I host a Zoom podcast on the Nectar of Devotion every Tuesday @ 7 pm and Sundays at 6 pm. Every other evening at 6 pm, on I host a discussion based on Thom Hartmann's "Daily Take" article which he posts on weekdays along with his wife's "Daily Song" inspired by that piece which she writes and produces. I feature that topic the same day on Monday, and a day or two later the other 4 days a week while that current event is still in the news cycle.

We are currently going through a dangerously fraught period in America right now where migrants and being deported en masse and US citizens are waking up to find themselves in the midst of a highly destructive authoritarian coup. It's not enough to just quote scripture without connecting transcendental knowledge to current events and subsequently using that realization which will lead to activism/practical service to God and man. It’s essential that we talk to each other and build coalitions of support & resistance with a view of how to establish within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of the hero of Gaudiya Vaisnavas, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the pioneer of civil disobedience for the right cause in Whose footsteps I am humbly trying to follow. Lord Caitanya is the yuga-avatar (one who descends to the material world during this degraded age of Kali - quarrel & hypocrisy to reestablish the principles of dharma), whose yoga practice of Saṅkīrtana (congregational mantra meditation) and teachings are predicted to be in extent in this world for the next 10,000 years. Here's a video of his act of civil disobedience that facilitated the spread of His movement across the subcontinent of India 500 years ago.

 

This ongoing series is called “śāstra-cakṣusā" (seeing through the eyes of ancient Vedic wisdom literature). All videos of the zoom broadcast are then uploaded to my YouTube channel then posted to this Facebook group. If someone joins me, we take turns reading, but if not, I post my illustrative slideshow video of my reading of the "Daily Take" article every day along with the "Daily Song." Join this group to get notifications of upcoming Zoom broadcast topics, posted videos, and current local devotional & activism events.

This tradition is carried to this day by his followers in the west, led by the greatest 20th century saint, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, who urged his followers apply the civil disobedience tactics of Mahāprabhu whenever appropriate, and made this comment about an infamous POTUS, a topic relevant when he was on this planet a half-century ago:

Please sign to attend our online discussion group by clicking this link to our Facebook group: Coexist Kirtan Center, check out the page, and if you like the content, consider joining to be notified of future events/podcasts, & postings of illustrative slideshow videos on topics of current events produced from my audiobook narrations of prominent progressive/spiritual best-selling authors, pundits, and historians, as well as my own writing.

Here is the direct link to join at the designated time

The Peace Formula

"The great mistake of modern civilization is to encroach upon other’s property as though it were one’s own and to thereby create an unnecessary disturbance of the laws of nature. These laws are very strong. No living entity can violate them. Only one who is God conscious can easily overcome the stringency of the laws of nature and thus become happy and peaceful in the world. As a state is protected by the department of law and order, so is the state of the Universe, of which this earth is only an insignificant fragment, is protected by the laws of nature. This material nature is one of the different potencies of God, who is the ultimate protector of everything that be. This earth is, therefore, the property of God, but we, the living entities, especially the so-called civilized human beings, are claiming God’s property as our own, under both and individual and collective false conception. If you want peace, you have to remove this false conception from your mind and from the world. This false claim of proprietorship by the human race on earth is partly or wholly the cause of all disturbances of foolish and so-called civilized men who are claiming proprietary rights on the property of God because they have now become godless. You cannot be happy and peaceful in a godless civilization. Although there are many civilizations, there is only one God, although He may be called many names in different countries. In the Bhagavad-gita, the holy book of India, Lord Krishna delineates the peace formula. He says that He is the factual enjoyer of all activities of the living entities, that He is the Supreme Lord of all universes, and that He is the well-wishing friend of all beings. When the people of the world know this as the formula for peace, it is then and there that peace will prevail.

Therefore, if you want peace at all, you will have to change your consciousness into God consciousness both individually and collectively, by the simple process of chanting the holy name of God. This is the standard and recognized process for achieving peace in the world. We therefore recommend that everyone become Krishna (God) conscious by chanting “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, or any name of God.

This is practical, simple, and sublime. Five hundred years ago, this formula was introduced in India by Lord Sri Caitanya, and now it is available in your country. Take to this simple process of chanting as above mentioned, realize your factual position by reading the Bhagavad-gita- As It Is, and reestablish your lost relationship with Krishna, God. Peace and prosperity will be the immediate worldwide result." - A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

For an illustrative video slideshow of on this piece, click here.

Pittsburgh Kirtan Center

The Pittsburgh Kirtan Center hosts Kirtan (musical mantra meditation) and a free vegetarian feast every Thursday night. See Facebook Group Page for details and join to stay informed. 

Thursdays: 6:30pm-9:00pm Kirtan programs followed by a vegetarian feast.

The kirtan center itself is currently open. Here is a short video of the grand re-opening.

The new vegetarian buffet style restaurant "Spice Delight" in the storefront you see at the beginning of the video will be opening soon.

Our address is (click on address below for street view);

Pittsburgh Kirtan Center
3513A Butler St.
Pittsburgh, PA  15201

The current owner of the building is Shyamasundara dasa, the president of ISKCON Pittsburgh.

Phone: (312) 531-0079

Facebook Group Page: Pittsburgh Kirtan Center | Facebook

(click to join and be notified of upcoming weekly/special events)