vaishnavism - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT2024-03-29T10:01:42Zhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/vaishnavismSrila Prabhupada on voting and vaishnavism by Madhavananda Dashttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/srila-prabhupada-on-voting-and-vaishnavism-by-madhavananda-das2020-09-28T14:09:41.000Z2020-09-28T14:09:41.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7978271875,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="400" alt="7978271875?profile=RESIZE_400x" />There is a lot of discussion right now, especially in America, about the latest presidential election. In a recent issue of Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu we put together a collection of statements from Srila Prabhupada regarding his mood towards voting in secular circles. As always, Srila Prabhupada’s attitude is purely Krishna conscious. I also found it very detached — he was asked several times if he wanted his followers to vote or not, — he repeatedly replied that the choice was up to them. For brevity, I’m only posting some of the most relevant quotes below. To see the complete article in issue 185 click <a href="http://gopaljiu.org/Bindu/Back_issues/Bindu185.pdf">here</a> or go to: <a href="http://gopaljiu.org/Bindu/Bindu_back_issues.htm">http://gopaljiu.org/Bindu/Bindu_back_issues.htm</a></p>
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<p>Because of the importance of the Krishna consciousness movement, people should be Krishna conscious and should not vote for anyone who is not Krishna conscious. Then there will be actual peace and prosperity in the state. When a vaisnava sees mismanagement in the government, he feels great compassion in his heart and tries his best to purify the situation by spreading the Hare Krishna movement. (Purport to Bhag. 6.2.3)</p>
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<p>We don’t very much like this so-called democracy. What is the value of this democracy? All fools and rascals. They vote for another fool and rascal and he becomes prime minister, or this or that. That is not good for the people. We are not for this so-called democracy because they are not trained. (Lecture in London, 24 July 1973)</p>
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<p>The first teaching of Bhagavad-gita should be taken by the persons who are going to be elected in the government service. The public should be aware of this. If somebody comes to canvass for votes, you should first inquire, “Have you have read Bhagavad-gita? Mahatma Gandhi read Bhagavad-gita. Why shouldn’t you? Do you know what is Bhagavad-gita? If so, then I will give you my vote. Otherwise, get out.”… It is a great necessity that government men must study Bhagavad-gita. Otherwise, don’t give them vote. (Lecture in Bombay, 22 March 1974)</p>
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<p>Devotee: Some of our devotees should run for office.</p>
<p>Prabhupada: No. If you can make the people Krishna conscious, then everything will come automatically. If they vote for a Krishna conscious person to be president and prime minister, then everything will be saved. So that means you have to create Krishna conscious voters. Then everything will be right. That should be one of the aims of the Krishna consciousness movement. The government is still under the control of the public. If the public becomes Krishna conscious then naturally the government will be Krishna conscious. But that is up to the public. (Lecture in Bombay, 6 November 1970)</p>
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<p>Educate the people. “Don’t vote for the rascals. Just try to understand who is the real man, who is the real leader. (Morning walk conversation in Los Angeles, 11 December 1973)</p>
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<p>Interviewer: Do you think most of the Hare Krishna members will participate in the election in November? Do you think they will register and vote?</p>
<p>Prabhupada: Personally I never give votes.</p>
<p>Interviewer: Will they follow your example and not vote?</p>
<p>Prabhupada: I do not know, but our principle is that I vote for this man or that man if there is some spiritual benefit. That is our point. (Interview with the religion editor of the Associated Press in New York, 16 July 1976)</p>
<p>I have never given vote. Since we have got this sva-raj, Indian independence, as soon as the vote question comes up, I go away. I think, “Why shall I give this nonsense person my vote? None of them are liked by me.” So I avoid it. I don’t believe in it. (Room Conversation in Bombay, 8 January 1977)<br /> <br /> </p>
</blockquote></div>Amazing Facts about ISKCON and Srila Prabhupadahttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/amazing-facts-about-iskcon-and-srila-prabhupada2020-08-23T16:15:39.000Z2020-08-23T16:15:39.000ZPratanu Banerjeehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/PratanuBanerjee370<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7582872060?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p> </p><p>ISKCON talks about Sri Krishna in the form of monotheistic deity, which is supreme. The theology has been developed for drawing parallels with our Christ. Prabhupad had established the organization. ISKCON had turned out to be the public voice in Hinduism along with the leader in countercultural movements around late 1960s.</p><p>Prabhupada has been the founder of the amazing organization named ISKCON in the year 1966. It had grown to 600 worldwide</p><p>The saffron robes worn by the monk have been dating back centuries. The orange has been picked primarily due to the dye present at that time. The tradition has been stuck while the orange has been the right choice associated with the Theravada Buddhist in Southeast Asia.</p><p>Sri Radha Krishna Temple has been regarded as the biggest ISKCON temple in our world. This is situated in Rajajinagar, North Bangalore in Karnataka.</p><p>ISKCON never brainwashes their followers. You have opened your mind to get it brainwashed. They have given effort in untangling the remaining complications along with the contradictions which has been brainwashing you. ISKCON cannot harm you. They are quite clear about their belief in religion.</p><p>The movement has been initiated by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Anyone could obey the religious teachings. In order to follow Hare Krishna, you have to go through the sacred texts, meditate and chant. You have to follow the lifestyle on the basis of Lord Krishna.</p><p>Those who going to Vrindavan, Mathura, they would like to spend their time in ISKCON temple’s guest house which is the right choice. It offers clean along with peaceful facility with Non A/C and A/C options at a low price. The rooms are quite neat, big, and clean along with attached toilets which is Western style. There are geyser for the hot water along with the balcony.</p><p>In order to spread the spiritual knowledge, the society is involved in training people in techniques following the spiritual life for examining disproportion in the life’s value. It is important to attain the true unity along with peace in our world.</p><p>Mayapur has been popular for the Chandrodaya Temple. It has been created by ISKCON in Mayapur. There is Samadhi of respected Prabhupada whose temple has been part of ISKCON. There is Shree Chaitanyamath which is the birth center of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. You will come across the Goswami Maharaj Temple in Dashavatar along with Samadhi of Chand Kazi.</p><p><br /> The Visiting Hours of ISKCON is Weekdays which is 7.15 AM to 1 PM and there is 4.15 PM to 8.20 PM. In the weekends, there is 7.15 AM upto 8.30 PM. The photography is not permitted within the temple. The dress code has been modest.</p><p>Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami was born in 1 September 1896 and died in 14 November 1977. He has been popularly known as Srila Prabhupada. Initially his name was Abhay Charan De. He has been Indian spiritual teacher along with founder-preceptor of Internaitonal Society for Krishna Consciousness.</p><p>"Srila" has been an adjective associated with noun i.e. "sri." "Sri-la" indicates the wealth which means rich along with the beauty and opulence. "Sri" indicates three Vedas. Therefore the "srila" indicates a scholar who understands three Vedas.</p><p> </p><p>It has been recognized world wide as the "Hare Krishna Movement". The ISKCON movement visualize the Bhaktivedānta Swāmi in the form of representative. He has been regarded as the messenger of respected Krishna Chaitanya.</p><p>It had appeared in Calcutta or Kolkata. He had been trained in Scottish Church College. Prior to getting into the life of renunciate in 1950, he has been married and he had children. He had a tiny business on pharmaceutical products.</p><p> In the year 1959, Srila Prabhupada had taken sannyasa or renunciation. He had begun writing commentaries on the scriptures of Vaishnava. He had travelled in the form of monk of Vaishnava order.</p><p>Srila Prabhupada had been a great communicator on Gaudiya Vaishnava along with Indian theology. He had spread the message in the West via his leadership qualities in ISKCON. He had founded ISKCON in the year 1966. He has been initiating many young Americans. The anti-cult groups have criticized him. There are religious scholars and they are:</p><ol><li>Stillson Judah</li><li>Harvey Cox</li><li>Larry Shinn</li><li>Thomas Hopkins</li></ol><p>They are great followers of Srila Prabhupada. They admired the translations of Bhaktivedānta Swāmi. The group has been defended against media images, which are distorted along with the misinterpretations.</p><p>The leaders of religion from different movements of Gaudiya Vaishnava had honored him with the amazing achievements.He had the charisma as a leader and he gained success in gaining followers in different countries like India, Europe and United States.<a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7582876679,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7582876679,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="7582876679?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>The mission is going to promote across world for Gaudiya Vaishnavism. It has been school under the Vaishnav tradition. His guru is Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. After the death of Srila Prabhupada in 1977, ISKCON has been founded as the form of Hindu Krishnaism. It has been supported by Bhagavata Purana <em>which is the primary </em> The ISKCON is growing and it will expand further in the future. On February 2014, the news agency of ISKCON had gained a milestone of sharing half a billion books from the year 1965. The translation along with the commentary on <em>Bhagavad Gītā</em>, named Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. This has been regarded by the adherents of ISKCON and there were a number of scholars of Vedic order. It has been the top translation work in the English Language. It is a great work of Vaishnavism.</p><p> </p></div>Everyone else is prabhu and I am dasadasanudas by Radhanath Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/everyone-else-is-prabhu-and-i-am-dasadasanudas-by-radhanath-swami2020-03-24T09:54:20.000Z2020-03-24T09:54:20.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}4211565958,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="350" alt="4211565958?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></p>
<p>Real Vaishnavism is something very deep and something sublime, it’s not simply a type of dress or a type of hairstyle, it’s the substance of our consciousness.<br /> What is our character?<br /> Materialism is the consciousness of wanting to exploit, wanting to enjoy. Thinking oneself above another, that is material consciousness.<br /> The consciousness of a Vaishnava is to serve. This body exists not to enjoy, this body exists to serve. The words I speak are not meant not just to talk, what I want to talk, they are meant to serve and glorify Krishna and his devotees. Real renunciation whether one is a sanyasi, vanaprastha, grihastha or a brahmacari is to use our body, mind, words and life in the service of Krishna and in the service of Vaisnavas and in the service of other living beings. But in all cases, our mood should be how to serve, not how to enjoy; how to glorify others, not how to be glorified.<br /> Krishna judges us, the gurus judges us, the great Vaishnavas, they analyze us according to this principle and no other principle.<br /> How are we actually in the spirit of service? We serve Krishna by worshiping and surrendering our lives to him, we worship our guru and the previous acharyas as the representatives of Krishna, surrendering our lives, hearing submissively, trying to carry out their instructions; we serve our equals, our friends, our god-brothers and god-sisters by trying to do everything possible, to make them happy in Krishna Consciousness, to make them satisfied in Krishna Consciousness, to inspire them with faith; and we serve those persons who are either devotees newer than us by trying to encourage them and lift them up and we serve the conditioned souls who are addicted to all kinds of sinful activities by somehow or other trying to connect them to Krishna.<br /> A devotee never thinks that he is better than anyone, even a person addicted to meat eating, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling. We should not think we are better than them, we should consider ourselves more fortunate but not better. We are more fortunate and we should want to serve them by giving that fortune to them. That’s how we serve the condition souls. But a devotee is always is in the spirit of servitude. And *this service attitude is what attracts the heart of Krishna and it is this service attitude that allows us to actually gives pleasure to Krishna when we chant his holy names Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Prabhupada said that Vaikuntha Consciousness is “everyone else is prabhu and I am dasadasanudas.”<br /> I remember when I became a member of Srila Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna society, I wrote a letter to my mother and father and signed it ‘Your servant’. They had never seen anyone happy to called himself a servant. They wrote back to me, really disappointed “We gave you the best years of our lives, we gave you an education, we gave you the culmination of all of it and you are just calling yourselves as a servant? What’s wrong with you, what is this movement doing to you? They are demoralizing your sense of self-esteem. You should be proud of yourself.” So, I wrote back to them the next letter and signed it “the servant of the servant of your servant”.<br /> But somehow, they got the understanding. Now, when I talk to them, they say “I am your servant.” So, this is the real spirit of Vaisnavas, to serve and not to enjoy.</p>
<p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://www.dandavats.com/?p=64023">http://www.dandavats.com/?p=64023</a></p></div>