Crawley Massive!

Went to see one of my counsellee's today who lives in Crawley.

Her name is Josna and she is married to a great guy called Mahesh. They have two lovely daughters who are full of beans.

Josna is an amazing cook and so stuffed me good and proper and then we spent the rest of the time ribbing Mahesh - which was fun. :o)

They have Gaura Nitai deities and are bringing up their kids to be aware of Krsna and how to lead a Krsna Conscious life.

It was very impressive to see.

The ideal leader

"So the future of this Krishna Consciousness movement is very bright, so
long the managers remain vigilant that 16 rounds are being chanted by
everyone without fail, that they are all rising before four in the morning,
attending mangal arati-our leaders shall be careful not to kill the spirit
of enthusiastic service, which is individual and spontaneous and voluntary.
They should try always to generate some atmosphere of fresh challenge to the
devotees, so that they will agree enthusiastically to rise and meet it. That
is the art of management: to draw out spontaneous loving spirit of
sacrificing some energy for Krishna. But where are so many expert managers?
All of us should become expert managers and preachers. We should not be very
much after comforts and become complacent or self-contented. There must be
always some tapasya, strictly observing the regulative principles-Krishna
Consciousness movement must be always a challenge, a great achievement to be
gained by voluntary desire to do it, and that will keep it healthy."

Srila Prabhupada

Ignorance

There is one Supreme Eternal Being, Krsna, and there are innumerable living beings, the jivas. The jivas are always eternally dependent on the mercy of Krsna, it is our constitutional position. And knowledge means to always remember that and act with that understanding. And the source of all ignorance is to forget that principle and act according to that forgetfulness. So the liberated soul is the person who never forgets that I am the humble dependent servant of Krsna. And the conditioned soul forgets, thinks I am the doer, I am the controller, I am the enjoyer, by my strength, by my intelligence, by my wealth and influence, I will find the real solution to my sufferings – impossible ! This is illusion!!.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

Jiva Jago !

Sometimes at piers you see large barge boats being pulled by small tug boats.

This is because the large barge boats have their engine turned off and so are easily pulled by a small tug boat.

Similarly the powerful spirit soul - part and parcel of Lord Krsna - is being pulled by dead inanimate matter - our material body, mind and senses - because we have fallen into a slumber in our conditioned state.

Jiva Jago !

Wake up sleeping soul !

Spiritual Friendship

I wanted to write a piece of appreciation for my dear friend - Anita Bradley - who lives in sunny Blackpool !

I have known her since 1996... we have been pen pals since that time... having been introduced by a Srila Prabhupada disciple called Jagatam devi dasi.

Anita is a kind, sweet, funny and very intelligence person.

She has obstacles to contend with just like we all do but she still nonetheless continues to plod on and just gets on with it.

Actually in the Nectar of Devotion, Srila Rupa Goswami explains that one of the qualities of a devotee is patience. When we first come to Krsna Consciousness we tend to run around with blinkers on.. everyone is great... the devotees are pure devotees, the holy names are sweet like honey, the Deities are the Absolute Truth... and than as time sets in due to over familiarity or a lack of sincerity we start to drop our standards a little or become less guarded in her appreciation of the Vaisnavas around us.

But those who are sincere know that this process is a slow and steady walk towards Krsna... not an impulsive sprint where you burn out at the first hurdle and my dear friend Anita is an example of the importance of being patient.

All glories to you Anita !

Me and my mate Shelina

Here is a picture of me (left) and my mate Shelina (right) from Ireland.

She came for a flying visit last week and we sat in Govinda's and chatted until chucking out time!

LADIES MAHA HARINAM SANKIRTANA DAY !

SATURDAY 28TH FEBRUARY 2009

Location Croydon

Meeting in Soho Street Temple reception at 10.00am ... (UK time please)!


"Books are the foundation stone of our movement. Whatever we are is resting on these books. Reading them and distributing them-this should be our motto"

Srila Prabhupada - August 21, 1975, to Radhaballabha

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Prasadam Distribution

We need devotees to make (egg less vegetarian/vegan) cup cakes/muffins so we can distribute prasadam.

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Kirtan

We need

Mrdanga players
Harmonium players
Kartel players

We are gonna have a rockin' harinam through Croydon!

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Book Distribution

You can learn how to distribute on the street, shop to shop or even door to door.

It all adds up and is all equally important !

************************************************************

So come on ladies... grab your bead bags and some of Srila Prabhupada's books... and join us for a great Krsna Conscious day !


PS: Satisfaction guaranteed!

God and Science

God and Science.

The perfect marriage.

Srila Prabhupada often called Krsna Consciousness the science of knowing God.

This is because this process is not based on wishy washy sentiment but backed with a highly intelligent philosophy centering on the knowledge of the spirit soul, material nature, time, karma and the Absolute Truth.

Behind this gigantic material nature is an intelligent design created by the greatest designer... God - Lord Sri Krsna.

Krsna created the four seasons, one after another they rotate and compliment each another.

Krsna created the sun and the moon which nourishes our food and gives us heat and light.

Krsna created the law of gravity - which is so super intelligent that it makes massive planets float in the sky like cotton wool buds. Who else can do that?

Krsna created a large banyan tree and than also created tiny seeds within the tree that produce large banyan trees of their own...

We can go on all day listing the amazing attributes of Krsna and His great intelligence.

And than daft scientists say there is no God and no intelligent design... !

Ha ! Even getting out of bed has some sort of intelligence behind it... left foot first and than right foot. Walk to the bathroom... avoid walking into the wardrobe etc.. does it not??

So why be envious of someone who is far far FAR superior than you?

Anyway check out the link below... :o)

http://krishnascience.com/

Humility

The Production Line of ... Life

Today I was at my brother's house and saw a clip of a cooking programme set in France.

The scene depicted a farmer forcing geese to eat corn by stuffing a L-O-N-G pipe down their mouths .... it was gross!

This was done so the geese were fattened up and so ripe for the market.

After the corn had been force fed down their mouths the geese were ruthlessly pushed to one side while the farmer moved onto the next unfortunate goose.

It was awful to watch.

Srila Prabhupada explains that in this material world man suffers due to the sinful acts he commits both individually and also collectively. As a nation we collectively suffer through famine, war, climate change due to the sins carried out in the name of so called democracy and modern living.

I was thinking that the conditioned soul is also like the unfortunate geese in that we originally come to the mateiral world wanting to 'dip our toes' into the mateiral pleasures to be found here and before we know it maya is force feeding us ... through the uncontrolled senses and mind.

And just like the poor geese we also wonder around totally dazed by the attacks of the mind and senses ... like on a factory conveyor belt... waiting for the day when we come to the end of the production line of life.

What's the solution?

CHANT ... HARE KRSNA... NOW !!!

Cooking for Krsna!

Today was my first day in the pujari dept performing service after my brahmin initiation.

I cooked Krsna's breakfast with my able assistant - Param Sundari devi dasi.

We made, sabji, halawa, puris, fruit salad and hot milk.

It was a great experience and one I am eternally grateful for to Srila Prabhupada - our dear founder acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. If Srila Prabhupada had not taken the trouble to come to the western world I would not have had the opportunity to perform direct service for Lord Krsna and Srimati Radharani.

Jaya Srila Prabhupada !

Krsna willing I will be cooking every Friday morning.

Pure Devotional Service?

Why do we perform devotional service?

Is it due to love of Krsna? Or Srila Prabhupada?

Or is it because we have a love of ourselves?

If we do not maintain a sense of consciousness of Krsna in our spiritual lives through regular chanting and reading we can so easily become mesmerized by our own puny efforts. This leads to us thinking we are the doer... and that leads to frustrations and anxiety. Why? Because we start to think we have to achieve certain tasks and the success and failure of these tasks depend on us.

We also start to cause offences as we start to measure the devotees abilities in comparison to ours.

The Krsna element of our devotional life completely disappears at this stage. Only if He chooses to be merciful does He step in and nicely arrange a lesson whereby you ... and others around you... are reminded that actually He is in charge and that you are just a tiny jiva struggling with the mind and senses.

No compromise!

For my part I have taken up the policy of my Guru Maharaja—no compromise.All these so called scholars, scientists, philosophers who do not accept Krsna are nothing more than rascals, fools lowest of mankind etc..

Srila Prabhupada letter to: Karandhara—Bhaktivedanta Manor

27th July, 1973

Maha Counsellor/Counsellee Gathering

Here are the pics of our recent maha counsellor/counsellee gathering.

I am wearing my brother's red wedding hat and my dad's kurta! Looked like Mr Blobby... one too many pakoras me thinks!

Anyway I wrote about this in an early posting... it was a sweet evening.

Hopefully many more to come.

Mr Anil Agarwal hosted the event in his house in Mayfair.

The Great Brain Robbery

Here are some pictures of my counsellee group performing 'The Great Brain Robbery'.

We invited all the other counsellors and counsellees to one of our meetings.

We chanted one round together, had a small kirtan, performed the play, had a game of spiritual charades and than prasadam!

We plan to hold many more meetings like this.

Spiritual fellowship ... I strongly believe this is the key to spiritual longevity.

Cooking the Sunday Feast!

Yesterday my counsellee group cooked the Sunday Feast.

This is the second time we have done this and lets just say... it ain't just the puris being fried when engaging in such intense service!

The counsellee's who attended were:

Bhavisha, Cassie, Bhudevi Sundari dd, Dhanistha dd, Sonal, Yogesvari (also known as Yogi bear), & Param Sundari dd.

We were guided by the master chef know as Deva Deva dasa.

We made x2 sabjis, puris, sweet rice, pakoras, plain rice and dahl.

It was so much fun to come together and have the same goal of serving Krsna. We all mucked in and chopped and peeled and stirred where necessary.

PS: Pics to follow!

PPS: We finished one hour early and so all went upstairs at 3.50pm to attend the Sunday Programme.. now that's what I call team work!

100% Casualty Rate

So in this great battlefield of the material world, no one survives. 100% causality rate. Every soldier from the little cells to the biggest conquers of the world, to the whales, to the lions & tigers; everyone is conquered, no one survives on the physical platform, why? Because that is the nature of material existence, you cannot change the nature of prakriti, prakriti is eternal, it is the eternal energy of the Lord, its manifestation may be transforming constantly but the principle is eternal and it cannot be changed, no matter what efforts we try to make. Therefore we should know the only way to find real peace or happiness is the soul must understand its own identity beyond the three modes of material nature of this material existence, then you rise above these modes.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

Guru and Disciple - spiritual teamwork

“. As the disciples become stronger, the spiritual master become also stronger. Each of you whether you are initiated or not, you have a distinct influence on your gurus consciousness. It is like team work. A team is as strong as all of its players. So, as you do your service with care and devotion, you actually help to bring more strength and protection to your spiritual masters. As you allow yourself to become weak and deviant, then you make it more complex and difficult what the spiritual master has to do. According to the kind of potency he has and the kind of guru that your spiritual master is, it will also have an influence on how much he is able to deal with the negativity that you present or that you have. If the gurus capacity is not so strong and too many disciples are also deviant, then there will be trouble. If you engage in sins after you have made your vows, then it is as if you take a brick and throw it at his head. Because as you make such vows and you deviate it is like you are attacking your spiritual master. But the opposite is there also. As you do your services with devotion and care, then even though your guru is in the other part of the world you are sending him an exchange of love and protection."

HH Bhakti Tirtha Swami

(Croatia 2001)

The Mercy of the Spiritual Master

In truth, everyone is dependent on the mercy of Krsna, whoever we may be, the difference between the maha bhagavatas and the condition souls is the maha bhagavatas never forget their humble position that they are insignificant jiva atmas that they have no power to withstand the influence of Krsna’s own energy in the form of maya and therefore they are helplessly dependent on the mercy of Krsna in every stage of their life, they never consider that there is any protection in this world outside of the mercy of Lord Krsna. Therefore they are always begging that mercy and, of course, we understand that Krsna’s mercy manifest, through his great devotees; the spiritual master is the representative of Krsna’s mercy, therefore even the most advanced pure devotees of the Lord they always, very, very humbly and sincerely take shelter of their spiritual masters because they know this is where Krsna’s mercy is coming to me. Krsna wants me to be the servant of the servant of the servant, He has proclaimed in so many ways, in many places that nothing would please Him more than this. So therefore my dependent position of receiving Krsna’s mercy and protection is very much depending on how I serve the spiritual master with love and devotion.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

Simply Chant and Hear

One devotee asked me yesterday what is the best way to chant. To hear and think of Krsna or to chant and hear the holy names.

I thought about it and said to chant and hear.

When we chant and hear we are automatically thinking of Krsna as He is non-different from His holy name. So there is no need to tax the brain to think of pastimes of Krsna while we chant.

It is all there in the holy names.

The key is to not strive to add on new thoughts about Krsna but to keep out the old thoughts... "what is the time?", "what will I have for my breakfast?", "look what she is wearing", "got to email so and so" etc etc.

These extra thoughts are like obstacles on the path of attentive chanting.

One way to get rid of them is to turn up the volume of the chanting. Like in a music studio. You have different buttons and levers to turn off and on and turn up and down. In the same way we got to turn the volume of our chanting up so it overpowers the sound of the other thoughts in our mind while we strive to chant.

It is not easy but as Lord Krsna says in the Bhagavad-Gita: "... it is possible by suitable practice and detachment.". Bg 6.35

In God We Trust

In God we trust?

Oh really?

What does it mean to trust in God?

Recently I was reading the life of Srimati Tulasi devi and the introduction was clearing up a doubt or disturbance some people have with regards to the story (I won't spoilt it for you!) of Srimati Radharani cursing Srimati Vrinda devi.

How could Radharani do this? She who embodies devotion to the Lord? The most super devotee of the Lord.

It is explained by Amala Bhakti Prabhu that pure devotees of the Lord are so fully surrendered that they give their mind, body and soul to the Lord. This means that they TRUST God and accept that whatever He does is all good.

Therefore in relation to Srimati Radharani, She was used as an instrument whereby She seemingly cursed Vrinda devi, but who as a result went onto become so dear to the Lord that she always resides at His lotus feet and on His neck in the form of a garland.

Even Laxmi devi, who tends to Lord Visnu's feet all day, has to leave from time to time to see to her devotees petitions but Vrinda devi is always to be found where ever the Lord is.

Now that is what you call TRUST in God.

That however you want to handle me my Lord... I am your surrendered servant life after life.

Time - the eternal destroyer

In the jungle the lion is not a afraid of any other animal, he just roars and everyone they either have to run or you have to be his food or if he happens to be satisfied that day then he would just cast his mysterious glance upon you and you think oh what will happen to me tomorrow, everyone is afraid of the lion and the tiger because they are the king of the jungle, they are the best survivors, so they are very proud, who can harm me. But then human beings come and they capture the lion, they bring him to the zoo and put him in a cage and here is this great, great powerful lion that has conquered the whole jungle and little children are standing in front of the cave, the lion is just fried up who is angry as anything; he is totally insulted and humiliated by these little children which he can eat within a second but he can’t get to it, he is roaring and just pacing back and forth foaming at the mouth, conquered. And then we have the human beings even the greatest more powerful human beings, everyone is being conquered by someone else according to the Bhagavatam even the greatest most powerful kings in our history they are like little puppets in the hands of their queens, conquered by their lusty desires and ultimately some other person is there to try to tear them down. And ultimately time conquers everything.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

Knowledge is thy power!

"The more power you have to do the right thing, the more you are held responsible when you do not do it; as they say the bigger you are, the harder you fall; the higher you go up, the more it hurts when you hit the ground…. So whenever we get something, there is also a responsibility that comes with us, materially that is the karmic law and spiritually that is the law of God."

HH Radhanath Swami

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This is a nice point to mediate upon.... the fact that you are held accountable to the degree that you have knowledge to know better.

Recently I have seen one devotee go through the same test again and again... it is amazing.... they are suffering the same type of situation over a span of several years.

Why is this?

Because they are not stopping to see how their actions can be improved so they do not react in the same way each time. And so hence they keep getting tested.

How many times do we have to bang our heads on the wall before we realise that.. "ow - that hurts!"

I guess material life as a whole is like that. We keep falling for the illusion that we are our bodies and thus dipping and diving in the material ocean of misery.

How to stop this?

Gain true knowledge by reading Srila Prabhupada's books.

Fellowship

Today was the first Ladies Sanga Meeting at ISKCON-London.

It was organised by Bhaktin Shital, Param Sundari dd and myself.

We had kirtan, Krsna katha, some more kirtan and than prasadam.

There were 7 ladies who attended - 2 of whom were newbies.

It was a sweet programme and increased the feeling of fellowship.

This concept of fellowship is important in Krsna Consciousness - if you feel that you belong and are loved than you stick around longer. You feel someone cares for you and also you feel accountable too. If you don't attend festival days or don't chant... someone will pull you up. And that is good. That is required.

Spiritual life is hard enough in this material world - like swimming up stream - as it is a dyametrically opposed function in this universe where everything comes natually down.

So I am glad these meetings are going to be monthly.

We all need someone to support us and to be able to associatate with like minded individuals.

The next meeting is on Tuesday 3rd March - 6pm tp 8pm - residents study room - see you there!

Steel hearts

What are the symptoms of a hard heart? Enviousness toward others, jealousy, thinking ill toward others, hoping the worst for others - these are symptoms of a hard heart. False pride, wanting to take credit for what we have done and loving to hear ourself honored - this the sign of hardness of heart. Material attachment, lust - kama - for the pleasure of the senses; greed ... anger, illusion - these are all symptoms of a steel-framed heart.

And if we want to taste the nectar of the holy name, our heart must become very soft.

HH Radhanath Swami

Surrender to be free

Yes, this attitude of surrendering to the Spiritual Master is the best
qualification of spreading this movement of Lord Caitanya. That is the Vedic
way. One should have unflinching faith in Krsna and similarly in the
Spiritual Master. That is the way of understanding the secret of Krsna
Consciousness.

Letter to: Bali-mardana
—
Tokyo
25 August, 1970
70-08-25

The opulence of humility

The Lord of Eternal Bliss

Today is the sweet and blissful appearance day of Lord Nityananda.

The most kind, compassionate and generous 'brother' of Lord Caitanya.

At ISKCON-London we had festivities all day from dramas, kirtans, maha harinams, abhisek... and of course that old staple favourite .... prasadam!

I had prasadam with my counsellees - Param Sundari dd and Bhaktin Bhavisha. Boy can they eat. :0)

This is what life in the Hare Krsna Movement is all about - chanting, dancing and feasting. It is a happy life. Even if you do not accept Krsna as God does not matter. We all adopt some sort of lifestyle and so why not adopt this one? It is healthy (we don't eat meat, fish, eggs or even onions and garlic), we don't gamble, we don't take intoxicants and we don't engage in illicit sex.

But what we do engage in is activities on the platform of the soul - this means we are always content and happy ie: like placing a square peg in the square hole... material life is like placing a square peg in a triangle hole... it ain't ever gonna fit ... and just causes frustration.

So please try to learn a little about Lord Nityananda.

He is freely distributing LOVE OF GOD... and the price?

Your faith.

Nityananda Rama ki .... jay !!!!!

Free Tasters of Spiritual Bliss

When we first come to Krsna Consciousness we see all the devotees as pure devotees, the holy names are sweet, the capacity to serve is unlimited, the future is bright...!

Give it a couple of years and what happens?

We start to discriminate amongst the devotees, the good, the bad and the down right ugly!

The holy names taste rough like sandpaper.

Someone is always bugging us to do some work .... sorry I meant "devotional service".....

The future seems bleak.... got to compensate with a little dip in the material ocean in order to keep some variety in life...

So why is this?

Because when we first come to Krsna Consciousness, Krsna gives us some freebies. Like when we go to Boots or Superdrug and we get a free tester perfume or cream. We can use this cream once or twice... but if you keep coming back to use it the security guard will grab you!

You either pay for the large version of the cream or you get out!

Same in spiritual life... Krsna gives you free tasters ... here is a glimpse of the nectar of the holy names, here is what it feels like to see all devotees as servants of God, here is what the bliss of engaging in My eternal devotional service is like...

And when we keep grabbing at the freebies .... Krsna comes and swipes the carpet from under our feet.

"So you want Me? (Krsna says) "You gotta pay the price .... you willing to do that??"

Peace on the battlefield of life

If you ever think there will be a peaceful situation in this world that will last for long that is your illusion. There is no question or possibility of peace in a battlefield, your fighting is constantly going on, from the beginning of creation to destruction, every element of material existence is having fights, gross and subtle and yet we are trying to make some nice arrangements for peace by our material manipulation through politics, through medicine, through social welfare work, through philosophy, through religion, we are trying to create peace in a massive battlefield where the fighting never ends. The only way to achieve peace is to transcend the material existence which is a place of war, survival of the fittest; even in your little body, if there are good cells and the chemicals in your body they will survive. In the jungle, the big animals they survive and the little animals are devoured; in the water, the big fish survive and the little fish are devoured; in the sky the big birds survive and the little bird are devoured or they are at least in fear of being devoured, this is a world of the survival of the fittest, Bhagavatam says one living being is a food for another and however big you are, you are going to be a food for someone.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

Mad Mind

Don't listen to the mind... it is a fickle master - when we are conditioned by material nature.

Alarm goes off in the morning ... don't get up (says the mind) ... hit the snooze button... go on... it won't harm you to get 5 more mins in bed (says the mind)...

Arrgghhhh!!!

5 mins turns into 30 mins....

Oh no... gotta chant all my rounds before 7am - Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna.... can't hear the words... does not matter (says the mind) .... just keep chanting...it is getting the rounds finished before 7am that counts on the sadhana chart ... not the quality (says the mind)....

Rush rush ....

Wanna catch SB class at the Temple... calm down (says the mind) .... there is no hurry... you always make it just before the speaker starts his sermon.... chill out .... grab another 5 mins in bed... (says the mind).....

Chant all your rounds in one go!

"Srila Prabhupada explained that if you want to remain strong in Krsna consciousness we must chant 16 rounds everyday and we must, we must read his books very carefully."

HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj

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So there you have it .... the secret to success in spiritual life.

I personally (by Krsna and Guru's mercy) chant all my rounds in one go and find it is so powerful to defend myself against the onslaught of Maya.

One time Brhat Mrdanga Prabhu said if we chant all our rounds in one go, in the morning, than it is like putting on spiritual body armour against the material energy.

Why not give it a try?

Chant all your rounds in one go and experience the bliss!

Bhakti Sastri Course with VIHE

I am an online Bhakti Sastri tutor for VIHE - Vrindavana Institute for Higher Education - for the 3rd module.

The books studied in this module are, Nectar of Devotion, Nectar of Instruction and Sri Isopanisad.

I have about 20 correspondence students.

I like this service as it means you have to be always reading these texts in order to be able to answer all the students questions.

I also gained my Bhakti Sastri qualification through this course in 2007. My tutor for the 3rd module was Bhagavata devi dasi and she passed the reins onto me when I graduated.

Bhagavata mataji lives in Ireland and is a very kind and wise soul.

If you don't have the time to commit to 3-4 months in the holy dhama... than I would highly recommend this course. Not because I am one of the tutors ... that is just an occupational hazard I am afraid! .... but because it means you can fit in studying Srila Prabhupada's books into whatever status of life you find yourself in.

I find that when I am lax in my reading of Srila Prabhupada's books than my spiriutal consciousness becomes really weak.

And when I read Srila Prabhupada's books daily (at least 1 hour) than the material energy really cannot touch me.

For more info go to: http://vihe.org/

An internal revolution of our inner consciousness

To the degree we serve our own ego or the ego of others, to the degree we are intolerant to others, to the degree we demand respect or disrespect others, is to that degree we are servants of our false ego and we are bereft of our understanding of our real Krishna consciousness. So this is what Krishna consciousness really is.

It is an internal revolution of our inner consciousness for the sake of bringing about the awakening of our real humility, devotion and our desire to serve. As devotees, it is our goal of life to present ourselves in a way that Krishna can enjoy. We want to present in our own life the beauty that Krishna can appreciate and take pleasure in. Vaishnava etiquette is a process in which devotee deal with one another, relate with one another and it is based on those relationships that we make real spiritual advancement and really attract Krishna. It should be second to nothing else. However much pressure, however much necessity there is in our practical service, if it is at the expense of proper devotional relationships with our godbrothers and godsisters and other devotees, we should know that we are defeating our own purpose.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

How to be spiritually strong

We have to earnestly and honestly try our best to keep ourselves in strength. When we are reading everyday, hearing Srimad Bhagavatam everyday, coming before the deities everyday, when we are chanting our rounds everyday, when we are associating with sincere devotees everyday, we are showing Krsna I want to be strong, because these are things that give us strength; if we neglect these things, we are showing Krsna I don’t really care to be strong, when the test comes I don’t really care. We really have to show Krsna we are very sincere and this is how, by following the regulative principles carefully, chanting our japa attentively, coming into the kirtan with sincere devotees, developing intimate loving relationship with devotees, eating only Krsna prasad and not karmic food, these are things, reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, hearing the Bhagavatam, they give us spiritual strength and when we are nicely situated in our varna and asrama we are accepting the means by which Krsna gives us strength. Krsna says yes this person is serious, this person is taking everything I’m giving him or her so I will help that devotee over come the tendency of previous conditions and become pure.

H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj

ISKCON-London

During the day I work for a Central Government dept based in Holborn and after work and on the weekends I am usually to be found at ISKCON-London.

The Temple is on 9-10 Soho Street, London, W1D 3DL.

We have a Govinda's restaurant next door (where I can be found if not in my office!).

All the devotees I serve with are amazing.

It is said we are only as great as the tolerance of the devotees allows us to be and believe me ... they have to tolerate a lot... from me!

My voluntary services are in Temple Administration, Education Dept, Counsellor System. I also serve on the TLC - the Temple Leaders Council.

Krsna is so generously and mercifully engaging me in areas which both interest and challenge me.

All glories to the holy dhama of ISKCON-London and all its devotees!

Caring for Devotees

At ISKCON-London we have a spiritual Counsellor System based on the hugely successful model used in ISKCON Chowpatty.

The concept being that one devotee looks after junior devotees in his/her group and acts like a guide/friend/support/mentor/servant in all things spiritual.

We also assist (as best we can) in material life issues too.

I currently have 15 counsellees.

They are (in no particular order):

Krishtee, Josna, Bhavisha, Cassie, Gopi, Bhudevi Sundari dd, Param Sundari dd, Sonal, Georgina, Yogesvari, Priya, Dhanishta, Sandhya, Prebha, Pallavi.

They are a great bunch... all so individual and very sincere.

I find this service makes me strive to become a better person myself and more fixed up in sadhana and behaviour. If I am not spiritually strong how can I help my counsellees?

I meet most of them in a 121 meeting and also we meet twice a month on a Friday from 6pm to 8pm where we chant japa, discuss Krsna Katha, learn how to sing devotional songs, plan group activities like cooking the Sunday Feast and .... honour prasadam!

I sincerely believe that the humble cheese cake was invented soley for my counsellee meetings !

Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara

These are the presiding Deities at ISKCON-London, Sri Sri Radha Londonishvara.

They are Srila Prabhupada's favourite Deities and are without a doubt the MOST beautiful Deities in ISKCON and beyond !

Hare Krishna !

Hare Krsna! My name is Bhava Bhakti devi dasi and I am a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

The secret of being happy?

Act on the spiritual platform, think on the spiritual platform and live on the spiritual platform.


"Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt."
Lord Krsna - Bhagavad Gita - 12.8

My Spiritual Master

This is my spiritual master - HH Radhanath Swami.

I was first initiated into the chanting of the maha mantra on the 31st July 2005 at Bhaktivedanta Manor. I remember my pink sari was the same colour as Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda's outfit!

I was mercifully second initiated on the 15th September 2007 again at Bhaktivedanta Manor.

My spiritual master is kind, compassionate, friendly to all living entities, highly realised, a great dancer (!) and my best friend.

I hope I can make him proud.