30 June 2011

KKSblog.com - Prabhupada Chanting In Tompkins Square Park

KKSblog.com - Prabhupada Chanting In Tompkins Square Park

Prabhupada Chanting In Tompkins Square Park

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 02:00 PM PDT


(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Simhachalam, 2011)

The tree in Tompkins square park that witnessed Prabhupada's chanting…that tree became completely transformed – what did that tree possibly do, for how many lifetimes was this tree a pious soul to become that paticular tree which was sharing in that mercy?

Now that tree is being worshipped by so many devotees – and the nice thing is that it is not organised, there is no schedule that:

'Ok, now this one and then this one has to do worship'

'The devotees from the east will take over and then……'

No, the worship of the tree is just going on, every day there are fresh garlands on the tree – nobody knows who does it.

That is far out, when I think of this tree in Tompkins square park how garlands just appear on that tree.

It is not just organised, it is wonderful, it means that the hearts of so many devotees has just been captured by Srila Prabhupada and this scene of Srila Prabhupada chanting there in Tompkins Square Park.

Just as one can meditate on pictures of Lord Nrshingadeva – Lord Nrshingadeva coming out of the pillar; one can mediate on Prabhupada under that tree in Tompkins Square Park, and that picture can be fixed in our mind.

 

Four days in the Czech summercamp

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 12:57 PM PDT

I appologize for the delay of the pictures, but I had a major issue with the old computer I was working with, in other words I dropped and broke it. That is why now, in this first post done with the new computer, I want to really thank Paramesvara Prabhu and Gopali Mataji for so kindly and spontaneously sponsoring a new laptop. It’s now due to their kindness that you can enjoy these pics!

From the kirtana weekend in Slovenia, it was off to Modra in Slovakia. There Guru-Maharaja took two days of rest, just doing one evening program, to get ready for the upcoming summercamp in Czech. The camp started with a warm welcome by the Czech devotees, performing nice kirtanas. Later the kirtana was taken over by Dhanavir Maharaja, who arrived shortly after Kadamba Kanana Swami, on Thursday afternoon. In the evening Guru-Maharaja gave a nice class about obstacles and solutions on our way to pure chanting.
The next day Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja and Trivikrama Maharaja also arrived, and both, Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami with his seminars and classes and Trivikrama Maharaja with his old fashioned, rocking kirtanas and amazing Prabupada storys, inspired the whole camp.

Whereas the weekend in Ljubljana was focused on bhajanas, the Czech camp realy was built on fiery and ecstatic kirtanas, which got everyone to dance. Enjoy part one of the pictures!

If you cannot view the slide-show below, please visit flickr.

29 June 2011

KKSblog.com - The Mercy of the Lord 1

KKSblog.com - The Mercy of the Lord 1

The Mercy of the Lord 1

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 02:47 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2005)

It is said that the worshiper is causing disturbance to the Lord. Prabhupada gives the example about the thief who is wearing his stripped t-shirt and his black mask. He is standing outside the gate, looking at this house and praying:

"My dear Lord, tonight let me get a fat catch in big big villa!"

In the big big villa there is a man who is praying:

"Oh my Lord let all my wealth be protected from thieves".

So, it is as if both of them are grabbing the arm of the Lord and pulling in different directions. Still the material world is an intense place, and within the material world there is plenty of suffering!

Now philosophically it is explained that this suffering is also the mercy of the Lord, because the Supreme Lord gives us only token reactions for our previous sinful activities. Normally the suffering in this world is not without cause, but rather it is for the purpose of purifying us from our past sinful activities. Each sinful activities leaves a mark within our consciousness of a sinful mentality, and therefore that sinful mentality has to be rectified by some reaction, which will come in due course of time. However, that may bring so much suffering in our present condition that we just desire to be relieved. So then what to do?

We should know that Krishna is ‘bhakti vatsena’. ‘Bhakti vatsena‘ means that He is the protector of the devotee at all times…. a well wisher of the devotees, and that He will never give a devotee a test that he cannot pass…that He will never give the devotee more difficulty for the sake of purification than he can handle.

So we should trust that Krishna would not drive us over the edge and somehow or other we must endure that:

‘Tat te 'nukampam susumiksamano bhunjana evatma-krtam vipakam’.

That somehow, or other we must tolerate the difficulties in this material world, as the mercy of the Lord, and always take responsibility for ourselves – knowing that we have created our own fate by our own previous sinful activities in this life, and in previous lives, which are of course karma and are now manifesting as such!

28 June 2011

KKSblog.com - Struggling In Devotional Service

KKSblog.com - Struggling In Devotional Service

Struggling In Devotional Service

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 01:05 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Stockholm, June 2011)

Devotee: Could you explain a little more about the differences between the struggles in the material and the struggles in the spiritual world?

Swamiji: Yes in the material world the struggle is difficult and burdensome, but then if you go through the austerity of doing it, then at the end it becomes blissful. The result can become very nice and that is very blissful. In the spiritual world it is blissful through every step. There is also a lot of endeavour being made to please Krishna. Big arrangements are being made….a lot of energy is put into pleasing Krishna. Every little inch of it is blissful!

One who is already in consciousness of the consciousness in the spiritual world, will also here in this world experience everything as blissful – a liberated soul.

But otherwise we conditioned souls are finding that we are struggling and struggling in devotional service. It's like:
"Tough…tough…tough".

And then finally some success:

"Bliss…bliss….bliss"

And then again it becomes a struggle, which is our normal kind of level of the struggle at this stage. In the spiritual world whatever endeavour we make for Krishna is opulent…. it's opulent – that's the difference!

26 June 2011

KKSblog.com - The Perfect Destination

KKSblog.com - The Perfect Destination

The Perfect Destination

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 01:23 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Stockholm, June 2011)

I sometimes refer to the temple as a station. The place where we board. The vehicle…the place where we board the vehicle that takes us to the perfect destination.

In that way we can see that place. Of course it's very important! You can only get on board on the train – in a station. When the train is moving in between stations you can't dive in through the window. You have to board from the station. So in the same way within the process of bhakti, one cannot on his own just take up devotional service and fabricate it! It is not possible, even if one has a devotional inclination!

Sometimes we see how intelligent mundane philosophers are speculating. Sometimes its surprising how close they get and how they got a point…. and they really got it – one point, and they missed about a thousand of others! But even the fact that they had the one point is amazing! How did they figure it out? I don't know:

'panthās tu koṭi-śata-vatsara-sampragamyo
vāyor athāpi manaso muni-puṅgavānām
so 'py asti yat-prapada-sīmny avicintya-tattve
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi' (Bs5.34)

One cannot approach Krishna through a speculative process, though it will not be possible. One must go through the station….one must go through the authorised residence of Krishna, which is bound by the rules and regulations of the scriptures. Where there are sadhus that uphold these standards and that will create the entrance into the spiritual world!

Friendship is important Part 3

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 11:07 AM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Stockholm, June 2011)

Friendship ultimately means commitment. To make a commitment to another person, not just giving a gift, but to make a commitment that:

“Yes, I accept you. Yes, I am interested in your benefit”.

These things have to be there:

“I’m open to hear you. I’m open to respect you.”

All these things friendship requires:

“I take you seriously.”

So many thing are there in friendship!

Panihati Festival in the Manor – 13 jun 2011

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 09:43 AM PDT

Here is a wonderful class given by Kadamba Kanana Swami during the Panihati Festival in the Manor in England. Take this opportunity to get some inspiration.

If you can’t see this video then watch it on Vimeo.

Click here to view the embedded video.

25 June 2011

KKSblog.com - Friendship is important Part 2

KKSblog.com - Friendship is important Part 2

Friendship is important Part 2

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 12:59 PM PDT

 

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Stockholm, June 2011)

Prabhupada was careful to engage the gift in the service of Krsna, to respect the gift, and to respect the relationship.

So (sanskrit) giving gifts, receiving gifts, (sanskrit), yes, discussing about Krsna Consciousness, but involving our heart, just from where we are – what is real,  so revealing one’s mind confidentially, (sanskrit) taking prasadum together….. Once we were taking prasadum together and Giriraj Maharaja was with us, and he said:

“It’s a proven fact that when cows eat together, then they give more milk.”

That’s proof of the benefit of taking prasadum together. So, exchanging prasadum, giving prasadum, receiving prasadum, .. these things are the formula to create friendship.

Okay, let’s begin and trust… (sanskrit) means trust to be trustworthy, to be favourable to another person, to accept someone, and to say:

“Okay, we’ll help!”

Prabhupada and the Baby Blanket

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 12:46 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami)

Prabhupada sometimes got gifts and didn't know what to do with them. Like Upendra was a little eccentric and he brought Prabhupada his baby blanket . Don't ask me how, but he kept his baby blanket – the one from the cradle, he kept it throughout his whole life, and when he joined the Hare Krishna movement, he one day presented this baby blanket to Prabhupada, and Prabhupada looks at it and says:

"What is this?"

He said:

"Prabhupada this is my most treasured possession. This is my original baby blanket!"

And Prabhupada is like looking at it and thinking:

"Oh my God!"

Anyway, he got the baby blanket and thought:

"What am I going to do with this?"

The next day the baby blanket was somewhere on the floor like a seat for someone to sit on. So Prabhupada found a purpose, and he didn't just throw it away and used another useless gift:

"What am I going to do with this blanket – chuck it out".

No he found a purpose for it, and somehow used it. That was Prabhupada, because when a gift is given then it must also be received and valued, then that makes a relationship!

24 June 2011

KKSblog.com - Friendship is important Part 1

KKSblog.com - Friendship is important Part 1

Friendship is important Part 1

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 03:14 PM PDT

 

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Stockholm, June 2011)

I think that the only thing that can really bond us together is friendship. Just common acceptance of Krsna as the Supreme Lord – yes, will bring us together from time to time – we will come together at the temple, festivals, but friendship will take us so much further. Because it is in friendship, real friendship, that we are going to stimulate each other, so much more than just being colleagues!

I’ve often given this example of how we can be together like colleagues. We’re all devotees of Krsna and we’re all colleagues. We’re all devotees in the same temple, we’re all colleagues. We’re all chanting Hare Krsna, we’re all colleagues. We’re all dancing in the kirtan party as colleagues. But there’s no friendship – not enough.

If there’s friendship, then friendship is different. Friendship is like a family spirit. When your colleague is not performing well, it disturbs your work, and you say:

“Get it together! You know they’ll throw you out of here one of these days if you don’t get it together.”

That’s what you say to a colleague. But to a family member, you say:

“When in the world are you ever going to get it together? But we can’t throw you out because you’re part of the family.”

That’s different. That’s friendship, and in that friendship there is trust. We know we are going to be accepted. We don’t have to have a masquerade, where everyone acts out to be a pure devotee in a Hare Krsna community. We can just be more honest. If there’s friendship, we can just be who we are, and still be accepted, and in that way, we can get some real human support, which is what we need. This is what we need!

 

22 June 2011

KKSblog.com - A kirtana weekend in Slovenia

KKSblog.com - A kirtana weekend in Slovenia

A kirtana weekend in Slovenia

Posted: 21 Jun 2011 09:18 AM PDT

The last four days, Maharaja had spent in Ljubljana, Slovenia. There a kirtana festival took place with famous singers and speakers, namely Jayadvaita Maharaja, Candramauli Maharaja, Kadamba Kanana Maharaja, Madhava Prabhu and Hare Krsna Prabhu.The kirtanas of Kadamba Kanana Maharaja and Hare Krsna Prabhu were explosive, getting everyone to dance with Candramauli Swami leading the dacning, who is famous for his fancy dance moves, whereas Jayadvaita Maharaja distributed some nectar in the form of super-sharp and intelligent classes!

Meanwhile Madhava ended up each day with his meditative Bhajanas, dedicated to Ljubljana’s Pancha Tattva deities, the beautiful Radha Syama murtis from Munich and Madhava’s own deity of Haridasa Thakura. All glories to all the dedicated devotees who spent 24 hours on this weekend to glorify the Holy Name of the Lord. Enjoy the pictures!

If you cannot view the slide-show below, please visit flickr.

The Tongue is the Master

Posted: 21 Jun 2011 05:38 AM PDT

Today at the Sunday feast in Ljubljana, Slovenia Jayadvaita Swami gave a wonderful class on the importance of our little tongue and our devotional life. For your pleasure you can listen to the class here directly.

Sunday Feast – 19 jun 2011 – Ljubljana, Slovenia
When: 19 jun 2011
Where : Ljubljana, Slovenia

21 June 2011

KKSblog.com - The Nature of Karma

KKSblog.com - The Nature of Karma

The Nature of Karma

Posted: 20 Jun 2011 03:09 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Stockholm, June 2011)

In the past man was naturally religious, but in modern time we are so impressed by our own strength:

"Oh, the things we can do! Oh it is amazing! We have nuclear power plants and three hundred and fifty in the world! And each of these monsters can blow up a whole Country if it explodes! But of course, we can control it and there is a control meltdown. But then all the toxic etc are entering into the air, and into the water and so on….and just wait upon us".

Like this, man is also playing with great powers of nature – like a child playing with matches, and it is destined to go wrong sooner or later. It is destined to get out of hand, and to get out of control, because we are unleashing powers that we cannot control.

Second grade radioactive material, which is still severely deadly, out of all contact. It stays toxic for three thousand years, which is a long time, and what do we do with that kind of waste? We pack it in barrels and drums, then we caste concrete around it – a good layer of concrete and we throw it in the sea. What is the duration of life in the concrete? Ask any engineer. One hundred years he says. Maybe under water with the oxygen it might last slightly longer, if we cross our fingers and hope that everything goes well. But how long? Even if it was to last for two hundred years.

Then the ocean will get very toxic and the funny thing is that all those people who throw them into the ocean will reincarnate and reside in the areas where the activities will be at its worst. They are creating their own hell for the future and they think:

"Oh well, that's not our problem. It's the problem of the future generations. They also have to solve something".

So they are not caring. They know very well that they are giving a lot of problems to the future generations, but they do not realise that they will be the future generation themselves! But such is the nature of karma, and such is the nature of laws of the Supreme Lord, which are not at all impersonal, but personal! Therefore life, as it happens to us is personally designed for us.

We get it exactly as we deserve, that is why there is no reason to lament. There is no reason to lament for everything that happens in our life, because simply everything is just like a reflection – everything is just coming back from what we have created, or what we have done.
So in this way, one can as a devotee gradually, at least philosophically begin to accept, and then when we philosophically accept that everything comes from the Supreme Lord, then with time one can emotionally not get involved, – that may take more time. Within time gradually we can emotionally accept that:

"Actually whatever happens is ok. Its simply for our purification and its designed for nothing more!"

20 June 2011

KKSblog.com - Accelerating the Pace

KKSblog.com - Accelerating the Pace

Accelerating the Pace

Posted: 19 Jun 2011 03:22 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Stockholm, June 2011)

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur said that:

"Krishna Consciousness means a total revolution!"

And of course in that revolution, it can take place all at once, or it can take place very gradually…very slowly…a little change. Of course if you go too slow then it may take also more than one lifetime.

Therefore, there is a sense of urgency in Krishna Consciousness. That is there. There is a sense of urgency to say that:

"Well time is moving along, where am I? If for the rest of my life, if I go at the same pace that I have been going so far, then you know in the next twenty years I am expected to go another seven centimetres!"

Progress, if that's really the prognosis than you know we have to make it a parabolic, and not a diabolic. A parabolic graph – something that curves upwards. In other words we have to accelerate the pace!

Yes you never know, you can just peacefully sit on a chair and break your neck! Just like that. So there is no guarantee that we still have a lot of time left that we can go slow in our Krishna Consciousness. So we should somehow or other take more advantage!

The most amazing person

Posted: 19 Jun 2011 12:57 PM PDT

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Canberra, March 2011)

When the Holy Name is being chanted, Krsna is at the same time giving darsana.  This is the secret of chanting – that simultaneously we are making an offering, and simultaneously Krsna is revealing himself – darsana meaning that Krsna is actually showing himself.

Drsti – drsti means to see.  So Krsna makes himself seen in the chanting of the Holy Name.  Therefore the spiritual master is always taking great pleasure, (Sanskrit), he is taking great pleasure in chanting and dancing also – great pleasure in that!  And in this way he is experiencing great ecstacy.  (Sanskrit) Sometimes even the hairs on his body stand on ends in such ecstacy!

Why? Is this just a mystic experience? It may be, but it is also simply practical.  Because, after all, if we actually appreciate who Krsna is, how wonderful Krsna really is, what Krsna’s qualities actually are, then we realise that with Krsna, we are dealing with the most amazing person!
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