February 2002 Stories

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We would like to extend an invitation to all devotees who lived and served at New Remuna Dhama, Toronto, Canada, to attend our upcoming reunion. On Radhastami 2002, it will be 30 years since the installation of Sri Sri Radha Ksiracora Gopinatha. We are hoping that everyone can come back to celebrate with us. The date is Saturday and Sunday, August 24th and 25th, 2002 ,at the Toronto Mandir on Avenue Rd.

We are planning to have an old-style Gerrard St. kirtan, Harinam along Gerrard St. to Yonge St., a slide show, great prasadam, and lots of reminiscing and Krishna katha.

     nayam atma bala-hinena labhyo
     na ca pramadat tapaso vapy alingat
     etair upayair yatate yas tu vidvams
     tasyaisa atma visate brahma-dhama

One cannot attain the goal of life without the mercy of Balarama. Sri Narottama dasa Thakura therefore says, nitaiyera karuna habe, vraje radha-krsna pabe: when one receives the mercy of Balarama, Nityananda, one can attain the lotus feet of Radha and Krsna very easily.

If one has no connection with Nitai, Balarama, then even though one is a very learned scholar or jnani or has taken birth in a very respectable family, these assets will not help him. We must therefore conquer the enemies of Krsna consciousness with the strength received from Balarama. (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.45, purport)

Imagine getting up in the morning, and walking two minutes to take darshan of Srila Prabhupada in his samadhi. You chant your rounds as you slowly circumambulate him. You feel his mercy and the mercy of Sridhama Mayapur enter deeply into your heart and nurture your creeper as you go round and round.

My family and I have been living in Mayapur for the last five years, and we love it. Yes, we have had our share of challenges, but even the challenges are ecstatic.
[Photo inside]

The flat was built by Mayapur's professional building company, and it is situated behind Prabhupada's samadhi in the grihasta area. It's modern, clean, practical, and very spacious, about 110-120 sq metres.

It consists of a large lounge, two bedrooms, a kitchen a bathroom, and a balcony. It is being sold for around thirty thousand dollars, which includes all the furniture needed for living comfortably.

By the mercy of Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada, we would like to inform you that we have a new website dedicated to the new ISKCON temple in Siliguri (northwest Bengal State) in the northeast of India. The inauguration will be next April 16th, and it will last until April 21st, 2002.

I wish to inform the Vaisnava community of my humble effort to serve Srila Prabhupada's mission.

I have been flying hot air balloons since 1991, first in San Diego, California, and now in Toronto, Canada. I was fortunate enough to be invited to bring my balloon to Srila Prabhupada's Centennial celebration in Vancouver, Canada some years ago.

Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA as it is referred to, is a method being employed by some local growers (more common amongst organic growers) to help compete against the big ugrakarmic farms that dominate agriculture. It is like a magazine subscription, where the buyer pays up front for a share of the production, then weekly receives a package with whatever is currently fresh from the farm, instead of the chemically drenched produce that has spent days in transport that is offered by the mass market.

I must admit this clicker "debate" is pretty funny. I'm in the military, and I find myself pulling long and weird shifts. It's not very easy for me to bust out a beadbag to chant. So I click. 1728. Utilization is the principle, right? I'm on a 24-hour shift as I write this, and I'm rocking the clicker right now. I've got walletsize pictures I printed on my computer too.

A small home-run temple in Southern California is in need of a devotee or devotee family to run it. It is in the small beach town of Encinitas which lies 20 miles north of San Diego.

Even more beautiful than the coast are the marble Deities of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai that reside there. There is an already existent small community of devotees and aspiring devotees in the surrounding areas, plus plenty of opportunity to expand.

Please receive on this auspicious day of Sri Advaita Acarya’s appearance his wonderful picture from New Yoga Pitha Dhama, Ljubljana Slovenia.

The photo shows the front cover of the newly released book of H.H. Lokanath Swami titled Festivals: Srila Prabhupada at the Mayapur-Vrndavana Festivals.

This book has especially been published in the light of the upcoming 30th anniversary of the first Mayapur festival, which will be celebrated in a grand way.

Festivals takes us onsite with Srila Prabhupada when he attended the Mayapur-Vrndavana festivals from 1972 till 1977. The book is filled with the memories of more than seventy devotees who themselves attended these festivals with Srila Prabhupada. This beautifully illustrated book is a historical account meant to preserve the passed memory of Srila Prabhupada at these festivals.

In previous festival years, we normally have received 40 to 50 advance bookings. Last year the total attendants at the Mayapur festival were approximately 400 to 500 registered devotees.

This year according to guesthouse room-booking reports, as of February 17th, around 600 devotees from 32 different countries have booked their accommodations. Most of these devotees are arriving by March 12th and leaving by March 30th.

The trial of the devotees in Jagannatha Puri accused by Austrian Maria Schmidova of raping her six-year-old daughter, Tulasi, on June 28, 2000, has continued in the Puri Court the past three days. Three witnesses are examined each day. Each witness has repeated the same facts: "I do not know anything. I do not know these people. I do not know about any rape. The police grabbed me from the street and forced me to sign my name on a blank sheet of paper."

At one point yesterday, a female police constable was called, and she pointed at accused Asoke Sahu and said, "That is Bhakta dasa." The judge had her step down while the onlookers laughed. Already 12 witnesses have been called. Every one has implicated the Orissa Crime Branch in deliberately fabricating this false case.

As our eternal Spiritual Master, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada repeatedly said, paraphrased, "Materially speaking, Americans have it all." We have been endowed with great material abundance in the shape of wealth, education, natural resources, and global influence. This was why Srila Prabhupada came here to America and inaugurated the Krishna Consciousness Movement. He understood that the United States sets the standard for the rest of the world. As Krishna devotees and followers of Srila Prabhupada, it is our responsibility and ongoing duty to see things as they are, through the eyes of our spiritual master. Prabhupada continually stressed the fact that everything we require to push on with his mission already exists.

It would be a good idea if ISKCON temples start opening small Deity gift shops or a stall by the entrance of the temples or even a table outside the temple rooms or reception areas where congregational members can purchase fresh flowers, in some cases from the temple gardens, fresh fruit baskets nicely decorated, and garlands, Deity costumes, ornaments and jewelery and then offer them to the Deities.

If you cannot remember when to say, "Jaya Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu Nityananda....," write a number table on a small piece of paper and glue it on the back of your clicker. I have it on my clicker, and I chant like this: first I happily chant the mahamantra until the number 108. I say both the mahamantra and "Jaya Sri Krsna Caitanya" on this number. Then I click to the number 109, then to 216, and I repeat the same again, etc.

GAINESVILLE, Florida– We're certain you'll agree that with the ongoing expansion of the Hare Krishna movement, it can be quite difficult to stay in touch with the worldwide devotee community. Isn't it about time for a change? In this day and age devotees need a stronger communication infrastructure, an international exchange that is accessible around the clock on every day of the year.

If you are ready for a change, the Hare Krishna Foundation has spawned an innovative project utilizing online communication technology to reunite Srila Prabhupada's spiritual family, assist his preaching mission, and offer financial assistance to devotees and projects.

The Vedic Theatre Company is pleased to announce the addition of Indian actor Ronnie Guha to our cast. He is playing several roles that are at once challenging and rewarding, and we are sure Krsna will bless him for this valuable service.

We would also be interested in future booking requests for the 2003 season and would like to hear from temples and colleges interested in presenting this unique adaptation to their congregations or students.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada and my apologies for a mistake that I have made re my posting on the clicker debate. In my posting, I said regarding the chanting of Maha mantra that: "Each round was to be preceded by certain mantras Namah Om... Sri Krsna ... Namaste... etc. "

What I should have said is that His Divine Grace instructed us to chant the Panca-tattva mantra, namely "sri-krsna-caitanya prabhu nityananda sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda" and then the Maha Mantra.

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure what a clicker looks like. To be even more honest, I am not pure of sin and am far from being worthy of casting the first stone. I am the kind of devotee who doesn't shave his head and sometimes does some of his rounds on the bus with one hand covering his mouth so no one will think he is talking to himself or something.

Throughout my childhood and young adulthood, I have tried to search out people who understood God. Seeing as how I have always lived in Reno, I really have not had much variety in the way of spiritual mentors and friends that could understand or even accept Krishna Consciousness. Many of the spiritual practices here are either based on Mayavada philosophy or Neo-Christianity.

For those caught up in the debate of the clicker, we need to be encouraged and encourage each other to chant, but to chant undistracted. This is difficult in these times, therefore we all need support to chant. We also need to keep the Vaishnava lifestyle alive, and with this lifestyle is the bead bag. I am thinking that chanting with a clicker is fine, but in order to stay regulated and keep the movement alive we should follow the footsteps of our Spiritual Master.

Whilst offering bhoga to Srila Prabhupada on the altar, we do not put tulasi leaves on his plate. Such bhoga has not been offered to Krishna, and is directly offered to Srila Prabhupada. The two questions that arise are:

1. Whilst offering the bhoga to Srila Prabhupada, are we requesting Prabhupada to offer it to Krishna, before honouring it? If so, why don't we put tulasi leaves on the plate to facilitate Srila Prabhupada to make the offering to Krishna?

I was once distributing Krsna Books in Dundee, Scotland (in the late 70's). A tramp started watching me. He seemed very interested but as he was really filthy and smelly looking, I was trying hard to ignore him so he'd go away. Finally he came up while I was talking to someone and started peering curiously at the books.

When my customer left, the tramp asked what I was selling. I said the books were stories about Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He asked which volume it was, and I told him. Then he said, "Oh no, I got that one from Prabhupada when I was in Vrndavan" and walked off muttering.

I have been a farm inspector for horticultural and field crops in the organic food industry for 13 years and appreciate much of what Lalitanatha Prabhu has written in his article entitled "Organic Is Certainly the Best."

However, I would like to point out that organic agriculture is not as ideal as many think. When I first started inspecting, the use of slaughterhouse byproducts was quite rare, but that has changed dramatically over the last several years with blood, feather, and bone meals becoming more popular. Of course, these products are used primarily on horticultural crops and not on grain. So we must be careful about saying that organic agriculture is in the mode of goodness because my experience tells me that for the most part it isn't. And, of course, not all organic growers employ these fertilizers.

Built for devotees in 1996. Three bedrooms, two baths, suchi kitchen/dinette; central heat/ac with woodstove/fans backup; room addition with separate entrance for guests, family, or business; deck, two outbuildings on 1.29 scenic acres in solid devotee community; well-kept within and without. 1334 sq. ft. Price: $108,000.

Thank you for carrying on your CHAKRA service despite the impediments that always arise in this world.

4000-sq.-ft. custom-built devotee house on 8 acres in beautiful rural setting. Devotee neighbors w/ cow-protection (lots of fresh milk) and yoga studio on surrounding 33 acres. 300-sq.-ft. temple room with beautiful carved altar, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, office, rec room w/wet bar, 2 storage rooms, whole-house water filtration system, wood stove, central h/ac, double garage w/workshop area, very large decks on north and south, new fruit trees, fenced raised-bed organic garden, root cellar. Job relocation necessitates sale. $280,000.

Please contact Indranuja dasa at indra@starband.net
or 785-594-7061.
[Complete on this page.]

Sitting in His room, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would chant on His beads, and Advaita Prabhu would come there to worship the Lord. (Madhya 15.7)

What is your reference for the statement that Prabhupada wanted us to chant certain prayers, mantras, etc. at the end (beginning) of each round? I know of no such instruction nor his setting such a personal example. Indeed, there are video and audio tapes that show the opposite. There's no harm, I suppose, as long as one doesn't establish such a practice as required.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord!

Please help me find a devotee that I have offended by calling (karmi) names. After listening to lectures by pure devotees on the Internet, I now know why I am suffering so much. By offending a pure devotee one forfeits the mercy of Krsna, until one obtains the mercy of the pure devotee. Please help me find Vilasi devi dasi, originally from the Maryland, Washington D.C. temple.

I beg an end to the clicker debate. I was one of the first to respond, but now regret that I did. I feel quite sad and discouraged about the whole thing. Once again, this debate shows that devotees cannot agree about even the most basic practices of Srila Prabhupada's teachings. Quite discouraging indeed.

Since my arrival in South Africa, my Indian disciple, Laksminath das, has been inviting me to participate in one of his daily Food for Life programs. For more than five years he has practically single-handedly been cooking and distributing over 50,000 plates of prasadam each week in the rural areas north of Durban. Known as Kwazulu Natal, the region is inhabited by Zulus, the largest of the African tribes in South Africa, many of whom live in abject poverty. Knowing that crime is rampant in the area and that the presence of white people in the South African townships is not appreciated by those who suffered under apartheid, I hesitated to go.

Even if you missed the Maha Kumbha Mela, you can still visit the Magh Mela Festival at Prayag and get the benefits of preaching here.

The word "prayag" refers to a place where great sacrifices are held. There are fourteen prayagas on the Ganga, and Prayag-raj (Allahabad), the kind of confluences, is considered the most important. According to the Brahma Purana, for the creation of the universe and the cleansing of the pollution caused by the poison that emerged after the churning of the milk ocean, Lord Brahma decided to choose a place for performance of yajna. He chose a prime piece of land that was encircled by the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the Sarasvati.

Devotees of the ISKCON temple at Allahabad invite everybody to visit this holy place. Those who would like to come here during Magh Mela (from 14.01.2002 up to 12.03.2002 can stay in the ISKCON tent camp there. (Kirtans, prasadam, preaching, book distribution, and bathing in sangam definitely!)

I work for a huge corporate bank and I bring my bead bag to work every day. Yes, I try to keep them low key, as in these times anything out of the norm is looked at suspiciously. But in a world that's so increasingly mechanical and sterile, my beads are like a secret weapon in my endeavor to remain connected to the holy name. A cold lifeless clicker would be like giving in.

This is the only place where devotees from around the world get together along with all the leaders to celebrate Goura Purnima Utsava. In order to exchange various spiritual items, we have created a facility where all the devotees can bring spiritual books and paraphernalia and have it on sale.

The place to sell things is known as Mini market and will be open from the 10th March to 29th March. It will cost Rs 2500 to rent a stall for the whole duration of the festival. To sit in the market area with a table will cost Rs1000.

About 12 of the nearly 50 Hare Krishna temples in the United States will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this month because of a $400 million lawsuit over child abuse at Hare Krishna boarding schools, a spokesman for the movement said yesterday.

SOMA School of Musical Arts is now accepting applications for the Spring Semester training in classical music:

Music instructor: Dr.Hare Krsna Sharma
M.A.,Ph.D. Music / Indra Kala Sangit Visva Vidyalay M.P.

I think you have been rather hasty in your celebrations viz. "Judge Dismisses ISKCON Suit" posting ("ISKCON Legal Case in Bangalore"). Here is the updated situation reprinted from the Deccan Herald, 7 February 2002.

ISKCON Bangalore has been granted seven days time to appeal against the order of the XXVII City Civil Judge dismissing an interlocutory application seeking a declaration denying any power or right to ISKCON, Mumbai, to control the properties and affairs of ISKCON, Bangalore, its President and office bearers.

The following link is an eight-minute BBC radio news spot regarding the bankruptcy decision of the North American Hare Krishna Temples.

Illumination Television is proud to announce the release of two new "Memories of Srila Prabhupada" videos, Pt. 31 and Pt. 32.

Pt. 31 contains fantastic stories from Nanda Kishore dasa, Guru Kripa dasa, Vaikunthanath dasa, Madhavananda dasa, Pariksit dasa, Krsna Kanti dasa, Pavamana dasa, and Havi dasa. Among other things you will hear how Srila Prabhupada inspired the producer of the musical "Hair" to include the chanting of the maha-mantra. Learn the answer when Vaikunthanath asks Srila Prabhupada what happens to all those people who have purchased books from devotees but have not taken formal initiation. Nanda Kishore entertains us with his story telling of many accounts he has had with His Divine Grace and guests who visited him.

WARANGAL, India – Could the recent discovery of a sunken city off the Northwest Coast of India near Surat revolutionize our concept of history? Michael A. Cremo, historian of archeology and author of Forbidden Archeology, claims that all the history textbooks would have to be rewritten if this ancient find proves to be of Vedic origin. He recently attended a meeting of ranking Indian governmental officials at which Murli Monohar Joshi, Minister for Science and Technology, confirmed the archeological find by an Indian oceanographic survey team.

Radiocarbon testing of a piece of wood from the underwater site yielded an age of 9,500 years, making it four thousand years older than earliest cities now recognized.

My wife and I visited Jagannatha Puri in early January and would like to inform the devotees of a nice guesthouse situated near the beach and close to the Birla guesthouse. It is called the Shanti guesthouse and the rooms were clean, moderately priced, and quiet. It was in stark contrast to the hotel where we first stayed, which was noisy and full of parties and the drinking of alcohol.

A young devotee from India has been writing asking for help in locating his father. The father, Bilvamangala das, returned from India in 1982 and has not been seen since. The young man, Varun Anderson, is very anxious to find his father, and we are trying to help.

After one year I finally made it back to Nigeria. The flight from Japan to Bangkok to London to Lagos was long but peaceful.

Upon deplaning I noted that the immigration line was especially slow. While waiting I heard a few explosions and felt the building shake a little. Even after the long wait, the baggage belt was not moving, so I went out to see if the devotees were waiting. I found them and they were in a lot of anxiety. Somehow at the army base Armory, some explosions had occured and were continuing in a chain reaction.

We drove off through tens of thousands of panicking people who were just running to get away from what they thought was war. Explosions were shaking the whole city. Big fires were flaring and black smoke was covering everything.

Prabhupada Festival, 27 May 2001, Los Angeles– Srila Prabhupada had to struggle very hard to build the Juhu temple. The first struggle was to get the land, the next struggle was to get the permission to build the temple, and last struggle was to actually build the temple and install the deities. And we had worked very hard to get the permission, but the Indian permits often include many conditions. So although they give permission, the permission is not actually valid until one fulfills the conditions.

One of the conditions was that we had to have an internal access road of a certain width according to the length of the road. And it just so happened that right where the access road was supposed to go there were some palm trees. Once when Srila Prabhupada came to Juhu after being away for some time he noticed that one or two of the trees had been cut and he was very concerned—I would say upset—and asked, "Why did you cut down the trees?"

We are happy to announce the release of the first professional album of kirtans by Sri Prahlada das. It is called "Harer Nama: No Other Way" (Part 1) and contains 65 minutes of ecstatic kirtans recorded at Nest studio, one of the best studios in Moscow, Russia. The album is available on CD and tape. It is produced by the Golden Millennium Records Company, which is planning to put out a few more of Sri Prahlada's albums during the year.

We have just returned from an ecstatic trip to Jaipur and would like to share with you some transcendental nectar. To see the original beloved Deities of Srila Rupa Goswami, Srila Jiva Goswami, Srila Madhu Pandit Goswami, and Srila Lokanatha Goswami, just click on the following link:

After I wrote an article entitled "Mahaprabhu Chants on Tulasi Beads," there was some disagreement about this. It was my fault for not giving good evidence, and I am very sorry for this. The evidence that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu chanted on tulasi beads was found in the book of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura entitled Nama Bhajana, where Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, "Hence, Sriman Mahaprabhu as mentioned in the Caitanya Caritamrta and in the Caitanya Bhagavata, Himself sang and taught jivas to count these sixteen names of thirty-two syllables on tulasi beads."

Srila Prabhupada’s books are shown to be the foundation of all other instructions he issued outside of his published books. It is further shown that because these other instructions are based on his books, they are also authoritative. Claims that some letters written by Srila Prabhupada contain benevolent lies to placate ambitious disciples are shown to be false and based on partially quoted references.
....more

I liked Ravinder Sihra’s letter "Organic Is Best." Although seen by many as a material consideration of fringe significance, it has its important, albeit disregarded, place in Krishna consciousness and the life of any devotee.

The question is much more than simply which potato or cauliflower is in the subji. It is ultimately about which lifestyle is consistent with the philosophy that we preach (that is, if we like to preach). Can we on one hand ascribe to the ideal of a simple, non-violent, natural life based on God-given gifts and on the other hand support the most gross type of exploitation, violence and cultivation of greed taking place with our common daily actions? It seems inconsistent.

Japa Beads versus Clicker
As yet no one has answered some of my concerns
by Ananta Sesa Naga das

In several postings by Senior Prabhupada devotees some of my concerns re inattentive chanting have been answered and I agree with them. What about the following points?

How will people know when they have completed their second and third and fourth rounds, etc? His Divine Grace instructed us that each round consists of 108 Maha mantras. Each round was to be preceded by certain mantras Namah Om... Sri Krsna ... Namaste... etc.

Bhaktivedanta Manor, the Hare Krishna Temple and College of Vedic Studies in England, UK, will be soon opening a lending library for devotees. At present there are about 1000 books. Book cards, membership cards, logging of all the books on a computer is being done as preparation for opening the library. This is great, as a lot more people will get access to these holy books. I hope other ISKCON temples open lending libraries to spread Krishna Consciousness in this world.

Anyone who takes chanting seriously will use Tulsi Beads for chanting. It is common sense that chanting on Tulsi beads is far superior to chanting on a mechanical clicker. Tulsi is very dear to Lord Sri Krishna but a clicker is not. You can all laugh now. Chanting on Tulsi beads is more purifying. Just the mere sight of Tulsi beads is purifying, let alone coming in contact with Tulsi beads and just thinking how fortunate you are to come in contact with Tulsi beads in the first place.

Reprinted from the Deccan Herald, Bangalore, India, Thursday, February 7, 2002

The XXVII Additional City Civil Judge, Mr A P Murari, today dismissed a suit filed by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) located at Chord Road, Bangalore, seeking an injunction declaring that ISKCON, Mumbai, has no power or authority to control the properties and affairs of ISKCON, Bangalore (Chord Road), its President and office bearers, besides its temples in Bangalore and Mysore.

I read your site every day. It is nice to see a news network that is supporting ISKCON. Thanks. Keep up the good work. I once heard HH Tamal Krishna Goswami say that Prabhupada said that ISKCON is his body, so Prabhupada is here with us in spirit and body.

I am an insignificant bhakta, but have been studying Srila Prabhupada's books for about five years. Not that I know anything, but I am learning.

Good news! Bhaktin Chloe has left the hospital! She still has many days and months of recovery and recuperation time: daily physio and occupational therapy. But it looks like her kidneys are beginning to function and she hasn't had to have dialysis for a week now. They say it will take one full year before she's back to where she was just prior to her illness.

She can only walk with a walker, and even 50 feet of walking in such a way is a miracle for her. She'll be provided with a wheelchair, so I'm hoping to take her for nice long walks when I go to visit. Even holding the phone when she talks to me is very tiring for her. She's had to learn to dress herself, brush her teeth— all those simple daily things that we all take for granted.

In 1997 the GBC formed the ISKCON Child Protection Task Force. This committee produced the ISKCON Child Protection Task Force Report and submitted it to the GBC in 1998. At the annual GBC meetings in 1998 the GBC ratified this report, which proposed the establishment of a central office of child protection to coordinate the child protection activities of the movement. On April 1, 1998, the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection (aka the Association for the Protection of Vaisnava Children) began functioning.

When I was a boy I would go to my Lutheran church early every Sunday and count the people as they arrived. I would have to wait until after the service was going for a while so I could count the latecomers, giving me an excuse to hang out in the foyer, which was more interesting than sitting in the pews. I would count on a clicker and turn it in after I was finished. The next Sunday in the Church Bulletin distributed at the service there would be printed the attendence total from the previous week. So clickers and religion are an old association for me. Personally, I have no problem with people chanting on a clicker if it helps them in the right direction.

In many situations, chanting on a clicker is more practical than on a set of sacred japa beads. For example, beads cannot be taken into the bathroom but there is no such restriction on clickers. I found this especially practical when I was suffering in India with dysentery. I think I was chanting most of my rounds in the bathroom in those days. Thank God I had my clicker with me.

I have a question, though. If it's all right to chant japa using a clicker, what about gayatri?

Washington, D.C.—At least a dozen temples, related entities and individuals affiliated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), better known as the Hare Krishna Movement, will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection later this month.

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy focuses on reorganization rather than liquidation of religious assets. It is being filed to deal with claimants including a $400 million dollar lawsuit against Krishna temples. That suit, first filed in Federal Court in June 2000, alleges children were abused at the religious society’s boarding schools in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The Krishnas prevailed when the suit was dismissed in September 2001, but a similar $400 million suit was later filed in Texas State Court.

As a grhasta in a demanding karmi job that often involves long hours, by necessity some of my rounds are done on a clicker. Almost always, the quality suffers, but that’s me, and not the clicker. Nonetheless, my intention is to try and chant attentively, prayerfully, and reverently, whether with beads or clicker. Of course I prefer beads, but the key is to realise that Krsna is non-different from His Holy Name.

"A question specifically for Umapati Swami—When you chanted on that small set of twelve beads, counting nine times around for a round, did you ‘count’ that chanting towards your sixteen rounds or not? If not, why not?"

It was a long time ago, but as I remember, I did not count rounds chanted on the bus as part of my sixteen rounds because Srila Prabhupada had told me that we should chant sixteen good rounds every day, and I had time to chant sixteen rounds on my regular mala every day in the temple. Even today, I do not like to go on japa walks because there are many distractions, and I do not feel that I am chanting my sixteen rounds attentively at that time.

This is a short inquiry that I am requesting input from other devotees on. I would appreciate it if you consider the following question below and advise me on how you think Srila Prabhupada would respond to this idea.

The 2001 Los Angeles Rathayatra was a very hot day. This gave me the idea of making very beautiful full-color graphic umbrellas with Lord Jagannatha's face on them. I was thinking of how nice it would be to see his transcendental grin popping up from the crowd on the back of umbrellas that are approximately three-foot diameter in size.

Less than a month now to submit your offering for Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja book. March 1, 2002, is the deadline.

Please write Dravida das at dravida@mindspring.com for further information.
[Complete on this page.]

The recent discussion on Chakra about beads and clickers has raised what is, for me, some very old questions. I would appreciate answers that are clearly and unambiguously backed up with sastra, sadhu, and guru, as I have heard many answers over the years without such backing.

I would like to emphasize that I have no personal stand as to what means a devotee uses to count his or her rounds. Personally, I use my tulasi initiation beads and sometimes, when I am in places where the full mala is difficult, a smaller strand where four circles make one round. I have also counted my rounds on my fingers in various circumstances.

Gaura Purnima will soon be here, and devotees from around the world will converge on Mayapur for the GBC meetings and to celebrate the 30th Annual Mayapur Gaura Purnima Festival.

If you are planning to come, please remember the facilities the Mayapur Institute of Higher Education (MIHE) offers devotees to improve the quality of their devotional lives. This year the MIHE will offer 31 courses in three languages beginning on February 14th and continuing through March 17th. These courses will help devotees increase their sastric knowledge and devotional realizations, as well as their devotional and life skills.

Every single day, at about 11 am, photos of Radha Nila Madhava, the Deities in Houston, Texas, are updated, and Their Lordships give darshan.

After reading His Holiness Umapati Swami's posting on the gravity of the "Clicker Debate," perhaps my own comments need to be revised yet again for clarity. In my original version, I called the debate silly and foolish. (Please note: I edited those charged words out of the second version.) Maharaja seems to think that I meant the subject is trivial and not worthy of discussion. I know Maharaja is a very careful, sophisticated reader, so I feel I must further clarify my remarks.

I do not believe the subject is trivial. In fact, I believe that the subject of how far we can bend or stretch the instructions of our acharyas without losing the essence of Krishna consciousness is so important that it should be discussed very carefully. That was precisely the point of my posts.

Hare Krishna,the world famous Holi Festival in Vrindavan, Holy Land, India, and wish to book a room in advance at nominal maintenance charges, please see the Shri Ram Sharnam Ashram site at www.ramsharnamashram.com

We have seen some very nice quotes on the chanting of the Holy name and the conclusion appears to be very clear that there are no hard and fast rules in the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra. Nobody can argue with these facts. However, is there a distinction between the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra and chanting one's prescribed 16 rounds each day? For, reading Srila Prabhupada's books we find that there are 10 offences in the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra, one of which is that one should not be inattentive whilst chanting.

It would be really great if ISKCON temples all over the world start opening lending libraries.

Each temple should put a notice up for the congregation to donate any Krishna Consciousness books, tapes, videos CD’s, etc., which they have finished with and no longer require to the temple so that they can be used to open a lending library within the temple. Some books, the temples would have to supply themselves.

The author states: "Now I can do anything requiring the use of both hands and still get my rounds done." This seems amazing on the one hand (pardon the pun) and troublesome on the other. This isn't about clickers, it is about being attentive when chanting. If one is engaged otherwise, to what degree can one said to be attentive to the Holy Name? Inattention becomes a distraction in the form of the eleventh aparadh, "It is also an offence to be inattentive while chanting." I would commend chanting in all circumstances, but question whether or not such chanting fulfulls the requirement of our 16 rounds.

There has been some comment recently that the debate on Chakra about clickers is silly and foolish. I have to disagree. This debate is about more than where to put your thumb. The real question under discussion is, How far can we deviate from Vaisnava tradition and the instructions of Srila Prabhupada without losing something essential? I will not try to answer this question here, but rather offer some points for consideration.

There are, of course, situations where the clicker may have its value. The issue is about using the clicker when one can easily use beads, such as in the temple or in the home.

The devotees from Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai completed a very successful eye camp in service to the Brijabasis in Varsana from 24th to 27th December. Almost 250 eye operations were performed, and by Radharani's arrangement there, despite the large number of operations, there were no complications for any patient.

I arrived on 24th with Sarvabhauma, my co-director for National Communications in India. Although they had just arrived the evening before, everything was set up and running just like clockwork. I was totally amazed at the efficiency and precision with which everything was running. Everything was being done with the utmost cleanliness.

[Author's note: Thakur Haridas prabhu's response to my earlier version of this note moved me to reconsider its tone. My real intent was not to belittle Ekesuara das or his passion. However, in an apparent attempt to appear more clever than Ekesuara, I allowed a snide tone to dominate the opening of the letter. That served to highlight my arrogance and, more importantly, to obscure and undermine my real purpose, which was to call attention to the way devotees often discuss issues we feel are important. Aware of the irony in doing so, with apologies to Ekesuara prabhu and all other devotees who found the harshness of my letter offensive, and with thanks to Thakur Haridas, I submit this revised version.]

We are high above Australia, flying from Sydney to Adelaide. It's an hour and a half journey by air. A few minutes ago I could see the Sydney coastline. They say Sydney has some of the nicest ocean beaches in Australia. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to visit the ocean in Sydney, but I sure had a great view of them out the window of this airplane.

I'm sitting at a window seat on the right side of this Boeing 767, over the wing, but I can still get a pretty good view looking a little forward. We rapidly passed over some mountainous and forested areas, and now it looks pretty desert-like down below. Two-thirds of Australia is desert, I'm told. Some say three-fourths.

Please book your accommodations in Mayapur well in advance to get the rooms of your choice for the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Gaura Purnima Festival.

This year the Festival Committee will not build any temporary structures for the festival, as they are very expensive. Accommodations are available only within our existing Guesthouse buildings. Otherwise, devotees with friends in the housing area of Sridhama Mayapur may be able to contact them and arrange to stay there.

By the Mercy of Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga, we would like to announce that we have a site on the web dedicated to serving the devotees in offering the possibility of hearing the audio lectures of HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja in different languages. You can download the desired lectures as well.

This is part of the service of the JPS Tape Ministry under the production and supervision of HG Deva Gaura Hari Prabhu from Australia.

oldchakra.com

February 2002 Go to Stories from January 2002

February 2002
Go to Stories from January 2002