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November 2001

Devotees mourn the loss of a pioneer preacher

Many of you will have heard this news already by word of mouth. For those of you who haven't, we regretfully bring you sad news. On 16th October one of our movement's most dearly loved and respected members died. Tribhuvanatha dasa, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, and founding member of Krishna consciousness in this country, passed away from complications arising from advanced stomach cancer. He was only 48.

Tribhuvanatha das became a devotee of Krishna at the very beginnings of the movement in London. He was just 17 in 1969 when he read the Gita for the first time and joined the temple the very next day.That spirit of intrepid and spontaneous enthusiasm was to be his hallmark throughout his life. Tribhuvanatha was a pioneer preacher and loved the thrill of taking the message of Krishna to a place for the first time. He delighted in kirtan and could chant enthusiastically for hours at a time whether through the streets of London and Dublin, or Kampala and Dar Es Salaam. He was equally at home in the rain sodden fields of the countless pop festivals to which he took his travelling festival. The enduring image of Tribhuvanatha is of him energetically playing the mridanga drum, feet stamping the floor, perspiring and flushed head tilted backwards with the Holy Names of Krishna loudly issuing from his wide open mouth. It is a sight which would constantly arrest passers-by who would stop to see what the Krishnas were all about.

Tribhuvanatha was loved by all who knew him. He made friends easily and devotees found him always approachable and ready to help. He treated junior members with the same respect he offered to his peers; he had a quick wit and there was always laughter where he was, but he was equally always ready to offer sober advice and share a story of Srila Prabhupada when he needed to instruct others. He was a naturally simple and austere person, ate and slept very frugally, and could contain all his earthly possessions in a black dustbin bag (and often did).

Arrested by the PLO

Tribhuvanatha is famous throughout ISKCON for his preaching adventures which took him to places where the mercy of Sri Chaitanya had still to reach. When he heard from Srila Prabhupada how important it was to offer Krishna consciousness to those in the Islamic countries, he determined that he would be the person to do that. Thus it was that he led a group of four young brahmacaries in distributing Arabic Gitas door-to-door in Beirut, Lebanon in the middle of a war. Unfortunately, when a building they had visited was seen to explode minutes later, they were mistaken for undercover Israeli soldiers and arrested by the PLO and interrogated. They spent one month in cells where the ceiling was only three feet from the floor, thus forcing them to lie down the entire time.

Tribhuvanatha took responsibility for re-starting a temple in Dublin where he brought many to faith in Krishna. He then helped to run the temple in Birmingham. All through his life he enthusiastically staged ‘festivals’ in numerous towns and cities. Typically these would involve an advance crew sticking up the famous coloured posters with wallpaper paste on any available hoarding. Their late night activities would be followed by a week or so of harinama processions through the streets with advertising leaflets being given out in tens of thousands. The festival itself would normally consist of kirtan, some traditional Indian dancing, a film or slide show, a short play, and a lecture with questions, followed by an uproarious kirtan where members of the public often leaped to their feet and joined in without embarassment, topped off with delicious free prasadam. An average attendance was 300 people. Thousands of people, it seems, remember these festivals with considerable pleasure years later.

Glastonbury Festival

The same festival (give or take a few details) was also taken to major weekend music events such as Glastonbury, the infamous and highly inebriated Tipperary festival (where, every year, the Guiness-soaked festival-goers would take great delight in collapsing the devotees marquee tent with hundreds of people inside!) and the Fleadh. All-night Hare Krishna kirtans at these events became well-known features of the events themselves; so much so that the official postcard of Glastonbury in 1999 featured harinama sankirtan as one of the four images of the festival.

For the last four years, Tribhuvanatha also took his festival team to East Africa. Festivals, with sometimes thousands attending, were staged in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. Under Tribhuvanatha's inspiration a school was started in Kisumu; it now has 185 children attending, many of them orphans. Devotees were also in the process of fitting out a building in Kampala as a restaurant.

During one trip to Africa, Tribhuvanatha contracted cerebral malaria, and lost both his sense of smell and taste as a result of a fall while sick with the disease. While on his last trip, he was diagnosed as having cancer of the stomach. On his return to London the diagnosis was confirmed and the extent of the disease was revealed. Too late for surgery, Tribhuvanatha went to Brazil where, although he visited a famous spiritual healer several times, he resigned himself without fear to the will of Krishna. He found the countryside and climate in Brazil very conducive to deeper spiritual studies, and preferred to reside there rather than in India, where many were persuading him to go. Giridhari das, his good friend and fellow festival preacher, had flown from London to be with him.

No one, though, expected the end to come so quickly. Deceptively painless even up to an advanced stage, stomach cancer ends in an extremely painful demise. Mercifully, Tribhuvanatha was spared this. He was finding difficulty in sleeping because of the onset of pain and on the evening of the 15th October an emergency doctor was called to the apartment to administer pain relief. At 2.45 am Tribhuvanatha asked for a drink of milk. Minutes later he complained that he was having difficulty breathing. Giridhari, sensing the end was near, began to chant the Maha mantra in his ear. Staring at a large photograph of Srila Prabhupada, his spiritual master whom he had faithfully served all his adult life, Tribhuvanatha breathed his last and closed his eyes at 3.00.

Funeral at the Manor

By Kripamoya dasa

News of his death spread quickly and caused great sorrow amongst the devotees around the world. After all legalities had been completed Tribhuvanatha's body was flown home. On Saturday 27th October his funeral was held at Bhaktivedanta Manor. Family members and almost 700 devotees from the British Isles and Africa came to pay their last respects to their departed brother. In keeping with vaishnava custom, kirtan accompanied the hearse from the gates of the Manor and continued as Tribhuvanatha's coffin was taken in procession around the temple. Everyone then processed into a decorated marquee. After readings from scripture, songs, and recollections from some of his oldest friends, the coffin was opened to allow everyone to come, see him for the last time, and offer flower petals, tulasi twigs and other sacred items. At nearby Hendon Crematorium there were more touching memories shared by those who knew him, and his body was cremated that afternoon. The ashes will be scattered in the holy Yamuna river as per custom and his final wishes.

We miss Tribhuvanatha greatly. For as long as we can all remember, he has been preaching, singing and inspiring us. One of the permanent faces of the movement here in England, he has now gone. Our only consolation is that after a lifetime of devoted service, his destination has surely been arranged by his eternal Lord. His two wishes were that the festivals would continue, and that devotees would be cared for. Right up to the last he was thinking of the orders of his spiritual master, and of the welfare of the vaishnavas. We have been truly fortunate to share in his life. Hare Krishna.

New sangha in the Docklands

Just a few stops down the track from the Millenium Dome on the Docklands Light Railway is Canary Wharf and South Quays, a brand new commercial district and location for the new office blocks of many large companies. The landscape here is changing daily as cranes, scaffolding and yellow-jacketed builders push even taller buildings up to the sky. Everywhere you can hear the echoing thump of jack-hammers and the crackle of welding.

In the basement of one tower block is a multi-faith prayer room for use by members of staff of local companies and fellow faith members who work in the locality. Companies know very well that the stresses of a high-pressure career can be offset by forms of meditation or prayer. They have therefore admirably taken that into consideration when building this new facility. For several months there's been a thriving group of devotees that books the room for weekly meetings. They all work for local accountancy, trading or IT companies. Around seven in number, they meet every Monday during their lunch break for discussion and attest to how much a regular group meeting helps with their individual spiritual practises.

Third National Gathering packs them in at Buckland Hall, Wales

Over one hundred and thirty devotees from around the country took part in the October 5th ,6th, and 7th event in the Brecon Beacons. Under normal circumstances, perhaps sharing a space with 129 others would not seem to be formula for a peaceful weekend, yet so spacious was Buckland Hall, and so absorbing the activities that no-one felt overcrowded at any time. Buckland is perched halfway up a wooded hill and looks out down a long valley. For over two years Akhandadhi and his wife Ratnavati have hosted retreats run by spiritual groups and holistic health teachers; the name of Buckland Hall is now quite well known on the new-age circuit.

The weekend for the devotees was a packed schedule of kirtan and classes, various workshops, great prasadam, and friendly company. Around seventy participants slept at the Hall itself, while the remainder took over two ‘bunkhouses’ in nearby Brecon. Normally full of climbers and backpackers, the two bunkhouses were simple, but clean, adequate, and sufficiently close to allow everyone ready access to Buckland within a few minutes. At Buckland, one room was commandeered for a temple and Dave and Janet Edwards and daughter Emma got busy on Friday night assembling an altar in orange with flowered gold complete with canopy and lace side-curtains. Parasurama had again allowed us to worship his Gaura-Nitai who were both dressed in a hand-embroidered yellow and turquoise outfit. When Dave and family came to offer the Deities flower garlands, they found that the colours of the garlands completely matched the outfit.

Sessions

Sivarama Swami, who had cut short his participation in a 2,000 strong Russian gathering on the Caspian Sea to come to Wales, gave daily presentations on what amounted to a ‘Vaishnava Creed’ - ten points of vaishnava theology succinctly summarised into memorable form. He also showed how he conducts his personal daily worship to his Gaura-Nitai deities, two sessions that attracted a large attendance and provoked many questions as to the proper method of home worship. Gauranga Sundara dasa from Leicester taught basic tunes and chords while students practised on the five harmoniums he'd brought with him. They were delighted to find they could actually play at the end! Krishna Purna dasi from north London taught Indian spicing and dahl-making, Sitarama dasa hosted a session on ‘Vastu-Vidya, the Art of Placement’, and Luos Johnson from Chester explained Ayurveda to a packed and appreciative room. Mike Howson from Hampshire again taught and demonstrated yoga postures, and Kripamoya presented ‘Telling Others - how to preach when you don't really feel like it.’

The after-dinner entertainment on Saturday night was provided by unsuspecting teams of participants. Just when they thought it was time to relax and unwind, they were given a task. At dinner, the eight members on each table were handed four slips of paper on which were written an object, a famous personality, a place, and a Bhagavad-gita verse. Diners were told they had to come up with a drama featuring all four of these within the hour. The results were creative, philosophically intuitive, and very funny. On Sunday afternoon there was an ‘Any Questions?’ where a panel of six devotees from diverse walks of life put the Vedic teachings to work on topical issues presented by the audience. While it showed that supposed ‘ancient’ teachings of the sages are fully relevant in helping the world in troubled times, it also showed that it is possible to have six devotees who've all read the same books expressing six shades of opinion! Now, what did we expect?
Devotees departed, through the lashing rain, warm and well-fed, much encouraged, and with great feelings of ‘spiritual family unity,’ as one put it. Onwards to next year!

US Lawsuit ‘permanently dismissed.’

Dallas, Texas - The Honorable Sam A. Lindsay, Judge of the United States District Court in Dallas, in a decision filed September 28, has permanently dismissed a lawsuit seeking $400 million dollars in damages from several dozen temples, entities and individuals affiliated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The suit was originally filed on June 12, 2000. It alleged that various forms of child abuse occurred in the 1970's and 1980's at several parochial schools and temples affiliated with ISKCON. The case attempted to use the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) to lump together allegations of abuse at several schools into one Federal case. "This was clearly a victory for religious freedom," said David Liberman, one of the attorneys for ISKCON defendants. "The plaintiff's attorney disingenuously sought to apply the RICO Act in a attempt to go after the assets of innocent people and temple congregations. This effort would have opened the door for churches and religious institutions across the country to be attacked in a way never intended by the Congressional authors of the RICO law."

Significantly, many respected faiths and religious organizations within the US, including the National Council of Churches, the United States Catholic Conference, the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, and the American Jewish Congress filed an Amicus Curiae brief, or Friends of the Court document, in support of the Krishna position on the RICO claim. Krishna leaders assert that the suit sought to close temples and seize their assets, instead of pursuing and punishing those deviant individuals who may have been abusive of children. "We are greatly pleased and relieved by Judge Lindsay's decision on this case," said Anuttama dasa, ISKCON Director of Communications. "The decision will protect innocent families whose temples were threatened with closure by this overreaching suit. At the same time, we remain committed to assure the safety of our children and will continue to reach out proactively to help any young person who may have suffered in the past, " dasa said.

First Ethiopian devotee passes on

By Kripamoya dasa - In September we lost another pioneering preacher. One of my old companions, Sampradaya dasa, passed away. He was 42 and died after more than a year's struggle with leukaemia. His upbringing and his coming to Krishna was very different to mine, but we shared some preaching adventures in 1979-85. Sampradaya was born Haile Araya in Ethiopia. He met devotees while he was a refugee in Nairobi, Kenya, which was where I met him. Sampradaya cared passionately about his troubled country, and when he discovered the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, wanted to do his best to share them with his oppressed brothers and sisters in his homeland. Prabhupada said to his disciples: ‘Try to deliver your countrymen,’ and Sampradya was a great example of someone who tried to do just that. The ancient language of Ethiopia, known as Amharic, has got to be, to western perception at least, one of the strangest to both listen to, and look at. Full of various clicking sounds, and with a unique ‘handwritten' script, Amharic is the last language anyone would want to translate Srila Prabhupada's books into. But this is what Sampradaya did with considerable determination. His home tongue was Tigray, an Eritrean dialect. (Throughout his childhood Eritrea had been fighting Ethiopia for independence) With the help of BBC broadcasters at Bush House in London, specialist English-Amharic dictionaries, and a lot of perspiration and late nights, he managed to finish one small book: The Transcendental Teachings of Prahlada Maharaja, which came out as Ye Prahlada Maharaja Menfesawi Temhertoche.

Kirtan with giraffes

Raising funds for actually getting the book printed took many forms. Donations from supporters, help from the GBC for the Middle East, and some fund-raising by selling paintings This was best done, as I remember, by wearing ‘ordinary clothes’ as opposed to the dhoti and kurta shirt, the traditional garb for devotees. Down on the hot and culturally Arabian coast, in Mombasa, this meant long shirts and walai, little white hats usually worn by muslims. Two incidents stand out in my mind from those times: the first was early one morning while driving through the hundreds of miles of grasslands between Nairobi and Mombasa. There must have been about eight of us singing the song for mangal-arti, playing karatals and drum, and bathing in the magical light just before sunrise. Suddenly our driver braked and came to a stop. A solitary, but very tall, giraffe was slowly crossing the road. We all moved forwards in the van to get a better look, but kept on singing. Another giraffe soon followed, then another. Now they came in twos and threes, with their children; now in clusters of five and six. It took a full five minutes for the entire herd to cross the road, all of them moving gracefully, long necks wobbling, and right in front of us. And all to the sound of kirtan! I will always remember that kirtan with the giraffes.

Howling Snowstorm

The other strong memory I have is of sitting in the hot sun one Tuesday afternoon on a palm-fringed white beach with deep turquoise water lapping around our toes (oh! the austerity of our lives as monks!) It was the middle of December and we were having our last few days in Africa. By Friday, we were both in Newcastle-on-Tyne, in the middle of a howling snowstorm, sitting in a Lada car which had just broken down, and which was slowly turning into a fridge. We looked at each other and said simultaneously: "What are we doing here?" What we were doing, of course, was raising funds in order to publish Srila Prabhupada's books. My mission was to print the Sri Isopanishad in Swahili, so Sampradaya and I encouraged each other in what were challenging circumstances. In the end we both got our books printed. Sampradaya went back to Ethiopia eventually and had many adventures selling his books, at that time a highly illegal thing to do in that country. Several times he only just escaped capture, which would have resulted in a prison sentence. He published two more books, an extract from ‘Science of Self Realisation’ rendered into Amharic, and a collection of essays for the English-speakers of Ethiopia titled ‘Intellectual Animalism.’ Sampradaya prabhu ki jaya!

Easy Ways to celebrate Festivals

November 14th - Diwali. After Rama kills Ravana he returns with his wife Sita to the capital city of Ayodhya. All the residents are waiting up and candles are burning in every single window and doorway. Beautiful designs, known as rangoli, are made in coloured pastes on doorsteps. Celebrate at home by lighting candles in your window for Rama to see. Have a go at reproducing some rangoli designs yourself. Then, set off more fireworks!

November 15th - Govardhan Puja. Krishna and His family also used to celebrate Diwali. On one such occasion His father was preparing a fire sacrifice for Indra. Krishna suggested that since they were a cow-herding family they all worship the Govardhan Hill where all the sweetest grass for their cows was. A mountain of food was offered. Indra then spitefully sent rain and Krishna picked up the Govardhan Hill so everyone could shelter. Celebrate at home by reading the story (dramatically!) and offering a ‘hill’ of food to Krishna. (Devotees get into making a hill with marzipan snakes, trees, and with plastic cows)

November 18th - Srila Prabhupada's Disappearance Day. On November 14th 1977, at 7.20 in the evening, the founder and spiritual master of the Hare Krishna movement passed away, leaving thousands of grieving disciples. On this day his followers fast until at least noon when they hold a commemorative puja and feast. As well as feelings of separation, the mood is also reflective and followers talk about the many ways Srila Prabhupada and his teachings have touched their lives. At the Manor a special candlelit service is held at 7.20 pm each year. Observe this day at home by keeping a picture of Srila Prabhupada and lighting candle, incense, and offering a flower at this time. You can also reflect on how your own life has been helped by Prabhupada's teachings.

Come and celebrate with us:

November 10th - Saturday night Diwali Parade through Wembley, north London. Thousands line the streets. Fireworks at the conclusion of the procession. (Ring 01923-857244 for details)

November 14th - First ever celebration of Diwali in Trafalgar Square. With London Mayor Ken Livingstone in attendance.

November 18th - Srila Prabhupada's disappearance day and Diwali public festival at the Manor with Ramayana theatre from 5.00 with fireworks display at 8.00.

The new war on ignorance

Does God really take sides in a ‘holy war?’

This article by Krishna Dharma appeared in the Guardian newspaper

"Good will prevail over evil," declared President Bush, as he tried to rally his stunned country. Surely, we must all share that hope, but do we all share the same concept of good? Did the people behind the awful events in America believe they were perpetrating evil? Osama bin Laden is urging all Muslims to join a "jihad for the sake of God, urged by his prophet". If the American attacks were, indeed, a part of this so-called jihad, then they were done with the unswerving conviction that it was God's will. And what higher good can there be than that? God is all good, by any religious definition, and his will must mean the good of all creatures.

But how do we know the divine will? Many times it has been invoked in order to justify war. The first crusaders, who attacked Jerusalem a thousand years ago, were promised salvation by Pope Urban II; the defending Muslims also strongly believed the Lord was with them. During the Gulf war, both President Bush Sr and Saddam Hussein declared that God was with him. The Muslims who die in what they see as their jihad believe they will go to paradise and enjoy everlasting pleasures. Quite a conundrum for God, it seems. How can he support everyone? So what is his definition of good and bad? It might be handy to know before we embark on any fierce campaigns.

A good place to start looking is scripture, though that, of course, is often the root of disagreement. Opposing parties usually have their different scriptures to quote in order to establish that followers of any other scripture are godless barbarians. I once walked into a shop in my priestly robes, and the shopkeeper exclaimed: "Your book is wrong! So, whose book is right? Who is actually on God's side, doing his will? Perhaps Christ's instruction to judge a tree by its fruits is helpful. If a person is actually approaching God, then he or she should become godly. The Bhagavad-gita, India's ancient spiritual text, offers a list of godly qualities found in a genuinely God-conscious person: tolerance, humility, kindness, mercy, non-violence and equality toward all living beings. These are a few definitions of goodness given by Krishna, who is accepted as God in the Bhagavad-gita.

Genuine Saints in all traditions

Of course, these qualities can be developed by anyone from any faith background. They are not the exclusive preserve of any religion, for we find genuine saints in all traditions. Real religion, according to the Bhagavad-gita, is that process which aims to please God, thereby taking the practitioner closer to him. This may manifest itself in various forms, different systems and rituals described in different scriptures, but, if the essential aim is to please the Lord, then why should we squabble?

If I am actually trying to please a person I love, then how can I hate others trying to please the same person, even if they are doing it in a different way? Hating others in the name of God because they are different defeats the purpose of pleasing God. Rather than pleasure, it would be more likely to give the Lord pain, just as a father is pained when he sees his sons fight. And if I hold such hatred, I myself am not actually coming close to God.

But is there ever any justification for a holy war? How about rooting out unbelievers? Surely, that must please God. And, clearly, some self-styled holy warriors see things in those terms, believing they are purging the earth of its scourge of atheists. But how can that please the Lord? If my brother turns away from my father, and I kill him, what would my father think? The Bhagavad-gita says that a godly person feels compassion for others, seeing that their suffering is caused by ignorance - by not knowing that we are all eternal parts of the supreme spirit, capable of enjoying eternal happiness. Feeling that happiness himself, he wants only to share it with others by sharing his knowledge. He loves all beings as much as he loves God.

The real war is against ignorance

The real war, then, is against ignorance, first of all in ourselves. This is the actual triumph of good over evil, gaining knowledge of who we really are, and of God - and of how to reach him. If we really do want good to prevail, then we should come together with a desire to know and satisfy the Supreme, peacefully discussing how that can best be done. We should recognise the integrity of other people's faiths, and see that they too are children of the same God we are trying to worship, and are equally loved by him - even if, at present, they choose to turn away from him. After all, has not the Lord himself given us that free choice? The ultimate definition of good must be that which is conducive to the permanent happiness of all beings. Only God has that vision, and thus our highest good lies in approaching Him. The Bhagavad-gita says the Lord will reciprocate with such an attempt, and free us from all suffering. And that must undoubtedly be the aim of all human endeavours.