The Chronicles of Radha-Madhava

2011-03-03T22:33:00.000Z

Slings and Arrows...

2008-01-11T11:38:00.002Z

Our apologies for the lack of posts on these Chronicles. Our editor, the Scribe, is not well at present, and it's not clear yet when she will be able to assume her duties again.

In the meantime , to paraphrase an old Irish blessing, "May the path of bhakti rise up to meet you"!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-21T18:08:00.000Z

A blessed and happy Christmas to all our Christian readers.

Kirtans in Oxford.

2007-12-12T09:10:00.000Z

And you can hear more of Gopal-hari's kirtans on the Kirtans in Oxford blog. In fact there are many sweet kirtans to be heard there, by various singers. There's a podcast thingy at the side where you can subscribe and get to hear all the latest ones.

vijayate sri-krishna-sankirtana!

Gopal Hari's YouTube

2007-12-12T09:06:00.000Z

We get so many people searching for Gopal-hari, that I'm reposting this YouTube Kirtan, at your service! Also I have tagged all Gopal-hari's kirtans on this blog, so you can find them easily if you click his name in the tag box.

Shakespeare, Winter and Kirtan.

2007-11-27T08:59:00.000Z

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold;
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. - Shakespeare.

I came across these desolate lines of poetry last week, as winter was setting in. Some scholars think the line "bare ruin'd choirs ..." may refer to Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, where the monks used to sing their prayers (like this, maybe). The sonnet may describe not only the winter season, but also hint at the Winter of the Ages - Kali-yuga -when spiritual principles lose favour and devotees of God are often hassled and disturbed. When, instead of being the most natural thing to sing thanks and praises to God, that is seen as something odd and even embarrasing. And worst of all, when many religions spring up, each thinking they are the only ones who know the Truth. Instead of recognising and honouring saintly persons of all traditions by their rare qualities of surrender to God, they quarrel with each other over dogma sounding more like crows than 'sweet birds' singing.

But Shakespeare's lines are too bleak. You can't keep a good bird down. Thanks to Lord Chaitanya's sankirtana movement, sweet birds are still singing, all over the world, for Krishna. Kirtan is the way to keep our hearts blazing in the wintry cold of Kali-yuga, and on a dreary winter's day, there is nothing more uplifting than to gather with friends and chant for an hour or so; nothing more warming to the cockles of the heart; and certainly, nothing more pleasing to Krishna.

And here's a nice one led by Ranchor, for the times inbetween.

Festival of Kirtan and Sacred Song.

2007-11-20T12:53:00.000Z

Inish Rath 1st - 2nd December.

As one of our august predecessors stated: "The only scarcity in this world is that there is not enough kirtan". To help remedy this, the temple at Inish Rath is hosting a weekend of chanting and bhajans on the 1st and 2nd December, to which we are all invited; an opportunity to recharge our spiritual batteries and taste that nectar for which we are always anxious - in a very beautiful setting.

His Holiness Sivarama Swami and well-known kirtaniya, Madhava das will lead us in kirtan and devotional songs from 10.00 a.m. - 10.00 p.m. on both days. There is a charge of £10 or 15 euros per day ( which includes prasadam lunch and ferrying across the lake). And if you'd like to stay overnight, that will be £15 or 20 euros. You can get a taste of Madhava's singing here .

For directions to the lake isle of Inish Rath please click here. And for further enquiries, please contact Manu das at 00353868582392.

By the way, there are some wonderful pictures of Inish Rath here. I hope you can come and join the throng for this very special event.

ISKCON Belfast.

The Little Conch.

2007-11-19T10:50:00.000Z

I've just come across such a nice blog - The Little Conch - written by Jahnavi devi (pictured above). When we mentioned Kripamoya's blog a little while ago, we had no idea that his estimable daughter Jahnavi writes one too.

Jahnavi's 'boring details' (as she puts it!) are as follows: "I live in England, near the wonderful Bhaktivedanta Manor. I am studying for a BA in English Language and Communication with Creative Writing, at Middlesex University (just finished first year). I also study South Indian Bharatanatyam dance and Carnatic music (singing and violin) which I love."

And the blog itself is filled with the more interesting details of Jahnavi's life - her own poems, pictures, reflections -tastefully presented and refreshingly chaste. Jahnavi has just come back from a Kartik trip to Vrindavana and there are some posts and pictures up about that, right now.

It's also interesting that Jahnavi is one of a first generation of Vaishnavas born into 'Western' families in the British Isles; her blog shows how Krishna consciousness is a very natural way of life for her, yet that she appreciates the richness and privilege of her cultural heritage.

I hope you'll like The Little Conch as much as I do! And I like it very much indeed.

P.S. When you're on bare-foot pilgrimage in Vrindavana, your feet do get dirty...

House For Sale.

2007-11-11T12:48:00.001Z

St. Hubert's Stables.

News just in from our dear friends Radhanatha and Sukhada, that they are selling their beautiful house on the shores of Loch Erne, Eniskillen. Sad news from our point of view; we were hoping they would return sometime, from Vermont, to live here again, but they feel they are best situated where they are and doing well.

This is no ordinary house! Radhanatha, artist and glass-blower, has created a unique interior, including many fine, imaginative features such as the spiral mosaic at the foot of the staircase here:

And these Gothic-style windows, four hundred years old, rescued from a Dublin church:

You can see some more of them here.

Not only is the house attractive in itself; it's also situated in the heart of the devotee community near the temple at Inish Rath and surrounded by glorious countryside and lake. I remember several occasions when Satsvarupa Maharaja held sangas in this house and the pleasing decor contributed to the wonderful atmosphere of these events.

I wonder who will be the lucky future owner of St. Hubert's Stables? Could it be you??

Link to Sales Information: http://www.radmacdaddy.com/St.Huberts/The_Building.html

Govardhana Hill.

2007-11-10T11:55:00.000Z

"O Govardhana, like an umbrella, you rested upon the hand of your Lord Krishna, for seven days, to curb the pride of Indra, king of the demigods. O vast hill of large rocks, so dear to me, kindly allow me to reside close to you.

O Govardhana, you are the tilak on the forehead of Vraja-dhama and are described as the best of Lord Krishna's servants, by the nectarine words emanating from Sri Radhika's moon-like mouth. Kindly allow me to reside close to you." - Srila Raghunatha dasa Goswami.

These photos of Govardhana Hill are by a talented Croatian photographer who has a whole gallery of Govardhana pictures here.

Sri Damodarastakam.

2007-10-29T17:42:00.000Z

As the evenings draw in and Kartik begins, there is nothing nicer in all the world than gathering together around the altar, to offer lights to Sri Damodara. In our temple we offer little candles, but I wish we could offer ghee lamps like this one. The holder is made of clay and the wick is soaked in clarified butter, so it's both Earth friendly and an offering from the cow; Krishna especially likes that.

But it's the devotion which counts and which makes the daily Kartik ceremony so special. Singing the Damodarastaka song as we offer our lamps, surely can't help but increase our devotion to our divine Lord. When I first heard the Damodarastaka, I mostly liked the lilting three-beats-to-the-bar melody, but over the years of singing and studying the words, I've come to appreciate the deep devotion expressed in Damodarastaka and how, distracted though we may be, this song attracts our minds strongly towards Krishna, fanning our desire to serve Him more purely.

This year, Kartik came upon me unawares! I hadn't really prepared my mind; but fortunately, just singing the Damodarastakam every day, has drawn me into the Kartik mood. It's strong. There's a fine rendition of the first four verses here, by Gopal hari das: Sri Damodarastakam.

Kartik Begins With Joyful Kirtan.

2007-10-28T09:09:00.001Z

The special month of Kartik began on Friday: a month of heightened spiritual practise and rich in festivals such as Govardhana-puja. It is understood that in the month of Kartik, we can make more progress towards God than at any other time, as every effort we make to approach Him is magnified a hundred times.

I found this film on YouTube of a kirtan in ISKCON's Krishna-Balarama Temple in Vrindavana, showing devotees in blissful Kartik spirits! Towards the end you can see them offering lights to Krishna - a daily feature of Kartik.

A very happy and devotional Kartik to you all!

A Vaishnava Friendship.

2007-10-11T13:02:00.000+01:00

By Shyama devi dasi

I don't remember exactly where I met Krishna Premavati the first time; either in the Dublin centre or the temple at Inis Rath, I met her along with Monty her husband. It was unusual to see this elderly couple coming to Krishna Consciousness, as most of the devotees I knew were young, in their twenties or, at the most, late thirties. They were both from accomplished backgrounds; Monty beginning as an accountant, had then trained people in theatre how to project their voices and was also an Alexander Technique teacher. Krishna Premavati had been a nurse and then later ran an agency, recruiting nurses from different parts of the world. She had also been a follower of Buddhism and was head of a Buddhist organisation for Ireland. They were both well-travelled and had lived in Knightsbridge London, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Gozo, Malta.

An unusual story of how they were introduced to Krishna Consciousness: ISKCON had owned a building in Belvedere Place, Dublin, which the devotees used as an ashram and temple. Looking for a place to live in Dublin, Krishna Premavati bought this house, not knowing it had been the temple previously. As she and Monty first looked around the house, they came across a room which struck them as having a special, very peaceful atmosphere - they decided to keep this room for meditation. Then when KPV moved in, she used to receive mail addressed to the Hare Krishna Temple and didn't know what to do with it, just kept it aside, until one day Monty said he knew one of the Hare Krishna people, having met Prabhupada dasa distributing books on O'Connell street. So he took the mail to Prabhupada dasa who in turn took Monty to the temple on Dame Street and introduced him to the devotees there. Monty started reading books about Krishna consciousness and visiting the temple regularly. Eventually he gave Krishna Premavati a copy of the Bhagavad-gita and brought her along to the temple. They found out that the 'special' room in their house had been the Temple Room, where the devotees had worshipped Krishna daily.

I remember KPV next coming to Belfast when Monty had come to stay at the temple; she would visit for weekends. I was impressed at how she would come and take part in the early-morning devotions at the temple and was keen and inquisitive to learn the practices of Krishna Consciousness, even though she was seventy years of age. After a while Christine, as she was then, moved up to Belfast and became part of the community. I'd have some friendly little exchanges with her, we'd do shopping together for the temple or some other service over the years.

Then in Christmas 1997, she approached me and asked me if I would help her in her spiritual life and if we could meet regularly and talk about these things. I felt it showed her great humility in coming to me, younger than her own daughter, to give her guidance. I felt quite taken aback that she would ask me and also privileged that she would consider me worthy enough to give her advice. Here was someone who had been a very successful businesswoman and knew her way around the world, and then there was I who had come straight out of college and into the temple ashrama.

We would meet on a regular basis, and KPV would talk to me about her doubts and difficulties in spiritual life and also the good things that she was experiencing in her practice of Krishna Consciousness. Over the years I came to learn about her great faith in chanting the holy name of Krishna and in prayer. How determined she was to take to Krishna Consciousness as best she could! I could see at times, it was difficult for her to accept things, especially cultural aspects, having taken up this new tradition late in her life. It wasn't so easy for her to adapt and change, but she always tried her best in these matters.

KPV would do things in a thoughtful way. Always wanting to please her guru and Lord Krishna, she would do her different services with utmost care and attention; I especially saw that in her care of Monty when he became ill with Alzheimers disease and was taken into a nursing home and how she cared for him with devotion, making sure everything was done nicely for his comfort and also that he regularly heard the holy name and received prasadam . KPV always felt extremely grateful to Monty for having introduced her to KC and expressed that gratitude by taking care of him through ten years of illness until his passing away in 2004.

Being an intelligent person, KPV would often ask me challenging questions. I had to learn to be tactful in my answers, as she was older than me and it is difficult to accept things from a younger person. She wouldn't accept pat answers, so I would have to think deeply about the essence of Krishna Consciousness and how to express it in a way which would help her to understand certain points. In this way I feel she helped me in my Krishna consciousness, and I learned that the relationship of teacher and student benefits both parties.

Even though she often had difficulties in her relationships with the devotees KPV would say that the devotees were by far the best people she had met in her life. I learned to see that devotees may sometimes have awkward personality traits, but that these are really superficial and that I have to see beyond them to their efforts to overcome these difficulties, and to the sincere desires in their hearts.

Last July, KPV was diagnosed with lung cancer. Immediately she started making enquiries about the possibility of going to Vrindavana (Lord Krishna's birthplace) to pass away and that was always on her mind; even she had booked her ticket to go and the plans fell through. Because at this time in one's life it is easy to become distracted from spiritual practises due to weakness and illness in the body, I tried to help her by fixing up her mp3 player so that it would play continuously in her bedroom and she would be able to hear the chanting of the maha mantra or lectures by her spiritual master; so there would always be some spiritual atmosphere in her home she could easily focus in on. She would like to have Krishna book and Bhagavad-gita read to her and the devotees to chant with her. I would print out relevant verses from the scriptures that would help her to face this most difficult time, to give her some solace. At times she would be very fearful but she said to me that when she would think of Krishna and chant, the fearfulness would subside.

It was, of course, very intense for Krishna Premavati, but also for those who were trying to care for her, as understandably she could become irritable and demanding, as her health deteriorated, and she could be sharp when things were not done quite to her liking. I found this hard at times, but it made me realise that we have to overlook such things and that it was important to set aside my bruised ego and continue to help that person who is crying out for Krishna. I also had to overlook my own health difficulties, which seemed insignificant in comparison to what KPV was facing.

At times KPV felt quite hopeless and abandoned by Krishna, she spent some time in the hospice and it seemed like she might have to go into a nursing home, which was her worst nightmare, but then she received a phone call from her good friend Kalyani in Carrick-on-Shannon saying that she and the devotees there would be willing to take care of her in Carrick and could make all the necessary arrangements with getting proper medical care and assistance.

It all happened quite suddenly, her move to Carrick and it was a bit of a shock for me that someone who had been an important part of my life and service was gone. It seemed like she had been whipped out of my life; I felt empty for quite a while and emotional whenever I thought of KPV. I managed to make a trip up to Carrick to see her. She looked so bright and happy even though her body was disintegrating and couldn't do much for herself. She was so glad that I had come to see her. The devotees were taking such good care of her and it seemed like the right place for her to be. Her room was filled with fresh flowers and pictures of Krishna and Radha Madhava from Belfast temple.; and there was a Prabhupada lecture playing on the MP3 player.

KPV passed away a couple of weeks later on 14 April while her son and daughter were visiting her from Italy and USA. She was surrounded by the love and care she received from the devotees in Carrick. She revealed to a friend, a few days before she passed away, how she had previously not believed Krishna would take care of her at this time in her life but now she said 'Krishna is here' 'Krishna is here', she was feeling Krishna's presence at the end of her life.

My realisation from the whole experience was how Lord Krishna is so expert and how He achieves so many things in one situation. Through Krishna Premavati's illness He brought out the love and care between devotees and KPV, and showed us how Krishna personally takes care of everything and attends to the desires of His devotees. KPV really did not want to die alone; her great desire was to have the devotees there at that time to help her think of Krishna until the very end. And Krishna arranged it all for her.

Her daughter remarked to me that her Mum was so bright, alert and radiant, even though she was in a lot of pain and discomfort and she hoped that her own death would be like that. If you get the opportunity to care for someone with a terminal illness I would say you should take it, as you learn so much from the experience, especially if we try and give them Krishna which is the greatest gift.

Photographs: Top - Krishna premavati and UTV presenter Kate Little, working together on a programme about life as a devotee of Krishna.

Middle: Shyama and Krishna premavati at a temple study-group.

Janmastami Photo Gallery - A Treat!

2007-10-05T09:12:00.000+01:00

Krishan, a devotee from Newcastle, took some beautiful photos of Radha-Madhava, while he was with us for Janmastami.

It's a real treat to watch them as a slide-show here: Krishna Mistry's Slideshow , whilst listening to this Kirtan: Ranchor Leads Kirtan. It's a bit tricky to get them both together - but it's worth it.

You can see Sri Sri Radha-Madhava all bedecked in silken garments and flower garlands, for this special festival, and enjoy Their extraordinary bathing ceremony. After all, why do we have eyes, but for to gaze upon the beauty of God! And, come to think of it, what use are our ears, unless we use them for hearing the sublime sound of His sacred names?

How Attractive is Krishna!

2007-09-28T08:16:00.000+01:00

From a devotee friend in Oxford:

"We've been holding monthly kirtan sessions at the Quaker Meeting House in Oxford for just over a year. Last Sunday, we started up again after a summer break and were pleased to see several new faces there, including three young school-girls.

We all chanted with gusto, and after the session, I sat next to one of the girls and asked how she came to be there. "Well" she said; "I went to see the Mahabharata in June, and became extremely attracted to Krishna."

That was interesting; extremely attracted! After chatting for a bit, I went and spoke to an older lady, also there for the first time. As we talked, it came out that she too was there because of the Mahabharata production, which played in Oxford in June. "I went to see it and had an overwhelming experience; I had to go and see it again the next night! Then I took down the unread Bhagavad-Gita which had been on my shelf for years, and read it; I went to the Soho St. temple in London, and bought lots of books in their bookshop; and I found out about the kirtan here, and came along".

That was astonishing!

I had just been reading a chapter of Krishna Book in which some of Krishna's queens described how they came to their good fortune to have such an intimate relationship with Krishna. Rukmini had never seen Krishna, but became attracted to Him as she heard about Him, from sages who visited her father's palace. Another had heard about Krishna from Narada Muni and decided that she would marry no-one but Him.

And here, now, in 21st century Oxford the same process is at work. Eternally it will be so: people attracted to Krishna just by hearing about Him. We already know Krishna; we've merely temporarily forgotten Him - and by seeing a play, or reading a book, or hearing a kirtan - it will set off a spark of remembrance, which will blaze into pure love of God, if we fan it carefully.

The dance-drama production of the Mahabharata which toured England in the summer was conceived by Gaura-lila from Switzerland. The result of eight years work. I bet he'd be pleased to know what an impact it is having!

You can read about it here: Mahabharata at Sadlers Wells.

Jubilation!

2007-06-13T12:49:00.000+01:00

A rare and very welcome visit from Gopi-manjari and her family is expected this weekend.

Gopi was one of the 'pillars' of the Belfast temple for several years, before ruthlessly deserting us to live in America. She's still badly missed. So it will be a happy reunion on Sunday, also with her husband, Lalita-madhava and baby son, Madhava.

Gopi will give the talk at the Sunday Feast, this Sunday. As you might expect from the photo, her talk will be on the subject of Yoga - the relationships between the different kinds of yoga, and how they can be used to support the topmost jewel of Yoga - bhakti. Gopi will sit in a normal cross-legged position while giving her class.

Gopi teaches yoga in Washington DC and introduces her students to the teachings of Bhagavad-Gita and the practise of kirtan as an important part of their yoga practise. If you happen to live in Washington you can find her here: Hot Yoga.

So, come along, if you can, to hear Gopi speak. Lalita-madhava, will lead us in kirtan afterwards, for the refreshment of our inner selves. We look forward, as always, to seeing you!

Sunday, 17th June.

Class - 4.00 p.m.
Kirtan -4.45 p.m.
Vegetarian Feast - 5.20 p.m.

Krishna the Chiropracter.

2007-06-09T13:03:00.000+01:00

Even a visit to the chiropracter can lead to thoughts of Krishna! On Monday I went to have the atlas-bone at the top of my spine 'fixed'. The atlas-bone is the very topmost bone of the spine, which supports the head; when it becomes out of alignment with the head, it can cause the whole spine to become crooked, which had happened in my case, making walking and sitting painful.

The treatment took only ten minutes, but I walked out of the treatment room feeling straight and walking with ease. And then I remembered the story of Krishna, meeting the hunchback, Kubja, in Mathura. She had offered Krishna some freshly made sandal-wood paste to cool Him down in the heat of the sun. Krishna was pleased with her loving attention and to reciprocate with her, He pressed her feet with His toes, caught her by the cheeks and gave a quick jerk which straightened her out. Well just see! Krishna was the first chiropracter!

And while waiting for my appointment, I read that the atlas-bone is so called because it holds the whole weight of the head, just as Atlas, in Greek mythology, held the heavens on his shoulders. I thought of Atlas, muscles straining with effort, oppressed by that great burden and compared the image with that of Sri Ananta-Shesha, the form of God as a many-headed serpent, who holds the Universes on the top of His heads. And does this so effortlessly, that it's described that the universe feels to Him like a mere mustard seed - He barely notices that it is there, only as a slight tickle on top of His head.

The contrast was amusing. I appreciated the understanding of God offered by the Vedas. God is mighty hard to fathom, but these images help us get an inkling of His wonders.

(Photos:top, of Atlas; below, of Vishnu reclining on Ananta-shesha.)

Growing Up With Bhagavad-Gita.

2007-05-24T11:08:00.000+01:00

Gopi-manjari devi dasi wrote this piece. Gopi grew up in England and actually met Srila Prabhupada when she was a baby. Although she went through turbulent times as a teenager, she landed on her feet as a very fine devotee and served in the Belfast Temple for several years. A power-house of energy, she pulled off quite amazing feats for the pleasure of Radha-Madhava, including Their beautiful new altar, and new kitchen. It was a sad day for Belfast when she left with her American husband to live in America...

Photos show Gopi's son Madhava das enjoying the pictures in Bhagavad-Gita.

My mother's words echoed within my mind, as the kids in school bulled and teased me for being Indian. The timeless teaching from the Bhagavad-Gita, spoken through my mother gave me solace, “you are not this body’ she said, “you are an eternal spirit soul, no one can hurt you within”. I remember repeating those same words when my brother and sisters would pick on me at home, “I don’t care, you can’t hurt me,” I would shout back, “I am not this body”!

As teenage years crept up, the suffering I faced either it be due to hormones, taking drugs, or sheer loneliness became thick. I would question, why is there so much suffering, what is the purpose of life, why is there so much external show and falseness in this world. Again the ancient teaching from the Bhagavad-Gita that my mother taught me surfaced to my consciousness. Karma—every action has an equal and opposite reaction, if you cause pain to another then it will come back to you, and vice versa if you do good, it will also come back in a reward. One's suffering is a reaction to ones past activities, if not in this life then in one's next life.

Reincarnation—Knowing that there was life after death, and that the activities that I carried out in this life, would predestine my next life as well as the happiness and distress I would face. Having this knowledge empowered me to take responsibility for my present life, instead of trying to escape my suffering through intoxication and other external means, I discovered that the Bhagavad- Gita became a source of great comfort and solace for me. It's contents being one of deep philosophy and theology satisfied my questions and search for the truth. It's literal meaning, “the song of God”, is a conversation between Lord Krishna (God), and Arjuna (his devotee), it takes place by a battlefield on the onset of a fratricidal war. The challenges and dilemmas that Arjuna faces is similar to the challenges we face in our lives. I like to see that the Bhagavad-Gita is a song of God sung to me, to help me through my difficulties and struggles.

The Bhagavad-Gita is a book of theology; it discusses God and our relationship with Him. The different processes of connecting with God are delineated in different paths of yoga which conclude in bhakti or love and devotion to the Divine. That pure spiritual love gives one peace and satisfaction and is the love that we all seek in life. In this journey of life I have become a seeker of that Pure Love, I would like to end by sharing one of my favorite verses from the BG. “ To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with Love, I give them the understanding by which they can come to Me”. (BG 10.10)"

Don't Miss the Bus!

2007-05-18T11:49:00.000+01:00

Congregational member Bhakta Pat, wrote this piece describing how service to Krishna has it's own special, internal dynamic.

Funny how things work out. I remember waiting for a bus one morning whilst I was on my way to work. We were waiting, the usual crowd, for about ten minutes. Along came a blind man who was trying to cross the road about twenty yards from where we were standing. We all looked on as he tried to step out gingerly,then came back, and tried putting his other foot out. This went on for a few minutes. Then one good Samaritan in our bus queue went up to him and said, I know not what, but he took the blind man by the arm, and together they went across, a bit like the game 'frogger', and the blind guy got to the other side. I was thinking to myself. “Wow, why couldn’t I have done that? That guy has some good karma coming.” Just then the bus came, and we all got on. I was looking out the window at “our” Samaritan, now stranded by the traffic on the other side of the road. The bus left with me looking out the window at him. I never forgot that lesson!

“Never volunteer for anything”, is the advice that most raw recruits get on their way to join up. And yeah, I can see the logic in that. And mostly I’ve lived my life like that. But there is another type of logic which turns everything on its head. Logicians, mathematicians, and all sorts of brainy guys cannot fathom it out, because it just doesn’t make “sense”. They tell you that if you have a certain amount of something, and you give some away, you’ll have less of it. They do not know that this world is a reflection, and that some things run completely contrary to our rules, in the true realm. Devotees all know, for example, that if we give some understanding of Krishna consciousness to someone else, that somehow or other we have more than what we started out with. Usually when we do something for somebody we expect to get some return for it. But with Krishna, the payment is….to do more for Him.

Take my own case. I haven’t done anything for years. Gaura purnima was coming up, so I decided that I would get some yellow balloons to decorate the temple, and maybe make some Krishna badges to give to the guests. So that’s what I did. People seemed pleased with them, and that was reward enough as far as I was concerned. The next day I got it into my head to look up Lord Jagganatha on the internet, and I found what I thought was some interesting stuff. “Hey,” I thought, “the devotees at the temple might be interested in this.” So I printed it out, and the following Sunday I brought it along. Yep! Everyone was interested. So much so that I got orders from people who each wanted a copy for themselves. I was pleased (my reward?), and the following Sunday I brought along several copies of the print-out, which were well received. A couple of days later I get a telephone call from a devotee I haven’t heard from in ten years or so. Can I do something for him?.. it so happens that I can.. so I do. The next thing I know is that I get an e-mail from another person whom I haven’t seen for a long time, asking how I am, and sort of passing the time of day. The upshot of which is that I am now engaged in writing this!….. Will I take the hint? This time if I get on the bus and look out the window, I could miss the bus! And what would the mathematicians make of that? Eh!

Special Feast and Kirtan This Sunday.

2007-05-16T15:12:00.000+01:00

There's to be a special feast and kirtan, in the temple, this Sunday, in honour of our dear friend Krishna premavati, who passed away a few weeks ago. Madri and Shyama will be cooking the feast and including some of Krishna premavati's favourite prasadam dishes. As Madri and Syama were both very close to KPV, they are glad to be doing this on her behalf and would like to invite anyone who knew her to come and take part.

I'm sure anyone who knows Madri and her cooking will be there anyway! It's a while since Madri cooked in the temple, but her feasts are unforgettable.

This picture shows Krishna-premavati at last year's Ratha-yatra festival, shading Srila Prabhupada from the sun.

Praghosa das will also be visiting the temple on Sunday, and speaking on Bhagavad-Gita. So please, one and all, feel welcome to join us.

Letter From Anuttama.

2007-05-16T15:03:00.000+01:00

We've just received this very nice letter from Anuttama das, in Washington, sympathising with the loss of our Krishna-premavati. Anuttama is a senior member of ISKCON and Communications minister on the Governing Board Committee. Thank you Anuttama!

Dear Devotees in Belfast,

I am saddened to hear of the departure of Krishna Premavati devi dasi. I was fortunate to have met her during a short visit to Belfast several years ago. Although brief, my time with her was memorable. We had several conversations, I visited her home, and she took me to visit herhusband, who was living in a care facility.I was deeply impressed by her aristocratic mannerisms, her sharp intellect,her composure, her beautiful Krishna conscious home, her compassion, and her enthusiasm for her spiritual practice.She was a devotee who exuded confidence in Lord Krishna and Srila Prabhupada. She made me feel I was in the presence of a woman who was highly educated, confident, well-connected, artistic, and, to put it in a brief American term, "classy".

Although I only knew her for a few short days, I will miss Krishna Premavati devi dasi. Certainly, you will all feel her loss very acutely. She was an important part of your community and she brought life and energy to the temple and sanga. While you will miss her, you are blessed to know that through your friendship, love, and shared services you were able to bring each other closer to Krishna, our Supreme Friend and shelter. The time you shared together was based on Krishna, and thus was built on love and mutual care. That love undoubtedly helped her be steady on the path of bhakti. By connecting each other to Krishna you gave her--and she gave you--the greatest gift. There is no better way to show love...there is no better way to bless a friend...there is no better way to find solace in a loss...than to know that while we were together we brought each other closer to home and to our Supreme Beloved Lord.

Your servant,
Anuttama dasa

Prayer to Lord Nrsimhadeva.

2007-05-02T17:57:00.000+01:00

Here's a prayer to Lord Nrsimhadeva, written by one of Radha-Madhava's devotees in Oxford. I'm sure we can all relate to the sentiments expressed therein!

Dear Lord today once more I pray
Hiranyakasipu you’ll slay;
For though to save Prahlad he died,
He lives within my heart as Pride.

His lusty greed for name and fame
Is my sad search for just the same;
Like him I long for words that flatter,
Not truths that leave this ego shattered.

And just like him I think I’m king,
Of mice and men and Oxford kin.
I wince in pain and loudly moan
When others would usurp my throne .

This demon Pride destroys true sight
And turns all truth to darkest night.
Instead of seeing myself as Thine,
I think this world should all be mine.

Although my name ends in ‘das'
I act more like a stubborn ‘ass' .
When someone pleases not my will,
I deem them fools and rascals ‘till…

They come to share my view and see -
The world’s best ‘know-it-all’ is me .
I fail to see how life’s an act,
Of practising one of two true facts:

‘You are Lord and I am servant’.
My role is overdue and urgent,
But Pride likes not this deep insight:
‘How dare these fools deny my right.

To be the one upon the throne
And have servants all of my own!’
So Dearest Lord today I pray,
(With heart contrite for going astray)

"Please help me serve, that’s all that matters
And rip Pride out once more in tatters. "

Spiritual Retreat.

2007-04-25T12:05:00.000+01:00

We've just had a festive few days with our guest Jiva-doya das from Bhaktivedanta Manor, in England. Jiva-doya is a teacher at the Manor, teaching courses in Bhagavad-Gita and taking charge of the new bhaktas in the temple there - a sort of novice master. We have really enjoyed his classes and kirtans.

I can't remember where J-D is originally from - Croatia, I think, or maybe Czech. Shame on me for forgetting!

On Sunday, Jiva-doya led a spiritual retreat at the temple, for our extended community. That was an especially nice day.

We gathered at 7.15 a.m. in the temple-room for kirtan, after which Jiva-doya began with a class on the theme of the retreat "Living Vaishnava Culture". Beginning with his definition of 'culture' as; 'an appropriate and supportive environment for transformation', he led us to discuss how to create such an environment for the transformation of our selves in love of Krishna.

In the following classes, we discussed the importance of shravanam - hearing and reading about topics connected with Krishna and examined the obstacles we experience in attempting this. Kirtanam - chanting the sacred names of Krishna, naturally followed on, as the most important ingredient for cultivating the heart.

As well as being a boost for the spiritual "batteries", it was good just being together all day, with the other retreat members. It brought us closer together; deepened our friendship and helped us appreciate each other more as devotees. In a community, it's easy to get annoyed with each other and notice the glaring faults of our fellows, but here in the retreat, it was clear to see the sincerity of each devotee and their true motivation of wanting to please Krishna.

By the time the Sunday Feast guests had all assembled, the temple was overflowing; it was a tight squeeze for the final tumultuous kirtan, but we danced anyway!

Jiva-doya was an excellent retreat-leader; well-prepared and personable, he brought out many interesting and thoughtful points from our workshops and was concerned to help each of is in our spiritual development. Many thanks JD!

Sweet!

2007-04-25T12:00:00.000+01:00

Baby Yatin celebrated his first birthday at the Temple on Sunday. His parents sponsored a sumptuous prasadam-feast in his honour, including birthday cake (below).

A few months ago, Yatin had his "first-grain" ceremony here. This ancient Indian custom is one of the 'samskaras' or significant events in a person's life. His parents wanted that the first grains he ate would be prasadam; so his first proper meal was sweet-rice, which he ate with great enthusiasm! We noticed him enjoying sweet-rice again on his birthday.

This cultured and charming family is from Chenai in S. India, we're pleased to have them as members of our congregation, and to know that our temple helps them feel more at home here.

Eulogy for Krishna premavati.

2007-04-16T15:30:00.000+01:00

His Grace Ravindra-svarupa das, Krishna premavati's spiritual master, sent this eulogy to be read at her funeral, which took place in Dublin earlier this afternoon. It very nicely sums up KPV's personality, which we are all going to miss.

I am much saddened by the passing away of Krishna Premavati. I did not expect it to come so soon; I had hoped that somehow I would get a chance to see her at least one more time. My wife Saudamani had been planning to fly to Ireland this week.

I always looked forward with pleasure to being with Krishna Premavati: I found her to be an exceptional interesting and remarkable devotee. She had come to Krishna consciousness late in her life, and I was impressed by how completely she committed herself to the process. She was already a person of notable achievements. She knew how to pursue a project with great resolve,and she applied a sharp and inquisitive mind to the task. As she studied Krishna consciousness, she would write down her doubts and her questions, and then bring them to me for discussions and resolution- sometimes long discussions.

She had a deep attachment to the Deities at the Belfast temple and to the temple itself. She had strong convictions and a strong sense of right and wrong. I understood that she on occasion stepped on toes in her desire to see that things were done correctly as she saw it, but in any case her motive was always a determination to see that Krishna was served nicely. Those who knew her heart saw that she did everything out of love for Krishna and Prabhupada.

She was generous and a loyal friend to devotees. And she always dressed with care and a simple elegance that was a testimony to her concern to always represent Krishna nicely.

Even though she had been separated from her husband Monty, out of gratitude for his introducing her to Krishna consciousness, she gave him dedicated care during his long illness with Alzheimer's disease, often expressing her concern to keep him in contact, someway or another, with Krishna. Somehow she persistently accomplished this with prasadam and the Holy Name.

Krishna Premavati had wanted to go to Vrindaban to leave her body, but circumstance did not permit it. No matter: she left this world with the care, comfort, and association of devotees, and her future is very bright indeed.

I want to express my gratitude to the devotees in Ireland who have shown so much concern for her and who have cared for her. I am everlasting indebted to you. You manifest the mercy of Krishna.

The manifestation of such devotional association in this world gives full assurance of Srila Prabhuapda's statement that we are eternal associates. In that case, for now we shall feel the absence of Krishna Premavati, but we may look forward in confidence to our eventual reunion at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.

May Lord Krishna give all blessing to Krishna Premavati-devi dasi. All glories to Krishna Premavati! All glories to the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord!

Ravindra Svarupa dasa

Krishna-prema-vati devi dasi Passes Away.

2007-04-14T21:59:00.000+01:00

Just to let our congregation know that our dear god-sister, Krishna-prema-vati left her body early this morning at about 1.30 a.m. She was being well cared for by devotee friends in Carrick and they were with her as she passed away.

KPV was in her early eighties and found out that she had lung cancer several months ago. This picture of her was taken not long after she had been told she would not have much longer to live. KPV's friends have all been impressed at her calm and Krishna-conscious preparing for death; she loved to have devotees come and chant with her or read to her and even when it was a struggle for her, she would still try to chant Krishna's holy Names.

I'm sure she would appreciate your prayers on her behalf.

Hare Krishna!

Radha-Madhava's Birthday.

2007-04-13T21:27:00.000+01:00

(photo courtesy of Yamuna dasi of Austria - click to enlarge)

I had planned to post about this on Tuesday the 10th April, which was the twenty-fourth anniversary of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava's installation. But Krishna had other plans! But as we are celebrating Their birthday on Sunday, there is still time.

A very nice devotee from Riga, Latvia wrote through the blog, asking if we could tell something of how Radha-Madhava come to be in Belfast, so we'll tell the story here and in the post below.

Sri Sri Radha-Madhava were installed in Dublin in 1983 in what then became the first Radha-Krishna temple in the whole of Ireland - ever! Radha-Madhava are brass deities, about thirty-six inches tall, wrought in Vrindavana - the original birth-place of Krishna. Deities are made according to special rituals and scriptural descriptions, by expert murti-makers. Often this is a family concern passed down through many generations and those who made Radha-Madhava are a renowned family in Vrindavana. They liked the design of these deities so much that they made themselves a pair from the same mould, for their own worship.

Establishing a temple with worshipable deities is not a light undertaking. There must be a responsible team of brahmana pujaris to perform the worship, which includes many services and several cooked offerings of dainty dishes for the Lord throughout the day. The Lord is bathed and dressed early every morning, and in the evening changes into night clothes and there are high standards of purity for the pujaris who perform these activities. There must also be dress-makers to make new outfits and a large congregation to come and see Him, and provide for His worship.

But when a community is fortunate enough to centre around Radha-Krishna deities, They provide a powerful focus for worship, service and meditation on God. Everyone can perform some service to please Them, by just bringing a flower, or singing for Their pleasure and in this way develop a strong relationship with Krishna through that particular form.

Radha-Madhava's Installation.

2007-04-13T15:02:00.000+01:00

Shaunaka Rishi Das, the (21 year old) temple-president of Dublin at this time, remembers how Radha-Madhava's installation came about.

SRD: "The Deities had been brought from India over a month before and had been standing in my office covered in cloth. One day, I suddenly got a phone-call from our leader Prithu das in India, he said that His Holiness Satsvarupa Maharaja would be visiting Ireland at the end of the week, and we would install the Deities then. This was completely unexpected! We had less than a week to prepare for this momentous event and were immediately plunged into intense activity, to get everything together in time. There was so much to do: There were no clothes for the deities to wear, so we brought expert seamstress Bhakti-lata dasi over from England and a team of sewers worked day and night. There were also curtains and backdrops to be made. The deities were unpainted and Saksi-Gopala carefully and painstakingly painted Their features, hands and feet. He and Aniruddha also did carpentry work, preparing the altar where the Deities would reside. We had quickly to send out invitations to guests and the media, order a marquis, scrub the temple from top to bottom, prepare a menu and shop for a huge feast and many other things."

The installation ceremoney took place in a big marquis in the grounds of the temple. Installing a deity means that Radha and Krishna are personally invited to enter the deity form, so that They are actually present before the worshipper. It's not a statue that we are seeing and serving, but God Himself, who has kindly come there to enable us to develop our intimate relationship with Him.

A large crowd gathered to witness the event. His Holiness Satsvarupa Maharaja performed the ceremony gravely and with devotion, to the accompaniment of enthusiastic kirtan. Nitai-sachinandana remembers:

"I had spent several hours shining up the brass paraphernalia for the occasion - brass pots to hold milk, honey, water and other ingredients, lamps, bells and trays. It had been glorious weather for the previous few days, but on the day of the installation it poured with rain. My strongest memory is of seeing Radha-Madhava being carried into the marquis with umbrellas held above Them. They looked very beautiful; Saksi-gopal had painted Them exquisitely and it was hard to take your eyes off Them!

After the ceremony, Radha-Madhava were brought from the marquis to Their altar in the temple, where they were dressed in a rich-looking red velvet outfit and adorned with flower garlands. When the curtains opened, Satsvarupa Maharaja offered Them Their first arti and there was a really ecstatic kirtan. Everyone was swept up by the chanting and the atmosphere was spiritually charged. Everyone remarked on it, even people who had only come to a temple for the first time. It was tremendous." The occasion wound up with a sumptuous prasadam feast - the first cooked offering to Their Lordships.

Sri Sri Radha-Madhava presided over the Dublin Temple for over a year, until circumstances became difficult for the devotees in Ireland and arrangements were made for Them to move to Belfast. Here They stayed temporarily in Wellington Park, until we found a suitable place for Them. In 1985, They came here to Their temple, "Brooklands" in Dunmurry on the outskirts of Belfast, where They are the joy of the Vaishnava community in Belfast. All glories to Their Lordships, Sri Sri Radha-Madhava!

The pictures here are sketches by Padma-malini from photos of the actual event. They show Satsvarupa Maharaja installing Radha-Madhava.

Happy Easter!

2007-04-07T17:58:00.000+01:00

A very Happy Easter to all our Christian friends and readers.

"Rise, heart, thy lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delays,
Who takes thee by the hand,
that thou likewise
With him may’st rise: "

(From Easter Poem by George Herbert.)

Gardening Update.

2007-04-07T17:49:00.000+01:00

We had a successful gardening day on Wednesday and renovated the rose-garden, lugging a ton of topsoil from the gate to the rose-beds to replenish them. All the new roses have now been planted, so come and visit in June, when their first blooms will be out!

Many thanks once again to all the good souls who paid for them... and thanks to the equally good souls who came and planted them!

P.S. Don't wait 'til June - come anytime...

Letter from Gopal.

2007-04-07T17:45:00.000+01:00

Gopal-hari who visited us at Gaura-Purnima sent us this very nice letter. We are embarrassed, as it is we who so much appreciated his visit!

Respected Devotees,

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

Thank you very much for your wonderful association and kind hospitality. I felt like I was at home. Your temple has a very personal and devotional atmosphere. I think this is because beautiful Sri Sri Radha-Madhava are the centre of everyone’s attention. Their beautiful golden forms seem to enchant everyone who lives there, and everyone who visits. They pleasantly and patiently smile, giving blessings with their hands raised high, waiting for the whole of Belfast to come and visit them. Somehow, standing before them feels like standing in a historic temple in Vrindavana.

I was so happy to come to Belfast and I think what made it very special was the friendship I was able to have with the devotees there.

Your humble servant,

Gopal-hari das

Don't Be a Fool!

2007-04-01T10:18:00.000+01:00

On this April Fool's Day - we reveal our simple three-step programme "How Not to be a Fool".

Foolishness is a matter for growing concern in our world today, as a quick glance at any newspaper will show; everyday there are new reports of outbreaks of foolishness, often quite close to home. Most worrying of all, many of our government-leaders, scientists and other prominent figures have become severely infected.

Doctors have no cure for this embarassing condition; as soon as it is brought under control in one area, it breaks out into a more virulent form somewhere else. Researchers suspect that many more people have the disease than previously thought, but being afraid even to admit it to themselves, they don't seek help.

If you worry about picking up this infection, or suspect you may already show symptoms - fear not! Help is at hand in our simple three-step programme. The best way to deal with any disease is to strike at the root rather than the symptoms and our programme is designed to completely eradicate the causes of foolishness and to provide immunity to re-infection.

Step One: Know thyself! The greatest folly is thinking you are something you aren't, so: Understand that you are not the body, but spirit-soul. Extend this knowledge also to all other living creatures and respect them accordingly.

Step Two: Read Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. This will give you a clear understanding of the nature of the illness and will strengthen the immune-system.

Step Three: Chant the maha-mantra daily. There is no more effective way of removing every trace of foolishness than this very simple remedy. It works rapidly and protects one from re-infection.

If followed carefully, this programme will restore us all to a healthy and natural state of wisdom. We recommend combining this programme with Humility and Compassion, for extra good results. Satisfaction guaranteed!

Gopal's Kirtan

2007-03-31T22:49:00.001+01:00

I just saw that Gopal Hari's Kirtan from a previous post has mysteriously disappeared, so I'm posting it again here. Sorry to all of you who were looking for it... you should have let me know!

An Old Friend Passes On.

2007-03-31T13:22:00.000+01:00

We were sad to hear that Samba, an old friend of ours, passed away last week. Actually, Samba was everyone's friend; a gentle and jolly devotee. At Belfast temple we used to see him when he came to visit his mother who worked for the Archbishop of Armagh. He would always pop in to see us too. He will be very much missed.

But as we all have to depart this world at some time, I don't think Samba would have wished for a better transition. He was surrounded by his family, by devotees and by the sublime sound of the chanting of Krishna's sacred names. Srutakirti from Bhaktivedanta Manor wrote a moving account of the final moments, which you can read here. The following is an excerpt:

"Everyone, including family members and hospital employees, remarked what a wonderful passing it was. Samba was very peaceful throughout. When we were getting ready to leave the room Samba’s sister came up to Amekhala and me, to tell us that a man in the far corner of the room had been sitting all day with his dying wife. He wanted to thank us for the chanting. I walked over and sat next to him. He said the chanting was so beautiful, ‘just like the singing of angels’."

We send our condolences to Samba's family and to his dearmost friends.

Bengali Hymn.

2007-03-28T12:46:00.000+01:00

Hoorah for podcasts! Well, maybe "hoorah" is a bit too enthusiastic in this case, as the quality isn't perfect; but they're still very good to listen to. These two are from our recent Gaura-Purnima festival; Gopal hari sings a song by Narottama das Thakura. "Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Sri Gauranga" and comments on it afterwards (there's the tail end of a previous kirtan just before this song begins.) Gopal is a very good kirtaniyah - as I'm sure you will agree!

The second is Gopal's talk "From Bengal to Belfast" - the spreading of Lord Chaitanya's sankirtan movement. Many thanks to Lal-krishna for his technical help with these. And I hope you enjoy listening to them.

Rama-chandra's Festival Day.

2007-03-26T21:08:00.000+01:00

This is a beautiful image of Lord Rama-chandra from Thailand. Traditional Thai art is always so exquisite, whether it is dancing, architecture, paintings or sculpture; I don't think I've ever heard any Thai music, but imagine it must be similarly so.

Anyway, here is Lord Rama-chandra for His appearance day, today. And as it is the perfect day for dipping into the great classic The Ramayana, I wonder if you've seen the version by Ranchor Prime - "Ramayana; a Journey"? (You can see it here.) It's an abridged version, telling the basic story very well, with beautiful accompanying pictures; good for both adults and children -these stories are so good for children!

Here's an amusing tale of how Sri Valmiki came to write the Ramayana:

"Millions of years ago, according to the Vedic sources, the Supreme Lord appeared on this planet as the Warrior, Rama-chandra, in order to execute His will and display the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As is stated in the Bhagavad-Gita, "From time to time I come, in order to vanquish the demons and rescue the devotees."

The pastimes of Lord Rama are revealed in the famous Vedic scripture, The Ramayana, written by Sri Valmiki. Before being empowered to write the Ramayana, Valmiki had been a plunderer; but by the grace of the great saint Narada, he became a Vaishnava - a worshipper of the Personality of Godhead. Narada had first asked Valmiki to please chant the name of the Lord, but Valmiki replied that he would not. He was a murderer, so what had he to do with the chanting of God's names? Narada then asked him to meditate on his murders, by saying the name of "Mara" which means Death. Valmiki agreed to this and meditated on Mara. By rapid repetition of the word "Mara, Mara, Mara", he found himself saying "Rama, Rama,Rama" and by the power of reciting the holy name of God, his heart became purified".

From A Handbook of Krishna consciousness, by Satsvarupa das Goswami.

A Happy Rama-navami to you all! And may you not have to be tricked into chanting the holy names on this day!

St. Patrick's Day Offering.

2007-03-21T13:54:00.000Z

It's a bit late to be sure, but not for want of trying!

We thought St. Patrick would like this. Our temple-musician, Vrajesvari devi, has rendered Lord Chaitanya's eight poems - the Shikshastakam - into verse and sung them to a stirring Irish tune, accompanied by guitar.

"Because love of country means wanting the best for one's country-folk, and Lord Chaitanya has put the essence of all happiness and love of God into these verses. By chanting the sacred names of God, as he advises, we can overcome unhappiness and frustration and learn to respect and live peacefully with everyone."

You can listen to it here: Vrajesvari Sings Shikshastakam. And the words are below.

All glories to Sri Sankirtana, the benediction moon
The blissful transcendental chant will cleanse the heart right soon
Samsara's wheel of birth and death, this shackle let us burn
And fully taste the nectar chant for which our hearts do yearn

O transcendental Lord, rain down Your mercy and Your grace.
The Name of Krishna and Govinda saves this human race
The gateway to the Lord of Lords is the chanting of His Name
T'is the only blessing of this age, thus let me chant the same.

With humble mind and lowly heart, as the Holy Name you speak
More tolerant than the sheltering tree, or the straw upon the street.
And full respect we're offering to the people that we see,
So in this way, we'll chant the Name of Krishna constantly.

Almighty Lord, life after life,Your servant would I be.
No wealth do I desire, likewise no female company.
I ask for no material boon, nor to grant me liberty
To this devotional cause I pledge as your servant endlessly.

O son of Nanda Maharaja! eternally I will serve
You are my only happiness, how will I deserve
Oh rescue me from this deep sea, from bondage set me free,
And at your lotus feet, dear Lord, an atom let me be.

Oh when, on chanting Krishna's names will tears flow from my eyes.
Oh when on chanting Names of God, will ecstasies arise.
Oh universal Lord, when will You pour Your grace on me?
At recitation of Your name Your bliss will nectar be.

At separation from Govinda, how my tears do pour,
And every moment we're apart is like ten years or more.
I feel all vacant in this world, which is not home to me.
Govinda, O Govinda, let your Name my watchword be.

No-one but Krishna do I know, Him unconditionally,
And ever so shall He remain, though He treat me carelessly,
And even if He break my heart by vanishing from me,
It's Krishna first and Krishna last, and Him eternally.

Gaura's Trumpets and Radha-dendrons.

2007-03-19T19:35:00.000Z

Daffodils? No, no - they're Gaura's trumpets!

A few years ago, at one of our temple gardening-days, we sat around at lunch-time, musing about the names of flowers and trees. There are many flowers and plants named after Christian saints, or biblical scenes, such as Jacob's Ladder and Solomon's Seal or St. John's wort. And several after Our Lady, the mother of Christ, such as marigolds (Mary-golds) and the Madonna lily. There's also a Pasque flower which blooms at Easter, a Christmas rose and a Passion flower.

In our country, centuries ago, the Bible was the only book which most people knew of, and hearing, or reading only stories from the Bible, they naturally saw the world around them in terms of those stories.

This seemed to us such a nice thing to do - to name things around us in such a way that our thoughts will always be led back to God. It would help our meditation on Krishna, to see everything connected with Him in this way; Why not be inventive, and rename the world? Well, maybe not all of it, but we could start with a few flowers: daffodils immediately became 'Gaura's trumpets', because they always bloom around the time of Lord Chaitanya's feast-day and look like golden trumpets heralding His arrival. The Rhododenrons became 'Radha-dendrons'; and the marigolds we grow for making garlands for Radha-Madhava we call 'gopi-golds' after the cowherd girls of Vraja - who love Krishna the most. And the idea works; these flowers now seem more intimately a part of Krishna's world.

One thought, dear to our hearts, was to have a rose named after Srila Prabhupada. It's possible to ask a rose-breeder to do that, but you have to pay several thousand pounds for it. Maybe one day! We think it should be of a delicate saffron colour, with a strong, sweet fragrance.

I wonder if any of our readers from more distant places would tell us of similar traditions in their own countries. We'd be very interested to know. I've heard of an Arjuna tree in India, and there must be many more such folk-names relating flowers to Krishna and His friends.

Photos: " Radha-dendrons" and "Gaura's Trumpets" blooming now in the temple garden.

Was Beethoven a Devotee?

2007-03-15T20:00:00.000Z

Who can say? But he was certainly on to something when he said:

"Only the pure in heart can make good soup"!

He would surely have appreciated

prasadam.

Beethoven also read Sri Ishopanishad and Bhagavad-Gita , quoting from them, often, in his diaries; there were excerpts from both these works found amongst his papers after his death; conclusive evidence of a thoughtful, well-educated man, as if his sublime music wasn't enough!

Final BBC Prayer for the Day.

2007-03-14T13:17:00.001Z

And here's the final transcript of the BBC Prayers for the Day. Nice one, Shaunaka!

Friday 9th March 07 - Peace.

"Good morning. The news can be an odd phenomenon – for many of us it is a 24-hour, all-pervasive obsession.
We pick up stories from all over the world and practically spontaneously begin to comment on them. In some countries our ability to openly discuss any subject we wish on the planet is a great freedom, even a luxury.

But I suppose what disappoints many of us is the nature of the beast itself: the unfortunate fact that bad news travels so much faster than good news. To our shame we seem to have a distasteful appetite for the horror and conflict in the news. We can’t blame our journalists for feeding us the platter we have ordered. We can’t even blame our politicians if they sound lame or scandalous. We elected them. We have even elected the reality TV celebrities we love to hate.

But we do have a desirable aspiration for peace, harmony and love. I meet the only person I can blame for the lack of these attractive qualities every morning – when I look in the mirror. As much as we get our daily dose of world news, we should also take some time to feed our aspiration for the spiritual, and grow in goodness. Here is a beautiful prayer from the Bhagavat Purana, an ancient Hindu scripture that can help nurture this aspiration:

“May the entire universe be blessed with peace and hope. May everyone driven by envy and enmity become pacified and reconciled. May all living beings develop a biding concern for the welfare of others. May our own hearts and minds be filled with purity and serenity. May all these blessings flow naturally from this supreme benediction: May our attention become detached from the mundane and absorbed in the rapture of pure love of God.” Hare Krishna. "

Another Prayer for the Day Broadcast.

2007-03-12T12:06:00.000Z

Here's the next BBC Prayer for the Day broadcast, by Shaunaka Rishi, which went out on Wednesday 7^th March. I hope you are enjoying them!

Purity.

"Good morning. The dentist has become an indispensable person in most of our lives, and indeed, for some of us an inspiration for prayer. It’s a sad fact that the dreaded whirr of the drill and the clinical smells of the surgery has caused much anxiety.

But the course of dental hygiene is running more smoothly and improvements have been made to the extent that even a reformed dental coward, such as myself, can relax under the glare of those big lights.

And dental hygiene is a serious business. We can bleach our teeth until we look celebrity-esque, we brush and we floss and we massage our gums with an array of implements never before available to mankind.

In Hindu culture, as in many religions, purification is considered important, but more important than dental hygiene, for a Hindu, is mental hygiene. How clean are our thoughts? How pure is our intention? How pure is our heart, our feelings or our motivations? The bad breath of selfishness is certainly pungent but what can we do about such subtle impurities?

Among Hindus prayer, or “vandanam”, is considered a very powerful method of self-purification. And prayer is available to all of us, as much as, in fact even more than our local dentist is.

This leads me to a beautiful and very ancient prayer originally spoken in Sanskrit but translated it goes: “Whether we are pure or impure; if we are beginning our spiritual path or are the most qualified; if we simply remember the Supreme Lord, whose beauty is without comparison, we will become purified both inwardly and outwardly.” Hare Krishna."

BBC Prayer for the Day No.3

2007-03-11T16:32:00.000Z

Another Prayer for the Day from Shaunaka Rishi Das.

Namaste

"Good Morning. There’s a wonderful gesture that pervades the culture of hospitality in India: people put both palms of their hands before their heart and slightly bow their head as they say to us ‘Namaste’.

In its simplest understanding it’s accepted as a humble greeting straight from the heart and should be reciprocated accordingly – ‘Namaste’. It means “I offer my respect to you”. The gesture itself is called a “mudra”, a form of non-verbal communication and is considered to be powerful and prayerful in itself.

On a deeper level of meaning namaste also has emotional and spiritual significance. A good basis of all our social interaction is respect. Namaste physically shows respect and confirms it by word. Beyond that, by playing with the syllables in the word namaste we find that it also means “not me but you”: symbolically giving up our pride in front of another. And the most profound meaning being, “the Divine within me offers respect to the Divine within you”. A recognition that we are all spiritual in nature.

So this simple and ubiquitous greeting has a prayerful meaning on many levels of understanding: a simple social interaction, an affectionate well-wishing and recognition that everyone is touched by God.

As a prayer, it honours the sacredness of each of us and recognises our equality. By sharing this prayer with you today I offer you respect, I recognise that I am not more than you, and I praise God within you. In saying this prayer you’ll miss the mudra of me joining my palms together, but at least I can say: “Namaste”. Hare Krishna. "

Catholics, Protestants and Vaishnavas - A School Visit.

2007-03-10T11:15:00.000Z

On Thursday, forty-five school-children aged 10 - 11 brought extra life to our temple. Half were from a Catholic school in Downpatrick and the rest came from a Protestant one in Newtownards. This is part of a scheme to bring children together from these two strands of Christianity to get to know and appreciate each other and also to learn about other faith traditions.

The temple was a-buzz bright and early, preparing to receive our young guests. When they had arrived and entirely filled the hallway with their forty-five pairs of shoes, our Shelina Sunderani ably explained to them something of the way of life and philosophy of Gaudiya-Vaishnavism.

They learnt about the difference between the body and the soul, about karma and reincarnation and the goal of pure love for God. They also had fun putting on tilaka and bindi-dots and offering worship to a picture of Krishna. There was an amusing moment when Shelina asked the children what Krishna was holding in His hand; "an axe" said one.

But by the time they were crowded into the temple-room to see beautiful Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, they were all able to recognise Krishna by His flute and the peacock feather in His hair. Radha-Madhava looked very pleased to see them all. They were treated to one of Vrajeswari's songs about Krishna in Vrindavana. And, to round it off, had lunch of pizza and chips prasadam - shocking, maybe, to those concerned about healthy-food-for-children, but they don't get to visit a temple everyday!

Shelina is a qualified school-teacher and you can listen to her presentation and to the songs and music at this link.

Below: Bhagavata and Vrajeshwari - the musical section of the event.

BBC Prayer for the Day No.2

2007-03-10T10:32:00.000Z

I've just realised that after posting "Lord Chaitanya on the BBC", I forgot that there were more of Shaunaka's broadcasts to follow; five more. I'll post one a day, so you can read them all. I think you can also listen to them here on the BBC website.This was from Monday 5th March and is about "Holi".

"Good morning. All over the UK Hindus are celebrating the festival of Holi. Traditionally this festival takes place just after the crops have been harvested and the community becomes very jolly. At Holi all social convention breaks down and during the festival everyone is covered in gulal, coloured powders of greens and blues, yellows, reds and purples. A friend throws a bag that bursts on you and then you are squirted with water. Everyone is fair game. Equality practised at is terrible best.

And, as with all festivals there are the stories that give them life. One of the most interesting is that of Holika, the sister of an evil king, who is employed to force Prince Prahlada, her nephew to renounce his great love for God. Holika was a great yogi and she had the benediction that she could not be burnt by fire, so she carried Prince Prahlada into a blazing fire to rid the kingdom of his goodness. The story goes that in agreeing to act against the universal benefit Holika forfeited her benediction and she was burned to ashes while Prince Prahlada inherited her power and survived. It’s a story celebrating the victory of love and integrity over hatred and greed.

Uncomfortably, I always feel more like Holika than Prince Prahlada after hearing that story. Prince Prahlada is an emblem of goodness and peace. Yet, if I’m not a peaceful person myself, serenely controlling my desires, my anger and my greed, I can’t feel that I can credibly promote peace. So I need help. “My dear Lord! I am my own worst enemy. I don’t have a peaceful mind or a peaceful heart. I depend on your enthusiasm and your confidence so that I can begin to become a worthy example of your peace.” Hare Krishna."

Our Youthful Guest.

2007-03-09T10:32:00.000Z

Small temples like ours are always delighted when the occasional senior devotee visits. Refreshed by their classes, their kirtans and the opportunity to discuss questions about our spiritual lives, we return to our work with greater enthusiasm.

For Gaura-purnima this year, our guest may have lacked the dignity of grey hair and wrinkles, but his youthful buoyancy and Vaishnava behaviour were attractive features at our festival.

Gopal Hari is twenty-two, and was born and brought up in a Vaishnava family and the temple atmosphere of the Boise temple, in North America, started and run by his parents. He is the younger brother of Dr. Ravi Gupta, well-known in ISKCON for his regular column in Back to Godhead magazine which he wrote in his teens.

Gopal is following in his brother's footsteps, currently studying for a PhD in Science and Religion at Oxford University. His thesis will be about Divine Action as revealed in Shrimad Bhagavatam.

Gopal gave two very nice classes about Lord Chaitanya over Gaura-Purnima, which you can listen to here. Unfortunately we don't have adequate recording equipment to have recorded his wonderful kirtans, but I'll post one of his Oxford kirtans in the next post.

Dainty Doilies.

2007-03-07T10:19:00.000Z

Someone made these wall-decorations for Gaura-Purnima out of cake doilies. Maybe not quite in the same class as William Morris whose influence can be seen in the architecture of the temple building! But pretty anyway; and the texts compliment the spirit of Lord Chaitanya's festival.

vijayata sri-krishna-sankirtanam. "All glories to the sankirtan movement; the congregational chanting of Krishna's sacred names." - Sri Siksastakam 1.

The holy name of Krishna is the highest nectar. It is my very life and my only treasure. - Srila Sanatana Goswami; Brhad-Bhagavatamrita.

"The treasure of love of God has descended from the spiritual world to Earth, as the congregational chanting of Krishna's names." - Srila Narottama das Thakura.

Gaura-Purnima Photo Gallery.

2007-03-05T16:21:00.001Z

For those who couldn't make it to the temple on Gaura-Purnima - don't despair! Here are some pictures of our Lordships at the festival. If you click on the pictures, they expand and you can see them in greater detail.

Sri Sri Radha-Madhava in Their new outfit, designed and made by Shyama. It is a sort of midnight purple, with hand-sewn beadwork and a gorgeous shimmering backdrop. Bhagavata dressed the Deities that morning. Huge orchids in Radharani's hand and at Krishna's left ear!

This one shows the lovely hand-carved altar and the flower decorations. Sandra, Nina, Tsvety and Kathleen made the garlands and flower arrangements.

Sri Nityananda and Sri Chaitanya wear fragrant hyacinth garlands made by Shelina.

2007-03-05T15:17:00.000Z

Head-pujara (temple-priest) Susakha performs the bathing ceremony to our tiny Gaura-Nitai deities.

Gaura-Nitai enjoying Their bath.

Milk, honey, yogurt, sugar-water and ghee are Their favourite bathing liquids.

Guests enter into the devotional mood.

Lord Chaitanya on the BBC.

2007-03-04T09:12:00.000Z

Lord Chaitanya gave a rare appearance on BBC radio yesterday, on His festival-day. Shaunaka Rishi Das, former temple-president of Belfast Temple, has been invited to present a series of Prayers for the Day; his first went out on Gaura-Purnima.

Lord Chaitanya doesn't appear much in the media, at present. We look forward to the time when His teachings, philosophy and sublime example of love of God are more often presented and discussed there. And that may depend partly on our sincere work on His behalf; developing in ourselves the attractive qualtities of a pure Vaishnava and learning how to present Lord Chaitanya to a Western audience.

Anyway, here is the transcript of Shaunaka's broadcast: and you can hear it as well here.

"Good Morning. Today in England small groups of Hindus, from the Vaishnava denomination, gather together to celebrate the saint Shri Chaitanya, who lived in India 500 years ago. Shri Chaitanya is renowned for his beautiful chanting of the names of God, and his inspiring personal example of humility.

There's something about humility. Once you claim you have it you've lost it. Yet, it's such a universal principle, appreciated by every culture in the world. And we all have our humbling experiences.

I have one that happened on live TV news. The interview was going well. One of those, "Where was God during the tsunami?" interviews. Questions coming thick and fast but I was ready for all angles, on top of my game. Yes, I was as proud as a peacock. Then one of my front teeth, a crown - that has stayed religiously in place for 25 years in my head - fell out in mid-theological flow. There I was defending God, in all my righteousness, only to be reminded that my pride is as false as my front tooth. I survived to tell the tale - we usually do.

But if we can honestly reflect on these experiences we will find them most instructive. They will help mould good character and nurture wisdom.

We can practice being humble. We can pause with Sri Chaitanya, that exemplar of humility, as he prays for strength to - serve God and creation in a humble state of mind, thinking ourselves lower than the straw in the street - more tolerant than a tree- ready to offer all respect to others and expect none for ourselves. In such a state of mind we can serve the Lord constantly. Hare Krishna."

My First Gaura-Purnima Festival.

2007-02-27T16:21:00.002Z

Padma-malini dasi, former President of the Belfast Temple wrote this about her first Gaura-Purnima. Padma is presently teaching art at a school in Luton.

My first experience of celebrating the appearance of Lord Chaitanya had a profound and lasting effect on my life. Although it was almost twelve years ago, I clearly remember how the Hare Krishna mantra touched me and strengthened my faith in the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Krishna is present in His name and within His name there is the unlimited pleasure that we all want but usually run away from. I was fortunate to somehow catch a glimpse of the inner contentment and closeness to God that chanting can bring.

Half-way through my degree course in Belfast I took a year out to focus on my spiritual education. I had spent three years at a reputable university yet wanted more. I wanted to learn about more metaphysical and philosophical topics, and to bring more discipline into my life. I was attracted to Srila Prabhupada’s uncomplicated presentation of eastern philosophy and its practical application, and so decided to take time out from university to attend a one year residential course at the Belfast ISKCON temple.

Life in the temple was different. Rising before 4am daily to attend temple services and engage in meditation and prayer—how often had I gone to bed at this time as a student! Apart from assisting with various duties in the temple, my day was filled with classes and personal study. Not only was there so much information to learn, relating to the tradition but also codes of etiquette and guidelines that covered numerous aspects of life. I learned so much and began to feel energised and cleansed of my short yet intense spurt of student life.

Half-way through my course we began to prepare for Gaura Purnima, the celebration of the birth of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. We learned about His life and teachings, and how He introduced the congregational chanting of Hare Krishna. Preparations for the festival started months in advance, ranging from sending invitations to finalising menus. A ten-hour sponsored kirtana was organized to encourage congregational members to chant together for an extended period on this auspicious festival day, as Lord Chaitanya had done daily with associates and disciples. Read more ...

Gaurachandra Attracts Chinese!

2007-02-26T11:39:00.000Z

A funny thing has happened. After we put up yesterday's post, our blog-counter showed a cluster of visits from all over China, which are still continuing now. I couldn't think what was in the post that could have interested so many Chinese people; I read it again and saw that we had translated Gaurachandra's name as "golden moon" - could this be it? I googled "golden moon" and sure enough, hundreds of Chinese restaurants came up!

Well, all got a glimpse of Gaurachandra in the picture, and no doubt a blessing from Him too -even if they had to go somewhere else for their dinner.

Dear visitors from China, you are always very welcome here!

By the way, I've just discovered that if you click on the picture above, it becomes very large and looks beautiful with Lord Chaitanya in the centre. Try it and see!

Belfast Hare Krishna Temple.

Golden Things.

2007-02-25T11:40:00.000Z

A collage of golden things, which can all be seen around the time of Gaura-purnima. In the centre is the beautiful Lord Chaitanya from the Pancha Tattva deities in Mayapur.

Most of our readers know that Lord Chaitanya is golden-complexioned and has many 'golden' names such as Gauranga - golden limbed, Gaurachandra - golden moon and Gaura-natha-raj - great golden dancer. But some may not, so I thought I'd better mention it!

"May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Srimati Sachidevi be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love." Chaitanya-charitamrita Adi 1.4

Belfast Hare Krishna Temple.

Discovering Lord Chaitanya.

2007-02-20T14:46:00.000Z

Our first encounter with Lord Chaitanya and His sankirtana movement is a very special time for devotees. Most of us grew up never having heard of either of Them, yet suddenly this becomes the most important thing in our lives - an understanding and an experience which we can never turn our backs on. There are two pieces of writing on this subject which you might like to read, on the way to Gaura-purnima. Here's the first:

Yadunandana das, a Vaishnava monk from Spain, Principle of Bhaktivedanta College , relates his first encounters with Lord Chaitanya's sankirtana movement.

When I first came in contact with the Hare Krishna movement, the personality of Sri Chaitanya intrigued and attracted me. Having being trained as a Catholic in my childhood, I had great appreciation and feeling for Jesus, although I was not practicing his teachings very much. To hear and read about Sri Chaitanya evoked in my heart some of those feelings I had experienced during my confirmation, but in an increased way. I liked that Sri Chaitanya had shown the path to spiritual perfection by giving up everything to serve the Lord and that he widely disseminated the chanting of the holy name.

In those beginning days, I used to read and re-read Srila Prabhupada’s introduction to Srimad-Bhagavatam, in which he wrote a summary of the life of Sri Chaitanya. In the description, I learned that Sri Chaitanya had been a great scholar almost from his childhood and had astounded and humbled great intellectual and spiritual champions of his time such as Kesava Kasmiri, Prakasananda Sarasvati, and Sarvabhauma-Bhattacharya. These influential, renowned philosophers and teachers became followers of Sri Chaitanya or, at least, accepted the Vaisnava teachings after meeting him. It was amazing to read, that in spite of being such a prodigious scholar, Sri Chaitanya had written only eight verses. The translations of these verses appeared at the end of Srila Prabhupada’s summary; I used to enjoy their poetry and deep spiritual feeling. They express the greatness of God and how tiny we are in comparison to Him and yet, how a very intense, sweet—sometimes bittersweet—relationship develops between the Lord and His devotee. I felt moved by those sublime expressions. I saw it, and still see it, as an ideal to be achieved: deep, loving attachment to God and open and honest communication with Him.

Later on, when I became a novice in a Hare Krishna temple in Spain , I would recite those same verses every morning, both in Sanskrit and Spanish, as part of the morning spiritual programme. Now, after 27 years, I still derive great inspiration from them. These eight verses of instruction, embody the teachings and mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They reveal the process of pure love of Godhead, bhakti, and the congregational chanting of the holy name of Krsna (sankirtana) as the best method for spiritual perfection in this difficult age. In the first verse, Sri Chaitanya expresses the purpose of his advent on earth. He says: “Let there be all victory to the Sri-Krishna-sankirtana”. Sri Chaitanya is described by Srila Prabhupada as the great apostle of love of God and the father of congregational chanting. Every day Sri Chaitanya would go into the streets with his devotee companions and perform public congregational chanting of the holy name, inspiring other people to join in. He requested His followers to do the same for the benefit of others.

The first time I heard congregational chanting, was in a small room my friends and I had rented in the cultural centre of my hometown. We had a youth group for research about yoga and the paranormal. That day, when I came into the room, two or three of my friends were there, euphorically singing, accompanied by hand cymbals and a little metal box, which they used as a drum. They had not taken any drugs nor drunk any alcohol. They were simply singing with their hearts and voices, bodies moving from side to side, following the rhythm of the chanting and the instruments, their faces beaming. When I entered the room I felt my whole being caught up in an intense, spiritual happiness. This was not ordinary singing or music. It was full of tangible, spiritual power.

Some weeks later, I went to the temple in Barcelona for the first time. I was already chanting the Hare Krishna mantra on my beads, reciting sixteen rounds of 108 mantras every day and my friends and I used to meet regularly and have our kirtanas (chanting sessions), sometimes in one of our yoga rooms, which we had transformed into a temple, and other times in a nearby forest or park. Still, when I took part in my first kirtana in the temple, with all the temple devotees gathered and their enthusiastic and graceful dancing, the experience was even stronger. I felt immersed in an ocean of bliss. This may sound like an exaggerated expression, but I have no better words to describe it. After that kirtana I decided: “I want to come here and live with these people”. Since it was my first time in the temple, I had not made any friends. Yet, the experience was so powerful that it increased my desire to follow Sri Caitanya’s teachings and mission.

During the week, I could hardly wait for the weekend, to go to the temple, which was thirty kilometres from my hometown, to join the devotees and sing and dance with them, and to experience the happiness of that chanting. For me, this was a living proof that made me identify with the character of Sri Chaitanya and fanned in my heart a growing vocation to follow him, a vocation that has profoundly marked my life and that I pray will continue until my last breath.

Shortly afterwards, I participated regularly in the Sunday chanting processions in the streets of Barcelona. I was not dressed like the other devotees and I was less experienced than them, but this did not make any difference to me. I was going out to bring the experiences I was having so that others could have the same opportunity. Somehow the sankirtana of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his devotees had touched me so deeply that I became part of his mission and was actively spreading it. The happiness I experienced, and still experience, surpasses beyond any comparison, the ordinary happiness of the mind and senses. Therefore, as Sri Chaitanya says in this verse: "param vijayate sri krsna sankirtanam, let there be victory to the Holy name of Krsna which expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life!"

Festival Preparations.

2007-02-20T13:41:00.000Z

We're busily preparing for Gaura-Purnima - the feast day of Lord Chaitanya. It takes place on Saturday, 3rd of March, less than a fortnight away.

We want to make the festival, here in Belfast, as gorgeous an offering as we can, but as well as running around planning and organising, we're trying to prepare in a contemplative way too - reading from Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita and The Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, and becoming inwardly strengthened and purified by His sublime activities and instructions. Then when the festival day comes, we'll feel more thoroughly "in the mood".

Another nice meditation before Gaura-Purnima is Lord Chaitanya's Eight Poems - the Sri Shikshastakam. A couple of years ago, Belfast devotees Lal-krishna das and Keshava dasi, commissioned reflections on these verses by eight contemporary Vaishnavas, to be posted on ISKCON.com., one a week, before Gaura-Purnima that year. They're very well worth reading and you can find them here on ISKCON.com. Beautiful pictures there too, and you can also listen to Srila Prabhupada singing the Shikshastakam prayers with deep devotion. Satisfaction for all the senses!

An Interlude.

2007-02-16T08:05:00.000Z

Here's a nice thing: A slideshow of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava with photos taken at different festivals. And music to compliment it - Madhu-mangala das (aka Maurice Foley) sings a song of his own composition, accompanied by himself on mandolin and Clara on fiddle. Once we work out how to do slideshows and put sound up on these Chronicles, won't we have fun!

The slideshow is on the ISKCON.com website, run by our able Lal-Krishna das, and the picture above is one of a series of Names of Krishna which change every time you visit the site. It is our own Madhava-ji, of course. Click here to see the slideshow: Radha-Madhava Picture Gallery.

Belfast Hare Krishna Temple.

Love Poetry.

2007-02-15T12:38:00.000Z

A reader wrote to enquire about poetry in our tradition, which expresses the idea of prema - the pure love for God which we mentioned yesterday. Thank you for your questions, dear reader.

Out of the many, many such poems available, here are two verses from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Shikshastakam. These are translations from the original Sanskrit:

"Feeling separated from You, a moment seems like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I feel all vacant in the world in Your absence."

"I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so, even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally

By the way, Lord Chaitanya's festival-day, Gaura-Purnima is approaching - on the 3rd March. A date for your diary!

Belfast Hare Krishna Temple.

Tainted Love.

2007-02-13T13:31:00.000Z

"I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Loved I not Krishna more."

"Be mine" plead the Valentine's cards. "Be mine until I get fed up with you and fancy someone else"!

But let's not be cynical on Valentine's Day. True love remains our secret ideal, no matter how disenchanted the weary world has made us. We can't help but desire to love and be loved - it's a desire so huge that it's almost impossible to satisfy. Yet, unsatisfied, it causes us grief. There are extreme cases such as Saddam Hussein and other merciless dictators who are known to have had loveless childhoods; their love becomes twisted and turns into lust for power, greed, anger. Most of us manage to keep more of an even keel and settle for what's available to us - lurv or luv, maybe.

But the true, fathomless love which our hearts desire, although hard to find, is available and achievable. Prema is the Sanskrit word for that pure, 24 carot love which has no tinge of selfishness. We already possess it, and through spiritual practise can unblock it. But we can't reveal our innermost selves to just anyone, to risk being misunderstood and abused. Prema can only be satisfied when it's object is Krishna - the perfect repository of love. Then it becomes unstoppable, like St. Valentine, who willingly gave his life for love of God. And our love spills over to all creatures, because they are also beloved by Him.

Belfast Hare Krishna Temple.

Krishna's Wintry Smile.

2007-02-12T13:50:00.000Z

Snowdrops are out in the Temple garden. Srila Prabhupada described flowers as"Krishna's smile" - so next time you see some, smile back!

It's interesting how Krishna has arranged the flowers to perfectly match their season; the snowdrops, chaste and pure in winter-time, then daffodils, with their golden trumpets, proclaiming the arrival of spring. Summer flowers often look like small suns with sun-ray petals, like daisies and dandelions, sunflowers and marigolds. Then in autumn, the duller golds, bronzes and wine-colours of chrysanthemums match the colours of the changing leaves on the trees. There's a fine sense of fitness about it, don't you think?

Belfast Hare Krishna Temple.

The Vaishnava Voice.

2007-02-09T19:15:00.000Z

Good news! Kripamoya has a blog. And a very good blog, it is. You can find it here.

His Grace Kripamoya das is well known to the devotees as one of the longest-serving, most dedicated teachers of Krishna consciousness in Britain. He's inspired and helped many hundreds of people in their spiritual journeys and attracted many a heart to Krishna by his beautiful singing in Kirtan. Now, in his blog The Vaishnava Voice he writes his thoughts and realisations on a variety of topics connected with Krishna consciousness.

It's good to see someone of Kripamoya's maturity and breadth of experience writing for devotees. I think many of us wish there was more of this sharing of experience in writing. We have many lectures and classes to listen to, but the written word can be more intimate and more developed than the spoken. As we struggle and strive to practise a high order of spiritual life to which most of us weren't born and bred, it's heartening to read the realisations of our elders. Hurrah for Kripamoya!

Kripamoya has a special place in the hearts of Belfast devotees; he was one of the first people ever to bring Krishna's message here, many moons ago, long before there was a temple or community of Vaishnavas in these parts. He's been a good friend to us over the years, helping us through difficult times and rejoicing with us in our successes.

He's promised to tell us some of his adventures in Belfast in his early days of preaching here. So watch this spot!

Teaching Hinduism.

2007-02-02T16:57:00.000Z

This week, Lal-krishna paid his seventh annual visit to Victoria College, Belfast. He's invited every year to speak to the older girls about Hinduism, as part of their religious knowledge education.

As he boldly faced his class of eighty young ladies, what did he hope to convey to their modern, western minds about this complex subject?

Lal-krishna: "Well, I keep it pretty simple. I show how 'Hinduism' is a huge umbrella term, under which almost every kind of theology or philosophy exists - from atheism to monotheism. I describe the three main strands of Hinduims - Shaivism, Shaktism and Vaishnavism, and tell them that as I am from the Vaishnava tradition, I'll mainly concentrate on that.

I'm not so interested in presenting Hinduism as a foreign culture, or an academic subject; what really interests me is to engage the girls in the philosophy of the East and to give them something which has real meaning in their lives. I like talking to teenagers, as they're at an idealistic age and often think deeply about things. This time I talked to them about the advancement of consciousness. Our civilisation has advanced so hugely in terms of technology and science, but has it lessened greed, or envy? Are there fewer criminals, less depression, more happy people? Unless we advance also in spiritual consciousness, our material assets won't do us much good. This really seemed to strike a chord with them.

I explained the difference between matter and spirit, the concepts of reincarnation and karma and how to transcend the cycle of birth and death. The basic tenets of Vedic philosophy."

Apart from Lal-krishna's visits, Victoria College has another connection with ISKCON Ireland: one of it's ex-pupils became a devotee of Krishna in the mid-1980s. An accomplished artist and business-woman, she lives with her husband and family in Wicklow.

Their Resplendent Lordships - Sri Sri Radha-Madhava.

2007-02-01T18:49:00.000Z

At the Temple on Tuesday

The Birthday Boy.

2007-02-01T18:27:00.000Z

Sri Nityananda enjoying His birthday celebrations.

Festival Day!

2007-01-30T07:00:00.000Z

We hope you can come to the temple this evening for chanting, dancing and feasting, in the good old-fashioned way! The Deities on the altar are looking bright and beautiful and ready to receive you. Please scroll down for details of the festivities.

Sri Nityananda's blessing.

Lord Nityananda's name, composed of two Sanskrit words, nitya - eternal and ananda - bliss, give us a clue to His essential nature and to our relationship with Him. Devotional songs often play on this meaning; while Sri Nityananda is experiencing eternal bliss, we are having the opposite experience. Our lives are often a struggle to grasp even the barest minimum of happiness, through so much misery and dissatisfaction. The happiness we manage to find is hard to keep hold of, and nowhere near as strong as we would like. We can never feel secure in it as long as we can see how much suffering there is in the world.

In one of his best-known songs, the devotee poet, Srila Narottama das Thakura prays, "My dear Lord Nityananda, You are always joyful in spiritual bliss. Since You always appear very happy, I have come to You because I am most unhappy. If You kindly put Your glance upon me, I may also be happy".

It's not ordinary, mundane happiness which Lord Nityananda gives, but that transcendental bliss which comes from completely selfless devotion to Krishna. This can seem a far-off dream to those of us who are struggling with weak faith or shaky sadhana, but no matter how 'off the radar' we may consider ourselves in spiritual life, and no matter how often we may fall away, Lord Nityananda is quick to help us and give us spiritual strength if we turn to Him. And He gives us tastes of that bliss even at the foothills of devotional service.

Fortunately He doesn't expect us to become pure and perfect overnight; as expressed in a song by Bhaktivinode Thakura, Lord Nityananda requests only three simple things: "Chant Krishna, worship Krishna and teach others about Krishna.

The next verse of that song is so nice, we'll put it here: "Being careful to remain free of offenses, just take the holy name of Lord Krishna. Krishna is your mother, Krishna is your father, and Krishna is the treasure of your life." Happy festival!

Lord Nityananda

2007-01-28T15:56:00.000Z

Lord Nityananda was instrumental in spreading the message of the sankirtan movement in Bengal. He is renowned for His mercy and for making pure love of God easily accessible to everyone through the chanting of the Holy names. He is very easy to approach:

"Simply by talking of Nityananda Prabhu one awakens one's love for Krishna." - Chaitanya-caritamrta.

"Sri Chaitanya said:"If anyone even once chants the name 'Nityananda' they will become purified and I will immediately accept that person as My own."'" - Caitanya Mangala.

You may like to listen to Srila Prabhupada singing the beautiful song "Nitai-pada-kamala" - the Lotus Feet of Lord Nityananda. And his description of the song (purport) here.

Sri Nityananda Festival - This Tuesday.

2007-01-28T11:47:00.000Z

This Tuesday is the feast-day of Sri Nityananda, Lord Chaitanya's dearmost companion. We warmly invite you to join us for evening celebrations at the temple.

6.30 p.m. - Kirtan and Temple Ceremony (Gaura arti)
7.00 p.m. - Talk: Lord Nityananda and The Holy Name.
7.30 p.m. - Vegetarian Feast.

ISKCON Belfast: 140, Upper Dunmurry Lane. Tel: 02890 287590 for directions.

We look forward to seeing you!

The Appeal of Monasticism.

2007-01-26T21:16:00.000Z

I recently read this article by Mark, a Catholic blogger in Scotland. He describes his stay in a Gaudiya-Vaishnava (Krishna) monastery in California, a few years ago and his appreciation of his time there. I thought you might like it too...

It's the second article from the top. Mark's blog "Rise and Pray" is thoughtful and interesting, as he writes of his search for God.

Advaita Acharya's Compassion.

2007-01-24T13:29:00.000Z

Tomorrow we celebrate the festival day of Sri Advaita Acharya, an important figure in the lives of the Gaudiya-Vaishnavas. Please read about him here:

“In the age of Kali*, intelligent people perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead, who constantly sings the names of Krishna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krishna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.”

This verse from Srimad Bhagavatam, predicts the arrival of Sri Chaitanya with His close companions; His mission: to introduce the chanting of Krishna’s sacred names, as the easiest and most potent method of self-realisation; a special “remedy” for the difficult age of Kali*.

Advaita Acharya was one of the close companions who helped Lord Chaitanya spread His message “to every town and village”. In fact, he plays a particularly important role in bringing this about:

Advaita Acharya was born in Bengal in 1434, fifty years before the advent of Sri Chaitanya. He spent most of his adult life in the town of Shantipur, with his wife and family, where he became the well-respected leader of the brahmana community. At Shantipur, he taught the philosophy of Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, encouraging everyone to follow the path of bhakti – loving service to Sri Krishna.

As time went by, however, Advaita Acharya became increasingly saddened as he saw the growing tendency for people to abandon their spiritual practices for materialistic goals – the pursuit of wealth and the medieaval equivalents of sex, drugs, rock and roll. He saw clearly that this would lead to a dysfunctional society of unhappy individuals, and after due thought, concluded that the only solution was to beg the Supreme Lord to come Himself, and attract people back to the joyfulness of spiritual life.

Advaita Acharya prayed fervently to the Lord for several months – it is said that he cried out loudly and worshipped the Lord with sacred tulasi leaves and Ganges water. At the end of thirteen months, at an eclipse of the full moon, the Acharya’s prayers were answered; Sri Chaitanya advented in the district of Mayapur in Bengal, as the son of Mother Sachi and as he grew up, brought about a spiritual revolution with His sankirtan movement. Srila Prabhupada introduced that same movement to the western world in the twentieth century to many thousands of satisfied "customers".

Many of Advaita Acharya’s activities are described in the books, Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta and Sri Chaitanya-bhagavata. On his feast day, Gaudiya-Vaishnavas enjoy reading and discussing these “pastimes”, and remember Advaita Acharya with gratitude, for taking such compassion on the people of our age.

* The age of Kali is our present age. According to traditional sources time moves in cycles, the greatest of which are the four Ages - Satya, Treta, Dwarpa and finally Kali - "the age of quarrel and hypocrisy". They correspond to the Golden, Silver, Bronze and Iron ages of Greek philosophy.

"Detox"

2007-01-02T12:04:00.000Z

It feels right, at the beginning of a new year, to think of clearing the decks, throwing out unnecessary clutter and unwanted habits, and starting clean and fresh. However things worked out for us in the old year, whatever dissatisfactions we may have with our situation, we have the chance now to review our lives and make plans for improvement.

This 'clearing out' extends to our bodies as well. Have you noticed, at this time of year, all the talk of Detox programmes? In the media it is the topic of the moment. Having binged at Christmas, now is the time (they say) to clear the system of nasty toxins which clog it up and bog it down, and may cause future disease. We should go jogging, or do a grape fast, or book into a health spa.

But search as you might, it would be hard to find advice on how to clean the mind of the nasty things which clog it up and which fester there, leading also to serious problems in our lives. As the mind is known to have a powerful effect on the body, this is surely a good place to start, if we want health and happiness. Negative impressions we take into our minds stay there and become a heavy load; deep, unwanted habits affect our abilities at work and in relationships and make us dissatisfied and unhappy.

Until we begin to clean the mind, we often don't even realise how dirty it is - like cleaning our windows at home. We get used to them being dirty, but when we clean them, then we really notice how much light comes in, and how clear and bright the colours are outside.

So our advice for detoxing the mind is to take a course of Kirtan - chanting! Scientifically tried and tested over thousands of years, there is no surer, nor speedier method of deep-cleaning; for the maha-mantra is not only antiseptic, but also "prophylactic" - it will protect us from further contamination. As we chant, our original buoyancy and joyfulness will emerge, and spread to every aspect of our lives.

And the best thing is, that unlike detox diets, kirtan is sweet, yet you can have as much of it as you like. So if you want to lose the weight of anxiety and fight the flab of dullness, come to the Belfast Temple "Health Spa" and try it out, with the rest of us!

Kirtan every Wednesday evening 7.00 p.m. - 8.30 p.m. at 140 Upper Dunmurry Lane. Tel: 02890 287590 for details. Free of charge.

Hari New Year!

2007-01-01T11:47:00.000Z

A very Happy and Hari New Year to all our readers!

May 2007 bring you peace, prosperity and many jolly kirtans! And may Krishna bless you with increasing attraction to His lotus feet.

The Glorious Gita!

2006-12-01T12:02:00.000Z

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...

2006-12-01T09:05:00.000Z

...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.

2006-11-30T15:45:00.000Z

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.

2006-11-29T11:11:00.000Z

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.

2006-11-22T10:58:00.000Z

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?

2006-11-18T16:37:00.000Z

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.

2006-11-12T11:38:00.000Z

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...

2006-11-11T14:27:00.000Z

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.

2006-11-01T12:45:00.000Z

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...

2006-11-01T12:10:00.000Z

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.

2006-11-01T00:15:00.000Z

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.

2006-11-01T00:14:00.000Z

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.

2006-11-01T00:13:00.000Z

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.

2006-10-27T17:10:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-10-27T17:05:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-10-27T09:38:00.000+01:00

Kirtan!

Singing praises to Krishna.

2006-10-27T05:03:00.000+01:00

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

...and the children enjoying it.

Belfast Damsels in USA.

2006-10-24T16:30:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-10-24T16:25:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-10-24T16:15:00.001+01:00

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….

2006-10-24T16:13:00.001+01:00

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…..

2006-10-24T16:12:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-10-24T16:10:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-10-24T16:05:00.000+01:00

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

2006-10-24T15:45:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-10-24T15:39:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-10-06T14:23:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-10-06T13:47:00.000+01:00

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!

2006-10-05T10:58:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-09-30T18:53:00.000+01:00

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.

My Muslim Brother.

2006-09-30T18:42:00.000+01:00

A chapter from "Diary of a Travelling Preacher" by H.H. Indradyumna Swami.

Each day, before downloading my email, I mentally prepare myself for dealing with the good, the bad, and the ugly. With hundreds of disciples and many other devotees regularly corresponding with me, the laws of nature force me to see the gamut of situations in this world.

March 16, 2006, was no exception. There were names to be given for babies, condolences for the families of departed souls, blessings for disciples (and chastisements for two), guidelines for a new marriage, and a plea for a departed student to return.

One name on the list in my mailbox caught my eye. It was Jahnukanyaka Dasi, a devotee from Sarajevo, Bosnia. I had met her years ago, on my first visit there. She risked her life to preach throughout the three-year war that took over 100,000 lives there in the early 1990s. Such a devotee deserves attention, so I immediately opened her email.

I was hoping to read of the recent success the Sarajevo devotees had had in book distribution, but instead I learned with great sadness of the departure of a good friend of mine, Doctor Abdulah Nakas.

I first met Dr. Nakas in April 1996 in the bloodstained hallways of the partially destroyed central hospital in Sarajevo just days after the war had ended. Our chanting party had been attacked by knife-wielding Muslim soldiers that day, and several of our devotees had been seriously wounded.

After taking the other devotees back to the temple, I went to the hospital to check on the injured. When Dr. Nakas heard that a leader of our movement was there, he came out to meet me. "Your people's wounds are serious," he said, "but not critical. They will live."

He raised his arms in the air. "I am a devout Muslim," he said, "but I am ashamed of what my people have done. The war is over, but now we are spilling the blood of foreigners in our town. Please forgive us."

He put out his hand. "We are brothers," he said, in a gesture of humility I will never forget.
I took his hand, red with the blood of the devotees and still holding a scalpel. "Doctor," I said, "you are not to blame, and neither is your religion. This is the act of a fringe element."

He once again turned his attention to the injured devotees.

While I was waiting, some of the soldiers who had attacked us came to the hospital to finish the job. They surrounded me and spat in my face. Dr. Nakas heard the commotion. He rushed out of the operating room and screamed at the soldiers to leave. Although he was defenseless and had no weapons, they backed down and went away.

Read on . . . http://www.iskcon.com/new/060428_diary.html

The Chronicles of Radha-Madhava

Slings and Arrows...

Merry Christmas!

Kirtans in Oxford.

Gopal Hari's YouTube

Shakespeare, Winter and Kirtan.

Festival of Kirtan and Sacred Song.

The Little Conch.

House For Sale.

Govardhana Hill.

Sri Damodarastakam.

Kartik Begins With Joyful Kirtan.

A Vaishnava Friendship.

Janmastami Photo Gallery - A Treat!

How Attractive is Krishna!

Jubilation!

Krishna the Chiropracter.

Growing Up With Bhagavad-Gita.

Don't Miss the Bus!

Special Feast and Kirtan This Sunday.

Letter From Anuttama.

Prayer to Lord Nrsimhadeva.

Spiritual Retreat.

Sweet!

Eulogy for Krishna premavati.

Krishna-prema-vati devi dasi Passes Away.

Radha-Madhava's Birthday.

Radha-Madhava's Installation.

Happy Easter!

Gardening Update.

Letter from Gopal.

Don't Be a Fool!

Gopal's Kirtan

An Old Friend Passes On.

Bengali Hymn.

Rama-chandra's Festival Day.

St. Patrick's Day Offering.

Gaura's Trumpets and Radha-dendrons.

Was Beethoven a Devotee?

Final BBC Prayer for the Day.

Another Prayer for the Day Broadcast.

BBC Prayer for the Day No.3

Catholics, Protestants and Vaishnavas - A School Visit.

BBC Prayer for the Day No.2

Our Youthful Guest.

Dainty Doilies.

Gaura-Purnima Photo Gallery.

Lord Chaitanya on the BBC.

My First Gaura-Purnima Festival.

Gaurachandra Attracts Chinese!

Golden Things.

Discovering Lord Chaitanya.

Festival Preparations.

An Interlude.

Love Poetry.

Tainted Love.

Krishna's Wintry Smile.

The Vaishnava Voice.

Teaching Hinduism.

Their Resplendent Lordships - Sri Sri Radha-Madhava.

The Birthday Boy.

**Festival Day!**

Lord Nityananda

Sri Nityananda Festival - This Tuesday.

The Appeal of Monasticism.

Advaita Acharya's Compassion.

"Detox"

Hari New Year!

The Glorious Gita!

More Favourite Gita Verses...

Gita-jayanti.

Introducing Our New Temple President.

New Leaflet.

In Search of God - But Where Was Krishna?

Fragrance of the Earth.

More Autumn Inspirations...

Autumn Meditations.

Celebrating Govardhana-Puja.

Belfast Damsels in USA.

Belfast Girls at College.

Festival Day!