last updated 30th March 2008

Kazakhstani online petition

Kazakhstani online petition

By Radha Mohan Dasa

Please visit http://www.krishnatemple.com NOW and click the link to the new petition, or go straight to the petition webpage:

http://harekrishna.epetitions.net

Please sign it soon as you can, and please tell as many people as you can about it.

Background: Workers and police arrived on 15th June at the village near Almaty, Kazakhstan, where the embattled Hare Krishna commune is based to demolish twelve more Hare Krishna-owned homes. “The houses were literally crushed into dust. By ten o’clock it was all over,” said ISKCON spokesperson Maksim Varfolomeyev.

The temple, which the devotees have been ordered to destroy, has not been touched but the devotees fear it could be the next target. Human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis is outraged at the continuing destruction. “The authorities are showing that they will do what they want, despite the international outrage at the earlier demolitions of Hare Krishna-owned homes.” He believes the local administration chief “doesn’t care about the political damage to Kazakhstan’s reputation – or to its desire to chair the OSCE.”

ys Radha Mohan das

Kazak Edition of Bhagavad-gita presented to Srila Prabhupada.
This is now the 55th language in which Bhagavad-gita has been printed.

A young mother with her newborn baby, photographed from outside her window as Kazakh police break down her door and prepare to demolish her home.

On March 25, 2008 the directors of the Krishna Society were summoned to a meeting organized by the Hakim of Almaty Province. The subject of the meeting was the imminent eviction of the Religious Organization Society for Krishna Consciousness from their property in Karasai District.

The Krishna organization was given a period of one week to accept the government demands to vacate their developed 116 acre farm. The proposed alternative is a 5-acre plot of undeveloped land in the wilds of Talgar district. The proposed site is further from Almaty city than their current location.

The Krishna Society was informed that if does not accept these conditions, within one week, that the officers of GASK (the State Architectural and Construction Board), will open a lawsuit to demolish the Krishna Society's existing temple and barn.

The Krishna Society's project near Almaty is a unique spiritual center for Kazakhstan and the entire CIS. It serves as the cultural center for the followers of the Krishna faith in Central Asia.

The three-year prosecution against the Society has resulted in the demolition of 26 homes of the faithful. The Society's 116-acre farmland has been confiscated and returned to the Kazakh Government Land Reserve.

During the meeting on March 25th it was announced that the confiscated land would be subdivided and sold by the government for private villas.

The religious organization will be liquidated when it loses its current legal address. The followers of the Krishna belief will be deprived of the opportunity to practice their religion collectively, which is the main component of freedom of conscience and faith.

A fair and reasonable solution to this conflict would underline Kazakhstan's commitment in upholding international commitments to human rights, religious tolerance and ethnic amity. But in this case there is no element of fairness to be found.

For more information visit http://www.kazakhkrishna.com

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev criticized foreign missionaries on Thursday as a threat to national stability and urged lawmakers to curb their activities.

The mainly Muslim country has positioned itself as an area of stability in the potentially volatile Central Asian region. But some rights groups have criticized its treatment of small groups such as Hare Krishna.

Speaking at a congress of the Nur-Otan party, which holds all seats in the lower house of the parliament, Nazarbayev said foreign missionaries posed a threat to secularity.

"We are a secular state where religion is separated from the state, but this does not mean Kazakhstan should become a dumping ground for all kinds of religious movements," he said the veteran leader, without naming any groups.

"There are tens of thousands of missionary organizations working in Kazakhstan today. We don't know what their aims are. ... We cannot leave it like that and let them do something that our country does not need," he said.

Nazarbayev often singles out ethnic and religious accord as one of his main achievements in the country, which has a large Orthodox Christian community.

But Western human rights groups say religious intolerance toward smaller groups is on the rise.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe criticized Kazakhstan last year for destroying houses belonging to followers of Hare Krishna, who practice yoga and vegetarianism in a village near Almaty.

Read HERE how the original issue began in Kazakstan

Read HERE what the previous articles from November 2006 were

Iskcon Kazakstan
http://www.palaceofthesoul.com/news/index.php

PLEASE VISIT THIS PAGE
http://kazakhkrishna.com/en-main/

Kazakh
http://vedabase.net/kazakhstan/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7309258.stm

LONDON, ENGLAND, March 22, 2008: At the URL above is a color set of photos on the Holi festival as celebrated across India.

Dear Devotees and Friends:

Please accept our humble dandavats.

In 2005, Science magazine published in the 125th Anniversary Issue 125 questions for which modern science has no tangible clue. These questions are presented under a special title What Don’t We Know? In the introduction section of “What Don’t We Know?” it is mentioned that “At Science, we tend to get excited about new discoveries that lift the veil a little on how things work, from cells to the universe. That puts our focus firmly on what has been added to our stock of knowledge. For this anniversary issue, we decided to shift our frame of reference, to look instead at what we don’t know: the scientific puzzles that are driving basic scientific research.” In the ‘Online Skype Conference’ on 16 March, 2008 HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Swami  described the participants about one of these 125 questions mentioned by the Science magazine ­ What Is the Universe Made Of? A short discussion on this topic is also presented in the inaugural issue of quarterly newsletter of Bhaktivedanta Institute: Science and Scientist ­ Inquiring into the Origin of Matter and Life.

HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Swami explained the participants about the reasons due to which the scientists are facing the problems in answering the fundamental questions. In the context of the question What Is the Universe Made Of?, HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Swami told that, scientists are running into a problem ­ in understanding the universe they don’t have enough matter. The theories of the universe they have are not producing the results they are expecting. There are certain theories of Einstein and Newton, which they use to calculate the density of matter and the universe, the frequency of light coming from various parts of the universe and the micro waves that are present in the universe. It is not just a matter of measuring some features and putting down some results, they plug those features into an equation. Where do they get that equation from? ­ From their theories. Where do they get their theories from? ­ Some body made a guess: it might be like this and it might be like that. From that guess they wrote the theory and then the equation and they see if that confirms to that. They had a nice theory. They put a nice theory together ­ the explosion theory or the Big Bang theory. They calculated from that so many different things. Now they find that universe doesn’t have enough matter to let their equations work. Their theory doesn’t work. Rather than change the theory they want to change the universe. They say that, “The universe is not right. Our theory is right but universe is not correct. So let us correct the universe.” This is the philosophy of scientists.

In the conference various fundamental topics (for example, galaxy and why a force called gravity exists between the two masses) related to the question ‘What Is the Universe Made Of?’ are discussed by HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Swami.

The philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel and Immanuel Kant are also discussed in this connection. When one wants to study deeply, what is matter, what is space and what is time, then certain principles arise or the philosophy ­ one is unity and the other is diversity. From the principles of unity and diversity we can understand that matter exhibits two symptoms ­ unity and diversity. G. W. F. Hegel described the existence of attractions and repulsive force that exists between two bodies in a universe. However, scientists have no idea about the repulsive force in the universe. Scientists only know about the unitive force so they have made this Big Bang force.

We try to make distinction between our knowledge about the object and the object itself. But our knowledge of the object and the object itself are one and the same. When we talk about an object we talk nothing but our knowledge about that object. Hence we should know this philosophy properly. Scientists think knowledge about the object and the object itself are two different things. Scientists are failing to understand the logic of reasoning properly. The architecture of our own reasoning has to be understood properly before we can understand how our knowledge or consciousness is creating universe or representing universe to us. According to the knowledge of the universe that an individual has the universe is different for different individuals. Therefore we see in different civilization we have different ideas about the universe. They were explaining previously, in the western world they are looking out at the cosmos and they are thinking that it is all static ­ it is not moving. Now a day we think it is moving. So is that means that universe changed from previous age to this age? The universe doesn’t change over all these years but our knowledge is changing. Previously they understood that God created the universe, now they think that it is an explosion. It is all based upon how we understand things. Hence how to come to a proper understanding? We need veda. If we understand every thing is relative like that based on our knowledge then can we arrive at any truth ever? We can not come to any conclusion based on our mental speculation. To correct this defect of imperfect knowledge we need to accept the absolute authority of veda.

    We have uploaded this Transcendental Nectar of Satsanga ­ Under the holy association of HH Bhakti Madhava Puri Swami. To listen this absorbing and very details technical discussion please click Satsanga: 16 March 2008. To see all our past posting you may visit http://mahaprabhu.net/satsanga/ . Keep checking this page, we will be updating this site soon with many more details.

Timing of weekly Satsanga: 6:00 PM India time, Every Sunday.

You may visit http://mahaprabhu.net/satsanga/about/ to know the details about joining process for the online ‘Weekly Satsangas’.

All Glories all Sadhus, Guru and Vaisnavas.

Thanking you.

Your humble servants

Purushottama Jagannatha Das &

Sushen Das

The BBC has a feature on “the cost of food“. It shows how almost all types of food are getting more and more expensive. Drastically so!

What is happening here? Shouldn’t modern high-tech farming with its nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides and specially breed (and often genetically modified) high-yield crop varieties allow humanity to easy feed everyone on the planet? Hasn’t Norman Borlaug’s Green Revolution dramatically increased the amount of food the world can produce (e.g. doubling wheat yield between 1965 and 1970)? Haven’t exports of food increased by 400% over the last 40 years, promoting the distribution of foods from countries with lots of farmland to those without the capacity to grow lots of food?

The news reporters give two possible explanations of the rising cost of food (both bogus):
The world population is increasing. Soon 6 billion people now live on the planet and the number is expected to rise by 9 billion in 2050. Feeding more mounts costs more money. Moreover, with the rising wealth of countries like China and India the people in these countries consume more food. “To put it bluntly, rich people eat more than poor people”, says the BBC.
The increasing use of corn for biofuels (ethanol) is decreasing the amount of the crop that can be used for food. A lower supply coupled with increasing demand due to an increasing world population naturally leads to higher costs.

Makes sense, right? Wrong!

Sure, the world population is increasing, but so are yields of crops. Sure, the use of corn for fuel is increasing, but the increase in the cost of corn has been comparatively low compared with crops like rice, soya and wheat.

The real problem is shown, but not commented upon, in the original BBC feature, as well as in other news sources. It is the increasing consumption of meat.

The statistics show how producing meat is radically more resource intensive than producing vegetarian foodstuffs. But take a look back at the original article: the price of meat (and sugar) is not increasing very much at all. What is going on here? Why are all foods except meat getting more expensive, when meat is the single most expensive food to produce?!

One word: subsidies.

The United States spends 35% (the greatest single amount) of its total $8 billion agricultural subsidies budget on “feed grains” for livestock. The European Union spends a whooping $76 billion on food subsidies and 18% of it (the greatest single amount) goes to subsidizing beef production. So, between them, the EU and USA spend at least $16 billion on keeping the price of meat lower than it should be, given its true cost.

So, what to do?

It’s actually really simple: promote vegetarianism throughout the world and simultaneously eliminate subsidies on meat. Without subsidies meat will get so expensive that few people can afford it. Would you buy a Big Mac if it cost $34 a burger?

If a vegetarian diet is advertised as the logical, cheaper, healthier alternative, then people will naturally stop eating dead animals. That lowering of demand will make it more difficult to sell the quantities of meat which are currently produced. Farmers will be forced to switch from growing “feed grain” to producing “grain for human consumption”. This, I estimate, can result in a tenfold increase in the amount of available food. Enough to easily feed a world population of 60 billion!

(An added side-benefit would be a huge reduction in the number of people that get cancer, resulting in lower health-care costs and longer life-spans. Large-scale studies in Europe and the USA have proven without a doubt that meat eating causes many different types of cancer)

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 4:27 pmand is filed under management, news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161294012

TRINIDAD, March 15, 2008: An order to remove rakshas (sacred threads) from the wrists of Hindu pupils at the Cunupia High School has provoked the wrath of the Hindu Students Council of Trinidad and Tobago (HCSTT). Earlier this week the school refused entry to those pupils wearing the rakshas, which is tied on by a Hindu priest during a religious service.

The Ministry of Education has apologized for the incident.

Secretary of the Council Reena Teelucksingh said: "We are faced today with a society in which crime is rampant and the youths are moving away from religion. Shouldn't we support their pride in their religion, morals and values?" She described as "ridiculous and utter rubbish" for anyone to say that a raksha is worn just for style, especially in this time of "hundred dollar jerseys and thousand dollar shoes."

Teelucksingh said, "to force these pupils to take off the thread is to show the highest disrespect and disregard for the Hindu religion."

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

Arthur J Pais , Rediff.com
  March 14, 2008

  As many Hindu parents in America and Canada know too well, you just cannot be prepared for all the questions your child has to face in the school. Questions like: Why do Hindus worship the cow? Are Hindu Gods always married to many women? Why do Hindus worship idols? And then there are endless questions about what Americans call the dot. Not to forget questions about the Hindu pantheon of gods.

  The parents€ ¦’² answers and explanations are often not satisfactory to the children € ¦’· or, for that matter, to the parents themselves. Often the parents ask someone in the community, who has commanding knowledge of Hinduism, for answers or seek the help of a Hindu scholar, or in libraries.
  Now, parents and children can turn to What is Hinduism? € ¦’· a landmark book with over 400 large pages and nearly 1,000 illustrations that answers the above questions, and many more, with brevity and clarity.

  One of the book€ ¦’²s important achievements is in creating context that explains otherwise inexplicable Hindu practices.

  For instance, it connects social practices like untouchability to segregation practiced in America a few decades ago, and to the fact that there are millions in America including African Americans and Hispanics who face continual discrimination in residential areas, schools, at workplaces and in places of worship. These are the true € ¦’±untouchables,€ ¦’² the book writes.

  After telling the readers that it is illegal in India to discriminate against, abuse or insult anyone on the basis of caste, the book looks at modern America, adding that there is a class system in the United States that is very bad.

€ ¦’±US cities are more racially segregated than before the 1950s Civil Rights Movement because of white flight to the suburbs,€ ¦’² the book notes. € ¦’±Black Americans receive harsher sentences than white Americans for the same crime.€ ¦’² It goes on to write a few lines on the plight of Native Americans too.

  € ¦’±This kind of response € ¦’· we can call it the you€ ¦’²re one, too defense € ¦’·  doesn€ ¦’²t mean Hindus should not work much harder to end caste discrimination,€ ¦’² the book warns. But it reminds others that € ¦’±no country in the world is yet free from racial discrimination.€ ¦’²

  Among the many subjects the book addresses is the theme of holy cows. € ¦’±Hindus don€ ¦’²t worship cows,€ ¦’² the book, compiled from articles and information in Hinduism Today magazine, notes. € ¦’±We respect, honour and adore the cow. By honouring this gentle animal, who gives more than she takes, we honour all creatures.€ ¦’²

  The chapter on the cow also touches upon vegetarianism. While it explains the rationale behind a vegetarian diet, it also notes that while many Hindus are not vegetarians, € ¦’±most respect the still widely held code of abstaining from eating beef.€ ¦’²

  Are Hindus forbidden to eat meat, is another question immigrant Indians often face. The book does not point out that in most regions of India the majority of Hindus eat meat and fish, and it does not reveal that Bengali Brahmins eat fish religiously, and that Swami Vivekananda continued eating fish even after he had become a monk or even that the Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is a non-vegetarian.

  However, the book notes: € ¦’±Hindus teach vegetarianism as a way to live with a minimum hurt to other beings. But in today€ ¦’²s world not all Hindus are vegetarians. Of course, there are good Hindus who eat meat, and there are not-so-good Hindus who are vegetarians.€ ¦’²

  The book offers a wealth of information on various aspects of Hinduism, from the devotional to cultural to epicurean. Published by the Himalayan Academy in Kauai, Hawaii, the book is based on hundreds of articles published in the magazine over the past 25 years.

  The academy, which also produces the erudite and popular Hinduism Today magazine, is part of the Hindu monastery founded by Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, popularly known as Gurudeva, more than five decades ago. Though the Kauai monastery is a Saivite institution, the book deals with various Hindu traditions and offers the kind of insights not often found in other books of its kind.

  In one of the important chapters in the book, Comparing the Four Major Denominations, Saivisim, Shaktism. Vaishnavism, and Smartism, the authors assert there are more similarities, including the importance of temple worship and the concept of liberation of the soul from rebirth, than differences between the four denominations.

  But the book also explains some of the key differences between them. Saivite Hindus do not believe in earthly incarnations of the Supreme Being; the Divine Mother incarnate in this world is the belief of Shatki followers. Vaishnavism believes that Vishnu has ten or more incarnations. And the Smarta followers believe all deities assume earthly incarnations.
  The subject of idol worship is a big issue in America, where many fundamentalist Christians rebuke Hindus calling them idol worshippers. In school text books and in social science classes, Hindu children are often faced with opprobrium on such lines.

  € ¦’±Hindus do not worship stone or metal € ¦’±idol€ ¦’² as God,€ ¦’² the editors of What is Hinduism? note in the chapter titled Ten Questions People Ask About Hinduism. € ¦’±We worship God through the image. We invoke the presence of God from the higher, unseen worlds, into the images so that we can commune with Him and receive His blessings.€ ¦’²

  One of the plus points for the book is its humour. € ¦’±Hindus are not idle worshippers,€ ¦’² the book continues. € ¦’±I have never seen a Hindu worship in a lazy or idle way.€ ¦’²

  As for the question about € ¦’±graven images,€ ¦’² the book says all religions € ¦’±have their symbols of holiness through which the sacred flows into the mundane€ ¦’²: The Christian cross or statues of Mary, the holy Kaaba in Mecca, the Sikh Adi Granth enshrined in the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

  € ¦’±The Hindu can see God in stone and water, fire, air and ether, and inside his own soul,€ ¦’² the book says. € ¦’±Indeed, there are Hindu temples which have in the sanctum sanctorum no image at all but a yantra, a symbolic or mystic diagram. However, the sight of the image enhances the devotee€ ¦’²s worship.€ ¦’²

  And then there are the questions about sex, marriage and the Gods. There is a Hinduism of the Puranas which is filled with stories about gods and goddesses, the book says. But there is also a Hinduism of higher philosophies in which gods are neither male or female. € ¦’±In fact, attaining to that godly level of being is one of the mystical goals of yoga,€ ¦’² the book asserts. € ¦’±Hindus know that the Gods do not marry, that they are complete within themselves.€ ¦’²

  The editors of What is Hinduism? say that some people in other faiths criticise the Hindu religion as a sort of comic book religion. € ¦’±We should not be part of perpetuating that image by passing on such misconceptions as the marriage of the Gods,€ ¦’² the editors note.

  Some modern swamis urge devotees not to pay attention to Puranic stories about the Gods, saying that they have no relationship with the world today, the book argues. These swamis do not want children to read those stories because children may not be able to understand them in proper context. € ¦’±Instead, they (the swamis) encourage followers to deepen themselves with the higher philosophies of the Vedic Upanishads and the realisation of the Hindu seers.€ ¦’²

  One of the highlights of the book is the reproduction of Swami Vivekananda€ ¦’²s Song of the Sanyasin, which is spread across two pages, along with the picture of Vivekananda and the image of Thousand Island Park, New York, where the visiting monk composed the song.

  € ¦’±There is but One: the Free, the Knower, Self.
  Without a name, without a form or stain.
  In Him is maya, dreaming all this dream..
  The Witness, He appears as nature, soul.
  Know thou art That, sannyasin bold! Say
  € ¦’±Om Tat Sat, Om.€ ¦’²

http://ia.rediff.com/news/2008/mar/14spec.htm

  INVADING THE SACRED @ http://worldmonitor.wordpress.com/2007/08/13/invading-the-sacred/
 
 

http://www.newsweek.com/id/96398

NEW YORK, USA, January 24, 2008: (HPI note: this is an article from the latest issue of NEWSWEEK, January 28, 2008.)

Reincarnation is an increasingly mainstream belief. Madonna has said she's a believer. So has Kate Hudson. According to a 2003 Harris poll, 40 percent of people aged 25 to 29 believed they would return to earth in a different body after they die. Popular New Age movements such as Scientology and Kabbalah teach some version of reincarnation, and best-selling books, notably by the Yale-trained psychiatrist Brian Weiss and by the therapist Carol Bowman, have brought the concept into the American mainstream. This ancient belief, a core belief of more than 800 million Hindus, has been in the news.

Stephen Prothero, religion professor at Boston University and a student of Hinduism, has an interesting theory about Americans' interest in reincarnation. As people become more prosperous and more educated, the idea of leaving the earth forever--even for heaven--has less appeal than the idea of coming back. "We all want the here and now, and reincarnation is about the here and now," Prothero writes in an e-mail.

Reincarnation would seem to be at odds with mainstream Christianity, the majority religion in the United States. Traditionally, Christians have believed that, after death, their body and soul separate temporarily only to be reunited, at the end of time, in the general resurrection of the dead. Belief in reincarnation presents logistical--not to mention theological--problems. If souls keep cycling back to earth, which body is theirs at the resurrection? What happens to all the other bodies they've inhabited? Prothero argues that the popularity of reincarnation correlates to a waning of belief in physical resurrection among Christians. That's why a third of Americans choose to be cremated these days, up from virtually none 30 years ago: they believe their souls are eternal, not their bodies. "Americans," Prothero says, "are becoming more Hindu."

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

Read more on Reincarnation HERE:

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20080319011517&Page=A&Title=Southern+News+-+Andhra+Pradesh&Topic=0

TIRUPATI, INDIA, March 19, 2008: In a novel initiative, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has launched a crash course for temple priests to help them hone their skills in performing the temple rituals. The five-day training program is being executed by TTDs Sri Venkateswara Employees Training Academy (SVETA), in a bold attempt to make the priests ward off the modern-day professional hazards such as stress. Besides, it teaches the priests how to keep themselves physically fit and inculcate a sense of social responsibility in their work. The intensive training includes the corporate style thought-provoking lectures and Powerpoint presentation on personality development, maintaining mental and physical peace and adopting healthy lifestyles by a team of experts comprising physicians and personality development trainers.

Another salient feature of the course is that the senior Agama pundits requisitioned from outside, stay with the trainees for five days, giving them an opportunity to discuss matters related to temple rituals and clear their doubts. Under a program launched in June 2007, 300 priests from various districts, were trained in 14 batches, including 13 in Vaikhanasa Agama and the one in Pancharatra system of temple worship. Plans were afoot for covering the priests from the other southern states, he explained.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India_shining_US_headhunts_Hindi_teachers/articleshow/2890036.cms

MUMBAI, INDIA, March 23, 2008: Little would Jagdish Prasad Sharma have dreamed that his proficiency in Hindi would one day take him from the quiet holy town of Mathura to the bright lights of the US. Earlier this month, Sharma was one among the 100-odd Hindi teachers who travelled to Noida to be interviewed by a delegation from Connecticut and Carolina, in India to headhunt young, full-time Hindi teachers for their schools.

Hindi is the new Mandarin. Just as Mandarin is being learnt by youngsters all over the world to give them a strategic advantage with the emerging China, Hindi too is being sought after as the language of the other Asian tiger. Some schools in the US have decided to introduce Hindi as a foreign language with staples like French, Spanish and German.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

By ISKCON News Staff on 1 Feb 2008

The exhuberantly named "Happy Krishna Consciousness World" is a new television program presented by IT Media Concepts in collaboration with Gauranga Travels Youth Tour. The series will air on national TV in the Republic of Ghana, West Africa, and will feature news and interviews from ISKCON centers, festivals, and seminars across the globe.

Spokesperson Vamsi Priya Dasa said, "We would like to use this opportunity to spread the mission of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu in Africa and the world at large. We are fully equipped, and request all ISKCON centers to invite us to provide television coverage of their programs."

IT Media Concepts is one of Africa's most popular media companies. For the past six years, its team of experts have provided quality and affordable services for Ghanians and Africans in the fields of information technology, film and television production, advertising, event management and media consultancy.

Gauranga Travels Youth Tour is organized by the youth of Hare Krishna Village, Ghana. It takes youth on a spiritual adventure tour across Africa, performing harinamas, taking part in Rathayatras and other ISKCON events, and visiting interesting tourist spots.

Hare Krishna Village is a new self-sufficient ISKCON community established in the Republic of Ghana by Nrsimha Puran Dasa, a dedicated disciple of Bhakti Tirtha Swami. Local youth help tend the vast farmland so that the community can eat what they grow. They also assist in Food for Life programs and distribute Srila Prabhupada's books.

If you are interested in these projects you can contact IT Media Concepts at mailto:infotech_tv@yahoo.com,
Gauranga Travels at mailto:gaurangatravels108@gmail.com, and Hare Krishna Village at mailto:govindasravi@gmail.com

Read more on Chanting Hare Krishna HERE:

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229

KAUAI, HAWAII, March 27, 2008: TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an annual series of high-minded meetings, an invitation-only event where the world's leading thinkers and doers gather to find inspiration. Jill Taylor, one of the speakers, shares some amazing discoveries about how we perceive the universe and think, based on the interaction between the two sides of the human brain. The latest finds echo the most ancient Yoga scriptures. It is an 18-minute adventure that bridges science and mysticism, as Jill Taylor finds herself adrift in a realm of consciousness that changed her life. HPI definetly recommends this video. Click on the link above to see it.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23355502-2702,00.html

AUSTRALIA, March 11, 2008: South Australia's largest cemetery commissioned a study into the environmental impacts of cremations and burials. The study found it was better for people to be cremated, compared with the long-term impact of burials, even though four times as much carbon dioxide was produced during the initial cremation process.

"On the day that a cremation or burial takes place, the volume of carbon dioxide produced is higher for cremation than for burial," Centennial Park chief executive Bryan Elliott said. "The report found that each cremation at Centennial Park generates approximately 160kg (352 pounds) of carbon dioxide equivalent.

"Each burial at Centennial Park generates approximately 39kg (86 pounds) of CO2. "However, when the long-term environmental footprint is considered, burials at Centennial Park have a 10 per cent greater impact than cremations. "This is because we must look after the gravesite for a number of years by watering and mowing the surrounding lawn area and maintaining the concrete beam on which the headstone is placed.

HPI note: For those who like to know these things, driving a midsize car 1,000 miles a month produces 19.45 pounds of CO2/day. Therefore, your cremation will produce the same amount of CO2 as driving your car for no more than 18 days.

READ MORE on Environmental Issues HERE

http://www.capeem.org/

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, March 26, 2008: California Parents for the Equalization of Educational Materials (CAPEEM) scored a major victory on Tuesday when Judge Frank C. Damrell, Jr. of the United States District Court of the Eastern District of California rejected the defendants' motion to dismiss CAPEEM's lawsuit to correct inaccuracies in sixth grade history textbooks. CAPEEM's complaint contends that the process to adopt the textbooks discriminated against Hindus and that the textbooks indulge in indoctrination of Abrahamic religions while using disparaging language against Hinduism.

The motion for summary judgment (http://www.capeem.org/docs/CAPEEM_Order.pdfj) asking for the dismissal of the lawsuit was filed by the office of California's Attorney General on behalf of the officials of the State Board of Education and the California Department of Education. Judge Damrell rejected the claim that an earlier ruling in a lawsuit filed in a state court by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) had definitively settled the issues raised by CAPEEM in its lawsuit.

The judge pointed out that the ruling in the HAF case strengthened CAPEEM's claim of discrimination against its members. Judge Damrell noted, "the superior court found in favor of the HAF plaintiffs on their state APA claim; arguably, this finding lends support to CAPEEM's claims in this case that defendants conducted the adoption process in a manner that was discriminatory."

The judge also agreed with CAPEEM's claim that the issues in the two cases were different: ". . . Similarly, the superior court concluded the textbooks at issue there did not violate the state standards for content, as promulgated by defendants. This court could find defendants violated the Establishment Clause without reaching a judgment that is inconsistent with that of the superior court; this court could find that the underlying standards themselves violate the Establishment Clause."

Reacting to the judgment, Arvind Kumar, a director of CAPEEM said, "the arguments in the Defendants' motion posed the biggest challenge to us so far and we are happy to have won this victory. We can now focus our energies on our main claims in the lawsuit." CAPEEM's attorneys Venkat Balasubramani and Michael Newdow expressed satisfaction with the order. This was the third motion filed by the defendants against CAPEEM in attempts to seek summary dismissal of the lawsuit.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

Source: Rationalist International

On 3 March 2008, in a popular TV show, Sanal Edamaruku, the president of Rationalist International, challenged India’s most “powerful” tantrik (black magician) to demonstrate his powers on him. That was the beginning of an unprecedented experiment.

After all his chanting of mantra (magic words) and ceremonies of tantra failed, the tantrik decided to kill Sanal Edamaruku with the “ultimate destruction ceremony” on live TV. Sanal Edamaruku agreed and sat in the altar of the black magic ritual. India TV observed skyrocketing viewership rates.

Everything started when Uma Bharati (former chief minister of the state of Madhya Pradesh) accused her political opponents in a public statement of using tantrik powers to inflict damage upon her. In fact, within a few days, the unlucky lady had lost her favorite uncle, hit the door of her car against her head and found her legs covered with wounds and blisters.

India TV, one of India’s major Hindi channels with national outreach, invited Sanal Edamaruku for a discussion on “Tantrik power versus Science”. Pandit Surinder Sharma, who claims to be the tantrik of top politicians and is well known from his TV shows, represented the other side.

During the discussion, the tantrik showed a small human shape of wheat flour dough, laid a thread around it like a noose and tightened it. He claimed that he was able to kill any person he wanted within three minutes by using black magic. Sanal challenged him to try and kill him.

The tantrik tried. He chanted his mantras (magic words): “Om lingalingalinalinga, kilikili….” But his efforts did not show any impact on Sanal ­ not after three minutes, and not after five. The time was extended and extended again. The original discussion program should have ended here, but the “breaking news” of the ongoing great tantra challenge was overrunning all program schedules.

Now the tantrik changed his technique. He started sprinkling water on Sanal and brandishing a knife in front of him. Sometimes he moved the blade all over his body. Sanal did not flinch. Then he touched Sanal’s head with his hand, rubbing and rumpling up his hair, pressing his forehead, laying his hand over his eyes, pressing his fingers against his temples. When he pressed harder and harder, Sanal reminded him that he was supposed to use black magic only, not forceful attacks to bring him down. The tantrik took a new run: water, knife, fingers, mantras. But Sanal kept looking very healthy and even amused.

After nearly two hours, the anchor declared the tantrik’s failure. The tantrik, unwilling to admit defeat, tried the excuse that a very strong god whom Sanal might be worshipping obviously protected him. “No, I am an atheist,” said Sanal Edamaruku.

Finally, the disgraced tantrik tried to save his face by claiming that there was a never-failing special black magic for ultimate destruction, which could, however, only been done at night. Bad luck again, he did not get away with this, but was challenged to prove his claim this very night in another “breaking news” live program.

The Great Tantra Challenge

During the next three hours, India TV ran announcements for The Great Tantra Challenge that called several hundred million people to their TV sets.

The encounter took place under the open night sky. The tantrik and his two assistants were kindling a fire and staring into the flames. Sanal was in good humour. Once the ultimate magic was invoked, there wouldn’t be any way back, the tantrik warned. Within two minutes, Sanal would get crazy, and one minute later he would scream in pain and die. Didn’t he want to save his life before it was too late? Sanal laughed, and the countdown begun.

The tantriks chanted their “Om lingalingalingalinga, kilikilikili….” followed by ever changing cascades of strange words and sounds. The speed increased hysterically. They threw all kinds of magic ingredients into the flames that produced changing colours, crackling and fizzling sounds and white smoke. While chanting, the tantrik came close to Sanal, moved his hands in front of him and touched him, but was called back by the anchor. After the earlier covert attempts of the tantrik to use force against Sanal, he was warned to keep distance and avoid touching Sanal. But the tantrik “forgot” this rule again and again.

Now the tantrik wrote Sanal’s name on a sheet of paper, tore it into small pieces, dipped them into a pot with boiling butter oil and threw them dramatically into the flames. Nothing happened. Singing and singing, he sprinkled water on Sanal, mopped a bunch of peacock feathers over his head, threw mustard seed into the fire and other outlandish things more.

Sanal smiled, nothing happened, and time was running out. Only seven more minutes before midnight, the tantrik decided to use his ultimate weapon: the clod of wheat flour dough. He kneaded it and powdered it with mysterious ingredients, then asked Sanal to touch it. Sanal did so, and the grand magic finale begun. The tantrik pierced blunt nails on the dough, then cut it wildly with a knife and threw them into the fire. That moment, Sanal should have broken down. But he did not. He laughed. Forty more seconds, counted the anchor, twenty, ten, five… it’s over!

Millions of people must have uttered a sigh of relief in front their TVs. Sanal was very much alive. Tantra power had miserably failed. Tantriks are creating such a scaring atmosphere that even people, who know that black magic has no base, can just break down out of fear, commented a scientist during the program. It needs enormous courage and confidence to challenge them by actually putting one’s life at risk, he said. By doing so, Sanal Edamaruku has broken the spell, and has taken away much of the fear of those who witnessed his triumph.

In this night, one of the most dangerous and wide spread superstitions in India suffered a severe blow.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/25/AR2008032502694_pf.html

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 25, 2008: As the the Washington D.C. area's Indian population swells, so soars the demand for Hindu ceremonies -- baby-naming services, engagements, blessings for new cars -- that are traditionally performed outside the many priest-staffed temples that dot the area. So, for eight years, Sastry has kept busy as one of the region's few freelance Hindu priests. He navigates suburbs where Indians have bought houses, bringing ancient Hindu rites to modern American landscapes.

Freelance priests are bountiful in India, but just seven serve one of the Washington region's largest ethnic communities. Census data from 2006 indicate that 105,000 Indians live in the area, about 60 percent of whom are immigrants; most have settled in Fairfax, Loudoun, Montgomery and Howard counties. To those who regularly call upon them, Sastry and his counterparts become trusted family priests, akin to family doctors or accountants.

Unlike the traveling preachers of the American frontier, Sastry does not proselytize. The affable priest is booked (http://www.vedicpriest.com) -- months in advance -- purely for his expertise in the elaborate ceremonies and Sanskrit mantras he studied in his native India. Sastry calls his work "community service." His clients say it is crucial in a nation where second-generation immigrants have little interest in Hindu religious careers.

For the rest of this informative article, click URL above.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

Vedic World Heritage links:

See our pages supporting these views HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/VWH.html (Vedik World Heritage)
Western Indologists been exposed page:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/WesternIndologists-page.htm
How British Misguided the World on Vedic History
http://www.hknet.org.nz/MotiveBritishRajMissionaries.html

A summary of the PBS special called: "Modern Meat: A PBS Frontline Documentary"
Aired Thursday, April 18, at 9pm, 60 minutes

It's as American as apple pie and vastly more popular. The hamburger has become our national food: Americans eat more meat than any other people in the world, with the average person devouring three hamburgers a week. And with more meat available than ever before, today's beef costs 30 percent less than it did in 1970, making it that much more attractive to consumers looking for a quick, cheap meal.

Yet despite new federal safety regulations, more than 100 million pounds of meat has been recalled since 1998 due to suspected bacterial contamination. And just last summer, the nation's largest meat processor had to recall 500,000 pounds of beef contaminated with e.coli bacteria from seventeen states.

How much does the average American know about the beef they're eating? Have dramatic changes in the U.S. meat industry compromised the overall safety of American beef? And are the new federal regulations enough to guarantee the safety of the meat we eat?

FRONTLINE explores these and other questions in "Modern Meat," airing Thursday, April 18, at 9 P.M. on PBS. Through interviews with current and former U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, meat inspectors, food safety experts, and industry representatives, the one-hour documentary reveals how today's highly-industrialized meat business has fundamentally changed the composition of the typical American burger, causing some to fear the spread of serious -- and even deadly -- bacteria. The program also explores the powerful U.S. meat industry's attempts to resist certain government regulations aimed at preventing contaminated meat from ending up in supermarkets and fast food chains across America.

"I think what the [meat] industry is saying is that they don't want to be accountable for the product that they're selling," says Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, an expose of the meat and fast food industry. "This industry has fought against food safety inspection for a hundred years."

"Modern Meat" takes viewers inside the U.S. meat industry, beginning at the cattle ranch and then moving on to the "feedlot" -- a huge industrial holding pen where as many as 100,000 cattle are held together until they are fat enough to be slaughtered. Then the carcasses make their way down a Detroit-style assembly line or "dis-assembly line," as one industry insider quips -- where modern advances have enabled some meat companies to strip as many as 400 carcasses an hour -- nearly three times as many as in 1970.

But such modern efficiency may pose potential health risks.
In "Modern Meat," FRONTLINE speaks with numerous scientists and industry observers who raise serious concerns about today's meat production system. With large numbers of animals being raised together in huge feedlots covered with feces, they say, it's easy for bacteria to spread from one animal to another.
"Cows tend to produce feces [and] feces is primarily bacteria," says Glen Morris, a microbiologist at the University of Maryland and a former USDA official "When those bacteria are spread around, there's ample opportunity for bacteria to be spread from one cow to the next.
"In the larger feedlots," he adds, "there's a greater chance for the passage of microorganisms back and forth. All of that contributes to the spread of microorganisms like e. coli."
Dr. Robert Tauxe is also concerned. "The new highly industrialized way we produce meat has opened up new ecological homes for a number of bacteria," says Tauxe, head of the Centers for Disease Control's Foodborne Illness Section.
Gone are the days, Tauxe says, when a hamburger patty contained the meat from a single cow; with enormous numbers of cattle now being herded, fattened, slaughtered, and ground up together, it's virtually impossible to determine how many cows contribute to a single burger.
"If we take meat from a thousand different animals and grind that together," he says, "we're pooling bacteria from a thousand different animals as well."
What's more, there is increasing evidence that the modern meat industry's widespread use of antibiotics to promote growth and keep livestock healthy may result in the development of bacteria strains that are resistant to antibiotic treatment.

The consequences of bacterial contamination can be deadly. In 1993, Jack in the Box hamburgers contaminated with a deadly strain of e. coli killed four children and injured 750, causing the government to seek a more scientific system for inspecting meat.

For decades, industry experts say, meat inspectors had practiced the "poke and sniff" method of visually inspecting carcasses for signs of disease. Following the Jack in the Box outbreak, the government proposed implementing a new inspection system -- known as "HACCP" (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) -- that would require microbial testing to detect the presence of invisible -- yet harmful -- bacteria such as e. coli and salmonella.

The proposed testing for salmonella, however, was not embraced by the meat industry. In "Modern Meat," FRONTLINE speaks with industry insiders and government officials who say the powerful U.S. food lobby -- which has contributed heavily to key Capitol Hill lawmakers -- aggressively fought including this testing as part of the new regulations.

It's a charge that the American Meat Institute's J. Patrick Boyle denies. "It's not the beef industry that's fighting standards that are meaningful, that improve the wholesomeness of the product," Boyle tells FRONTLINE. "The beef industry has reservations about unscientific standards that have no relation to the safety of our products."
The USDA resisted industry pressure, and in 1996 the U.S. meat industry began making the transition to the new inspection system. Since then, the USDA has reported a marked drop in salmonella contamination of ground beef, while the CDC has also begun to see a drop in some food borne illnesses. Yet the American consumer still faces serious risks.
Each year, the CDC tracks numerous cases of food poisoning, while the USDA maintains a running list of tainted meat recalls. The growth in global trade, meanwhile, has increased the risk of diseased cattle or beef coming into the country and decimating the U.S. livestock population. Last year, for example, USDA Inspector General Roger Viadero discovered that 650,000 pounds of foreign meat from a country embargoed because of foot and mouth disease found its way into America's heartland.

In addition, a recent court ruling threatens to limit the government's enforcement of its new food safety regulations. In "Modern Meat," FRONTLINE examines a lawsuit filed by Texas meat grinding company Supreme Beef against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When the USDA effectively shut down the company after it failed bacterial contamination tests three times -- once after nearly 50 percent of its meat was found to be contaminated with salmonella -- the company sued. Supported in its lawsuit by the National Meat Association, Supreme Beef charged that the government didn't have the right to shut down its operations simply because it failed to meet the USDA salmonella standards. Last month, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the meat industry, prompting concern from some industry observers.

Carol Tucker Foreman, head of food safety at the Consumer Federation of America and a former USDA official, believes the modern meat production and distribution system leaves consumers vulnerable to a widespread outbreak of bacterial contamination. She points to a case in which sixteen deaths and five stillbirths were connected to Ball Park Franks found to be contaminated with deadly listeria.

"Those hot dogs were shipped everywhere," Foreman says. "And thousands and thousands of them were made every day. So the potential for one mistake rippling out and causing thousands of deaths is there."

Following the broadcast, visit FRONTLINE's Web site at http://www.pbs.org/frontline for more on this report, including:
Statistics and articles on the industrialization of the U.S. meat industry; Background reports from inside the slaughterhouse, readings and interviews on current conditions, and the movement for humane slaughter; Facts and advice for the consumer about choosing meat and eating safely; Extended interviews, chronologies and a video report. "Modern Meat" is a FRONTLINE co-production with Cam Bay Productions. The producer and writer is Doug Hamilton. The co-producer is Steve Johnson. The senior producer for FRONTLINE is Sharon Tiller.
FRONTLINE is produced by WGBH Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS.
Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers. National sponsorship for FRONTLINE is provided by EarthLink« and NPR«.
FRONTLINE is closed-captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.
The executive producer for FRONTLINE is David Fanning. Press contacts for FRONTLINE:
Erin Martin Kane [erin_martin_kane@wgbh.org]
Chris Kelly [chris_kelly@wgbh.org]
(617) 300-3500

FRONTLINE XX/April 2002

Jewish Vegetarians Weigh in Against "Animal-based Agriculture"
http://news.iskcon.com/node/940

By Sam Hodges for Dallas Morning News on 10 Mar 2008

New York - March 6, 2008 -- The Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) announced today that it strongly commends the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) for initiating a "Scientists and Economists' Call to Action," which urges U.S.-based scientists and economists to sign a letter which calls for "policies that will ensure swift and deep reductions in U.S. emissions of heat-trapping gases."

"Since climate change is today's greatest challenge," stated JVNA president Richard H. Schwartz, "we applaud UCS for their important initiative. But they, like most scientific groups, are overlooking 'an inconvenient truth' that even Al Gore has not sufficiently addressed -- A November, 2006 report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) documented that animal-based agriculture emits more greenhouse gases (in CO2 equivalents) than all forms of transportation worldwide combined (18% vs. 13.5%).

Also very significant is that this report projects a doubling of farmed animals in the next 50 years. If that happens, the increased greenhouse gas emissions would negate the effects of many positive lifestyle and industrial changes, making it very difficult to avoid the worse effects of global climate change. Hence, it is essential that UCS and other environmental groups make a major societal shift to vegetarianism a societal imperative."

JVNA is eager to engage with rabbis and other Jewish leaders in a respectful debate on the issue, "Should Jews Be Vegetarians Today?" The group urges rabbis and other Jewish leaders to consider how a shift toward plant-based diets would: improve the health of Jews and others; show the relevance of Judaism's eternal teachings to current societal challenges, thus helping to revitalize Jewish life; and, most importantly, help move an imperiled world to a sustainable path.

Further information about the JVNA and its mission to get vegetarianism onto the Jewish and other agendas may be obtained at the JVNA web site http://www.JewishVeg.com or by contacting Dr. Schwartz (president@JewishVeg.com). A complimentary copy of JVNA's new one-hour documentary "A SACRED DUTY: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World" will be sent to those who indicate how they might arrange a screening or promote the movie in some other way. The entire movie can also be viewed at http://www.ASacredDuty.com, a site that also has background material re the film, which was produced by Emmy-award winning producer Lionel Friedberg.

See our World Vegetarian Day Newsletters 2004 - 2005 - World Vege Day

See similar articles at Vegetarianism & beyond:
http://turn.to/Vegetarianism

WEIGHING THE ELEPHANT

Some labourers were criticizing the minister of the king, claiming that he only sat around and did no work.  The king reminded them that it took intelligence to become a minister.  He said he would give a test for everyone, including the minister.  Whoever could pass the test could become the next minister.  The king said, "Take this big elephant, weigh him and let me know the exact weight."  The ordinary men were baffled.  Where was there a scale for weighing an elephant?  They could not do anything.  They came back to the king with no information.  Then the king turned to his minister and asked, "Will you kindly weigh this elephant?"  So in six minutes he came back and reported, "It is twenty mounds [1,920]."  The other men were standing open-mouthed in surprise.  "How is that?" they asked.  "Within six minutes he came back and he gave the exact weight!"  The king asked, "How did you weigh him?  Did you get some very big scale?"  "No sir," replied the minister.  "It is not possible too weigh the elephant on a scale.  It is very difficult."  "Then how did you weigh it?"  "I took it on a boat.  When I got him on the boat then I saw the watermark and I marked it.  Then, after getting the elephant off the boat, I added weight onto the boat, and when it came to the same watermark, then I understood."  SO the king addressed the labourers and cautioned them, "Now you see the difference?"  They agreed, "Yes."

MORAL:  Buddhir yasya balang tasya nirbuddhes tu kuto balang / pashya singha madonmatah shashah kena nipatata.  A shasha, a rabbit killed a singha, a big lion by intelligence.  One who has got intelligence, he has strength, and one who has no intelligence has no strength.  Foolish people often criticize devotees as do-nothings and weaklings, but such people do not understand the intelligence of a devotee.  Therefore, a devotee does not have to heed such people.

See similar inspirational snippets HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/parables.htm

The phaomnneil pweor of the hmuan mnid: Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig!
Mybae the I can sotp slpel ckchenig?

http://www.gaura-gambhira.com/

Written by HH Bhakti Purusottama Swami

Dear Maharaj/ Prabujis/ Matajis,

It is my great pleasure to inform all the devotees of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that a great service opportunity has been offered by the temple authorities of Gambhira, in Puri dham, where Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spent the final years of His manifested pastimes on this earthly planet. Kasi Mishra's house, also known as Gambhira, and the Radha Kanta math, were both under the care of the Orissa government due to 20 years of litigation. Finally, this litigation problem has been resolved and the management of the institution has been returned to the temple mahanta.

The temple has sustained much damage over the years due to lack of proper maintenance. The whole place is very dirty and the roofs and walls are falling down. The temple roof is also cracking. Additionally, the temple has a lack of proper income for the maintenance of the devotees and for deity puja—and, of course, the more the Gambhira is allowed to deteriorate, the fewer visitors it will have.

At this crucial point, the mahanta of Gambhira has requested ISKCON to extend kind assistence to him in order to protect and maintain this most holy place. Devotees from all over the world come to offer their prayers and obeisances at Gambhira. This is one of the most important places for the followers of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and must be maintained nicely.

Thus, this is a golden opportunity for devotees to render service to this most sacred cause. I request all devotees to kindly donate towards this purpose. There are many things to be fixed at the place. For the time being we have prepared a rough budget, for whatever the most urgent needs are, just to bring the situation up to  survival position. Later on, we will let you know about further opportunities for service in the development of the Gambhira.

For further information contact

Bhakti Purusottama Swami

Phone: ++ 91 9434506434

E mail: bps@pamho.net

Topical Articles:
Abortion - http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-abortion.htm
Genetic Engineering ( GE or GM ) - http://www.hknet.org.nz/GE.html
Environment - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Environment.htm
Encroachment - http://www.hknet.org.nz/WE-Day2004.html
Cloning - http://www.hknet.org.nz/cloning.htm
Science - http://www.hknet.org.nz/science2KC.html
Cow Protection - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Cow-protection.htm
The Four Regulative Principles of Freedom - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Regs-4page.htm
seX-files - http://www.hknet.org.nz/seX-files.htm
Mundane Knowledge - http://www.hknet.org.nz/mundaneknowledge.html
Death (Yamaduttas - Terminal Restlessness etc)- http://www.hknet.org.nz/death.html
Near Death Experience - http://www.hknet.org.nz/NDE.htm
Ghosts - http://www.hknet.org.nz/ghosts.htm
Reincarnation again here - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Reincarnation-page.htm
Gain some insights in the TV culture  - http://www.hknet.org.nz/television.html
The aweful Truth about softdrinks - http://www.hknet.org.nz/theREALthing.html
Changing the face of the Earth - http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1390/index.html
UFOs - http://www.hknet.org.nz/UFOs.html
Vegetarianism & Beyond - http://turn.to/Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism in the major Religions - All manner of religions
Articles for newcomers to Krishna consciousness - http://www.krishna.com/newsite/main.php?id=87
Self Help and Motivational pages - Deals and Affiliate programs: - http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-selfhelp.html
Myth of the Aryan invasion by Dr. David Frawley: - http://www.hknet.org.nz/Aryan-invasion-mythDF.html

The Peace Formula - (By HDG Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) http://www.hknet.org.nz/PeaceFormula.html

.........many other articles - http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-articles.htm

and from there go to the Main Index http://www.hknet.org.nz/index.htm

Iskcon News Articles now available - many topical insights
http://www.iskcon.com/new/index.html

Paradigms - where things are not all they seem

 The Peace Formula
http://www.hknet.org.nz/PeaceFormula.html

The Real Peace Formula
http://www.hknet.org.nz/PeaceRealF.html

See more on Yoga and Meditation HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-yoga.html

World Vegetarian Day October 1st yearly &
World Vegetarian Awareness Month of October yearly
...please visit our links and see what you can do to help

World Smoke Free Day
31st May Every Year 

http://www.be-free.org/b-media/market-bfree03/cinema.php

yeah kick the butt
...and remember from 10th December 2004 no more smoking in public places in New Zealand by law