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ISKCON Connection Newsletter, Issue 28, September 22, 2019
 
Prabhupada Nectar
This is an opportunity, this human form of life, to decide where you want to go. Are you going to hell or heaven or back to home, or back to Godhead? That you have to decide

760215 - Lecture SB 07.09.08 - Mayapur

Siddhya... So sattvaika. They are sattvaika. They are all. All the inhabitants of the upper planetary system, they are in sattvika-guṇa, brahminical qualification. They are not mlecchas and yavanas. Brāhmaṇas. Sattvaikatāna-gatayo (SB 7.9.8). They are not ordinary. Just like here the sattvika means pure brāhmaṇa. Śamo damaḥ satyaṁ śaucaṁ titikṣa ārjavam, jñānaṁ vijñānam āstikyaṁ brahma-karma svabhāva-jam (BG 18.42). So most of them are brāhmaṇas or even kṣatriyas. Mostly they are brāhmaṇas. So ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ (BG 14.18). You have seen in the Bhagavad-gītā: "Those who are situated in sattva-guṇa, they are promoted to the higher planetary system after death." Madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasaḥ: "And those who are in the rajo-guṇa, they remain in the middle planetary system." Jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ: "And those who are in tāmasika, in the darkness, ignorance modes of material nature, they go down to the..., down planetary system or animal life."

So this is an opportunity, this human form of life, to decide where you want to go. Are you going to hell or heaven or back to home, or back to Godhead? That you have to decide. This is human intelligence, not like working like cats and dogs and dying like cats and dogs. That is not human life. Human life is meant for to decide where you want to go next. By the evolutionary process you have come to this human form of life. Jalajā nava-lakṣāni sthāvarā lakṣa-viṁśati (Padma Purāṇa). By going through so many, 8,400,000 species of life, you have got this human form of life. Now you decide where you'll go. So where I have to go, how to go, there is that information in the śāstra. Śāstra-cakṣuṣaḥ: see through the śāstra where you can go. And the master of the śāstra, Kṛṣṇa, is giving you personally instruction,

ūrdhvaṁ gacchanti sattva-sthā
madhye tiṣṭhanti rājasāḥ
jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā
adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ
(BG 14.18)
yānti deva-vratā devān
pitṛn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ
bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā
mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām
(BG 9.25)

These informations are there. Why you are missing this opportunity? Huh? If you like, you can go to the higher planetary system. If you like, you can go back to home, back to Godhead. Mad-yājino 'pi yānti mām. These informations are there.

So without sattva-guṇa, if you keep people in the rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa, then your..., their future is lost. Rajo-guṇa, tamo-guṇa means people will become more greedy and lusty, that's all. And greedy and lusty means cats and dogs, animal life. Animal life. They're trying to eat—no discrimination of eating. So that is hog's life. The hog has no discrimination of eating. It can eat even stool. So the... If you eat, become like hog—no discrimination of eating, whatever you..., just like so many svāmīs, they say, "Oh, why there is restriction of eating? You can eat anything you like." So nature will give you: "All right, you want to eat anything you like? All right, you become a hog. You eat even stool." Karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantor dehopapatti (SB 3.31.1). You have to change your body. Tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muḥ... (BG 2.13). You may say that there is no life after, but that is foolishness. You are under the control of material nature.

 

 

 

ISKCON News

Courtesy of iskconnews.org

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To read the .pdf report, click here.

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Dandavats

Courtesy of dandavats.com

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When Does Food Become Prasadam?
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By Sivarama Swami

The phenomenon of something changing from material to spiritual is an extraordinary one, but it is something we as devotees are involved in daily—often several times a day. It happens when prasadam (unoffered food) becoming prasadam, or food sanctified by the Lord. When I was a new devotee in Montreal, we arranged a program that was to be given on campus at McGill University. The leaflet advertising the program read, “See matter transformed into spirit before you...

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The Out of Africa Theory Versus the Vedic View
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By Sri Nandanandana dasa

Many geneticists view that modern man developed and came out of Africa where they migrated across lands to settle in ancient India. From there they spread out in all directions, even into Europe. This is called the “Out of Africa” theory. This certainly helps contradict the Aryan Invasion Theory, which proposes that the Vedic Aryans were not indigenous to the region of India, but came from the Caucasus Mountains, bringing their culture into India. However, over the past several years, ...

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The Solution to Food Shortages
The Solution to Food Shortages

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

My suggestion is that people should utilize all this vacant land for crops. I have seen so much land lying dormant. For instance, in Australia and also in America, there is so much land lying dormant. The people are not utilizing it. And whatever produce they get, sometimes they dump tons of it into the ocean to keep the prices high. And I have heard here in Geneva that when there was excess milk production, some of the people w...

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Spreading Krishna’s Mercy: Devotion in Action! February 23
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By Dandavats Staff Writer

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Agra-Puja
Agra-Puja

H.H. Guru Parsad Maharaja
Srimad Bhagavatam 10.74.18

01.03.2025 ISKCON Vrindavan

Watch Now

 

 

 

 

TOVP News

Courtesy of tovp.org

TOVP Presents: Grand Opening of the Legacy Museum of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada – The Overview
TOVP Presents: Grand Opening of the Legacy Museum of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada – The Overview

On February 18, 2025 the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) achieved another milestone with the Grand Opening of the Legacy Museum of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

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TOVP Presents: Once In A Lifetime
TOVP Presents: Once In A Lifetime

Experience the spiritual heart of Mayapur! Witness the majestic Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, the "Rising Moon of Mayapur," Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, and discover a place of peace, devotion, and transcendental beauty. We invite you to join us and let the world come to Mayapur.

Watch Now

SRI MAYAPUR CHANDRODAYA MANDIR: A CALL TO THE WORLD – COME TO MAYAPUR
SRI MAYAPUR CHANDRODAYA MANDIR: A CALL TO THE WORLD – COME TO MAYAPUR

Experience the spiritual heart of Mayapur! Witness the majestic Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir, the "Rising Moon of Mayapur," Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, and discover a place of peace, devotion, and transcendental beauty. We invite you to join us and let the world come to Mayapur.

Watch Now

TOVP & Vedic Science Channel Present
TOVP & Vedic Science Channel Present

A lecture by Dr. Richard L. Thompson

Paths of Spiritual Realization (San Diego 1/4/89)

Srimad Bhagavatam 1.18.12
San Diego, California
January 4, 1989

Bhakti Yoga (linking with the Supreme through devotion) is portrayed here as the ultimate path of self-realization. Other means of acquiring knowledge and raising self awareness involve enhancing the false ego, or in other words, increasing our desire to dominate and control. Conversely, Sadaputa Dasa (Dr. Richard L. Thompson) explains, Bhakti begins by eliminating our “superiority complex”. After a lively exchange with the audience, he concludes that Bhakti Yoga can only be understood by engaging in the process.

Listen Now

 

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: 
founderacharya.com, vanipedia.org

The official ISKCON website: iskcon.org,

Find your nearest temple: centres.iskcon.org

ISKCON leadership: gbc.iskcon.org

Education such ar Bhakti-shastri, Bhaktivaibhava etc: Mayapur Institute, Vrindavan Institute for Higher Education, Bhaktivedanta College Europe

News: news.iskcon.org, dandavats.com,

BBT books: bbt.org, krishna.com, vanisource.org, vedabase.com, bbtmedia.com

World Sankirtan Newsletter: wsnl.net/wsnhome.htm

Temple of Vedic Planetarium: tovp.org

Deity Worship and courses: deityworship.com, Mayapur Academy 

Inspiration & Sadhana: 
mayapur.tv, iskcondesiretree.com

Vaishnava Calendars: 
ISKCON GBC Vaishnava Calendar Comitee, GCAL (Gaurabda Calendar, a program for calculation of the calendar for vaisnavas, according Gaudiya-Vaisnava tradition.)

These dates and timings are for Sri Mayapur Dhama. Find timings for your location at the Vaishnava Calendar links.

March 3, 2025 (Monday)
Sri Purusottama Dasa Thakura — Appearance

March 10, 2025 (Monday)
Ekadasi (suitable for fasting) Fasting for Amalaki vrata Ekadasi

March 11, 2025 (Tuesday)
Dvadasi Break fast 05:49 – 08:16 Local Mayapur Time

Address: ISKCON GBC Office
P.O. Sri Mayapur, Nadia, WB 741313, India

Email: office@iskconconnection.org

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