namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

by Vasu Murti das

In your book "They Shall Not Hurt Or Destroy” you say a few years ago Norm Phelps came to the conclusion, such as I myself have, that the animal rights movement will never succeed until we 'convert' the churches, mosques and synagogues to our cause. Is this also your point of view?

Yes. I would like to see organized religion take up the struggle for animal rights. Religion has been wrong before. It has often been said that on issues such as women's rights and human slavery, religion has impeded social and moral progress. It was a Spanish Catholic priest, Bartolome de las Casas, who first proposed enslaving black Africans in place of the Native Americans who were dying off in great numbers.

The church of the past never considered human slavery to be a moral evil. The Protestant churches of Virginia, South Carolina, and other southern states here in the U.S. actually passed resolutions in favor of the human slave traffic.

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post "Why Dairy Makes You Stiff that dairy products are acid-forming in the body. They result in the same lactic acid build-up that I described in Why Drinking Green Juices Makes You More Flexible.

You can read more about it here: Latose and Lactic Acid.

Last night I had some Parmesan cheese. Not a lot, just a little bit, over my beans and rice. This morning in my Bikram class I felt stiff, and was clearing my throat of mucus continually.

Doing the same thing every day, like clockwork, I notice variations like this. I had a similar experience a couple of weeks ago - the day after I drank 500ml of organic milk.

For the past four months I've been drinking two or three caps of Oxyrich, an oxygen donor, in a litre of water.

I drink it during my Bikram class, in the water breaks, and the effect has been to almost completely eliminate the soreness and stiffness that I used to feel the day after a class.

by Su-gita Vani dd

In the past our temple did book tables only in book fairs, local temple festivals and "Bhaagavath Saptaah(s)". But on Sunday, we did something different, we set up our table at a leading shopping complex here, in our area where we frequently shop. Because it is a commercial complex, they charged us a fee of Rs.500. The temple agreed to take this risk.

It was worth it because by the end of that day, our sales had crossed Rs. Six thousand. Two people even learned to chant.Seems people are looking for Krishna every where!

by Ravindra Svarupa das

In the last two postings we have been considering a letter Srila Prabhupada wrote in 1972 concerning the nature of power. A devotee had written Prabhupada with misgivings about competition in activities of preaching. To this apparently simple and down-to-earth question, Prabhupada gave a reply that rose quickly to ultimate philosophical principles. Prabhupada's presentation is brilliantly compact; I have been unpacking it somewhat.

by Kripamoya das

When, for the first time, you've brought together your new people for a dinner party or small kirtan, discussion and prasadam, they'll probably want more. You can have a few regular meetings and give everyone time to settle down into being a member of something new. After some time there will be an important shift in the consciousness of the members. They will think more of themselves as a 'group of friends' and feel easy in each others company. The nervousness and over-politeness which governed proceedings earlier on will evaporate and the group will feel more comfortable in their new identity.

...This short film, made by a Christian group, illustrates some of the different unhelpful modes of behaviour that are prominent in small groups. Watch and try to translate it into small devotee group situations you may have been in yourself.—Watch Video

by Kripamoya das

Previously, I wrote about my experiences on the twelve week Alpha Course offered by the Christian Church. I explained what parts of my experience were helpful and which parts were disappointing. I wrote that as a short piece for some of my readers who are actively trying to bring spiritual seekers to Krishna, and who are therefore interested in hearing about any ideas that may make their task easier.

The Krishna consciousness movement is engaged in reaching out to others with its message. Part of the movement is engaged in "broadcasting," the wide dissemination of information; and part of the movement is engaged in "cultivation," when the seeds planted previously have sprouted and require further attention. The business of "preaching" must include both of these essential actions. Just as any intelligent farmer can"t reap a crop if he hasn"t both sown seed and cultivated, so there must be a series of stages in the matter of the cultivation of the soul.

Google.com.au today celebrated the switching on of the Large Hadron Collider with the above graphic.

Obviously the world didn't end last night, unless the black hole swallowed the Earth and we're now in another dimension, ala The Quiet Earth.

H.H. Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami gave this very insightful and thought-provoking class on the grhasta ashram (married life) when he visited Brisbane a few months ago.

It is full of examples and analogies that I had never heard before, which is unusual for a class in an ISKCON temple, which usually consists of refreshing and reinforcing things that are already in my head.

I like the feeling of neural rewiring, so I enjoyed it. Useful information too.

The Large Hadron Collider is being powered up tonight.

Scientists have admitted that it may create a black hole that will swallow the Earth.

Credit goes to Pandu Prabhu for pointing this out: "I’m reluctant to accept HH Bhakti Caru Swami’s view that we should 'go along with the time' with regard to women working side-by-side with men." Maharaja's words? (bolding added)

"The weak must serve the strong, that we see everywhere, is it not? Who can deny?"

Well, true enough—we do see it everywhere. But is it right? Is it just? Is it fair?

In the letter before us, Prabhupada so far seems unfazed by such doubts. The domination of the weak by the strong is, in his eyes, dharma—part of the unalterable nature of reality, and he goes on to extol it as immediately beneficial: "So that competitive spirit makes us strong, otherwise it is a society of weak men only, and what is the good of such society?"

HH Bhakti Raghava Maharaja sent a Position Paper on varnasrama development, passed by the Regional Governing Body (RGB) for India, to several PAMHO conferences:

"For everyone's information, this is the Position Paper passed by the Regional Governing Body (RGB) for India on varnasrama development. This came about as the result of recommendations presented by the Varnasrama Development Committee for India (of which I am a member) established in September, 2007 by the RGB India body. I believe this document is of relevance to all devotees around the world."

by Sita-pati das

In the Vedic conception of marriage, which is the social model used by ISKCON, marriage is not simply a commitment or contract between two people—it is a contract between two people and the community.

Especially when people are married in the temple in front of the Deities, the spiritual master, the sacred fire, and the devotional community.

Later on, if they decide to get divorced they are not simply breaking their commitment with each other, they are breaking their contract with the community—effectively they are excommunicating themselves from the community.

Whether you like it or not, Jehovah's Witnesses are always ready to do two things (1) Distribute books (2) Sit down and talk with you, and help you to understand. ISKCON has many book distributors, but we need more gurus.

After people have read one of Srila Prabhupada's books, and if they want to know more, their first question is often something like this: "How can I find out more about all this? Do you have any meetings in my town?" or "Are there any other Krishna people living near me?" That was my first eager question at the age of sixteen when I received a Back to Godhead magazine in the streets of Nottingham, England.

These resolutions I found looking through the published minutes of ISKCON's Governing Body Commission, mostly in Dandavats.com archives.

Originally I wanted to provide a reference of laws that exist in our society to deal with problems between rank-and-file devotees and their managers. Such procedures have been laid out by the GBC and I'll publish them here a little later (almost falling asleep, and will have to spend most of tomorrow at the lab's and my doc's waiting room).

I found the spirit of this Guideline from 1996 very inspiring, though, and wanted to bring it to your attention straight away. If everybody followed this, there'd be much less problems than we see today...

Were I to name the one human act most responsible for the wrongs in this world it would be, hands down, the abuse of power.

As far back as our history books can relate, the strong have exploited the weak. From time to time, the exploited, energized by resentment, rise up and overthrow their exploiters. In this way, the strong and the weak periodically exchange places. Even so, the principle of exploitation remains inviolate.

Although Balabhadra of ISCOWP still thinks he is 29, his body begs to differ. It is manifesting a life time of hard work and sending messages he has to slow down.  To help him make the transition from hardy outdoorsman to the more sedentary life that fills his future, I gave him a tie. A tie with cows on it. I even got him to sit on justnowcoming firewood for a while instead of cutting it to pose for this picture.  While I offered to tie it for him, he surprised me by tying it himself.

by Vijay Venugopal das and Prema Padmini dd

With Sasthivara and Gandhari

Sasthivara makes a living by selling paintings. He told us a bit about Russian history. Russian people, by nature, prefer a strong leader and are not interested in conquering other countries. In fact, the various nationalities in the Russian federation are from small countries which joined Russia to get the protection of a strong king.

Russians are so simple and obedient that, when Harikesa Swami, the previous GBC, told them to rise in the morning, shower, and chant for two hours, some of them misunderstood and actually stood in a cold shower for two hours while chanting japa!