namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

World Holy Name Festival 2010 is from September 17 - October 2, 2010.
Please read through for the full message from H.G Ekalavya prabhu.

Fourth Annual BBT Art Seminar now open for registration

The BBT will be holding its fourth annual art seminar in Vrindavana, India,
from November 5 25, 2010. Once again, the seminar will led by veteran ISKCON
artists Dhriti Dasi and Ramdas Abhirama Dasa, teaching both new and repeat
students practical techniques as well as the mood essential in producing
devotional art.

Global warming..... green-house gas emission..... jargons that we all are hearing very frequently.
what is the primary cause of global warming? is it industrial pollution? or, is it transportation?

The answer is No..........

Recently, Food and Agriculture organisation(FAO), an important wing of the United Nations, estimated that meat production accounts for 18% of green-house gas emissions, which all the more reiterates the importance of promoting vegetarianism.

Here is an interesting article on how, by becoming a veggie, one can help combat the climate change.

Read on...
http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2010/08/16/how-to-feed-the-world-by-going-veggie

By Vijaya das

World Sankirtan newsletter for the month of June 2010 has been published for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada

The devotees of ISKCON of Silicon Valley (ISV) in San Jose are still glowing after recently completing the annual Bhaktivinoda Thakur Monthly Sankirtan Festival. They set for themselves the daunting goal of mobilizing 300 book distributors, but when the dust settled a record 556 people had gone out, with a net result of over 10,000 books distributed and over $18,000 collected in donations!

On July 17th I interviewed His Grace Vaisesika Das Adhikari, the architect and mastermind of this innovative approach of facilitating broad, congregational participation in book distribution by holding various Monthly Sankirtan Festivals (MSFs) throughout the year.

courtesy - dandavats.com

Srila Prabhupada taught that each of us should cultivate a mood of service
rather than finding faults in others. If someone acts wrongly, and we become
disturbed by it, that discloses our own flaw. We should instead think in
what way we can positively contribute to the situation and to the community,
so that these wonderful timeless teachings of the Lord are exemplified for
the benefit of all.

The same point has been stressed by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja
to a devotee, when the devotee tells maharaj the difficulties that he had
been facing while associating with other devotees. H.H Romapada swami
maharaja very nicely explains the whole point of cultivating a mood of
service rather than finding faults in others.

Read on....

-Kaunteya das

On 16 May 2010, Aksaya Tritiya (traditionally considered a very auspicious
day to begin something - it is said that whatever one starts on this day
will have inexhaustible results), I was asked to hand over the Siksa Program
certificates to the congregational members of Sri Sri Radha Rasa-bihari
Temple, ISKCON Juhu, Mumbai.

-kaunteya das

A quiz for you:

In 1972 Srila Prabhupada wrote the local GBC: "I have just received one
letter from the black devotees in Cleveland who wish start their own ISKCON
Center independently of the white devotees there."

What Srila Prabhupada wrote the local GBC? What instruction Srila Prabhupada
gave him?

-Kasya das

ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry course given by HG. Kaunteya Prabhu

Siligury, May 6 – 9, 2010

Four day seminar took place in peaceful Siligury ISKCON temple Sri Sri Radha Madhava Sundar Mandir. 35 devotee leaders and preachers from different parts of North-east India ISKCON centers attended.

-Gauranga Vihari das

15 & 16 May - AKSHAYA TRITIYA 2010
SRI SRI GAUR NITAI SRI MURTHI STHAPANA MAHOTSAVA
SRI JAGANNATH MANDIR KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

This 16th of May, on the most auspicious tithi of Akshaya Tritiya, Sri Jagannath Mandir Kuala Lumpur (SJMKL), one of the largest and most active centres in Malaysia, is privileged to host a rare and very special event - the grand unveiling and installation festival of our new marble deities of the most munificent, magnanimous and enchanting forms Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Ram

-Vijay Venugopal Dasa and Prema Padmini Devi Dasi

We were invited to speak at the Bhakti Sangam retreat of Lokanath Swami Maharaja, at Chokhi Dhoni,near Pune.

-Kaunteya das

I read this passage in Srila Prabhupada's purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.1.12:"Ordinarily a murderer is hanged, and in the Manu-samhita it is said that a king bestows mercy upon a murderer by killing him, thus saving him from various kinds of suffering. Because of his sinful activities, such a murderer is killed by the mercy of the king."It reminded me of an article I had written on the death penalty,a couple of years ago: "Death Penalty: A Potential PR Nightmare?" which you can find here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=4885

At that time I was surprised how a good number of comments were based on sentiment, on current humanistic views, or on plain ignorance; and not - how one would expect from Vaisnavas - on solid sastric reasoning.

By Vijaya das

Hare Krsna Prabhus,

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

Many devotees are now returning from India after their pilgrimage to the
holy dhama. Srila Prabhupada wanted the sankirtan devotees to go to
India to get inspiration and then go back to their countries with
greater strength to spread the sankirtan movement of Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu. We had nice sankirtan meetings in Mayapur, with devotees
from Russia (Ambarish Prabhu), Italy (Anakadundubhi Prabhu) , Finland
(Tatvavad
Prabhu), England (Vishvambhara Prabhu), and the USA (Paramesvara and myself)
giving inspiring talks about book distribution. Radhanatha Swami, Devamrta
Swami, and Gopal Krsna Maharaja also blessed us with their realizations
during
the sankirtan seminars.

Issued by the Governing Body Commission of the International Society for
Krishna Consciousness

The following link contains a letter from the Executive Committee, a
transcription of the conversation of 8 October 1977 between Srila Prabhupada
and Narayana Maharaja (Bengali with English translation), and an analysis.

The Last Conversation

-kaunteya das

I am preparing for a four-day course that I will present in May, in ISKCON
Juhu, Mumbai, to the Western India participants of the ISKCON LEADS
trainings - some 40 devotees from various temples. The title of the workshop
is "Building Vibrant Vaisnava Communities" and I will be teaching it with my
"co-Minister of the ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry" hat on.

Bhakti-lata dasi: Please visit us at:

www.iskconprisonministry.com

On this site you will see inmate art, inmate letters, our monthly newsletter, chaplains’ appreciation and more!

-Seva Priya dd

It took place on 13-14 March 2010, in Sridham Mayapur, in the historic Lotus Building
conference room – the same place where Srila Prabhupada held the first GBC meetings.

-Kaunteya das

Nancy Gibbs recently wrote an article for Time magazine entitled "Generation
Next":

Article in Time Magazine

She analyzes how today in the USA the generation gap is not as intense or as
intrinsically confrontational as it was in the '70s. "Kids and parents dress
alike, listen to the same music and fight less than previous generations."

Sri Godruma Kalpatavi ("The Desire-tree Grove of Godruma") is an English translation of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's newsletter collection. A very timely book release, as this year Sri Mayapur's Nama-hatta Department celebrates it's thirtieth anniversary.

Sri Godruma Kalpatavi was originally produced in Bengal one-hundred-and-twenty years ago by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, to guide leaders and members in his preaching movement. The topics discussed are very practical issues often faced by those with families and careers who also want to fully engage in practicing and preaching Krishna consciousness.

HH Jayapataka Maharaja felt Godruma Kalpatavi to be so relevant to the lives of devotees today that he translated the text and inspired the current publication.

From HH Jayapataka Maharaja's introduction ("From the Publisher") to our Congregational Preaching Journal 12:

Holy Jail is a compilation by HH Candramauli Maharaja on the activities and stories of ISKCON's Prison Ministries (IPM). In their thirty years of operation, the lives of hundreds of inmates have changed due to the practice of Krishna consciousness and the support received by devotees.

The prisoners very beautifully with great depth express how they came to Krishna through the help of ISKCON Prison Ministries and how their lives have been changed for the better through the love and care showered upon them by IPM sevaks.

There are also wonderful memories of those great devotees who have served with ISKCON Prison Ministries and sadly left their material bodies to continue their eternal service. You'll also find anecdotes, a history of the Prison Ministries, letters, art, and poetry from prisoners, as well as their vyasa-puja offerings to Srila Prabhupada—an interesting and uplifting read.

Satya dd's Avatar: Dasi Lane

Hare Krishna!

Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Please come visit us in Second Life for Gaura Purnima! Within you will find an invitation to our Gaura Purnima celebration in Second Life along with the festival schedule. We can only hope that devotees find this pleasing and attend. Thank you so much for passing the word along.

If you have any questions or I can help you with anything, please feel free to contact me.

Your servant,
Satya devi dasi

Vijay Venugopal das and Prema Padmini dd

And so the festival closed. In the morning, senior devotees including Krishna dasa Kaviraja Prabhu, Acala Prabhu, Vishvamitra Prabhu, and ourselves spoke. It had been a wonderful festival and the team who made the arrangements were all young Bhakti-vriksha leaders and members—more than half of them being women, including the main coordinator. Everyone praised their efforts and service, and also spoke of the wonderful loving atmosphere among the devotees throughout the festival. Bhakti-vriksha has clearly brought immense changes to the Russian devotee community, which was in decline only a few years ago.

Most significantly, the Bhakti-vriksha leaders and members are all disciples and prospective disciples of a whole array of gurus, proving that the Bhakti-vriksha system is not linked to any particular spiritual master in ISKCON. It flourishes in an atmosphere of freedom and enthusiasm, combined with serious training and advancement. The activities of the devotees, their seriousness in following vows, their happy acceptance of heavy responsibilities, in spite of being fully involved in family life, shows that these indeed are quality devotees. And it is this high quality of purity, sincerity, and commitment, which creates the large quantity. In short quality creates quantity—it is not that we have to choose between one or the other.

by HH Bhaktiraghava Maharaja

HH Jayapataka Maharaja took upon himself many great austerities to establish and promote the Nama-hatta program, from its early inception to its present day development. I remember how he would sometimes arrive from oversees and from the airport he would have to dash to the Howrah station in Kolkata to catch a night train, which would take him to some remote village where programs had already been scheduled.

He would make his way to the local pandal, sometimes using his own small flashlight as no one had thought of getting a proper torch or lantern. In those early days, the arrangements in the village were quite simple and somewhat humble in nature. Still Maharaja was always ready to accept any and all inconveniences to hold programs and preach in the local Bengali language to the eager local listeners.

by Kripamoya das

Wouldn't it be nice if all the religions could get along? Peacemakers like to suggest an impersonal way to do it. Sometimes they even try to use the Gita to support their ideas

"Well, we can understand that all you spiritual and religious people still need something to believe in. But please listen to us—there is a difference between the God of Religion and the Ultimate Reality. The first is the figure you believe in, pray to, and have a kind of emotional faith in. The second is a slightly more abstract notion of a state of universal, cosmic light from where all the incarnations and saints, angels and prophets come from and into which they merge after their time with us is finished."

"Youth Crew" is the name we (tentatively) decided to call our Ministry's youth section, instead of "youth wing," "youth preaching department," or the like. It's a name Zak came up with, who as of a few days ago, is heading this CD Ministry effort.

Unlike me Zak is a young devotee who grew up in different parts of the world, most recently in Sridham Mayapur and London, UK. He studied at Sri Mayapur Gurukula and finished his secondary education at a college in London. Recently he returned from the UK to live in Mayapur again, accepting the service of coordinating our Ministry's youth preaching efforts.

Ask yourself,

• Do you read Srila Prabhupada's books?
• Do you use vedabase when reading or searching Srila Prabhupada's books?
• Do you have access to the internet and some basic computer skills?
• Can you spare some time each day, week or month; an hour or two?
• Would you like to serve the devotee community is a special and unique way?

If you can answer "yes" to these questions, then Vanisava is for you. You can do it anywhere and everywhere, during your lunchbreak, or even sitting in your bed at home.

by HH Bhaktiraghava Maharaja

Just a few hundred years after the manifest pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the great acarya Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura again took up the preaching mission of the Lord and recorded the following words in reference to the Nama-hatta preaching work:

boro sukher khabor gai surabhi-kunjete
namer hao khule'che khoda nita

"I am singing news of the greatest happiness! At the place known as Surabhi Kunja in Sri Navadvipa, the Marketplace of the Holy Name has now been opened and Lord Nityananda Himself is the Proprietor."

Vaisnava-siddhanta-mala

By the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, the same preaching spirit meant to help inundate the entire world with the Hari Nama Sankirtan Movement of Lord Caitanya has also been introduced in the form of the Nama-hatta program by the devotees serving at Sridham Mayapur under the guidance and inspiration of HH Jayapataka Maharaja.