| | | | HARE KRSNA! | | | Dear Friends, Hope this meets you all well. To experience God's love and to actually understand our love for God is the greatest wealth. And this is within us, it simply has to be awakened. In order to awaken this divine love, the Supreme Lord appeared as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, in the role of His own devotee, over 500 years ago in this age of Kali, the most degraded of all ages. It is very difficult to understand the Absolute Truth. But Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy is so unlimited that He is helping not only to understand Krsna, but also He is giving directly love of Krsna, and the supermost platform of love, as it was experienced by the gopis of Vrindavana. Lord Caitanya, the pioneer of the Civil disobedience movement in India, propagated the 'Hari Sankirtana' which united people together, purified their hearts and gave pure love for Godhead. In the Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32, there is a verse which discloses the identity of Lord Caitanya as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It says: "In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krsna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krsna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions." With great happiness in our hearts, we welcome you to the ISKCON of Silicon Valley (ISV) to celebrate the holiest of all festivals, 'Gaura Purnima' - the auspicious appearance day of Lord Caitanya. We look forward for your associaiton. | | | Wednesday, March 12 - Bhagavad Gita Class THE LOVING NETWORK OF LORD CAITANYA When the Lord appears in the realm of this material world, He descends along with His eternal associates. To prepare for His descent, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu sent His associates to assist Him in His mission. In this most merciful incarnation, the Lord relished the highest love for Krishna together with His loving associates and thus overpowered by the flood of this love, He inaugurated the congregational chanting of the Holy Names. Join us to hear a beautiful discourse on the loving network of Lord Caitanya and His sweet pastimes with His associates. Speaker: H.G. Vaisesika Dasa Time: 6.00 – 8.00pm Discourse will be followed by Sandhya Arati and Prasadam | | | Saturday, March 15 - Srimad Bhagavatam SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM DISCOURSE Join us to hear the nectar of Srimad Bhagavatam from our very special guest, H.H Giriraj Swami this Saturday! Speaker: H.H. Giriraj Swami 7.30 – 10.00am: Brahma Samhita Recitation & Discourse on Srimad Bhagavatam 10.00 am: Guru Puja and Prasadam | | | Sunday, March 16 - GAURA PURNIMA FESTIVAL |  | | THE HOLY APPEARANCE DAY OF LORD CAITANYA More than five-hundred years ago, the very personification of the Lord’s Mercy descended upon this planet and gave us one of the most precious and beautiful of treasures – the means to attain the Love of God. That personality was none other than Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is actually Lord Sri Krishna Himself, in the mood of His consort Srimati Radha Rani. Born in Mayapur (West Bengal) in a town called Nadia, and known variously as Gaura (due to His golden complexion) and Nimai (due to his birth under a Neem tree), Sri Chaitanya showed astonishing intellect and curiosity about everything spiritual. His parents (Jagannatha Mishra and Sachi Devi) as well as anyone that knew Him, understood that He was no ordinary person.Inspired by His pure and unadulterated teachings, His devotees spread the power of the Mahamantra (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare! Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare!) all over India. The Mahamantra is the only means to attaining salvation in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy – the Kali Yuga. The Gaura Purnima festival, which celebrates the appearance day of the Sri Chaitanya, is observed with great enthusiasm every year at the ISKCON of Silicon Valley. The festival falls on Sunday, 16th March – so, please mark your calendars so you don’t miss the joyful kirtans, maha-abhishek, Arati, Caitanya Katha and of course, the delicious prasadam feast that will comprise the festivities GAURA PURNIMA 2014 SCHEDULE: 4:30 Mangala Aarti
5:15am Japa
7:30am Greeting the Deities
7:45am Guru Puja
8:30am Bramha-Samhita Recitation
9:00am Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta Reading
12:00pm Rajbhoga Aarti
1:00pm Sri Caitanya-Caritamrta Reading, Bhajans & Walk in Japa
3:00pm Play by Sunday School Kids by Vedic Academy
4:00pm Abhishek of Lord Gaura Hari & Melodious Kirtana
5:00pm Lecture by His Holiness Giriraj Swami & His Grace Vaisesika Das
6:15pm MSF Offering
6:30pm Sandhya Aarti
7:30pm Acknowledgements
7:40pm Prasadam | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment