ISKCON Desire Tree's Posts

Vaisnava Personalities

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 5, 2013 at 10:27am

Seminar on Vaisnava Personalities by Bhakti Caitanya Swami

(Bhakti Caitanya Swami initially served in the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and also distributed Srila Prabhupada’s books from 1973 until 1980.Then Bhakti Caitanya Swami moved to South Africa, where, from 1980 to 1982, he served as temple president in the rural community of Cato Ridge.)

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After Death

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 5, 2013 at 10:00am

Lecture on After Death by Jayadvaita Swami on 26 Feb 2013 at Durban

(Jayadvaita Swami is editor, publisher, and teacher. He is a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.)

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Every action has a Reaction

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 3, 2013 at 4:39pm

Lecture on Every action has a Reaction by Kavichandra Swami

(Kavichandra Swami met the Hare Krishna devotees in 1967 and was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1971. He joined the temple in Tucson, Arizona, and since that time he has served in various capacities in the United States and around the world.)

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Journey of Faith

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 3, 2013 at 4:32pm

Lecture on Journey of Faith by Kadamba Kanana Swami on 23 July 2013 at Durban South Africa

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

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The Glories of Vaisnavas

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 3, 2013 at 4:30pm

Lecture on The Glories of Vaisnavas by Kesava Bharati Das Goswami on 23 Aug 2009 at New Vraja Dham

(Kesava Bharati Das Goswami met his spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in 1972.)

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Modes of Goodness

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 3, 2013 at 4:00pm

Lecture on Modes of Goodness by Jayadvaita Swami on 03 July 2013 at Columbus

(Jayadvaita Swami is editor, publisher, and teacher. He is a disciple of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.)

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Voncouver's 40th Annual Jagannatha Ratha Yatra Festival

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 3, 2013 at 10:31am

Hare Krishna!

The devotees of would cordially like to invite you to attend Vancouver's 40th Annual Jagannatha RathaYatra
on Sunday August 11th from 11:30 AM - Dusk

Some Special guests who will be attending include;

His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami
His Holiness Bir Krishna Goswami
His Holiness Bhaktimarga Swami
His Grace Nirantara Prabhu
His Grace Amala Bhakta Prabhu

Further information please vist : http:vanchariotfest.com

Live Your Faith by HH.Sacinandana Swami Maharaj

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 2, 2013 at 5:12pm

By Sacinandana Swami

My life in our little ashram by the lake is as peaceful as you can imagine. Thinking, writing, chanting, reading, praying, worshiping and hosting the many guests who come by, including the swans. But from time to time my peace gets unsettled when I have to think about an answer to a difficult question. A few days ago such a question was found inside my inbox. Here it is for you:

“My question is, how can I bridge the gap between the deep faith I feel for Krishna who is so mercifully affording me in mounting installments as the years go by and the frequent inaccessibility to it on a moment to moment basis?”

This is what I wrote back:

Let me thank you from the deepest corner of my heart for your wonderful question which I have thought about over the last few days. I have found deep inspiration in exploring it but needed time to formulate my answer.

This maybe is the central question for all practitioners. It has to do with living one’s faith.

I believe that your overarching faith has been given to you by Krishna. It is a divine investment from above. Now, it is necessary for you to learn step by step - how to realize what you believe in. In other words after Krishna has moved into your life, He wishes to see that you are moving into His. You will now have to close that gap between what you believe in and your actual experience. Experience is the best proof that something is true.

In my mind there are three steps you need to take in the journey of faith: Improve your practice, pray for divine empowerment, take a risk.

IMPROVE YOUR PRACTICE

I would really like to help you understand this essential point with the help of a little story, which will both inspire and make you think:

Once there was a well-known saint. He lived by the side of a mountain in a little straw hut. Because he was old, he could no longer travel, so he stayed mostly by himself, absorbed in the Lord. Some considered him a guru who had answers to their questions and therefore he was occasionally visited by people but on the whole he stayed on his own.

Once, a hermit came down from his cave in the mountains. He had heard about the saint and hoped to get an answer to an inner dilemma he was facing. After he sat down, the saint nodded silently indicating that he should speak. “I know very well what is the purpose of life, I have faith in the scriptures and in the practice”, said the hermit. “And yet, I often find myself unable to live according to my knowledge and am often overcome with clouds of dullness and a painful emptiness within the heart. What should I do?”

The old saint sighed and remained silent for a long time. Then he said: “Please, come back tomorrow. I myself am interested in the answer. Let me stay up and pray.”

When the hermit returned the next morning, the holy man had the answer: “There is a big ocean with currents and waves. It is almost insurmountable. On the other shore there is a crystal white beach. A little further you will find a city with golden roofs, a market place where you can get everything for free and temples where the Lord personally talks to His devotees.”

Then the old saint again became silent. After some time he stared intensely into the eyes of his visitor and decisively said: “Brother, let us stop talking for now about that place. You first need to find a boat, a boatman, some oars and a compass. Then he became silent again.

The visitor understood. Instead of meditating on his spiritual ideal (the golden city) he needed to turn his attention onto the process of how to get there.

In the same way, I think you need to concentrate on your practice the boat, so to speak - put everything you got into it, consult an experienced seaman and use the oars. There is an ancient song which talks about this:

WHO WILL GO OH WHO WILL GO, BROTHERS?

hari-nama naukakhani om guru-khandari

sankirtana koroyala dubahu pasari

The holy name of Hari is the boat,

Sri Guru is the captain, and the singers of kirtan, moving with upraised arms, are the oars.

(By Locana Dasa Thakura)

The author of this song gives further encouragement; all souls can cross over the ocean of birth and death with the favorable winds of prema by the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

But, what is the compass, you might ask. In my humble understanding, the compass is the Scripture, Srimad Bhagavatam. By regularly reading this purest of all scriptures, one can get all the light which one requires to walk one’s path even in this darkness of Kali-yuga.

PRAY FOR BHAKTI WITH TASTE

Most probably you are already practicing this but is it alive within you? Do you experience deep taste? The acaryas talk about bhakti with nectar and bhakti without nectar. Pray for that bhakti with taste like a drowning man for a boat, a man dying of thirst for water, a lover for the long absent beloved. Only bhakti with taste will take you beyond where you are already.

But please know that you cannot force your way into the kingdom of God. It is not by your own strength that the door which leads you further opens. That door can only be opened from the inside by the hand of the Lord. However, our efforts can show the Lord that we are not indifferent to receiving His gifts. Diligent practice puts us into a position whereby we can receive. Thus, they are important, but it is always up to Him to answer in exactly the way He chooses. Maybe He has already done so but because you expected something else and looked out of the back window, you might not have recognized the gifts already laid before your door.

START NOW, TAKE THE RISK

I have always said that the whole path only shows itself when we start walking it. Have we not all stood at some time before a path going into the forest and did not know where it would bring us? And have we not struggled with the question: Should I stay or should I go? Then, when we took the risk of stepping into the unknown, we were actually most of the time pleasantly surprised by what we had found.

There is a secret: When you go forward in your spiritual life you are never alone. According to how much you wish to know, the Lord will reveal accordingly. To the degree we make spiritual progress the priority in our life, to that degree we will actually realize and move forward it works immediately. If we make it our first priority in life then we will make rapid progress. Our faith comes alive with the nourishment of realization. However, if we make it a second or third priority, reaching our ideal becomes progressively slower and the gap between what we believe in and what we actually experience remains open.

So, please, do start enthusiastically and know that you are not alone: Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

At your service always.

Thanks and best regards,

Rajesh Sharma

Detachment Vs Irresponsibility

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 2, 2013 at 2:00pm

Lecture on Detachment Vs Irresponsibility by Caitanya Charan Prabhu

(Chaitanya Charan Das is a celibate spiritual teacher (brahmachari) at ISKCON, Pune. He has done his Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering from the Govt College of Engg, Pune.)

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Inculturation

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 2, 2013 at 1:58pm

Seminar on Inculturationp by Urmila Mataji

(Her Grace Urmila Devi Dasi was born in 1955 in New York City. She joined ISKCON in 1973 in Chicago. She received first initiation in 1973 and second initiation in 1975 from His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.)

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Vedic Abnormalities

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 2, 2013 at 12:00pm

Seminar on Vedic Abnormalities by Bhanu Swami

(Bhanu Swami was born in Canada and holds a BA in Oriental fine arts history from the University of British Colombia. He joined the Hare Krishna movement in India in 1970.)

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Empathic Communications

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 2, 2013 at 12:00pm

Lecture on Empathic Communications by Bir Krishna Goswami

(Bir Krishna Goswami became a member of the Krishna conscious community in Gainesville, Florida in 1971. Shortly thereafter, he was initiated as Srila Prabhupada’s disciple.)

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Sri Tattva Sandarbha

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 1, 2013 at 1:46pm

Lecture on Sri Tattva Sandarbha by Radhakrishna Prabhu

(His Grace Radhakrishna Das Brahmachari Prabhu of Sridham Vrindavan is a duly initiated disciple of His Holiness Sri Srimad Gopala krishna Goswami Maharaj.)

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Searching For True Friendship

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 1, 2013 at 1:30pm

Lecture on Searching For True Friendship (Prerana Festival) by Radhika Raman Prabhu on 18 Apr 2009 at ISKCON Chowpatty

(Radhika Ramana Das, also known as Dr. Ravi M. Gupta, is a notable Vaishnava scholar. Presently, he is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and a member of the faculty at Bhaktivedanta College.)

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Real Friendship

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 1, 2013 at 1:30pm

Lecture on Real Friendship by Indradyumna Swami on 20 Jan 2013 at Hong Kong

(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.)

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How to maintain Friendship in this Material World

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on August 1, 2013 at 1:11pm

Lecture on How to maintain Friendship in this Material World by Mukunda Goswami on 03 July 1994 at Heidelberg

(Mukunda Goswami is one of the founding members of ISKCON. He has published many articles and lectured worldwide and is the author of Miracle on Second Avenue.)

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ISKCON Foundation Day on 31 July 2013

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on July 31, 2013 at 4:30pm

Prabhupada registered ISKCON on this date, 31st July 1966 highlighting following seven purposes of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness:

(a) To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.

(b) To propagate a consciousness of Krishna, as it is revealed in the Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagwatam.

(c) To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, thus to develop the idea within the members, and humanity at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).

(d) To teach and encourage the sankirtan movement, congregational chanting of the holy name of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

(e) To erect for the members and for society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes, dedicated to the Personality of Krishna.

(f) To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.

(g) With a view towards achieving the aforementioned Purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.

Your Servent
Sudhakar Dasa

Organization Structure

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on July 30, 2013 at 2:08pm

Seminar on Organization Structure by Urmila Mataji

(Her Grace Urmila Devi Dasi was born in 1955 in New York City. She joined ISKCON in 1973 in Chicago. She received first initiation in 1973 and second initiation in 1975 from His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.)

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Lord Balarama teaches how to Serve

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on July 30, 2013 at 2:02pm

Lecture on Lord Balarama teaches how to Serve by Sarvabhauma Prabhu

(Sarvabhauma Prabhu was born on 6th Feb 1952, in a Puskarana Vaishnava Brahmin family, having a Radha Krishna temple for eight generations in Mithi, which is part of Rajasthan in Sindh province of Pakistan.)

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Appearance of Lord in our Heart

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on July 30, 2013 at 12:30pm

Lecture on Appearance of Lord in our Heart (Sunday Feast Lecture) by Candramauli Swami on 17 Mar 2013 at ISKCON Chowpatty

(At present, Candramauli Swami preaches in America, India, Western Europe, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, and the UK. He is an initiating spiritual master within the ISKCON society.)

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