namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

by Kaunteya das

Actually the method doesn't even deserve the verb 'serving.'

The "system" is: someone brings breakfast prasadam (generally the morning maha plus something cooked in larger quantity and a drink) to the prasadam hall in plastic buckets of different sizes (often without enough spoons for serving); then people come and make their plates.

Ali Asalim Air Base, Kuwait

 I am sitting in Kuwait at the moment, having finished fifeteen months in combat, the time I have here is a very slow pace. The operational tempo I am use to is slowing down, making more time in my life for devotional activities.

We arrived at 0400 hrs and were processed. Afterwards I wanted to stay awake for the long flight, but there was a problem—our plane was broken down in the States.  Oh well, I thought, let me go and walk around.

by Kaunteya das

In the temple where I am at the moment there is Srila Prabhupada's room. Actually Srila Prabhupada visited twice this temple, and therefore his room is "really" his room. There is also a Deity sitting in the room (in the "holding the translation microphone" mudra), and in front of the deity sit, day and night, brooms and other cleaning utensils.

Here at ISKCON Silicon Valley we are in the middle of our Janmastami Vyasa Puja Sankirtan Festival, which is another two weekend event. We've completed the first weekend and we are heading into the second. Below are the emails that Vaisesika Prabhu has sent out to inspire us to perform the sankirtan yajna.

Today is Rupa Goswami's disappearance day. It was also the day of the last program in Iraq. This program was with the Indian-bodied contract workers here on the base. While going over material to discuss during the class it made perfect sense to speak about the pastimes of this pure soul, Srila Rupa Goswami. ...

But to my amazement more people kept coming, and more and more! When the program started the place was packed, there was no sitting room. I made a remark that all of Mosul is in there, and one man said "Prabhu, this is the last program, everyone is here because we don't know if a devotee will ever be in Mosul again."

by Kaunteya das

The building has some unofficial affectation at officially representing ISKCON in town, and we were shocked to observe some of the incongruities in appearance and accommodation, towering among them the inappropriateness of the bathroom facilities.

There has been some confusion in my mind lately and some sadness. One friend has decided to go brahmacari (not officialy even, he lives at home with his parents still). To him brahmacari means not talking to any ladies at all. Not the ones who he used to be good friends with, not the ones who introduced him to Krishna in the first place. Is this fanaticism? Is this pleasing to Krishna when many delicate feelings of other devotees are being hurt and tears are being shed?

I was approached by one officer in my Squadron, she wanted to relay a story about an event that happen to her lately. She told me she was at headquarters and two senior sergeants were standing at the smart box that is set up in the little recreation center, holding two books. She said oh, great those books again.

They asked her, "Ma'am, do you know what these books about?" She said "Yes, I do. They are from Sergeant Sonnenberg."

I received an email from HG Ratna Bhusana Prabhu, seems there was another soldier in Iraq reaching out for Krishna. When i opened the mail and saw the name I realized I knew this guy. Bhakta Andrew is a friend of mine that I met after a tour in Iraq. We met at a skatepark in Germany and became friends. He was already a vegetarian and over time became favorable to Krishna consciousness.  He received a Bhagavad-gita from me and read it, then left to the States for his next assignment.

Affluenza:

• feelings of unhappiness, stress, and guilt induced by the pursuit and possession of wealth
• #A feeling of dissatisfaction, anxiety, etc, caused by the dogged and ongoing pursuit of more.
• a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more
• 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.

The ashram is officaly closed, because we have to make room for our replacments; I had to move in with another senior leader in my unit. Before I moved I asked my detachment sergeant if I could have one more day to do a last morning program.

I sent out the invitations, and in the morning of the program set up a book table and made a small feast. I woke up extra early, woke the Lords, and started chanting my rounds.

Mother Urmula gave a wonderful class this week I always look forward to her classes and the many insights and analogies she uses.
This one is that of a child learning to walk the clip is available on youtube via the link below:

[Watch Video]

Also some insight on what is Prasadam, it should make you think again the link is below:

[Watch Video]

I hope these small edited clips are satisfactory and that you get as much out of them as I do.

In his blog View From a New Vrindaban Ridge Madhava Gosh Prabhu quotes a conversation between Srila Prabhupada, Hari Sauri Prabhu, Ramesvara Prabhu, and Jagadisa Prabhu during a train-ride in India. In this conversation Srila Prabhupada esplains how he expects his disciples to create a Krishna conscious society based on varnasrama-dharma.

by Vasumurti das

In his book, Holy Cow, author Steven Rosen (Satyaraja dasa) does an expert job of explaining the philosophy and history of the sankirtana movement to nondevotees. He begins by quoting Srila Prabhupada as saying, "Real philosophy is nothing more than this: 'friendliness to all living entities.'"

Rosen explains that devotees do not artificially renounce the material world, but rather engage it in Lord Krishna's service. Offering one's food to Krishna is a standard Vaishnava practice, which Rosen compares to the Eucharist in Christianity—sacramental food.

Our Bhaktivinode Thakur Sankirtan Festival begins today with a harinam procession in downtown Palo Alto. Here is an excerpt from an email Vaisesika Prabhu sent out to inspire everyone for the upcoming festivities.

It is a really amazing glimpse into the heart of a vaishnava; I am very grateful to be connected to such a wonderful personality.

I have found mys self thinking I'm too busy to serve krishna. I mean I chant my sixteen rounds every day, and the days I don't, I make up for them the very next day. I read Srila Prabupada's books regularly, wether it's ten minutes or two hours, there's always some time in the day to read a little.

The service I'm talking about is getting out there and spreading Krishna's names, pastimes, and glories to the rest of the world.

Pandu das shared the following on Pariprashnena.com:

I just composed the following e-mail in response to a "hot dog sale," which I intend to send to my office of about 200 people during lunchtime today:

As His Holiness Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaja put it so succinctly: "When men are men, women are women."

That's a simple yet powerful statement with profound implications in terms of both ideal and strategy for implementation.

A lot of problems come when unqualified men demand that roles be respected when qualification is not present. This is the same dynamic that lead the people to reject the varnas at the time of Buddha. Similarly people have rejected traditional gender roles.

Just as both Buddha and Sankara demonstrated at their relative points in the course of social development, we need intelligent readjustment. We have to keep the goal in sight like the pole star ("normative view" in the language of Krishna-kirti prabhu), and work our way back onto the "royal road" of varnasrama (as Srila Prabhupada describes it Bhagavad-gita—the safer path).

These days it is hard to ignore the mounting evidence that something is not quite right, stolen elections, wars waged for false reasons, the lies surrounding 9/11, the erosion of the constitution and basic human rights, and mass murder. The conspiracies are so blatant that they are obvious facts not far fetched theories.

Some devotees think, that because they are devotees, they must preach instantly to whomever they meet. Perhaps if we had the required force of purity, we could effect changes in people’s hearts on first contact. The reality is however, that not everyone has the required sukrti to appreciate our words; we have to create it for them.

Being in the workplace alongside the same faces, day in and day out, can present challenges for a devotee keen on preaching. Simply letting everyone there know one is a devotee, who always has a superior say on any issue, will more likely cause others to think we are highly opinionated and indifferent, have lost the ability to socialize properly. This will lessen or even destroy any chance of developing the required sukrti for them to hear Lord Caitanya’s messages.

A few weeks ago I had a realization that it's healthy to be proud of something that's worth being proud of. That's kind of axiomatic, isn't it? Pride without something worth being proud of, however, is pathological, and that's the kind of unrealism that gets people into trouble.

Here's something worth being proud of:

Staff Sgt Aristotle Sonnenberg, aka Partha-sarathi das, a US soldier deployed in Iraq, was recently awarded a medal for exemplary bravery and leadership in combat conditions. This award recognized his pivotal role in saving the lives of 56 injured Iraqis while under fire.

Hare Krishna.

I have the good God given fortune to work at a place that challenges staff and clients to think outside the box, to challenge our daily habits and routines, to do things consciously and with purpose, and to reach our human potential.

Lately we have been speaking about two things that make me think about Krishna consciousness and the way we practice it.

First, we are focusing on breaking out of routines, out of our daily little comfort box we live in, going to new places, meeting new people, trying new tasks, etc. There is a big world out there with unlimited possibilities if we put on our creative hats, but human beings have a tendency to get stuck in the comfort of routine.

The first is that the idea of charity is very important for creating a spiritual revolution in society. In Srimad Bhagavatam 1.17.38 Srila Prabupada specifically mentions charity "up to fifty percent" as one of the three principle points in his manifesto for respiritualizing society. If we are going to really spread Krishna consciousness in a major way, to create the spiritual revolution that Srila Prabhupada repeatedly speaks about in his books, then we will need serious resources to make that happen. Of course the commitment of resources follows from a personal commitment to spiritual life, but a commitment to spiritual life is tangible. It is not just a vague sentiment but practical action.

There is always an opportunity to share with those we meet love of Krsna

The other day I was at home doing some research, I had been due to go to the Manor illness however prevented me. I also feel that cold calling is one of the hardest things to do, so answering my door to such a caller is very rare