January | 2018 | The Hare Krishna Movement

Appearance Day of Lord Nityananda

29 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Narottama das Thakur Tags: A.C. Bhaktiveanta Swami Prabhupada, appearance of lord nityananda, auspicious marks on the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, Narotama das Thakura, Nitai Pada Kamala, Sri Nitai, Sri Nityananda

Today marks the appearance day of Lord Nityananda. We honor it with a half day fast and rememberances of Lord Nityananda’s glories and pastimes. The following is a song written by Srila Narottama dasa Thakura with purport by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Nitai-Pada-Kamala
The Lotus Feet of Lord Nityananda
By Srila Narottama dasa Thakura
Purport By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

nitai-pada-kamala, koti-chandra-susitala,
je chayay jagatu juray
heno nitai bine bhai, radha-krsna paite nai,
dridha kori’ dharo nitair pay

The lotus feet of Sri Nityananda are as cool as millions of moons. The whole universe gets peace by the shade of those lotus feet. Without the mercy of Sri Nityananda, nobody can get Radha and Krishna, the aim of human life. Therefore, catch hold of the two lotus feet of Sri Nityananda Prabhu very tightly.

se sambandha nahi ja’r, britha janma gelo ta’r,
se pashu bodo durachara
nitai na bolilo mukhe, majilo samsara-sukhe,
vidya-kule ki koribe tara

One who has not established a relationship with Sri Nityananda is a two-legged animal. A great beast! His whole life is finished. He cannot be called a human being. He never utters the name of Sri Nityananda. He is always immersed in enjoying material happiness and has forgotten Sri Nitai. He may have acquired all material scholarship and learning, but what is the value of such education? This will never help.

ahankare matta hoiya, nitai-pada pasariya,
asatyere satya kori mani
nitaiyer karuna habe, braje radha-krsna pabe,
dharo nitai-charana du’khani

They are so puffed up with their mundane education and scholarship. They are never humble at all. They have forgotten the lotus feet of Sri Nitai because of their false ego and pride. They are completely under the clutches of Maya. They accept the untruth as truth. If Sri Nityananda showers His mercy upon someone, he will get Sri Sri Radha Krishna in Vrajabhumi. So catch hold of the two lotus feet of Lord Nityananda very tightly.

nitaiyer carana satya, tanhara sevaka nitya,
nitai-pada sada koro asha
narottama bodo dukhi, nitai more koro sukhi,
rakho ranga-charanera pasha

The lotus feet of Sri Nityananda are eternally true. And those followers or servants of those lotus feet of Sri Nityananda are also eternal. Always aspire for the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda. Srila Narottama dasa Thakura says, “I am very distressed, and an unhappy person. I am drowning in this dreadful ocean of material existence. O Sri Nityananda Prabhu, please make me very happy! Please keep me at Your lotus feet.”

Purport by Srila Prabhupada More

Appearance Day of Advaita Acarya

23 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Advaita Acarya Tags: A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhuapada, Advaita Acarya, appearance of advaita acharya, devotees, Krishna consciousness, Srila Prabhupada

Today marks the appearance of Advaita Acarya. We honor his appearance day with a half day fast, A lecture given by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, and a gallery of images.

jaya jaya śrī-caitanya jaya nityānanda
jayādvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda

Glory to Śrī Caitanya and Nityānanda! Glory to Advaitacandra! And glory to all the devotees of Śrī Gaura [Lord Caitanya]! (Adi 1.17)

The Spiritual Master, Acarya, Transcendental Professor of Spiritual Science

21 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Guru & Disciple, Spiritual Master, Srila Prabhupada Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Acarya, Adi1.46, guru and disciple, spiritual master, Sri Caitanya-carimrta, transcendental professor of spiritual science

This morning as we were reading from the Sri Caianya-caritamrta a sentence jumped out at me and I had to reach for my yellow highlighter pen. We were reading…

…how a brahmacārī should behave under the care of a spiritual master. A spiritual master is not an enjoyer of facilities offered by his disciples. He is like a parent. Without the attentive service of his parents, a child cannot grow to manhood; similarly, without the care of the spiritual master one cannot rise to the plane of transcendental service.

The spiritual master is also called ācārya, or a transcendental professor of spiritual science…

I thought this was very funny and a beautiful description of Srila Prabhupada: A Transcendental Professor

Full text and purport More

Natural Disasters: Adhidaivika

04 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Natural Disasters Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, adhibhautika, adhidaivika, adhyatmika, Bhagavad-gita, demigods, Krishna, living entities, miseries caused by nature, Natural Disasters, pure living soul, supirior engery of Krsna, Supreme Lord, threefold miseries

All schemes are only useless scraps of paper in the face of war, famine, earthquakes and other disasters. All these disasters are warnings from Mother Durga, and by them she confirms her eternal superiority over the illusioned planmakers.

[Excerpt from Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Ch 3]

It is the duty of a disciple approaching a spiritual master to inquire about his constitutional position. In conformity to that spiritual process, Sanatana has already asked, “What am I, and why am I suffering from the threefold miseries?”

The threefold miseries are called adhyatmika, adhibhautika, and adhidaivika. The word adhyatmika refers to those miseries caused by the mind and body. Sometimes the living entity suffers bodily, and sometimes he is distressed mentally. Both are adhyatmika miseries. We experience these miseries even in the womb of our mother. As we well know, there are many types of miseries that take advantage of the delicate human body and give us pain. Miseries inflicted by other living entities are called adhibhautika. These living entities need not even be large, for there are many—such as bugs—that can make us miserable even while we are sleeping in bed. There are many insignificant living entities, like cockroaches, that sometimes give us pain, and there are also other living entities who are born on different kinds of planets and who give us miseries.

Photos by Gurudas

03 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Guru das, Photos by Gurudas Tags: A.C. Bhaktiveanta Swami Prabhupada, Gurudas, Jayananda das, photos by Gurudas, Photos of Srila Prabhupada, San Francisco, Tamal Krishna das, Vishnujana das, Yamuna devi

Today we share with you some of the early photography of my dear friend and God brother, Gurudas Prabhu.

Photos by Gurudas

New Years Resolution

02 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Qualities of a Devotee

“A New Year’s resolution is a commitment that a person makes to one or more personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. A key element to a New Year’s resolution that sets it apart from other resolutions is that it is made in anticipation of the New Year and new beginnings.” (Wikipedia definition)

Every year it seems I make the fruitless attempt to write down my New Year’s Resolutions, vowing to do less of this and more of that. But this year, I am just going to try to be a better human being. I am just going to try to develop the qualities of a devotee, which are 26 in number, and try to get myself free from material entanglement and go Back Home, Back to Godhead.

The Twenty-Six Qualities of a Devotee

The Lord is satisfied by the development of the transcendental qualities of the living entities and not by artificial performance of sacrifices and mystic yoga. In other words, unless one is fully qualified to become a pure devotee of the Lord, one cannot expect to be liberated from material entanglement.

These qualities of a devotee, twenty-six in number, are listed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

1) Kind to Everyone, 2) Does not Quarrel with Anyone, 3) Fixed in the Absolute Truth, 4) Equal to Everyone, 5) Faultless, 6) Charitable, 7) Mild, 8) Clean, 9) Simple, without Material Possession, 10) Benevolent, 11) Peaceful, 12) Completely Attached to Krsna, 13) Has no Material Hankering, 14) Meek, 15) Steady, 16) Self-controlled, 17) Does not Eat More than Required, 18) Sane, 19) Respectful, 20) Humble, 21) Grave, 22) Compassionate, 23) Friendly, 24) Poetic, 25) Silent, 26) Expert

Heavenly Delights: Gulab Jamuns

01 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Gulub Jamun, Kurma das (cook), Vegetarian Cooking, Vegetarian Recipies, Vegetarianism Tags: cooking with Kurma, gulub jamun recipe, hare krishna cooking, Kurma das, milk balls, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian cooking, vegetarian cuisine

Today being the New Year, a Holiday celebrated around the world, we thought we would post a festive recipe. This Gulab Jumaun recipe was taken from the very nice cooking web page Cooking with Kurma. I encourage you all to try this wonderful recipe on your friends and family.

Succulent Milk Balls in Rose-scented Syrup (Gulab Jamuns)

Gulab Jamuns are ideal confections for festive moments and entertaining. When guests are confronted with them for the first time they invariably ask, “What are they? ” Guesses then range from preserved fruits to doughnuts. In fact, Gulab Jamuns are made from just milk powder and flour. They’re fried slowly in ghee until the lactose in the milk powder caramelises and turns them a golden brown, and then they are soaked in a rose-scented, medium- heavy sugar syrup. Hence, the Hindi words Gulab Jamun meaning literally “rose ball”.

Full recipe follows More