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JKYog
e-Magazine, Issue No. 94
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Editor's Message
Dear Readers,
Sharad Poornima, the full moon night when the gopis danced in the Raas Leela
with Shree Krishna, is celebrated in the month of Ashwin (September -
October). Drawn by the enchanting music emanating from Shree Krishna's
divine flute on the full moon night of Sharad Poornima, the gopis of
Braj rushed to him. Many Krishna devotees consider Sharad Poornima as
the highest of all festivals, since it was on this day that God showered
the highest bliss of divine love on his most loving devotees.
It was
on this very night of Sharad Poornima in the year 1922 that our beloved
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj appeared in Mangarh, Uttar Pradesh,
India.
This month, we celebrate the divine love of gopis, and express our gratitude to dear Maharajji.
We share
with you updates on JKYog activities, Swamiji's upcoming events,
Bal-Mukund contributions and health benefits of Jaggery in our wellness for life section.
Best Wishes,
Editor's Desk
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देखो प्रेम गोपीजना, विधि मांगे रज चरणा
dekho prema gopījanā,
vidhi māṅge raja charanā
"Look
at the extraordinary divine love of the gopis. Even the creator
of the world and the bestower of everyone's destiny, Brahmā, desires the
dust of their feet."
Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj
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Gopis' Selfless Love Binds Shree Krishna
Mādhurya bhāv of the gopis and their divine love for Shree Krishna is universally known. Bound by the love of the gopis, even the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna loses his almightiness. He willingly goes to the houses of gopis so that he can hear them call him a thief. He is always eager to hear their rebukes.
The gopis of Vrindavan are a personification of nishkam prem (selfless
love). Once, all the wives of Shree Krishna began to wonder why He
forgets Himself or swoons just at the thought of these gopis.
Shree Krishna, who dwells in everyone's heart, was aware of their
thoughts and decided to help them realize the true love of gopis.
He feigned a headache and asked His wives for help. All of His queens
brought all sorts of medicine to help relieve His headache but nothing
seemed to work.
That
very day, Sage Narad happened to visit Dwaraka, and much to his dismay,
he found out from Rukmini that Shree Krishna had a headache. He went to
Shree Krishna and said, "O Leela Purshotam (Lord of
pastimes), may we know why you have fabricated this ailment? Since you
have created this whole situation, could you please tell us the remedy,
too?" With a mischievous smile, Shree Krishna said, "Devarshi Narad, I
am in terrible pain, and you say I am feigning it? The only medicine for
this pain is to swallow a pinch of dust taken from any of my devotee's
feet."
Sage
Narad was relieved to hear this, as all the queens of Krishna were
great devotees. So, he approached them one by one, asking for the dust
of their feet. Every one refused and said, "If we gave our foot dust to
our husband, it will slander our good name eternally; besides, we will
have to face the adverse consequences of such an act. How about you give
your foot dust, as you are an ardent devotee?"
Shree
Krishna, taking pity on Sage Narad, who got into a delicate
circumstance, suggested he go to Vrindavan and inform the gopis about His pain and the remedy.
When Naradji reached Vrindavan, all the gopis
gathered around him. As soon as they heard the reason for his visit,
they extended their feet and asked him to take the dust. Surprised,
Naradji said, "Do you realize whom you are offering your foot dust? This
act of yours is bound to have negative ramifications, you might land in
hell." The gopis said, "We do know the
repercussions, Maharshi, but we are not concerned about those
consequences. We neither desire the heaven nor fear the hell. What we
solely care about is the happiness of our beloved."
Having heard about the gopis' response, the queens of Dwarka became curious to meet the gopis. On one of the festival occasions, the queens went to the same river in Kurukshetra wher Shree Radha Rani and the gopis bathed. They invited Shree Radha and offered her a cup of boiling hot milk.
That
night, when the queens sat down to press Shree Krishna's feet, they
noticed blisters on his foot. When they enquired the reason for the
blisters, Shree Krishna said:
śhrī rādhikāyā hṛidayārvinde pādārvindam hi virājate meṅ
adyoṣhṇadugdhapratipānatoṅgrā vuchchhālakāste mama prochchhalanti
(Garga Samhita 6.1.17-35)
"My
feet are forever present in Shree Radha Rani's heart. Bound by
ropes of love and devotion, they cannot leave for a moment or even half a
moment."
Such is the divine nature of the selfless mādhurya love Radha Rani and the gopis, who became the sole recipients of the bliss of mahārās.
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"God
and Saints work their miracles inside of a human being. They inspire
and motivate a soul to turn towards spirituality as the only solace to
inner discontentment and suffering. It is the Guru or the Saint who
transforms a soul so that he is deserving of God's Grace. Jagadguru
Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, the embodiment of such divine grace, worked
tirelessly for ninety years, pioneering a spiritual uprising not seen
since the descension of Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji in the 15th
century." - H. H. Swami Mukundananda
Jagadguru
Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, who appeared in this world on the Sharad
Poornima night in 1992, is the fifth original Jagadguru in Indian
history. He is renowned for his exquisite mastery of the Hindu
scriptures. He has composed thousands of bhajans that exude
Vedic philosophy in general and love for God in
particular. He is lovingly called "Maharajji" by his
devotees.
No
matter what we say or do, never can we repay Maharajji for the
knowledge and Bhakti Yog philosophy he has revealed, or for the
soul-stirring kirtans that fill our heart with nectar of divine love.
We remain indebted and celebrate him with gratitude!
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DANCING THE NIGHT AWAY at NAVARATRI MELA at
RADHA KRISHNA TEMPLE in ALLEN |
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Visitors
thronged to the Navarati Mela and Food Festival at Radha Krishna Temple
in Dallas over the last ten days. The nights were filled with joyful
dancing, eating savory festival dishes, and paying honor to Goddess
Durga and her powerful and amazing Divine Forms. Various unique vendors
each night added to the cultural flavor of the night.
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Daily Sadhana- Spiritual Practice Made Easy!
Daily Sadhana
is a unique online service which allows spiritual seekers to acquire
spiritual knowledge anywhere, anytime, and at your own pace!
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How to Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude?
Swami Mukundananda ji says that
"where there is gratitude, resentment and negativity cannot exist. It
only brings a sense of joy and celebration." He adds that we should
practice the sentiment of feeling gratitude on a daily basis in order to
make it a habit.
What are we grateful for?
We are grateful to God and Guru for the many blessings we have
received. We are thankful for a healthy body and mind, a roof over our
head, an intellect that allows us to perform our duties in order to meet
physical and emotional needs of family members, an inner strength that
keeps us together when faced with challenges, and a support system of
like-minded devotees. As an expression of our devotion and gratitude, in
this issue we share a video by Swami Mukundananda ji that encourages us
to examine what and how we should feel gratitude for all the gifts from
God and Guru. #1FeelGratitude.
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For more spiritual inspiration, please click below to subscribe to
JKYog YouTube channels for videos in English and Hindi!
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A
grand welcome celebration for Swamiji was organized by Delhi and later
Cuttack devotees. They were blessed to have his darshan after what felt
like a long 7 months.
A special satsang with Swamiji was organised at JKU. More than six hundred devotees from different JKYog centers across Odisha attended the event.
A
free general health and eye check-up camp for children of primary
standard from nearby village school Saraswati Shishu Mandir was
conducted at Jagadguru Kripalu Chikitsalaya, Banara, Cuttack. Swamiji
distributed chocolates and geometry boxes to all children who were
present. They were excited to be in Swamiji's presence and to receive
gifts from him.
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Swami Mukundananda's 2018-19 India Tour |
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Nov 3 |
Dallas Diwali Dinner |
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Banara, Cuttack |
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Nov 10 - 14 |
Jajpur |
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Nov 15 - 16 |
Tikia, Naghban, Rairangpur |
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Nov 17 - 18 |
Baripada |
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Nov 19 - 22 |
Karanjia |
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Nov 23 - 29 |
Trisulia, Cuttack |
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JKYog Presents
Bal-Mukund
Personality Development Classes for Children |
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The
Oxford English dictionary defines gratitude as "readiness to show
appreciation for and to return kindness". This definition is rather
inadequate, as it raises the question, "Is gratitude really such a
reactive response?" Being reactive means allowing the external stimuli,
to control the state of one's actions and emotions. However, true
gratitude is a state of being which requires no stimulus. It is an
attitude where one's mind is engaged in continually and proactively
finding opportunities to be thankful!
This
was the theme at Bal-Mukund RKT Dallas session on Sept 30th. The young
minds were introduced to the hashtag #iFeelGratitude. Bal-Mukunds
watched a video lecture by His Holiness, Shree Swami Mukundananda ji on
the art of cultivating the attitude of gratitude for the gifts that are
conferred upon us and continuing to maintain that gratefulness should
they be taken away as well, thus continually exercising the muscle of
gratitude. They were presented with a few precious moments to
contemplate on the message and were visibly inspired by it. In the
activity that followed, kids received their own #iFeelGratitude cards.
They were encouraged to recognize those that are important in their
lives and use their cards to write words of gratitude for anyone
including God, Guru, Family, Friends, Bal-Mukund, and much more. Many
enjoyed drawing pictures to express their emotions more effectively.
Bal-Mukunds
took home the assignment to share their cards with their parents and
siblings. The cards contain QR codes, upon scanning which, the families
will be able to watch the video lecture together, like it and forward it
to extended family members and friends.
Bal-Mukund
team is thankful to the contributions of adult and youth volunteers and
wound like to recognize everyone for their selfless contributions each
week. We wish that the wave of gratitude engulfs each one of you and
those around in happiness and eradicates all the gloom from your
surroundings.
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Amazing Health Benefits of Jaggery
Health benefits
of jaggery are numerous. It contains a long list of minerals and
phytochemicals making it a healthier substitute for white sugar, which
is mostly empty calories. It contains important vitamins, minerals,
potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, selenium, calcium, and antioxidants.
Jaggery (or
Gur) is a form of unrefined natural sugar which is obtained by boiling
concentrated sugar cane juice till it solidifies. It is also made from
date palm and coconut sap, but sugar cane jaggery is most popular due to
its ease of availability all year round and is extensively used in
traditional Indian cuisine.
There are several amazing health benefits of jaggery, a few are listed below:
Cleanses the body: Prevents constipation and excellent for detox
It
prevents constipation by activating the digestive enzymes, which
stimulates bowel movement and acts as a diuretic. It cleanses the liver
by flushing out all the harmful toxins from the body. A small piece can
be a very effective detox agent.
Prevents anemia: Highly recommended during pregnancy
Jaggery
is very rich in iron and helps boost hemoglobin level. Adding a small
amount to an everyday meal helps prevent anemia. It is a healthy way to
boost iron intake during pregnancy.
An effective cough & cold relief
Jaggery
is an effective home remedy for seasonal cough and cold. It also
helpful in preventing respiratory ailments like asthma and bronchitis.
Add a small amount to your ginger tea or basil tea instead of white sugar or simply have it with warm water for best results.
Boosts Immunity
Jaggery
boosts our immune system thus building our resistance against
infections. It is loaded with minerals like zinc and selenium and is
rich in antioxidants which contain the damage caused by free radicals.
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Contact us |
The Editor JKYog: XVII/3305, 1st Floor
Ranjit Nagar (Near PUSA)
New Delhi - 110008, India |
7405 Stoney Point Dr, Plano
TX 75025, USA |
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Copyright © Jagadguru Kripaluji Yog 2018. All rights reserved. Reserved.
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