namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry (ISKCON)

Bhakti-vriksha in Theory and Praxis

phani — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:25:07 +0000

After some very interesting comments have been posted to articles from Devaki Mataji recently, I've reactivated our internal Discussion Forums.

This one, Bhakti-vriksha Discussions, deals with the Bhakti-vriksha Program, it's theory, practical application, and problems.

The first post by Vijay Venugopal Prabhu was originally a comment to Devaki's article, Bhakti-vriksha Program Versus Counselor System—Which is Best?. The ensuing comments have been moved to this forum, too.

General Content

Pillars of Success: The Principles and Practices of Reform in ISKCON

phani — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:19:16 +0000

by Ravindra Svarupa das

In this essay, Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu describes his involvement in ISKCON's guru reform movement, instrumental in ending the "zonal acarya system," the dark ages into which ISKCON descendet soon after Srila Prabhupada's disappearance from this planet.

Analysing what went wrong with ISKCON at that time, Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu arrives at conclusions that are important to today's issues as well.

"The point is that the difficulties that precipitated the guru reform movement are intimately connected with psychological patterns and styles of relationships that began to establishing themselves from the beginning. These are grounded in the inability of many devotees to acknowledge and deal fruitfully with their own spiritual shortcomings and failures, or, in traditional vocabulary, their inability to execute the process of anartha-nivrtti (the eradication of "unwanted things" from the heart)."

And while the zonal acarya era is a thing of the past, ISKCON, the institution and we, it's members, would do well to apply the remedial measures he recommended at that time in our own lives and spheres of influence.

"...I concluded that the only way I could responsibly conduct research on such a loaded subject was to attempt to entrust myself to the guidance of Supersoul, the indwelling guide and director of intelligence. I feared more than anything else my own stupidity. I was the Straw Man, and I needed a brain. I decided to entrust myself to Prabhupada's instructions for attaining direction from Supersoul. Thus, as a remedial measure, I undertook to rigorously restore my sadhana to a strict level." ...

"At the beginning of the reform movement, I tried to show how within ISKCON concealment of failure leads to isolation. This principle holds as much for relations among communities as among individuals. Progress in spiritual life, individually and institutionally, depends first of all on the frank acknowledgement of shortcoming, errors, and mistakes. Without that, all "progress" is mere bluff."

General Content

More Words of Wisdom from Vaisesika Prabhu

gauranga kishore — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:40:10 +0000

Here at ISKCON Silicon Valley we are in the middle of our Janmastami Vyasa Puja Sankirtan Festival, which is another two weekend event. We've completed the first weekend and we are heading into the second. Below are the emails that Vaisesika Prabhu has sent out to inspire us to perform the sankirtan yajna.

General Content

Toilet Blues

kaunteya — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:39:18 +0000

by Kaunteya das

The building has some unofficial affectation at officially representing ISKCON in town, and we were shocked to observe some of the incongruities in appearance and accommodation, towering among them the inappropriateness of the bathroom facilities.

General Content

ISKCON Pioneers 'Down Under'

phani — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:19:50 +0000

by Gauragopala das

In April 1972, the Melbourne City Council in Australia began a campaign to try and move the Hare Krishna devotees away from the city streets. This struggle with the Council would continue on for another three years.

Not only were we now continuously harassed on the streets by the Council, we were also harassed in our own Temple with middle of the night Police raids looking for devotees who had never paid their fines for chanting on the streets, distributing books, and performing drama plays in the City square.

Photo: Kurma Prabhu being dragged away to jail for chanting Hare Krishna on the streets of Melbourne, Australia in the early seventies.

General Content

Back to Basics... I Mean, Forward to Basics

kaunteya — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:10:00 +0000

by Kaunteya das

Competing brands of Gaudiya-vaisnavism at times claim that Srila Prabhupada only gave the basics, and that ISKCON people need to take shelter in their representatives to accede to higher dimensions of bhakti.

I beg to disagree. Besides the insulting and indefensible remark that ISKCON's Founder-Acarya didn't provide his followers with enough directions to achieve whatever is there to achieve, I would propose that ISKCON—or at least a good percentage of its members—need to go in a different direction. My observation is that devotees would tremendously benefit by absorbing themselves in the narrations of Mahabharata and Ramayana, thus imbibing the fundamental ethical values presented therein.

Resources (not only) for New Devotees

Catholic Church discovers "Beach Sankirtan"

phani — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:56:53 +0000

The Telegraph reports that the Catholic Church in Italy is planning to follow the summer exodus of it's flock to the country's beaches by setting up a hundred foot long inflatable church at Molise on the Adriatic coast:

The 100-foot-long church will be set up on Saturday and is to be manned by a team of priests waiting to hear confession, give mass and sing holy music.

"There will be four or five people singing, with music about God," said Chiara Facci from the Catholic group Sentinelli del Mattino, which is putting up the blow-up church.

General Content

Grihamedhi: Better than Nothing

kaunteya — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:28:38 +0000

by Kaunteya das

At times the standards of our "grihasthas" are so low and disfunctional (ethically, spiritually, economically, etc.) that I am thinking of starting a campaign to promote grihamedhi consciousness, in the spirit of "something is better than nothing."

In ISKCON's pshyche the word grihamedhi represents (and with reason) an unacceptable social stereotype. "The grhastha means he is making the best use of a bad bargain. And the grhamedhi means he is animal. " Srila Prabhupada said in a Gita lecture in London, on 20 August 1973. Such references have created an impression of the grihamedhi as an unspeakably corrupted being, a detestable individual functioning on a level of debasement to which devotees could never possibly plunge?

Imported Articles

Wonderless Wonderfulness

kaunteya — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:55:50 +0000

by Kaunteya das

With this post I officially inaugurate a campaign against the overusage of the word ‘wonderful’ in the Krishna consciousness movement.

The term is so ubiquitously presented, so monotously applied, that such prodigality defeats the very purpose and intention of the adjective, that is, to point out how special a person or behavior is.

Every devotee is wonderful. Every culinary preparation is wonderful. Every service in wonderful… If everything is wonderful in one sense nothing is really wonderful. Does everything really warrant an intense condition of wonderment?

General Content

Others and the Holy Name

phani — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:29:25 +0000

by Vasu Murti das

This has originally been posted as a comment to the article World Holy Name Week. Vasu Murti Prabhu shows that chanting and worship of God's holy name is an integral part of every genuine religion—Christian, Muslim, Sikh, or Buddhist. Especially during World Holy Name Week, this fact can be used to improve dialog and relationship with followers of those religions.

General Content

World Holy Name Week

phani — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:46:30 +0000

ISKCON aims to bring the holy name to every town and village, and this program is helpful in fulfilling this vision. If properly implemented, there will be massive harinama sankirtana festivals across the planet every year, generating a tremendous amount of media interest and coverage. Every year, devotees around the world will share their ideas on spreading and glorifying the holy name, resulting in an increased focus on the chanting of the holy names.

This year, World Holy Name Week will be observed from 13–21 September; this nine day period includes the following auspicious tithis:

Saturday, 13 September: Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Appearance Day
Sunday, 14 September: Srila Haridas Thakura's Disappearance Day
Monday, 15 September: Acceptance of sannyasa by Srila Prabhupada (also: Sri Visvarupa Mahotsava; beginning of the third month of Caturmasya, fasting from milk)
Sunday, 21 September: Srila Prabhupada's arrival in the USA

Please celebrate World Holy Name Week on as many of these days as possible. Some Suggestions:

General Content

Prabhupada--A Prophecy

phani — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:12:13 +0000

by Ravindra Svarupa das

Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu publishes, in weekly installments, his realizations about a prophecy Srila Prabhupada made in 1975, that World War III was imminent. This prophecy was not fulfilled, and when asked about this, Srila Prabhupada replied that Krishna had changed His mind.

Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu's blog: So It Happens

Believing that these articles make first class reading for devotees new to Krishna consciousness, I am collecting them in this online book in our New Devotee Channel.

Resources (not only) for New Devotees

Bhakti-vriksha Program Versus Counselor System--Which is Best?

phani — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:55:01 +0000

by Devaki dd

Chowpatty is becoming more and more an example for ideal community development within ISKCON. However, sometimes it is not easy to convince senior devotees of the value of the much discussed and glorified Counselor System. And without full and active support from senior devotees it is rather difficult to put into practise. Often we hear the opinion, "the Bhakti-vriksha Program does the same thing." Some devotees conclude, therefore: "No need for any new systems!"

There are basic differences between these two programs; it is not that one is better than the other. If we analyze them more deeply we discover that they have fundamentally different goals, and that there is plenty of room for both programs to run side by side in a yatra.

General Content

Kripamoya Prabhu: Book Distribution Follow Up Strategies

phani — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:32:22 +0000

Kripamoya Prabhu explains history and development of book distribution follow-up strategies in the UK. This online-book contains the following articles:

The articles have been posted originally on his blog, The Vaishnava Voice. If and when Kripamoya Prabhu writes more on this subject, I'll include it here.

You can download the whole series as a pdf-file, too.

General Content

The Maha-prasadam Thief

phani — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:50:32 +0000

[Names have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty.]

Many years ago, I was on a Hare Krishna farm. One day, while working in Krishna's kitchen, I learned that there were maha sweets kept in the big fridge over night. The next day, I told my friend and Godbrother about this and we began to plan a caper. It was so easy—we simply went down to the kitchen about 2 am and slid open the window on the side of the building. We went inside and grabbed the sweets out of the fridge. Oh, if you've ever had milk sweets made from Krishna's whole milk that were offered with love then you may understand. If not, I can only tell you they are wonderful! We couldn't imagine how anyone, especially a devotee, could leave them in a fridge over night. So we began to hit the place about every couple of weeks. We felt not to would be offensive!

General Content