ISKCON Desire Tree's Posts

Could Krishna Consciousness make you Crazy

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 11, 2015 at 11:08am

Lecture on Could Krishna Consciousness make you Crazy by HG Mahatma Prabhu

(HG Mahatma Prabhu joined ISKCON in 1969 and was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1970. He travels widely facilitating workshops and retreats on such important practices as japa, forgiveness, humility, vows and sexual purity.)

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Disappearance Day of Ramananda Raya

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 11, 2015 at 11:05am

Lecture on Disappearance Day of Ramananda Raya by Lokanath Swami at Vrindavan on 09 MAy 2015

(Born in Aravade, a small village Maharashtra, Indian, he went to Mumbai for studying. In the year 1971, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was touring India with his foreign disciples and had organized a pandal program in Mumbai.)

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Narsimha Lila

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 11, 2015 at 11:00am

Lecture On Narsimha Lila by Prabodhananda Sarasvati Swami

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Having Past Spiritual Impressions reinforced in a present life is extremely fortunate

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 11, 2015 at 10:52am

Lecture on Having Past Spiritual Impressions reinforced in a present life is extremely fortunate by HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu

(HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu is a celibate spiritual teacher (brahmachari) at ISKCON, Pune. He has done his Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering from the Govt College of Engg, Pune. He is a member of ISKCON's topmost intellectual body, the Shastric Advisory Council, which offers scriptural advise to the GBC)

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TOVP Tour Diary Day 42 – Return to Vancouver after Dinner Programs Fourth Generation Devotees Make Pledges

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 11, 2015 at 10:30am

On the morning of Wednesday, April 21st, before departing from Saranagati, we stopped at their Govardhana Academy where Jananivas prabhu spoke about how he became a devotee and what he likes about being a devotee.

Upon returning to Vancouver we went for lunch prasadam to the home of Tulsi das and Chaitanya Priya dasi. Chaitanya Priya is the granddaughter of Saktimata dasi, a well-known disciple of Srila Prabhupada. Tulsi das pledged a Silver Gratitude Coin ($11,000) and then their son and daughter, Parameswara and Vrnda, fourth generation ISKCON devotees (see the video on the TOVP website) each made a pledge to the TOVP. The Padukas were bathed and worshiped and prasadam served.

The evening program was at the home of Vishuddha Sattva Das and Shuddha Bhakti Devi Dasi. Their son is 17 years old and pledged a $2500 Radha Madhava Brick even though he doesn’t have a job or a dollar. He has promised to work hard in the next few years to fulfill his pledge. As usual, the Padukas were respectfully worshiped and prasadam served.

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TOVP Tour Diary Day 41 – Arrival in Saranagati Dhama in Canada And Evening Program

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 11, 2015 at 10:30am

On Tuesday, April 21st we made a one-day excursion to Saranagati Dhama, a devotee farm community in Ashcroft, British Columbia (Canada) and Lord Nityananda arranged for us to meet a special disciple of Srila Prabhupada along the way.

Adi Yajna owns and operates a Tour Bus company called Chaitanya Coachways out of Calgary, Canada. Due to his driving schedule he missed us in both Calgary and Vancouver, but Lord Nityananda had plans to fulfill the desire of Srila Prabhupada’s servant.

While stopping for gas on the way to Saranagati, Adi Yajna also arrived at the same gas station with an empty bus. A great exchange took place between him, the Padukas and the devotees when we discovered each other. It was most definitely a transcendental arrangement by the Lord. Adi Yajna happily and immediately pledged towards a Silver Gratitude Coin ($11,000) and promised to pay it off by the end of the year and then pledge more.

We arrived in Saranagati and were greeted by a large group of devotees, many of them Srila Prabhupada’s disciples and their next generation. We were invited to the home of Ghosh Thakur das and Giriraja dasi fo prasadam. In the evening there was a potluck dinner at Mother Yamuna’s (ACBSP) old residence which now serves as a temple for the community. About 60 devotees attended and Radha Jivan and Jananivas spoke. All the devotees generously pledged or the TOVP, including the teenagers who donated for Square Feet. $31,000 was pledged that evening.

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TOVP Tour Diary Day 40 - Visit to Kalarupini dasi’s Home and Evening Program at Virendra Sharma’s Home

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 11, 2015 at 10:24am

On Monday, April 20th the TOVP Team and the Lord’s Padukas visited the home of Kalarupini dasi who, along with Bhaktin Katelin, prepared and served us prasadam.

In the evening we were invited to the home of Virendra Sharma where many devotees came to hear Jananivas speak. The Padukas were worshiped along with kirtan and prasadam was served.

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Disappearance Day of Sri Ramananda Raya

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 9, 2015 at 8:30am

09 May 2015 - Disappearance Day of Sri Ramananda Raya

Ramananda Raya was one of the most intimate associates of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The Gauraganoddesadipika (120-124) states that Ramananda Raya was Arjuna in his past incarnation.
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Bhagavad Gita (04.14.21)

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 8, 2015 at 11:17am

Lecture on Bhagavad Gita (04.14.21)by HH Bhakti Dhira Damodar Swami at ISKCON Vrindavan

(His Holiness Bhakti Dhira Damodar Swami is from West Africa. He is the first Sannyas disciple of His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami. He is known for his years of dedicated services to ISKCON. He is very dear to devotees from Africa.)

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Death No Mercy

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 8, 2015 at 11:13am

Lecture on Death No Mercy by HH Indradyumna Swami on 08 Nov 2013

(Indradyumna Swami is a disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a Sannyasi traveling preacher, and a guru or spiritual teacher in the Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition. Each year Indradyumna Swami circles the globe teaching the message of the Bhagavad Gita and introducing people to kirtan chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra.)

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Narsimha Chaturdashi

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 8, 2015 at 11:06am

Lecture on Narsimha Chaturdashi by Charu Prabhu

(Charu Das was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1970. He has been President, variously, of the Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Berkeley (USA) temples.)

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Marriage in Spiritual Culture

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 8, 2015 at 11:03am

Lecture on Marriage in Spiritual Culture by HG Devaki Mataji on 26 Jan 2015

(Mother Devaki has served in various capacities for over 20 years and has in later years engaged in creating festivals and various meetings for devotees to listen about and glorify Krsna. She started pioneer preaching in former Soviet Union.)

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Pledge Your Support for the TOVP

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 8, 2015 at 9:17am

Hare Krishna,

Pamho. AgtSP.

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.

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

Your servant,
Sunanda das

Six work habits that destroy peace and sanity

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 6, 2015 at 3:44pm

Lecture on Six work habits that destroy peace and sanity by HH Romapada Swami in 23 Mar 2015 at Detroit

(Romapada Swami‘s first encounter with Krishna consciousness came in Buffalo, in the shape of a lecture at the State University of New York in 1969. The lecturer was His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The following year, Romapada Swami joined the movement in Boston and was initiated in 1971.)

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Pastimes of Srila Prabhupada

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 6, 2015 at 3:41pm

Lecture on Pastimes of Srila Prabhupada by HG Suresvar Prabhu on 29 Mar 2015 at ISKCON Juhu

(His Grace Suresvar Prabhu joined Srila Prabhupada's movement in 1970, serving as a preacher and book distributor across the U.S. He is currently teaching with MIHET in Sridham Mayapur. He is a contributor to Back to Godhead Magazine. )

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According to How You Approach Krishna you get a Corresponding Result

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 6, 2015 at 3:30pm

Lecture on According to How You Approach Krishna you get a Corresponding Result by Giriraj Swami on 29 Mar 2015 at Dallas

(Giriraj Swami has also taught at the Vrindavan Institute for Higher Education and continues to lecture and to give presentations at japa retreats and workshops around the world.)

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To Undestand the Love of Srimati Radharani

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 6, 2015 at 3:25pm

To Undestand the Love of Srimati Radharani by HH Indradyumna Swami on 27 March 1994 at ISKCON Poland

(Indradyumna Swami is a disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a Sannyasi traveling preacher, and a guru or spiritual teacher in the Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition. Each year Indradyumna Swami circles the globe teaching the message of the Bhagavad Gita and introducing people to kirtan chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra.)

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Frown Lines

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 4, 2015 at 4:30pm

My cousin, who is currently residing with us (she has come down to India from the U.S. for a short business cum leisure trip), had a very critical and urgent meeting scheduled, this morning. However, due to some unforeseen eventuality in his family and who is otherwise distinctly punctual, my chauffeur arrived very late (behind the reporting time by almost an hour). Now since my cousin has no experience of commuting via public transport, especially in a city like Mumbai, I was trying my best to convince her to wait till our driver arrived. During this lead time, I observed something peculiar on my cousin’s face - especially on her forehead - oh what do I see there… They are ‘Frown Lines’! It suddenly dawned upon me that we all have this little crease between our eyebrows that wrinkles and furrows, we get disturbed, perturbed and restless as soon as something doesn’t happen in our favour or things don’t materialize as planned by us. Looking at her helplessness, I started feeling anxious and a bunch of emotions captivated my heart and mind.

Ok, so our interminable wait eventually ends when our four-wheeled charioteer finally arrives. However, what we heard next was like the ultimate moment of truth – it was as if a huge gargantuan rock fell off a high cliff and had landed straight on our mind and challenged our deep-rooted desire to control things. We learnt that the same route that my cousin was to take for her journey to her pre-scheduled destination was struck down by a tragic mishap of a chain of fatal car crashes that claimed lives of seven people and gravely injured four.

The Lord has created everything in the material and spiritual world for a divine purpose which, we are unable to envision owing to our myopic vision.

According to the Bhagavad-gita, the source of suffering is in the fact that the body is temporary, that life is temporary, and therefore everything is subjected to birth, old age, disease, and death. The Vedas explain that there are three types of miseries or sufferings: ‘Adhyatmika’- sufferings of one’s own body and mind; ‘Adi-bhautika’- sufferings due to other living beings and ‘Adi-daivika’- sufferings due to natural catastrophies, beyond our control. These sufferings are always there, potentially posing threat to the physical body at any moment.

The soul is never born and never dies. It is the source of life within the body, the source of consciousness. It is transcendental. In Sanskrit: ‘sat’, ‘cit’, ‘ananda’ – the soul is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss. That is who we are.The soul is like the driver of the car, and the body is like the car. We are seeing through our eyes, hearing through our ears, smelling through our nose, tasting through our tongue, touching through our skin, thinking through our brain. But who are we? Are we a brain or a heart or an eye or an ear? We are the witness – the soul. That soul is by nature full of love and always fulfilled. But when that soul identifies itself with the body and becomes immersed in that state, then the soul has to identify with all of the vulnerabilities and frailties of this body. That is the source of all suffering!

The key to understanding the purpose of the material world is that God, has given us limited amount of independence. Although He sanctions all our actions, we are responsible for our own activities. This material world is created to give us, the conditioned living entities, who want to be happy independently from God, a place to dwell. Here in the material world our intelligence is covered by “maya,” illusion, and we are trying to become the lord and master of the world. Due to the influence of material nature our consciousness is contaminated. Thus, instead of surrendering to the Supreme Lord and serving Him we aspire to get others to surrender to us and serve us. We want to be God. We want to be the master. But actually we cannot be God, we are constitutionally very insignificant ‘jivatmas’, minute parts and parcels of the Lord. God is not forcing us to think in a particular way. We have independence to think and act and if we choose to try and be happy separate from God there has to be somewhere for us to go.

An Analogy: When the Government plans to build and develop a new city, they always have an area reserved for constructing jails/ prison houses. Without such facilities we cannot expect Law and Order to be maintained in society. Similarly, the Lord has created this material world for entities who believe they are the C.E.O. (Controller, Enjoyer, Owner). They forget that they are servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There is no question of being separate from God in the Kingdom of God, the Spiritual World, so God has created this material kingdom so that we can become Kings here.

But we cannot be happy by being separated from God. Our constitutional, natural position is to serve God. So even though there seem to be so many pleasurable things in the material world, none of them are truly satisfying. This is because we are spiritual by nature therefore no material pleasure can actually satisfy us. Transcendental pleasure is in the spiritual world.

Lord Krishna confirms in the Bhagavad Gita 8.16 that this world is a place of misery where repeated birth and death encompass:

abrahma-bhuvanal lokah punar avartino ‘rjuna

mam upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate

“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again”.

The suffering and pain of this world should serve as a reminder to us that this material world is a place full of miseries, it is not our home. Our home is in the spiritual world, the Kingdom of God. So a thoughtful person will see the sufferings of this world and ask the question: “Is there a way to end the suffering?” and such questions are the beginning of spiritual life and the beginning of actual human life. The Vedanta Sutra begins with ‘athato brahma jijnasa’ or enquiring about the Absolute Truth.

To ensure we do not stay entangled in this repeated cycle of birth and death, we must always remember the following:-

Complete Surrender: The pure devotees of the Lord completely surrender to the Lord’s plan. They never question Him. They are distinguished from others due to their following the six intrinsic principles of exclusive surrender to the Supreme Lord described by Bhaktivinoda Thakura and which are also found in the Vaishnava-Tantra as follows:

anukulyasya-sankalpah,- pratikulyasya-varjjanam

raksisy- atiti visvaso, goptrtve varanam tatha

atma-niksepa-karpanye, sad-vidha saranagatih

The above Sanskrit verse means acceptance of the favorable, rejection of the unfavorable, the faith that 'He will surely protect me,' embracing the Lord's guardianship, complete dependence on Him, and the perception of one's utter helplessness without Him, these six are the essential limbs of exclusive surrender unto the Lord.

Purpose of this Human Birth: The Lord has bestowed us with this very rare human form of life and it is a highly valuable instrument for making spiritual advancement. We should see this material world for what it is, a place of suffering where we cannot be happy, and utilise our time and energy here to re-establish our forgotten, dormant relationship with God. That is the real purpose of life.

We are all destined to suffer a certain amount and enjoy a certain amount, because of our karma (reactions to the actions we have performed in this and previous lives). That karma is fixed and cannot be changed by any type of technological advancement. So the doctors and the scientists may eliminate one type of suffering but because we are destined to suffer due to our karma that suffering will manifest in a different way.

Never Over-Endeavour: So the Vedic way of life is “plain living and high thinking.” We should live simply, so we can provide our body with the necessary food to maintain it and use our time and energy to develop pure love for God, so that at the time of death we are able to think of the Supreme and go back home, back to Godhead, the Kingdom of God, the spiritual world. That is where we will experience eternal bliss.It is stated in Bhagavad-Gita As It Is 8.6:

yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram

tam tam evaiti kaunteya sada tad-bhava-bhavitah

This means - whatever state of being one remembers, when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.

Firm Faith and Trust: We must have firm faith and trust in the plan of the Supreme Being. Therefore, never ask God for sense gratification, and never bargain with Him for something less than love of God. While we acknowledge that He is far away from us, we also feel His closeness and our ability to address Him, just as a child will go to the father to have his desires fulfilled. On the higher stages of spirituality, devotees may very well express their own desires, but their desires are always for the Lord’s pleasure. We can’t imitate those types of expressions, and if we try, we may end up asking for something not in our ultimate interest. God, as the kind father, will provide the “toy.” In the end we may find ourselves telling Him we didn’t want what we received, and Lord saying, “Well, you asked for it, so now you play with it until it breaks.”

One who is not disturbed in spite of the threefold miseries, who is not elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind. Having confidence in the ultimate plan of the Divine, we should not get disturbed by the onslaughts of the threefold miseries. We must accept all miseries as the mercy of the Lord, thinking ourselves only worthy of more trouble due to our past misdeeds. Similarly, when we are happy we should give credit to the Lord, thinking ourselves unworthy of the happiness. We should realize that it is only due to the Lord’s grace that we are in such a comfortable condition and able to render better service to the Lord without attachment. Attachment means accepting things for one’s own sense gratification, and detachment is the absence of such sensual attachment. But one fixed in spirituality has neither attachment nor detachment because his life is dedicated in the service of the Lord. Consequently he is not at all angry even when his attempts are unsuccessful. An equipoised person is always steady in his determination. For one who is so situated in the Divine consciousness, the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer. In such a happy state, one’s intelligence soon becomes steady.

If we have the desire to cross the ocean of material existence, an aspiration to taste the ecstasy of the nectarean congregational chanting of the holy names, and a longing to sport in the ocean of Divine love - then we must completely surrender unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. Thus, by completely surrendering to the Will of Providence, having faith in His higher plan for us, we would be able to iron out the ‘Frown Lines’ not just from our foreheads but also from our lives and thereby attain eternal, transcendental bliss.

Jhulan Yatra 2015 at Sridham Mayapur

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 4, 2015 at 10:47am

Hare Krsna! PAMHO. AGTSP.

Each year the Mayapur Vaisnava Senior Youth organize the Jhulan Yatra festival for the pleasure of Sri Sri Radha Madhava under the guidance of H.G. Jananivas Prabhu and H.G. Pankajanghri Prabhu. The festival runs for five days and it has become one of the highlight festivals of the year.

Daily about 5000 devotees and pilgrims come to swing Their Lordships from around Mayapur, Navadvipa and other localities. The festival also features kirtans, bhajans, offering of lamps, fireworks, acrobatics, stage programs, children’s activities, special activities on Balarama Purnima, as well as distributing thousands of plates of sumptuous prasadam.

The Festival will be broadcast through MayapurTV and will run from 25th- 30th August 2015. Please join us by tuning in between 5:30pm and 10pm (Indian, Kolkata time). Jai Sri Radha Madhava!!!

Please help us to continue and improve this wonderful service to Sri Sri Radha Madhava by giving a generous donation for this five day festival. Please click on the following links to view more information on this year’s festival and for details of how to sponsor/give a donation.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126193752@N02/
http://youtu.be/iiZFrHHCh3g

We thank you very much for your kind assistance. May you receive the blessings of Sri Sri Radha Madhava.

Your humble servants,
Mayapur Jhulan Yatra Team

For further info. please contact us: +918145829888, +919564381737, +919775052574

E-mail : jhulan.yatra@facebook.com; mayapurjhulanyatra@gmail.com; mayapurjhulan@pamho.net

Bhakti-vaibhava in Vrindavan from July 24, 2015 to November 4, 2015

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on May 4, 2015 at 10:28am

Dear Devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

With great pleasure the VIHE wishes to invite you to the in-depth, step-by-step, systematic Bhakti-vaibhava course, cantos 1&2, in Vrindavan, running from July 24, 2015 to November 4, 2015.

Srimad-Bhagavatam is “Sri Krsna who has returned among us” and is the “life-breath of the Vaisnava devotees”. Srila Prabhupada wanted that the “family transcendental diploma will continue through the generations” and that all his “spiritual sons and daughters will inherit this title of Bhaktivedanta”. For hundreds of years Vrindavan has been a dedicated place of study, worship and transformation, especially for the Gaudiya Vaisnavas.

Requirements: Good sadhana, brahminical tendencies, voluntary service, Bhakti Shastri diploma (or its equivalent in special cases) and proficiency in English. One also must have 2 recommendations (one from your guru and a senior devotee in good standing who knows you well). Assessment criteria include attendance and personal conduct.

Shrimad Bhagvatam class:
H.H.Bhakti Dhira Damodar Swami
H.G.Sarvabhauma das
H.G.Adi Purusha das
H.G.Prashanta devi dasi

Meters in Srimad Bhagavatam:
H.G.Vraja Ramana das

10 Topics of Shrimad Bhagvatam:
H.G.Prashanta devi dasi

Lunch prasadam is served in the VIHE, sponsored by the alumni and other well-wishers. A few scholarships are available on request received from temple authorities endeavoring to increase the educational quality of their community teachers, preachers and members.

To apply: Please write to vihe.courses.admissions@pamho.net and register.
Web site: www.vihe.org or call +917895101709 (Damodarashtak Das)

Please kindly post this information on your temple board and tell your friends.
Thank you!