The Glorious Gita!

As today is Gita-jayanti, the day on which Krishna spoke Bhagavad-Gita over 5,000 years ago, you might like to read about the Gita on our temple website.

There are articles and information on Bhagavad-Gita here:

It's also the custom to read some Bhagavad-Gita verses today and meditate on them. You can read the Gita online here: Belfast devotees have sent us their favourite verses and a few sentences about why they like them - you can find them below.

And just for a bit of transcendental fun - try our Bhagavad-Gita quiz! Send your answers to hktemple@gmail.com and the first three correct answers pulled out of a hat, will receive a delicious gift from the temple! Competition closes on Friday 8th December at 6.00 p.m. (There's no need to rewrite the questions - just put your answer beside the question number).

Gita-jayanti Quiz.

1. To whom did Krishna speak Bhagavad-Gita?
2. What does 'Bhagavad-Gita' mean in English?
3. In what language is Bhagavad-Gita written?
4. What is the name of Krishna's conch-shell, which he sounded on the battlefield? (Chapter One).
5. To what does Krishna compare our material bodies in B-G 2.22?
6. What does Krishna promise us if we "surrender unto Him"? (18.66)
7. To what feature of weather does Arjuna compare the mind? (6.34)
8. For His loving devotees, Krishna destroys the darkness born of ignorance - what does He use to do this? (10.11).

Easy!

More Favourite Gita Verses...

...from Belfast devotees.

Bhagavata devi dasi

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform --do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to Me. BG9.27

I like this verse because it is so practical. Anyone can do it. We all have to eat, or work, or raise a family and instead of doing these things for ourselves, we can do them for Krishna (God) and so become purified and develop our love for the Supreme Person. When I recite this verse to people of other faiths, they always like it, appreciating the 'do-ableness' of it!

Tsvety Donovan

Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.”
Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 18, Text 65

I like this verse because it clearly and concisely explains how to worship God.
It is done all the time: “always think of Me…” It is not that you forget about your everyday duties, such as going to school or work and sit and think of the Lord. It is through offering the results of our activity to Him, remembering that it is by His mercy that we are maintained: obtain sufficient food, shelter, joy and enlightenment.

The main reason I regard this verse as one of my favourites is because it teaches the basic principle in worshipping God- devotional surrender to the will of God, not our own will for material prosperity and well-being of ourselves and our families. The irony is that when we actually surrender, everything we worried about before- prosperity, maintenance and so forth is properly taken care of by the sweet mercy of the Lord. Not only this, in the end, we achieve Him alone, who is the source of bliss, eternity and supreme knowledge.

Nina Donovan - (Tsvety's mother independently chose the same verse as her daughter!)

Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.
Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 18, Text 65

This is my favourite verse from Bhagavad-gita because it gives me the farthest perspective of life and ultimate goal of my existence. It also shows me the way how to achieve that goal. This is the most perfect meditation, which purifies you and constantly reminds you of the Source of bliss, knowledge and eternity. Its result is most perfect and you finally find peace and satisfaction what you have been looking for all your life.

Gita-jayanti.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Krishna speaking Bhagavad-Gita, some 5,000 years ago. We will be celebrating Gita-jayanti at the temple on Sunday. You are very welcome to come and hear why Krishna spoke the Gita and the importance of His teachings for us today.

Although our Vaishnava tradition has many important literatures, the Gita is usually the first book which newcomers and devotees read to gain an understanding of the 'science of self-realisation'. As it was spoken (or rather sung!) in simple Sanskrit verses, devotees like to memorise key verses as an aid in the day-to-day practise of Krishna-consciousness.

Here are some favourite verses by Belfast devotees:

Shyama devi dasi

This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realisation, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed. B-G 9.2

This is one of my favourite verses. Having knowledge is a great treasure, it gives one freedom and this verse is saying that this knowledge is the king of education and the purest knowledge. I don't need to look elsewhere or to find out in a few years time that what I have learned is useless and has now been proven wrong by another theory or experiment. It is everlasting. It reassures me that to apply this knowledge in my life isn't a chore but a joyful experience.

***

Nitai-sachinandana das

(Arjuna said) The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it , I think, is more difficult than subduing the wind...(Krishna said)For one whose mind is unbridled, self-realisation is difficult work. But he whose mind is controlled and who strives by appropriate means is assured of success. That is My opinion. B-G 6.34&36

These are the verses which most often come to my mind. I see the truth of them every day. The mind is a powerful force, and by controlling it and using it for spiritual life instead of for sense-gratification we can become peaceful and spiritually strong.

***

Mayeshvara das

The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy. 18.61

I like to contemplate this verse; there's a lot in it. The description of the body as a machine is intriguing and I use it often when preaching, to illustrate the difference between spirit and matter.

More verses tomorrow...

Introducing Our New Temple President.

We are pleased to announce our new temple president, Gauranga das. As our previous manager, Japa-yajna, has moved with his family to England, Gauranga has kindly agreed to take over the helm, for the next year at least.

Gauranga - formerly Gurdip Singh - comes from a Seikh background and was born in Simla, India. He came to Krishna-consciousness twelve years ago, after reading some of Srila Prabhupada's books. He says:

"I was looking for God, but was only becoming more confused. In Prabhupada's books, I finally found a clear and convincing explanation of God. I came to visit the temple and found that the chanting made me more happy than I had ever been."

Six years later, Gauranga was accepted for initiation by his spiritual master and since then has been serving the temple in many ways with enthusiasm and hard work. One of Gauranga's most outstanding contributions has been the organisation of the first Ratha-yatra (Chariot festival) ever to be held in Belfast.

As temple president, Gauranga hopes to facilitate the needs of the devotees in their service to Krishna, to maintain the high standard of spiritual practice in the temple and to help new people to come to Krishna-consciousness. He sees himself as the humble servant of all the devotees and is depending on Krishna to help him in this service.

We offer Gauranga all our support and pray for Radha-Madhava's blessings and guidance as he takes up his new post.

New Leaflet.

Belfast Temple has a new leaflet! Designed by Lal-krishna das and Keshava dasi, the leaflet invites the public to the temple's two weekly open events: the Sunday programme, including Kirtan, Bhagavad-Gita, and Vegetarian Feast and the Wednesday Kirtan programme - an hour and a half of chanting or 'mantra meditation'.

We've printed 15,000 leaflets, and they are being distributed by various devotees around town. We hope they'll attract people to come and learn something of our great spiritual tradition.

If you'd like to help , by putting leaflets through letter-boxes in your neighbourhood, please contact us: e-mail hktemple@gmail.com or phone 02890 287590. 

In Search of God - But Where Was Krishna?

Did anyone here listen to the recent three-part series In Search of God on BBC Radio 4? News-presenter John Humphrys met with a leader from each of the Christian, Jewish and Islamic traditions and asked them to help him with his enquiries into the nature of God. Although I didn't hear the actual conversations which ensued, I caught this series being discussed on the Feedback programme afterwards.

It seems it was a roaring success! Mr Humphrys described himself as 'gobsmacked' at the response the series has received - almost all of it positive. As well as thousands of letters, there were e-mails and telephone messages from listeners all over the world who had appreciated or been inspired by these talks. It was good to hear that the topic of God is still of such interest to so many people, and that listeners were open-minded enough to appreciate the view-points of all three speakers, regardless of their faith. Theists, atheists and agnostics - all were among those who found food for thought here.

But although this is very encouraging, can we be surprised that Mr Humphrys failed to find God? After all, where was the representative from the most ancient monotheistic tradition of all - Hinduism?! Why did he choose three leaders from the Abrahamic religions, which are so similar in their understanding of God, and completely ignore the Eastern tradition with its very different perspectives and clearly defined philosophy of the soul, the difference between matter and spirit, the concepts of reincarnation and karma, of a God who is not a 'creator' but from whom everything emanates, who is 'ever fresh and youthful' and what's more plays a flute? Humph, Mr Humphrys!

It would have been wonderful to have had a representative of the Gaudiya-Vaishnava tradition on his programme to explain these points, especially a follower of Srila Prabhupada - who so expertly and thoroughly taught and wrote about them for a Western audience. Of course our pool of erudite Gaudiya representatives may not yet be as full as we would like. But I hope that in the future we can look forward to hearing articulate Gaudiya spokespersons on programmes such as this.

Some of us have written to the BBC to express our dissatisfaction about this. If you would like to do the same, you can write to them here and also listen to the series: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/feedback.shtml

Picture: God taking measurements for His creation - medieval.

Fragrance of the Earth.

Krishna says in Bhagavad-Gita:

"I am the original fragrance of the earth, and I am the heat in fire. I am the life of all that lives, and I am the penances of all ascetics."

Purport: Everything in the material
world has a certain flavour or fragrance, as the flavour and fragrance in a flower, or in the earth, in water, in fire, in air, etc. The uncontaminated flavour, the original flavour, which permeates everything, is Krishna.

From Bhagavad-Gita As It Is; His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

More Autumn Inspirations...

A reader sent in this autumn meditation of their own, inspired by a walk in the countryside. It's a nice example of how we can link everything we see and experience, to Krishna.

The bewitching autumn season reminds me of Krishna; His mischievous glances and enchanting smile. His dancing.

The spicy autumn scents of fallen leaves, newly-ploughed fields and ripe berries remind me that Krishna is the 'fragrance of the earth'.

The glowing sunshine on golden leaves and bright red berries, reminds me of the richness of Radha-Madhava's golden form; Their red lips and hands. The blackberries and elderberries are the colour of His dark, curly hair.

The soft mists and silver gossamer, remind me of Krishna's elusiveness: He only reveals Himself to pure and humble devotees. Even at the rasa-dance, He disappeared from the gopis and from Radharani, when they became too proud.

Autumn Meditations.

I wonder if you have read the chapter "Descriptions of Autumn" in Srimad Bhagavatam. Each verse is a description of autumn in Vrindavana, and each feature of the season is made into a poetic analogy; a reflection on life with a spiritual message.

Srila Prabhupada translated this chapter with explanations of the verses, for a trip he was planning to Japan in 1961. This was eventually published as a book "Light of the Bhagavata" with delicate water-colour paintings, by the Chinese artist Madame Yun-sheng Li. It's a charming book to read in these autumn months.

I thought you'd like to sample some excerpts...

In autumn all the reservoirs of water become enriched with growing lotuses. The muddy water again becomes normally clear and decorated, just as fallen, conditioned souls once more become spiritually enriched in devotional service.

Autumn cleared the sky of clouds, freed the animals from their crowded living quarters, cleaned the earth of it's covering of mud and purified the water, in the same way that loving service rendered to Lord Krishna frees us from all our troubles.

The clouds, having emptied themselves of all they possessed, shone forth with pure effulgence, just like peaceful sages who have given up all material desires.

The cows that followed the Lord within the forest moved slowly because of their heavy, milk-laden udders. But when the Lord called them by their specific names they at once became alert, and as they hastened toward Him their milk bags overflowed and poured milk on the ground because of affection for the Lord.

Celebrating Govardhana-Puja.

Some photos from Sunday's festival; with thanks to all - old and new - who attended and helped make it a happy offering to Krishna.


"Krishna's joyful face bears a gentle smile" - Mukunda-mala-stotra.

Sri Sri Radha-Madhava greeting Their guests.


Sandra made Their Lordships this shimmering blue outfit for the occasion.

Glorifying Govardhana-Hill.


Tasty confectionaries offered to Krishna. And cows!

This day is also called Go-puja; for honouring cows, who supply us with essential dairy products.

Kirtan!


Singing praises to Krishna.

Vrajeshvari singing a children's song about Govardhana-hill - composed by herself...


...and the children enjoying it.

Belfast Damsels in USA.

Two intrepid young Belfast devotees - Deva and Subhadra, (both born and brought up as Krishna devotees) have spent the past two summers touring America with a group of ISKCON youth. Deva tells the story here:


Since its humble beginnings as a two week summer trip in 1995, the Hare Krishna Youth Ministry Bus Tour has expanded into a ten week long adventure travelling across North America, Canada and Mexico, taking in nine rathayatras, thirty seven cities, thirty five US states and nine Canadian provinces. For the duration of the summer two yellow buses become home to fifty youth aged fifteen to twenty-five. The buses are fitted with bunk beds, a stove and oven, a toilet and even a shower!

The tour is organised and run by Manu das and his wife, Jaya Radhe dasi – both of whom grew up in ISKCON I was fortunate enough to go on the bus tour in 2005 and 2006.

The bus travels from rathayatra to rathayatra and attends one almost every weekend. At each new venue, bus tour participants do a variety of services ranging from setting up the festival site to making garlands, helping to decorate the rath cart, adding youthful exuberance to the parade itself, providing entertainment on the main stage, serving prasadam and disassembling the site after the festival.

This year’s entertainment included not only melodious bhajans and lively kirtans from many talented individuals, but also two plays. The first told the story of Lord Jagannatha’s appearance on earth. The second was “Big Fish, Little Fish” or “Fish Out Of Water”, an ISKCON classic brought into the twenty first century by Bhakti Marg Swami’s directorial expertise. In the drama Little Fish struggles to cope with life on dry land, which is made worse by his demanding wife and dead-end job. This is an extended metaphor showing how we try to be happy without Krishna and often fail miserably.

We were also lucky enough to have Anapayani dasi travelling with us. Anapayani, like Manu and Jaya Radhe, grew up in Srila Prabhupada’s movement and is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer with her own dance academy in Alachua. As well as performing Bharatnatyam dances with three of her students, Anapayani choreographed a dance telling the story of the Dashavatara – or Krishna’s ten incarnations. The fusion between classical Indian and modern dance styles, including ballet, delighted audiences from coast to coast.

Between rathayatras the bus tour spends time at various temples – helping with service, going on harinam and often putting on a performance for the local devotees. We staged a number of performances in halls and theatres which attracted sizeable crowds, most notably in Eastern Canada where devotees had not preached in over 15 years.

When we weren’t being Krsna conscious we made time for other wholesome sorts of fun – playing volleyball, camping on the beach in Mexico, sightseeing in Hollywood, swimming in Yellowstone National Park’s hot springs, horse riding, hiking and abseiling in Death Valley Canyon in Utah’s desert and whale watching in Nova Scotia. Not to mention all the ice cream we managed to eat along the way….

Prior to the Gurukula Youth Reunion that day, the boys set up the festival site on Venice Beach. This was one of the longest set ups of the summer due to LA being one of the largest rathayatras. Most weekends the girls cut huge mountains of vegetables or string miles of garlands as the boys put up countless tents. This division of labour tends to cause friction between the gender groups are both are convinced that the other has the easier job. That morning the girls were mortified to discover that the temple didn’t have enough service for them to do. We decided not to tell the boys…..

If you were to ask me which part of the bus tour stood out to me most, I would be pushed to pinpoint just one event. Perhaps it would be the night time harinam on the Strip in Las Vegas. It felt very surreal to be one of fifty brightly dressed youth dancing and chanting amongst the bright lights and casinos in a city which symbolises everything contrary to our beliefs. My sense of confusion was added to when I spotted Las Vegas’ miniature Eiffel Tower. I gave up as we walked past Madame Tussaud’s. I was simply too tired to remind myself that we were in fact in Las Vegas, and not Paris or London.

Following the harinam we returned to the car park to discover that the boys’ bus had broken down. Dravinkasha Prabhu (one of our dedicated drivers) drove around until 2am when he found the required part. Meanwhile we killed the time by sitting in a circle on the concrete in our saris and dhotis and played Chinese Whispers. We drove through the Mojave desert in the early hours of the morning, arriving in Los Angeles in time for Deity Greeting.

Picture: Street-chanting in Quebec.

The Youth of Today.

The bus tour is certainly an enriching experience, but the most significant part for most people is the friendships they form. Living in such close proximity to other Vaisnava youth for 10 weeks helps to create bonds between people which make it so difficult to say good bye at the end of the summer.

The Hare Krishna Youth Ministry is a non-profit organisation, so participants pay a fee to keep the project running i.e to cover the cost of petrol, bhoga etc. Most of the “Bustourians” come from Alachua and other parts of the US and Canada, but many come from further afield. This year people came from Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, England, Ireland and Australia to be on the bus tour. I would like to say thank you to Manu and Jaya Radhe for their tireless work to keep everything running smoothly, and for inspiring countless teenagers over the years to become more Krsna conscious. To find out more about the bus tour, please visit www.krishna.com/bustour. Videos of the 200t tour can be found at http://www.krishna.com/festivalofindia

Belfast Girls at College.

Deva is on the left, Subhadra on the right.

Deva and Subhadra, having done very well in their exams, have flown the coop this autumn, to universities in England. Subhadra has begun studying Medicine and Deva Modern Languages.

We wish them success and happiness in their studies - but as we miss them both already, we look forward to seeing them again in the hols. 

Shantasya's Cookie Recipe

At last, by popular request, we present the recipe for Shantasya's legendary cookies.

Ingredients:
100 gr - 3 1/2 oz butter
100 gr- 3 1/2 oz sugar
150 gr - 5 oz self raising flour
75 gr - 3 oz dry berries or carob chips or diced cherries etc (avoid raisins; they will burn)
1 table spoon runny honey
Few drops of your chosen essence (vanilla, rum, almonds etc)

Method:Preheat oven to 180 C. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add other ingredients and mix together. Arrange as balls on lightly-greased baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden-brown. Offer to Krishna.

The Royal Scribe wishes you well in your baking, but takes no responsibility for any results!

Govardhana-puja Festival This Sunday.

This festival celebrates the astonishing event of little boy Krishna holding Govardhana mountain like an umbrella, to shelter His beloved friends from devastating storms and floods.

Festivals such as this help us to explore and understand the deep mystery of Krishna's extraordinary pastimes; how God – grave and awesome, appears as an enchantingly beautiful cowherd boy, just to have fun with His friends.

Although there are many layers of meaning in Krishna's pastimes, an essential feature of this story, is the exchange of love between Krishna and His devotees. To please Him, the residents of Vrindavana willingly gave up their secure customs and traditions, risking the anger of Lord Indra; in return Krishna protected them from the resulting catastrophe.

Under the shelter of Govardhana Hill, Krishna related with each of His friends according to their individual desires; as a joking, playful friend with the cowherd boys; as a lover to the beautiful milk-maids; as a son to his parents. These intimate and exquisite loving exchanges, increased their attachment to Krishna and the devastating storms went by unnoticed.

All this, while Krishna jauntily holds Mount Govardhana aloft, on the littlest finger of the weakest arm, as if to say, “I may look like a little boy, but I am God and though you may try, you can’t mess with Me!”

Govardhana really exists in Vrindavana south of Delhi, and five-thousand years ago, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, really lifted it on the little finger of His left hand. The occasion is recorded in the sacred book “Srimad Bhagavatam" and millennia later, is celebrated world-wide, by thousands of people.

Devotees of Krishna celebrate the festival by reading and discussing the story amongst themselves and by congregating at the temple to chant, dance and offer mountains of sumptuous foodstuffs to Sri Giridhari – the lifter of Govardhana Hill. To read the story of Govardhana-puja for yourself, please see chapters 24 – 27 of Krishna Book. Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 10 Chapters 24-27. Anandana-vrindavana-campu by Srila Kavi karnapura – chapter 15.

Karttika.

Today, with the full-moon, begins the season of Karttika and the month of Damodara. Not only in Indian culture, is this considered an 'out of the ordinary' time - but in many others, also. Catholics, for example, call this the Rosary Month for saying the rosary daily.

Similarly, at the temple, we will be offering candles every day to Krishna and singing the beautiful Sanskrit song Sri Damodarastakam.

It is said that any spiritual advancement one tries to make at Karttika will be magnified many times. So please join us on Sundays to offer lights and sing together, to the glory of God.

Sunday Programme:

3.30 p.m. Kirtan - congregational, musical chanting.

4.00 p.m. Bhagavad-Gita - talk and discussion.

4.45 p.m. Temple-ceremony - offering candles and singing.

5.15 p.m Vegetarian/Prasadam Feast.

You are welcome to attend any or all of the programme, and we look forward to seeing you!

Season of Mists and Mellow Pilgrimage.

In the West, the season of autumn inspires poetry, with it’s delicate morning mists and dew-spangled spiders-webs; golden sunshine and the smell of bonfires and autumn leaves. In Celtic lore, this was a time of year when the veil between this world and the “other” was supposed to be thinner than normal, culminating in the festival of Samhain or Halloween.

For Vaishnavas, the charms of autumn are enhanced by the season of Karttika, the lunar month which falls across October and November. This month is described as especially dear to Krishna and traditionally Vaishnavas keep it sacred to acts of devotion and vows of austerity aimed at increasing their spiritual strength and drawing closer to Krishna. Devotees may vow to rise earlier; to chant more rounds on their beads, daily; to spend more time reading scripture; to eat less or more simply; the hardier ones even take their showers cold. And everyone observes the daily offering of a lighted candle or ghee-lamp to Krishna, while singing the Damodarastaka song, which particularly belongs to this month.

Several of the more sublime, or “confidential” festivals fall in this period; the celebration of Krishna’s rasa-lila, and the appearance-day of Sri Radha-kunda, for example, as well as Govardhana-puja, so that Karttika is a mixture of austerity and sweetness, as devotees try to lessen their bodily needs, while correspondingly spending more time with Krishna.

To this end, many Vaishnavas from all over the world set off on pilgrimage to Vrindavana “land of Krishna”, at this time. At ISKCON’s Krishna-Balarama temple in Vrindavana, guest-houses and living-quarters strain at the seams, as throngs of devotees arrive for Karttika. Leaving their ordinary lives behind for a few weeks, the pilgrims visit the sacred sites of Krsna’s pastimes and take part in the lively kirtan parties, at the temple.

It’s worth it to come all this way just to chant and dance in such huge numbers, and families in particular find this a good time to be together in a spiritual atmosphere , away from school and jobs. Children enjoy the kirtans and the offering of lights which is beautiful when seen in mass like this.

So whether the old Celtic beliefs are true or not, Vaishnavas try to spend this time diminishing the veils between them and Krishna!

Thank you!

A Rose-Offering for Krishna.

Hearty thanks, on behalf of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, to all those who sponsored roses for Their Lordships rose-garden. By your generosity, we've been able to order enough roses to fill the garden - so when they are grown it will look opulent and bountiful. Two of the roses ordered have won awards for their exceptional fragrance.

Requests for sponsorship came from as far away as the USA - from Radhanatha and Sukhada in California (I think) . Akandadhi das in Wales sponsored roses in memory of his father and Madhava-priya a rose for each of her five children. Sonja and Niall, Dr. Shalini Nalwad, Shaunaka Rishi and the three 'Ks' - Karen, Kate and Keshava completed the quota. Thank you all very much!

"If one offers me with love and devotion, a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I will accept it" - Bhagavad-Gita 9.26

Diary of a Travelling Preacher.

Indradyumna Maharaja with his Siberian gipsy friends.

While Indradyumna Maharaja is in the country, seems a good time to mention his remarkable books. For many years Maharaja has kept a diary of his travels to all corners of the world, in his line of duty. He now publishes them regularly in separate volumes. These books tell of fascinating adventures from midwinter in deepest Siberia, to Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami and again to exuberant chanting sessions with African village children. Maharaja describes his encounters with people he meets on his way, with thoughtful reflections on humanity, and an underlying grave compassion. His writing is well-paced and readable - and the Royal Scribe highly recommends them.

Indradyumna Maharaja's books are available at these two sites:

http://www.blservices.com/

http://www.travelling-preacher.com/marketplace.htm

And you might like to read an excerpt from one of his diaries below.