Vaishnava Voices Podcast

11/05/2024

Dhira Govinda das (Dr David B. Wolf) recently published the short book "Srila Prabhupada is Sastra" (available on Amazon.com), where he makes the case that Srila Prabhupada's statements constitute sastra.

In this episode he presents his thesis and we discuss hermeneutical approaches to Srila Prabhupada's writing and speaking.

28/04/2024

Our guests for this week's scheduled episode needed to postpone, so this week we're sharing from the Communication: Access to Power that we did last weekend, and answering questions / topics from the community.

13/04/2024

With special guest Cyril Woher (Chandrasekhara Acharya das) we react to the recent interview/debate between Bryan Johnson and Tucker Carlson, talking about transhumanism, AI, and the existence of God.

16/03/2024

Rise of Consciousness - The Journey of the Soul.

We're back in this episode with Tat Purusha das and Padmasundari devi from Slovenia.

Ancient Puranic wisdom reveals natural progression of a soul's journey in human form of life through different stages of consciousness. This is eternal knowledge beyond time, place, and circumstance. It is a great map to know if we are advancing or going backwards in our spiritual and material advancement.

We'll also be answering some questions we got from the last podcast - including discussing some scenarios in the grhasta ashram that have come in.

16/02/2024

Anaru Grey came down to Wellington to the 2022 NZ Parliament Protest for three reasons: to end the mandates, for his grandchildren, and to help the local hapu (tribe).

Anaru created the kaumātua (tribal elder) tent there. Sitapati was invited to join the council of tribal elders, as the representative of the Hare Krishna community within Freedom Village, and was in the tent daily.

Anaru features prominently in the movie River of Freedom (www.riveroffreedom.nz). In this episode we talk with him about his experience at Profest, and how he sees the broader context of what we are up against and the role of the Maori people in New Zealand, and traditional cultures worldwide.

03/02/2024

24 hours of continuous kirtan at the Vishnu Prema Palli ashram.

26/01/2024

We talk with Badarayana das about the current state of the world, the main protagonists that we see on the stage, and how ISKCON fits into it.

28/11/2023

Sitapati Das is in Seattle, Washington this week - the scene of the Capitol Hill Occupation Protest in 2020 that informed his participation in the 2022 NZ Parliament Occupation Protest. It's also the gayest city he's ever been in, with Pride flags absolutely everywhere. Join us for a discussion about how Seattle 2020 influenced Wellington 2022, and what Seattle is like in 2023.

18/11/2023

21/10/2023

Join us on this podcast to learn the history that will allow you to make sense of current events. Get your background on World War Three as the widespread kinetic phase kicks off.

Who were the Jews of 1st century Palestine, and where are they now?

And what is the fighting about in Gaza?

Author Dhanesvara Das has written about this in his book "Divine or Demoniac? Spiritual Movements and the Enemies Within"

18/10/2023

Kaunteya das is back, in an appearance that is sure to simultaneously infuriate and inspire each side of the audience along the schism over how to understand and present Srila Prabhupada's "controversial statements".

Kaunteya prabhu is the author of the book "Tough Questions, Difficult Answers: On Srila Prabhupada's Contentious Remarks". In this conversation, we examine some of the subject matter of this book, and consider the questions: "How do we defend the Founder-Acarya from criticism, without fanaticism?" and "Why would you even want to do that?"

It's going to be spicy.

17/09/2023

Kirtan at the river of freedom movie.

11/09/2023

Vaiyasaki das is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada who is world renowned for his kirtan. In the 1970s he spent time in Bangladesh imbibing the art of Bengali kirtan. He has released many kirtan albums in a variety of styles; and he is also an author. He has written a trilogy about the inner life of Vishnujana Swami and Jayananda Thakura, a book on Cosmology, and a book exposing the vaccine industry. Vaiyasaski prabhu and his wife Kishori devi are visiting New Zealand at the moment, as part of the "Farewell to the Material World" Tour, and we take the opportunity to chat with them on Vaishnava Voices.

05/09/2023

The feature-length documentary “River of Freedom: Heart of the Protest” premieres today at the prestigious Civic Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand.

The crew from Hare Krishna Beehive reunite on the red carpet, joined by Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Vaiyasaki das, to chant Hare Krishna and welcome in the Golden Age with their Profestarian brothers and sisters!

01/09/2023

"The demon and the devotee reside in the same body" - this is a statement that Kirtanananda Swami (aka Srila Bhaktipada) is reported to have said to a group of brahmacharis at New York ISKCON in 1969. Today, we see his statement as prophetic, especially regarding his history in ISKCON.

A controversial figure in ISKCON from the very beginning, the arc of Srila Bhaktipada is a cautionary tale - and one that is not widely discussed and analysed by his former followers and associates, many of whom have gone on to take major leadership positions in ISKCON. One will not find classes on "Lessons I learned from participating in the rise and fall of Kirtanananda Swami" by ISKCON leaders.

It is said that "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it". Fortunately, Henry Doktorski has taken up the mantle of historian, and produced an extensive body of work documenting Kirtanananda Swami's post-Srila Prabhupada disappearance career.

He joins us in this episode to talk about his books "Killing for Krishna", "Eleven Naked Emperors" and the series "Gold, Guns, and God".

24/08/2023

Our second episode with Radha Krishna das (Vedic Agriculture on Facebook).

The health of our planet and the well-being of its inhabitants are intrinsically linked. Every field we sow and every energy source we tap into has ripple effects that echo across ecosystems. 'Respectful Coexistence with Nature' beckons us to reconsider our methods, to adopt practices that not only sustain but enrich our environment. It's not just about eco-friendly techniques; it's about recognising that humans are organic and an integral part of the ecosystem. From agriculture that sings in harmony with nature's rhythms to energy sources that harness the planet's bounty without depleting it — let's craft a world where progress respects the sanctity of Mother Earth, replacing oil and electrical mechanical power with grass-fed animal power; and replacing chemical fertilizers with closed loop regenerative agriculture.

23/08/2023

Our second episode with Radha Krishna das (Vedic Agriculture on Facebook).

The health of our planet and the well-being of its inhabitants are intrinsically linked. Every field we sow and every energy source we tap into has ripple effects that echo across ecosystems. 'Respectful Coexistence with Nature' beckons us to reconsider our methods, to adopt practices that not only sustain but enrich our environment. It's not just about eco-friendly techniques; it's about recognising that humans are organic and an integral part of the ecosystem. From agriculture that sings in harmony with nature's rhythms to energy sources that harness the planet's bounty without depleting it — let's craft a world where progress respects the sanctity of Mother Earth, replacing oil and electrical mechanical power with grass-fed animal power; and replacing chemical fertilizers with closed loop regenerative agriculture.

18/08/2023

The book "Tough Questions, Difficult Answers", by previous guest Kaunteya das, has ignited a firestorm in ISKCON. A central thesis for his book is, “that Srila Prabhupada might have absorbed some of the outlooks predominant in his cultural environment, his historical period” (TQDA 257), with the further implication that Śrīla Prabhupāda’s words are sometimes to be considered untrue, in error, or incorrigibly offensive to modern sensibilities.

The ISKCON India Scholars Board (IISB) has produced a series of essays challenging the contents of the book, and in this episode we sit down with IISB member Kṛṣṇa Kīrti dāsa to discuss the book, its contents, the response - and more fundamentally the issues at the core of the controversy.

11/08/2023

We talk with filmmakers Jordan Ranson and Dane Scott from Manaaki Media. They were both at the NZ Parliament Occupation in 2022, and were involved in the filming and production of the River of Freedom movie that comes out nationwide in New Zealand on September 8.

29/07/2023

Arjuna Gallagher from the Theology Unleashed channel and Chandidasa dasa (Dr Julian Seidenberg) join us for a discussion on Artificial Intelligence and Krishna Consciousness. What is consciousness? Can an Artificial Intelligence be or become conscious? What are the implications of Artificial Intelligence economically, socially, and politically, and how does this intersect with the mission to establish Varnashram-dharma as the system of organisation for human society?

And most importantly: is AI the action of transdimensional asuric entities wishing to incarnate in this dimension and summoned in a black magic ritual by their accomplices?

Nothing is off the table. Join the movement's foremost philosophical YouTuber, AI researcher, and conspiracy theorist in this incredible conversation.

27/07/2023

We are joined by Akinchana Krishna das, who spent time with Aindra in the 24 hour kirtan in Vrindavan, and did hundreds of hours of interviews for the book "Aindra: Kirtan Revolution" by Kalachandji Das; and also by Bhakti Sastri Chris Briscoe, who is preparing a review of the book.
We will also be discussing Aindra's book "The Heart of Transcendental Book Distribution: Reality Burns Brighter Than Imagination".

And we won't be shying away from the big questions:

Was Aindra murdered? And who ordered it?

Aindra prabhu was a greatly misunderstood person. We will use the discussion to address various misunderstandings and misconception:

Was he a sahajia, was he a crazy person, an ISKCON subversive?
What's with the highly offensive "to hell with" speech?
Is he worth following, or is following Aindra a deviation from following Srila Prabhupada?

21/07/2023

Radha Ramana is absolutely convinced that Garuda das' paper "When the Master Speaks" is offensive to Srila Prabhupada, and he's coming on to explain why. Let's see if his line of reasoning holds up under scrutiny. If you thought that Garuda das got a soft touch when he came on Vaishnava Voices recently, tune in to see if Radha Ramana das is the champion that you were looking for.

08/07/2023

Writing as Dr Graham M. Schweig, Garuda das ignited a firestorm with his academic paper "When the Master Speaks". In this interview we explore the paper, its approach and conclusions, and the backlash in the devotee community.

02/07/2023

This is a reaction video to Part Two of the movie "We Came Here For Freedom". It came out yesterday (July 1, 2023) and is available to view in its entirety at https://www.wecamehereforfreedom.com.