ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Janananda Goswami

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Here are the latest updates for   "Planet ISKCON" - 48 new articles H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Saturday 7 May 2011--Don't Neglect Your Duty--and--Do Humans Have Any Rules to Follow? Dandavats.com: Jaladuta Adventure H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 302–Poem for May 6 H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): OLD FRIENDS Krishna Lounge, LA, USA: Karma = Sensitivity Training Krishna Lounge, LA, USA: Kirtan 2011-04-28 ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darshana ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Janananda Goswami Japa Group: The Source Of Love Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Beautiful Sri Radha Shyamasundar smeared in Chandan (Sandalwood). Mukunda Charan das, SA: Self Realization ISKCON News.com: Is The World A Safer Place Without Osama Bin Laden? H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG Overview Eng-Dutch H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Sunday Feast- Soul Food Is Hare Krishna H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Suitable Atmosphere H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Material Knowledge & Experience, Twice The Price H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Food For Life Or Food For Wife H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.61 Blame Creates Further Entanglement H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.54 Proud Of Our Complications H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.10 Renunciation & Work; Honesty & Intelligence H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.4 Hear Means To Hear & See ISKCON News.com: Osama bin Laden Largely Discredited Among Muslim Publics in Recent Years H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Sunday Feast- Why Difficult To Curb? H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Not Meant Just For Doing Things H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- Recognizing The Competition H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Jazz Is God? H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 What Will Our Next Body Be H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- The Fountain Of Ignorance H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- Driving Everywhere, Going Nowhere H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Olympic Children Games H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 No Juice, Only Cane H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.5-20 Peaceful Chanting Epidemic Giridhari das, Brasilia, Brazil: Angry Birds™ Yoga – How to Eliminate the Green Pigs in Your Life, Part III H.H. Sivarama Swami: On Govinda Swami’s request I gave in to temptation Mayapur Online: First day of Chandan Yatra Darshan- Natabara! H.H. Sivarama Swami H.H. Sivarama Swami Ananda Subramanian, Iowa, USA: What is surrender? ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Bhakti Sara Dasa H.H. Sivarama Swami: On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Visiting Sannyasi Mukunda Charan das, SA: Krishna Das Kaviraja Maharaja Establishes That Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Is Krishna (Part 1) Japa Group: Most Important Is To Always Chant Vraja Kishor, JP: Rules or Passion? Gouranga TV: Harinama with Jayadev prabhu (Barnaul 2011) H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 301—Poem for May 5 H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): OLD FRIENDS Vraja Kishor, JP: The Brilliance of Thousands of Suns (Gita 11.12) More Recent Articles Search Planet ISKCON Prior Mailing Archive H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Saturday 7 May 2011--Don't Neglect Your Duty--and--Do Humans Have Any Rules to Follow? A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course(tm) Saturday 7 May 2011 The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, and His eternal consort, Srimati Radharani are enjoying transcendental pastimes in the topmost planet of the spiritual world, Sri Goloka Vrindavan. They are beckoning us to rejoin them. (Click on photo to see a larger image.) Our Mission: To help everyone awaken their original Krishna consciousness, which is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. Such a global awakening will, in one stroke, solve all the problems of the world society bringing in a new era of unprecedented peace and prosperity for all. May that day, which the world so desperately needs, come very soon. We request you to participate in this mission by reviving your dormant Krishna consciousness and assisting us in spreading this science all over the world. Dedicated with love to ISKCON Founder-Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, our beloved spiritual master, and to you, our dear readers. Today's Thought: Don't Neglect Your Ultimate Duty Uploaded from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA Don't neglect your ultimate duty being carried away by your senses. Your senses are cruel masters. Even if you serve them and the senses of your family members faithfully throughout your entire life, your only reward will be old age, disease, and death. Therefore those who are learned always put their ultimate duty of service to the Supreme Lord first before the sensual demands. In this way they become qualified to reawaken their dormant loving relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the source of all existence, who has unlimited names, and who, being unlimitedly attractive, is best described by name Krishna, which means one who attracts everyone. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Ecstatic Glorification of Krishna Tallinn, Estonia--3 May 2011 http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Spring/Tallin_Kirtan.JPG Distributing the Sweetest Mercy of Krishna Tallinn, Estonia--3 May 2011 http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Spring/Tallinn_Prasad.JPG Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Do Humans Have Any Rules to Follow? It puzzles me how all living things on mother earth follow the rules of the nature except the humans. Are there no rules for humans to follow? Kindly enlighten with divine thought. D.B. Answer: Yes, But They Flagrantly Neglect Them The rules for humans are given in the Vedic literatures. But unfortunately hardly anyone is following them. Therefore the entire planet earth has been plunged into an ever-increasingly chaotic situation. We are trying to save the world from this chaos, but the people are so blind that they have no interest in the Vedic teachings. Instead they flagrantly neglect the Vedic injunctions and continue wallowing in the so-called pleasure of sense gratification. In this way they go deeper and deeper into the quagmire of illusion and suffering. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Transcendental Resources: Receive the Special Blessings of Krishna Now you too can render the greatest service to the suffering humanity and attract the all-auspicious blessings of Lord Sri Krishna upon yourself and your family by assisting our mission. Lectures and Kirtans in Audio and Video: Link to High Definition Videos Link to Over 1,000 Lecture Audios Lecture-Travel Schedule for 2011 http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/schedule Have Questions or Need Further Guidance? Check out the resources at: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com or write Sankarshan Das Adhikari at: sda@backtohome.com Get your copy today of the world's greatest self-realization guide book, Bhagavad-gita As It Is available at: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/store Know someone who could benefit from this? Forward it to them. Searchable archives of all of course material: http://www.sda-archives.com Receive Thought for the Day as an RSS feed: http://www.backtohome.com/rss.htm Unsubscribe or change your email address Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Daily_Thought Sankarshan Das Adhikari on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SDASITE Thought for the Day on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Ultimate.Self.Realization Copyright 2005-2011 by Ultimate Self Realization.Com Distribution of this material is encouraged. Simply we request you to acknowledge where it is coming from with a link to our sign up page: http://www.backtohome.com Our records indicate that at requested to be enrolled to receive e-mails from the Ultimate Self Realization Course at: This request was made on: From the following IP address:   • Email to a friend • • Dandavats.com: Jaladuta Adventure By Parasuram das HH Mahavishnu Swami and his team "The Salty Dogs" again embark on another adventure on the Jaladuta, this time starting 50km south of Yamunatri and ending up in Vrindavan   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 302–Poem for May 6 www.sdgonline.org. 4:17 A.M. A Writer of Pieces New format–I will begin with a poem written on the day of its printing. Then I will print random excerpts of books I have printed over the last 35 years. I hope this variety will be pleasing. Poem for May 6th It was a terrible time, all night with the pain in my right eye despite taking migraine med. at 11:30 P.M. I rose at 1:00 A.M. with a general clanging in my head, took more med. and gradually subdued during my japa. As I chanted Hare Krishna, I thought, ‘This is the yugala-kishora mantra celebrating the union of Radha and Krishna.’ I looked upon the laminated picture of Radha-Govinda on the altar while the murtis still rested in bed. The japa is the most intense period in the day. Sanatana met Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Benares, and they embraced in the ecstasy of love of God. Caitanya told him to get shaved and take new clothes from Tapana-misra. But he preferred old clothes and would not eat at Tapana’s house. He begged madhukari in the neighborhood. He exchanged his expensive chadar for the torn quilt of a Bengali mendicant and came before Mahaprabhu who was very pleased with him. At 3:30 I hear Baladeva make his trumpet elephant sound blowing his nose on the floor below. He will soon be up. Yesterday we had lunch at Kaulini Mataji’s house, cooked by South African devotees, disciples of Partha- Sarathi Maharaja. Today we host bearded Dhanurdhara Swami at our house. It’s nice meeting people and it’s nice being alone. I have some letters to reach out to disciples to keep up my bond. Everything is conducted under Krishna’s control; I am just a puppet in His hands and an obedient cela of my Guru Maharaja.   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): OLD FRIENDS www.sdgonline.org. From Vrndavana Writing “I am unworthy to write. Radha and Krishna ride on Their swing together. I don’t feel it much as I write it, but the sentence is so potent—‘Radha and Krishna ride on Their swing together’—that it achieves something beyond my poor understanding. It stands by itself. What else can I do but keep making such sentences in my spiritual poverty? Radha and Krishna always live in Vrndavana. This is the place to contact Krishna. Krishna performed His rasa-lila here. He lived in Nanda Maharaja’s house. He carried the imprint of His mother’s hand in turmeric on His back. “From the essay, ‘Circumambulation of the Realm of Vraja,’ by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati: “He says that only when we surrender unconditionally to the sadhu can we understand anything or benefit from praja-parikrama. By walking around viewing the scenery or thinking our own thoughts about Krishna or about ourselves, we will not derive any spiritual results. It will just be a lot of work. “He writes, ‘It is the nature of a conditioned soul to be tempted to assume his own guidance, however much he may pretend to be guided by another.’ It seems we are naïve and sentimental about living and dying in Vrndavana. The sages encourage us by saying that the dhama is always beneficial, but we shouldn’t sentimentally think that we can enter the dhama without realization. We have to face the fact that mundane people are living in the dhama and that we cannot perceive Krishna. We don’t want to be like the simple villagers in Caitanya-caritamrta who saw a fisherman’s light and thought it was Krishna dancing on Kaliya’s heads in the night. We have to actually advance to bhava by the descending process of receiving mercy before we can realize the mystery of the dhama. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati stresses that the bona-fide sadhu uses Vraja-dhama to kindle the spiritual consciousness of dormant souls. This is more important than the service to the land itself. “He writes, ‘Those who choose to suppose they are enabled to serve the transcendental realm of Vraja by simply residing in the mundane district of Mathura, or by following mechanically any course of ceremonials laid down by the scriptures under the guidance of persons who have themselves no access to the spiritual plane, are no less deluded than those stubborn atheists . . . “‘The intellect of man commits an offense against itself the moment it tries to comprehend the incomprehensible by its own resources.’ “Where does this leave me? What would Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati do with someone like me? I dare not imagine it. “I cannot pretend I am seeing and feeling deep sensations in Vraja. I want to have faith, but first I have to understand what to have faith in. If Srila Prabhupada and the acaryas want to create faith in us by telling us simple versions of the absolute truth, I shouldn’t refuse them. Lord Caitanya’s spiritual master told Him He was a fool and should not attempt to study Vedanta-sutra. He said He should simply chant the Hare Krishna mantra. Lord Caitanya abided by that instruction with full faith and immediately tasted the nectar of harinama. We can study our spiritual master’s words more deeply and pray to realize them. “Srila Prabhupada says, ‘Anyone who executes devotional service in [Mathura, Vrndavana or Navadvipa dhama] certainly goes back to home, back to Godhead, after giving up his body. (Bhagavatam 10.1.28, purport). We accept this on his authority, but it doesn’t necessarily mean any immature anartha-filled devotee who does a little service in Vrndavana will enter Vraja-lila in one lifetime. He or she will benefit from serving or living in the dhama and will enter the path back to Godhead . . . but still, everyone has to follow the actual scientific process—sraddha, sadhu-sanga, bhajana-kriya, anartha-nivritti, nistha, ruci, asakti, bhava and prema. “Perhaps, therefore, I am most truthful when I expose the foolish things we are doing and thinking during our stay here. I am also safe when I hear from the realized souls. But I am on shaky ground when I claim to have realized something from Vrndavana-dhama based on my own experience. And what is the value of my self-examination? Better to examine what the sadhu says…” From The Wild Garden “From hundreds of yards away I see a monkey walking on all fours on the gurukula roof. If they came to this roof, it would be too distracting. That’s another opulence of the Sant Colony—no monkeys. “Yes, I know, this is surface stuff. I should know better. But I cannot expect to be one of those vairagyi mendicants, mentioned by Prabhodananda Sarasvati, in this lifetime. They wear only a torn cloth and wander homeless in Vraja, always crying in gopi-bhava. That form of worship is not even recommended by our spiritual master. At least I aspire to read verses like this: ‘I think the ultimate goal of life is to attain even a small amount of love for the land of Vrindavana, which is opulent with the spiritual pastimes of Sri-Radha-Murali-Manohara’s feet.’ (Vrndavana Mahimantra, Sataka 4.65) “O Sri Vrndavana, I am now very fortunate. I have become the object of your very, very great mercy. You have given me the right to reside within your boundaries, a right that is prayed for by Lord Brahma, Sukadeva Gosvami, Sanaka Kumara, and other great souls. This gives me hope that someday I will directly serve the splendid, charming, eternally youthful, eternally amorous, fair, and dark Divine Couple (Vrndavana Mahimantra, Sataka 4.80) “It’s humid. I can’t get inspiring dictation from my own skin. And right now, the sight of four young Vrajabasi boys loitering along the path doesn’t direct me to Krishna consciousness. Pray for mercy. You say you are what you are, but you pray, ‘Dear Lord, please forgive me and improve me.’ Prabhodananda Sarasvati prays directly to Sri Vrndavana: ‘ . . . If you have granted me residence within your boundaries . . . then why do you now hesitate to allow me to serve the great souls that live within you?’ (Vrndavana Mahimantra, Sataka 4.81) “I can also pray to Vrndavana-dhama by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. Let me beg for attachment to the dhama; let me travel to its holy sites. Let me one day aspire to live here all the time. “Recently, I read references to retiring to Vrndavana in your fifties as a vanaprasthsa. Prahlada recommended it to his father as ‘the best thing’ he had learned. But I am not a vanaprastha. Srila Prabhupada once said to one of his disciples, ‘Preach while you are young. When you are old, retire to Vrndavana and chant Hare Krishna . . . But you cannot retire unless you have preached sufficiently, The mind will agitate. If you have preached, you can retire and chant Hare Krishna—so preach as much as possible.’ (Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta Volume Five, p. 94.) “What is young? What is a devotee’s retirement age? It varies. Retiring in the spiritual sense, it is for the very advanced. Mahanidhi Swami makes the point that Srila Prabhupada approves our living in Vrndavana if we continue preaching here (as I might do by writing—or if I could improve myself, as befits one who accepts disciples). “‘Although Srila Prabhupada rejected Subala’s idea for a solitary bhajana, he did accept that one could continue living in Vrndavana, provided he preached vigorously. Srila Prabhupada told Subala: “Better we spend our whole life and die just to make one person Krishna conscious. That is our line, to become so absorbed in preaching Krishna consciousness, whether in Vrndavana or anywhere.”’ (Appreciating Sri Vrndavana Dhama, p. 247) “That is a good point—that one may also preach in Vrndavana. When a brother hears that someone is residing in Vrndavana, he says, ‘Oh, but Srila Prabhupada wanted us to preach.’ The Six Goswamis came here just to preach. “Thoughts on a humid afternoon: “‘O mother, in this forest, all the birds have risen onto the beautiful branches of the trees to see Krishna. With closed eyes they are simply listening in silence to the sweet vibrations of His flute, and they are not attracted by any other sound. Surely these birds are on the same level as great sages.’ (Bhag. 10.21.14) “If we hear Prabhupada’s purports to the Bhagavatam, then we will remember what he says and develop faith. We are faithful to the lilas because Prabhupada has explained them to us. If we read Srimad Bhagavatam, even with Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s commentaries, we would still not have become devotees. We still would have needed a guru’s favor. We receive the guru’s favor by ‘submissive aural reception.’ It’s hard to understand, but it’s true. “If my own speaking has any potency, it’s because I repeat what Srila Prabhupada says. I say it in faith and someone can hear it with faith. That is parampara. I cannot speak it on my own; I have to be linked to the disciplic siuccession. I stay linked by repeating the words of my spiritual master. Therefore, although I don’t see Krishna’s pastimes or realize them, I pass on the sraddha and the pleasure and conviction that comes when you hear from the pure devotees. “In this verse, the birds are compared to sages. They close their eyes in ecstasy when they hear the flute. The branches of the trees are also transformed in ecstasy. In Krishna Book, Srila Prabhupada writes, ‘From the behavior of these birds it appears that they were great scholars in Vedic knowledge and that they took to Krishna’s transcendental vibration and rejected all branches of Vedic knowledge.’ They rejected other Vedic branches and preferred the branches of an ecstatic tree that was struck with the vibration of Krishna’s flute. “The birds hear the flute. Don’t ask, ‘How can there be such birds?’ Don’t ask, ‘Why is there anything?’ Srila Prabhupada explains that there’s a ball dance in this world because it comes from Krishna’s original rasa dance. Everything here has its origin in the Supreme. That is stated in the Vedanta aphorism janmady asya yatah—everything emanates from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. “That is why there are birds. In this world, the birds are an expression of His artistic nature. Various species exist to fulfill the desires of conditioned souls to have certain types of bodies with certain senses. It is maya’s arrangement. It is a punishment or an awarding of karma. We wanted the human form of life, thinking it could satisfy our desires for happiness. But it is defective—asat, acit, nirananada. In human life, we can learn of our big mistake and learn of the terrible system we have bought into. We can desire to get out of the cycle of birth and death. This awakening comes from hearing the spiritual master. The one who awakens our devotion to Krishna consciousness is the spiritual master. “Vedic science is passed down from guru to disciple. By the same system that teaches us the transcendental ABCs (‘You are not this body’), we can also learn of Krishna’s flute and the bliss it gives the birds in Vraja. The birds are not symbolic. They are birds. But to understand anything about these Vrajavasi birds, we have to hear from the Vedic literature. We can do this not only in sessions where we sit at the guru’s lotus feet and hear him speak, but we can read the commentaries and verses of scripture. By hearing from the guru in person, and by serving him, we can hear him speak in parampara in his books. The books are enhanced by hearing—the books are opened by the explanations of the spiritual master. We should be in the mood of Maharaja Pariksit, who heard his spiritual master speak with great urgency. Impending death should make us inquisitive, learned and faithful.”   • Email to a friend • •   Krishna Lounge, LA, USA: Karma = Sensitivity Training By dint of our own experience, we should be able to understand the position of others. If it hurts me, then I can understand that it will hurt someone else. The consciously crippled cannot empathize with the pain others. So, karma is the system of universal sensitivity training to help us understand that there is a universal right and a universal wrong, through life’s series of punishments and rewards. Talk by Mahat: http://www.krishnalounge.com/2011/05/karma-sensitivity-training/ Krishna Lounge, LA, USA: Karma = Sensitivity Training   • Email to a friend • •   Krishna Lounge, LA, USA: Kirtan 2011-04-28 http://www.krishnalounge.com/2011/05/kirtan-2011-04-28/ Krishna Lounge, LA, USA: Kirtan 2011-04-28 http://www.krishnalounge.com/2011/05/kirtan-2011-04-28/   • Email to a friend • •   ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darshana The nectar for which we are always anxious! All the conditioned living entities have come under the control of the illusory energy by Your will, and therefore, if you like, by Your will they can also be released from the clutches of illusion. (Markine Bhagavata-dharma - AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) Let's take darsana of the Lord and be released from the clutches of illusion! PS Today's darsana is in reverse order. I need to find out from the experts how to post in the correct order.   • Email to a friend • •   ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Janananda Goswami ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Janananda Goswami Srimad Bhagavatam 12.6.32 - To give up petty materialism and adopt the position of exclusive love for the Lord is Krishna consciousness. 16.5MB Posted by Kanapathy Ramasamy at 7/5/11; 9:58:11 AM to the Daily Class dept ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Janananda Goswami   • Email to a friend • •   Japa Group: The Source Of Love Hare Krsna dear devotees. I hope your chanting has been concentrated and with love. I was going to work today and by observing the people on the streets and how they seem so sad and it made me think. Some of them try to get love and identify themselves with something that makes them happy, but they forget that death, sickness and distress come all the time and some moments of happiness won't change and doesn't give us what we need that is Krsna. We are so lucky to have met our spiritual master and also be introduced to the chanting of the holy names, when we think of that we feel fearless and we know nothing will take us away from Krsna, anytime of the day and anywhere we are we can be connected to Him. So remember any free time you have even after your daily rounds, chant and you will see how this process will bring you more of what our soul is seeking. your servant, Aruna devi   • Email to a friend • •   Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Beautiful Sri Radha Shyamasundar smeared in Chandan (Sandalwood). Chandana Yatra has begun and Krishna is smeared with Sandalwood paste to keep Him cool in the heat. A beautiful picture of Sri Sri Radha  Shyamasundar in Vrindavan to increase sweet meditations  of Krishna.   • Email to a friend • •   Mukunda Charan das, SA: Self Realization Based on a lecture given at the University of Johannesburg, 6 May 2011. The Material Body I recently saw a friend of mine wearing a t-shirt that said, ‘I am not who you think I am.’  This was interesting because we were always told in the Hare Krishna movement that, ‘You are not this body!’  Who are we, then, if we are not this bodies? We were all born somewhere – in a hospital or maybe at home.  When we were born our parents thought: ‘Oh, what a beautiful baby boy!  What a beautiful baby girl!’  Our birth was registered at Home Affairs and our information stored on file or on a computer system.  We were classified according to our sex, nationality and ethnicity.  This information is coded on our Identification Document.  From the time of birth were identified in terms of our material body.  Certain rites, based on race or gender, perpetuate this bodily identification until the moment of death.  The Sanskrit word for this phenomenon is upadhi or ‘bodily designation’:  ’I am white’,  ’I am black’, ‘I am male’, ‘I am female’, ‘I am young’,  ’I am old’,  ’I am South African’, ‘I am Zimbabwean’,  ’I am Christian’, ‘I am Hindu’ and ‘I am Jew’.  These identifications, however, are temporary.  We are identifying with a body that will only last for 70 to 80 years – if we are lucky.  The environment that we identify ourselves with is also false, because it is temporary. It is, therefore, stated in the beginning of Rupa Goswami’s devotional textbook Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.2 (quoted in Sri Caitanya-Caritamrita 19.170): sarvopadhi-vinirmuktam/tat-paratvena nirmalam/hrsikena hrsikesa-/sevanam bhaktir ucyate – ‘Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses.  When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects.  One is freed from all material designations (sarva-upadhi-vinirmuktam), and, simply by being employed in the service of the Lord, one’s senses are purified’. What Is Materialism? Possessing wealth and material possessions is the stereotyped view of “materialism”.  Transcendentalists, however, consider materialism to be more something far subtler than owning a nice house or a sports car.  Material facility does not necessarily determine the level of one’s spiritual advancement.  A rich person may be surrounded by beautiful material objects and be detached; and a poor man lying in the street may kill another over a blanket.  To consider the material body to be our self, to identify with the temporary material world and to nurture material desires are more deeply rooted aspects of materialism.  The perpetuation of material existence depends on our desire.  If we are attached to this material world and to this material body, we will remain here. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami explains that if we desire even one ray of sunshine, we’ll have to come back to this world to experience it. False Ego/ Real Ego Buddhism teaches us that this world is a place of suffering.  Most of our suffering is experienced through our own egos or those of others.  The solution to suffering, according to Buddhism, is the negation of ego or personality.  The Vedas identify the problem of ego as false ego – false ego being the pure soul or atma’s false identification with matter.  The Vedic perspective is positive.  Rather than negate identity, our true spiritual identity is re-awakened through the process of yoga or self-realization.  The Bhagavad-gita explains that there is no loss or diminution on the spiritual path.  The slightest amount of spiritual progress made in this life carries over into our next life.  Whatever material progress we make in this life, however, is lost at the time of death. Self Realization The Vedas teach three levels of self-realization, namely: sambhanda, abhideya and prayojana. Sambhanda is the development of our relationship with Krishna or the Divine.  Sambhanda begins with the first aphorism of the Vedanta (spiritual conclusions of the Vedas) - athato brahma jijnasa.  Athato brahma jijnasa means ‘now that you have achieved the rare human form of life enquire into the nature of the Absolute Truth.’  This human form of life is, therefore, meant for self-realization.  Our ultimate purpose is not meant to simply acquire wealth or to maintain this material body.  We are meant to understand our eternal spiritual identity.  Self-realization begins with self-interest – establishing our relationship with the world around us, understanding our spiritual identity and understanding the nature of God. The next stage of self-realization is called abhideya - the practice of spiritual life in this material world.  The most important abhideya, or spiritual practice, is the chanting of the Holy Names of God, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.  The chanting of Hare Krishna is both the means and the end of spiritual practice.  You might think, ‘Why do I need to chant this mantra?  Surely self-realization is more complicated than reciting words?’  The cause of the problem is simple.  Material desire.  The solution, however, is also simple.  Spiritual application. The final stage of self-realization is called prayojana.  At the stage of prayojana or spiritual perfection we are fully aware of our eternal, spiritual identity and are free from the temporary identification with matter.  This is called siddha-deha or svarupa-siddhi -realization of our spiritual form.  At the stage of spiritual perfection, we still chant – but in full awareness of our spiritual body and our spiritual purpose. Filed under: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Mantra Meditation, Spiritual Life, Yoga Tagged: bhakti yoga, material life, materialism, postaweek2011, sanatana dharma, self realization, the Vedas   • Email to a friend • •   ISKCON News.com: Is The World A Safer Place Without Osama Bin Laden? By Sivarama Swami for www.sivaramaswami.com on 6 May 2011 Is the world a safer place without Osama Bin Laden? I don`t think so. He is definitely a symbol of mindless violence, extremism, and terror, but at the same time, he is something else -- the symbol of the worlds karma. Although he as a vehicle is removed, but there will be someone else to replace him.   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG Overview Eng-Dutch H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG Overview Eng-Dutch Preface Originally I wrote Bhagavad-gītā As It Is in the form in which it is presented now. When this book was first published, the original manuscript was, unfortunately, cut short to less than 400 pages, without illustrations and without explanations for most of the original verses of the Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā. In all of my other books—Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Śrī Īśopaniṣad, etc.—the system is that I give the original verse, its English transliteration, word-for-word Sanskrit-English equivalents, translations and purports. This makes the book very authentic and scholarly and makes the meaning self-evident. I was not very happy, therefore, when I had to minimize my original manuscript. But later on, when the demand for Bhagavad-gītā As It Is considerably increased, I was requested by many scholars and devotees to present the book in its original form. Thus the present attempt is to offer the original manuscript of this great book of knowledge with full paramparä explanation in order to establish the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement more soundly and progressively. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is genuine, historically authorized, natural and transcendental due to its being based on Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. It is gradually becoming the most popular movement in the entire world, especially amongst the younger generation. It is becoming more and more interesting to the older generation also. Older gentlemen are becoming interested, so much so that the fathers and grandfathers of my disciples are encouraging us by becoming life members of our great society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In Los Angeles many fathers and mothers used to come to see me to express their feelings of gratitude for my leading the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement throughout the entire world. Some of them said that it is greatly fortunate for the Americans that I have started the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in America. But actually the original father of this movement is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, since it was started a very long time ago but is coming down to human society by disciplic succession. If I have any credit in this connection, it does not belong to me personally, but it is due to my eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace Oḿ Viṣṇupāda Paramahaḿsa Parivrājakācārya 108 Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja Prabhupāda. H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG Overview Eng-Dutch BG Overview Eng-Dutch 1997-09-13 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita Overview Eng-Dutch 1997-09-13 Radhadesh   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Sunday Feast- Soul Food Is Hare Krishna H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Sunday Feast- Soul Food Is Hare Krishna BG 18.65: Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you My supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit. BG 18.65: Emplis toujours de Moi ton mental, et deviens Mon dévot, offre-Moi ton hommage, voue-Moi ton adoration, et certes à Moi tu viendras. Cela, Je te le promets, car tu es Mon ami, infiniment cher. BG 18.65: Siempre piensa en Mí, conviértete en devoto Mío, adórame a Mí y ofréceme a Mí tu homenaje. De ese modo, vendrás a Mí sin falta. Yo te prometo eso, porque tú eres Mi muy querido amigo. BG 18.65 Sunday Feast- Soul Food Is Hare Krishna 2006-11-19 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 18.65 Sunday Feast- Soul Food Is Hare Krishna 2006-11-19 Los Angeles H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Sunday Feast- Soul Food Is Hare Krishna   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Suitable Atmosphere H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Suitable Atmosphere BG 18.65: Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you My supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit. BG 18.65: Emplis toujours de Moi ton mental, et deviens Mon dévot, offre-Moi ton hommage, voue-Moi ton adoration, et certes à Moi tu viendras. Cela, Je te le promets, car tu es Mon ami, infiniment cher. BG 18.65: Siempre piensa en Mí, conviértete en devoto Mío, adórame a Mí y ofréceme a Mí tu homenaje. De ese modo, vendrás a Mí sin falta. Yo te prometo eso, porque tú eres Mi muy querido amigo. BG 18.65 Suitable Atmosphere 2004-05-22 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 18.65 Suitable Atmosphere 2004-05-22 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Suitable Atmosphere   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Material Knowledge & Experience, Twice The Price H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Material Knowledge & Experience, Twice The Price BG 18.65: Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you My supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit. BG 18.65: Emplis toujours de Moi ton mental, et deviens Mon dévot, offre-Moi ton hommage, voue-Moi ton adoration, et certes à Moi tu viendras. Cela, Je te le promets, car tu es Mon ami, infiniment cher. BG 18.65: Siempre piensa en Mí, conviértete en devoto Mío, adórame a Mí y ofréceme a Mí tu homenaje. De ese modo, vendrás a Mí sin falta. Yo te prometo eso, porque tú eres Mi muy querido amigo. BG 18.65 Material Knowledge & Experience, Twice The Price 2003-02-10 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 18.65 Material Knowledge & Experience, Twice The Price 2003-02-10 Perth H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Material Knowledge & Experience, Twice The Price   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Food For Life Or Food For Wife H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Food For Life Or Food For Wife BG 18.65: Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you My supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit. BG 18.65: Emplis toujours de Moi ton mental, et deviens Mon dévot, offre-Moi ton hommage, voue-Moi ton adoration, et certes à Moi tu viendras. Cela, Je te le promets, car tu es Mon ami, infiniment cher. BG 18.65: Siempre piensa en Mí, conviértete en devoto Mío, adórame a Mí y ofréceme a Mí tu homenaje. De ese modo, vendrás a Mí sin falta. Yo te prometo eso, porque tú eres Mi muy querido amigo. BG 18.65 Food For Life Or Food For Wife 2005-01-05 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 18.65 Food For Life Or Food For Wife 2005-01-05 Melbourne H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.65 Food For Life Or Food For Wife   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.61 Blame Creates Further Entanglement H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.61 Blame Creates Further Entanglement BG 18.61: The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy. BG 18.61: Le Seigneur Suprême Se tient dans le coeur de tous les êtres, ô Arjuna, et dirige leurs errances à tous, qui se trouvent chacun comme sur une machine, constituée d'énergie matérielle. BG 18.61: El Señor Supremo se encuentra en el corazón de todos, ¡oh, Arjuna!, y está dirigiendo los movimientos de todas las entidades vivientes, las cuales están sentadas como si estuvieran en una máquina hecha de energía material. BG 18.61 Blame Creates Further Entanglement 1995-05-17 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 18.61 Blame Creates Further Entanglement 1995-05-17 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.61 Blame Creates Further Entanglement   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.54 Proud Of Our Complications H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.54 Proud Of Our Complications BG 18.54: One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me. BG 18.54: Celui qui atteint le niveau spirituel réalise du même coup le Brahman Suprême, et y trouve une joie infinie. Jamais il ne s'afflige, jamais il n'aspire à quoi que ce soit; il se montre égal envers tous les êtres. Celui-là obtient alors de Me servir avec un amour et une dévotion purs. BG 18.54: Aquel que se sitúa así en el plano trascendental, llega a comprender de inmediato el Brahman Supremo y se vuelve plenamente dichoso. Él nunca se lamenta por nada ni desea poseer nada. Él tiene la misma disposición para con todas las entidades vivientes. En ese estado, él llega a prestarme a Mí un servicio devocional puro. BG 18.54 Proud Of Our Complications 2006-01-08 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 18.54 Proud Of Our Complications 2006-01-08 Melbourne H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.54 Proud Of Our Complications   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.10 Renunciation & Work; Honesty & Intelligence H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.10 Renunciation & Work; Honesty & Intelligence BG 18.10: The intelligent renouncer situated in the mode of goodness, neither hateful of inauspicious work nor attached to auspicious work, has no doubts about work. BG 18.10: L'homme d'intelligence, établi dans la vertu, qui ne hait l'action défavorable ni ne s'attache à l'action propice, n'éprouve aucun doute quant à l'agir. BG 18.10: El renunciante inteligente que está situado en el plano de la modalidad de la bondad y que ni odia el trabajo desfavorable ni está apegado al trabajo favorable, no tiene ninguna duda acerca del trabajo. BG 18.10 Renunciation & Work; Honesty & Intelligence 2002-12-10 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 18.10 Renunciation & Work; Honesty & Intelligence 2002-12-10 Los Angeles H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.10 Renunciation & Work; Honesty & Intelligence   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.4 Hear Means To Hear & See H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.4 Hear Means To Hear & See BG 18.4: O best of the Bhāratas, now hear My judgment about renunciation. O tiger among men, renunciation is declared in the scriptures to be of three kinds. BG 18.4: De Mes lèvres à présent, ô meilleur des Bhāratas, écoute la nature du renoncement. Les Ecritures, ô tigre entre les hommes, distinguent en lui trois ordres. BG 18.4: ¡Oh, tú, el mejor de los Bhāratas!, oye ahora Mi juicio sobre la renunciación. ¡Oh, tigre entre los hombres!, en las Escrituras se declara que la renunciación es de tres clases. BG 18.04 Hear Means To Hear & See 2002-12-02 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 18.4 Hear Means To Hear & See 2002-12-02 Los Angeles H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 18.4 Hear Means To Hear & See   • Email to a friend • •   ISKCON News.com: Osama bin Laden Largely Discredited Among Muslim Publics in Recent Years By Pew Research Center for pewglobal.org on 6 May 2011 In the months leading up to Osama bin Laden’s death, a survey of Muslim publics around the world found little support for the al Qaeda leader. Among the six predominantly Muslim nations recently surveyed, bin Laden received his highest level of support among Muslims in the Palestinian territories.   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Sunday Feast- Why Difficult To Curb? H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Sunday Feast- Why Difficult To Curb? BG 15.10: The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this. BG 15.10: Les sots ne sauraient concevoir comment l'être vivant quitte le corps, ou de quelle sorte de corps, sous l'empire des trois gunas, il doit jouir. Mais tout cela, celui dont les yeux sont initiés à la connaissance peut le voir. BG 15.10: Los necios no pueden entender cómo una entidad viviente puede abandonar su cuerpo, ni pueden entender de qué clase de cuerpo disfruta bajo el hechizo de las modalidades de la naturaleza. Pero aquel cuyos ojos están adiestrados en lo referente al conocimiento, puede ver todo eso. BG 15.10 Sunday Feast- Why Difficult To Curb 2003-02-02 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 15.10 Sunday Feast- Why Difficult To Curb? 2003-02-02 Perth H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Sunday Feast- Why Difficult To Curb?   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Not Meant Just For Doing Things H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Not Meant Just For Doing Things BG 15.10: The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this. BG 15.10: Les sots ne sauraient concevoir comment l'être vivant quitte le corps, ou de quelle sorte de corps, sous l'empire des trois gunas, il doit jouir. Mais tout cela, celui dont les yeux sont initiés à la connaissance peut le voir. BG 15.10: Los necios no pueden entender cómo una entidad viviente puede abandonar su cuerpo, ni pueden entender de qué clase de cuerpo disfruta bajo el hechizo de las modalidades de la naturaleza. Pero aquel cuyos ojos están adiestrados en lo referente al conocimiento, puede ver todo eso. BG 15.10 Not Meant Just For Doing Things 2005-11-12 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 15.10 Not Meant Just For Doing Things 2005-11-12 Dallas H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Not Meant Just For Doing Things   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- Recognizing The Competition H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- Recognizing The Competition BG 15.8: 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: Comme l'air emporte les odeurs, l'être vivant, en ce monde, emporte avec lui, d'un corps à un autre, les diverses manières dont il conçoit la vie. BG 15.8: La entidad viviente que se halla en el mundo material lleva de un cuerpo a otro sus diferentes concepciones de la vida, tal como el aire transporta los aromas. Así pues, ella adopta un tipo de cuerpo, y de nuevo lo deja para adoptar otro. BG 15.08 Sunday Feast- Recognizing The Competition 2010-07-04 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 15.8 Sunday Feast- Recognizing The Competition 2010-07-04  Los Angeles H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- Recognizing The Competition   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Jazz Is God? H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Jazz Is God? BG 15.10: The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this. BG 15.10: Les sots ne sauraient concevoir comment l'être vivant quitte le corps, ou de quelle sorte de corps, sous l'empire des trois gunas, il doit jouir. Mais tout cela, celui dont les yeux sont initiés à la connaissance peut le voir. BG 15.10: Los necios no pueden entender cómo una entidad viviente puede abandonar su cuerpo, ni pueden entender de qué clase de cuerpo disfruta bajo el hechizo de las modalidades de la naturaleza. Pero aquel cuyos ojos están adiestrados en lo referente al conocimiento, puede ver todo eso. BG 15.10 Jazz Is God 2004-04 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 15.10 Jazz Is God? 2004-04 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.10 Jazz Is God?   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 What Will Our Next Body Be H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 What Will Our Next Body Be BG 15.8: 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: Comme l'air emporte les odeurs, l'être vivant, en ce monde, emporte avec lui, d'un corps à un autre, les diverses manières dont il conçoit la vie. BG 15.8: La entidad viviente que se halla en el mundo material lleva de un cuerpo a otro sus diferentes concepciones de la vida, tal como el aire transporta los aromas. Así pues, ella adopta un tipo de cuerpo, y de nuevo lo deja para adoptar otro. BG 15.08 What Will Our Next Body Be 2003-02-01 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 15.8 What Will Our Next Body Be 2003-02-01 Perth H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 What Will Our Next Body Be   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- The Fountain Of Ignorance H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- The Fountain Of Ignorance BG 15.8: 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: Comme l'air emporte les odeurs, l'être vivant, en ce monde, emporte avec lui, d'un corps à un autre, les diverses manières dont il conçoit la vie. BG 15.8: La entidad viviente que se halla en el mundo material lleva de un cuerpo a otro sus diferentes concepciones de la vida, tal como el aire transporta los aromas. Así pues, ella adopta un tipo de cuerpo, y de nuevo lo deja para adoptar otro. BG 15.08 Sunday Feast- The Fountain Of Ignorance 2007-06-24 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 15.8 Sunday Feast- The Fountain Of Ignorance 2007-06-24 Los Angeles H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- The Fountain Of Ignorance   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- Driving Everywhere, Going Nowhere H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- Driving Everywhere, Going Nowhere BG 15.8: 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: Comme l'air emporte les odeurs, l'être vivant, en ce monde, emporte avec lui, d'un corps à un autre, les diverses manières dont il conçoit la vie. BG 15.8: La entidad viviente que se halla en el mundo material lleva de un cuerpo a otro sus diferentes concepciones de la vida, tal como el aire transporta los aromas. Así pues, ella adopta un tipo de cuerpo, y de nuevo lo deja para adoptar otro. BG 15.08 Sunday Feast- Driving Everywhere, Going Nowhere 2007-11-28 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 15.8 Sunday Feast- Driving Everywhere, Going Nowhere 2007-11-28 Los Angeles H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Sunday Feast- Driving Everywhere, Going Nowhere   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Olympic Children Games H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Olympic Children Games BG 15.8: 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: Comme l'air emporte les odeurs, l'être vivant, en ce monde, emporte avec lui, d'un corps à un autre, les diverses manières dont il conçoit la vie. BG 15.8: La entidad viviente que se halla en el mundo material lleva de un cuerpo a otro sus diferentes concepciones de la vida, tal como el aire transporta los aromas. Así pues, ella adopta un tipo de cuerpo, y de nuevo lo deja para adoptar otro. BG 15.08 Olympic Children Games 2002-12-01 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 15.8 Olympic Children Games 2002-12-01 Los Angeles H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 Olympic Children Games   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 No Juice, Only Cane H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 No Juice, Only Cane BG 15.8: 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: Comme l'air emporte les odeurs, l'être vivant, en ce monde, emporte avec lui, d'un corps à un autre, les diverses manières dont il conçoit la vie. BG 15.8: La entidad viviente que se halla en el mundo material lleva de un cuerpo a otro sus diferentes concepciones de la vida, tal como el aire transporta los aromas. Así pues, ella adopta un tipo de cuerpo, y de nuevo lo deja para adoptar otro. BG 15.08 No Juice, Only Cane 2004-03-26 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 15.8 No Juice, Only Cane 2004-03-26 Den Haag, Amsterdam, Netherlands H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.8 No Juice, Only Cane   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.5-20 Peaceful Chanting Epidemic H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.5-20 Peaceful Chanting Epidemic BG 15.5: Those who are free from false prestige, illusion and false association, who understand the eternal, who are done with material lust, who are freed from the dualities of happiness and distress, and who, unbewildered, know how to surrender unto the Supreme Person attain to that eternal kingdom. BG 15.6: That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world. BG 15.7: The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind. BG 15.5: L'homme libre d'illusion, d'orgueil et de rapports faux, l'homme qui comprend l'éternel, qui triomphe de la concupiscence et de la dualité des joies et des peines, et qui connaît la voie de l'abandon à la Personne Suprême, celui-là atteint cet éternel Royaume. BG 15.6: Ce Royaume suprême, le Mien, ni le soleil, ni la lune, ni la force électrique ne l'éclairent. Pour qui l'atteint, point de retour en ce monde. BG 15.7: Les êtres, dans le monde des conditions, sont des fragments éternels de Ma personne. Mais parce qu'ils sont conditionnés, ils luttent avec acharnement contre les six sens, et parmi eux, le mental. BG 15.5: Aquellos que están libres del prestigio falso, de la ilusión y de la falsa compañía, que entienden lo eterno, que han terminado con la lujuria material, que están libres de las dualidades de la felicidad y la tristeza, y que, sin ninguna confusión, saben cómo entregarse a la Persona Suprema, llegan a ese reino eterno. BG 15.6: Esa suprema morada Mía no está iluminada por el Sol ni la Luna, ni por el fuego, ni por la electricidad. Aquellos que llegan a ella, nunca regresan a este mundo material. BG 15.7: Las entidades vivientes de este mundo condicionado son Mis partes fragmentarias eternas. Debido a la vida condicionada, están luchando muy afanosamente con los seis sentidos, entre los que se incluye la mente. BG 15.05-20 Peaceful Chanting Epidemic 2010-08-28 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 15.5-20 Peaceful Chanting Epidemic 2010-08-28 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 15.5-20 Peaceful Chanting Epidemic   • Email to a friend • •   Giridhari das, Brasilia, Brazil: Angry Birds™ Yoga – How to Eliminate the Green Pigs in Your Life, Part III This is the third part of the “Angry Birds™ Yoga” series. Other parts will be published in the upcoming days. Click here for Part I and here for Part II. The Black Bird The Black Bird represents meditation. Meditation and control of your mind are key concepts in Yoga. It’s plain and simple: if you can’t control your mind, you’re not in control. Negative thoughts and feelings can easily take hold and control you.  Living life without developing control of your mind and senses is like driving a car with eyes blindfolded, or with your hands tied behind your back. It’s certain you’ll crash! Meditation, like the Black Bird, is very powerful, capable of breaking through all sorts of barriers to get to the Green Pigs in your life and blow them up. Meditation has been proven effective in increasing wellbeing in numerous scientific studies. More than that, though, meditation will gradually award you increased clarity of mind, focus, peace and, ultimately, inner spiritual vision. Traditionally, in the Yoga tradition, mantra meditation is most recommended for the full spiritual experience, but even the simple relaxation technique of sitting quietly and focusing your mind on your breathing will bring about increased wellbeing. For truly life-altering results, meditation should be practiced every day, for at least 20-30 minutes. More dedicated practitioners meditate much longer, about 90 minutes a day at least. Black Bird Yoga Lesson: discover and practice meditation and blow away your destructive thoughts and emotions! The White Bird The White Bird represents the avatar concept. The word “avatar” literally means “the down-crosser” or, in other words, a being who comes from the transcendental realm to our earthly domain to impart transcendental knowledge and wisdom – and, having completed the mission then “flies off”. Like the White Bird, the most important aspect of avatars is not simply their presence, but the teachings they leave behind, which, when properly placed, explode our ignorance, our destructive tendencies and, ultimately, our forgetfulness of our spiritual nature. In Yoga there is a balance between reason and revelation. An avatar brings revelation: knowledge of things beyond the purview of our senses and reason, like knowledge of the soul, of the Divine, of life in transcendence, and of how to be ultimately fulfilled and happy. Yet it’s understood in the Yoga tradition that the revealed knowledge must also meet the criteria of good sense, of reason, logic, and even direct experience. The world has suffered greatly due to an imbalance of reason and revelation. Too much dependence on reason, while ignoring revelation, leads to crass materialism and a shallow existence. Dependence on so-called revelation that contradicts reason and good sense, has brought and continues to bring humanity great suffering in the form of fanaticism, religious violence and human rights violations. The delicate balance of reason and revelation can bring humanity to its fullest potential. White Bird Yoga Lesson: Blind doubt is as bad as blind faith – seek the deeper wisdom and knowledge brought from above by authentic avatars, but use your reason, good sense and even direct experience to validate it! to be continued…   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Sivarama Swami: On Govinda Swami’s request I gave in to temptation H.H. Sivarama Swami: On Govinda Swami’s request I gave in to temptation On Govinda Swami’s request I gave in to temptation May 6th, 2011 Are we safer off without Osama Bin Laden? [ 11:08 ] 12 Responses to “On Govinda Swami’s request I gave in to temptation” Braja Sevaki dd says: May 6, 2011 at 2:15 pm You don’t seriously believe he’s dead? The man worked for the CIA in 1979 to help the US government route the Soviets out of Arab countries. He’s the patsy for the government destruction of the twin towers: an act of “terrorism” created so they could go to war with Iraq and wrestle the oil control from them. And now you actually believe Barack Obama can find this guy and kill him? Please…. Govinda Swami says: May 7, 2011 at 4:45 am Bravo, well said. It has been said that we need to be the change which we want to see in the world. Thanks for clearly stating the fact. kaustubh sastikar says: May 7, 2011 at 5:07 am osama bin laden was nothing but an extension of america’s ugra karma(karmic reaction) kaustubh sastikar says: May 7, 2011 at 5:13 am wonderful insight and opinion by sivaram maharaj. jai prabhupada ! Pancha Tattva dasa says: May 8, 2011 at 6:26 am “Osama Bin Laden is a symbol of the world’s karma.” Great point, Maharaja. And yes, Mother Braja Devaki, he’s dead and gone – to his next birth. Sometimes I wonder how many Americans, should they get a human birth in their next life, are bound for a mother in Iraq or Afghanistan. And vice-versa. Anyway, love the comments about karma, Maharaja. Hare Krishna. YS, PTD Prananatha das says: May 8, 2011 at 8:35 pm Bin Laden died a decade ago according to US Govt insider information. So we just have to look back at the last 10 years to see if we’re any safer. Was the world a safe and peaceful place? Not from what I’ve seen. Bin Laden or no Bin Laden, this place, is not safe. A Shah says: May 8, 2011 at 10:44 pm Hare Krishna, all glories to Srila Prabupada and assembled devotees. I often wonder,all around us we see quarrel and destruction, the decline if this world daily, I then think to my self “actually Amit, why are you so surprised and disstressed, we’re in Kali Yuga, don’t be so surprised” so I’m confused now, when I hear of bad things on the news etc etc, should I get worried and distressed that all these bad things are happening? Or should I nod my head and say to myself, actually I’m not surprised at all, it was bound to happen? I look forward to your thoughts. Amit (East London, Redbridge) gina says: May 9, 2011 at 11:44 pm Braja Devaki don’t give in to unintelligent conspiracy theories! The Moon landing is one thing (??).. this is completely something else. He is dead. Maharaja is very clear on the cause of so much human suffering – especially our treatment of other living entites – it goes on and on, and so another ‘Bin Laden’ will arise, another symbol of the worlds karma. Who knows what they will do in the future (meaning not just terrorists, but any of the worlds powers) the twin towers, will be nothing in comparison. Braja Sevaki dd says: May 13, 2011 at 10:16 am Gina, bless your little heart :) I’d argue the “unintelligent” accusation if only it had some merit… By the way, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says, “Inexperienced perception cannot substantiate the truth.” Meditate on that. Braja Sevaki dd says: May 13, 2011 at 10:17 am btw, Gina, when you insult me in future, can you please spell my name properly? It’s Sevaki, not Devaki. Only I’ve had that name possibly longer than you’ve been alive (judging by the tone of your letters), so a little respect for my spiritual master’s choice, please…. Nancy Kaufmann says: May 16, 2011 at 12:09 am Any intelligent person surely must agree that Osama bin Laden’s death cannot make the world a safer place. It’s a pity he could not have been taken alive and then tried in a world court. Of course Osama bin Laden’s evil should be viewed within the kaliyuga, but proper perspective is called for here. Please do not pin the smoking deaths of a million Indians on the US. Where is the tobacco company anywhere in the world that operates with international constraints? Slowly the US has managed to clamp down on domestic use of tobacco. Ashtrays are dinosaur in the US today. India can do the same if there is will to do so. gina says: May 16, 2011 at 11:44 pm Dear Bhaja Sevaki, Accept my obeisances, I would not offend the devotees of the Lord for anything!! Another devotee above the post I wrote (Pancha Tattva dasa), had used the name Devaki, so I must have got confused. I was not intending to be in any way offensive. I consider that Bin Laden is dead. Maharaja thinks so too. I don’t know how ‘long you have been alive ‘ but I am in my 55th year in this body! I have lived in many ashrams in Isckon. I visit Soho St quite alot, would be nice to meet you if you are there?? In any case, again, please forgive any unintentional offence. H.H. Sivarama Swami: On Govinda Swami’s request I gave in to temptation   • Email to a friend • •   Mayapur Online: First day of Chandan Yatra Darshan- Natabara! Imagine you are in Vrindavan, right in Mayur Kunj, and Sri Sri Radha-Krishna reveal Their dancing pastimes, taking the forms of a Peacock and Peahen, dancing in the forest groves! We all could have a glimpse of entrance into the transcendental realm of Vrindavan today on the beautiful Chandan Yatra dasrhan of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava. read more   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Sivarama Swami We should always remember that Krsna consciousness is a challenge to the modern disguised human society, and we have to meet many unfavorable incidents. But if we are sincere to Krsna and the spiritual master, combinedly then everything will be favorably settled. - Srila Prabhupada   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Sivarama Swami So there is test for knowing if I am pleasing Krishna: If He reveals Himself to me, if I see Krishna, then I know I am pleasing Krishna. And another test is if my Spiritual Master is pleased by my service then I know that I am pleasing Krishna; it is very simple, because if I am following the prescribed regulative principles of my Spiritual Master, then without doubt I am pleasing him. - Srila Prabhupada   • Email to a friend • •   Ananda Subramanian, Iowa, USA: What is surrender? Surrender to Krishna means to take shelter of Krishna in such a way that it is beyond all common sense, logic and human intelligence. Every day we have to use common sense and logic and intelligence to do even the simplest things of this world. We are trained from birth to behave and make decisions based on acquired intelligence and logic. Having thus been trained from birth; in schools, with parents, friends, our careers etc it is not not possible to go outside our realm of logic and intelligence. But what Krishna is expecting from us through surrender is that we come out of this realm of logic and intelligence, put faith in His words and trust Him in all conditions. So for example when we are in difficulty the common sense thing to do is to defend ourselves or seek help but a pure devotee who is in full surrender will immediately not think of saving Himself but will immediately take shelter of Krishna seeking His protection. Such an action is devoid of common sense logic. When there is help, we seek it in a reflex way but a devotee will only meditate on the Lord immediately when in danger. Actually a devotee constantly meditates on the Lord’s glories in danger or not. The reason one should go beyond common sense logic is because Krishna is beyond common sense and common logic. Krishna lifted a 25 mile round mountain when He was 7 years old. Which 7 seven year old can do that? It defies common sense. Krishna is beyond material analysis and thinking. Krishna is beyond our human intelligence. When we have faith that Krishna is indeed Supreme in this way, immediately we will meditate on Krishna beyond common sense and take shelter of Him at all times in that way. The famous example of Prahlad comes to mind where instead of using common sense to protect himself from danger, he simply prayed to Krishna for shelter…rest assured Krishna saved him in all circumstances. Following in Prahlad’s footsteps, we also have to surrender to Krishna in this way beyond common sense, logic and human intelligence. Henceforth, for this reason people with advanced degrees or for that matter material minded people find it hard to “believe” in a personal God who is guiding everything with Supreme intelligence. Hare Krishna   • Email to a friend • •   ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Bhakti Sara Dasa Srimad Bhagavatam 12.6.30-31 - Bhakti is a win-win situation (nehabhikrama-naso 'sti pratyavayo na vidyate...).   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Sivarama Swami: On Small Farms, Hoof Power Returns SRS: For reasons of necessity if not for reasons of dharma, oxen are making a return. http://nyti.ms/lDJnUk   • Email to a friend • •   ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Visiting Sannyasi Dear Devotees, our Melbourne Temple is pleased to inform you that Janananda Goswami will be holding a special class for all Bhakti Vriksha members in the Temple Room, tomorrow, 7th May at 3pm. Maharaja will also be giving Srimad Bhagavatam class tomorrow, Sunday and Monday morning. Please gather to drink the nectar of Janananda Goswami's wisdom through our ears.   • Email to a friend • •   Mukunda Charan das, SA: Krishna Das Kaviraja Maharaja Establishes That Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Is Krishna (Part 1) Yad advaitam brahmopanisadi tad apy asya tanu-bha/ya atmantaryami purusa iti so ‘syamsa-vibhavah/sad-aisvaryaih purno ya iha bhagavan sa svayam ayam/na caitanyat krsnaj jagati para-tattvam param iha ‘What the Upanisads describe as the impersonal Brahman is but the effulgence of his body, and the Lord known as the Supersoul is but His localized plenary portion.  He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna Himself, full with six opulences.  He is the Absolute Truth, and no other truth is greater than or equal to Him’  [Sri Caitanya-Caritamrita, Adi-lila 1.3 (verse three of the 14 verse mangalacarana or introductory invocation] Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi-Lila, Chapter 2, is basically a lengthy purport to this third verse of the mangalacarana .  Krishna Das Kaviraja Maharaja argues that Lord Chaitanya is none other than Krishna Himself - or Narayana (not Vaikuntha Narayana, but Krishna who is also called Narayana).  A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has, therefore, aptly entitled this chapter: ‘Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead’. The Vaishnava acaryas (spiritual masters) are always trying to establish the siddhanta (spiritual conclusions) of the guru-parampara.  The word parampara means ‘chain’.  The guru-parampara is an unbroken line of spiritual masters that goes all the way back to the original spiritual master, or guru – Lord Krishna.  Hence the saying, ‘Guru is one’.  In other words, the guru simply represents Krishna and Krishna’s teachings.  Krishna and His representatives (the guru-parampara) try to establish, amongst other things: Krishna’s position as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supremacy of devotional service and the authenticity of the disciplic succession. Krishna Das Kaviraja Maharaja begins his argument in Adi-Lila 2.9: ‘He whom Srimad Bhagavatam (SB) describes as the son of Nanda Maharaja has descended to earth as Lord Caitanya’.  CC Adi-Lila Chapter 2 gives the supporting argument to this statement. In order to establish that Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kaviraja Maharaja has to establish Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna Das Kaviraja describes the three features of the Lord, as they appear in Verse 3 of the mangalacarana - Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan.  He also quotes SB 1.2.11: vadanti tat tattva-vidas/tattvam yaj jnanam advayam/brahmeti paramatmeti/bhagavan iti sabdyate - ‘Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth say that it is nondual knowledge and is called impersonal Brahman, localized Paramatma and the Personality of Godhead.’  He then proceeds, quoting scripture,  to distinguish the incomplete realizations of the Absolute truth – Brahman and Paramatma – from the complete realization, namely Bhagavan. Filed under: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Tagged: bhagavata purana, brahman, chaitanya mahaprabhu, chaitanya mahaprabhu is krishna, disciplic succession, postaweek2011, Srimad Bhagavatam, upanisads   • Email to a friend • •   Japa Group: Most Important Is To Always Chant Of the nine processes of devotional service, the most important is to always chant the holy name. If one does so, avoiding the ten kinds of offenses, one very easily obtains the most valuable love of Godhead. Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Antya 4.71   • Email to a friend • •   Vraja Kishor, JP: Rules or Passion? Image via Wikipedia There are two types of devotion – one type is pushed by the need to follow rules, the other is pushed by the need to love Krsna. The first is called vaidhi-bhakti, the second raganuga-bhakti. The utility of vaidhi bhakti is very limited unless it is a smaller component within raganuga-bhakti. Vaidhi bhakti does not allow one to develop love for Krsna in Vrindavan, it instead allows one to develop love for a Narayana expansion of Krsna in Vaikuntha. To push someone to follow a rule, simply out of the idea that following rules is a good thing, is therefore a relatively useless endeavor. Ragabhakti (the passion to love Krsna) can be aquired by hearing about the extreme attractiveness of Krsna, it does not come by following or not following rules. It has nothing at all to do with rules. Hearing Krsna’s enchanting pastimes, hearing about his extraordinary qualities, observing his wonderful beauty, and participating in the singing of his lovely name – these are the things that give rise to the type of divine devotion that is not pushed by a need to observe rules and regulations, but is instead motivated passionately by a urge to love Krsna more and more directly. All efforts should be directed towards this goal, there is no need to ask people to follow rules, especially arbitrary ones. We should instead ask people to hear and chant about Krsna. That is the best medicine for all ills. All the rules are regulations automatically and spontaneously follow a person who has sincere affection for Sri Krsna.   • Email to a friend • •   Gouranga TV: Harinama with Jayadev prabhu (Barnaul 2011) Harinama with Jayadev prabhu (Barnaul 2011)   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 301—Poem for May 5 www.sdgonline.org. 5:03 A.M. A Writer of Pieces New format—I will begin with a poem written on the day of its printing. Then I will print random excerpts of books I have printed over the last 35 years. I hope this variety will be pleasing. Poem for May 5 Narayana is gone, it’s just Baladeva and I. He comes up the stairs faithfully at 4:00 A.M., and we share our tender relationship. Sanatana escaped from jail. Prabhupada used to lecture on this section in the mornings in 1966, and end each lecture with a cliffhanger, ‘To be continued.’ He stopped at a hotel and the man was going to kill him for his eight gold coins, but Sanatana went to him and gave him the coins and said, ‘Help me to get over the hilly tract.’ The man complied. In my Deity worship I wave the incense before Radharani and recite Her qualities of loveliness, the best lover of Krishna, we want to serve Her in the spiritual world. Then I turn to Krishna, see the lines on His neck and His pearly flute, think how He is captured by Radha’s love, but that is His own doing. He’s the independent original Enjoyer and the cause of all causes. I ply my trade after looking at other poets, hope to pick up their honesty and grace. I write from a small place with no extraordinary news, only my satisfaction with the music in my ears, the satisfaction of living alone in a devotee neighborhood where yesterday it rained and I couldn’t walk. Today I receive my yoga Thai massage from T. J. and talk with him  about his life I am content to stay in my station and pray to Hanuman to counteract Ketu and to inspire me to write of devotees in my life and something sincerely felt for Prabhupada.   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): OLD FRIENDS www.sdgonline.org. From Lessons from the Road, Volume I “Bir Krishna Maharaja is extending to me all the etiquette given to a Vedic guest. He asked if there was anything I needed, such as a chair to sit on during mangala arati. And he asked me to give all the classes. “In the Srimad-Bhagavatam class this morning there was a statement about the Lord’s rasa, and I asked Bir Krishna Swami and Gopiparanadhana Prabhu to speak after my lecture. The verse is a prayer by Lord Brahma in which he states, ‘I offer my obeisances unto Him who by His pastimes enjoys the creation, maintenance and dissolution of the cosmic manifestation.’ The question I asked was how Krishna can be engaged in rasa enjoyment with the material world, since it involves so much suffering of the living entities. “Bir Krishna Maharaja stated that we should not think of the material world simply as punishment for the living entities. It is also an auspicious chance for them to become rectified through punishment and through the Lord’s mercy and thus go back to Godhead. “This reminded me of the prayers by the Vedas personified at the beginning of creation. The Vedas personified say that of all the Lord’s qualities, the most wonderful is His compassion, which He exhibits when He opens the creation again. If the Lord did not make creation, then how could the conditioned souls have a chance to go back to Godhead? They cannot be forced to go back to Godhead, but they have to be given a chance while in the course of their material enjoyment to change their will towards surrender to Krishna. “Gopiparanadhana Prabhu said that this controversy of whether the Lord enjoys the sufferings of the living entities created a schism in the Sri sampradaya in the thirteenth century. He said that in our sampradaya we understand that Krishna is always kind toward His parts and parcels. If they are suffering, it is part of the large plan of the Lord. “This reminded me of an incident in Prabhupada’s boyhood. Prabhupada described that once when he was being very independent and naughty, he would not allow his mother to bathe him. He began banging his head on the ground, and blood came. At that moment a neighbor came and accused Prabhupada’s mother of cruelty. But actually the mother was simply taking care of her naughty child. And even if the mother punishes the child, that is also a partial display of her ‘rasa’—loving, caring, and sometimes reprimanding the dependent child. Similarly, we should see how Krishna is always transcendental and always relating with good intentions towards the jivas. “Bir Krishna Swami and I drove to a separate parcel of land, one hundred and twenty acres owned by a devotee who is selling parcels to other grhastha devotees. They have a few cows also. As we walked around the pastures, I asked Bir Krishna how he kept his determination for his chosen project even when others tell him he had to do something else. He admitted that he has been hurt by criticism from devotees who think that he should do something ‘more,’ but he grits his teeth and goes on trying to please Srila Prabhupada in the way he thinks best. Yesterday he had mentioned a Godbrother who he said was ‘still looking for his niche in Krishna consciousness.’ Since Bir Krishna seems to me to be one who has found what he wants to do, I asked him what did he think would be the symptoms of a devotee who has found his niche? We agreed that such a devotee should be satisfied with his work, and other Vaisnavas should also be satisfied with his service. Of course, our service should be something directed by Srila Prabhupada and recognizable and genuine part of his mission. We also admitted that it is sometimes hard whether to follow the guidance of a Godbrother or to decide for ourselves what should be done to please our spiritual master. “I showed Bir Krishna Swami some letters I received from devotees in European countries. They are invitations for me to become initiating gurus. One of the letters is from a national council and states that I have ‘been mentioned as a possible choice for a presentation of nine spiritual masters from which new devotees may choose.’ Another devotee writes me on his own and asks me if I will initiate him ‘so I can get strength in my sadhana-bhakti and feel that I am linked with the parampara.’ I was feeling doubtful about accepting these invitations because it isn’t likely that I can visit those countries. Bir Krishna Swami has strong opinions on this matter, and now I am even more disinclined to accept the invitations to initiate. “Bir Krishna Swami explained his understanding that a spiritual master should be one who practically guides the disciple and trains him. He said he would never initiate someone if he could not have a say in how that devotee was engaged in practical devotional service. I have already initiated in many cases where I do not regularly guide the disciples in their daily activities. But do I want to continue this? Bir Krishna Maharaja also encouraged me, however, that by writing books I am personally training disciples in chanting, reading, Vaisnava behavior, thinking of Prabhupada, how to be Krishna conscious while ill, how to preach, etc. “Radha-Golokananda, the Deities of Hillsborough, North Carolina, are very beautiful and Their servant Bir Krishna Swami is very proud of Them. This morning at mangala arati, They wore bright-red mandarin dresses. Krishna appears like a description of Him given in a Caitanya-caritamrta purport: ‘The residents of Vaikuntha have brilliantly black complexions more fascinating and attractive than the dull white and black complexions found in the material world . . . their bodies are delicate and attractively built, and their eyes are like the petals of lotus flowers. “Srimati Radharani has a special smile! I am sure if one was to serve here, he would eventually come more and more under the influence of Her smile. But even on first impressions, She is very attractive. “Now we are leaving: Krishna in the mandarin, Radha’s in red.” From A Visit to Jagannatha Puri: A Pilgrimage Journal Gate-visiting “From Sarvbabhauma’s house, we visited the Sweta-ghat, where we saw a pretty, white-spotted deer, the pet of some sadhus. There were also some bathers and Deity worship. We sat on the shore of the ghat and discussed Sarvabhauma’s pastimes with Lord Caitanya and concluded that it would take a great devotee-scholar to unearth all the sites which seem to have been lost or demolished over the last five hundred years. “From the ghat we went to see the gates of Jagannatha Temple, starting with the horse gate, which is the south gate. The horses are recent additions contributed by one donor. The man at the gate said the horse riders are Krishna and Balarama appearing as Kalki to kill the demons. One of the riders is bluish, and his horse rears up, crushing underneath its front feet a muscular demon. At the other side of the gate is a whitish figure also attacking a demon. Nearby this gate is an orange Hanuman who is being worshiped in a roadside temple. The Deity is about ten feet tall, and the priests sell ghee lamps to offer to Hanuman. All these awesome Deities are for the protection of the temple. The tiger gate is the west gate. The tigers are not as nicely tended to or painted as the horses, but they seem to be original forms hundreds of years old. Near this gate is a temple of Sita-Rama, where there is a continuous kirtana. The Deity is three-quarter bas-relief , and on top of it is  a relief series showing the ten incarnations. In the place where Krishna and Balarama appear (between Buddha and Kalki), Balarama is in His usual whitish form, but the form of Krishna is Lord Jagannatha, manifesting two feet, standing on a lotus. The north gate is the elephant gate but is not directly accessible. There is an outer gate before you can reach the elephant gate, and so you can only look through it and see in the distance two blue elephants. We did not visit the Simha-dvara gate, the main gate that faces east, since we’d already seen it. “Wherever we go, we hear many different and sometimes contradictory versions of the origins and history of the different Deities, gates and lilas. It is best to stick to Caitanya-caritamrta and look for whatever one can to corroborate those authoritative descriptions. Whatever else we hear from the priests is interesting, and we don’t offer any counter-arguments, but after visiting many places it becomes bewildering. “Also bewildering are the density of population, the human suffering of those with physical maladies, the loud music from a wedding pandal and the man wearing a brahmana thread across his bare chest and walking down the street with a fat fish in his right hand. And it’s also bewildering to consider cultural relativities—in the West our shaven heads and sikhas are the oddities, while here our dress and sikhas are normal, but the light color of our skin is very odd. “Puri Miscellany “A new, unusually large red flag appeared today over the Jagannatha temple. They say it is a donation by a pious businessman. The flag has two streamers which look about a hundred feet long. “As we find our way around Puri, shopping and touring, we begin to notice numerous little temples of Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. There are many stores named after Jagannatha; a hotel Subhadra, a bus named Baladeva. So the Lord’s darsana is available if one is looking for it. The police jeeps have the eyes and tilaka of Lord Jagannatha painted on the center of their windshields. Over doorways of houses are painted the words ‘Wel-Come’ and the figures of Jagannatha.” From Human at Best “Here is a verse praising the good fortune of life on earth: “‘Since the human form of life is the sublime position for spiritual realization, all the demigods in heaven speak this way: “How wonderful it is for these human beings to have been born in the land of Bharata-varsha. They must have executed pious acts of austerity in the past, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead must have been pleased with them. Otherwise, how could they engage in devotional service in so many ways? We demigods can only aspire to achieve human birth in Bharata-varsha to execute devotional service, but these himan beings are already engaged there.”’ (Bhag. 5.9.21) “Don’t take it for yourself, but distribute it to others. The demigods lament and admit that they waste their lives in sense gratification, even though it is a rarified version. Srila Prabhupada makes it clear in other places that by religious systems, one gets elevated to heavenly planets and then drops down to the material planets, but an earthling who takes to Krishna consciousness can go directly back to Godhead. But yes, you have to fully surrender. Then Krishna will take charge of you and relieve you of your past karma. “Dear Lord, I would like to do that. Not come back as a jazzman, Buddhist, charmer and prince. Not think at the end that I have been writing with plenitude, irony and Augustinian grace. “But yet emptied out and in poverty and full faith, turn to Srila Prabhupada. Please forgive me for my offenses, please bring me to Vrndavana, to Krishna—the Krishna who came in a vision to Srila Prabhupada during his heart attack on the Jaladuta. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna. “Surrender to Krishna right here and now, being who you are. Face yourself. If you try to make dramatic changes in your character or habits, they probably won’t last. We have to live with our personal temperaments too, and those temperaments drive us more than we may think. When we were younger, we did so many things we feel we can’t do now. ISKCON has also  changed. So face yourself and offer what you find, not what you wish you found. That requires that you are at least somewhat happy with what you see—that is, if you want to make it an offering. It requires overcoming the restless that comes from thinking that you should be something other than what you are. Accept self-truth. ‘You have made your bed, now lie in it,’ the saying goes. And we each have made a bed in which to lie in this lifetime. Therefore, within the limited sphere we have been offered in this lifetime,  chant, hear, follow the spiritual master and preach on his behalf. But do it as yourself. Find from that place what would give Srila Prabhupada pleasure and try to do that. “We should each do what we really like to do, and then we won’t fall down. It has to be something within Krishna consciousness, authorized, but we will thrive on what we love. That shouldn’t have been denied to the devotee. “For the Glory of Krishna “For the glory of Krishna, I’ll go into the art room and play Prabhupada bhajanas while creatures creep onto the page with those Sanskrit letters, sure enough. “Your life, your life, your hands are trembling. Sometimes I twitch. I think it’s far out, like a person getting omens or ecstasies. It’s involuntary. Maybe the right leg will go, or an eye, an arm. I always notice what is happening, what someone said at the moment the twitch comes. I don’t tell anyone about it, but ‘the body doesn’t lie.’ “What are you going to read, man? Or hear? or do? You’re a combination of west and east, of devotee and nondevotee, of unsurrendered and true, hurt and unhurt. “Fill up your senses and mind with the lilas and qualities of Lord Caitanya and Krishna. Learn and become simple scholars, lovers of the Lord. As for your Western mindset, that too can be useful. It can rescue us from unchaste speech.”   • Email to a friend • •   Vraja Kishor, JP: The Brilliance of Thousands of Suns (Gita 11.12) “If, in the sky, thousands of Suns came together at once It might be something like the brilliant effulgence of that great being.” दिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य भवेद् युगपदुत्थिता । यदि भाः सदृशी सा स्याद् भासस्तस्य महातमनः ।। If you were never at a Deep Purple concert, in the front row, you would have no idea how loud it was. But someone who was there could give you a very good idea by comparing it to something you did experience. Let’s say you went to a Metallica concert once and thought it was loud. So the person could say, “You know that Metallica concert you went to? Well, Deep Purple concerts were twice as loud!” That is exactly what is going on in this text. The narrator of the Gita is seeing in his vision-trance the tremendous Universal Form of the “Great Being” – God, and he is trying to convey to his audience just how brilliantly effulgent and bright it is. We have no idea, because we are not seeing it, but we do know how bright the Sun is. So the narrator says, “You know the Sun you see up there in the sky? Well, if thousands of them came together up there at once it  might resemble the brilliant effulgence of this divine being.” Can we see this form directly with our own eyes? Yes. It requires a quest however. The normal blindness of the material eyes must be cured, then the Universal Form of Kṛṣṇa becomes abundantly seen all around, directly – and there is no need for metaphor. Without this “divine vision” it is impossible to fully visualize, even in our imagination, what the Universal Form looks like. But if we apply our devotion to it, try sincerely to meditate upon the metaphoric descriptions, our imaginations can attract divine mercy and thereupon can begin to directly envision the same sight that the narrator of Bhagavad Gita is envisioning. Why is Kṛṣṇa’s universal form so bright? Because Kṛṣṇa is the one and only “shaktiman” – he is the one and only possessor of all energies. Energy is always bright. The Sun is a sustained, controlled explosion of nuclear energy. Fire is energy. Electricity is energy (lightning is bright). Energy is always bright. Why? Because brightness is caused by the motion of particles, and the waves that result. Energy initiates motion, thereby causing brightness. So energy is always bright. Kṛṣṇa is so brilliantly bright because everything that exists – every Sun in every sky, every lightning bolt, etc. all energy that exists is his energy. This is what I would like to remember and perceive directly when I contemplate the dazzling brilliance of that great soul, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Energy exists to fulfill the purpose of its source. We exert energy to get a task done. Energy is always connected to the accomplishment of a task. When energy does not have a clear and productive task, there is dangerous current in the electrical system. A living thing with unproductive energy experiences frustration and depression. Kṛṣṇa is so very bright because all energy belongs to him. That means you too, and me too. And that is something I am happy about. E every energy is his energy. From this statement the key to attaining true happiness and joy can be discovered! The key is that all energy must be used to accomplish his tasks. This produces ānanda or “bliss.” What is Kṛṣṇa’s task? Rasa. “Rasa” is ānanda being fully enjoyed at its peak. To enjoy rasa is Kṛṣṇa’s only task. It is therefore our only task, since we are Kṛṣṇa’s energy. This means that the purpose of life is bliss. There is no other reason to exist. Bliss is experienced when we give all our energy to Kṛṣṇa’s enjoyment of Rasa. How does Kṛṣṇa enjoy Rasa? Through prema. “Prema” is love. The highest bliss is enjoyed by the energy used to relish pure, selfless love. The bright brilliance of Kṛṣṇa’s universal form reminds me that I really desire to give all my energy 100% to Kṛṣṇa in the shape of pouring towards him infinite, pure spontaneous love. That love is more brilliant than a thousand suns rising together in the sky. May such a brilliant outpouring of love erupt always from my heart, and from yours! Hari bol.   • Email to a friend • • More Recent Articles H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Friday 6 May 2011--The Absolute Necessity of Initiation--and--Composition of Bodies in Spiritual World Dandavats.com: TOVP Donation list & Akshaya Tritiya: The Day of Giving Dandavats.com: Sponsorship details of Nrisimhadev App. day festival! Dandavats.com: Śrī Śrī Jagannath-Baladev-Subhadra Come To Live In Newly Donated Iskcon Centre In Tenali, Andhra Pradesh, India Dandavats.com: VIDEO: Initiation of B. College students by Kadamba Kanana Swami

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