BBT: A Fantastic Supply of 
Srila Prabhupada's Books
By Suradasa

Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I was very surprised that you published the uninformed letter about BBT stock of books on your website. It was kind of irresponsible not to contact us first. But anyway, we do have all of Srila Prabhupada's books in print, and hundreds of thousands of his books ready for mass distribution in the warehouse.

These include

Small books: Easy Journey, Perfect Questions Perfect Answers, Life Comes from Life, Perfection of Yoga (due in the warehouse in two weeks), Isopanisad, On Chanting, Coming Back, Chant and Be Happy, Path of Perfection, Higher Taste, Beyond Birth and Death (due in the warehouse in five weeks), Sp. Perfection of Yoga, Sp. Topmost Yoga, Sp. Beyond Birth and Death, Sp. Nectar of Instruction, Spanish Science of Self Realization, and Science of Self Realization Soft.

more...

Mayapur Institute of Higher Education
2002 - 2003 Schedule

Michigan Rathayatra
By Prema Bhakti dasa and Tapati devi dasi

On Saturday, Sept 28th, 2002, we will be holding our first Ratha Yatra festival in Niles, Michigan. We will be taking our family Jagannatha Deities out on parade as part of the local Apple Festival held every year in Niles, Michigan, USA.

Pascatya-desa-tarana Mahotsava
Festival Commemorating Srila Prabhupada's Deliverance of the West
By Premananda dasa

Dear Vaishnavas,

We would like to invite the devotees and friends of ISKCON to a special two-day festival marking the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada's Arrival in the USA at Boston's Commonwealth Pier on Saturday and Sunday, September 28 and 29, 2002.

Special guests will include His Holiness Candramauli Swami and Her Grace Malati devi dasi.

Ravindra Svarupa dasa 
at Remembrance Service
From Lavanga-manjari dd

On September 11, 2002, His Grace Ravindra Svarupa Dasa took part in a special Interfaith Service of Remembrance at the Washington National Cathedral. As a national leader in ISKCON, Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu was invited to participate in the one-and-a-half-hour-long program as the representative of the Hindu tradition. The ceremony, which featured other prominent speakers, most notably Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, commemorated the first anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In the service, the opening hymn, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," was followed by readings from the holy writings of world faiths. The five readings— from Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian traditions— were initiated by Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu, who offered the following verse in Sanskrit, then in English:

ITV Goes Solar
By Nrsimhananda dasa

Dhruva dasa worshiping Lord Nrsimhadeva

The sun god, Vivasvana, is directly powering ITV’s duplication and editing facility in Topanga Canyon, California. The Pyramid Center has finally lived up to its billing as a solar energy pyramid house since its construction twenty-three years ago. ITV has made its home here for the past five years. There are two editing suites and a duplication/office facility.

California has some of the highest electric rates in the nation. Power consumption is a major part of ITV’s limited budget. Harnessing the rays of sunlight has produced even more electricity than ITV needs to operate. The excess is sent onto the grid, and the electric company pays retail rates for whatever is produced. The installation was made possible by a state rebate program that returns half the cost of the system back to the owner. Many states in the U.S. have adopted a subsidy for solar installations.

Diary of a Traveling Preacher 
Volume 4, Chapter 23
By Indradyumna Swami

August 9-September 21, 2002

After the Woodstock Festival at Zary in the south of Poland, we returned to the Baltic Sea coast in the north and concluded the summer with eight more highly successful festivals in small towns and villages. To the very end, I cautiously awaited the predictions of the astrologers, who had warned me in May that I was in a double-malefic period and could expect violence and even death throughout the whole festival tour. They wrote that I would be "walking the razor's edge," as forces would be trying hard to bring me down.

But throughout the entire four months of the tour, we experienced not one single act of aggression or violence. And what happened to the forces that were meant to bring us down? We experienced only one victory after another, as day after day thousands of people poured into our festivals, thousands of books were distributed, and hundreds of thousands of people took prasadam. Were the astrologers wrong? Was I to conclude that their profession is no longer valid in this age of Kali? No, to the contrary they have often given me good advice. The answer could be the guardian angels above:

Thai Books Available
By BVV Narasimha Swami

Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I would like to post a list of Thai books available to the readers of Chakra. We have available the following titles:

Bhagavad Gita in two volumes, hardbound.

Krsna in two volumes, hardbound.

Ramayana in one volume, hardbound.

Sri Isopanisad, softbound.

Anyone interested in Thai books can contact me at my e mail:
bvvnarasimha@hotmail.com 

Helper Needed
By Anumanta dasa

Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

In the city of Greensboro, North Carolina, there is a wonderful Govinda's restaurant. The head cook there is the almost-legendary Apurva Prabhu. Apurva is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, a sincere and big-hearted devotee and a famous ISKCON cook, well known to many in North America.

Apurva is looking for a reliable helper. 

Correction: 
Floods in Prague
By Priya-kirti das

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Please change the bank account number to CSOB 179584308/0300.

This is a new account that we have opened for donations.

Your servant,
Priya-kirti das

Correction: 
Postering for an Event
By Caru dasa

Dear Prabhus,

Can you make one correction in the article of the abovementioned subject. The paper for posters costs 3.3 cents or .033, not 33 cents. I think it is an important correction to make.

Thanks, and thanks for printing the article.

Sorry, It Was 1988
More between Ravindra Svarupa dasa 
and "a Kuli"

Dear "a Kuli,"

Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

In a letter sent out to various receivers you stated

Thus you allege that I was involved with others in a conspiracy to protect child molesters.

Now you have corrected the mistaken date and provided me with some of the data.

Thank you. Now I have been able to understand what you are referring to, and I have also been able to look up matters in records available to me. I believe I can show you that what you have claimed is mistaken, a product of limited or selective evidence together with some bad logic.

The following letter of resignation has been posted on Vipramukhya Swami’s website: 
http://www.chantandbehappy.com/diary/. 

Vipramukhya Swami

Vipramukhya Swami was part of the original Chakra staff and worked with Chakra until October 2001.

September, 2002

My dear friends and disciples in ISKCON,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I'm sure some of you who saw me this summer, might have wondered why I had grown my hair out a little bit. One person even asked me about it the other day in England and I told him it was because of observing "chaturmasya" - the four months of the rainy season in India when sannyasis in the renounced order of life typically perform austerity, which sometimes includes not shaving.

Unfortunately, it is not actually the case with me.

Dear Devotees

Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

His grace Madhava Kripa das from Spain, a disciple of HH Jayapataka Swami, passed away July 20th (Ekadasi) in the hospital. He was in a very delicate situation with heart problems. Almost 10 devotees were present at the time he left his body, and they offered him Ganga Water and Tulsi leaves. 

Yajna Purusa dasa leads kirtan at 26 Second Avenue, August 2002 Full size inside

Website for 26 Second Avenue
From Palak Shah

Description: 26 Second Avenue is a beacon of Krishna consciousness in New York City. It remains a sacred place of pilgrimage to followers of the Hare Krishna movement from all countries. It was here that Srila Prabhupada began the dynamic expansion of Krishna consciousness in New York and throughout the world.

URL: http://www.krishnanyc.com 

[Complete on this page]

More about Universities
By Jagannidhi das

In answering my letter "Useless Degrees," Madhusudhani D.D. writes:

When I was rereading my letter after having sent it to Chakra I was expecting that answer, because I realized that I have not dealt with this point. But it is actually very simple.

Jaya Radhe!
Radhastami 2002, Dallas, Texas

Response to "a Kuli"
By Ravindra Svarupa dasa

Ravindra Svarupa dasa

An anonymous letter ("a Kuli") was sent to me, containing several allegations. My responses are inserted below:

The office of child abuse has not been instructed to not go after anyone. I’ve checked this story out before, and found it not true. If there is any reliable testimony to the contrary, let me know, and I will follow up on it.

Girls’ School Needs Books
By Laxmimoni dasi

Full photo inside

Dear Vaishnavas,

Hare Krsna.

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

We at the Vaishnava Academy for Girls are in need of small books, (ie, Beyond Birth and Death, On the Way to Krsna, Perfection of Yoga, etc.) for our book distribution. We already have someone who will buy them for us, but the problem is that the BBT is out of everything except Easy Journey to other Planets.

Floods in Prague
By Priya-kirti das

Full size inside

Dear Vaisnavas,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I would like to inform you about floods in our Govinda's restaurants in Prague (Czech Republic). We have two Govinda's in Prague and both of them were flooded and almost destroyed. Now we are trying to clean and repair everything. You can see from the pictures how our Govinda's looked before the floods and how it looks now. You can also see more pictures on: http://sweb.cz/soukenicka 

Please, give us your mercy and blessings so we may overcome these difficulties in spreading the sankirtana mission through prasadam distribution.

Thanks to Chakra
By Visvaretah dasa

Thank you for not posting any more criticisms and faultfinding of our Beloved Spiritual Master.

Frankly it got worse than VNN. I couldn't believe what I was reading. I stopped accessing <oldchakra.com> for some time.

Your servant,
Visvaretah dasa
New Vrndavana

Looking for Devotees
From a new bhaktin

Dearest Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I am new to Krishna consciousness and would like to learn more about becoming a devotee.

My problem is that where I am living, I do not have much devotee association. Would anyone like to correspond with me?

ADR Mediation Training Course
From Madhava Pandit das

ISKCON ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Announcement:

Mediation Training Course — Towaco NJ,

September 13-17.

At this year's Mayapur meetings, the GBC resolved to establish an international mediation network to serve the needs of ISKCON members. Mediation is a growing field in the professional world. This is an opportunity for devotees to acquire skills that they can utilize in ISKCON and possibly their professional lives.

EC Meeting Minutes

Attended by Giridhari Swami, Chairman, Bhakti Caitanya Swami, Gopal Krsna Goswami, Bir Krishna Goswami, Praghosa Prabhu. Kalakantha das, Secretary.

Strategic Planning: The EC commends Anuttama Prabhu and the devotees involved with the "Educate, Train and Care for Devotees" Strategic Planning committee, one of six established at last year’s strategic planning exercise. The EC recognizes that this group has moved forward because the leaders took the initiative to add people who were interested and willing to work while dropping others. The EC encourages other chairmen to follow their example and to use creative ways to find out interested devotees from all quarters in their committee’s subject.

Cooking: Hygiene and Cleanliness
By Ravi Sihra

I have noticed quite a few times in the Deity and common kitchen that food and drinks brought in packets, tins, bottles, and other types of containers are put straight away in the fridge’s, freezers, or storerooms straight from the shops and then used when cooking prasadam without the packets, tins, bottles, or other containers being washed first. I have seen pujaris in temples handling all types of product containers while cooking, using original containers at times without thinking that they may have been handled by smokers, meat eaters, alcohol drinkers, and God knows what.

Chakra: No More Blasphemy
By Hanuman Das

Dear Umapati Maharaja,

Thank you for taking over at the helm there on Chakra. All the devotees I know are so relieved that The ISKCON website has stopped all the articles blaspheming Srila Prabhupada.

All glories to your service.
Hanuman Das

[Thanks for the appreciation. Chakra no longer prints articles suggesting that Srila Prabhupada or the Vedic Scriptures are mistaken about any subject.—U.S.]

Utah: Festival of India
From Caru dasa

Utah Valley’s KHQN Radio and Krishna Temple, located on South Main St. in Spanish Fork, will host the 16th Annual Festival of India on Saturday, September 14th, from 4 pm. The new Krishna Temple provides an expanded festival site and facilities for the popular event.

After 15 increasingly successful editions of the India Fest, few people in Utah County are ignorant of the fact that once a year, you can go to India without spending a lot of money. You can have India right in the middle of, of all places, ... Spanish Fork!

Postering for an Event
by Caru dasa

One of the advantages of staying in one place is that you get to know the area and people intimately. In common parlance, you get the area and its people wired. My wife and I know 500 places, bulletin boards, grocery stores, coffee shops, bagelries, etc., where you can put up posters for an event. For the Llama Fest we put up 1500 11X17 posters.

We save money by buying the paper at Xpedex. I choose a brand by the name of Fuller Brights which have a semi day-flow effect, jump out at you even from a distance. They cost about 33 cents per 11 X 17 sheet.

Fifth Hare Krishna 
Convention in Malaysia

Full size inside

ISKCON Malaysia invites devotees worldwide for our annual 5th Hare Krishna Convention from the 6th-9th (Friday-Monday), September.

The venue for this year, Awana Genting Resort, is a cool hill resort surounded by lush greenery, a boon for people in the tropics. It is 45 minutes from the capital city, Kuala Lumpur.

This convention, which attracts some 700 devotees, is fast becoming a regional event with the participation of devotees from Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, and India.

The invited Vaisnavas for this year include HH Jayapataka Swami, HH Bhakti Tirtha Swami, and HH Bhanu Swami. But be ready for surprises!

[Apologies for not posting this ad in time, but maybe this will still be of some help]

Life Skills Seminar
Personal Transformation Course

Prabhupada Village
Sandy Ridge, North Carolina

October 5-7, 2002

Communications skills, problem-solving strategies, listening skills. Learn to make and keep commitments.

Access your capacity for making clear and appropriate decisions. Gain insights into your own personality and the way you run your life. Acquire tools to enrich and deepen your personal relationships.

Fee $65 for the weekend course — excluding meals and accommodations, modest fee may be required for these.

Contact: ekabuddh@aol.com 

Facilitator: David B. Wolf (Dhira Govinda Dasa) PhD., MSW

Srila Prabhupada Festival in Vrindavan
By Deena Bandhu dasa

In their July meeting, the Executive Committee (EC) of the GBC passed the following resolution concerning the 25 Years of Service in Separation Festival in Vrindavan:

"Srila Prabhupada Festival in Vrindavan: The EC thanks the Vrindavan devotees for organizing a special 25th anniversary festival for Srila Prabhupada's disappearance day at Krsna Balarama Mandir. The EC encourages all followers of Srila Prabhupada to attend this festival."

VIHE Kartik 2002

Vrindavan Institute for Higher Education
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Founder Acarya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

* Kartik Semester 2002 *

It is our pleasure to announce the VIHE Kartik Semester for 2002

Dates: October 4 to October 31. Both 2 and 4 week classes are offered.

Back Online

I was offline for a while, but now everything is back to normal. To apologize for the delay (again), I am enclosing some pictures from my wanderings. Hope you like them. 

Umapati Swami

Considering Srila Prabhupada’s Mercy
by Babhru das

Srila Prabhupada, Chicago Full size inside

About 500 years ago, Lord Krsna personally appeared as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the place of the avatar for the age of Kali. Lord Caitanya had two purposes for coming: to experience first-hand the bliss of serving Krsna and to spread pure love for Krsna, which is very rare. Writing about Lord Caitanya’s plan for making His mercy widely available, Srila Krsna das Kaviraja Gosvami says, “sri-krsna-caitanya-daya karaha vicara, vicara karile citte pabe camatkara: If you are indeed interested in logic and argument, kindly apply it to the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. If you do so, you will find it to be strikingly wonderful.”

Malaga Ratha Yatra
By Bhakta James Bradwell

More photos inside

On the 17th August 2002, Malaga city in Spain was fortunate to witness the Ratha-yatra festival.

We had the good fortune to be present and witness His Holiness Bhakti Caru Swami Maharaja and His Holiness Chandra Mauli Swami Maharaja dance and sing in bliss before Their Lordships, Sri Jagannath, Sri Baladeva, and Sri Subhadra.

The kirtan was fast and high spirited, appropriate for the hot mid-August weather, nearly 40 degrees C.

Research Project
By Bhakta Nikos

Dear Vaisnava Community/ies

I will shortly be going on to start my Ph.D in sociology and theology at the University of Leeds under the supervision of Professor Kim Knott, who wrote the book My Sweet Lord. The focus of the study is on relationships in general (within Vaisnavism) but specifically on friendships and marriages and the guru-disciple relationship. I am looking for people who are interested in my project and ultimately looking for sponsors.