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Planet Iskcon 01 May 2011

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"Planet ISKCON" - 30 new articles

H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Sunday 1 May 2011--Why Godhead Instead of Just God?--and--Why I Don't Taste Bhakti Sweetness?

New Vrndavan, USA: Raw food uncooking class & potluck

H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 296–Poem for April 30th

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

David Haslam, UK: Princess Beatrice, That hat, and Gender inequalities

H.H. Sivarama Swami

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.8.5 Astrology & Krishna Consciousness

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.33-37 Rasaraja Preacher

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.27 Miseries Of Material Existence & Eternal Happiness Of The Spiritual World

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.19 Process Of Becoming Non-Envious Of Krsna

Japa Group: Please Join The Japa Group

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 3.5.39 Jayananda Prabhu & Solve Our Material Problems, Take Shelter

ISKCON News.com: Disciple Seminar to Standardize Training for New Devotees

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.17 Tapa Means Fired Up

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.5 Relishing The Pastimes Of Sri Krsna

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.4 So-Called Progress In Modern Society

ISKCON News.com: ISKCON Communications Conference to Tackle Anti-Cult and Intrafaith Issues

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.5.14 Self-Sufficiency In Vedic Culture

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.5.12-13 Modern Chanting, Pilgrimages, & Deities

ISKCON News.com: New Vrindaban Hosted a Raw Food Potluck & An Inspiring Documentary

ISKCON News.com: Simply Raw - Reversing Diabetes In 30 Days

ISKCON News.com: 72 People On Hunger Strike For The Yamuna

Anuradha Kesavi dd, Dubai, UAE: Deafening silence

Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: Consequences

H.H. Sivarama Swami: Bh. Adrain asks

H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Thursday, April 28th, 2011

Yoga of Ecology, Bhakta Chris, USA: End Nears For Fracking Wastewater Releases

Japa Group: Enter The K???a Planet

Gouranga TV: Bhajan – 24hr Kirtan

ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana

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H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Sunday 1 May 2011--Why Godhead Instead of Just God?--and--Why I Don't Taste Bhakti Sweetness?

A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course(TM) Sunday 1 May 2011 The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, and His eternal consort, Srimati Radharani are enjoying transcendental pastimes in the topmost planet of the spiritual world, Sri Goloka Vrindavan. They are beckoning us to rejoin them. (Click on photo to see a larger image.) Our Mission: To help everyone awaken their original Krishna consciousness, which is eternal, full of knowledge and full of bliss. Such a global awakening will, in one stroke, solve all the problems of the world society bringing in a new era of unprecedented peace and prosperity for all. May that day, which the world so desperately needs, come very soon. We request you to participate in this mission by reviving your dormant Krishna consciousness and assisting us in spreading this science all over the world. Dedicated with love to ISKCON Founder-Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, our beloved spiritual master, and to you, our dear readers. Today's Thought: Why Godhead Instead of Just God? Uploaded from Kaunas, Lithuania We describe Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Why do we say Godhead instead of the simpler, more commonly understood and accepted term God? We could just say that Krishna is God. We learned this term Godhead from Srila Prabhupada, and we use it because he uses it. So why does he use it? Srila Prabhupada has not invented anything new. He has simply presented the timeless message of the Vedas in the most powerful, compassionate, and attractive way to relieve the suffering humanity from the countless distresses of material existence. This term Godhead is the English translation of the Sanskrit word Bhagavan, which appears in the very first verse of the Srimad Bhagavatam and means one who is full in all opulences. These opulences are six in number: power, beauty, renunciation, knowledge, wealth, fame. The Sanskrit word for God is ishvara, which means controller. This word covers the opulence of power, but it does not accurately convey the other five opulences. Therefore the term Godhead is a more accurate and complete designation for the Supreme Person. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Godhead is Light The Bliss of Krishna Consciousness Kaunas, Lithuania--19 April 2011 http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Spring/Kaunas_Greeting.JPG Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Why I Don't Taste Bhakti Sweetness? Srila Gurudeva, Please accept my humble obeisances. I read your Thought for the Day every day. You describe Krishna consciousness as if it is filled with nectar. But then why am I not able to taste that same sweetness? V.J. Answer: You Are Doing Something Wrong It is a fact that Krishna consciousness, when practiced correctly, manifests unlimited oceans of transcendental bliss. If you are not tasting this bliss, you are not practicing Krishna consciousness correctly. We do not taste happiness when we try to taste it. We taste happiness when we try to give happiness to Krishna. So if you are not tasting happiness, you should sincerely try to please Lord Krishna with all of your thoughts, words, and deeds in all times, places, and circumstances. Then you will surely derive great taste from the process of Krishna consciousness at every minute. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Transcendental Resources: Receive the Special Blessings of Krishna Now you too can render the greatest service to the suffering humanity and attract the all-auspicious blessings of Lord Sri Krishna upon yourself and your family by assisting our mission. Lectures and Kirtans in Audio and Video: Link to High Definition Videos Link to Over 1,000 Lecture Audios Lecture-Travel Schedule for 2011 http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/schedule Have Questions or Need Further Guidance? Check out the resources at: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com or write Sankarshan Das Adhikari at: sda@backtohome.com Get your copy today of the world's greatest self-realization guide book, Bhagavad-gita As It Is available at: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/store Know someone who could benefit from this? Forward it to them. Searchable archives of all of course material: http://www.sda-archives.com Receive Thought for the Day as an RSS feed:http://www.backtohome.com/rss.htm Unsubscribe or change your email address Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Daily_Thought Sankarshan Das Adhikari on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SDASITE Thought for the Day on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ultimate-Self-Realization-Course-tm/115602131855817 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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New Vrndavan, USA: Raw food uncooking class & potluck

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H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami (Ret.): 296–Poem for April 30th

www.sdgonline.org.
4:40 A.M.
A Writer of Pieces
New format–I will begin with a poem written on the day of its printing. Then I will print random excerpts of books I have printed over the last 35 years. I hope this variety will be pleasing.
Poem for April 30^th
Right eye pain hampers
my japa but I plow
on through and I finish sixteen
before 4:00 A.M. In Krishna Book
Saci read to me that Krishna and
Arjuna reach the Karuna Ocean
(spiritual water) and on the island of
Svetadvipa gigantic Maha-Visnu
lies with eighteen arms and yellow cloth,
a costly helmet and garland.
He smiles to them.
Although Krishna is the source of Maha-Visnu
He bows down to Him and Arjuna
follows. Maha has kept the seven
sons of the brahmana died at childbirth
just because He wanted Krishna and Arjuna
to visit Him. He gives back the children
and they return to Dvaraka on earth.
Waiting for Narayana to come up the
stairs and bow down, “bhaktivedanta
siksitam,” while I say, “vancha
kalpa taru.” Our sweet ritual
of exchange for a few more days.
I will tell him of my twinge and
he may prescribe more med.
I’ll ask him what’s on his
mind for early morning
sensitive exchange.
At lunch we are reading
how Pariksit got tired
and thirsty just to bring
about the prelude to hearing
Srimad Bhagavatam. He asked
the sage Samika for a drink
of water but he was in
trance and ignored him. The
king became angry and draped
a dead snake around the sage’s
neck for which he was
cursed by Samika Rsi’s
inexperienced son.
Baladeva is planning to build
a seven-foot fence to create
privacy from our neighbor’s
backyard. He wants to
plant trees and bushes
but Keli-lalita has to
give them to us.
At 4:15 the birds
begin to sing and
it makes you feel
good and optimistic;
it’s springtime and the
tulips are beginning to
open in Saci’s garden.
I walk there every day
but run short of breath
on the second lap and have
to rest. Baladeva says it’s
all right to take a break but
I must not be D.N.F.
(“Did Not Finish”) because
that’s a disgrace. I make it
except twice I had to stop.

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

www.sdgonline.org.
From Vandanam
“Afternoon Session
“I repeat the same session in the afternoon, around 5:00 or 6:00 P.M. according to my schedule. I tried doing it just before rest at night, but I was either too tired or rushed by events. I like to do it late enough so that I can review the day. I try to sense how Krishna was present in my life during the day. I can usually focus on special moments, when I was lecturing in the Srimad Bhagavatam class or wherever. The mind usually finds those moments at once, and sometimes I am surprised and grateful to feel how Krishna was actually present. Then I think more deliberately, ‘Did I sense Krishna’s presence in my japa and reading? How did I contact Krishna and Srila Prabhupada today by rendering service to them? I know by Prabhupada’s grace that I did.’
“I also scan the day that has just passed to face my specific failures to serve Him. At the end of one day, in the prayer time for examination, I wrote this prayer: ‘Dear Lord, I lack the ability to see my failures, but please let me try to feel the sorrow and regret that another day has passed in this way. I trust that You will one day reveal to me more of my falsity and sin and direct me how to rectify. I will serve You now, seeking that revelation.’ I keep this prayer in my envelope for occasional reference.
“Constant Prayer
“Constant prayer is advised by Lord Krishna when He states, ‘Man= mana bhava mad-bhakto—always think of Me.’ Of course, this is a very advanced state, but prayer can help us. Beyond two sessions a day and japa, even while in the midst of active service, one can utter brief prayers to Krishna and Prabhupada. We can also try to improve our conversations with fellow devotees so that they are more on the standard of the bhakta’s talks as described by Lord Krishna: ‘The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlivening one another and conversing about Me.’ (Bg. 10.9)
“If the demands of daily life are too pressing to allow us to pray to our full satisfaction, we should at least try to secure a half-hour time in which to draw away from everything else and speak to Krishna and His pure devotee. Then we should listen and allow them to speak to us. As we plan for vacations on a yearly basis, why not plan to spend a few days or a week or two each year in a place devoted to just prayerful reading and thinking? If not this year, maybe next year. It is something to try for. Once you do it, you will want to do it again.”

From Shack Notes: Moments While at a Writing Retreat
“I want to be part of the big group moving to Vrndavana with Krishna. I want to be walking behind one of the carts and sometimes catch sight of Krishna. I would like to compose poems to Krishna. There’s quite a bit about that in the Tenth Canto. Prabhupada says that Mother Yasoda used to compose poems and sing them while she was churning butter:
“‘It was formerly a custom that if one wanted to remember something constantly, he would transform it into poetry or have this done by a professional poet. It appears that Mother Yasoda did not want to forget Krishna’s activities at any time. Therefore, she poeticized all of Krishna’s childhood activities, such as the killing of Putana, Aghasura, Shakatasura and Trnavatrta, and while churning the butter she sang about these activities in poetical form. This should be the practice of persons eager to remain Krishna conscious twenty-four hours a day.’ (Bhag. 10. 9.2)
“I heard Prabhupada talking about composing Krishna songs during a meeting with gurukula teachers in France, 1976. One of the teachers told Prabhupada they were sometimes composing simple songs for the children, was this all right? Prabhupada said yes. Then he said, ‘Krishna Book is already easy, but if you want to make it more easy, that is all right.’ He seemed to be hinting that he thought Krishna Book was fine the way it was, but on other occasions he instructed devotees to put Krishna Book into verse form.
“I somehow get the impression (although it maybe is my imagination) that Mother Yasoda was making up her songs with little attention to rhyming lyrics or Sanskrit rules. There is also a mention of singing songs when Krishna’s family and friends moved to Vrndavana. ‘As they rode, they began to chant with great pleasure the pastimes of Krishna.’ Prabhupada explains, ‘They used to pass their time either by taking care of Krishna and Balarama or by chanting about Their pastimes.’
“Sukadeva says that after some wonderful activity by Krishna the boys would then ‘declare the incident loudly.’ Prabhupada states,
‘It was the practice of the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi to compose poetry about the incidents that occurred in the forest when Krishna performed His different activities of killing the asuras. They would compose all the stories in poetry or have this done by professional poets, and then they would sing about these incidents.’ (Bhagavatam 10.11.53)
“Of course, one cannot do this unless he has bhava. I hope that as I go on hearing and reading, I will develop appreciation and deep respect for those pastimes. There is nothing better than attaining this taste. Then no matter where you are, you can think of Krishna and sing of His pastimes, and be free of all material disturbances.”
From Japa Reform Notebook
“Japa is an important part of devotional life. If your japa is not up to standard, this is serious. You must reform. That is, out of your regret may come success. Prabhupada used to say, ‘Failure is the pillar of success.’ Assess yourself, and try to improve your chanting of Hare Krishna.
“One may question that if the holy name can take away more sins than a devotee can commit, why we still have to suffer sinful reactions? But those sinful reactions are given by Krishna; it is no longer karma. There is no question why this is so. If Krishna makes us take some token reaction, that is His mercy just so that we will actually be purified once and for all. Krishna is all-good and just, so whatever He sends for the devotee, the devotee accepts. That does not diminish the power of the holy name. We have to go on chanting the holy name and taking whatever reactions are there from the Lord. Then we may come to the stage pure service to the holy name.
“If you are always repeating the Hare Krishna mantra wherever you can—within yourself or even aloud—it will solve many problems. If Krishna is with you all the time, then you will never be in anxiety—if you can develop this constant chanting. It will take time to be able to always chant Hare Krishna. Prabhupada used to say, ‘Chant sixteen rounds on beads and then innumerable rounds off the beads.’
The fifth offense in chanting is to consider the glories of chanting Hare Krishna as imagination. This means that if one doubts that the chanting of Hare Krishna actually is the name of God, then that is actually negating the great benefits that are working on one. It is a kind of material skepticism. If you have no faith at all, then that is a great offense, but one has some faith but also some doubt, that is offensive. Any doubt we have in chanting Hare Krishna is offensive.
Prabhupada answers the question, ‘What is the ultimate goal of chanting Hare Krishna?’
“‘When one becomes accustomed to inoffensive chanting, then his fruit is that he is promoted to the stage of pure love of Godhead, or prema. This prema is the perfectional stage of consciousness and the most blissful by very far.’ – Letter to Sivananda, December 4, 1968
“When I chant Hare Krishna, I chant because Srila Prabhupada brought the chanting and told me to chant. So I’m chanting directly to Krishna, but I don’t banish my spiritual master. The inference is always, ‘Well, can we get rid of the spiritual master and go directly to Krishna?’ But it is not like that. You go directly to Krishna through the spiritual master. He’s not in the way—Jesus Christ says that he is the way. So the spiritual master is not in the way. He is introducing you to your intimate relationship with Krishna. So he says, ‘Chant Hare Krishna, Krishna,’ so I chant Hare Krishna. I’m saying Krishna’s name on his order.
“If you have not received the mantra you are chanting in disciplic succession it will not have effect. Your spiritual master doesn’t get in your way, because he is not material. Material body means defective vision; twenty-twenty is not perfect spiritual vision. Everyone needs this transparent guide. Sometimes people think, ‘We don’t want these priests, we don’t want these gurus. God is in our heart, let us just go to God.’ But the spiritual master is the humble representative of Krishna, and I should approach with even more humility to accept Krishna in this way. Because I have personally been cheated before doesn’t mean the system of disciplic succession is invalid. All the real spiritual master wants is that his disciple be fixed in his relationship with Krishna, chant Hare Krishna and be happy in Krishna consciousness. He doesn’t want money, he doesn’t want worship, he wants the disciple to go to Krishna. He is competent to help him do that. The Puranas say there are many gurus who are expert in taking your money, but a guru who can take your anxiety away and give you spiritual life is rare. The actual representative of Krishna can relieve the fire of repeated birth and death.”

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David Haslam, UK: Princess Beatrice, That hat, and Gender inequalities

It is interesting that although we talk about equality, we never really see it, especially when you look at how the media and society views and deals with the sexes; and looking at the press releases on the Royal Wedding we see this more so in the way the clothes are analyzed: Sadly we see [...]

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H.H. Sivarama Swami

Just like a flock of birds – although very intimately related, every one of them has to fly in the sky by individual strength. If one is less strong, the others cannot keep him in the sky. That is the law of nature. Therefore, individual strength is most important and that individual strength is achieved in the association of devotees.
- Srila Prabhupada

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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.8.5 Astrology & Krishna Consciousness

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.8.5 Astrology & Krishna Consciousness

SB 10.8.5: O great saintly person, you have compiled the astrological knowledge by which one can understand past and present unseen things. By the strength of this knowledge, any human being can understand what he has done in his past life and how it affects his present life. This is known to you.
SB 10.8.5: ¡Oh, gran persona santa!, tú has recopilado el conocimiento astrológico mediante el cual podemos saber cosas nunca vistas del pasado y del presente. Con la fuerza de ese conocimiento, todo ser humano puede conocer las actividades de su vida pasada y el modo en que ese pasado afecta su vida actual. Tú posees ese conocimiento.
SB 10.08.05 Astrology & Krishna Consciousness 1997-07-11
Lecture - Srimad Bhagavatam 10.8.5 Astrology & Krishna Consciousness 1997-07-11 Radhadesh (Astrology)

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.8.5 Astrology & Krishna Consciousness

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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.33-37 Rasaraja Preacher

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.33-37 Rasaraja Preacher
SB 10.7.33: Having seen all these incidents in Bṛhadvana, Nanda Mahārāja became more and more astonished, and he remembered the words spoken to him by Vasudeva in Mathurā.
SB 10.7.34: One day mother Yaśodā, having taken Kṛṣṇa up and placed Him on her lap, was feeding Him milk from her breast with maternal affection. The milk was flowing from her breast, and the child was drinking it.
SB 10.7.33: Al ver que en Bhadvana ocurrían todos estos sucesos, Nanda Mahārāja, cada vez más asombrado, no podía dejar de recordar las palabras de Vasudeva en Mathurā.
SB 10.7.34: Un día, después de tomar a Kṛṣṇa en brazos y sentarle en su regazo, madre Yaśodā Le estaba dando la leche de su pecho con cariño maternal. La leche fluía de su pecho, y el niño la bebía.
SB 10.07.33-37 Rasaraja Preacher 1997-07-09
Lecture - Srimad Bhagavatam 10.7.33-37 Rasaraja Preacher 1997-07-09 Radhadesh (Ayurveda)

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.33-37 Rasaraja Preacher

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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.27 Miseries Of Material Existence & Eternal Happiness Of The Spiritual World

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.27 Miseries Of Material Existence & Eternal Happiness Of The Spiritual World
SB 10.07.27 Miseries Of Material Existence & Eternal Happiness Of The Spiritual World 1997-06-28
Lecture - Srimad Bhagavatam 10.7.27 Miseries Of Material Existence & Eternal Happiness Of The Spiritual World 1997-06-28 Radhadesh
SB 10.7.27: Because of Kṛṣṇa's weight, Tṛṇāvarta considered Him to be like a great mountain or a hunk of iron. But because Kṛṣṇa had caught the demon's neck, the demon was unable to throw Him off. He therefore thought of the child as wonderful, since he could neither bear the child nor cast aside the burden.
SB 10.7.27: El enorme peso de Kṛṣṇa hacía pensar a Tṛṇāvarta que era como una gran montaña o un bloque de hierro. Pero como Kṛṣṇa Se había aferrado firmemente a su cuello, el demonio no podía desprenderse de Él. Tṛṇāvarta pensó entonces que aquel niño era maravilloso, ya que no podía, ni soportar Su peso, ni desprenderse de Él.

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.27 Miseries Of Material Existence & Eternal Happiness Of The Spiritual World

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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.19 Process Of Becoming Non-Envious Of Krsna

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.19 Process Of Becoming Non-Envious Of Krsna

SB 10.07.19 Process Of Becoming Non-Envious Of Krsna 1997-06-24 Lecture - Srimad Bhagavatam 10.7.19 Process Of Becoming Non-Envious Of Krsna 1997-06-24 Radhadesh
SB 10.7.19: Feeling the child to be as heavy as the entire universe and therefore being anxious, thinking that perhaps the child was being attacked by some other ghost or demon, the astonished mother Yaśodā put the child down on the ground and began to think of Nārāyaṇa. Foreseeing disturbances, she called for the brāhmaṇas to counteract this heaviness, and then she engaged in her other household affairs. She had no alternative than to remember the lotus feet of Nārāyaṇa, for she could not understand that Kṛṣṇa was the original source of everything.
SB 10.7.19Angustiada al notar que el niño pesaba tanto como el universo entero, y pensando que quizás estaba siendo atacado por otro demonio o fantasma, la asombrada madre dejó al bebé en el suelo y se absorbió en pensar en Nārāyaṇa. En previsión de posibles perturbaciones, madre Yaśodā llamó a los brāhmaṇas para contrarrestar el extraño fenómeno. Hecho esto, volvió a sus quehaceres domésticos. Ella no podía entender que Kṛṣṇa es la fuente original de todo, de modo que no le quedaba otra opción que refugiarse en los pies de loto de Nārāyaṇa.

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.19 Process Of Becoming Non-Envious Of Krsna

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Japa Group: Please Join The Japa Group

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world...simply send me an introduction email and I will be happy to make you a member:

rasa108@gmail.com

ys

Rasa Rasika dasa

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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 3.5.39 Jayananda Prabhu & Solve Our Material Problems, Take Shelter

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 3.5.39 Jayananda Prabhu & Solve Our Material Problems, Take Shelter
SB 03.05.39 Jayananda Prabhu & Solve Our Material Problems, Take Shelter 2002-05-24
Lecture - Srimad Bhagavatam 3.5.39 Jayananda Prabhu & Solve Our Material Problems, Take Shelter 2002-05-24 Radhadesh
SB 3.5.39: The demigods said: O Lord, Your lotus feet are like an umbrella for the surrendered souls, protecting them from all the miseries of material existence. All the sages under that shelter throw off all material miseries. We therefore offer our respectful obeisances unto Your lotus feet.
SB 3.5.39: Les devas dirent: O Seigneur, Tes pieds pareils-au-lotus sont pour les âmes soumises comme une ombrelle les protégeant des souffrances de l'existence matérielle. De fait, tous les sages qui les acceptent comme refuge se débarrassent de toute souffrance. Nous offrons donc notre hommage respectueux à Tes pieds pareils-au-lotus.
SB 3.5.39: Los semidioses dijeron: ¡Oh, Señor! Tus pies de loto son como un paraguas para las almas entregadas, pues las protegen de todas las miserias de la existencia material. Todos los sabios que se encuentran bajo ese refugio se desprenden de todas las miserias materiales. Por lo tanto, nosotros ofrecemos nuestras respetuosas reverencias a Tus pies de loto.

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 3.5.39 Jayananda Prabhu & Solve Our Material Problems, Take Shelter

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ISKCON News.com: Disciple Seminar to Standardize Training for New Devotees

By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on 30 Apr 2011

A new seminar, educating prospective initiates on everything they need to know about being a disciple in ISKCON, is in the final stages of development and is expected to be available worldwide by next year.

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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.17 Tapa Means Fired Up

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.17 Tapa Means Fired Up
SB 10.07.17 Tapa Means Fired Up 1997-06-21
Lecture - Srimad Bhagavatam 10.7.17 Tapa Means Fired Up 1997-06-21 Radhadesh
SB 10.7.17: The brāhmaṇas, who were completely expert in chanting the Vedic hymns, were all yogīs fully equipped with mystic powers. Whatever blessings they spoke were certainly never fruitless.
SB 10.7.17: Todos aquellos brāhmaṇas, grandes expertos en el canto de himnos védicos, eran yogīs dotados de todos los poderes místicos. Ciertamente, las bendiciones que pronunciaban nunca dejaban de cumplirse.

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.17 Tapa Means Fired Up

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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.5 Relishing The Pastimes Of Sri Krsna

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.5 Relishing The Pastimes Of Sri Krsna
SB 10.7.5: After completing the bathing ceremony for the child, mother Yaśodā received the brāhmaṇas by worshiping them with proper respect and giving them ample food grains and other eatables, clothing, desirable cows, and garlands. The brāhmaṇas properly chanted Vedic hymns to observe the auspicious ceremony, and when they finished and mother Yaśodā saw that the child felt sleepy, she lay down on the bed with the child until He was peacefully asleep.
SB 10.7.5: Tras completar la ceremonia de baño del niño, madre Yaśodā recibió a los brāhmaṇas adorándoles con el debido respeto y proveyéndoles en abundancia de cereales y otros comestibles, ropas, hermosas vacas y collares de flores. Los brāhmaṇas entonaron los himnos védicos en observancia de la auspiciosa ceremonia. Cuando terminaron, madre Yaśodā vio que el niño se estaba quedando dormido, por lo cual se tendió en la cama con Él hasta que Kṛṣṇā disfrutó de un pacífico sueño.
SB 10.07.05 Relishing The Pastimes Of Sri Krsna 1997-06-13
Lecture - Srimad Bhagavatam 10.7.5 Relishing The Pastimes Of Sri Krsna 1997-06-13 Radhadesh

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.5 Relishing The Pastimes Of Sri Krsna

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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.4 So-Called Progress In Modern Society

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.4 So-Called Progress In Modern Society
SB 10.7.4: Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When mother Yaśodā's baby was slanting His body to attempt to rise and turn around, this attempt was observed by a Vedic ceremony. In such a ceremony, called utthāna, which is performed when a child is due to leave the house for the first time, the child is properly bathed. Just after Kṛṣṇa turned three months old, mother Yaśodā celebrated this ceremony with other women of the neighborhood. On that day, there was a conjunction of the moon with the constellation Rohiṇī. As the brāhmaṇas joined by chanting Vedic hymns and professional musicians also took part, this great ceremony was observed by mother Yaśodā.
SB 10.7.4: Śukadeva Gosvāmī dijo: Los esfuerzos del bebé de madre Yaśodā, que ya intentaba girar Su cuerpo para erguirse y darse la vuelta, fueron celebrados con una ceremonia védica. En esa ceremonia, denominada utthāna, que se celebra cuando el niño ya puede salir de casa por primera vez, el bebé es debidamente bañado. Cuando Kṛṣṇa acababa de cumplir los tres meses de edad, madre Yaśodā celebró esa ceremonia con otras mujeres del vecindario. Aquel día la Luna estaba en conjunción con la constelación Rohiṇī. Madre Yaśodā celebró una gran ceremonia, con la participación de músicos profesionales y de brāhmaṇas que cantaban himnos védicos.
SB 10.07.04 So-Called Progress In Modern Society 1997-06-12
Lecture - Srimad Bhagavatam 10.7.4 So-Called Progress In Modern Society 1997-06-12 Radhadesh

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.7.4 So-Called Progress In Modern Society

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ISKCON News.com: ISKCON Communications Conference to Tackle Anti-Cult and Intrafaith Issues

By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on 30 Apr 2011

Around thirty devotees from all over Europe—most old hands at communications work, but some new faces—are expected to attend the 20th annual ISKCON Communications Conference in Radhadesh, Belgium from Friday June 3rd till Monday June 6th.

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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.5.14 Self-Sufficiency In Vedic Culture

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.5.14 Self-Sufficiency In Vedic Culture
SB 10.5.14: In gladness, the cowherd men enjoyed the great festival by splashing one another's bodies with a mixture of curd, condensed milk, butter and water. They threw butter on one another and smeared it on one another's bodies.
SB 10.5.14: Muy alegres, los pastores de vacas disfrutaban del gran festival salpicándose los unos a los otros con una mezcla de yogur, leche condensada, mantequilla y agua. Se lanzaban mantequilla y se untaban con ella unos a otros.
SB 10.05.14 Self-Sufficiency In Vedic Culture 1997-04-22
Lecture - Srimad Bhagavatam 10.5.14 Self-Sufficiency In Vedic Culture 1997-04-22 Radhadesh

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.5.14 Self-Sufficiency In Vedic Culture

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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.5.12-13 Modern Chanting, Pilgrimages, & Deities

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.5.12-13 Modern Chanting, Pilgrimages, & Deities
SB 10.5.12: Offering blessings to the newborn child, Kṛṣṇa, the wives and daughters of the cowherd men said, "May You become the King of Vraja and long maintain all its inhabitants." They sprinkled a mixture of turmeric powder, oil and water upon the birthless Supreme Lord and offered their prayers.
SB 10.5.13: Now that the all-pervading, unlimited Lord Kṛṣṇa, the master of the cosmic manifestation, had arrived within the estate of Mahārāja Nanda, various types of musical instruments resounded to celebrate the great festival.
SB 10.5.12: Ofreciendo bendiciones al recién nacido Kṛṣṇa, las esposas e hijas de los pastores decían: «¡Que seas el rey de Vraja y mantengas a sus habitantes por mucho tiempo!», y rociaban al Señor Supremo, el innaciente, con una mezcla de polvo de cúrcuma, aceite y agua, mientras ofrecían oraciones.
SB 10.5.13: Ahora que el ilimitado y omnipresente Señor Kṛṣṇa, el amo de la manifestación cósmica, había llegado a los dominios de Nanda Mahārāja, por todas partes se escuchaban instrumentos musicales celebrando el gran festival.
SB 10.05.12-13 Modern Chanting, Pilgrimages, & Deities 1997-04-21
Lecture - Srimad Bhagavatam 10.5.12-13 Modern Chanting, Pilgrimages, & Deities 1997-04-21 Radhadesh

H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 10.5.12-13 Modern Chanting, Pilgrimages, & Deities

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ISKCON News.com: New Vrindaban Hosted a Raw Food Potluck & An Inspiring Documentary

By Correspondent for ISKCON News on 30 Apr 2011

On April 27, the New Vrindaban’s Center for Preventative Medicine hosted a Raw Food Potluck & an inspiring documentary about how diet can reverse “incurable” disease

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ISKCON News.com: Simply Raw - Reversing Diabetes In 30 Days

Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days is an independent documentary film that chronicles six Americans with diabetes who switch to a diet consisting entirely of vegan, organic, uncooked food in order to reverse disease without pharmaceutical medication.
http://news.iskcon.com/node/3602/2011-04-30/simply_raw_reversing_diabetes_in_30_days

ISKCON News.com: Simply Raw - Reversing Diabetes In 30 Days

If the selection above is hosted by YouTube then after the video plays there will be several links presented to other videos. ISKCON News Weekly has no control over the selections presented and is not responsible for their contents.

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ISKCON News.com: 72 People On Hunger Strike For The Yamuna

By Radha Jivan Poddar for chakra.org on 30 Apr 2011

72 people have been on a hunger strike since the 16th of April. An open letter of appeal has been sent to the President of India and Prime Minister of India demanding they immediately issue public notices stating the actual condition of the Yamuna beyond Delhi.

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Anuradha Kesavi dd, Dubai, UAE: Deafening silence

I was just going through some old notes and came across an old piece that I wrote way back in 2007. Thought I'd share...

Deafening silence
Ah! The vast infinite road of life I traverse
a wistfulness overcomes me as I ponder
a wish for a straight uninterrupted road

Wistfulness morphs not into reality
Reality whispers about a fork
Even as I exclaim my protest
The dreaded split enters my vision

Clear and bright as the sunny sky
is my goal on one path
Yet the unknown tugs at my heart
"Have you not learnt the lesson yet?" mocks my mind
"Are you worthy enough" pricks my conscience

One dainty step towards the unknown
a hoard of conflicting voices overwhelm
A faint echo I hear, an echo of my soul
lost amongst a myriad of thoughts
Wisps of the echo floats away
as I grasp to hear it

Speak louder my dear soul,
Will this unknown path ever converge?
Will I see the dear familiars of my road?
Uncertainity holds me still but
Time does not pause, I ask you
"What should I do?"

I ponder on as I listen to
the deafening silence.

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Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: Consequences
http://walkingthefenceline.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/consequences/

Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: Consequences

Filed under: Health, Jokes

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H.H. Sivarama Swami: Bh. Adrain asks

“Is it ok to sometimes chant some of our rounds manah japa (chanting in our mind) and is it necessary to chant the panca tattva maha mantra between each round?”

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H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Thursday, April 28th, 2011

The Topic of Sex

Toronto, Ontario

A few days ago three devotee married men asked me my opinion about sex and science.

"They have done scientific studies, Maharaja, and have concluded that sex is good for your health and overall well being."

There, they said it and wanted me to give a response to this incredible endorsement by the scientific community.

"Well, you are talking to someone who had no experience in this life," I said to which they laughed. I continued, "Did the voice of science say anything about the physical and psychological benefits of sticking to one partner?"

"No! This was not their agenda."

"Exactly," I said. "Moral issues are not to be discussed. There is no objection to sex as explained in the Gita but attaching parameters to deal with the sex appetite is addressed."

I went on to express that the average person would love to be given the green light to do any old damn thing unrestrictedly. After all someone is making money on your promiscuity. The criterion for what is right and wrong is measured so often by "Will it make me a buck?" After all, capitalism prevails, doesn't it?

To my dear friends who brought up the topic I suggested to concentrate on a spiritual focus and remind each other that their kids love you for being loyal in the relationship with their mother.

Will science speak of value? No, because it is so often data working without heart.

Let us look at deep, sublime love with the Supreme, beyond romance and stimulation. Not that these realities do not exist. Let's get the priorities right.

5 KM

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Yoga of Ecology, Bhakta Chris, USA: End Nears For Fracking Wastewater Releases

From The Huffington Post

-- Pennsylvania's top environmental regulator says he is confident that the natural gas industry is just weeks away from ending one of its more troubling environmental practices: the discharge of vast amounts of polluted brine into rivers used for drinking water.
On Tuesday, the state's new Republican administration called on drillers to stop using riverside treatment plants to get rid of the millions of barrels of ultra-salty, chemically tainted wastewater that gush annually from gas wells.
As drillers have swarmed Pennsylvania's rich Marcellus Shale gas fields, the industry's use and handling of water has been a subject of intense scrutiny.
The state's request was made after some researchers presented evidence that the discharges were altering river chemistry in a way that had the potential to affect drinking water.
For years, the gas industry has bristled and resisted when its environmental practices have been criticized.
But last week, it abruptly took a different tone.
Even before the initiative to end river discharges was announced publicly, it had received the support of drillers. By Wednesday evening, a leading industry group, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, had announced that its members were committed to halting the practice by the state's stated goal of May 19.
"Basically, I see this as a huge success story," said Michael Krancer, acting secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. "This will be a vestige of the past very quickly."
After May 19, almost all drillers will either be sending the waste to deep disposal wells – mostly in Ohio – or recycling it in new well projects, he said.
Story continues below
While the movement to end the wastewater discharges followed years of environmentalists' criticism, the most influential push may have come from within the industry itself.
Among major gas-producing states, Pennsylvania is the only one that allowed the bulk of its well brine to be treated and dumped in rivers and streams. Other states required it to be injected into deep underground shafts.
Publicly, the industry – and the state – argued that the river discharges were harmless to humans and wildlife.
Just months ago, the industry was actively opposing new state regulations intended to protect streams from the brine, saying fears about the river discharges were overblown.
But simultaneously, some companies were concerned.
John Hanger, Krancer's predecessor as Pennsylvania's environmental secretary, said that as early as 2008 he had been approached by two of the state's most active drillers – Range Resources, of Fort Worth, Texas, and Atlas Energy, now a subsidiary of Chevron, warning that the state's permissive rules had left rivers and streams at risk from the salty dissolved solids, particularly bromides, present in produced well water.
"They came to me and said, if this rule doesn't change, there could be enormous amounts of wastewater high in (total dissolved solids) pouring into the rivers," Hanger said.
Almost since then, the companies have been working on alternative disposal methods.
"We never thought that it was a good practice to begin with," said Range Resources spokesman Matt Pitzarella.
For months, drillers have been introducing technology that returns brine to deep wells, rather than discarding it as waste. By the end of last year, this reuse was being considered by most big drillers as the industry's future.
Efforts to curtail the waste flow accelerated, though, after a series of critical media reports, increased pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency, and new research that raised questions about whether drinking water was being compromised.
After reviewing that research, Range Resources began lobbying other drillers to confront the problem once and for all, and to do it publicly, Pitzarella said.
"I don't think that it's a stretch to say that the traditional way this industry has operated isn't going to work in the long run," he said. "We aren't going to fly beneath the radar, nor should we. And when we don't talk about these issues, someone else does."
The water that flows from active wells is often contaminated with traces of chemicals injected into the wells during a drilling procedure called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which breaks up the shale and frees natural gas. The flowback water also brings back from underground such naturally existing contaminants as barium, strontium, and radium.
Worries about the contaminants took on added urgency after the Monongahela River, a western Pennsylvania waterway that serves as a major source of drinking water for Pittsburgh and communities to its south, became so salty in 2008 that people began complaining about the taste.
The Department of Environmental Protection responded by curtailing the amount of wastewater sent to plants on the Monongahela. It also wrote new rules barring wastewater treatment plants from accepting more drilling wastewater than already permitted unless they were capable of turning out effluent with salt levels that met drinking water standards.
Those rules, though, left most of the existing wastewater treatment plants alone, and between 15 and 27 continued to pump out millions of gallons of water that scientists said was still high in some pollutants.
Over the past year and a half, a handful of researchers, including Jeanne VanBriesen, a professor of civil engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, and Stanley States, director of water quality at the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, have been collecting evidence on an increase in bromide in rivers that were being used for gas wastewater disposal.
By itself, bromide is harmless, but when combined with the chlorine used to sanitize drinking water supplies, it can produce substances called trihalomethanes that have been linked in some studies to increased human cancer rates after years of exposure or consumption.
The industry has, until now, expressed mostly skepticism about any possible link between drilling waste and water quality problems.
When The Associated Press reported in January that some drinking water systems close to gas wastewater treatment plants had struggled to meet EPA standards for trihalomethanes, the article was written off by industry groups as irresponsible, as was a similar report by The New York Times in February that focused on the presence of radium in drilling waste.
But in recent weeks, Range Resources arranged for VanBriesen and States to present some of their preliminary findings on bromide to a gathering of industry representatives.
VanBriesen said she cautioned that her own findings didn't necessarily point the finger decisively at natural gas waste as the main culprit behind rising bromide levels.
Only one of the waterways where she documented high bromide levels, the South Fork Tenmile Creek, even has a gas wastewater plant. It is equally possible, she said, that the majority of the pollution is being caused by wastewater discharges from coal-fired power plants.
"There are lots of power plants, and only a few brine treatment facilities," she noted.
Still, her presentations had an impact, she said.
"I think what you are seeing is a realization that the problem isn't going away," VanBriesen said. "I'm not pushing the panic button ... but it's a directional change that you don't want to continue."
Marcellus Shale Coalition President Kathryn Klaber said that after reviewing those findings, her group now believes the industry is partly responsible for the rising bromide levels.
In her letter to Krancer on Wednesday, she promised that the industry was taking action, but also encouraged state officials to evaluate whether other "sources" were contributing to the problem.
Krancer promised that evaluation would indeed happen, but he said he believed the gas industry's actions would lead to immediate improvements in river bromide levels.
"The proof will be in the pudding," he said.
He added that advances in recycling technology had positioned the industry to wean itself from treatment plants that do river discharges.
Recycling wastewater also makes business sense. It saves companies the expense of purchasing vast amounts of clean water to use in hydraulic fracturing, a process that involves injecting fluid deep underground at high pressure to shatter shale beds and free trapped gas.
It also brings substantial public relations benefits.
Gas companies can only drill if they can persuade landowners to lease their rights to the shale, buried deep beneath their properties. And people who think the drilling is going to contaminate their water supply are reluctant to lease.
"More than being a public health issue, it is a public trust issue," Pitzarella said.
Whether the action will lessen overall criticism of the industry, and the practice of hydraulic fracturing, is unknown.
Environmentalists continue to have concerns that methane gas loosed by the process can migrate into aquifers underground and get into people's water wells and homes. There have also been instances in which the high volumes of chemically tainted water injected into the ground during the fracturing process have escaped into the environment.
Last week, an equipment failure in a wellhead connection caused a blowout at a Chesapeake Energy Corp. well in Bradford County, resulting in a spill of several thousands of gallons of tainted water into a farm fields and streams.
Krancer said he didn't believe the industry, overall, was environmentally hazardous.
"I continue to believe that fracking is safe," he said.
___
Associated Press writer Marc Levy contributed to this report.

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Japa Group: Enter The Kṛṣṇa Planet

So if one quits his body at the end of life chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, he certainly reaches one of the spiritual planets, according to the mode of his practice. The devotees of Kṛṣṇa enter the Kṛṣṇa planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana.

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 8.13

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Gouranga TV: Bhajan – 24hr Kirtan

Bhajan – 24hr Kirtan

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ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who resides in His own realm, Goloka, with Radha, who resembles His own spiritual figure and who embodies the ecstatic potency. Their companions are Her confidantes, who embody extensions of Her bodily form and who are imbued and permeated with ever-blissful spiritual rasa."

(Brahma-samhita 5.37)

Here is the darsana of Sri Govinda and Srimati Radhika in that celebrated Land of Eternality, Goloka Dham.

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