iskcon london (uk)-2008 03-march newsletter

8/14/2019 ISKCON London (UK)-2008 03-March Newsletter

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IS

KCONL

ondon

NEWSLETTERMARCH 2008

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNAKRISHNAKRISHNAHARE HARE

HARE RAMA HARE RAMARAMA RAMA HARE HARE


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A.C. BhaktivedantaSwami Prabhupada

The Founder Acarya of theInternational Society

for Krishna Consciousness


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HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNAKRISHNA KRISHNAHARE HARE


GAURA PURNIMA FESTIVAL2008

On the 10th and 17th, KrsnaPranadhika devi dasi gavepresentations in GlendowerPrimary School. The firstpresentation was aboutReincarnation and Karma

and the second one wasabout Arati. This culminatesin 14 visits to this particularpublic school in SouthKensington to date.

On the 19th and 20th, 50pupils from James WolfePrimary School visited theTemple together with 10teachers and parents. KrsnaPranadhika devi dasi gave a

presentation; the studentsgot dressed up, attendedarati and took prasadam.This was their third visit tothe temple.

On the 27th, 32 studentsfrom CAPA, an exchangeprogramme with anAmerican University paid avisit to the Temple. KrsnaPranadhika devi dasi gave

two presentations and theytook 24 Bhagavad-Gitas.

On Friday 12th March wecelebrated the auspiciousappearance day of Lord SriCaitanya Mahaprabhu.The Temple decorationsbegan on the 10th Marchwith several devotees work-ing at least 3 weeks prior tothis on paintings for theTemple walls. All devoteesfelt inspired with the earlystart to the decorations anda mood of anticipation of agrand festival was felt by all.The Temple room was deco-rated by Bhaktin Anna Luciaand the Temple building wasdecorated by BhaktinBhavisha. Bhaktin Marthapainted an 8ft long painting

of Lord Caitanya for thereception area.On the day itself we started

with Mangal arati led by HG Jai Nitai dasa with approxi-mately 40 devotees inattendance. Guru Puja wasled by HG Nrshimapalli dasa.Deity Greetings was at 8amwith a new outfit for TheirLordships. HG Ranchor dasasweetly serenaded Sri SriGaura Nitai with Sri KrsnaCaitanya. HG Ranchor dasaalso gave an enliveningclass on the Sri Siksastakamusing the pastimes of LordGauranga as illustrations ofthe verses.After the class HG RadhaLondonisvara dasa led bhajans until 12:30pm whichwas accompanied by a slide

show presentation preparedby Bhakta Biju. By nowdevotees were gathering for

TempleRefurbishment

News

The third floor of the

Temple building is in its

final stages of refurbish-

ment. We used the semi-

nar room for the Gaura

Purnima Festival and it was

liked by everyone especial-

ly the high quality of work

carried out so far

newsISKCON EDUCATIONAL SERVICES


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March 2008

GAURA PURNIMA FESTIVAL

2008-continued

the Maha Harinama and sowe set up a rolling darshansystem which enabled allthe devotees to take dar-shan of Their Lordships. TheMaha Harinama was led bySrila Prabhupada on a large

palanquin and followed byGuru Priya devi dasis GauraNitai deities. In total therewere about 200-300 devo-tees in attendance. Whilethe harinama was going onwe also had bhajans contin-uing in the Temple whichwere led by Bhaktin Cassie.After this a drama was per-formed by the Krsna club

devotees on the pastime of Jagai and Madai. This wasfollowed by the abhiseka ofSri Sri Gaura Nitai andaccompanied by Vrindavanstyle bhajans led by HGDeva Deva dasa.

HG Radha Raman dasa gavethe evening class on theimportance of chanting theholy names in order tounderstand the mood ofLord Caitanya. By 4pm thenewly refurbished seminarroom was in full use with aTV link to the Temple roomvia our webcams. Gauraarati was ecstatically led by

HG Radha Rama dasa. Theecstasy culminated in thefeast being served at 8pmboth in the Temple roomand the restaurant. Afterprasadam HG RadhaLondonisvara dasa and HG

Radha Raman dasa led kir-tan until 11.00pm.Overall we had at least 600devotees join us for thiswonderful event. Also thefestival was fully sponsoredby our congregation and wehad over 50 volunteersassisting us.

FESTIVAL APPRECIATIONI would like to thank to all ofyou for giving me and the oth-ers an amazing Gaura Purnimaexperience. I am very muchinspired by your service and

feel very fortunate for your

association. I am sure that LordCaitanya was very pleased onFriday (not only that day). MayHe bless all of you even more.Your servant, Bhaktin Hana.

Iskcon London Monthly Report - Page 4


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HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNAKRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE

HARE RAMAHARE RAMARAMA RAMA HARE HARE

newsOUT AND ABOUT WITH THE

TEMPLE PRESIDENT

On the 2nd March, Jai Nitaidasa spoke at SouthamptonUniversity.

On the 6th March, Jai Nitaidasa spoke onVegetarianism with 20 stu-dents in attendance.Actually for the past 3months Jai Nitai dasa hasbeen speaking at KingsUniversity on a series oflifestyle management lec-tures. On the 6th March thestudents who attend theseweekly talks decided to sur-prise Jai Nitai dasa with abirthday party.

.. we were very excitedupon realising that his birth-day was coming up soon -especially considering that it

was on a THURSDAY - theday of our transcendentaluniversity meetings! Thetopic for that week was

'vegetarianism' so naturallywe needed to provide amagnificent vegetarian feastbut even more so as it wasthe appearance day of ourfavourite effulgent monk. Inthe last 3 months Jai NitaiPrabhu has really impactedour consciousness in a won-derful way - whether due tohis familiar approach to uni-versity students, or hishumorous preaching style,or just by being the exem-plary Vaisnava that he is, insome way, shape or form,we have all felt nurtured byhis presence. Wanting toreally express our heartfelt

gratitude, yet knowing thereis not much we can offer thisself-satisfied personality, wethought he might

like....CAKE! Well, everyoneelse definitely liked it asthis rather large cake disap-peared very quickly. Wewrapped up with a miniharinama through LondonBridge station, and evenattracted 1 person to join in!Knowing that Jai NitaiPrabhu has one million andeight other things to do, weare unbelievably gratefulthat he comes to preachevery week. By his mercymay Kings College becomeKrishna Conscious! (BhaktinSuriti)On the 7th March, Jai Nitaidasa spoke at the home of


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sOUT AND ABOUT WITH THETEMPLE PRESIDENT -continuation

WHO'S AMAZING?

the Dattani family.

On the 8th March, Jai Nitaidasa spoke at the home ofVaisnavananda dasa.

On the 9th March, Jai Nitai

dasa gave a Sunday Feasttalk at the temple entitledHow to capture the Lord inthe heart.

On the 13th March,Jai Nitaidasa spoke on the Essenceof the Bhagavad-Gita atKings University.

On the 22nd March,Jai Nitaidasa spoke at the home ofVenu Madhavi Mataji with40 guests in attendance.That same day, Jai Nitaidasa, also went on a home

visit to see the newly initiat-ed Krsna dasa.On the 28th March,Jai Nitaidasa and RadhaLondonishvara dasa, stayedovernight at the home ofMahesh and Josna Vaidya in

Crawley. There was anevening programme consist-ing of 15 family membersand friends. The programmewas bhajans, class andprasadam and on the 29ththere was a full morning

programme. On the 29thMarch, Jai Nitai dasa andRadhaLondonishvara dasaattended Ananta Acaryadasas home programme.There were 40-50 guestsand Jai Nitai dasa gave a

general talk.

Iskcon London Monthly Report - Page 6 March 2008

This month we present theservice of Gauranga dasa, acook, a porter and a bhogashopper.

Originally from Uruguay,Gauranga dasa is a discipleof Bhakti BhusanaSwami. He is married andhas an 8 year old daughter.

He is a very good father andhusband. He is now 42 yearsold but is energetic as ayoung man.He became a devotee when

he was 19. He likes theDeities at ISKCON London,our former temple presi-dent, Mahadyuti dasa, whowas helpful for him, and hisservice. Gauranga feelsgrateful to be with the devo-tees here at Soho and hesees how Krsna protectedhim and his family by giving

him a chance to serve here.

He serves at ISKCON Londonsix days a week (45+ hoursa week). He regularly

drives to the fruit and veg-etable market at early hoursnormally before 3:30 am. Hebuys all the bhoga, loads itin the van, drives back,unloads the van, parks thevan, carries all vegetablesdown the hatch alone, chopsthem for restaurant, putsaway leftovers, cleans up

and then leaves. He alsocooks for Govinda's on somedays.He does all this almost daily.Whenever you speak with


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newsWHO'S AMAZING?-continuation

him he is always happy andsmiling. He has so muchenthusiasm and energy. Heis a high octane devotee -but seemingly devoid of thepassionate crashes into mis-ery or anxiety or disharmonywith others.He also daily explains the

menu to the cooks, makessalads three times aweek, and one to two daysa week makes bread,popadoms, and pakoras.

His steadiness and dedica-tion are amazing. He is veryenergetic and has good

relationships with devotees.He travels to work all theway from out near theBhaktivedanta Manor -EVERY DAY!

Interview by Akrura dasa

FOOD FOR LIFEWe distributed 1,260plates of prasadam inMarch. We also purchaseda new drinks container

and table. This is a greataid to the service, and isalso appreciated by thehomeless people we

serve in Lincolns InnFields.We had our regular sangameeting this month too. It

was attended by Bhakta Joe, Bhakta Elin, BhaktaAashish, and BhaktinDeepti. At the end of the

meeting the group joinedBhava Bhakti devi dasiscounselee group forprasadam and to wish

Bhaktin Hana good luck inCambridge.



HARE RAMA HARE RAMARAMA RAMAHARE HARE

VISITING VIPSWe were fortunate to bejoined by the followingdevotees:

HH Jayadvaita Swami

Ranchor dasa

Radha Raman dasa

On the 8th March wewatched a DVD lecture dur-ing Srimad Bhagavatamclass by HH Tamala KrsnaGoswami to mark Maharajasdisappearance day.

HARINAMAAt least two daily harina-ma, including Sundays,with four to ten devoteeseach day, and many more

devotees on Saturdayevenings. On Friday 28thMarch we had our month-ly morning harinama inplace of the SrimadBhagavatam class.


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APPRECIATION

I was staying in the Sri SriRadha LondonishvaraTemple in the year 1996 andthis is the experience I willnever forget! I think due tothe mercy of thedivine deities and theextremely pleasant Bhaktas

and matajis I had thegreatest time ever! It wasextremely devotional! Areally devotional atmos-phere which I would love tolive to experience again inthat very temple!My humble regards and JAY

to all of you in the Sri SriRadha LondonishvaraTemple!. Hare Krsna.Tomislav Ki

This appreciation wasreceived on our website.

Dear Akrura

It was a pleasure to meetyou yesterday.

Thanks so much for the deli-cious food, I will certainly be

eating at the restaurantagain. It was very upliftingfor me to visit the temple,chant and hear you speak.I enjoyed your talk. Itseemed to go down verywell with people.

Stay Blessed

SHOLA AREWASpeaker, Coach, Author


Why I serve at ISKCON

LondonI serve atI S K C O NL o n d o nbecause

J a y aR a d h aL o n d o nI s v a r a . . .

Prabhupadera prana-dhana

he

In 1976 Srutadeva Dasa, theTemple President inLondon, wrote to SrilaPrabhupada asking ifit was acceptable to chantJaya Radha London Isvara...Prabhupadera prana-dhanahe in kirtana, (adapted

from the song, Radha Krsna

Giti). Srila Prabhupadareplied in the affirmative.

(Letter to: Srutadeva, 30October, 1976).

BY Bhakta Kevin - sankirtanaadministrator

Why I serve at ISKCONLondon

If I was asked why I serve inISKCON London, and thatmeans 'Central London', I'dhave to answer that I don'tdo so much. But when I do, Iam sold out to this temple

because Sri Sri RadhaLondonisvara are SrilaPrabhupada's favouritedeities, they're my favouritedevotees, the mood isalways high with trauma(purification) and transcen-dence, and there's morepreaching to do here than

anywhere else I can think of.And, London is pretty centralto this planet, which is pret-ty central to this universe, sowhere else would you wantto serve?'

Your servant,Bhakta Matt


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www.iskcon-london.orgMap Overlay Mar 1, 2008 - Mar 31, 2008Comparing to: Site

Visits

24 2,799

3,477 visits came from 5 continentsSite Usage

Visits3,477% of Site Total:100.00%

Pages/Visit2.03Site Avg:2.03 (0.00%)

Avg. Time on Site00:04:51Site Avg:00:04:51 (0.00%)

% New Visits49.04%Site Avg:48.98% (0.12%)

Bounce Rate58.56%Site Avg:58.56% (0.00%)

Continent Visits Pages/Visit Avg. Time onSite

% New Visits Bounce Rate

Europe 2,799 2.07 00:02:24 46.80% 58.38%Americas 370 1.87 00:25:11 38.65% 61.08%Asia 254 1.90 00:02:47 80.31% 57.09%Oceania 30 2.20 00:02:10 86.67% 46.67%Africa 24 1.71 00:02:18 91.67% 70.83%

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TEMPLE WEBSITEIn March 2008, we had 3477 visitors from 60 COUNTRIES


10/10I k L d M thl R t P 10 M h 2008

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THEFINANCE CONTROLLERHG Ram Charan dasa

4.00am Wake up.

4.30am - Mangala arati at home and chant rounds.

7.00am - Light Breakfast

7.30am - Start for the temple

8.30am - Start work

10.00am - Meeting with Sandhya Vandana Mataji, my assistant.

10.30am - Meeting with Suddhatma Prabhu, the Restaurant Manager.

12.00pm General ad hoc office work & a quick lunch.

2.30pm - Prepare a cash flow report for tomorrow's TLC meeting.

3.30pm - Meet a congregation member who wants to contribute800.

4.00pm - Prepare a procedure for dealing with online donations.

4.30pm - Check emails.

5.00pm - Sort out a problem with the temple credit card.

5.15pm - Take darshan of the Deities.

5.30pm - Meet Ananda Lila Mataji regarding deity sponsorships.

6.00pm Meeting to discuss our finances for the temple refurbish-ment.

7.00pm Meeting with my counselee Zubin Mehta.

9.30pm - Say "Hare Krsna" to Zubin and make my way home.

iskcon london (uk)-2008 03-march newsletter

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