By Anya Kultyshkina

Kerala is the most materially educated state in India. Almost all local people know English. That is why even those devotees who do not know the local languages of India can go there and preach Krsna consciousness.

There is a need to bring Krsna consciousness to this area, because although the people are materially educated, spiritual knowledge is lacking. Because of contact with Europeans, first with Vasco Da Gama in the 15thcentury and later with the British dominion, many Christian churches were established there and I met Christians at every step.

It was almost impossible to make them aware of what kind of heavy sin they were committing by killing animals for their food. They consider that God created animals for their enjoyment and their churches fully endorse such philosophy. But even among the Christian people, I met some who were quite intelligent and open to dialogue. They were interested in Bhagavad Gita As It Is and they even were taking the books. There were also artists–young creative people such as musicians, architects, painters–kind of seekers interested in spiritual life.

With great joy I shared Krsna consciousness with them. Because they were attracted, I invited them to the Sunday program the devotees were organizing in a house nearby. Joshi, a musician I had met in the street, came to the Sunday program with his friend Abhilash. Abhilash is also a musician and has his own recording studio. He began to come regularly to the devotees’ house and started to chant the holy name. Nobody saw Joshi again. Many times I knocked on the doors of Hindu families and I was always warmly welcomed with kind gestures and friendly glances. First, according to their tradition, they would offer a seat, and then water, sometimes light food such as fruit, and then they were ready to hear about Krsna consciousness.

Once I came into the house of one family and found the family members fully absorbed in Krsna consciousness. I stayed about two hours with them, talking about the philosophy of Krsna consciousness. It was a nice spiritual reciprocation. They had their own sadhana: waking up before sunrise, taking bath, and then going to the Bala-Krsna temple located nearby. One week after our first meeting, I again met the head of the family, Venu Gopal prabhu, in the downtown market. The first thing he told me was, “Krsna wanted us to meet again.” I invited him and his wonderful family for the Sunday program. Once I came into a jewelry shop with the intention of offering the books.

The owner of the shop was there. He told me he already had the Bhagavad-gita and the book Krsna and that he liked ISKCON. I gave him two Back to Godhead magazines and one small book. He was very inspired and decided to give me one beautiful necklace for Srinathji Krsna, the deity worshiped by devotees in whose house I was staying. The last day, right before my departure from Kerala, I was walking in the area where I had been living for one month and found that every person I was passing by was loudly saying “Hare Krsna!” upon seeing me. I could hear only the name of Krsna everywhere. Such is the mercy of Lord Chaitanya!

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19075

By Sri Gauranga Das

On Sunday 14th February 2016, ISKCON Nairobi held its first ever Gita Champions League prize giving ceremony. The Chairman of Hindu Council of Kenya Mr. Nitin Malde graced the occasion and enlivened the audience with his inspiring address. The National Secretary of Hindu Council of Kenya Mr. Kamal Gupta, His Holiness Bhakti Vasudeva Swami a travelling sannyasi, senior members of ISKCON Nairobi – Madhava Das and Rukma Das and Mrs. Mahida headmistress of Nairobi South Nursery, Primary and Seconday School also graced the occasion.

The Gita Champions League (GCL) is a competition based on the teachings of the ancient book of knowledge, the Bhagavad Gita. This contest was a fun, inspiring and motivating way to help everyone to absorb themselves in the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, enrich and refocus their life in the right manner.

GCL was a written test primarily targeting students from Class 5 to 8. The test was limited to the first three chapters of Bhagavad-Gita As It Is written by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder Acharya of ISKCON.

GCL was first organized by ISKCON in India and it was run in Nairobi on a pilot basis. It attracted registrations from over 6 prominent schools in Nairobi without much publicity. There were a total of 14 overall prize winners and the winners expressed their appreciation and joy for having access to this universal knowledge which will help them improve their lives as well as society. Organizers were pleasantly surprised to find that apart from the students their whole families were involved in studying the Gita. Twenty two other participants received prizes for their excellent performance. In addition all participants received a certificate of participation and T-shirts.

Photos can be found here: http://1drv.ms/1R6lhlr

Srila Prabhupada involved in a car accident.
Pusta Krishna das: This photograph was taken in Mauritius in 1975, just after Srila Prabhupada’s South African tour. The President of Mauritius sent a Citroen car and a driver to bring him to visit, but Srila Prabhupada, hearing about a recent decision by the government to support chicken slaughter houses, he decided to merely take a ride and then return to the place where we were all staying.
On getting into the auto, I requested Srila Prabhupad to sit on the left in the back seat because it was safer. He complied. We drove for about a half an hour and stopped at a site overlooking the ocean with an inscribed plaque about a historic event that took place there.
When we went back to the car, Srila Prabhupada said, “that side is safer”, the one which I suggested previously. I was sitting next to the government driver (British style, drives on the left side of the road), with the driver on the right, and me on the left, Srila Prabhupada directly behind me, and Brahmananda Maharaj beside Srila Prabhupada on the right back seat.
We were driving through the sugar cane fields on a two lane road, curving to the left. To my horror, a VW beetle car was coming directly at us head on. It was only visible for about two seconds since the sugar cane fields blocked the wider view. Neither car had any opportunity to slow down. I had been chanting Sri Krishna Chaitanya in my mind when this occurred, but I was horrified that this was taking place with Srila Prabhupada in the vehicle. The two cars came together at full speed, with combined speed about 80 miles per hour. I placed my hands before me to brace on the dashboard, and at impact my head went into the windshield on the forehead and my elbow struck the windshield as well. As I looked to my right I saw the government driver with blood coming from his head as his head went into the windshield leaving the impression of his head in the windshield. As I continued to look right and back over my shoulder, I saw Brahmananda with his left arm around Srila Prabhupada’s shoulder and the look of terror in Brahmananda’s face. Srila Prabhupada remained completely silent and grave. He had been sitting cross-legged in the back seat with his cane between his knees. At the time of the accident, his face, especially his lower lip struck the back of the seat I was sitting in. Fortunately, these are well-padded cars. He developed a blood blister in his thumb and as I recall, some swelling in his lip, with no other injuries amazingly. The female passenger of the VW went through the window and out of the car. The government driver of our car with bloodied head got out to attend to the injured in the VW.
I got out of the car and went to Srila Prabhupada seated behind me. He had multiple pieces of broken glass around his feet, which I removed so that he would not be cut. I asked him if he was alright. He remained completely silent, detached and very grave, as much as I had ever experienced of him.
Brahmananda got out to try to flag a car down to take us back to our bungalow. We remained at the accident site for about 15 minutes. A car stopped and took the three of us, but in the wrong direction. We drove for about 15 minutes and then they turned around and took us back past the accident site, and then back to the bungalow.
When we arrived, Harikesa was there. Srila Prabhupad made up a mixture or poultice to apply to any painful areas we might have. He personally applied it to my forehead and elbow (which I thought might be fractured, but it wasn’t). We had a kirtan at Srila Prabhupada’s request which I led, then Srila Prabhupada asked to hear something from the Chaitanya Charitamrita. Harikesa opened the book and it opened spontaneously to the Disappearance of Haridas Thakur, which he read for some time.
The next morning Srila Prabhupad, Brahmananda Maharaj and myself took a walk on the beach outside the bungalow. Srila Prabhupad never mentioned the accident. He did ask us where we thought he should go to next, since there was some program arranged for Nairobi, Kenya. I suggested that he might be shook up from the car accident and perhaps he might like to return to Bombay to rest. Srila Prabhupada said, “we shall go to preach in Nairobi. I knew at that time that I could not second guess His Divine Grace. This all took place before any temple had been established in Mauritius which came about later, and I believe that Srila Prabhupada made a second trip to Mauritius later. He had flown to Mauritius prior to entering South Africa, and again after leaving South Africa.
Apparently, because Brahmananda could not enter South Africa, I performed the duties of Srila Prabhupad’s secretary during his two-week tour. He liked me and he liked my style as his secretary. In February of 1976 when I arrived in Mayapur with a Mercedes we purchased him in Stuttgart, Germany (at his request), Srila Prabhupad personally asked me to be his permanent secretary. I, like some others before me, lasted until July 1976 throughout his last world tour. Indeed, I have many fond memories and also some regrets. All is in Krishna’s Hands. No further questions about that.
Hoping that you will forgive the detail of this true episode in our lives at that time. Hare Krishna. Pusta Krishna das

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19087

I meditate every day, and have done so for many years. Sometimes I sit, sometimes I walk. It’s a mantra meditation, so I am uttering words quietly.

Meditation always makes me feel better.

My best meditations are in the morning and that’s because the day has not yet kicked in, and my mind is still fairly quiet. Then I get into the rhythm of the chanting and hold my attention to the sound of Krishna’s name.  

It can take up to a half hour of chanting before I feel my mind, my being, slip into a different energy. It’s like the poet Rumi says ‘ out beyond ideas of rightdoing or wrongdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there’.

It’s a liminal space experience. Hard to describe but worth the effort to get there. For me it’s like being in a wide open area – but it’s safe. There is a feeling of freedom. There is also a sense of separation from my body. All is quiet and I listen. Life and mind and body slip away.

With the Krishna mantra meditation I also experience emotion. The Hare Krishna mantra means – “O Lord, or energy of the Lord, please engage me in your service”. I am reciting His name with affection, asking for a relationship, longing to serve, to actively develop my love for the all-attractive One.

Early morning mantras bring a stillness to my life. At that moment I am sincere. I want to know who I am, where I am from. Meditation brings me to these places of eager enquiry.

Sometimes my meditation is light and distracted, other times rich and sweet, and sometimes serious and urgent. Much depends on the state of my mind. The mantra doesn’t control the mind as much as it frees the mind. We have to control the mind to start to do the meditation in the first place .

The Hare Krishna mantra frees the mind from the bodily concept life, which is the source of all misery. This concept is deeply ingrained in us. If we can control the mind and focus on the mantra, the mantra will then loosen these bodily conceptions and create some cracks in our illusion so that the light will begin to shine through. It’s a beautiful thing.

Source: http://iskconofdc.org/meditating-on-meditating/

Narottama Dasa Thakura, one of the acharyas in the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya writes in glorification of the Lord that one will get the soothing moonlight of millions of moons when one takes shelter of Lord Nityananda’s lotus feet. If one really wants to enter into the dancing party of Radha-Krishna, he must firmly catch hold of His lotus feet.

In the age of Kali-yuga, Lord Krishna advents in this material world as Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu along with Balarama appearing as Lord Nityananda. Lord Nityananda is also known as Nitai, Nityananda Prabhu and Nityananda Rama. He took the role of Lord Chaitanya’s principal associate for spreading the chanting of the holy names of Lord Krishna in the form of Harinama-sankirtana. He distributed the mercy of Lord Krishna to all the fallen, materially conditioned souls of this age by performing the congregational chanting of the Lord’s holy names. According to the teachings of the acharyas, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu cannot be approached or understood without taking shelter of Nityananda Prabhu, who is the original guru of all the universes. He serves as an intermediary between Lord Chaitanya and His devotees. He is the second body of the Lord, manifesting as Balarama to Sri Krishna, Lakshmana to Sri Rama and Nityananda Prabhu to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Lord Nityananda’s Appearance and Childhood

Nityananda Prabhu appeared in the year 1473 in Ekachakra, a small village in West Bengal. There is a temple named Garbhasva in commemoration of the place of His appearance. Nityananda Prabhu appeared on the auspicious thirteenth day (trayodashi) of the bright fortnight of the month of Magha as the son of pious brahmana Hadai Pandita and Padmavati. The residents of Ekachakra were completely absorbed in the love of little Nitai. As a child, Nitai loved to constantly enact the pastimes of Sri Krishna and Lord Rama with His boyhood friends. He spent the first twelve years enacting these kinds of pastimes. He has the whitish complexion of Lord Balarama. His voice is deep and melodious.

Pilgrimage of Lord Nityananda Prabhu

In the thirteenth year, a travelling sannyasi came as a guest of the Lord’s parents and requested them to send Nitai with him as a travelling companion. His parents committed to Vedic culture, could not decline his request and reluctantly parted with Nitai. Lord Nityananda toured the holy places in both Northern and Southern India until He arrived in Navadvipa and met Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He went to visit the different holy places in order to purify them from the sins left behind by the pilgrims who visit them.

In the course of His pilgrimage, the Lord went to Gaya, Kashi, Prayaga, Mathura, Govardhana, Hastinapura, Dwaraka, Ayodhya, Haridwara and many other holy places. He took bath in many holy rivers on the way. The Lord next went to Badarikashrama and to the ashrama of Srila Vyasadeva and met him. On His pilgrimage tour, He also met Madhavendra Puri, Ishvara Puri, and Brahmananda Puri who were all great devotees of Lord Krishna. He spent many days enjoying the ecstasy of krishna-katha in the association of Madhavendra Puri and his disciples. He then visited other various places such as Setubandha, Danatirtha, Mayapuri, Avanti, Devapari, Trimala, Kurmakshetra etc.

Finally He arrived at Jagannatha Puri, where He took darshana of Lord Jagannatha and drowned in the ocean of bliss upon seeing the Deity of the Lord.  From Jagannatha Puri, He returned again to Mathura.

Meeting Lord Chaitanya and the Distribution of Krishna-prema

Nityananda Prabhu met Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in 1506 at the age of 32 years when Lord Chaitanya was 20 years. Lord Nityananda in His role as the original spiritual master played a major role in spreading the yuga dharma of sankirtana all over the Gauda desha (Bengal, Odisha). His mercy was unlimited, and people fortunate to come in contact with Him relished the nectar of His instructions and were inundated with love of Godhead. Raghunatha dasa, one of the six Goswamis, started the celebrated Danda Mahotsava festival of Panihati by the mercy of Lord Nityananda and was thus able to serve Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The festival is still being observed by the devotees to this day. Due to the boundless mercy of Lord Nityananda even the most fallen souls like Jagai and Madhai who were habituated to all kinds of sinful activities were delivered and converted to great Vaishnavas who took to the chanting of the holy names of Lord Krishna. He delivered many fools and fallen sinners by freely distributingKrishna-prema. (Read also Parama Karuna – The Deliverance of Jagai and Madhai – Part 01, Part 02, Part 03, Part 04)

Lord Nityananda’s Pastimes

Lord Nityananda married Jahnava devi and Vasudha, the two daughters of Suryadasa Sarakhel. Suryadasa Sarakhel was the brother of Gauridasa Pandit – an intimate associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the spiritual master of Srila Shyamananda Pandit. Nityananda Prabhu had a son named Virabhadra and a daughter named Gangadevi from Vasudha. Once, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu invited Lord Nityananda to accept lunch at His home. Accepting the invitation, Lord Nityananda went with Lord Chaitanya and was received well at His home.

When both the Lords sat down for lunch, it appeared as though Lord Ramachandra was having lunch with Lakshmana. As mother Shachi happily served Them food, They began to eat with loving exchanges. Then suddenly two plates of food turned into three plates. As the Lords began to smile, mother Shachi returned with more food but to her astonishment, she could find only two attractive little boys in the place of the Lords. One of Them was white and the other was black color. Both of Them were naked and four handed, holding conch, disc, club, lotus, plow and stick. They were also adorned with Srivatsa and Kaustubha gems and wore fish-shaped earrings. Mother Shachi could also see her daughter-in-law within the heart of her son. Then suddenly she could no longer see anything. She fell to the ground with incessant tears of love which wetted her whole body and clothes. As she fell senseless, the rice that she was carrying was strewn all over the room.

Lord Chaitanya immediately got up, washed His hands and calmed her down. Very soon, mother Shachi revived, but just cried inside her room. She was breathing heavily and her body shivered. She was ecstatic with love of God and forgot everything else.

One day when Lord Nityananda was staying in the house of Srivasa Thakura, a crow came there and flew away with a bowl made of bell metal which was used to keep ghee for Lord Krishna. Mother Malini devi, the wife of Srivasa Thakura saw the crow which retuned after leaving the bowl in its nest. Worried about this, she began to cry. Then Lord Nityananda arrived there and learnt the reason of her grief. Assuring her that He would get her the bowl, the Lord turned to the crow and asked him to return the bowl. The crow carried out the order of the Lord and came back with the bowl in his mouth. Malini devi who knew well the glories of Lord Nityananda, fainted in ecstatic love to see this wonderful incident. After recovering, she offered her respectful prayers to the Lord.

On another occasion, the Lord performed a grand kirtana in Panihati with His devotees. After this, He ordered His servants to conduct abhisheka to Him. All the devotees headed by Raghava Pandita made every arrangement and bathed the Lord with the water from the Ganges while everyone sang His glories. After abhisheka they dressed Him with new clothes and applied sandalwood paste to His body. They decorated Him with flower garlands and tulasi. Then the Lord sat on a throne and glanced at everybody showering them with Krishna-prema. Then He ordered Raghava Pandita to make a garland of kadamba flowers saying that He was very fond of those flowers. When Raghava Pandita humbly said that it was not the season for kadamba trees to flower, the Lord asked him to go home and look for them.

When Raghava Pandita reached his home, he was surprised to see beautiful fragrant kadamba flowers blossomed on the lemon tree in his courtyard. Overcome by ecstasy, Raghava Pandita quickly made a garland of them and offered it to the Lord. All the Vaishnavas  thus felt very happy.

In this way, Lord Nityananda exhibited many inconceivable pastimes before His devotees, drowning them in the ocean of transcendental ecstasy.

Lord Nityananda married Jahnava devi and Vasudha, the two daughters of Suryadasa Sarakhel. Suryadasa Sarakhel was the brother of Gauridasa Pandit – an intimate associate of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the spiritual master of Srila Shyamananda Pandit. Nityananda Prabhu had a son named Virabhadra and a daughter named Gangadevi from Vasudha.

The Lord wound up His earthly pastimes, by entering into the Deity of Bankim Ray (Krishna), situated close to Ekachakra.

Today is Family Day and so the Hare Krishna Temple would like to wish you and your family all the best on this special day.  We actually had to Google the official explanation for Family Day and got the following, "Family Day is observed in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan on the third Monday of February. In British Columbia, Family Day falls on the second Monday of February. This holiday celebrates the importance of families and family life to people and their communities."

So, with that in mind, we would like to thank each and every one of you for also being part of our big Toronto Hare Krishna family!  Expressing appreciation is always a good thing for devotees to do and so even though we don't get too many comments on posts, we would like to encourage devotees to leave a comment on this post with some words of appreciation for the rest of your Hare Krishna family!

Source: http://iskcontoronto.blogspot.in/2016/02/happy-family-day-from-hare-krishna.html

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, November 2015, Vrindavan, India, Video Interview)

We chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra because it is said that by chanting these sixteen syllables all the influence of the Kali will be destroyed. Under the influence of Kali, we are becoming totally degraded. Illicit activities such as meat eating, gambling, intoxication and illicit sex are rampant in the world. Day-by-day, we become pulled down more and more, and degraded more and more and we sink deeper into the swamp of suffering. But, the chanting of Hare Krsna can liberate us from all this suffering. Therefore we must chant that name of Krsna as recommended in Kali-santarana Upanisad: Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

ource: https://www.kksblog.com/2016/02/chant-for-upliftment/

Sri Rupa Goswami advises us how to think of Krishna (Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.294)

kṛṣṇaṁ smaran janaṁ cāsya preṣṭhaṁ nija-samīhitam
tat-tat-kathā-rataś cāsau kuryād vāsaṁ vraje sadā

Kṛṣṇaṁ smaran is the first injunction: “think of Krishna.” Next, janam cāsya: “In  thinking of Krishna, also think of his people.” 

It’s phrased this way because kṛṣṇa-smarana is ubiquitous to all bhakti-sādhana (viz. “smartavya-satatam-viṣṇoḥ…”) but the hallmark of rāgānugā-sādhana is that we don’t just think of Krishna, we think of him with “his people.”

Which “people”? Preṣṭham: the people who are in love with him.

And, even more specific, nija-samīhitam: the people who are in love with him in the same way that we want to be in love with him.

When telling us to think of Krishna Sri Rupa advises us that kīrtan/kathā is essential. We will think more of Krishna the more we hear about him. So he says, tat-tat-kathā-rataś cāsau, “Discuss everything about those two, with great delight.”

Who are “those two”? Krishna and his preṣṭha-jana (his beloved) whose type of affection you desire. This implies that there would be one special nija-jana in particular who would perfectly epitomize the love for Krishna you desire. For example, Krishna and Radha. Or Krishna and Yasoda.

And the final line? Kuryād vāsaṁ vraje sadā: “By doing this, may you always reside in Vraja [with them].” Here Rūpa Goswāmī advises us not to think of Krishna and his beloved as a museum piece, or a subject of study. Rather we must think of ourselves as having an active role in the affairs of Krishna and his beloved. We must think of Krishna in a way that causes us to “live with” Krishna.

Sri Rupa Goswami’s instructions are as deep and satisfying as the ocean of nectar itself.

Vraja Kishor

www.vrajakishor.com

Hiring - Elementary School Teachers.
Goswami Academy, a spiritually-centered elementary school, located in Houston, Texas, is seeking applicants for teaching positions in both the early childhood and elementary level.
We are seeking qualified candidates who possess enthusiasm for working with children in a highly collaborative teaching environment. If you are a self-starter who wants to be part of a mission-driven school that provides an opportunity to grow personally and professionally, we encourage you to apply.
Goswami Academy follows a 175 day school year with time off during summer and holidays. This position will begin in August 2016. The successful candidate is required to attend professional development training in July.
Qualifications:
Good standing with relevant experience
Able to pass local, state, and federal criminal background screenings.
Able to pass CPS Background screening.
Able to speak, read, and write English fluently.
US citizen or possess documentation of right to work in the US.
Ability to deliver engaging curriculum
Connect learning with spiritual base.
Current first aid and CPR certification preferred.
Able to teach in a multi-level setting.
Interested applicants should email current resume to the principal at subhra@goswamiacademy.com Send all correspondence to the attention of Subhra Lind (Principal).
Deadline - February 29, 2016. --------------- Attaced files of job description: http://dandavats.com/wp-content/uploads5/PST-JD.docx http://dandavats.com/wp-content/uploads5/PT-JD.docx

One of the most amazing resources we have in our Hare Krishna movement is the Grihastha Vision Team (GVT) - an incredible group of senior devotees who dedicate themselves to helping our Hare Krishna communities become stronger by developing strength in families.

Being Family Day weekend, this seems like the most opportune time to "plug" the work of the GVT.  The mission of the GVT is to support, strengthen, educate and enliven the individuals, couples and families who are or will be involved with the grihastha ashram (family life).

The GVT has a goal of wanting to help you spiritualize your marriage and make it an act of seva (service).   An important goal for them is to help each person about to marry,  to receive premarital education. The best way to do that would be through one of their team members or trained mentor couples. Marriage mentoring has been proven to raise the success rate in marriage and result in more connected and happy couples.

Feel free to check out the Grihastha Vision Team's great website by clicking here or by clicking the image below!

Source: http://iskcontoronto.blogspot.in/2016/02/vaisnava-family-resources-perfect-for.html

Jayapataka Swami's Health Update 15/02/16 (14:00 Mayapur time)
Jayapataka Swami is currently hospitalized in Durgapur, West Bengal after becoming unwell and requiring further medical support. At this moment we request devotees to pray intensively for his wellbeing.
Jayapataka Swami arrived in Ekachakra on the 13th of February to install the deities and inaugurate the new temple. This is a fabulous temple and is presided with gorgeous deities. Around 10,000 people attended. On the14th Feb morning he developed a mild fever, which eventually subsided but spiked again overnight, thus the need for hospitalization since this morning.
As you know, Jayapataka Swami’s overall health is generally fragile, so these situations do carry a high risk for him. The team of assistants is ensuring that he receives the best possible medical support available.
We promise to maintain the devotees informed according to how things progress. Meantime let’s unite efforts and request Lord Nrisimhadeva and Srila Prabhupada to kindly protect Jayapataka Swami.
Your servants, Jayapataka Swami’s Health Team

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19028

The Canberra devotees were asked to participate in the capital’s multi-cultural festival that lasted three days and had hundreds of stalls set up in Civic Square.

On the first day there was a parade and the devotees were able to bring the Rathayatra cart from the Gold Coast and had the temple deities, Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra devi ride majestically through the city streets

Source: http://www.ramaiswami.com/canberra-rathayatra/

My name is Loka-guru Das from Bulgaria, a disciple of HH Prahladananda Swami. I’m writing concerning a health and preaching project we are developing with my elder brother Sudama Das and other devotees in Bulgaria and we would like to share it more among devotees.

In short, our father is a dietitian – health nutritionist, a disciple of a famous Bulgarian natural healer – Lidiya Kovacheva. He is into nutritional therapy and natural healing for more than 30 years and has helped thousands of people with different health problems and diseases. The last 4 years we are fully engaged, manage and develop the health center Vita Rama project.
The bases of our system is the healing nutrition, as well as physical exercises (yoga, walks, training and others), which work on the physical level, but also relaxation and meditation practices for the mind and consciousness (different mind games, interactive games and 2 times per week – kirtan meditation). We have everyday lectures on healthy eating (food choice, combination, right preparations and 1 culinary demonstration), physical exercises and yoga, as well as 1 lecture on bhakti yoga. We are doing our health programs in Bulgaria, on the Black Sea coast – in a remote from city place – sea and mountain – surrounded only by nature. You can check more about the center, the health programs, the team and the place on: www.vitarama.eu
On the website we also have different articles and recipes and in the next 2 weeks we will update the English website with all the latest recipes and articles published by Vita Rama in Bulgarian.

Until now we worked mainly with outside people, who have great results with weight loss, detox, but most of them with different kind of diseases as diabetes, cardiovascular, digestive and many other serious problems, even cancer and multiple sclerosis. We are devotees from 6 years and we complete the holistic approach of the health system by adding bhakti yoga in a outreach/loft preaching way, so we attract who is interested from our patients (and surprisingly many of them are great fans of Hare Krishna mantra and some even follow the process).
Some devotees have visited us before 3-4 years, but more and more do it in the last 2 years and we have very good results with them as well. We observe that many devotees are not living very healthy lifestyle (on physical level) and as a result they suffer many diseases, which is a great obstacle for the our devotional life and service. So we would like to share more what we are doing and our health programs for those who are interested. We are writing many articles and recipes and we can provide interesting and helpful information about nutrition and health.

Your servant,
Loka-guru Das

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19034

Corporate or Family ISKCON?

It’s always nice to receive e-mails which are from devotees, especially when in work however recently one or two appear to have dark undertones; almost a play for why the reasons that attracted me to ISKCON are unrealistic and a thing of the past.

The opening statement gave me a feeling of impending doom, may be it’s time to leave ISKCON as this new improved corporate; boiling the milk ISKCON which appears to have little to do with my spiritual well-being or advancement. And more to do with how to get as much money out of me and make the whole experience one of sheer misery, a one size fits all, your only a devotee if you do this or that course repulses me and my only response run away.

You see when I first met the devotees their was a family feeling, it was like I had met old friends within a short time my thoughts were how to get to spend more time with them. They tolerated a lot, never asked me for laxmi (Well apart from books, and that was alright, given they were so enthusiastic I read them I became enthusiastic to read)

This family atmosphere this friendship based on loving care for one another, getting to know the individual and developing them at a pace and way that developed trust; eventually one wanted to reciprocate this love and the devotees had you hooked on devotional service. No course, no money just love.

With this simple exchange one became hooked on Japa, reading, sharing and doing some small service; the desire to do more of these increasing the more you had this association, and this is what a lot of individuals speak about, the loving care a feeling of being a part of something, the feeling of family the feeling of love.

What the devotees had shown me was simple and in many ways these loving exchanges meant that you would do almost anything for them, it’s simply something that cannot be learnt in any educational setting, no classroom could teach devotional service in it’s purest form.

Devotional service comes from a basis of love, love comes from being cared and feeling cared for; so the term family appears appropriate as this is the nearest approximation or way of expressing a feeling felt when coming into devotee association.

Personally I miss those early days, this new corporate impersonal ISKCON is choking the life out of me, mentorship was by the devotees leading by example and recommendation was by a senior disciple; now mentorship is tor-mentorship and appears a way to fleece money out of the individual and little of engagement in devotional service, do this course, do that course give us money.

Over the years my inspiration has been a few devotees who by example and loving time spent in association makes ones desire increase, that one wants to do more. Simply put friendship.

I’ve learnt more in discussions with these devotee friends questioning and being questioned, and when one comes across something that appears contradictory one does research studying of Srila Prabhupada’s books and then sharing what has been learnt. Thus real knowledge increases and as it’s personal and not learnt in an educational setting it’s personal one remembers.

The email was explaining how now ISKCON is too big for this, temple presidents cannot get to know those who attend, and the family atmosphere one used to talk about is impractical and not work, one cannot expect recommendation to be as in the early days and spoken about by Srila Prabhupad, we now have a new structure.

The new structure means courses, exams, forms; a committee who decide upon ones suitability not on real

knowledge of the individual but how all these look, even the recommendation of the mentor can be overruled by a committee member who has had little association with the candidate; now this is impersonal by any standard and far from the system recommended by Srila Prabhupad’s who wanted initiation recommendation from a senior devotee who actually knew the aspiring devotee, this loving care some describe as family some like me describe as friend. This real knowledge of the aspiring devotee cannot be learnt in a classroom.

Yes temples have grown.
Yes it’s impractical for one individual to know everyone that attends our larger temple.
Yes learning about devotional life is good
Yes studying Srila Prabhupad’s books are good.

But an artificial mentorship system and an artificial impersonal committee, a corporate ISKCON one were the feeling of friendship and family is frowned on; seriously?

My conclusion is this is best avoided by one who wishes to make any real spiritual advancement, and a plea to all those in management and GBC please get rid of this nonsense and return to what Srila Prabhupada showed us, real love and personalise our approach that inspires one to spontaneously increase our desire to increase in devotional activities.

Or may be it’s that ISKCON doesn’t want individual’s like me who don’t need classrooms and form’s to be inspired, just the association of amazing devotees who make you feel like a part of something special; and inspire you to do more service and because your inspired that naturally inspires others.

But my fear is corporate ISKCON rather than personal ISKCON is the one that is winning the day.

And I’m guessing those who see corporate ISKCON as the way forward will use this article not to learn how others function and how to inspire a different group in devotional life, but will simply go look told you so he’s anti-ISKCON, and simply miss the point altogther.

Friendship first and all other things will come in time.

Source: http://david.deltaflow.com/?p=3330

Avoiding Yamaraja: Ajamila’s story. Ajamila’s story is given in the Bhagavata Purana (6th book, chapter 1) as an example to illustrate that even the most wicked person can attain salvation. Ajamila was a brahmana who was once sent by his father to the jungle to fetch leaves and twigs to make the sacrificial fire. Ajamila met there a beautiful sudra woman. Forgetting everything, the brahmana made her his wife and children were born to them. When that brahmana, who was the very embodiment of all vices, reached the age of eighty-seven, the time came for him to die. Yamadutas (agents of Yama, the god of death) had arrived. The frightened Ajamila shouted loudly the name of his eldest son, “Narayana”. Hearing the repeated call of his name “Narayana”, servants of Visnu appeared there and dismissed the agents of Yama. From that day Ajamila became a devotee of Vishnu and did penance on the bank of the Ganges and after some years attained salvation. Ajamila was saved from hell because he chanted “Narayana” as the Yamadutas approached him. Afterwards Yamaraja forbade his servants from touching devotees who “even if by mistake or because of bewilderment or illusion… sometimes commit sinful acts,” because “they are protected from sinful reactions because they always chant the Hare Krishna mantra.” Yamaraja then told the Yamadutas: “Paramahamsas are exalted persons who have no taste for material enjoyment and who drink the honey of the Lord’s lotus feet. My dear servants, bring to me for punishment only persons who are averse to the taste of that honey, who do not associate with paramahamsas and who are attached to family life and worldly enjoyment, which form the path to hell. "My dear servants, please bring to me only those sinful persons who do not use their tongues to chant the holy name and qualities of Krishna, whose hearts do not remember the lotus feet of Krishna even once, and whose heads do not bow down even once before Lord Krishna. Send me those who do not perform their duties toward Vishnu, which are the only duties in human life. Please bring me all such fools and rascals.”

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19006

Ananda Devi Dasi: Every year a group of yoga students from America go to the gardens of a flower grower in Vrindavan (India), who produces large amounts of flowers for the garlands and decorations in the many temples there. This year, however, the gardens did not have much to show. Weather and other factors had wiped out the crop and the gardener, already poor by our standards, was even poorer. As they sat with him he was jovial, telling them stories of Krishna and his temple experiences. ‘How can you be so happy after so much loss?” they asked him. “That part of my life is a struggle, and this year will be hard,” he said. “But my relationship with Krishna has nothing to do with that. That’s always joyful.” Here, I thought, is wisdom in action. Rather than making God a part of his life (and struggle) he was choosing to be a part of God’s life. In other words, as we move along in the world, dealing with the ups and downs, we often lean on God, pray for help, find Him in our little universe, and even complain when we don’t think He is doing his part (i.e., fulfilling our desires). There is nothing wrong with this, and it’s better than not acknowledging His existence at all. Krishna is happy to help and be involved, as he was with Arjuna in the Gita’s battlefield. Yet as students of the science of bhakti yoga we learn that the true goal is to get to know Krishna who exists beyond our mundane life. If Krishna is a person, then He has a life, a place, and all kinds of relationships. The gardener gives us a clue. Instead of pulling God into our own little life, why not set that aside for a while, and start looking into God’s life? Talking time everyday to be in a relationship that has nothing to do with the karma of the world, nothing to do with who we are in this body, nothing to do with the present context of our life – that’s what the gardener was doing. Yes, I lost everything this year, he said, but not Krishna. He is always there. And that’s my joy. Let that be our joy too.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19012

In a world shrunken by digital connections are we still nourishing the right connections in our lives and in society?

How can we get better connected spiritually ,with ourselves and with each other? Spiritual leader Radhanath Swami addresses these questions in this insightful talk.

Radhanath Swami is a world renowned author, philanthropist and community builder.

He has been a Bhakti Yoga practitioner and spiritual teacher for more than 40 years. He is the inspiration behind a free mid-day meal for 1.2 million school kids across India and he has been instrumental in founding the Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai.

He has keynoted at Apple, Starbucks, Google and House of Lords. His work has led to meetings with U.S. President Barack Obama and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19020