As we were driving through West Bengal, I spotted a newly built house, with two words painted in large black letters across the entry portico – God Gift (written as spelled :). I imagined how every day the family would get this message as they arrived home and could not help but smile.

It also reminded me of a quote posted at one of the seminars at the ISKCON Leadership Sanga last week – Interrupt anxiety with gratitude. Anxiety is a given in most of our lives. It seeps in all over the place, in small and big ways, and triggers various reactions.

First is our effort to quell it. To run, hide, or avoid what is making us anxious. Cover it up and bury it deep within. We may also try to soothe anxiety with distraction, in both healthy and unhealthy ways.

Anxiety is connected to not being in control and especially where there is personal difficulty or failure, or the anticipation of that. From the moment we wake up, our mind can begin it’s tap tap tapping on the anxiety button. If and when that happens here’s a few things we can do.

Interrupt the anxious thoughts with grateful ones. it really does work magic. No matter what, there is always something to be grateful for. And even if our situation is very desperate, expressing gratitude for something can help us through.

Another anxiety interrupter is having a place to take shelter. With Krishna, the feeling of shelter is almost immediate. When we say Krisna’s name, we can feel strength, relief, solace, hope, and a knowing that all will be well. That’s why getting some japa meditation done first thing in the morning is one of the best ways to control the mind.

Anxiety will never be far from us as we interact with the world. Too much of it can wear us down, zap our energy, and make us chronically ill. We may feel obliged to be anxious, that we are not a good person if we don’t. Interrupt that thought, and anxiety in general, as often as you can. The nature of the soul is happiness. Lord knows, life doesn’t often match that, but still we should remember it and let gratitude and Krishna’s name bring it out.

Source: http://iskconofdc.org/interrupt-anxiety-with-gratitude/

This Sacred Sound retreat provides the opportunity to step out of the complexity of modern life and immerse oneself in the transcendental and uplifting world of Kirtan.

Set in the beautiful surrounds of Mount Warning, Sacred Sound offers hours of maha-mantra Kirtan with some of the best Kirtan artists in the world, inspirational sadhu sanga, sumptuous meals and a restorative time for sadhana.

When:

Easter Long Weekend
Friday 25th – Monday 28th March 2016

Where:

New Govardhana Farm – 525 Tyalgum Rd Murwillumbah NSW 2484

For bookings and more informations check out the event page

Recently, the office wing of the temple building and the apartment building II went through roof transformations. Yoder Amish Roofing Company began replacing the temple’s office wing roofing on Monday, February 29th, 2016 and replaced the apartment building II roofing on Tuesday, March 1st, 2016.

The crew of about 8-10 men stripped old shingles, laid new plywood, added top quality synthetic underlayment and finished with a layer of lifetime duration shingles onto the temple roof.

The new office wing roof.

Five beautiful Swiss Velux skylights were installed in the prasadam hallway.

Above, the roofing company stripped and replaced the metal panel roofing on the apartment building II.

The apartment building II roof is now complete.

Source: http://www.brijabasispirit.com/2016/03/03/new-roofs-on-temple-and-apartment-building-in-new-vrindaban/

Reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 chapter 19 ‘The Appearance of Sukadeva Goswami’, Text 12 

sukhopavistesv atha tesu bhuyah  krta-pranamah sva-cikirsitam yat vijñapayam asa vivikta-ceta  upasthito ’gre ’bhigrhita-panih 

Translation: “After all the rsis and others had seated themselves comfortably, the King, humbly standing before them with folded hands, told them of his decision to fast until death.” 

Hare Krishna! It is an honour and privilege to have the opportunity to speak something about Krishna in the assembly of Vaisnavas and here in Sri Mayapur Dhama. Before I begin therefore I beg the blessings and good wishes of all the assembled Vaisnavas and particularly my seniors, superiors who are present here in large numbers. With all of your blessings, I hope I can speak something that is meaningful and constructive. 

Because this is the last day of the ISKCON Leadership Sanga, in the last few days we have been hearing much about leadership. I was also asked to speak something in connection with leadership or the qualities of a leader. I thought I would focus on how a leader or anyone for that matter should consult authorities before taking important decisions in life. Important decisions in any sphere of activity, whether its one’s personal life, one’s family life, one’s temple activities, temple management, whatever it may be. There is a process for arriving at decisions, an authorised process. And here we see King Pariksit setting the example. He comes here in a very humble spirit with folded hands in front of the assembled Vaisnavas and asks them for their opinions on the decision that he has contemplated. Even though he has decided he wants to do that but he nevertheless wants to ask them is that right, is that the right thing I am doing. Of course King Pariksit was confronted with the mother of all decisions because when we confront death we have to take a decision on how we are going to do it, what should we think about, what should be worship, who should we remember at this time. So all of us are confronted with decisions, small decisions, big decisions, important decisions, not so important decisions, every day of our life. Right from the prasadam time, should I take one more chapati or not, we have to think - is it good for me is it not; right down to big decisions in life and all these devotees are taken by devotees in consideration of one thing and one thing alone - whether immediately or remotely or ultimately. And that is how is it going to affect my Krishna consciouness? How is it going to affect my service to Krishna? If I eat one more chapati am I going to fall asleep in my japa or whatever it is? We always think is it going to affect my health and then I wont be able to serve Krishna better. So we are always taking decisions all day long throughout our life and many of these decisions are not easy. I remember on one particular day two different devotees approached me, a couple of hours apart. One devotee said, ‘I want your advise. 

I am thinking of becoming a brahmacari but I am in doubt! I am not confident whether I can make it! It seems a risky decision, should I do it or should I not!’ Well I took him through a process for some time. And then after some hours I met another young man who came and said, ‘I want your advise. I am thinking of getting married but I am not sure will it work, will it not work! Its a risk!’ So being a brahmacari is a risk, being a grhastha is a risk. Actually everything in this material existence is a risk. Breathing is a risk especially when you go to major metropolitan cities where there is so much pollution. Certainly coming to Mayapur from Calcutta is a risk. 

Getting into a car, walking on the street, flying an airplane, doing anything in this material world is a risk. But what to do! We have to survive, so we have to take decisions. So we have to take decisions that are right. Right decisions means decisions according to guru, sadhu, sastra. According to what Krishna wants us to do! Of course that we say because we are devotees. Not everybody thinks like that because they may not be devotees. So if all the decisions that we have made in our life, some are good decisions, and some perhaps in retrospect we may imagine they are not such good decisions that we made. We may regret, we may lament about them. But I will ask you one question. 

And that question is common to every single of us sitting here in this room. What is the best decision that you ever made in your life? And that answer will be common to everyone of us here. What is that best decision that you made, ever made, and possibly ever could make? We became devotees! That is the best decision we could ever have made in our life. 

And that is the injunction of the scriptures - You must become a devotee of Krishna! There is that verse from the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu which Srila Prabhupada used to quote often, smeram bhangi-traya-paricitam saci-vistirna-drstim vamsi-nyastadhara-kisalayam ujjvalam candrakena govindakhyam hari-tanum itah kesi-tirthopakanthe ma preksisthas tava yadi sakhe bandhu-sange ’sti ran (1.2.gah239) This is one gopi telling another gopi, ‘My dear friend, if at all you value your material life, if you value all your relationships in this world, then beware. Don’t you dare go the banks of the Yamuna on the Kesi ghata, where there is that person called Govinda, who is standing there in a three-fold bending form, placing His flute to His lips and His face is shining, radiant in the light of the full moon and He is standing there with His sidelong glance, smiling very beautifully. Don't go there!’ So the acharyas have explained that this is an example of a literary ornament called a ‘vyaja stuti’ stuti means ‘to praise’.

So vyaja stuti is when you praise that which is to be condemned and you condemn that which is to be praised with the understanding that the audience is going to understand that. So it is meant for a certain caliber of audience. So Rupa Goswami here is saying or he is quoting the gopi’s as saying that actually you should be doing that, you must do that, it is an imperative. Imperative is something that doesn't give you a choice. So through the vyaja stuti you condemn something that actually you should be doing, thats the most admirable thing and desirable thing in life. So approaching Govinda is the primary decision of our life, the most important thing we could ever do in our life. Of course there will be others who will tell us, not in vyaja stuti but will tell us - Don’t go to Krishna! Don’t go to ISKCON! Don’t go to the devotees! But as Narada Muni says in the Seventh Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam when we get such advise then we should simply say, yes, yes yes but do what we have to do. In any case, so we become devotees and we may think, well you are saying that the best decision in life is to become a devotee and you’ve talked about risky decisions in life but it appears that becoming a devotee is also risky. What if one falls down from Krishna consciousness? Its a risk! There is a risk of failure. But of course Krishna has mentioned in the Second Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, nehabhikrama-naso ’sti pratyavayo na vidyate sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat (Bg 2.40) There is no loss, no diminution, in taking to Krishna consciousness. 

Even if there is a calamity one doesn't lose what one has gained in Krishna consciousness. And this is exactly what Narada Muni tells Vyasadeva in the First Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, tyaktva sva-dharmam caranambujam harer bhajann apakvo ’tha patet tato yadi yatra kva vabhadram abhud amusya kim ko vartha apto ’bhajatam sva-dharmatah (SB 1.5.17) A very important verse for us, which would give us inspiration to go on in Krishna consciousness despite our struggles and failures that may come sometimes. And Narada Muni gives a very sage advise. He says for a person who has given up worldly responsibilities, the varnasrama dharma duties, sva-dharma tyaktva, means to give up, for what purpose, caranambujam harer, to accept the shelter of the lotus feet of Hari or Krishna, even if, yadi, yadii means if, not that necessarily that has to be, but even if there is some kind of a fall down in the process, what is the fault, yatra kva vabhadram abhud amusya kim, what is the fault, what is the loss even if one takes to Krishna consciousness having given up all sorts of material duties, and one fails, one falls down from the path, what is the loss? On the other hand, if one has not taken shelter of Krishna and one has achieved much on the material platform, what has one actually gained? Nothing, because all the things that we have gained materially will perish. Whereas what we have gained spiritually by taking to Krishna consciousness will endure for ever. 

Its like a spiritual bank account which keeps growing and you can never withdraw from it. You just keep adding and adding and adding till a time comes when that bank account becomes large enough for us to be transported to the spiritual kingdom of Krishna. So that said, alright its the most risk free activity that we can ever do, the best decision in life, but it is not enough to take a decision to become a devotee and become one. One has to continue to remain one till the end of life, till we attain complete success in life. And as we become devotees very soon we realise, its not just about me, its about others as well. We are in a preaching mission. 

When we become devotees we understand this is the best thing we have done and we must share it with others. So therein begins our responsibility for others. Caitanya Mahaprabhu has said in the Caitanya Bhagavata when He talks to Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura, suno suno nityananda, suno haridas sarvatra amar ajna koroho prakash prati ghare ghare giya koro ei bhiksa bolo `krsna', bhajo krsna, koro krsna- siksa “Nityananda, Haridasa, please listen to Me. 

Go everywhere and broadcast My instruction.” What is My instruction? “Go to every home and request them to chant the names of Krishna, to worship Krishna and to accept the instructions of Krishna in their life.” So when we become devotees we understand its not just about me becoming a pure devotee, its equally about helping others to become pure devotes. And thats where the leadership question comes in. Therefore every devotee is a leader in that sense. Because ultimately what is a leader? There may be different definitions technically speaking of what a leader is, but the simplest definition of a leader is one who is in a capacity or a position to influence others. Very simple. It could be positively, it could be negatively, thats another thing. But we are in a position to influence the minds and activities of others. Whether its a parent for a child, or guru for a disciple, or a teacher, or a preacher to another person, we are all in a responsible position because now when we have become devotees we realise whatever decisions I take, there are repercussions that will be there not just for me but for others as well. So we are all leaders. So the choices we make, the decisions we make are going to have ramifications. 

So how do we make all these decisions? Making decisions of course is not easy many times and especially when it comes to tricky things, troublesome things, then its extremely, its a topic of anxiety, how should one do this, how should one do that, in trying to further the preaching mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Prabhupada’s house of ISKCON, there are many anxieties that may come. The decisions that we have to take from the smallest decisions to the biggest ones may be fraught with so many risks and consequences that we may have to consider. Let me cite a little example from the Ramayana and you may be surprised to know that I am quoting as an authority none other than Ravana. Ravana was a demon of course. He was a great scholar. Being a great scholar doesn't stop one from being a demon. One may be a great scholar and not a devotee of the Lord. One may be a great devotee and not apparently a scholar. So scholarship is not really the thing.

The point is to become a pure devotee. In Ravana’s case we see that he was scholarly in terms of many many scriptures. So when he was faced with the prospect of Lord Rama attacking Lanka with His army of monkeys and bears and Hanuman had already wrecked havoc in Lanka, and set fire to Lanka and Ravana had got some taste of what was to come, then he became nervous. Otherwise he was fearless. But now after Hanuman’s depravations in Lanka, he became a little nervous. And he called his raksasa friends, his ministers, his councillors and began to speak like a wise man. Now for the moment we will forget that it is Ravana speaking. Just take the content of his speech, ok! Now Ravana says, ‘My dear friends, it is said in the scriptures that one should never take important decisions without good counsel. Therefore you are my dear friends. I have called you to consult you about what should be the course of action now. You know that Rama is on the other side of the sea. 

And sooner or later He will get here. What should we do?’ And then he said, ‘there are three kinds of people in this world - superior, mediocre, and inferior - uttama, madhyama, kanistha.’ These three Sanskrit words we will hear many times in different contexts when different phenomena or examples are being analysed. ‘So the superior person is one who takes decisions especially before he is able to embark on a very important task, he consults superiors and friends who have a common interest. In accordance with the advise he receives, he proceeds with full energy depending on destiny for the result.’ 

This is the decision taken or the manner in which a course of action is decided by the superior person. ‘The mediocre person thinks over the matter himself or herself. Then considers things in the light of his intelligence and acts accordingly.’ ‘The inferior person, the kanistha, he has no faith in God,’ this is Ravana speaking, ‘he has no faith in God, he acts whimsically, he has no sense of duty, he doesn't have sense of judgement of what is beneficial and what is harmful and he embarks on a course of action saying, I will do it no matter what, without consulting anyone.’ So these are the three kinds of people in this world. 

And then Ravana goes on to say, ‘There are three kinds of advise. The first kind of advise is superior advise. Superior advise is that which is obtained by careful objective consideration of the circumstances, in accordance with religious principles. Mediocre advise is that which is given after heated discussion and which is more often than not based on self interest rather than religious principles. And the lowest form of advise, bad advise is that which is made out of a sense of false pride, or wanting to flatter somebody, without any consideration of the consequences of one’s actions.’ Very wise actually. 

So in one sense Ravana’s words have wisdom, if you just keep aside the fact that his heart was full of anarthas, that drove him to act the way he did. But if you just take this section that he is speaking on because he is quoting from the scripture, it makes sense, its very wise advise for all of us. And although Ravana doesn't say it but if we apply our mind from the principles of Bhagavad Gita we can see the three modes of nature here. So the superior person is acting in the mode of goodness, because he is very thoughtful, consults everybody, gets different opinions, understands things, see if they are in accordance with dharma or not and then proceeds after thoughtful consideration. A person in the mode of passion is generally proud. So out of his pride he thinks I can deal with it myself. I am intelligent enough, I am capable enough and even though he actually may be so, he may be intelligent and capable but that action may not be the wisest thing to do. Because although one may be intelligent, one is not perfect. So thats the person in the mode of passion. And as far as the mode of ignorance, yes, a person in the mode of ignorance doesn't believe in God, he doesn't have a sense of duty, acts whimsically, doesn't know whats beneficial, and whats not. If you just look at the Sixteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, its exactly the description of a person with a demoniac tendency. And then what about the transcendental decisions which go beyond the three modes of nature. 

We put Krishna in the center and devotees in the center. So what applies to decisions in the mode of goodness now, will also apply for transcendence when we keep Krishna and the devotees. So we come together with the devotees and consult. Yes there is guru, sadhu and sastra but then there are times when we are not able to ascertain very clearly specifically what guru, sadhu, sastra would enjoin in a particular circumstance. That is when we need to sit together with the devotees, a churning process takes place which may sometimes not be very pleasant and something emerges by the collective wisdom of the devotees. 

Now one time in New Mayapur, France, probably in 1975, in a conversation, Srila Prabhupada was saying, ‘You must form..’ yeah I think it was in New Mayapur, ‘You must form a committee, a committee, and then take decisions.’ Sorry that was in New Vrindavana I think. In any case, Prabhupada said, ‘You must form a committee and take decisions.’ And then devotee protested ‘But Prabhupada that is democracy. You have criticised democracy so much by calling it demon crazy and so on. You have spoken about enlightened monarchy.’ And then Prabhupada gave a surprising answer. He said, ‘No, monarchy is out of date!’ Surprising! He said, ‘Monarchy is out of date!’ So although Prabhupada has said so much about monarchy in all his teachings, 

in his lectures and so on to give us the principles of leadership and how real leaders were and should be but he also recognised that in this age of Kali where would you find the right candidate to become a qualified monarch like King Yudhisthira or King Pariksit, very hard to find. So therefore collective decision making is the way to go , thats the process. So then he said, ‘Yes, you make a committee. You decide. If you have to live together, you have to work together.’ In this way Prabhupada emphasised the need for everyone coming together, making decisions together. Another point that comes up, the last point before I conclude. And this was in New Mayapur France. Somebody asked Prabhupada, he said, ‘Prabhupada you say that we should take decisions in our life with reference to authority. 

But what if we have to take decisions at a time when there is no authority available. Then Prabhupada said, ‘Krishna will give. He will give intuition.’ He used the ‘intuition’. He said, ‘If a devotee is really sincere, then Krishna from within will give the intuition, give the understanding’ and then he quoted the Bhagavad Gita verse from the Tenth Chapter, tesam satata-yuktanam bhajatam priti-purvakam dadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te (Bg 10.10) For one who is constantly devoted to Me and absorbed in service to Me, I give him the intelligence by which he can come to Me.’ So this is the principle. 

So the more Krishna conscious we become, the clearer our head becomes. The fog of indecision and confusion in the lower modes of nature get dissipated and the clear conclusions of Krishna consciousness emerge. So therefore we need to emphasise on our sadhana so that all of us become more and more Krishna conscious, come together, deliberate, do what is best for our individual and collective progress in Krishna consciousness and also for the furtherance of the Krishna consciousness movement by preaching. Thank you very much! Hare Krishna! I will just take one comment or question if any. Yes? Question: (audio indistinct) Maharaja: (repeats the question) The question is how does one understand whether it is our unwillingness to accept an authority or the absence of an authority especially in a multi inspirational scenario. Thats not very difficult. If there are authorities around, there are authorities around. So when there are senior devotees around or even contemporaries around, we can always consult them on the basis of guru, sadhu, sastra. Thank you very much! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Gaurapremande Hari Haribol!

tasmin kute ’hite naste  krtta-mule vanas-patau vitapa iva susyanti  visnu-prana divaukasah (SB 7.1.9) 

Translation: “When the root of a tree is cut and the tree falls down, its branches and twigs automatically dry up. Similarly, when I have killed this diplomatic Visnu, the demigods, for whom Lord Visnu is the life and soul, will lose the source of their life and wither away.” 

tavad yata bhuvam yuyam  brahma-ksatra-samedhitam sudayadhvam tapo-yajña-  svadhyaya-vrata-daninah (SB 7.1.10) 

Translation “While I am engaged in the business of killing Lord Visnu, go down to the planet earth, which is flourishing due to brahminical culture and a ksatriya government. These people engage in austerity, sacrifice, Vedic study, regulative vows, and charity. Destroy all the people thus engaged!”

Life is all about making plans. The demons have their plans, the devotees have their plans. At the end of Bhagavad Gita Krishna famously asks, 

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (Bg 18.66) 

Abandoning all varieties of dhama can also be paraphrased as abandoning all plan making and accept Krishna’s plan. Material existence is all about an idea, a plan that conditioned souls have in their mind. They see opportunity, they see possibilities and therefore they make plans. When Krishna says, abandon all varieties of religion, this includes a request for us to shut down our plan making factory. (laughs) And that feels tough to us often. Shut down our plan making factory and accept Krishna’s plan. 

Hiranyakasipu is setting a plan into action. His demoniac associates will humbly take Hiranyakasipu’s order of devastation upon their heads and proceed to execute it. What is the root of this plan? Yudhisthira Maharaja enquired from Narada Muni, ‘Why such enmity between Hiranyakasipu and his own son Prahlada? Whats the cause of this?’ Narada Muni is explaining that because Visnu killed Hiranyakasipu’s brother Hiranyaksa, therefore by Prahlada’s siding with Visnu, he became such an enemy to his own father, that his father wanted to kill him. So at the root of this situation we have extreme envy and this envy will be more developed in the present chapter the verses. Hiranyakasipu had a vision for peace for himself. He is enraged that Visnu has killed his brother. He is vowing that I will personally kill Visnu and destroy the spiritual world. He is staring up into the sky as if he can see Vaikuntha. He is vowing I am going to finish off Vaikuntha. 

What is his peace formula? When I cut off the head of Visnu, and the blood of Visnu starts to run, this will please my brother and I shall also be pleased, I will be pacified. Our dilemma in material existence is that we always think that by our fulfilling material desires we will be pacified. We have this notion in our mind and it seems quite clear at times. All I have to do is seek my own happiness, seek my own pleasure and then I will be peaceful. Those who don’t get in the way of my seeking my own happiness, they are friends, even lovers. Those who interfere or impede my quest for happiness, they are known as enemies. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says that actually love in the material world means, look you don’t interfere with my sense gratification, I love you! (laughs) You are a supporter of my sense gratification, I love you. This is Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s statement. (laughs) Hiranyakasipu not only had a plan for his achieving peace but he also had a plan how to destroy the earth. This is his version of watering the tree at the root and all the branches blossom. You know that verse in the Fourth Canto, we often quote, by giving the food to the stomach the whole body becomes energised. By watering the tree at the root all the branches blossom. Similarly by serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead everything is taken care of. Hiranyakasipu had his own version of that. Uproot, pull out the root and then the tree is finished. His main focus, his main strategy was on killing Visnu. At the same time however he had a secondary strategy and he is employing his demoniac associates to do the secondary strategy, which is go to earth and destroy all principles of spiritually progressive civilisation, especially brahminical culture and genuine ksatriya government. 

He particularly fingered those two components. What Hiranyakasipu is trying to do is destroy the traditional basis of human happiness. His strategy will go even to the extent of environmental terrorism. His associates are going to burn cities, farms, kill brahmanas, kill cows. The devastation was so great that even the demigods came to earth invisibly to see what is this calamity and what are we gong to do! We spoke about how Hiranyakasipu’s main plan is he himself would kill Visnu but he also as we said had a secondary plan. By destroying brahminical culture he felt the demigods would be weakened. And by the demigods being weakened automatically there will be a domino effect and that would also get back at Visnu. So he had a main plan and he had a secondary plan. Amidst all this mayhem and we shouldn't take this mayhem as something outlandish that well at least human beings today aren't this bad! Just consider, there is one particular nation in this world, I wont mention its name, although I happen to have taken birth there (laughs), it has proposed that for the upliftment of peace and the stability of the world, over the course of the next thirty years, 1 trillion dollars should be spent upgrading the nuclear arsenal, 1 trillion dollars! All for the sake of peace! Srila Prabhupada explains in Bhagavad Gita that this is demoniac. 

He declares straightforwardly these weapons are not for peace. We have to think twice about that because perhaps we have been brainwashed, the nuclear weapons are there to maintain world peace. Therefore the governments have to spend on this. Srila Prabhupada assures us they are not meant for peace! They are actually the result of envy against living entities. I live you die! and there is some strange perverse envious satisfaction in having the ability to annihilate other creatures. Envy has a different meaning in the sastra besides just one on one enviousness which is bad enough - You are rising up! I cant tolerate that! Your rise, whether its material or spiritual, we’ve got to do something to cut you down! Yes that is envy but there’s also the envy manifesting on a broad scale. So Srila Prabhupada instructs us in Srimad Bhagavatam that the demoniac governments actually are waging envy on a mass scale by making life practically impossible for spiritual development. In Bhagavad Gita Krishna speaks about those envious of the Supersoul within so much so they torture their own bodies. You have to really think about this to catch the perversion. We can perhaps see this more clearly in Kamsa’s response, once he took shelter of his demoniac advisers. You know that after Kamsa in the prison cell saw Durgadevi, he begged forgiveness so pathetically from Vasudeva and Devaki -Look destiny! I am not actually the killer! Its destiny that brings everyone their fate! And Vasudeva and Devaki they actually forgave him for killing so many of their babies! Sincerely they forgave him! At the same time we must remember they are ksatriya’s. So they are thinking, - Yes we wholeheartedly forgive you but guess what! The eighth child, its already been born! (laughs) You are dead man! We forgive you! At the same time they genuinely 100% forgave him. Its hard for us to understand how both these streaks can be accommodated. So Kamsa left them and reported to his advisers. We heard yesterday in the class by HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami, how Ravana had his advisers and he could give advise, about taking advise. So Kamsa also had his advisers and he presented the whole situation to them, what happened the day before. His advisers knew exactly what to do. It is plan making time. 

It is time for strategic planning - All right Kamsa, here is what we see as the situation. The demigods are always afraid of you, we all know that. You’ve smashed the demigods before and indeed in other sastra’s you have accounts of Kamsa defeating, at least temporarily, the demigods. The demigods, if they just hear you pull your bow string, they are afraid. They cant face you in battle, they run away. Even though they are defeated, by cowardice you dont attack them. You are so righteous! You follow the principles of battle - when the foe is afraid, when the foe has dropped the weapon, you are not supposed to attack such an incompetent foe - and you follow those guidelines, Kamsa! (laughs) But now is not the time for dharma! Now is not the time for religious principles! In fact Kamsa, because you’ve followed religious principles and not killing the demigods when they were afraid, therefore we have the situation we have today, in which the demigods have increased in their strength. 

Therefore the conclusion, the siddhanta is obvious. This is not the time for dharma. Now is the time to just unleash massive destruction. How does this destruction begin? First we obviously have to kill all children born around the ten past days. But that strategy is not completely effective. Why? Because you are dealing with Visnu. What is Visnu’s situation! He is hidden in everyone’s heart. You know the famous analysis. We don't have to worry about Shiva, he is out in the forest. We don’t have to worry about Brahma, he is performing severe austerities and penances. We actually don't have to worry ordinarily about Visnu because He is buried in the hearts of everyone and cant get out. But we do want to kill Him! The problem in killing Visnu is, His hiding in the heart. So therefore we have to adopt another tactic. What is another tactic! We kill the children, then we kill all the cows because the cows provide ghee for yajna and yajna’s are what brahmanas do. So we lill the cows, and we also then persecute saintly persons, persecute the brahmanas. Because they are responsible for the progressive elements of a spiritually focussed civilisation. 

By getting rid of the cows, the brahmanas and all that brahmanas stand for, Vedic knowledge, austerity, penances, by getting rid of all that, then you’ve got Visnu. Because Visnu is all bound up with all this good stuff! (laughs) So their strategy was a bit different from Hiranyakasipu’s. Remember Hiranyakasipu’s strategy was I am going to kill Visnu directly. Meanwhile demons you go destroy brahmana, ksatriya culture on the earth. And thats kind of a secondary strategy. But Kamsa’s advisers, their strategy was - You cant get your hands on Visnu, He is too slippery, He is hidden in the hearts! We have got to have a policy of attacking Him from another direction. When we finish off brahmana culture, the demigods are finished! And because all these are components of Visnu’s body, then Visnu will be dead! (laughs) Now we are thinking, these guys are quite extreme. Fortunately in the world today we have moderation, we have balance, we have equipoise. 

Actually there hasn't been wholesale slaughter for what 70 years now. Therefore certainly humanity has become progressive. 70 years ago also 50 million people died in a war. It hasn't happened yet. How great we are! But just consider this. There are 16000 nuclear weapons in the world. 94% of them are in the hands of the Americans and Russians, all governments of course that we can trust! (laughs) 100 and growing are in Pakistan and about a 100 are in India. In 10 years the number three nuclear power in the world will be a very trusted government - it will be Pakistan! So you might say, alright, if there is a nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India, it wont affect the rest of the world. Its just a local regional affair! No! Scientists have pointed out that if there are just 100 nuclear missiles launched, India launches 50, Pakistan launches 50, that is enough to bring about a climate change that recorded history has never seen. Whats a hundred when there are 16000 of such weapons. Yet somehow or other the human beings they have a sense of peace, advancement, modernity. Then when we hear about Kamsa and Hiranyakasipu, we say. ‘Oh! How extreme! How grotesque!’ Such maha demons have their plans. Actually everyone has a plan, how to enjoy, how to exploit the material world. 

The latest conception for materially progressive human beings is something called ‘sustainable happiness’ That means instead of the kind of endeavours of happiness that cause such obvious destruction, instead of that, you try for happiness that doesn't negatively affect other people, the environment or the coming generations. Young persons today, their future is going to be in a world that hasn't been recorded in the annals of history - rising sea levels, disappearing species, fresh water supplies becoming scarce. The material conception of sustainable happiness is that its not enough just to be materially happy in your own way, take into account other people, take into the environment, take into account even other species of life, understand interdependence. But that interdependence never goes as far as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In fact often it doesn’t go to even other species. Yet this is considered progressive. Whenever you make an endeavour for happiness, think how is this affecting other people, how is this affecting the environment, its a step in the right direction but the point of Srimad Bhagavatam is that as long as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not in the equation your efforts are futile. This may seem a bit severe. 

Whats wrong with acting for progress even though such endeavours are disconnected. Can it be that such endeavours are illustrious and dignified on their own even though we admit they have no connection to the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Lets go at this issue from another angle, atma-tattva because later in this chapter Hiranyakasipu is going to give his lamenting associates, they are lamenting over the death of Hiranyaksa, he is going to give them profound knowledge of atma-tattva, we are not the body, we are spirit soul but he leaves it right there. He doesn't go any further. This presentation can be compared to mayavada philosophy which proclaims we all are spirit soul but thats it, it doesn't go any further. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains that the soul has no other propensity except to connect to the Supreme Soul. 

Once you talk about the soul, you must talk about the Supreme Soul. Material life means that that only propensity of the soul becomes dormant. Dormant and the energy of the soul comes out in a perverted way although the soul itself if never contaminated. Disconnection from Krishna is the problem. We cant just erase that, or push it to the side. How can there be sustainable happiness, how can there be genuine human progress when there is total disconnection from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We have our plans and Krishna has His plans. Everyone is making plans. There are demoniac plans, there are lila plans. Sometimes in Krishna’s pastimes the lila sakti, His pastime energy arranges things to such an extent that even Krishna is wondering - Whats going on! (laughs) We are not against plans.

But as bhakti yogis we always want to be aligned with Krishna’s plan. Thats Krishna’s message to Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita - You shut down your plan making factory. You take My master plan! Dont worry about any reactions! I will take care of all that! One morning, actually the day before, Krishna decided no breakfast at home, lets have a picnic in the forest! The acharyas point out He made that plan the day before and the next morning He activated it by blowing on His bugle in such an inconceivably beautiful way. Hearing the sound of Krishna’s bugle countless cowherd boys amassed with countless calves. And they all headed to the forest. This was Krishna’s plan. Balarama wanted to come but Rohini actually forcibly kept Him at home for purificatory rituals. Sporting in the forest they came upon what would turn out to be Aghasura. The cowherd boys discussed amongst themselves, they consulted with each other, they took the advise of senior cowherd boys - What is this here? This looks like a natural scenic spot in Vrindavana meant for our pleasure. Others said - No! No! Some tried to run - This is a fierce snake with the bottom of his mouth on the ground, the top of his mouth high in the sky! They had a discussion. They assured the cowherd boys who were trying to run away - No! No! No! Lets come back and discuss! What was the conclusion? Actually it is a big snake and he wants to swallow us! What fun! (laughs) They looked over and they saw Krishna! They saw Krishna’s beautiful face and they knew exactly what to do! March right into the mouth of Aghasura because Krishna is here! How can any harm come to us! Krishna has already killed so many demons! Krishna will take care of us! And this is a way to have a pleasure pastime. Another pastime, if there is danger Krishna will save us! So lets enjoy with Krishna! They marched into Aghasura’s mouth clapping their hands, cheering loudly, showing we are courageous! (laughs) We have no fear! They even brought their calves along with them. By clapping hands the calves were moved along even though the calves were frightened! But still the boys were so enthusiastic, lets go! lets go! into the mouth! come on! (laughs) 

So Krishna is watching all this. He wants to stop it. Thats His plan! He knows whats going on! But He is momentarily stunned! What to do here? The boys are inside, the calves are inside the mouth of Aghasura. How do I kill Aghasura and at the same time protect the boys and calves? This is Krishna’s ecstasy in problem solving. If He is om purnam, perfect and complete, He also has to relish the joy of solving problems. So His pastime energy arranges that - Krishna, here is a problem and for your enjoyment don't come up with a solution right away! (laughs) This is the Supreme Enjoyer! This is perfect and complete enjoyment! So momentarily Krishna is stymied what to do. Can you say that Krishna, His will was thwarted, satya sankalpa sakti, whatever He wants He gets, but He couldn't stop the cowherd boys. Whats going on here? Krishna was trumped, His will was superseded by the cowherd boys desire to have pastimes because Krishna is conquered by His devotees. So Krishna’s plan was superseded by His foremost plan that He is always coming under the control of the pure love of His devotees. Everyone makes plans. We need to look at what our plan is, how does it harmonise, our personal life’s plan, how does it harmonise with Krishna’s pleasure. The non devotees have their plan. They meet, they strategise. 

I have heard, I have explained before maybe some years ago here in Mayapur, I have heard from world planners both in the academic world, part of think tanks managing the future of the world, I have heard it from political leaders who will admit, yes there is world syndicate for trying to push things a certain way. They had even told me, if you are smart enough to figure this out, become one of us. (laughs) Otherwise just enjoy your television, enjoy your sports and dont worry about it! (laughs) Many of them have explained to me, these are academics from Harvard and Yale that look, we used to be idealistic, we used to think that such syndicates were very unhealthy, unwholesome for the future of the world. But this is the way it works! What can we do! And again, if you are actually smart enough to figure out whats going on, then just become one of the controllers because someone has to be in control. So everyone is making their plans. The demons are making their plans, the devotees are making their plans. Caitanya Mahaprabhu told Nityananda, ‘Sripada, holy man, I have got a plan for You! Dont come to Jagannath Puri every year. I need someone to spread Krishna bhakti in Bengal. Except for You there is no one else who can do this task! You can do something even I cant do! You've already demonstrated that by not only saving the lives of Jagai and Madhai but You initiated their spiritual advancement! You, Nityananda Prabhu, can spread Krishna bhakti far and wide to everyone!’ And what was Nityananda’s response to this plan? ‘I am the body, You are the life! Both the body and the life are important. But of the two the life is most important! I will do whatever Your inconceivable sakti arranges for Me to do! I’ll follow Your plan!’ Similarly at the end of Bhagavad Gita Arjuna says to Krishna, I’ll follow Your plan. 

My illusion is gone, nasto mohah smrtir labdha, karisye vacanam tava (Bg 18.73). I’ll accept Your plan. The ultimate solution to a devotees dilemma of what, how to best please Krishna, what is the best way to serve Krishna, the ultimate solution is the guidance of the Lord in the heart. Hiranyakasipu was enraged that Visnu had given up His role of equanimity as Paramatma. He accepted that there is Paramatma, he accepted that Visnu is equal to all living entities including the demons but something happened. So remember Kamsa’s advisers problem was, as they saw it, the Lord is hidden in the heart. Hiranyakasipu’s problem, as he saw it, was that the Lord in the heart has become greedy for puja and therefore He has become inequitable, He has become unbalanced. And what is the proof of His lack of justice, even though generally He is equal? The proof is what you see right before you, He has become affected by the demigods just because they offer puja and then what do you see? He took the form of animal, need I say anything more! He is obviously under the influence of the material energy. Not only did He take the form of an animal but He took the form of a boar, the most lowest of creatures! It is obvious He is no longer fit to be Paramatma! (laughs) Plan making is the essence of human life. 

What are the plans for? If we do not have a plan how to go deeper in our spiritual life, which is ongoing process of our life time career, to increase our bhakti, if we dont have such a plan, we can be sure that the material energy, those who are under its influence, their plans will be wearing us down. There is no plateau in this world. This world is dynamic! The spiritual energy can uplift us and material energy can bring us down. Therefore as individuals, individual devotees, if we are going to be able to survive the ravages of demoniac plan making, if we are going to avoid feeling secure, peaceful, and stable in such a world, our only protection is to take shelter of Krishna’s plan and in our individual life try to continuously increase our spiritual potency. Our goal is that we can hear from Krishna what to do next, how to serve Him best. Srila Prabhupada would plainly declare when asked, how do you make decisions? He would say, Krishna tells me! Krishna tell me directly! teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ (Bg 10.10) Once we capture Krishna’s attention due to our service, Krishna promises, I will give you customised instructions! This is the solution to our dilemma of how to be spiritual in the material world, how to decide what gives Krishna the most pleasure, what gives Krishna the less pleasure. 

We must make plans but our plan is to surrender to Krishna’s plan. We want to shut down our plan making factory and we are begging Krishna - We want to accept Your plan! Thank you very much! Hare Krishna! Devotee: (audio inaudible) Maharaja: We don’t want to engage Krishna in our service therefore we take all necessary precautions as far as possible. Only then we are entitled to depend on Krishna. But we have to use whatever intelligence we have, how to respond to situations in such a way that Krishna’s purposes can be achieved. The cowherd boys, they are another level! (laughs) They know what they are doing! They are giving Krishna pleasure! There is no trace of selfishness when the cowherds they say - We’re just going to march into that mouth! We are going to have a good time! They are thinking Krishna is going to enjoy this! If we one day can approach that standard of purity how wonderful our life will be! Thank you very much! Hare Krishna!

Devotees in Moscow are focusing on staying connected to Srila Prabhupada and his vision as they celebrate ISKCON’s 50th and look toward the next 50 years.

They began their 2016 as they mean to go on, with the second annual “Our Prabhupada” festival. The first, in December 2014, saw Suresvara Das speaking about Srila Prabhupada as ISKCON’s Founder-Acharya.

At this year’s festival from January 15th to 20th at the ISKCON Moscow temple, hundreds of devotees learned about Srila Prabhupada as a person from Hari Sauri Das, who personally served him for sixteen months.

Hari Sauri gave his famous Living Bhagavatam seminar, discussing Prabhupada’s approach to different aspects of devotional service and life such as chanting, prasadam, cleanliness, health, and management. He showed how Srila Prabhupada applied the philosophy of Krishna consciousness in myriad practical ways, within a modern context.

“Hari Sauri Prabhu endeared us to Srila Prabhupada, presenting him as a loving, caring father to us all,” says Moscow ISKCON 50 coordinator Vrajarenu Das, who acted as translator for part of the seminar.

Next, from January 22nd to 24th, 400 devotees attended an ecstatic Kirtan Mela at ISKCON Moscow with B.B. Govinda Swami, Niranjana Swami, and local kirtaniyas like Saci-Suta Das, Abhay Chaitanya Das and Haridas Thakur Das.

Moscow devotees also plan to reach out to newcomers with Kirtan during ISKCON 50. Three hundred members of the public are expected for a Mantra Yoga event on April 23rd, where they’ll chant different mantras such as Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. They’ll then hear a talk on the effects of mantra meditation, followed by a long session of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.

Moscow ISKCON 50 Coordinator Vrajarenu Das speaks

Previous Mantra Yoga events have featured speakers like Bhakti Vijnana Goswami, Bhaki Vaibhava Swami, and Russian ISKCON guru Chaitanya Charan Das; so while this April’s speakers haven’t been confirmed yet, they’re bound to be illustrious.

Two “Kirtan Moscow” events on April 30th and May 9th will follow at the temple, and is expected to draw relative newcomers who are taking the next step, and are specifically interested in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. The May event is also expected to draw 300 people.

ISKCON Moscow’s main ISKCON 50 festival will be held from June 18th to 26th, and will be an umbrella for several different events. It will kick off with a Vaishnavi Festival on the 18th and 19th, which will likely be attended by 200 to 250 local Moscow devotee women.

The special guest speaker will be Mondakini Dasi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada from France. Mondakini was one of the earliest pioneers of Krishna consciousness in Russia, and was married to Russia’s first devotee Ananta Shanti Das. She remains strongly connected with the Russian ISKCON Community.

“We expect that she will invite two more female disciples of Srila Prabhupada to join her for the festival,” says organizer Ekanga Dasi. “They’ll talk about Prabhupada, and help audience members develop their personal relationships with him. There will also be classes on Prabhupada’s books, Deity worship, and cooking. The main purpose of the festival is Vaishnavi association, and I hope it will leave participants with a taste of communication and cooperation.”

The ISKCON 50festival will also include celebrations of the 45th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s visit to Moscow and the 24th anniversary of the installation of Sri Sri Dayal Nitai Saci Suta, the presiding Deities of ISKCON Moscow. Key Srila Prabhupada disciples will attend and tell stories of the early days.

“One major goal of the festival is to lay a proper foundation for succession,” says Vrajarenu. “We can see that Srila Prabhupada’s disciples are leaving us, and so we have to ensure that the new generations know what Prabhupada was like as a person, as a leader, as a loving father.”

As well as the festivals and events, there will be special seminars and publications for ISKCON’s 50th.

Already on Sunday February 28th, Vatsala Das, a brahmachari and well-known preacher in Moscow, gave a seminar on Prabhupada’s Seven Purposes of ISKCON, and how we can apply them today.

Niranjana Swami chants at the recent Moscow Kirtan Mela

The GBC foundational document “Srila Prabhupada: The Founder-Acarya of ISKCON” was also just printed in Russian.

The next issue of “Vaishnavism: Open Forum,” a journal for devotees who specialize in outreach to academics, sociologists, authorities and the media, will be dedicated to ISKCON 50.

Bhakti Vijnana Goswami is currently writing commentaries on a previously published document called “The Constitution of ISKCON,” which describes fourteen aims of ISKCON.

“Maharaja’s version will be published as a brochure for ISKCON devotees and newcomers,” says ISKCON Russia Communications Director Radha Damodara Das “And it will allow for a better understanding of Srila Prabhupada’s vision and ISKCON’s mission.”

Finally, a book entitled “Vaisnavas in the Socio-Cultural Context of Modern Russia,” intended for authorities and academics, will communicate to them ISKCON’s place in the world and in Russia today, and explain Srila Prabhupada’s mission, especially its social and moral aspects.

“We are planning on a number of conferences, round table discussions, and meetings on the subject,” says Radha Damodara.

Summing up the aims of Russia’s ISKCON 50 celebrations, Vrajarenu says, “Our society, ISKCON, is growing and changing, with new generations coming in. And it’s very important nowadays to help them understand Srila Prabhupada’s vision and keep that connection.”

If they do, ISKCON Russia has a bright future. Sixty million Bhagavad-gitas have been distributed in Russia over the years; today, there are tens of thousands of mostly native congregational devotees in Moscow alone; and with the work of innovative preachers, more and more intelligent youth are reading Prabhupada’s books and chanting the Holy Name. 

“I believe that Russia has a very huge potential for Krishna consciousness,” says Vrajarenu. “And ISKCON’s 50thanniversary is a great opportunity to meditate on the possibilities.”

“The next milestone is the 50th anniversary of ISKCON in Russia in five years,” he concludes. “And that, too, will be a very important date for our society here.”

Source: http://iskconnews.org/russian-iskcon-50-focuses-on-prabhupada-connection,5436/

Around fifteen ISKCON devotees brought the sound of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and the taste of sanctified vegetarian food to a huge anti-nuclear march in London on February 27th.

It was Britain’s biggest anti-nuclear march in a generation. Thousands of campaigners gathered from all over the world to protest the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons program, estimated to cost £41 billion. The money, they said, should be spent on education and the National Health Service instead.

“Books not Bombs,” read some placards, a sentiment ISKCON devotees could certainly get behind.

The march made its way from Marble Arch in Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, where protestors including Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke.

Volunteers from devotee-run charity Food For All kept marchers going by distributing 1,000 plates of a full prasadam feast, including rice, subji, pakoras, cake, and a drink. With Food-For-All’s trademark creativity, the sanctified vegetarian hot meals were served from rickshaws at the beginning, middle, and end of the march.

“People loved it!” enthuses Food For All director Parasurama Das in his lilting Irish accent. “The moment we set up, there was a long queue. Imagine, you’re on a long protest march, and there’s nothing to eat or drink. Everyone really appreciated it.”

Devotees also provided the soundtrack, elevating walkers’ spirits with kirtan. Brahmachari Dayal Mora Das, in his saffron robes, sang out a beautiful Hare Krishna tune in a clear voice. A Bhaktivedanta Manor farm volunteer played a full drum set from a wheeled float. Parasurama and Food For All volunteer Grant accompanied on ukulele and electric guitar. And a protestor joined in on his trumpet.

Parasurama stirs up a storm in 'the biggest pot in the Western world'

The whole combo, meanwhile, was broadcast over a powerful sound system. 

“We were the only people that put a full band together like that, and everyone was saying, ‘Gosh, you guys are really organized!’” says Parasurama. “They were just walking, but when we kicked off, people were joining in, and dancing. It was really cool!”

The devotees were featured chanting in the Channel 4 TV coverage of the event, and serving prasadam in the BBC coverage. 

At the end of the rally, they presented a letter to Jeremy Corbyn, the politician speaking out against the nuclear program. 

“We invited him to visit Food For All’s center Matchless Gifts, because he’s vegetarian, he knows about our efforts, and we are based in Islington, the part of London where he works,” says Parasurama.

A video of the event

A lot of people, in fact, know about Food For All’s efforts these days, and the charity is planning to reach out to even more soon. 

Parasurama and his crew currently feed around 1,000 homeless people and students in London every day, and will soon increase that number to 5,000 a day. They plan to ask London Mayor Boris Johnson to suppor the project, called “Feed the 5,000.”

Parasurama says he can cook all 5,000 meals at once in what he dubs “the biggest pot in the Western world,” a giant vessel that truly has to be seen to be believed.

But what’s most interesting about Food For All is that all of the fruit and veg it uses would otherwise be thrown away by supermarkets for being aesthetically unappealing, despite being perfectly good. 

This has put a prasadam charity run by devotees at the forefront of a new movement to stop waste. The cover story of March 2016’s National Geographic magazine, entitled “How ‘Ugly’ Fruits and Vegetables Can Help Solve World Hunger,” says that a third of the planet’s food goes to waste, often because of its looks – enough to feed two billion people.

And who is one of the people it cites as working to solve this problem? “Peter O’Grady, a Hare Krishna who runs a charity kitchen in London.”

Food For All is also becoming a favorite of activists, who often call asking for prasadam to be distributed at their demonstrations – the anti-trident rally was not the first, and won’t be the last.

On Saturday March 5th, for instance, the charity will cater A Million Women Rising, a march from Oxford Street to Trafalgar Square protesting domestic abuse, sexual assault and other violence against women. Parasurama will cook for the event, while all female devotees will serve the prasadam. 

“The people at these marches are conscientious, good, caring, thoughtful people, who are trying to make the world a better place,” says Parasurama. “We’re also trying to make the world a better place, through chanting and serving prasadam. So they’re great people to connect with. And they love Hare Krishnas!” 

Source: http://iskconnews.org/devotees-chant-serve-prasad-at-uk-anti-nuclear-rally,5437/

I Think the main ideas of Bhakti Rasamrita Sindu (without technicalities) are:

1) What is love?

2) How can you “practice” love?

3) How do you practice love? 

4) What are the inspirations to practice love? 

5) How is love experienced?

1) What is love? 

Love is an expression of affection.

Affection is the desire to make someone happy and prosperous.

Pure love is when that expression has no ulterior motive and is given top priority.

Topmost pure love is when that pure love finds the topmost beloved, Krishna – who is the root of all other beloved things.

2) How can you “practice” love?

Love can’t be manufactured. Nothing you do can “create” it, but you can do things to make your heart much more receptive to it, more capable of being an agent of it.

This is done by emulating the expressions of love. By emulating something, it gradually becomes more than an emulation. We gradually get a feel for it. It becomes a feeling, not just an action.

Our emulation has to gradually acquire more and more emotional content, more and more sincerity – that makes the heart fully receptive to love, and inspires the Goddess of Love, Sri Radha, to bless our hearts with her own presence.

3) How DO you practice love? 

You should have a guide, someone who understands and exemplifies love.

You should respect everyone and everything, lovingly.

You should live in a place nearby or connected with the beloved – like Vṛndāvana. Or you should make the place you live into a place connected with the beloved.

You should practice having a personal relationship with the beloved – by keeping an image of him and treating him like a person whom you can interact with, feeding him, etc.

You should become close with others who also love the beloved.

You should hear about the beloved in great detail – by studying Śrīmad Bhāgavatam very deeply and the explanations of it given by great lovers of Krishna.

You should sing about the beloved. Especially, you should sing the name of the beloved. 

4) What are the inspirations to practice love?

The inspiration to practice love may be your understanding that love is the most perfect law, the ultimate religion, the essence of all that is good. Additionally, the specific inspiration to practice love for Krishna is to understand that Krishna is the most perfect beloved, for he is the original person (the most fully qualified), and is the root of all other beloved things including one’s own self.

Another inspiration may be the beauty of love itself. When we become attracted to the specific beauty of love for Krishna, our inspiration to practice it becomes very passionate, and all of our practices become focused by the specifics of that inspiration.

5) How is love experienced?

The practice of love gradually purifies the practitioner from all things antithetical to it. Then it enters the purified core of your being like a divine Queen rising to her gentle and opulent throne. There it expands and consumes your entire being eternally in the thrilling bliss of an ecstatic divine love affair.

The foundation of this ecstasy is the type of affectionate relationship you have with the beloved, Krishna. It may merely be a lack of any selfishness, or it may be a desire to actively serve him, or it may admit no boundaries to how it strives for doing so – taking on a friendly character. It may even take a protective flavor, like the affection of a parent for a child. It may even escalate to the pinnacle of all affectionate relationship – the absolute intimacy, protection, service, and selflessness found in unabashed romantic passion.

The ecstasy of this divine relationship can be tasted when it is stimulated by the beloved or by things connected to the beloved, and then expressed in thoughtful and reflexive ways, and adorned with various thrilling emotions.

The experience of the ecstasy of divine love is the supreme happiness, and therefore is the soul’s supreme aspiration, the ultimate goal of life. It fulfills our every want and need through its selfless absorption in the beloved, Sri Krishna.

Vraja Kishor

Source: https://vicd108.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/technicality-free-the-essence-of-bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu/

Every year at the time of the Mayapur Gaura Purnima festival, the GBCs from all over the world come to meet.

There are many proposals of various kinds put to the GBC body and discussions go 

Source: http://www.ramaiswami.com/mayapur-gbc-meeting/

Giving fingerprints to purchase food? Reports on what is happening in Venezuela, and what the world awaits, needs your attention because it might come to you soon. Last August Natural News reported that Venezuelan farmers and food producers were now required to sell anywhere from 30 percent to 100 percent of their products to state-owned stores. The order covered staple foods such as rice, milk, oil, sugar and flour. It quoted theFinancial Times saying that the desperate Maduro government has taken the extreme measure of nationalizing the nation’s food industry.

It has only become worse since then. Empty food selves, long queues with many opting to sleep in line in order to ensure their turn, and police guards at food stores have become the way of life in Venezuela. Military aid is necessary to ensure social stability at state-run stores.

In order to convince hungry Venezuelans to voluntarily register for the program, Food Minister Felix Osorio promised that anyone who signed up and give the government their fingerprints, would be eligible for discounts and prizes.

The scheme was not made mandatory when it was first implemented, but critics warned that it would become just another way for the state to keep tabs on its people, and could even serve as a precursor to rationing.

Bloomberg News also reported: “Inside a Plan Suarez grocery store … in eastern Caracas, shelves were mostly bare. Customers struggled and fought for items at times, with many trying to skip lines. The most sought-after products included detergent, with customers waiting in line for two to three hours to buy a maximum of two bags. A security guard asked that photos of empty shelves not be taken.”

One non-profit group recorded more than 500 instances of violent protests throughout Venezuela, along with 56 instances of looting, and scores of attempted lootings of grocery stores, pharmacies and warehouses – all in the first half of 2015. Even delivery trucks were targeted.(Excerpts sourced from:http://www.naturalnews.com/053125_Venezuela_economic_collapse_food_crisis.html#ixzz41hilkRmN)

So what went wrong? Why the country cannot feed even its own citizen? In reply, any modern economist would start lecturing on high inflation rates, deepening financial deficits, and so on. Thee is no dearth of buzz words today. Some class of people would talk of increasing world population or blame the land or farmers, and political leaders would quickly blame the ruling party.

Where does the reality lie? The answer is surprisingly simple for those who are acquainted with Vedic life style, called Varnashram system.

I read in a book by Srila Prabhupada: “Many may claim that in the modern age material scientists have helped increase agricultural yield. But we fearlessly proclaim that it is precisely such atheistic views that have brought the world to the present acute food crisis. If we are not careful, the day will soon come when fruits will be reduced to just skin and seed, cows’ udders will dry up, and paddy fields will grow only grass. The scriptures predict that these things will come to pass in the Kali-yuga”. (RTW 2.10)

I also read in Bhagavad Gita (3.14): annad bhavanti bhutani parjanyad anna-sambhavah
yajnad bhavati parjanyo yajnah karma-samudbhavah. Meaning, all living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties.

Srila Prabhuapda explains:

“Food grains or vegetables are factually eatables. The human being eats different kinds of food grains, vegetables, fruits, etc., and the animals eat the refuse of the food grains and vegetables, grass, plants, etc. Human beings who are accustomed to eating meat and flesh must also depend on the production of vegetation in order to eat the animals. Therefore, ultimately, we have to depend on the production of the field and not on the production of big factories. The field production is due to sufficient rain from the sky, and such rains are controlled by demigods like Indra, sun, moon, etc., and they are all servants of the Lord. The Lord can be satisfied by sacrifices; therefore, one who cannot perform them will find himself in scarcity—that is the law of nature. Yajna, specifically the saìkirtana-yajna prescribed for this age, must therefore be performed to save us at least from scarcity of food supply.”

That’s what! Foolish people are running chicken farms instead of growing grains, governments are supporting slaughter houses instead of cow protection programs, farmers are allured to leave villages, alcohol consumption is made into a status symbol instead of calling it crime, and education system is aimed at atheism instead of godliness. The result of such activities is unequivocally outlined in India’s ancient Vedic scriptures, and, admit it or not, what we see today in the world is nothing but a proof of the authenticity of those immortal words.

Today it is Venezuela, tomorrow it will be someone else. It is only a question of time and no country will be spared unless they take drastic steps to implement Vedic lifestyle based on simple living and high thinking. Some of the visible reasons for today’s worsening food crisis are irresponsible farming and industrialization of agriculture, like GMO, animal slaughter, oil and alcohol industry, destroying of trees, promotion of prostitution in various ways, and on top of all, denial of the supremacy of God. Again, by not admitting facts none in the past has been ever able to change facts nor will it be ever possible. Vedas are the words of God and so the wisdom stored in it is infallible.

According the law of karma, the reactions of past activities will come but by the grace of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtana-yajna humanity can still be saved from the otherwise looming disaster. The saving mantra of the day is, turn to Srila Prabhupada’s teachings.

Source: http://mayapurvoice.com/svagatam/biometric-scanning-now-required-to-purchase-food-what-went-wrong/

We are trying to create the most aesthetic and colorful gardens in India for the pleasure of the Lord.

By clicking on an icon number, you will get a glimpse of how magnificent the surrounding TOVP gardens will look. There are currently 2 sections available: Vegetation and Outdoor furniture.

Here is the link for the masterplan: http://masterplan.tovp.org

 NOTE: For best visual experience please follow the following guidelines.

Use FULLSCREEN mode to get the best visual experience. Fullscreen mode can be activated by clicking an icon in the top left corner of the map.

Please be patient while the images load initially. Due to their large size (high resolution) it will take some time to load the maps fully. And then, when you click each pin/point on the map the first time wait for each image to load fully, it will autoposition itself properly on the map. The second and all consequtive times you load the map and each point it will open almost instantly.

Source: http://tovp.org/news/art-architecture-design/the-tovp-masterplan/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-tovp-masterplan

The ISKCON Leadership (ILS) seminars in Sridhama Mayapur during ISKCON’s 50th Anniversary celebrations and the Gaur Purnima Festival are underway and a dynamic partnership with the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) Fundraising Team is helping to facilitate this year’s seminars.

These seminars are organized every two years under the direction of Gopal Bhatta Das to educate, train and inspire ISKCON devotees in different areas of management, outreach, devotee care and much more. They are attended by hundreds of GBC’s, sannyasis, Temple Presidents, Congregational Development leaders, Bhakti Vrksha leaders and general devotees from all over the world. 

This year also brought some additional inspiration and excitement to the gathering when the attendees themselves forged together to combinedly pledge $250,000 to the TOVP which included a $100,000 donation from Gopal Bhatta himself. The TOVP Team is very appreciative of this generous action which will undoubtedly be a springboard for further contributions during the Gaur Purnima Festival.

Visit the ILS website for more information: www.ilsglobal.org

Gunagrahi das Goswami Health Update - Official.
Written by Mahahari das and Gandharvika devi dasi
Dear Devotees, family and well wishers,
Please accept our obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and His Holiness Gunagrahi das Goswami.
My Husband and I both spoke to His Holiness Gunagrahi Maharaja today.
After undergoing his second MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) it was discovered that the cancer has gotten worse. It has not spread to new areas of the body, but has gained strength in existing areas. He is also experiencing increased pain throughout the body, especially in the areas of the tumor near the spine. He is in good spirits and plans to continue the treatments for now. He will be in contact with the doctors, medical professionals and senior devotees as to what he plans to do next. We ask that the devotees please pray for his well being and that he may suffer the least pain possible.
Due to the intense situation, he will be minimizing even more his email, and we request that devotees only write him positive communication if necessary.
As requested in a previous update, he welcomes 30 second video greetings. Please send those to: gandarvika@yahoo.com
Your servants,
Mahahari das and Gandharvika devi dasi

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19380

The Heart of a Vaisnava. 
A wonderful lecture by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami about the Vaisnavas who voluntarily, out of their causeless mercy come down to this miserable place, this material world.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/Sdmkcz

We have commenced the stainless steel structure for the West Wing kalash.

What you’re seeing in the photo and video is the first segment for the small dome. There will be three more layers on top of that. This gives an indication of the immense size of the kalashes. Soon work will commence on the main dome kalash.

Source: http://tovp.org/news/construction/beginning-of-west-wing-kalash-installation-first-segment/

1st March 2016, Mayapur, India

By Romapada Das

At the pre-launch of ISKCON Connection on the 7th day of the ILS, Praharana Devi Dasi explained that the new initiative will help connect every devotee to our worldwide community. ISKCON Connection, which will be formally launched on Gaura Purnima day this year, is a 50th anniversary initiative.

“Any ISKCON devotee can register on the website, and will be able to connect to other ISKCON devotees, become familiar with GBC activities, be nurtured in spiritual life, and access a secure database of ISKCON members,” said Praharana Devi Dasi in her introductory talk.

Devotees can fill a form on the prelaunch site at www.iskconconnection.org straight away, but they will get a welcome letter and be able to access the facilities on the site after its formal launch on 23rd March.

In the next presentation, Kaunteya Das presented ISKCON’s 3 ecosystems made of the guru-disciple relationship, ISKCON as an organisation, and society at large. He explained that these ecosystems were interconnected and interdependent, but not interchangeable.

“Srila Prabhupada has told us that human society means that which is making progress towards spiritual realisation,” commented Kaunteya. “There may be differences that may sometimes surface between the needs and priorities of the management and those of the spiritual master, but these can be resolved. An organisation without the spiritual mentorship of a Guru is dead, and a social ecosystem without spirituality is mundane.”

After the plenary sessions in the morning, ILS delegates had to walk through the Expo area surrounded by different booths hosted by various ISKCON projects. Booths included those set up by the Tribal Care Initiative Mayapur, Govardhan Eco Village, Mayapur Chandrodaya Temple, Congregation Development Ministry, BBT, Museum of the Sacred Art, Back to Godhead, Kirtan Academy, VOICE and many others.

Bhakta Ashwin from ISKCON Pune NVCC who was hosting the VOICE stall said, “VOICE has been training and educating youth since 1996 and over 10,000 students have participated in different courses. It also has over a dozen youth hostels across the country close to prestigious colleges. ILS delegates who came to our stall appreciated the wide variety of training and preaching material we have here for youth, corporates, congregation and children.”

At the Kirtan Academy booth nearby, Chaitanya Chintamani Dasi was upbeat about promoting a 3-month course on kirtans.

“Mother Laxmimoni told us that the Kirtan Academy was the best kept secret of Mayapur,” she laughed. “Therefore we set this booth up and signed up many interested people whom we will contact later for our courses. It has been good to just get the word out and see how positive people feel about our work.”

The President of ISKCON Chennai, Sumithra Krishna Das felt that the booths and stalls at ILS helped him to get timely and up-to-date information about preaching activities and tools. “The best part were the free gifts so many of the stalls were handing out,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “However, it rained heavily on the second day. Water clogged the access area, and we could not get inside. The organisers helpfully sanded the entire area, and we could get access to the stalls the following day.”

Krishna Jhan Das from ISKCON Guyana expressed admiration for the commitment and dedication of the devotees who had set up the different stalls.

“They are helping Srila Prabhupada push our movement to the next level,” he concluded. “I have had a lifetime of experience by coming here, and hope to share this knowledge and apply it when I get back to my country.”

THINK 50! Act 50!

Source: http://iskconnews.org/day-7of-ils-connection-with-iskcon,5430/

Everything Srila Prabhupada did, he did for our benefit, for the benefit of the living entities and especially for his disciples.
Ambarish: I found a palatial estate that was the Fisher Mansion and later became the Bhaktivedanta Cultural Center. We went there to look at it, and Srila Prabhupada immediately liked it. He mentioned, “Who would not like such a building?”
Govardhan said, “Well, Ambarish doesn’t like it.” It was dirty, and there were dogs in it, and the neighborhood was really bad. I couldn’t see what was going to happen to it, but Prabhupada had a vision of what this place could be.
Govardhan said, “Ambarish thinks it’s maya.” Prabhupada said, “Yes, but Krishna is also maya, and maya can be utilized in the service of Krishna.”
After we looked at the building, we went to see the man who owned it. We were sitting by his pool. He was materialistic and greedy and wanted as much money as he could get, but the neighborhood was so bad that I couldn’t see how he was possibly going to get that much money, three-hundred-fifty thousand.
Prabhupada told the man that he liked the building. He said, “Of course, we’re mendicants, we’re monks, we don’t have much money.” He suggested that the man give the building.
The man was cool. He didn’t seem too shocked with that suggestion, but the real-estate lady almost fell over backwards in her chair, because she was counting on her commission. Her jaw dropped when Prabhupada said that.
The owner was respectful and said he couldn’t possibly do that, as he had invested money in the property. So they settled on a price, and Prabhupada asked if Lekhashravanti and I could come up with the money. We ended up purchasing the building that way.
We were walking in the gardens, when Prabhupada explained that he wanted to make this Detroit building a showplace for Krishna consciousness. He specifically mentioned putting in diorama exhibitions.
He was very enthusiastic about these diorama exhibitions because his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, had used dioramas throughout India as an effective way of preaching.
Prabhupada saw that non-devotees like Disney were using them, and he wanted us to have them. Dioramas were one of the first things that I wanted to get working on when we bought the property.
I was concerned with the neighborhood because there was a lot of crime and burned-out buildings. Prabhupada said “If you simply bring Krishna here, everything will improve.” At the time, I didn’t have much faith in that, but it’s well known how the neighborhood has improved.
Now there are luxury condominiums there, and there’s the first new housing development within the city limits of Detroit in forty or fifty years.
The whole neighborhood has been transformed, and they have said specifically that it’s because the temple is there. Prabhupada could see that this was going to happen.
What I learned from this experience was that simply by following the instructions of the spiritual master, you become successful. As disciples, we don’t have to try to be innovative or think up new things, but just by following Prabhupada’s directions things will work out.
Prabhupada could see past, present, and future because he was in touch with Krishna. The Detroit building has worked out really well.
It has become a wonderful center and people who would never visit any other temple come there. I think Prabhupada would be very pleased with the way things developed.
The night after the new temple was purchased, the real-estate lady and her partner, two middle-aged Polish women, came to congratulate Prabhupada. They both were intoxicated and were laughing.
Prabhupada was kind and friendly with them, and he was very happy too, because he had purchased the building at a good price. Prabhupada didn’t discriminate. He always made whomever came feel comfortable. His attitude was so personable it was amazing.
During the last few months of his life, I knew Prabhupada was really ill, but I never thought that he was going to depart. I thought, “How can he leave? He can’t leave us now,” so I did not go to India.
In retrospect I wish I had gone, but Govardhan, the president of the Detroit temple, went, and when he first went into Prabhupada’s presence, Prabhupada said, “How is Ambarish?”
He was on his departure bed, yet he was asking how I was doing. It’s amazing to me that he was always so concerned. Right up to the end, he was translating and giving instructions.
Everything he did, he did for our benefit, for the benefit of the living entities and especially for his disciples. It’s such an example of love. I never knew what love was before I met Srila Prabhupada.
I had no idea, because we get so many perverted reflections. He was an example of Krishna’s love, and it is amazing that we’re able to see that.
—Ambarish
Excerpt from “Memories-Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint”
by Siddhanta das
www.prabhupadamemories.com

On Monday, 15th February 2016, HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja addressed approximately 600 students and congregational members at Sagar Institute of Research & Technology collage, Bhopal (India). HH Bhakti Prema Swami Maharaj also accompanied Maharaj in this program.

Maharaja was enthusiastically greeted by the audience and after Maharaja arrived, a drama named “Live from Ahobilam” was performed. Thereafter, Guru Maharaja started the program with a very wonderful prayer. Maharaja began the class and described the glories of Sri Narsimhadeva and Prahalada Maharaja. He also glorified the actors for their wonderful acting skills and presentations.

In the class Maharaja focused on the concept of devotion where he also discussed the philosophy of scriptures depicting the transmigration of the souls from one body to another and the cycle of birth and death. Maharaja said that the best way of understanding the Lord is by directing ourselves on the track that is illuminated by “Bhagavad Gita As It Is”. He said that “the best way to understand the taste of pudding is by tasting it”. Similarly, the best way to understand devotion is by practicing it. He also said that Krishna and Arjuna had the conversation to cultivate the instruction of devotion within his devotees. Maharaja said that the best way to understand any person is asking him directly, similarly to know the Lord, you need to read His book of instructions “Bhagavad Gita As It Is”. Maharaja gave the conclusion in Hindi Tro accommodate the Hindi speaking audience.

Maharaja also answered several questions asked by the students, which was followed by an ecstatic kirtan led by Him. Many students joined Maharaja on stage dancing in the kirtan with Maharaja. In this way the program was concluded.

The next day, 16th February 2016, Maharaja gave Srimad Bhagvatam class at ISKCON Bhopal temple. HH Bhakti Prema Swami accompanied Maharaja. After that Maharaja visited “Transcendental classes”, a coaching institute opened by the local ISKCON youth forum devotees.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19424