In today’s environmentally aware world, it may shock guests to find out that some ISKCON centers – while claiming to represent a society of spiritual welfare workers and self-sufficiency exponents – serve their vegetarian meals on Styrofoam dinnerware.

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1968 February 7 : "There is no question of our not being popular to the world. Our program is solid, and backed by most authoritative literature. Simply we have to present ourselves in true perspective."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1968 February 7 : "If some of my selected followers form a Kirtana party and have an extensive tour all over the world I am very much hopeful of being successful . We shall consult together. "
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1968 February 7 : "Regarding your proposal for opening a center in London: I am prepared to go there at any moment. Even I do not mind the severe cold."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1968 February 7 : "Man proposes, God disposes. I do not know what is Krishna's desire, but I have chalked out my program. Pray to Krishna that He may give me strength to render some service to you and humanity at large."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1969 February 7 : "You have described very nicely his preaching work in Europe more than 35 years ago, but you have not mentioned anything about my humble service now going on in the Western world. Why??"
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1969 February 7 : "It is up to you to cooperate with me. As a bona fide disciple trying my best to fulfill His holy desire, I have got the right to ask from you a plot of land in Mayapur for this purpose."
Letters :: 1969

1975 February 7: "It is the mercy of Krishna that you are getting fair warning of your nearing death. You must be very careful and always praying to Krishna that you will not forget Him at the time of dying."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975:

1975 February 7: "Everyone has to die sometime. Take advantage of this advance notice, consider it a blessing and prepare yourself to go back to home, back to Godhead."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975:

Haribol, spirit souls!

Since the dawn of time, devotees have wanted a way to read The Hing without having to wade through leagues of posts about my weird little life.

And now you can!!

Announcing…

www.thehing.com

We’ve got quite a bit of fun in store for you.
Stick around.

A december 30-i előadás folytatása.

By Radha Mohan Dasa

On Wednesday 13th February devotees and supporters will be peacefully protesting against the horrific and unnecessary killing of our Mother cow Gangotri outside British Parliament.

By Gauranga prasad das

The Uttarakhand government will now buy 5,000 litres of cow urine every day and then sell it to Ayurveda pharmacies.

By Bhaktin Sara Bock

One lady who I work with ended up in the hospital - in a room that happened to have a view of the LA Krishna temple. She had learned some mantras in our meditation class at work, and had visited the temple once when we took a field trip there.

I’m entering a maelstrom. For the past week I have circled around the edge, lurching over the swelling waves. Now, as I look toward next week, I prepare to enter the heart of the whirlpool. The raised pattern on my steering wheel has practically become printed on my hands as I drive around the edge [...]

CHENNAI: ‘Ahimsa silk’, the fabric made without killing silkworms, is increasingly gaining popularity in foreign countries

The more we can engage ourselves in talking about and hearing about Krishna, the more we will become ecstatic, the more we will taste the bliss of Krishna consciousness. Therefore those who are intelligent arrange their lives in such a way that they can 24 hours daily engaged in hearing and chanting the glories. They attend classes on Krishna consciousness...

Here's a good explanation of what a blog is and what it's role in human relations is.

It's also a good demonstration of presentation techniques.

After the recent Bhakti Retreat at Springbrook a few of us went to Prem Yogi's place, where he cooked a pizza feast. We were going to have the pizza feast for lunch on that day at the retreat center, but when we fled from New Govardhana farm in the face of rising waters on Sunday evening we left the cheese behind in the fridge there! Enjoy New Govardhana-dhamavasis!

So we went to Prem's place and he made pizza (including a vegan one that he and Param Satya ate), and we went around and shared about our time on the retreat.

Not everyone who was there that evening is in this shot, but here we are - tired, but ecstatic!

Check out some photos from the previous weekend's hatha yoga retreat at Springbrook over at the Atma Yoga website.

My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.

- SB 10.14.8

Continuing the SBC talks, this time from Soho Street:

A great interview with Akrura das, from Gita Coaching:

You can learn from the past but don’t get stuck in it. Don’t cling to it, don’t dwell on it and don’t grieve over it. For example, the old way of leadership of command and control doesn’t work anymore. Both in spiritual and material organizations you experience the same. You can’t lead people as you used to. There has to be a new style, a new type of leadership. I think that right now our leaders are staggering between the old and the new style.

I had a good experience of what I call the new style of leadership in ISKCON. I had a conversation with our GBC secretary about an important question. During the conversation he took notes. When I finished he said: ”Let me see if I understood everything correctly.” He read his notes for me. He asked a couple of questions to be sure that he had understood everything correctly. You can imagine how I felt. I felt completely understood and very inspired over the fact that this leader was interested in what I had to say. I spoke 95 percent of the time.

In conclusion, although there are problems, there’s a lot of positive things in ISKCON and a number of effective leaders. And coaching helps to understand and develop effective leadership.

The Hare Krishna have been offering hot, inexpensive, vegetarian meals to University of Florida students every week since 1971. On any given day the karma friendly group can serve up to 1,000 students. But due to the rising cost of food as well as the eco-friendly plates and silverware, the group is running short on money.

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Digitaries travelled from all over the country to take part in Bhaktivedanta Manor’s ‘Bhumi Puja’ ceremony on Sunday 3rd February. The ground-breaking ceremony included chanting of 10,000 year old Sanskrit prayers, ancient costumes, traditional dances, and devotional singing to the accompaniment of Indian drums and cymbals.

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In a recent discussion on recording devices His Holiness Jayadvaita Swami introduced this device - the Zoom H2.

It has four built-in mics for 90, 120, or 360 degree stereo recording. It uses an SD card up to 4GB. It can record in mp3 or raw wav format at greater than CD quality. It can do post-recording mp3 encoding. You can rename or divide files on the device. You can pan and mix down the recordings, including doing 5.1 surround sound authoring. It has a built-in guitar tuner and a metronome. It can take an external mic.

Sweet!

Basically for all your kirtan and lecture needs, this is it.

Price: AU$299 on ebay.

(shoutouts to abrennan for the ebay link)

A verse and purport for those 'difficult' times when trying to distribute books:

"“This is the natural result of intense love of Godhead. The devotee does not consider personal inconveniences or impediments. In all circumstances he wants to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT It is natural for those who have developed intense love for Krsna not to care for personal inconvenience and impediments. Such devotees are simply determined to execute the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His representative, the spiritual master. In all circumstances, even amidst the greatest dangers, they undeviatingly carry on with the greatest determination. This definitely proves the intense love of the servitor. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.14.8), tat te nukampam su-samiksamanah: those who seriously desire to get free from the clutches of material existence, who have developed intense love for Krsna, are worthy candidates for going back home, back to Godhead. An intense lover of Krsna does not care for any number of material discomforts, scarcity, impediments or unhappiness. It is said that when one sees apparent unhappiness or distress in a perfect Vaisnava, it is not at all unhappiness for him; rather, it is transcendental bliss. In the Siksastakam (8), Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has also instructed, aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam [Cc. Antya 20.47]. The intense lover of Krsna is never deviated from his service, despite all difficulties and impediments brought before him.

CC.Madhya 4.187-

When I first tried to sell straight books I was horrible at it. I did not know what to say and I did not even believe the sound of my own words! I was a new devotee. I was only trying because I had some push from the temple authorities. I certainly liked Bhagavad-Gita but I could not preach. After so many bad days I finally cracked and just sat down on a seat in the airport and cried my eyes out. There was a service man near by and he stopped and said, "What's the matter, Mam, can I help?" I mumbled to him that I was supposed to be selling these books but no one bought them. He said, "Well, I might buy one," I still felt like crying but I squeeked, "But...you don't know what it is about! There is Krsna, and this is Arjuna, and they are talking on a battlefield and this is a classic literature..." I was so stuck on saying lines, not really trying to relate them to whoever I was talking to. It was clear he felt sorry for me. He gave $20 and took the Bhagavad-Gita. I was startled by his kindness toward me. That was one of my very first sales and I still remember it so well because it embarrassed me so much. After that I had to seriously consider how impersonal and proud I am and how it prevents me from really caring for people. Krsna had arranged to show me this through a nondevotee. Sankirtana is the mirror.

Your servant, Karuna Dharini dd

Since we're in the maths mood, here's some 'relationship maths'.

Ok ladies, I apologise in advance for any political incorrectness here, but I thought it was rather clever. The teacher gave it an A+ so it can't be all that bad.

I just posted photos from Athens harinama on kcswa.multiply.com

In the summer of 2006, I visited Mayapur and Jagannatha Puri for the 1st time with my family and a group of devotees. While in Puri, after the Jagannath temple darshan, we all started making arrangements to get back to Iskcon Puri as soon as possible, since it was already dark and many devotees were tired. Since transporting so many people in one vehicle wasn't possible, we set out in small groups. Me, my father and my sister hired a cycle rickshaw. The rickshaw seat looked big enough for only 2 people but the driver insisted that 3 people sit and that it wouldn't be a problem. Investing some trust in that rickshaw puller we somehow crammed into the cycle rickshaw. Though we were uncomfortable, our main objective was to get to the temple ASAP since we were starving. We had no idea about the plan that Krsna had for the three of us that night.

by mrupa

In the earlier days, Mud was a personality in its own right in the universal form of the dhama.

Mud was almost all pervasive; it didn’t only live behind the cow barn, but one step out of any doorway. A throughway of it ran down the middle of Bahulavan and poured down two driveways along the embankment that led to the main road—which in the very early days was also mud when wet. Mud added earth tone color to everything from clothes to boots to socks to animals, man and machine.

A couple successive rainy days would usher in the 18inch brown stand out hemline on every sari. (In the cold months the frozen wet hems would act something like a dulled saw blade scraping bleeding scratches on calves and ankles). There was an old floor length formal black prom dress that in conjunction with a beat up army jacket served as the stool clothes for the women for what seemed like ages. It had the record Mud hem of any piece of clothing on the farm, Depending on how tall you were, it came up to mid-thigh or so. It was pretty much impossible to be discreet about what you were doing or where you were going with that get up on.

New Vrindavana Mud had a life and sense of determination of its own. It was simultaneously one of the most cloying of natural glues; as attested to by the myriad numbers of boots sucked off feet and hopelessly embedded in the muck. And the leg muscle training devotees could get by carrying 10lb. mud overshoes on each foot while trying to walk from one place to another.

Yet the Mud was so slippery it was the most nearly impossible substance to walk uphill against even slightly, without being unceremoniously dumped on your face. Or, if you possessed a truly transcendental sense of balance, you might just simply slide helplessly back down any incline you were trying to scale time after time.

Mud was the great leveler, nature’s crash course in how we are not the controller. Living and working with it was an exercise in true grit.

Mud was one of the first scouring ‘powders’ in New Vrindavana. The best way to clean the pots being used to cook for the mammoth 1972 Bhagavat Dharma festival was to use mud mixed with ashes (and the circular center of a Mason jar lid) for the really baked and burned on stuff.

And of course, mud was also unlimitedly and readily available tilak.

There was one other embankment incline at Bahulavan; a short 10ft. shot that left you rather abruptly at the doors to the duplex style outhouse behind RVC’s temple.

When that little slide was in form it could, if you aimed yourself right through art or accident, shoot you straight through the doorway and into the seating arrangement of the business closet in one fluid motion. On occasion it could cause rather embarrassing albeit amusing close encounters between someone sliding pell-mell down the bank into the surprised arms of anyone just exiting one of the doors.

There is, of course, no plumbing in an outhouse. The refuse was managed by lying down on your stomach, extending your torso as far over the edge of the pit beneath the seats of the house as you could without overtiping yourself and scooping out the deposits by hand from the big containers beneath with a cut off milk jug. Then you put each scoopful of the material into a 55gal. barrel waiting to be hauled out by the horse cart to the fields.

It was quite and extraordinary experience: serving the devotees in a very fundamental way, being in such prolonged and close contact with the ‘dust’ of the Vaishnavas, and the witness of one of Srila Prabhupada’s examples…the worm in stool.

If the receiving barrel stood long enough while it was full enough, you could actually see the little critters swimming around in there, diving and wiggling. I tried two experiments with them. Took one out and sure enough the little guy was just in a major sweat to get back into the soup. One Sunday after the feast I brought out a little halavah. And, yup, just like Prabhupada said, you can offer them halavah, but they’re not interested one little bit. The poor little blighters; how like them we can be.

So things have been a little turbulent in my life as of recent. Every time I think I have had things figured out, what to do, where to go, when to do it, etc, something else would factor into the decision making process and make me reconsider everything all over again. So many tests have [...]

Have regular bowel movements and constipation escape you must eat more fiber. Fiber Materials of vegetables and fruit, is better for you than fiber cereals. Why? Raw vegetables and fruit is the use of live food enzymes, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and many are charged with electricity. They have a magnetic field energy is absorbed your DNA. To get more fiber, from this source and less from the grains.don 't forget water. If you do not get enough water during the day, your body will be taken out of your excretion of water in the colon and make your stools hard. Drank at least three glasses of pure water a day and work until drank 5 - 6.here 's if you need to do some "fiber work," you need to increase your fiber intake to about 40 -6 0 milligrams or more. Yes, this is a very large. In the past, I have recommended 35 mg of fiber, but this is an average. You want to have more than the average amount. Here are some foods with high fiber. Add to your eating habits, you will not constipation. Fiber is more than in your colon, you regularly, which include: * combination of toxins and trends in your stools * combination of heavy metals and trends in your stools * combination of cholesterol and bile, and prevent them from being reabsorbed into your blood stream .* help to prevent colon cancer colon and other diseases .* keep your colon walls, sound, did not let toxins accumulated .* remove toxins from the colon wall drawing holes.the following colon pockets and provide food section 3 g fiber. With all the daily diet of these foods to get more fiber to your diet. Began to eat these foods by using every little bit to eat high fiber levels .* 1 / 3 cup prunes * 2 tablets whole grain bread * 1 / 2 cup cooked winter squash * 1 / 2 cup of fresh cooked green peas * 1 / 2 cup cooked beans or Pinto beans, or cowpea * 1 cup cooked barley, 1 1 / 2 cup brown rice 1 cup millet * 3 tortillas * 1 1 / 2 cup Italian noodles, 1 / 3 cup spinach The Spaghetti * 1 / 6 cup 100% Bran, 1 / 2 cup cream of wheat * 1 cup apple 1 cup, Apple tablet, 1 / 2 cup, bananas, 1 / 2 cup fig * 1 cup of fruit salad, 1 cup of prune juice, 1 oz raisins * 1 / 2 Avocado * 1 cup blueberries, 3 / 4 cup??* 1 / 3 cup guava, 1 kiwifruit, 1 / 2 mango, 2 nectarine, 1 / 3 papaya * 1 orange, 1 cup peach-1 cup, pears tablets, 1 / 2 persimmon * 1 1 / 2 cup pineapple 1 cup strawberry * 1 / 2 Cup raisins, 3 / 4 cup coconut * 1 / 2 cup rhubarb, 1 / 3 cup artichoke hearts * 1.2 ounces of almonds, 1 / 2 ounces sesame oil, 1 / 3 cup sunflower * 1 / 4 cup baby Lima beans, 1 / 7 cup black bean 1 cup bean * 1 / 4 cup kidney, Pinto, white or navy beans, 1 / 3 cup lentils * 1 / 2 cup broccoli, 1 / 2 cup bean sprouts 1 cup cabbage * 2 carrots, 1 / 2 cup carrot juice * 1 cup cauliflower, 5 stalks celery * 1 cup chard, 1 cup, Mustard Greens * 1 ear corn * 1 / 2 cup mixed vegetables * 1 / 2 cup olive * 1 / 2 baked potatoes, a roasted sweet potato 1 cup yam * 1 cup tomato juice 1 cup vegetable juicehow you Do you know that when you start got a lot of fiber in your diet? When you encounter a lot of fiber in your diet, your stool weight and inadequate toilet floating in your water. Therefore, if your stools submerged in the water, then you need more fiber. This is only a general rule. If you eat excess fiber may sink your stools, but I doubt any of you fall into this category.

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One of the most important component of any child's birthday is the time spent playing games. If proper planning, they can make a great memory for the child's birthday and the guests are, and if not, they can be a minefield problems.don 't despair - a bit f orethought and common sense that we need, so that your game a smashing time round full success! Follow these 10 simple steps to great kids party games are: 1. In the group with at least 6-8 appropriate games, and then adjust according to your party's project schedule. Memory does not fail me, the best to have more than the program of activities not enough.2. Throughout each game, to remove any faults that may arise. The party's children will be pleased to be still too late to help this and get preview of the party's agenda in the process! 3. As Assistant recruit other adults, so things will be conducted smoothly and stressed that freedom. You can promise return visit, the arrival of their child's birthday! Age and the ability of your party guests, you should consider choosing a political party activities. Over a five year old will not be capable to play charades, but he could probably pop up a balloon with his bottom line to receive the Award inside! 4. Timing is everything! Your Party and the founder of icebreaker games, and guests are arriving, and end with a quiet game, to help kids wind from the party's entire excitement.5. Collecting materials, you need prior to each game and place their pre-selected kid - a safe place. Pin the tail on the donkey is not just the same, when you forget blindfolded! 6. Arbitration - Adult leaders should understand that the rules of the game, and gently enforcement. The children have a strong sense of responsibility, what are the fair and look forward to the adults so that everyone can perform the rules.7. To ensure that every child receive prizes for his or her efforts to make everyone feel like a big upset. Package candy, stickers, eraser, pencil, coins, medals and other small souvenirs to the largest awards incentives.8. Encourage and enthusiasm, motivation and let guests happy. Activities will be a complete success! Congratulations to you for a job well done! When you just feel fatigue, and the party guests go home to Mom and Dad, this is part of them, will be the most talked about! 10. Take the first letter of each of the 10 steps above, you can say what you will be complete, when you follow this guideline: A great game! Copyright 2004 children's paradise, the party's all right reservedpatricia B. Johnson is the mother of three children and the children of the party buffs. She is a network administrator and the owners children Party paradise.com -??integrity of the resources, the idea for the children, including the letter of invitation, cakes, decorations, games, clothing, personal interests, f ood.for all the latest news, read her children the party's blog.

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You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life? The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.

If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life. For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour. Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

It is sometimes rather embarrasing to realize that if there is some extra association of material sense objects, namely faces of the opposite sex, the mind is certainly attached and focused to the name and form of a mortal person...since I have cultivated this taste for countless lifetimes.

If we want to meditate spiritual things, we need to have taste for them.
Simultaneously begging for mercy to have taste for Krsna´s name and being careful with material sense objects.

Ys Mrd

In July 2007 I visited Denmark and gave a seminar at ISKCON Copenhagen about coaching. Editor of the devotee newspaper ”News from Hare Krishna” Lalitanatha dasa spoke with me on 31 July.

Lalitanatha dasa: Akrura Dasa joined ISKCON in 1983 where he moved into the temple in Zagreb, Croatia. Through the years he did service as dishwasher and book distributor as well as bhakta leader and temple president. For 6 years he worked for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in doing translations of Srila Prabhupada’s books to Serbo-croatian. Since 1999 he has lived in England with his wife and daughter. He serves at ISKCON London, where he serves devotees as a coach. I asked him to tell us what coaching is and why he started doing it.

Akrura Dasa: My interest in personal development started in 1992, when Sridhara Swami gave us the book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. That made me aware that the world outside might have knowledge and tools that can help us to become better leaders and in our service in general. I started to read about leadership and published the newsletter Leadership Excellence (It is now available in the Bhaktivedanta Vedabase 2003)
which many leaders and other devotees in ISKCON read.

Ld: Me included.

Akrura: That made me start to study principles of leadership and what I learned I tried to transfer to ISKCON. I helped our leaders and temple presidents in their service in different ways. I saw that education and training was not enough. You can have a fantastic seminar, but people are quick to forget what they have learned. I made some research about what people outside ISKCON do and found out that they don’t just educate people, but also follow up with coaching. In coaching, a coach works with his clients to help them clarify and reach their goals. Coaching helps people through obstacles, increases their options, makes them think outside inflexible thought patterns and increases motivation. It makes you responsible for the things that are important to you and helps clarify what is important to you. Coaching especially helps you to take action in ways which bring the results you desire.

Coaching enables a person to think for himself, take responsibility for his life and act responsibly. Few years ago I got myself a coach. It was a young man from Australia. A very intelligent and thoughtful person who had a coaching business by the name Lifestyle Revolution. I immediately liked the name, because we are also in favor of relvolution, especially personal revolution. We became friends via telephone and email and after some time he offered: ”I would like to coach you for free” which I accepted with gratitude.

I also met another famous and experienced coach from the USA. His speciality is helping leaders to change their patterns of behavior. I met him in London where he coached me in different ways. First he asked me why I was always in anxiety, or at least sounded like that. He made me see that this is the impression I give.

He also made me stop saying ”but” and ”no” He says that he gives a fine on $25 every time a client says ”but”. He says it’s very bad when someone is talking and you say ”but”. By that you deny or show disrespect towards what the person says. Sometimes people say ”no” all the time. It’s so deeply imbedded in them that they say ”no” even when they mean ”yes”. He has found out that many leaders are like that. Even though I don’t have a leaderhip position I tend to have the same patterns of being self-righteous, thinking I’m right, saying ”no”, arguing with people, etc.

After being coached by him I decided to take an education in coaching. It would make me credible if I had a certificate. Besides personal study I studied one and a half year with the Newcastle College and attended the intoductory course by The Coaching Aacademy. All this made me start coaching devotees in a more structured way. I started having regular sessions with several devotees including some of our leaders. That seemed to help them and they liked it.

Ld: How? What was the practical result?

Akrura: They learned to use their time better. Especially those who had a lot to do. One of the things I teach leaders is to say ”no”. That’s very difficult for them. They think their duty is to say ”yes” to everything they’re asked to do. Because we’re limited we have to say ”no”. When I succeed to convince them to say ”no” they normally become happy. It’s a great relief. Coaching also helps in your personal relationships. It can also make one better understand oneself. Many, including our most senior leaders, often want to be like their Godbrothers, so I say: ”Why do you have to compete with others? Why don’t you compete with yourself? You’re already satisfying Prabhupada. Do as much as you can. Why give yourself more stress by comparing yourself with others?”

Coaching also helps with improving sadhana. It helps one get up in the morning and chant attentively. One of my personal goals is to chant 16 rounds in one go every day without interuption. When I succeed my day and my consciousness is fantastic. Last week I succeeded 6 times out of 7. So I also coach myself. It’s an ongoing process.

Ld: Some critizise the use of worldly knowledge in Krishna consciousness. Prabhupada said he had already given us everything. We don’t have to add anything.

Akrura: Srila Prabhupada also said that if something works we should use it. Yukta-vairagya. It is false renunciation not to use something that can help you in devotional service. Prabhupada said in a conversation with Dr. Stillson Judah that we are not sectarian. We can take knowledge from anywhere. Devotees ask me if sadhana and the fundamental Krishna consciouss process isn’t enough. What’s the use of this coaching? I answer by asking ”Is your sadhana good enough?” Normally they answer ”no”. Are you satisfied with your self-discipline? They answer that it is not perfect. Then I say: ”Is everything alright in your life?” ”Is everything as it’s supposed to be?” If they’re honest the answer is normally ”no”. Then I say: ”Try this and see if it works.”

Basically coaching I do helps one to do improve sravanam and kirtanam, to have better sadhana and reading and better relationships with devotees. Coaching helps one to be a better leader and be a better example. It’s a help in practicing Krishna consciousness.

Ld: But the point is that coaching is already in our culture and in Prabhupada’s books.

Akrura: Yes, in a sense. some aspects of it are there. Lord Caitanya listened to Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya for seven days. In coaching you talk less and listen at least 70 percent of the time. Coaching is not giving advice or teaching. Coaching is something else. As a coach you listen to the devotee and help him to think responsibly and independently. When you come for a coaching session I basically help you to have a really good conversation with yourself. A conversation you often tend to avoid. I ask questions, I dig deeply into what you actually think, I help you to make it clear what you want and to be more clear about your understanding and your ideas.

I have especially noted that I have to help devotees to stop sabotaging themselves. Devotees are specialists in self-sabotage. Recently I wrote about 15 ”Krishna consciouss” self-limiting beliefs. Yesterday I got two more from the devotees here in Copenhagen during the seminar. We are good at using our philosophy to sabotage ourselves.

Ld: What are those beliefs?

Akrura: One of them is related to the story of the sage who wasn’t able to teach a boy to stop eating sugar before he himself stopped eating sugar. Yesterday a devotee told me that unless he’s a perfect example he can’t preach to others. I answered that that’s a self-imposed limitation. It’s just an excuse. You can preach even if you are not perfect. It will also help you to rise to a higher platform. You will be forced to improve because while preaching you’re making public statements.

I’ve got an example of a devotee who couldn’t follow all the four regulative principles and therefore he thought he couldn’t work on a specific project he wishes to develop. It’s a fantastic project that can give big results. He had already begun to get results but because he didn’t follow all the four principles he was hesitating in involving other devotees even though some were already interested in helping him.

I asked him to read Bhagavad-gita verse (12.10) where Krishna says that if you can’t follow the regulative principles you can work for him. By working for Krishna you’ll gradually attain the perfect state. ”Fantastic,” he said ”That’s just for me.” I answered: ”Yes, print it out, put it in a frame and hang it over your desk.” He did so. He started to work from a different paradigm. And what’s happening now? He’s starting to get results. What this project is I cannot say right now, but it can turn out to be a great preaching project.

Another devotee limited himself in other ways. He dressed shabby way. And in the name of being humble he appeared as being insecure. I told him: ”Dress as a gentleman and practice being self-confident. Do it as if you are already a success. Do a little acting. The others are not better than you. Maybe they know more than you or have more success than you but they are not better than you. If you are too humble they’ll tramble you over. They’ll think you’re a wimp. Be a little puffed up. That shouldn’t be so difficult. Haha! And then work and engage people in this fantastic project.”

He did so and the more sessions we have the more we realize how he’s limiting himself. The fantastic thing about this devotee is, however, that he has a burning desire to realize his project. He would rather die than not working on it.

Ld: When you see devotees you must have an idea that they have much more potential than they realize.

Akrura: Yes, Bhagavad-gita says that the soul is amazing. I try to see this. Not only with devotees but with everyone. Coaching helps to release devotee’s potential. Most likely most devotees are using maximum 20-30 percent of their potential.

Nowadays science can measure 7 kinds of intelligence. Some fo them are interpersonal, intrapersonal, aestetic, logical-mathematical and emotional intelligence. If someone tells me that a person is stupid I don’t believe it. Maybe he’s stupid in one area, but then he’s intelligent in another area. To be a coach is like exploring pyramids. You walk around with your flashlight and try to shed light on all the different treasures within people. When I work with devotees I try to see where their strong sides are and which creative skills they have and help them to bring these out and engage them in Krishna’s service. This also makes their weaknesses less important because they now have a fundamental strength to build upon. It’s very exciting to see what happens. Everything is built on desire.

When devotees try to achieve what they really want, their potential comes out. Sometimes it is as if a vulcano eruption happens. In the beginning this creates a certain fear. The fear of success.

Ld: I thought the biggest problem was the fear of failure. What is a fear of success?

Akrura: It’s the fear of the responsibility that success brings. If I succeed my responsibility becomes greater and I have to be a good example for orthers because others will notice me. To have succes means that people will look up to you. But the fear of not succeding is also a real thing. You know that on book distribution we all get turned down. I was never good at doing books. I couldn’t stand to be turned down. But later I learned that after failure you have to get going again fast and go ahead. The more you fail the stronger you get and you learn from it. You learn about yourself and about the world. Prabhupada said that failure is the pillar of succes. All such principles of succes are to be found in Srila Prabhupada’s books.

Ld: ISKCON has changed through the years. What do you think about ISKCON today? Could we have avoided the problems of the past through what you are working with?

Akrura: If we had had coaching from the beginning most probably ISKCON could have prevented a lot of problems. It’s just common sense. By being intelligent you avoid problems, and coaching helps you be more intelligent. But sometimes you can’t avoid problems even if you are very intelligent. You have to experience them and learn from them. Everything that has happened until now was an experience we had to learn from. Important is that intelligent people do not repeat their mistakes. They learn from them and then they don’t repeat them. We should learn from the past and move on. One of the important things about coaching is that you don’t look so much into the past. You look at the present and into the future.

Ld: But you can learn from the past ...

Akrura: You can learn from the past but don’t get stuck in it. Don’t cling to it, don’t dwell on it and don’t grieve over it. For example, the old way of leadership of command and control doesn’t work anymore. Both in spiritual and material organizations you experience the same. You can’t lead people as you used to. There has to be a new style, a new type of leadership. I think that right now our leaders are staggering between the old and the new style.

I had a good experience of what I call the new style of leadership in ISKCON. I had a conversation with our GBC secretary about an important question. During the conversation he took notes. When I finished he said: ”Let me see if I understood everything correctly.” He read his notes for me. He asked a couple of questions to be sure that he had understood everything correctly. You can imagine how I felt. I felt completely understood and very inspired over the fact that this leader was interested in what I had to say. I spoke 95 percent of the time.

In conclusion, although there are problems, there’s a lot of positive things in ISKCON and a number of effective leaders. And coaching helps to understand and develop effective leadership.

Tonite is the new moon, the time when the moon becomes dark. In the West, it goes unnoticed, but in India, especially in the holy places, it is an important part of daily life. Living in Vrindavan and Mayapur, i was always conscious of the moon's movements, both on the calendar and in the sky.

To see the moon in one of the holy dhams is a different experience. Difficult to say how, but somehow, the moon, in its different phases, reminded me of the Lord. And the calendar is based on the moon. Much more immediate and visceral than the solar calendar or the Gregorian calendar. Months are measured by the waning and waxing of the moon, and holy days are pegged to the moon's position. Ekadasis are also calculated following the new moon and the full moon.

The moon is full of magic. Lunatic comes from "luna" meaning moon. I guess that includes just about all of us here in this material world. It's a place for lunatics to chill.

But it's also a place to discover one's sanity, if one is fortunate enough to meet a sane and sober saint.

Amavasya, the new moon day, offers a chance for new beginnings. No matter how badly things have gone, or seem to be going, there is always a chance to start over. That is the good part of the material world. There is always an opportunity to redeem oneself, to remember-- "I am a tiny servant of Krishna (aka Allah, Isvara, Jehovah, Khoda, Paramatma, the Supreme Person, Bhagavan)."

SP: I like this idea of distributing books and preaching. That is Lord Chaitanya’s plan, and because you are doing it so nicely you are already making the greatest contribution.

Good leader has a sense for what's right and what's wrong, without being self righteous.

Its the beginning of February. If youre like most people, you probably made a few New Years resolutions to improve your health, your relationships, your career, or your service.

We're now a month into the New Year. Did you keep your resolutions? If you didnt, its probably for a simple reason: you didnt make a plan.

A Recipe for Achievement

To achieve anything you want in life, you absolutely must to do three things:

Identify what you really want (vs. what you think you want) and create a positive, immediate, concrete, and specific goal that captures that desire accurately.

Focus your energy by deciding whats most important right now and what can be done later.

Create a simple plan to ensure your daily actions will ultimately lead to the accomplishment of your most important goals.

Each and every one of us has a few things we'd like to improve about our health, our relationships, our career, our service, and our opportunities for recreation.

Creating a Personal Master Plan is the best way to stop dreaming and start doing.

Introduction to Personal Master Planning

A Personal Master Plan is a short document that captures what you want to achieve most within the next three years, then systematically breaks down those goals into the most important actions you need to take this week in order to achieve them.

Once youve created your Master Plan, planning your day is a simple matter of choosing 2-3 things to accomplish today from your weekly list, then doing them before you do anything else that day. If you follow this method, you'll achieve your goals more quickly and more easily.

Creating a Personal Master Plan is one of the very best gifts you can give yourself this year: a clear vision of what you want and a plan to make your dreams a reality, with God's mercy.

A Srila Prabhupadától kapott tanítások egy intézmény által őrizhetők meg és terjeszthetők.

My friend Kalindi posted these on MySpace and I thought I should give everyone a chance to see them by posting them here. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS Last night we had kirtan for Lila in front of Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda. Many devotees came, whether they knew her or not. This is so special and I feel [...]

I received this today from Yaso Prabhu here in Australia. He's the uncle of Lila Salter recently left this world in Vrindavana.

"Jamalarjuna maintained a bedside vigil with Lila for the entire time she was in a coma. Just before Lila left the room was full of devotees having a "blazing kirtan". Jamal said that he felt something lightly touch his arm from behind and when he turned around he saw Srila Prabhupada standing there fully manifest as we would see each other. Jamal told her that Srila Prabhupada looked deep into his eyes to his very soul and simply nodded at him gravely. What happened next is still a source of amazement for Jamal as Srila Prabhupada walked past him to where Lila was lying and he picked her up. At that very second Lila left her body and Jamal personally saw Srila Prabhupada take her back to Godhead in His arms.
 
We have heard in the past where Srila Prabhupada has come to deliver his disciples and where he has said that "Bhaktivinode will personally come to take you back to Godhead". Let there be no doubt that this is entirely possible and that this exact thing has happened to a child who was one of Srila Prabhupada's grandchildren. It is quite clear now that if anyone has any love and devotion for Srila Prabhupada and this Krishna Consciousness movement they will be personally delivered back to Krishna by His Divine Grace. For Srila Prabhupada this is no big thing.
 
As far as a recap of events is concerned, this has already been discussed in the wider press. However, the exact relationship between Lila and the boy who murdered her is not clear and so I am unable to comment on that. Somehow he had access to a gun and formed the intention to kill Lila and himself. We can never understand how these things happen and what part the Lord plays in these events in the holy Dhama. We have the aphorism "rake krsna mare ke, mare krsna rake ke" (If Krishna wants to take someone no-one can save them, and if Krishna wants to save someone no-one can take them). How can we possibly understand the plan of the Lord in these circumstances, which are made all the more poingant because He has delivered a young woman who appeared to have a promising Krishna conscious life ahead of her. One thing I know is that there were no deaths for the cowherd men and women and children at the hands of the demons who came into Vrindaban to threaten the devotees when Krishna was present on earth. From this we can understand that someone reasons ill who thinks that Lila has "died". She is now living in the same Vrindaban in Goloka where there are no demons to harass her.
  
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!"

 

By Bhakti - vedanta Manor

Digitaries travelled from all over the country to take part in Bhaktivedanta Manor's 'Bhumi Puja' ceremony on Sunday 3rd February.

By Sastra Dana

This excerpt from the interview with Vaisesika Prabhu should give you a valuable information about an essintal thing: how to build up and maintain enthusiasm in spiritual life in general and missionary endeavors in particular. Buckle up, we are taking off.

By Radha Mohan Dasa

Over the past few years Bhaktivedanta Manorin the UK has been working closely with architects as well as members of the Manor's Estate Development Committee to expand the current facilities occupied by our herd of 40 cows and oxen.

Well, what can I say? Everyone had such an amazing time. The beaming, smiley people at the end of the weekend were the indicators. Some highlights of the weekend were the walk to the beautiful big waterfall, the soccer match & Shaun’s funny games, the rocking kirtan night, and Prema Yogi’s pizza & pumpkin pie feast, (which included vegan, gluten free and vegan-gluten-sugar free variations…) And, a personal highlight was Param’s killer Vinyasa class on the first morning!
When we were cleaning up at the end of the weekend when most people had left, the owner was very impressed that we were actually mopping the kitchen floor (???) Anyway, he became very enlivened and offered us another weekend in April, the Anzac Day long weekend. So… we’re already putting down names for that one.
Here are some pictures taken by Rob and Suvilasa…

By Bhakta Rod

Lila writes on the 29th Jan 2008 from Vrndavan just a week before her passing. The above last comments by Lila is on her Gurukula.com site: Love to all.. Bolo radhee!!!!!!!

By Padmapani das

All glories to you, Mother Lila. Thank you for blessing this world and our lives with your holy presence. You'll always be remembered and honored with the deepest respect and love from all the devotees of Krishna worldwide.

By Dylan Welch and Matt Wade

She died of heart failure resulting from her injuries about 2.15am (7.45am AEDT) in the Indian holy city of Vrindavan, where she had been brought after doctors said they could not remove the bullet that had lodged in her brain.

1969 February 6 : "Six boys and girls, married couples, and they are neither elderly nor very much conversant with Vedic philosophy, but still, by their character, behavior, and devotion, they are attracting many people in London."
Letters :: 1969

1966 February 6
"Cohen with Salak and other two ladies attended today's meeting. I took meals at Dr. Mishra's apartment. President Case replied to his letter. There was no expenditure."
Journal :: 1966

1971 February 6 : "If we can get some Chinese followers it will be a great success. I know amongst them there are many scholars and learned cultured gentlemen. I shall be glad to go there whenever you will call me."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1973 February 6 : "Sannyasis have a great responsibility to become fearless preachers. It should not be an excuse for no responsibility of grhastha. So continue your engagements and we can discuss further."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1975 February 6: "Every volume of Srimad-Bhagavatam as well as Caitanya Caritamrta must be fully complete with an index, list of references, glossary, Sanskrit pronunciation guide, and index of Sanskrit verses. This will be best."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1975 February 6: "Thank you for distributing my books everyday. This is a nice program for the press workers to increase enthusiasm. I will be glad to see all 15 of you in Mayapur for our festival."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975