heart, glimpses of a goal I one day desire to reach. I feel you present in my japa and kirtan. I feel you present in my relationship with my spiritual master, as your instructions guided me and your presence with Gurudev and I during those special moments completed my spiritual family. I feel your presence when I cook, you said to me:

“I’m so glad you are already tasting the Radharani Cooking Zone. Just gives me so much happiness to hear this.”

I will never forget those words when I’m in the kitchen, as I try to apply the principles of cooking for Krishna that you taught me.
I know you are with me and I pray the rest of my life can be lived in service to you. I love you Aunty Yamuna, how I wish I could sit at your feet again and hear you speak, but I am nonetheless overwhelmed with gratitude for the moments we’ve had together. As you once wrote to me: “Because we are separated by miles means nothing, for we are always together in heart.”
Aunty, even now I know we are connected in our hearts.

How I regret my foolishness and ignorance in your presence, the time I forgot to reply to your email, and that day I couldn’t go to Ambika Kalna with you, please please forgive me Aunty.
My love for you only increases every day. Please continue to guide and protect me by keeping me at your feet and enveloped in your strong intense embrace.
Your servant,
Vani dd

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=17745

By Vrajendranandan Das

Dear Maharajas and Prabhus,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Recently, we had a big networking opportunity as ISKCON was officially invited to attend the birth day celebration event of Shri Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, who turned 81 on Dec 11th, 2015.

The august gathering witnessed presence of many matteraties, including the Prime Minister and other dignitaries from far flung areas of the country. .As a gesture of mercy and blessing, we gave Mahaprasad of Shri Shri Radhaparth Sarthi and Pushp Guchcha of Lord Narshimha deva to the president which he warmly received and reciprocated with delight and appreciation.

For ISKCON, he has been supportive and largely appreciative of our initiatives. Occasions such as these help us mark our presence amongst those who matter. And by Srila Prabhupada’s grace we get recognized as a peaceful organization focused on spreading the Holy name.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=17751

In 2012, CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, called for a debate between scientists, philosophers and theologians to find common ground between science and religion over how the universe began. Even though the explanations found in the texts of the world's spiritual traditions are admittedly not exhaustive in the details referring to the origin of the universe, they do outline key concepts thereof which are important to the development of the philosophy for spiritual development that they present. The Vedic cosmology of ancient India is incredibly rich and has many points of tangency with modern cosmology, which may help in the construction of that common ground between science and religion that CERN is looking for.

One of the strongest points of tension that often comes up in cosmology between science and religion is the age of the universe. Some interpretations of the Bible calculate it to be about 6,000 years old, while the most recent calculation according to the Lambda-CDM concordance model is 13.8 billion years. The Vedic literatures see the manifestation and eventual destruction of the universe, like most events in nature, as a periodic occurrence and give it in trillions of years. In fact, they talk about an expansion of the universe after its inception and an eventual contraction at the end of its lifespan, in line with modern cosmology's concepts of inflation and/or dark energy. Ideas regarding a cyclic behavior of the universe have also been proposed by prominent physicists like Sir Roger Penrose and Paul Steinhardt. Vedic cosmology also states that within the lifespan of the universe, there are periodic partial devastations of the universe. The time elapsed since the last one is on the order of billions of years, which roughly corresponds to the age of the universe calculated by cosmologists. In between the partial devastations, there are time periods called ages. The current age we live in, the Age of Kali, began about 5,000 years ago, which is roughly in line with (or equivalent to) the Bible's estimates of the age of the universe. We can thus begin to see the potentiality of Vedic cosmology in creating a bridge between science and religion: The apparent contradiction regarding the age of the universe can be regarded as simply calculations of different important periods in the history of the universe.

Another big point of discussion is the process of creation itself. The process described in the Bible, despite being in a sequential order of increasing complexity, seems to involve spontaneous creation, by God's will, of objects and beings. That spontaneous creation would be in opposition to the gradual and piecewise development of suns, planets and life described by astrophysics and evolutionary biology. The Vedic literatures also involve spontaneous creation of complex forms, but it includes an interesting gradual development of basic elements with which the complex forms are later created. These basic elements are said to manifest themselves one from the other in a succession going from the subtlest (pradhana) to the grossest (earth/structure).

Within the Vedic view, as in the unification theories of particle physics, there is an undifferentiated form of material energy (or field, in modern jargon), called pradhana, that is the source of all other forms of energy. It is interesting to note that one of the intermediate elements in the succession is material space, viewed not as a background on which everything happens but as an active substance that can be manipulated and from which grosser elements are derived. This is in line with general relativity, where space is seen as an agent that can be deformed by the presence of mass-energy. Likewise, physicists like John Wheeler, and more recently Christopher Isham, have attempted, in the theory of geometrodynamics, to define all matter in terms of perturbations in the fabric of space.

Thus, even though spontaneous creation of complex forms is still an issue of discussion, there is a very fertile ground for research of the basic component elements with which they are created and the successive manifestation of these elements. Not only that, but according to the Vedas, our universe (which is one of an infinite number of material universes within the vaster expanse of the spiritual worlds) is encapsulated by concentric regions made up of successive material elements that isolate us from the other universes. This concept of multiple universes and possible tests to infer their existence have been studied and classified by several physicists like Max Tegmark and Brian Greene.

Regarding the discussion on spontaneous complex forms, one may begin to explore it seeing the gradual creation of basic elements as a painter preparing his canvas and paints, and the spontaneous creation of complex forms as the elaborate painting itself coming into being, not gradually like the paints and canvas but directly from the painter's design.

From the conclusions of the CERN meeting in 2012, there is much work to be done translating between the languages of science and religion. As we have briefly seen, the Vedic literatures offer amazing avenues for research in science and a broader understanding in religion. Further studies into the matter using the Vedic view may prove fruitful not only in the attenuation of the conflict between the two fields of knowledge but in the development of a scientific understanding of the process of self-realization (in other words, finding out who we really are), which is the ultimate aim of both.

Source: http://goo.gl/RHvP8t

There are many ways to study the Bhagavad-gita. Recently, devotees have considered the Gita from the point of view of what essential values/principles Krishna teaches in this sacred book. They chose six key points: 1. Dharma (right action) 2. Sama Darshana (equal vision) 3. amanitva (humility) 4. iccha (choice/desire) 5. Ahimsa (without cruelty) 6. Priti (affection)

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=17757

Take part in paying forward your great good fortune in having come in contact with Srila Prabhupada’s books. Help others learn the secret of the meaning of life. As His Divine Grace himself so aptly explains:

In order to change this materialistic society and prevent them from gliding to hell, first thing is to educate them. All decent men want to give service to humanity, only thing is they do not have information really what is this service…Service to humanity means jñāna. By giving people knowledge, jñāna, that is the highest service to humanity. So we are performing the actual welfare work of society by informing everyone through our literatures who is God, who they are, and what is the realtionship. In this way everyone who hears our message gets the opportunity to fulfill his actual position as human entity and become delivered from the clutches of maya. letter of January 1973

Source:http://alachuatemple.com/december-book-distribution-marathon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 October 2015, Chowpatty, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 10.69.41)

Question: It happens, especially in household life, that the desires for sense gratification are many times taking over our focus, although we try to keep Krsna in the center. Years are inevitably going by and those desires are still not being completely wiped off, despite our practices. In that situation, what should a devotee do to increase the process of becoming thoroughly Krsna conscious?

In all the ashrams, material desires are there. Only when one has fully awakened his attachment to Krsna, do material desires go away – not any earlier. So it is really about awaking our attachment to Krsna, and it is something we just do not allow ourselves to do. It is almost as if we ourselves are consciously the obstacles. It is as if we are saying to ourselves, ‘No, we will not appreciate Krsna because we are going to spend time with our material desires!’ These material desires, they are so strong, these material desires are always on our mind and we systematically think about them, every second of the day and we do not think of Krsna! You may chant sixteen rounds but not think of Krsna! You may read but you sleep at the same time – you do not think of Krsna and do not remember Krsna!

It looks like this is what we have been doing all this time! Sometimes I give the example of the mind (singing Govindam tune),‘Govindam, adi purusam… what will be for breakfast today!?’ to show how the mind is absent and how we are so distracted in our spiritual life, out of habit. So let us become more conscious of what we are doing, let us appreciate more. We can actually start appreciating Krsna a bit more and make a habit out of that. It does make a difference, it really helps. So many wonderful things have happened and are happening in our lives and we should contemplate on those nice things and practice saying it.

‘The deities are looking so nice, what a nice darshan, such a nice dress, who designed it? And who dressed the deities? Who made the garlands? And all the other arrangements are actually so nice!’  

One just has to stop being negative and rather be positive and recognize the positive by saying it. The more we make habit out of that then we simply realize that there is so much taste. And if we do not practice this, we will find that all this time, we were externally doing everything but not tasting it, because we were simply inattentive to Krsna, inattentive to appreciating things. In this way, all that we could see is, ‘Struggle, struggle… material desires! Oh, so much struggle with the never-ending material desires!’

Material desires. Let us analyze it – what is there, what is it? What is so good in the material world? A new phone… is it that good? Not really! A new wife… better than the old one?  No, it is still the same. So we must consciously appreciate all the good things we have and the more we do so, the more these material desires will begin to look insignificant. If we are negative towards spiritual life, it means we are not appreciative enough, so we should be more appreciative of all the wonderful things in Krsna consciousness – that is the cure. 

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2015/12/the-cure-for-material-desires/

OM SRI SURABHYAI NAMAH! OM SRI GURAVE NAMAH!
CAMP: ISKCON Mangalore

Hare Krishna. Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I send the following mail (attached and also pasted below) for your kind
attention and action.

Thank you for your kind assistance in this matter.

Your servant in Srila Prabhupada's mission.

RP Bhakti Raghava Swami
Minister, IDVM-India
************************************************************

ISKCON DAIVA VARNASRAMA MINISTRY of India

(IDVM-India)

Date            : December 19, 2015

Subject         : ISKCON's Golden Jubilee, Global Go Puja - January 1, 2016

To              : ISKCON Leaders and ISKCON Centers


OM SRI SURABHYAI NAMAH! OM SRI GURAVE NAMAH!

Dear GBC Members, Deputy GBCs, Sannyasis, Temple Presidents, ISKCON Leaders
and devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

As we all know, we are about to embark in a most commemorative period in the
history of our Society, the Golden Jubilee (1966 to 2016) Year Celebration
of ISKCON, beginning January 1, 2016.

The ISKCON Daiva Varnasrama Ministry for India (IDVM-India) wishes to
contribute its might, as all of you, in promoting this unprecedented and
most glorious historical event.

One of the Ministry's main offerings to Srila Prabhupada, in addition to the
Sri Govinda Gau Gram Prachar Yatra covering 108 villages, is the 12-year OM
Sri Surabhi Campaign inaugurated on January 1, 2015.

To invoke global auspiciousness and increased awareness about the need to
protect Mother Cow and to gradually introduce the culture of Cow Care in our
daily lives, we would like to invite all ISKCON Temples and ISKCON Centers
to perform a special Go-Puja to Mother Surabhi on January 1, 2016, in
addition to perform Harinam.

In order to carry this mood during the Golden Jubilee year of 2016, I would
like to further submit the following 3 proposals to ISKCON Leaders and
ISKCON Temples within our Society:

1.      That on January first of every year we all perform a Go-Puja.

2.      That all temples perform a Monthly Go-Puja on every Purnima day.

3.      That all ISKCON centers offer only pure milk (ahimsa) from protected
cows to the presiding Deities in our respective temples/centers.

For your information and pleasure, I herein enclose a report of the
IDVM-India Annual Meeting held a few days ago on December 12-13 in
Hyderabad, India.

I invite you to visit our two websites dedicated in promoting both the
Mandate of IDVM-India and the OM Sri Surabhi Campaign.

I thank you for your kind attention and support,

Trusting this finds you well. Krsne matir astu.

PS: Kindly share with and forward to appropriate and interested contacts,
especially devotees/temples having Goshalas and caring for cows.

Yours in service to Srila Prabhupada

RP Bhakti Raghava Swami
Minister, IDVM-India
www.iskconvarnasrama.com
www.srisurabhi.org

1) Kardama Muni Glorifies The Supreme Lord

Sri Maitreya Rishi

2) Lord Arranges For Kardama Muni's  Marriage

Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakur

3) Lord Fulfills His Devotees Desires

His Divine Grace A .C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

4) Kardama Accepts Devahuti

Sri Maitreya Rishi 

5) Service Attitude of Devahuti

Sripad Vallabhacharya 

6) How Should a Wife Serve Her Husband?

Conversation between Draupadi and Satyabhama