"Planet ISKCON" - 26 new articles
H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Sunday 23 January 2011--Connecting with the Universal Religion--and--How to See the Reality Beyond Illusion?A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course(tm) Sunday 23 January 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: Connecting with the Universal Religion Uploaded from New Dwarka--Los Angeles, California, USA There are many billions of people throughout the world who consider themselves religious. Generally each of them adheres to a particular religious tradition, which is in many ways similar and also in many ways different from other religious traditions. Often, they consider that their tradition is the only valid tradition, and that others who are not participants in their tradition are lost souls condemned to be denied access to the kingdom of God. In this way, they fail to see the true universal nature of religion. Unfortunately this exclusivist mentality leads to increasing chaos and conflict in a world that is already too much overburdened by chaos and conflict. Religion is supposed to be God's gift to man so that he can have a heaven on earth and qualify to return to God's kingdom upon leaving his current body. So what is going wrong? And what can be done to change it? What's going wrong is that we approach God to fulfill our desires instead of His desires. In other words we approach Him with our contaminated consciousness of subtly considering ourselves to be the Supreme. We place ourselves over Him by asking Him to serve us instead of us serving Him. This is selfishness, not selflessness. And this is what is going wrong in the hearts of practically everyone who approaches God. To change this we must teach that selfless service to Supreme Person is the only way that one can experience genuine complete happiness. If the hand wants to get nourishment, it must give the food to the belly. God is like the belly and we are like the hand. So we must give everything to God. In this way, we will be the best servants of God and all living beings including ourselves. So, the universal religion is pure selfless service to the Supreme Person, the source of all existence. The language of the universal religion takes different shapes according to the different traditions. But when one goes deep enough into any one tradition, he will arrive at exactly the same conclusion as anyone else who follows his own religious tradition deeply enough. Therefore instead of getting side tracked by the differences of the religious traditions, we should immediately try to capture the pure essence of religion, the universal religion of pure, unadulterated, selfless, loving service for the Supreme Person. The difficulty is that we currently have a drastic shortage of enlightened teachers on this planet who are fully tuned into the original, pure essence of religion, the universal religion of pure selfless devotion to God. An enlightened teacher is someone who has gone deep enough into his own tradition to find the one universal root of all traditions. He is a teacher who has fully realized the one universal or absolute truth underlying all relative truths. If planet earth had a sufficient abundance of such enlightened teachers in each tradition, there could be instituted a global educational system which would easily bring to this tattered global society a truly profound golden era of peace, prosperity, and happiness for all. This is the day that we are praying and crying for, Lord. May it come soon! May it come soon! May it come soon! Sankarshan Das Adhikari Today's Thought for the Day was inspired by a conversation I had over breakfast on Saturday 22 January 2011 at ISKCON's center in Los Angeles, California, USA with Dr. Francis Clooney, the Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at the Harvard Divinity School--Harvard University http://www.backtohome.com/images/FrancisClooney.jpg Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: How to See the Reality Beyond Illusion? How can one open one's heart to the reality beyond this world of illusion? I can only see this world of illusion. Deepa Answer: Open Your Heart to Krishna You have to open your heart to Krishna by regularly chanting His holy names on a daily basis. And then when your heart becomes completely pure, the curtain of the material energy will be withdrawn and you will perceive Krishna, the ultimate source of reality, face to face, eye to eye. 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 2010-2011 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:  • Email to a friend •  •Japa Group: It’s Hard Work To Control The Mind
We actually like to space out when we chant. It’s easy, it’s easier than concentrating, it’s hard work to control the mind. It is hard work to concentrate. So that’s why you have to develop internal momentum, you get the speed, you get the determination, the sankalpa developed in the mind. From the Process Of Improving Habits by Mahanidhi Swami  • Email to a friend • •
Gaura Yoga, NZ: Revivify
Recharge yourself inside and out, using holistic tools which make you feel light and energised all year round! Based on the premise that a healthy mind leads to a healthy body, we will explore how to balance our habits and transition into a healthy way of living, which ultimately leads to happiness. The 2 day rejuvenation retreat is located at Gaura Haven located in the native bush of Otaki Gorge. Garden fresh meals, yoga classes if you fancy, wilderness walks and time to relax! • Email to a friend • •Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Cold Weather Food : Pakora / Chutney / Dal
 Moong Dal w/ tomato and asparagus : Cauliflower Pakora : American-style Tomato Chutney
 The morning scene: Kids juicing locally picked Florida grapefruit in the kitchen. Tagged: brunch, florida grapefruit, food, indian food, side dishes, vegan, vegetarian         • Email to a friend • •ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
• Email to a friend • •Gaura Yoga, NZ: Wellington AnniversaryGaura Yoga is open on Monday 24 January. • Email to a friend • •Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: Lecture - Prahladananda Swami - SB 10.1.18-19 - Demons & Devotees Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 1, Texts 18-19 by Prahladananda Swami - "Demons and Devotees". Dallas, TX
10.1.18 gaur bhutvasru-mukhi khinna
TRANSLATION Mother earth assumed the form of a cow. Very much distressed, with tears in her eyes, she appeared before Lord Brahma and told him about her misfortune. 10.1.19 brahma tad-upadharyatha
TRANSLATION Thereafter, having heard of the distress of mother earth, Lord Brahma, with mother earth, Lord Siva and all the other demigods, approached the shore of the ocean of milk. PURPORT After Lord Brahma understood the precarious condition of the earth, he first visited the demigods headed by Lord Indra, who are in charge of the various affairs of this universe, and Lord Siva, who is responsible for annihilation. Both maintenance and annihilation go on perpetually, under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (4.8), paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca dushkritam. Those who are obedient to the laws of God are protected by different servants and demigods, whereas those who are undesirable are vanquished by Lord Siva. Lord Brahma first met all the demigods, including Lord Siva. Then, along with mother earth, they went to the shore of the ocean of milk, where Lord Vishnu lies on a white island, Svetadvipa. Download: 2010-12-11a - Prahladananda Swami - SB 10.1.18-19 - demons & devotees.mp3 • Email to a friend • •ISKCON Orlando, USA: Trivikrama Swami Srimad Bhagavatam Class 01/22/2011        • Email to a friend • •ISKCON Orlando, USA: Kirtan Trivikrama Swami 01/22/2011        • Email to a friend • •H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 1982:02 P.M. Ever since the colonoscopy my stomach has been bubbling and unrestful. I slept until seven in the morning and then had breakfast and went back to bed. I slept from 8:00 in the morning until 12:30 P.M. Baladeva teased me, “And sometimes he hibernates, and sometimes he comes out of his hibernation.”But he was glad that I was getting so much sleep, since I am exhausted. At lunch we read from Srimad Bhagavatam about King Yudhisthira’s lamentation at having killed so many millions of people in the battle of Kuruksetra. He took the blame all for himself and said he had done it for his self-aggrandizement and that Duryodhana was ruling the country well. He should not have thought like that, but he took the guilt upon himself. He was a good, moral man. The use of weapons in a justified cause is sanctioned in Vedic literature. Krishna urged Arjuna to fight, and Rama took His armies to fight and kill Ravana. The Vedic literature is not in favor of ultimate gun control, where weapons should never be used. But it is a great shame and tragedy that so many innocent people had to be killed in the war. The war at Kuruksetra, where many children and women were killed, reminds us of Steinbeck’s Once There Was a War. Steinbeck’s war seems even more realistic as we tend to think that the Vedic wars were mythological and they happened long, long ago, before there were any real weapons. But to hear of the plywood boats, the Navy PT boats, and the dropping of bombs by the Germans on the movie theatre attended by children seems so much realistic and believable. Both wars were believable and took place, only the Kuruksetra wars took place on a much greater scale, with more sophisticated weapons and more people killed. The wars of the twentieth century are more believable and tragic because our mothers and fathers died in those wars and the cruelty was so recent. I have to tell my readers that I’m not up to speed in keeping my journal. Going to the hospital and then worrying about colonoscopy have knocked me off the track. I think all of us go through periods like this when we can’t do our work regularly, where we’re not inspired. I hope to come out of it, however, and write more quantity and be more inspired to write. You should not bash yourself for not writing better and more. You have done so much, riding in the van across Europe and stopping for writing retreats, where you would write what comes to your head. Repeated, extended visits to Vrndavana, where you would write of Vrndavana. Long loose novels with plots, experimental short stories and lots of poems, lots of poems. I don’t want to think I’m petering out. It’s just a certain phase, not permanent old age slowing down. You’ll pick up again in different ways. What about all the snow, the winter cold, is that holding you down? I don’t want to think so. Don’t turn to television and movies. Don’t turn to sleep. Baseball catcher Roy Campanella said, “A slump starts in the arms, then it goes to the hands, and then it goes to the stomach, and then it goes to the mind.” And how wonderful when you’re hitting well! It can be like Alice in Wonderland, or dark stars of night. You can be just rolling down a trail with not certainty where it’s going–but it’s going, with characters and paths. Live in the present, don’t hold me down. We are driving across the plains. It’s in the middle of a dream. The dog next door has stopped barking because Baladeva gives them two dozen cookies once a week. I’m getting back my life. The blood is flowing again. You don’t want to sleep so much. The birds don’t come as much to the feeder, but they still come. A bird of prey, and the cat scared them away. He’s glad I asked for more than one massage a week, but do I want more than that? You could go down and talk to Narayana-kavaca again if he’d be interested to talk and if you’re interested to talk. Has Baladeva gone shopping? Should I ask Bhakti-rasa to read to me? Why does a woman have to suffer when she goes through her period? What’s that about? I just have to find a desire for something new. I have a Ski Magazine I want to give to Laksmana. He’s interested in skiing, baseball, football, playing in the snow, eating, lots of childhood things that hold his interest. Subhadra is also interested in lots of things, but Kaulini is entering some teenage petulance. I am pulling out of midwinter sickness. I can find my way again. • Email to a friend • •Dandavats.com: Mayapur Institute Offers Groundbreaking Online Course
After the success of a pilot Bhakti Sastri Online course by the Mayapur Institute for Higher Education (MIHE), the Institute will offer another round of this groundbreaking step in ISKCON education from January 29th 2011 to April 29th 2012 |
domingo, 23 de enero de 2011
ISKCON News.com: Four New ISKCON Sannyasis Bring Total to Eighty-Four in 2011
PLANET ISKCON
By Madhava Smullen
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