Desa, kala, patra – Time, place, and circumstance.

January 29, 2014 in Yasoda nandana Dasa by Yasoda nandana dasa

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By Yasoda nandana dasa and the Prabhupada anugas

Deśa-kāla-pātra. Deśa means situation, and kāla, time, and pātra, means the subject, the individual.
Deśa-kāla-pātra: according to time, according to circumstances, according to the subject, everything is scrutinizingly judged, not whimsically. We must understand everything by taking these three elements into consideration. (Lectures : Bhagavad-gita 7.1 — Fiji, May 24, 1975 : 750524BG.FIJ)

EXPLANATION These three elements have to be taken into consideration determining what is right and what is wrong action. What is true at one time may not necessarily be true at another time. Similarly, what is true in a place or situation may turn out to be wrong at another place or another state.
For an example: Singing for entertainment is true, but when singing next to those who are sick then it becomes transformed into a wrong action or bad behavior.
Serving ice cold drink at night in a cold place might be received by a person with a reluctant heart, but when the ice was served during the hot hours of sunny day it would be gladly welcomed.
From the examples above it is obvious that what is called the wrong action, when people do not know how to adjust to the place, time and circumstances of their behavior. So, the appropriate way is to adjust our actions to Deśa-kāla-pātra.
Srila Prabhupada: “It may be that the Hindus may be following the same principle in a different way or the Christian may be following the same principle in different way. That is called deśa-kāla-pātra. According to time, atmosphere, and the performer, there may be little difference. … But we are keeping our principles as it is, but making arrangement according to the circumstances. That is required.” (Lecture SB Class sb/1/2/10/delhi/november/16/1973) Read the rest of this entry →

Krishna Book Changes NOT “closer to Prabhupada”!

January 29, 2014 in Ajit Krishna Das by Yasoda nandana dasa

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Krishna Book Changes NOT “closer to Prabhupada”!

by Ajit Krishna Dasa

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Screenshot 2014-01-24 17.07.00
Madhudvisa Prabhu has gifted us with a complete list of the changes made to Srila Prabhupada’s Krishna Book:
The following links, one for each of the chapters in Srila Prabhupada’s “Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead“, will take you to a computer generated analysis of the changes which have been made by BBT to the book.
The comparison is made between Prabhupada’s Original 1970 Krsna Book as it appeared in the Bhaktivedanta Archives Vedabase 2003 in the “Early Editions of BBT / ISKCON Press Books” section and the Krsna Book that appears in the current 2013 version of the Vedabase.
In the case of Krsna Book we have the actual dictation tapes from Srila Prabhupada for most of the chapters. You can find Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna Book dictation tapes at:
Find the complete list here.
On his website (www.bookchanges.com) he also has an article examining many of the changes made to the Krishna Book:

BBT Krsna Book Changes Analysis

The conclusion of the analysis dispels one of the most widespread myths propagated very actively by Jayadvaita Swami and the BBT International, namely that their new editions are “closer to Prabhupada”. This is not true:
“We can see that in the revision way more text has been modified NOT according to the tape recording than according to the tape recording. The system of revision is not at all understandable and seem to depend rather on the weather than on any definable principles. Every sane man would consider the revision a step back.” (Read the complete analysis here)

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JOINING THE HARE KRISHNAS

January 29, 2014 in Nityananda Dasa by Yasoda nandana dasa

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By Nityananda das

After Srila Prabhupada’s April 1969 visit to our university in Buffalo, NY, my friend Loren became much more involved with the Hare Krishna temple. It was all he would talk about, and he drew people into constant philosophical discussions, repeating what he had heard at the temple, inserting his own doubts and views, and trying to get others to help him sort it all out. But not many of the students were very philosophical, myself included; still somehow Loren would gradually dispense with his uncertainties and he became more and more convinced of the transcendental knowledge of Bhagavad Gita. He relished the exercise of these deliberations, and this went on for many months. Meanwhile I was rather uninterested in his ongoing “should I, shouldn’t I” join the Hare Krishnas dilemma. He tried to get me to join him on the campus lawn where the devotees would be engaged in kirtan, sitting and swaying with closed eyes in a circle. I watched from a distance but was too shy; the strangely exotic sound of the drum and hand cymbals was attractive but I could not overcome my social awkwardness. Then the devotees would chant in the Student Union hallway, and Loren was again there with them, enjoying the publicity and the meditational singing of the Hare Krishna mantra. I struggled to walk by without making eye contact. Whenever there was a chance, I would distract Loren with other agendas.
A total of sixteen students from SUNY at Buffalo eventually became devotees, drawn from the sixty enrolled students and some auditing students who also attended Rupanuga’s Transcendental Meditation class, plus others who watched through the glass windows from the hallway. Trivikram, Bhurijan, Prahladananda, Jagadish, Bhagavan, Krishna Bhamini, Janmanjaya, Taradasi, Satchitananda, Laxmimoni, Satyanarayan, Gunagrahi, Narottamananda (Loren), myself, and a few others. Rupanuga’s confidence, seriousness, and academic demeanor was very effective in holding the students attention and attracting them to the process of chanting (kirtan), which began and ended each class session. Finally, Rupanuga would cut up an apple or two into small pieces, mix it with raisins, and pass it around as a sort of ritual sacrament, but I did not like unpeeled apples. Read the rest of this entry →

VEDIC VILLAGE REVIEW # 32:

January 29, 2014 in Nityananda Dasa by Yasoda nandana dasa

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8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

VEDIC VILLAGE REVIEW  # 32

January 20, 2014.  Adventures in New Jaipur, Prabhupadanuga Farm in Fiji
MACHINE CIVILIZATION
A lot of the challenge involved in becoming basically self-sufficient within our own locality has to do with becoming free of dependency on machines. Machines have become deeply entrenched in modern civilization. Ordinary tasks such as cutting nose hairs, doing an enema, house painting, cooking lunch, drying wet laundry, growing food, polishing shoes, or just about anything- all have a machine to make it better and easier. Supposedly. This kind of culture (advanced civilization?) has come about only in the last century, and the trend is accelerating towards total automation and mechanization. Next will be household robots… I took an inventory of what we have here in New Jaipur, and it is a long list:
Kobelco excavator (7 ton), two track dumpers (2 ton), 46 hp farm tractor, 60 hp Yamaha 4 stroke outboard boat motor, Toyota pickup, 18 kva diesel generator, 5 kva diesel generator, solar power system with invertors/lights/photovoltaic panels/ batteries; bench planer, bench saw, variety of hand tools like circular saws and drills, washing machine, computers, gas stove, electric fans, DVD player and monitor, refrigerators (2), spice grinder, blender, juicer, cellphones, concrete mixer, pressure washer, air compressor, welder, five chainsaws, CD and DVD players, vacuum cleaner, three “zipper” grasscutters, etc. Fuesl required: diesel, gasoline, oil, natural gas, or electricity.
Hmmmm. We are definitely “machined-in.” No need for any machinations or debate on that. Let’s see what Srila Prabhupada said about machines on his visit to the New Talavan farm in Mississippi, USA:
Satsvarupa: Is it alright to use modern machines on our farms? Read the rest of this entry →

Reply to Rupanuga’s article – An Addendum to “The World Acarya”

January 29, 2014 in Damaghosa Dasa, Yasoda nandana Dasa by Damaghosa dasa

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Dear Rupanuga prabhu
Obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Thank you for putting up this website about Prabhaupda’s position   and his books.
   I had a  few comments below I wanted to make…if I may

  

Hare Krsna
Damaghosa das… my reply is in italic, for   clarity sake
you write…
“In the article, this last sentence was paraphrased from memory, but the   meaning is still the same as Srila Prabhupada’s statement, which now becomes   enhanced when taken in the context of his speech. He is obviously referring to   his present disciples as the next in the disciplic succession he has just   named and numbered, all of whom are directly initiating their own   disciples.
This is a very contentious point, as you well know. Many of our   Godbrothers ARE initiating disciples, but where is the actual order for   them to do that?
To my knowledge, there is no order. The only order he gave just prior   to leaving his body was for the GBC (and others in the future) to become   officiating acaryas. To initiate on his behalf. That’s all.This order   was never amended or stopped. This lecture given in 1972 could also mean he   wanted us, his disciples to continue as siksa gurus and not diksa gurus,   especially after seeing what happened in his Gaudiya matha. And you were   the receipient of that famous letter in 1974..
74-04-28.Rup                 Letter:   Rupanuga                 His idea was acarya was not to be nominated amongst the governing body.    He said openly you make a GBC and conduct the mission. So his idea   was amongst the members of GBC who would come out successful and self   effulgent acarya would be automatically selected. So Sridhara Maharaja and   his two associate gentlemen unauthorizedly selected one acarya and   later it proved a failure. The result is now everyone is claiming to   be acarya even though they may be kanistha adhikari with no ability   to preach. In some of the camps the acarya is being changed three times   a year. Therefore we may not commit the same mistake in our ISKCON   camp. Actually amongst my Godbrothers no one is qualified to become   acarya. So it is better not to mix with my Godbrothers very intimately   because instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may   sometimes pollute them. This attempt was made previously by them,   especially Madhava Maharaja and Tirtha Maharaja and Bon Maharaja but   somehow or other I saved the situation. This is going on. We shall be   very careful about them and not mix with them. This is my instruction   to you all. They cannot help us in our movement, but they are   very competent to harm our natural progress. So we must be very   careful about them. Read the rest of this entry →

BBT(I) has deleted the complete foreword of Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is‏

January 29, 2014 in Ajit Krishna Das, Yasoda nandana Dasa by Yasoda nandana dasa

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by Ajit Krishna Dasa

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Excerpt from a letter called “Please Explain, Jayadvaita Swami, Dravida Prabhu & Company” originally posted on the Sampradaya Sun.
“BY: A GROUP OF SRILA PRABHUPADA DISCIPLES & FOLLOWERS
Dear Jayadvaita Swami, Dravida Prabhu & Company, please explain why you have done the following:
(1) Why is it in the revised edition of the Bhagavad-gita, you and company have completely removed the foreword by Professor Edward Dimock that was printed in the original Macmillan version of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is which Srila Prabhupada regularly read from?
Readers, please visit the website and see the video on YouTube of Srila Prabhupada lecturing on the Bhagavad-gita.
There, in the very immediate beginning (very first few minutes) of this video, you will find Srila Prabhupada praising the foreword by Professor Edward Dimock. This particular video clip is taken from one of the 19 Double layer DVD’s produced by Nrsimhananda Prabhu and his associates at ITV. It is the particular DVD named Bhagavad Gita as It Is, with Krishna and Arjuna on the chariot, and sky background, and is in the very first part, called “Introduction”.
Srila Prabhupada is reading the foreword himself, praising it, mentioning Edward Dimock’s name, and praising Edward Dimock for a particular comment that he had made, as follows:
“Swami Bhaktivedanta comments upon the Gita from this point of view, and that is legitimate. More than that, in this translation the Western reader has the unique opportunity of seeing how a Krsna devotee interprets his own texts”
Srila Prabhupada in the video explains this particular statement by Edward Dimock, on how a Krsna devotee interprets his own texts, by explaining that just as a family member only is qualified to give the best knowledge to others about his own family, similarly, only a Krsna devotee can properly explain to others about Krsna. Srila Prabhupada appreciates this particular point made by Edward Dimock in the video. Read the rest of this entry →

Srila Prabhupada: Our book distribution techniques must be honest‏

January 29, 2014 in Ajit Krishna Das, Yasoda nandana Dasa by Yasoda nandana dasa

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Prabhupada: Our book distribution techniques must be honest

by Ajit Krishna Dasa

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Prabhupada:
“Regarding the controversy about book distribution techniques, you are right. Our occupation must be honest. Everyone should adore our members as honest. . . These dishonest methods must be stopped. It is hampering our reputation all over the world.” (Letter to Rupanuga, 1-9-75)
The way in which Prabhupada’s books are presented to the public is also part of the book distribution process. To hide the fact that the 1983 edition has hidden co-authors that have made extensive additions, subtractions and changes to the book is not honesty, and it will hamper ISKCON’s reputation.
In fact, this has already hampered ISKCON  BBT International’s reputation as a trustworthy publishing company, as the scholarly community has begun to voice their opinions on the deceptive practices used in the post-humous publications.  Factors such as using scholarly reviews from the original 1972 edition (when those scholars never saw, nor reviewed, the vastly edited later edition) have clouded the authenticity of Srila Prabhupada’s sacred books. Respectable scholars would never do such a thing. Read the rest of this entry →

Myths of the BBT and ISKCON GBC‏

January 29, 2014 in Ajit Krishna Das by Yasoda nandana dasa

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Myths of the BBT and ISKCON GBC

by Ajit Krishna Dasa

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Interesting article by JAYA MADHAVA DAS (ACBSP) on the book changes at Sampradaya Sun. Here is an excerpt:
“Simple Truths: Bhagavad-gita As It Is got edited too much and we see the real results of changes to Srila Prabhupada’s Instructions (books) and Programs in ISKCON:
Many USA/UK -EU Temples are EMPTY, the Bhakta Program is dead
BBT is in financial trouble… books sales have plummeted worldwide
Big Gurus and Temples are running unauthorized programs and preaching methods are very questionable (off)
Deities have been dressed like Ken and Barbie dolls, in Santa Claus outfits (this is very offensive)
Tons of devotees have exited ISKCON over the years, and the GBC keep silent
The BBT lost millions of dollars in the court case with Hansadutta das
The ISKCON Movement is no longer united, it’s split up”
Read the complete article here:

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Guru in the singularr and clarify about falldowns‏

January 29, 2014 in Dhira Govinda dasa by Yasoda nandana dasa

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In a   message dated 12/24/2013 5:26:52 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, davidbwolf@satvatove.com   writes:
“Guru”     in the Singular and Clarity about “Fall Down”
by Dhira Govinda     dasa

We need a guru in whom we have absolute faith and     whom we are willing to follow unconditionally in order to spiritually     progress to the realm of pure devotion to Sri Krsna. This statement is made     with reference to the point that each of us has many gurus, with “gurus”     used in the sense of “teacher”, or “person who inspires and guides us”. We     have many gurus, and it is understood that we generally don’t consider these     many gurus to be on the absolute platform. That is fine, realistic, to be     expected. That said, we need one guru, or at least one guru, who is on that     absolute platform and in whom our trust is implicit and absolute. Sincere     followers of Srila Prabhupada agree that Srila Prabhupada exists on that     absolute platform and is fully qualified as a shelter for the unconditional     surrender of conditioned souls. As we assert in Srila Prabhupada: The     Prominent Link, when a person contacts Srila Prabhupada’s movement, that     person has found a guru, in the sense of finding a Vaisnava who is     completely worthy of their absolute faith. In that sense, the person no     longer needs to seek a guru, because s/he has found one. Of course, that     person will naturally have so many other devotees guide, instruct and mentor     him/her during their spiritual lives. Although the person may consider one     or more of these other devotees to be on the absolute platform, it is not     necessary that s/he considers as such, or that those guides and mentors be     on that platform, because Srila Prabhupada is perfectly serving in that     capacity for the aspiring devotee. Thus, to reiterate, Srila Prabhupada     flawlessly fills the role of guru, in the singular sense of the term, for     all who contact his movement. Read the rest of this entry →

Cartoon “Science”

January 29, 2014 in Narasimha Dasa, Yasoda nandana Dasa by Yasoda nandana dasa

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Rejecting Darwinian Myths of Evolution

by Narasimha das

 National Geographic Society recently devoted an entire issue to Charles Darwin and his speculations regarding the origin of species. Their agenda was to show how Darwin’s ideas are now widely accepted by scientists and researchers while most religious leaders reject Darwin due to their blind faith in scriptures. They quoted Srila Prabhupada briefly, and out of context, saying, “Darwin’s ideas are nonsense.” The entire issue was aimed at illustrating how modern science is confirming the fundamentals of Darwin’s ideas regarding the evolution of species; yet instead of providing substantial evidence, they simply glorified Darwin and offered imaginative narratives on how species might have transformed themselves through long series of mysterious mutations.

Evolutionists like to believe that most leading scientists now support Darwin’s far-flung hypothesis that all life has evolved from chemical compounds and that every species has improved itself automatically through chance mutations and the process of natural selection. National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Science Channel and most of the academic community, apparently, have suspended scientific thinking when it comes to the topic of so-called evolution and the origin of species. Before I began studying the Darwinist teachings, I expected to encounter at least 3-star scifi script ramped up a few notches, perhaps, with elaborately devised academia speak. Instead of compelling mock science,  I’ve found instead only Disney-style cartoon tales of amoebas learning to be fish, fish sprouting wings, learning to fly and breathe air, monkeys learning to make tools, build condos, wear pants, grow corn, and so on. All this is possible, the Darwinists claim, by the power of innumerable, progressive, genetic mutations. They believe these mutations have continuously improved millions of species over millions of years, due to the principle of survival of the fittest, or natural selection. Read the rest of this entry →