ISKCON Connection Newsletter, ISSUE 42, Nov 5, 2017

Diwali Fireworks Launch the Nainika Allergy Safety Campaign: Making Temples Safe for Allergy Sufferers - Prasadam Café Gives New Orleans Diners “Good Karma” - Everything Is A Miracle - Sri Krishna Rasa Yatra - Bhakti Vriksha Hands on Training Workshop in Mayapur - ISKCON Pakistan's 2-Day Diwali Celebrations - Parent-Son Retreats Transform Lives and Deepen Relationships - Vrindavan and Barsana Have Just Been Declared Official Pilgrimage Sites: What Does It Really Mean? - ISKCON Participates in Inaugurating Indo-Iranian Interfaith Dialogue

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Prabhupada Nectar

"Regarding your question about the verse in the prayers to the Spiritual Master, the Spiritual Master is one of the associates of Krishna. The prayers offered by Visvanatha Cakravarti to his Spiritual Master have a special significance. His Spiritual Master was one of the assistant gopis, so the prayer was offered like that. On the whole, the Spiritual Master is an agent of Krishna. But either He is assistant to the gopis or assistant to the cowherds boys, He is on the level of Krishna. That is the verdict of all scriptures. Krishna is worshipable God and the Spiritual Master is worshipper God. The exact words are sebya (worshipable) and sebak (worshipper)."

Letter to Jayapataka -- London 26 September, 1969

ISKCON News

Courtesy of news.iskcon.org

Diwali Fireworks Launch the Nainika Allergy Safety Campaign: Making Temples Safe for Allergy Sufferers

As thousands gathered for the Diwali fireworks at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the temple leaders and a host of community and political leaders, took to the stage to launch the Nainika Tikoo Memorial Trust’s allergy awareness campaign for places of worship... Read More

Prasadam Café Gives New Orleans Diners “Good Karma”

New Orleans is known for its seafood and meat dishes, but the Good Karma Café – only the city’s second vegan eatery – is giving people a taste for prasadam, and could change hearts in the process. ... Read More

Everything Is A Miracle

Miracles are frequently associated with God, whereas science is usually not associated with him. Science, especially when it adopts methodological naturalism, seeks natural explanations for natural phenomena, leaving God out of the explanatory framework. ... Read More

Sri Krishna Rasa Yatra

On the full moon night in the autumn season, during Krishna’s eighth year, He enacted His Rasa-lila pastimes with the beautiful young gopis of Vraja. This sweet pastime is celebrated every year by the devotees of Lord Krishna on the Rasa Purnima day, which is also the last day of the Kartik month. ... Read More

Bhakti Vriksha Hands on Training Workshop in Mayapur

The training was held in October 28th and 29th, 2017, and twenty two devotees from China, Portugal, Qatar, Nepal, Italy and various parts of India participated. ... Read More

ISKCON Pakistan's 2-Day Diwali Celebrations

ISKCON Pakistan celebrated Diwali with a 2-day "ISKCON Diwali Gala Festival" in Karachi. Among many dignitaries, he event was attended by Mohammad Zubair Umar Governor of Sindh. During the 2-day festivities Bhagavad-gitas, chanting beads and delicious feast was distributed to the over 2,000 people in attendance. ... Read More

Parent-Son Retreats Transform Lives and Deepen Relationships

A new bhakta director and youth preacher at ISKCON Juhu, Mumbai has been taking new devotees and their parents on spiritual retreats together. The results? Deeper relationships, and unfavorable parents becoming favorable to Krishna consciousness and in some cases taking up the path themselves. ... Read More

Vrindavan and Barsana Have Just Been Declared Official Pilgrimage Sites: What Does It Really Mean?

The government of Uttar Pradesh on Friday announced that Vrindavan and Barsana are now tirtha sthal – official pilgrimage sites. In a special meeting at the Vairagi Baba Ashram on Parikrama Marg, sants of Braj lauded the government’s move. ... Read More

ISKCON Participates in Inaugurating Indo-Iranian Interfaith Dialogue

Over two hundred guests including spiritual leaders, scholars, university students and journalists came together last week at the India International Center in New Delhi to participate in the inaugural session of a two day dialogue between spiritual leaders and scholars from India and Iran on the theme of “Spirituality in Hinduism and Islam”. ... Read More

Dandavats

Courtesy of dandavats.com

Brhat Mridanga – The Epicenter and Its Waves

“My Guru Maharaja used to say that these literature are the ‘Brhat Mrdanga,’ that is to say, the big mrdanga, because like the mrdanga which can be heard from a long distance, simply a few words can have a tremendous effect on millions of people if they are propagated widely.” ...Read More

Kartika and Sarat-purnima: Special Mercy and the Dance of Divine Love

Srila Rupa Gosvami compiled the law book of Krsna con- sciousness, the science of devotion, in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, translated by Srila Prabhupada in a summary study as The Nectar of Devotion. There the observance of Kartika is mentioned as one of the sixty-four items of devotional service. Rupa Gosvami quotes from the Padma Purana that just as Lord Damodara is favorably inclined toward His devotees, ...Read More

Vraja-prema only increased by knowledge of Krsna’s position

Seeing the intense absorption of Nanda and Yasoda, Uddhava thinks, “This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. This is THE perfection. I have never seen anything higher than this”. He is looking somewhat from the point of view of Krsna’s aisvarya, being the Absolute Truth. But the power of their sweetness like a hurricane moves aside everything, tivrena. In the same way if one performs bhakti with tivra, obstacles are removed. ...Read More

VIDEO - TOVP Report – 3 Month Marathon

I would like to present our quarterly report of the different construction activities of the TOVP. We have now commenced the super structures on the main dome. In this video you can see the devotees and the workers are lifting the superstructure stainless steel parts for the domes and much more. ...Read More

VIDEO - Sincerity without duplicity

HH Romapada Swami Maharaja speaks on SB 3.24.12. Lord Brahma praises his son Kardama Muni for following his instructions with sincerity and without duplicity and thus honoring him. ...Read More