I happened to think deeply about my existence. If we think about it, we can see how limited our time really is in this body.

We are drowned into our desires which are like a reflection of our mind. It is this mind which is carrying us to different conceptions of material life as confirmed in the Bhagavad Gita. 

"The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another"- BG#15.8

It's the mind which enjoys pleasure and suffers the pain. 50 yrs later, I won't be in this body nor would my friends or so called relatives who are expansions of this body. Even if some of us make it beyond 50yrs it would be like an invalid body which won't support normal life. If I won't live in this city of nine gates, beyond 50yrs why should I endeavor so much to care this body taking all my lifetime. This world is a perfect jail and unless we develop intense greed to attain Krishna, He could never be bought. Intense greed is the price to develop Bhakti and purchase Krsna.

Srila Rupa Gosvami, wrote, "Pure devotional service in Krishna consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price – that is intense <chrome_find>greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay." (Padyavali 14).

Quote starts:

"Following in the mood of Srila Rupa Gosvami, the Vaisnava saint Srila Narottama das Thakura has explained how any tendency that is an obstruction to our spiritual advancement can be transformed by relating it to Lord Krishna. He specifically describes how the 'six enemies' of lust, anger, <chrome_find>greed, illusion, envy and pride can be conquered: "I will engage lust, anger, <chrome_find>greed, illusion, envy and pride in their proper places. In this way, I will defeat the enemies and with ecstasy in my heart, I will worship Govinda without difficulty. I will engage my lust in eagerness to serve Krishna and I will use my anger against those who are envious of the devotees.

I will be <chrome_find>greedy to hear the topics of Hari in the association of the devotees. I will be illusioned if I fail to achieve my worshipable Lord and I will feel proud to chant the glories of Krishna. In this way, I will engage them in their respective duties." (Prema Bhakti-candrika 2.9-10).

Look at this, look at that, all are pitfalls trapping me in this world every moment. No use to look anywhere but within to hear the call of my Lord. My own desire to enjoy here is a noose that kills my soul life after life. There's a lot of things that happen in our life which sometimes creates a moral conflict and because of being in dualities it drives us crazy to go nuts and get lost. In the Mahabharata, Bhismadev had a moral conflict when Draupadi was pleading for help as she was disrobed by the Kauravas and so he had a hard time making a decision and couldn't help her. Similarly life throws us into many such situations which makes us feel totally drowned in life of sorrows. 

"O Arjuna. Be transcendental to all of them. Be free from all <chrome_find>dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the Self." -BG#2.45

"Purport: As long as the material body exists, there are actions and reactions in the material modes. One has to learn tolerance in the face of <chrome_find>dualities such as happiness and distress, or cold and warmth, and by tolerating such <chrome_find>dualities become free from anxieties regarding gain and loss. This transcendental position is achieved in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness when one is fully dependant on the good will of Kṛṣṇa"

There's no use to waste time in talking about other people's mistakes or how we were ill treated or how we were not understood, despite our constant efforts to make them understand. In the middle of the ocean, what can you do if there is a storm? Only tolerate and try to see how soon you can get out of the ocean. This material life is such a deep ocean where all of us are trapped. We are running out of time to make a chance to get back home out of this ocean which has got ferocious animals that can eat us alive.

Source:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.in/2015/04/50-yrs-later.html?utm_source=feedburner

Proponents of contraception claim it solves many social problems. Are they right? Thirteen-year-old Jenny broke the silence. “Rhoda, I was a birth-control baby.” “Birth-control baby? I never heard of that.” “The birth control my mother and father used didn’t work, and the result was me.” “You mean you weren’t wanted.” Jenny didn’t answer. She hunched the covers over her shoulders. Rhoda leaned across the beds to touch Jenny’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said such a stupid thing.” Jenny lay still for a long time. Her thoughts drifted to her family….

“Rhoda,” she said softly after a while. “Rhoda, you were right, anyway. I’m the family accident.” Rhoda was sleeping already. Surprised at what [Rhoda] had said, and yet, feeling as if she’d always known it, [Jenny] understood now the plea that was always in her mother’s eyes when her mother looked at her….

[Jenny] closed her own eyes and went to sleep, too. —A Figure of Speech, by Norma Fox Mazer, p. 44 ABUSED, UNLOVED, unwanted, neglected children are an image of pain that tugs at the heart of any caring person. And what is modern technology’s answer? Birth control. Politicians, scientists, educators, and even religious leaders advise contraception—and its commander in reserve, abortion—as the answer to many social and economic woes. Yet when we examine the problems that contraception and abortion aim to solve and the benefits they are supposed to give, we may be surprised to see how they fall short. In ancient history, the saint Prahlada taught that a materialistic solution is worse than the original problem. Birth control exemplifies this principle. Let’s consider the reputed benefits of birth control and abortion: no more births of unwanted children, all children raised in a stable home and nurtured with affection, more freedom and respect for women, better health for women, fewer financial burdens for families, and less of a population burden on the planet. No more unwanted children? The prime objective of birth control and abortion is to eliminate unwanted children. Despite the increase of birth control and abortion worldwide, however, evidence shows that the problem of unwanted children has worsened the more the “solution” has been applied. In the essay Right Reason, William F. Buckley, Jr., writes, “The general availability of birth control information has caused a rise in illegitimacy.”

In Sweden, for example, the percentage of children born out of wedlock has risen steadily and today stands at 52%. In the United States, from 1950 to 1980 the annual rate of illegitimate births increased by 450%. One might imagine that with birth control and abortion easily available, all children, or nearly all, would be born to a married couple who want a child. But that’s not the case. The number of unwanted children is on the rise. A major cause is teenage promiscuity, and 81% of physicians surveyed agree that the availability of contraceptives has led to increased promiscuity among teens. (A. Pietropinto, “A Survey on Contraceptive Analysis,” Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, May 1987, p. 147) Teenagers who have had birth control education have a 50% higher sexual activity rate than teens who have not. (Louis Harris and Associates, “American Teens Speak: Sex, Myths, TV and Birth Control,” Harris and Associates for Planned Parenthood of America, Inc., 1986, p. 53)

Coleen Mast, author of the Sex Respect curriculum, compares teaching about contraceptives to teaching how to light fires “safely” in garbage cans. Such an education would no doubt increase the number of house fires. By offering some limited protection against the consequence of pregnancy, contraceptives encourage illicit sex. But contraceptives don’t solve problems of poverty, illiteracy, drug use, and uncontrolled sexual desire—all of which contribute to illegitimate births. In fact, people may feel that simply by using some pill or device, they can avoid becoming responsible adults capable of moral choice.

All Children Raised With Stability and Love?

The growing acceptance and use of birth control and abortion has also led to an increase in divorce, abandonment, child neglect, and child abuse. Half of all children in America will grow up without one parent, usually the father, because of illegitimacy or divorce. More than one million children a year live through divorce. Again in America, from 1986 to 1993 the number of abused and neglected children nearly doubled, and the numbers of children seriously injured or endangered from abuse both quadrupled. Having the right to “plan” one’s children through unnatural means may lead to family instability and child abuse; it certainly has not solved these problems. If we ask, “Why are so many children today not raised with love in a stable home?” and “Why do people use birth control?” the answers will be practically the same: the parents think sex is for pleasure only, not for reproduction. Why, then, take much care with children who come accidentally? And “accidental” children will come. Women who use contraceptives with a high rate of compliance still have a 10-13% pregnancy rate. (Family Planning Perspective, Sept./Oct. 1980, p. 236)

Contraceptive use reveals a selfish attitude: one wants enjoyment without any responsibility other than giving pleasure in return. Some may argue that a married couple may be “responsible” in their contraceptive use and still care for the children they plan for. But isn’t that like a company employee who regularly steals from the business yet claims to be honest with the other employees? Perhaps some people can practice “selective love,” but they remind us of an unusual creature—the scorpion mouse, which kills and eats scorpions, being immune to the poison. It also eats other mice, even other scorpion mice. But scorpion mice are some of the most caring parents in the animal kingdom, mourning long if one of their babies becomes a meal for an owl. Such “love” is a kind of extended selfishness, rather than selfless giving for the welfare of others. If the motive for our “love” is selfish, we will act without concern for our formerly lovable person if our desires appear to be better fulfilled by not loving.

Those who try to prevent pregnancy—through surgery, devices, chemicals, or unnatural sexual practices—develop a mentality of seeing their body as meant for their own purposes, rather than seeing both their body and the bodies of their children as gifts from God to be engaged in His service. The contraceptive users so much despise Krishna’s plan for the human body that they alter its natural function. They come to hate the responsibilities integral to their own bodies. When those responsibilities take the form of children, they may resent the children as well. Contraceptive use means trying to outwit Krishna, to take what one wants while short-circuiting and sabotaging the system. That is the mentality of a thief. Shrila Prabhupada often said that Krishna can be the greatest cheater. We may try to cheat Him, but in the end we will find ourselves cheated of genuine spiritual life and happiness, as the cheating employee will find that his friends don’t trust him and his boss fires him.

One may further argue that abuse, neglect, divorce, instability, and so on, exist, if to a lesser extent, among those who do not artificially avoid having children. Clearly, simply having children as nature intended is not enough to insure genuine love for them. Yes, without spiritual realization, our loving relationships will be more or less selfish. But the mentality of the contraceptive user is so opposed to the Lord’s plan that spiritual life, with its true love and selflessness, has no chance to develop. And a life that fully respects the link between sex and reproduction is part of a foundation upon which one can exhibit real love.

More Freedom and Respect for Women?

Because of widespread contraceptive use, women have increasingly become exploited slaves of irresponsible men. Formerly, a woman who conceived a child outside marriage had choices. She could marry the child’s father, raise the child alone, or give the child to an adoptive couple. If she wanted to marry the child’s father, her parents and community would put moral and social pressure on him. Now boyfriends, parents, and even husbands often pressure women to avoid or kill their own children. The thinking is, “This woman entered the relationship with a stated or implied agreement that children weren’t included. Why should the man be obligated now that a child has come by accident?”

Mary Pride, a leading advocate of the return to family values, writes, “Our society has been separating sex from the responsibilities and joys of having children for over thirty years…. Wives, who used to be regarded primarily as mothers and therefore sacred, are now seen as fancy vessels for men to relieve their sexual frustrations. Look at the ads in magazines, stores, TV, and billboards. Is this a noble picture of women, for their bodies to be used to sell everything from jeans to toothpaste?” (The Way Home, p. 30)

Women who rely on contraception and abortion may feel unfettered to pursue their own desires and careers, but is that real freedom? Real freedom comes in loving and serving God. Having children, even many children, doesn’t interfere with that. Besides, a woman who rejects contraception is expressing her freedom to control her sexual urges. By using contraception and abortion, others show they are hopeless slaves of lust and selfish bodily urges.

Better Health for Women?

We’re told it’s dangerous for women to have “too many” children, or to have children later in their childbearing years. Actually, having and nursing children prevents many of the health problems of modern women. For example, a woman who breast feeds for a total of at least seven years has nearly a zero percent chance of breast cancer at any time in her life. Most women who get various cancers of the reproductive system have had no or few babies. Conversely, many medical problems come directly from contraception. And abortion is not only very risky physically, but often brings the mother lifelong psychological problems. Of course, as with anything in this world, pregnancy and childbirth include risks. The risks, however, need not deter us from doing what is best for us and most pleasing to God. Those devoted to illicit sexual life are willing to sacrifice their money, health, and reputation to maintain their way of life. Even the fear of AIDS doesn’t discourage them. Can we not be at least as willing to sacrifice for the right cause?

Fewer Financial Burdens for Families?

It is common in modern society to think of children as a problem rather than a blessing. And today, children may indeed be financial burdens, especially if they’re extravagant consumers. On the other hand, many parents find that their children are a blessing and enrich their lives in many ways, even economically. Despite their freedom from the financial burden of children, childless couples face financial burdens nonetheless, because their desires induce them to work hard for money. Instead of spending money on educating and training their children, they spend for an extra car, a vacation home, a large-screen TV, and so on. Do these acquisitions bring more joy and fewer burdens than children would? Which life inspires one to be a better person? Certainly having children costs money, time, and effort. But, again, life is full of sacrifice and responsibility. A man who works hard so he can raise children dedicated to Lord Krishna is blessed with spiritual growth and satisfaction.

Less of a Population Burden on the Planet?

Many people will argue that without birth control, families will have a dozen or more children. Yet in societies where birth control isn’t practiced, the average number of children per family is six. Six children per family may seem too many for the earth, but the entire present world population could fit in France or in the state of Texas, with 1,500 square feet per person. We could feed ten times the present population on an American-style diet, and thirty times the population on a Japanese-style diet. (Colin Clark, Oxford University) All the world’s scriptures urge us to have many children, and describe children as a blessing. The only burden on the earth mentioned in the Vedic scriptures is that of a large population of sinful people who live lives of crime and deceit. The Lord, Sri Krishna, is unlimitedly wealthy and can easily provide adequately for all His obedient children. Harmful Side Effects Not only does birth control not solve the problems for which it claims to be the solution, but it has harmful side effects as well.

Homosexuality: Contraception may lead to increased homosexuality. If the purpose of sex doesn’t include children, then why not relations between two women or two men? Why not any type of unnatural relations? (note: The GVT does not promote homophobia, or gay basing. While ISKCON takes a rather conservative position about homosexuality like most religions, the GVT supports the idea that everyone must be treated with compassion and respect. Within and out of ISKCON you will find the whole spectrum of opinions regarding homosexuality. I have received a number of emails complaining about this article’s statements here so I have added this disclaimer. The GVT has not formulated an official view regarding homosexuality. The web servant and his wife are on the more liberal end of the debate, while others differ. Karnamrita )

Abortion: Acceptance of birth control leads to acceptance of abortion. Fifty percent of women who have had abortions say they were using birth control and it failed. Abortion is simply a more extreme way of saying that one’s personal needs, desires, status, and so on, are more desirable than the birth of a child. And being a form of child abuse (torturing and killing an unborn child), abortion leads to abuse of children in general. Why not hurt or kill a child who interferes with my life? People may claim that an unborn child is not yet human, but is an acorn seedling not simply an immature oak? The fetus is growing because the soul is present from conception. In any case, all life is sacred, not just life outside the womb, and not just human life.

Illicit sex: Immoral sexual relationships increase when contraception and abortion are available. People feel that with control over pregnancy, they need not consider commitment or the criticism of society. And because birth control promotes a mentality of separating sexual pleasure from procreation, people begin to feel that relationships based only on physical pleasure are not only morally acceptable, but natural.

Loss of respect and love for God: The spiritual harm of birth control is its most damaging—to individuals and society. The contraceptive user doesn’t respect Krishna’s design and plan. How can I love God if I don’t even respect Him? Rather, I think I would be a better God and am ready to redesign the world according to my vision. The mentality of envying Krishna’s supremacy and control is the root of material consciousness.

The Spiritual Solution All the arguments for the benefits of contraception presume that people cannot control their sexual appetites. We expect adults to control their appetites for food, so why not for sex? Of course, modern society doesn’t expect much self-control in eating, either. The artificial sex created when using contraceptives has its parallel in the artificial foods that have taste but no calories or nutrition. Sterilization has its parallel in stomach stapling. Krishna’s devotees know that mastery over our bodies, senses, and minds is both desirable and possible. Those who dedicate their lives to worshiping and pleasing Lord Krishna know that real pleasure comes from serving His plan, including His plan for the human body. They don’t try to separate physical pleasure from the whole of the reproductive function. In fact, those completely serious about spiritual perfection in this lifetime either live as unmarried celibates or, in marriage, restrict sexual union to the time when the wife is most likely to conceive. Before conception, the husband and wife meditate on the Lord and chant His holy names to purify themselves of selfish desire so as to offer the procreative act as a sacrifice to Him. Krishna says that He is present in such a union, and the couple therefore feels not only bodily pleasure but also spiritual bliss. They don’t feel a burden in raising their children to love Krishna; rather they take it as great happiness.

For people in general, a return to a life where children can assist their parents with running the household and earning the livelihood would greatly contribute toward the vision of children as a blessing rather than a burden. Spiritually, when children are raised to grow in love of God they are a great blessing to their families and society in all respects. The unlimitedly wealthy Lord will surely provide for those who wish to raise such children. Society must also return to the vision that this entire creation, including one’s own body, operates according to the plan of an unlimitedly intelligent and caring Supreme Being. We only hurt ourselves when we try to circumvent or obstruct that plan, even when dealing with our body, which we can’t truly claim to be our own.

Srila Prabhupada: I don’t say, “Follow me.” I say “Follow Krishna.” Krishna says, “Surrender unto Me.” I say “Surrender unto Krishna.” Is there any difference? My position is simply repeating because Krishna says, “Anyone who preaches this confidential subject matter, he is dear to Me.” Allahabad, January 18, 1971

Yena tena prakarena Krishna nivashiyet, somehow or other become Krishna conscious. This principle in many ways was the guiding principle for Srila Prabhupada's Hare Krishna movement. This principle was given some 500 years ago by Srila Rupa Goswami - that somehow we must find ways to induce our consciousness of God or Krishna.

If we look at this phrase deeper, we will learn that it requires faith upon Krishna or God to be conscious of Him. To the degree one has faith, to that degree, one will be conscious of Krishna at all times. This is the basic idea. So who ever is giving Krishna upadesh (instructions), the sole purpose is simply to induce or strengthen one's faith upon God or Krishna (according to time and circumstance). When faith in God grows nicely, all problems will be solved.

Hare Krishna

Source:http://servantoftheservant-ananda.blogspot.in/2016/05/increasing-ones-faith.html

Through celibacy alone, can we get love of God? You can be celibate for a hundred lifetimes, do you think that will give you love of God? No, it is devotional service that will give us love of God! If you are married to a devotee, do you think that will give you love of God? No, you yourself will have to be a devotee as well. You will have to engage in devotional service. It is not automatic. Even a lion has to go out and chase for breakfast. It is not that the deer runs into the mouth of the lion… So, we have to do something in devotional service and that is what counts. Ashram issues are not so important, it is only external. In one or the another, you are going to have to take some tapasya (austerity),

That is life in the material world, no matter what you do, there is tapasya. You decide which tapasya you like better; this is what it is all about – the tapasya of being married or the tapasya of being alone. You decide as both have tapasya. Material life has that element of tapasya, of some austerity, inevitably so. No one can avoid it – it is basically the design of the material world therefore Lord Rshabdev pointed this out to his one hundred sons. This human form of life is not meant for sense gratification; it is not going to work. Therefore we should not be TOO particular about how we live but some things have to be suitable.

Krsna consciousness, bhakti, is not denying us these basic comforts. That is for the impersonalists. For them, everything in this material world is only maya. There is only maya in all directions therefore whatever they use has to be minimized… but we just use it for sustaining our Krsna consciousness, so sleep well – nice and warm and cosy, so that we can do devotional service – there is nothing wrong with that. Therefore we do not have to sleep on the hardest bed that we can find and use only a bed-sheet in the winter, no blanket!

I knew a devotee who never wore a kurta in winter, in Vrindavan. It was very cold and he was only wearing a lungi. You know, he lasted for fifteen years and then he got sick. What is the benefit of these things!? Great austerities – fasting, fasting, fasting… “I fast every ekadasi and dvadasi as well, for the last twenty-four years!”

Fine, you can do it for twenty-four lifetimes more and do you think you will make any more progress towards going back to the spiritual world with all your fasting!? Not really. In the Caitanya Bhagavat, there is the example of Caitanya Mahaprabhu who was having kirtans in the house of Srivas Thakur and the doors were closed, only devotees were allowed inside. The one day, Lord Caitanya couldn’t get into the mood and he felt that there was some intruder in the house. It turned out that Srivas had let in this brahmana who had been living only on milk for one year. Lord Caitanya had the brahmana thrown out, “Do you think that just by drinking milk for a year, you can attain me!” But later that brahmana was so excited that he had seen Caitanya Mahaprabhu and he was just praying to get a chance again, then Lord Caitanya let him back in.

So, it is not by austerity that we will attain Krsna! Although, austerity is highlighted by Lord Rshabdev in the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, austerity in itself is not one of the limbs of bhakti. Renunciation and austerity are not limbs of bhakti. They do not give you devotional service.

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/06/choose-your-suffering/

On the evening of Friday, May 6th, New York’s Bhakti Center partnered with Upbuild to hold a dinner event featuring a talk by Radhanath Swami on the topic “Living Your Calling in an Age of Confusion”.

Upbuild is an educational social enterprise created by Rasanath Das and Hari Prasad, who both used to live and serve at The Bhakti Center as monks. Upon graduation from the monastic order they went on to launch Upbuild which aims at maximizing the human potential by creating environments that inspire genuine purpose and authentic connection. Among the dinner’s 100 guests were many leaders in business, journalism and other creative fields.

Below are excerpts from Radhanath Swami’s talk on how true wealth and happiness are found through finding and sharing the divine love that lies within the soul.

Living Your Calling in an Age of Confusion

Times like we are facing these days are periods in human history that could potentially bring a rise in enlightenment, or just the opposite. Times of difficult, individually and collectively, are crossroads where we have to really question our lives.

What gives a thing value to a person’s heart is not the monetary price of it, or how it may stimulate the eyes or the mind. What gives value to anything is the exchange of love.

What is valuable? Things can give some degree of pleasure to the senses and the mind but things can never give fulfillment to the heart. Only love can do that. The nature of the heart is to love and be loved. The heart is starving for love. If it is not nourished, no matter what we get, we can never be satisfied and we can never be an instrument to give true satisfaction.

When we realize that love within us, and make it our life’s service to be an instrument of that love, which is expressed through compassion for the body, mind and souls of others, then our life is truly meaningful and fulfilling. With that integrity we can work harder than anyone, if that is required, but it is not motivated by greed, envy or arrogance – it’s motivated by love. By really caring and wanting to make a difference.

The greatest thing that we can pass down through our legacy is compassion, love and care based on moral values – principles of spiritual integrity. There is a saying, that if you lose your wealth you lose nothing, if you lose health you lose something, and if you lose your character you lose everything. Of course we need wealth and we see that when the economy is struggling it can really bring out the worst in people. But where there is compassion, where we see humanity and life itself as a family, then we will make our policies with the mindset that we are caretakers of each other, whether we are in investment bankers, farmers or even swami’s.

My guru, Srila Prabhupada, would often cite a verse wherein there is a simple phrase, para dukha dukhi. What is a evolved enlightened consciousness? This is how we can evaluate how we are progressing. When another person’s suffering is my suffering and when another’s persons happiness is my happiness – para dukha dukhi. It is not just a poetic idea. It is life’s deepest reality – that in giving we do receive. In loving we can access love.

When our mind and consciousness become clouded by selfishness, greed, arrogance, illusion, anger and envy, then we identify with those things and it becomes our calling to satisfy them by any means. But there is no substance there. It is vey shallow and it cannot last.

Yes, there are times of confusion, but what is that confusion? Its like a boat in the middle of the ocean and doesn’t have a compass it doesn’t know where it is going. Its pretty confusing. But if we know where we want to go and how to get there then life is no longer confusing.

Yes, there are so many difficulties and challenges, but challenges are inevitable in this world. But if we know what our calling really is, the calling of the heart – the soul, then we can pass through those challenges and only grow and find deeper realizations and experiences.

We only become inwardly wealthier through the trials and tribulations as well as the joys and celebrations of life. But when we lose that connection with our true self, then life is really confusing. One race, one religion, one nation is saying we are better than you. One person says I have rights to exploit you. For me to get richer is just part of the business, and to achieve my goals I can squash you and crush you. There is no substance to such a life. And when society starts to glorify and honor those things it is really confused.

Spiritual values, integrity, love and compassion is real wealth. And whether we are millionaires or swamis we can all make a difference in the world. We can all serve together.

The social body is like the human body. A healthy body is when all the organs and different bodily parts are working in harmony for a common purpose. Within the bodies we have our hearts, kidneys and pancreas and they all have different sizes, shapes and colors and very very different functions. They eyes can’t do what the feet can do but its not like the stomach is telling every part of the body, if I don’t give you food you die. The stomach is serving every part of the body and when every body has a common higher purpose the body is healthy but if different body parts are disunited from each other then the body gets diseased.

So similarly there are different occupations such as mothers, teachers, politicians, engineers and farmers and little swami and we all have our role to play as one social body with a common interest. And if we can’t realize and appreciate each other. then we can’t make a positive difference in this world. Its not sustainable, not very deep. Thats why people throughout the ages who have been activists, to truth, spiritual and social activists, they have tried to teach us what the Bhagavad-gita says, that real wisdom is when we see everyone with an equal vision and to really care. Thats love and thats compassion. Thats true humanity.

In the Bible it is said the first and great commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind and soul and that the testimony and expression of that love is that we will love our neighbor as ourself. And everyone is our neighbor. Wherever there is life, life is sacred. Compassion is very very integral. A confused society is when we lose touch with ourself, then we lose touch with each other, and we lose contact with God, and then naturally greed and envy, selfishness and anger perpetuate. But each and everyone of us have an opportunity and the sacred responsibility to make that journey within.

There are three principles that are universally very effective in helping us in that journey. In Sanskrit, satsanga, sadhana andsadachara.

1. Satsanga means to be in the company of people who elevate our consciousness, who inspire us, who deepen our faith in these true values. To be with enlightened people, or like minded people, who are on that journey to enlightenment. It gives us courage, strength and direction.

2. Sadhana means putting some time aside each day to really make that inner connection, to gain that inner strength, to cultivate that love. Like a gardner to water that seed of devotion that is within us of truth and joy.

3. Sadachara means to actually live with principles because its those principles that make our life truly meaningful. And its those principles that give us a chance to be an example that could really help other people’s lives. The world needs examples. We don’t have to be big or little examples, each and everyone of us could change the world by the sincerity of our own example.

Question: Would you say that people who have had loving parents in their lives can experience the feeling of surrender spiritually better than people who have not?

Answer: Its a wonderful opportunity. I write about this in my book The Journey Within. We all have our free will.

If we have loving parents it can give a deep deep samskara or impression in our hearts, and if we are grateful for that then we will deepen that to a greater spiritual connection and share that with the world. Thats how we can really show our gratitude.

But even if we didn’t have that, we can understand what it feels like not to have it and feel compassion for people. So in every situation we should try to be the change we want to see in this world.

The Bible says seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door will open. If we are seeking  to grow, seeking to love and seeking God, in a true way, then even the hard times only helps the goodness of our own hearts to grow. And thats why keeping company who remind us of that, who help us to keep our compass of aspirations and values in life in the right direction, is very sacred and important.

Question: Earlier you were talking about how we are working together with a higher goal in mind. Is there a way to know in your own heart that you are doing the thing that is most helpful towards that?

Answer: The details are not always what’s important. Its the value and principles that motivate us. And there are universal principles. If we are sincere it’s quite easy to understand.

Are we seeking to be an instrument of God’s love? Are we seeking to exemplify values of humility rather than ignorance, generosity rather than greed, compassion rather than indifference, being a well wisher instead of being envious.

Is this our wealth? To serve and find happiness in whats really meaningful and good in God. Not in a sectarian way, but as a true well wisher. Is this the way we are doing our investment, or being a father or mother? Is this the way are being a student or running our business?

In this world we have to be competitive to survive, but that competition doesn’t mean we have to be evil or selfish. We have mentors, guru’s, and enlightened scriptures and books that give these essential values that we should live for. And if we are sincere, then we are doing the right thing. If you have the higher purpose in mind of being the caretaker of others, then you are doing the right thing. The purpose of this little place, The Bhakti Center, is for people to come together who share these values and try to give strength to those values that we have within ourselves and each other.

Photos by Dennis Fialkovsky

Putting on Tilaka
In the Uttara-khanada of the Padma Purana, Lord Shiva says to Parvati that in the middle of the “V” of the Vaishnava tilaka mark there is a space and in that space reside Lakshmi and Narayana. Therefore, the body that is decorated with tilaka should be considered a temple of Lord Vishnu. The Padma Purana also states:
vama-parshve sthito brahma
dakshine cha sadashivaha
madhye vishnum vijaniyat
Tasman madhyam na lepayet
“On the left side of the tilaka Lord Brahma is situated, and on the right side is Sadashiva, but one should know that in the middle dwells Lord Vishnu. Therefore one should not smear the middle section.”
One should pour a little water into the palm of his left hand and rub gopi-chandana (mud from Dwaraka) into it. When making Tilaka the following mantra from the Uttara Khanda of the Padma Purana:
lalate keshavam dhyayen
narayanam athodare
vaksha-sthale madhavam tu
govindam kantha-kupake
vishnum cha dakshine kukshau
bahau cha madhusudanam
trivikramam kandare tu
vamanam vama-parshvake
shridharam vama-bahau tu
hrishikesham cha kandhare
pristhe tu padma-nabham cha
katyam damodaram nyaset
tat prakshalana-toyam tu
vasudeveti murdhani
In accordance with the above mentioned mantra one should apply the gopi-chandana with the ball of the middle finger tip to make the tilaka marks on the twelve parts of the body. According to the Brahmanda Purana, one should not use the fingernail to make the space in the middle of the tilaka. One should place a thin damp cloth over the finger and make the space with that. Thus, when the tilaka is applied, the following mantras should be chanted:
The forehead–om keshavaya namaha
The belly–om narayanaya namaha
The chest–om madhavaya namaha
The throat–om govindaya namaha
The right side of the waist–om vishnave namaha
The right upper arm–om madhusudanaya namaha
The right shoulder–om trivikramaya namaha
The left side of the waist–om vamanaya namaha
The left upper arm–om shridharaya namaha
The left shoulder–om hrishikeshaya namaha
The upper back–om padmanabhaya namaha
The lower back–om damodaraya namaha
Finally, after washing one’s had, whatever water is left should be wiped on the top of the head in the region of the shikha (tuft of hair) with the mantra: om vasudevaya namaha.
In the Padma Purana it is stated:
nasadi-kesha-paryantam
urdhva-pundram sushobhanam
madhye chidra-samayuktam
tad vidyad dhari-mandiram
“That marking (of tilaka), which begins from the root of the nose and extends up to the hairline, which has a space in it and is very beautiful, is known as urdhva-pundra (tilaka). One should know it to be a temple of Lord Hari [Vishnu].” The Padma Purana also mentions that the tilaka marking should only extend three quarters of the way down the nose from the root of the nose, which is located between the eyebrows. The space in the middle of the tilaka should begin from between the eyebrows and extend up to the hairline. The marking on the nose and forehead should be connected. That is a perfect tilaka marking. 
Read more: http://goo.gl/XjhYPu

This human life is very short and we have to be very careful that we do not waste the opportunity to go back to Godhead. In whatever we do, do what you have to BUT, do not, in any way, jeopardize the opportunity for going back to Godhead. That is the first priority in life. Whatever we do, that should never, in anyway, come in the second place for a moment. And for the rest, do what you have to do; that is up to you!

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/05/top-priority-2/

Recently in India I inquired from a Mohammedan gentleman why their women are ardently concealed behind a curtain of cloth, which often completely covers their faces? He replied, “If you have a valuable diamond, which to you is precious and dear, how will you keep it? Will you store it in an old cardboard box in the backyard rubbish heap? No, naturally, you will protect it by putting it safely and securely in a place where the untrustworthy can neither see it nor steal it. Our women are very important to us; they are the personality behind a happy household. We know that if they flaunt themselves in public, they will be mislead, and then the foundation of our society will be ruined.”
My mouth dropped open; I was speechless. The Muslims, like the Hare Krsnas, obviously have this question repeatedly asked to them by the “non-believers”, and this gentleman had a very poignant answer. He was not intimidated by the query, rather, he proudly made this presentation on behalf of the women in his community.
I have observed that ISKCON women more often are replacing the sari with other kinds of “more practical” attire. Many wear Punjabi suits, long skirts (or even short ones) dresses, moo-moo’s, jogging suits or shorts to putter around the house or go shopping. Often the only time a sari is worn is to come to the temple feast on Sundays. Even more often we see that the sari has been replaced by Western clothes in the name of “selling more books” or “collecting more laksmi.”
As a mother and an experienced frontline preacher, I can appreciate the points made for wearing western attire, particularly in a western country. Sometimes the sari may make us feel awkward, too cloistered, or separated from others. However, as my Muslim acquaintance indicated, we would be more inspired to wear devotional clothes if we have a proper understanding of its benefits.
Srila Prabhupada wanted the women in his movement to cover their bodies in a chaste way. Although in the beginning, while living in the temple, most ladies wore long skirts and blouses, his instruction was that the breasts should be covered twice. Therefore, some ladies wore sleeveless maternity smocks over a long sleeved shirt, and perhaps a scarf on her head. Srila Prabhupada, not satisfied with this attire, taught his spiritual daughters how to wear the sari. He also specified which wrap they should use.
Once while preaching in Gujarat, Srila Prabhupada saw two of his women disciples, Malati and Kausalya, wearing their saris wrapped like the Gujaratis. He became furious. “Where have you learned this? I did not teach you this?” Wanting his followers to represent the highest class in the social order and to set an example for the rest of the world to follow, he had taught his women followers to use the sari-wrap worn by Brahmins for temple service.
Srila Prabhupada mentions in the Caitanya Caritamrta that devotees can wear the attire of the materialists for preaching Krsna consciousness, especially while distributing books. However, Srila Prabhupada himself, although preaching, never changed his devotional dress to gain some supposed advantage. Rather, he taught us to turn apparent disadvantages into advantages.
Srila Prabhupada gave the example shown in a Charlie Chaplain movie where a young “bucking bronco” and his girlfriend were at a formal ballroom dance. When the man rose to dance, the long coattail of his tuxedo caught on the chair and ripped half way up his back. Unperturbed he gestured to his girl to wait while he proceeded to the men’s room, removed his jacket and ripped it all the way to the neck creating 2 long blackstreamers. Unabashed, he swept his dance partner up in a rigorous waltz, whirling in circles all over the ballroom floor. All eyes are focused on them, as they became the center of attention. Awed and dumbfounded, the by-standers admired the confidence of this enthusiastic dancer. One by one the other men on the ballroom floor retired to the men’s room. After a few moments they emerged with their coat tails ripped up to their necks. Srila Prabhupada commented that the devotees should be confident and enthusiastic like the dancer and then people will follow their example.
The intimidation a devotee feels while wearing devotional attire is often a projection of his insecurity at being a devotee. He doesn’t want to be confronted and defend Krsna’s message or movement from seeming discrepancies in the philosophy or adverse media propaganda. Such a devotee should analyze within himself why he joined Lord Caitanya’s movement.
As food prepared by materialists is contaminated by their consciousness and will infect one who eats it, similarly, clothes fashioned by persons catering to the whims of lusty people, will degrade our consciousness. Srila Prabhupada, therefore, encouraged cottage handloom industries, so that even a devotee’s physical necessities could be satisfied purely.
A Vaisnava should wear only pure fabrics, for example, cotton, wool or silk. Since synthetic fabrics are derivatives of plastic and will not absorb water, they are virtually impossible to clean. That “cleanliness is next to Godliness” encourages a devotee to surround himself with the purest environment possible. This protects him from the modes of passion and ignorance, which can bewilder his intelligence and keep him bound in this material world.
Several years ago, I discussed this issue with Arabian Muslim women in Kenya. I asked them “Why do you cover yourselves completely in such a hot and stuffy robe?” They replied, “The gaze of lust will make us dirty and we will become sick from it. Lust is a poison that attacks like a poison gas and affects our minds and makes us unclean.” ISKCON devotees understand that even while making an offering of food to the Supreme Lord, if the plate is not covered before being placed on the altar, it could be spoiled by the lusty glance of an animal, a child or an unqualified person. If a greedy person lusts over our food it becomes poisoned and we risk falling sick from eating it. So, like a plate of food, a woman might be seen as a sense object and should cover her body so as not to be the object of lust. In this way, she will remain pure for the Lord’s service.
A woman’s covering her body chastely in a sari is a declaration that because she is Krsna’s maidservant, she is not interested in capturing men by her material form. In that sense she is no longer a “devil in disguise”, someone out to capture the weak, but someone who is a well-wisher, a “mother” or one who cares for others. She especially becomes concerned about men’s spiritual life. She desires that they achieve the highest goal in life, to go back home, back to Godhead; that they not remain conditioned by material illusion, mesmerized by the decorations of her dead body.
The sari is not only a chaste covering for a woman’s body, protecting her from unwanted lusty gazes, but, it is also a “spiritual uniform.” Just as the policemen are identified by their uniform, the devotee’s dress identifies her as a person who can give spiritual instruction and shelter. Therefore, people should be able to identify the devotees as members of a spiritual institution.
I find that wearing a sari enhances my preaching. Practically each day I have to explain why I wear it. Wearing a sari helps me be a proper spiritual example and forces me to consider how my activities affect people who have faith that ISKCON devotees are sadhus.
One simple reason I continue to wear a sari is that I know it is pleasing to Srila Prabhupada. He was fond of saying “The dhoti makes thedevotee!” which indicates that wearing devotional clothes effects a spiritual transformation. Knowing that Srila Prabhupada is our ever well-wisher and eternal protector, to please him, I tolerate seeming inconveniences of wearing a sari. 

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21682

The Anna Dan Food for Life complex in Mayapur serves thousands of meals every week. Everything is done to the highest standards, from filtered water, to stainless everything, and very high standard of cleanliness.
To fulfil the desire of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada that “No one should go hungry” his followers, well-wishers, supporters have started a non-profit, non-sectarian, non-religious charitable project to connect with humanity by a humble endeavour to distribute sumptuous-vegetarian-sanctified food (prasadam) wherever need for the needy. Our food is available for everyone without discrimination of caste and creed, as a symbol of mutual and global brotherhood. The food is free for everyone.
Prasadam Menue: Rice, Dal (Lentils), side item, Main seasonal sabji, Chutney or Dhai or Matha or Papad, Sweet
When: Daily 1.00pm
Where: “Bhaktivedanbta Anna-Dan Complex” at Mayapur.
How: Daily within 6am-6.30am we distribute coupon to individuals (first come first serve). No advance booking.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/4OkyEd

Since the end of February this year our padayatra party enlisted a new member, Sahadev Dasa, a Russian devotee. We met him during our stay in Navadvipa where we spoke to him about the ‘All India Padayatra’. He was very interested and wanted to serve Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar and ever since then he has become one of us –a padayatri. This is his first time travelling around India and he is a perfect example of the mercy of Lord Caitanya. First, the Lord gave Sahadev Dasa His divine darsana in Mayapur and then slowly but surely He began pulling Him closer towards this mission. He has been with us now for three months and although he does speak a little English,he does not speak Hindi or Tamil. I am often asked how we communicate with this devotee and my response is, “Well, he does a lot of book distribution, how is that possible?”

We have realized that the people of Chennai do not respond when we address them in Hindi. So we have now begun to ask aTamil devotee to do all the announcements. This Tamil devotee actually taught Sahadev Dasa a few words in Tamil which he uses when he distributes books. This proves that a difference in language does not bar one from preaching the message of the Lord. We have seen how inspired people are by hearing a foreigner speak about the message of God. They may not listen to us but they are attracted to him. Whenever we ask Sahadev Dasa about how he does it, he responds by saying, “I just meditate on the lotus feet of Gaura Nitai and say, Oh merciful Lord please bless these souls. It works and people take a Bhagavad-gita.”

Anyone who walks on padayatra just once gets the unlimited mercy of Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar. They are also blessed with many realizations which assists in creating a good foundation for spiritual advancement. When asked how he felt about his experience on padayatra thus far Sahadev Dasa said, “I feel my first tour to India is successful and I feel I am walking back to Godhead.” Sahadev Dasa always does whatever is asked of him and he is also a very good photographer. We therefore enjoy having him on padayatra. Whenever I think about communicating with Sahadev Dasa, I remember what my Gurudev, Lokanath Swami always says, “Unity of purpose and unity of vision.” It is because we are on the same mission that we can understand what’s going on in each other’s minds. My Guru Maharaj also described it with a nice Marathi phrase “eka hrdaya”. We all have the same purpose in our heart so things become easy.

Everyone should join in on this walk (padayatra) as Sahadev Dasa said “back to Godhead.”

Nitai Gaurasundar ki! Jai! 

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21696

A new marriage matching service for devotees has recently been launched in the UK as a combined effort between the former ISKCON Marriage Team UK and Sacred Ashram Team, who have joined together to become the Krishna Marriage Team and have amalgamated their databases together to provide a co­ordinated national service. 
Current members of the new team are Visvambhara das and Jagannathesvari devi dasi, Gaura Kishore das and Saumya­radhika devi dasi, Sundarananda das and Kirti­radhika devi dasi, and Brijesh and Priya Vadhvania. Jagannathesvari described the team as follows: “We have now amalgamated a quality team of deeply committed and enthusiastic devotees, and I feel very grateful to be working with them.” 
As part of the service, a new website has been launched to facilitate registration, but team members will continue to provide a private and confidential service, and devotees’ profiles will not be displayed in the public domain. Everyone who registers will get to choose either their own personal matchmaker, who will suggest possible matches for them, or a team of administrators who will share multiple profiles that they can choose from. 
ISKCON UK GBC, Praghosa das, had this to say about the new website: “Knowing all the wonderful devotees involved with running krishnamarriage.com, I am very confident that this facility will be a fantastic resource for one and all finding the right marriage partner, and I wish all who use this resource the very best in finding their lifelong soulmate.” 
The service is available for anyone who is chanting the Hare Krishna mantra on a daily basis and following religious principles, and who can provide 2 character references from senior ISKCON devotees, such as mentors or service authorities. As well as matchmaking services, the team will be developing training courses for marriage, and they also offer pre­ and post­marital counselling on request. 
Bhaktivedanta Manor Temple President, Sruti­dharma das, had the following to say: “It’s very inspiring that our new team will help devotees in making this very important decision, in educating them after they are married, and counselling them whenever challenges arise.
This is a great offering for the 50th anniversary celebration to Srila Prabhupada.” Krishna Marriage Team members are currently based in Watford and London. Plans for expansion include inviting qualified couples from other ISKCON centres around the UK to join the team and represent devotees from their own communities. Bhaktivedanta Manor Managing Director, Gauri das, expressed his opinion as follows: “Marriage is the biggest decision and responsibility of our lives, and one in regard to which ISKCON has to provide more help. Therefore it is truly inspiring to see that the Krishna Marriage Team has come together and now launch this tremendous marriage networking facility.” 
For further information about the service and team, as well as access to helpful resources for devotees changing ashram, please visit www.krishnamarriage.com 

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21707

Yes we are talking about Sunder hall of Hotel City Park Pitampura, where about 150 businessmen with family, who are contributing for ISKCON Rohini project gathered on Sunday, 29 May. Subject was to present progress report of ISKCON Rohini construction. In the this program HG Varah P ( CO-President Punjabi Bagh) perform kirtan. Then the Deep was ignited by HH Gopal Krsna Goswami Maharaj.

Rukmini Krishna P (Co-President Punjabi Bagh) briefed the audience about the contribution of ISKCON around the world followed by the presentation by HG Keshav Murari P (Temple president Rohini) on progress report of Rohini Project.

The beginning of Program was done by Chanting of Manglacharan by Mayapur Gurukul Boys. Project Chairman HG Ved Vyas P welcomed all the guests & Maharaj. HG Ved Vyas P mentioned that in future the temple will have Gift shop, Museum, Guest house, Large Temple hall with 3 altars SRi SRi Panchtatwa, Sri Sri Radha Madhav & Sri Sri Sita Ram Laxman Hanuman. HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj in his speech spoke about that how temples are serving & saving the humanity. He thanked them for contributing in Project. Later he presented every well wisher a beautiful gift of Krishna Art Book. Donors & visitors showed their interest & commitments for finalizing this project in next two years positively.

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21716

A few months after I started working with ISKCON Prison Ministry, I received a letter from an inmate which helped drive home to me the nature of this service and just how important it is.

“I only know what I read in your letters and Prabhupada’s books,” was part of his response to me, regarding my reply to a question he had posed. His words brought me a sudden, clearer understanding and. I’ve often since reminded myself of them.

Although I had some idea of the nature of this service when I began, this particular letter made me acutely aware of how isolated and cutoff these men and women can be and how critical is our role as one of their few, if not only, avenues of inquiry and discourse.

As a devotee, I’ve naturally come to understand association as a fundamental element of the bhakti-yoga process. I also have practical, personal experience of what it can be like to lack this association.

I first became aware of Krishna consciousness by coming across Srila Prabhupada’s books in a used bookstore. For years I carried around some very vague notions of Krishna and Bhagavad-Gita and had decided to pursue some deeper understanding. I eagerly began studying, but much of what I was reading remained impenetrable, as it was so far beyond the scope of anything I’d ever encountered. It would be several more years before I met devotees and it was only then that I began to gain some real clarity through inquiry and the give and take of realizations. Although I now understand that I already had the association of a pure devotee through Srila Prabhupada’s books, I understand that it is also through the day to day, incidental direct association with other devotees that we gradually gain the qualification to receive what Krishna is sending us. So when I read the inmate’s words it struck me that for this man, at least for the time being, I was it. This impressed upon me both the importance of being there and of getting it right.

It was not too long before this that I had even first become aware of ISKCON Prison Ministry (IPM). While taking prasadam with a friend at the Dallas temple, our conversation had somehow turned to the troubled state of our correctional systems in the United States. This subject had always been of interest to me but had been weighing particularly heavily on my mind because of some news articles and books I had recently read. When my friend mentioned the ISKCON Prison Ministry it was the first I’d heard of it and it was as if a light and turned on in my mind and I knew immediately that I must try to be part of it. As far as I can remember I’ve had a fascination and empathy for the incarcerated. Anytime I passed a correctional facility I would find myself haunted by thoughts and questions about the souls inside- who they were, how they must feel, and how they came to be there. Now the thought of transcendental knowledge being made available to them seemed like one of the rightest things I’d ever heard.

However well-prepared I may have felt this life-long fascination and empathy had made me for this service, dealing with these issues in theory and in reality are two very different things and I was soon to encounter some surprises. Among them was the unexpected strong emotions I quickly found welling up in me as I began to get deeper into correspondence with certain of the inmates. For instance, I encountered an overwhelming sense of anger and revulsion when I began corresponding with an inmate who had committed a particularly heinous crime. The man had gotten my contact information through another inmate and had written me out of the blue. I did a quick web search in an attempt to get some sense of who I was working with and quickly came across information about his crime and subsequent trial. At one point I found my hands literally shaking as I labored to write him back. Some part of me felt compelled to write “monster!” on the page and have done with it, but I worked my way through it and soldiered on. As much as writing him bothered me, moreover it bothered me that it bothered me (who am I to say who is or isn’t qualified to receive mercy? How solid is my own grasp of this philosophy if I’m seeing this man as anything other than another conditioned soul?). In struggling to deal with this, I found myself recalling one of Prabhupada’s lectures in which he likened preaching Krishna consciousness to a postman delivering a money order. Srila Prabhupada made the point that it is not the postman’s money (he may be penniless) and it is not the postman’s place to judge the worthiness of the recipient. It is the postman’s duty to deliver the money to whom it has been addressed exactly as he has been entrusted to. I no longer encounter the strong emotions I did early on but whenever I do experience some trouble I remind myself that I am only a postman.

(As a side note, this “monster” to whom I had so much trouble writing, has since become very dear to me. I’ve come to know him as a very sincere, steady and sweet devotee and I’ve actually found myself worrying if I go some time without hearing from him.)

Ultimately though, as big a lesson as these sorts of things have been, the bigger growth opportunities this service has given me personally have come simply from having the opportunity to witness over and over again the profound effect that this transcendental knowledge and process have, even in the most brutal and harsh of environments. As devotees we naturally come to possess some awareness of the power of the Absolute Truth but there is a keen perspective that can be gained by seeing it cast in stark relief to such a dark backdrop. I’ve come to liken it to the difference between seeing the light of a candle in broad daylight or in a cave. Same light, vastly different perspective. And I would have to say that of all the surprises I’ve encountered in this service, perhaps most surprising has been how much I have personally learned and grown through working with these inmates as we both struggle to gain understanding. I had no idea how much they had to teach me.

Kirtan Rasa lives in Arlington, Texas. If you would like to be a transcendental pen pal for the inmates, please contact him at: kirtanras108@gmail.com

NOTE:

This article is just a small part of IPM NEWS, our bi-monthly electronic newsletter. To read whole issues, please go to: http://www.iskconprisonministry.org/

If you wish to receive it in your mailbox, simply email me at iskconprisonministry@gmail.com with “SUBSCRIBE” in the subject line.

More excerpts of inmate letters and also their artwork are available on our website at:www.iskconprisonministry.org

You want to help?

OUR PRESSING NEED OF THE MOMENT: we are looking for mini japa malas (Neem, with 27 beads) for those prisons who won’t accept our normal size japa malas.

If you can help, please contact Mukunda Dasa or Bhakti-lata Dasi at:

iskconprisonministry@gmail.com

ISKCON Prison Ministry

3759 McCreary’s Ridge Road

NBU #46

Moundsville, WV 26041

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21713

We can become free from personal motivation. It comes from sacrifice in devotional service; it cannot come from anything else. We just put our own ideas aside and do something, and over time we take responsibility for Prabhupada’s movement. We just volunteer and we become very flexible and we say yes to whatever the vaisnavas desire.

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/05/say-yes/

Here are a few questions about Bhagavad Gita, with my replies.

The first questions I have are about chapter 10 – verse 7-8…

Why by comprehending krishna\god’s mystical nature, will we develop a devotional feeling towards him?

We may develop devotion to him after understanding his unique nature and position. It is not certain. Just like by hearing that someone is very amazing you may become more attracted to that person, or you may not. Most likely you will, but it is not certain.

why by understanding everything comes from him – are we attracted to devotion to him?

Everything that we love is an expansion of him. Realizing this causes intense love for him. Imagine if you learned that every song you ever loved came from the same artist. Imagine how much love you would feel for that artist.

How can you comprehend the incomprehensible through devotion, if that devotion doesn’t arise without comprehending the mysical nature?

This connundrum is explained in Gita directly. The initial knowledge of God needs only be cursory, brief and general. Then, through the relationship established by devotion it becomes incredibly direct, detailed and full. It is very similar to any ordinary relationship. You don’t need to know everything about a person in all detail before falling in love. You may simply hear a word or two about the person, or see them from afar, or even see a picture. But that small amount of initial knowledge inspires you to form a loving relationship and through that loving relationship you come to know everything about the person in intimate detail.

Another thing I struggle with is the last verse of chapter 16. As a person raised in modern culture, i don’t think i can accept vedic authority for the sake of being “vedic.” We who were not raised in vedic india – what does this principle of sacred-scripture mean to us?

This verse simply says that rules of self-discipline are essential for regulating and reasonably controlling the three undesirable qualities of lust, anger and greed. This is a universal principle, we don’t need to approach it as a cultural thing.

The Veda contain a very, very amazing and excellent collection of moral principles tailored for different people in different circumstances in different times of their life. If we learn them from a person who understands them, it will make no difference if we are Bengalis, Israelis, or Eskimos. It is not a cultural thing, but a real guru is required to make that clear.

And I know ancient scriptures have the tendency to be very uplifting and coherent at points and very crazy and nonsensical at other points. I cannot believe the vedas are any different

Śāstra seems confusing at times when we read them without the guidance of a true guru who has really understood their essence and details.

I cannot believe there is a “pure” scripture – beyond any fault and any level of short-sightedness

Śāstra on its own is insufficient, it requires guru; just as medicine is insufficient without a doctor.

what is the right approach for a person with my secular-rational mindset – to the concept of “vedic authority”?

Find a real guru of the śāstra you want to learn and learn it from that person. That is the right approach. Do not accept a person as a guru just because he or she looks like a guru, or has the title of a guru, or has people who think he or she is a guru. Use your critical intellect to discover the true guru who truly grasps the details and essence of the śāstra and strives to apply those to their life. Learn śāstra from such a person – at the very least from books written by such a person. Best would be in a real, personal teacher-student situation.

krishna is saying the only way to be free is by accepting scriptural authority so basically, unable to do so – i’m hopeless to ever really advance. what to do?

No. He says that the only way to be free from undesirable qualities is to regulate them. Then he adds that the Vedas are a very excellent source of regulation. 

https://vicd108.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/a-few-gita-questions/

Two Highlights From The Waikato (Waikato is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand).
Damodara Krsna Dasa: Recently, I went on a six-day stint in the Waikato.
I was in Hamilton East–in a small car park–and stopped an athletic lady. She happened to be Joelle King, the best women squash player for New Zealand.
After an injury, her ranking dropped from No. 4 in the world to 17th. Six months after her recovery, she is now up to 11th in the world. But she explained that she isn’t satisfied. Her sports psychologist suggested meditation to her, and there I was, holding the books that give the most authentic knowledge and the fullest inner satisfaction.
She happily gave $20 (US) and left with SSR, the Gita and Enough magazine.
Another day, I ventured over to Te Awamutu, and just before my day of sankirtana was finished I stopped a young man parking a scooter. He was originally from Arizona USA. I showed him the SSR & BGH and put them both in his hands.
I said, “A good donation for these is $30.” He looked at me and replied, “So if I give you $50, I can take these?”
We walked to the ATM. He withdrew $60, for which I gave him $10 change.
He mentioned he liked “fact books” so I gave him another book.
“All our books are fact books,” I said. “That’s for you.” And he happily gave the other $10.
Srila Prabhupada, ki jaya!
Your servant,
Damodara Krsna Dasa

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21722

The fulfillment of the desire of visionaries, from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu down to Srila Prabhupada, saints and incarnations, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium is a unique and ambitious project to make the vast culture and philosophy of the timeless Vedic tradition accessible to everyone.

Rising from the plains of the holy land of Sri Mayapur, on the banks of the sacred Ganges River, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium will be a shining beacon to all aspiring spiritualists who are searching for answers to the questions of life. 

We are very honored that the TOVP team is coming to ISKCON Chicago on May 16 from 6 pm  to 9 pm to give us a hands on tour of how the Vedic Planetarium is coming up as well us give us the opportunity to participate and contribute in whatever way we can.

The highlight of the evening would be thesacred wooden shoes (Padukas) of Lord Nityananda that will be graciously presented by His Grace Jananivas das. We invite you to come and join us for this rare occasion.

You can also donate for the construction of the Temple of Vedic Planetarium by clicking the donate button.

Source:http://www.iskconchicago.com/temple-of-vedic-planetarium-history-in-the-making/

From Back to Godhead

When Charles asked his son and daughter-in-law a Hare Krsna couple to move in with him, he knew he’d have to adapt, but his reward wasmore than he could ever imagine.

Charles was born in 1917. He grew into a man of courage and principles, serving his country in the U.S. Navy for twenty years and then the Civil Service for twenty more. Assigned to a submarine eet during World War II, he saw his share of pain and suffering and, like many veterans, came to value a safe, secure home for his wife and two young children. Charles was proud of his country and its ideals and strove to instill values in his children that would enable them to grow into responsible, God-fearing citizens.

When his son Charlie, at the age of 24, announced his plan to join the Hare Krsna movement, Charles was shocked. What! Why? Where had Charles gone wrong? Like many parents, Charles was horrified that his son was choosing a path radically different from what he had envisioned for him. It seemed the foolish choice of a young man who couldn’t know the world as Charles did. He did his best to talk his son out of it, but it was no use. Ultimately, he could only accept Charlie’s decision and hope that someday Charlie would change his mind.

Little did Charles realize what a praiseworthy path his son had chosen. Giving up the usual pursuit of wealth and social status, Charlie instead chose to develop love for God, Sri Krsna. Charles had no way of knowing that he himself would someday reap great benefits from his son’s actions. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Lord Krsna assures a boy that because of his saintly behavior, his “entire dynasty has been purified.” Although to Charles his son’s decision seemed a rejection of his family values, Charlie would bring his family a spiritual opulence more transforming than any material success.

Moving in with Dad

In 1973 Charlie joined the Hare Krsna movement and was initiated by Srila Prabhupada, receiving the spiritual name Godruma Dasa. At the time, Charles was not in close contact with his son, who was spreading Krsna consciousness in the U.S.A., Japan, and India.

In 1983 Godruma married a girl named Visnupriya. They returned to the U.S.A. in 1985 because his mother was ill. Charles was excited to see his son after so long and couldn’t help but notice the changes in him. Godruma had become peaceful, friendly, and tolerant. Charles welcomed Visnupriya, who was moved by his kindness and wonderful sense of humor.

In 1986 Charles lost his beloved wife to cancer. Heartsick, he asked Godruma and Visnupriya to come live with him in Jacksonville, Florida. Moved by his loneliness, the young couple agreed. But they all had concerns about their different ways of life. Godruma and his wife wanted to keep up their spiritual practices. There could be no meat, fish, eggs, onions, or garlic in the house. Nothing could be eaten unless the food was blessed by offering it to Krsna. They would want to keep worshiping their deities, Sri Sri Radha Madana-mohana, installing Them in Charles’s house. Godruma and Visnupriya would need to rise early, before 4:00 A.M., to chant Hare Krsna and perform their morning worship before going to work. Then in the evenings they would cook an offering and once more worship their deities and read from Srila Prabhupada’s books.

Contemplating all of these changes, Charles decided it was a small price to pay for the closeness of his family.

“I guess I can learn,” he told them, adding that the most difficult thing would be to remember to offer his food to Krsna.

“But I can give it a shot!”

“We had several discussions about his needs and ours,” says Visnupriya. “We didn’t want to impose on him, and he really wanted to see if he could adapt. I had serious doubts but was amazed at how quickly he adapted to the changes. Godruma and I went through culture shock too. This was the first time we were not living at a temple, and the nearest one in Alachua was eighty miles away. We wanted to continue to follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions to the best of our ability.”

They soon became a close-knit family. Godruma and Visnupriya shared Prabhupada’s teachings with Charles, and Charles shared his home with them. Charles would listen to tapes of Srila Prabhupada’s singing and speaking, often commenting on how convinced Prabhupada sounded when he spoke. Charles appreciated what Srila Prabhupada had done for his son, feeling that Godruma had become a better person.

The young couple would invite devotee friends over, filling the house with feasting and the holy names. In time, Charles grew to look forward to these gatherings. He developed a special fondness for the food, known as krsna-prasadam, or “the mercy of Krsna.” Visnupriya’s sister, Sashi Mukhi, would bring her children Siddhartha and Sujata over. Charles grew to love the children and Sashi Mukhi’s cooking.

Deteriorating Health

To everyone’s great sorrow, Charles developed prostate cancer. He received conventional treatment, but throughout the years 2000 and 2001 his health deteriorated. He was in and out of the hospital. Although Charles had recognized the benefits of the Hare Krsna movement for Godruma, and had come to love the devotees and their ways, he had not accepted the deep philosophy of the Vedas and the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. He saw himself as someone apart from the Hare Krsna devotees.

One day, listening to Visnupriya and her nephew discussing reincarnation and life after death, Charles said, “When I go, it will be the end for me. Nothing exists after death.”

Although the prostate cancer went into remission, Charles developed chronic leukemia. He also suffered from shingles, which made it impossible for him to walk. So Charles, all his life the strong and capable provider, was now forced to rely on others.

Charles’s doctor prescribed physical therapy for his legs, and the therapist would come to their home. One day the therapist mentioned that he had often seen Hare Krsna devotees on the campus of the University of Florida. Godruma offered the therapist a copy of the Bhagavad-gita, but the man hesitated to accept it.

Charles chimed in, “You really should take the book. It will help you.”

The therapist took the book.

Charles was in immeasurable pain. He didn’t regain his ability to walk. On a return stay in the hospital, he developed a urinary tract infection. There seemed no end to his misery.

He turned to Visnupriya and said, “You’ve got to help me.”

Reaching for the only solace she could offer, Visnupriya told him that if he prayed to Krsna, he would feel a lot better.

Helplessly, Charles replied, “Really?”

The three of them decided to end all of Charles’s treatment and bring him back home. Godruma and Visnupriya would care for him and surround him with their love and with the sound of the holy name. They told their beloved father that they would play a tape of Srila Prabhupada chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra twenty-four hours a day. Charles would only need to listen. And to relieve his distress, he could learn to chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

“I’m too old to learn that,” Charles protested. “Can I just chant ‘Krsna, Krsna’?”

“Absolutely,” they replied.

Difficult situations can often reveal our dependence on God. There are, it is said, no atheists in the foxhole. And the old fighter, in the depths of his helplessness and pain, was opening to the possibilities of God’s love. He began to love the sacred chanting that was his constant companion.

When hospice workers visited the house and asked about the unusual music, Charles happily told them, “This is our family music. Why don’t you sing along?”

When faced with unbearable pain or depression, Charles would call out, “Krsna! Krsna!”

Sacred Protection

During the summer of 2001, he started having terrible apparitions. He would see ghosts, skeletons, terrorists, wild animals, and dead bodies.

In fright he would cry out, “They’re coming to get me!”

Visnupriya and Godruma increased the spiritual protection. They placed sacred tulasi beads around his neck. (He had been eating tulasi leaves offered to Krsna since 1986 and was very fond of them.) And every morning Godruma started giving him caranamrta (water that has bathed deities). In his line of vision they placed large pictures of Srila Prabhupada, Gaura Nitai (Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda), Krsna-Balarama, and Radha-Syamsundara.

Watching this, Charles quietly noted, “You are preparing for my departure.”

Visnupriya could only admit to the truth.

“But,” she comforted him, “we want you to be surrounded by auspiciousness.”

As the terrible days of his increasing illness passed, Charles began to find more and more solace in Krsna consciousness. Visnupriya and Godruma would bring him special gifts from the temple, such as prasadam, flower garlands, and sanctified water. He rejoiced in the smallest signs of Krsna’s mercy on him.

One day Charles suffered a great deal and was afraid. Visnupriya gave him a Back to Godhead magazine, and he was pleased to recognize the picture of Nagaraja Dasa, whom he had met.

“Oh, I know him!” Charles said, “I think I’ll read this magazine.”

Reading Back to Godhead helped calm him down.

Godruma and Visnupriya read to him as much as they could from the Bhagvad-gita and Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Charles listened to the reading intensely.

“I don’t understand everything you read,” he told them, “but please continue. I love to listen.”

In September the nurses said they saw a difference in Charles. He seemed peaceful, even though his physical deterioration continued unabated. One evening Visnupriya was sitting at his side when she noticed he was smiling.

“There’s someone standing at the foot of my bed,” he told her.

“Who is it, Dad?” she asked.

Charles pointed to the picture of Srila Prabhupada near his bed.

“It’s him.”

Incredulous, Visnupriya grabbed Charles’s hand.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Charles smiled.

“Dad, you’re going to be O.K.,” Visnupriya said in wonder. “You have the shelter of Srila Prabhupada.”

When this happened several more times, Visnupriya let go of her own fear and worry. Obviously, her father-in-law was under much greater care than her own.

A Blessed End

In the final weeks of September, as the level of pain greatly increased, Charles became peaceful. He loved looking at his picture of Srila Prabhupada. Then, on October 2, Charles found it difficult to breathe. Godruma had been giving him sacred Ganges water every morning and evening for the past two weeks, and he was eating tulasi from a garland from Radha-Syamsundara in Vrndavana, India. The nurse told Godruma and Visnupriya that their father had just a few hours to live.

They were filled with a jumble of feelings. They loved him dearly and didn’t want to say good-bye, but there was no chance of recovery. They had hoped and prayed that he would find his own way to Krsna, and he had. Death would not end the real Charles, the spiritual being who had come to love the sound of Krsna’s name. It would only end his body. Whatever lay ahead for Charles was surely wonderful and auspicious.

Godruma and Visnupriya sat chanting as Charles gradually dimmed from consciousness. They urged him to chant Krsna’s name.

With great difficulty, Charles said, “Ah, K . . . r . . . s . . . na, K . . . r . . . s . . . na.”

Those were his last words before he lost awareness. His son and daughter-in-law continued to chant. They
anointed his body with sacred water and marked him with tilaka (sacred clay). Sashi Mukhi arrived and joined in the chanting. The room was tranquil and charged with spiritual energy. At 11:00 P.M., he stopped breathing.

Visnupriya and Sashi Mukhi, filled with the peace of the room, went outside. They gazed up at the moon. It seemed so bright, and the sky was beautifully clear. They considered that according to the Vedas that particular full moon occurring during the month of Purusottama was an auspicious time, and they marveled at the way Charles had transformed his life into something so pleasing to the Lord. They rejoined Godruma and spent the night chanting and reading the Bhagavad-gita.

Krsna Svarupa Dasa from the Alachua temple community performed the last rites for Charles before cremation. Following Vedic custom, on the thirteenth day after his departure the family sponsored feasts in his memory at ISKCON temples in Alachua, Atlanta, and Hyderabad. 

From Back to Godhead

What is the effect of chanting Hare Krishna?

The names of the Lord in the maha-mantra Hare, Krishna, and rama are invested with His full potencies. Singing God’s names, therefore, is to contact Him through the medium of transcendental sound. Thus, the effect of chanting is the same as the effect of directly associating with the Lord. The following beautiful verse, written by Lord caitanya, describes the seven effects the Hare Krishna mantra has on chanters.

ceto-darpana-marjanam
bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyan-kairava-candrika-vitaranam
vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam
prati-padam purnamrtasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param
vijayate sri-Krishna-sankirtanam

“Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krishna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Krishna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.” (Sri Siksastaka 1)

Although many books have been written explaining the theological implications of this verse, the following is a simple summary of the seven effects of chanting Hare Krishna:

(1) The chanting of Krishna’s name is a purifying agent that cleanses our hearts of envy the root cause of our descent to this world and other bad qualities we have since acquired, like lust, greed, and anger.
(2) As it purifies the heart, Krishna’s name also protects sincere chanters from any further contamination from the worldly energy and those affected by it.
(3) chanting awakens pure devotion to Krishna, the soul’s dormant propensity to serve the Lord with love; and further chanting revives the loving devotion that qualifies one for the greatest good fortune Krishna’s association.
(4) A result of acquiring devotion is that devotees become illuminated with spiritual knowledge. Further chanting matures that knowledge into realization, which in time reveals the devotee’s original position in one of the five relationships with Krishna.
(5) To the degree that the heart is relieved of unwanted habits, we become devoted to Krishna; to the degree that devotion is firmly fixed in our heart, we acquire realized knowledge; to the degree that the heart is illumined by both devotion and knowledge, we taste spiritual happiness. In this way the ocean of bliss swells.
(6) chanting frees conditioned souls of the illusion of identifying themselves with their body and mind and establishes them in the cooling reality that they are eternal spiritual entities.
(7) When devotees finally achieve the perfection of chanting, they taste the full nectar of loving devotion to Krishna a nectar that makes the bliss of liberation seem insignificant.

The Spiritual Sound Vibration

When we chant Hare Krishna, we are meant to be in contact with Lord Krishna and His associates. That is the nature of spiritual sound, which is different from the kind of sound that is only heard. Hare Krishna written on a piece of paper is as much a sound as when you speak it. It is sabda-brahma, spiritual sound, and it is not limited to something communicable only from the mouth to the ear. The spiritual energy or potency manifests itself in sabdabrahma. And because it is spiritual, it doesn’t have the restrictions we have here in the material world.

Generally when we speak of sound, it means something we must hear with the ear. And certainly that is also the characteristic of spiritual sound, but it is not limited to that. material sound is something we generally relate to as being a transmission of information. but Hare Krishna is a transcendental sound vibration. If I say some other words, these are material sounds. The difference with the spiritual sound is that it does more than just communicate a message. It contains within it and is empowered with a spiritual potency, and that means it represents the spiritual realm or energies, either in part or whole.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu says, namnam akari bahudha nija sarva saktin: Krishna’s holy name has all spiritual potency. When you ask, “How are youn” how much potency is in that sentencen but when you say, “Hare Krishna,” then everything that exists within the spiritual world is present, compressed within that sound vibration. And that presence is there whether you see it on paper or hear it in your ear.

The spiritual world also exists in the reality of Srila Prabhupada’s purports. Srila Prabhupada uses the same words we use. He also asked, “How are youn” but because he’s speaking from the spiritual platform, his words are saturated with spiritual potency and therefore have more impact than just a mere question. Aside from posing the question, his words also purify the heart, free one from material contamination, are liberating, and bring about spiritual realizations.

When Srila Prabhupada asked, “How are you?” it was a lot more than just a question. It was not a mere enquiry about well-being. behind it was the intent of someone coming from the spiritual world to liberate us, to bring us closer to Krishna, and that in itself comes across. This is a complex and detailed subject.

Connecting with the Sound

In the Vedanta-sutra it is said that sabda liberates us. When we say Hare Krishna, all the potency of Godhead is there. It is like being in the presence of the Lord, like reading all the Vedas, like seeing the spiritual world, like hearing all of Krishna’s pastimes, like understanding the philosophy if you know how to connect with the sound. That is the challenge: connecting with the sabda. because with any kind of relationship there has to be more than transmission; there has to be reception. If the other person isn’t receiving, then the relationship is not working. If the receiver is no good, you don’t get the message. All our modern media communication is based on information coming from one side and being received on the other. If the receiver is faulty, the whole thing fails. When someone sends a kirtana to your computer, the file appears as a bunch of squiggles if you don’t have the right program to receive it. Similarly, the effects of spiritual sound will be impeded if we’re not tuned in.

The challenge of Krishna consciousness is to be proper recipients of spiritual sound. We have ears, and those are the general instruments, but those are not enough. because sabda-brahma is not just sound. Sabda-brahma works on the level of consciousness. It is not just a sound vibration, though we use that terminology. You have to have the proper consciousness to connect with that sound vibration. Purification of consciousness needs to come about so that there is no obstruction. When we can hear Hare Krishna without offense or interference, then, Srila Prabhupada says, we come directly in contact with God.

Sometimes people say, “Show me God.” This is how to see God: by hearing Hare Krishna. but you have to hear it in a certain way, because your consciousness perceives, not your ear. my tongue is speaking, and the sound is going through the microphone. but the microphone isn’t hearing anything, because it is not conscious. It is transmitting sound, but it is not hearing. Similarly, my ear is an instrument, but I am hearing. The soul is hearing. but if the soul is contaminated, it cannot pick up the message of Hare Krishna. It is interfering.

Purification of consciousness is necessary. How is it donen by chanting Hare Krishna. chanting and hearing purify the consciousness more and more until it is completely pure. Then one can recognize that there’s no difference between Krishna and His name. And then when one says Hare Krishna, the whole spiritual world unfolds, because nija sarva saktin all the potencies of Godhead are present within the sound vibration. nothing is held back. It is a wonderful experience.

We are practicing. We are trying to purify our consciousness to perfectly hear and chant the holy name of the Lord. Then what happens when we can do thatn We continue to chant, because there is nothing more pleasurable. Srila rupa Gosvami expresses the mentality of the perfect chanter: “I do not know how much nectar the two syllables ‘Krishna’ have produced. When the holy name of Krishna is chanted, it appears to dance within the mouth. We then desire many, many mouths. When that name enters the holes of the ears, we desire many millions of ears. And when the holy name dances in the courtyard of the heart, it conquers the activities of the mind, and therefore all the senses become inert.” (Vidagdhamadhava 1.15)

That is the experience of the transcendentalist. We are getting a taste in our conditioned state, and for transcendentalists the experience is millions of times greater. And the nature of the experience is that it makes you want to have more and more and more. We must keep these points in mind and appreciate the divine nature of the Hare Krishna mantra. despite the fact that we don’t have to pay for it, or that we can take it anywhere, or that it is not secret, none of these things diminish its sanctity. We should see what a wonderful thing Hare Krishna actually is.