viernes, 17 de junio de 2011

Vraja Kishor, JP: How to Link with the Divine in Perfect Yoga








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"Planet ISKCON" - 29 new articles

  1. H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Friday 17 June 2011--Scientists 155 Trillion 6.3 Billion Years Wrong--and--Transfer by Chanting from Hell to Earth?
  2. ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
  3. ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Current Visitors
  4. Vraja Kishor, JP: Varnashrama and Bhakti (Gita 12.10)
  5. Japa Group: Bhurijana dasa Japa Retreat P5
  6. Vraja Kishor, JP: How to Link with the Divine in Perfect Yoga
  7. H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 7.9.42 Happy in the hands in the mother
  8. H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – CC Madhya 19.229 In The Transcendental Time Zone 5-22-2011
  9. H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 4.10 Modern Conception Of God, Religion, & Life
  10. H.H. Sivarama Swami
  11. Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Full set distribution
  12. Gaura Vani, USA: South India 2012 Retreat – Register Now!
  13. Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: Lecture - Tamal Krishna Goswami - Prema Bhakti Candrika Verse 4
  14. Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Southern Texture
  15. ISKCON News.com: Mumbai: Importance of Interfaith Dialogue
  16. New Vrndavan, USA: 5th Annual New Vrindavan 24 Hour Kirtan — June 18-19, 2011
  17. ISKCON News.com: Researchers Discover Link Between Sugar Consumption and Mental Illness
  18. ISKCON News.com: Pope Pledges Support For Gypsies
  19. ISKCON News.com: An Effort to Foster Tolerance in Religion
  20. Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Tipster : More on Marking Glass
  21. ISKCON News.com: Now Online: "Gita Changes" For Chapter Six
  22. Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: Don’t Give Up On The Passion(flower) for Life
  23. ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Monthly Clean-Up This Weekend
  24. Japa Group: Metro Japa
  25. Mukunda Charan das, SA: Jananivas And Pankajanghri Prabhus
  26. Yoga of Ecology, Bhakta Chris, USA: Could The Net Be Killing The Planet One Search At A Time?
  27. Bhakta Chris, New York, USA: The Humble Musings Of The Manhattan Monk 6/16/11
  28. H.H. Sivarama Swami: Reflections on the importance of the counsellor system, especially in helping me care for devotees in my charge
  29. Gouranga TV: Lecture – Mukunda Datta das – Glories of the Holy Names
  30. More Recent Articles
  31. Search Planet ISKCON
  32. Prior Mailing Archive

H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Friday 17 June 2011--Scientists 155 Trillion 6.3 Billion Years Wrong--and--Transfer by Chanting from Hell to Earth?

A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course Friday 17 June 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: Scientists 155 Trillion 6.3 Billion Years Wrong Uploaded from Kuala, Lumpur On 15 June 2011 it was reported in a headline article on CNN's internet news website: Scientists say at least 30 million black holes had formed before the universe was 1 billion years old, which is quite early in the universe's 13.7 billion-year history. This time the scientists are very, very far off the mark. We get authoritative information from the Vedic literatures, which are coming from that very person who is the origin of the universe, that the universe is currently 155 trillion, 20 billion years old. This means the scientists are 155 trillion, 6.3 billion years wrong in their calculation. We can understand and accept a slight margin of error in their calculations. But to be this far off the mark makes us wonder if they have been indeed sucked into a black hole of their own making. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Are the Scientists in a Black Hole? http://www.backtohome.com/images/Black_Hole.jpg Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Transfer by Chanting from Hell to Earth? It is a well-known fact that if one sincerely remembers the Lord's holy names, he is immediately freed from his existing undesirable situation. I would like to know that if one sincerely remembers the Lord's names even in hell, will he be removed from hell and placed at least back to earth to be freed from the terrible sufferings of hell?. Looking forward to your enlightening response soon. Yours Devotedly, A.G. Answer: Why Transfer to Another Hell? A Krishna conscious devotee has no desire to be transferred to another planet. Therefore he has no interest to be transferred to the earth, which for him is simply another type of hell. For the devotee, even heaven is another type of hell. The devotee's only desire is to associate with Krishna through the transcendental process of devotional service. Thus engaged he can be happy anywhere: hell, earth, heaven, or the spiritual world. The place does not matter for him. He is simply happy to associate with Krishna wherever he may be. In this way, wherever he may be, he is transcendentally situated beyond all the sufferings of material existence because he takes complete shelter of the Lord by seeing whatever situation he may be in as the special mercy of the Lord. Sankarshan Das Adhikari Transcendental Resources: Receive the Special Blessings of Krishna Now you too can render the greatest service to the suffering humanity and attract the all-auspicious blessings of Lord Sri Krishna upon yourself and your family by assisting our mission. Lectures and Kirtans in Audio and Video: Link to High Definition Videos Link to Over 1,000 Lecture Audios Lecture-Travel Schedule for 2011 http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/schedule Have Questions or Need Further Guidance? Check out the resources at: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com or write Sankarshan Das Adhikari at: sda@backtohome.com Get your copy today of the world's greatest self-realization guide book, Bhagavad-gita As It Is available at:http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/store Know someone who could benefit from this? Forward it to them. Searchable archives of all of course material: http://www.sda-archives.com Receive Thought for the Day as an RSS feed: http://www.backtohome.com/rss.htm Unsubscribe or change your email address Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Daily_Thought Sankarshan Das Adhikari on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SDASITE Thought for the Day on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Ultimate.Self.Realization Copyright 2005-2011 by Ultimate Self Realization.Com Distribution of this material is encouraged. Simply we request you to acknowledge where it is coming from with a link to our sign up page: http://www.backtohome.com Our records indicate that at requested to be enrolled to receive e-mails from the Ultimate Self Realization Course at: This request was made on: From the following IP address:

 
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ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana

17/06/2011

 

Lord Gauranga is calling, "Wake up, sleeping souls! Wake up, sleeping souls! How long will you sleep in the lap of the witch called Maya?...

...I have descended just to save you; other than Myself you have no friend in this world."

(Jiv Jago by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura)


Gaurangadeva is indeed our dearmost friend; He blesses us with His glorious darsana with every sunrise, without fail, to dissipate the spellbinding fog of Maya from the sky of our existence.

 
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ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Current Visitors

BhurijanaPr

As you would have already guessed by frequently visiting our website and regularly downloading the Bhagavatam classes... Bhurijana Prabhu and Jagattarani Mataji are in Melbourne. They are gracing us with their well-sought-after sanga till Wednesday.

Special weekend program: This Sunday, Biswajit Rath Prabhu will hold his annual Ratha Yatra with Bhurijana Prabhu and Jagattarini Mataji as the guests of honour. So, Kew is the suburb-to-be on the 19th!

 
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Vraja Kishor, JP: Varnashrama and Bhakti (Gita 12.10)

NYC - East Village: Tompkins Square Park - Har...

Image by wallyg via Flickr

athaitad apy aśakto ‘si kartuḿ mad-yogam āśritaḥ

sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaḿ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān

If, however, you are unable to work in this consciousness of Me, then try to act giving up all results of your work and try to be self-situated.

Bhakti-yoga, as described previously by Kṛṣṇa in the Gita’s 12th chapter, has three stages: The best stage is to emotionally allow your heart and mind to wrap themselves up in Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The second best stage is to work for this by forcing your heart and mind to wrap themselves up in Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The third best stage is to work towards that by forcing your body to only do things relevant to the service of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

These are the three levels of doing bhakti-yoga –according to this chapter. Now, in this verse we have a fourth level, outside of bhakti-yoga, but supportive of it. How do we know it is outside of bhakti yoga? Because Kṛṣṇa says so explicitly.

athaitad apy aśakto ‘si kartuḿ mad-yogam āśritaḥ

“If you don’t even  have the power to take shelter of my-bhakti-yoga that I have just described…”

Now we come to several levels of practice which are not directly bhakti yoga, but which can support and enhance our ability to participated directly in bhakti yoga. What are these? In a nutshell, they are Varnashrama-dharma.

Varnashrama-dharma is not Kṛṣṇa-bhakti. By no means does this mean that varnashrama-dharma is useless for bhakti-yoga. But still, be clear, varnashrama-dharma itself is not bhakti yoga.

What is varnashrama-dharma? It is all the duties of a brahmacary, or a grihasthi, of a vanaprasthi, or of a sanyassi. It is all the duties of a shudra, or a vaishya, or a kshatriya, or a brahmana. What are all these duties? These are all things that allow us to pursue our ambitions and our karmic habits and propensities and proclivities, talents, etc. but prescribe doing so in a manner that is not degrading to the consciousness – but is instead purifying and uplifting to the consciousness.

What is the point of purifying and uplifting consciousness? The better come into contact with the divine consciousness. Therefore varnashrama dharma is good for bhakti-yoga – it is a support system for bhakti-yoga. But please be clear that it is not itself bhakti yoga.

An iron rod in fire also gives off light and heat, a lot like fire. But its not fire, its iron. Be clear about the similarities of the iron and fire, and also be clear about the differences.

Why does varnashrama purify our consciousness? How can it be purifying to follow ones ambitions, desires, habits, proclivities, etc? That is exactly what Kṛṣṇa explains in this text.

sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaḿ

Give up all the fruits of what you want to do.

Doing what I want to do for the sake of enjoying the results will get me nowhere in spiritual life. It will only thicken the crusty layers of gunk and filth surrounding my pure self. That is not varnashrama dharma! Doing the things I am pushed by karma to do is Varnashrama dharma when I utilize the results of my actions for the sake of serving the needs of others.

In real varnashrama dharma, everyone is supporting everyone else. No one is supporting themselves. The wife supports the husband. The husband supports the wife. The parents support the children. The children grow up and support the parents. The family supports the community, the community supports the family. The shudras work for everyone, and everyone takes care of all their needs. The vaishyas give money to the government, the kings give land and resources to the vaisyas. The brahmanas guide everyone, everyone feeds the brahmanas. The kings protect everyone, everyone obeys the kings. Etc. etc. etc. etc. The brahmacaris cultivate knowledge, so they can be useful to society when they become grihasthas. The grihastas take care of all the other ashramas – so they are useful to society. Etc. etc. etc. Every single person is serving the needs of every other person. Every single group is serving the needs of every other group. This is why Varnashrama is beautiful and purifying.

Greed is not a part of varnashrama dharma. Accumulation of excess wealth is not a part of varnashrama dharma. Disregard for the needs of others and selfish absorption in ones own ambitions is not varnashrama dharma. Keeping ones door locked is not seen in varnashrama. Keeping ones refrigerator closed neither. Opening ones home to the world is the trademark of varnashrama dharma.

It helps us open our heart to the world.

Now, something should be said about exploitation. As we see varnashrama dharma became the caste system. Which is wildly exploitive. So something must be said to safeguard this.

Someone very wise, I believe it may have been Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, said, “Dedicate yourself to serving the desires of God and serving the needs of humanity.” The distinction between desires and needs is very important to safeguard against exploitation. We are not dutybound to open our homes and wallets to the desires of others! We are duty bound to open them to their needs.

To conclude – a word about why Varnashrama supports bhakti-yoga.

Bhakti means to comepletely be in love with Kṛṣṇa. What is love? How can you do love-yoga without having a crystal clear definition of what love is!? Love means to completely forget yourself in deference to completely focusing on the desires of your beloved.

So, as you can see, in love there is no space whatsoever for selfish-ego.

That is why varnashrama dharma supports bhakti yoga, the yoga of love. Because it conditions us to be less selfish.

We should not underestimate the value of this. Chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa is the only real medicine for the soul, and the only truly essential practice of Śrī Krsna Bhakti-Yoga. But following varnashrama dharma really helps us truly chant. Why? Because we cannot truly chant without love. We cannot have love when we are selfish. Varnashrama dharma makes us less selfish.

“Varnashrama dharma” doesn’t necessarily mean farming, cows, white dhotis, marriage, dandas, saffron dhotis, et. al. Not at all. These are inconsequential. Varnashrama dharma means dedicating yourself to serving the needs of others by the fruits of your work.

If we dedicate ourselves in this way, our nama-bhajan will improve. Kṛṣṇa has said so here in this text. There is no merit in doubting Kṛṣṇa.


 
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Japa Group: Bhurijana dasa Japa Retreat P5

On the last day of the Japa seminar, Bhurjan dasa addresses the mind and how it interacts with our Japa.


 
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Vraja Kishor, JP: How to Link with the Divine in Perfect Yoga

Bhakti Utsav 2011

Image by vm2827 via Flickr

The Twelfth Chapter of Bhagavad Gita addresses this topic directly. Prior to the 12th chapter, Kṛṣṇa repeatedly extolled the merits of both withdrawing from material activities and contemplating the divine and engaging in “material” activities because of their connection to the divine. The 12th Chapter begins with Arjuna asking Kṛṣṇa to clarify which is better?

This is not the first time Arjuna has asked the question. He asked it at the beginning of the 5th chapter, for example. Kṛṣṇa has answered it many times, too. But if there is one thing any writer, speaker, or teacher knows it is this: If you have an important point that you want to make sure people understand, you have to repeat yourself in slightly different ways many different times.

Texts 1-7

So the 12th Chapter revisits the question. In text 1 Arjuna asks, “You mentioned those who actively engage in divine activities; and you mentioned those who withdraw from such activities and only  engage in divine contemplation. Who is more perfectly realized in yoga?”

Text 2, Kṛṣṇa answers, “The people who engage in divine activities are also engaged in divine contemplation. But the people engaged in divine contemplation lack divine activities. Therefore those whose contemplation results in action are more perfectly realized in yoga.”

Arjuna has a doubt, “What then, is the position of those who are less perfectly realized? Are they completely useless?”

Text 3-4, Kṛṣṇa answers, “Not at all! By making the difficult effort to understand how the divine exists beyond all material limitations of shape and sound eventually these people can become fortune to also become connected to the divine forms and sounds which allow them too to become active yogis (not just contemplators).”

Another doubt in Arjuna’s mind: “Oh. Then there isn’t really much difference between the two?”

Text 5, Kṛṣṇa answers, “Ultimately there is no difference, but know that the path of contemplation without action is extremely long and difficult. They too eventually attain perfect, but it is not easy at all.”

Arjuna wonders, “Isn’t divine activity also very difficult?”

Text 6, Kṛṣṇa answers, “No, not compared to inactivity. Those who contemplate me in my transcendental form, and devote their actions to pleasing me find their path very quick and easy.”

Why is it so easy?

Text 7, Kṛṣṇa answers, “Because, since they personally reach out to me in their meditations and actions, I personally reach out to them as well.” This is not the case for those who meditate on an impersonal, indefinable conception of divinity. Thus their path is infinitely more troublesome.

Texts 8-12

Now, with the 7th text, the first thematic section of the Gita comes to a close, and the second begins. The first section (texts 1-7) established that bhakti-yoga (the yoga of personalist meditation and action) is the most perfect form of yoga. Now Arjuna wants to know, succinctly, how to practice bhakti-yoga.

In texts 8-12 Kṛṣṇa succinctly explains how to practice bhakti-yoga.

Text 8 describes the perfect way to practice it. Technically it is called rāgānuga practice. The trademark of this practice is that our minds, intelligence and hearts naturally rush towards the divine, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This natural rushing of the inner self is the trademark of perfect bhakti-yoga practice. It occurs when we really have a sincere inner interest in being connected with Śrī Kṛṣṇa in yoga. It is the result of emotion (rāga). Perfect bhakti-yoga practice results from emotional desire to be linked to Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

The doubt: What if I don’t have this desire?

The answer: get it!

How?

Text 9, Kṛṣṇa explains:  Practice pushing your mind, intelligence and heart to the divine, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, by force. Technically this imperfect yet practically crucial method of practicing bhakti-yoga is called vaidhi practice. The trademark is that we impose rules (vidhi) on our mind, intellect and emotions, to force them to contemplate Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The fruit of doing so is that very soon we develop emotional attachment to the delightful Śrī Hari and thus quickly elevate to the perfect method of practice described in text 8.

Doubt: If I cannot force these rules upon myself, what then?

Text 10, Kṛṣṇa explains:  If you cannot force rules upon your mind, intellect, and emotions – then force rules upon your body and physical behavior. It is easier to control the body than the mind. Therefore first control the body, that will make it easier to control the mind. So – follow rules that engage you physically in connection with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. By thus controlling your physical self, you will gain better control over your mental self. Thus by working for Kṛṣṇa you can more successfully force your mind, intelligence and heart towards Śrī Kṛṣṇa. And, in turn, by so doing, you more quickly develop a true emotional need for absorbing yourself in a link with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Thus works for Śrī Kṛṣṇa serve the cause of perfect bhakti-yoga practice.

Doubt: Maybe I cannot always engage my physical actions directly in divine service. What then?

Text  11,  Kṛṣṇa answers, “When you cannot directly engage your actions in my service, be sure not to engage in your own selfish service. Forego your own ambitions and desires and dedicate your actions to helping others fulfill their needs. This will make you less selfish, and that will allow you to more easily engage in divine actions, etc.”

Doubt: It is not easy to forego personal ambitions and desires. How can I do it?

Text 12, Kṛṣṇa answers, “Start by cultivating true knowledge – know your true self and your true place in the cosmic scheme. Then, deepen this knowledge by meditation – changing it from theory to realization. Finally, realizing what you really are in the grand scheme you may still be pushed by habits and karmas to pursue your own ambitions and desires, but at least you will be able to give up part or all of the fruit of those actions for the service of the needs of others.”

Summary

First let’s identify the steps, in ascending order

  1. Knowledge – know who and what you are in the cosmic scheme
  2. Meditation – turn those theories into perceptions and realizations
  3. Fruitlessness – Follow your karmic ambitions and desires, but give the fruits to serving the needs of others
  4. Pure Action – Renounce your ambitions and desires, do whatever is needed to serve the needs of others
  5. Devotional Action – Do whatever is needed to serve the desires of the divine
  6. Devotional Contemplation by force – Force your inner self to link with Śrī Kṛṣṇa in devotion.
  7. Devotional Contemplation by love – Allow your heart and mind to always flow into Śrī Krsna

Each lower step must be strong before the higher step can be taken.  Each step facilitates the next. Do not stall on any step. No step is a goal. The entire thing is a ladder to higher realization. Don’t build a nest on any rung of the ladder. Always aim for the higher rung. Always reinforce your strengths on the lower rungs.

So doing you will attain what comes beyond the 7th step – Bhāva Bhakti and Prema Bhakti.


 
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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 7.9.42 Happy in the hands in the mother

Lecture on 9-12-2010 with Russian translation

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.42

O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, original spiritual master of the entire world, what is the difficulty for You, who manage the affairs of the universe, in delivering the fallen souls engaged in Your devotional service? You are the friend of all suffering humanity, and for great personalities it is necessary to show mercy to the foolish. Therefore I think that You will show Your causeless mercy to persons like us, who engage in Your service.

PURPORT

Here the words priya janan anusevatam nah indicate that the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is very favorable to devotees who act according to the instructions of His own pure devotee. In other words, one must become the servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord. If one wants to become the servant of the Lord directly, this is not as fruitful as engaging in the service of the Lord’s servant. This is the direction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who shows us the way to become gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah. One should not be proud of becoming directly the servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Rather, one must seek a pure devotee, a servant of the Lord, and engage oneself in the service of such a servant. The more one becomes the servant of the servant, the more one becomes perfect in devotional service. This is also the injunction of Bhagavad-gita: evam parampara-praptamimam rajarshayo viduh [Bg. 4.2]. One can understand the science of the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by the parampara system. In this regard, SrilaNarottama dasa Thakura says, tandera carana sevi bhakta-sane vasa: “Let me serve the lotus feet of the devotees of the Lord, and let me live with devotees.” Janame janame haya, ei abhilasha. Following Narottama dasa Thakura, one should aspire to be a servant of the Lord’s servant, life after life. Srila BhaktivinodaThakura also sings, tumi tathakura, tomara kukura, baliya janaha more: “O my Lord, O Vaishnava, please consider me your dog.” One must become the dog of a Vaishnava, a pure devotee, for a pure devotee can deliver Krishna without difficulty. Krishna se tomara, krishna dite para. Krishna is the property of His pure devotee, and if we take shelter of a pure devotee, he can deliver Krishna very easily. Prahlada wants to engage in the service of a devotee, and therefore he prays to Krishna, “My dear Lord, kindly give me the shelter of Your very dear devotee so that I may engage in his service and You may then be pleased.” Mad-bhakta-pujabhyadhika (Bhag. 11.19.21). The Lord says, “Engaging in the service of My devotee is better than trying to engage in My devotional service.”

Another significant point in this verse is that by devotional service Prahlada Maharaja does not want to benefit alone. Rather, he prays to the Lord that all of us fallen souls in this material world may, by the grace of the Lord, engage in the service of His servant and thus be delivered. The grace of the Lord is not at all difficult for the Lord to bestow, and thus Prahlada Maharaja wants to save the whole world by spreading Krishna consciousness.

 
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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – CC Madhya 19.229 In The Transcendental Time Zone 5-22-2011

CC Madhya 19.229 In The Transcendental Time Zone 2011-05-22

Lecture – Caitanya Caritamrta  Madhya 19.229 In The Transcendental Time Zone 2011-05-22 Radhadesh

CC Madhya 19.229 In The Transcendental Time Zone 2011-05-22 Lecture - Caitanya Caritamrta  Madhya 19.229 In The Transcendental Time Zone 2011-05-22 Radhadesh
 
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H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 4.10 Modern Conception Of God, Religion, & Life

BG 04.10 Modern Conception Of God, Religion, & Life 1993-01-04

Lecture – Bhagavad Gita 4.10 Modern Conception Of God, Religion, & Life 1993-01-04 Radhadesh (book distribution)

BG 04.10 Modern Conception Of God, Religion, & Life 1993-01-04 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 4.10 Modern Conception Of God, Religion, & Life 1993-01-04 Radhadesh (book distribution)
 
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H.H. Sivarama Swami

Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.

- John Cotton Dana

 
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Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: Full set distribution

I want that every respectable person has a full set of Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrta in his home.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter, 24 January, 1977.

 
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Gaura Vani, USA: South India 2012 Retreat – Register Now!


January 18th- 30th 2012 . $2600 early bird special ($2750 after Sept 1st)

Come join experienced and amazing yoga and kirtan teachers Gopi Manjari dasi and Gaura Vani plus wonderful tour guide, the jolly Mumbai monk – Radha Kunda, on a safe, rewarding journey to the holy land of South India. Daily, deep transformational Vinyasa yoga accompanied by Gaura Vani’s angelic singing of Vedic hymns, sure to cleanse the mirror of your heart and mind. Nightly kirtan will mark the end of each day of radical transformation.

Stops include bustling capital of Tamil Nadu – Chennai, one of the most visited holy places in the world – Tirupati, the magnificent carvings of Mahabalipuram, and Radhanath Swami’s Radha Gopinath temple in Mumbai where we will celebrate an unforgettable flower festival!

For a more detailed itinerary and flight information, please click through to Gopi’s site.

Space on the retreat is very limited, and we have already started filling spaces. Please register your interest now to reserve a spot! If you would like an application form, please email gopikinnicutt@gmail.com. You will need to send a $500 deposit to confirm your place. Deposits can be sent to: ‘Bee and Lotus’, 1308 Patuxent Dr., Ashton, MD, 20861.

 
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Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: Lecture - Tamal Krishna Goswami - Prema Bhakti Candrika Verse 4

Lecture on the song "Prema Bhakti Candrika" (by Srila Narottama dasa Thakura) verse 4 given by Tamal Krishna Goswami.

Dallas, TX
2000-11-22


Download: 200-11-22 - Tamal Krishna Goswami - PRema Bhakti Candrika - Verse 4.mp3
 
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Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Southern Texture

Last weekend the family took a trip to Savannah. More on how much I loved it later. But for now, let’s just skim the surface:

recycled green glass tile savannah river anchor world war ii memorial savannah riverboat old oak knit in public @ sentient bean savannah savannah bee forsyth park industrial link forsyth park cafe curving wall door knob paris market drifting love tybee island copper topped church cake topper behind the scene savannah bricked in savannah man on swing / shoe / savannah falling waters crowd control gate savannah antique water fountain savannah terrazzo and grate savannah

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ISKCON News.com: Mumbai: Importance of Interfaith Dialogue

By Sudeshna Chowdhury for mid-day.com on 16 Jun 2011

Recently, Mumbai witnessed a unique event, where religious scholars came together and discussed the purpose of having inter-religious talks. Drawing similarity between the Bhagavad Gita, Koran and the Bible, Dr Narendra Desai, a trustee of ISKCON, said that problems between different religions are, "largely based on misunderstandings and lack of knowledge."


 
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New Vrndavan, USA: 5th Annual New Vrindavan 24 Hour Kirtan — June 18-19, 2011

New Vrindavan 24 Hour Kirtan 2011: Schedule of Events and Important Information

Friday June 17:
Registration begins
Kishori Yatra performance, temple room 7:30-8:30 pm

Saturday June 18:
Mangala-arati 5:00 am
Darsana-arati 7:30 am
Gurupuja 7:40 am
SB class 8:00 am HH Bhakti Charu Swami on chanting the Holy Names
Breakfast 9:00 — 10:00 am
Inauguration 10:30 am

KIRTAN BEGINS 11:00 am

Lunch 2:00 pm — 4:00 pm
Dhupa-arati 4:30 pm
Sandhya-arati 7:00 pm (standing kirtana, maha-mantra only)
Sayana-arati 8:30 pm
Light dinner 9:00 pm (temple prasadam hall)
Curtains close 10:00 pm

Sunday June 19:
Mangala-arati 5:00 am (maha-mantra only)
Darsana-arati 7:30 am (maha-mantra only)
Gurupuja 7:40 am (maha-mantra only)
24 Hours end 11:00 am
Realizations 11:15 am
Sunday Feast 12:30 pm

All participants must register and wear a wristband to receive the free
prasadam. No charge for participation or registration, but donations are
welcomed. Special thanks to Jagannath Misra Das from Toronto for his
generous donation towards the prasadam.

Volunteers needed in the kitchen, and for waste disposal, etc.

Live internet broadcast of the entire event on www.newvrindaban.com and
www.mantralogy.com/24

See these sites for further general information, including directions. The weather is forecast to be warm with chances of showers. Mornings have been chilly recently.

Further details on the kirtan schedule to be published later.

Contacts:

Palace Lodge: 304-843-1600 x111
Ashram Accommodation: Ananda Tirtha Das (304-215-4298)/Arya Siddhanta Das
Kirtan Scheduling: Gaura Vani Das (240-423-9108)
Registration: Rasacharya Das
Volunteer Coordination: Arya Siddhanta Das
Medical Help: Arya Siddhanta Das
Community President: Jaya Krsna Das 304 843 1600 x149

 
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ISKCON News.com: Researchers Discover Link Between Sugar Consumption and Mental Illness

By T.M. Hartle for Natural News on 16 Jun 2011

The most provocative finding in the cross-cultural analysis was the consistent connection between refined sugar intake and worse outcomes for schizophrenia and increased prevalence of depression. Refined sugar consumption suppresses an important growth hormone in the brain that is extremely important for the health of neurons.


 
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ISKCON News.com: Pope Pledges Support For Gypsies

By Frances D`Emilio for Huffington Post on 16 Jun 2011

Pope Benedict XVI listened to Gypsies recount their way of life at a first-ever papal audience for them at the Vatican on Saturday, decried their persecution by the Nazis during World War II and called on Europe to help end centuries of rejection for the Roma people.


 
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ISKCON News.com: An Effort to Foster Tolerance in Religion

By Laurie Goodstein for The New York Times on 16 Jun 2011

Until Mr. Patel came along, the interfaith movement in the United States was largely the province of elders and clergy members hosting dialogues and, yes, book clubs — and drafting documents that had little impact at the grass roots.


 
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Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Tipster : More on Marking Glass

I have a friend who runs a small organic dairy in North Carolina. They sell their raw milk + other products such as cheese, ice cream and sour cream. After reading the post on how I label my jam jars, she left a comment asking more about those paint markers (’cause she thinks it was a darn good idea, people!). I’m sure some of you smarty pants out there are thinking that she should just get some food labels printed up but, speaking from experience, when you run a small business without any start-up money, printing labels can turn into a financial owie.

Here’s the story on paint markers (and more) on glass. I’ve also included some other economical ideas for fixing up your glass jars and bottles!


Sharpie Paint Markers have a different effect than permanents. They really do look painty.  Available in both water and oil-based, they come in a variety of colors and tip thicknesses. Make sure the surface is totally dry before writing on the glass. If you mess up a bit, just scrub off with a damp kitchen towel. Dry it off and re-do. If you need to completely re-label, just use a razor blade to scrape off the print a’ la’ high school janitor style.

Sharpie Paint Markers : Available in a helluva lotta colors!

 

Another option I discovered when visiting the Sharpie site is the Industrial Permanent Marker. According to the site copy, it works on wet and oily surfaces. I think that’s cool.

Sharpie Industrial Permanent Marke : Available in a limited variety of colors.

Craft shops carry paint specifically for glass and my guess is that these will have the most permanent results. For the total low down, check out these tips from Michael’s about using glass paint.

A good idea for my milk bottle friend would be to get a good stencil done up on plastic that she could just paint onto the jars. Another economical idea would be to put the paint in a shallow dish and get a custom stamp made.

Etching seems time consuming but very pretty. However, due to milk’s inherent whiteness, it wouldn’t be an option in this application unless they were trying to brand their milk as arty with ulta low contrast, illegible packaging.

Any other suggestions or tips out there?

 

 

 

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ISKCON News.com: Now Online: "Gita Changes" For Chapter Six

By Kaisori Dasi for ISKCON News on 16 Jun 2011

Whether you're for "the changes," against them, or neutral, here's another opportunity to see what the changes actually are.


 
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Madhava Ghosh dasa, New Vrndavan, USA: Don’t Give Up On The Passion(flower) for Life

Most  passionflowers are tropical plants but there is a hardy one that will grow in the North as high as Zone 6 (zone 5 with winter protection). It is exotic looking,  fragrant (only lightly for me), and with an edible fruit. So last year I gave it a try and it grew well though none of the late arriving fruit matured.


This spring I had a clematis I really needed a place to plant and when the passionflower didn’t show up where it had grown last year I started coveting the spot. As another common name for it is Maypop I decided to give it until the 1st of June.

June 2nd  I went out and took one last too quick of a look, saw no sign of life, so proceeded to toss on a bunch of compost and forked up the bed.

Alas, I turned up a long lateral root with shoots coming off of it. Upon closer inspection I could see that the first of the shoots had just that very day emerged and opened enough of a leaf so I could tell it was the passionflower.

Had I waited one more day even my dull senses would have seen the leaf, or if I had knelt down and given more than a cursory examination, I would have seen it had emerged.

I took the main root and put it in a corner of my gourd fenced in trellis as it is hard to turn the tiller there.   I still had three roots with shoots that I potted up. I will give them a month or so to get established in the pots, then I will plant one out side the fence just to see if the deer eat it, and still have a couple to deal with.

Update.

Yesterday I was checking on my newly planted clematis and found  about a dozen passionflowers robustly poking through the grass around the mulched clematis bed.  As it was expensive to buy, I don’t want to just mow them down so anyone who wants to can  come by and dig one up and take it home.

I don’t know if they would make garlands but will definitely make a nice offering flower and maybe once established set fruit early enough to ripe.

Anyway, don’t prematurely give up on your passionflower — it might have  had delayed emergence due to extended cold spring or just open later here in the Northern edge of its hardiness.

To devotees the word passion has the nuance of  the mode of passion. The varieties of experiences in the material world are  are  considered to various combinations of  three primary modes — ignorance, passion, and goodness, just as all colors we see are combinations of the three primary colors.

The mode of ignorance is characterized by activities that benefit no one, like intoxication and laziness.  The mode of passion means a high level of activity but with the motivation of benefiting oneself. The mode of goodness also is a high level of activity but with the motive of benefiting others or greater purposes.

In American English “passion” can mean lusty activity but when used in a phrase like “passion for life” means living with a full expression of the human experience or, as devotees would say, being enlivened.

We all have bad days or times and sometimes it seems all bleak and futile, but don’t give up on the passion for life, it is actually our constitutional position. The nature of the soul shed of the material illusion is sat-chit-ananda, which means to be full of knowledge and bliss — to be engulfed with the passion for life.

Don’t give up on it.


Filed under: Cows and Environment
 
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ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Monthly Clean-Up This Weekend

CDM (Ceto Darpana Marjanam) is a project which entails the organized cleaning of the temple as a group that will start this Saturday, June 18th at 10:00am! Please join as as we clean our temple and our thus our very hearts as well in a fun way together!

The schedule will be as follows:
10:00am to 1:30pm - Maha clean-up
1:30pm to 3:00pm - Special pizza party in the park, activity and nectar-filled conversations

An inspirational quote by Srila Prabhupada:
"Everything within the temple should be kept very, very neat and clean. And the more you keep the temple neat and clean, you will be neat and clean within your heart. And then your understanding will be very easy. We cannot understand Krsna because our heart is piled up with many garbages. That we have to cleanse."
-- Srila Prabhupada Melbourne, May 22, 1975

Please come out and bring your family and friends for this unforgettable experience!
 
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Japa Group: Metro Japa


Today I had to rise early and travel to the big smoke - I managed to chant most of my rounds but had to leave quickly and catch a bus to the Metro. On the train I was contemplating finishing my rounds....the atmosphere is very disruptive and distracting but my mind was coming up with all the usual excuses "Better now when it's early in the morning, later you'll be tired and more under the modes".


I was tempted but remembered that actually it's better to be in a quiet place free from any distractions, even if it means sometimes chanting later on in the day.

We should always rise early and chant most or all of our rounds with the utmost attention in a quiet and peaceful place - don't listen to the mind!
 
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Mukunda Charan das, SA: Jananivas And Pankajanghri Prabhus

18 March 2001, Sri Mayapur Dhama

I have heard it said that Vaishnavas are like salt.  Salt pervades a dish, but cannot be seen; similarly, the presence of great devotees is all-pervasive, yet they do not push themselves into the forefront.  Humility is one of the key qualities of a Vaishnava.  This is certainly the case with Jananivas and Pankajanghri prabhus – the twin pujaris of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava.   I never met them during my first visit to Mayapur in 1997, but their presence was definitely felt – they are an integral part of the Mayapur experience.  This time I had heard more of their glories and wanted to hear from them and witness their unwavering dedication to Radha-Madhava.  I was not  disappointed.

Subhaga Maharaja gave the English Srimad Bhagavatam class in the Sankirtan Building on the morning of March 18 2001.  He spoke philosophically about the beauty and joyfulness of the bhakti process from Chapter 15 of the 7th Canto.  He related an incident where an impersonalist came to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur with mangos.  Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati distributed the mangoes to his disciples, leaving one rotten one for the impersonalist.  Bhaktisiddhanta said, ‘All is one.  So, this is the same’.  The man reluctantly ate the rotten mango.  He explained how Bhaktisiddhanta encouraged his disciples to honour sumptuous offerings of prashadam (offered foods) – gaja, sweet dal and laddhu - in Jagannatha Puri.  He quoted the founder of the Hare Krishna Movement, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, telling his disciples to ‘Eat Simply Wonderful [a delicious milk sweet], and go back to the wonderful world’.  Prashadam should be taken in moderation, however.  As we make advancement we should minimize our intake of prasada.  Today was Srivas Thakur’s Appearance Day.  It was also the tithi celebration of Jananivas and Pankajanghri prabhu’s Appearance Day.  Subhaga Maharaja ended his class by saying, ‘Happy Birthday’ to the twins.  Pankajanghri prabhu humbly responded, ‘Make us happy’.

I visited the Yoga Pitha – the Birthplace of Lord Chaitanya – with Padmanabha prabhu.  Yoga Pitha means ‘blending-spot’ – where the spiritual comes in contact with the material creation.  We offered our obeisances to lord Siva, near the Neem tree which is on the spot where Mahaprabhu appeared.  We bathed in the Ganga again.  Then we went home. I had heard that their was going to be a celebration – a vyasa-puja ceremony - for the twins, but did not know where it was going to take place.  The observance of the twins’ birthday was kept  secret because, in their humility, they often disappeared at the hint of a celebration.  They lived to serve Radha-Madhava and the Deities of the ISKCON Mayapura Candrodaya Mandir.

Some time after noon I saw Ganga prabhu, one of the local residents of Mayapur, leaving the Conch Building.  I followed him to Jananivas and Pankajanghri’s quarters, behind the Altar.  The devotees had brought two vyasasanas into their room and the brothers were seated next to each other with garlands around their necks.  A group of about thirty devotees – permanent residents of Mayapur – were singing the guru vandanam prayers, offering garlands and gifts to the brothers.  Their was a queue of devotees standing in line.  Some were standing, others making their offerings and others bowing down at their feet.  The twins, in return, were handing out maha-prasada from the Deities.  It was a sweet and moving scene.

I gave Jananivas prabhu a picture of Radhanath Maharaja and His Grace dressing Radha-Gopinatha.  He exclaimed, ‘Oh, it’s Chowpatty!’  He gave me a simply wonderful.  I bowed and made way for the next person in  line.  Someone handed me a pair of karatalas, which I played ecstatically.  Ther kirtan was brief, but rousing.  Then Bhakti Purussotama Maharaja recited the prema-dhvani prayers.  The devotees moved in a colourful procession to the marble corridor behind the Deities.  A huge transcendental feast was served.  Some of the local preparations and western dishes that the twins liked were served.  The feast was truly something out of this world because I ate and I ate but did not feel full.

Jananivas and Pankajanghri were sitting on the far end of the corridor, with the Bengali brahmacaris.  At one point a cluster of brahmacaris leaned forward and took the remnants of both twins from their plates!  This is very rare because Jananivas and Pankajanghri are very humble and rarely let anyone take their remnants.  I sat there and appreciated their wonderful qualities and the wonderful celebration of their lives.


Filed under: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, ISKCON, Spiritual Life, Srimad Bhagavatam Tagged: a.c. bhaktivedanta swami, chaitanya mahaprabhu, chaitanya mahaprabhu birthplace, ganges river, ISKCON Mayapur, jananivas and pankajanghri, postaweek2011, radhanath maharaja jananivas, srimad bhagavatam class
 
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Yoga of Ecology, Bhakta Chris, USA: Could The Net Be Killing The Planet One Search At A Time?


From the Vancouver Sun

It's Saturday night, and you want to catch the latest summer blockbuster. You do a quick Google search to find the venue and right time, and off you go to enjoy some mindless fun.

Meanwhile, your Internet search has just helped kill the planet. Depending on how long you took and what sites you visited, your search caused the emission of one to 10 grams of carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

Sure, it's not a lot on its own — but add up all of the more than one billion daily Google searches, throw in 60 million Facebook status updates each day, 50 million daily tweets and 250 billion emails per day, and you're making a serious dent in some Greenland glaciers.

The Internet has long promised a more efficient and greener world. We save on paper and mailing by sending an email. We can telecommute instead of driving to work. We can have a meeting by teleconference instead of flying to another city.

Ironically, despite the web's green promise, this explosion of data has turned the Internet into one of the planet's fastest-growing sources of carbon emissions. The Internet now consumes two to three per cent of the world's electricity.

If the Internet was a country, it would be the planet's fifth-biggest consumer of power, ahead of India and Germany. The Internet's power needs now rival those of the aviation industry and are expected to nearly double by 2020.

"The Internet pollutes, but people don't understand why it pollutes. It's very, very power-hungry, and we have to reduce its carbon footprint," said Mohamed Cheriet, a green IT expert and professor in the engineering and automation department at Montreal's Ecole de Technologie Superieure (ETS).

The bulk of all this energy is gobbled up by a fast-growing network of huge "server farms" or data centres that form the backbone of the Internet. They are hush-hush facilities, some the size of five Wal-Marts, packed from floor to ceiling with tens of thousands of computers.

These are the computers that make the Internet run — routing traffic and storing much of those ever-expanding heaps of data.

Say you do a Google search. Your query kicks into action about 1,000 servers at various Google data centres. Those computers scan billions of web pages already in Google's archives and spit out an answer.

Total time elapsed: 0.2 seconds on average. Meanwhile, Google's data centres are also constantly combing the Internet to update their archives of web pages.

All those computers have a voracious appetite for energy, especially for cooling equipment to prevent overheating.

Apple's 46,000-square-metre iDataCenter is set to open in North Carolina this spring with a price tag of $1 billion U.S.. It will use an estimated 100 megawatts of power — as much as about 100,000 Canadian homes.

Apple's mega-facility is part of a cluster of gigantic new data centres coming on line in North Carolina that are powered largely by cheap and highly polluting coal power. Google has a 44,000-square-metre data centre in the state that eventually will consume an estimated 60 to 100 MW. Facebook has a 28,000-square-metre facility under construction there that will eat up 40 MW.

Greenpeace calls the three facilities "North Carolina's dirty data triangle." Coal, it says, is the most polluting of all fossil fuels and the world's single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

"The technologies of the 21st century are still largely powered by the dirty coal power of the past," the environmental group said in a report card on the IT sector in April, titled How Dirty is Your Power?

"People are pretty concerned about it," David Kessler, a Greenpeace spokesman in San Francisco.

In Lenoir, North Carolina, Google's $600-million, super-sized data centre offers employees the kind of unusual perks that were the hallmark of the high-flying dot-com era.

But Google chose Lenoir for more than just some nice handouts. It also wanted cheap electricity for those power-hungry servers.

North Carolina offers industrial customers one of the lowest electricity rates in the U.S. — 5.8 cents per kilowatt hour, versus the U.S. average of 6.7 cents.

It just so happens that the state's electricity is also some of the dirtiest in the country. Nearly two-thirds of the state's electricity comes from coal.

The IT industry is now responding by starting to improve the energy efficiency of its data centres.

But that's not enough, said Bill St. Arnaud, an engineer and green IT consultant in Ottawa. The Internet is growing so fast, he said, it's overtaking such efficiency gains. Besides, efficiency improvements alone won't wean the IT industry from using inexpensive and polluting coal, he said.

The real solution, he said, is for governments to impose measures like carbon taxes and emissions caps that make dirty energy less attractive financially.

"The planet is warming up, and it's going to get very bad. We need a price on carbon. It's the only way to get people to move off coal because coal is currently so cheap," he said.

"We have to move from this fossil fuel fiesta to a smarter economy."

Some seeking to reduce the Internet's carbon footprint point to a homegrown solution: the GreenStar Network.

GreenStar, which is based at Montreal's ETS, is an alternative Internet that runs on small data centres powered solely by cleaner renewable energy, like wind, solar and hydroelectric power.

GreenStar is growing quickly because of the huge worldwide demand for green IT, St. Arnaud said. Since being launched last fall with a core of five green data centres in Canada, the network has expanded to include 15 other data centres in Europe and the U.S., mostly at universities and a few small industrial partners. Others are planned for China and Africa.

"Our biggest problem is meeting demand. We've demonstrated that we can build an Internet that's as reliable as the normal Internet, but without using dirty energy," St. Arnaud said.

The province says the market for green IT will be worth $600 billion annually worldwide by 2013.

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette


Read more:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Could+killing+planet+search+time/4891461/story.html#ixzz1ORtXV5o4

 
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Bhakta Chris, New York, USA: The Humble Musings Of The Manhattan Monk 6/16/11


We are swimming with all our might, gasping for air
Even when the rescue boat arrives, we still must get in and join in the row
Even when our paddle strikes the water, we must remember to pick up the anchor
Lose the dead weight
Shed the old skin

Picking up speed, naturally the sun rises on the horizon of our heart
The relief of homeward bound
Bees and scents of kadamba games and peacocks
Relief from this dream that we have held onto for too long
The weight of this body, our expectations

Perhaps we are afraid to pick up speed, to life that anchor
But we have no choice, all hope lies dormant ready to shine.

***
We must beg for our grace. We must ring it and squeeze it out, like sugarcane juice, from the Holy Name. Bringing our pure intention to our chanting, we make this offering to the specific grace that we need, our actual spiritual desire. Let that offering hold our attention tight to the Holy Name, let it make us cling with all of our might to the Holy Name, to Your sweet sound resounding.

Let our chanting be infused with the complete faith that it will free and purify us fully of all that we are not. Let us have no doubt about its supreme, invincible power. Let us have no doubt about its sweet touch. Let us never give up, never turn our gaze from this golden grace.

 
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H.H. Sivarama Swami: Reflections on the importance of the counsellor system, especially in helping me care for devotees in my charge

 
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Gouranga TV: Lecture – Mukunda Datta das – Glories of the Holy Names

Lecture – Mukunda Datta das – Glories of the Holy Names

 
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