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Suppose your wealthy great grandfather, a former minister of finance, set up a trust fund with you as the beneficiary. You are to receive an extremely generous amount of money each month�far more than sufficient to supply you and your family's entire needs throughout your lives.

In the name of the organizers of Ratha-Yatra Guadalajara 2001, we are pleased to invite you to the twenty-fifth Festival of the Gigantic Cars in this city, November 2-4.

According to the Bhagavad-gita, anything done without the transcendental objective of pleasing Lord Visnu � whether it be sacrifice, charity, or penance � has no spiritual value.

We rose early today and chanted a few rounds before going to the Irkutsk temple. When we arrived, the small building was packed with young devotees. Reminiscent of ISKCON in its early days, devotees were dressed in improvised dhotis and saris, the men in white linen and the ladies in cheap, local cloth with popular Russian patterns. The young ladies wore plastic jewelry and self-made bindis. There were no fancy saris and no expensive jewelry.

On Saturday, October 20, 2001, we invite all devotees who have served here in Detroit to please COME HOME and help us celebrate Devasadhan Mandir's 25th Anniversary.

During these days, after September 11, of great sadness, anger, as well as suspicion and misunderstanding between people, especially toward anyone who looks foreign, there is a huge need for increased awareness of who are our neighbors and what are their cultures. To help fill this need is an important and free "e-booklet" which provides a quick and deeper understanding of the Vedic path, commonly called Hinduism.

My name is Michael Maloney. I work for the Fire Department in New York City. Whether it was a fortunate, or unfortunate circumstance, I was not in New York City when the attack occurred.

A leading 'positive psychologist' is working to prove that kindness is catching. Witnessing good deeds physically inspires the viewer to model that behavior, he says, a finding that can � and should � be applied to childrearing and education.
By Mark Moran, MPH, WebMD Medical News

Sri Vaishnavi Shaktipeeth Ashram has staying facilities, especially for ISKCON devotees for the upcoming Kartik Festival and also for long-term living. The Ashram is located within 3 minutes walking distance from the ISKCON Krishna Balarama Temple.

Hare Krishna. Anyone coming to Vrindavan is requested to bring pure ghee and pure honey, as much as you can, for the seva of Their Lordships Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, Sri Sri Krishna Balarama, Sri Sri Radha Shyamsundar.

Empathy is essential. Even though we are not this body, BG 6.31 indicates that we should feel empathy for others according to our own experience of pain and suffering. "para-duhkha-duhkhi krpambudhir yas tam aham prapadye." [from Srila Raghunatha dasa Goswami, Vilapa-Kusumanjali 6] One who is an ocean of mercy very much aggrieved by the sufferings of others.

When we arrived back at our base, several devotees who had stayed back to clean the kitchen ran up and told us about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in America. The viciousness of the attack and extent of the destruction stunned the devotees.

On the way back to the base, Nandini and Radha Sakhi Vrnda received a call on their cell phone from the police in Koluski demanding that they come immediately to an emergency town council meeting. They arrived just as the meeting started. As they walked in, members of the town council screamed insults at them.

Devotees had not seen our injured men, most of whom had returned late from the hospital, and as they entered the temple one by one, covered with bandages and in some cases bare stitches on their heads, it was obvious the damage that had been done.

As we were busy preparing for this year's festivals at our base 200km southeast of Warsaw, I found a major Polish newspaper in the reception of our building containing an article expressing America's concern about the growing discrimination against religious minorities in Europe.

I had the privilege of being initiated by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada in 1970 in London....On a Sunday all devotees attended the feast, and whenever a new face appeared, a devotee would always be 'assigned' to the individual....

The Dharma Counsel comprises pragmatic Vedic sages ready to go anywhere to speak with world leaders and share their wisdom. These individuals are transcendental to nationalism or religionism, and there is no cost for their counseling.

"There is no moral or ethical injunction against being happy � as long as you learn something from this," psychologist and author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD, tells WebMD. "It's all right to be happy if you are grateful about the life you have � and if you are not just sorry about what happened but are ready to make a commitment to make the world safer for the future."

We are not talking about contempt here, Maharaja, but hurt devotees. It is not contemptuous to feel hurt that Srila Prabhupada described women as inferior in brain size. Should one deny feelings on this?

A dedicated day of sincere and heartfelt prayer to Krishna's Holy Name, on the part of our entire international movement, in honor of those who lost their lives in this tragedy and for the bringing of peace and the protection of God-abiding persons of the world, is being planned. The date for this event is September 29.

In the spring of this year I could foresee the conflicts that have dominated the news lately in regards to bootlegging and the theft of creative rights.... The simple fact is that anyone who really understands what it means to be a Brahmin would act like one and naturally honor the copyright laws.

Recently, I took part as a volunteer to help provide medical care for mostly the fireman, and other recovery workers at the World Trade Center.... I couldn't help but think of how nice it would have been if prashadam were being served, instead of McD's harmburgers. And it would have been so nice if there could have been kirtan.

Srila Jiva Goswami has described three fundamental pramanas, or sources of knowledge, by which we can endeavor to understand ourselves, the world, and God. These are pratyaksha (direct experience), anumana (logical reasoning), and sabda (revealed knowledge, or scripture).

Missouri, that staunch stronghold of middle-class American values and home to the late President Harry S. Truman, is now home to the Rupanuga Vedic College (RVC) a Krishna conscious men's seminary.

Once I realized that what I was watching on television was not science fiction or some kind of action movie, the significance of it set in. The terrorists that hate America so much and have tried to strike it in a significant way finally succeeded.

We at Amrita International (A business partnership of four devotees including the temple president and GBC representative for Puerto Rico, His Grace Vakresvara Pandit prabhu) are seeking responsible devotees for Christmas employment at our malls in Puerto Rico.

I sit on the shore
of the ocean of mercy,
I offer my obeisance
Into the sand
Of gratitude...

And I thought about the issues being raised especially hard because I am from Afghanistan....I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no doubt in my mind that these people were responsible for the atrocity in New York.

"Prananatha is mistaken in his understanding of the financial history of ITV. The BBT never gave ITV any laksmi. They only guaranteed loans.... "

Tom Roe, the Fire Marshall for Utah County, was on hand throughout, and said, "These firemen are very touched by the Krishna�s temple�s decision to turn over these hard earned proceeds in this hour of need.

The real question regarding the so-called ritvik controversy is, "Where is the evidence that Srila Prabhupada ordered that ISKCON create a system of initiation based on what Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur called ultrametempsychosis?"

If we don't agree with a person, before we respond and condemn, let's be curious about the author's perspective with compassion, and not assume anything (especially negative), but rather ask them for clarification.

From the balcony of my office, I cannot see past 30th Street due to the incredible amount of smoke and debris blowing about. I can taste and smell the smoke from here. All of New York City is moving as if in a dream. It is quite surreal to all of us.

It is one thing to doubt transcendental authority and humbly beg for help. It is quite another thing to doubt transcendental authority and boldly insist that such doubts are valid. We applaud the former and seek to correct the latter.

Chapel Hill, N.C., USA, Sep 16, 2001�The Hare Krishna Community in North Carolina conducted a memorial march and memorial service to honor those who have lost their lives in the recent terrible tragedy in New York and to express their solidarity with all of America in this time of crisis.

Looking back to 1987, I remember trying my best to counsel several weeping ISKCON Vaisnavas when they learned that their guru had just defaulted his position. Their guru was previously a dynamic, conquering hero who shone like fire through preaching, making disciples, and leading the sankirtan movement.

Utah Valley�s KHQN Radio and Krishna Temple, located on South Main St. in Spanish Fork, will host the 15th Annual Festival of India on Saturday, September 15th from 4 pm. The newly opened Krishna Temple provides an expanded festival site and facilities for the popular event.

ISKCON's Kalachandjis Restaurant and Palace at ISKCON Dallas, Texas, needs you to write to our Mayor and Council Members to prevent McDonalds from building a drive-through restaurant right in the middle of our quiet residential neighborhood.

Women have a different role than men, but they are equally valuable. In our movement we seem to be taught that women are a subhuman species, less than complete, because more of their strengths are interior and of the nature of sacrifice.

I said, "Nandini, are you proposing we go back to the very same area where we experienced so much opposition?"

She replied, "And so much success, as well. The opposition to our movement there is in direct proportion to the success of our many festivals. Don't you remember how many nice programs we had there?"

I appreciate Jada Bharata's inquiries, and I think that the truth will help shed light on the entire copyright issue of ITV and other ISKCON-related institutions such as BBT, Archives, etc. You ask why ITV thinks it owns the footage, and the question is a good one. The International BBT also inquired into that issue.

The summer is flying by as we are literally doing a festival every day. Pobierowo, Mrzezyno, Mielno and many other towns come and go, and in my mind's eye I am left with only an impression of an ocean of people before our stage in each place we visit. All 160 devotees on the tour are working hard and there is not a spare moment for anyone.

Aug. 25, 2001, Chandler, Arizona, USA: It wasn't church, it was the invocation at the Chandler City Council meeting Thursday night and some council members said Friday that the Hare Krishna followers went too far. Others agreed.

That head weighs as much as your whole body. Whatever you do, beware of those horns!

Here are a few cake recipes which I would like to share with CHAKRA readers. All provide 3 types of measurements.

As a seventeen year old, in the movement for four years, it took me some time to learn how to get adjusted to prasadam. By the mercy of the devotees, I have learned how to make veggie burgers. Unlike store brand veggie burgers, these burgers don't have eggs, onion, and garlic in them. In addition, the store brands has fat added to it. After many trials, I have finally perfected the veggie burger recipe.

On August 2, myself and one disciple, Jayatam dasa, left our festival tour on the Baltic Sea coast and headed south towards the town of Zary, the site of August's Woodstock festival. I knew the road to Zary well. We had participated in four other Woodstock festivals there in previous years.

This is really the question that has been placed into the court of devotee arbitration and it can be boiled down into the following succinct sutra; �Did he, or Didn�t he?��� That is the essence of the question before us�. nothing else.

Niscala maybe wrong in her theory, but she is just one out of millions of souls who don't see things the same way Locananda Prabhu or Umapati Swami see them. But she is a devotee. And I am sure she can gather a lot of followers if she keeps preaching the way she does - much more than ISKCON with their radical views. I am afraid however than her method is as radical than ISKCON's.

The main temple, Sri Sri Radha Govinda Mandir is located in Brooklyn, across the East River but in view of the World Trade Center. According to the devotees, they saw the fire and smoke from the temple rooftop. As soon as the attacks began, the devotees started to perform kirtan in the temple room.

This is a brief update for those who may be concerned about the well-being of the devotee community in Washington DC, after the terrorist attack on Wednesday, September 11.

The devotees who worked in southern Manhattan are all okay. Many devotees walked to the temple over the Brooklyn Bridge. It's about a 45 minute walk. One devotee worked on the 14th floor of the World Trade Center and was inside when the first plane hit.

With heavy hearts and deepest sympathies for the victims and families of Tuesday�s attack, the organizers of Saturday�s Festival of India in Spanish Fork, Utah, will proceed as planned. The festival is not a frivolous or superficial event for recreation only.

The World Trade Center was close to ISKCON New York, which is located just on the other side of the East River in Brooklyn at 305 Schermerhorn Street. The twin towers were the second tallest buildings in the world, tallest in New York, and were clearly visible from the roof of the Brooklyn New York ISKCON temple.

The towers collapsed yesterday after two commercial aircraft, hijacked by terrorists, crashed into the buildings.

In this time of need, we request all devotees to pray for the mercy of Lord Krishna, especially for the victims of this attack. The power of prayer in limitless and is also recognized by the medical field.

I believe that when we are married, serving the husband is not only possible but makes for family harmony and sets a good example for children, if they are present. If there is anything our society needs, it is a stronger grhasta asrama. We as women have the power to make or break this asrama. Now that�s power.

The Vedic Theatre Company, a newly formed company dedicated to bringing the ancient classics of India to life, is seeking photos and resumes from two male devotee actors age 19-30.

Unfortunately, Prananatha does not see the costs of production and maintenance as well as distribution as expenses that must be recouped by sales. He suggests that ITV sell its products at the same price as the pirates.

This letter is in response to Iksvaku Prabhu's article "Problems with ISKCON." I am not involved in the Turley suit in any way. I don't agree with the charge against Srila Prabhupada in the suit. However, I do support the gurukulis right to sue.

It was common practice for many years that ISKCON Temples paid an annual fee to ITV, presumably for the cost involved in buying equipment, establishing a facility, staffing etc. I don't know what this amounted to but I can estimate that it was not an inconsiderable sum. This laksmi was collected by devotees engaged in various preaching or paraphernalia activities and was paid to ITV in good faith and support of ITV's work. That being the case it would not seem unreasonable, now that ITV is firmly established, that these same temples and devotees be given some sort of a concession in purchasing ITV material.

Since introducing it several months ago, the Achintya Bedha Abedha Tattva mailing list has grown to about 290 members. All postings are strictly moderated according to brahminical standards of behavior. This means that discussions take place without flaming, politics, or condescending remarks, which have historically ruined other religious Internet forums.

Reading the recent letters about our ITV bootlegging activity caused me to pause. It appears that both sides have appeal, depending on your mentality. Yet Nrsimhananda makes very important points. To me the most important is what value we place on other's time, education, endeavor, creation, etc.

My question is who really owns the videos anyway? I don't really see how the selling of Srila Prabhupada's videos compares with Srila Prabhupada's books, which were published by the BBT. My understanding is that legally the photographer who takes a video owns the video, not the person who edits and sells the video. While according to copyright laws the person who writes a book is the owner of the book and it is their sole decision on who publishes the book and how it is distributed.

In a recent article entitled Dogmatism and Infallibility, the author, without any scriptural basis, has brashly asserted that "No jiva is infallible, be he pope or guru or whatever. " He also states that those who make unreasonable claims as to Srila Prabhupada's infallibility may be "selfishly motivated." As we will see from the following evidence, it is the author who has indeed made the mistake of accepting false knowledge, not those who defend the infallibility of the spiritual master.

If we throw out the "external,� instructions that Prabhupada gave us regarding society-especially instructions that he repeated very often in his purports, lectures, letters, and conversations-we risk making our advancement so much more slow and difficult.

Reading letters about the activities of some senior devotees in copying and pirating multi media makes me feel sorry for them. But also seeing statements of support for this behavior makes me crazy. What kind of morality do we have?

We are looking for someone who can collaborate with a donation in order for our child to continue his studies in Mayapur. The cost for one month is 75 US Dollars.

In a recent article on CHAKRA, Jayasri Devi wrote about the wifely duties of a Krishna conscious woman. I would like to point out, with folded hands and holding a straw in my mouth, something that she overlooked.

In a recent Chakra article, �Can the Guru Make Mistakes?� Niscala devi dasi says that Srila Prabhupada�s statements about women are antiquated and mistaken. �Srila Prabhupada,� she adds, �had both imperfect senses and made mistakes.�

There is an activity in any technical production called "R&D" (Research and Development). This is what the $600 charge is attempting to recoup on the VedaBase CD-Rom. There were tens of thousands of dollars put into equipment and production costs, and thousands of hours of time put into labor - all to make something like a two dollar VedaBase CD-ROM disc "appear".

A final note. There are GBC resolutions specifically prohibiting copying of ITV videos. If Sravana, Brahmananda, Gargamuni, or anyone else doesn't like those rules, then they can lobby to change them. But to disregard the resolutions disqualifies them from being a part of the official ISKCON organization, and only those members in good standing can sit on the Vyasasan to give pravacan, hold any official positions, or be authorized in any way to represent the society.

If you read this article's headline and immediately, with great anticipation hoped to find some new expose' about what else could be found wrong with ISKCON, this letter is specifically written for you. However, if you are sincerely reading this article to see where I'm coming from this letter is also written for you and please read on.

There has been some feedback from devotees wondering about the purpose of my article "Can the Guru Make Mistakes?" Some feel that it is to belittle Srila Prabhupada. As this is far from the truth I would like to clarify my purpose.

CHAKRA (Calcutta, India) - 30 August, 2001: Adridharan dasa, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and former temple president of ISKCON Calcutta has been removed from his post and from the ISKCON premises, reports Bhakti Purusottama Swami. ISKCON devotees are now occupying the building at 3C Albert Road in Calcutta.

This is a very beautiful lesson from nature, sent to me by an unknown author, concluding with an enlightening analysis of prayer. It is a meditation on how to never lose heart in the face of impossible odds. Each hurdle in life is sent by Krishna to make us stronger, like an athlete training. The difficulties the coach puts on the athlete, are all designed to make him more competent. A similar dynamic happens in nature.

In response to a recent letter to CHAKRA, would Sravana suggest that anyone should be able to publish Srila Prabhupada's books? This is his logic.

I am seeking for reference about Carlos Alberto Rauch, my son. I lost all contact to him in April 1977 while he lived in Los Angeles California. Due to his last phone call to Argentina I understand that he is a member of your community.

I was shocked to read the following statement in a recent article by Niscala devi dasi entitled "Can the Guru Make Mistakes?": She writes, "A good example is his (Srila Prabhupada's) attitude towards women, which seems a bit antiquated."

I feel Brahamanada is doing a service with bargain-prices DVD's, and it is a challenge ITV should rise to, not try and eradicate. I think there is an important principle here as to how available Srila Prabhupada's media should be available.

Hare Krishna. We just finished our big back to back festivals of Krishna Janmastami ( Lord Krishna's Appearance day) and Lord Jagannatha's Rathayatra. Both festivals were very successful. The weather was superb and attendance was excellent.

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September 2001 Stories Read Still Earlier Stories

September 2001 Stories
Read Still Earlier Stories