November 10th Govardhana Puja preparations

Every year my wife spends countless nights in preparation of the big day, Govardhana Puja.  Here are some photos & videos to enjoy!

 

and a few years earlier

Unboxing of 2nd set of Nava-Vraja-Mahimā by Śivarāma Swami

Krishna Tech: Kṛṣṇa VS Kåñëa–Balarama Font Macros Converter for Word

Kṛṣṇa’s holy name is transcendental.  Therefore it is not surprising that it remains transcendental, even when altered by the font conversion process.   When pasting on the web a text with Balarama font the name Kṛṣṇa becomes Kåñëa.   That is not too bad as one of Kṛṣṇa’s names is Kanhaiya.  However when words such as Śrīla become Çréla and other words are sometimes very hard to figure out, it becomes frustrating.  However there is a simple solution that will allow you to maintain all your files formatting.  Keeping all your Bolds, your   centered    text, italics, and everything in between.  It is Macros, by using macros one can changes the Balarama diacritic characters to the correct corresponding unicode characters that remain readable one the web and can be seen in most fonts.  This also means that searching become easier to use as well. 

The macros that I was able to put together can be found here.  https://pastee.org/qhp8a It also works on your footnotes as well. 

Notes:

If you have a file that has footnotes it will convert it and save it as is.  If it the files does not have footnotes it will say error and you can choose end or debug.   Press end and save or save as and you are done. 
Do not use files that have fonts that are similar to the diacritics in Balarama but have different corresponding letters to the diacritics letters.  I think Tamal is ok, It seems like the all corresponding letters that are converted are the same as the Balarama font

Kirtan at the Darshan Room

Kirtan & Class with Giridhari Swami, Giriraj Swami, & Gunagrahi Das Goswami

TEXAS FAITH 111: Pope Francis criticizes narrow focus on abortion, gay rights and conception

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

Pope Francis offered some provocative thoughts last week. Speaking about the hot-button issues of abortion, gay rights and conception, he told a Jesuit interviewer: “It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.”

He went on in the interview to say that his church had grown obsessed with those topics.

I have to admit, the church universal seems way too caught up in debates over abortion, gay marriage and conception. So, I happen to agree with his view.

But what do you think? Are people of faith becoming too occupied with gay rights, abortion and conception?

And what do you make of this statement that also came from the Pope:

“The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent.”

Applying that line to your own religious tradition, how are believers supposed to know which teachings are more important than others?

In my tradition, the Presbyterian Church USA, we have creeds, but we don’t necessarily have a Presbyterian’s guide to the top 10 beliefs, or some such list of priorities.

This could get arbitrary, couldn’t it?

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

All teachings start with a foundation. Without a clear foundation it is impossible to get a translucent picture as to how should one operate in this material world. Otherwise one may have various principles, many of which that have value, but such value will difficult to impart without a clear, logical, and philosophical premise.

The basic idea in the Bhagavad Gita is that the soul is different from the body. That is something that everyone witnesses, whether they know it or not. That body changes but the witness within that body remains the same.

So with this understanding one can evaluate various issues. One can see how the particular issue relates to the soul and that soul’s relationship with God.

If the soul is different from the body and if the soul can be understood to be present by the symptoms of life, then it is easy to understand that there is a soul in body of every human, every fetus, and every animal. To say that there is a soul in the fetus but Fido the dog does not have a soul is illogical.

People of this world will not continue to be satisfied with rules and regulations based illogical and foundationless principles. That is why so many have rejected religion altogether. Therefore anyone who is interested in the All Intelligent Supreme Person, Krishna or God, must seek a logical foundation upon which the proper rules and regulations can rest

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

Citra Kavitvani - Amazing Sanskrit poetry from Rupa Goswami's Stava Mala–Video

Only a powerful genius could compose such an amazing work.  Verses composed of only 2 or even 1 consonant and verses that create almost impossible pictures. 

Expounded upon by Baladeva Vidyabhusana in his last commentary.  This great video has been put together by the Matsya Avatara Prabhu and his students from ISKCON’s Govardhan Sanskrit school, Śrīmad-Bhāgavata Vidyāpīṭham.
Here are some related links
Books by Rupa Goswami - http://j.mp/17oRChW
HH Sivarama Swami - http://www.sivaramaswami.com/en/2008/12/07/citra-kavitvani/
Powerpoint - http://j.mp/15HwkxA