Gratitude

It is funny how when you first come to KC life you really really really appreciate what mercy has befallen you.

Then you became sincere and serious and start to make firm commitments in the movement and with the process.

This leads to taking up responsibilities and becoming reliable.

Slowly however you start to lose touch with reality I feel.

You start to become wrapped up in yourselves to such an extent that you don't have the time or the desire to reach out to others.

You have no taste for book distribution for harinama.

No time for those recreational activities - too busy trying to keep up with my important services and just trying to keep my head above water with the balancing act of material and spiritual life.

But if you think about it someone took the time to reach out to us.

Someone stood on the street corner until we walked by and took a book.

Someone walked/danced on the street corners congregationally chanting the holy names until we stopped and took interest and ventured forward to take a leaflet.

So you see it is so important to have some regular self renewal time.

Why am I here?

How did I get here?

Where am I going?

What can I do to show my appreciation to Krsna and Srila Prabhupada for bringing me to this wonderful life?

London Temple - most important !

One wealthy Indian industrialist has promised a large sum to construct a
magnificent temple in or adjacent to Regents Park in London. So I am asking
you to help me try for this by finding out some land in Regents Park. I have
heard that one mosque has been built there on land given by the government.
Please find out and report to me. As soon as you have secured something very
nice send me details of the property and I shall come to London to finalize
negotiations for it. I think if such a nice place is there, London may
become the world headquarters of our Krishna Consciousness movement.

Here in India we are very encouraged by the favorable response of the Indian
public, especially in Bombay. We shall begin on December 2nd a tour to
Indore, Surat, and other places. Still, Guru Maharaja has instructed me to
take this movement to the western countries, and especially he was favorably
disposed toward London, so the West must be our first order of business, and
I am most pleased that my disciples are opening many new centers there. Why
don't you open some more centers in the British Isles? If you can do this,
in cooperation with your zonal secretary Shyamsunder, it will be to your
great credit.


New centers must be managed by strong men, trained in philosophy,
samkirtan, deity worship, cooking and temple business. With these
qualifications there is every chance for a successful program in any city
of the world. So kindly train up men in your London center to open many
centers in England.

Srila Prabhupada letter to Murari 1974

Cooking the Sunday Feast!

Last Sunday my counsellee group cooked the Sunday Feast - here is me with a bowl of carrotts for the VERY spicy sabji which I made... !

Yogesvari tackles the salad - two large bowls of it.

Ever calm and sattvic Dhanistha stirs her pot of dahl

Bhavisha helping out Sonal with her sabji.

Cintia peeling apples for the apple crumble and Julia cheesingly looking on !

Harinam

Two of my counsellees - Julia, (me) and Sonal - before we went on a 2 hour harinam last Saturday

Julia armed with Prabhupada's books and me armed with kartals !

Happy pics!

Me and Julia (one of my counsellees) waiting for the tube to Chigwell. I was supposed to give a talk on chanting and Kunti devi at a Ladies Spiritual Retreat but we found out it was cancelled... just as we were 2 stops away from the venue.

Nice communication eh??

Drowning my sorrows about the cancelled programme in Govinda's restaurant... having an ekadasi feast !

40 years of Hare Krishna!

http://www.radhakrishnarecords.com/

Check out the link above.

It is all about a special album that will be launched on Saturday 1st August (3.30pm to 9.30pm) to commemorate 40 years of Hare Krishna in London.

Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara & co !

These are my worshippable Deities at ISKCON-London.

They are Srila Prabhupada's favourite Deities and were installed by him 40 years ago !

Love Krsna

What is the point of chanting every day?

Or reading Srila Prabhupada's books daily?

Or trying to ensure I only eat Krsna prasadam?

It is to LOVE Krsna.

If I have not developed love for Krsna but am ticking off my sadhanachart each night making sure it is full up and looking good ...what isthe point of that?

When I come before the Deity I will feel nothing.

When I sit in a class I will be bored and wish I was somewhere else.

So the whole point and true test of whether we are making advancement in our spiritual life is whether we love Krsna.

Does not matter if you live in the temple or outside.

Does not matter if you wear nice fancy saris or wrinkle free dhotis.

Sometimes we can get so caught up in all the rules and regulations that we become Krsna Conscious without Krsna.

We externally show the signs of being a devotee but internally thecleansing process is the bare minimal and so there is no change of heart.

Without a change of heart we cannot approach Krsna and without approaching Krsna we remain in a sort of ground hog day... rising,chanting, reading, performing some physical activity in the guise of devotional service, eating and sleeping.

But because no Bhava (spiritual emotion) is churned out of us we become jaded, frustrated and bored...

Ratha Yatra 2009 Pics!

What a lovely day we had on Sunday 28th June - the 41st Ratha Yatra in the UK !

In case you are wondering... I am the chubby one in the white and green leaf's sari.

Jagannatha Baladev Subudra ki... jaya !!

Me me me

In spiritual life we find the initial attraction to be most fulfilling.

This is because you generally have devotees giving you a lot of attention and whatever you do is glorified and magnified.

After this initial honeymoon period - when the dust settles a bit – you find that there is a new kid on the block.

You are not noticed so much.

You are expected to just get on with it.

You even start to be pulled up for services which you do badly or make mistakes in.

This is the real testing period in a devotee’s life.

Are you sincere enough to just continue and carry and wait patiently for Krsna’s mercy?

Or do you falter and start to throw tantrums and blame your authorities all in the name of wanting attention?

The more you advance in spiritual life the more you realise that it is not actually about “ Me me me” but it was always just about “Krsna Krsna Krsna”.

Sense gratification and Krsna consciousness go ill together

When we first came into Krsna consciousness we are very amazed how Srila Prabhupada, as well as his representatives, most of their lectures were simply about the subject of giving up sense gratification, how deadly sense gratification is to one’s spiritual lives. And we have one wonderful devotee here who has told me and others, that he would go to many, many kathas where days and days and days sometimes six hours a day, for six-seven days would just be all kind of nice stories, some philosophy for years and years, but he never heard anyone say that you have to give up sense gratification!! When he came to the Hare Krsna temple immediately everyone is telling him that he must give up sense gratification and these classes and facts are hammered into our consciousness to the extent that a devotee feels guilty about sense gratification. So this is very good because Prabhupada use to say that sense gratification and Krsna consciousness go ill together, just like if you take cold water and throw it into burning hot ghee - what will be the reaction? They simply would not mix, it will create a violent reaction because they are opposites.

H H Radhanath Swami