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Satsang in the Sauna

Posted by Pusta Gopika Devi Dasi on December 3, 2010 at 8:21am

I was advised by a health specialist to go to a sauna and sweat, so I went to a pool near the Los Angeles temple, where I reside. I was sitting in the sauna with a friend; it was full.

All of a sudden an African-American man in his late 40's addressed me: "Excuse me. Can I ask you a question? Do you know Sanskrit?"

"I don't speak it," I replied, "but I'm learning." I asked him his name and he told me it was Matt, and then I asked him why he cares about Sanskrit.

"I'm reading the Bhagavad-gita," he

Sri Radhe-Krsna's playful pastimes (vihara)

Posted by geeta kakkar on December 2, 2010 at 11:52am

Sri Radhe-Krsna's playful pastimes (vihara) - Carana-pahadi

This place is situated west of Nandagaon. During cow herding, Krsna played His flute on this hill(pahadi) to assemble His hundereds of thousands of cows. By the tender and sweet sound of His flute, this hill melted and became marked with the impressions of Krsna's footprints(carana-cihna). Hence, this hill is called Carana-pahadi.

On Kamsa's order, the great devotee Akrura came to Nandagaon to bring Krsna and Balarama to Mathura. When he

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The 2010 Prabhupada Marathon

Posted by Pusta Gopika Devi Dasi on December 2, 2010 at 9:00am

Hare Krishna Prabhus,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

How the Prabhupada Marathon evolved is interesting. The most successful three days in book distribution history up to 1972 took place at the end of that year in Los Angeles. Three days before Christmas, the Los Angeles devotees distributed more than 17,000 pieces of literature! Because they distributed the most books ever just before Christmas, it became known as the Christmas Marathon. The next year it beca

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Sampradaya Acharyas

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 2, 2010 at 8:34am

Madhavacharya-Brahma Sampradya

Ramanujacharya - Sri Sampradaya

Vallabhachary of Rudra Sampradya

Nimbarkacharya - Kumara Sampradaya

Sree Madhyacharya belonged to Brahma Sampradaya, Sree Ramanuja to the Sree Sampradaya, Sree Vishnuswami to the Rudra Sampradaya and Sree Nimbarka belonged to Kumar Sampradaya. All these four Acharyas are bonafide preachers of the pure transcendental philosophy dealing with the problems of the world, the living entities and the Almighty God who is the Father of the creati

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Radhanath Swami Defines Science !

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 2, 2010 at 8:33am

Question to Radhanath Swami: I feel science is the cause of so many problems like environmental pollution etc. Am I right?

Science a Problem Radhanath Swami Maharaja: It is due to lack of science that there are so many problems. By ‘science’ I don’t mean the manipulation of the external gross elements. Bhagavad-Gita, spirituality, and Sanatana Dharma are sciences. Without these foundational sciences strong, other sciences that we build on could create many difficulties. So the problem is not science. But the probl

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It Must Be Done Often And Regularly

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 2, 2010 at 8:32am

Accepting things favorable to chanting and avoiding things unfavorable is the first item in saranagati, or surrender. Constant chanting means it must be done often and regularly. Srila Prabhupada had given us a minimum of sixteen rounds, but he said that we should do sixteen rounds on the beads and innumerable rounds off the beads.

From Bhajan Kutir #142

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Philosophy of Bhagavat Gita

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 2, 2010 at 8:32am

Philosophy of Bhagavat Gita

Being an unalloyed devotee of the Personality of Godhead, Marshal Arjuna was able to discuss the transcendental philosophy of Bhagavad-gita even on the battlefield of Kuruksetra. We modern men have no time to get into the details of the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, even in the midst of our much more ordinary daily duties. But just to teach us, Marshal Arjuna tried to understand the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita at a time when a moment was virtually impossible to spare. A

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Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Ducks and roosters

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 2, 2010 at 8:31am

Ducks and roosters

Prabhupada is resting at night on the inner roof of his house. Tonight, as he lay quietly on his cot under the net, with me by his side massaging his legs, various noises of the night echoed in the stillness. He mused a little on hearing the sounds of different animals and chuckled. "These ducks and roosters, they are very expert at raping. You know that?"

As I laughed at this unusual bit of information, he went on to say that sex attraction is the strong binding force in all sp

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Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 8 Text 7

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 2, 2010 at 8:30am

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 8 Text 7
yad adhatu-mato brahman
deharambho 'sya dhatubhih
yadrcchaya hetuna va
bhavanto janate yatha

yat -- as it is; adhatu-matah -- without being materially constituted; brahman -- O learned brahmana; deha -- the material body; arambhah -- the beginning of; asya -- of the living being; dhatubhih -- by matter; yadrcchaya -- without cause, accidental; hetuna -- due to some cause; va -- either; bhavantah -- your good self; janate -- as you may know it; yatha -- so

PRABHUPADA MARATHON

Posted by ISKCON desire tree on December 2, 2010 at 7:43am

THE EVOLUTION OF THE PRABHUPADA MARATHON:

The most successful 3 days in book distribution up to 1972 took place in December 1972: more than 17,000 books were distributed!

As it was Christmas time, it became known as the Christmas Marathon. The next year it became a ten-day marathon. Not before too long it became a month-long marathon, known as the December Marathon. Some temples even stretched it further to a six-week marathon.

Many years ago the GBC changed the name to "The Prabhupada Mara

Taj Mahal - A symbol of love or lust?

Posted by ISKCON desire tree on December 1, 2010 at 5:00pm

We All Know TAJ MAHAL As Symbol Of Love

But The Other Lesser Known Facts are:

1. Mumtaz Was Shahjahan's 4th Wife Out Of His 7 Wives.

2. Shahjahan Killed Mumtaz's Husband To Marry Her

3. Mumtaz Died due to her 14th Delivery

4. He Then Married Mumtaz's Siste

5. He has illicit sexual relationship with his own daughter

6.Shajahan killed all people who built Tajmahal........!

Question Arises: Is Taj Mahal a symbol of love or someone's uncontrolled lust?

In Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila (4.165), we find this

Montgomery County filmmakers explore Asian religions in PBS documentary

Posted by ISKCON desire tree on December 1, 2010 at 4:30pm

Potomac, Silver Spring ceremonies filmed as part of view of Eastern religions in America

by Cody Calamaio | Staff Writer

A decade of spiritual research has led three filmmakers to their third film in a documentary series that discusses the similarities and differences of seven religions in the United States.

Auteur Productions filmmakers Gerald Krell of Potomac, his son, Adam Krell of Washington, D.C., and Meyer Odze of Bethesda will premier their latest documentary "The Asian & Abrahamic Religi

Seeing God

Posted by Mayapur Vasi Das on December 1, 2010 at 11:02am

Q: You guys on this website have all these sayings of God and believes about God's existence. But how is one supposed to believe in something it has not seen? Why do u believe in God, have u seen him?

A: But do we have to see things in order to believe in them? Did anyone see atoms or subatomic particles, etc.? Our senses are very limited and unreliable. To claim that something does not exist simply because I have not seen it is a childish logic. I have not seen you - therefore you don't exist? I

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One Community One Culture

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 1, 2010 at 8:28am

One Community One Culture

If possible see Sri Mujibur Rehman, president of Bangladesh, and show him evidence that Parsis, Jews, Christians, Muslims, all parties are participating in this Krishna Consciousness Movement -- so why they Bangladesh Muslims should not join? We want to unite everyone culturally. Without this, every society is imperfect, but with it, society is perfect. All intelligent leaders of society should try to understand in depth this fact.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Tamala K

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Forgiving others is the best attitude to take

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 1, 2010 at 8:28am

Hare Krishna Friends,

Forgiving others is the best attitude to take

A kindergarten teacher decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of potatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates.

So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/sh

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Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Brain Fag due to disturbing news

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 1, 2010 at 8:27am

Brain Fag due to disturbing news

Reports of this [disturbing] nature, coupled with the management problems here, are really too much for Srila Prabhupada. He rubbed his head and complained, "Now I am getting brain fag."

I was puzzled. I had never heard the term and I asked him what it was.

Prabhupada repeated, "Brain fag." Then he told us how one time in Delhi in the 1950's he was walking all over, from one office to another, trying to distribute his Back to Godhead newspaper. The entire production

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Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 8 Text 6

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 1, 2010 at 8:26am

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 8 Text 6
dhautatma purusah krsna-
pada-mulam na muncati
mukta-sarva-pariklesah
panthah sva-saranam yatha

dhauta-atma -- whose heart has been cleansed; purusah -- the living being; krsna -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead; pada-mulam -- the shelter of the lotus feet; na -- never; muncati -- gives up; mukta -- liberated; sarva -- all; pariklesah -- of all miseries of life; panthah -- the traveler; sva-saranam -- in his own abode; yatha -- as it were.

TRANSLATION
A p

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Transcendental philosophy

Posted by Saci Gaurasundara Dasa on December 1, 2010 at 8:26am

The earth-goddess, in her prayers, directly touches upon the subtleties of transcendental philosophy, clarifying that although the Supreme Lord is unique and distinct from His creation, His creation has no independent existence and always rests within Him. Thus the Lord and His creation are simultaneously one and different, as explained by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu five hundred years ago.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 10.59.30

Story of Lord Krishna

Posted by geeta kakkar on November 30, 2010 at 6:08pm

Story of Lord Krishna - SRIMAD BHAGAVATA by Krsna-Dwaipayana Vyasa

The Killing of the Demons Kesi and Vyoma

1. The demon Kesi, sent by Kamsa, appeared in Vraja as a great horse. Running with the speed of the mind, he tore up the earth with his hooves. The hairs of his mane scattered the clouds and the demigods’ airplanes throughout the sky, and he terrified everyone present with his loud neighing. When the supreme Personality of Godhead saw how the demon was frightening His village of Gokula by ne

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Mauna Vrata Ki Jaya!

Posted by Pusta Gopika Devi Dasi on November 30, 2010 at 11:57am

We were invited to the Kumbha Abhisekam ceremony in a Vishnu Temple in Tamil Nadu, South India. After smarta brahmanas had recited various suktas and performed some yajnas, we were invited on the stage to perform kirtan and speak from the Bhagavad-gita. I spoke about fifteen minutes and introduced the "Bhagavad-gita As It Is" and Back to Godhead magazine in Tamil.

We were well into a second kirtan when all of a sudden people became a little excited and began looking behind us. We turned around an

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All Posts (35519)

Satsang in the Sauna

Sri Radhe-Krsna's playful pastimes (vihara)

The 2010 Prabhupada Marathon

Sampradaya Acharyas

Radhanath Swami Defines Science !

It Must Be Done Often And Regularly

Philosophy of Bhagavat Gita

Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Ducks and roosters

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 8 Text 7

PRABHUPADA MARATHON

Taj Mahal - A symbol of love or lust?

Montgomery County filmmakers explore Asian religions in PBS documentary

Potomac, Silver Spring ceremonies filmed as part of view of Eastern religions in America

Seeing God

One Community One Culture

Forgiving others is the best attitude to take

Remembering Srila Prabhupada - Brain Fag due to disturbing news

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Canto 2 Chapter 8 Text 6

Transcendental philosophy

Story of Lord Krishna

Mauna Vrata Ki Jaya!

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