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Congressman Harry Mitchell greets Hare Krishna along with NamasteCongressman Harry Mitchell greets Hare Krishna along with Namaste1,852 Views / EMail This Post / Print This Post / Home » Congressman Harry Mitchell greets Hare Krishna along with Namaste By Dr Prayag Narayan Misra Chandler, Arizona, USA August 5, 2010 During the Eighth Native American Procurement Conference,U S Congressman Harry E Mitchell delivered a keynote address at luncheon held at Wild Horse Pass-Hotel and Casino in Chandler. After his speech, he was offered blessed garlands from Hare Krishna temple which he gracefully accepted and wore it during the photo opps.While departing from the meeting, not only he greeted me with both hands folded in Namaste pose, he repeated Hare Krishna twice- and drove away still wearing the blessed garland.
Simply, a Gita for everyone1,239 Views / EMail This Post / Print This Post / Home » Simply, a Gita for everyone
This year I reached a personal milestone: I am sixty years old, for forty of which I have been an aspiring disciple of Srila Prabhupada. This seems a good time to be bold, and to share with my spiritual family my effort to communicate a simple introductory Gita. Srila Prabhupada gave us Bhagavad Gita As It Is, an advanced treatise on spiritual life that defines Krishna consciousness for us and succeeding generations. But he wanted his followers to pass on that same knowledge in a simple way accessible to friends and spiritual seekers. When I first thought of writing such a book I was filled with trepidation. Did I have the right to make my own version of the Bhagavad Gita when Prabhupada’s was already there? Then I came across Prabhupada’s own words in his purport to chapter 4 verse 3: “Arjuna accepts Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and any commentary on the Gita following in the footsteps of Arjuna is real devotional service to the cause of this great science.” As soon as I read that I felt I had my permission from my guru. Provided I didn’t obscure the all-important identity of Krishna and wrote in a spirit of devotion, I felt confident Prabhupada would approve. After all, he encouraged us to preach in our own words. What else was the Back To Godhead magazine, ninety percent written by Prabhupada’s disciples, that formed the backbone of our preaching all through the years when Prabhupada was personally present with us? It also occurred to me that precisely because Prabhupada has already given the world “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” the way is open for his followers to write books that complement his masterwork. I called my edition Bhagavad Gita: Talks Between the Soul and God’ to emphasise the universal relevance of the Gita. I remember Prabhupada’s words the first time I heard him, on television three days after he arrived on English soil in 1969. He said to his interviewer, “It is possible to talk with God. Just as we are talking to each other, you can talk with God.” In 1990 we had a discussion in England about the need for introductory books. We decided that urgent work was needed to make Prabhupada’s message more accessible to the general public. At the time I was writing OHinduism and Ecology.’ After that I wrote “Ramayan, A Journey.” In 1995 I started work on the Gita. I worked slowly at first, but with encouragement from devotees I pursued the project until eventually OThe Illustrated Bhagavad Gita’ was published in 2003 by Godsfield Press in the UK and Barrons Educational in the USA. At the time I was grateful just to have the book in print, but I wasn’t happy with that edition because it was large format and the eighty photographs added by the publisher obscured the text. Now I have re-published my own revised edition, “Bhagavad Gita: Talks Between the Soul and God.” It is a compact book of 240 pages, in hardback or softback, produced by my own independent publishing house, Fitzrovia Press, with 20 simple line drawings from a professional English artist, my friend Charles Newington. Bhagavad-gita: Talks Between the Soul and God is available online at http://www.fitzroviapress.com/books/gita.htm for UK customers, or at http://www.amazon.com/Bhagavad-Gita-Talks-Between-Soul/dp/0956184642/ref=sr_ Here is what ISKCON devotees say: Jayadvaita Swami, BBT trustee and guru Sivarama Swami, GBC and guru Bhakticaru Swami, GBC and guru Jayadeva das, London Dayal Nitai, UK Book Distributor, London Karlos Fandango, Brighton Indranuja das, former UK book distributor, Kansas Yaduvendu das, Wales And from yoga friends and literary reviewers: Tracey Cramond, Yoga Teacher Nicole Hambro, Director of Alchemy yoga centre, London New Age Retailer (US) Asian Voice (UK) The Bookseller (UK) OM Yoga and Lifestyle Magazine (UK) Geraldine Beskin, owner of The Atlantis Bookshop, London To read more, see http://news.iskcon.com/node/3026
After his speech, he was offered blessed garlands from Hare Krishna temple which he gracefully accepted and wore it during the photo opps |
Ranchor Prime: Bhagavad Gita: Talks Between the Soul and God by Ranchor Prime, published 2010 by Fitzrovia Press
By Prayag Narayan Misra
