​Sometime in the late 70s or early 80s (I believe) once again tensions were high in Washington, DC the mecca of protest and spotlights.  I believe it was a Friday afternoon and the People's Anti-War Mobilization (PAM), a left wing communist group had organized what was to become a violent confrontation with the police at the Lincoln Memorial.   The event was a march to protest Reagan Administration Central American and domestic policies; 100,000 march. “The themes were to stop the U.S. war buildup; U.S. hands off El Salvador; divest from Southern Africa; money for jobs and human needs, not for the Pentagon; stop racist violence; end lesbian and gay oppression.” Somehow we, the devotees, got wind of the event and everyone loaded into vans and cars with drums, kartals (cymbals) and tilak.  When we arrived we could see the police in full riot gear where lined up in front of the Memorial.  The protestors were slowly moving up on either side of the reflecting pool coming closer to the police. 

​The air was so thick and felt like it does just before a tornado is about to erupt.  The tension level was at a 10 and no one on either side was going to back down. So, fearless as we were, we positioned ourselves between the two armies and let the Holy Name do the rest.  With all of us looking at each other, we chanted with the sincerity of one facing the gallows.  We chanted, we danced and played our instruments with voracity and absolute conviction.  Then as thought the sun had broken through clouds, every one of us could feel the power of Krishna’s Holy Name.   The ecstasy we were feeling started to flow through to the protestors and the police as well.  An absolute profound change had come over everyone there on the front steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  Behind us the police were clapping and right in front of us the protestor with mouths open were struck with wonder.  They anger was gone and some even took to clapping and dancing with the kirtan as the police were doing.  All of the devotees could feel the hand of Krishna upon our heads and bliss was permeating our hearts.  I cannot say how long the kirtan lasted it seemed to go on forever or at least until the crowd dissipated.  The police were as amazed, if not more so, than everyone else.

prāyeṇālpāyuṣaḥ sabhya
kalāv asmin yuge janāḥ
mandāḥ sumanda-matayo
manda-bhāgyā hy upadrutāḥ
Synonyms: 
prāyeṇa — almost always; alpa — meager; āyuṣaḥ — duration of life; sabhya — member of a learned society; kalau — in this Age of Kali (quarrel); asmin — herein; yuge — age; janāḥ — the public; mandāḥ — lazy; sumanda-matayaḥ — misguided; manda-bhāgyāḥ — unlucky; hi — and above all; upadrutāḥ — disturbed.

​S.B. 1.1.10  Translation: 
O learned one, in this iron Age of Kali men almost always have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed.
Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktiventa Swami Prabhupada:
The devotees of the Lord are always anxious for the spiritual improvement of the general public. When the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya analyzed the state of affairs of the people in this Age of Kali, they foresaw that men would live short lives. In Kali-yuga, the duration of life is shortened not so much because of insufficient food but because of irregular habits. By keeping regular habits and eating simple food, any man can maintain his health. Overeating, over-sense gratification, overdependence on another’s mercy, and artificial standards of living sap the very vitality of human energy. Therefore the duration of life is shortened.
The people of this age are also very lazy, not only materially but in the matter of self-realization. The human life is especially meant for self-realization. That is to say, man should come to know what he is, what the world is, and what the supreme truth is. Human life is a means by which the living entity can end all the miseries of the hard struggle for life in material existence and by which he can return to Godhead, his eternal home. But, due to a bad system of education, men have no desire for self-realization. Even if they come to know about it, they unfortunately become victims of misguided teachers.
In this age, men are victims not only of different political creeds and parties, but also of many different types of sense gratificatory diversions, such as cinemas, sports, gambling, clubs, mundane libraries, bad association, smoking, drinking, cheating, pilfering, bickerings and so on. Their minds are always disturbed and full of anxieties due to so many different engagements. In this age, many unscrupulous men manufacture their own religious faiths which are not based on any revealed scriptures, and very often people who are addicted to sense gratification are attracted by such institutions. Consequently, in the name of religion so many sinful acts are being carried on that the people in general have neither peace of mind nor health of body. The student (brahmacārī) communities are no longer being maintained, and householders do not observe the rules and regulations of the gṛhastha-āśrama. Consequently, the so-called vānaprasthas and sannyāsīs who come out of such gṛhastha-āśramas are easily deviated from the rigid path. In the Kali-yuga the whole atmosphere is surcharged with faithlessness. Men are no longer interested in spiritual values. Material sense gratification is now the standard of civilization. For the maintenance of such material civilizations, man has formed complex nations and communities, and there is a constant strain of hot and cold wars between these different groups. It has become very difficult, therefore, to raise the spiritual standard due to the present distorted values of human society. The sages of Naimiṣāraṇya are anxious to disentangle all fallen souls, and here they are seeking the remedy from Śrīla Sūta Gosvāmī.

Below is an example and a good push back by Dr. Sebastian Gorka in the fight against "Fake and False News" which we are subjected to each day.


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Back to Godhead Article - by Drutakarma Dasa November/December 2009
​This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his influential book The Origin of Species, in which he presented his theory of evolution by natural selection. Because Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, so often spoke about Darwin and his theory, and because Darwin and his theory are so representative of the substance and spirit of modern science, some words about Srila Prabhupada’s attitudes toward modern science are now appropriate.
Srila Prabhupada gave scientists credit for their proven accomplishments. But he would not give them credit for assertions they could not practically demonstrate. For example, many scientists assert that life arose on earth by chemical combination. In reply, Srila Prabhupada argued that no one has observed life arising spontaneously from chemical combination in nature. Nor have scientists produced life by combining chemicals in their laboratories.
Turning to the origin of species, Srila Prabhupada rejected Darwin’s proposal that one species transforms into another. There is evolution, Srila Prabhupada said, but it is the evolution of the soul through various forms of life, all created in the beginning by God, Krishna.
According to materialistic science, consciousness is produced by chemical interactions in the brain. Srila Prabhupada often challenged this idea. The atma, the soul, he proposed, is the source of consciousness.
In discussing the origin of the universe, most materialistic scientists favor some version of the “big bang” theory. Srila Prabhupada questioned how such an unguided process could produce all the signs of order and design we observe in the universe. He upheld the Vedic account of creation, in which creation unfolds under the supervision of the Supreme Lord and subordinate demigods like Brahma.
The Vedic universe differs structurally from the universe depicted by modern science. Many of the structural features of the Vedic universe aren’t visible to modern scientific investigators. But Srila Prabhupada suggested that there may be much beyond the range of ordinary sense perception.
So beyond pointing out the shortcomings of specific scientific theories about the origin of life and the universe, Srila Prabhupada also offered a critique of the entire scientific method. The best way to acquire knowledge, Srila Prabhupada said, is to accept it from a person beyond the limitations of the empirical method. That person is the Supreme Lord, who gives us perfect knowledge in His words, recorded in the Vedic literature.
Ultimately, Prabhupada opposed many conclusions of materialistic scientists because those conclusions discourage people from taking up the spiritual activities that can deliver them from the cycle of birth and death. Misguided by scientific teachings that deny or downplay the existence of God and the soul, people engage in material activities that keep them in ignorance of their true spiritual identity and keep them from returning back to Godhead, back to their original spiritual home.

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Way back in 1976 the devotees in New York were determined to build three huge Ratha Yatra carts and hold the respective festival in the most important city of the world.

The challenge was to find a place in Manhattan where the carts could be built and then transferred to the festival route.  Open real estate in Manhattan is a very rare thing indeed.   Tosan Krsna took it upon himself to find such a place that would work.  The docks where the logical choice and in fact probably the only place that would work.  Without reservation he approached the then owners of the area with a proposal to let the devotees use the area to build the carts.  Such to his dismay, he was told they were in the process of selling the property and it would be solely up to the new owner.  That new owner was none other than Donald J. Trump.  So Tosan’s proposal was passed on to this noted real estate mogul.  Things seemed dim at that point.

However, much to Tosan’s surprise and prayers he was contacted and asked to come to the Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan where the real estate transaction was to be concluded.   There upon he was given the signed permission agreement.  It was signed by non-other than Donald J. Trump with permission to use the dock yards to build the Ratha-Yatra carts for the most famous ISKCON festival.  Trump could have easily rejected the proposal but, he did not.  Why he did not, at this time, only he and Lord Krishna know. Perhaps we will find out some time in the future.   All we can honestly due is thank Tosan Krsna for his determined effort and now President Trump for his generosity. Jaya Lord Jaganath.  

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