 January
2002
New York's Mayor Giuliani signs plaque for 'Hare Krishna Tree'
 Rudolph
Giuliani has got to be the most famous mayor of New York City ever. He's also
very well-liked, especially after his coping with the difficult
weeks after the tragic World Trade Centre disaster.
Devotees in New York are therefore proud that one of his acts in his last year
as mayor was to sign his name to a commemorative plaque underneath the elm tree
in Tompkins Square Park where the Hare Krishna Movement began.
It was under that tree in 1966 that Srila Prabhupada and his earliest disciples
held kirtan and attracted the spiritual seekers, the curious, and the just plain
hungry, to the message of Krishna.
 Part
of the plaque reads: "On October 9th, 1966, Prabhupada and his
followers sat beneath this tree and held the first outdoor chanting session outside
of India. Participants chanted for two hours as they danced and played cymbals,
tambourines, and other percussive instruments; the event is recognised as the
founding of the Hare Krishna religion in the United States." The plaque
also includes "the group's distinctive 16-word mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare
Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare."
House of Fraser apologises and pays up
Remember the offensive comments about devotees made in the House of Fraser
advertising campaign last year? Well, after ISKCON threatened legal action they
have now agreed to pay £25,000 in an out of court settlement with a public
apology coming out in the Daily Mail on February 13th and The Face magazine
the day after. These were the publications which carried the ads.
This is the first time in this country that ISKCON has pursued an organisation
for compensation over offensive remarks in print.
Guiness Book of Records? We can do it!
An attempt on the world record for the total number of hand-drummers playing
in one place, at one time, is being organised by Jayadeva das. The record stands
at 1700 but Jayadeva, an enthusiastic drummer for many years, and producer of
CDs Drums of a Nation and Celtic Drum thinks it can be broken.
As you read this he is contacting drummers, and potential drummers, all over
the country, and inviting them to attend a summer weekend festival in woods in
Suffolk. "I am confident that this country has at least 2,000 people who
would be willing to take part in a world-record breaking attempt" he
says.
"It will be real fun for everyone involved - and can you imagine the
fantastic sound of 2,000 drummers all in one place?" The idea is that
the 2,000 will be divided into six sections - each playing a particular pre-arranged
and rehearsed beat on a particular drum.
The six types of drums - all hand-drums of course - are from different parts
of the world. The Djembe from Africa, the Darabouka from the Middle East, the
Congas from Africa, the Mridanga, Dhol, and Tabla, all from India, and the Bodhran
from Ireland.
"The beats must be pre-learned because they have to be played in time
with each other" explained Jayadeva, "If there's a group of ten
drummers or more then I will come and teach them the beats. Otherwise the particular
beat for each drum can be found on 'http://www.silvercord.co.uk'
where visitors can listen to the beat."
The Guiness Book of Records people will be there on the day both counting
and listening. The event is also a fund-raiser for Danda-bhanga and entrants who
pay £50 will receive a CD of the event.
So where is it? And when is it? Please put this in your diary, calendar or
your kitchen notice-board: Web of Life Festival, Saturday 6 July 2002,
Wantisden Valley, Woodbridge, Suffolk. Tel: 01394 - 411362.
The Cows are Back!
After a shameful nationwide slaughter of six million animals, and an operation
that needlessly cost taxpayers millions of pounds, the price of one or two hospitals,
the country has been declared free from foot-and-mouth.
While we all regret such senseless loss of life, and wonder what might be the
possible metaphysical after effects, we are thankful that the disease did not
spread too far into the Home Counties. The Manor's cows were kept well away from
all public, entrances were disinfected, and only the herdsmen and milkers were
allowed anywhere near the herd.
Now we can say that the cows, oxen, and three new bull-calves born behind doors
are all 'back in business.'
ISKCON UK AGM
ISKCON UK's Annual General Meeting took place on 5th January 2002, and one
of the results should bring readers some cheer.
After the National Council members (temple presidents, project and department
heads, and reprasentatives of various devotee constituencies) made some annual
reports, members took just a few minutes to describe one area of ISKCON nationally
which they felt to be deserving of increased attention.
When all had been heard and discussed, one area of concern was established
as a priority. It was decided that a committee be formed to explore how more of
the movement's existing resources could be channeled into assisting the small
centres and established small groups.
At the moment, the movement's energy is very much centred on London, a situation
unchanged for many years, and sometimes to the detriment of efforts elsewhere.
News from groups around the country
Bristol has doubled the number of meetings, alternating between a local
hall and Arjunanath's home in Shirehampton. The group is also working on more
formal arrangements, constitution and so on.
Cambridge has now gone weekly, and with Michelle and Marianne's enthusiasm
the group has invited several senior devotees up for talks and music lessons.
Ilford has a new venue, moving its location from Upton Park down to
a hall right near Ilford town centre. Organiser Devesh plans to set up a table
in the town with leaflets and books; 40 attended their last meeting.
The eight London group leaders have been attending meetings aimed at
reviewing their progress and Aniruddha das, fresh from one year in Bombay where
he got a chance to study how the movement there cares for its 7,000 congregational
members, (that's just in one city folks!) has been appointed as supervisor for
the groups.
Srila Prabhupada disciple Atmatma das, fresh from two years as TP in Denmark,
has come home to England with his wife and three children and hopes to be very
involved with group work in his new location - Winchester. Meanwhile, Julyan
and Vraja Prana have moved from the Isle of Wight to nearby Southampton.
We wish them all well in their new homes and pray that Krishna guides many people
back to Him through them.
Vishvambara das has indicated his desire to meet interested people in Bedford,
forming a group for meetings if sufficient interest is shown. There has been no
significant congregational activity in this town for years. Norwich meetings
have now stabilised to a regular once a month under the leadership of Mark Sibley
and Clare Tedds.
Preachers' Circuit Plan
We are working on booking many of our existing 'travelling preachers'
into group meetings months ahead. When a majority of bookings have been made we'll
be in a position to post out the new printed 'Preachers Circuit Plan'
to groups and maybe a few individuals in a position to host meetings of a few
friends in homes or halls.
If you'd like your location to be included please get in touch. You can
always leave messages on 0192385-0678 or -4270.
Krishna DJ, 18, wins Ministry of Sound national competition!
 DJ
TECHNIXX, also known as Viveak Taneja, came first in a national competition
run by the Ministry of Sound.
The competition required all participants to produce their own 20-minute mix.
Over 2000 entrants took part in the eight regional finals, with 200 entries coming
from London alone. When DJ TECHNIXX won the London heats, he was then entered
into the national finals held at the Ministry of Sound club. He emerged the supreme
winner.
The judges were impressed that someone of 18 years and fairly limited means
could beat off 1,999 others. Ah, but you see there's the Krishna factor, which
DJ TECHNIXX swears by. He's a member of ISKCON's youth group, the Pandava Sena,
and attends his regular group as been known to use a few samples on his mixes.
Prabhupada tells a story
There was once a factory in India where all the workers were Hindus and mostly
Vaishnavas. The Vaishnavas had freedom, therefore, to wear their Vaishnava tilaka
to work. After some time, however, the factory went to new management and the
new proprietor was a Muslim.
On taking over the business, the Muslim owner declared that he would no longer
allow the workers to come to work wearing Vaishnava tilaka. Most of the workers
obeyed, and on the given date they appeared at the factory without their tilaka.
One employee, however, thought that he would take his chances and depend on Krishna,
so he went to work wearing very clear white tilaka on his forehead.
After seeing all the workers assembled, the Muslim said, "This one
man who has come wearing Vaishnava tilaka is very courageous. He may be permitted
to continue wearing the tilaka to work, but all others are forbidden to wear it
any more."
Prabhupada encouraged the devotees to not unecessarily abandon the markings
of a Vaishnava. Where situations forbid it, Prabhupada said it was not absolutely
necessary to wear tilaka, although a devotee should at least put the tilaka markings
on with water in the morning and consecrate the body with the names of Vishnu.
But if circumstances permit, then a devotee should not unecessarily do away with
the tilaka or neck-beads of a Vaishnava.
New Temple President for the Manor
In a short ceremony before the Deities on January 2nd Bhaktivedanta Manor's
new temple president was garlanded and welcomed by the community, congregation,
and GBC. Gauri das, 39, a married man and father replaces Vipramukhya
Swami who concludes a successful four-year term. Gauri is from Scotland
originally and joined ISKCON in this country in 1982, but he has been serving
as the headmaster of the movement's boy's school in Vrinadavan, India for ten
years.
Vastu - the ancient art of changing rooms
 Everyone
seems to have heard of Feng-Shui, the Chinese art of placement. Put more order
in your house and the flow of natural energies will work for you instead of against
you. Your fortune, health and peace of mind will all improve. Unfortunately, with
the explosion in the number of rather expensive Feng-Shui consultants there has
been a certain amount of ridicule focused on the ancient art.
What many 'experts' and scoffers alike do not know though, is that Feng-Shui
entered China along with Buddhism from India. There, the Vedic science of placement
was known as 'Vastu.' And it is still very much known and practised there. Vastu
is to the directions of Space what panchang-jyotish, or 'astrology', is to the
passage of Time.
Vastu is much more plausible when you discover the essential principles from
the original source. Earth's directions do affect us, as do the major components
of our environment. Where we live, how we position our doors, rooms; where we
place different furnishings in our homes all have very subtle effects which, over
the course of years produce helpful, or harmful, effects. Indeed, explain the
Vedas, the end result of our life will be the sum total of all small things we
do regularly.
"But," you may say, "my house was built long before I came
to live here. Even if I wanted to move I couldn't; and I'm not going to start
moving the windows thank you very much!"
Fear not, the perfect solution is at hand. Now you can transform the house
you live in, feel better, think clearer, and understand the subtleties of natural
laws all in a new book written by an acclaimed expert. Marcus Schmieke (Gadadhara
dasa) is a German physicist who found that Vastu fitted well with his training
in scientific discipline. He's written six books in his own country and has gone
on to become something of a celebrity over there. This book is a condensation
of some pretty hefty works and is written in simpler language with illustrations
on almost every page. It is a good read, thoroughly researched, and very easy
to understand and put into practise. Its the size of a coffe-table book for about
half the price. You can own one by sending £14.00 (one pound off the shop
or Amazon.com retail price) to Kripamoya at the usual Manor address. Postage and
packing are, rather unbelievably, free. Your good fortune has started already!
Lost underwater cities show civilisation began '5,000 years
earlier than we thought.'
Indian oceanographers have discovered a huge ancient metropolis 40 miles off
the coast of Gujarat, western India. An incredible six miles long, two miles wide,
and 120 feet below sea level, the complex grid of geometric structures and the
collection of carbon-dated artefacts suggest that civilisation began a staggering
9,500 years ago. That's a whopping fifty centuries before the date previously
held for developed human society. Whoops.
Until now, the earliest human civilisations - the Harrapan and Indus Valley
communities - had been dated to about 2500BC. Dr S. Kathiroli, the director of
India's National Institute of Ocean Technology, said that the find had astonished
him and his team, who had returned six times to the site to conduct sonar scans
and collect artefacts.
Some experts are already heralding the find as confirmation that the history
of civilisation needs radical revision. Others, however, are remaining sceptical.
Dr. Derek Kennet, a research fellow in archaeology at the University of Durham,
said: "It all sounds extremely dubious. If its true it means an utter
re-evaluation of how we view history. We're looking at...cavemen building cities."
"We used to think...but now we know..." What it does mean,
of course, is that Dr. Kennet and many others like him are faced with the embarrassing
situation of having to review everything they've accepted and taught as fact throughout
their lives. A painful prospect, especially for someone at the height of his career.
Its not that science doesn't prepare its champions for doing just that, it does;
empirical science accepts that as time progresses new facts will be discovered
and the boundaries of truth will be pushed forward. And that may be all right
when such changes to 'truth' come in small increments. But the jump from recognising
that the first developed human civilisation existed in 2500 BC, to accepting it
started thousands of years earlier is too great an adjustment for one man to make
all at once. Imagine an academic who has written books, established a life-long
reputation on his knowledge in a certain area. Now in his maturity he has to admit
that he was incorrect in many areas, that his books are no longer relevant, and
consequently risk his reputation too?
Never.
On average it takes around 20 years for a scientific breakthrough to make
it into the school text-books - an entire generation. So we could be looking at
2022 before schoolchildren are taught that cities existed 9,000 years ago. In
the meantime, Vedic civilisation can be explored in the pages of the historical
work known as Srimad Bhagavatam. There we can read that there actually was a huge
city off the coast of Gujarat by the name of Dwaraka, which, 5000 years ago, was
indeed submerged beneath the sea.
£36,000 windfall came in the post
The organiser of a charity to help pregnant mothers and new-born babies in
India couldn't believe his eyes when he read the letter. A charity with similar
purposes was winding up and could he take care of the funds? Divyasimha das is
the head of UK-based charity The Mayapura Trust, started to provide health care
for around fifty villages surrounding Mayapura, West Bengal, where the Hare Krishna
movement's international headquarters is situated. "I was totally bowled
over", he explained, "I mean, how often do you get a cheque for
£36,000 in the post?"
Divyasimha sent out a number of appeal letters to various trusts and foundations
over a year ago. When he heard nothing from them, he assumed that was the end
of it. "Then, one year later, I received this letter from Radcliffes the
solicitors, acting on behalf of The Friends of Gujarmal Modi Hospital Trust. In
the letter was a cheque for £36,211. They had looked at our work through
the Charity Commission website and were satisfied that our aims were the same
as theirs."
The Mayapura Trust is helping to provide clean drinking water in areas where
there is a high level of naturally-occurring arsenic. The charity also provides
an 'English midwife on a motorbike' in the form of Ramadevi dasi, who after qualifying,
was working at Barnet and Watford Hospitals. Two four-wheel drive ambulances are
in operation, and mother and child health care is also provided for after the
birth. Both Hindu and Muslim villagers benefit from the service, and Ramadevi
has not only learned to speak Bengali, but is arranging for other English midwife
trainees to come over to get some third-world experience.
Sankirtan Party
Saturday, February 16th : We invite all readers to the first
Saturday Sankirtan Party First of the New Quarterly Gatherings
Darshan of the Deities * New Calves * Videos * Traditional
Kirtan * Displays * Big Feast * Lots of Devotees * Optional evening West-End street
Chanting
Sacred Appearance Day of Shri Nityananda Prabhu February 25th.
Devotees in the Sun
The Sun cartoonist, Dave Gaskill, drew this cartoon of the Blairs as
bramachari devotees out on harinam-sankirtan. It was featured
in the 8th january edition of the newspaper along with an article by Richard
Littlejohn castigating the Blairs for 'dressing up' during their visit
to India. The strange thing was, just a few days later, a devotee with
dhoti, shaved head and tilaka was among the officual guests
at Number 10. Bimala Krishna
Dasa, in his capacity as Secretary of the National Council of Hindu
Temples was among 150 guests invited for a reception. Strange...
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