Virtual Istagosthi: H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Thursday 21 April 2011--Take Shelter of Sri Guru and Sri Krishna--and--Foreigners in ISKCON

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H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Thursday 21 April 2011--Take Shelter of Sri Guru and Sri Krishna--and--Foreigners in ISKCON

ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana

Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Interview : Faneuil Kitchen Cabinet — Family Owned In New England

H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Monday, April 18th, 2011

Japa Group: Chanting With Love

Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Srila Prabhupada and an envious reporter

Toronto Sankirtan Team, CA: True Friends

Toronto Sankirtan Team, CA: Who is this Krishna

ISKCON News.com: Survey: Plurality of Americans Believe Capitalism At Odds With Christian Values

H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 286—Poem for April 20

H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): OLD FRIENDS

H.H. Sivarama Swami: Vijaya Krsna took initiation in Gaudiya-math 2 years ago and when his father took ill and passed away he lost faith in Krsna and now only chants one round and feels his bhakti is gone

H.H. Sivarama Swami: Spooky the Great and other tales from my years in Vrndavana

Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Video on Sri Radha Shyamasundar in Vrindavan and Sri Syamananda Prabhu's Appearance day

Akrura das, Gita Coaching: INSPIRATION

H.H. Sivarama Swami: This year we experienced and are going to experience four unusual dates

Gouranga TV: Bhajan – 24hr Kirtan

Japa Group: Raising The Bar

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H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Thursday 21 April 2011--Take Shelter of Sri Guru and Sri Krishna--and--Foreigners in ISKCON

j A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Courseâ¢ Thursday 21 April 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: Take Shelter of Sri Guru and Sri Krishna Uploaded from Kaunas, Lithuania There is no reason to continue suffering in this material existence. All you have to do to be completely blissful all the time is to plug back into your actual eternal identity as a servant of Krishna or God. This is done by taking complete shelter of the divine instructions of Lord Sri Krishna and His pure representative, the bona fide spiritual master. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Ecstatic Arrival in Kaunas, Lithuania 19 April 2011 http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Spring/Kaunas_Arrival.JPG Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Foreigners in ISKCON I am very upset because my family members don't like ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness). They say that there are a lot of foreigners in ISKCON and that foreigners don't have the right to know about Indian religion. They say that you have to be an Indian to know Indian religion. I have also noticed that many Indian people also have the same idea. They look at the whole thing from the materialistic point of view. It pains me a lot. Please, Gurudeva, advise me what to do. Your servant, G.N. Answer: Real Indians Share Their Culture How poignantly ironic it is that they say that only Indians can know Indian religion when they don't even know the first thing about Indian religion. Not only is this ironic; it is downright shameful. As descendents from the greatest culture in the universe they should be doing their duty of spreading the teachings of Lord Sri Krishna all over the world to relieve the suffering world population from the ever-tightening knot of illusion and confusion. But when others come and do the duty that they are neglecting they criticize them instead of appreciating and assisting them. This is shockingly disgusting misbehavior on their part. Factually, it is the height of material consciousness to say that only Indians have a right to know about Indian religion. Any Indian who thinks like this is completely ignorant about his own scriptures. The very first point of the Vedic wisdom is that we are not these bodies, that we are eternal spiritual beings existing beyond these various bodily designations such as American and Indian. Indian religion sees everyone equally as confirmed by Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita wherein He states that the learned man sees everyone equally. The famous deity of the Supreme Lord in Jagannatha Puri is known as Jagannatha, the lord of the entire universe. He is not known as Hindunatha or Indiannatha. Since He is Jagannatha, the Lord of the universe, He is worshipable by all living beings throughout the entire universe. He is not only meant for the Indians as is thought by foolish people who are on the material bodily platform who do not even understand the most basic aspects of Indian religion. You should tell your relatives that ISKCON is the best ambassador of Indian's wonderful spiritual culture and that if they are real Indians they will give up their ridiculous non-Indian mentality and join ISKCON to dive deeply into India's original culture and share this greatest of all treasures with the world. 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 http://www.facebook.com/S.D.Adhikari Copyright 2005-2011 by Ultimate Self Realization.Com Distribution of this material is encouraged. 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ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana

Krsna declares in the Bhagavad Gita (10.22) that of the senses He is the mind.

So let us absorb our mind in thoughts and sight of Him from today's darsana.

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Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Interview : Faneuil Kitchen Cabinet — Family Owned In New England

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with both Emily Levitt and Andy Bargende of Faneuil Kitchen Cabinet, designer and manufacturer of fine custom cabinetry. Based in Hingham, Massachusetts, they are as well known for creating kitchens that capture the New England look as they are for their family work ethic. Read what Emily and Andy have to say regarding such hot topics as mixing finishes in the kitchen as well as white kitchen trend. And do stop by their gallery to get better acquainted with their work and to maybe steal a few ideas for your own kitchen redesign! Read on…
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H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Durban, South Africa

In Durban with temperatures in early morning
approximating at 15 degree Celsius, there is comfort.
Having left Mauritius I find myself in new territory,
South Africa, the site of last year soccer world cup game.
Usually that means taxes are up and local folks will be
paying a debt for years to come on all the expenditure on
urban cosmetics arranged for the game.

I visit Durban every year for the Easter weekend Ratha
Yatra. New features for this year’s chariot Ratha Yatra
festival are promised – a youth’s veggie lounge, a kid’s
tent with massive sculpted animals and a wondrous
procession on Friday not on Saturday. Good Friday!

I’m here to inject some dramatical entertainment. Some
back-by-popular-demand dramas “Gods and Demons” and “The
Jagannath Story”.

I like the Durban Temple setting across the road from
Ghandi Park, on top of the hill. I try to avoid venturing
on foot beyond our property because outside it’s risky as
far as crime is concerned. I stick by the temple in a
clockwise fashion with the deities of Radha Krishna whom
are the natural centripetal objects for the region.

It’s my twelfth year coming. The moat surrounding the
building is in full swing except for a belching fountain
to one side. At least some water squirts out. Things
aren’t perfect but attempting to be.

Never give up. A winner never quits. A loser often can’t
even get started.

Every morning I will do my prescribed chanting around the
temple and I will circumambulate and I will not quit until
I complete the mantras for the time that I’m in Durban.

8 KM

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H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Monday, April 18th, 2011

Mauritius, Good Bye

Bon Acceuil, Mauritius

I was pleasantly surprised. For a last trip by car to the
temple from the town Flacq, Kala and I came upon a white
attired japa performer on the road.

Kala stopped to offer the walker with japa meditation
beads in hands a lift to his destination to the temple.
The walker who had been one of our regulars on the road
for the past four days refused the ride preferring to walk
his whole distance. It appears he got hooked on the
program.

Kala remarked that this would not normally happen; that
the padayatra, the on foot festival, had impact. In fact
some of the men in the community vowed to me that they
would begin a japa walk club. The question came up twice
yesterday at two different venues where I gave a Krishna
Conscious talk, “when are you coming back (to Mauritius)
Maharaja?”

And my answer was, “When you build up your club
membership”. Mauritians are a reserved type of people and
there was no sudden “hurray!” It just seems that they will
react by doing. And after a brief attendance of morning
sadhana, a dozen or so attendees followed me as I trekked
down Vrndavan Road. The Mauritius Walk was officially
over. I had completed one more country to add to the list
but these folks, including two women, who came for an
extra 3 kilometers just may continue after I’m gone.
There is something to be relished from this walking and
meditating.

As part of the talk yesterday I asked the crowd from a
health point of view, “Are there problems with diabetes in
the community?) Answer was “Oui (yes)!”

“How about high cholesterol?”

“Oui!”

“How about heart related diseases?”

“Oui”

Does anyone have their spare tire in the wrong place?”
(Laughter) “Oui!”

We parted and I took my ride to Plaisance Airport
physically prepared to leave Mauritius, psychologically
less so. I’ll miss these walking gentle souls, the sugar
cane lined roads, the mystical moon, clouds and sky.

5KM

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Japa Group: Chanting With Love

I thought about my chanting today, exploring my Japa and seeing if I am chanting Krsna's names with love and devotion. It reminded me of a class by Giriraj Swami where he was talking about how we chant the names....if we call someone's name then we get their attention.

When we chant with love and from our heart (soul) then we get Krsna's attention more and more. If we chant with inattention, we still get Krsna's attention but the degree is less - so I thought "Why not chant with more and more devotion, then I will get Krsna's attention more and more".

Let us all chant with our heart dedicated to expressing love for Krsna.

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Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Srila Prabhupada and an envious reporter

ISKCON Chicago, 1974
Reporter: In Los Angeles, do you live in richness, do you have a car, and a chauffer, and a yacht?
Srila Prabhupada: Why not? I am the guru of the richest country, why shall I not have a car? If I am guru of the richest country, then why shall I not have a car?
Reporter: So, you have one?
Srila Prabhupada: I have many. In each center I've got at least one dozen cars. Just now I'm coming from Europe, Germany. They've got vans. They go into the interior villages. Volkswagen? So our devotees are packed up in each bus and they go into the interior villages. Similarly, in every center we have got. In Germany, in England, in Los Angeles, in New York.
Reporter: Here also?
Srila Prabhupada: Just see.
Reporter: Some spiritual leaders live in great richness...
Srila Prabhupada: Because I know you are envious, therefore, I don't sit here (elevated seat), I am sitting here. You are very envious when a spiritual master is honored very nicely by his disciples, you become envious. What can be done? But that is the etiquette, that the spiritual master be honored as good as God. But if you do not know, you become envious, "Why this man is sitting in this position in this gorgeous way?" What can be done?
>From Acharya DVD #5

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Toronto Sankirtan Team, CA: True Friends

Posted by : Bhakta Milind
I met two young men, Alex & Tyrone on their first visit to the temple last weekend. They were both curious, listened very attentively to the class, and were asking very thoughtful questions. One is of Mexican Heritage, and the other of Filipino-Sri Lankan heritage. As I was speaking, I saw that they seemed to know quite a bit already. I admired their sincerity very much and began asking about why and how they came to the temple. Tyrone said that a friend of his urged him to go... I know his friend, Vikas, he's a friend of mine too. Alex came with Tyrone... I asked them if they read the Bhagavad Gita, both of them already had a copy, and Alex had already begun reading it and was on Chapter 4! I asked them how they got their copies... both said a friend gave it to them. How glorious is that friend who leads us to a spiritual life, and how glorious is that friendship!

Both young men stayed all evening, appreciated Prasadam, asked many, many questions, danced wholeheartedly in Kirtan, chanted, got information about Urban Edge Yoga (Alex has passed by it many times, and is now looking to give it a try), and left with gigantic smiles on their faces. We hope that these two young men pass it forward. Indeed Tyrone has already engaged in his first act of Sankirtan, by bringing Alex along!

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Toronto Sankirtan Team, CA: Who is this Krishna

Today was an interesting day, powerful winds brought with them one after the other people who I had met before and they were interacting as if they were meeting a friend. Particularly interesting was this girl who had met me a few months ago and taken a perfection of yoga. Next time she met me a few weeks ago she told me both she and her husband had read the perfection of yoga and they really liked it and she found it relaxing. Then she had taken a Bhakti Yoga from me. Today we met again and she was telling me that she is reading the Bhakti Yoga and she wanted to know more about – and then she got stuck as she could not remember the name. I prompted ‘Srila Prabhuapda’, she said no. Then I prompted ‘Bhaktivedanta Swami’, she said no. Then I prompted Krishna and she said yes. I offered to show her the Krishna book which talked all about Krishna, she greatly admired the book. Then I showed her the Mahamantra and explained how to chant at home (there is a nice description in Bhakti Yoga) She was smiling and repeating the Mahamantra in great happiness and then she said she would come next Friday for the Bhagavad Gita class.

Purport Madhya 19.151 : Following in the footsteps of Närada Muni, this Krishna consciousness movement is rendering service to humanity by giving everyone a chance to come in contact with Krishna. If one is fortunate, he becomes intimately related with this movement. Then, by the grace of Krishna, one’s life becomes successful. Everyone has dormant krishna-bhakti—love for Krishna—and in the association of good devotees, that love is revealed. As stated in the Caitanya-caritamrita (Madhya 22.107):
nitya-siddha-krishn-prema ‘sädhya’ kabhu naya
sravanadi-shuddha-citte karaye udaya
Dormant devotional service to Krishna is within everyone. Simply by associating with devotees, hearing their good instructions and chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, dormant love for Krishna is awakened. In this way one acquires the seed of devotional service. Guru-krishna-prasäde päya bhakti-latä-béja [Cc. Madhya 19.151].

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ISKCON News.com: Survey: Plurality of Americans Believe Capitalism At Odds With Christian Values

By Shannon Craig Straw for Public Religion Research Institute on 20 Apr 2011

More than six-in-ten say increasing wealth inequality one of biggest problems in U.S. Overall more Americans believe that Christian values are at odds with capitalism and the free market than believe they are compatible, a new national survey finds.

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H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 286—Poem for April 20

www.sdgonline.org.
4:42 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 30 years. I hope this variety will be pleasing.
Poem for April 20
Chasing Krishna through the
early hours, racing the mantras
to the quota on time. Counting
is important, numerical strength,
to reach sixteen before 4:00 A.M.
Refreshed and completed before
Narayana comes up. Greet him
with love and submissive talk.
Watch him while he carefully
worships Radha-Govinda and
sets Them regally on Their
altar. Interrupting his worship
with choice words of concern.
These are rare moments to
share with minimum
talk. Just being together
fulfills the heart.
As he fills Their cups with
water, you watch from your
chair and the feeling is
fulfilled.
Lord Caitanya told Rupa
not to associate with
nondevotees and I don’t.
I keep my friendships with
the Vaisnavas. Baladeva
at night, Narayana
in the morning,
and all together
at lunch.
In my arati to Radha-Govinda
I face Radharani as I hope to at
death, with plain reality
of wanting to go to Her, the
best devotee of Krishna because
She loves Him the most.
And I look to Govinda with
confidence that He’s the Cowherd
Boy in charge of the universes.
My faith is simple and steadfast.
I look forward to the
minutes when Saci reads
to me at breakfast from
the Krishna book. He’s defeating
the Mayavadi arguments about
the rope and the snake
saying the Vaisnavas are
right when they say the
universe is temporary but
not false because it
comes from the Absolute Truth.
I like my rounded life
and pray to be able to
write a personal episode
from my experience
in the ISKCON ranks.
There was never a
dull moment, and I
just have to face them
unafraid and remember
a time when I was
on the spot.

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H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): OLD FRIENDS

www.sdgonline.org.
From Memory in the Service of Krishna (1990)
“Due to my tendency for ‘existential humanism,’ I never liked to hear learning explained as the interaction of material elements. Learning was life. Life was of more concern than academic knowledge. And what was life? Life was the pursuit of happiness. Life was what a man likes to eat and drink, his relationship with his mother and father and his lover, how heat and cold feel on his body, and his joys and fears. The persons who were therefore most in touch with knowledge were the poets and writers who recreated life. Philosophers explained life, but writers, novelists and poets caught it in action. Actions seemed more important. Writers allowed us to get inside memorable characters like Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye and Eugene Gant in Look Homeward, Angel.
“Even religion seemed subordinate to the vision of the novelist, whose vision was life itself. Religion was part of human life, and so writers knew it best. As for God, He could be described in many ways. I thought there is God (within life), but rather than think of Him as a person whom we should serve and worship, I thought that He was everything. He too was best evoked by the talented, sensitive writers who were most in touch with life, such as James Joyce, who wrote, ‘God is a shout in the street.’ I thought that even I had described religion better than the religionists when, in a short story about our family dog, I wrote, ‘His soul is when you petted him.’
“But this vision of knowledge and reality led nowhere special. It left me with my sensual appetites and intellectual changes of outlook depending on what book I was reading. When I sought a more intellectual grasp on life, I turned to philosophers, but there too, I could not get a clear understanding. What was Nietszche actually saying in Thus Spake Zarathustra? What was The Will to Power? What did it mean to me as I read it in my bunk on a Navy ship, except that I felt alienated? Rilke’s Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge also did a good job of alienating me as a sensitive appreciator of another sensitive, neurotic soul. And Kierkegaard’s agonies gave me my own ill-digested thoughts on dread, despair and sickness of spirit. I consumed one book after another. While reading Nabokov’s Lolita, I threw it from my ferryboat seat into the sea because I thought it was too tawdry. I wanted something else.
“And so I am grateful to my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, who has explained what knowledge is in the Bhagavad-gita. Srila Prabhupada made it clear to me as it never was before. Aside from realized knowledge of the Supreme, all attempts at knowledge are but ‘speculative nonsense.’ As for scientific mastery, that can be valuable as humble service to mankind and God—when the science is used in Krishna’s service. As for inchoate yearnings (Thomas Wolfe) and hunger for God in the face of doubt (Kierkegaard), they can be satisfied only when we know Him in the full light of truth (bhagavan) and that will happen when we meet a genuine spiritual master.
“By meeting a genuine spiritual master I was saved from floating aimlessly in the river of dissatisfaction and ignorance. My inborn tendency to think, ‘But what does the learned man do when he goes home?’ is preserved, but it is given the confidence and coherency of spiritual knowledge. Now I know that the learned man, at home or in the privacy of his own soul, must be a devotee of God. And neither do devotees confine their Krishna consciousness just to private lives, but they proclaim it in learned discourses and writings: Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As for the items of material knowledge, they are of no particular importance unless one knows the Absolute Truth. This is Vedanta, the conclusion of knowledge.”
From Beginning at 26 Second Avenue

Japa Lesson
“Swamiji used to sit with us in the morning and say, ‘Chant one round.’ Then he would give us a japa lesson.

“We didn’t have bead bags in those days, and when we chanted together Swamiji took his beads out of his bag and held them in his hands. We hung our beads around our necks as we chanted. We wore them out on the streets too. Those red beads became the mark of the Hare Krishna chanters.
“In his lectures, he implored the audience to chant. He promised peace and prosperity, and he assured us it didn’t cost anything. He begged us to chant the holy name because Krishna is nondifferent from His name. He told us we could chant anywhere—in the factory, in the subway, in hell. How could we have chanted without Swamiji’s japa lessons? He was happy to give them to us. More than anything, he wanted us to chant. This is how he hoped to satisfy his guru and all the acaryas. It had to start with us practicing sadhana.
“This is what it was like to be with him. This is an off-moment in a sense, and that’s why I wanted to paint it. He wasn’t lecturing. He was simply sitting with us, leaning over his table and allowing us to approach him to learn the art of chanting.”
Offering Obeisances to the Spiritual Master
“This is a devotional picture of me looking at Srila Prabhupada. I was surprised when I drew it because I saw myself suddenly fifty-five years old—wearing glasses, my lips sunken, wrinkles—sitting in front of Prabhupada. I was only thirty-seven when he left. He has never seen me in this older body. Therefore, I was surprised when this drawing manifested itself. It made me realize how drawings can create their own life, a new possibility in my relationship with Prabhupada.
“In this painting, Prabhupada looks like a murti, his skin golden. He’s not looking at me. He seemed absorbed in his kirtana. Or perhaps he’s looking past me at the assembly of devotees. That’s the freedom of artwork, that you can place yourself right in front of your gurudeva, intent on getting his mercy, looking up to him with worshipful eyes, trying to penetrate his solemnity, his peace, and become absorbed in it. I superimposed this drawing over Prabhupada’s pranam mantras because that’s how I worship Prabhupada. I have placed this painting first because my love for Prabhupada is the beginning and essence of my spiritual life. Devotees sometimes ask why I put so much of myself in my writings (and drawings). What can I say? I exist. Prabhupada told me that the feeling that ‘I am something’ is not wrong. I simply have to understand who I actually am. Then he taught me I was Krishna’s eternal servant. Although I exist in a false conception, I exist in a real conception too. Here I have portrayed myself wearing tilaka, growing old, still trying to respond to Prabhupada’s drawing me to him. Submission to Prabhupada is not a manifestation of false ego but of Prabhupada’s mercy. Therefore this is not a drawing from my false ego, but of a person about to serve, who first comes before his spiritual master to beg permission and acceptance. Besides that, Prabhupada liked to see me. He liked to see all his disciples. He didn’t think we were ugly, because he could see past the body to the soul. He was not interested in our expertise, but in our hearts. I offer this little book as service to him.”
From Guru Reform Notebook (1986)
“Paramananda asked me about the changes. We spoke of a special potency that only Srila Prabhupada had—he could initiate thousands of devotees all over the world, and even if he didn’t see them he could sustain them and inspire them in a very loving way. Attempting to create love and trust beyond my capacity is another imitation. I find this confirmed by a letter I received today from a disciple who recently left.
“‘Specifically, my dissatisfaction comes from a selfish need I have to be appreciated and loved. That is, appreciated and loved by you. I guess I understand absolutely nothing about a spiritual relationship. You wrote at the end of your letter that you were writing to me as your duty to Prabhupada and have affection for me. I have never heard you say this to me before, and I have no experience of this affection, although you express it exists. I never felt it, and I never felt close to you. I thought I was developing real love for you, and I do admire you for all you have done, your attempt to reach God…I really wanted to make that connection with you in my heart, but somehow it just didn’t happen.’
“When I read this I thought, ‘What does she expect? Did she want me to be her husband?’ But maybe she was given the impression by our diksa guru propaganda that I could fill her life with love. Maybe for a few devotees in one place, if I could stay with them, I can develop loving relationships (by informing them about Krishna, who is the source of love). But to provide love worldwide to hundreds of devotees…
“Ravindra Svarupa phoned tonight. He reminded me that as spiritual masters, we actually have to take responsibility for delivering our disciples back to Godhead. This includes receiving honor and worship. We don’t receive the honor for ourselves but on behalf of Krishna. He cautioned about going too far in concepts like ‘monitor guru,’ in which the spiritual master tells his disciples, ‘I am not your spiritual master.’ Disciples have to be allowed to see their spiritual master as worshipable according to their faith. They should not be told that their spiritual master is not a bona fide representative in disciplic succession.
“But the spiritual master shouldn’t think of himself as a guru. According to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, if one thinks of himself as a guru he is actually goruh, a cow. We are disciples of Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada also thought of himself as a disciple of his spiritual master; that’s the way one qualifies to become a guru.
“Ravindra Svarupa approved of my plan to confess my own mistakes. He said as long as the guru is not making mistakes in his basic sadhana, then other mistakes may be accepted without a loss of faith.”
From A Visit to Jagannatha Puri
“The Gambhira within Kasi Misra’s house became the scene of many of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes, especially in His last twelve years, when He felt intense separation from Krishna. It was in this room that Lord Caitanya would stay up all night, sometimes reciting verses and sharing songs with His intimate disciples, Ramananda Raya and Svarupa Damodara. Krishnadasa Kaviraja warns us that the emotions and transcendental madness in separation from Krishna are very deep and mysterious: ‘Even though one is very advanced and learned, he can neither understand nor describe unfathomable subject matters. It is possible only if Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gives him the capability.
“One day while viewing Lord Jagannatha in the temple, Lord Caitanya suddenly saw Him as the son of Maharaja Nanda, Krishna, in person. But Lord Caitanya was interrupted from this vision by a woman who stepped on His shoulder in order to get a better view of the Deity. Lord Caitanya then returned to His room and passed the evening, as Ramananda Raya and Svarupa Damodara recited verses to Him from the Srimad-Bhagavatam and the Vaisnava poets Vidyapati Candidasa and Jayadeva Gosvami. While these intimate devotees laid in front of the door to Lord Caitanya’s room, He remained awake through the entire night, chanting Hare Krishna very loudly. But after some time, when they could not hear Him chanting, they entered the room. They found the three doors of the room locked, but Lord Caitanya had gone. After an anxious search, they found Him lying in the corner of the northern side of the Simha Dvara gate, in a state of extreme bodily transformation.
“Another time, while His servant Govinda lay at the door of His room and Lord Caitanya loudly chanted the Hare Krishna mantra, the Lord again got out of the locked room and left the house. This time he went to a cowshed on the southern side of the Simha-Dvara and fell unconscious among the cows from the district of Tailanga.
“As Lord Caitanya’s transcendental madness intensified, He began to stay up all night, rubbing His face up against the walls of the Gambhira. Without knowing it, He sustained many injuries on His mouth and cheeks, and blood oozed from them. This caused great anxiety to Svarupa Damodara, who then entreated Lord Caitanya to allow Sankara Pandita to lie down in the same room with Him.
“Krishnadasa Kaviraja says that when people hear about the Lord’s uncommon transformations of body, they become very astonished. He states that no one has elsewhere ever witnessed such bodily changes, nor has anyone read about them in the revealed scriptures. ‘Yet Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the supreme sannyasi, exhibited these ecstatic symptoms . . . Raghunatha dasa Gosvami lives continuously with Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and I am just recording what I heard from him. Although common men do not believe in these pastimes, I believe in them totally.’
“At the Gambhira, upon entering, on the left is a small temple with Radha-Krishna Deities and Lalita-Visakha. On the far right is Lord Gauranga. On the far left, Nityananda, and in front of the Deity room, a murti of Gaura-Gopala, who was supposedly put in charge of this temple by Lord Caitanya. The pujari says that Lord Caitanya saw these Deities of Radha-Krishna while He was living in Puri.
“Coming out of the first temple we walk straight ahead towards the sign that says, ‘Way to Gambhira.’ The pujari walks ahead of us, looking back several times to make sure we are following him. In an area enclosed with pillars, two babajis are holding kirtana: ‘Sri Krishna Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Hare Krishna Hare Rama, Sri Radha-Govinda.’   (Kirtana goes on twenty-four hours a day at the Gambhira.) From within this enclosure you can look into a small barred window into Sri Gambhira. Even nowadays it’s very impressive. It is a small room, and I thought, ‘This is how a sannyasi should live.’
“On a marble throne, a murti of Lord Caitanya is encircled by a cloth so that just His face is visible. There’s an iron grill-box said to contain Lord Caitanya’s shoes and quilt. There’s also an electric fan inside where pujaris do puja at scheduled times. Just above the Gambhira on the wall is a multicolored terracotta bas-relief of ‘Sri Sriman Gauranga.’ His right hand held up in benediction, his lotus feet marked from years of worship. To his right, a bas-relief of Sri Svarupa Damodara, and below Him Sri Caitanya’s servant, holding a waterpot. On the left side of Sri Caitanya is a bas-relief of Ramananda Raya with shaved head.
“I looked into Sri Gambhira for a few minutes until a man asked me to move aside. Some ladies and children were behind us. Then a conversation began between one of the resident sadhus and some of the kirtana members. The combined actions made the place crowded and noisy, but still—it is the Gambhira. I sat down in a corner and tried to understand a fraction of it.”

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H.H. Sivarama Swami: Vijaya Krsna took initiation in Gaudiya-math 2 years ago and when his father took ill and passed away he lost faith in Krsna and now only chants one round and feels his bhakti is gone

What to do?

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H.H. Sivarama Swami: Spooky the Great and other tales from my years in Vrndavana

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Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Video on Sri Radha Shyamasundar in Vrindavan and Sri Syamananda Prabhu's Appearance day

On Sunday's post we promised to post some more nectar on Sri Radha Shyamasundar in Vrindavan and the Appearance day of Sri Syamananda Prabhu. The following is the background video during the lecture by Subhavilasa das at ISKCON Toronto on April 17, 2011 and some of the pastimes are depicted along with pictures of the original Radha Shyamasundar as worshiped by Sri Syamananda Prabhu.
http://radhashyamasundar.com/2/post/2011/04/video-on-sri-radha-shyamasundar-in-vrindavan-and-sri-syamananda-prabhus-appearance-day.html

Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA:
Video on Sri Radha Shyamasundar in Vrindavan and Sri Syamananda Prabhu's Appearance day

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Akrura das, Gita Coaching: INSPIRATION

Click on the title to access the verse and purport from Srimad Bhagavatam.

It will inspire you.

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H.H. Sivarama Swami: This year we experienced and are going to experience four unusual dates

SRS: Interesting!
This year we experienced and are going to experience four unusual dates:
1/1/11
1/11/11
11/1/11
11/11/11
that’s not all … take the last two digits of the year in which you were
born; now add the age you will be this year, and the result will be 111 for
everyone!
For example – Harry was born in 1957, and 57 + 54 = 111
This year October will have 5 Sundays, 5 Mondays and 5 Saturdays.
This happens only every 823 years.

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Gouranga TV: Bhajan – 24hr Kirtan

Bhajan – 24hr Kirtan

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Japa Group: Raising The Bar

I had a dream last night...it was very clear. I was with my godbrothers and we were sitting in a circle talking about the importance of Japa. In the dream I spoke up and recalled what I had heard in a Japa retreat with Bhurijana dasa - he had said that we should raise our standard of chanting so that when we chant, we can remember that this is for the pleasure of Krsna and not just for our own purification.

We have a default setting with our chanting and this dream reminded me that we should always be striving to raise the bar of our Japa so we can come to stage of chanting with devotion for Krsna's pleasure.

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