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"Planet ISKCON" - 40 new articles
- H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Friday 11 March 2011--Pure Devotees Don't Fall Down--and--Are Indian Gurus Superior?
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Kadamba Kanana Swami
- Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Recipe : Vegan Tofu & Brussel Sprouts à la Easy
- Australian News: Disclosure: My Own Heart-Care Techniques
- Australian News: Kadamba Kanana Swami download extravaganza 2011
- ISKCON News.com: Continuing Divide in Views of Islam and Violence
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 245—Poem for March 10
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): Old Friends
- Japa Group: Japa Retreat - Krsna's Response
- Toronto Sankirtan Team, CA: 22nd Monthly Sankirtan Festival - Setting the Mood
- Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: "Hare Rama, Hare Krishna" movie
- Mukunda Charan das, SA: Avatari
- Mukunda Charan das, SA: Avatares
- Jahnavi, UK: The Perfect Family
- Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: One of New Vrindaban’s Senior Cows
- Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Contest : Win Human Made Strawberry Jam!
- H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: TOWACO LECTURES SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM CANTO 10, CHAPTER 2, TEXT 35
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga is coming! Gauranga! {Part 2 of 11}
- Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: ¡Gauranga! ¡Gauranga! ¡Gauranga está viniendo! ¡Gauranga! {Parte 2 de 11}
- H.H. Sivarama Swami: But can we really, fully appreciate each other while we are together? Not quite!
- H.H. Sivarama Swami: Talking to Turkish devotees about Mukunda Maharaja’s “Miracles” book. (English/Turkish)
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 244—Morning Poem, March 9
- Dandavats.com: Live From Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir! HH Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami
- H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): Old Friends
- H.H. Sivarama Swami: Someone asked if I would sing more of that song from the podcast with a Harivamsa rendering – don’t know how it will go down. This is as much of it as I remember.
- Dandavats.com: The Best Kept Secret in Las Vegas
- Toronto Sankirtan Team, CA: Ceto Darpan Marjanam - Gaura Purnima Special Monthly Temple Cleanup!
- Dandavats.com: om4me.com the body and soul marketplace
- Dandavats.com: Our temple needs the up-coming new Vaisnava calendar
- Dandavats.com: Searching for the right fit
- Dandavats.com: Video: Rasanath Das on Practice of Monasticism in a World of Business
- Gouranga TV: Nadia Mani devi dasi Kirtana
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Initiation - 09/03/11
- More Recent Articles
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H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Friday 11 March 2011--Pure Devotees Don't Fall Down--and--Are Indian Gurus Superior?
A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course(tm) Friday 11 March 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. 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: Pure Devotees Don't Fall Down Uploaded from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA One who is solidly fixed in Krishna consciousness never falls down because he is constantly relishing within his heart a sweetness which surpasses by millions, billions, and even trillions of times the happiness derived from material sense gratification. Even if he were offered heavenly enjoyment in the upper planetary systems where the pleasure is thousands of times greater than the pleasure on this planet, he would still not be allured because even one drop of the ocean of transcendental bliss is more satisfying and uplifting than unlimited oceans of sensual pleasure. Sankarshan Das Adhikari The Pure Devotee Relishes Unlimited Transcendental Bliss http://www.backtohome.com/images/Prabhupada/prabhupada_smiling.jpg Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Are Indian Gurus Superior? There are some devotees in ISKCON saying that the Indian gurus are more bona fide than the Western gurus. So can you please give some sastric proof that this is not a correct statement? Your servant, Gopati Krishna Dasa Seremban, Malaysia Answer: Hell's Residents Make Such Distinctions Anyone who judges the authenticity of a spiritual master based of his body type has a hellish, racist mentality and is completely unqualified to understand who is a bona fide spiritual master and who is not. This is confirmed as follows in the Padma Purana: One who thinks that the worshipable Deity in the temple is made of wood or stone, one who sees a Vaisnava guru as an ordinary human being, or one who materially conceives of a Vaisnava as belonging to a particular caste is naraki, a resident of hell. Since the first principle of spiritual knowledge is that we are not these bodies, it is unthinkable that any members of ISKCON could be thinking this way. Kindly report this matter to the local ISKCON authorities where this misconception is going on so that these misinformed persons can be brought to the proper standard of spiritual knowledge. Otherwise there is no question of their being able to make any spiritual advancement. 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 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:
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ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Kadamba Kanana Swami
Srimad Bhagavatam 12.2.6 - Srimad Bhagavatam brings about a revolution in the impious lives of this world's misdirected civilization (tad-vag-visargo janatagha-viplavo).
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Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Recipe : Vegan Tofu & Brussel Sprouts à la Easy
With a newish baby in the house, two young kids, a husband and our extended family flying in to visit practically every week, we really need to simplify. Meals cookable in a jiff are my total baby slinging bff. Here’s … Continue reading
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Australian News: Disclosure: My Own Heart-Care Techniques
Posted to Facebook by HH Devamrita Swami
Let’s face it, material existence is a scorching desert that offers only illusory succor. When will we learn that karmic activity will never supply the solace our interior so hungrily desires.
While sojourning through this world of broken dreams, I keep an eye on my heart, monitoring its levels, mindful of its constant need for bhakti moisturisation, amid the nonstop dehydrating effect of material nature.
I’d be quite foolish to put my heart “on auto pilot,” while mechanically executing devotional service. A young devotee can get away with this for a while, but as the years of spiritual practice roll by, our personal responsibility for our own “heartiness” increases. That is the way of a deepening relationship—becoming a dependable partner in bhakti reciprocation.
Here’s what I do, to keep my heart fit for serving Krishna:
1. Feel no hesitation to helplessly dive into the Holy Name; feel no shame to admit my vulnerability and run to the mahamantra, as a child runs crying to mother.
2. Impel the parched heart to seek refuge in the nectarean floodwaters of Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrita.
3. As the mainstay, cultivate the association of inspiring Godbrothers, even if it means going out of my way; “no swami is an island.”
4. As a subordinate measure, value the enthusiastic association and assistance of dedicated disciples, etc., who through thick and thin work to advance Srila Prabhupada’s mission.
5. Meditate upon the heart of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the abode of anxiousness to rescue the Kali-yuga citizens and the emotions of Srimati Radharani
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Australian News: Kadamba Kanana Swami download extravaganza 2011
Hare Krishna Canberra have done it again with veritable storm of downloads available for your listening pleasure and spiritual nourishment. The Kadamba Kanana Swami extravaganza is happening right now with MP3′s galore and a Flickr stream of photo’s just waiting for you to play/download and absorb the nectar from the sounds of HH Kadamba Kanana Swami.
Click on the link below as soon as you can to crank up a downloadathon.
Clear disk space then click here fast http://www.harekrishnacanberra.com/home/?p=1896
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ISKCON News.com: Continuing Divide in Views of Islam and Violence
The American public remains divided over whether Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers. Currently, 40% say the Islamic religion is more likely than others to encourage violence while 42% say it is not.
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ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
On the special request of a special devotee, today we have close-ups of each of our Salagram Silas but...
we can't promise that it will be a daily recurrence; so please have a good look at Them while They're here.
Also, you can have a glimpse of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai's cascading curls on the side view and of the distinct facial expressions of Sri Sri Radha Ballabha from less than 2-feet away!
Without any further delay, here is today's darsana.
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H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 245—Poem for March 10
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 30 years. I hope this variety will be pleasing.
Poem for March 10
Statue of Liberty spikes
in her head on a postage
stamp I gaze at on my desk.
Without a nap this morning
because I took too long
in chanting sixteen rounds of
mechanical japa.No time for a nap. Saci
will be here soon and
read the Krishna book at breakfast
and then a nine o’clock massage.No time for a nap so
you remain tired
spaced out, can’t
think of the Lord.
That requires energy to focus on Their
lotus feet.It’s raining out, that
makes it worse, no
sunshine. But I
am close to Krishna
anyway, in my mind
despite my head, I
am making the supreme effort to think of Him.That’s what we’re meant
to do. You should
have taken a nap to
give you strength
to meditate on Krishna
instead of writing
a meandering poem.
Go to bed now for a
few minutes so you
can think of Him.• Email to a friend •
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): Old Friends
From Japa Walks, Japa Talks
“It rained on my walk this morning. I decided to leave my walking stick behind because I can’t juggle so many things at once—the umbrella, my bead bag, and the walking stick tucked under my arm. Often when I start out in rain, it stops halfway through the walk, but this morning it was totally overcast and a tinkle, tinkle sound on the skylight was steady. This morning was so different than yesterday’s luminous moon. Isn’t this similar to the moods we go through from one day to the next in our chanting, what to make of it? Our chanting will be full of light one day then plunged under a cover of cloud and rain the next. Attentive, then inattentive. Bordering on earnest prayer, then becoming a forgetful, mechanical act.
“Remuna dasi said, ‘Japa has developed into a big chore. I know that’s a terrible attitude. I would so love to enjoy and want to chant. When I was given my first set of chanting beads in the temple, I remember being so excited. I couldn’t wait to try them out. I was still living with my parents at the time and would casually tell my mother I was going out for a walk, inwardly excited about the prospect of chanting. This feeling was heightened, I suppose, by the element of secrecy involved. I also remember after I had received harinama initiation: I had soaked my chanting beads in oil, and they were hanging up to dry. I remember looking at them with a great feeling of anticipation: these are the beads I will chant on for the rest of my life.
“‘How I’d love to have these feelings again. I have such difficulty even doing the chanting, never mind concentrating on the holy name. I would like to look forward to the day’s chanting.’
“I feel more prepared to answer this. The days of wonder are not over. When I think back to my own romance with my new red beads, how I used to hold them in my hands and pass them through my fingers—what a feeling of luxury! I was twenty-six years old but imagined myself an old sadhu in India. It’s almost unreal to me now, that early excitement. I wouldn’t trade it for what I have now. I didn’t know then all the obstacles I would have to face. I was also full of naivety. I would continue to go through naive periods where I’d think I had become a man of prayer. But yes, there is something wonderful about that excitement to chant, and yes, we want to recapture it. I think we can recapture it. I haven’t given up hope. What can I advise someone who feels chanting is a chore, who feels so hopeless.
“When Remuna started chanting she was unmarried. Now she has a husband and three children to cook for and a house to maintain. ‘No time to chant. No fresh feeling of surrendering to the Lord in His holy names.’
“One reason we let ourselves lapse like this—and this lapse can last a lifetime—is the sinking feeling that maybe the chanting doesn’t work after all. Most devotees are probably above this doubt, but it may crop up in subtle ways. We have to fight those doubts. Krishna tells Arjuna, ‘This ignorance has come upon you and has produced a doubt. Now rise, Arjuna, and armed with the weapons of yoga, stand and fight.’ Our weapon is the Krishna conscious life itself. Chanting is the weapon against these doubts. Chanting and hearing and service. As we hear from Prabhupada we realize that chanting must remain an important part of our lives. It’s not dependent on our growing older or on whether our original sweet taste seems to fade over the years. Maybe it gets grim, maybe it gets stark, but we push on anyway.
“Have you read about Teresa of Avila? She writes in her autobiography that for the first twenty years of her constant practice of prayer, she felt she made no progress at all. It was all dry, all distraction, and it produced no real symptoms of the increased virtue in her life that she expected. She says she felt that life was beset with frivolity and the tendency to socialize, even while living in a convent. Then after twenty years, things started to change. Krishna gave her mercy.
“If a mystical saint can go through long periods of dryness, why should we complain that the wonder of our bhaktin days is no longer the same?
“Remuna dasi’s complaint has an opposite effect on me. It encourages me. I don’t want to exploit her confession for my own benefit, and I would like to give her solace. So its good that we share feelings and pass positive energy back and forth. We can help each other find hope. That in itself should be infectious. Remuna shouldn’t see her chanting as a dreadful chore. She has to put it in its rightful place. Chanting is as important as taking care of the garden for her husband and children.”
From The Worshipable Deity and Other Poems (1984)
Arca-vigraha (The Worshipable Deity)
“1. Srila Prabhupada
“Because the murti is somehow him,
therefore it is absolutely him.
And any worshiper has the right
to dress, garland, and feed him.
All are chosen servants now—
if you will receive him with care,
he will stay in your home,
giving purpose to a life.“Some nights I surrender,
and he knows, smiles.
I can touch him
and bow down.“One brother said, ‘I realized
Prabhupada was my only friend.’
I lectured to him, ‘No, appreciate others.
You are not alone with only him.’
Now I realize how he was right:
when all else fails, Prabhupada doesn’t.“When I was tired of the world, and no one understood
I appealed to co-workers,
‘Let us always stay together.’
But they joked in reply:
‘Is there a threat if we don’t?’
‘How about a two-year contract?’
Both are true in Prabhupada—
he is keeping us together,
and he is keeping me together.
This murti is nice.“2. Lord Jagannatha
“Who hears and sees
our foibles, the deadness,
our solitary joy,
who consents to be carried —
my Lord Jagannatha.“To hold His weighty form,
to dress Him in fine clothes,
to glimpse into His eyes
is the constant rhythm of days and nights;
when LJ rises, I rise,
when LJ rests, then so do I,
and His food is my diet.“Crossing the border guards,
‘A small art doll, some Indian statues’—
they don’t know they are seeing God.“Lord of the universe, Jagannatha Svami,
please accept our fresh water,
please reside in our hearts.
Spread Your rays throughout the world,
or all is nothing.“3. Lord Balarama
“I do not know You well, Lord Balarama,
but in this world, whom do I know?
At least to me You are the Supreme Unknown.“I appreciate You
more than anyone else I meet.
Like the people on this airplane,
though they move, talk, emote,
they have no signs of higher life,
but You have playful, silent, majesty.“Though my devotion unto You
is like an almost-dead battery,
I rejoice to see You anywhere,
while I reject vivacious femmes fatales.“Bright-white, red-mouthed Godhead,
I aspire to be Your worshiper.
O Supreme Unknown,
kindly be more visible unto me.From Journal and Poems, Book I (1985)
“Mahanidhi Swami gave me a poem he wrote, which he laughingly dismissed, saying, ‘This is the first poem I ever wrote!’ He had written a poem while sitting in Prabhupada’s room in the Mayapur building. It described a ritual that takes place every evening when the mandir’s pujari, Jananivasa, circumambulates the verandas of the buildings, ringing a bell. Another devotee accompanies him, blowing a conchshell, and they carry a large earthen pot of glowing frankincense. They go in and out of each room with bell and conchshell, the frankincense smoke billowing everywhere. We’ve all been told that one of the purposes of this ritual is to chase ghosts. It also functions to drive away mosquitoes. In his poem, Mahanidhi speaks of how impressed he is that eight years after Prabhupada’s disappearance Jananivasa is very faithfully performing this evening service.
“A skeptic might inquire, ‘What is the scientific evidence that these procedures chase ghosts?’ But as Mahanidhi wrote, he’s doing it ‘because his spiritual master told him.’ I appreciated Mahanidhi’s feelings evoked by the obedience of the disciple. I also began to think more about the actual function of that ritual.
“Vedic literatures assure us that such things as ghosts exist. They are unfortunate spirit souls who due to lust or other misconduct have not been able to take another material body. Usually mischievous, they move about in subtle bodies looking for chances to inhabit a living material body or to cause trouble. The Mayapur area especially is supposed to abound in different Muslim and brahmin ghosts. And so it’s no wonder Prabhupada had Jananivasa perform this function every evening.
“Prabhupada personally used to like Jananivasa to enter his own room when Prabhupada stayed in Mayapur and sit beside Prabhupada until the whole room was filled with so much frankincense smoke that you couldn’t even see another person a few feet in front of you. Prabhupada liked it for its purifying effect and for ridding the room of mosquitoes. As for ghosts, Prabhupada was always ghost-free.”
From The Week Before Gaura-Purnima
Chapter Two
“Maria was broadcast to the unit of heaven by all saintly persons in parampara who wished her well. Saints of the Catholic kingdom of God would wish her well, or what kind of saints are they? I do wish her well, and I wish the saints may also bless her.
“The kingdom of God has many realms. It is like a mansion with many rooms. Krishna consciousness is the delightful, multi-realm, spiritual planet of Goloka. We are rooting for all conditioned souls to make it back to Godhead. The first thing is to develop sraddha and then association with devotees. There will be trials and tedium, and the material nature doesn’t easily give up its hold. But our story we want to tell, and it may be the only story worth telling. Or rather, this story of how one comes first to Krishna consciousness is only the beginning of it. Later there are episodes of how one was tested and showed sincerity and went forward in Krishna consciousness.
Chapter Three
“Each night the moon grew fuller, but not many bothered to see it. The sannyasi said, ‘Normally we are not moon-watchers.’ Did he mean he wanted to be, but felt repressed by rules and regulations? He said, ‘But if you ever wanted to watch the moon, this is your excuse. It will grow fuller until it is complete on Gaura-Purnima evening.’
“But will we see the moon even on Gaura-Purnima? There is a rabbit on the moon, you know, and that’s why it’s called Sasicandra.
“The days dwindled down
“to a last precious few . . .
“How much can you see if you stay always indoors and only go from one room to another in the house? Don’t you need to get out? (That’s for the sannyasi.) Others went out plenty. Bhakta Sal met people on the street and sold them books. He was following the mood of a prayer all devotees recite in the temple every morning. It begins, ‘Our only desire’—is to distribute Prabhupada’s books. A very big leader visited the temple last year and left them with that prayer. Although it says, ‘Our only desire,’ it seems to me that other devotees in the temple do have desires besides book distribution, but everyone recites the prayer. And it should be everyone’s desire. Amen.
“One lady in this temple travels every day after the morning program to Venezia (that’s Venice to you non-Italians), where she plays oboe in the philharmonic orchestra. So you see, devotees aren’t dopes. Some devotees from other parts of Italy have come for the week to be with the visiting sannyasi. He’s from America. He is skinny and wears a hearing aid. His name is Frank Sinatra. No, I’m only kidding. Me? I’m the author. I get my stories from dreams. We are all devotees and there are some white lies involved in the telling of this story. I want to be aboveboard as much as possible (whatever that means). Can you see me and this story in the distance? I picture you squinting to see me, like on a sunny day, looking in over the water. My motto is ‘Let’s get it all out.’ And also I know it might be advisable for me to keep out of the way. But that’s hard for me to do.
“Cars zip by. Birds are chirping in Italian air. The activities in this temple cannot be judged by the empirical standard. We talk of transcendental reality and we vibrate the holy names which come from Krishna-loka. The small murtis of Gaura-Nitai cannot be seen with blunt, material senses. The food we eat is transcendental, although we may eat it with some sense gratification. There is imperfection, mixed modes in some of the devotional service performed here. Our purpose in telling this story is not to judge, but savor it, communicate it, get to the heart of it.
“The sannyasi speaks each day on a verse from Caitanya-caritamrta. He is leading us by accumulating verses. Each day he adds one and we keep chanting the first ones he gave. So far, he has given namo maha-vadanyaya, krishna-prema-pradayate and krishna-varna-tvisakrsnam. lie tells little stories and anecdotes of Lord Caitanya based on these verses, and then one devotee reads from Adi-lila, Chapter Thirteen, ‘The Advent of Lord Caitanya.’ Occasionally, the sannyasi interrupts the reader and makes more comments that he has prepared and written on Post-its stuck in his book.
“Maria is a shadowy figure so far, but she’s coming in. She likes the idea that something is supposed to happen this week, leading up to Gaura Purnima. The man who does the reading in Italian in the classes is Gopa-gana. I was going to tell something about his needing an operation on disks in his spine. I don’t want to hurt him by personal disclosures, and yet I have to tell something. He will go for an operation in June when his wife gets off from teaching school so that she can take care of the children when he goes to the hospital. He has always been a hard-worker, big and strong, but something happened to his back. Another man has a father with a terminal condition. He goes to visit him in the hospital.
“Two ladies have come from the south. They are disciples of the sannyasi from America. They are cooking his lunch, today two kinds of spinach, and they brought some six-months-old sweets from Radha-Ramana temple in Vrndavana. To eat them, you need firm teeth and a lot of faith, as when you eat dirt from the land of Vrndavana. The sannyasi preferred eating some date balls made today—and he offered them to his deity of Srila Prabhupada.
“The wife of a devotee named Dhama dasa asked the American sannyasi how she could speak to her adolescent son and daughter. They are not so much interested in chanting Hare Krishna anymore. She tried scaring them by telling them of a devotee acquaintance who got AIDS. But then she realized that was too negative, scare tactics. The sannyasi said, ‘Your children need to see that Krishna consciousness is fun and has something in it to attract them, something they can give their lives to more than what the karmis have.’ I think that’s what I’m getting at in this way I write.”
From In Praise of the Mahajanas and Other Poems (1983)
“1. LORD BRAHMA“The first is four-headed Brahma
of this universe the creator.
When his son thought Brahma was God
the honest father told him,
I am but the gardener for He
who truly creates all life,
and I work under His command.“In the beginning, Lord Brahma said,
I was alone and did not know
who I was or what was the universe.
All around was dark, below the raging sea,
but I heard the sound of tapa from above
and took to faithful meditation.“Brahma knew the Supreme as a Friend;
he was the first learned poet,
the engineer of fourteen planetary systems;
none can understand, even today
the science that he knew
and what he could do.“By virtue of his ascetic heart
he sat for a thousand years
and realized that Krishna is One,
the Beginning, the Middle and End.“The all-attractive Lord
becoming most kind upon him,
spoke to Brahma four kernel verses
in which everything of God and the world
He told in brief.
And He shook Lord Brahma’s hand,
allowing him to see some of the eternal beauty
of Goloka Vrndavana.“If you want to speak of his faults
be careful! Who can imitate or criticize
he who creates all bodies,
who arranges all species of life at once
who fashions innumerable galaxies
and spins them into orbit.
If in making inconceivable plans
he sometimes errs and has to redo it,
that is no cause for a tiny wretch
to loosely criticize Brahma
who is always the Lord’s servant.“And if he also errs in the moral realm,
and even becomes bewildered
upon seeing Krishna in Vrndavana,
then still we must not deride,
‘The demigod is in maya!’
But we may hear from the mahajanas
how Brahma himself was belittled
just to teach us: if he is proud,
even a Brahma may sometimes err.
We are not worshipers of the demigod
yet as tiny souls
we bow before Lord Brahma
as the greatest ascetic,
the god of creation,
the sampradaya head;
and we worship his confidential treatise,
the Brahma-samhita,
wherein he prays to be reborn
as a grass outside Vrndavana
to be trampled
by the feet of the gopis.”
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Japa Group: Japa Retreat - Krsna's Response
Sacinandana Swami discusses the important subject of how Krsna responds to our attempts at chanting the Holy names.
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Toronto Sankirtan Team, CA: 22nd Monthly Sankirtan Festival - Setting the Mood
Our 22nd Monthly Sankirtan Festival which falls on March 26th, will be celebrated as Gaura Purnima Special. In the mood of Sri Chaitanya, we will all head out on the streets sharing the love and happiness that fills our lives through kirtan, books and prasad.
There is service for everyone - help before, during or after the sankirtan festival in whichever way you like. Our goal this month is to have a team of 108 devotees hitting the streets. Will you help us?
In distributing love of Godhead, Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His associates did not consider who was a fit candidate and who was not, nor where such distribution should or should not take place. They made no conditions. Wherever they got the opportunity, the members of the Pañca-tattva distributed love of Godhead. The flood of love of Godhead swelled in all directions, and thus young men, old men, women and children were all immersed in that inundation. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement will inundate the entire world and drown everyone, whether one be a gentleman, a rogue or even lame, invalid or blind. CC Adi 7.23-26
See you soon! Please email toronto.sankirtan@gmail.com for more information.
Schedule:-
4:30am Mangal Arti, Japa
7:45am Bhagavatam Class
9:15-10:00 am Building the Mood - Training & Goals
11:00am-2:00pm Street Sankirtan
2:00pm Maha-Harinama
2:30pm Lunch Prasad at the temple
How can YOU help?
1. Prepare Prasadam for distribution: From the comforts of your home prepare dry non-perishable prasad for distribution. Our goal is to distribute 5,000 pieces of prasad.
2. Package Prasadam for distribution: Friday 25th March 2011, 6:30-8:30pm
3. Stamp and pack books for distribution: Friday 25th March 2011, 6:30 PM - 8:30pm
4. Help with Logistics/Transportation: Saturday 26th March
5. Prepare Prasadam for Sankirtan team: Saturday 26th March 6:00-10:00am
6. Participate in Harinam - sing along, lead kirtan, play an instrument, hand out cookies or distribute books: Saturday 26th March; 11:00-3:00pm
Please dress WARMER than you think you'll need to (it's still cold - bring gloves and caps along).• Email to a friend •
Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: "Hare Rama, Hare Krishna" movie
Gopal Krishna Maharaja: I remember after the first big Hare Krishna pandal in Bombay, the Hare Krishna Movement had created quite a stir in India because Prabhupada came to India with his Western disciples, he did pandals. So after Prabhupada had these huge pandals in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, they were a hit everywhere. So there was a movie made in India by a famous movie star called Devanand. I believe the movie was released in 1972, and the movie was called "Hare Rama, Hare Krishna." Devotee: "Hare Krishna, Hare Rama." Gopal Krishna Maharaja: No, the movie was called "Hare Rama, Hare Krishna," it's the other way around. I was in America at that time but I had just come to India, and the devotees and others were telling me that "This movie is giving us a bad name." Devotees were concerned because the movie showed that devotees took drugs and then went to chanting Hare Krishna. So I got to meet Prabhupada in Akash Ganga. At that time our temple was in Akash Ganga, and we didn't have the Hare Krishna Land. I told Prabhupada about this movie, that the movie is going to give our movement a bad name, everyone's very concerned. Prabhupada said, "Nothing will be lost. People will hear Hare Krishna and be benefited." Prabhupada was so happy. He said, "As long as people are hearing the Hare Krishna mantra, they will be happy."
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Gopal Krishna Maharaja
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Mukunda Charan das, SA: Avatari
svyam-rupa, tad-ekatma-rupa, avesa-nama/prathamei-rupe rahena bhagavan
‘The Supreme Personality of Godhead exists in three principal forms – svyam-rupa, tad-ekatma rupa and avesa-rupa‘ [Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 20.165]
The Sanskrit word avatara means ‘one who descends from the Kingdom of God’. The word avatara usually applies to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Svyam-rupa bhagavan, the original form of the Lord, is avatari or ‘the source of all incarnations’. This form is not dependent on any others [Laghu-bhagavatamrta (LB) 1.12].
The direct expansions of the Lord’s svyam-rupa are called svyam-prakash (prakash means ‘the same’). These are direct expansions of the Lord and appear exactly the same eg. when the Lord expanded Himself into numerous forms during the rasa-dance. In the case of Lord Balarama, the first direct expansion of Krishna, the only difference from the original for is bodily colour.
The tad-ekatma-rupa is abheda ie. non-different to the svyam-rupa. The tad-ekatma-rupa, however, appears to differ from the svyam-rupa by form, activities and qualities. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur gives the example of the moon. The moon, occluded by shadow, is the same full moon. It only appears to be different. Those forms of Krishna, therefore, which appear different from His original form are still manifestations of that original form.
The tad-ekatma form of the Lord is not the same as the svyam-prakash forms of the Lord. The svyam-prakash forms are, in essence, the same as the svayama-rupa. The tad-ekatma-rupa consists of both svamsa incarnations ( expansions of expansions of the svyama form) and vilasa forms (forms that differ in appearance from the svyama-rupa).
Avesa-rupa refers to ‘empowered forms of the Lord’ ie. the Lord manifesting his energies or qualities through powerful jivas or living entities. Examples of these are Narada, Prithu and Brahma. The avesa-avataras are living entities. The use of the word avatara, therefore, is secondary.
The Lords forms are unlimited. Even Ananta Sesa – Lord Vishnu appearing with a hood of many serpent-like heads – cannot fully describe the manifestation of the Lord’s unlimited forms. This is confirmed in Srimad Bhagavatam: avatara hy asankhyeya/hareh sattva-nidher dvijah/yathavidasinah kulyah/sarasah syuh sahasrasah – ‘O brahmanas, the incarnations of the Lord are innumerable, like rivulets flowing from inexhaustible sources of water’ [SB 1.3.26].
Mukunda Charan das, SA: Avatari
svayaḿ-rūpa, tad-ekātma-rūpa, āveśa-nama/prathamei-rupe rahena bhagavanLa Suprema Personalidad de Dios existe en tres formas principales — svayaḿ-rūpa, tad-ekātma-rūpa and āveśa-rūpa. [Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 20.165]La palabra sánscrita avatara significa ‘Aquel que desciende del Reino de Dios’. La palabra avatara normalmente se aplica a la Suprema Personalidad de Dios. Svyam-rupa bhagavan, la Forma Original del Señor, es avatari o ‘la Fuente de Todas las Encarnaciones’. Esta Forma no es dependiente de ninguna otra [Laghu-bhagavatamrta (LB) 1.12].Las Expansiones Directas del Señor svyam-rupa son llamadas svyam-prakash (prakash significa ‘el Mismo’). Estas son expansiones directas del Señor y aparece exactamente el Mismo, un ejemplo, cuando el Señor Se expandió Él Mismo en Multitud de Ellos en la danza rasa. En el caso del Señor Balarama, la primera expansion de Krishna, la unica diferencia con la original es la tez de su cuerpo.La Forma tad-ekātma-rūpa es abheda, ejemplo, no es diferente de svayaḿ-rūpa. La tad-ekātma-rūpa, sin embaro, parece diferente de la svyam-rupa en la forma, las actividades y en las cualidades. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur da el ejemplo de la luna. La luna, ocultada por la sombra, es la misma Luna Llena. Parece solamente que es diferente. Esas formas de Krishna, por lo tanto, que aparecen diferentes de su forma original siguen siendo manifestaciones de esa forma original. La forma del tad-ekātma del Señor no es igual que las formas del svyam-prakash del Señor. Las formas del svayaḿ-prakash son, esencialmente, iguales que la svayaḿ-rūpa.El tad-ekātma-rūpa consiste en las encarnaciones del svamsa (extensiones de las extensiones de la forma del svayaḿ) y las formas vilasa (las formas que diferencian en aspecto del svayaḿ-rūpa). āveśa-rūpa refiere a las formas autorizadas Señor. El Señor que manifiesta sus energías o calidades a través de las jivas de gran alcance o de entidades vivientes. Los ejemplos de éstos son Narada, Prithu y Brahma. Los avesa-avataras son entidades vivientes. El uso de la palabra avatara, por lo tanto, es secundario. Las formas de los señores son ilimitadas. Incluso Ananta Sesa - el Señor Vishnu que aparece con una la Sombrilla de una Serpiente de mil cabezas - cuyas bocas no puede describir completamente las manifestaciones de las formas ilimitadas del Señor. Esto se confirma en el Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: avatara hy asankhyeya/hareh sattva-nidher dvijah/yathavidasinah kulyah/sarasah syuh sahasrasah - ¡Oh, brāhmaṇas!, las encarnaciones del Señor son innumerables, como riachuelos provenientes de inagotables manantiales de agua. [SB 1.3.26].
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Jahnavi, UK: The Perfect Family
Call the family. Gather friends. Sign papers. Put away bright clothes. Every tradition has its own sequence of events that are set in motion when someone passes away.
In the tradition of bhakti yoga, the first priority is to gather together and sing God’s names. Doing so is part-prayer, part-emotional release, and partly for the benefit of the soul of the departed. It’s an all purpose activity. In a recent kirtan workshop I was helping to run in Australia, I called it the Swiss Army knife of yoga practises. I’m sure it could be put more poetically, but it’s quite true.
So last night, after the morning passing of a dear uncle and member of our temple community, we gathered in the evening to sing. Throughout the day, the news had spread and now hundreds of well-wishers and friends streamed through the temple doors to pay their respects. One of the most touching things was the breadth and diversity of the people that came. For different reasons, groups are usually a bit segregated in our temple community. Over the years, Sundays have been mostly attended by the Gujarati/Indian members of the congregation, whereas a different demographic is represented on other days. But last was one of those rare occasions where everyone you could think of was present – young, old, families and ashram residents, even some faces I hadn’t seen around for years.
In the passing of a loved one, we were united. It was a testament to the breadth of the love he showed, and it brought us together to form what felt like the perfect family. Family doesn’t mean blood or the same last name. The bhakti tradition teaches that we are all the same in essence – and that our ultimate goal – to love God, is the same. In realising this together, sharing our sadness together, praying together, sharing our appreciation for a dear friend and giving each other strength, we felt the closeness of true family. Though it may be too big to fit in a family portrait; it may be more multi-coloured than a Benetton ad; more complex than any family counselor could handle, it felt perfect to me.
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Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: One of New Vrindaban’s Senior Cows
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Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Contest : Win Human Made Strawberry Jam!
Chances are if you are enjoying strawberries this time of year, they are Florida strawberries. The first strawberries in season in the U.S. come from Florida. And you thought my state was just citrus? Today I am going to do … Continue reading
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H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: TOWACO LECTURES SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM CANTO 10, CHAPTER 2, TEXT 35
FOLLOWING IS A LECTURE ON SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM CANTO 10, CHAPTER 2, TEXT 35, GIVEN BY HIS HOLINESS BHAKTI CARU SWAMI IN ISKCON TOWACO, USA, ON 6 JUIN 2009. Transcription : Her Grace Ranga Radhika Dasi Editing : Her Grace Hemavati Radhika Dasi Audio-Reference : http://audio.iskcondesiretree.info/index.php?q=f&f=%2F02_-_ISKCON_Swamis%2FHis_Holiness_Bhakti_Caru_Swami%2FSrimad_Bhagavatam Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Om Namo [...]
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Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1969 March 10:"Guru Krishna. Only by the mercy of the Spiritual Master and Krishna can one get Krishna Consciousness. Narada Muni is our Spiritual Master. He has dragged so many fallen souls to Krishna. We are also hoping to be dragged by Him through the disciplic succession."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969• Email to a friend •
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1969 March 10: "Regarding Back To Godhead circulation, I shall be glad to know what is the decision of the National Distributer. If we can print 25,000 of BTG, and 5,000 copies each of my books, I think that will be sufficient engagement for the newly started press."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969• Email to a friend •
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1969 March 10: "Submit us every month a list of 1,000 libraries. We shall dispatch free copies. And there are so many public libraries and university libraries who should receive them. So this business has to be organized and I hope you will do the needful."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969• Email to a friend •
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1970 March 10: "We accept both as incarnations of God; Lord Buddha appeared at Gaya in Behar, Lord Caitanya appeared at Navadvipa in Bengal. Now it is a great opportunity that one of my students has gone to your country to spread the gospel of Krishna Consciousness under superior order."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970• Email to a friend •
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1970 March 10: "The richest nation in the world is producing a class of men completely confused and frustrated in life. I have dealt with them very intimately, and the cause of their unhappiness is not material want, but an insufficiency of spiritual comforts."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970• Email to a friend •
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1971 March 10: "Dear Sri Birlaji, We have come from America with forty disciples and wish to stay at the Birla Guest House during Gaura Purnima. Unfortunately, Sri Bhakti Vilas Tirtha did not allow us. May you kindly ask him to do the needful."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971• Email to a friend •
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1973 March 10: "He was engaged in working on our books. Such a talent is not so easily replaced, so we must try to bring him back to the standard for his own benefit."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973• Email to a friend •
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1973 March 10: "I have no objection to your establishing a center but these matters I am leaving up to my GBC. The representative for your area is presently traveling with me as my secretary for one month. He will be returning soon and he can see you personally in the matter."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973• Email to a friend •
Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Gauranga! Gauranga! Gauranga is coming! Gauranga! (Part 2 of 11)
Gauranga is coming! Please see yesterday's post.So this is the 2nd of 11 with 2 verses of the Sri Gauranga Ashtottara Shata Nama Stotram by Sarvabhauma Bhattachaharya.After all 11 posts we will take 108 names of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and accompanied by 108 different pictures of the Golden Avatar. Gauranga! Gauranga!Please try your best to share the bliss and mercy of Gauranga with everyone you can!¡Gauranga bol! ¡Gauranga bol! ¡Gauranga! ¡Gauranga!3) jagannatha-priya-sutah pitri-bhakto maha-manaha lakshmi-kantah shachi-putrah premado bhakta-vatsalah
Jagannatha-priya-suta--He is the dearest son of Jagannatha Mishra
Pitri-bhakta--He is the devotee of His father
Maha-mana--He has great mental power
Lakshmi-kanta--He is the beloved husband of the Goddess of Fortune
Shachi-putra--He is the son of mother Shachi
Premada-He is the bestower of ecstatic loving devotion
Bhakta-vatsala--He is very affectionate to His devotees4) dvija-priyo dvija-varo vaishnava-prana-nayakaha dvi-jati-pujakah shantah shrivasa-priya ishvaraha
Dvija-priya--He is dear to the twice-initiated brahmanas
Dvija-vara--He is the best amongst the brahmanas
Vaishnava-prana-nayaka--He is the hero of the devotees' life & soul
Dvi-jati-pujaka--He is the worshiper of the brahmanas
Shanta-He is peaceful and saintly
Shrivasa-priya--He is very dear to Srivasa Pandita
Ishvara--He is the supreme controllerSubhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: ¡Gauranga! ¡Gauranga! ¡Gauranga ya está viniendo! Gauranga! (Parte 2 de 11)
¡Gauranga está viniendo! Vea por favor lea el Escrito de Ayer.
Éste es tan el 2º de de los 11 que contiene 2 versos del Sri Gauranga Ashtottara Shata Nama Stotram de Sarvabhauma Bhattachaharya.
Después de que los 11 escritos nosotros tomaremos los 108 nombres de Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu que irán acompañados por 108 cuadros de diversas imagenes del avatar de oro. ¡Gauranga! ¡Gauranga!
¡Intento por favor, compartir la dicha y la misericordia del Señor Gauranga con cada uno usted!
Gauranga bol! Gauranga bol! Gauranga! Gauranga!
3) jagannatha-priya-sutah pitri-bhakto maha-manaha lakshmi-kantah shachi-putrah premado bhakta-vatsalah
Jagannatha-priya-suta - Él es el hijo más estimado de Jagannatha Mishra
Pitri-bhakta - Él es el devoto de Su Padre
Maha-mana - Él tiene gran energía mental
Lakshmi-kanta - Él es el marido querido de la Diosa de la Fortuna
Shachi-putra - Él es el hijo de la madre Shachi
Premada - Él es el donador de la dedicación cariñosa extática
Bhakta-vatsala - Él es muy cariñoso a sus devotos
4) dvija-priyo dvija-varo vaishnava-prana-nayakaha dvi-jati-pujakah shantah shrivasa-priya ishvaraha
Dvija-priya - Él es estimado a los brahmanas dos veces-iniciados
Dvija-vara - Él es el mejor entre los brahmanas
Vaishnava-prana-nayaka - Él es el héroe del devotees' & de la vida; del alma
Dvi-jati-pujaka - Él es la fiel de los brahmanas
Shanta - Él es pacífico y santo
Shrivasa-priya - Él es muy estimado a Srivasa Pandita
Ishvara - Él es el regulador supremo
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H.H. Sivarama Swami: But can we really, fully appreciate each other while we are together? Not quite!
But can we really, fully appreciate each other while we are together? Not quite!
March 10th, 2011
10:19
One Response to “But can we really, fully appreciate each other while we are together? Not quite!”
Varsana devi dasi says:
March 11, 2011 at 7:23 pm
Dear Guru Maharaja
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Thank you for speaking on this topic of appreciation being intensified by absence. You mention that separation intensifies the desire for union, could you please comment on the subject that appears to be the flip side of this particularly that of time being a healer and sufficient period of absence making separation easier (or even the extreme polar opposite of ‘out of sight, out of mind’).
How do these opposites co-exist? Can they co-exist? or is it that one is spiritual and the other is due to a lack of spirituality?
Thank you in advance.
Your servant
Varsana dd
2010-12-31 - 08 - 24hr Kirtan - Nityananda Prabhu - Hare Krishna.mp3
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H.H. Sivarama Swami: Talking to Turkish devotees about Mukunda Maharaja’s “Miracles” book. (English/Turkish)
H.H. Sivarama Swami: Talking to Turkish devotees about Mukunda Maharaja’s “Miracles” book. (English/Turkish)
March 10th, 2011
40:02
One Response to “Talking to Turkish devotees about Mukunda Maharaja’s “Miracles” book. (English/Turkish)”
Tarun Krsna dasa says:
March 11, 2011 at 10:50 am
I got a name-check at the end!
H.H. Sivarama Swami: Talking to Turkish devotees about Mukunda Maharaja’s “Miracles” book. (English/Turkish)
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H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 244—Morning Poem, March 9
Early Morning Bhajana
Poppa, I wake every morning
with a headache but usually
bring it under control with three
OTC pellets. Be glad for that,
but it’s tiresome meeting the morning
pain.
You turn it down and voicelessly
say your morning japa; they
say unless you worship the
residents of Goloka and grow
tulasi, you can’t enter Krishna-lila.
We are going to plant
the seed as soon as he can find
the book on how to care for her.
As for worshiping the Vrajavasis,
I don’t have a formal process
or ritual. I have Radha-Govinda
and I’m introducing incense,
and She is very curvaceous
in Her white gown, and He
is handsome in His jaunty turban.So we’re on the trail but
not passionately like a police
bloodhound or lovesick
young lover. We’re feeling
old but with brightness.We worship Them in murti form
and hear His exploits
in the Krishna book. It’s not a
rasika concentration, but
Prabhupada didn’t even
recommend that. He said
worship the Pandavas as
much as the gopis, worship
all the prayers of Srimad-
Bhagavatam and don’t leave
a drop out. So our
plan is to grow tulasi
in our New York house
and read all the literature
of Prabhupada.
That must
be the way to enter Krishna-lila.As for morning headaches,
we will endure them and
be grateful they are not
worse. Our japa
could be better, but we say it
very early in the morning
in a quiet room.• Email to a friend •
Dandavats.com: Live From Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir! HH Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami
By Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami
The actual point of yukta vairagya means you see what is the principle at work because in any activity in any form there is a principle behind it. As we said Krishna's quality is the first point then Laksmi manifests forms and activities that serve that calling. So that means form follows the quality
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H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): Old Friends
From In Praise of the Mahajanas (1983)
IT CAN BE TRUE:
A Warning Against Prakrta-sahajiyaismOver the phone a disciple asks
to become a gopi for Krishna.
I say it’s not so cheap
(not like after-hour phone rates).
You have to earn it. How?
Early steps of love, to refrain
when getting the first glimpse
not diving for it, thinking it yours.
Serve and show your love, by sacrifice,
doing as the guru bids. Hearing
of the great love for Krishna by the gopis
while humbly following surrender.On sighting your own sentiment,
don’t think you have attained it.
The first light of love, the hope,
the bare awakening so thrills you,
yes, you want it all.
But love for Krishna is not in wanting yours
but giving for His pleasure.So wait, my friend, be patient,
that song you heard, the tears,
the sudden inkling, all are true,
but you must purify the heart.
So start the path to love,
but do not take the inkling as the All.Why should it be so cheap? Let
me arrive when I pass the test. Give
me strength to want it
give me, O master, a service
that I can do, to be sincere.Or else in gross desire we fall
soaken in body grime,
hoax of the sublime,
craving like a dog,
while claiming love divine.
A mockery of truth,
false even to the song
the tears, and the inkling
of your own awakening.It can be true
if patiently we follow.
Let a lifetime be spent in work
like that. And never demand,
except to serve Him.From Memory in the Service of Krishna (1990)
It is hard for nondevotees to accept that Krsna consciousness is not just another type of faith. In a sense it is a type of faith, but it is transcendental. As Prabhupada writes, “These different kinds of worship are not actually God worship. God worship is for persons who are transcendentally situated in pure goodness.” In Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.3.23) it is said sattvam visuddham vasudeva-sabditam: “When a man is situated in pure goodness, he worships Vasudeva.” I believe this. This is trust in something sublime. If you must have faith, and that seems to be a fact, why not have faith in the all-good, all-pure Supreme Personality of Godhead? Transfer your shaky, mixed faith to the pure devotee of the Lord, and to the work of devotional service. At least this much I can state with conviction: After changing faiths and seeing them cracked one after another, the faith I have been granted in Srila Prabhupada and Krishna consciousness has grown and strengthened over the years. (I may lack faith in my own abilities to follow, but that is a different thing.)
To have faith also means to love: to love God’s creation, to love the valley and the hills, and to love the messages of Godhead from the spiritual world. To invest your energy, to worship, to serve. It is not a blind faith. It is not sentimental. It is something that you have to work for every day. You are thankful that your life has been made meaningful by faith in Krishna consciousness. And you are ready to give your life for it.
There will always be faith, and now we know the truth—that above all relative faiths is the faith of a person who is in pure goodness, who worships God, who prays to be His servant.
From Journal and Poems, Volume I (1985)
Today I held initiations, and tomorrow I leave for India. At the fire sacrifice I read aloud from one of Prabhupada’s purports that the spiritual master in disciplic succession from Narada Muni is in the same spiritual category as Narada. I also read about Dhruva Maharaja, to show what a determined disciple he was, and I told the story of Narada and the hunter. I read from an old essay of mine, “Second Birth,” about how I suddenly realized at my own initiation that I was obliged to spread the knowledge that Prabhupada was giving to us. And I also read from Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta and told how Prabhupada’s disciples served him by helping spread the Krishna consciousness movement all over the world. I requested the new disciples to work together in a similar way to increase the preaching in our zone.
There are many items of faith my disciples must hold—faith in Krishna, in sastra, in guru. They also have to have faith in me, and I must have faith in myself as a connected representative of Srila Prabhupada. One might say, “It is not difficult to have faith that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He is cited as such by great authorities. Prabhupada’s purity is also beyond doubt. Nor is this blind faith, but rather it is based on the historical manifestation of his potency as saktyavesa-avatara. But how can we have faith in you, when some of your Godbrothers who were appointed guru just as you were have fallen?”
A Castor Tree Guru
When there are no trees,
a castor tree is a big tree.
“I may be imperfect,”
Prabhupada would say,
“but if I speak what Krishna says,
then that is also perfect.”
And a Prabhupadanuga
is in touch with the sakti.The tree in the courtyard is also small,
but sturdy, even in winter.
And in springtime it will bud green.Let me grow as I am able,
even if I am small.
And let me also shelter sisya birds.I am his foot dust,
his boy, his saved, his son,
his typist, a bringer of a mango.But I cannot rest on these credits.
Today also I am traveling to his Mayapur.I pray to stay a small tree,
since that is what I am,
and to deliver those sisyas given to me.
By chanting and hearing
and always living with the Vaisnavas,
by preaching and urging myself and them,
I’ll keep these ISKCON places sound
until the end of my life.From Passing Places, Eternal Truths: Travel Writings (1988-1996)
Heschel is intellectual, involved. He considers opinions even by great Western philosophers, and finally offers the Jewish viewpoint. In his book A Passion for Truth, he advocates what the Kotzker and Kierkegaard have said. I don’t have the time or capacity or desire to analyze it or to labor over it, but it is filled with themes relevant to ISKCON life. Maybe we needn’t bother with the moral questions involved, the intensity of self-scrutiny; maybe it’s a deviation or distraction, like looking at the “classic trivia,” but I think there are sparks there. I propose to occasionally write down a fragment from Heschel and give a quick Krishna conscious fix on it, although I know what I am doing isn’t professional philosophizing or even adequate.
He says it’s quite possible to act in religious life for self-love and out of fear of punishment or desire for reward, but to attain holy life, one’s incentive should be pure love of God. I think in ISKCON, since our theology is so pure all selfish religion is kicked out—we may tend to think that we have already attained the purity. We need to be humble about that, and part of the ability may be a scrutiny of self that exposes our falling short.
Heschel and his teachers admit that self-esteem is an important human motivation and a need. “Such esteem becomes questionable, however, when it serves also as an inducement for moral and religious action.”
Leave that for now, an incomplete thought. I also noticed while pursuing this that I fear that too much rigorous thought will bring me a headache. So much of what I do is shaped by that. Things have to go easy for me; I need to go with a flow and not create opposition. Find truth naturally in Bhagavad-gita. This morning I felt sweetness in coming close to Krishna in the Gita.
In Heschel, I sensed more opposition and difficulty. I know his teachers specialize in difficulty. Spiritual life isn’t easy, but it is also easy. It’s the path of Garuda, on his wings. Srila Prabhupada says that big speculators fail to attain perfection in devotional service. (“Too intelligent for his own good,” was Bhakta Fergus’s comment when he peeked into Nietzsche.)
Srila Prabhupada:
The path of devotional service is undoubtedly very difficult to follow, but it becomes very easy if the candidate actually wants to follow the path of the mahajana. In this age there is the path of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who appeared to deliver all fallen souls. This path is so simple and easy that everyone can take to it by chanting the holy name of the Lord. Harer nama harer nama . . . We are very satisfied that this path is being opened by this Krishna consciousness movement because so many European and American boys and girls are taking this philosophy seriously and gradually attaining perfection.
—Bhag. 5.14.42, purport
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H.H. Sivarama Swami: Someone asked if I would sing more of that song from the podcast with a Harivamsa rendering – don’t know how it will go down. This is as much of it as I remember.
Someone asked if I would sing more of that song from the podcast with a Harivamsa rendering – don’t know how it will go down. This is as much of it as I remember.
March 10th, 2011
1:35
One Response to “Someone asked if I would sing more of that song from the podcast with a Harivamsa rendering – don’t know how it will go down. This is as much of it as I remember.”
Gandharvika dasi says:
March 17, 2011 at 7:32 pm
That was absolutely beautiful. It made me cry!
Someone asked if I would sing more of that song from the podcast with a Harivamsa rendering – don’t know how it will go down. This is as much of it as I remember
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Dandavats.com: The Best Kept Secret in Las Vegas
By Krishna-mayi devi dasi
Las Vegas, as everyone knows, stands for mega-kali-yuga entertainment: especially gambling, prostitution, intoxication and meat eating in multiple extend. It has even earned the nick-name of "Sin City". Even in the present economic time of recession in the U.S.A., the city still boasts a visitation of 37 million tourists annually, just down 3 million before hard financial times hit
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Toronto Sankirtan Team, CA: Ceto Darpan Marjanam - Gaura Purnima Special Monthly Temple Cleanup!
CDM (Ceto Darpana Marjanam) is a project which entails organized cleaning of the temple as a group.
Please join as as we prepare our temple and our very hearts leading up to one of the biggest celebrations of the year - the appearance day of the most munificent Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This day will be dedicated to Lord Chaitanya and we encourage you to come out this time and join us in this amazingly important service.
The schedule will be as follows:
12:00pm to 3:30pm - Maha clean-up
3:30pm to 5:00pm - Special pizza party and nectar-filled conversations
"Everything within the temple should be kept very, very neat and clean. And the more you keep the temple neat and clean, you will be neat and clean within your heart. And then your understanding will be very easy. We cannot understand Krsna because our heart is piled up with many garbages. That we have to cleanse." -- Srila Prabhupada Melbourne, May 22, 1975
Please come out and bring your family and friends for this unforgettable experience!• Email to a friend •
Dandavats.com: om4me.com the body and soul marketplace
Iswara: Alachua, FL: om4me has launched a brand new online marketplace, om4me.com. Intended by its founders, Lilananda das and Iswara das, to ease the exchange of spiritually-oriented goods and services among devotees and spiritualists, the new site provides the spiritual community with a friendly forum to freely buy and sell products as well as announce events in their area
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Dandavats.com: Our temple needs the up-coming new Vaisnava calendar
Gokulananda das: Prabhu(s): I wish to make a special request for your help. Our temple needs the up-coming new 2011-2012 Vaisnava calendar for eastern USA/Canada. If you can please provide me with either a link or the proper attachment, that would be a very nice service for our temple and entire Vaisnava community here
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Dandavats.com: Searching for the right fit
Ortrun Gates: Do you ever miss the gold old days when the “new” Americans were filled with that Pioneer Spirit? Look no further – we have pioneer opportunities for you! Iskcon Gita Nagari Farm in Port Royal, PA is looking for a few rugged individuals who are willing to take a chance
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Dandavats.com: Video: Rasanath Das on Practice of Monasticism in a World of Business
Rasanath Das: Rasanath Das is a monk as well as a former management consultant and investment banker. Rasanath shares his incredible journey- from his life as an “external achievement machine”, to one rich in spiritual introspection, integrity, and true connectivity
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Gouranga TV: Nadia Mani devi dasi Kirtana
Nadia Mani devi dasi Kirtana
Gouranga TV: Nadia Mani devi dasi Kirtana
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ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Initiation - 09/03/11
On the auspicious appearance day of Sri Purusottama Dasa Thakura, Kadamba Kanana Maharaja gave first and second initiations to some fortunate souls.
As promised, here are the photos.
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More Recent Articles
- H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Thursday 10 March 2011--Steady Through Happiness and Distress--and--Krishna Consciousness on the Job
- Japa Group: It Is Also An Offense To Be Inattentive
- ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Deity Darshan: Sunday, March 6th, 2011
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Kadamba Kanana Swami
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
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