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Here are the latest updates for    "Planet ISKCON" - 39 new articles H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Wednesday 11 May 2011--Krishna Consciousness--Perfection of Science--and--Should We Read Bhagavad-gita At Home? H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 4 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 3 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 2 Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN: 2011 tour Malaysia – Sungai Petani ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darshana ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Nanda Mandir Prabhu Australian News: Book Review: Miracle On 2nd Ave Japa Group: Good Association Is King H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 1 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 Evidence regarding devotional principles H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 06 Sastra Dana, San Diego, USA: 16Rounds at Jamba Juice H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 05 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 04 Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Response for taking care of Tulasi Maharani H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 03 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 02 Akrura das, Gita Coaching: NIRANJANA SWAMI ON DEVOTEE CARE Nitya Navina dd, New Jersey, USA: Springtime Visitors H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Sunday, May 8th, 2011 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar of Devotion 01 (continued) Toronto Sankirtan Team, CA: Do we really understand ? Caitanya Mangala, CA, USA: KulimeLA 2009: Chaitanya-Nitai Performing at the Ford Theater in Hollywood H.H. Sivarama Swami: Tarun Krsna asks Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Recipe : Canning Dill Pickles Giridhari das, Brasilia, Brazil: Angry Birds™ Yoga – How to Eliminate the Green Pigs in Your Life, Part IV New Vrndavan, USA: Faces of the 2011 Festival of Inspiration Mayapuris, USA: Mridanga Music Video to Premiere May 19th ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Food for life in Japan Mukunda Charan das, SA: Justerini (Or How I Became A Vegetarian) Japa Group: Do Not Chant Like The Parrot Bhakta Chris, New York, USA: The Intersection-The Humanity Of The Enemy Institute for Sustainable Society, NZ: Meet an Ayurveda Pro! Gouranga TV: 24 Hours kirtan with Indradyumna sw . sao paulo -brasil H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: HH Bhakti Caru Swami In Kogara, April 2011 H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Devotee Care Workshop Australia, 2011 H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Initiations by His Holines Bhakti Caru Swami, Sydney, 2011. H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Gurumaharaja In West-Bengal, India, 8th-9th of May 2011. More Recent Articles Search Planet ISKCON Prior Mailing Archive H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Wednesday 11 May 2011--Krishna Consciousness--Perfection of Science--and--Should We Read Bhagavad-gita At Home? A daily broadcast of the Ultimate Self Realization Course(tm) Wednesday 11 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: Krishna Consciousness--Perfection of Science Uploaded from Bhaktivedanta Ashram--Austin, Texas USA Science means to know things as they actually are, not as they appear to be or as we think them to be. If one is truly scientific, he must not blindly accept something as being either true or false because it could in fact be just the opposite. For science to be perfect the instruments used to acquire and analyze the data must also be perfect. If the instruments are imperfect, the data and conclusions drawn from such imperfect observation will also necessarily be imperfect. Since all scientific instruments currently available only function within a highly limited spectrum of reality, modern science is still quite unscientific and hence still groping along in the dark ages. Fortunately we have a scientific instrument available to us which, if properly focused, can give us perfect data thus allowing us to have perfect scientific knowledge. That scientific instrument is consciousness, but it must be properly focused. If a mirror is dirty, it cannot give a good reflection. But if it is clean, it will reflect things very clearly. Similarly when consciousness is properly focused by being cleansed of all dirt, it can yield a perfect scientific vision of reality. That cleansing process has been taught to us by great enlightened sages, who could directly perceive all the scientific truths regarding this universe and the multi-universes, both mundane and supra-mundane, beyond the present universe in which we reside. That cleansing process is the mantra yoga system. By meditating on the mantra, a transcendental vibration coming from beyond this mundane universe, by regularly chanting and hearing it, all the dust which is presently covering the consciousness is cleared away and one can directly perceive everything clearly in a state of total awakening, just as the sun lights up everything in the daytime. Although the Vedic literatures from ancient India contain many powerful bona fide mantras, they recommend the Hare Krishna mantra as being the most powerful and effective mantra for this age. This greatest of all mantras is as follows: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare Sankarshan Das Adhikari Hare Krishna Mantra Kirtan Kaliningrad, Russia--23 April 2011 http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Spring/Russia_Kirtan.JPG Answers According to the Vedic Version: Question: Should We Read Bhagavad-gita At Home? My obeisances, Gurudeva. Some say that the Bhagavad-gita should not be read at home. I request you to clear this doubt. Thank you V.S. Answer: Read Bhagavad-gita Everywhere We do not listen to what some say. We listen to what Krishna says. He says that we should always be absorbed in hearing, remembering, and following the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita. This means that you must regularly read the Bhagavad-gita at home and wherever you may be. 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:   • Email to a friend • • H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 4 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 4 2001-09-07 Radhadesh Chapter 7: Evidence Regarding Devotional Principles Accepting Initiation from the Spiritual Master and Receiving Instructions from Him Sage Prabuddha continued to speak to the King as follows: "My dear King, a disciple has to accept the spiritual master not only as spiritual master, but also as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul. In other words, the disciple should accept the spiritual master as God, because he is the external manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. This is confirmed in every scripture, and a disciple should accept the spiritual master as such. One should learn Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam seriously and with all respect and veneration for the spiritual master. Hearing and speaking Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the religious process which elevates one to the platform of serving and loving the Supreme Personality of Godhead." The attitude of the disciple should be to satisfy the bona fide spiritual master. Then it will be very easy for him to understand spiritual knowledge. This is confirmed in the Vedas, and Rūpa Gosvāmī will further explain that for a person who has unflinching faith in God and the spiritual master, everything becomes revealed very easily. Serving the Spiritual Master with Faith and Confidence Regarding accepting initiation from the spiritual master, in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Seventeenth Chapter, verse 27, it is stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Uddhava, the spiritual master must be accepted not only as My representative, but as My very self. He must never be considered on the same level with an ordinary human being. One should never be envious of the spiritual master, as one may be envious of an ordinary man. The spiritual master should always be seen as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by serving the spiritual master one is able to serve all the demigods." Following in the Footsteps of Saintly Persons In the Skanda Purāṇa it is advised that a devotee follow the past ācāryas and saintly persons, because by such following one can achieve the desired results, with no chance of lamenting or being baffled in his progress. The scripture known as Brahma-yāmala states as follows: "If someone wants to pose himself as a great devotee without following the authorities of the revealed scriptures, then his activities will never help him to make progress in devotional service. Instead, he will simply create disturbances for the sincere students of devotional service." Those who do not strictly follow the principles of revealed scriptures are generally called sahajiyās — those who have imagined everything to be cheap, who have their own concocted ideas, and who do not follow the scriptural injunctions. Such persons are simply creating disturbances in the discharge of devotional service. In this connection, an objection may be raised by those who are not in devotional service and who do not care for the revealed scriptures. An example of this is seen in Buddhist philosophy. Lord Buddha appeared in the family of a high-grade kṣatriya king, but his philosophy was not in accord with the Vedic conclusions and therefore was rejected. Under the patronage of a Hindu king, Mahārāja Aśoka, the Buddhist religion was spread all over India and the adjoining countries. However, after the appearance of the great stalwart teacher Śańkarācārya, this Buddhism was driven out beyond the borders of India. The Buddhists or other religionists who do not care for revealed scriptures sometimes say that there are many devotees of Lord Buddha who show devotional service to Lord Buddha, and who therefore should be considered devotees. In answer to this argument, Rūpa Gosvāmī says that the followers of Buddha cannot be accepted as devotees. Although Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, the followers of such incarnations are not very advanced in their knowledge of the Vedas. To study the Vedas means to come to the conclusion of the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore any religious principle which denies the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead is not accepted and is called atheism. Atheism means defying the authority of the Vedas and decrying the great ācāryas who teach Vedic scriptures for the benefit of the people in general. Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but in the same Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that Lord Buddha appeared in order to bewilder the atheistic class of men. Therefore his philosophy is meant for bewildering the atheists and should not be accepted. If someone asks, "Why should Kṛṣṇa propagate atheistic principles?" the answer is that it was the desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to end the violence which was then being committed in the name of the Vedas. The so-called religionists were falsely using the Vedas to justify such violent acts as meat-eating, and Lord Buddha came to lead the fallen people away from such a false interpretation of the Vedas. Also, for the atheists Lord Buddha preached atheism so that they would follow him and thus be tricked into devotional service to Lord Buddha, or Kṛṣṇa. Inquiring About Eternal Religious principles In the Nāradīya Purāṇa it is said, "If one is actually very serious about devotional service, then all of his purposes will be served without any delay." Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 4 2001-09-07 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 4 2001-09-07 Radhadesh Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 4 2001-09-07 Radhadesh   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 3 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 3 Chapter 7: Evidence Regarding Devotional Principles Accepting Initiation from the Spiritual Master and Receiving Instructions from Him Sage Prabuddha continued to speak to the King as follows: "My dear King, a disciple has to accept the spiritual master not only as spiritual master, but also as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul. In other words, the disciple should accept the spiritual master as God, because he is the external manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. This is confirmed in every scripture, and a disciple should accept the spiritual master as such. One should learn Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam seriously and with all respect and veneration for the spiritual master. Hearing and speaking Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the religious process which elevates one to the platform of serving and loving the Supreme Personality of Godhead." The attitude of the disciple should be to satisfy the bona fide spiritual master. Then it will be very easy for him to understand spiritual knowledge. This is confirmed in the Vedas, and Rūpa Gosvāmī will further explain that for a person who has unflinching faith in God and the spiritual master, everything becomes revealed very easily. Serving the Spiritual Master with Faith and Confidence Regarding accepting initiation from the spiritual master, in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Seventeenth Chapter, verse 27, it is stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Uddhava, the spiritual master must be accepted not only as My representative, but as My very self. He must never be considered on the same level with an ordinary human being. One should never be envious of the spiritual master, as one may be envious of an ordinary man. The spiritual master should always be seen as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by serving the spiritual master one is able to serve all the demigods." Following in the Footsteps of Saintly Persons In the Skanda Purāṇa it is advised that a devotee follow the past ācāryas and saintly persons, because by such following one can achieve the desired results, with no chance of lamenting or being baffled in his progress. The scripture known as Brahma-yāmala states as follows: "If someone wants to pose himself as a great devotee without following the authorities of the revealed scriptures, then his activities will never help him to make progress in devotional service. Instead, he will simply create disturbances for the sincere students of devotional service." Those who do not strictly follow the principles of revealed scriptures are generally called sahajiyās — those who have imagined everything to be cheap, who have their own concocted ideas, and who do not follow the scriptural injunctions. Such persons are simply creating disturbances in the discharge of devotional service. In this connection, an objection may be raised by those who are not in devotional service and who do not care for the revealed scriptures. An example of this is seen in Buddhist philosophy. Lord Buddha appeared in the family of a high-grade kṣatriya king, but his philosophy was not in accord with the Vedic conclusions and therefore was rejected. Under the patronage of a Hindu king, Mahārāja Aśoka, the Buddhist religion was spread all over India and the adjoining countries. However, after the appearance of the great stalwart teacher Śańkarācārya, this Buddhism was driven out beyond the borders of India. The Buddhists or other religionists who do not care for revealed scriptures sometimes say that there are many devotees of Lord Buddha who show devotional service to Lord Buddha, and who therefore should be considered devotees. In answer to this argument, Rūpa Gosvāmī says that the followers of Buddha cannot be accepted as devotees. Although Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, the followers of such incarnations are not very advanced in their knowledge of the Vedas. To study the Vedas means to come to the conclusion of the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore any religious principle which denies the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead is not accepted and is called atheism. Atheism means defying the authority of the Vedas and decrying the great ācāryas who teach Vedic scriptures for the benefit of the people in general. Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but in the same Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that Lord Buddha appeared in order to bewilder the atheistic class of men. Therefore his philosophy is meant for bewildering the atheists and should not be accepted. If someone asks, "Why should Kṛṣṇa propagate atheistic principles?" the answer is that it was the desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to end the violence which was then being committed in the name of the Vedas. The so-called religionists were falsely using the Vedas to justify such violent acts as meat-eating, and Lord Buddha came to lead the fallen people away from such a false interpretation of the Vedas. Also, for the atheists Lord Buddha preached atheism so that they would follow him and thus be tricked into devotional service to Lord Buddha, or Kṛṣṇa. Inquiring About Eternal Religious principles In the Nāradīya Purāṇa it is said, "If one is actually very serious about devotional service, then all of his purposes will be served without any delay." Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 3 2001-09-05 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 3 2001-09-05 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 3   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 2 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 2 Chapter 7: Evidence Regarding Devotional Principles Accepting Initiation from the Spiritual Master and Receiving Instructions from Him Sage Prabuddha continued to speak to the King as follows: "My dear King, a disciple has to accept the spiritual master not only as spiritual master, but also as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul. In other words, the disciple should accept the spiritual master as God, because he is the external manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. This is confirmed in every scripture, and a disciple should accept the spiritual master as such. One should learn Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam seriously and with all respect and veneration for the spiritual master. Hearing and speaking Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the religious process which elevates one to the platform of serving and loving the Supreme Personality of Godhead." The attitude of the disciple should be to satisfy the bona fide spiritual master. Then it will be very easy for him to understand spiritual knowledge. This is confirmed in the Vedas, and Rūpa Gosvāmī will further explain that for a person who has unflinching faith in God and the spiritual master, everything becomes revealed very easily. Serving the Spiritual Master with Faith and Confidence Regarding accepting initiation from the spiritual master, in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Seventeenth Chapter, verse 27, it is stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Uddhava, the spiritual master must be accepted not only as My representative, but as My very self. He must never be considered on the same level with an ordinary human being. One should never be envious of the spiritual master, as one may be envious of an ordinary man. The spiritual master should always be seen as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by serving the spiritual master one is able to serve all the demigods." Following in the Footsteps of Saintly Persons In the Skanda Purāṇa it is advised that a devotee follow the past ācāryas and saintly persons, because by such following one can achieve the desired results, with no chance of lamenting or being baffled in his progress. The scripture known as Brahma-yāmala states as follows: "If someone wants to pose himself as a great devotee without following the authorities of the revealed scriptures, then his activities will never help him to make progress in devotional service. Instead, he will simply create disturbances for the sincere students of devotional service." Those who do not strictly follow the principles of revealed scriptures are generally called sahajiyās — those who have imagined everything to be cheap, who have their own concocted ideas, and who do not follow the scriptural injunctions. Such persons are simply creating disturbances in the discharge of devotional service. In this connection, an objection may be raised by those who are not in devotional service and who do not care for the revealed scriptures. An example of this is seen in Buddhist philosophy. Lord Buddha appeared in the family of a high-grade kṣatriya king, but his philosophy was not in accord with the Vedic conclusions and therefore was rejected. Under the patronage of a Hindu king, Mahārāja Aśoka, the Buddhist religion was spread all over India and the adjoining countries. However, after the appearance of the great stalwart teacher Śańkarācārya, this Buddhism was driven out beyond the borders of India. The Buddhists or other religionists who do not care for revealed scriptures sometimes say that there are many devotees of Lord Buddha who show devotional service to Lord Buddha, and who therefore should be considered devotees. In answer to this argument, Rūpa Gosvāmī says that the followers of Buddha cannot be accepted as devotees. Although Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, the followers of such incarnations are not very advanced in their knowledge of the Vedas. To study the Vedas means to come to the conclusion of the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore any religious principle which denies the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead is not accepted and is called atheism. Atheism means defying the authority of the Vedas and decrying the great ācāryas who teach Vedic scriptures for the benefit of the people in general. Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but in the same Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that Lord Buddha appeared in order to bewilder the atheistic class of men. Therefore his philosophy is meant for bewildering the atheists and should not be accepted. If someone asks, "Why should Kṛṣṇa propagate atheistic principles?" the answer is that it was the desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to end the violence which was then being committed in the name of the Vedas. The so-called religionists were falsely using the Vedas to justify such violent acts as meat-eating, and Lord Buddha came to lead the fallen people away from such a false interpretation of the Vedas. Also, for the atheists Lord Buddha preached atheism so that they would follow him and thus be tricked into devotional service to Lord Buddha, or Kṛṣṇa. Inquiring About Eternal Religious principles In the Nāradīya Purāṇa it is said, "If one is actually very serious about devotional service, then all of his purposes will be served without any delay." Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 2 2001-09-04 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 2 2001-09-04 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 2   • Email to a friend • •   Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN: 2011 tour Malaysia – Sungai Petani A half hour’s drive from the BCC Butterworth is Sungai Petani. We drove down to another enthusiastic congregation and a good turn out of about 60 devotees for our evening program on May 2, 2011. In a rented hall they have two sets of Gaura Nitai, and pictures of Radha Krsna and Lord Nrsimhadeva I spoke on my Chanting seminar At the end prasadam sweets were distributed, an arrangement that Srila Prabhupada always insisted on, and then I had to face one of the hazards of travelling preachers -the 10.00PM feast. I went with the determination not to eat, but when some lady has spent several hours preparing a multi-course meal for you, and three or four prabhus are camped out around you eager to fill you up to your ears, there’s no choice, you can’t say no. It plays havoc with your digestion and its impossible to get up early the next morning when you went to bed at 11.00PM with a full stomach. I did prepare for this to some extent though. Last October I got a checkup at our Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mira Road, Mumbai. I had my weight checked and was shocked to see the scale hit 88 kgs. I was even more shocked when the doctor wrote on my report “Pre-morbid obesity“!! Me! Obese!?! The doctor was serious. Being overweight can cause a lot of problems So I got serious and followed the doc’s advice and started observing the four ‘nos‘ – no sugar, no milk products, no deep fried and no wheat. The result was satisfactory. By the end of eight weeks I had lost 8 kgs with no sweat (I am not an exerciser) and was back to my usual buff form ok so this was when I was a little younger, but you get the picture… So for this trip I have insisted that the devotees give me the same diet, and it definitely helps.   • Email to a friend • •   ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darshana "The aim of this Krishna consciousness movement is to enable us to approach Radha-Krishna and associate with the Supreme Lord in His sublime pleasure dance." (Manah-siksa from Prarthana, purport by Srila Prabhupada)   While taking darshan of The Lord we should try to always remind ourselves about Krishna conscious activities not just being the way towards Krishna, but also being the goal. We should feel a deep longing to always be engaged in the service of Radha and Krishna.   • Email to a friend • •   ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Nanda Mandir Prabhu Srimad Bhagavatam 12.6.51-56 - The degraded age of Kali and the light of Srimad Bhagavatam.   • Email to a friend • •   Australian News: Book Review: Miracle On 2nd Ave Book Review: Miracle On 2nd Ave By Kavicandra Swami Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada After a long time we have MIRACLE ON 2nd AVE Mukunda Goswami Mharaja’a account of the establishment of ISKCON Krsna Consciousness in New York , San Francisco and London. The book was recentely published by Torchlight Publishing in Mayapura and was available at teh Gaura PUrnima Festival I just looked for it on Krsna. com and could not find it. I had a hard time putting it down and was feeling lost when I findished rreading. I gave my copy to one devotee who had lost his enthusiasm for preaching. He got so excited and claimed it had changed his life. He is recommended it to his friends and is reading it again. The writing is so peronal that it is hard to describe. The descriptions of how they started the movement in Sanfrancisco I found to be most “miraculous”. Shyamasundara, Malati, Yamuna, and Guru dad, excpet for Yamuna cooking for Janaki’s wedding, had not even met Srila PRabhupada, but just by hearing about him from Mukunda, became empowered to work tireslessly to spread Krsna Consciousness and to attract Srila Prabhupada to xome to San Francisco. All can say it that all devotees should do whatever they can to get this book and read it. The following is from Torchlight Publishing Hare Krishna Arrives in New York, San Francisco, and London 1966-1969 By Mukunda Goswami The year is 1965. An elderly Indian swami arrives in New York City determined to start a worldwide spiritual movement. After a harrowing sea journey on a freighter, where he suffers two heart attacks, his only possessions are a few cases of books and eight dollars, he meets a few people willing to help him. From a small storefront on Second Avenue in New York’s East Village, a worldwide spiritual movement miraculously takes form. In a vividly personal and up-close account of the beginning years of the Hare Krishna movement (1966-1969) in three cities: New York, San Francisco, and London, Mukunda Goswami, one of the first members of the religious group, describes the optimism and energy of those early followers of His Divine Grace, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, whom they affectionately called “the swami.” Mukunda Goswami takes us to the Bowery where he first helps the swami move from a dingy rented loft to a small Lower East Side storefront in Manhattan—thus founding the first Krishna temple in the West. Gradually the number of followers increases and includes many icons of the sixties such as Allen Ginsberg. During the “Summer of Love” (1967), after opening a temple in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood (the center of the hippie movement), Mukunda and a handful of followers bring the swami from New York to join them. They host the Mantra Rock Dance concert, where the swami appears along with some of the biggest names in rock music. Thousands chant along with the swami, and cement the small movement’s importance to the American counterculture. In 1967 this same small group of spiritual pioneers heads to London. There they befriend George Harrison and John Lennon of the Beatles. George helps them open a temple and produce the Radha Krishna Temple album. One of the recording’s tracks is released as a single and quickly rises to the top of the charts, turning Hare Krishna into a household phrase. Success in these three cities catapults the small spiritual movement into a worldwide phenomenon. Mukunda Goswami brings the reader along with him to those years and those times. One feels the intimacy the early followers had with Srila Prabhupada, and we experience the movement’s formative years in those unusual times. “Miracle on Second Avenue is the best description yet of those fine days of endless horizons, when everything was possible…” — from the Introduction by Shyamasundar Das Adhikari Torchlight Publishng 6×9, 452 pages, 92 photographs Hardbound, ISBN 978-0-981727249, US $24.95 Coming May/June 2011 Share this story your way:   • Email to a friend • •   Japa Group: Good Association Is King Today I was speaking with an old devotee friend....recently he is struggling with Japa but after talking with him for awhile, wants to change that situation. I was telling him that I get inspiration from hearing about Japa and told him about some Japa retreats I listened to recently - he immediately wanted the links. By the Lord's mercy we can associate with each other in spiritual life....talk about the Lord, about our struggles and help to inspire one another to make progress - this is real association and very very precious in this world.   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 1 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 1 Chapter 7: Evidence Regarding Devotional Principles Accepting Initiation from the Spiritual Master and Receiving Instructions from Him Sage Prabuddha continued to speak to the King as follows: "My dear King, a disciple has to accept the spiritual master not only as spiritual master, but also as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul. In other words, the disciple should accept the spiritual master as God, because he is the external manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. This is confirmed in every scripture, and a disciple should accept the spiritual master as such. One should learn Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam seriously and with all respect and veneration for the spiritual master. Hearing and speaking Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the religious process which elevates one to the platform of serving and loving the Supreme Personality of Godhead." The attitude of the disciple should be to satisfy the bona fide spiritual master. Then it will be very easy for him to understand spiritual knowledge. This is confirmed in the Vedas, and Rūpa Gosvāmī will further explain that for a person who has unflinching faith in God and the spiritual master, everything becomes revealed very easily. Serving the Spiritual Master with Faith and Confidence Regarding accepting initiation from the spiritual master, in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Seventeenth Chapter, verse 27, it is stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Uddhava, the spiritual master must be accepted not only as My representative, but as My very self. He must never be considered on the same level with an ordinary human being. One should never be envious of the spiritual master, as one may be envious of an ordinary man. The spiritual master should always be seen as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by serving the spiritual master one is able to serve all the demigods." Following in the Footsteps of Saintly Persons In the Skanda Purāṇa it is advised that a devotee follow the past ācāryas and saintly persons, because by such following one can achieve the desired results, with no chance of lamenting or being baffled in his progress. The scripture known as Brahma-yāmala states as follows: "If someone wants to pose himself as a great devotee without following the authorities of the revealed scriptures, then his activities will never help him to make progress in devotional service. Instead, he will simply create disturbances for the sincere students of devotional service." Those who do not strictly follow the principles of revealed scriptures are generally called sahajiyās — those who have imagined everything to be cheap, who have their own concocted ideas, and who do not follow the scriptural injunctions. Such persons are simply creating disturbances in the discharge of devotional service. In this connection, an objection may be raised by those who are not in devotional service and who do not care for the revealed scriptures. An example of this is seen in Buddhist philosophy. Lord Buddha appeared in the family of a high-grade kṣatriya king, but his philosophy was not in accord with the Vedic conclusions and therefore was rejected. Under the patronage of a Hindu king, Mahārāja Aśoka, the Buddhist religion was spread all over India and the adjoining countries. However, after the appearance of the great stalwart teacher Śańkarācārya, this Buddhism was driven out beyond the borders of India. The Buddhists or other religionists who do not care for revealed scriptures sometimes say that there are many devotees of Lord Buddha who show devotional service to Lord Buddha, and who therefore should be considered devotees. In answer to this argument, Rūpa Gosvāmī says that the followers of Buddha cannot be accepted as devotees. Although Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, the followers of such incarnations are not very advanced in their knowledge of the Vedas. To study the Vedas means to come to the conclusion of the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore any religious principle which denies the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead is not accepted and is called atheism. Atheism means defying the authority of the Vedas and decrying the great ācāryas who teach Vedic scriptures for the benefit of the people in general. Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but in the same Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that Lord Buddha appeared in order to bewilder the atheistic class of men. Therefore his philosophy is meant for bewildering the atheists and should not be accepted. If someone asks, "Why should Kṛṣṇa propagate atheistic principles?" the answer is that it was the desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to end the violence which was then being committed in the name of the Vedas. The so-called religionists were falsely using the Vedas to justify such violent acts as meat-eating, and Lord Buddha came to lead the fallen people away from such a false interpretation of the Vedas. Also, for the atheists Lord Buddha preached atheism so that they would follow him and thus be tricked into devotional service to Lord Buddha, or Kṛṣṇa. Inquiring About Eternal Religious principles In the Nāradīya Purāṇa it is said, "If one is actually very serious about devotional service, then all of his purposes will be served without any delay." Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 1 2001-09-03 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 1 2001-09-03 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 part 1   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 Evidence regarding devotional principles H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 Evidence regarding devotional principles Chapter 7: Evidence Regarding Devotional Principles Accepting Initiation from the Spiritual Master and Receiving Instructions from Him Sage Prabuddha continued to speak to the King as follows: "My dear King, a disciple has to accept the spiritual master not only as spiritual master, but also as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the Supersoul. In other words, the disciple should accept the spiritual master as God, because he is the external manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. This is confirmed in every scripture, and a disciple should accept the spiritual master as such. One should learn Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam seriously and with all respect and veneration for the spiritual master. Hearing and speaking Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the religious process which elevates one to the platform of serving and loving the Supreme Personality of Godhead." The attitude of the disciple should be to satisfy the bona fide spiritual master. Then it will be very easy for him to understand spiritual knowledge. This is confirmed in the Vedas, and Rūpa Gosvāmī will further explain that for a person who has unflinching faith in God and the spiritual master, everything becomes revealed very easily. Serving the Spiritual Master with Faith and Confidence Regarding accepting initiation from the spiritual master, in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Seventeenth Chapter, verse 27, it is stated by Lord Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Uddhava, the spiritual master must be accepted not only as My representative, but as My very self. He must never be considered on the same level with an ordinary human being. One should never be envious of the spiritual master, as one may be envious of an ordinary man. The spiritual master should always be seen as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and by serving the spiritual master one is able to serve all the demigods." Following in the Footsteps of Saintly Persons In the Skanda Purāṇa it is advised that a devotee follow the past ācāryas and saintly persons, because by such following one can achieve the desired results, with no chance of lamenting or being baffled in his progress. The scripture known as Brahma-yāmala states as follows: "If someone wants to pose himself as a great devotee without following the authorities of the revealed scriptures, then his activities will never help him to make progress in devotional service. Instead, he will simply create disturbances for the sincere students of devotional service." Those who do not strictly follow the principles of revealed scriptures are generally called sahajiyās — those who have imagined everything to be cheap, who have their own concocted ideas, and who do not follow the scriptural injunctions. Such persons are simply creating disturbances in the discharge of devotional service. In this connection, an objection may be raised by those who are not in devotional service and who do not care for the revealed scriptures. An example of this is seen in Buddhist philosophy. Lord Buddha appeared in the family of a high-grade kṣatriya king, but his philosophy was not in accord with the Vedic conclusions and therefore was rejected. Under the patronage of a Hindu king, Mahārāja Aśoka, the Buddhist religion was spread all over India and the adjoining countries. However, after the appearance of the great stalwart teacher Śańkarācārya, this Buddhism was driven out beyond the borders of India. The Buddhists or other religionists who do not care for revealed scriptures sometimes say that there are many devotees of Lord Buddha who show devotional service to Lord Buddha, and who therefore should be considered devotees. In answer to this argument, Rūpa Gosvāmī says that the followers of Buddha cannot be accepted as devotees. Although Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, the followers of such incarnations are not very advanced in their knowledge of the Vedas. To study the Vedas means to come to the conclusion of the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore any religious principle which denies the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead is not accepted and is called atheism. Atheism means defying the authority of the Vedas and decrying the great ācāryas who teach Vedic scriptures for the benefit of the people in general. Lord Buddha is accepted as an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but in the same Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that Lord Buddha appeared in order to bewilder the atheistic class of men. Therefore his philosophy is meant for bewildering the atheists and should not be accepted. If someone asks, "Why should Kṛṣṇa propagate atheistic principles?" the answer is that it was the desire of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to end the violence which was then being committed in the name of the Vedas. The so-called religionists were falsely using the Vedas to justify such violent acts as meat-eating, and Lord Buddha came to lead the fallen people away from such a false interpretation of the Vedas. Also, for the atheists Lord Buddha preached atheism so that they would follow him and thus be tricked into devotional service to Lord Buddha, or Kṛṣṇa. Inquiring About Eternal Religious principles In the Nāradīya Purāṇa it is said, "If one is actually very serious about devotional service, then all of his purposes will be served without any delay." Nectar Of Devotion 07 Evidence regarding devotional principles 2001-08-15 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar Of Devotion 07 Evidence regarding devotional principles 2001-08-15 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 07 Evidence regarding devotional principles   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 06 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 06 Chapter 6: How to Discharge Devotional Service Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Nectar of Devotion These ten items are preliminary necessities for beginning the discharge of devotional service in regulative principles. In the beginning, if a neophyte devotee observes the above-mentioned ten principles, surely he will quickly make good advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The next set of instructions is listed as follows: (1) One should rigidly give up the company of nondevotees. (2) One should not instruct a person who is not desirous of accepting devotional service. (3) One should not be very enthusiastic about constructing costly temples or monasteries. (4) One should not try to read too many books, nor should one develop the idea of earning his livelihood by lecturing on or professionally reciting Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or Bhagavad-gītā. (5) One should not be neglectful in ordinary dealings. (6) One should not be under the spell of lamentation in loss or jubilation in gain. (7) One should not disrespect the demigods. (8) One should not give unnecessary trouble to any living entity. (9) One should carefully avoid the various offenses in chanting the holy name of the Lord or in worshiping the Deity in the temple. (10) One should be very intolerant toward the blasphemy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, or His devotees. Without following the above-mentioned ten principles, one cannot properly elevate himself to the platform of sādhana-bhakti, or devotional service in practice. Altogether, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī mentions twenty items, and all of them are very important. Out of the twenty, the first three — namely accepting the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, taking initiation from him and serving him with respect and reverence — are the most important. The next important items are as follows: (1) One should decorate the body with tilaka, which is the sign of the Vaiṣṇavas. (The idea is that as soon as a person sees these marks on the body of the Vaiṣṇava, he will immediately remember Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya said that a Vaiṣṇava is he who, when seen, reminds one of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, it is essential that a Vaiṣṇava mark his body with tilaka to remind others of Kṛṣṇa.) (2) In marking such tilaka, sometimes one may write Hare Kṛṣṇa on the body. (3) One should accept flowers and garlands that have been offered to the Deity and the spiritual master and put them on one's body. (4) One should learn to dance before the Deity. (5) One should learn to bow down immediately upon seeing the Deity or the spiritual master. (6) As soon as one visits a temple of Lord Kṛṣṇa, one must stand up. (7) When the Deity is being borne for a stroll in the street, a devotee should immediately follow the procession. (In this connection it may be noted that in India, especially in Viṣṇu temples, the system is that apart from the big Deity who is permanently situated in the main area of the temple, there is a set of smaller Deities which are taken in procession in the evening. In some temples it is the custom to hold a big procession in the evening with a band playing and a nice big umbrella over the Deities, who sit on decorated thrones on the cart or palanquin, which is carried by devotees. The Deities come out onto the street and travel in the neighborhood while the people of the neighborhood come out to offer prasāda. The residents of the neighborhood all follow the procession, so it is a very nice scene. When the Deity is coming out, the servitors in the temple put forward the daily accounts before Them: so much was the collection, so much was the expenditure. The whole idea is that the Deity is considered to be the proprietor of the whole establishment, and all the priests and other people taking care of the temple are considered to be the servants of the Deity. This system is very, very old and is still followed. So, therefore, it is mentioned here that when the Deity is on stroll the people should follow behind.) (8) A devotee must visit a Viṣṇu temple at least once or twice every day, morning and evening. (In Vṛndāvana this system is followed very strictly. All the devotees in town go every morning and evening to visit different temples. Therefore during these times there are considerable crowds all over the city. There are about five thousand temples in Vṛndāvana city. Of course it is not possible to visit all the temples, but there are at least one dozen very big and important temples which were started by the Gosvāmīs and which should be visited.) (9) One must circumambulate the temple building at least three times. (In every temple there is an arrangement to go around the temple at least three times. Some devotees go around more than three times — ten times, fifteen times — according to their vows. The Gosvāmīs used to circumambulate Govardhana Hill.) One should also circumambulate the whole Vṛndāvana area. (10) One must worship the Deity in the temple according to the regulative principles. (Offering ārati and prasāda, decorating the Deity, etc. — these things must be observed regularly.) (11) One must render personal service to the Deities. (12) One must sing. (13) One must perform sańkīrtana. (14) One must chant. (15) One must offer prayers. (16) One must recite notable prayers. (17) One must taste mahā-prasāda (food from the very plate offered before the Deities). (18) One must drink caraṇāmṛta (water from the bathing of the Deities, which is offered to guests). (19) One must smell the incense and flowers offered to the Deity. (20) One must touch the lotus feet of the Deity. (21) One must see the Deity with great devotion. (22) One must offer ārati (ārātrika) at different times. (23) One must hear about the Lord and His pastimes from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā and similar books. (24) One must pray to the Deity for His mercy. (25) One should remember the Deity. (26) One should meditate upon the Deity. (27) One should render some voluntary service. (28) One should think of the Lord as one's friend. (29) One should offer everything to the Lord. (30) One should offer a favorite article (such as food or a garment). (31) One should take all kinds of risks and perform all endeavors for Kṛṣṇa's benefit. (32) In every condition, one should be a surrendered soul. (33) One should pour water on the tulasī tree. (34) One should regularly hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and similar literature. (35) One should live in a sacred place like Mathurā, Vṛndāvana or Dvārakā. (36) One should offer service to Vaiṣṇavas (devotees). (37) One should arrange one's devotional service according to one's means. (38) In the month of Kārttika (October and November), one should make arrangements for special services. (39) During Janmāṣṭamī (the time of Kṛṣṇa's appearance in this world) one should observe a special service. (40) One should do whatever is done with great care and devotion for the Deity. (41) One should relish the pleasure of Bhāgavatam reading among devotees and not among outsiders. (42) One should associate with devotees who are considered more advanced. (43) One should chant the holy name of the Lord. (44) One should live in the jurisdiction of Mathurā. Nectar Of Devotion 06 2001-08-10 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar Of Devotion 06 2001-08-10 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 06   • Email to a friend • •   Sastra Dana, San Diego, USA: 16Rounds at Jamba Juice Everyone, quickly, please pray. We may be able to place our publication, 16Rounds, in all Jamba Juice stores in California. We are talking to their corporate office and will give you more details about it soon. Related posts: FEB issue January Issue: Wicked Leaks Fifth issue of the 16Rounds publication A Beautiful Contribution Loving It   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 05 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 05 Chapter 5: The Purity of Devotional Service Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Nectar of Devotion It is on the basis of his position that anyone can now become a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava, from any part of the world or any part of the universe. Anyone who is a pure Vaiṣṇava is situated transcendentally, and therefore the highest qualification in the material world, namely to be in the mode of goodness, has already been achieved by such a person. Our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in the Western world is based on the above-mentioned proposition of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, our spiritual master. On his authority, we are claiming members from all sections of the Western countries. The so-called brāhmaṇas claim that one who is not born into a brāhmaṇa family cannot receive the sacred thread and cannot become a high-grade Vaiṣṇava. But we do not accept such a theory, because it is not supported by Rūpa Gosvāmī nor by the strength of the various scriptures. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī specifically mentions herein that every man has the birthright to accept devotional service and to become Kṛṣṇa conscious. He has given many evidences from many scriptures, and he has especially quoted one passage from Padma Purāṇa, wherein the sage Vasiṣṭha tells King Dilīpa, "My dear King, everyone has the right to execute devotional service, just as he has the right to take early bath in the month of Māgha [December-January]." There is more evidence in the Skanda Purāṇa, in the Kāśī-khaṇḍa portion, where it is said, "In the country known as Mayūradhvaja, the lower-caste people who are considered less than śūdras are also initiated in the Vaiṣṇava cult of devotional service. And when they are properly dressed, with tilaka on their bodies and beads in their hands and on their necks, they appear to be coming from Vaikuṇṭha. In fact, they look so very beautiful that immediately they surpass the ordinary brāhmaṇas." Thus a Vaiṣṇava automatically becomes a brāhmaṇa. This idea is also supported by Sanātana Gosvāmī in his book Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, which is the Vaiṣṇava guide. Therein he has clearly stated that any person who is properly initiated into the Vaiṣṇava cult certainly becomes a brāhmaṇa, as much as the metal known as kaḿsa (bell metal) is turned into gold by the mixture of mercury. A bona fide spiritual master, under the guidance of authorities, can turn anyone to the Vaiṣṇava cult so that naturally he may come to the topmost position of a brāhmaṇa. Nectar Of Devotion 05 2001-08-09 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar Of Devotion 05 2001-08-09 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 05   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 04 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 04 Chapter 4: Devotional Service Surpasses All Liberation Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Nectar of Devotion A similar statement is found in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Fifth Canto, Fourteenth Chapter, verse 44. Śukadeva Gosvāmī addresses Parīkṣit Mahārāja there and says, "The great soul King Bharata was so much attached to the service of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa that he very easily gave up his lordship over the earthly planet and his affection for his children, society, friends, royal opulence and beautiful wife. He was so very lucky that the goddess of fortune was pleased to offer him all kinds of material concessions, but he never accepted any of these material opulences." Śukadeva Gosvāmī praises this behavior of King Bharata very highly. He says, "Any person whose heart is attracted by the transcendental qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Madhusūdana, does not care even for that liberation which is aspired to by many great sages, what to speak of material opulences." In the Bhāgavatam, Sixth Canto, Eleventh Chapter, verse 25, there is a similar statement by Vṛtrāsura, who addresses the Lord as follows: "My dear Lord, by leaving Your transcendental service I may be promoted to the planet called Dhruvaloka [the polestar], or I may gain lordship over all the planetary systems of the universe. But I do not aspire to this. Nor do I wish the mystic perfections of yoga practice, nor do I aspire to spiritual emancipation. All I wish for, my Lord, is Your association and transcendental service eternally." This statement is confirmed by Lord Śiva in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sixth Canto, Seventeenth Chapter, verse 28, wherein Lord Śiva addresses Satī thus: "My dear Satī, persons who are devoted to Nārāyaṇa [Kṛṣṇa] are not afraid of anything. If they are elevated to the higher planetary systems, or if they get liberation from material contamination, or if they are pushed down to the hellish condition of life — or, in fact, in any situation whatever — they are not afraid of anything. Simply because they have taken shelter of the lotus feet of Nārāyaṇa, for them any position in the material world is as good as another." There is a similar statement by Indra, the King of heaven, in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Sixth Canto, Eighteenth Chapter, verse 74. There Indra addresses mother Diti in this manner: "My dear mother, persons who have given up all kinds of desire and are simply engaged in devotional service to the Lord know what is actually their self-interest. Such persons are actually serving their self-interests and are considered first-class experts in the matter of advancing to the perfectional stage of life." Nectar Of Devotion 04 2001-08-08 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar Of Devotion 04 2001-08-08 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 04   • Email to a friend • •   Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Response for taking care of Tulasi Maharani After a post about  Tulasi Jala Dan [http://radhashyamasundar.com/2/post/2011/04/tulasi-jala-dan-has-begun.html]  a reader, Raj Prabhu asked: "please give some hints how to protect tulsi plant in regard winter" Of course we are already into spring but even April has been challenging in terms of the weather. Although we did post a quick comment back we also promised to post an answer. We researched a few answers but liked this posting by Saravan Kumar Paulraj Prabhu the best... "Please Don’t Put Tulasi Outside. Taking care of Tulsi Plant is a very responsible duty. Tulsi is a person, a pure devotee of the Lord. She should not be put outside spring, summer, fall or winter. Not anytime. When raising Tulsi from a baby plant, find a nice warm very sunny area to place her. She must be in the sun everyday, all day until the sun sets. You must water her everyday because she needs water daily. Tulsi will start growing very fast and will spread. As she spreads she will grow manjaries. When the manjaries are dryed out and turning brown, clip them off with a pair of sissors between the two small leaves at the bottom of the manjary. This must be done everytime a manjary dries and is ready to groom off of the plant. Another manjary will grow again and the leaves will expand and continue to grow. Tulsi will continue to grow and expand as long as you groom the manjaries when they are ready and water her daily. Loving her is very important. You must worship her everyday with love and devotion and never leave her for more than a day. If you are traveling, you must have another devotee keep her. Now, why you should not ever put her outside. Tulsi has two ways of growing. If you live in a warm or hot state year round and it never gets cold, then Tulsi will grow outside in the ground into a large hedge. She grows like that in Hawaii. She will remain there and stay. As long as she is getting plenty of sun and watering. Never put her outside in a pot. She must be planted in the ground. But if she is in a cold state that changes tempertures from season to season, then she is not to go outside. When you put her outside, she will develop a hedge like state and grow a thin bark like a small tree. But if you keep her inside her thin stems will remain green and she will grow like a inside house plant. She will not bark up and become hedge like. You can not put an inside house plant outside when it is cold or it will die. In the fall of the year, trees and hedges shed their leaves. So if Tulsi is used to going outside, she will think she is a outside hedge and will start to bark up and shed her leaves. She would have taken on the identity of an outside hedge. She will die when you bring her into the house. A green stem Tulsi will grow and remain for years. She will continue to grow manjaries and spread as long as you groom her well with alot of love, devotion and daily watering. Love your Tulsi because she loves and wants to be in your home in a nice sunny window."   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 03 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 03 Chapter 3: Eligibility of the Candidate for Accepting Devotional Service Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Nectar of Devotion Devotees may be divided into three classes. The devotee in the first or uppermost class is described as follows. He is very expert in the study of relevant scriptures, and he is also expert in putting forward arguments in terms of those scriptures. He can very nicely present conclusions with perfect discretion and can consider the ways of devotional service in a decisive way. He understands perfectly that the ultimate goal of life is to attain to the transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa, and he knows that Kṛṣṇa is the only object of worship and love. This first-class devotee is one who has strictly followed the rules and regulations under the training of a bona fide spiritual master and has sincerely obeyed him in accord with revealed scriptures. Thus, being fully trained to preach and become a spiritual master himself, he is considered first class. The first-class devotee never deviates from the principles of higher authority, and he attains firm faith in the scriptures by understanding with all reason and arguments. When we speak of arguments and reason, it means arguments and reason on the basis of revealed scriptures. The first-class devotee is not interested in dry speculative methods meant for wasting time. In other words, one who has attained a mature determination in the matter of devotional service can be accepted as the first-class devotee. The second-class devotee has been defined by the following symptoms: he is not very expert in arguing on the strength of revealed scripture, but he has firm faith in the objective. The purport of this description is that the second-class devotee has firm faith in the procedure of devotional service unto Kṛṣṇa, but he may sometimes fail to offer arguments and decisions on the strength of revealed scripture to an opposing party. But at the same time he is still undaunted within himself as to his decision that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme object of worship. The neophyte or third-class devotee is one whose faith is not strong and who, at the same time, does not recognize the decision of the revealed scripture. The neophyte's faith can be changed by someone else with strong arguments or by an opposite decision. Unlike the second-class devotee, who also cannot put forward arguments and evidences from the scripture, but who still has all faith in the objective, the neophyte has no firm faith in the objective. Thus he is called the neophyte devotee. Nectar Of Devotion 03 2001-08-07 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar Of Devotion 03 2001-08-07 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 03   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 02 H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 02 Chapter 2: The First Stages of Devotion Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Nectar of Devotion To support this statement there are many authoritative assertions by the learned scholars of bygone ages. According to their general opinion, a person may become governed by certain convictions derived by his own arguments and decisions. Then another person, who may be a greater logician, will nullify these conclusions and establish another thesis. In this way the path of argument will never be safe or conclusive. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam recommends, therefore, that one follow in the footsteps of the authorities. Here is a general description of devotional service given by Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu. Previously, it has been stated that devotional service can be divided into three categories — namely devotional service in practice, devotional service in ecstasy and devotional service in pure love of God. Now Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī proposes to describe devotional service in practice. Practice means employing our senses in some particular type of work. Therefore devotional service in practice means utilizing our different sensory organs in service to Kṛṣṇa. Some of the senses are meant for acquiring knowledge, and some are meant for executing the conclusions of our thinking, feeling and willing. So practice means employing both the mind and the senses in practical devotional service. This practice is not for developing something artificial. For example, a child learns or practices to walk. This walking is not unnatural. The walking capacity is there originally in the child, and simply by a little practice he walks very nicely. Similarly, devotional service to the Supreme Lord is the natural instinct of every living entity. Even uncivilized men like the aborigines offer their respectful obeisances to something wonderful exhibited by nature's law, and they appreciate that behind some wonderful exhibition or action there is something supreme. So this consciousness, though lying dormant in those who are materially contaminated, is found in every living entity. And, when purified, this is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Nectar Of Devotion 02 2001-08-02 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar Of Devotion 02 2001-08-02 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar Of Devotion 02   • Email to a friend • •   Akrura das, Gita Coaching: NIRANJANA SWAMI ON DEVOTEE CARE At Trai dasa's (ACBSP) home in the mountains near Bologna, Italy (Note: This an audio transcript so "+++" means there are few words that are inaudible.) "We are trying to avoid the phenomemnon that expansion of Krsna consciousness means many people are coming but many people are also leaving." – Niranjana Swami Ramacandra dasa ( RNS), from Villa Vrindavana, Italy: What can you do besides hearing and chanting to care for devotees? Niranjana Swami: It is definitely a faith. It's a primary responsibility for anybody who's preaching Krsna consciousness. Preaching means hearing and chanting. But we have to protect the faith of the devotee. Bhaktivinoda Thakura gives the example. He speaks about sraddha, faith, in Tattva Viveka. He says, "Appearance of faith is like a birth of a new-born baby girl. When baby girl is born the parents are very careful to protect their +++ from hunger, from thirst, from heat and cold +++ dangerous features. And also, they give nourishment to the baby. Therefore, he says, the awakening of the faith in the heart of a living entity is like a birth of a new-born baby girl. Once the faith is awakened, it needs to be protected. Protected from karma, jnana, mystic yoga perfections. Srila Rupa Gosvami says, bhukti-mukti-sprha yavat pisaci hrdi vartate. Bhukti and mukti are like two witches that haunt one like a ghost. As long as these two witches are within your heart then one will never be able to taste +++ of devotional service. Bhaktivinoda Thakura used that analogy +++ of birth of a new baby girl in connection to faith. What we can do to help others +++ protect their faith in devotional service. As he said, faith is the most valuable currency. When you protect that faith and nourish, like a baby girl, +++ protect from dangerous elements but alsoo need to be nourished. Nourishment in sanskrit is pusti. When we nourish sombody's faith that's the way to show our care for them. Nourishing their faith in devotional service and protect them from dangerous features of bhukti and mukti. And when somebod gets care in this way, they can undergo any difficulties. They can accept austerity. They can accept inconvenience. All +++ care is automatically fulfilled by caring for their faith. It doesn't mean that we don't care for their bodies also. We also can do that too. +++ we have to be indifferent to their suffering. Vaisnava is never indifferent to other's suffering. But it's +++ how to protect their faith. That's how you can show care for others. Akrura dasa: How do you induce people to become counselors? Niranjana Swami: By caring for them. Akrura dasa: How long does it take? Niranjana Swami: It depends on the person. Akrura dasa: Many devotees say they are not qualified to be a spiritual guide. Niranjana Swami: Yes, that's true. Therefore, they are not forced to do it. Nobody is forced. It has to be voluntary. One is supposed to want to do it for the right reasons. +++ no personal benefit for being a counselor. So they have to do it for the right reasons. Akrura dasa: What do you mean there is no benefit? Niranjana Swami: Material benefit. Theya are not starting a separate preaching center. They are not extracting resources from the people they are taking care of. So there is no personal material benefit. Benefit is a satisfaction they get from caring for others. And the mercy that comes down for doing that confidential service. Tamal Krsna Maharaja told me in 1978. I was in the temple in Manhattan in Ney York City. We had about 40 devotees at the temple. I was in charge of all the new devotees and guests. That was my responsibility. Some times there were as many as 30-40 people that I had to help. Tamal Krsna Maharaja said that Prabhupada told him that if you take care of Krsna's devotees Krsna takes care of you. So you read the book ("Taking Care Of Krsna's Devotees")? Akrura dasa: Oh, yes. It's a gem. Niranjana Swami: This year devotees are waitng for the number two. Either volume two or revised edition. Akrura dasa: Many devotees say they would like to be a caregiver or a counselor, but they don't have time. They have so many things to do. How do you respond to that? Niranjana Swami: +++ Right in this present moment, I was asked to help in Hungary. They are just staring their (devotee care) system there. Last week we had a meeting with devotees who live outside and we discussed that threadbare. It can go either way. Sometimes they have a good reason why they cannot. That's why they shouldn't be pushed. Sometimes there is no proper utilization of time. And sometimes people are not really convinced +++ And if they are the'll find the time +++ They'll set their priorities +++ They'll find time. What I experienced, devotees who really get absorbed in it, especially the grhasthas who are working and maintain their family, that what it really comes down to, it's recreation +++ Akrura dasa: Many are afraid it will be a burden. Niranjana Swami: It is like that, but when they get mercy starts flowing, it's a higher taste. Akrura dasa: How many counselors you have in Ukraine? Niranjana Swami: 160. Not all of them are +++ Some of them are "in training". Akrura dasa: Thank you.   • Email to a friend • •   Nitya Navina dd, New Jersey, USA: Springtime Visitors It was the day of Akshaya tritiya, the third day of the bright fortnight, in the month of Vishaka, our already crowded home was having a splurge of transcendental visitors. First it was Gaura Nitai, Gopal, and Little Jagannath Baladev Subhadra, and on Akshaya Tritiya,Radha Vrindavan Chandra, 2 Laddu Gopals and Nitai Gaurasundaracame for a visit. Its always a pleasure to have guests at home   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Sunday, May 8th, 2011 Popsicle Stick Temple Moundsville West Virginia. He worked at it for a good solid three years. It's a masterpiece of a job. Constructed entirely of popsicle sticke, match sticks, and tiny tulasi neckbeads with a nail clipper as the tool is this four front tall beautiful mini temple. The intricate work of what resembles a South Indian mandir is rather astounding. It lights up inside. The architect's name is Arjun who lives in prison in Warren Ohio. Arjun suprised me when I first met him through his mentor Akilananda, in many ways. For starters he never set foot inside a temple, ever, and that's because he never knew about Krishna Conciousness before he entered prison. In fact he inquired his spiritual name over two years ago during an initiation held at his home prison. His sentence terminates in a few years when he will be 46. He was charged with manslaughter. Arjun regrets the art of violence and has a change of heart. This is the second thing that is rather overwhelming about his approach and attitude towards life. Wardens at this correctional services centre love Arjun. His turn around earned him a confidence that placed him as art director of that place. Absent makes the heart grow fonder. More heroically he is sharing his gift of devotion with others. Bruce is a 6 foot 4 inch inmate who has caught on to the charm of Krishna Conciousness. Bruce is vegetarian and is now chanting daily along with Arjun. This is the real "jailhouse rock." In fact this day, May 8th, really did rock. Our drama crew performed on the level of par excellence. I was so proud of the cast and crew. What remarkable feed back we received! I was in ecstasy. Seeing the cast strutting their bhakti stuff on the stage was like eating sweet honey cake with eyes and ears. But seeing Arjun's towering mini temple was the day's icing on the cake. 11 KM   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar of Devotion 01 (continued) H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar of Devotion 01 (continued) Chapter 1: Characteristics of Pure Devotional Service Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Nectar of Devotion In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Third Canto, Twenty-ninth Chapter, verses 12 and 13, Śrīla Kapiladeva, while instructing His mother, has given the following characteristics of pure devotional service: "My dear mother, those who are My pure devotees, and who have no desire for material benefit or philosophical speculation, have their minds so much engaged in My service that they are never interested in asking Me for anything — except to be engaged in that service. They do not even beg to live in My abode with Me." There are five kinds of liberation, namely to become one with the Lord, to live with the Supreme Lord on the same planet, to have the same features as the Lord, to enjoy the same opulences as the Lord and to live as a companion of the Lord. A devotee, what to speak of rejecting material sense gratification, does not even want any of the five kinds of liberation. He is satisfied simply by discharging loving service to the Lord. That is the characteristic of pure devotion. In the above statement by Kapiladeva from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the actual position of a pure devotee is described, and the primary characteristics of devotional service are also defined. Further characteristics of devotional service are described by Rūpa Gosvāmī with evidences from different scriptures. He states that there are six characteristics of pure devotional service, which are as follows: (1) Pure devotional service brings immediate relief from all kinds of material distress. (2) Pure devotional service is the beginning of all auspiciousness. (3) Pure devotional service automatically puts one in transcendental pleasure. (4) Pure devotional service is rarely achieved. (5) Those in pure devotional service deride even the conception of liberation. (6) Pure devotional service is the only means to attract Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is all-attractive, but pure devotional service attracts even Him. This means that pure devotional service is even transcendentally stronger than Kṛṣṇa Himself, because it is Kṛṣṇa's internal potency. Nectar of Devotion 01 (continued) 2001-08-01 Radhadesh Seminar - Nectar of Devotion 01 (continued) 2001-08-01 Radhadesh H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Seminar – Nectar of Devotion 01 (continued)   • Email to a friend • •   Toronto Sankirtan Team, CA: Do we really understand ? I had the chance today to go out on Sankirtan with Shyama-mohini and it was a very heart warming experience, nothing like association of devotees. She prompted me to go up to this 3 people group so I walked in their direction. All three had their back to me so I didn't know what to expect. To my great surprise as they turned around I could see three faces worn out completely through the use of drugs. The skin was dry and like a towel and the eyes were dark. One of them had something coming from her nose and cuts over their face. Still what can be said about the mercy of Lord Chaitanya? Even in their apparent hallucinogenic state this lady was speaking sweetly. She immediately took Srila Prabhupada's book and agreed that meditation and yoga are really good for them. She said she and her friend were going through too much, even if I tried to explain something they won’t understand as they just did not have memory. I said I understand but she was quick to say - no you don't understand. You can't understand. So I quietly listened to what they had to say and they started to explain the tough things in their lives including the fact that they were dealing with some upcoming deaths in family. It was quiet a scene but two of them wanted a book each on yoga and meditation. Now was the hard part, asking them for laxmi as they were in no state of mind. But I encouraged them to find pennies and they scavenged through their purses to collect every penny they had. I taught them both to chant Gauraga and when i had a few moments with one, she was revealing her difficulties and I asked her to chant Hare Krishna with me and she simply repeated it and said she already feel better. I requested her to chant daily but I do not know if she will. It made me realise how it is explained that 'para dukha dukhi' - compassion is a real quality of a Vaishnav. One can't just go up and tell people 'I understand'. Real compassion is something completely different and who knows how far we are from developing these qualities. How much is the living entity suffering in the material world and how can one understand?   • Email to a friend • •   Caitanya Mangala, CA, USA: KulimeLA 2009: Chaitanya-Nitai Performing at the Ford Theater in Hollywood Chaitanya-Nitai performing for Lord Jagannath @ KM09 Ford Theater Event Caitanya Mangala, CA, USA: KulimeLA 2009: Chaitanya-Nitai Performing at the Ford Theater in Hollywood           Click the link to view a newly posted 5 minute video of Chaytanya-Nitai’s beautiful performance, for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath, during the KulimeLA 2009 Gala Evening at the Ford Theatre in Hollywood. She dedicated her song to the Pioneer Kulis “Who paved the way.” The main theme for KulimeLA 2009 was to “Honor the Past, Celebrate the Present & Envision the Future.” To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles Gurukuli Reunion, the John Anson Ford Amphitheater, nestled in the Hollywood Hills, was chosen as an ideal location for Kulis to come together to acknowledge their collective history and appreciate the many accomplishments of the pioneer Gurukulis throughout the past two decades. Dressed in formal and elegant attire, approximately one thousand Vaishnavas gathered to walk the red carpet and participate in an amazing evening that beautifully showcased “A Mosaic of Our Generations.” CLICK HERE to check out the growing Kuli Mela video and audio selections on Krishna.com. In the ancient Sanskrit language, “Kuli” refers to a member of a “Community” and “Mela” means “Festive Gathering.” Combined, “Kuli Mela” tranforms into “A Celebration of Community.” The Kuli Mela Association is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to connect our diverse and dynamic global community. We believe that by encouraging each other along our individual paths and by serving together in our shared goals we can make a positive difference in the world.   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Sivarama Swami: Tarun Krsna asks “If we have free will how is it that astrology can predict our future and that Krsna (and liberated sages) can know the future?”   • Email to a friend • •   Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Recipe : Canning Dill Pickles So easy even a baby can do it! Well, a very, very smart baby. This is the first year I’ve canned vegetables, aside from Indian pickles–an oily mess of a job. Preserving vegetables American-style couldn’t be easier. All you need are veggies, spices and herbs, white vinegar, jars and a water bath canner. Jar lifter, towels, knife and cutting board also help. Recipes optional. Well, that’s my take at least. Mohini is a slave to the recipe. All I’m going to say is read those USDA tips on canning, study up on botulism and understand the principles of food safety and everything will be just fine. Our kirbies came from Publix. We've since found a farm where we can get a bushel of cukes for $18. Life is good.   The recipe we used was very simple. A little too simple. Dill + garlic. And we didn't put garlic in all the jars because not everyone loves garlic, I tell you. Next time we will add mustard seeds, peppercorns, etc. for flavor and prettiness.   With jars packed with pickles, the next step is adding the hot brine.   Home canning is hard work.   After the waterbath and out to cool. The waterbath is brought to a boil, the jars inserted and from that point on you start counting down 10 minutes. Don't wait for the pot to return to a boil to begin timing or your pickles will be mush mush.   The recipe we used was from Fanny Farmer. It was super basic. For a more flavorful recipe and full instructions, check out this recipe Learn to Preserve. print   • Email to a friend • •   Giridhari das, Brasilia, Brazil: Angry Birds™ Yoga – How to Eliminate the Green Pigs in Your Life, Part IV This is the fourth part of the “Angry Birds™ Yoga” series. Other parts will be published in the upcoming days. Click here for Part I,  here for Part II and here for Part III. The Boomerang Bird The Boomerang Bird is a reminder of the Law of Karma: what goes around comes around! The Law of Karma basically states that the moral dimension of our acts will come back to us in the form of situations, events and other external aspects of our life (but not the internal – our internal state of being is entirely in our hands). A morally noble action, will result in positive material reactions, a morally grey action will return mixed reactions, and an immoral action, negative and unpleasant reactions. Like mastering the Boomerang Bird, mastering your understanding of the Law of Karma will allow you to achieve otherwise unattainable results. You can act now, being aware of the boomerang effect of your actions. This will give you further impetus to upgrade your consciousness, which, in turn, will directly result in much more peace of mind and general happiness.  It’s getting cliché, but it’s the oldest truth: you want to feel good? Do good! It works. Try it yourself if you don’t believe me. The more noble your actions are, the more they will bring happiness and wellbeing for you in the long term. The more degraded your actions are, though apparently pleasing or exciting at the time, the more mental distress you will experience in due time. Of course, better still is to do good for the sake of good without considering the results. The real and ultimate objective is to entirely lift yourself off the platform of Karma, but that requires an advanced, serious and dedicated practice of Yoga in its fullest sense. Boomerang Bird Yoga Lesson: Plan ahead – the moral quality of your actions define your wellbeing. The Big Red Bird The Big Red Bird represents determination. Life’s tough, even tougher than getting three stars on all levels! To overcome your obstacles and live a great life you’ll need determination. Determination is like the Big Red Bird, in that it crashes through all the bricks of life and eliminates the Green Pigs on your path to happiness. With determination you can do more than you may have thought possible. Of course, determination has to be allied with two other aspects: focus and goal. Having determination to do something stupid won’t help you feel very good. Having determination that wavers after two minutes as your focus shifts also won’t get you very far. In Yoga there is talk of “single point” focus. We say “laser-like” these days. To succeed in life (and here I mean success in terms of your ultimate happiness and wellbeing), you need this kind of focus. You can achieve this kind of focus by practicing meditation (remember the Black Bird?). And by using your intelligence (remember the Yellow Bird?), you have to carefully pick your goals in life.  Remembering also the Boomerang Bird and the law of Karma you’ll no doubt seek noble goals. Determination, with laser-like focus on intelligent, noble goals – wow! What an amazing life you can have! Nothing will stand in your way, no Green Pigs to laugh at your defeat! Big Red Bird Yoga Lesson: determination is the key to success. Don’t give up! The Mighty Eagle The Mighty Eagle represents Divine Grace, or Mercy. Divine Grace, a wise man once told me, is like buying six for the price of four. In other words, you’re still paying, you’re still putting in effort, but you just get a lot more for it! For a little extra effort on your part, you can invoke this wonderfully effective power into your life. It just makes everything better. Learn how and try it! Mighty Eagle Yoga Lesson: you’re not alone, help is at hand! to be continued…   • Email to a friend • •   New Vrndavan, USA: Faces of the 2011 Festival of Inspiration   See more Faces of the Festival of Inspiration here.   • Email to a friend • •   Mayapuris, USA: Mridanga Music Video to Premiere May 19th Mayapuris, USA: Mridanga Music Video to Premiere May 19th MRIDANGA MUSIC VIDEO TO PREMIERE ON YOGAJOURNAL.COM MAY 19TH Cross-over world music sensation and performance art troupe, The Mayapuris are to release a music video to showcase the title track of their hit album Mridanga (2010) which reached #7 on the iTunes world music chart the first week of its release. The video imbibes the dual nature that makes the Mayapuris unique: spunky and youthful with a new spin on the centuries-old chant culture of ancient India, kirtan. Their instrument of choice: the mridanga drum, a hand instrument invented over five hundred years ago and is a portable alternative to its well-known cousin, the tabla. “Why the obsession with the mridanga?” asks Krishna Kishor (vocalist, flutist, drummer), “It was invented by Chaitanya, who revolutionized kirtan by bringing it out from the temples and into the streets for everyone to take part in. Through him we want to keep the revolution going. So…got to keep drumming.” In the video The Mayapuris are joined by The Temple Dancers consisting of Visvambhar’s wife Vrinda and his sister Ganga both of whom studied the ancient art of Bharatnatyam in South India. The band’s ties to mridanga and kirtan run deep. All three of them attended boarding school in India where they learned the fundamentals of mantra music. Naming their group after the holy village of Mayapur, where the kirtan movement started, the Mayapuris returned home to Florida before signing to Mantralogy, a division of Equal Vision Records, in 2009. The title track of their first release, “Mridanga,” is the rhythmic instrumental composition that, when performed live, is a dance as well as a drum ensemble. It was an aspect that the band wanted reflected in their video.“We wanted it to have the energy and impact of our live performances,” says Kishor, “But with a twist.” Gaura Vani and Rasa Acharya, who are both longtime friends of the band members and co-owners of their record label, Mantralogy, had ties to the movie industry and were eager to bring a fresh visual representation of the artform to the Mantra Music scene.“The Mayapuris are vibrant and fun people,” says Acharya who, alongside Vani, produced and directed the video, “It would be hard to not capture their spirit on camera.” Visvambhar, lead-vocalist and drummer says, “I believe in kirtan. I believe people naturally want to give something–to sing and partake in mantra chanting. I see the Mantra Music scene growing every day in a big way. The video will add a new dimension to all of it as we begin to recognize chant culture as something much bigger than music.” The video will premiere May 19th on YogaJournal.com and will later be viewable on YouTube, Facebook, Mayapuris.com and Mantralogy.com.   • Email to a friend • •   ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Food for life in Japan The recent earthquake in Japan was a very tragic event that shook the whole world. So many people lost their homes, belongings and loved ones. In the face of this tragedy, Hare Krishna devotees from the Tokyo Hare Krishna Centre have been preparing hot vegetarian meals and distributing it to the people in Japan. Check out a video of their efforts! http://iskcontoronto.blogspot.com/2011/05/food-for-life-in-japan.html ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Food for life in Japan   • Email to a friend • •   Mukunda Charan das, SA: Justerini (Or How I Became A Vegetarian) This article is dedicated to Colleen I was finishing-up my Master’s dissertation on the abolition of the slave trade in January 1997 at a friend’s place in Sun Valley, Cape Town.  My schedule was intense.  They would drop me at the University of Cape Town every morning at about 6:30am; and I would finish around 8:45pm.  I’d then take the 9:15pm train to Fish Hoek.  Their house was about half-an-hour walk from Fishoek Station.  I’d get in at 10:45pm.  I usually had a piece of toast and some juice.  I’d take rest at 11. My friend, Andrew, had adopted a dog which he later named Justerini (“Justerini and Brooks” (J&B) is a South African whiskey).  She was what South Africans call a brak or mongrel.  Teena and Andrew had another dog called Killer.  Killer was cute, but was a brak  just like Justerini.  Andrew’s wife Teena liked to spoil the dogs by giving them biscuits, odd bits of meat and sometimes even chocolate.  Justerini and Killer were, in my opinion, just pampered dogs.  This sentiment was exaggerated by a basic disliking, within me, of dogs – especially when they licked me or came close to me while eating. If Teena and Andrew were not at home I would have to let the dogs in the house.  I’d open the door, and the dogs would come scrambling into the living room, sliding and scratching the parquet floor.  I was usually hungry after my fourteen-hour days in the Postgraduate Art Student’s computer lab.  I’d let the dogs in, then grab a snack from the kitchen.  The whole thing was becoming a ritual.  The dogs would follow me into the kitchen yelping, shuffling and wagging their tails.  They would rub their cold, wet noses against my legs.  Oh, how this would irritate me!  One night I arrived home and it was the same scene - the dogs flanking me into the kitchen.  I was quite hungry so I was annoyed that the dogs were begging food from me again.  I noticed a barbecued lamb ‘chop’ (cutlet) on top of the microwave.  The thought of eating the lamb-chop flashed through my mind.  Justerini, however, continued to brush against me with affection.  I thought, ‘Stupid dog.  Just wants some food.’  I’d get rid of her by throwing the meat down on the ground.  After all, the stupid animal just wants to eat.  To my amazement, however, she did not seem to notice the piece of meat!  Yet she was being so affectionate.  I cynically waved the meat in front of her nose, hoping to get rid of her.  But she just looked at me with her big, dark eyes.  I was touched.  I realized that this animal, this dog, had feelings and emotions just like me.  For the first time in my life I considered seriously that this dog had a soul – just like me.  Why was I so hard-hearted?  If our meat supply ran out would we put this poor creature on the table?  It suddenly dawned on me how cruel it was to eat meat.  To take the life of an animal who has feelings and emotions and so many other attributes.  I had the distinct feeling that meat-eating was an act of cannibalism – since animals have feelings, thoughts and emotions just like human beings.  I broke down and cried.  What kind of person had I become? I had, strangely enough, considered giving up meat for Lent (the Catholic fasting month).  My reasons, however, were based on health issues (I was doing a lot of exercise and noticed that meat had a dulling effect on my body).  But now I was taking up vegetarianism for ethical and spiritual reasons.  It was a major step forward for me in terms of the development of my consciousness.  And Justerini was my guru! The next day, by Krishna’s grace, I met a Hare Krishna monk in Rondebosch.  He was selling Vedic Literatures (Indian spiritual writings) from a book table.  We spoke for about four hours.  I wanted to buy an Isopanisad but he thought it would be better if I got a copy of the Higher Taste.  ‘You’ll need this more…’, he said, ‘…now that you have become vegetarian.’  As we parted, Nicholas gave me a Science of Self-Realization.  His explanations of Krishna consciousness convinced me that Prabhupada’s teachings were giving the true culture and meaning of the Bhagavad-gita.  A door had opened in my life…and I walked through it…. Filed under: Realizations, Spiritual Life, Vegetarianism Tagged: becoming a hare krishna, compassion, iskcon south africa, prashadam, pure vegetarian, self realization   • Email to a friend • •   Japa Group: Do Not Chant Like The Parrot Practice to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. Do not chant like the parrot who may learn to utter “Hare Krsna,” but when grabbed at the throat cries, “Caw caw!” Prabhupada said practice so that when death comes you will chant Hare Krsna. From Japa Meditations by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami   • Email to a friend • •   Bhakta Chris, New York, USA: The Intersection-The Humanity Of The Enemy In the personal example of Thomas Merton, we find the example of how a humble and free character allows one to step into a special and deeper perspective on the nature of the relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed. The drive for social justice can fail because it becomes a battle of us against them, because we separate ourselves and elevate ourselves against those whom we consider monstrous, demonic, and evil. When we first attempt to remove these negative aspects from within ourselves, there is a subtle but conscious effect. We can begin, if we have the sincerity, to see that we are not so far removed from our so-called opponents, that we share many of the defects in our own hearts and characters, and that we share the same humanity, the same spiritual essence. This is a deep and learned realization, and which is very difficult to incorporate into our struggle for freedom when passions have been inflamed and when lives have been needlessly and ruthlessly lost. But Merton, like all committed practitioners faithful in the work of God, are able to bring this vision into their calling. One may protest that this is a dangerous and unfair viewpoint in which to work out issues that cause very tangible and very tragic suffering, but the deeper courage needed to see the humanity of the oppressor can create an opportunity for a solution that is more enduring, and at the very least, can prevent us from falling into the trap of becoming the oppressor once the tables have been turned. In Thomas Merton On Mysticism, an excellent and insightful examination of Merton's spiritual development and philosophy, author Raymond Bailey writes of the essence of Merton's vision of social justice: “Merton's approach to social problems was a simple one; so is the Bible's. Merton's analysis is marked by a beautiful naivete that tends to ignore the complexity of social and political structures. It is this complexity behind which whole generations hide and explain away their apathy. Did not the prophet declare the requirements of God in the simple words 'do justice...love kindness and walk humbly with your God?' Merton took these works and the example of Jesus seriously and implored the rest of the world to do the same. Merton could speak a word of judgment because he was willing to stand under judgment. He identified with the oppressors and repented of his part in the system that seemed to him so indifferent to human needs. At the same time, he bore in himself the suffering of the victims and empathized with their frustration and bitterness. The real heart of the problem as he perceived it lay in the fact that the offenders were as much, or more, the victims of their greed, hate, and cruelty as the offended. Repentance meant more than a confessional formula; it meant for him remorse and sacrifice in the hope of reconciliation.”1 To create a tangible reconciliation, we must learn how to separate the sin from the sinner. The Gita describes that our actual personal reality is as spirit soul, a manifestation of the spiritual energy of God. We become entangled in the lower material energies by a desire to lord over these energies, and we identify with these lower energies at the expense of our actual spiritual nature. The challenge we face in deepening our perspective and our approach to the issues of social justice is to see both the oppressor and the oppressed on their actual spiritual level. The root of the pain that causes this oppression can only be addressed at the level of the soul. Judgment upon material considerations such as the color of one's skin or the content of one's politics only creates a vicious feedback loop. The committed spiritualist lives his/her life trying to pick out the essence of God's presence in everything they see, do, or speak, and this extends in the most profound fashion to those who live farthest from the presence of God, to those most in need of God's love. Merton is quick to point out that as a whole, our choice as a collective society has been to move away from the protection of the Lord's guidance, leaving us vulnerable and even willing to let the oppressor do his business. If we then want to strike back against the oppressor without the hand of God by our side, we find that we have to use his brute tactics of force to do so, and we use these tactics in a way that is not effective, and which by their influence, is terribly damaging to our physical, mental, and spiritual psyche. He writes: “Gandhi pointed out very wisely that our feeling of helplessness in the presence of injustice and aggression arises from 'our deliberate dismissal of God from our common affairs'. Those who relinquish God as the center of our moral orbit lose all direction and by that very fact lose and betray their manhood. They become blindly dependent on circumstances, and upon those who are astute enough or powerful enough to use every circumstance for their own end. Those who renounce God immediately become victims of the nearest brute that is a little more powerful than they. They have to live in submission to this gangster, and pay him dearly for his safety. It doesn't matter much whether the 'power' thus exercised is physical or moral, whether it is a matter of force or money or cleverness. Those who renounce God have to fall back on force when they get sick of their state of dependence on men. Yet force alone can never deliver them completely.”2 We have to meet the oppressor face-to-face. We have no choice. He sits in the halls of power and he sits in the realm of our heart. How we communicate with him will define whether we become like him or whether we can help him, and ourselves, transcend to the higher plane of spiritual freedom. To do this, we must understand the real value and the real power of ahimsa, of the non-violent reaction. In our material reality, the presence of violence swirls around us in a chaotic vortex. It is the very substance of the fabric of reality, a constant dance of regeneration and degeneration, of one living entity being food for another. A total ahimsa is impossible in our material reality. Just one breath that we alone take, or one glass of water that we alone drink, has the potential to harm millions and millions of tiny but nevertheless living entities. The energy demands of our body in terms of nutrients and vitamins that come from our foodstuffs mean that other living and once-living bodily systems must be used to fulfill those demands. For the living spiritualist, the practice of ahimsa means a conscious and concerted effort (ala a vegan/vegetarian diet) to limit the harm that needs to be done to keep body and soul together. Violence itself transcends the material sphere. If we allowing people to live their lives in a void of feeling and understanding which prevents them from activating their spiritual birthright of an eternal existence full of knowledge and bliss, we are committing the deepest act of violence. A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the foremost contemporary scholar and acarya (teacher) of the Vedic culture of the Gita concurs in his own translation of the Gita. He writes: Nonviolence is generally taken to mean not killing or destroying the body, but actually nonviolence means not to put others into distress. People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life, and they perpetually suffer material pains. So unless one elevates people to spiritual knowledge, one is practicing violence. One should try his best to distribute real knowledge to the people, so that they may become enlightened and leave this material entanglement. That is nonviolence.3 At the core of ahimsa is this substance of spiritual love, which seeks to rehabilitate rather than to reprimand, to redeem rather to condemn. It means caring for the oppressor's loss as well as the the loss of the oppressed. It means seeing a deeper and bigger picture that attempts to correct and restore the foundation of our collective spiritual humanity, rather than just poking at a specific leak in the roof. Merton writes: “The tactic of nonviolence is a tactic of love that seeks the salvation and redemption of the opponent, not his castigation, humiliation, and defeat. A pretended nonviolence that seeks to defeat and humiliate the adversary by spiritual instead of physical attack is little more than a confession of weakness. True nonviolence is totally different from this, and much more difficult. It strives to operate without hatred, without hostility, and without resentment. It works without aggression, taking the side of the good that it is able to find already present in the adversary. This may be easy to talk about in theory. It is not easy to practice, especially when the adversary is aroused to a bitter and violent defense of an injustice which he believes to be just. We must therefore be careful how we talk about our opponents, and still more careful how we regulate our differences with our collaborators.”4 It is precisely this change in the nature of our dialogue and perception that is most revolutionary in our concept of revolutionary change. The aim to create a more just, more sustainable, and more equitable world must also include the uplifting of those who are against these very ideals. To leave them and to leave their own spiritual suffering by the wayside is returning their violence with an equally damning violence of our own. The deeper spiritual perspective of social justice will allow us to create a truly transcendent atmosphere where a sense of forgiveness, alongside the deserved justice and punishment the oppressor deserves and needs, can actually reverse the tide of our potential disintegration and destruction. 1Bailey, Raymond, Thomas Merton On Mysticism, Image Books, 1987, p.232 2Merton, 120 3Prabhupada, 539-540 4Merton, 86-87   • Email to a friend • •   Institute for Sustainable Society, NZ: Meet an Ayurveda Pro!   • Email to a friend • •   Gouranga TV: 24 Hours kirtan with Indradyumna sw . sao paulo -brasil 24 Hours kirtan with Indradyumna sw . sao paulo -brasil   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: HH Bhakti Caru Swami In Kogara, April 2011 Sent by His Grace SubhKrishna Prabhu For all pictures please click here   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Devotee Care Workshop Australia, 2011 Sent By His Grace SubhKrishna & Charudeshna Radhika Prabhus For all pictures click here   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Initiations by His Holines Bhakti Caru Swami, Sydney, 2011. Sent by His Grace SubhKrishna Prabhu To see all pictures click  here   • Email to a friend • •   H.H. Bhakticharu Swami: Gurumaharaja In West-Bengal, India, 8th-9th of May 2011. Pictures sent by Her Grace Devahuti Mataji To watch all pictures please click here         • Email to a friend • • More Recent Articles H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Tuesday 10 May 2011--Mission Impossible or Possible?--and--Do You Hear Our Prayers? ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darshana ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Kesava Prabhu Krishna Lounge, LA, USA: Kirtan 2011-05-05 Krishna Lounge, LA, USA: The Symphony of Life

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