Gopal's Kirtan

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."