namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

The Royal Opera House in London with the arched glass frame of the Paul Hamlyn Hall to the left

Maybe this is why I always feel so light-hearted when I’m in south India?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8767763.stm

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson – ‘The Rebbe’

Today is the 16th anniversary of the death in 1994 of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the spiritual leader of the Lubavitch Jewish community. Back in the 60s and 70s, when the Hare Krishna movement was just finding its feet, he inaugurated a ten-point campaign for Jewish people.

Those were the words of British Prime Minister David Cameron in the House of Commons yesterday as he gave an official apology on behalf of the government to the families of those involved in the 1972 Bloody Sunday shootings.

After the longest trial in British legal history – 12 years – involving 922 witnesses, and at a cost of £195 million, the findings of the Saville Inquiry were finally made public.

England football team captain Bobby Moore borne aloft with triple goal-scorer Geoff Hurst flanking him on our left. It was 1966 and we had won.

This post is not about Vaishnavism per se, but it is about someone who revitalised a religious tradition with a new spiritual awakening; who brought the attention of the masses away from a sole focus on intellectual discussion and legalism to a more practical approach to spirituality.

The volcano in Iceland that’s stopping the planes flying. (Picture: Associated Press)

The intercalated month of the Vaishnava calendar, known as the Adhika Masa – or ‘the extra month’ – begins today. This month is a great opportunity for improving your spiritual practice.

I just uploaded a short video about it here

By happy coincidence, my theme of spiritual movements, self-absorbed leaders, reluctant leaders and would-be leaders continues today with this piece sent out by ISKCON’s governing body. The GBC has rightly seen fit to clarify its position with regards to repeated statements made by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja of the Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti.

I recommend all my regular readers to download the document and give it their attention for a few minutes, then pass it on to anyone who may be interested in such matters.