Samadhi Established for ISKCON Kirtan Singer Aindra Dasa
By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on 27 Aug 2010
The Samadhi—usually a monument commemorating a departed Vaishnava—of renowned kirtaniya Aindra Dasa was established in Vrindavana, India this July 15th, thirty days after he passed away in an accidental fire.
Rather than building a new structure, devotees established the Samadhi in his room at the Vrindavana International School’s brahmachari ashram.
The room was renovated, with fresh cow dung covering the walls in the traditional style. All of his Deities were moved back into it, while Mukunda Datta Dasa, ISKCON Vrindavana’s head priest, performed a sacred ceremony.
Several of Aindra’s godbrothers—fellow disciples of ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupada—glorified him and the way he ran Vrindavana’s 24 Hour Kirtan Department with such dedication and organization for many, many years. In fact, Krishna’s Holy Names have been chanted continuously and without cessation in Krishna Balarama Mandir since his arrival in 1986.
Next, 24-Hour Kirtan stalwart Gopal Dasa placed Aindra’s sacred ashes into Samadhi (also described as a state of complete absorption in Krishna) on behalf of the Department.
108 Hare Krishna maha-mantras were then offered into a fire sacrifice, after which the assembled devotees walked in a small procession to Mukunda Datta’s house. There, they partook of a sanctified prasadam feast in honor of Aindra Dasa.
The feeling amongst devotees is that Aindra’s room—number 89 in the International School’s brahmachari ashram—was the perfect place to create his Samadhi and commemorate his life of service.
The dedicated kirtan singer moved into it soon after arriving in Vrindavan in 1986 and continued to live in the same room for the next 24 years.
Furnished with cow dung art on the walls, Yamuna river clay on the floor, and remnants of the sacred Tamal tree that once stood in the Krishna Balarama Mandir’s courtyard, it captured the essence of Vrindavana Dhama, Lord Krishna’s holy birthplace.
So it goes without saying that the room was very dear to Aindra. He spent most of his time there, chanting Hare Krishna on his beads, studying Srila Prabhupada’s books, and performing his personal Deity worship. He very rarely left his room for any other purpose than to carry out his kirtan and Deity dressing services, to purchase food for his Deities, and to go to the bathroom.
Aindra had always expressed his desire that his Samadhi be nearby his Deities and that his worship of Nitai-Saci-Suta, over 2,000 sacred Salagrama Sila stones, and his many other Deities be continued in his absence.
His presence in the room is still very much felt, and he will continue to inspire all the devotees—especially those serving in his 24 Hour Kirtan Department—to keep the fire of chanting Krishna’s names burning.
To see more photos of Aindra Dasa’s Samadhi, please click here: http://www.myphotos.yahoo.com/s/21ct3srv8utcsb86hpd6
ISKCON Devotee Bids for Brussels to Host Parliament of World Religions
By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on 27 Aug 2010
The next meeting of one of the biggest interfaith gatherings in the world, the Parliament of the World’s Religions, could be hosted in Brussels, Belgium in 2014—and an ISKCON devotee is front and center in the bidding process.
ISKCON’s European Communications Director Mahaprabhu Dasa goes back 117 years to explain how it came to this.
“The Parliament of the World’s Religions was first held in Chicago in 1893 as part of a large fair called the World Columbian Exposition,” he says. “An historic event, it was the first major meeting between leaders and thinkers of both western and eastern religious traditions, and is now seen as the birth of formal interreligious dialogue worldwide.”
But it wasn’t until 1993, when the City of Chicago decided to celebrate the Parliament’s 100th anniversary by having an academic conference, that it became a regular occurrence.
“As they planned it, it developed into a popular event that drew over 8,000 people from many religious communities,” Mahaprabhu explains. “The organizers decided not to wait another 100 years to hold the next one. So they held another in Cape Town, South Africa in 1999.”
After this, the Parliament was established as an event that was held every five years. The next two, held in Barcelona, Spain in 2004, and in Melbourne, Australia in 2009, were similar successes.
“Since the first four had been held in America, Africa, Europe, and Australasia respectively, I was sure the fifth would be held in Asia, the only remaining populated continent,” Mahaprabhu says. “So I began to campaign for Delhi as a candidate. But when I returned to ISKCON’s Radhadesh community in Belgium, several friends of mine who had attended previous Parliaments—including a Rabbi from the Jewish group Lubavitch-Chabad—contacted me and said, ‘Why not have it in Brussels?’ They expected that I might be able to get the ball rolling because of my connections in the interfaith world.”
They were right. Inspired, Mahaprabhu launched himself into the campaign. He began to meet with people from different religious communities and interfaith organizations. Following the Parliament of the World’s Religions’ sophisticated bidding system—rather like that of the Olympics—they formed a steering committee for Brussels’ bid to host the 2014 Parliament.
Mahaprabhu is accompanied in his efforts by seven other experts in various areas of interfaith relations, including committee chairman Miguel Mesquita, a former advisor on religious communities to the president of the European Commission. So far, they have received forty-five letters of support from major churches and interfaith groups, as well as from Brussels’ Mayor and its Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Brussels Convention Bureau—Brussels’ main tourist office—also fully supports the initiative.
Although two other cities—Dallas, USA, and Guadalajara, Mexico—are currently also bidding to hold the next Parliament, Brussels is the strategic favorite.
“It’s a political hub, and the Parliament’s central Chicago office feel that Europe is especially in need of dialogue about religious freedom right now,” Mahaprabhu says. “Our only major challenge is finances. In Chicago, the Federal government gives $2 million, the State government gives $2 million, and the city government half a million dollars. This is unlikely to happen in Belgium. We will have to gather more support in smaller amounts, and are even considering raising funds outside of Europe for the event.”
If Brussel’s bid is accepted, the steering committee that Mahaprabhu is a part of will transform itself into a non-profit organization that will organize the event locally. This is a huge, $8 million project involving hundreds of volunteers and professionals and requiring venues and event organization on a very high level.
“In the past, members of the steering committee would automatically be a part of this new legal entity,” Mahaprabhu says. “But now the Chicago office is a little more selective, so although my involvement in the next level is possible, it’s not guaranteed.”
Whatever his position, however, and whichever city wins the bid, Mahaprabhu is all set to help increase awareness and plan the involvement of devotees from all over the world.
“ISKCON Communications and other ISKCON representatives have attended all four Parliaments so far,” says Mahaprabhu. “We had an especially good presence in Barcelona—there was an ISKCON Communications stand handing out free brochures, and a “temple shop” selling devotional and cultural products. ISKCON guru Sivarama Swami did a presentation on Hungary’s eco-village project Krishna Valley, ISKCON Deity Worship Minister Krishna Ksetra Dasa participated in a panel conference, and one devotee did a cooking course. We also performed a fire sacrifice, or yajna, and held our traditional temple morning program.”
ISKCON’s participation in the Melbourne conference, however, was minimal, and Mahaprabhu hopes that its presence can be brought to a much higher level for the next Parliament in 2014.
“We really need to plan it well in advance, and to convince ISKCON leaders of its importance and receive their support,” he says. “It’s important for us to be present and to contribute in a positive way, because the Parliament—although still in its pioneer phase—is set to become a major interfaith event. For instance, last year it received heavy coverage by the media and a White House delegation even attended. So we would like to have ISKCON’s most talented leaders, thinkers and academics from around the world making proposals for workshops, conferences and presentations.”
If the Parliament is held in Brussels in 2014, the event will occur sometime between the end of June and the beginning of September, with Square, a convention center in the picturesque heart of Brussels, as its main venue.
The Parliament will run for one week, and will draw thousands of intellectuals, spiritual leaders, spiritual practioners, and seekers. It will feature 600 to 700 presentations, workshops, and programs. There will also be cultural showcases for music, dance and more, as well as exhibits where each organization can present its literature.
A wide variety of topics will be discussed in depth at the workshops and conferences, with attendance ranging from the thousands to fifteen or twenty people. In the mornings from 8am to 9am, each religious community will have time to hold their traditional services for everyone to attend.
“The Parliament is an excellent way for ISKCON to present its identity, theology, teachings, principles, and values,” Mahaprabhu says. “It has three components: the first is intra-religious, where a community can present itself and its message through qualified speakers, thus giving a good impression to other religious leaders, intellectuals, and the general public.”
The second component is inter-religious, where representatives of different communities can participate in panels on different topics—in ISKCON’s case, Mahaprabhu says, it’s an opportunity to show that we’re mature, healthy, and willing to do dialogue with other traditions.
And the third component is a chance for religious communities to give their solutions, analysis or perspective on burning issues in today’s world.
“I think that ISKCON could give a lot of good contributions if we really put our thought into it,” Mahaprabhu says.
He adds that there are already some ideas for the 2014 Parliament, including an interfaith panel organized by ISKCON, and a “kirtan in different faiths” program. He also stresses the importance of devotees participating in the event.
“In previous Parliaments, there have been Hindu-Jewish or Hindu-Catholic dialogues in which not only was ISKCON not present, but no Vaishnavas were represented,” he says. “Instead, there were Hindu Swamis from other traditions. So this time we would definitely like to be involved.”
He concludes: “I think ISKCON could play a very important role, explaining to representatives of other faiths that Hinduism is not all about mystic yogis and impersonal philosophy—it’s also about Vaishnava traditions and monotheism.”
Radha Krishna Deaf Assocation Sign Their Way to God
By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on 27 Aug 2010
When Dayal Gauranga Dasa first began visiting ISKCON’s Bhaktivedanta Manor near London, England, in 1980, he found that it was difficult for him to participate in temple activities and to connect with the community. And he wasn’t the only one. There were many others across the country, and the rest of the world, for whom access to ISKCON temples was no easy feat.
For Dayal Gauranga Dasa was born deaf. Originally from Kenya, Africa, he was working in England as a teacher and assessor of British sign language, when he began learning about Lord Krishna and the Bhagavad-gita As It Is from his devotee brother Madan Mohan Dasa.
“When I started visiting the temple, and saw that there was no ISKCON Deaf Community, I decided that one had to be started because the cultures of deaf people and hearing people are more different than you might think,” he says. “Of course, we communicate with sign language rather than speech. But there are other, less obvious issues. For instance, deaf people get bored during a thirty minute mangal arati kirtan, because they cannot hear it.”
So at the age of twenty-five, Dayal Gauranga established the first ISKCON Deaf community, called ‘Signs Unto Krishna.’ The name stuck for fifteen years, until at forty he asked his guru Bhakti Charu Swami to give the group a new one. It was renamed the ‘Radha Krishna Deaf People Association,’ a moniker it continues to retain, through its new incarnation’s 10th anniversary in 2010.
The primary aim of the Radha Krishna Deaf People Association (RKDA) is to show deaf people everywhere that they can learn Krishna consciousness too, and are very welcome to visit temples and be involved in different services.
Dayal Gauranga has even invented a whole set of sign language words to make things easier.
“When I first started visiting the temple, the paid interpreter I attended lectures with found it difficult to sign the technical terms of Krishna consciousness,” Dayal says. “He would fingerspell many words that he himself didn´t understand, for instance ‘Chaitanya Charitamrta,’ and this slowed the fluidity of the interpretation. So I felt the need to create signs for technical Krishna conscious terms, just as Christians had created signs for their own terms.”
Many of Dayal Gauranga’s signs were based on inspiration from pictures—for instance, the sign for Krishna mimes holding a flute. Others were more difficult, such as prasadam, or more abstract terms that did not have pictures relating to them, like ‘Karma.’ Others were very creative: for instance, the sign for
‘Vrindavana,’ Krishna’s birthplace, includes signs for the words “swap” and “babies”—since Krishna was brought to Vrindavana and swapped for another baby—and ends with a ‘V’ shape.
Interpreting classes and events are easier today than they were in the earlier years, since Prema Pradipa Dasa—a hearing devotee who has studied sign language for many years—interprets instead of an outside interpreter without knowledge of ISKCON terminology. Still, difficulties arise.
“We always have to ask the temple authorities in advance for permission to have an interpreter present at classes, since sometimes they can distract the hearing devotees’ attention,” Dayal Gauranga says. “And we have to do the same with festivals, and to explain our needs clearly—for instance we need to make sure we can have an interpreter standing closer to us on the stage during performances so that we can see his interpretations clearly.”
But the biggest problem, Dayal Gauranga explains, is that there are just not enough interpreters at ISKCON temples. “Prema Pradipa is the only full-time devotee with sign language skills at the Manor, and he is overburdened,” he says. “We really need four or five interpreters. For example, there may not always be an interpreter around when a deaf devotee wants to hear a particular class, or they may miss an important announcement. Or they may not be able to take advantage of an opportunity to visit the holy places in India such as Vrindavana and Mayapur, because there are no interpreters available.”
As something of a remedy, RKDA arranges special programs for the deaf community at London’s Bhaktivedanta Manor and Soho Street temples, as well as at the homes of various deaf devotees. These programs include kirtan, lectures, and group discussion, all in sign language. RKDA also arranges special versions of certain festivals, such as Diwali, for deaf people, and produces special dramas about the pastimes of the Lord and his avatars using sign language.
Dayal Gauranga has also established a sign language and deaf awareness course for hearing devotees, to help integrate the two communities and to develop friendships.
“They can also buy our book ‘Sign Language in Hinduism,’ which brings together all the signs with Krishna conscious terminology that were dispersed across different formats,” he says. “As well as giving the deaf community access to ISKCON temples and communities all over the world, it allows deaf and hearing devotees to communicate.”
Using sign language with subtitles, the book and accompanying DVD cover the central teachings of the Bhagavad-gita and elaborate on the practice of chanting the maha-mantra, as well as narrating several stories from the Bhagavatam.
The book was the result of many years of work, and was finally released two years ago with support from Bhaktivedanta Manor’s educational department and from the hearing, deaf and Hindu communities.
The book, and the RKDA itself, has been many deaf peoples’ only chance to become devotees. For instance, Nirmal Thakkar, who was born deaf in India, moved to the UK as a child, and grew up as a Christian, began visiting the temple when he desired to learn more about his Hindu background—but could not understand anything.
When Dayal Gauranga invited him to attend some of RKDA’s programs, however, he found like-minded association and was able to ask questions. He made many friends who regularly encouraged him on his spiritual path, and his life changed completely. Nirmal clarified many doubts he had had about his relationship with God and the problems of life that no other religion could answer for him. He was deeply inspired by the Bhagavad-gita, and now teaches it to others. He also married another deaf devotee, and they have a hearing son who at four years old can already sign ‘Hare Krishna.’
Without RKDA, the chances of any of this happening would have been extremely limited.
Dayal feels that RKDA is a success when he sees deaf people enjoying spiritual life. “We love to see the beautiful Deities,” he says. “We also love to cook for the
devotees and eat prasadam. And we like to listen to lectures and ask questions. Also, when deaf and hearing dance together, it’s a wonderful feeling. And during bhajans and kirtans, when the interpreter signs what the leader is singing like a poem, it’s fascinating and very enjoyable.”
As well as focusing on their local community, members of RKDA travel and make an impact overseas. In 2006, they attended the ‘World Federation of the Deaf’ (WFD) in Spain—a conference of deaf people from all over the world. When they arrived wearing dhotis and tilak, people immediately swarmed around them, wanting to take a photo with them and asking questions. And in 2007, they visited a deaf school in Indore, India, and taught the many inquisitive students there about Krishna consciousness.
The group is currently working on a summary of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is in sign language, which will be followed by a sign language DVD on vegetarian cooking. They also wish to start developing a network of deaf devotees all over the world.
In the future, Dayal Gauranga hopes to become a board member of ISKCON, so that he can bring deaf awareness to the Hare Krishna movement. “I feel that it is very important to be aware of deaf devotees’ different needs and to help, support and encourage deaf people in ISKCON temples all over the world,” he says.
For more information, please visit www.rkdeaf.com or contact rkda@hotmail.co.uk
Homage to Srila Prabhupada
By Dravida Das for krishna.com on 1 Sep 2010
Vyasa-puja is an annual celebration by devotees of Lord Krishna to offer homage to their guru, or spiritual teacher. Krishna Himself admits that what He likes most is when someone likes His devotee. Each year, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust publishes a limited number of copies of a Vyasa-puja book—a collection of homages to Srila Prabhupada from devotees and temples all over the world. The following is the introduction by the editor, Dravida Das.
In the Caitanya-caritamrta we find several passages describing how Lord Caitanya praised His devotees as if He had five mouths. Typical is this one concerning Srila Haridasa Thakura, at Antya-lila 11.50–51:
“In front of all the great devotees like Ramananda Raya and Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya , Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu began to describe the holy attributes of Haridasa Thakura. As He described the transcendental attributes of Haridasa Thakura, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu seemed to possess five mouths. The more he described, the more his great happiness increased.”
We can only imagine how much happiness Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu must feel as more than a hundred “mouths” glorify his dear devotee Srila Prabhupada in the yearly vyasa-puja book, and as thousands more do so all over the world on Srila Prabhupada’s vyasa-puja day.
In this forty-first annual Vyasa-puja book, we will find the usual array of encomiums, prayers, and reports of preaching projects planned or completed. The homages come from a cross section of the international Society for Krishna Consciousness—seniors and juniors, leaders and neophytes. They all express, in unique ways, their realization that Srila Prabhupada is the beating heart of ISKCON. And just as every part of the body depends on the heart for energy and life itself, so every member of Srila Prabhupada’s Society depends on him—his instructions, his blessings, his love—for their spiritual lives.
Some highlights from each section follow.
GBCs: Tamohara Prabhu, reflecting on the imminent installation of the Deities of Sri Sri Krisna-Balarama in New Ramna Reti, Florida, reflects on Srila Prabhupada as the representative of Lord Balarama:
“It is our good fortune that the spiritual strength bestowed by Lord Balarama is manifested by you in fullness. We can recall your firm determination to preach the message of Krishna consciousness, your absolute conviction of the spiritual truth, and your unflagging determination to push forth this ISKCON movement against all odds. Your strength gave us our strength. In your presence, there was no fear, no question, and no hesitation.
In the years since your physical departure from this world, we have sometimes wondered whether we can go on with this same strength, conviction, and determination. Sometimes the road seems more difficult and the obstacles seem higher and wider. It is at those times that we have no recourse other than to take shelter of you. By remembering your instructions to us, recalling your conviction to preach unceasingly, and opening our hearts to the mercy you still extend to us all, we will receive that same strength. In our times of difficulty or doubt, we need look no further than your lotus feet, your instructions, and service to you. We need only approach you in the mood of sincere prayer, and then there will be no doubt that all spiritual benedictions will come. By our service and prayer to you we will experience the strength and mercy of Lord Balarama manifesting through His most confidential representative—you, Srila Prabhupada.”
Non-GBC Sannyasis: Sacinandana Swami encapsulates the essence of a sincere disicple’s prayer to Srila Prabhupada in this little free-verse poem:
“Dear Srila Prabhupada, Today I offer the flowers of my faith to your lotus feet. Whatever you find of value in me are gifts given by you.
I sincerely fall down before your lotus feet and beg you: kindly help me not withhold anything from you and the divine Couple. Please give me strength and love so I can wholeheartedly offer all my words, acts, and thoughts for your service. Thank you so much.”
ISKCON Centers: Like several other authors, the writer of the homage from Longdenville, Trinidad, focuses on the inspiring example Srila Prabhupada gave us for all time by the many struggles he underwent to found and expand the Krishna consciousness movement:
“We struggle too, Srila Prabhupada. We know you are well aware of that. We struggle to control our senses. We struggle to chant attentively and without offense. We struggle to follow the principles and your instructions. We struggle to find the enthusiasm to give Krishna consciousness to others. We struggle to get along with each other.
We struggle just to keep struggling to become Krishna conscious. Sometimes it seems like a hopeless task. How can we succeed when we are often our own worst enemies?
Our success lies in simply remaining faithful to you and never giving up the fight. You have given us so many blessings to make the struggle easier that it hardly seems proper to beg for more. Yet we shamelessly beseech your mercy so that we can find the strength to continue on this path and not be deviated, not become disheartened or discouraged by our own weaknesses and anarthas. It may take us many lifetimes (although you urged us to finish up our business in this life), yet there is no more worthwhile struggle than the one to attain one’s real self.”
Publishers: Punya-palaka Prabhu of the north European branch of the BBT succinctly summarizes the great value of Srila Prabhupada’s books, as well as the mood of those fortunate devotees who have the chance to help produce them:
“Your books potently inspire and purify utter beginners and laymen in spiritual matters, and they give further guidance to those who are already to some extent purified and aware of life’s ultimate subtle interest. And certainly all advanced devotees enjoy reading them, as you yourself did! Please bless us, your BBT servants, to be able to continue to effectively assist sincere souls everywhere in their search for the fulfillment of self-realization by providing them with your perfect and complete teachings, transparently and attractively, without distortions.”
Ministries: The highlight of this section is the offering from Bhakti-raghava Swami, in which he includes a report on the establishment of the daiva varnasrama ministry project in India. Its mission statement:
“The ISKCON daiva varnasrama ministry Promoting Rural development seeks to promote, establish, and demonstrate the ideals of simple living and high thinking, based on the concepts and principles of daivi-varnasrama-dharma, as desired by Srila Prabhupada. The ministry will work with the ISKCON India leadership to establish self-sufficient rural (village) communities, giving special emphasis to training and education.
Anyone who knows Srila Prabhupada’s life knows how dear varnasrama was to him. Now it looks like something substantial in this regard is really going to happen in India.
Other ISKCON Sources: Yogesvara Prabhu wrote an expressive offering for ISKCON Resolve, the intrepid group of devotees who try to mediate—and resolve—the seemingly intractable disputes that sometimes arise among devotees in a worldwide, dynamic preaching movement. Addressing Srila Prabhupada, he writes:
“You excelled at finding diamonds amid broken glass and gems of wisdom in straw huts. You took threads of light peeping through bleak places and spun luxurious spools of brightness, breathed in wisps of air from suffocated terrain and exhaled lavish, full billows of life. The glass was never
half full for you; it overflowed. Perhaps in these stunning discoveries of the extraordinary in the ordinary you were telling us to be alert because life’s stories are always deeper than they seem; and to not be afraid of reaching out to possibility, because even the most perceptive devotee cannot predict the full extent of Krishna’s creation.
How much more we take from your example today than we could then, now that we see for ourselves how hearts scarred by bitter memories are also fortified by them and that a war cry is better than a whimper. You insisted on courage, railed against impossibility, raised aging to an art, and challenged us to rethink entrenched positions. Who dares complain of having reached their limits, you demanded. Who dares capitulate to the forces of a dark world? You were, i believe, alerting us that aging would mean entering the most productive period of our lives: too old to continue the naivety of youth but not so old that one should avoid pushing the boulder up the hill one more time. Don’t stop. That was your message. No one, you declared, least of all a devotee, is ennobled by complacency.”
Just a few of the voices raised in praise of Srila Prabhupada and recorded for posterity in this forty-first edition of his Vyasa-puja book.
The complete Vyasa Puja book is available at http://www.krishna.com/homages-srila-prabhupada
A Thousand Little Krishnas On His Birthday
By Asian Image reporter for Asian Image on 24 Aug 2010
Tens of thousands of pilgrims and guests will visit Bhaktivedanta Manor Hare Krishna Temple later this week to celebrate Janmashtami, the birth of Lord Krishna.
The festival will include lively plays, traditional Indian dances, melodious singing, food stalls, multi-media shows, elaborate worship, meditation and chanting, youth tents, games, children's areas, bullock-wagon rides and much more.
On Janmashtami Day itself, Thursday 2nd, the festival will continue until everyone has been in the Temple room.
In the Children’s area, a thousand children will have their faces painted blue, many carrying flutes and wearing peacock feathers in their hair, dressing like Lord Krishna as part of the festive spirit.
Another festival highlight will include a flowered walkway through the spiritual gardens and woodland. You will journey through the life and pastimes of Lord Krishna. As you approach the shrine the excitement will build, climaxing with a glimpse of the spectacular deity of Krishna decorated with thousands of flowers.
The festival will launch the first literacy program in the world to incorporate both language and phonics systems.
It is the first and only Learning to Read program in the world where the books can be heard in 25 languages. The children’s books depict many adventures of Lord Krishna and other stories from the Hindu scriptures.
“We use a system called MagicPEN, which is used by only a handful of publishers,” said Dr. Edith E. Best, an educator with more than thirty years of experience in both primary and secondary education and teacher training.
“You touch each page with a computerized pen that has a speaker built into it, and it picks up an invisible bar code and reads the page out to you.”
The entire festival is managed and run by 1300 volunteers from the community who gather every evening after work for a month prior to the event and put in countless hours of hard work for the occasion.
Janmashtami at Bhaktivedanta Manor attracts people of all backgrounds, including politicians, business leaders, faith representatives and people who would like to learn more about devotion to Lord Krishna.
Srutidharma das, Temple President said, “I am looking forward to see the happy faces of so many children at the festival.
"The event is the show piece of our devotion to Lord Krishna and that of 1500 volunteers who have helped to make this festival such a success every year.
"With creativity and devotion, our volunteers have strived to produce yet again something different and spectacular. I am sure all our pilgrims and visitors who come will be uplifted spiritually. “
Eating Well: Giving Up Meat for a Better World
By Katja Thimm for www.spiegel.de on 19 Aug 2010
Jonathan Safran Foer used to love his grandmother's chicken and carrots. But after his son was born, the bestselling American author decided to give up meat.
Like German author Karen Duve, who is also writing a book about eating ethically, Foer is trying to make the world a better place.
It was a magical moment when Jonathan Safran Foer decided to find out the truth about meat.
The author had just become a father a few minutes earlier, and now he was watching his son suckling at his wife's breast. The newborn's instinct to immediately recognize the correct food source filled him with an unfamiliar sense of reverence. Jonathan Safran Foer was a man with a new responsibility, and he was determined to do everything within his power to make sure that this child would eat the right kind of food in the future.
Foer spent three years researching the subject. He knew that he would discover a different reality than the one portrayed by the animals in the picture books he would look at with his son on the sofa. But the scope of the horror that reality had in store for him was unexpected. He decided that he would raise his child without meat.
Here are five examples, five of the hundreds Foer unearthed during his research:
? Industrial-scale poultry farmers inject birds with "broths" and salty solutions, so that they look plump in the store and their meat is more flavorful.
? Hog farmers cut off the teeth of piglets and rip out their testicles -- without anesthesia.
? In tuna fishing, 145 other species -- fish, birds and mammals -- are also caught in the nets, where they die and are subsequently tossed back into the ocean.
? Factory farming accounts for between 18 and 51 percent -- depending on the study -- of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The biggest offenders are cows, which release methane during digestion. Methane is 23 times as harmful to the climate as CO2.
? Some factory farms are so big that they produce more excrement every day than some major cities.
The Search for a Better Life
"As a father, I was confronted with realities that, as a writer, I couldn't keep to myself," says Foer today. The 33-year-old author wrote a book about the horrors of factory farming, which triggered passionate debates about food and nutrition in the United States. His son is now four years old and has a brother, and the rights to "Eating Animals" have been sold in 16 countries. The German-language version, "Tiere Essen," appears in bookstores in Germany on August 19.
Foer shocked hundreds of thousands of people with his book, and for a time the author received angry emails on a daily basis, from people calling him a jerk and complaining that they couldn't eat meat anymore after having read his book.
It's the author's first non-fiction book. Foer, who has published two novels, one about Jewish identity ("Everything Is Illuminated") and one about the 9/11 attacks ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"), is considered an exceptionally talented young writer in the United States. In "Eating Animals," he brings together anecdotes, facts, news coverage and correspondence. He describes breaking into a chicken farm, offers accounts of organic farmers and writes about how his inquiries to major meat producers went unanswered. It is an unsettling and moving document -- the account of a man's search for a better life.
Before long, Foer was thinking about more than just his son. He was thinking about the entire world.
Read more: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,71...
HeaFood and Faith: Agriculture as a Theological Actdline
By Kent Hayden, M.Div. for The Huffington Post on 2 Aug 2010
Wendell Berry has said that eating is an agricultural act. I have always suspected that agriculture is a theological act. The way we produce and consume something as basic as our food not only determines our physical and environmental health but is a reflection of our social health and a contributing factor of our spiritual health. This is an idea that should disturb and excite us. If eating is agricultural and agriculture is theological, then right eating is a sign of faith, and unjust, aesthetically bankrupt eating endangers the soul.
I have suspected this connection since my grandfather washed his farm-calloused hands in holy water to baptize my infant head. My memories of the rattling of
Grandpa's tractor are mixed with those of the booming of his preaching. I always imagined there was a link between the strength of his faith and the strength of his milker's grip. But for the first 25 years of my life, these loosely held notions remained in the background of my thinking and living. I was discontented with both the fast food and fast religion of our society. I gave up both, but was only rewarded with the occasional surge of self-righteousness as I passed by a burger joint hungry or turned off a radio sermon pessimistic. I knew that the easy food and easy religion that I had used to fuel my body and my soul for most of my life were bad for me. But I thought fasting was the only solution.
By the time I graduated from seminary, I was beginning to see signs of hope in our public discourse. People were talking about food and farming in meaningful ways. People were raising their voices in support of a religion that got its hands dirty. I came to possess the dangerous combination of optimism, conviction, and discontent that sometimes leads to an adventure. I was craving a meaningful way of life, which neither my years of consuming nor fasting had provided, and
I suspected that the best place to look was in the very garden from which our food choices had excluded us long ago. I applied for an internship on a little organic farm in Washington state, packed up some clothes, a tent, and my dog, and hit the road.
For the past three weeks, I have been living, working, and eating with dirty hands. In those three weeks, I have showered a total of six times, blistered my hands five, watched 21 sunsets and 15 sunrises, lain under a garden sprinkler twice, floated down the Yakima river three times, and sunburned my neck too often to mention. I have been stopped short by beauty every day, and I have fallen asleep contented every night.
The spiritual abundance I have enjoyed while living with a sore back and blistered hands cannot be explained by the food I have eaten. I have eaten well before.
It is not due to the awe I have experienced. I have been immersed in beauty before. It grows from the blisters and the aches themselves, earned in pursuit of a simple good thing. It is the result of reordering my understanding of "the good" to include struggling against and overcoming the benevolent afflictions of early mornings and long, hot days. The solution to the discontent of a fast food culture and a fast food religion is not just a rejection of the fruit of these societal trends. It is a total metanoia; a mind-turning towards a theological and culinary aesthetic that includes both difficulty and satisfaction as parts of the good. Our preachers must proclaim the complex mix of the painful and sublime that constitutes the true beauty of creation. Our faith communities must invite us into this beauty, by tearing down the white picket fences we have built between our self-referential good and evil. We must open up new fields for working and growing, and put ourselves to the difficult task of relationship building. Likewise, our food system must reclaim the value and dignity of hard work by connecting consumers to producers through community gardens, CSAs, and local, seasonal eating. We must demand that "fair trade" ceases to be a luxury, so that when we meet the men and women whose hands have given us our daily bread, we might look them in the eye and smile. We must relearn the bent-backed posture of farming, and with it, the bent-backed posture of prayer.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kent-hayden-mdiv/food-and...
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