Lord Jagannath goes to Stonehenge (Album with photos)
Dharmatma das: We began at 5pm with a great crew of cooks and wolfers doing the cut-up. Loaded the vans and began the two and a half hour drive at 10pm. Began serving Prasadam immediately then took Jagannatha on procession pulled by enthusiastic revellers. Wild, ecstatic kirtan led by Harinamananda and Sandipani prabhu’s. After sunrise so many lined up for steaming hot Prasadam. In total over 2000 plates distributed. Everyone loves the Hari
By Lakshman das
Intricate sentiments symbolise the grand Rathayatra festivities connecting the event with the return of Lord Krshna to Vrindavan from His pompous life in Dwaraka to meet His heart throbs. The palace of Dwaraka represents the residence of Jagannatha, an enticing enactment of Lord Krshna’s scintillating pastime. At Puri, Krshna and His fraternal associates dwell as living Deities to wipe off the sufferings of His devotees in this mutilated age of kaliyuga. The Gundicha represents
Report from South Africa.
One evening recently, after relishing the nectar of distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books, I was waiting at a gas station for my ride back to the temple. I approached the pump attendants and urged them to chant Hare Krishna. At first they couldn’t understand what I’d said, but after I’d repeated the mantra a few times the normal symptoms of one who hears the Lord’s holy name began to take effect. They all looked at one another, and while smiling and laughing they began
Vaishnava kids comment the verses of The Nectar of Instruction (Upadesamrta by Srila Rupa Gosvami) according to their understanding. Playlist of brief videos.
Srila Prabhupada: Fire will act, regardless of whether handled by an innocent child or by someone well aware of its power. Similarly, one may or may not know the power of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, but if one chants the holy name he will become free from all sinful reactions. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.18 Purport)
Source: http://m.dan
Srila Prabhupada: The demigods are pleased when sacrifices are performed, just as prison officers are satisfied when the prisoners are turned into obedient subjects. Lord Caitanya, however, has recommended only one yajna, or sacrifice, called the sankirtana-yajna, the chanting of Hare Krishna, in which everyone can take part. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.6.20 Purport)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/uj2eHk
Hare Krishna.
7th June, 2016. Gurgaon
Last few weeks one term that I have been constantly reading is Krishna’s and Guru’s lotus feet. Somehow the term lotus feet was jumping out from every lecture and every reading I was doing. Taking that as a cue I have compiled this post for the pleasure of the devotees of the lotus feet of Supreme Lord. My own attachment for Krishna’s lotus feet went up a few notches higher simply by searching on this topic!
Wh
One thing which is bothering me about devotees with high material qualifications is the way they hardly miss an opportunity to flaunt them. Once a person enters devotional service to Krishna he gets the highest of qualifications namely IKS (In Krishna's Service). When a person acquires a higher degree of qualification, he mentions only its name, not the entire chain of lower degrees which he obtained before reaching the higher. For example, if a doctor obtains the degree of MD he simply calls hi
It is Srila Prabhupada’s desire that all the devotees in our society must be well versed with Bhagavata Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Chaitanya Charitamrita. For this purpose, many institutions in our society are doing great service since past few years. Taking inspiration from these well-established institutions, Bhagavata Vidyalaya has been conceptualized for the congregational devotees who wish to study Srimad Bhagavatam deeply and to share it with others.
In his purport to verse SB 5.6.16 Srila
In this issue of the audio newsletter, we elaborate on how the mind can be a friend or enemy and suggest ways in which we can empower the mind to work for us rather than against us.
Below I outline some of the main points from the audio.
May you always think of Krsna,
Mahatma das.
The Audio Newsletter
The lecture is available here
The Mind
Ignore the Mind
Our acaryas advise us to learn to ignore our mind. Why? Well, we shouldn’t ignore it when we are thinking of Krsna. But in our conditioned state, th
In this audio newsletter I speak with Akrura Prabhu about faultfinding, specifically the subtle reasons that cause us to belittle others.
Srila Prabhupada said that if we chant our rounds and follow the regulative principles, we will go back to Godhead in this life time. However, he made a disclaimer by saying that we won’t get this result if we offend the devotees. Offending devotees can nullify the good we do in Krsna consciousness. It therefore is essential to understand why we become critica
Last week I was asked, “What’s the most important practice for advancing in spiritual life?” Srila Prabhupada said chanting of Hare Krsna is most important. Some have suggested that devotee association is more important because without it, most of us wouldn’t have the strength to chant Hare Krsna.
I agree. But I think there is a principle even more fundamental than this. I have addressed it to some degree in other newsletters, but it is important that it warrants further discussion.
OUR VERY DEIS
Below is a summary of the points covered in the discussion on Spiritual Self-confidence found in this the audio newsletter. It’s an important topic to and I think you will find the discussion not only edifying, but empowering as well.
May you always think of Krishna,
Mahatma Das
The Apparent Paradox: Self-confidence and Humility
How do we maintain self-confidence, yet feel ourselves a fool before our spiritual master? How can we be confident and simultaneously feel unqualif
In this issue of Illuminations, we talk about responsibility. Responsibility means the ability to respond to a problem with a solution rather than with blaming. Prabhupada said that when we see something wrong in a temple, we should think that it is our responsibility that the problem exists and we should therefore do what we can to remedy the situation.
The Audio Newsletter
The lecture is available at the link below for download.
www.tstrain.com/Illuminations/Illuminations_54_Responsibility.mp3
By
Below is a summary of this edition of the Illuminations newsletter. We discuss how, in the attempt to control our mind, we often are only deal with the effect, the thoughts, and not the cause of the thoughts. Thus the thoughts we try to control continually come into our minds. It requires looking more deeply into the nature of our consciousness.
May you always think of Krsna,
Mahatma das
The Audio Newsletter
Environment
In remaining motivated there are different factors to consider. Let’s first look at creating an environment to support our goals. We discuss in our japa workshops about creating Sacred Space, an environment that supports good japa. It’s a necessary ingredient for good japa.
The problem is that we are often our worst enemy. We often make it difficult for ourselves by being in environments that are not aligned with our desires. Sometimes we are the ones th
This newsletter deals with these aspects in detail.
May you always think of Krsna,
Mahatma das
Srila Prabhuapda did not like to sleep. He felt it was a waste of time. He once said I am praying to Krsna that I can live without eating and sleeping.
How did
21 May, 2016, the annual Carnival of Surabaya city, also famous as the annual Flower Festival, was one special offering to Lord Jagannath. This year marked the third ratha yatra festival in Surabaya and as all the other ratha yatra festivals being celebrated in all the major cities of Indonesia, this too was no less special.
“Make the Ratha-yatra festival very great success. This will be a great introduction in your city and people will appreciate it.“ (SPL to Syamasundara, 4th May, 1967).
Fol
