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"Planet ISKCON" - 51 new articles
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
- ISKCON News.com: Toronto Ratha Yatra’s Creative Campaign to go “Mainstream”
- H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 1.3.1 Plastic Chapati Cook 6-16-2011 – Video
- Japa Group: This Is The Great Blessing
- H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 3.40 Get Your Deluxe Carrot 6-16-2011 – Video
- ISKCON News.com: Photographic Bhagavad-gita Wins Independent Publishing Award
- ISKCON News.com: ISKCON Poland to Teach Spiritual Curriculum in Schools
- Bharatavarsa.net: Book distribution seminar: Zanzibar
- Bhakti Lata, Alachua, USA: A Long-Awaited Photo Essay
- H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 16.1 Austerities Of The Mind And Body 5-23-2011
- Book Distribution News: Zanzibar
- ISKCON News.com: New Building of Budapest`s Bhaktivedanta College Inaugurated
- Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: having hundreds of children
- ISKCON News.com: Can of Worms
- Dandavats.com: Cooking for London Rathayatra
- Dandavats.com: Glastonbury Festival 2011
- Dandavats.com: Croyden Rathayatra 3rd July 2011
- H.H. Sivarama Swami
- Dandavats.com: Free Scripts + Audio samples
- H.H. Sivarama Swami
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- Srila Prabhupada's Letters
- ISKCON News.com: The Plight of Women in South Asia - A New Poll Indicts Several Countries
- ISKCON News.com: Bhagavad-gita: A Photographic Essay Wins Prestigious Book Award
- ISKCON News.com: Is Your Medication Causing You To Suffer From Malnutrition?
- ISKCON News.com: Radhanath Swami at Harvard University
- ISKCON News.com: Nairobi Hotel Wins Over Clients With Subsidized Menu
- David Haslam, UK: Thought on discovered insertion for Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
- Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: Bhajan - Vatsal Prabhu - Parama Karuna
- Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Spare a Day, or Two or Three to Immerse Yourself in Kirtan!
- Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Review : Sourdough Bread
- Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Recipe : Sourdough Pretzels
- Ananda Subramanian, Iowa, USA: How to attain peace?
- Japa Group: Talking About Chanting
- Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Recipe : Quick Sourdough Focaccia
- Mukunda Charan das, SA: Mayapuri Puffed Rice, Gour And Date Sweets
- ISKCON News.com: Four New Books From Torchlight Publishing
- H.H. Sivarama Swami: Sasvata dasa asks
- Gouranga TV: Bhajan – Nitai Pran & Vraja Kishor – Nrsimhadev Prayers @ Singhania’s House
- Sri Prahlad, AU: The Power of Kirtan – More Than Mere Stress Relief
- Vraja Kishor, JP: Matter, Spirit… What’s the Difference?
- Akrura das, Gita Coaching: THE INQUIRING LEADER
- Akrura das, Gita Coaching: SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL CONFIDENCE
- Akrura das, Gita Coaching: FEELING GOOD
- Akrura das, Gita Coaching: FORMING NEW HABITS TAKES TIME
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ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
Sri Radha Ballabha is adorned with a majestic tulasi garland today, especially brought for Him from Brisbane by Niti and Radha Kanta Matajis.
It thus takes us straight to Sri Vrindavana Dhama on a festival day where Krishna is offered this most fragrant and intoxicating mala for His pleasure and that of the bumble bees hovering around Tulasi Devi.
Here's the darsana of Lord Krishna proudly wearing this gift of love from His devotees.
•ISKCON News.com: Toronto Ratha Yatra’s Creative Campaign to go “Mainstream”
 | The predominantly second-generation team behind the Toronto Ratha-Yatra festival is ambitious and creative in its promotion, and unswervingly dedicated to reaching beyond the devotee world into the mainstream. |
•H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – SB 1.3.1 Plastic Chapati Cook 6-16-2011 – Video
Lecture on the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 3 verse 1 titled “Plastic Chapati Cook” given in Timisoara – Romania on the morning of June 16, 2011. The subject of the lecture is related to Lord Krishna’s incarnations, specifically the Purusa Avataras – (external pastimes)
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.1
TRANSLATION
Suta said: In the beginning of the creation, the Lord first expanded Himself in the universal form of the purusha incarnation and manifested all the ingredients for the material creation. And thus at first there was the creation of the sixteen principles of material action. This was for the purpose of creating the material universe.
PURPORT
The Bhagavad-gita states that the Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna maintains these material universes by extending His plenary expansions. So thispurusha form is the confirmation of the same principle. The original Personality of Godhead Vasudeva, or Lord Krishna, who is famous as the son of KingVasudeva or King Nanda, is full with all opulences, all potencies, all fame, all beauty, all knowledge and all renunciation. Part of His opulences are manifested as impersonal Brahman, and part of His opulences are manifested as Paramatma. This purusha feature of the same Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna is the original Paramatma manifestation of the Lord. There are three purusha features in the material creation, and this form, who is known as the KaranodakasayiVishnu, is the first of the three. The others are known as the Garbhodakasayi Vishnu and the Kshirodakasayi Vishnu, which we shall know one after another. The innumerable universes are generated from the skin holes of this Karanodakasayi Vishnu, and in each one of the universes the Lord enters as GarbhodakasayiVishnu.
In the Bhagavad-gita it is also mentioned that the material world is created at certain intervals and then again destroyed. This creation and destruction is done by the supreme will because of the conditioned souls, or the nitya-baddha living beings. The nitya-baddha, or the eternally conditioned souls, have the sense of individuality or ahankara, which dictates them sense enjoyment, which they are unable to have constitutionally. The Lord is the only enjoyer, and all others are enjoyed. The living beings are predominated enjoyers. But the eternally conditioned souls, forgetful of this constitutional position, have strong aspirations to enjoy. The chance to enjoy matter is given to the conditioned souls in the material world, and side by side they are given the chance to understand their real constitutional position. Those fortunate living entities who catch the truth and surrender unto the lotus feet of Vasudeva after many, many births in the material world join the eternally liberated souls and thus are allowed to enter into the kingdom of Godhead. After this, such fortunate living entities need not come again within the occasional material creation. But those who cannot catch the constitutional truth are again merged into the mahat-tattva at the time of the annihilation of the material creation. When the creation is again set up, this mahat-tattva is again let loose. This mahat-tattva contains all the ingredients of the material manifestations, including the conditioned souls. Primarily this mahat-tattva is divided into sixteen parts, namely the five gross material elements and the eleven working instruments or senses. It is like the cloud in the clear sky. In the spiritual sky, the effulgence of Brahman is spread all around, and the whole system is dazzling in spiritual light. The mahat-tattva is assembled in some corner of the vast, unlimited spiritual sky, and the part which is thus covered by the mahat-tattva is called the material sky. This part of the spiritual sky, called the mahat-tattva, is only an insignificant portion of the whole spiritual sky, and within this mahat-tattva there are innumerable universes. All these universes are collectively produced by the Karanodakasayi Vishnu, called also the Maha-Vishnu, who simply throws His glance to impregnate the material sky.
SB 01.03.01 Plastic Chapati Cook 2011-06-16
http://vimeo.com/25190396 Lecture on the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 3 verse 1 titled “Plastic Chapati Cook” given in Timisoara - Romania on the morning of June 16, 2011. The subject of the lecture is related to Lord Krishna's incarnations, sp... •Japa Group: This Is The Great Blessing
A pure devotee cannot forget the Supreme Lord for a moment, and similarly the Supreme Lord cannot forget His pure devotee for a moment. This is the great blessing of the Krsna conscious process of chanting the maha-mantra Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
BG 8.14 Purport
•H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 3.40 Get Your Deluxe Carrot 6-16-2011 – Video
This is a lecture given on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 verse 40 on the evening of June 16, 2011 in Timisoara, Romania.
asyadhishthanam ucyate
etair vimohayaty esha
TRANSLATION
The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust. Through them lust covers the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him.
PURPORT
The enemy has captured different strategic positions in the body of the conditioned soul, and therefore Lord Krishna is giving hints of those places, so that one who wants to conquer the enemy may know where he can be found. Mind is the center of all the activities of the senses, and thus when we hear about sense objects the mind generally becomes a reservoir of all ideas of sense gratification; and, as a result, the mind and the senses become the repositories of lust. Next, the intelligence department becomes the capital of such lustful propensities. Intelligence is the immediate next-door neighbor of the spirit soul. Lusty intelligence influences the spirit soul to acquire the false ego and identify itself with matter, and thus with the mind and senses. The spirit soul becomes addicted to enjoying the material senses and mistakes this as true happiness. This false identification of the spirit soul is very nicely explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam(10.84.13):
yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke
sva-dhih kalatradishu bhauma ijya-dhih
yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicij
janeshv abhijneshu sa eva go-kharah
“A human being who identifies this body made of three elements with his self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of birth worshipable, and who goes to the place of pilgrimage simply to take a bath rather than meet men of transcendental knowledge there, is to be considered like an ass or a cow.
BG 03.40 Get Your Deluxe Carrot 2011-06-16
http://vimeo.com/25222691 This is a lecture given on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3 verse 40 on the evening of June 16, 2011 in Timisoara, Romania. Bhagavad-gita As It Is 3.40 indriyani mano buddhir asyadhishthanam ucyate etair vimohayaty esha jnanam avritya dehinam TRANSLATION The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust. Through them lust covers the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him. PURPORT The enemy has captured different strategic positions in the body of the conditioned soul, and therefore Lord Krishna is giving hints of those places, so that one who wants to conquer the enemy may know where he can be found. Mind is the center of all the activities of the senses, and thus when we hear about sense objects the mind generally becomes a reservoir of all ideas of sense gratification; and, as a result, the mind and the senses become the repositories of lust. Next, the intelligence department becomes the capital of such lustful propensities. Intelligence is the immediate next-door neighbor of the spirit soul. Lusty intelligence influences the spirit soul to acquire the false ego and identify itself with matter, and thus with the mind and senses. The spirit soul becomes addicted to enjoying the material senses and mistakes this as true happiness. This false identification of the spirit soul is very nicely explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam(10.84.13): yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri-dhatuke sva-dhih kalatradishu bhauma ijya-dhih yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicij janeshv abhijneshu sa eva go-kharah "A human being who identifies this body made of three elements with his self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of birth worshipable, and who goes to the place of pilgrimage simply to take a bath rather than meet men of transcendental knowledge there, is to be considered like an ass or a cow. BG 03.40 Get Your Deluxe Carrot 2011-06-16 •ISKCON News.com: Photographic Bhagavad-gita Wins Independent Publishing Award
 | Bhagavad-gita: A Photographic Essay, written by Srila Prabhupada disciple Visakha Dasi, and published by Torchlight, has won a bronze medal at this year’s Independent Publisher Book Awards. |
•ISKCON News.com: ISKCON Poland to Teach Spiritual Curriculum in Schools
 | ISKCON devotees in Poland have just finished writing an educational program that aims to provide primary and secondary school children with the cultural, social and philosophical basis for Krishna consciousness. |
•Bharatavarsa.net: Book distribution seminar: Zanzibar
We had come to attend the Nairobi Ratha Yatra in East Africa and after that thought of doing some book distribution in neighbouring Dar es salaam and Zanzibar by Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy. In Dar es salaam there are some devotees and there is some preaching going on. In Zanzibar, however the population is at least about ninety five percent muslims and, they are practicing muslims. Therefore there hasn't really been much done there. It is actually the birth place of the Swahili language and culture which is now quite widespread in Africa. Zanzibar island just off the Tanzania mainland is an autonomous province of Tanzania and also formerly part of Oman. In fact it was at one time the capital of Oman and the Sultans would reside there. Therefore there was a heavy Arab and Islamic influence.
So we planned to spend a day there distributing the Swahili SSR and Swahili BG. We took the 2 hour speed boat from Dar es salaam and crossed into the island and arrived at around 9am with a member of the local Hindu community greeting us on arrival after having been informed by a well-wisher in Dar about our plans for the day. He guided us to the local Hindu temple which was about a 7 minute walk from the harbour. Where we took some prasadam which we had carried with us.
Just after finishing our packed prasadam the person who guided us to the temple came to meet us along with the temple pujari and another person who was a prominent member of the small Hindu community. To our surprise they started telling us that it would be dangerous to distribute books here since the people, muslims, don't like it. They explained how once a Swaminarayan had come and they followed him all around the town asking him why he had come here to spread his religion in their land. They suggested that they guide us to the book shops where we can ask them to take some books and also meet some prominent Hindus who could take some books to hand out to their muslim friends.
I was really against this idea as I was wondering how many books would really go out like that. Besides that I had been meditating on serving Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission by distributing books in Zanzibar for quite some time and thought if I didn't do it now then I would feel I had failed in my service to the Gurus and Sri Gauranga.
So I told them that there is no problem and that we had done this many times and we will be careful and not pushy. They remained fixed in their determination to convince us not to go out on sankirtan telling us that in the past there were problems and even attacks on Hindus and that if we go out it may create a problem for all the Hindus on the island (we were in full vaishnava dress with Tilak). Finally I told them that we will go out without their help and find our way around and make it clear to everyone that we were not part of the Hindu community (which of course we are not anyway). They then still looked a little nervous and upset but then reluctantly agreed as they couldn't really stop us from going to preach.
Sankirtan Report
---------------------------
I exited the temple and started softly singing Nrsimha prayers. I left out a few shops and then started entering the shops. Almost all shops had pictures of Quranic verses on display and taped recitations from the Quran playing. Most people were serious though respectful, and asked some questions but found the philosophy new and seemed to be confused where to 'place it'. Surprisingly there were a few people who had heard of the Bhagavad-gita and a few having visited Dar es salaam had heard of the Hare Krishna movement. As I was going from shop to shop people looked at me curiously, but no one stopped me or bothered me. I presented the books as the Science of the Soul and universal knowledge applicable to everyone.
The only tense situation I encountered was when I entered a pharmacy where I saw an Arab person looking at me with a frown on his face. I avoided him and spoke to the other two who were there and he interrupted that these books are from a background different from what they were and so they don't want the books. I just turned to him and said politely that the goal of these books is to simply add-on to the knowledge they already gained about God and not to challenge them. He was still getting quite emotional about why I came in the shop to present these books and so I just left politely. In all, over 4 hours (We had to catch the last return boat to Dar and so had 4 hours only) I managed to distribute 4 SSR's by the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as follows:
1) One small shop I entered had many books on shelves in Arabic and Swahili. The shop owner looked elderly but quite effulgent. He wore glasses and had a beard and a muslim cap and said he was a writer and these books for sale were his. He looked scholarly and knew about the Bhagavad-gita though opted to take the SSR instead. He gave me his contact and said I should visit him when I next come as he would then take a Bhagavad-gita.
2) The next fortunate soul was a woman who looked like a manager in a travel company. She was from the minority Christian community and she took the book and even wanted a BG but didn't have enough money. I took down her contact and she was looking at the contents and the comments at the back of the SSR intently. She thanked me and asked me to visit when I returned next to Zanzibar so she could take a BG.
3) I entered a shop where another person owned a shop selling electronics and kitchen items. He looked quite young and when I presented the books he began to question me thoroughly and animatedly about the short introduction I gave about the books. He asked me why we are not happy in this world, what is the goal of life? Where are these teachings from? What is the position of the prophet Mohamed in these teachings? In between customers kept coming and his mobile kept ringing. Finally he took an SSR. Hari bol!!
4) The last recipient of Srila Prabhupada's mercy was in a shop where I entered and saw two people speaking to each other. One was an Indian expatriate and looked surprised to see a person in dhoti, kurta and tilak. He started talking to me but I politely tried to instead engage the muslim Zanzibari person behind the desk who looked like the owner of the computer shop. As I was presenting the books the other person kept trying to ask about where ISKCON is here and is there a centre. I still tried to focus on the person behind the desk thinking to speak to the other person after I try to distribute a book to the one behind the desk. In the end they both refused to take a book. I then asked the man if there was anyone in the workshop behind who would perhaps take a book. He called out loudly in Swahili addressing someone in the workshop behind that someone's coming there who is selling books in case he wants one. I entered the workshop and saw a youngish looking person working on assembling a computer. He was smiling at me and as I started trying to explain the philosophy he interrupted me and said he will take a book. Apparently he had been hearing the conversation of his boss and me and was felt inclined to take a book.
All Glories to the Sri Krishna Sankirtan Movement ! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada ! All Glories to the Translator of the Swahili edition of the Science of Self-Realization !
Murari Das (Text D:5094848) -------------------------------------------
------- End of Forwarded Message ------
•Bhakti Lata, Alachua, USA: A Long-Awaited Photo Essay
•H.H. Prahladananda Swami: Lecture – BG 16.1 Austerities Of The Mind And Body 5-23-2011
BG 16.01 Austerities Of The Mind And Body 2011-05-23
Lecture – Bhagavad Gita 16.1 Austerities Of The Mind And Body 2011-05-23 Radhadesh
BG 16.01 Austerities Of The Mind And Body 2011-05-23 Lecture - Bhagavad Gita 16.1 Austerities Of The Mind And Body 2011-05-23 Radhadesh •Book Distribution News: Zanzibar
We had come to attend the Nairobi Ratha Yatra in East Africa and after that thought of doing some book distribution in neighbouring Dar es salaam and Zanzibar by Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy. In Dar es salaam there are some devotees and there is some preaching going on. In Zanzibar, however the population is at least about ninety five percent muslims and, they are practicing muslims. Therefore there hasn't really been much done there. It is actually the birth place of the Swahili language and culture which is now quite widespread in Africa. Zanzibar island just off the Tanzania mainland is an autonomous province of Tanzania and also formerly part of Oman. In fact it was at one time the capital of Oman and the Sultans would reside there. Therefore there was a heavy Arab and Islamic influence.
So we planned to spend a day there distributing the Swahili SSR and Swahili BG. We took the 2 hour speed boat from Dar es salaam and crossed into the island and arrived at around 9am with a member of the local Hindu community greeting us on arrival after having been informed by a well-wisher in Dar about our plans for the day. He guided us to the local Hindu temple which was about a 7 minute walk from the harbour. Where we took some prasadam which we had carried with us.
Just after finishing our packed prasadam the person who guided us to the temple came to meet us along with the temple pujari and another person who was a prominent member of the small Hindu community. To our surprise they started telling us that it would be dangerous to distribute books here since the people, muslims, don't like it. They explained how once a Swaminarayan had come and they followed him all around the town asking him why he had come here to spread his religion in their land. They suggested that they guide us to the book shops where we can ask them to take some books and also meet some prominent Hindus who could take some books to hand out to their muslim friends.
I was really against this idea as I was wondering how many books would really go out like that. Besides that I had been meditating on serving Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission by distributing books in Zanzibar for quite some time and thought if I didn't do it now then I would feel I had failed in my service to the Gurus and Sri Gauranga.
So I told them that there is no problem and that we had done this many times and we will be careful and not pushy. They remained fixed in their determination to convince us not to go out on sankirtan telling us that in the past there were problems and even attacks on Hindus and that if we go out it may create a problem for all the Hindus on the island (we were in full vaishnava dress with Tilak). Finally I told them that we will go out without their help and find our way around and make it clear to everyone that we were not part of the Hindu community (which of course we are not anyway). They then still looked a little nervous and upset but then reluctantly agreed as they couldn't really stop us from going to preach.
Sankirtan Report
---------------------------
I exited the temple and started softly singing Nrsimha prayers. I left out a few shops and then started entering the shops. Almost all shops had pictures of Quranic verses on display and taped recitations from the Quran playing. Most people were serious though respectful, and asked some questions but found the philosophy new and seemed to be confused where to 'place it'. Surprisingly there were a few people who had heard of the Bhagavad-gita and a few having visited Dar es salaam had heard of the Hare Krishna movement. As I was going from shop to shop people looked at me curiously, but no one stopped me or bothered me. I presented the books as the Science of the Soul and universal knowledge applicable to everyone.
The only tense situation I encountered was when I entered a pharmacy where I saw an Arab person looking at me with a frown on his face. I avoided him and spoke to the other two who were there and he interrupted that these books are from a background different from what they were and so they don't want the books. I just turned to him and said politely that the goal of these books is to simply add-on to the knowledge they already gained about God and not to challenge them. He was still getting quite emotional about why I came in the shop to present these books and so I just left politely. In all, over 4 hours (We had to catch the last return boat to Dar and so had 4 hours only) I managed to distribute 4 SSR's by the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, as follows:
1) One small shop I entered had many books on shelves in Arabic and Swahili. The shop owner looked elderly but quite effulgent. He wore glasses and had a beard and a muslim cap and said he was a writer and these books for sale were his. He looked scholarly and knew about the Bhagavad-gita though opted to take the SSR instead. He gave me his contact and said I should visit him when I next come as he would then take a Bhagavad-gita.
2) The next fortunate soul was a woman who looked like a manager in a travel company. She was from the minority Christian community and she took the book and even wanted a BG but didn't have enough money. I took down her contact and she was looking at the contents and the comments at the back of the SSR intently. She thanked me and asked me to visit when I returned next to Zanzibar so she could take a BG.
3) I entered a shop where another person owned a shop selling electronics and kitchen items. He looked quite young and when I presented the books he began to question me thoroughly and animatedly about the short introduction I gave about the books. He asked me why we are not happy in this world, what is the goal of life? Where are these teachings from? What is the position of the prophet Mohamed in these teachings? In between customers kept coming and his mobile kept ringing. Finally he took an SSR. Hari bol!!
4) The last recipient of Srila Prabhupada's mercy was in a shop where I entered and saw two people speaking to each other. One was an Indian expatriate and looked surprised to see a person in dhoti, kurta and tilak. He started talking to me but I politely tried to instead engage the muslim Zanzibari person behind the desk who looked like the owner of the computer shop. As I was presenting the books the other person kept trying to ask about where ISKCON is here and is there a centre. I still tried to focus on the person behind the desk thinking to speak to the other person after I try to distribute a book to the one behind the desk. In the end they both refused to take a book. I then asked the man if there was anyone in the workshop behind who would perhaps take a book. He called out loudly in Swahili addressing someone in the workshop behind that someone's coming there who is selling books in case he wants one. I entered the workshop and saw a youngish looking person working on assembling a computer. He was smiling at me and as I started trying to explain the philosophy he interrupted me and said he will take a book. Apparently he had been hearing the conversation of his boss and me and was felt inclined to take a book.
All Glories to the Sri Krishna Sankirtan Movement ! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada ! All Glories to the Translator of the Swahili edition of the Science of Self-Realization !
Murari Das (Text D:5094848) -------------------------------------------
------- End of Forwarded Message ------
•ISKCON News.com: New Building of Budapest`s Bhaktivedanta College Inaugurated
 | In June, 2011, the new building of the Bhaktivedanta College of Budapest got inaugurated. As part of the opening ceremony, a conference was held entiltled The India and Europe: Cooperation & Common Values. A new temporary exhibition has opened featuring Hungarian indologist Sir Aurél Stein's unique archaeological work. |
•Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: having hundreds of children
Raising children is a great responsibility, and a prospective parent should be convinced that he can deliver his child from the clutches of birth, death, disease and old age. If that conviction is there, then there is no objection to having hundreds of children and raising them to be pure devotees of Krishna.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Koumadaki -- Australia March 27, 1972
•ISKCON News.com: Can of Worms
 | The external reorganization of our life and the internal cleansing of our consciousness need not be mutually exclusive activities. Like train tracks, they can coexist side-by-side. As we progressively reengineer our lifestyle, we can simultaneously intensify our spirituality. |
•Dandavats.com: Cooking for London Rathayatra
The mission this year was to cook a feast for 15,000 people. Titiksu Prabhu is the organiser of the London Rathayatra. An amazing event with 3 carts. It was ekadasi so all the preps were cooked without grains. This years menu was subji, mash potato, halava, srikand, and juice
•Dandavats.com: Glastonbury Festival 2011
Parasuram das: There is no festival in the world that can compare to the size and variety of Glastonbury. It's just massive - like kunda mela. Young people want to see and experience something new and different and for the Glastonbury week they will get a great variety of "chewing the chewed"
•Dandavats.com: Croyden Rathayatra 3rd July 2011
Croyden (Located South of London) hosted the first Rathayatra festival in recorded history. I was expecting about 20 devotees to appear for this event - boy was I wrong! There was over 500 devotees
•H.H. Sivarama Swami
śrī-jagannātha nīlādri-śiro-mukuṭa-ratna he
dāru-brahman ghana-śyāma prasīda puruṣottama
O, Lord Jagannātha, You are the crest-jewel of the Blue Mountain! O, Supreme Brahman in the form of wood, who is blackish like a raincloud! O, Supreme Personality! Please be merciful to me!
- Sanātana Gosvāmī (Śrī Jagannātha-deva-stava)
•Dandavats.com: Free Scripts + Audio samples
By Parividha das
On my website you can listen to an audio sample of each of my recordings. Each play and musical is available on CD, which you can use as a soundtrack, if you're planning to perform in a big hall or marquee
•H.H. Sivarama Swami
Complaining does not make your difficulties leave you, but may make your friends go away.
- Laurell Kaye Hamilton
•Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1966 July 8: "Sasthi. Society's balance $28.00. Electric light fitted today and there was about twenty men attending. It is encouraging. The collection was $15.00. One boy Gerald was very much interested."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1966
•Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1967 July 7: "I am your Spiritual Father, and Krishna is your Spiritual Husband. A girl can never forget either her father or her husband. So far as remembering me and Krishna, it should be simultaneous."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967
•Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1967 July 8: "Spiritual advancement of life is achieved through the combined mercy of the Spiritual Master and Krishna. Those who are sincere souls, Krishna helps them to have a bonafide Spiritual Master, and the bonafide Spiritual Master helps the disciple to approach Krishna. This is the process."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967
•Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1969 July 8: "It is all Krishna's money. When He sees us very faithful and trustworthy, He gives up His money. Simply pray to Krishna. The whole process is to accept the superior quality of service in Krishna Consciousness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
•Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1970 July 7: "Concentrate to develop your spiritual power to attract the fallen souls. We must not misrepresent ourselves. All our activities must be open so that no one may criticize our mission."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
•Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1971 July 8: "When I see young American boys becoming qualified Brahmins, I am pleased and my Guru Maharaja becomes pleased. So you must live up to the standard. First and foremost is cleanliness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971
•Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1972 July 8: "We are Hari Kirtana men, that's all. We can attract people by some gorgeous show, but inside there must be strict purity and seriousness. If we can recite from Bhagavad gita without any need for elaborate scenery and gorgeous dresses, that is best."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972
•Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1975 July 8: "There is no water arrangement. The temple is not being maintained properly. They are keeping long hairs and not living responsibly. I do not think it is good to put good money after bad."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
•ISKCON News.com: The Plight of Women in South Asia - A New Poll Indicts Several Countries
 | A new survey reveals Afghanistan to be the world's most dangerous place for women. Pakistan and India are ranked third and fourth on crimes ranging from domestic abuse to female foeticide. |
•ISKCON News.com: Bhagavad-gita: A Photographic Essay Wins Prestigious Book Award
 | Torchlight Publishing’s Bhagavad-gita: A Photographic Essay (2010) by Visakha dasi won the Bronze Medal in the 2011 Independent Publisher’s Book Awards for the best Spiritual/Inspirational title. This year there were 3,907 books entered. |
•ISKCON News.com: Is Your Medication Causing You To Suffer From Malnutrition?
 | Most people trust that the medicines that they take will help them overcome illness, enhance their health and promote well-being. Unfortunately medications often deplete important nutrients from the body, and people don't find the relief that they seek. |
•ISKCON News.com: Radhanath Swami at Harvard University
 | On June 20th 2011, a large group of students, researchers, professionals and enterpreneurs gathered at Harvard University to meet and hear from a renowned scholar & spiritual leader -Radhanath Swami. Recently formed university wide Harvard India Student Group arranged a talk on "Ethics in Leadership and Management" for aspiring leaders and managers. |
•ISKCON News.com: Nairobi Hotel Wins Over Clients With Subsidized Menu
 | As high food prices force Kenyans to drastically change their eating habits, a new restaurant in Nairobi is offering an inflation-beating menu. Jagannath Restaurant serves most meals at below Sh100 while an “all you can eat” buffet — as long as the meal is not shared — costs Sh185. |
•David Haslam, UK: Thought on discovered insertion for Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
It was wonderful to read about a newly discovered insertion for the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is; you can read about it here: lost sentence newly discovered.pdf it is also of note that there is a number of suggestions on what to do and an invite for devotees to be concise but add there thoughts on [...]
•Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: Bhajan - Vatsal Prabhu - Parama Karuna
Vatsal Prabhu singing the bhajan "Parama Karuna".
Dallas, TX
2011-01-30
Download: 2011-01-30 - Bhajan - Vatsal Prabhu - Parama Karuna.mp3
•Subhavilasa das ACBSP, Toronto, CA: Spare a Day, or Two or Three to Immerse Yourself in Kirtan!
So over the next week as a lead up to Ratha Yatra in Toronto there will be some posts that hopefully lead some to take time to come and see the Lord of the Universe as He make His way down the longest street in the world, Yonge Street.
So have a Ratha Yatra weekend and join in on July 16th for the parade with festivities continuing all weekend long at centre island. Or make it a Jagannatha long weekend and join in early on Friday to get a jump start on the constant supply of kirtan and ecstasy. See www.festivalofindia.ca or on http://facebook.com/festivalofindia.toronto
In an attempt to maximize the number of devotees that can attend festivals and programs, our local ISKCON centres try to maintain most programs on weekday evenings and weekends, with some exceptions of course, such as our Founder Acarya, jaya nitya lila pravishta om vishnu-pada paramahamsa parivrajakacharya ashtottara-shata Sri Srimad His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada's vyasa puja.
So ISKCON Toronto is making an exception and doing a weekday program! They are requesting as many devotees, congregants and friends as possible to gather at the temple during the workday on Friday. So there has to be a good reason and it has to be something GRAND. And indeed it is...on July 15th, the day before Lord Jagannatha's Ratha Yatra hits Toronto there is 12 hours of non-stop kirtan! Some travel to New Vrindavan, Germany and other locales just for kirtan...but here you have a 2 for 1 special! Kirtan followed by Jagannatha's Ratha Yatra, followed by festivities on an island oasis! There will be kirtan stars and sanyasis but most importantly there will be Mahaprabhu's Harinam. So all the details can be found at www.festivalofindia.ca or http://facebook.com/festivalofindia.toronto
Krishna Consciousness is intertwined in our daily lives and trust me work and material headaches will still be waiting for you on Monday...so take the day off....and if not the day off...then half a day off. The kirtan festival is being organized for your enjoyment and spirtual benefit and it will be followed by Mahaprabh's harinam sankirtan through the streets of Toronto! And most importantly tell your family, friends, co-workers, neighbours and even the local store clerk to check it out... Perhaps tell them "these folks are bringing the oldest and biggest festival all the way from Jagannatha Puri to Toronto!"
kirtanya sada hari!
[written by Indresh]
•Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Review : Sourdough Bread
Unfortunately, even bumbling fools like myself screw up royally from time to time.
Okay. Royally may be a bit of an overstatement, but I certainly didn’t intend for my bread to turn out with a burnt top. Especially since I am running a sourdough starter kit giveaway courtesy of King Arthur Flour. Like, I should have baked the best loaf of my life. Right?
Yeah.
Wrong!
I used my usual bread recipe, subbing out the yeast for 1 cup of sourdough starter. I flubbed it by not lowering the oven temp from broil to 475 when the bread went in. Ooops.
But, as my mother would say, that’s neither here nor there. The taste really wasn’t affected. It was just a little rough on the eyes.
But let’s talk sourdough.
I used bread flour (higher gluten content) for the dough and, as I mentioned, the sourdough starter. I waited a few hours for the dough to double in volume. Again, I placed the bowl in the warmer upstairs. The dough rose beautifully. This sourdough starter is like magic!
As for the bread itself (we’re ignoring the crust issues), lots of fancy air holes. And so soft and light! Ridiculously so. It kind of reminded me of all natural Wonder Bread.
We’ve been enjoying it straight with a little butter. The taste has a distinct sourdough tang although it is not major since our starter is rather young. Wednesday night I made the kids sourdough French toast for supper and it was a hit. Thursday night my son had a PB&J sandwich for dinner–the ‘B’ being homemade sourdough bread and the ‘J’ homemade rose petal jam.
Basically, we love it. I screwed it up and still…it tastes great! I don’t know why we would even bother with yeast since the sourdough starter adds such a delicious flavor and is convenient.
What about you? If you sourdough, do you use it always or do you sometimes go the traditional yeasted route?
Do you have a favorite recipe for sourdough?
•Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Recipe : Sourdough Pretzels
Sourdough pretzels.
Doesn’t that sound good?
Yes, it does. It does sound good. Really, really good.
I was inspired to make them after seeing them here. And here.
For a long time, Mohini and I have been talking about how nicely they would go with this.
Sourdough pretzels.
Shall we begin?
I have to say, I was apprehensive. You know I can’t just go ahead and follow a recipe. I am such a by the seat of my pants hack that I have to mutilate mutate every recipe I come in contact with. This was no different. I wanted buttery pretzels. No egg. Lots of pretzel-y brownness. Here’s what I came up with.
And without doubt, it tastes like a pretzel. It tastes just like a delicious, warm street vendor pretzel.
Success. Sweet kitchen hack success.
Let me add, it was the first time my son (daughter refused to try it) ever had a soft pretzels. Ever. I grew up going into New York as a kid with such regularity you could file your taxes by it. Hot pretzels were de rigueur. And then I went to college in North Philly. Nuff said. So it was a very special culinary moment for me to give this authentic taste to my son.
And remember, sourdough is easier than you think!
Recipe : Sourdough Pretzels
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fed sourdough starter
- 3.5 cups AP flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- water for boiling
- honey + kosher salt for brushing
Directions:
- Combine starter, flour, salt, butter, sugar and 1 cup water to form a dough. Knead 10 minutes.
- Set aside and cover in bowl to rise 1 hour.
- Fill shallow pot with water and 1/2 cup baking soda. Heat to a boil.
- Roll dough out into a log. Divide into 12 equal parts. Roll into rope and shape into traditional pretzel shape or into knots.
- Once pot comes to boil, place 2-3 pretzels in pot to boil 1 minute on each side, turning with slatted spoon.
- Remove from pot, placing pretzel on tea cloth to drain. Continue until all pretzels boiled.
- Place drained pretzels on parchment lined cookie sheet and brush with honey + sprinkle kosher salt generously on top
- Bake in oven preheated to 350 degrees 25-30 minutes until browned. Like a pretzel.
- Enjoy hot!
•Ananda Subramanian, Iowa, USA: How to attain peace?
Now, we all know how difficult it is to attain peace at an individual level what to speak at the global level. In fact, real and lasting happiness can be derived only if one is content with oneself that is to say if one is peaceful. Therefore attaining peace is tantamount in one’s life be it spiritual or material.
But no matter how hard we try we are never peaceful or we are peaceful for brief periods of time only to be distressed later due to some aggravating life conditions. Below are five recommendations one should definitely have to attain peace permanently. Reading it please do not get overwhelmed as something impossible. However, by constant practice, this condition can be easily achieved. Also required are the blessing s of pure souls and Krishna.
Below are five recommendations for peace according to Krishna spoken in the Bhagavad Gita
- Should not have desire to gratify the bodily senses without rules and regulations
- Should not have desire separate from the desire of pure devotees of the Lord
- Should not have desire for ownership/proprietorship of a thing, people, fruits of an action/work (however require ownership to strive to achieve perfect work/action or maintain healthy relationships)
- Should not have desire to attach oneself to the identity created by the body such as male, female, black, white, rich, poor, doctor, lawyer, hindu ,christian, muslim, American, Indian etc
- Should not have desire to attach oneself to the extension of bodily identity such as “my car”; “my family”; “my son”; “my daughter”; “my house”; “my country” etc
One easy method to cultivate these five spiritual qualities in this day and age is by sincerely chanting the Holy Names of the Lord.
Please chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare and attain peace and happiness!
Hare Krishna
•Japa Group: Talking About Chanting
Hare Krsna dear devotees. I am very enthusiastic with the Japa Room on mayapur tv, we have started this service and we can see how we contribute a lot to ourselves when we talk about chanting. When we preach to anyone about the Holy names and emphasise the importance of it we become dear to the Lord because He is there in His Holy names, so we feel His love and appreciation inside us.
I would like to invite you all to practice this preaching about the Holy names, talk to people about Japa and tell them how chanting the maha mantra with love and affection makes a lot of difference, I am very sure you will feel a lot of peace inside and the Lord will shower His blessings unto you.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend engaged in service and chanting,
your servant,
Aruna devi
•Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Recipe : Quick Sourdough Focaccia
After feeding my starter I was ready to get a little sourdough action coming out of my oven. Still a little unsure of what I was doing, I figured low rising focaccia was a good place to start.
This was a pretty safe attempt at sourdough and the results were reassuring.This recipe won’t win you any prizes but it will make your carb-crazy family happy at dinner time. Just because you don’t have a lot of time for your dough to rise doesn’t mean you have to feed your family matzoh! With a well fed sourdough starter on hand, a lot of the work has been done before you even start. The result is dense yet full of air holes. There is not a lot of oil in this recipe so it is best eaten fresh.
Recipe : Quick Sourdough Focaccia
Ingredients:
- 3 cups AP flour
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- approximately 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- sesame seeds, jalapeno + fresh basil
- cornmeal
Directions:
- Combine flour, starter, olive oil, water + salt. Knead for about 5 minutes.
- Allow to rise, covered, for an hour.
- Sprinkle cornmeal on cast iron skillet.
- Roll out dough and press into skillet.
- Drizzle with olive oil + top with sesame seeds, jalapeno + fresh basil.
- Bake in oven at 400 degrees about 25 minutes or until golden.
•Mukunda Charan das, SA: Mayapuri Puffed Rice, Gour And Date Sweets
Jai Gauranga Prabhu introduced me to these amazingly addictive sweets at one of the shops on the Boundary Wall of the ISKCON Mayapur Campus. He told me that they were Radha-Madhava maha sweets, made by one of the dhama-vasis. I asked what they were made from and he replied, ‘Gour. Dates, I think. Moori. And a little ghee’. I made these for Gauravani and Mukunda during a break from their film strategizing. Offer, and enjoy! MCD.
The Recipe:
Preparation time: 15 minutes.
1. Heat 200g organic dates in 125ml (1/2 a cup) water on high heat in a small pot. Stir, and remove when the dates are soft and have absorbed the water. Mix, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, melt 150g gour/jaggery (unrefined sugar) with four tablespoons of ghee at medium-high heat in another small pot. Stir. The gour is ready when it has totally melted and starts to boil. Turn heat low.
3. Roast 100g moori/mamra (puffed rice) in a pan or in the oven. Bake or roast until crispy, but don’t scorch the puffed rice.
3. Mix dates with gour. Simmer, and stir. Remove from heat when the mix has blended evenly.
4. Add crisp moori to the date-gour mix. Make sure the mixture is consistent. Do this while the gour-date mix is still warm. Let the mixture cool down for about five minutes.
5. Roll into 10 medium sized balls while still warm (otherwise the mix will be too hard to mould into balls).
6. Make a divine offering. And feast!!
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: dates, gour, ISKCON Mayapur, maha sweets, moori, postaweek2011, puffed rice, radha madhava
•ISKCON News.com: Four New Books From Torchlight Publishing
 | Torchlight Publishing is pleased to annouce the arrival of the four new devotional titles: Miracle on Second Avenue by Mukunda Goswami, Namacharya - The Life of Srila Haridasa Thakura by Rupa-Vilasa Dasa, Chanting Hare Krishna aselections from Srila Prabhupada’s books, lectures, conversations, and letters, and A God Who Dances - Krishna for You by Kalakantha Dasa. |
•H.H. Sivarama Swami: Sasvata dasa asks
•Gouranga TV: Bhajan – Nitai Pran & Vraja Kishor – Nrsimhadev Prayers @ Singhania’s House
Bhajan – Nitai Pran & Vraja Kishor – Nrsimhadev Prayers @ Singhania’s House
•Sri Prahlad, AU: The Power of Kirtan – More Than Mere Stress Relief
There are numerous meditation techniques. Amongst these, mantra meditation is particularly prominent amongst practitioners of devotional yoga or bhakti-yoga. The Sanskrit word ‘man’ means mind, while ‘tra’ means to free. Mantra meditation frees your mind of fear and anxiety. But, it does even more than this, it opens your heart to reveal your spiritual nature of eternity and bliss.
Increased complexity in today’s fast paced world makes learning to free your mind particularly important. In previous generations life was simpler and possibly less convenient, but it was also less stressful. Threatening situations activate your body’s parasympathetic nervous system, releasing stress hormones to equip your body to address the threat. Your heartbeat quickens, your muscles tighten, you have increased energy, and your immunity and digestion shut down.
The threats your ancestors encountered in prehistoric times were immediate dangers, such as wild animals, that were quickly addressed. Once the danger was over, the parasympathetic nervous system was activated so their muscles could again relax, with their heart rate slowing, and their digestion again activated. This allowed their bodies to quickly return to a resting state for recovery.
Unfortunately, today’s pressures are constant. Workplace demands, tense relationships, deadlines, traffic jams, and fear of terrorism are unceasing threats. All of these stressors cause people to become anxious and lose tempers in anger. As such, many people are always in a fight or flight state and never come to relax and recover. They cannot sleep, digest, they have aches and pains in their bodies, and their immunity is depleted. The body cannot maintain this state of heightened alert for an extended duration of time. Over time, it leads to a crisis involving physical and emotional breakdown along with depression.
The interesting thing about this stress response is that it is activated whether the threat is real or imagined. Whether you feel threatened by a snake, or a rope that you mistake for a snake, your body will respond the same way. The body responds to the mind. Negative thoughts and emotions create a negative a defense response, while positive thoughts and emotions create a relaxation and recovery response.
Modern science has found many practical outcomes of meditation as a way of nurturing a relaxed state for self-rejuvenation and healing. Yes, your body has an amazing ability to heal itself, if only given a chance. Medically meditation has been demonstrated to reduce symptoms of cardio and gastrointestinal disease, as well as reduce mood disorders of stress, depression, anger, irritability, and anger. It has also been found to thicken the parts of the brain’s cerebral cortex responsible for decision-making, attention, and memory. The greater benefit of mantra meditation, however, that was the focus of the ancients is that it awakens your spiritual nature and connects you in yoga with Divine Consciousness.
There are two types of mantra meditation: japa and kirtana. Japa is a form of meditation involving the meditative repetition of a mantra or name of the Divine. This practice of repetitive prayer is present in varied forms within most spiritual traditions in the world, although the yoga tradition of India generally gives more emphasis to it as a specific discipline. Beads called japa-mala are used to count the repetitions of mantra chanting. One mantra is chanted on each bead before moving onto the next. The number of beads in the japa mala is generally 108. The main purpose of the beads is to keep track of the number of mantras chanted. One cycle of the 108 beads is called “one round”. Bhakti yoga practitioners decide on a minimum number of rounds they want to chant each day. Fingering the beads also help one focus on the sound of the mantra. Of all mantras the most powerful and highly recommended by Chaitanya and other greater teachers is the Hare Krishna maha-mantra or great chant to free the mind.
Kirtan is another type of mantra meditation. The process of kirtan involves singing sacred mantras to the accompaniment of musical instruments. Generally, it involves a call-and-response style of singing where the leader sings a mantra and the audience chants in response. Thus, kirtan includes the audience in the performance. Kirtan is a culture where people can share spiritual meditation in a joint spiritual experience. Often it begins with all the participants sitting meditatively, but ends with joyous dancing as kirtan awakens the natural joy of the soul. Kirtan is increasingly gaining popularity in yoga schools all over the world that organise regular kirtan events with invited kirtan musicians. But you don’t have to attend an outside event, or even be a musician to sing kirtan, you can also do kirtan at home with friends and family. And if you don’t have friends with whom to share kirtan, you might engage in kirtan by responding to a singer’s chanting on a CD.
•Vraja Kishor, JP: Matter, Spirit… What’s the Difference?
The Bhagavad Gita is about what a person really needs to do to become perfectly fulfilled. The thesis is that a person is a fragment of God, therefore to become perfectly fulfilled we have to situate our fragmental self in the divine whole of Godhead. The proposition Kṛṣṇa establishes with Bhagavad Gita is that the most profound and perfect way of doing that is through love (bhakti) – the most powerful force at the core of the soul.
Thus the Bhagavad Gita is about bhakti – linking to the divine by way of love. The entire book is about bhakti, but the middle six of its eighteen chapters are the most explicitly, overtly, and thoroughly so. The other 12 chapters are about other important things which help us excavate and reestablish the eternal loving nature of our soul. One topic is karma-yoga, selfless action. The first 6 chapters focus on how selfless action helps us establish bhakti, divine love. The other topic is jñāna-yoga, logical science. The last 6 chapters of Gita focus on how logical sciences help us establish divine love, bhakti.
How we got from Chapter 12 to Chapter 13
In Chapter 12 Arjuna asked, directly, “what is the most perfect yoga?” In other words, “what is the most perfect method of linking our fragmental self to the divine whole?” Kṛṣṇa plainly answered that divine love, bhakti, is the most perfect yoga – the most perfect link between the self and God.
Then Arjuna asked, “Then how should bhakti-yoga be done?”
Kṛṣṇa answered that affectionate emotions should cause ones heart and mind to always wrap around Kṛṣṇa. If that is too advanced, he said that one should practice doing it. If that is too advanced then one should start by engaging his physical actions in pleasing Kṛṣṇa. If even that is for some reason too advanced then one must prepare for bhakti yoga by doing supportive yogas, karma and jñāna yogas. Best is if one can do karma-yoga: working for the benefit of others without selfish motive. If that is impossible, one should cultivate knowledge, jñāna-yoga, which will reduce ones ego and allow one to enter selfless karma-yoga.
Because of that last statement of Kṛṣṇa, the 13th chapter came about. Arjuna realized that proper knowledge of the world is the ultimate foundation for bhakti-yoga, therefore he wanted to ask Kṛṣṇa questions about this knowledge.
What happens in Chapter 13
Arjuna asks Kṛṣṇa to explain three subjects
- What is the subject of knowledge?
- Who gains the knowledge?
- How does s/he gain it?
In texts 2-7
Kṛṣṇa answers that the body and the world it interacts with is the immediate subject of knowledge. The soul is the person who gains knowledge through the body. There is also a Supersoul, distinct from the individual soul, who has knowledge of all bodies and all worlds.
Kṛṣṇa explains the various components that make up the body and its world and explains that transformations arising from interactions among these components create sensations which the soul interprets as happiness or distress, pleasure or pain, desire or disgust, etc.
In texts 8-19
Kṛṣṇa addresses the subject of education – how do we gain knowledge. He explains that true knowledge of the world comes to the soul by cultivating qualities that allow crystal clear perception. The foremost of these qualities is humility.
He then explains that the real subject of education is not the world, but the soul who knows the world. The soul should be known, but beyond that the soul of the soul is the ultimate subject for education. This entity is called paramātmā or “Supersoul” or “oversoul” or “allsoul.” Kṛṣṇa describes the Supersoul thoroughly as the knower of all subjects, the experiencer all fields, all worlds, and the Supreme Godhead.
He concludes by saying that true education, real scientific logic, causes one to understand the position of the self in relations to the super-self and therefore fall in love with the Superself.
The Current Text For Study
Now we come to our current text, the 20th text. This begins a new section, six texts (20-26) in which Kṛṣṇa will explain the subject of knowledge and the possessor of knowledge using the terms prakriti and purusha.
prakṛtiḿ puruṣaḿ ca – matter (prakriti) and spirit (purusha) have something in common (ca).
iva – certainly. Don’t doubt what you will now hear even though it may shock you.
Viddhy – you must understand that…
Anādī – ETERNAL!
Ubhāv – are both of them.
Api – Yes! Even! It’s true!
So in other words, “Matter and spirit are both eternal.” But, but… but… I thought the material world was “temporary”???? So, Kṛṣṇa clarifies…
Vikārāḿś ca – Transformations / instability, and…
Guṇāḿś caiva –And qualifications / relativity too, without a doubt
Viddhi – you must understand
Prakṛti-sambhavān – only exist in matter.
So now we have the full picture, which is this, “Matter and spirit are both eternal. But relativity and instability arise only in Matter, not spirit.”
How my Guru Explained it to me.
We were in Śrī Dhāma Vṛṇdāvana, if memory serves, and I believe it was Goverdhan Parikrama – unless I am blending memories. With a mild smile on his face, as is quite common for my Gurudev, he told me: “Matter and spirit are both eternal. Spirit is eternally the same. Matter is eternally changing. When the spiritual soul takes a material identity, it is subjected to unnatural conditions of relativity and constant decay and change. Thus it suffers in search of joy.”
Further Discussion
If anyone has any comments or would like to ask any questions about this I would be quite happy to reply to the best of my ability.
•Akrura das, Gita Coaching: THE INQUIRING LEADER
Click the title for the original article from the Inquiry Institute. And here is the full article too:
The Inquiring Leader
The term “inquiring leader” refers to leaders at any level who are self-aware, curious, solution-oriented, and value asking questions as a core leadership skill. In general, the model and concept of inquiring leadership is meant to complement, supplement, enrich, and operationalize effective leadership thinking and behavior that lead to desired results. Thus, inquiring leaders demonstrate the thinking, communicating, and collaboration skills associated with authentic, strategic, servant, and visionary leadership—all of which are also associated with requisite leadership skills for the 21st century.
Characteristically, inquiring leaders:
1. Understand that the quantity, quality, and intention of people’s questions largely determines their ability to learn, think critically and strategically, build and maintain relationships, gather information, make decisions, solve problems, manage conflict, and drive positive change and effective results.
2. Recognize that “great results begin with great questions” and that “every question missed is a potential crisis waiting to happen.”
3. Ask questions of themselves and others in ways that are constructive rather than critical, that seek to uncover and challenge assumptions, and that promote new thinking and possibility as well as responsibility and accountability.
4. Listen carefully and respectfully (especially when not agreeing with what they hear). This listening is focused by solution-seeking questions such as,” What can I learn?” “What’s useful about this?” and “What are our goals?” They do not listen with problem-oriented, blaming questions such as, “Whose fault is it?”
5. Solicit honest feedback, comprehensive facts, and multiple perspectives.
6. Create an inquiring culture in their organizations and on their teams by encouraging people to ask questions of them, each other, customers, and stakeholders.
7. Accordingly, inquiring leaders: are self-reflective, self-correcting, and committed to learning from mistakes and failures. They value continuous learning, growth, and development for themselves and others.
8. Are comfortable with “not knowing” and “not being right;” they have humility.
9. Have high emotional, social, and moral intelligence, are proactive and responsive rather than reactive, and are skillful with self management.
10. See the “big picture’ and think short-term, long-term, and systemically.
•Akrura das, Gita Coaching: SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL CONFIDENCE
Spiritual confidence comes from your confidence in Krsna (God), and your confidence in yourself as a spirit soul.
Material confidence comes from the false ego, from identifying with your material body, mind and intelligence.
•Akrura das, Gita Coaching: FEELING GOOD
If you want to feel good, focus on persons and things that make you feel good.
•Akrura das, Gita Coaching: FORMING NEW HABITS TAKES TIME
As your Gita Coach, I am committed to help you transform your life through the principles of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is. Coaching will help you become more effective by changing the way you approach yourself, your relationships, and your service. This type of spiritual transformation requires more than a cosmetic change in techniques; it requires a change in habits - a process that takes time and accountability.
Coaching Lays A Comprehensive Foundation For Change
During the coaching process, we will work together to understand and develop spiritually-based habits of personal, interpersonal, professional and organizational effectiveness.
Long-Term Benefits Of Coaching
Gita Coaching is a learning and implementation process that will ensure that you are better able to internalize and practice the principles of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is.
Increased effectiveness in living the Bhagavad Gita As It Is will mean greater success in all facets of your life.
I will be your partner, invested in your success. I will help to support, guide and motivate you to apply the Bhagavad Gita As It is principles to your life in a way that most probably you have not done before.
•More Recent Articles
- H.G. Sankarshan das Adhikari, USA: Friday 8 July 2011--Finding the Real Heaven in Hawaii--and--Enlightening Others With Krishna Consciousness
- Balabhadra dasa: Latest ISCOWP News
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Today's Darsana
- Vraja Kishor, JP: Devotion and Science
- ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Bhakti Sara Dasa
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TABLA - FUENTES - FONTS
SOUV2
- SOUV2P.TTF - 57 KB
- SOUV2I.TTF - 59 KB
- SOUV2B.TTF - 56 KB
- SOUV2T.TTF - 56 KB
- bai_____.ttf - 46 KB
- babi____.ttf - 47 KB
- bab_____.ttf - 45 KB
- balaram_.ttf - 45 KB
- SCAGRG__.TTF - 73 KB
- SCAGI__.TTF - 71 KB
- SCAGB__.TTF - 68 KB
- inbenr11.ttf - 64 KB
- inbeno11.ttf - 12 KB
- inbeni11.ttf - 12 KB
- inbenb11.ttf - 66 KB
- indevr20.ttf - 53 KB
- Greek font: BibliaLS Normal
- Greek font: BibliaLS Bold
- Greek font: BibliaLS Bold Italic
- Greek font: BibliaLS Italic
- Hebrew font: Ezra SIL
- Hebrew font: Ezra SIL SR
Disculpen las Molestias
Planet ISKCON - 2010 · Planet ISKCON - 2011
Conceptos Hinduistas (1428)SC
Aa-Anc · Aga - Ahy · Ai - Akshay · Akshe - Amshum · Ana - Ancie · Ang - Asvayu · Ata - Az · Baa-Baz · Be-Bhak · Bhal-Bu · C · Daa-Daz · De · Dha-Dry · Du-Dy · E · F · Gaa-Gayu · Ge-Gy · Ha-He · Hi-Hy · I · J · K · Ka - Kam · Kan - Khatu · Ki - Ko · Kr - Ku · L · M · N · O · P · R · S · Saa-San · Sap-Shy · Si-Sy · Ta - Te · U · V · Ve-Vy · Y · Z
Conceptos Hinduistas (2919)SK
Aa-Ag · Ah-Am · Ana-Anc · And-Anu · Ap-Ar · As-Ax · Ay-Az · Baa-Baq · Bar-Baz · Be-Bhak · Bhal-Bhy · Bo-Bu · Bra · Brh-Bry · Bu-Bz · Caa-Caq · Car-Cay · Ce-Cha · Che-Chi · Cho-Chu · Ci-Cn · Co-Cy · Daa-Dan · Dar-Day · De · Dha-Dny · Do-Dy · Ea-Eo · Ep-Ez · Faa-Fy · Gaa-Gaq · Gar-Gaz · Ge-Gn · Go · Gra-Gy · Haa-Haq · Har-Haz · He-Hindk · Hindu-Histo · Ho-Hy · Ia-Iq · Ir-Is · It-Iy · Jaa-Jaq · Jar-Jay · Je-Jn · Jo-Jy · Kaa-Kaq · Kar-Kaz · Ke-Kh · Ko · Kr · Ku - Kz · Laa-Laq · Lar-Lay · Le-Ln · Lo-Ly · Maa-Mag · Mah · Mai-Maj · Mak-Maq · Mar-Maz · Mb-Mn · Mo-Mz · Naa-Naq · Nar-Naz · Nb-Nn · No-Nz · Oa-Oz · Paa-Paq · Par-Paz · Pe-Ph · Po-Py · Raa-Raq · Rar-Raz · Re-Rn · Ro-Ry · Saa-Sam · San-Sar · Sas-Sg · Sha-Shy · Sia-Sil · Sim-Sn · So - Sq · Sr - St · Su-Sz · Taa-Taq · Tar-Tay · Te-Tn · To-Ty · Ua-Uq · Ur-Us · Vaa-Vaq · Var-Vaz · Ve · Vi-Vn · Vo-Vy · Waa-Wi · Wo-Wy · Yaa-Yav · Ye-Yiy · Yo-Yu · Zaa-Zy
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