Hare Krishna Food for Life

Last Saturday we joined the Lenasia Food for Life team in distributing sanctified food in Kliptown, an African township, a 10 minute drive from the temple.

Hare Krishna Food for Life (FFL) is different to other welfare organisations as it does not only provide physical relief but spiritual relief as well. Supplying food to the body is temporary as one again becomes hungry but by providing spiritual relief (of Krishna prasadam and the Holy Name) one is given the opportunity to never again take birth in a material body, thus providing permanent relief from the pangs of material existence.

FFL is a truly satisfying experience. We distributed at an orphanage that is part of an informal settlement. Several young kids and older ladies came inside the clean and neat dining area.

This here is Minesh Prabhu, the head organiser, getting an energetic kirtan started up.

With the enthusiastic encouragement of Sharad Prabhu and others the ladies began clapping their hands and the kids danced to the rhythms of the holy Name.



Some of the youngsters brought out their African drums taking the whole experience to another level.



While others were overjoyed to play some of our instruments



All glories to Srila Prabhupada’s perfect solutions to all troubles! Global Food for Life Ki Jai!



FFL in Lenasia takes place from the temple every Tuesday and Maha (big) FFL takes place every last Saturday of the month. You are most welcome to be a part of it!

Blue Lotuses working their magic

The Blue Lotuses were working their magic again this Monday... where we discussed Nectar of Instruction

It was a fun group of over-enthusiastic devotees.. 'some new some old'..

joined by their passion for deepening their knowledge of Krsna Consciousness

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So what was said??

What was learnt??

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"..this book is like a beginners manual..it tells you step by step how to learn about and attain Godhead"

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"the book progresses from verse to verse Urging you..Instructing you to improve in Krishna Consciousness"

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"..it was entertaining when the book described gossiping devotees as croaking frogs!!" Who wants to be a croaking frog?? :(

What is to be a confident devotee? When you know Krsna will help, protect and guide you for surrendering and serving Him

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" Prabhupada was so merciful to us, he brought the minimum number of rounds down from 64 to 16, we shouldn't use time as an excuse, we can always make time.. get up earlier, spend our lunch time in our cars chanting..."

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Prabhupada urges us to lift ourselves up spiritually, the power is in our hands to advance...

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The book says.. "who in their right minds wouldn't want to be here" referring to godhead..

Are we all insane then, for not doing everything possible to advance spiritually faster???

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We really hope to see more new devotees joining us at our next Book club, 16 March, where we will discuss: TKG's Diary

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Your servants

Sunaina
on behalf of the Blue Lotus Book Club

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Jai Nitai! Jai Nitai! Jai Nitai!

Man! What a festival!

Last youth group we went around asking each member what was their favourite moment in the festival hosted by our youth group. In all responses the service they performed was appreciated the most. We are servants, servants of the most amazing Lords and so we are only truly happy when we engage in His service.

Thank you dear members of the Lenasia Sri Mayapur Dham Youth Group & the Blue Lotus Book Club.

Thank you to the vegetable cutters and cooks, headed by Gita Govinda dd and Kandarpa Manjari dd

Thank you to the décor peeps, headed by Hemisha and Sitala dd

Thank you to the Prasadam serve out team, headed by Srivas das

Thank you to the welcoming party, headed by Sunaina and Syamarani dd

Thank you to the garland makers, headed by Gita Govinda dd

Thank you for working together so nicely – that was the reason for our success. And was the festival a success?? Well, a kind Vaisnava tells that he thought it was:

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Hare Krishna
Please accept my humble obeisance
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
All glories to all you wonderful devotees.

I just wanted to express my sincere appreciation to the team of devotees who arranged the fabulous celebration of Lord Nitiananda’s Appearance at the Lenasia Mandir.

Thank you very much.

The reception was very heartwarming.
Being greeted upon entrance and being welcomed by very young devotees was a splendid idea. The new generation were presenting themselves as future leaders of Iskcon. Their smiles of welcome spoke volumes on the ecstasy of service to the Supreme Lord.

Being offered a garland in welcome, as well as an embrace, by a very young vaisnava really stole my heart.

The temple room was absolutely beautiful. The elevated signage, expertly composed, revealed the finesse of the organizers; a whole new input of fresh ideas to capture one’s attention and induce query and appreciation.

The massive poster of Lord Nitiananda’s feet (with symbols) was very well presented. Yet again a superb example of devotional expertise!

I looked around and saw many senior vaisnavas wearing “Welcome” garlands. The senior Vaisnavis were not forgotten, and that really meant a lot to me.

Having devotees from our various temples and preaching outposts meet at one venue for this fabulous celebration was a splendid arrangement.

I loved the “report back” made to the Lordships of goals attained during the past year, as well as the commitments being made for the present term.

Overall, a most wonderful festival that brought us all together in glorious surrender to the Lordships, our beloved Srila Prabhupäda, and the warm embrace of our fellow vaisnavas in the House that Prabhupada built.

May you all be eternally blessed in your glorious service to Srila Prabhupäda.

Your servants, as always

Prabhavisnu dasa;
Premä Bhakti devi dasi.

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May we be always engaged in positive attitude in the Devine service our Lords!

Jai Nitai!

Srila Prabhupada is coming!

Haribol friends....

Book after book ... Srila Prabhupada never ceases to amaze us...

From his writings to the dear memories captured of him by devotees... We are left relishing the sweet nectar that our Blue Lotus Book Club has afforded us yet again

Yesterday evening we discussed “Srila Prabhupada is coming” by Mahamaya Devi Dasi…

What a beautiful life story that she tells with tender care and brutal honesty..

One cannot help but appreciate and admire her for having done so.

Her journey from Sin to Surrender was awe-inspiring.. she grabbed Krishna Consciousness with so much passion and enthusiasm that allowed her to overcome the darkest of times

“Try out Krsna Consciousness for just one lifetime.. What do you have to lose??”… she was told..

and so she did and gained her true purpose in life

Srila Prabhupada saved her soul… and through her story ... he continues to save us.. What a great motivational book to urge devotees to serve Krsna no matter the circumstance

We truly hope to see you at our next book club on the 16th of Feb to discuss

"Nectar of Instruction"

Hari Haribol!!!!

Your servants,
Sunaina
on behalf of The Blue Lotus Book Club

:o)

Transcendental party preparations

As you all know our beloved Lord Nityananda's party is taking place on the 7th of Feb, that’s just a weekend away and guess what?? We planning the party! From the prasadam, to temple program, to EVERYTHING!.



It’s a great opportunity to offer a really, really nice day to the Lord, if we please Lord Nityananda we'll automatically get the mercy of Lord Caitanya :o) Lord Nityananda is described as being eternally joyful and the devotees pray to Him saying that we are always unhappy but because You, Nitai, are always very happy, please make us very happy too! Haribol!

So on that note let us try our best to offer our very best to this Supremely Joyful Personality of Godhead!

So far different devotees have been heading up different areas:
Prasadam - Gita Govinda and Kandarpa
Devotee Welcome – Sunaina and Syamarani
Décor – Hemisha
Banners – Sitala

For the past 2 youth groups we’ve been doing a lot of cutting and pasting and (this last youth group) a lot of messy, fun painting!


With these creative geniuses, the banners are coming along nicely and I can’t wait to put them up!

2009 here we come!

Welcome to a new year!

Youth group ended last year with a fab Christmas Party. Check out the pics from the Christmas Party in the blog post below

Last Saturday was the first youth group gathering of the year and so we discussed what each one of us are going to do for Gaura Nitai in the year 2009. Each person was given a log sheet to track if they have done what they have promised and then at the end of the year or sometime during the year we can see how we are doing.


The idea is that we have SO much to be thankful to Gaura Nitai and so for 2009, every day/week/month, we want to do something for the Lord. It can be something simple like offering a flower every day, chanting one round, reading a book, coming to youth group every week … the opportunities are unlimited!

If you have not attended, it is not too late to get log sheets from me and to start your offering of love :o)

Next youth group this is what we going to do:

"Whacha gonna do?"
Kirtan,
Skit and Discussion,
Game of Cricket,
More Kirtan
End

Time: 4PM
Date: 10 Jan 09
Venue: Temple

See you all there!

Jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle all the way!

It’s that time of year again! Yes, Christmas! And as per tradition we held our annual youth group “Christmas Party”. The theme this year was “Old meets New”

Many of our “old” members have grown up and moved into different spheres of life (marriage, babies, and from there the list goes on :o) )while we’ve gathered other young members who’ve added a different kind of spice to our youth.

For all our parties we dress up to match our theme, once we had dressed up as Italians (soccer stars, painters, chefs, gangsters, fashion designers, etc) and last year we all dressed as either demons or demigods! Click here to view the pics from this party.

This year we all had to dress according to the olden times whatever our perception of that was.

The party was held at Mandira and Nashin’s place and to start of we had a very competitive game of 30 seconds. The boys totally whipped the other 2 teams only because they had about 20 people in there team!

After that we had something called cRaZy professions. We were divided into 8 groups, we then had to give another teams members’ crazy professions that we think would suit them. Thereafter we were called up and we’d mention the profession and everyone had to guess who we were talking about. Amidst much laughter, some really perfect and some really ridiculous professions came about. Thereafter it was prasadam time and then we just chilled out playing volley ball and soccer.

Thank you to Mandira Matajee and Nashin prabhu for so kindly lending their home to us and thank you to Sunaina for organising everything so nicely.

Click here to view all pics

:o)

Books! Books! Books!

Syamarani, Pooja and I have been meeting on every free evening possible (and there haven’t been that many much to our disappointment!) to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s glorious books.

To gently let ourselves in the mood we started off at a block of flats and the response has been great. Most people are happy to see us, and those that slam the door in our faces are there for our purification.

Oh yes, book distribution means purification, but still it has a nectar that keeps us going. We love meeting new people and even thought some may initially be wary of us, “beggars”; I feel that they are a little inspired by seeing 3 young girls sacrificing their evenings to do this work.

Some start off being all cagey but by the end of our visit they tell us to please come again. We appreciate this because it means we, teeny weeny representatives of Srila Prabhupada, have made way in to their hearts.

Why are we doing this, some of us going against our very introverted natures? For the mercy! We want the mercy and we want you to have the mercy too. Spread the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya. Whether you distribute one book to a hundred books all your efforts are being noted by the Lord and no doubt His mercy will flow on you more and more!

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The living force of immortality, Sri Caitanya

After 3 months us blue lotuses were sorely missing each others association and so with great anticipation we all gathered at Gita Govinda’s place last Monday to discuss the transcendental message of the Teachings of Lord Caitanya.

“Caitanya” means the living force of immortality - impressive or what?!



To get into the right mood we sang the beautiful prayer “Sri Sri Gaura-Nityänander Daya” by Locana Dasa Thakur, which means The Mercy of Sri Gaura and Nityänanda. This beautiful prayer describes how Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda are the most merciful incarnations of Krishna because they are giving a process of self realization that is simply joyful! (Chanting and Dancing)

This is quite a lengthily book and while we all did not finish reading it, the bits that we did read increased our appreciation for Srila Prabhupada, the six goswamis and Gaura Nitai so much more. Srila Prabhupada’s sarcastic descriptions of the Mayavadi analogy of the water pot had us all laughing.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental books! We pray we may be able to dive deeper and deeper!

Your servants
Blue lotuses desiring the lotus feet of the Lord

Why do you DO what you Do?!

…I mean it is kinda strange what you do…fasting like every 2 weeks…chanting on these beads every spare minute of the day...waking up in the early hours of the day just to see the Deity at the temple…only eating veggies ..very specific type of veggies… and even more stranger things like dancing by jumping up and down and that’s without any materially intoxicating drug…wearing funny garments …with even funnier markings on your face…I don’t get it…

WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?!

hear what these guys have to say:

Mohini

The heart symbolises love for coming to the temple and Krishna consciousness. The spider’s web is like when you come you are trapped. I don’t know why I keep coming but some how I’m trapped and can’t not come.

Vikash

> fasting like every 2 weeks
Discipline ... The fasting helps me dicipline myself, mind and body.
Discipline to help me to continue down this path I've chosen.
Too often mishaps and temptations find away to lead you astray.
So by persisting in the fasting, I can dicipline myself to hold onto my
aims.

> chanting on these beads every spare minute of the day...
Persistence ....
* Eventually water will carve a path through a mountain.
* practice makes perfect
* hope .... ( to hear the bhakti in my own voice oneday, then everyday
there after)

> waking up in the early hours of the day just to see the Deity at the
temple...
* insomnia
* serenity ... The only place on this planet were I am peace with who I
am, where the demons are'nt ripping me apart.
* Where beauty is not perverted.

> only eating veggies ..very specific type of veggies...
* dharma/karma
* control, to be able to control my actions to a small degree. By
ensuring that I control what I eat, I hope to be able to contol other
aspects of my existence ( that are within my control )

In short, all the above is to help me become a better person.

Sunaina

The tears are for when you see others suffering you feel there is an answer to there suffering if they could just take it. The sunshine represents happiness, light at the end of the tunnel. Foot steps are the path back to Godhead, bow down to Godhead. And the books represent my desire of always wanting to learn more.

Pooja

I like kirtan, especially HH Kadamba Kanana Maharaja’s. I love acting in plays and I am always fascinated by the way Krishna is dressed. The heart represents how Krishna wants us to come back to Him more than we want to go back to Him.

Nanda Kisore das

Out of love for my spiritual master. I like the sound of the spiritual world and I’d like to be there. There is also the element of duty. This is the right thing to do.

Kandarpa

It’s the only thing that seems real. It’s satisfying, relief from material life. It’s calming not like everything else. You know it is for an eternal gain.

Manoj

The only way to surrender is chanting and through Srila Prabhupada’s book. That’s what keeps me doing what I’m doing.

Reena

Eternal happiness – No matter what life throws at you, you are always happy when turned to Krishna consciousness. Devotees – wonderful devotees. Music – kiratna and dancing is pure ecstasy. Love –pure love for Krishna and His devotees. Krishna’s mercy. Service to the Lord. Prasadam. I’m really attracted to Nrsingadev and Lord Jagannatha.

Sitala

There is nothing that makes me truly happy than being in touch somehow with Krishna. Actually it is the only place where I am happy. The”I” represents how through different stages in life I’ve tried to fit in, first as a good student, then as the cool friend, then as the dedicated employee, etc but Srila Prabhupada has told us who we really are: spirit soul, servant of Krishna.

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All glories, all glories to the assembled devotees

After every kirtan and before every class the prem devani prayers are spoken, each line ending in "ki jai!" then right at the end, 3 times, it is mentioned "All glories to the assembled devotees! All glories to the assembled devotees! All glories to the assembled devotees!"

All of you are glorious! What makes you glorious is your association with Krishna, your dedicated service to Him and Srila Prabhupada. Thank you dear youth group members for your selfless service attitude these past few weeks. Everyone assisted as they could juggling work, exams, family commitments, etc.

Special mention goes:

To Reena for bringing her funky drawing apparatus which made it easy and speedy to get the cut outs done;
The painters: Aarti, Kandarpa, Sunaina, Hemisha, Syamarani, Dini;
To Raji for the tricky work of cutting polystyrene,
Veemal for painting an incredible sun;
To all the girls for cutting what felt like a million birds;
To Vishaka M, Srivas Pr, Gita Govinda M, Hemisha, Hemisha’s mum, Aarti, Aarti’s mum, Sunaina, Reena, Mohini, Kandarpa for assisting with the cooking.;
To Srivas Pr, Veemal, Nanda Kisore and Vraja Vallabha for assisting with putting up everything around Srila Prabhupada;
To Gita Govinda M for helping me arrange everything and for buying everything and doing the local vyasapuja book;
To Gita Govinda M, Hemisha, Aarti, Veemal, Srivas Pr and Kandarpa for manning the book table and also to Abhiram for doing some running around for us.;
To Kandarpa for helping me get the actors ready;
And finally to the actors for their sweet performance – well done! check out the pics below!

I’m sure I’ve missed out some people – please forgive me.

All your efforts and service no matter how small or big is truly valuable. Let’s continue serving together at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada!

Your servant and friend,
Sitala dd

See where you'd like to help out

Hare Krishna you all,

Hope you are all feeling blissful, if not well the flood of festivals coming up will definitely lift your spirits!

This Saturday, as well as practicing for the play, we will also be starting to prepare for the various services coming up for the various festivals. So those who are not taking part in the play, please attend to assist us with cutting, pulling, folding, etc, etc in fact be sure to bring a long a pair of scissors if you can.

To give a brief view of our planed activities, see below and see where you'd like to help out.

09 Aug: Pre-Janmastamini Festival
- Hosting book table

16 Aug: Balarama's app day
- doing the temple décor
- coordinating offering of candles to Lord Nityananda
- hosting Balarama's café
- hosting book table
- hosting youth group table
- handing out welcome pamphlets

18 Aug: Blue Lotus book Club
- be sure to keep reading your books!

24 Aug: Janmastami
- performing youth group play
- doing major temple décor (assisting Nandakumar Prabhu)
- cooking dhal of the feast
- hosting book table
- hosting youth group table

25 Aug: Srila Prabhupada's appearance day
- preparing the vyasapuja book
- adding additional décor (assisting Nandakumar Prabhu)

20 - 21 Sep: Lenasia Ratha Yatra
- lots and lots and lots of décor service for Lord Jagannatha's tent and chariot

It doesn't stop here actually , what with the month of kartik thereafter and the December book marathon it’s going to be a rollercoaster ride right through to the end of this year!

Youth group this Saturday, 2 August 08, will be at the temple at 2PM.

See you all there