Pledge Your Support for the TOVP

To establish Sridhama Mayapur, the audharya dhama, as the World Headquarters of the Hare Krishna Movement and bring it to the forefront and attention of the entire world, as well as to show our love and gratitude to Srila Prabhupada for this most rare benediction and gift he has given us in the form of the ISKCON society, we all need to work together to make our acharyas’ vision become manifest. Srila Prabhupada said that the temple was already built, but we must take this opportunity if we want to be the instruments and receive the transcendental credit, or someone else will.

With the announcement by the GBC Chairman, Praghosa das, of 2015 as the Year of the TOVP, and the coming of ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary in 2016, along with the overwhelming success of the current North American TOVP Tour, a new and effective fundraising plan has been devised to collect the required funds for its completion. This is the Pledge Program whereby you can make a pledge from one of 10 different donor options and pay it off over the course of 3, 5, or even 7 years, leading up to the Grand Opening in 2022. Anyone can participate and make a substantial pledge, paying it off in small monthly amounts. The 10 Ways to Donate are as follows:

1. Radharani Coin (Diamond Patron) – $1,000,000
2. Chaitanya Coin (Platinum Patron) – $250,000 (7 have already been pledged)
3. Nityananda Coin (Gold Patron) – $108,000 (25 have already been pledged)
4. Advaita Coin (Silver Premium Patron) – $51,000
5. Gadadhara Coin (Silver Plus Patron) – $25,000
6. Srivas Coin (Silver Patron) – $11,000 (452 have already been pledged)
7. Radha Madhava Brick – $2500 (343 have already been pledged or paid in full)
8. Golden Avatar Brick – $1600 (857 have already been pledged or paid in full)
9. Nrsimhadev Tile – $1000 (673 have already been pledged or paid in full)
10. Square Foot – $150

The six coin pledges include a solid metal commemorative coin as a gift to you, as well as the Radha Madhava and Golden Avatar Bricks and Nrsimhadev Tile with your name on them, and your name inscribed on the TOVP Devotional Wall of Fame, amongst other benefits. Simply make your pledge selection below and you’re on your way to helping make the TOVP a reality. Make a pledge today and become an instrument in Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement. It’s a once in MANY lifetimes opportunity.

Source:http://tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities/

Utpanna Ekadasi: Suta Goswami said, "O learned brahmanas, long ago Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, explained the auspicious glories of Sri Ekadasi and the rules and regulations governing each observance of fasting on that holy day. O best of the brahmins, whosoever hears about the origins and glories of these sacred fasts on the Ekadasi days goes directly to the abode of Lord Vishnu after enjoying many different kinds of happiness in this material world. "

Arjuna, the son of Prithaa, asked the Lord, 'O Janardana, what are the pious benefits of complete fasting, eating only supper, or eating but once at midday on Ekadasi, and what are the regulations for observing the various Ekadasi days? Kindly narrate all this to me'. "The Supreme Lord Krishna replied, 'O Arjuna, in the beginning of winter (northern hemisphere), on the Ekadasi that occurs during the dark fortnight of the month of Margasirsha (November-December), a novice should begin his practice of observing a fast on Ekadasi. On Dasami, the day before Ekadasi, he should clean his teeth nicely. Then during the eight portion of Dasami, just as the Sun is about to set, he should eat supper. "

'The next morning the devotee should make a vow, according to the rules and regulations, to observe fasting. At midday he should bathe properly in a river, lake or small pond. A bath in a river is most purifying, thsat taken in a lake is less so, and a bath in a small pond is the least purifying. If neither a river, lake nor pond is accessible, he may bathe with well-water."

'The devotee should chant this prayer containing the names of Mother Earth: "O Asvakrante! O Rathakrante! O Vishnukrante! O Vasundhare! O Mrttike! O Mother Earth! Kindly remove all the sins I have accumulated throughout my many past lives so that I may enter the sacred abode of the Supreme Lord." As the devotee chants, he should smear mud over his body. "'During the day of fasting the devotee should not speak to those who are fallen from their religious duties, to dog-eaters, to thieves, or to hypocrites. He should also avoid speaking with slanderers; with those who abuse the demigods, the Vedic literatures, or brahmanas; or with any other wicked personalities, such as those who have sex with forbidden women, those who are known plunderers, or those who rob temples. If any such person is spoken to or even seen during Ekadasi, one must purify oneself by looking directly at the sun."

'Then the devotee should respectfully worship Lord Govinda with first- class food, flowers, and so forth. In his home he should offer the Lord a lamp in pure devotional consciousness. he should also avoid sleeping during the daytime and should completely abstain from sex. Fasting from all food and water, he should joyfully sing the Lord's glories and play musical instruments for His pleasure throughout the night. After remaining awake all night in pure consciousness, the worshipper should give charity to qualified brahmanas and offer his humble obeisances unto them, begging their forgiveness for his offences. "

'Those who are serious about devotional service should consider the Ekadasis that occur during dark fortnights to be as good as those that occur during bright fortnights. O king, one should never discriminate between these two kinds of Ekadasi.

Please listen as I now describe the results obtained by one who observes Ekadasi in this way. Neither the merit one receives by taking a bath in the sacred place of pilgrimage known as Sankhoddhara, where the Lord killed the Sankhasura demon, nor the merit one receives upon seeing Lord Gadadhara directly is equal to one sixteenth of the merit one obtains by fasting on Ekadasi. It is said that by giving charity on a Monday when the moon is full, one obtains a hundred thousand times the results of ordinary charity. O winner of wealth, one who gives charity on the day of the sankranti (equinox) attains four hundred thousand times the ordinary result. Yet simply by fasting on Ekadasi one obtains all these pious results, as well as whatever pious results one gets at Kurukshetra during an eclipse of the sun or moon. Furthermore, the faithful soul who observes complete fasting on Ekadasi achieves a hundred times more merit than one who performs an Asvamedha-yajna (horse sacrifice). One who observes Ekadasi just once earns ten times more merit than a person who gives a thousand cows in charity to a brahmana learned in the Vedas. "

'A person who feeds just one brahmacari earns ten times more merit than one who feeds ten good brahmanas in his own house. But a thousand times more merit than is earned by feeding a brahmacari is achieved by donating land to the needy and respectable brahmana, and a thousand time more than that is earned by giving away a virgin girl in marriage to a young, well- educated, responsible man. Ten times more beneficial than this is educating children properly on the spiritual path, without expecting any reward in return. Ten times better than this, however, is giving food grains to the hungry. Indeed, giving charity to those in need is the best of all, and there never has been or ever will be a better charity than this. O son of Kunti, all the forefathers and demigods in heaven become very satisfied when one gives food grains in charity. But the merit one obtains by observing a complete fast on Ekadasi cannot be measured. O Arjuna, best of all Kurus, the powerful effect of this merit is inconceivable even to the demigods, and half this merit is attained by one who eats only supper on Ekadasi. "

'One should therefore observe fasting on Lord Hari's day either by eating only once at midday, abstaining from grains and beans; or by fasting completely. The processes of staying in places of pilgrimage, giving charity, and performing fire sacrifices may boast only as long as Ekadasi has not arrived. Therefore anyone afraid of the miseries of material existence should observe Ekadasi. On Ekadasi one should not drink water from a conch-shell, kill living entities such as fish or pigs, or eat any grains or beans. Thus I have described to you, O Arjuna, the best of all methods of fasting, as you have inquired from Me.'

"Arjuna then asked, 'O Lord, according to You, a thousand Vedic sacrifices do not equal even one Ekadasi fast. How can this be? How has Ekadasi become the most meritorious of all days?'

"Lord Sri Krishan replied, 'I will tell you why Ekadasi is the most purifying of all days. In the Satya-Yuga there once lived an amazingly fearsome demon called Mura. Always very angry, he terrified all the demigods, defeating even Indra, the king of heaven; Vivasvan, the sun-god; the eight Vasus; Lord Brahma; Vayu. the wind-god; and Agni, the fire-god. With his terrible power he brought them all under his control. "'Lord Indra then approached Lord Shiva and said, "We have all fallen from our planets and are now wandering helplessly on the earth. O lord, how can we find relief from this affliction? What will be the fate of us demigods?' "'Lord Shiva replied, "O best of the demigods, go to that place where Lord Vishnu, the rider of Garuda, resides. He is Jagannatha, the master of all the universes and their shelter as well. He is devoted to protecting all souls surrendered to Him.'"

"Lord Krishna continued, 'O Arjuna, winner of wealth, after Lord Indra heard these words of Lord Shiva's, he proceeded with all the demigods to the place where Lord Jagannatha, the Lord of the universe, the protector of all souls, was resting. Seeing the Lord sleeping upon the water, the demigods joined their palms and, led by Indra, recite the following prayers: "'"O Supreme Personality of Godhead, all obeisances to You. O Lord of lords, O You who are praised by the foremost demigods, O enemy of all demons, O lotus-eyed Lord, O Madhusudana (killer of the Madhu demon), please protect us. Afraid of the demon Mura, we demigods have come to take shelter of You. O Jagannatha, You are the doer of everything and the creator of everything. You are the mother and the father of all universes. You are the creator, the maintainer, and the destroyer of all. You are the supreme helper of all the demigods, and You alone can bring peace to them. you alone are the earth, the sky, and the universal benefactor. "'"You are Shiva, Brahma, and also Vishnu, the maintainer of the three worlds. You are the gods of the sun, moon, and fire. You are the clarified butter, the oblation, the sacred fire, the mantras, the rituals, the priests, and the silent chanting of japa. You are the sacrifice itself, its sponsor, and the enjoyer of its results, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nothing within these three worlds, whether moveable or immovable, can exist independent of You. O Supreme Lord, Lord of lords, You are the protector of those who take shelter of You. O supreme mystic, O shelter of the fearful, please rescue and protect us. We demigods have been defeated by the demons and have thus fallen from the heavenly realm. Deprived of our positions, O Lord of the universe, we are now wandering about this earthly planet."'

"Lord Krsna continued, 'Having heard Indra and the other demigods speak these words, Sri Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, replied, "What demon possesses such great powers of delusion that he has been able to defeat all the demigods? What is his name, and where does he live? Where does he get his strength and shelter? Tell Me everything, O Indra, and do not fear."

"'Lord Indra replied, "O Supreme Godhead, O Lord of lords, O You who vanquish the fear in Your pure devotees' hearts, O You who are so kind to your faithful servants, there was once a powerful demon of the Brahma dynasty whose name was Nadijangha. he was extraordinarily fearsome and wholly dedicated to destroying the demigods, and he begot an infamous son named Mura. "'

"Mura's great capital city is Chandravati. From that base the terribly evil and powerful Mura demon has conquered the whole world and brought all the demigods under his control, driving them out of their heavenly kingdom. He has assumed the roles of Indra, the king of heaven; Agni, the fire-god; Yama, the lord of death; Vayu, the wind-god; Isha, or Lord Shiva; Soma, the moon-god; Nairrti, the lord of the directions; and Pasi, or Varuna, the water-god. He has also begun emanating light in the role of the sun-god and has turned himself into the clouds as well. It is impossible for the demigods to defeat him. O Lord Vishnu, please kill tis demon and make the demigods victorious."

"'Hearing these words from Indra, Lord Janardana became very angry and said, "O powerful demigods, all together you may now advance on Mura's capital city of Chandravati." Encouraged thus, the assembled demigods proceeded to Chandravati with Lord Hari leading the way. "'When Mura saw the demigods, that foremost of demons started roaring very loudly in the company of countless thousands of other demons, who were all holding brilliantly shining weapons. The mighty-armed demons struck the demigods, who began abandoning the battlefield and fleeing in the ten directions. Seeing the Supreme Lord Hrsikesha, the master of the senses, present on the battlefield, the furious demons rushed toward Him with various weapons in their hands. As they charged the Lord, who holds a sword, disk, and club, He immediately pierced all their limbs with His sharp, poisonous arrows. thus many hundred of demons died by the Lord's hand.

"'At last the chief demon, Mura, began fighting with the Lord. Mura used his mystic power to render useless whatever weapons the Supreme Lord Hrsikesa unleashed. Indeed, to the demon the weapons felt just like flowers striking him. When the Lord could not defeat the demon even with various kinds of weapons - whether those that are thrown or those that are held - He began fighting with His bare hands, which were as strong as iron-studded clubs. The Lord wrestled with Mura for one thousand celestial years and then, apparently fatigued, left for Badarikashrama. There Lord Yogeshvara, the greatest of all yogis, the Lord of the universe, entered a very beautiful cave named Himavati to rest. O Dhananjaya, winner of wealth, that cave was ninety-six miles in diameter and had only one entrance. I went there out of fear, and also to sleep. There is no doubt about this, O son of Pandu, for the great fight made me very tired. the demon followed Me into that cave and, seeing Me asleep, started thinking within his heart, "Today I will kill this slayer of all demons, Hari."

"'While the wicked-minded Mura was making plans in this way, from My body there manifested a young girl who had a very bright complexion. O son of Pandu, Mura saw that she was equipped with various brilliant weapons and was ready to fight. Challenged by that female to do battle, Mura prepared himself and then fought with her, but he became very astonished when he saw that she fought him without cessation. The king of the demons then said, "Who has created this angry, fearsome girl who is fighting me so powerfully, just like a thunderbolt falling upon me?' After saying this, the demon continued to fight with the girl.

"'Suddenly that effulgent goddess shattered all of Mura's weapons and in a moment deprived him of his chariot. He ran toward her to attacker with his bare hands, but when she saw him coming she angrily cut off his head. Thus the demon at once fell to the ground and went to the abode of Yamaraja. The rest of the Lord's enemies, out of fear and helplessness, entered the subterranean Patala region.

"'Then the Supreme Lord woke up and saw the dead demo before Him, as well as the maiden bowing down to him with joined palms. His face expressing His astonishment, the Lord of the universe said, "Who has killed this vicious demon? He easily defeated all the demigods, Gandharvas, and even Indra himself, along with Indra's companions, the Maruts, and he also defeated the Nagas (snakes), the rulers of the lower planets. He even defeated Me, making Me hide in this cave out of fear. Who is it that has so mercifully protected Me after I ran from the battlefield and went to sleep in this cave?"

"'The maiden said, "It is I who have killed this demon after appearing from Your transcendental body. Indeed, O Lord Hari, when he saw You sleeping he wanted to kill You. Understanding the intention of this thorn in the side of the three worlds, I killed the evil rascal and this freed all the demigods from fear. I am Your great maha-sakti, Your internal potency, who strikes fear into the hearts of all Your enemies. I have killed this universally terrifying demon to protect the three worlds. Please tell me why You are surprised to see that this demon has been killed, O Lord." "'The Supreme Personality of Godhead said, "O sinless one, I am very satisfied to see that it is you who have killed this king of the demons. In this way you have made the demigods happy, prosperous, and full of bliss. Because you have given pleasure to all the demigods in the three worlds, I am very pleased with you. Ask any boon you may desire, O auspicious one. I will give it to you without a doubt, though it be very rare among the demigods."

""The maiden said, "O Lord, if You are pleased with me and wish to give me a boon, then give me the power to deliver from the greatest sins that person who fasts of this day. I wish that half the pious credit obtained by one who fasts will accrue to one who eats only in the evening (abstaining from grains and beans), and that half of this pious credit will be earned by one who eats only at midday. Also, may one who strictly observes a complete fast on my appearance day, with controlled senses, go to the abode of Lord Vishnu for one billion kalpas after he has enjoyed all kinds of pleasures in this world. This is the boon I desire to attain by Your mercy, my Lord, O Lord Janardana, whether a person observes complete fasting, eats only in the evening, or eats only at midday, please grant him a religious attitude, wealth, and at last liberation."

"'The Supreme Personality of Godhead said, "O most auspicious lady, what you have requested is granted. All My devotees in this world will surely fast on your day, and thus they will become famous throughout the three worlds and finally come and stay with me in My abode. Because you, My transcendental potency, have appeared on the eleventh day of the waning moon, let your name by Ekadasi. If a person fasts on Ekadasi, I will burn up all his sins and bestow upon him My transcendental abode. "'"These are the days of the waxing and waning moon that are most dear to Me: Tritiya (the third day), Ashthami (the eighth day), Navami (the ninth day), Chaturdasi (the fourteenth day), and especially Ekadasi (the eleventh day). "'

"The merit one attains by fasting on Ekadasi is greater than that achieved by observing any other kind of fast or by going to a place of pilgrimage, and even greater than that achieved by giving charity to brahmanas. I tell you most emphatically that this is true."

"'Having thus given the maiden His benediction, the Supreme Lord suddenly disappeared. From that time onward the Ekadasi day became most meritorious and famous all over the universe. O Arjuna, if a person strictly observes Ekadasi, I kill all his enemies and grant him the highest destination. Indeed, if a person observes this great Ekadasi fast in any of the prescribed way, I remove all obstacles to his spiritual progress and grant him the perfection of life.

"'Thus, O son of Prtha, I have described to you the origin of Ekadasi. This one day removes all sins eternally. Indeed, it is the most meritorious day for destroying all kinds of sins, and it has appeared in order to benefit everyone in the universe by bestowing all varieties of perfection. "'One should not discriminate between the Ekadasis of the waxing and waning moons; both must be observed, O Partha, and they should not be differentiated from Maha-Dvadasi. Everyone who fasts of Ekadasi should recognise that there is no difference between these two Ekadasis, for they comprise the same tithi.

"'Whoever completely fasts on Ekadasi, following the rules and regulations, will achieve the supreme abode of Lord Vishnu, who rides upon Garuda. They are glorious who devote themselves to Lord Vishnu and spend all their rime studying the glories of Ekadasi. One who vows not to eat anything on Ekadasi but to eat only on the next day achieves the same merit as one who executes a horse sacrifice. Of this there is no doubt.

"'On Dvadasi, the day after Ekadasi, one should pray, "O Pundarikaksha, O lotus-eyed Lord, now I will eat. Please shelter me." After saying this, the wise devotee should offer some flowers and water at the Lord's lotus feet and invite the Lord to eat by chanting the eight-syllable mantra thrice. If the devotee wants to gain the fruit of his fast, he should then drink water taken form the sanctified vessel in which he offered water at the Lord's lotus feet.

"'On Dvadasi one must avoid sleeping during the day, eating in another's home, eating more than once, having sex, eating honey, eating from a bell- metal plate, eating urad-dal, and rubbing oil on one's body. The devotee must give up these eight things on Dvadasi. If he wants to speak to an outcaste on that day, he must purify himself by eating a Tulasi leaf or an amalaki fruit. O best of kings, from noon on Ekadasi until dawn on Dvadasi, one should engage himself in taking baths, worshipping the Lord, and executing devotional activities, including the giving of charity and the performance of fire sacrifices. If one finds himself in difficult circumstances and cannot break the Ekadasi fast properly on Dvadasi, one can break it by drinking water, and then one is not at fault if he eats again after that.

"'A devotee of Lord Vishnu who day and night hears these all-auspicious topics concerning the Lord from the mouth of another devotee will be elevated to the Lord's planet and reside there for ten million kalpas. And one who hears even one sentence about the glories of Ekadasi is freed from the reactions to such sins as killing a brahmana. There is no doubt of this. For all eternity there will be no better way of worshiping Lord Vishnu than observing a fast on Ekadasi.'"

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Margasirsa-krsna Ekadasi, or Utpanna Ekadasi, from the Bhavisya-uttara Purana.

============================================================================ SRI NARAHARI SARKAR THAKURA

Sri Narahari Sarkar Thakura was born at Sri Khanda. Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami describes that the residents of Sri Khanda formed a branch of the desire tree of love of God. "Sri Khan?davasi (the residents of Sri Khanda) Mukunda and his son Raghu?nandan were the thirty ninth branch of the tree, Narahari was the fortieth, Chiran Jiva the forty first and Sulocana the forty second. They were all big branches of the all merciful tree of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They distributed the fruits and flowers of love of Godhead anywhere and everywhere. [Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi-lila 10:78-79] Srila Jagannatha das Babaji Maharaj once stated - "Navadwip is the abode of Goloka. Vrindavana is the abode of Gokula. And Sri Khanda is the abode of Vaikuntha."

Sri Narahari Sarkar Thakura participated in all of Sri Gaurasundora's pastimes. Bhakti Ratnakara states: "Sri Sarkar Thakura's glories are most uncommon. In Braja he is known as Madhumati, whose good qualities are unlimited." (thus proving he was not the author of it)

One day, Nityananda Prabhu arrived at Sri Khanda and said to Narahari, "All right, we know who you are. So where's the honey, Madhu' ?" In Krsna-lila, Narahari is the sakhi Madhumati, whose service is to supply honey for Sri Sri Radha-Govinda and Their associates. So he immediately went to a nearby pond and filled a pot which immediately turned into honey of the most nectarean kind. Nityananda Prabhu and His associates drank from this pot to their full and unlimited satisfaction.

Narahari däsa Sarakära was a very famous devotee. Locana däsa Thäkura, the celebrated author of Sri Caitanya-mangala, was his disciple. In the Caitanya-mangala it is stated that Sri Gadädhara däsa and Narahari Sarakära were extremely dear to Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu, but there is no specific statement regarding the inhabitants of the village of Srikhanta. (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi-lila 10:78- 79.purport)

Sri Locana dasa Thakura was the dear disciple of Sri Narahari Sarkar. In his book Caitanya mangala he introduces his guru in this way: "My Thakur (spiritual master) is Sri Narahari das Thakura, who is very influential amongst the medical caste. He is continuously absorbed in Krsna-prema, and in fact his body knows nothing but Krsna. To his followers he speaks about nothing other than love of Krsna. He was previously known in Vrindavana- lila as Madhumati and was a storehouse of sweetness (honey), and very dear to Radharani. Now he is now present in Kali-yuga with Sri Gaurasundara as Sri Narahari. He is the keeper of the storehouse of love of Radha and Krsna." [Sri Caitanya Mangal, Sutrakhanda]

This is supported in Gaura Ganod-desh dipika of Kavi-karnapura 177., wherein it is said:

pura madhumati prana- shakhi vrindavane sthitaa adhuna naraharya-akhyah saarakarah prabhoh priyah

"Srimati Radharani's dear friend, the Vraja-gopi named Madhumati-devi, appeared as Narahari Saarakaara, who was very dear to Lord Chaitanya".

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, in his Gaura-arati kirtana, sings of some of that intimate service to that he performed for Lord Chaitanya: 'kiba narahari adikari chamara dhulaya' "Narahari is fanning Gaurasundara with a yak-tail (chaumara) fan."

Sri Narahari Sarkar Thakura was a very expert singer as well as poet. He has composed many songs about the pastimes of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda. He composed a Sanskrit work entitled Sri Bhajanamrta. Gaurviraha-gita pada kalpataru is also attributed to him, although some scholar devotees doubt whether it is really his own composition.

Most of Narahari Sarkar Thakura's songs have gotten mixed up with Narahari Chakravarti Thakura's compositions (Narahari Chakravarti Thakura is the author of Bhakti-ratnakara). Therefore is difficult to ascertain which are actually his. Before the appearance of Sri Gaurasundara he also composed many songs about the pastimes of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna.

Narahari was the only devotee who had the adhikara (right) to do Gaura- kirtana in Gaurasundara's presence. Ordinarily, if anyone would praise Mahaprabhu in His presence, or chant His Holy Name, He would block His ears and call out "Visnu! Visnu!" Narahari, however, enjoyed the special privilege of being able to sing about Mahaprabhu in a very unique mood and with sweet descriptions of His transcendental beauty without objection from Mahaprabhu.

But alas there is little else known of him.

His disappearance is on the ekadasi tithi day, of the dark fortnight, in the month of Agrahayon (Mrigasir – Nov-Dec).

By Nirmala Krishna Das

Bhaktivedanta Gurukula & International School has been ranked 13th all over India in the “Boys Residential School” category and rated No.1 in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in the same category by the Education world, India school rankings 2015.

For the past seven years Education World has been publishing the annual Education World India School Rankings with C fore — the well-known Delhi-based market research and opinion polls agency. It rates and ranks over 800 of India’s most high-profile schools on 14 parameters — academic reputation, faculty competence, leadership quality, sports education, Safety & Hygiene, Co-Curricular Education etc.

The awards ceremony was held on September 26th 2015 at Vivanta Taj, New Delhi
We wish the staff of BGIS and students for this great success and continue in our service to provide value education to prepare fine citizens of the world, men of character & competence, who can lead and inspire others.

Source:www.bgis.org

By Hari Narayana das

“The Ray of Peace”

Second Jagannath Ratha Yatra in Bandung, Indonesia

Bandung is a small island in Indonesia. The annual ‘Light Festival’ commemorates the anniversary of Bandung city. This year the festival fell on the 8th of November. The festival includes a parade throughout the island with a variety of acts and performances. Many departments under Bandung’s Government participated. Taking advantage of this golden opportunity, devotees organized a grand Ratha Yatra festival and joined the parade. They were granted permission from the Government. Srila Prabhupada was always pushing forward this festival. “I am so much satisfied with your successful performance of Ratha-yatra festival and I am awaiting to see similar festivals in all our other center.” (Letter to Gurudasa, 16th July 1968)

The theme of the festival this year was ‘Animalia’. All participants were requested to decorate their cars with a variety of animals. It seemed that the Lord was helping out, as the Ratha was already bedecked with two elegant white horses. Adorned with colorful flowers and electric lamps the chariot was attracting all who glanced upon it.

Devotees from all parts of Indonesia flew in to be present for the festival. Some had been saving up for months in order to attend this program. “I am so glad to learn that you are prepared to work even harder, as a forward soldier, to fight the maya. May Krsna give you more and more strength.” (Letter to Tamala Krsna, 18th March 1969)

Devotees arrived the day before the festival. All their needs, such as prasadam and accommodation were taken care by local devotee, Lokanath Acarya das. A teacher training center was hired where devotees could take rest and prepare for the festival. The deities of Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subadra devi arrived after a long journey from Jogjakarta and spent the night with Their’ devotees in the teacher training center. Shortly after, the chariot also arrived from Jakarta. The chariot team worked late into the night, assembling the cart in preparation for tomorrow’s procession. Many matajis also stayed up late preparing flower garlands for the Lord.

 Srila Prabhupada stressed on our sadhana as a first priority. “And never neglect to chant your sixteen rounds of beads daily, rise early without fail, attend mangala-arati take bath, and follow the other regulative principles, and everything will come out very successfully, you can rest assured of that.” (Letter to Bhargava, June 13th 1972) Following this instruction, the next day devotees woke up early, finished their rounds and attended mangala-arati. At 7am, the Lord gave darshan in a spectacular new dress. An ecstatic kirtan led by local devotees set everyone in the right mood for the festival. Before the parade started, a group of devotees distributed books and leaflets requesting all to attend.

 The Ratha Yatra officially started at 2pm. Devotees gathered in the hall where the Ratha Yatra Committee welcomed all and expressed gratitude for their participation in this festival. Senior devotees gave short speeches about Lord Jagannath headed by Agastya Muni das. Adi Purusa das, chief committee member of ISKCON 50 in Indonesia also spoke. He then informed the devotees about the day’s schedule. A recorded class by HH Subhag Swami Maharaj was played and translated by Sudarananda das. Maharaj sent his well wishes to the devotees who worked hard in order for the festival to take place. He mentioned that Srila Prabhupada wanted that all devotees should work together, tolerate and cooperate. Maharaj was extremely joyful when he heard that so many devotees came from all over Indonesia to attend the festival becoming united as one big family.

Conch shells were blown as the Lord made His way to the chariot, thus creating an auspicious atmosphere. The demigods sent their blessings in the form of rain as Jagannath was on route to the chariot! As the chariot was pulled was to the Government Office, the starting point of the parade, the rain got heavier and heavier. However, melodious kirtan led by Sridhar das lifted not only the devotee’s spirits, but also others who were participating in the Light Festival parade and in a short time everyone was on their feet dancing. “If there is chanting of Hare Krsna, even if the soul is there for a short time. Oh! He will hear and become advanced. This sound vibration is not material, it is spiritual and powerful beyond our conception. So it cannot be hindered in any way by something material; it surpasses all these material barriers”. (Letter to Mukunda and Janaki, 28th February 1968)

The parade started and the Lord’s chariot was pulled. It was amazing to see that after the chariot set out it stopped raining! The sky cleared up and the stars shone as bright as ever. Jagannath made His route from Diponegoro Street-Trunojoyo Street- Sultan Agung Street- Ir.H.Juanda Street- Merdeka Street- Lembong Street-Tamblong Street and finished in Asia Africa Street. Along the way, many passersby joined the devotees chanting and dancing. Premadhana das captivated all with his soothing voice. A ton of oranges, kindly donated by Dinadarini dasi was distributed liberally to all. A few of Srila Prabhupada’s sankirtan warriors distributed books along the way, spreading the message of Jagannath to all.

The Light Festival came to a close when it reached Asia Africa Street. All the guests of honor made their way to the stage. Last but not least to make His way onto the stage was Jagannath, the real guest of honor! As the Lord made His way up, many looked on with great wonder and delight. An enactment of Rasa Lila was performed by devotees on stage with the audience highly appreciated the act. Agastya Muni das and Adi Purusa das garlanded Mr. Ridwan Kamil, the Mayor of Bandung, with a flower garland offered to the Lord and presented him with a copy of Bhagavad Gita. Mahaprasadam was then distributed to all. The festival was covered by the national television and newspaper, thus thousands took darshan of the Lord who is known as Patita Pavana (Savior of the fallen). The Ratha was voted third place in the category of the best decorated car.

We hope that Srila Prabhupada is pleased with our humble efforts. We take great inspiration from a letter he wrote which is of relevance to us. “I thank you all very much for making the Ratha-yatra festival so successful. Please convey my gratitude to all the boys and girls who participated in this great transcendental service. This is the second year, and you have made a great stride from the first year and in the third year, I hope it will be still more successful.” (Letter to Upendra, 4th July 1968)

We offer our respects to HH Kavicandra Swami and HH Ramai Swami, (the GBCs of Indonesia) for their support and guidance to always look for new avenues for sankirtan in Indonesia. Our humble obeisances to HH Subhag Swami for his inspiration and always reminding us of the importance of Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement. Our gratitude to the SAKKHI leaders and all the devotees who participated. Special thanks to the Jogjakarta devotees for bringing Their Lordships from Jogjakarta to Bandung. The prasadam team who worked throughout the night and cooked a variety of items for the Lords and his devotees deserve special mention, as well as the kirtan team who attracted all by their melodious voices and sweet playing of instruments.

We thank Srila Prabhupada again and again for showering his unlimited mercy upon us and keeping us engaged in the sankirtan movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Jay Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subadra Devi ki…. Jay!

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=17355

The point Prabhupada made in the purport to 4.2.31 is that Varṇāśrama is natural. It happens automatically whether you recognize it or not. The system is already in place, we “implement” it by being sensitive to it.

For example, the Bhagavatam describes that the four ashramas are followed in different ways by the four varnas. Each varna takes brahmacarya in a different context and to a different extent, for example. We should “impliment Varnāśrama dharma” by realizing this! Not by expected everyone to do everything the same way.

An intellectual philosopher can be encouraged to certain lifestyles, but it is disastrous to encourage a manual laborer in the same way.

Varṇāśrama is not about imposing rules and structures on society, it’s about understanding what naturally exists in society and learning how to relate to it accordingly. Essentially, its about not treating everyone as if they were the same as everyone else, learning to be sensitive to individuality.

A person with brahminical leaning doesn’t really need to be told “you have brahminical leaning” unless their leaning isn’t all that strong in the first place. A person with brahminical leaning will already involve themselves in education, writing, science, and religion. So “implementing varṇāśrama” is not really about imposing a division of labor. It’s about recognizing the divisions of labor that arise naturally, and treating individuals accordingly.

Varṇāśrama already has potency to purify human consciousness. We don’t have to “pin a tail on a donkey” by tacking on a “Supreme Personality of Godhead” footnote for each varṇa – the Supreme Personality of Godhead is already in there, naturally. Pṛthu explains in Canto 4 chapter 21 that selfless, responsible duty to family and society is ITSELF purifying and spiritual and leads directly to serving Viṣṇu.

Brahmins, for example, serve Viṣṇu BY by doing their service to family and society – teaching, studying, performing rituals, etc. It’s NATURALLY service to Viṣṇu to perform your social duties responsibly. Bhakti-yoga is even better, far better than Varṇāśrama, but remember we are talking about a social system for the masses, not just for people who want to be Krishna-bhaktas. So Varṇāśrama doesn’t have to be artificially forced to mimic Karma-miśra bhakti. The whole point of Varṇāśrama is to help the people who are not yet past the threshold for bhakti-yoga.

Vraja Kishor das
www.vrajakishor.com

To most people, the words "Hare Krishna" conjure images of robed monks with shaven heads singing and dancing, or selling copies of the Bhagavad Gita in the streets. These were indeed iconic of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) in its early years. Over the nearly half-century of its existence, however, the organization has changed considerably in an effort to overcome the loss of its founder, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and to remain relevant as the world around it has changed. In this volume, nine scholars, all of whom have had many years of first-hand experience with ISKCON, discuss its situation today, evaluating its successes and failures in adapting to new social and demographic circumstances while struggling to remain true to Prabhupada's original intentions, and offering insights into new directions that it may take in the future.

Source:http://www.arktos.com/hare-krishna-in-the-modern-world.html

By Govinda prema das

It was in 1973 that Srila prabhupada first laid his Divine feet on this continent. the first place he visited in Africa was Kenya and specifically Nairobi. SrilaPrabhupada stressed to his disciples in Nairobi that the mission of Iskcon in Africa was for the local people, he called it our “real business in Africa”

That is our mission. If we get African devotees, then we are successful. So already some are coming. Now keep them fixed, and they will bring others. Letter to Cyavana — Vrindaban 4 September, 1975

Here in Nairobi our program is going on very nicely. There are TV engagements and a very large meeting is scheduled at the University of Nairobi for tomorrow. Many respectful Hindus are inviting us and I am staying in everyone’s house for four to five days. Most probably our center here in Nairobi will be a strong one, as strong as any of our other centers. Letter to Jayapataka Maharaj-October 05, 1971-

With lots of trials and errors,we finally established a program which is showing tangible results.this year our university outreach program “simple livinghigh thinking” had 650 registered students.it runs twice weekly at the Nairobi centre,and students from various universities attend the classes.the syllabus is based on three of Srila prabhupada books which covers three semesters in 12 months,students are required to sit for exams quarterly.our final exam was held in November and 95 students attended the final exam!

The students are very inspired by the teaching of the Vedic culture,the graduation ceremony was attended by HH Bhakti Narasimha Swami , HG Umapati prabhu, HG Manasi Ganga mataji and other senior devotees.We also established a training centre which enables the students to come and live in a contemporary ashram,where they pay a minimum rent.Every morning and evening the students attend a sanga class and a japa meditation workshop.

By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada in 6months 30 students have become vegetarians, chant, dress up in vaishnava attire and do service in the temple.May the vaishnava community bestow their mercy upon us so that we may remain fixed in the service of Srila Prabhupada.

Your servant
Govinda prema das

Iskcon Nairobi

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=17336

Samita Sarkar: As an animal lover, I have been a vegetarian for many years. The only animal products that I would eat were milk and honey. I followed a typical Indian diet that was high in fruits, dairy, rice and dal. In Hinduism, cows are a special animal, so many Indian dishes are made with dairy — especially desserts. However, when I was in my 20s and my menstrual cramps started to become unbearable, I cut milk out of my diet.

It was a difficult transition to make, but I felt like I had no choice. Instantly, the cramps were gone. During the months I refrained from drinking milk, I had mild periods. When I would “slip,” the extreme pain would return. Once, it was so painful that I was paralyzed in bed all morning.

I started to look into what’s in our milk. Canadian dairy cows can legally be fed steroids, antibiotics and even food containing animal parts. In fact, the Ontario government recommends feeding dairy cattle up to half a kilogram of tallow per day. Tallow is a common source of fat for dairy cows. Milk can also contain trace amounts of pesticides. This is all information I gathered freely from Canadian government websites.

Then I read Mad Cowboy, an exposé written by former American cattle rancher Howard F. Lyman, which was all the more shocking than anything found on any government site. He reveals that although cattle are no longer fed other cattle due to FDA regulations, they regularly munch on ground horse, chickens and the blood and fecal matter of their own species.

Inedible parts of slaughtered animals, along with road kill and euthanized pets, are dumped into giant grinders, cooked (so that the fat rises to the top and can be skimmed for use in cosmetics), dried and pulverized into powdered “concentrate” for livestock feed. A quarter of this concentrate is composed of fecal matter. There is no animal too diseased, cancerous, or putrid to be ground.

I wasn’t able to find any information related to this matter on any Canadian government website, but since just last February we had our 19th case of mad cow disease, something wasn’t right.

Government sites were adamant about not using bovine growth hormones for dairy cows, and when someone on albertamilk.com asked about why calves were handled so roughly, the response was met with out-and-out denial. But was it true? Were Canadian dairy standards really so top-notch, given the short, five-year life expectancy of a Canadian dairy cow?

In fact, the Alberta dairy site even went so far as to claim that dairy, veal and beef cows were all treated with the utmost respect and concern for their well-being. While the Albertan site stated that most male calves never become veal (although they are still separated from their mothers at young ages for “safety” reasons, and can even legally be shot if they get sick), an Ontario dairy site stated that most male calves were in fact raised for veal. A Quebec studyexposed inhumane handling of calves as commonplace. Unless there is a substantial market difference between each Canadian province (which the government actively claims there isn’t), someone is lying.

In Melanie Joy’s book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism, she mentioned that economists warn about what can happen when any industry has a concentration ratio upwards of four companies controlling over 40 per cent of the market (known as “CR4”): competitiveness declines and consumer protection weakens as public service intertwines with private interests. Conglomerates are able to set prices and determine food quality. There are 450 milk processors in Canada. Three of them process approximately 80 per cent of the nation’s milk — far exceeding the CR4 threshold.

When I stopped eating dairy products, this essentially made me a dietary vegan. Although I was following a plant-based diet, I didn’t agree with the vegan philosophy that drinking milk was unnatural and that momma cow’s milk should be only for her babies, regardless of how well the cows are treated. According to Vedic (ancient Indian) tradition, there are seven mothers: our birth mother, our guru’s wife, the wife of any priest, any nurse, the queen, Mother Earth and Mother Cow. There have been instances of cows giving their milk to not only humans, but monkeys and cats.

No one who has ever owned a dairy cow would say that cows don’t like to be milked. Cows are loving, motherly animals and hold a special place in Indian culture. When loved and treated well, they will happily give their excess milk to humans after their calves have had their fill. Dairy products are commonly used in Hindu rituals as a sacred food produced by a sacred animal. I just could not get behind the vegan argument that drinking milk was fundamentally wrong.

I voiced these feelings to a vegan associate one day, and was met with this response:

“I don’t think it’s right that we use our culture as an excuse to do harm unto animals and our planet. To me it is not right that these cows are exploited and are treated as property. They deserve a free life. Vegetarian isn’t enough.”

 He compared the Indian culture of loving, respecting and even worshipping cows with the Western culture of slaughtering cows to eat meat. He then told me about all of the cruelties that dairy cows face in the West: being artificially inseminated (raped), being separated from their babies so the babies can be sold for veal and being chained to milking machines and/or cooped up in crowded barns. Then, when they have nothing left to give, being sent to a slaughterhouse.

But, surely, things could change. What if there was a place where things were already being done differently?

If I ever doubted whether or not a vegetarian diet was sufficient, all of my doubts flew out of the window last month when I went on a pilgrimage to Vrindavan, India. Vrindavan is the holy land of Lord Krishna, the cowherd who used to play in the forest with cows, calves and other boys.

Today, cows still roam freely in Vrindavan, a city full of goshalas (cow sanctuaries). Milk products (also called ahimsamilk products, which translates to non-violent or harm-free milk products) are obtained from these goshala cows, also known as “protected cows.”

These cows are loved, cherished, never separated from their calves and never slaughtered. Because they are free to wander the streets during the day, when I was in India, I made sure I pet at least one cow a day. Interaction with cows was a regular part of my life. I photographed and took video footage of dozens of them. There were so many beautiful varieties of cows. They were both free and protected in the holy city, where they were lovingly treated as pets.

Because I had the opportunity to spend a limited amount of time in this radical place, where cows were actually treated as living beings, I was free to eat whatever I wanted without the guilt or harm to my health.

Any time I got a chance to eat at Govinda’s restaurant (“Govinda” is another name of Lord Krishna, which translates to “one who gives pleasure to cows“), I would always order something with lots of dairy: pizza, cheese cake, or just a glass of hot milk. The milk tasted phenomenally different from anything I’ve ever had in Canada, where this goshalainstitution is not only unheard of, but illegal.

After I had a taste of milk at Govinda’s, “the best and highest quality” Canadian milk suddenly seemed bland and watery. It felt like I was drinking milk for the first time. It was so rich and full of flavour.

When I returned to Canada and my time of the month arrived, it was just as mild as it had been when I had completely refrained from milk.

Vegetarian is enough. We just need to start treating cows right.

Note: This post also appears on my blogs, cowsofcanada.com and samitasarkar.com. It will be published in the Care for Cows newsletter.

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=17344

Rsiraja Das: The issue of interest is whether a soul “falls down” into matter. There is often confusion around this topic, which, in my view, rests upon a misunderstanding about the nature of knowledge about our past. There are three broad theological views on this issue:

(a) the soul is an individual; he falls down into matter and can get out of it;

(b) the soul is an individual but has always been in matter, although he can get out of the material laws;

(c) the individuality of the soul is an illusion; the creation of individuality is itself the falldown, although there is a universal transcendent observer.

Quite separately, there is the materialist / scientific position which denies both individual and universal transcendent observers. These views about the soul’s position and existence are tied to the views about matter, space, and time, and these ideas are therefore not just ideological commitments that can only be accepted on faith, but can also be discussed scientifically.

The Problem of Knowing the Past

If the falldown occurred, it must have been in the past, and to know whether it occurred we must know when it occurred. But how do we know what happened in the past? In Indian philosophy, living beings carry their past in their unconscious, which then produces the present under different times, places, and circumstances. The past existsmaterially in the present as history and carries the imprints of the prior time, place, and circumstance when it was created. When a similar kind of time, place, or circumstance recurs, these prior impressions are automatically excited much like a vibrating string can excite another string if they both have the same kinds of frequencies. The string that was not previously vibrating also exists, but its existence is unknown unless it is excited, and similarly the history exists as the “unconscious” and manifests our personality and behaviors only when subjected to different times, places, and circumstances.

This history is however not fixed. As we undergo new experiences, new impressions are created and the old ones are destroyed. This is not to say that the past is changed; it only means that the knowledge of the past—which materially exists as the history of the individual through impressions—is created and destroyed. In principle, we can only know the past through the materially existing history, because we cannot actually go into the past. We have access to the past through its historical imprint, but if the imprint has been destroyed then we have no way of knowing what happened in the past (unless, of course, the past resides as an impression in someone else’s memory).

The problem now is that the history is always being created and destroyed. If you had access to all your history (the unconscious) you could potentially go back in time until the earliest possible historical record. However, there is no guarantee that this historical record is actually the beginning of time for you. It is quite possible that you previously had even older historical records, although they have now been destroyed. Therefore, even if your earliest historical record has a date in the past, this date doesn’t necessarily indicate the time when you entered the material experience. The very fact that history can be created and destroyed entails that we have no way of knowing any past events beyond the oldest historical record. If you fell into the material experience only 5 minutes ago, and your history is therefore only 5 minutes old, you still cannot assert that you just fell 5 minutes ago, because you have no way of knowing that you might have actually fell long before and all the prior historical records have been erased.

There is, hence, no way of knowing when the material experience started because the historical record of that experience may itself have been destroyed. Since we also cannot know if it were destroyed, we can never be sure that it wasn’t. Your historical records of the past are a material entity and not time itself.

Time vs. History

Many people don’t understand the distinction between history and time. Time is eternal whereas history is created and destroyed. We have no access to time, but we can know about time through history. If things were not changing in this world, we could not know if time were passing. We could not measure time and we certainly could not talk about past, present, and future. The measurement of time therefore depends upon change, and change implies that things that existed in the past may not exist right now. History is also changing, and therefore our knowledge of the past changes, although the past itself does not. While the past is fixed, our knowledge of it is variable.

This point is important because causal effects depend on the historical imprint and not just on the past events. If the history has been destroyed, all its effects are also gone. The past which does not exist in the present (as a material entity) also has no effect on present or future. This is the reason that we can talk about a person becoming free of the natural laws—the entire sequence of events in the past doesn’t matter; what matters is the history of events that currently exists on record. In short, history is the past that exists in the present, and that history is causally efficacious. Everything else in the past is irrelevant.

The Question of Nitya-Baddha (The Eternally Bound Soul)

Indian philosophy speaks about the nitya-baddha or the eternally bound soul. The contentious issue regarding the eternally bound soul is whether the eternity of bondage concerns time or history. That is, are we claiming that the soul is eternally in the material experience as far as time is concerned, or is the soul eternally in matter as far his own knowledge about his own past is concerned? The problem in treating the eternity as time rather than as history is that we have no way of knowing when we fell (from the knowledge of the past) although we can know when we did not fall. For instance, if your earliest historical record goes back to time T1 in the past, you can know that you did not fall any time after T1. However, you cannot assert anything about any time prior to T1: you cannot know if the earliest historical record is also the first material experience.

Therefore, we cannot make any claims about anything that is temporally prior to T1. That we are eternally in material experience can neither be asserted nor denied. It is simply a metaphysical claim. The claim that we cannot know about the time of falldown, on the other hand, can be inferred from the fact that history is changing—i.e. that history is created and destroyed. The living being’s unconscious is like a slate on which things can be written but that writing is destroyed after its effect has been realized. This model of causality needs the view that all material experiences create an impression that exists temporarily until it has been converted into an effect. The effect in turn creates new experiences. The living being therefore undergoes a cycle of cause and effect, the origin of which cannot be traced back in time because once the prior impression has been converted into an experience, one only has the memory of the new experience while the memory of the prior experience has been destroyed.

If this causal model of experience were to be true, whether or not the soul is eternally in matter would be a scientific question in the sense that eternity as time would be unverifiable although eternity as history would be a valid theoretical and empirical construct. The temporal claim can never be theoretically or empirically asserted. However, the historical claim can be both theoretically and empirically asserted. For instance, we all infer that we had a childhood although we remember nothing about it; there are even periods of time when we draw a blank although we have vivid memories of times before and after that period. In these cases, the history has been destroyed, although the events did previously occur in time. The past that does not exist in the present as history cannot have a causal effect on the present or the future. Therefore, if one has become completely free of the past influences, he or she is also free of the laws of nature. This freedom is not violation of the nature’s laws. It is just that the laws depend on the material history to produce an effect, and that material history no longer exists.

The Argument from Authority

Some critics will now argue that the eternity of the falldown is based on statements from authorities—scriptures, teachers, advanced spiritualists, etc. I will not dive into this claim as refuting it would require quoting from these sources. I will, however, make a simple point: all knowledge gained from authority also has to be verified—theoretically and empirically. If we simply accept authority without verifying that claim, it becomes dogmatic. In a post on my blog, I justified the knowledge from authority as the only real way of knowing the truth. However, I also noted that the knowledge from authority concerns the discovery of truth and not its verification. If knowledge has to be discovered rationally or empirically, then knowledge can never be complete. However, if we substitute that discovery with authority, the true knowledge can easily be verified or denied.

The only way in which we can discriminate knowledge from dogmatism is if one is verifiable and the other is not. The argument from authority therefore works only when the claims can be verified. In this case, the argument from eternity can never be verified. We are free to accept it dogmatically, but if that view is extended to every other form of knowing, the entire epistemological enterprise will come crashing down.

The point simply is that the eternity argument can be understood in two ways—i.e. pertaining to time or to history. Only the latter can be theoretically and empirically asserted. The former must remain a metaphysical assumption and dogmatic belief.

The Problem of Spiritual Choice

Given the above, we can conclude that it is reasonable to suppose that the soul fell into matter at some time, although that time can never be known—if that knowledge is derived from the material historical imprint in our conscious or unconscious. If, however, we did fall, then there must be a time in which we had not yet fallen. Do we and can we have remembrance of that time? Note that there is an important difference between the time at which a soul falls, and the time before that fall. The difference is that after a fall, the remembrance must be stored in a material historical record. However, prior to that fall, matter itself did not exist, and therefore neither the material history. The memory of the past therefore isn’t the same for the time since the fall and the time before the fall.

Indian philosophy claims that each soul has innate memory of the time before the fall although that memory has been “covered” by subsequent experiences. This view is justified based on a distinction between two kinds of memories: the material unconscious is called pasyanti and the non-material impressions prior to that are called para. The key point is that even while existing in matter, each soul still has an innate memory of the past spiritual existence, even though that memory is now covered by the subsequent material memories. The spiritual nature of the living being therefore doesn’t have to be discovered; it only has to be remembered. There is a subtle but important difference between discovery and rememberance: discovery is external and remembrance is innate.

The proponent of eternal falldown, must—to be completely consistent—also change the definition of spiritual realization from remembrance to discovery. The knowledge about the self must now be imparted to a person, rather than remembered. E.g., if you have no innate knowledge of what you were in the past, then you have to be told about your spiritual position. Since you have no innate knowledge, you also cannot like or dislike a particular kind of position and role; you will have no preference for anything. And if you have no preference, essentially you cannot also desire or choose a position out of any innate capacity. You must simply accept whatever position is offered.

In effect, since you have no prior innate knowledge or preference for a spiritual nature, when that nature is imparted externally (rather than remembered) it cannot be a subject of free will, since every choice can work only in conjunction with a personality that prefers some things over others. The eternal falldown therefore creates a problem not only in explaining how we claim what we cannot theoretically and empirically know, but also serious issues in making choices in the future. Ultimately, it results in a denial of free will because we have no preference to choose, and therefore we cannot choose.

Choices and Buridan’s Ass

This problem is called the problem of Buridan’s Ass after the French philosopher Jean Buridan. The problem arises for an ass who is both thirsty and hungry and has a pile of hay and a pot of water lying before him, but cannot decide whether to eat or drink first and therefore dies of starvation and thirst. The point is that free will or choice alone becomes inadequate unless there is a personality that drives the choice in a particular direction. The ability to choose is not the same as making a particular kind of choice. In this case, the ass may be both thirsty and hungry but it must choose to drink or eat first. Since both options are equally possible, there must be some way this decision can be made. The preference for the choice must therefore come from something beyond choice itself.

In the case of eternal falldown, you have no innate personality to even make a preferred choice after you decide to get out of material experience. You are in effect like Buridan’s Ass who can choose one out of the many possible options, but cannot decide which one to choose. If you cannot make a preferred choice, a few things are possible: (a) someone else must make a choice for you, (b) you make a random choice—for which you could use a coin toss—which in turn is a decision made by something (rather than someone), and (c) you never make a choice, and therefore never enter the spiritual experience.

Now, we have an even more profound problem: if we cannot make choices, we have many possible alternatives that result from the inability to make choices, which must now be chosen! The only option consistent with the claim that we have no preferences (because we have no past beyond the material experience) is that we do nothing, which in effect results in death by starvation from the inability to choose, like the Buridan’s Ass.

The key point is that the premise that we are eternally in material experience in the past creates a further problem of how we get out of that experience in the future. The position of eternal material past is inconsistent with the idea that the future material experience is not eternal. The second position (of the three theological positions stated at the beginning — “the soul is an individual but has always been in matter, although he can get out of the material laws”) is therefore inherently inconsistent. It posits an asymmetry between the past and the future—the material past is eternal but the future is not—and this asymmetry rests upon the soul making a choice without having a personality. Only when the choice has been made, a personality must develop, and this creates the chicken-and-egg problem because choices cannot be made unless a personality already exists.

Existence, Choices and Personality

Indian philosophy describes that the soul has three properties—existence (sat), choices (chit), and personality (ananda). The term ananda literally means pleasure which dictates what we like, and therefore what we enjoy. Each of us must have a form of pleasure innate in us for us to be able to choose; the choices are made essentially to seek pleasure. If we don’t have a personal form, we cannot choose even though we might have the ability to make choices. Without a personality, choices can never be manifest.

The soul is said to exist, be capable of choices, and have a personality to choose. If you have a personality then you must also be an individual a priori. Of course, you may decide not to choose—which is also a choice—but to make any choice there must be a personality. All consciousness is in essence a choice—we focus our attention on some things while not on others. If there is no personality, then choices cannot be made, and if choices cannot be made there cannot be consciousness. The soul can still exist without individuality and experience—and this is in essence the claim of the third position described at the beginning where the soul’s individuality is itself termed an illusion. What proponents of this view don’t recognize is that in denying individuality they are denying choices and thereby consciousness itself. Once you remove personality and choice, you are left with an existence which is indistinguishable from that of material objects.

Note that material objects also exist and the key difference between matter and an observer is that the observers can choose and enjoy. If we remove choice and pleasure from an observer, then the observer is effectively like a material object—it only has existence which a material object also has. Of course, an observer has the ability for choice and pleasure, so even in the state where he chooses to not exercises choices and experience pleasure, the observer is distinct from material objects, which cannot in principle choose and enjoy. Nevertheless, when the observer renounces choices and pleasure, his distinction from material objects is unmanifest.

The impersonalist claims that the state without choice and pleasure is the real state of the observer. The undifferentiated existence is supposed to become divided and differentiated in the material universe, and if the original source is itself undifferentiated then how the differentiated world comes about itself becomes unexplainable. By discarding the a priori personality of the soul, therefore, the impersonalist loses the ability to explain why the material world even exists as a differentiated realm of objects and people.

I have previously explored this issue in greater detail in the essay Impersonalism, Voidism and Science published recently on Dandavats. The key point of that essay is that adopting an impersonal or voidistic position leads to the collapse of science because we cannot explain how differentiation arises from the undifferentiated.

The Rise of Materialism

Materialism stems from the denial of falldown, which in turn stems from positing either an asymmetry in time, or an undifferentiated reality. If you posit an asymmetry in time (the the soul is forever in matter in the past, but can get out of in the future), but do not accept that there is an original personality, then you can never explain getting out either. You are now permanently in matter, and therefore the supposition that there is a transcendent personality itself is unnecessary. Similarly, if you suppose that personality is an illusion, then consciousness must also be an illusion (since without personality choices cannot be made, and without choices there cannot be consciousness), and therefore we are left with an undifferentiated, unconscious reality. That reality can also be called matter.

Once you accept that the soul is eternally in matter, you may also assert that the individual is actually a product of matter. Similarly, if you accept that the soul has no individuality outside of matter, then its existence apart from matter itself becomes questionable. We can engage in philosophical hairsplitting about how the soul and matter are different, but if the soul did not fall into matter, then the process by which it gets out is itself unclear. If you can never get out, then what’s the point of talking about morality, judgement, and afterlife? Similarly, if the reality before the material experience is undifferentiated, then the experience of differentiation cannot be explained, which means that how the material world is created cannot be explained. These two positions undermine the fundamental cornerstones underlying the quest for religion. The first position is inconsistent while the second one is incomplete. They would eventually be rejected in favor of materialism, at least if materialism turned out to be a consistent and complete position.

Is Materialism Consistent and Complete?

I have— in several previous posts on this blog— described why current materialism is either an inconsistent or an incomplete position. There are currently several theories of matter which describe different facets of the material experience incompletely. These theories don’t work for all experiences, although they may work partially for a given experience. However, when we try to enhance these incomplete theories, they become inconsistent—either logically or empirically. That is, either they will predict things that will contradict experience or the theory itself would contradict its own predictions.

I have also described an alternative materialism in which matter is essentially information which begins in abstract ideas and through successive stages of refinement becomes contingent material objects; these objects are ideas too—they are just more detailed. I have also shown why the alternative materialism is both consistent and complete, and how it resolves the underlying paradoxes of incompleteness in current science.

This alternative materialism traces the origin of material objects first to senses, then to the mind, then to the intellect, then to the ego, then to morality, and so forth, all the way into the individual and then a universal observer’s consciousness. This consciousness—as already described earlier—is essentially choices governed by a personality. All information therefore is ultimately choices of the universal or individual observers. As already seen above, to make choices, there must a priori be a personality. The individual and universal observers must therefore have a personality to even create a material universe.

The personal nature of the soul follows from the problems of incompleteness in science: if these problems have to be solved, there must be a clear role for information in nature; if information is real then we need to ask about the source of that information in the choices of an observer; if the choices of the observer are real then the observer must be a person because without personality choices can never be made. These facts render impersonalism, materialism and eternal falldown theories untenable, and while the falldown is a theological problem thus far, its solution depends on a far more profound understanding of material nature than which generally exists today.

The Scientific Component of the View

There are several components of this profound understanding of material nature, which I have briefly alluded to in the above paragraphs, and I will try to summarize them again so that its differences with current scientific views become apparent. These components also represent areas of new scientific development—both theoretical and empirical.

1. All causality in modern science depends on the current state of matter and not the past states. In Indian philosophy, causality indeed depends on the current states, although these states may be impressions, history, or memory of the past. In current science, matter has no memory because all material states are non-referential: they can only point to themselves. If matter could have referential states, then it could also point to events in the past. In such a scenario, it would be possible to speak about how the past exists in the present referentially. These references can be created and destroyed, quite like any other material objects, and therefore the history of the past is not permanent, even though the past itself is fixed.

2. The above causal model depends upon the ability in matter to hold knowledge or references about other things. This knowledge can go backwards and forwards in time; it can also point to different objects in space at the present moment; finally, it can also point to other objects in space in the past or in the future. To reference something, matter must have conceptual properties—we describe other things using concepts, and then point to those things using references. References therefore work only when a prior conceptual role of matter has been inducted.

3. The conceptual nature of matter entails that ideas are not just in the mind, but also in material things. This follows from the inability to reduce ideas to things—consistently and completely. It also leads to problems of mind-body interaction. If both mind and matter are ideas, there is no interaction problem. Furthermore, if matter is contingent ideas derived from a mind which is abstract ideas, there is no reduction problem (followed by inconsistency or incompleteness) either. Ordinary material objects and scientific objects (such as electrons and photons) therefore have to be treated conceptually and not physically—they have to be seen as representing ideas, rather than just possessing physical properties.

4. The revision to our notions of matter, in turn changes our notions about space and time. If some material objects are abstract while others are contingent, and all these objects are in space and time then space and time locations themselves must be identified as being abstract and contingent. Now, space and time are not linear and flat but must be described hierarchically like postal addresses or clock times. Hierarchical space is closed and hierarchical time is cyclic. The closed and cyclic nature of space and time itself now represents a vibration. However, this vibration should not be described in terms of frequency, phase and amplitude, but rather as the representation of meanings, quite like ordinary speech has physical properties but its real property is that it denotes and expresses meanings.

5. Once we know that matter holds meanings, we can ask ourselves: are these meanings true or false? The existence of the meaning does not entail its truth, and meanings drive a wedge between existence and truth. The question of truth equates to the question of existence in physical theories, but the existence of meanings does not itself entail whether those meanings are true or false. If meanings are objective, then their truth status must also have a causal effect. It is now possible to speak about the moral differences between true and false, based upon a material theory of nature that utilizes meanings for causality. The moral consequences don’t act immediately and their causal effects therefore require the existence of the past in the present—as history. The semanticity of matter, which allows matter to refer to other things (including the past), is therefore intimately tied to a new model of causality based on meanings rather than physical states. My book Moral Materialism further details these aspects of a new causal view.

In Conclusion

I believe that many topics of theological debate—such as whether there is a soul or God, whether these are identical or different, whether they have free will, whether they are individuals or merely undifferentiated existence, whether they are identical or different from matter, whether they fall into matter unknowingly and randomly or descend into it by their free will—are scientific questions whose answers can be gleaned from the nature of material reality. These debates can benefit from a deeper understanding of material nature, and from the idea that religion is not a form of faith but of knowledge.

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=17342

The board members of ISKCON New Vrindaban and ECO-Vrindaban humbly invite all New Vrindaban residents and well-wishers to participate in the upcoming weekend activities. Please see the detailed schedule below. We hope to see you all!

WEEKEND SCHEDULE:

Friday, December 4th.

7:30 pm to 8:30 pm: Dinner Prasadam with Board Members & GBCs (at Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple)

Saturday, December 5th.

9:45 am to 1:30 pm: Department Head Presentations for 2015 (under the Lodge)

1:30 pm to 2:30 pm: Lunch Prasadam (at Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple)

2:30 pm to 5:00 pm: Community Dialog (under the Lodge)

6:00 pm to 7:30 pm: Srila Prabhupada Sangam & Dinner Prasadam (at his Palace)

Sunday, December 6th.

10:00 am to 1:00 pm: New Vrindaban Community Tour (various locations, weather permitting)

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm: Sunday Program & Feast (at Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple)

3:30 pm to 5:00 pm: Lifetime Community Service Appreciations (under the Lodge)

Source:http://www.brijabasispirit.com/2015/12/03/iskcon-new-vrindaban-and-eco-v-boards-meeting-on-december-4th-6th/

Petersburg Krishna Kirtan Concert

By Phalini Devi Dasi

At 7:00 a.m. on August 22, 2015, my husband and I climbed into the car with Sarva-drik dasa and his wife Sudevi. We all drove to the Petersburg (Virginia) Federal Correctional Complex where we all had gone for a kirtan and preaching program in September of 2014. Our first trip there had been such a positive experience that we were eager to go again.

During the pleasantly scenic drive between Sandy Ridge and Petersburg, we learned that before relocating to Prabhupada Village six years before, Sarva-drik Prabhu had lived at the Denver ISKCON Temple for twenty-five years. While living there, he used to regularly go to the prison in Englewood, Colorado to chant, preach and teach the inmates about Krsna Consciousness, as well as to distribute prasadam. He now works in connection with the ISKCON Prison Ministry. Over the last six years, he developped and now follows a regular prison preaching route. Prison preaching has given Sarva-drik Prabhu such a sweet taste that he goes to at least five prisons every month—one or two per weekend—including facilities in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

We arrived in Petersburg right on time, with our closed-toe shoes (visitors are not allowed to wear flip-flops there) and our otherwise completely devotional dress, tilaka and musical instruments. After clearing security, we were escorted to the chapel. The Prison Chaplain and Bhakta Richard (aka “Krishna Kirtan”–the devotee who is in charge of the Bhakti-Yoga Club at the medium-security facility) met us there and led us into a large room which is part of the vast prison chapel complex.

We were not prepared for what awaited us. Forty men greeted us, many of whom were positioned and ready to play various types of musical instruments to accompany the kirtan. We recognized some of the faces and gave nods and smiles of recognition to those whom we had met the previous year—Simon, Louis, and David were a few of the names we remembered.

Bhakta David, the now-famous origami florist, had handmade many more paper flowers this year than he had the previous year (Petersburg Correction Facility still does not allow real flowers on campus). In fact, he had made more than two-hundred paper flowers, dozens of which were strung together as garlands. As we entered the concert hall, we were lovingly garlanded by four of the men. Bhakta David had also learned how to make multi-colored origami lotus flowers, which were beautifully arranged in vases on the altar. Their Lordships Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, dressed in simple yet lovely outfits, graced the altar with Their effulgent, benevolent forms and were accompanied by an attractive statue of Sri-Sri Radha-Krishna as well as a set of blissful Jagannatha deities. Bhakta Louis, Krishna Kirtan’s cell-mate, is particularly attracted to Lord Jagannatha, so he always makes sure that Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra are prominently placed on the altar and a huge three-foot wall-hanging of Lord Jagannatha’s face is hung on the wall behind the altar.

We were happy to see the familiar Prabhupada Pastimes video playing on a screen to the right of the altar. It always fills our hearts with joy and makes us smile to see old clips of Srila Prabhupada and his disciples from the sixties and seventies.

Krishna Kirtan Prabhu signaled for the kirtan to start. We were amazed by how all the men sang Hare Krishna so enthusiastically and played their instruments so expertly together. I was especially impressed that all the instruments were in tune with each other and even with our harmonium! The kirtan sounded so sweet that I found myself hoping that someone was recording it. Bhakta Simon played the congas and there were even a bass guitar and another harmonium playing along. It was phenomenal. A veritable Petersburg Krishna Kirtan Concert!

After the kirtan, both my husband and Sarva-drik Prabhu took turns speaking. Haripada Prabhu reminded the men that there are 8,400,000 species of life and that the human form of life is very rare. He said that we are all lucky to be in human bodies because we have the opportunity to reconnect with Krishna, God. He said that God is known as Yogeshvara—the master of all mystic powers—and that each of us has some powers, but God has all powers—all potencies—to the fullest degree. Krishna can be compared to the unfathomable ocean, and we can be compared to small quantities of ocean water. If you take a drop of ocean water or dip a bucket into the ocean, you’ll find salt just like in the vast ocean, but in a small quantity. So we are like Krishna, in that we have a small, minute quantity of powers compared to His unlimited powers.

Recalling for the men the Bible story of the prodigal son, Haripada Prabhu painted a mental picture for them, “Imagine a wealthy family. One of the children leaves home and becomes a drunkard. The family tries to encourage him to come back, but he refuses. But some day he may decide to reconnect with his father, with his family. We are like that prodigal child. We have the wealthiest, most loving father, yet because of our minute independence, we have somehow chosen to leave home, to disconnect from our family and to try to enjoy this material world in a separate way. As in the story of the prodigal son, when we decide to return home to Lord Krishna, we are welcomed with open arms and unconditional love.”

Sarva-drik Prabhu spoke about Canakya Pandita’s verse in Niti-sastra which explains that time is the most valuable asset for the human being. He emphasized that we cannot buy back even a moment of time, even with unlimited money. He questioned the men, “How do you invest your time, your most valuable asset? Do you spend time contemplating ‘who am I’?” Then he took that thought further by asking, “If you don’t know who you are, how can you be happy?” He asked, “You have all lost your families, your cars, your bank accounts, and your reputations. How can you be happy without these things?” Then he proceeded to explain how to be happy without material attachments and affluences. He advised, “Meditate on who you really are, and what is your relationship with God. Ask yourself, ‘Why do I have to be sick and grow old and die?” Sarva Prabhu told the men that only a fortunate person feels inspired to ask these questions. He concluded by urging the men to become fortunate, and to learn to use the wealth of their time wisely. “If you misuse wealth, all you have left is sorrow, but if you use your time efficiently to understand what is the soul’s relationship with God, you can become happy. That is the actual object of human life, the real wealth of human life.”

After the devotees spoke, we all joined together in another sweet, melodious kirtan. Although we sang a melody that the inmates had not heard before, they caught on quickly and soon became absorbed in the sound of the holy names. We noticed many of the men closing their eyes and really trying to hear the holy names. Some even accompanied us with their musical instruments. By Sri Nama Prabhu’s mercy, we all felt purified and uplifted by the beautiful kirtan of Krishna’s holy names.

Following the kirtan, Haripada Prabhu spoke again. “The Vedas tell us that God created two realms, the material realm and the spiritual realm. Both realms originate from Krishna. When we come to the human form of life, Krishna grants us the freedom to choose whether to reside in the spiritual realm or the material realm. In the human form of life, we have the chance to read transcendental literatures which describe both realms. We also have the chance to decide in which realm we want to reside.” He illustrated a scenario: “Someone may find himself in a bad neighborhood, a dangerous neighborhood. He may then choose to move to a better neighborhood. The human form of life allows us the chance to choose to move to a better neighborhood, the spiritual world. So how does one go about moving to that better neighborhood of the spiritual world? The method for transferring ourselves to the spiritual world is given by Lord Caitanya in this Age of Kali—the chanting of the holy names of the Lord.” He compared the chanting of Hare Krishna to a spiritual alarm clock. “This chanting is a sound vibration that wakes us up from the dream of identifying with our body and everything connected to our body. The chanting is a sound vibration that wakes us up so that we can realize who we are. Lord Caitanya, Krishna Himself, came five-hundred years ago to give us this process of mantra-meditation. The chanting of Hare Krishna wakes us up so we can understand our eternal relationship with Krishna.”

Because the Petersburg Facility does not allow prasadam distribution, the inmates bought candies and after offering them to Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, happily distributed them to all.

Many of the men had requested to have their pictures taken with us. Unfortunately, the photographer arrived late, so many participants had already left before the camera was able to capture them. After much picture-taking with those who were still present, we said our good-byes, feeling very grateful to Lord Caitanya and the Guru-parampara for engaging us in prison preaching.

On the drive home to North Carolina, my husband and I expressed our gratitude to Sarva-drik Prabhu for his years of hard work, traveling to prisons and sharing Krishna consciousness with inmates who might otherwise never get a chance to hear the kirtan of Krishna’s holy names or Krishna conscious philosophy. We thanked him for encouraging us to come along and experience the nectar that is freely and readily available to those who are willing to take the time and effort to touch prisoners’ lives with Lord Caitanya’s mercy.***

This article is just a small part of the bi-monthly IPM NEWS, an electronic newsletter. To read the whole Nov/Dec 2015 issue, please go to: http://iskconprisonministry.us/node/473 If you wish to receive it in your mailbox, simply email me at iskconprisonministry@gmail.com with “SUBSCRIBE” in the subject line. You can also view more excerpts of inmate letters and also their artwork on our website:www.iskconprisonministry.org You want to help? OUR PRESSING NEED OF THE MOMENT: One of our donors who, for many years (thank you!), sponsored all the shipping of boxes of books to chapel libraries will be unable to do so for an indefinite time. Without this donation, I am unable to send books to chapel libraries.

This is vital, as hundreds of inmates have access, for years on end, to the material placed in libraries. Please help! The yearly cost is $2,000 a year (or $500 every trimester/ or $167 a month). If you can help, please contact Mukunda Dasa or Bhakti-lata Dasi at:
iskconprisonministry@gmail.com

ISKCON Prison Ministry
3759 McCreary’s Ridge Road
NBU #46
Moundsville, WV 26041

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=17348

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 16 April 2014, Durban, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.7.34)

Our strength is not brahman-tejas(brahminical power). Our strength is to carry the mercy of Sri Caintanya Mahaprabhu. That is our strength. Our strength is to, somehow or the other, chant Hare Krsna and induce others to chant Hare Krsna. To become great qualified brahmanas is not so easy. Srila Prabhupada describes in his purports to the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam that it is an emergency in this age of kali. Therefore for the sake of emergency, we give positions to people although they are not really qualified; we give them positions of brahmanas, we give them positions of sannyasis. Prabhupada said we do this because we need leaders in society. We need leaders! But what is their qualification?

So, this is something to take upon our head: Our acute lack of qualification and the urgency to become more qualified.  We have just been given these positions out of emergency and that for once in our life, we should begin to embrace the principles very seriously and not only four regulative principles but also the principles of vaisnava behaviour and so on. Because that is a brahmana; brahmana means principled life and that is a great challenge for us because it means that we have to change. So Krsna consciousness means a great commitment to change and we are given the systems by which we can change.

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2015/12/a-state-of-emergency-2/

A new biography of ISKCON Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada, entitled “Swami in a Strange Land: How Krishna Came to the West” is set to be released on May 3rd 2016, during ISKCON’s 50th anniversary year.

While there is already an exhaustive biography of Prabhupada in the form of Satsvarupa Das Goswami’s multi-volume Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita, as well as many individual memoirs, author Yogesvara Das (Joshua M. Greene) felt the need for a single volume bio that would be accessible and marketed to a broad general audience.

“I teach religious studies at the undergraduate level,” he says. “And whenever students asked me, ‘Do you have something about your spiritual master that I can read?’ I was feeling bereft that there wasn’t a single simple volume that would not only convey Srila Prabhupada’s life story in a succinct way for general readership, but also the essence of his teachings.”

Yogesvara – who asked for and gained the endorsements of many senior Prabhupada disciples for his effort – knows how to reach a broad audience. He’s had books published by Random House, Simon and Schuster, and other major companies, including successful biographies like Justice at Dachau: The Trials of An American Prosecutor and Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison.

His biography of Srila Prabhupada describes how Prabhupada grew up in a British India where deity worship, and worship of Krishna in particular, was put down by missionaries, yet his father Gour Mohan De was determined to see young Abhay grow up to be a strong devotee and preacher.

The book addresses the sacrifices Prabhupada made to fulfill his spiritual master’s order, the extent of his poverty, and the depth of his determination to write, print books and magazines, and secure all the papers needed to go West.

“Sumati Morarjee, who helped finance the printing of his Bhagavatam, had met “Swamiji” at Kurukshetra,” Yogesvara says. “She remembered him as a holy person then and was pleased to help with funds for printing. But she hesitated over giving him a ticket to America. She feared for his health—and we know that she had good reason, given the two heart attacks he suffered on the journey to America. But he convinced her, and just before embarking he traveled to Mayapur to offer obeisances at his spiritual master’s samadhi.”

Once in America, Prabhupada’s sacrifices continued through one of the coldest winters on record.

 
The book's cover

The story of “Swami in a Strange Land” culminates with the New York State Supreme Court case against his movement, charging that Krishna consciousness constituted brainwashing.

“The legitimacy of his whole mission was in question,” Yogesvara says. “But that case came out successful, just months before he passed away.”

Yogesvara’s aim is to tell a full biography of Srila Prabhupada, from the beginning of his life to the end, yet told from the perspective of his teachings.

“I asked myself, what would Prabhupada say if I told him I wanted to write his life story,” he explains. “And the answer was obvious: he would say, ‘My life story only has meaning if it can convey Krishna’s teachings.’”

Thus, Yogesvara’s five main goals in writing Swami in a Strange Land were that readers should come away thinking 1) “I’m not this body,” 2) “God is a person,” 3) “Now I understand what a real guru is,” 4) This person came here for me,” and 5) “I would like to read some of Prabhupada’s books.”

Yogesvara did three years of extensive research for Swami in a Strange Land. He read some 100 academic and popular books, including memoirs, studies of ISKCON, and biographies. He read every one of Srila Prabhupada’s 5,000 letters, and almost all of the 38 volumes of his transcribed conversations. And he conducted more than fifty interviews with personalities like Prabhupada’s now departed disciple Brahmananda Das, Professor Tom Hopkins – who was generous with his memories of 26 2nd Avenue – and Prabhupada’s son Vrindavan Chandra.

“Vrindavan Chandra kindly provided a description of being with his father when he walked up the gangplank to board the Jaladuta,” says Yogesvara. “One thing that reporters, editors and more have consistently told me is that they’re so impressed with Srila Prabhupada, but cannot understand why he left his family. So I deal with that in the book, and I’m so grateful to Vrindavan Chandra for helping me with it.”

Yogesvara’s book isn’t a detached, dry biography, but a dramatic narrative, full of evocative descriptions that bring the reader to a specific time and place, and dialog as Prabhupada interacts with disciples and others he meets. The best thing about the dialog? None of it is invented – it’s all lifted from transcripts and recorded conversations, with immaculate references at the end of the book.

Yogesvara also tells us about Prabhupada and his life through the viewpoint of his disciples.

“That’s the most valuable lens that we have,” he says. “Without understanding how people were affected by him, it’s difficult to convey a sense of what it was like to be with him.”

Swami in a Strange Land often uses the experiences of disciples to gain a deeper appreciation of elements of Prabhupada’s life or achievements that people are already familiar with.

“For example, when Prabhupada wrote Easy Journey to Other Planets in 1959, that was his first book,” Yogesvara says. “It came out first as an essay in two issues of Back to Godhead magazine. It was an absolutely brilliant transposing of Vedic wisdom into a contemporary scientific language. And it was that book that made Sadaputa [Prabhupada’s formost scientist disciple] a devotee. That’s how powerful Easy Journey was.”

Yogesvara himself, who joined ISKCON as a student in London in 1969, is also one of the book’s “lenses” through which we see Prabhupada.

“I had the privilege of traveling with Srila Prabhupada – not as much as his secretaries or personal servants – but the few weeks I did have were revelatory,” he says, explaining that these revelations are in the book.

“I got to ask him anything I wanted, and we had very long discussions about art, preaching Krishna consciousness, family life, and his personal life. Whenever I was with him, I would ask him any question that came to my mind. And he never declined to answer.”

At 304 pages and hardcover, Swami in a Strange Land includes 30 color and 30 black and white photos, each one of which is referenced to some incident in the text, giving readers unfamiliar with Krishna consciousness deeper insight.

It’s being published by Mandala, who are set to go all out in promoting the book to a broad audience – during ISKCON’s 50th anniversary, the perfect time to raise awareness of Srila Prabhupada.

“They’re hiring a publicist, so there’ll be author tours, interviews, feature articles, drive time radio, morning talk shows – they’re going for every venue they can,” says Yogesvara. “Also, starting next year their catalog will be distributed by the Simon Schuster sales force, one of the biggest book sales forces in the world – so Swami in a Strange Land will be listed in the Simon and Schuster catalog too.”

In an effort to further maximize the appeal of Prabhupada’s story to a large audience, a show, tentatively titled “Krishna and the Spirit of the Sixties,” will premier in New York in October 2016 and then be made available to ISKCON temples everywhere for their 50thanniversary events.

It will feature a live narration of Prabhupada’s life and teachings accompanied by Powerpoint, video, and live music by a band led by Godfrey Townsend, who has performed with some of the biggest rock artists in the world.

“The idea is that Prabhupada was a central personality in that dynamic time in American history, and that the “Spirit of the Sixties” is not over,” says Yogesvara. “It was a spirit of self-searching, of finding a greater truth to life. And that spirit is still alive in Prabhupada’s society 50 years later, through the junctures of Krishna consciousness and many areas of human endeavor: healthcare through initiatives such as Bhaktivedanta Hospital, environment (Eco-Village), conflict resolution (ISKCON Resolve) and the frontiers of consciousness and science (the Bhaktivedanta Institute and the Mayapur project).”

So what does Yogesvara ultimately want readers to take away from Swami in a Strange Land and its accompanying shows?

“That beneath the surface appearance of reality, there is a transcendental dimension of consciousness at work within creation,” he says. “And that solutions to the issues confronting humanity can only be long term and lasting if the issue of consciousness is addressed.”

“That was Prabhupada’s great contribution,” Yogesvara concludes. “He demonstrated, gave proof, that life does not come from matter. Life come from life. And it does not end with the body. It is eternal. That one fact can transform the landscape of the world.”

Swami in a Strange Land can be pre-ordered here:

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Swami-Strange-Land-Bhaktivedanta-Prabhupada/dp/1608876446

Bhaktivedanta Manor Temple's President Srutidharma Das, Managing Director Gauri Das and Head of Communications Vinay Tanna were amongst the few leaders selected to meet the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accompanied by UK Prime Minister David Cameron, during his recent visit to the UK. 

Photos released today show Srutidharma Das shaking hands with both Modi and Cameron at a special showcase event held at Wembley Stadium, which featured a performance of both the Indian and British national anthems by children from the Krishna Avanti Primary School amongst others, and was attended by thousands.

David Cameron also met and shook hands the children from Krishna Avanti, a flagship Conservative free school, and sat with them in the VIP area, which was an unforgettable moment for them. 

Srutidharma Das spoke to Narendra Modi in Gujarati about ISKCON's 50th anniversary next year, for which he offered heartfelt congratulations. Modi also spoke about his visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor in 2005. Upon meeting Srutidharma Das, David Cameron said "We meet again!" as Prabhu had only recited Diwali prayers at No 10 few days earlier. He also commented on the mangal arati sweets which were given as a gift to the Prime Minister and Mrs Cameron, who had worn a sari for the occasion, which his children enjoyed immensely.

Srutidharma Das said: "We were absolutely delighted to be part of this historic event - it was a milestone for the UK and India, and ISKCON were right at the very heart of it."

Source:http://iskconnews.org/new-photos-released-iskcon-leaders-meet-indian-pm-modi-and-uk-pm-david-cameron,5248/

By Sutapa das

Every December the entire ISKCON world focuses all attention on distribution of transcendental literature, something we all know was so close to Srila Prabhupada’s heart. He was incredibly eager to hear the figures of how many books were being distributed. Indeed, he said it gave him life. When a new book was printed, Prabhupada felt as though he had conquered an empire. He told one disciple – “the best of me is in my books.”

At this special time in ISKCON’s history, Bhaktivedanta Manor would like to make an epic offering to His Divine Grace – no less than 100,000 books distributed this Christmas! Last year we distributed 51,000 books, and that was the most successful marathon for 18 years! So this year’s “100k Effort” is a huge operation that requires everyone’s support! It was Srila Prabhupada who told us to “think big” and aim to “double it”. We hope, pray and sincerely request every single devotee to make a contribution to this momentous effort – be part of history in the making!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The100kEffort

Whattsapp: Text number to 07530 779 288

Please contact me if you have any ideas, and I’ll do my very best to assist. You can also get involved in the following initiatives:

1) Sacred Street Party – go out on Saturdays with a team of devotees from the Manor! Contact Bh Nikhil (07530 779 288)
2) Door-to-Door – go out in the evenings / weekends and visit homes! Contact Bh Nitin (07977 092 240)
3) Street distribution – visit the bustling town centres during the week! Contact Sutapa (07957 636 283) / Jagat Priya devi dasi (07776 060 697)
4) Gita Jayanti / Sponsorship – Sponsor books which will be placed in Schools, Universities, Hopitals, and Jails! Contact Saurabh das (07907 809 006)
5) Book Packs – Collect your Special Book Pack (contains 7 books) and vow to distribute them in December! Contact Candra Caitanya das (07957 417 147)

Thanks for reading! Let’s keep this sacred mission of book distribution, the heart of Srila Prabhupada and the “family business” of ISKCON, healthy and alive. Let’s make it a marathon to remember!

For any other information please contact myself (07957 636 283).

Your servant
Sutapa das

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=17308

 Chennai’s Iskcon Temple gets inundated by flood waters.

Note from the local devotees: Chennai is suffering from continous rain. Most areas flooded.
Our temple is surrounded by water. We are moving our devotees to a safer place.
Videos and photos: https://goo.gl/d2xprv 
https://goo.gl/N0CSGK
https://goo.gl/ZPeyg

Source:https://www.facebook.com/sumithra.krishna/posts/10153779211204777