"Planet ISKCON" - 45 new articles
Japa Group: Pushed On Like A Soldier
 ISKCON Brisbane, AU: SeminarThe Art of Krishna Conscious Home Schooling |
ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Watch Ratha-Yatra from Jagannatha Puri - LIVE!
On July 13th, the festival of Ratha-Yatra is taking place in Jagannatha Puri. Check out the live broadcast from the fesival!
On July 17th, this same Ratha-Yatra festival or Festival of India will be taking place in Toronto with a vibrant parade down Yonge Street in which three, giant floats are hand-pulled by thousands of attendees and spectators amidst melodious singing, chanting, drumming, and dancing.
This parade down Yonge Street echoes this annual procession that has taken place for centuries in the ancient city of Jagannatha Puri in Orissa, India. There, three mammoth chariots, known as rathas are taken on a jubilant procession, called a yatra. Hence, the Festival is also known as Ratha-Yatra or "chariot procession". In Orissa, this age-old Ratha-Yatra procession continues to attract over a million people every year!
Seated on each float (chariot) are beautifully bedecked Deities of Jagannatha (another name for Krishna), Baladeva (Krishna's brother), and Subhadra (Krishna's sister). The procession itself symbolizes the pulling of the Lord into our hearts and thus is done with great pomp and grandeur.
Join us on July 17th and 18th at the Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra)
ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Pre-Ratha-Yatra Kirtan Festival with Madhava das and Gopal das!
Join us for two 12 hour days of blissful kirtan at the Hare Krishna Temple, Toronto and experience ecstatic and sweet kirtan leading up to North America's biggest Ratha-Yatra (Festival of India)!
July 15th - 10:00am - 10:00pm
July 16th - 10:00am - 10:00pm including a Maha Harinama (Street Kirtan) through downtown Toronto!
This Pre-Ratha-Yatra Kirtan Festival will feature kirtaneers like Madhava das from Switzerland, Gopal das from UK/Vrindavan, Ajamil das from Toronto, Akinchana das from USA and many many more! It is an event that no kirtan lover must miss!
And the kirtan bliss continues a Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra) on July 17th and 18th with a rockin' Parade kirtan, Spiritually chaotic kirtan in the Toronto Tunnel, kirtan on the ferry ride to Centre Island and non-stop kirtan at the Festival site!!!!
New Vrindavan, USA: NEW VRINDABAN'S Rathyatra draws over 350 people
New Vrindaban's annual Ratha Yatra drew over 350 people from across the United States to Marshall County last weekend. "I can't believe the entire parade lasted 90 minutes! Once I started singing along with everyone else, the time just flew," said Jenny Santilli, a Spanish teacher at South Harrison High School in Clarksburg, WV. "The chariot was gorgeous. There was so much decorative detail – paper swans, cow-shaped and parrot-shaped balloons, and garlands of fresh flowers."
Santilli, who is working on her doctorate in Curriculum & Instruction at Marshall University, attended the Ratha Yatra to fulfill part of her Multicultural Studies requirement. Her assignment was to visit a community that is different from her own. "I am a practicing Catholic, so the Hare Krishna community is definitely different. But after talking with the devotees, I can see many similarities in our fundamental belief systems."
Santilli also brought her 15-year old son Jonathan to the Ratha Yatra. "I want to expose my kids to as many different cultures as possible. Jonathan saw things he had heard about in school. Everybody was so friendly and answered all our questions."
ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Sunday Feast Recording - July 11, 2010
The recording for this week's Sunday Feast can be viewed by clicking the image below. As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.
Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: You'll be cheated by illusory servant or son or father or lover
So if you accept Krsna as your son, as your friend, as your lover, you will never be cheated. So try to accept Krsna. Give up this false illusory servant or son or father or lover. You'll be cheated. You'll be cheated. If you love your son with your heart and soul, that very son will may be someday your most veritable enemy. Yes. This is the world. The wife you love so much, but the wife may be someday so great enemy that she can kill you for her own interest. There are so many instances. So if you want to have real... The Mayavadi philosophers, they are afraid of having such relationship again. Because they have got bitter experience of this material world, they want to make it zero -- no more relationship, no more son, no more daughter, no more lover, no more master. "Because we have got very bitter experience of these things, I am disgusted with these things. I will make it zero." But that is not the fact. The fact is that if you make the same relationship with Krsna, it will never become zero; it will be enthusiastic more and more.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.38 -- Bombay, December 7, 1974
Anuradha Kesavi dd, Dubai, UAE: Samsara
tears of misery and helplessness
Uncontrolled tears that have no reason
Except the fact I swim in the ocean of samsara
Bharatavarsa.net: Book distribution seminar: Srila Prabhupada on book distribution
lecture Jan 5, 1976
Our first business is this book distribution. There is no need of any other business. If this book distribution is managed properly, pushed on with great enthusiasm and determination and at the same time if our men keep spiritually strong, then the whole world will become Krishna conscious.
BG 13.12 purport
Non violence is generally taken to mean not killing or destroying the body, but actually nonviolence means not to put others into distress. People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life, and they perpetually suffer material pains. So unless one elevates people to spiritual knowledge, one is practicing violence. One should try his best to distribute real knowledge to the people, so that they may become enlightened and leave this material entanglement. That is nonviolence.
Book Distribution News: Srila Prabhupada on book distribution
lecture Jan 5, 1976
Our first business is this book distribution. There is no need of any other business. If this book distribution is managed properly, pushed on with great enthusiasm and determination and at the same time if our men keep spiritually strong, then the whole world will become Krishna conscious.
BG 13.12 purport
Non violence is generally taken to mean not killing or destroying the body, but actually nonviolence means not to put others into distress. People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life, and they perpetually suffer material pains. So unless one elevates people to spiritual knowledge, one is practicing violence. One should try his best to distribute real knowledge to the people, so that they may become enlightened and leave this material entanglement. That is nonviolence.
Maddy Jean-claude Durr, New Govardhana, AU: A Journey Across to Poland: [P4] Greeting Our Guru
Monday 5th, July 2010. We were instructed to sleep in by HH Indradyumna Swami, in his address the day before but now we were being woken up because he was going to give class. We rushed downstairs, cleaned up and joined the crowd of devotees attentively waiting for class. Maharaja led his legendary Radha Madhava prayers and the effect was hypnotic. The class was on the Nama Rupa. He also decided that we would be speaking on the pastimes of Ajamila, in the coming weeks of the tour. He wanted, while we were spreading the holy name, to talk about the amazing mercy present in the holy name.
I went for a japa session out in the sports field. HH Indradyumna Swami was walking out from the school. He called me over and I obeyed without delay. I walked up to him, just as he was sitting on the bench. I felt him urging me so I sat down next to him. Was I in trouble? Did he want to ask me something confidential? "I need a brahmacari near me because there are too many matajis around" he said at last. It was a rather humorous reason to call me over but I appreciated any chance to gain his association. Eventually the crowds wore off and he sent me on, telling me to stay near just in case he needed me again.
I was chanting my rounds in the reception. I saw devotees transporting an enormous cake on a table, heading towards the gymnasium. Quite soon we were following the cake in for the Monday feast, which was extra special in celebration of the arrival of HH Indradyumna Swami and the beginning of another Polish Tour. The feast was a rather opulent affair but the cake, made by Rajesvari Mataji, was outstanding, both in quality and quantity.
We had some time off to digest before the evening arati. While we were in our rooms we decided to indulge in a typical Gurukuli pastime of displaying dhoti and chada techniques. We flipped around the unstitched cloths into as many different combinations as we could comprehend. We all prayed that, after all our messing around, no one's dhoti would fall off in the coming arati.
We came down for an unreal kirtana. While the devotees bathed HH Indradyumna Swami's feet, we started up the pace for the dancing feet on the floor. All of a sudden the pace was raging. We were running, dancing and jumping. Someone produced a long piece of cloth, tied in a circle, and we all held onto it tightly, spinning as fast as we could. The kirtana was totally out of control and soon I couldn't even manifest enough breath to chant or dance. Just as I was about to loose the energy to stay standing the kirtana came to a close.
The class was all about the holy name. HH Indradyumna Swami was talking about understanding what the Maha Mantra actually meant. "We need to study the meaning of all these songs we sing" he said. He told stories of Bengali singers choking up in kirtana simply because they knew what the words to the bhajans meant Throughout the whole class Maharaja was making the whole audience chant the Maha Mantra, over and over again.
Maharaja went on to talk about his tours around the world and expressed thanks to different devotees who had donated to them. He thanked Pratapana and Jaya Sri, who had helped arrange and sponsor most of the Australia Tour. He also singled out HG Sakhi Rai Prabhu, who was sitting in our audience, for all his many contributions over the years. Maharaja also seemed to suggest that someone had given him a generous donation so he could look into taking the tour to North America. It was all too much; the tour would have to go global some time in the future. Maharaja went on to talk about the coming tour in South America also.
Maharaja finished the lecture with some special thanks. He thanked Nandini and Jayatam for their tireless work throughout the year. Whilst we all took a break between the tours they were starting to plan the next year. Indradyumna Swami also thanked Dominik for his endless service and all the other tour veterans. We ended with a big applause for Tribhuvanesvara Prabhu (Tribi) for all of his kirtanas.
After the applause wore off Tribi began the evening arati. Maharaja called me forward and instructed me to dim the lights. The alters shone in the darkness, like a dazzling diamond on a dark cloth. We danced in that kirtana like we had never danced before. The holy name was belting out at the top of our lungs and the crowd was moving from one side of the gymnasium to the other. I could feel my feet start to blister and my left knee started to give way. It was something like the kirtana we had in Woodstock 2008 but it was only devotees here.
Once the kirtana dispatched, we made our way to the Prasadam room (there is a room where left over Prasadam can be consumed at the devotees convenience). Cups and bottles were out as we tried to compensate for all the sweating that we had to ordeal in the hours kirtanas. The body was simply an instrument, insufficient at most, and the nectar was simply pouring out indiscriminately for all to savour. All you could do was try an assimilate as much as your limited capacity allowed you, knowing that the limited quantity you could obtain would have an eternal, purifying effect.
[http://maddmonk.wordpress.com]
Madri dd, South Africa: Darsan @ Iskcon, Johannesburg; South Africa Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari
"When the rising sun appeared in the East, the jewel of the twice-born, Lord Gaurasundara, awakened, and, taking His devotees with Him, He went all over the countryside towns and villagesand played the mrdanga, and the cymbals chimed in time. Lord Gauranga's shimmering golden features danced, and His footbells jingled." [SVA 2: Arunodaya-kirtana I (udilo aruna)] 
"All the devotees chanted the names Mukunda, Madhava, Yadava and Hari, their mouths being filled with the vibrations. They would announce to the still sleeping people, "You spend your nights uselessly sleeping and your days decorating your bodies!" [2: Arunodaya-kirtana I (udilo aruna)] 
"
"You have achieved such a rare human body, but you do not care for this gift. You remain not serving the darling of Yasoda and slowly fall through your last moments to death." [SVA 2: Arunodaya-kirtana I (udilo aruna)] 
"With every rising and setting of the sun, a day passes and is lost. Then, why do you remain idle and not serve the Lord of the heart?" [SVA 2: Arunodaya-kirtana I (udilo aruna)] 
"This temporary life is full of various miseries. Take shelter of the holy name as your only business." [SVA 2: Arunodaya-kirtana I (udilo aruna)] 
"To penetrate the darkness of ignorance and bless everyone's heart, the holy name has risen like the shining sun.Drink the pure nectar of the holy name. There is nothing but the name to be had in the fourteen worlds. It has filled the soul of Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura." [SVA 2: Arunodaya-kirtana I (udilo aruna)]
The above darsan was on the Disappearance day of Sri Gadadhara Pandita and Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur.
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1947 July 12 : "Dear Friend Mahatma Gandhijee, You must immediately retire from active politics if you do not desire to die an inglorious death. Retire for a month only and let us have discussion on the Bhagavad-gita. I know you are sincere, honest moralist."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1947-64
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1968 July 12 : "Krishna Consciousness is so nice one forgets his material designations and tries to associate with similar Krishna consciousness persons. That means melted on the pure spiritual platform. We hope to bring everyone to such spiritual platform."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1968 July 12 : "If you can introduce this Krishna Consciousness movement in such a distant place, Lord Caitanya will pour His incessant blessings upon you. If you establish a center there it will be a record in the history of Lord Caitanya's movement."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1969 July 12 : "Devote your attention for first-class editorial work. You may continue to send me Sanskrit transliterations for being corrected as I did last time. Your first business is to see my books and magazine are published very nicely."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1969 July 12 : "Usefulness or uselessness, it all depends on proper management. You can't expect that all men and women there will be very useful. You have to make them useful by your arrangement."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1970 July 12 : "Our process is for manufacturing sincere souls. If you are sincere, other sincere souls will come. How is it possible? Simply by following the rules and regulative principles and chanting offenselessly."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1972 July 12 : "At every step there is danger. We must become very diligent in executing spiritual life, and not neglect even a moment. I am very much anxious to know what is your condition, and how you are recovering."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972
Srila Prabhupada's Letters
1975 July 12: "Do not spend very much time in this way. There are already so many prayers written by the great acaryas. What will you add to this? If you have got inclination, put the chapters of Krsna Book into verse."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 7
3:55 A.M.
I slept without interruption and woke up around 2:00 A.M. but my chanting has been slow and not wide-awake. I don't know why that is, just the unpredictable varieties of japa on a given day. I've only chanted about seven rounds, and it is going slowly. My attention is decent but not very deep. I will try to pick up the remainder of my quota. My eyelids are a bit heavy, and I'm plodding. I will no doubt get my vow done, but it may take a little more time today due to slowness.
Less than vigorous japa,
there is no reason for it,
but slow and steady
will win the race.
I ask my mind to focus keener
and not be sleepy-eyed.
But some days are better
than others, and I try
to stay awake
and keep aware of
the great benefits
I'm receiving by taking
Nama Prabhu.
An old man stumbles
and prays to improve
in his most easy, vital hours.
Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Too Many Pumpkins
One of my favorite book to read to my kiddies is Linda White’s Too Many Pumpkins. It is about a woman who hates pumpkins because as a child of poverty, she had to eat way too many of them. One day, a pumpkin truck bounding by her house loses a pumpkin in her yard. Splat! Probably about a hundred days later, she discovers that her land is overrun by pumpkins! What to do? The pumpkin heroine gets cooking, canning and baking. Neighbors come by to share in the pumpkin love. I find this book nothing short of inspirational.
Now, we don’t have much full sunshine in this pine forest of a yard of ours. And we don’t have much nutrient rich soil. But that did not stop me from ordering pumpkin seeds last night.
Here’s what’s coming in the mail from Sunrise Seeds. I am really excited. Here are the descriptions from the seed website:
Potimarron Squash
Famous winter squash from France. Very aromatic and chestnut-like taste. One of the very best for baking and roasting. Nice sized 3-4 pound fruit store well. 85-95 days.
Amish Pie Squash
Heirloom variety obtained by James Robinson from an Amish gardener in Maryland. One of the best processing pumpkins we have ever grown. The slightly pale orange flesh measures up to 5″ thick, and the largest fruits weigh 60-80 pounds. Firm moist flesh is excellent for making pies and for freezing. 90-105 days.
Musque de Provence
Also called “Muscat de Provence”, French Heirloom rare winter variety. Flattented extremely tanned 5 to 10 lb fruits have a smooth orange terra-cotta finish to it. Deep ridges and sweet flesh. Particularly know for lasting in storage throughout all of winter, a most excellent storage variety! The finest “Cheese Wheel” type Pumpkin/Squash for eating you will find!
LA ESTRELLA CALABASA
la estrella calabasa
A tropical pumpkin hybrid from the University of Florida. Bred by Dr. Don Maynard for uniform fruit size and superior flesh color. When grown in the northern states, La Estrella produces 10 pound fruit in 125 days. When it is grown in Florida in the winter, La Estrella produces 6 pound fruit in 70 days.
Because our growing conditions are less than ideal and it is Florida, I am hoping for an average of a few 4-5 pounders. Like with most things in life, I tend to set my expectations at the low end of the spectrum. Also, I am a very lazy girl, so although there are things I can do to increase our pumpkin yield. I most likely won’t do them. The last variety listed seems most promising, since it was tweaked right down the road at UF.
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: The Walk
Prabhupada Smaranam
Here is Srila Prabhupada walking on the beach in January 1974 in Honolulu when I first became his traveling servant. He once said that Juhu and Honolulu were his favorite places because there were palm trees there, and where there are palm trees it was paradise. Thirty-three years have passed since his disappearance, but the memories of his presence are still fresh. His presence was eternal because he was a pure devotee, and so it is like with the presence of Krishna 5,000 years ago. If you are pure and devoted, and concentrate your mind, you can feel like Prabhupada is with us even now. Personally, I recall the times I was with him, and fortunately I had the presence of mind to preserve it in writing in books like My Letters from Srila Prabhupada, Prabhupada Meditations, Life with the Perfect Master, and others.
His influence is not fading in my life but is solid and palpable. Certainly there is a difference between when he was physically present and now. That difference is called vapuh and vani. Vapuh refers to the physical presence, and vani refers to the presence through separation. As early as 1967 when Prabhupada left us in New York City and went to San Francisco, and we felt initially bereft, he wrote to us and said the physical presence of the spiritual master was "immaterial," and the real substance of life with him was in the transcendental sound vibration. As he wrote in his dedication of the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, dated on the disappearance day of Bhaktisiddhanta, "To my spiritual master. He lives forever in his instructions, and the follower lives with him." I am still walking behind him on the beach at Honolulu. I am still meeting him for the first time in the summer of 1966.
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: I Can't Promise
I want to write you a
poem, but I am not
in a very free mood.
I always want to write
about Krishna, Lord Krishna,
but I do not know Him
very well. At least I
can tell you from the
scriptures we are reading.
Vallabha-bhatta, the head of
the Vallabha sampradaya, came
to visit Lord Caitanya.
The Lord introduced him
to Rupa Goswami, but when Vallabha went to move
toward Rupa, he ran to a distant place. He said, "You shouldn't
touch me. I am of a lower,
fallen caste." "Yes, that's right,"
said Caitanya to Vallabha.
"Rupa is of a lower caste,
and you are a refined, aristocratic
brahmana." He was actually indirectly hinting that Rupa
was indeed worthy and transcendental.
Vallabha took the hint and stated that because Rupa was
always chanting Hare Krishna
he was on the topmost
platform, despite his
caste. And he cited many
scriptures to prove it.
Mahaprabhu was pleased.
I can speak from the
scriptures, and I can
write from my little life.
We have moved into a new
home, and we have some
financial and legal
obligations, and we have
to get ID and banking
status in New York.
Some more work has to
be done to fix the house to move in. It will
all take time.
I am still getting used to
these new quarters and my
new life. "I thought it
would be just like changing
musical chairs," said Baladeva,
and essentially it is.
The neighborhood is quiet,
and my room is comfortable.
I'm still concerned with my
longevity and my ability
to write a poem each day.
We'll keep reading Caitanya-caritamrta
and those adventures will sustain
us. We are coming to the section
of Lord Caitanya's teaching to Rupa
Goswami. That's mostly
philosophy and not so much lila,
which I prefer. I like to hear
what the Lord did and how
His devotees responded to
His ecstasies, and His love for
them.
I will continue to write
poems that you can
understand, but I can't
promise that they will
be all that good.
H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: The Mood
Free Write
This is in the mood of viraha-bhavan. When Lord Caitanya spent His final 12 years in Jagannatha Puri, He assumed the mood of Radharani feeling separation from Her beloved Krishna. He always thought of Vrndavana and the places there. Svarupa Damodara would recite sastras that augmented His mood, and Ramananda Raya would sing songs. Both of them knew His inner moods, and He shared His feelings with them in the room known as the Gambhira. Sometimes in His ecstasies He would do extraordinary things and undergo bodily transformations. Once He saw the sand dunes on the beach, which had accumulated by winds, and He ran after them at great speed, thinking they were Govardhana Hill and desiring to embrace them. The sand dunes are called Cataka Parvata, and in this pastime Lord Caitanya demonstrated His maha-bhava, or greatest loving attachment, for Govardhana Hill. According to the words of the gopis in Srimad Bhagavatam, Govardhana Hill is haridasa-varya, the best of the servants of the Lord.
Devotees sometimes give the names of places of Vrndavana to local landmarks on their temple grounds and in different places around the world. In Gita Nagari dhama, Pennsylvania, there is a hill called Govardhana Hill which the devotees culminate their procession by effortlessly pulling the chariot to the top of the hill. There is no substitute for the original Govardhana Hill in Vrndavana, but a pure devotee like Lord Caitanya can see Govardhana Hill manifested even in a sand dune on a beach at Jagannatha Puri.
Mayapur Online: Gundica Marjana- The Cleaning of Gundica Temple
The day prior to Ratha Yatra is Gundica Marjana- cleaning of Gundica temple takes place to welcome Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu performed Gundica Marjana with great jubilation. By cleaning the Lord's temple, one's mind becomes purified. "In this way all the quarters of the Gundica temple were completely cleansed and cleared. All quarters were cool and spotless, like one's cleansed and pacified mind." In Mayapur, devotees enthusiastically cleaned Sri Sri Radha-Madhava Mandir.
H.H. Sivarama Swami: Ratha-yatra pictures
from yesterday’s festival in Budapest.
Mayapur Online: Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakur &Srila Gadadhara Pandit disappearance day
11th July was the disappearance day of Sri Gadadhara Pandita and also of Srila Bhakti Vinoda Thakura. In Mayapur, all the Vaisnava acaryas appearance and disappearance day festivals are observed in such a way that throughout the day, you can remain absorbed in the pastimes of these great personalities. During the morning Srimad Bhagavatham class, HG Jananivas prabhu spoke on the glories of Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakura. At noon, there was bhoga offering, pushpanjali, arti & prasada distribution.
Dandavats.com: Invisible Chains
By Praghosa Dasa
This Krsna consciousness movement is the solution and we have been given the responsibility of organizing it in such a way that it becomes the solution. Specifically in relation to exploitation and modern slaves, there is nothing that worries the powers that be more than a system such as varnasrama. The varnasrama system by its very nature creates a society that is not only independent of ugra karma needs and their suppliers but it also creates independent thinkers with revolutionary views on how society should be structured in a God-centered way, where slaves are conspicuous by their absence
Dandavats.com: Hare Krsna site in Israel
Gunavatar Das (ACBSP): Dear Prabhus, Hare Krsna. There is an Iskcon Hare Krishna website in Jewish language you can now visit at www.yogaoflove.org
Dandavats.com: Motel Gita Program Makes History
Akruranath das: History will record that, beginning in the early part of the 21st century, a large percentage of hotel and motel rooms across the United States and Canada were first stocked with Bhagavad-gita As It Is
Dandavats.com: Gita Nagari Ratha Yatra Update
Ortrun Gates: We have just recently found out that we will host the following guests are this year's Ratha Yatra at Gita Nagari Farm. They are listed here in no particular order. Her Grace Malati prabhu, HH Bhakti Vasudeva Swami, HH Chandramauli Swami, HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, and last but certainly not least, His Grace Ravindra Svarup
Dandavats.com: Chandan Yatra at ISKCON Murari Sevaka July 31st
Rama and Murli: Join us in a lively procession, chanting the holy names of the Lord in a kirtan led by Gadi Prabhu. Help us carry the Deities of Chota Goura-Nitai and Srila Prabhupada in a palanquin to the pond where we will all offer Them abhiseka
Dandavats.com: 2nd Ratha Yatra in Poland
Malaharini dasi: On behalf of the Ratha Yatra team and all Polish devotees, we would like to cordially invite all devotees from all corners of Europe to participate in the Ratha Yatra Festival that for the second time will take place in Wroclaw on August 26th, 2010
H.H. Sivarama Swami: Dibis Nguembock asks
“How to have negative spirits that are sent to me get chased away?” (Video)
H.H. Sivarama Swami: Videos of yesterday’s Ratha-yatra festival in Budapest
Caitanya Mangala, CA, USA: ISKCON's 2nd Generation Go Green at French Kuli Mela
The chateau of New Mayapur in France
ISKCON's 2nd Generation Go Green at French Kuli Mela
An article written by Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News and originally posted on July 9th, 2010.
This August, 350 "Kulis," or members of ISKCON's second generation, from France, England, Italy, Spain, Germany and Belgium will converge on the rural community of New Mayapur two hours south of Paris, France.
In a way, their journey will be a spiritual trek; one that will end at Europe's second Kuli Mela in as many years. Kuli Mela—meaning a gathering of community—arose from an effort to mature annual Kuli reunions from mere social events into productive sharing of attendees' lives and talents.
After its inaugurative festival in New Vrindaban, West Virginia in 2006, Kuli Mela became something of a phenomenon, kicking off a spate of regional events around the world—each with its own theme and mission.
And France's Kuli Mela promises one of the most interesting themes yet: Ecology. "With high pollution levels around the world, global warming, environmental disasters such as the BP oil spill, and general mistreatment of Mother Earth, it's an extremely important subject," says Chandra Bellamy, one of Kuli Mela France's ten-strong organizational team.
It's no accident that the team has chosen New Mayapur, an 85-hectare rural community set around a historic castle, as the location for the event. "Srila Prabhupada's dream for New Mayapur when it was established in the 1970s was to have it become a self-sufficient community," Chandra says. "And our goal at this Mela is to inspire a return to the simple life of gardening, working the land, and taking care of cows that he taught."
Many of the workshops offered over the five days of the Mela, from August 5th to 8th, will pursue this goal. Dhanesvara Dasa, author of Lessons in Spiritual Economics from the Bhagavad-gita and inspiration behind village communities in Lithuania and Ukraine, will speak on spiritual economics and how to understand and apply Vedic Dharma in managing a rural community.
Yamuna Dasi from the UK, meanwhile, will speak about climate change, and about how to resist a globalized and capitalized world.
And French native Prema Rasa Dasa, herbalist and author of The Art of Cooking With Wild Plants, will conduct an experiential workshop were attendees will learn how to recognize, choose and pick wild herbs in the forest land around New Mayapur, before cooking up and eating them.
Several films with ecological themes will also be shown at the event. There's "The Lost Village," a documentary produced by Bhakti Vaibhava Swami and starring Lokanath Swami, which examines the destruction of traditional village life in India by urbanization. There's Food, Inc., an Oscar-nominated documentary that explores the food industry's detrimental effects on our health and environment. And there's Solutions Locales pour un Désordre Global—or "Local Solutions for a Global Disorder"—a French film by director Coline Serreau, who traveled around the world for three years with her camera, seeking community village initiatives across India, Brazil, and Russia.
The environmental consciousness of Kuli Mela France even extends as far as dinnerware. "We will give each attendee their own plate and cup bearing the Kuli Mela logo, which they will use for the entire event," Chandra says. "At the end of the Mela, they will either keep them as souvenirs, or we will return them to the company they came from for recycling."
The meals themselves—breakfast, lunch, and a light dinner every day—will be organic, with half of the vegetables used to be grown by Kulis themselves or donated by devotee farmer Kutastha Dasa, and the other half to be purchased locally. Chef duties will be performed by Rupanuga Dasa, an expert with five years of experience cooking for organic fair crowds.
"Even the snacks we serve will be organic and healthy," says Chandra, ticking off a list of delicacies including French crêpes and Indian chaat snacks such as pani puris, dahi puris, and aloo tikkis. "You won't find any pizza, Coca-Cola, or fries at this event!"
As well as emphasizing the importance of self-sufficiency, the Kuli Mela France organizers hope to create a consciousness of valuing ISKCON's rural farm communities, and to inspire Kulis to get involved so that they don't disappear.
This is not merely theoretical—after fifteen years in decline, the New Mayapur property narrowly missed getting sold off several years ago. And the community—which many French Kulis grew up in—is still struggling, with only a handful of devotees living in the temple and maintaining the Deities.
"We see this Kuli Mela as an opportunity to get the community back on track," Chandra says. "A group of youth are already interested in settling in New Mayapur and building up the project. And we feel that the Mela may attract more young people to start something there, or at least contribute six months of their time.
And little by little, something can happen."
That vision will start with hundreds of Kulis arriving at New Mayapur for the Mela's opening ceremony on August 4th. The next day, meanwhile, will begin bright and early.
"Our Deities at New Mayapur—Sri-Sri Radha Govinda, Krishna-Balarama, and Gaura-Nitai— are so beautiful, adorned with locally grown flowers and beautifully decorated by the head pujari (priest) Visesa Dasi," says Chandra. "But They don't see many devotees throughout the year. So we're really encouraging all the Kulis to attend the temple program every morning and give Them as much devotion and attention as possible."
Breakfast on each day of the Mela will be served at 9am, followed by workshops from 10:00am to 1pm. After lunch, another session will follow, from 3pm until 6pm. As well as those with an ecological theme, a total of fifteen workshops will cover a wide variety of topics such as yoga, massage, dance therapy, pottery, transformative communication, and self defense using martial arts.
Bhajan singing will be held throughout the day in the temple room, while evenings from 7pm till midnight will see a wide variety of musical entertainment.
Singer Prana Ji and guitarist Mathura Dasa of the Bindoo Babas, an alternative reggae/jazz band based in the UK, will have Kulis jiving to their '70s inspired easy-going grooves. Michi, former frontman of the Spanish hip-hop group Dhira, will appear solo with his energetic and catchy melodies and rhymes. Hardcore metal band Bhimal from Poland are sure to inspire a head-banging mosh pit. And acoustic folk artists Jaya and Govinda from France and Chakrini from the UK will bring a more chilled-out vibe with their soulful sets.
Meanwhile, kirtan singer Madhava Naidoo will have everyone chanting and dancing their hearts out, sending the Holy Name of Krishna soaring into the sky.
"There will also be a lot of electronic music and DJs," Chandra says, "Including Ashirvad, who will play a set based on their epic musical journey across sacred India; Silly Pundit and Haridas from the UK, DJ Veda from France, and DJ Sanj with his Bollywood beats."
The festival will be rounded out with an evening of Indian music and dance featuring dancers from France and Belgium, including bhajans, classical Odissi dance and Bollywood Dance.
"As well as Kulis, the Mela will be attended by friends of ours from neighbouring cities whom we've invited to experience our culture," says Chandra, "So we hope the event will bring everyone together."
Senior devotees from around the world will also be a strong presence at the event—ISKCON had a large, thriving community in France in the 1980s, and Kuli Mela will be an opportunity for all those who have since moved to the US, Australia, and other countries to reunite at New Mayapur and spend some time together.
"We would like this Mela to leave people with an enthusiastic feeling of happiness and creativity, and to inspire them to become active in the New Mayapura community," says Chandra.
The New Mayapur guesthouse has already sold out for Kuli Mela, although space remains in two large tents to be used as men's and women's dormitories. Attendees also have the option to camp using their own tents or to stay at one of several hotels in the area. Shower and toilet facilities will be provided on site. For more information, please write to contact@francekulimela.com.
Link to the France Kuli Mela festival website.
ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Deity Darshan: Sunday, July 11, 2010
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