19 Jul 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, Krsna Consciousness, Spiritual Life
Tags: 8, A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bg 7.1-3, fish out of water, human form of life, Krsna consciousness movement, Krsna Consciousness the Topmost Yoga System, Lecture by Srila Prabhupada, material body, maya, sac-cid-ananda, soul, spiritual body, Spiritual Life
The other day I was talking with one guest, explaining that we are actually sac-cid-ānanda; (eternal, full of knowledge, and bliss), eternal spirit souls, but are, at the present moment, in a temporary position, just like a fish out of water. This is a very good analogy that Srila Prabhupada has used often in his preaching. I did a search this morning on Prabhupada Books.com and found a few references that I am posting here, as well as one very nice Bhagavad-gita Lecture wherein Srila Prabhupada is describing the nature of the soul.
Everyone in the material world is engaged in all kinds of political, philanthropic and humanitarian activities to make material life happy and prosperous, but this is not possible. One should understand that in the material world, however one may try to make adjustments, he cannot be happy. To cite an example I have given many times, if you take a fish out of water, you can give it a very comfortable velvet bedstead, but still the fish cannot be happy; it will die. Because the fish is an animal of the water, it cannot be happy without water. Similarly, we are all spirit soul; unless we are in spiritual life or in the spiritual world, we cannot be happy. That is our position. (Srila Prabhupada; Krsna Consciousness The Topmost Yoga System)
Śrīla Prabhupāda: The Vedic injunction is that people are searching after knowledge, and that when one understands the Absolute Truth, he understands everything. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati. People are trying to approach an objective, but they do not know that the final objective is Kṛṣṇa. They are simply trying to make adjustments with so many materialistic revolutions. They have no knowledge that they are spiritual beings and that unless they go back to the spiritual world and associate with the Supreme Spirit, God, there is no question of happiness. We are like fish out of water. Just as a fish cannot be happy unless he is in the water, we cannot be happy apart from the spiritual world. We are part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit, Kṛṣṇa, but we have left His association and fallen from the spiritual world because of our desire to enjoy this material world. So unless we reawaken the understanding of our spiritual position and go back home to the spiritual world, we can never be happy. We can go on theorizing for many lifetimes, but we will only see one revolution after another. The old order changes, yielding its place to the new. Or in other words, history repeats itself. (Srila Prabhupada; The Journey for Self Discovery)
A fish that is taken out of the water cannot be happy by any arrangement on land. He must be supplied with water. In the same way, the minute sac-cid-ānanda living entity cannot be really happy through any amount of planning conceived by his illusioned brain in this material universe. He must therefore be given a different type of happiness which is spiritual in essence. Our ambition should be aimed at enjoying spiritual bliss and not this temporary happiness. Some philosophers claim that spiritual bliss is attained by negating material happiness and material existence. Theoretical negation of material activities as propounded by Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya may be effective for an insignificant section of mankind, but the best and surest way for everyone to attain spiritual bliss was propounded by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu by means of devotional activities. These devotional activities can change the very face of material nature. (Srila Prabhupada; Elevation to Krsna Consciousness)
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14 Jul 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Devotee Bussiness's, Krishna Store, Lectures, Sankirtan, Srila Prabhupada
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, bhagavad-gita classes, krishna book dictation, Krishna Store, krishnastore.com, morning walk conversations, nectar of devotion classes, Prabhupada Ultimate Audio Collection, room conversations, Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada Kirtan and Bhajan Collection, Srimad Bhagavatam classes
Prabhupada Ultimate Audio Collection (8 DVD-ROM Set)
This link appeared in my mailbox this morning from; Krishna Store.com I am always glad to promote Srila Prabhupada, encourage others to listen to his lectures and read his books, as well as help other devotees in spreading this message. So it is with pleasure we share with you the above link, and hope you will visit Krishna Store.
A beautiful 8 DVD-ROM Boxed Set containing over 1,200 hours of Prabhupada’s lectures, classes, morning walks, room conversations, and discussions with more than 100 hours of kirtans and bhajans in high quality 128 Kb/sec MP3 Format.
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12 Jul 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Chanting Hare Krishna, Mantra Meditation, The Hare Krishna Movement
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Maha-mantra, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Chaitanya, mantra meditation, sankirtan movement, The Hare Krishna Movement
Who is Lord Chaitanya?
Krishna appeared as Lord Chaitanya 500 years ago in India to bring the medicine for the diseased human society in the form of this movement. He brought the chanting of Hare Krishna.
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08 Jul 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Madhava Smullen, People
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, eternal relationship, guru, Iskcon, New Vrindaban, spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada's forth visit to new vrindaban, The Hare Krishna Movement
click on image to enlarge
An Eternal Relationship
Prabhupada’s Fourth Visit to New Vrindaban
(written by Madhava Smullen, archival aesearch by Chaitanya Mangala)
Thank you to Madhava Smullen and Caitanya Mangala prabhus. They are trying to re-create the history on New Vrindaban. The fact that they have focused their writing around the time frame of Srila Prabhupada’s visit there makes it noteworthy.
June 21st, 1976 was a normal day at the Pittsburgh International airport until a group of Krishna devotees from New Vrindaban, dressed in an odd combination of dhotis or saris with large rubber farm boots, appeared. Commuters stared open-mouthed as the fifty-strong crew exploded into a cacophonous burst of chanting, mridanga drums, and gongs in front of the arrival gate.
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04 Jul 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, KRSNA The Supreme Personality of Godhead
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, Govardhana Hill, Krishna, Krishna Balarama, Krishna consciousness, Krsna Book, Krsna The Supreme Personality of Godhead
click on image to enlarge
KRSNA, The Supreme Personality
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Volume 1, Chapter 26
Wonderful Krsna
Without understanding the intricacies of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and without knowing His uncommon spiritual opulences, the innocent cowherd boys and men of Vṛndāvana began to discuss the wonderful activities of Kṛṣṇa which surpass the activities of all men.
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04 Jul 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Devotional Service, Krsna Consciousness, Lectures
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, anxiety to serve Krsna, devotion, devotional service, perfect service to Krsna, Spiritual world, Srila Prabhupada lecture, Visnujana
Excerpt from lecture given by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Seattle, October 4th, 1968
Visnujana: How do we render perfect service to Krsna?
Srila Prabhupada: By your anxiety. If you are anxious to serve Krsna, that is the real asset. Krsna is unlimited. What service we can offer to Him? And He has got unlimited servants also. What service He requires from you and me? He’s perfect in Himself. He doesn’t require any service also. But if you are anxious to serve Him, then He does not refuse. That is His mercy; that is His magnanimity. So the more you increase your anxiety to serve Krsna, the more it becomes perfect. He’s unlimited. Your anxiety, you become unlimited. So there is competition.
The more you serve Krsna, the more He accepts you and the more He gives you intelligence…
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28 Jun 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Care for Cows, Cow Protection, Devotee's, Kurma Rupa das
Tags: Care For Cows, careforcows, cow protection, cows, Kurma Rupa das
Kurma Rupa Prabhu Passes
Kurma Rupa left us on the morning of Sunday 28 June, Ekadasi-tirtha in the Vaishnava calendar, in the most auspicious month of Purushottama, in the sacred land of Vrindavan.
Kurma Rupa is always overcome with bliss and love, an affectionate and kind soul who will be missed. We bow down to him, salute his sacrifices, honour his legacy, and lament his leaving us. Thank you, my dear friend, from all of us…
Visit the cows online, and support Kurma’s legacy:
http://www.careforcows.org
Untill The Cows Come Home
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27 Jun 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Ekadasi
Tags: ekadasi, fasting, fasting from grains and beans on ekadasi, observing fasting on ekadasi
Today is Padmini Ekadasi. We honor it by fasting from grains and beans. The following I found in my mailbox this morning, submitted by Vidura Prabhu.
“In the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa it is said that one who observes fasting on Ekādaśī day is freed from all kinds of reactions to sinful activities and advances in pious life. The basic principle is not just to fast, but to increase one’s faith and love for Govinda, or Kṛṣṇa. The real reason for observing fasting on Ekādaśī is to minimize the demands of the body and to engage our time in the service of the Lord by chanting or performing similar service. The best thing to do on fasting days is to remember the pastimes of Govinda and to hear His holy name constantly.” (NoD 7: Evidence Regarding Devotional Principles : Observing Fasting on Ekadasi)
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27 Jun 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Diksha, Disciplic succession, Guru & Disciple, guru-tattva, Hencefoward, July 9th Letter
Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Acharya, disciples, diska, guru disciple, Initiation, initiation system in Iskcon, initiations ceremonies, Iskcon, officiating acharyas, ritvik, ritvik representatives, Satsvarupa das Goswami, Srila Prabhupoada, Tamal Krishna Goswami
There is an ongoing debate on how initiations were to go on after Srila Prabhupada’s physical disappearance. Many devotees don’t like to talk about it or think about it, so conditioned are we to accept the status quo. But I think it is important not to turn a blind eye on the issue of initiation, and how it was meant to go on, as initiation (accepting a spiritual master), is a very important step in progressing in spiritual life. Success in spiritual life is in following the instructions of the spiritual master. So for the sake of keeping the very important issue alive we present the following post that we saw recently on the Prabhupada News website.
It is widely known that Srila Prabhupada instituted a ritvik or representative (proxy) initiation system throughout ISKCON as early as 1971 in order to meet the growing need to initiate his disciples worldwide. However what is not widely known is that he instructed his disciples to continue initiating new disciples on his behalf even after his physical disappearance.
He called those disciples who performed the initiation ceremonies ritvik representatives of the acharya (officiating acharyas). Below are quotes directly from Srila Prabhupada for the evidence of these instructions as well as explanations, philosophical insights, and historical background.
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26 Jun 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavatam Index
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, Jan Alexander, Krsna, Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimad-Bhagavatam Index, Supreme Personality of Godhead, Topical Guide
Sometime back one of our readers submitted this Index on the Srimad-Bhagavatam, and asked if I could post it. It is truly a very impressive piece of work, and represents a great deal of time and study. We applaud the effort that Jan has put into this Index, and with great pleasure we post it here, in the hopes that others can benefit.
Srimad-Bhagavatam Index, Notes, Topical Guide
compiled by Jan Alexander
This was written to help me find, understand and remember the massive truth found in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Every abbrieviated, shortened, misused, form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s name, fame, and pastimes is just in attempt to cram the Srimad-Bhagavatam into this being that I am. I hope that this will be of great help to others who are studying the Srimad-Bhagavatam. I offer this handful of rice to the Lord.
– Jan Alexander
This file is so large we will have to post it in parts. This Third part is letters L – P
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20 Jun 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Lectures, Nectar of Devotion Lecture
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, Narayana, Nectar of Devotion Lecture, prabhupada, Pradyumna das, Vaikuntha, yamadutas, Yamaraja
click on image to enlarge
The Nectar of Devotion Lecture
given by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Vṛndāvana, October 19, 1972
Pradyumna: (reading) “…happiness immediately terminates with his body as long as his life, as soon as his life is over. Death is therefore taken as the representative of God for the atheistic class of men. The devotee realizes the presence of God by devotional service, whereas the atheist realizes the presence of God in the shape of death.”
Prabhupāda: Yes. This point we have discussed last night that everyone can see God. To see God is not very difficult job. There are so many points described in the Bhagavad-gītā. For the devotees, those who are serious about seeing God, they can see God. God is present everywhere. And God Himself, Kṛṣṇa, is describing, raso ‘ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ [Bg. 7.8]. So everyone drinks water. Now Kṛṣṇa says, “The taste of the water, I am.” So who has not tasted the water? Everyone drinks water at least four times, five times. So as soon as you drink water, the taste of the water is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, “I am this.” Kṛṣṇa has described Himself in so many ways. “Amongst the trees, I am this. Amongst the aquatics, I am this. Amongst the nonmovable, I am this.” So why not see God in that way? The atheist class of men, they say, “Can you show me God?” So why don’t you see God? Why you close your eyes? If you have got eyes to see, you can see God everywhere.
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12 Jun 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, Absolute Truth, approaching a fona fide spiritual master, Bg 13.8-12, bhagavad-gita, cleanliness, humility, knowledge, nonviolence, pridelessness, renunciation, self-control, sense gratification, simplicity, steadiness, tolerance
Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth-all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.
Full text and purport More
08 Jun 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Brahmananda das, Guru & Disciple
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, Brahmananda dasa, leaving vrindavan, Sriman Brahmananda Prabhu, Vrindavan Dham
Brahmananda das Departs
We are sad to report the departure of Sriman Brahmananda Prabhu, on of the very first disciples of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He was well loved by many.
The following is a report from the Sampradaya Sun News and a letter that arrived in my mailbox this morning from Aprakrita Dasa, reporting the news.
Jun 07, 2015 — CANADA (SUN) — We have received news of the departure of Brahmananda das (ACBSP), who left his body in Vrindavan-dham earlier today. Brahmananda Prabhu (Bruce Scharf) joined Srila Prabhupada in New York in September 1966, as one of Prabhupada’s first disciples in New York. He was ISKCON’s first temple president.
Brahmananda was involved in nearly all aspects of Srila Prabhupada’s early preaching mission, from Ratha yatra to harinam and book sankirtan, and publishing the first issues of Back to Godhead magazine. He also arranged many lectures and meetings for Srila Prabhupada.
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05 Jun 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Chanting Hare Krishna, Devotee's, Hansadutta das, Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, Mantra Meditation
Tags: books by Srila Prabhupada, chanting, chanting Hare Krishna, Handadutta das, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Maha-mantra, holy name of Krsna, mantra meditation, philosophy of Krsna Consciousness, Srila Prabhupada
I have been going through my older files of late, and ran across this fine article posted by Hansadutta Prabhu some years ago on his site Krsna World.
Although Srila Prabhupada wrote many books, he one day asked me, “So why did I write all these books?” I said, “So we can know the philosophy, learn the philosophy.” He said, “No, the purpose of all these books is to convince you to chant the holy name of Krishna.”
The Holy Name Is All There Is
by Hansadutta das
Chanting is exactly like the simple method of inhaling and exhaling. Although it seems like a very simple act, it is nevertheless the essence of the whole thing. Without that inhaling and exhaling, none of the other activities can take place. We also understand that no one simply inhales and exhales, but all the other activities are supportive of the inhaling and exhaling.
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04 Jun 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in Devotee's, Guru & Disciple, guru-tattva, Madhudvisa das, Spiritual Master
Tags: A. C. Bhakthvedanta Swami Prabhupada, devotee, disciple, guru, Iskcon, Krishna, Madhudvisa das, prabhupada, pure devotee, quotes by Srila Prabhupada, spiritual master
click on image to enlarge
The following is a very nice post written by Madhudvisa Prabhu, it is heavy, but is backed up by scripture and quotes by Srila Prabhupada himself. It was worth my time reading, and thus I share it with all of you. Hare Krishna!
The Guru Is A Pure Devotee!
by Madhudvisa dasa
During Srila Prabhupada’s physical presence there was no confusion in ISKCON over the qualifications and qualities of a bona fide guru. Srila Prabhupada was personally present and he exhibited all the qualities perfectly and all the devotees understood the spiritual master was a pure devotee. That’s what Srila Prabhupada demonstrated by his personal actions, that’s what he wrote in his books, that’s what he preached in his classes and that’s what the devotees understood and accepted. The spiritual master is a transparent via-medium to Krishna. His words are non-different from Krishna’s, hearing him is just as good as hearing Krishna personally. And his words are absolute and perfect because he is not presenting his own ideas, he is simply repeating what Krishna and the previous acaryas have said in a way suitable for the understanding of the audience. He’s not changing the message, adulterating it or adding in any ideas of his own, he’s presenting Krishna’s words and Krishna’s philosophy AS IT IS.
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29 May 2015
by The Hare Krishna Movement
in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, The Hare Krishna Movement
Tags: Allen Ginsberg, Beatles, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Hare Krishna Movement, Jack Kerouac, Janis Joplin and Big Brother, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, Owsley Stanley, prabhupada, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Srila Prabhupada, the Hell's Angels, The Peace Formula, The Yoga of Love, Timothy Leary
My dear friend from the Prabhupada Connection, Padmpani Prabhu, sent me the following post in my mail box the other day and gave me his permission to post it. So with great pleasure we are posting it here.. Please, if you havn’t already, check out his famous site The Prabhupada Connection
Whatever Happened to the Revolution?
For many of us who came of age in the Sixties and Seventies, the counterculture and its promise of an alternative society based on love and peace was an important part of our lives. Art, music, poetry, philosophy, ecology and human rights were just a few of the buzzwords floating through the collective psyche of the Sixties generation. Revolution was in the air. “The establishment” was doomed and soon to be replaced with a kinder, gentler society. Peace would reign supreme and all peoples of the world would unite and be free from the chains of oppression. Or so we thought.
At the time, it appeared that massive cultural changes were about to sweep away the capitalist system (or the “military industrial complex,” as we used to call it). Every day there was a new victory for change. Underground newspapers proliferated, broadcasting the latest progress reports: the sit-ins, the love-ins, the be-ins, the antiwar and civil rights demonstrations, the Democratic National Convention of 1968, the Chicago Seven Trial, Woodstock, etc. Something was happening here, and it was big.
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