Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter - November 2007

November 2007 Dedicated to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness London: Seeking JuStice in kazakhStan Srila Prabhupada: “The foolishness of gross materialism is that people think of making a permanent settlement in this world, although it is a settled fact that one has to give up everything here that has been created by valuable human energy... This poor fund of knowledge, even in the so-called learned circles of the world, is killing the vitality of human energy, and the awful result is being keenly felt... The preliminary instruction in the Bhagavad-gita is that one should know that the identity of the individual living entity is not lost even after the end of this present body, which is nothing but an outward dress only.” BB Govinda Swami, religious leader of the Almaty community presents the catalogue of atrocities perpertrated against Kazakhstan Hindus Over a three-day period Bhaktivedanta Manor hosted a delegation of devotees and Human Rights Officials from Kazakhstan. Representatives from Amnesty International, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee held several meetings. The systematic (and illegal) destruction of worshippers' homes by the Kazakh authorities and the ongoing persecution of the community has attracted disgust from countries around the world. Yet the regime remains indifferent and the 116-acre temple and grounds are under immediate threat of capture. Srimad Bhagavatam purport At a session in the Houses of Parliament organised by the Hindu Forum of Europe, calls were made by participants for economic sanctions to be brought against the country. With Kazakhstan's appalling trackrecord of mistreatment of its own citizens, it seems political isolation alone will stop the injustice. Please urgently write to your MP and request that representation be made at the highest political levels. Kazakhstan devotees have thanked Britain and Bhaktivedanta Manor for their support - in this hour of need please pray (and act) for their welfare. Kartik - Candles for the Lord Mother Yasoda and Baby Krishna join the Deities on the altar once again for one of the most beautiful festivals of the year. The month long Kartik festival kicked off on 26th October and runs for four weeks. During this time pilgrims come from far and wide to offer a candle to Mother Yasoda and Lord Krishna. The importance of this month is described extensively in the scriptures, especially in Srila Rupa Goswami’s Mathura Mahatmya. The Puranas (Vedic histories) extol the month of Kartik as the topmost in the calendar. Lord Krishna’s mercy is very easily accessible in this month and to demonstrate their sincerity devotees accept different austerities such as fasting, cutting down on non-essential activities and offering charity. Worship of Tulsi and serving Lord Krishna's cows is especially glorified. Every day, devotees come to the Temple and offer a candle or ghee lamp to Lord Damodara. The Damodarastakam, a series of eight beautiful verses by the great sage Satyavrata Muni is sung daily in the morning and evening. Do join us for this most wonderful celebration. Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter November 2007 A Weekend Retreat in the Shires - by Kripa Moya das This latest congregational Vaishnava Retreat has gone well. I am happy and just a little relieved. Because we all live in different parts of Britain, we try to come together to help each other along in Krishna consciousness when we can. So these times together are precious to us. Our event this year - 'A Weekend of Blessings' - involved 75 devotees learning together in a in the Brecon Beacon hills of south Musical entertainment and enlightenment this year was provided by Jayadeva Das and his talented friend Colin who gave a lively rendition of the first nine chapters of Bhagavad-gita, complete with audio-visuals, followed by new devotional songs and celidh style kirtans. The dancing on the Saturday night being particularly lively! Wales. We came from all over the country to enjoy classes and kirtans, presentations and discussions, some team building and the friendship of fellow spiritual travellers. Our venue, Buckland Hall, a recently refurbished conference centre, was known to J R Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings, who lived over the valley for a time and included the place in his map of Middle Earth. We certainly felt we were way out in the Shires when we climbed the nearby mountain and saw the landscape stretching out beneath us. Some truly excellent cooking was offered by Isha Avatara. Arjuna, our former offered sessions on yoga and the breathing mechniques of pranayama; Ranchor Das gave talks on 'Srila Prabhupada in England' as he is writing a book on the subject right now. Gauri Das spoke on Nectar of Devotion and Sanskrit Slokas for Dummies, Jivadoya Das gave powerpoint shows and uplifting presentations on selected verses from Nectar of Instruction. Tribhangananda Das offered Secrets of Reading with Srila Prabhupada; while I provided some histories and reflections surrounding Bhajans of Bhakti and a 'Japa Surgery.' Page 2 Like any gathering of the Vaishnavas, this one will have enduring effects long after the event and will further help us all to develop the network of Krishna conscious practitioners all around the country. May we all have many more occasions such as these. I would like to send my heartfelt thanks to all who worked so hard to make the weekend so full of blessings, especially Gail and Kripamoya. To all the speakers: your contribution was priceless. To everybody: it was a joy to be with you. Thank you! Martin Riches, Guildford Adorned with 3,500 flowers Radhastami, the appearance of Srimati Radharani took place on 19th September. Radharani is the tenderhearted, feminine counterpart of God, who knows best how to please Lord Krishna. Moreover, it is She who, like a mother, nurtures us in our devotional service. A beautiful dress was painstakingly crafted from fresh flowers and offered to Srimati Radharani on the day. She was also presented with various gifts and the Deities enjoyed an abhishek ceremony in the morning. The traditional, and now highly popular evening 'charana darshan' drew a huge crowd. Special fruit cakes adorned the altar displaying Radharani's twentyfive transendental qualities, and visitors queued up after darshan to receive a piece each! Mutual Respect: Vaishnava - Catholic Interfaith Having enjoyed their visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor last year, the Roman Catholic community of Hemel Hempstead warmly welcomed devotees to their church. Father Raymond Legge and senior members staged a colourful exhibition of parish life and the various church activities, shared details and explanation of their faith, and laid on an afternoon buffet tea and concert. A presentation on the basic beliefs of Christianity and specifically the importance of tradition in the Catholic Church generated much conversation. Their special guests were then welcomed to attend the Saturday evening Mass. Vinay Tanna, Head of Manor Communications, said "During our visit I realised the importance of ritual in both our traditions. Interfaith is important because it can strengthen our own faith and lead us to a deeper understanding of the commonality of all humanity." New Playground for Manor's tots! On Thursday 27th of September the new playground for the pre-school children was opened. "This new area for the children is fantastic!" said Nursery leader Jagadhatri dasi, "We now have a much larger grass area for the children to play and there is a designated area which is covered with green safety surfacing. This surfacing enables the pre-school children to play without risk of seriously hurting themselves and can also be used when the grass is wet." Devotees' Ganga adventure After a heavy rain storm and floods in Mayapur, ISKCON's world headquarters in West Bengal, early last month devotees were surprised to see what looked like a flimsy inflatable catamaran float through the main gate. It was barely 12 feet long, open, with no covering against the sun. Onboard were five sun-burnt, tired but happy devotees arriving after a month-long journey on the Ganges river from the town of Vrindavana! (1118 miles). "Everyone at the school is very grateful to Lad Construction for building such a wonderful playground - our thanks to all the devotees who made it happen." Page 3 Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter November 2007 ADMISSIONS OPEN! Admissions have now opened for the Krishna-Avanti Primary School to be built on Camrose Avenue, Edgware. On September 10th, Harrow granted planning consent to build the UK’s first Hindu state school. It will cost around £13 million to build and will open its doors to its first pupils in September 2008. ISKCON UK is the faith advisor to the School, which will house Krishna-Balaram deities inside a marble purpose built temple. The school will be incorporate a ‘japa garden’, vegetable and flower garden, courtyards and playing fields. The school will incorporate various spiritual themes within the national curriculum and during collective worship sessions and assemblies. As a state school, the school will not charge fees and will meet all government standards and regulations. For more information on the School and on how to apply, please visit: £2.54 m www.krishna-avanti.org.uk Ayurvedic students gather from across the world On 12th- 14th October, 75 participants from across Europe and the USA attended a series of workshops by the renowned Dr Vasanta Lad in the pleasureable setting of Bhaktivedanta Manor. In 1984 he Visit: founded the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is currently its director and principal instructor. He is the author of several books and is respected throughout the world for his profound knowledge of Ayurveda. www.krishnatemple.com/ newgokul Page 4 Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter November 2007 With plans finalised and construction due to begin in early 2008, New Gokul is fast becoming reality. As the only centre for cow protection and working oxen in the UK, the current goshalla already attracts interest up and down the country. New Gokul is the much needed replacement for the aging barns that currently provide shelter for the cows and hay. New Gokul has been designed from the beginning to use environmentally friendly materials. With the Kartik period in full swing, attention is naturally focussed on the cows - why not take the opportunity to support this exciting project? The total cost of £2.54m includes landscaping and the construction of a special geo-grid car-park that will allow cars to park on the fields without danger of getting stuck. Page 5 Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter November 2007 Vedic Perspective by Krishna Dharma das Probably a few of you will have missed the recent announcement of the "Ig Nobel Awards", given out by a group calling themselves the "Annals of Improbable Research". This year their Peace Prize went to the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, THE ENEMY WITHIN doing so in Iraq, even if these, as the more cynical might suggest, are only economic. What though is the Vedic position on such conflicts? That is not always an easy question to answer. Certainly war is a part of Vedic politics, after all the Bhagavad-gita was spoken on a battlefield. And the reasons that would make war a Vedic imperative are much the same as those argued by today's politicians, namely to resist or curb down aggressors. Few of us would oppose any war that was truly being fought for this reason. Obviously we don't want swarthy desperadoes swarming our countries, blowing up our trains, planes and buildings. And we surely want to avoid having them burst through our doors, offering us the choice of embracing their faith or having our gizzards forcibly removed. This would seem to be the scenario we are led to believe may occur if certain wars are not fought. The difficult question is whether or not a given conflict truly has such an aim. We are not privy to all the machinations of government, and politicians as a whole lack an unblemished record of thorough honesty, so the doubts are there. But we have to accept that war is sometimes required. Notwithstanding the necessity of some fights, the principle aim of Vedic morality is to attack the mindset that leads to aggression and unwanted conflict in the first place. In one famous episode described in a Vedic text, two violent thugs are about to be killed by the divine incarnation Lord Chaitanya, but his brother Nityananda checks him. "Let us destroy the criminal mentality," he pleads, "not the criminal themselves." This is the real problem. Hatred, envy, anger, lust and greed - these are the actual enemies we face. Some of us succumb to them rather more than others, and hence dissent arises on one scale or another. But all of us find these nuisances assailing us at times, and when they do our peace of mind is naturally disturbed. In such a condition we become likely candidates for conflict, often turning on whoever happens to be available at the time. If then we can find some way of subjugating these powerful assailants we will naturally reduce all kinds of strife, both within and without. And that is precisely the aim of Vedic spirituality, to purify our hearts and minds, which should surely be the aim of any religious doctrine. for inventing a chemical weapon that has been nicknamed the "gay bomb". Adding a new dimension to the old dictum "make love not war", this weapon releases a cloud of gas that makes men irresistibly attracted to one another. Forgetting all about fighting, they would immediately throw down their weapons and go about embracing each other. Devilishly clever, what? This marvelous weapon has yet to be tested in the field, and meanwhile wars grind on around the world, most notably in Iraq, which British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently visited. So unpopular is this conflict that when Mr. Brown announced troop withdrawals during his visit, he was accused of currying public favour in the run up to a possible election. Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, suggested he was using the troops as a "political football". War is of course never a game of any kind. It is an expensive and harrowing business, and any government whose country is embroiled in war will surely endeavour to extricate itself at the earliest possible opportunity. Clearly there are compelling reasons for not Page 6 When we engage in genuine spiritual life we find our baser impulses subsiding. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says, "A faithful person who is dedicated to spiritual practice, who subdues the senses, will achieve pure transcendental knowledge and quickly attain supreme peace." This is the true test of our practice: are we becoming peaceful? Or are we coveting our neighbour's ass, eyeing his wife, hating his race or religion, or just feeling plain disturbed for so many other possible reasons? If so it is perhaps time we reviewed our religious practices, or the absence of them. Far from being the cause of conflict, as it has become fashionable to suggest, religion properly practised offers us the only real hope of ever seeing an end to unwanted wars (with or without the gay bomb). Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter November 2007 Page 7 Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter November 2007 Ravana falls No surprises. But isn't it an amazing story? The traditional example of the victory of good over evil was once again brought to life by a sterling performance from the Pandava Sena thespians. As the story of Lord Rama and Ravana reached its climax a huge effigy of Ravana burst into flames. Ravana's vast army bristling with weapons was crushed by three individuals and a band of monkeys a seemingly incredible feat. God is always ultimately victorious because no one is ultimately any match for Him. Divine versus demoniac is a theme found extensively in the Vedic texts. Irish Jig With the Manor’s brahmacari contingent loose in Ireland only the unexpected could happen – youth cheered, adults tapped their feet and old ladies smiled – as a tidal harinam wave swept through Dublin! Candidates from fifteen temples Belgium, Germany, Italy, Hungary, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and even India were represented at Bhaktivedanta Manor during the latest initiation ceremony. Conducted in the presence of the Deities, over 50 candidates took spiritual vows and formally accepted shelter form their chosen spiritual master, His Holiness Radhanath Swami. Forty Years of Chant and Change Graham Dwyer first met ISKCON devotees in 1975 in his home town of Accrington in Lancashire. He was impressed by their spirituality and the experience stayed with him. After completing his PhD studies in Social Anthropology at Oxford University, he began work on a book that would catalogue ISKCON's development during the last 40 years. His research at Bhaktivedanta Manor commenced five years ago. Graham joined Radha Mohan das in compiling the book, which also contains essays from senior ISKCON devotees and other Graham Dwyer and Radha Mohan das present academic scholars. the book to Srila Prabhupada The Dussehra celebrations at Bhaktivedanta Manor once again reminded everyone of the supreme victory of Lord Rama and the dangers of succumbing to the undesirable forces of lust, anger, greed, envy - represented by the heads of Ravana. Calendar - dates for your diary November Fri 2nd Mon 5th Wed 7th Fri 9th Sat 10th Sun 11th Tue 13th Sun 18th Tue 20th Appearance of Radha Kunda Rama Ekadasi Laxmi Puja Diwali Govardhana Puja, Annakuta, Go Puja Festival at Bhaktivedanta Manor (Diwali & Annakuta) Disapp of Srila Prabhupada (Fasting till noon) Disapp of Sri Gadadhara Dasa Goswami & Sri Srinivasa Acarya Utthana Ekadasi, Bhisma Pancaka Disapp of Srila Gaura Kisora Dasa Babaji (Fasting till noon) Disapp of Sri Bhugarbha Goswami & Sri Kasisvara Pandita Sri Krishna Rasayatra Tulasi-Saligrama Vivaha Kartik ends, Catur Masya ends Month of Margasirsa begins Pramukh Swami Members of the Senior Management and the Patrons Council visited Pramukh Swami, the international leader of the BAPS Swaminarayan organisation. Fri 23rd Sat 24th Bhaktivedanta Manor Dharam Marg · Hilfield Lane · Aldenham · Herts · WD25 8EZ 01923 857244 www.krishnatemple.com Please send your news, photos and comments to Radha Mohan das at: newsletter@krishnatemple.com © 2007 All articles & photographs copyright of Bhaktivedanta Manor Page 8