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Harinam Diksha Ceremonies held in Srila Prabhupada’s temples

Posted on 10. April 2011 by staffmember
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Harinam Diksha Ceremonies held in Srila Prabhupada’s temples
at Vrindavan, Bangalore, Chennai, Mysore and Hubli,

March 19th 2011
It was a very emotional and historic day for all followers of Srila Prabhupada, as hundreds of them formally accepted him as their diksha guru. The formal diksha ceremony was held in Hare Krishna centres of Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli, Vrindavan and Chennai. The respective Presidents of the temples conducted the harinam diksha and second initiation ceremonies. 

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The ceremony consisted of each of the devotees taking an oath in front of Srila Prabhupada’s deities that they will follow the four regulative principles and chant at least sixteen rounds of Hare Krishna Maha Mantra daily. Following which each of them were given japa beads which were already chanted on by the GBC appointed rtviks and the temple presidents announced the initiated disciples’ names declar

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M. Kurvanti DD;   So about a week ago Saturday, there was a workshop at the Trinity Alliance for the Healing Arts (TAHA).  I had joined this group of folks last fall, thinking "well i am the only devotte that i know of in town, so i will join them & then get them to join me."

 

Saturdays workshop was on Emotional Healing Techniques, & Pot Luck, HA lucky for me!!!  I made Aloo Mootar & a fancy rice, offered them at home, then off to TAHA.  when i arrived & handed over the Prasadam i requested i lead grace b4 meal.

 

The workshop was very nice, but nothing as sweet as chanting the Holy Names.  We watched a movie, then it was lunch time, am very happy to report there was only one dish brought by other folks that had dead bird broth in it.

 

We all gathered in a circle & i explained what we were going to do - a "call back" type of prayer,  they were all so intent on saying each and every word nicely SARIRA AVIDYA JA......... when i was done with sanskrit i read the translation of what they

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Evening Darsana
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
July 11, 1976, New York

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Prabhupada: “I take away as death.” Whatever they are accumulating, everything will be taken away at the time of death. They are simply collecting, accumulating, discovering, forgetting that everything will be taken away at the time of death. Discover something which can check death, there will be no more death. That is real discovery. What do you think?

Indian man (1): It’s a question to think about.

Prabhupada: Because whatever we are discovering, it will be taken away by death. So discover something which will stop death. And that is real discovery.

Indian man (1): But don’t you think it will be a bad thing, because there are some bad people in the world, like Hitler and Stalin and others, they may be the first people to use the technology to prolong their life?

Prabhupada: The thing is, bad or good, everyone will be taken away by death. Is it not a fact? Hitler is no longer ex

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A Meeting in Varanasi, By Sri Mathuresa Dasa

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Seated around Lord Chaitanya at the brahmana's house, the Mayavadis were moved by His words. Their minds changed and they spoke pleasingly.

A Meeting in Varanasi | Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu points out Shankaracharya’s error in contradicting Vyasadeva

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By Sri Mathuresa Dasa
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Conclusion

Early in the year 1514, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was staying at the home of Chandrasekara Vaidya in Varanasi, India, then a great center of learning. Lord Chaitanya’s associates heard that one of the chief scholars of Varanasi, a sannyasi named Prakashananda Sarasvati, was complaining to his followers that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a sentimenalist who engaged in chanting the names of the Lord rather than in studying Vedanta, the proper duty of a sannyasi.

Greatly disturbed by Prakashananda Sarasvati’s criticism, Sri Chaitanya’s associates were pleased when the Lord accepted an invitation for lunch at the home of the brahmana. Prakashananda Sarasvati and his followers would also be there, so Prakashananda Sa

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Religion: The Freedom to Be Strange

Religion: The Freedom to Be Strange

Click here to find out more!

 

Edythe Kreshower, 47, a twice-divorced housewife in Queens, N. Y., was appalled when her daughter Merylee suddenly decided five years ago to join the Hare Krishna sect. Merylee had been finishing her second year at Queens College and hoped to become a teacher. But she took the Hindu name of Murti Vanya, became a nun in the sect's New York City temple, donned a saffron sari and joined her fellow devotees in chanting in the streets.* Convinced that Merylee, 24, had been brainwashed, her mother hired a private detective, Galen Kelly, to rescue her.

Into a Van. Kelly, who had performed about 70 similar missions in the past, seized Merylee at a shopping center last Aug. 5, forced her into a van and took her to a motel. There he began the increasingly common ritual known as deprogramming, in which the convert to some strange-sounding, all-encompassing religion is subjected to threats and arguments until he gives up his new f

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Edited and Founded Under Direct Order of His Divine Grace Sri Srimad Bhakti-Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupada by Goswami Abhay Charan Bhaktivedanta.

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n the ‘Brahma Samhita’ fifth chapter there is a description of variegated planetary system even within the material world. And in the Bhagwat Geeta, such variegated planetary system in thousands and crores of material universes, are considered to be the one-fourth part of the complete energy of Godhead. The major three-fourth part of the Lord’s creative energy is manifested in the spiritual sky called by the name Paravyoma or the Vaikuntha Loka.

The explanation of the ‘Brahma Samhita’ is now confirmed by the material scientist as much as he (the material scientist) has admitted of the material world. We have discussed about the anti-material world in the last issue of ‘Back to Godhead’ (20-30-60) and in this article we shall try to give some idea of the variegated planetary system within the material universes.

 There was a news f

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Unity Means The End of Love

Unity Means The End of Love

In order for there to be love expressed, there must be at least two nodal individuals, two identities, two persons. Love involves exchanges. If the identity is merged in Oneness of the Supreme Brahman, Nirvana, there is no more love possible, as there is no more individuals.

 

In terms of spiritual psychology, entering the bramhajyoti, the undifferentiated spiritual status, it is like suicide. It is like burning down the house to avoid paying taxes. It is like sticking one's head in the spiritual sand. It is a type of fatalistic cowardism, obscurantism. It is denial of life, denial of love, denial of everything out of frustration due to dissatisfaction with the limited material sphere of activities and consciousness. It is the last trap of Maya.

 

We came to the material world to play at being ourselves the Supreme Being, and when that fails, we seek to end our identity. That

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Srimati Radharani has twenty-five transcendental qualities, and She can control even Krsna by them. Her transcendental qualities are as follows:

 

1. She is sweetness personified
2. She is a fresh young girl
3. Her eyes are always moving
4. She is always brightly smiling
5. She possesses all auspicious marks on her body
6. She can agitate Krishna by the flavor of Her person

 

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7. She is expert in the art of singing
8. She can speak very nicely and sweetly
9. She is expert in presenting feminine attractions
10. She is modest and gentle
11. She is always very merciful
12. She is transcendentally cunning
13. She knows how to dress nicely
14. She is always shy

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15. She is always respectful
16. She is always patient
17. She is very grave
18. She is enjoyed by Krishna
19. She is situated on the highest devotional platform
20. She is the abode of love of the residents of Gokula
21. She can give shelter to all kinds of devotees

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22. She is always affectionate to superiors and inferiors
23. She is always o

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We Are All Hindus Now | Newsweek

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Prabhupada, Los Angeles, December 9, 1973: [...] Soul is immortal. Soul is eternal. These things are described in the Bhagavad-gita. In the beginning, this is the beginning lesson: dehino ’smin yatha dehe kaumaram [Bg. 2.13] This is the beginning of spiritual understanding. Full Lecture

 


 


We Are All Hindus Now | Newsweek

 

Lisa Miller | Newsweek — America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that’s the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either.

A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity.
 
The Rig Veda, the most ancient Hindu script

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Stavamala excerpt, Srila Rupa Goswami

First Eight Prayers Glorifying Lord Caitanya
by Srila Rupa Goswami from Stavamala

 

(1)
sadopasyah sriman dhrita-manuja-kayaih pranayitam
vahadbhir girbanair girisa-parameshthi-prabhritibhih
sva-bhaktebhyah suddhasm nija-bhajana-mudram upadisan
sa caitanyah kim me punar api drisor yasyati padam

 

(2)
suresanam durgam gatir atisayenopanishadam
muninam sarvasvam pranata-patalinam madhurima
viniryasah premno nikhila-pasu-palambhuja-drisam
sa caitanyah kim me punar api drisor yasyati padam

 

(3)
svarupam bibhrano jagad-atulam advaita-dayitah
prapanna-srivaso janita-paramananda-garima
harir dinoddhari gajapati-kripotseka-taralah
sa caitanyah kim me punar api drisor yasyati padam

 

(4)
rasoddama kamarbuda-madhura-dhamojjvala-tanur
yatinam uttamsas taranikara-vidyoti-vasanah
hiranyanam lakshmi-bharam abhibhavann angika-ruca
sa caitanyah kim me punar api drisor yasyati padam

 

(5)
hare krishnety-uccaih sphurita-rasano nama-gananakrita-
granthi-sreni-subhaga-kati-sutrojjvala-karah
visalaksho dirghargala-
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Mar 29, 2011 — BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, USA (SUN) — Glorification of the Guru Who Lives in His Books: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

 

Guru das watched Prabhupada laughing while reading his Krsna book.

 

Guru Das: "Prabhupada, you're laughing at your own books."

 

Prabhupada: "I did not write these books, Krsna wrote them!"

 

Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet Your Divine Grace. My words cannot begin to show my gratitude for all the things you gave this world. Anyone is fortunate enough to be able to have the association of Krishna's pure devotee, THE guru who lives in His books. Inspired by your association, your global movement continues to give birth daily to billions of sound incarnations of Radha-Krishna, 24/7/365. They are dancing round the universe and purifying it. You said when we chant Hare Krsna, the Divine Couple personally appear. It does not get any better than that, to be in the presence of Krsna, being purifie

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Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.15.31
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Los Angeles, December 9, 1973

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Pradyumna: Translation: “Because of his possessing spiritual assets, the doubts of duality were completely cut off. Thus he was freed from the three modes of material nature and placed in transcendence. There was no longer any chance of his becoming entangled in birth and death, for he was freed from material form.”

Prabhupada: Visokah, without any bereavement. Brahma-sampattya, by achieving spiritual assets. This is the sign how one is advanced in spiritual life. That will be tested by this word visokah, without any bereavement. That is explained in Bhagavad-gita the same thing: brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na kanksati [Bg. 18.54]. Prasannatma means there is no more lamentation and no more hankering. That is prasannatma. We are subjected to two things. Ah… If our possessed… If our possession is lost, then we lament, and if we don’t possess, then

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Ujjvala Varana (Sacitanayastakam)
by Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya

 

ujjval varan gaurabara deham vilasita nirabadhi bhava videham
tribhuvana pavana krpayah lesam tam pranamami ca sri sacitanayam

 

I prostrate myself before the Son of Mother Saci, Whose radiant lotus face and body shine with the splendour of molten gold. This transcendental body is the playground for the continuous expression of variegated moods and ecstatic symptoms, that carry His consciousness to the realm where He is no longer aware of that transcendental body. By only a particle of His mercy he has delivered the three worlds.

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I salute the Son of Mother Saci, Whose heart is in a state of rapture, transformed by feelings of intense love. In His pastime of loud roaring, before the mischievous and malicious rascals, He removes all fear of the vast ocean of material existence, by the effect of His unlimited compassion.

 
He is wearing garments the colour of the eastern sky during the dawn, and His lovely cheeks shine
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He sent us Srila Prabhupada by Tamoharadasa

He sent us Srila Prabhupada
 

It is only possible to deliver a conditioned jiva from Maya,

By divine intervention of God.
To a realm that is higher;
Ecstatically deep and broad.
An ocean of liquid love!
In His mercy, to bring us there,

He sent us Srila Prabhupada.

 

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Sri Krsna Caitanya desired to moisten the dried-up souls.
To acheive it,
He not only comes Himself,
But Nitai-Balarama empowered Srila Prabhupada,
To bountiful conceive it.
A world encircling garland of prema-nama-sankirtana!

All Glory to Lord Gaura Krsna! All Glory to Lord Sankarsana!

 

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The envious conditioned souls actually have no direct access to the Lord.
But by His sweet will, just as the ambassador represents the king,
The Guru is the personal embodied mercy of Lord Gaura.
That person who would set the dove of his love of Krsna a-wing,

Can do so, by the expanded mercy of Srila Prabhupada!

 

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You fortunate persons around the world,
Just hear the words of Srila Prabhupada!
His vibrations have the power to deliver you from all fear

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 5 Primary Rasas in Ecstatic Love of Krishna
                                               

                                                Sri Krishna

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life involves exchanges of loving service; There are five primary flavors or rasas; 

 

Five  primary Rasas; 1 neutral ie appreciation, awe and reverence, 2 servant-master,  3 friend ship ( unequal or equal),  4 parental/protector,  5  lover.  These vary in degrees of intimacy and "thickness" of bhakti. All are fully relishable and satisfying.

 

Appreciation of Absolute Truth

 

1. neutral appreciation, santa rasa, awe and reverence; yogis, sages, scholars, neophytes, some animals

 

Knowledge leads one to appreciate the existence of the Supreme

 

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 One who through cultivation of knowledge realizes his intellectual limitations, takes to yoga for direct unhindered perception.

 

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By determined contemplation, practice of the disciplines of yoga, one may come to the realization of the localized Godhead, Supersoul.

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Sri Caitanya Upanisad, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

  

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From the Atharva Veda, with commentary by HDG Srila Sacidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura.

 

This Upanisad was published by the great pioneer of the Krsna Consciousness movement, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The Thakura searched the length and breadth of Bengal to procure an original copy of the manuscript of this rare Upanisad, which describes the unique position and advent of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It also describes the glorious position and importance of the Maha mantra, or the chanting of the divine name of Sri Krsna. He was finally provided a copy of the original handwritten manuscript from one pandita, Madhusudana Maharaja, of Sambala-Pura.

 

Upon the request of many Gaudiya Vaishnavas of the time, He wrote a lucid sanskrit commentary called Sri Caitanya-Caranamrta, or the the nectar of the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya. The first edition of this book was originally printed in Calcutta, Bengal by the Sri Caitanya Press in 1887.

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The birth of Lord Caitanya, as predicted in Sruti, Smriti, and the Vaya Purana.

 

Part One

Quotes from the Sruti-sastra

 

Text 1

 

sri-caitanyopanishadi

jahnavi-tire navadvipe golokakhye dhamni
govindo dvi-bhujo gaurah sarvatma maha-purusho mahatma maha-yogi
tri-gunatitah sattva-rupo bhaktim loke kasyatiti. tad ete
sloka bhavanti

 

In the Sri Caitanya Upanishad it is said:

 

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, the supreme enjoyer, whose form is transcendental, who is beyond the touch of the three modes of material nature, and who is the all-pervading Supersoul residing in the hearts of all living entities, will appear again in the Kali age. Appearing as the greatest devotee, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will assume a two-armed form of golden complexion in His abode of Goloka Vrindavana manifested on the bank of the Ganga at Navadvipa. He will disseminate pure devotional service in the world. This incarnation of the Lord is described in the following verses.

Text 2

 

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Scary at the Top

Let us imagine that You are God. Everywhere You "look", You see infinite nothingness. You contemplate forever alone in the void. Its very scary at the Top. So alone! You panic. You calm down. You think.

It has been so long ! How long have I been here like this?

 

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You need to escape! Turning inward, if such is possible, You devise a scheme; You will expand and break up Your undifferentiated Oneness, and in so doing, forget Your existential reality, and instead escape into unlimited condtional identities, who will serve You, and yet are You !  But in this Blessed Forgetfulness, the Yoga Maya.

 

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 You will enjoy many dreams.

 

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 You begin  this split, creating first an unimaginably beautiful and ecstatic partner, equal to You, but with a female disposition. She alone is equal to You. She expands Herself into as
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Uma outra realidade; by Bhagavatamrta Dasa


Uma outra realidade


Por Bhagavatamrta Dasa


Algum dia você já se perguntou se o mundo que vemos à nossa volta é mesmo real, ou se ele é apenas algum tipo de sonho ou ilusão? Com certeza, a maioria de nós nos fazemos essa pergunta em algum ponto de nossas vidas.


Embora o avanço da ciência tenha nos trazido muitos benefícios, ela tem falhado em responder à pergunta mais importante: quem realmente somos. Você pode dizer que é brasileiro, filho de fulano e pai de ciclano, mas estas são apenas designações temporárias, que estão relacionadas com o seu corpo e não com o seu verdadeiro eu.


Todas as religiões concordam com a ideia de que somos almas espirituais eternas. Isso nos leva a uma pergunta obvia: se somos eternos, por que habitamos um corpo temporário, que seremos obrigados a abandonar no devido curso do tempo?


No segundo capítulo do Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna oferece uma resposta simples para a questão:


"Nunca houve um tempo em que Eu não existisse, nem você e nem todos estes reis;

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Gour Purnima Special !!!


HAPPY HOLI, AND HAPPY GAURA PURNIMA!!

Hare Krishna! On 19 Mar’11, Saturday is “GAURA-PURNIMA” the most-auspicious day of Appearance of Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. (Fasting till moon-rise)

 

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LORD SRI CAITANYA MAHAPRABHU

krsna-varnam tvishakrishnam
sangopangastra-parshadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
yajanti hi sumedhasah
krsna-varnam — repeating the syllables krishna; tvisa — with a luster; akrsnam — not black (golden); sa-anga — along with associates; upa-anga — servitors; astra — weapons; parsadam — confidential companions; yajnaih — by sacrifice; sankirtana-prayaih — consisting chiefly of congregational chanting; yajanti — they worship; hi — certainly; su-medhasah — intelligent persons 
“In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the name of Krishna.
Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons, and confidential
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