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ISKCON Desire Tree's Posts (19448)
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Lecture on Sadhana for Ladies by HG Narayani Mataji
(Her Grace Narayani Devi Dasi joined ISKCON in Boston in 1970. She has done many services for Srila Prabhupada including Deity worship in Calcutta temple, traveling book distribution in Western India for the Bombay temple, and teaching Bhakti Sastri, Bhakti Vaibhava and Bhaktivedanta courses in the VIHE in Vrndavana. )
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Lecture on Developing Love and Friendship for Krishna by HG Yogesvara Prabhu
(Yogesvara Prabhu was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1969. After 13 years in temples of Europe and America, he returned to New York.)
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Lecture on Being Content Is A Sign Of Simplicity by Radhanath Swami on 12 Jan 2014 at Wada Farm
(Radhanath Swami has a special interest in the holy places in India and leads thousands of devotees on pilgrimage each year. Radhanath Swami is a trustee of Bhaktivedanta College, Belgium, by providing his spiritual support and encouragement.)
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Vaisnava Etiquette based on Beginners Guide to Krishna Consciousness by HG Sri Giridhari Prabhu
(His Grace Sri Giridhari Das was introduced to krishna consciousness in the year 1999 and was initiated by HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami Maharaj in the year 2002. He currently serves as Editor of Tamil division of Bhaktivedanta Book Trust(BBT) as well as the Editor of Back to Godhead(BTG) Magazine in Tamil.)
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by Premanjana Das ( Pranjal Joshi)
[Premanjana Das (Pranjal Joshi) attended the concert of Krishna Das on 3rd January, 2014 at Yogi Sabhaguru hall, Behind Akshar Purushottam mandir, Dadar East, Mumbai—14].The concert was so enchanting that I decided to share my experience with all of you.
A devotee of Lord Krishna gave me a small pamphlet, which was an advertisement of a ‘kirtan program’ with Krishna Das. I was also sent a picture on Whatsapp by another devotee, well in advance of this show and this made me think of attending this program which was scheduled to be held at a hall.
I left my office in a haste on that Friday evening and rushed to the ‘Sounds of the soul—an evening of kirtan with Krishna Das’concert.’ I was sweating as I walked fast to the venue as I feared getting late for this show. Rich men of Mumbai came there, most of the audience were young, glamorous and ‘westernized Indians’. I bought a ticket worth Rs.500 and a purple band was tied on my right hand on which ‘Sounds of the soul with Krishna Das’ was written in white letters. Then I went to the fifth floor of the hall by an elevator. I had to open my shoes as I got inside a well-carpeted area and I could choose the place I wanted to sit, I adjusted myself at a point where I could clearly see the performance.
Krishna Das said in the beginning of his programme that he came to Mumbai 43 years ago, he shared the fond memories of the time he spent in India with the audience. His guru was ‘Shri Neem Karauli baba’ and Krishna Das was told by him, ‘Ram naam karne se sab kaam poora ho jaata hai’ (everything is achieved by chanting the name of Lord Ram).The show started at 7 PM (right on time), this was one of the differences I could feel between Indians and the westerners, that they were more punctual in their schedules. All of Krishna Das’ chant has a purely American accent, so it became hard for the Indian audience to make out what exactly was he singing. He was accompanied by Arjun on ‘tabla’ and Meena on ‘kartals’. Neem Karauli baba was a devotee of Lord Hanuman, so he started his concert with Lord Hanuman’s chant.
He sang ‘Shri Ram jai Ram jai jai Ram’ continuously , he chanted the holy names “Rama, Krishna, Narayan, Hanuman, Shiva” all through his concert. He went on to sing the chants, “Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari,” “Om namo bhagvate Vasudevaya,” “Bhaja Govindam” (he translated it into English as ‘my foolish heart,’) “Shri Krishna Govind Hare Murari” along with “Baba Hanuman,” and Devi pooja. He went into deep meditation as he chanted ‘Sita- Ram’.
He started with the chant of Hare Krishna mahamantra at 8:45 PM and the audience sang along with him. People listened more and repeated less, everyone clapped as he sang the Hare Krishna mahamantra. Response of the audience to the Hare Krishna mahamantra was much more than the other sacred chants; everyone sang, clapped and loved him as he went on with his performance.
Audience enjoying the chants at his Mumbai concert
Krishna Das spoke to us in between his kirtans and said that we can inevitably realize the self by chanting these names .All we have to do is to ‘remember’ and God does the rest. He said that it was 40 years ago in Vrindavan that a blind ‘sadhu’ used to wake him up every morning near Bihariji mandir. He said that we know about spiritual path because of great beings who lived before us, it is out of their love and compassion that we are on this path.
Krishna Das is full of love for India. He has hundreds of ‘Hanuman chalisas’ with him and he is a lover of the Lord. While he sang his famous bhajan ‘Om namah Shivaya’ people stood up from their seats and danced in ecstasy.
Picture of the concert taken by Premanjana Das ( Pranjal Joshi)
He glorified holy name of Lord Ram all through his programme, narrated a pastime of Sripad Adi Shankaracharya and recollected the time he spent with babas, yogis and devotees in India. He tours all over the world (USA in particular which is his native country) spreading his love for ‘the names’ and enchanting millions. His album ‘Live Ananda’ was a Grammy nominee in 2012 for ‘the Best New Age album’. ‘One Track Heart’ is an award winning documentary following his journey to India and back. His 2012 workshop sampler includes highlights from his workshops in 2012, recorded from around the world. He has put up all of it as www.krishnadas.com which his official website. Krishna Das has an American body and an Indian heart and he lives by loving the name.
By Premajana Das(Pranjal Joshi)
Deities of Shri Krishna-Balram at ISKCON Vrindavan
It was while doing the Govardhan parikrama that we halted at the Japnese dharamshala for lunch prasad, I heard His Grace Chaitanya Leela prabhu making an important announcement asking us to submit entries for a ‘write-up on IYS 2014 Vrindavan yatra’.I wanted to write even before this announcement was made but changed my mind for some reasons. Anyways, this ‘writing contest’ was a chance I had to pay my gratitude to all Srila Prabhupada, Shri Radha Krishna and all those devotees who organized this yatra.
It was a few months back that we were given the entire details of this yatra and told to deposit the ‘laxmi’, I was hesitant in the beginning because its hard to get off from my job but I got encouraged when a video show and announcement of IYS yatra was made in one of the Prerna youth festival and also Nilakanth prabhu(my friend and BACE resident) convinced me for the same.
4th February 2014 was the day for which 750 young devotees of ‘ ISKCON Mumbai Chowpatty mandir’ were waiting for as this was the day we started for this very exciting trip to Shri Vrindavan dham and other places in Braj bhoomi, we boarded the train at Kalyan railway station(we were a group of about 15 BACE devotees who reached there with our luggage in Mumbai local train) at 2 PM and occupied well allocated seats, as the train went through, I saw all the devotees carrying their ‘japa bags’ and chanting, we were given prasad and we did kirtan all the way. A group of devotees got down at Bhusaval railway station and did kirtan on the platform , everyone on the platform looked at us in amaze and were fascinated by the presence of devotees and the sound of kirtan, we got back in the train as the train was about to move. We then honoured Prasad in the train in coach number S-10; khichdi and pickle on a pattal(a plate made of leaves). We had our breakfast, lunch and dinner prasad in train itself.We went off to sleep, it was an extremely cold night in the train and I shivered, I got a ‘kashmiri jacket’ from a devotee who did not need it but still it was hard for me, we reached Mathura junction at noon on 5th February, we then moved to Shri Vrindavan dham in groups in sharing tempos, we were given wrist badges and grouped systematically, I was allocated a room on the second floor of Chitrakoot ashram in Raman-reti(this is the place where there are big statues of Lord Ganesh and Lord Hanuman) which I shared with three other devotees.
Kusum Sarovar
We took bath and relaxed ourselves after a long train journey, and moved to ISKCON Vrindavan (the Krishna-Balram mandir) for our lunch Prasad which was being served at prasad hall, I had a wonderful ‘gulab-jamun’ but could not have them more in second serve.We then grouped ourselves for ease and convenience ( I was with group number 3) and moved to the great goswami temples of Shri Vrindavan dham.I group was given a wonderful lecture by His Grace Baldev prabhu at a ‘sanskrit college’ which was on the Vrindavan parikrama marg.Most of the boys saw Vrindavan for the first time in their lives(though it was the 30th time I was there, I guess).We went to Madan-Mohan temple, Kaliya ghat, Keshi ghat, Radha Damodar temple, Radha Gopinath temple, Radha Gokulananda temple and Radha Govind temple, we then moved in buses to ISKCON temple for ‘shayan-darshan’ of the Lordships.
We attended ‘mangal arti’ on 6th February at ISKCON temple and moved to other places in Braj bhoomi after our morning sadhana.Raval(birth place of Srimati Radharani), Gokul mahavan(childhood pastimes place of Krishna) and Brahmand ghat(place where Krishna showed the whole universe to Mother Yasoda in his mouth). We then came to ISKCON Vrindavan in buses and had ‘pasta’ in our dinner prasad.
The next day was our trip to Barsana, Ter kadamba, Ladli Lal temple and Maan mandir.That night I got a chance to do ‘prasad serving sewa’ and I realized how wonderful it was to serve others then being served by others and service to devotees gives bliss. I had pakodas, khichdi and pickle at the last(after serving 750 devotees) but the satisfaction and joy was unlimited !
Mansi Ganga
9th February was the last day of this trip (though nearly all of us wanted it to just go on), we started from Vrindavan at 5:30 AM to move towards ‘Giriraj Govardhan’. We started our parikrama from Kusum sarovar.Some of us placed our luggage at the very beautiful and old temple of Shri Radha Bana-Bihari(this is the place where Krishna braided and decorated Sri Radharani’s hair with flowers).The pujari of this temple was a brahmachari from Scotland and he made sure that all of get one sticker and a pamphlet(they had it in hindi and English) of the temple which narrated the pastimes and importance of this place.As we did the parikrama we were greeted by brijwasis (Radhey ! Radhey !) and other devotees who were doing the parikrama.We halted at many kundas and sarovars before reaching back to Kusum sarovar).All of us ‘dham cleaning sewa’ at Raval, Radha-kund and some other places in Braj; picking up trash which visitors leave in Braj into dustbins and make the whole area more clean.
A brijwasi friend of mine who heard of this yatra was shocked to hear that 750 young men from Mumbai visited Braj bhoomi and that there were no fights , arguments and mismanagements at any point of time, its not easy these days even to travel with 5 people what to speak of so many.He told about this to everyone he knew and told me that even brijwasis were not so dedicated Krishna as we were.
ISKCON Vrindavan temple
The memories of the trip will fade away with time, as I am writing this article I am recollecting the time I spent with 750 young unmarried men of Mumbai who had spent the best four days of their lives in Shri Vrindavan dham.Those dhotis, garlands, kanthis, kurtas and kartals, devotees wearing tilak and the ones without them, all the images flash in my mind like a film, none of us will be there forever but the service we did in this holy land is eternal. Vrindavan is the greatest place in the whiole universe and most fortunate are those souls who serve in Vrinadavan and hear ‘hari-katha’ . The whole trip was fabulous, very well-planned, well-organized and memorable. I am grateful to IYS authorities who made it so amazing. These days will never come again. These four days will never come again. We visited the great lila-sthalis(places where Krishna performed his great pastimes with his devotees) of Braj in buses which were arranged from Chitrakoot ashram.We all got sumptuous Prasad, space and sewa. We did kirtans and heard ‘hari-katha’ or pastimes of the Supreme Lord at a particular place. This whole trip will go down in our lives as a treasure and moments of love for the Supreme Lord.
Please give me feedback at pranjal280@gmail.com
Lecture on The Appearance of Lord Varahadeva by Sachinanadana Swamion 10 Feb 2014
(Sacinandana Swami shared many of his insights in his books: "Nectarean Ocean of the Holy Name", "The Gayatri Book" and "The Way of the Great Departure".)
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Lecture on Remembering Krishna Always by HH Dayananda Swami on 11 Feb 2014 at ISKCON Chowpatty
(Formerly known as Abhay Prabhu, he took sannyasa in 2010 on the auspicious appearance day of Sri Ramanujacarya to become the 100th sannyasi in ISKCON.)
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Lecture on Good Disciples and Bad Disciples by HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami on 28 Jan 2014 at ISKCON Mayapur
(His Holiness Bhakti Vikasa Swami appeared in this world in 1957 in England. He joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in London in 1975 and was initiated in that year with the name Ilapati dasa by ISKCON's founder-acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.)
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Lecture on Understanding the Mercy of Nityananda Prabhu by Devamrita Swami on 12 Feb 2014 at ISKCON Chowpatty
(His Holiness Devamrita Swami entered this life on October 16, 1950 in New York City, as the firstborn in a family dominated by a very devout and education-motivated Christian mother.)
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Lecture on Lessons from Teachings of Queen Kunti by HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami
(His Holiness Bhakti Rasamrita Swami completed his B.E. from M.S University Baroda, MBA from Bombay University & worked for some time in a multinational Bank. Inspired by the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder acharya of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness.)
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Lecture on Sincere Willingness to Serve Attracts Krishna's Mercy by Radhanath Swami on 22 Dec 2013 at ISKCON Pune, NVCC
(Radhanath Swami has a special interest in the holy places in India and leads thousands of devotees on pilgrimage each year. Radhanath Swami is a trustee of Bhaktivedanta College, Belgium, by providing his spiritual support and encouragement.)
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Lecture on Problems due to financial situation by HG Urmila Mataji on 03 Oct 2013 at Hawaii
(HG Urmila Mataji has mainly served ISKCON since 1973 till the present time as book distributor, assistant secretary for the BBT, pujari, temple cook, actress, writer, traveling preacher, editor of BTG since 1990, primary and secondary teacher for 27 years, school principle for 18 years, member of Sastric Advisory Council to the GBC. )
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Lecture on What happens in the Lords Heart when we Chant by Sachinanadana Swami on 08 Feb 2014
(Sacinandana Swami shared many of his insights in his books: "Nectarean Ocean of the Holy Name", "The Gayatri Book" and "The Way of the Great Departure".)
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Lecture on Boat of Srila Prabhupada's Mercy by Niranjana Swami 09 Feb 2014 at ISKCON Chowpatty
(After reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and seriously practicing the path of devotional service, Niranjana Swami took initiation from him in 1974, in Boston, USA. In 1986, he took sannyasa vows in Mayapur, India, and then proceeded to travel extensively throughout North America, the former Soviet Union, and India, lecturing on the teachings found within the books of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Devoted to assisting others on this path, Niranjana Swami is also an initiating spiritual master in ISKCON. His home base is Kiev, Ukraine.)
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Lecture on Navadha Bhakti by HH Kadamba Kanana Swami at ISKOCN Mayapur on 23 Sept 2013
(HH Kadamba Kanana Swami coordinated the construction of Srila Prabhupada’s samadhi in Mayapur. He took sannyasa in 1997 and is now an initiating guru.)
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Lecture on Ashwatthama - Beware of the temptation to Punish by HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu
(His Grace Caitanya Charan Prabhu is a monk and spiritual teacher in the time honored tradition of bhakti yoga. He is a editor of Back to Godhead, which is the official international magazine of the Hare Krishna movement.)
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Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Class by Vaisesika Prabhu 08 Feb 2014 at ISKCON Mayapur
(In his youth, William Suczek spent years searching for God and for the meaning of life. His prayers and intense austerities, which included vows of poverty, fasting and silence- unusual for a teenager were answered when a friend gave him a copy of Back to Godhead magazine in 1973. As soon as he saw the photo of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupda the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, he knew that his search was over.)
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