Newsletter Number #146  ( February issue 2005 A.D. Gaurabda 518)
http://www.hknet.org.nz/index.htm
http://welcome.to/hknetworks

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ki jaya

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Please Accept My Respectful Obeisances & Best Wishes To All

_0____,

All Glories To Srila Prabhupad.

\o/
(_)
/ \ All Glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.

Welcome to the latest re-vamped edition of the on-line HKSRNewsletter, and our humble attempt to render some service to the devotee community. As you can see we've changed the format, and everything is here hyper-linked on-line, we hope it's now easier for you all. This newsletter now goes out to way over 2108 receivers. We trust that all is well with everyone by the Mercy of the Lord. However, if anyone would like to be removed please just send us a message requesting me to do so, and we will do it promptly. If you are receiving this from a friend, and would like to be added directly to the mailout please also let us know and we will do the needful there too. Removal and Subscription details at the very end of this newsletter.

Hare Krishna. =>B-) JTCd

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The Nectar in this Issue 

See the events on Interactive Calendar site for details:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2002-2003.html
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2003-2004.html
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html

Vaishnava Calendar for 2005-2006????
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2005-2006.html
(some selected locations are available already below)

The present year's calendar:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html

Download the Vaishnava Calendar software VCAL 4.01

Local temples

Words of Wisdom - Shastra & Shastrakaras speak:
... (Srila Prabhupad & the previous Acharyas)
... Coming Festivals
... Local temples
... Verses from Shastra
... Hare Krishna Maha Mantra
... Hare Krishna as ancient religion - NOT a cult
... Vaishnava Songs
... Samskaras and Agama Tantra
... Articles
... Topical links - etc
... Vedik revival - Vedik World Heritage

Advertisements - what's on where: check them out...
... Cyber Community Notice Board
...lastest important news items !!!!

... Hare Krishna School in Auckland
... Ayurvedic health - and seminars - Radiance Ayurved has new site
... Fire Safety - Water Safety - Internet Safety
... Singles - Hare Krishna Singles - Vegetarian Singles - Marriage Compatibility checking
... FREE CD Rom
... Sri Shalagram Tirtha Pradarshini web-site and new newsletter
... Vegetarianism and Beyond site gets re-vamped
... Gaura Yoga - Wellington
... The Loft Auckland
... The new Auckland Temple now open

... Boxing Day Asian Tsunami Disaster Food (prasadam) Relief Appeal

... and much more

At Grass Roots: Topical stuff
... Seasonal Greetings...Happy 2005
... Have a Happy Year - Gaurabda 518

Prasadam Recipes: To slake the thirst of body, mind & soul
... some really useful Vege links and support
... inspiring Vegetarian articles
... Eggless cooking - baking - cakes
... Vegetarian Cheeses - new page (try the Tuxford range...)(updated August 2004)
... Vegetarian clubs
... Hare Krishna Food For Life - local and international food relief
... check out the new Ekadasi recipes link
... 101 reasons to be a vegetarian
... Meat substitutes - Tofu - Soy - TVP - tempe recipes
... White Sugar free from bone char in NZ
... FREE Meet your Meat CDRoms
... How to offer your food to God
... You mean that's in the Bible?
... visit our Vegetarianism and Beyond Award winning web-site
... Kurma's new web-site
... The Meatrix
... Holiday Season & Xmas survival recipes

Krishna conscious - Vedikly acceptable jokes:
... cut loose have a laugh
... serious therapy in humour !!!
... did U ever wonder -  Ways of the world - Strange but true

Thanx 2 our sponsors and supporters:
... sponsorship and support
... add or remove - sub or unsub
... HELP !!!
... donations welcome

Now you can view the FULL years 1999-2000 & 2000-2001 & 2001-2002 & 2002-2003 & 2003-2004 & 2004-2005.
All Calendar entries are explained - Appearance or Disappearance
days, festivals, fasts, feasts, etc.

View previous years festival dates on the Calendar:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2001-2002.htm
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2002-2003.html
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2003-2004.html
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html
Vaishnava Calendar for 2005-2006????
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2005-2006.html
(some selected locations are available already below)

The present year's calendar:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html

Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Sri Jayadeva Goswami - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Locana Das Thakur - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Fasting for Sat-tila Ekadasi - (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 5th February 2005  in NZ)

Sri Ganga Sagara Mela

Sri Vasanta Pancami

Srimati Visnupriya Devi - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Srimati Sarasvati Puja

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Pundarika Vidyanidhi - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Sri Raghunandana Thakur - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Sri Raghunatha Das Goswami - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Kumbha Sankranti (Sun enters Aquarius)

Sri Advaita Acarya - Appearance  - Avirbhav (Fasting till noon)

Sri Bhismastami

Sripad Madhvacarya - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sripad Ramanujacarya - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Fasting for Bhaimi Ekadasi - (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 20th February 2005  in NZ)

Sri Varaha Dvadasi - Appearance of Lord Varaha deva
(The fast is observed till noon on the Ekadasi)(Feasting is done today.)

Sri Nityananda Trayodasi - Appearance of Nityananda Prabhu (Fasting till noon - 22nd Feb in NZ)

Sri Krsna Madhura utsava

Srila Narottama Das Thakur - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Sri Purusottama Das Thakur - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Srila Gour Govinda Swami -- Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Prabhupad - Appearance  - Avirbhav (Fasting till noon)

Fasting for Vijaya Ekadasi- (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 7th March 2005  in NZ)

Sripad Isvara Puri - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Shiva Ratri - Appearance Day of Lord Shiva

Srila Jagannatha Das Babaji - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Rasikananda - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Sri Purusottama Das Thakur - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Mina Sankranti (Sun enters Pisces)

Fasting for Amalaki vrata Ekadasi - (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 21st March 2005  in NZ)

Sripad Madhavendra Puri - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Holi

Sri Krishna Chaitanya (Gauranga) Mahaprabhu - Appearance - ( 26th March 2005 in NZ )
Gaura Purnima - (Fasting Ekadasi style untill moonrise)

Jatakarma Festival of Srila Jagannatha Misra for Birth of Baby Lord Chaitanya

Sri Srivas Pandit - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Fasting for Fasting for Papamocani Ekadasi - (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 5th April 2005  in NZ)

Sri Govinda Ghosa - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

9th April 2005 - Amavasya - Hybrid Solar Eclipse (do not cook, eat, etc. Only Chant Hare Krishna) see eclipses-page

Sripad Ramanujacarya - Appearance

Mesa Sankranti (Sun enters Aries)

Beginning of Shalagram and Tulsi Jala Dan

Sri Rama Navami: Appearance of  Lord Ramacandra (Fasting till sunset) (18th April 2005 in NZ)

Fasting for Fasting for Kamada Ekadasi- (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 20th April 2005  in NZ)

Damanaka-ropana dvadasi

Sri Balarama Rasayatra

Sri Krsna Vasanta Rasa

Sri Vamsivadana Thakur - Appearance  - Avirbhav

Sri Syamananda Prabhu - Appearance  - Avirbhav

24th April 2005 - Purnima - Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (do not cook, eat, etc. Only Chant Hare Krishna) see eclipses-page

Sri Abhiram Thakur - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

1st Sunday in May = 1st May 2005 - Mother's Day (NZ, Aus, USA, UK)

Srila Vrindavana Das Thakur - Disappearance  - Tirubhav

Fasting for Fasting for Varuthini Ekadasi- (Fasting from Beans and Grains - 4th May 2005  in NZ)

This year's also now available for viewing:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html

All Calender information HERE
http://www.hknet.org.nz/CalendarWhosWho-page.htm

http://panjika.pagehere.com/

Check out the Ekadasi pages with links to every Ekadasi:
(also find out from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada what is, and what constitutes a mahadwadasi)
Find out about Dwadasi and Mahadwadasi here:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/dvadasi.htm

NEW EKADASI RECIPES:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/ekadasi-page.htm

kasmad ekadasi jata tasyah ko va vidhir dvija
kada va kriyate kim va phalam kim va vadasva me

ka va pujyatama tatra devata sad-gunarnava
akurvatah syat ko dosa etan me vaktum arhasi

"Oh Gurudeva! When did Ekadasi take birth and from whom did she appear? What are the rules of fasting on the Ekadasi? Please describe the benefits of following this vow and when it should be followed. Who is the utmost worshippable presiding deity of Sri Ekadasi? What are the faults in not following Ekadasi properly? Please bestow your mercy upon me and tell about these subjects, as you are the only personality able to do so."

Find out what was said HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/ekadasi-page.htm
 

Download yourVaishnava Calendar and make a hard copy for this
last year's ( 2003-2004 AD - 517 Gaurabda ) from our site:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2003-2004.html

This present year ( 2004-2005 AD - 518 Gaurabda ) from our site:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2004-2005.html

Vaishnava Calendar for 2005-2006????
http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar2005-2006.html

Vaishnava Calendar Program Vcal 4.01 FREE Download, and make your own Calendar for 2004-2005:
http://www.iskcon.org/calendar/vcal401.zip

or if you can't do that and you'd like a 2004-2005 Calendar for your longitude, latitude and time zone ANYWHERE in the world I can do that for you and e-mail it to you - FREE    Vaishnava Calendar Software 4.01

MAKE YOUR OWN CALENDAR FOR YOUR LOCATION,
no more dodgy calendars/panchangas/panjikas from India

...some already made for you http://www.hknet.org.nz/Cals2005-2006-World.html

Vaishnava Calendar maker for your region - on-line:
http://www.iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/vcalndx.pl

Astrologically/Astronomically Accurate and FREE

Please download the software from:
http://www.iskcon.org/calendar/vcal401.zip

How to use the VCAL calendar program:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/VcalHow2use.html

mailto:jtcd@xtra.co.nz

Vaishnava Calendar maker for your region - on-line:
http://www.iskcondc.org/cgi-bin/vcalndx.pl

Free Vaisnava Calendar Email Reminder Service
Website URL:  http://www.vaisnavacalendar.info

New service just launched - a Free Vaisnava Calendar Email Reminder Service (BETA) where devotees can sign up and receive automated location sensitive reminders of ekadasi's, festivals, appearance and disappearance days via email.

Festivals on the Vrindavan Calendar
http://www.naturalnirvana.com/Braja-Mandala/Braja-Mandal-Files/Braja-Vrindavan-Festivals.htm

Time Zones and Countries World-wide:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

Here's a few Vaishnava Calendar locations around the World friends asked for us to post !!

Newsletters:
Do you get the Hare Krishna Newsletter from Auckland?
If not send a message to Mother Madri to add yourself to their list:
mailto:madri@pamho.net
mailto:harekrishnanews_auck-owner@yahoogroups.com

See Auckland's latest newsletter HERE:

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Wellington Temple Newsletter:
mailto:jagjeevandas.mvgm@paradise.net.nz

Gaura Yoga Centre (Wellington) newsletter:
mailto:gaurayoga-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

...and across the ditch in Aus': 
Brisbane temple newsletter
to subscribe - mailto:brisbane@pamho.net

Melbourne Temple F.O.L.K. News Daily Newsletter/diatrobe:
http://anitest.manilasites.com/

Sydney Temple Newsletter:
http://www.iskcon.com.au/Mailing_list.html

Other Journals, Newsletters, & KC Blogs:
Aisvarya prabhu's blog:
http://www.livejournal.com/~icemonger/

Aniruddha's blog:
http://www.iskcon.net.au/aniruddha/

Ekendra's Mrdanga
http://www.gopinatha.net/journalKC/index.php
This is my new journal where I hope to contribute something worth reading to the world. The inspiration for this comes from Nectar of Devotion wherein it is stated that to reveal one's mind in confidence is one of the loving exchanges between Vaisnavas. Ekendra dasa.

The Conch newsletter - Radha Giridhari temple Auckland
http://www.hknet.org.nz/TheConch-newsletter.html
The Conch Newsletter is a subscription newsletter that is sent out in Word format either as a printable attached file through e-mail, or hard-copy by snail mail. The newsletter is monthly, and compiled by Amrita-pani devi dasi in conjunction with the editorial advisor HH Mukunda Goswami.

From the virtual pen of Sita-pati dasa http://blog.worldsankirtan.net/sitapati/
News and views from Sita-pati dasa in Brisbane Australia.

The International Society for Education in Krsna Consciousness http://www.isekc.com/ has a Blog called Vaishnava Sanga which one can access from the ISEKC home page.

News stories, articles, comment, insights, features, and Vaisnava perspectives available on-line from http://www.iskcon.com/new/

Mahakarta Dasa (Prabhupada's disciple) is the temple president of ISKCON Sri Lanka, and he is the coordinator of this Food for life relief program for the tsunami victims.
    The program started from 31st December 2004. The Temple President has gone to Trincomalee (worst affected area) this morning to directly supervise the program with some congregational devotees where prasadam will be cooked and distributed to the victims, beginning from 5000 plates per day and increasing rapidly to 20,000. We are starting from Trincomalee and it is the worst affected area in Sri Lanka.

The rate of prasadam distribution is now more than 30,000 per day, providing cooked meals and fresh drinking water as well as some medical aide http://www.ffl.org  See other articles in this issue.

This food for life program will continue for a long period and the program will expand to the other affected areas in the country and for this your help is very much needed.

Sri Lanka was among the worst affected by the recent earthquake in Sumatra (Indonesia) and the subsequent tidal wave which has affected many countries in this region. The tide was 40ft high. In the recent news this morning, the death rate has increased to more than 25000 and many thousands are still missing. Over a million are refugees. The refugees have taken shelter in hospitals, schools and temples. Hospitals have been washed out along with the patients and doctors. To continue this, we need assistance and we have to also go to different affected areas. Another rising problem is the thousands of orphans.

His Holiness Indradyumna swami and over 45 other Iskcon devotees are now in the area feeding over 30,000 prasadam meals a day and helping to heal the disrupted lives of the orphans.

So the food for life project by ISKCON (Sri Lanka) should provide a minimum of at least ten thousand plate per day or it will be insufficient for the victims.

How to donate

100% of the donations will be given to the tsunami victims. We will also supply medical items, sleeping mats, bed sheets etc as we receive.

We need assistance from you also for this humanitarian service. Please donate generously for this cause and inform your friends to donate for this purpose. Contact us for further information.

Mahakarta Dasa (Prabhupada's disciple) is the temple president of ISKCON Sri Lanka, and he is the coordinator of this relief program for the tsunami victims in Sri Lanka.

We are the only authorized ISKCON center in Sri Lanka :

Address:  Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple (ISKCON Sri Lanka)
               188, new chetty street,
               Colombo 13
               Sri Lanka

e-mail: iskcon@slt.lk
phone: (00941) 2433325
fax: (00941) 2471099

GBC: H.H.Jayapataka Swami
Co GBC: H.H.Bhanu Swami

Your donations could be sent by draft/cheque/ money order on behalf of the ISKCON account mentioned below to the ISKCON Sri Lanka address:

ISKCON Sri Lanka, 188, New chetty street, Colombo 13, Sri Lanka

Bank account name: ISKCON
Account no: 1050669901
Bank name and address: Commercial bank company Ltd
Kotahena branch
Colombo 13
Sri Lanka

Or,

If you deposit the cheques or drafts in any bank of your country (eg. western union) it will be transferred to the bank here.

Or,

If you wish to send the money through your credit card, you could also do that the same precedure via the bank in your country directing it to the ISKCON account here in sri lanka.

But you should mention the bank and the branch name and address where the money is to be transferred.

Please contact us via email for further information.

Thanking you
Your humble servant
Nandarani dd
Secretary
ISKCON Sri Lanka

See Travelling Preacher's Diary of Indradyumna Swami below:

 

Srimad Bhagavad Gita AS IT IS

Bhagavad Gita:  Chapter 2 - Contents of the Gita Summarized

                                 TEXT 59

                           visaya vinivartante
                           niraharasya dehinah
                        rasa-varjam raso 'py asya
                         param drstva nivartate

 WORD FOR WORD
 visayah--objects for sense enjoyment; vinivartante--are practiced to be refrained from; niraharasya--by negative restrictions; dehinah--for the embodied; rasa-varjam--giving up the taste; rasah--sense of enjoyment; api--although there is; asya--his; param--far superior things; drstva--by experiencing; nivartate--he ceases from.

TRANSLATION
The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.

PURPORT by HDG Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad:
 Unless one is transcendentally situated, it is not possible to cease from sense enjoyment. The process of restriction from sense enjoyment by rules and regulations is something like restricting a diseased person from certain types of eatables. The patient, however, neither likes such restrictions nor loses his taste for eatables. Similarly, sense restriction by some spiritual process like astanga-yoga, in the matter of yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, etc., is recommended for less intelligent persons who have no better knowledge. But one who has tasted the beauty of the Supreme Lord Krsna, in the course of his advancement in Krsna consciousness, no longer has a taste for dead, material things. Therefore, restrictions are there for the less intelligent neophytes in the spiritual advancement of life, but such restrictions are only good until one actually has a taste for Krsna consciousness. When one is actually Krsna conscious, he automatically loses his taste for pale things.

 - His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with permission.

 - His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Bhagavad Gita As It Is - http://www.asitis.com/

View our Bhagavad Gita Overview:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/BG.html

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with permission.

Archive: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~vivek/btg/archive/
Home Page: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~vivek/btg/

Join Bhagavad Gita eGroups HERE
mailto:bhagavad_gita-owner@egroups.com

Prabhupada Uvacha:
(here's some nectar, sometimes it comes in the form of Srutakirti prabhu's diary, other times from Govinda dasi's diary, or sometimes from a letter, but still nectar...)

Prabhupada Tells Short Stories

"There is a very instructive story, and it is a historical fact. The Muslim emperor Akhbar once inquired from his minister, 'How long does one remain in lusty desires?'

"The minister replied, 'Up to the last point of death.'

"Akhbar did not believe it, and he said, 'No, no, how can you say that?'

"'All right,' said the minister. 'I shall reply in time.'

"So one day, all of a sudden, the minister approached the emperor and said, 'You be immediately ready to come with me with your young daughter.' Akhbar knew that his minister was very intelligent and that there must be some purpose. He went with him, and the minister took him to a person who was going to die. The minister then asked Akhbar, 'Kindly study the man who is about to die, on his face.'

"So Akhbar noticed that as he and his young daughter were entering, the dying man was looking to the face of the young girl. In this way, Akhbar understood, 'Yes, what he said is true. Up to the last point of death the desire is there to see the face of a young girl.'

"This is called duspurena -- it is never fulfilled. This attraction of man and woman and family life continues."

Once there was a monkey who was jumping around in the forest when he saw a big tree that was half cut through with a plug wedged in it. The system of the wood cutters was that they would sometimes half cut through a big tree, leave it for the day, and then come back and cut the rest of it the next day. In the meantime, to preserve their cut, they would put a plug there. This monkey became very curious about the half-cut tree and he managed to push out the plug. The big tree suddenly joined and cut off his tail. The moral: mind your own business.

Lecture in Vrndavana, December 10, 1975; story remembered by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. The story about the Akhbar and his minister has always been, for me, one of the heaviest stories I've heard from Srila Prabhupada. Each time I hear it attentively, I become stunned. Only if we serve Krsna and Srila Prabhupada with all our body, mind, and words can we escape a last-minute reversion to material attachment. As we quoted Srila Prabhupada earlier in this volume, unless we are madana-mohana, or attracted to Krsna (the attractor of Cupid), we will be madana-dahana, or in Cupid's fire, attracted to the young girl.

To receive little snippets of nectar like this on a daily basis subscribe HERE: or If you want to introduce anyone else in reading Srila Prabhupada Nectars, please send their eMail addresses to mailto:krpamaya_gauranga@hotmail.com

Please Chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Listen to Srila Prabhupad on-line
....a different lecture, morning walk, conversation or class daily.

"Everyone Is Mentally Diseased"
Room Coversation with Psychiatrist and Indian Boy -- May 12, 1975, Perth

Listen to the entire lecture on-line:
http://prabhupadavani.org/Conversations/RAMfiles_CNV/CNV056.ram

Paramahamsa: I understood that you approach psychiatry, psychology, from the point of eastern philosophy.
Prabhupada: So, what can I do for you?
Psychiatrist: I have no question.
Prabhupada: He has no question?
Paramahamsa: No.
Prabhupada: Then, what shall I say?
Paramahamsa: I don't know, Srila Prabhupada. He had told me that he has read your Bhagavad-gita. He has a copy. Do you have any questions about the Bhagavad-gita? Has he understood it?
Psychiatrist: I just wished to meet you.
Prabhupada: Hmm?
Paramahamsa: He says he just wished to meet you. Perhaps I should read a verse. Should I read a verse?
Prabhupada: No. Our viewpoint is that in the material world, who has accepted this material body -- anyone, but we specially take the human society -- they require treatment, everyone. Everyone is mentally diseased, and therefore he is unhappy. Everyone. Harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-guna [SB 5.18.12]. Anyone who has no sense of God consciousness, he is diseased mentally. He requires treatment. The whole human society, especially at the present moment, they have given up God consciousness. They are not interested. That is their disease. And everyone requires treatment. So the whole Krsna consciousness movement is the mass treatment of the materialistic persons who are mentally diseased. That is our proposition. It is... In India there was a case. A man committed murder, and he pleaded in the court that... His pleader, his lawyer, pleaded that he was mad at that time. We also accept unless one becomes mad, one cannot commit murder or suicide. So the civil surgeon was brought to give evidence whether this man is actually mad. The civil surgeon said that "So far my experience is concerned -- I have treated so many persons -- in my opinion everyone is mad. So if on account of madness one should be excused from the law, then it is Your Honor's discretion, but so far I have studied, more or less, everyone is mad." Similarly, our study is that unless one is mad, he cannot remain in this material world. So everyone is mentally diseased, and they are concocting their ideas, different ideas. And they are overlapping, my idea, your idea overlapping. Therefore there is clash, unhappiness, violence, individually, socially, familywise, nationwise. This is going on. Therefore everyone requires a treatment, psychiatrist's treatment. And the best treatment is to induce a person to become Krsna conscious. Then everything will be all right. Otherwise, a person who is not Krsna conscious, or God conscious, he is basically a mad man and requires treatment. (pause) Ghostly haunted man... You have experienced ghostly haunted man?
Paramahamsa: In Woodsaw (?) there was a ghost. In St. Kilda the devotees used to think there was a ghost, but not a man who was called...
Prabhupada: There is ghost. And sometimes ghost attacks a man. Because he has no material body, he wants to act through other's body. So the man who is attacked, he forgets himself, and he speaks and walks according to the dictation of the ghost. That is called ghostly haunted man.
Srutakirti: What is the significance of... What is this?
Prabhupada: He talks nonsense. Suppose his father comes before him, he calls him by ill names, like that. He talks nonsense. So anyone who is too much materially affected, he also talks nonsense. Anartha upasamam saksad bhakti-yogam adhoksaje. The treatment is bhakti-yoga. That we are teaching. Without any exception, we accept everyone a patient for psychiatric treatment. He has this book?
Paramahamsa: Yes.
Prabhupada: Then all other books we can show him.
Devotee: Srila Prabhupada, does the soul, the ghost, enter into the other man's body? The soul is occupying one body, and the ghost, as another soul, does he enter that body? There's two souls in the one body?
Prabhupada: Not exactly enters, but he catches the body. But because the ghost has no gross body -- he has got his subtle body, mind, intelligence, and ego -- you cannot see him, how he has attacked that body. You cannot see the body of mind, intelligence. You know I have got my mind; I know you have got your mind. But you do not see my mind; I do not see your mind. So ghost is within the subtle body: mind, intelligence, and ego. So with that subtle body, he attacks the man, but you cannot see. He does not enter into him. The enter is the soul within the body. Therefore sometimes ghost is walking in the room. We cannot see. But he takes away something. We see that the thing is going away. (laughter) Because you cannot see his gross body. And because he hasn't got gross body, he can move very swiftly. Now he is here; he can go ten miles away immediately. But there is ghost. And they attack specially woman.
Paramahamsa: Is that because the women are weaker?
Prabhupada: No. Woman is attractive for any man, even in ghostly life. The other day, who was telling that a big poet of India, he said that "God's most wonderful creation is woman's body"?
Srutakirti: I think Brahmananda Maharaja mentioned? Acyutananda.
Prabhupada: So, everyone is attracted with the woman's body. In your country I have seen the advertisement: "bottomless," "topless..." That is the material attraction. Everyone is in this material world on account of attachment. And similarly, for woman, the man's body is beautiful. So in this way both of them are attached to one another. That is the basic principle of material life. Yan maithunadi-grhamedhi-sukham hi tuccham kanduyanena karayor iva duhkha-duhkham [SB 7.9.45]. They become attached. On account of sex life, they become more attached, and therefore both of them remain almost perpetually in this material world, and to satisfy different desires they transmigrate from one body to another. And on account of accepting this material body, there is always miserable condition. Therefore everyone requires the psychiatric treatment so that the mind may be transferred from matter to spirit soul. Then he will be cured. The disease is of the mind. Harav abhaktasy kuto mahad-guna mano-rathena. Everyone is riding on the chariot of mind. And the mind is taking him here and there, here... And the yoga practice is also treatment. This is also yoga, bhakti-yoga, and this ordinary hatha-yoga, that is also treatment of the mind. Treatment of mind means controlling the senses. Yoga indriya-samyamah. Mind is the leader of the senses. So if the treatment of the mind is done properly, then the senses work properly. The example is the madman. Because the madman's mind is not controlled, he is acting in a way -- people say, "Here is a madman." So everyone is more or less a madman in this material world, or, in other words, you can say anyone who is in the material world, he is a madman. He requires treatment. Just like anyone who is in the prison house, it is to be accepted that he is a criminal. Without any study, without any exception we can accept all the prisoners as criminals. [break] ...gradually appreciate. Ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]. This treatment is in the beginning just cleansing the mirror of the heart. That is the treatment. Just like a mirror, when it is overcast with dust, it requires cleansing. So the mental mirror is covered with material dust. So it has to be cleansed. That is the treatment. And when it is cleansed, you can see your real face in the mirror. Similarly, as soon as our heart disease, contaminated by the modes of material nature, is cleansed, you can understand what is your real position. That is the success of psychiatric treatment. One comes to know, "What I am." Aham brahmasmi: "I am spirit soul; I am not this body." That is called brahma-bhutah stage. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma [Bg. 18.54]. He becomes immediately happy. And happiness means na socati na kanksati: "He does not lament, neither he desires." Our present disease is we hanker after things which we do not possess, and when that thing is lost, we lament. So hankering and lamenting. So when one is cleansed in the heart, he has no more hankering or desire. This is the symptom. And samah sarvesu bhutesu: "Then he becomes equal to everyone." Everyone means every living being, man and animal, trees, plants, lower or higher. Panditah sama-darsinah [Bg. 5.18]. Then he enters into the sphere of devotional service. This is the symptom. Then he is perfectly in his original position. Then he is happy. Just like a diseased man. So long the disease is there, he is unhappy. And as soon as the disease is cured, he will be happy. So this material disease, as soon as it is cured, one becomes happy, because he is, by constitution, spiritual being. People have no knowledge even, his..., even about his spiritual identity. Therefore they are unhappy. So if you forget what you have written, then?
Paramahamsa: Do you remember what you wrote about, which part? About Krsna's birth?
Prabhupada: Krsna's birth? But in Bhagavad-gita there is no.
Paramahamsa: Maybe he means...

...............continued

"Glory to the Sri Krishna Samkirtan which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years together. Thus the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death, is extinguished. The Samkirtan Movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction Moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge, it increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it helps us to have a taste of the full nectar for which we are always anxious."

(Every Town & Village, album cover)

On-line Virtual Arati to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai - check it out
http://www.in2-mec.com/GNpuja.html

http://www.hknet.org.nz/harernam-page.htm
http://Harinam/rulestheweb.com

What's So Special About Chanting Hare Krishna?
By Stephen Knapp (Sri Nandanandan dasa ACBSP):
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/chanting_hare_krishna.htm

Hare Krishna is NOT "a Cult":
Is ISKCON a Cult or part of the "Hindu Culture" or Something Else?
http://www.hknet.org.nz/not-a-cult.html

Hare Krishna is NOT a Cult letter by Kunti dd editor of Hare Krishna World:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/HK-no-cult.html

38 Years of Krishna Consciousness through Iskcon.........
http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa081201a.htm

Very nice articles and numerous links on the About Hinduism web-site.

What is ISKCON ???
http://www.iskcon.org/main/twohk/iskcon/what.htm

Is Iskcon a Cult?
http://www.hknet.org.nz/not-a-cult.html

Iskcon and Hinduism
http://www.hknet.org.nz/IskconHinduism.html

SONGS AND MANTRAS by Vaishnava spiritual masters:
http://web.tiscali.it/no-redirect-tiscali/gopala/Vaishnava-Songs/index.html

Vaishnava Song Book:
http://www.iskcon.org/sastra/f_vs.html
http://www.iskcon.org/sastra/vs_other.html

Vedic Art Publications
http://www.vedicarts.net/catalogmain.html

.........this library is temporarily not working

Listen to or download Prabhupad lectures and bhajans
http://chantandbehappy.com/prabhupada/index.html

Devotional Bhajans and kirtans
http://chantandbehappy.com/bhajans/index.html

Hundreds of devotional songs by various artists - singers - performers - and many more coming soon:
http://www.radiokrishna.com/modules.php?name=NukeView&file=index&query=http://www.radiokrishna.com/rkc_archive_new/index2.php

Download songs
http://www.harekrsna.cz/mp3/folk/

Krishna Vision of Krishna Prema dasa ACBSP Sound Track Vol. 4 samples:
http://www.krisnavision.narod.ru/

Sydney temple Audio page
http://www.iskcon.com.au/Audio.html

Leicester Temple UK Audio page - many bhajans and kirtans
http://www.gauranga.org/audio_page.htm

Listen to Krishna Radio on various subjects on-line:
http://www.krishna.com/newsite/main.php?id=260

Agama Tantra and the Vaishnava Samskaras as a way of life:

Recently I was asked, "Don't you find it an inconvenience to always be checking to see when is the right time to do this or the best time for that?"

In simple terms my answer was and still is; if you go to the bus or railway station or airport it is probably an intelligent venture to enquire about the times and routes of vehicles than to just hope that one will be along soon, or one is going in your direction.

There are subtle influences in the Universe that, for thousands of years gone by, advanced cultures have honoured, respected and utilised. Before the corruption of the Vedik literatures by the Christian and Moslem invaders to India all these things were used; Ayurvedik Medicine; Vedik Astrology; etc. Today there's a rennaisance among many to revive these arts.

We have been trained and studied to be able to provide these services. See some of my sites:

http://www.hknet.org.nz/jtcd-samskaras.html
http://www.iskcon.net/nz-namahatta/jtcd/1-homepage.html

or contact me directly: mailto:jtcd@xtra.co.nz

aham kratur aham yajnah
svadhaham aham ausadham
mantro 'ham aham evajyam
aham agnir aham hutam

"But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb,
the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the offering."(Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 9.16)

Krishna conscious affirmations:

 Always remember Krishna and never forget Him

Join and receive Krishna conscious affirmations:
mailto:Sravana.SPGTSI@pamho.net

By popular demand - Looking for a devotee husband or wife?
&
Marriage Synastry

Devotee Meeting-Place Web site - FREE Service:
http://www.angelfire.com/ab7/devoteesmeet/home.html 

or HERE

BHAKTI YOGA SINGLES:
This list is for Bhakti Yoga singles. Those who practice Bhakti Yoga are known as Vaisnavas.
This list is therefore called Vaisnava Singles.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vaisnavasingles

Post a Message: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vaisnavasingles/post

Vegetarian Singles:
This list is for vegetarian singles. I know it can be difficult to get to know someone. There may not be anyone who can help us to get to know that special someone. We've got the computer now. So signup and start letting people know you're lonely.
Don't keep it a secret any longer.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vegetariansingles

Post a Message:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vegetariansingles/post

Post your singles ads here.
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/devoteesingles

.....think you've found someone special......
Marriage Compatibility Checking - Synastry

For marriage compatibility analysis bookings
http://www.hknet.org.nz/3-synastry.html

For more information about the system of analysis - the Vedik Kuta system
http://www.hknet.org.nz/synastry9page.htm

For more information about Vedik Marriage Compatibility
http://www.hknet.org.nz/MarriageSynastry4U.html

......and the process of Vaishnava Vivaha - sacred marriage

Gurukuli.com
A positive, safe environment to meet and chat
http://youth.rupa.com

BRITish CREW - Gurukuli forum
http://britcrew.com

Young F.O.L.K. 
Young Friends Of Lord Krishna
 http://www.hknet.org.nz/YoungFOLK.htm

ete cäàça-kaläù puàsaù
kåñëas tu bhagavän svayam
indräri-vyäkulaà lokaà
måòayanti yuge yuge

“All the lists of the incarnations of Godhead submitted herewith are either plenary expansions or parts of the plenary expansions of the Supreme Godhead, but Kåñëa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.” (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28)

rämädi-mürtiñu kalä-niyamena tiñöhan
nänävatäram akarod bhuvaneñu kintu
kåñëaù svayaà samabhavat paramaù pumän yo
govindam ädi-puruñaà tam ahaà bhajämi

“I worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Kåñëa], who is always situated in various incarnations such as Räma, Nåsiàha and many subincarnations as well, but who is the original Personality of Godhead known as Kåñëa, and who incarnates personally also.” (Brahma samhita 5:39.)

The Devotee List - Iskcon and Gaudiya math(s):
(It's still being developed, and a lot of devotees are not here......)
http://devotee.s5.com/index.html

Mail box full - over quota - newsletters bouncing.......

Still waiting for an internet company to come forward
and give you a massive mailbox for FREE like it's been rumoured for months.

HELP IS HERE AT LAST.

Tired of that wimpy 2mb mailboxs?  rejecting important emails cause
its always overflowing but still too cheap to spring for a "real" ISP..
No computer but need an email address? Need a stealth email address? Got
a friend who fits that description?... Well here are some other free
options for you. Note that a couple of these offer HUGE 100-200mb mail boxes...

http://www.hotmail.com   ..................2 mb
http://www.yahoo.com ....................4 mb
http://www.freeserve.com ..............5 mb
http://www.myownemail.com ........5 mb
http://www.lycos.com ......................5 mb
 http://www.softhome.net ................6 mb
http://www.bigmailbox.com ...........7 mb
http://mail.uk2.net ...........................10 mb
 http://www.gmx.net
http://www.graffiti.net
http://www.hotpop.com
http://www.mail2world
http://www.mail.com
http://www.mailandnews.com
http://www.mail15.com .................15 mb
http://macnews.de .........................20 mb
http://xms.ms ..................................20 mb
http://balls.com ............................100 mb
http://ukonline.net .......................200 mb

Vedik World Heritage pages

Read enlivening articles
See pictures of exhumed relics
Understand conspirital deceptions...
Join the renaissance to rebuild the Golden Age in the Kali-yuga
Find out about Vedik heritage items all around the world.....

Send in your articles and news:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/VWH.html

See more similar pages and links http://www.hknet.org.nz/VWH.html and http://www.hknet.org.nz/index-Vedik.htm

Vedik Culture list
 mailto:vediculture-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

A selection of interesting Krishna conscious articles from New Panihati - Atlanta temple USA:
http://newpanihati.tripod.com/NewsGroup/KCNectar/KCNectarMain.htm

Paradigms - where things are not all they seem

Krishna conscious Dramas and plays:
A collection of 88 transcendental dramas assembled and presented for the pleasure of
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
http://www.cedarpost.com/krsnaconsciousplays/default.htm

Wonderful modern Krishna conscious plays:
http://www.cedarpost.com/krsnaconsciousplays/TableOfContents.htm

These are great for Sunday feasts, or school programs or street presentations, or just for our own understanding.

Read here what Prabhupad says about such plays and dramas:
http://www.cedarpost.com/krsnaconsciousplays/PlaysP2SPquotes.htm

The Formidable Audio page - Bhajans, Kirtans, Lectures many Iskcon devotees:
http://www.iskcon.com.au/Audio.html

and

Bhajans and Kirtans
http://chantandbehappy.com/bhajans/index.html

and

Download latest Real Player for Free:
http://software-dl.real.com/22e4968a89f121132020/windows/mrkt/AUN03D/RealOnePlayerV2GOLD.exe

Listen to audio and view videos on-line here:
http://www.prabhupada.org/prabhupadadesh/a_deposito_oggetti/Archivio_Audio-Video/index.php?q=t&t=EN
http://www.prabhupada.org/prabhupadadesh/a_deposito_oggetti/Archivio_Audio-Video/index.php?q=f&f=%2FAudio
There's literally hundreds of bhajans, kirtans and videos segments to check out.............try all the folders too.......

Nectar for kids and adults alike:
http://www.rasa-music.com/Bodies/body-shop.html

...........more Audio sites linked HERE

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
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

.........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

Reporting from Colombo, Sri Lanka

I arrived in Colombo on Thursday, after an exhaustive plane trip and many days frantically trying to tie up loose ends in Washington DC. It is a big sacrifice for me and my family, but I feel impelled to oversee the relief efforts in Sri Lanka and to make certain that your kind donations are properly utilized.

Mr. Mahakarta Das (left), the director of Hare Krishna Food for Life in Sri Lanka, greeted me at the airport and immediately took me to observe the orphanage that his wife, Nandarani (right) manages. 

The children looked very happy and healthy, with beaming smiles as they crowded around the door to greet me. Mahakarta showed me the new construction taking place which will provide more facility to the 80 children presently residing at the orphanage and the many more that will come in the near future.

Caring for the Children of the Tsunami

Immediately after the disaster occurred in Sri Lanka, our local Food for Life representative, Mr. Mahakarta Das, started distributing hot meals to the victims. But since he was already being overwhelmed with an increase in needy children to his orphanage, he requested Food for Life Global in Washington D.C. to coordinate the distribution of food in the affected areas.

Food for Life Global flew its Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. I. Swami ("Maharaja"), from South Africa to assess the situation and set up an infrastructure for the expansion program. It was at this time that we began requesting volunteers to help us. We received well over
400 volunteer applications. It was truly overwhelming for us to see the outpouring of sentiment and absolute selflessness of you all. I cannot imagine how many volunteer requests larger organizations like the Red Cross must have received!

Upon arriving in Colombo, our representatives immediately got in touch with the Sri Lankan president's secretary, who was coordinating relief work around the country. He suggested that Food for Life could distribute food in the district of Matar in the south. The Matar district was one of the most severely affected by the Tsunami wave. Maharaja tells me that his heart broke as he drove south along the coast and saw first hand the terrible destruction of the Tsunami. "Entire villages had been wiped out," he explained. Apparently, there was only rubble for hundreds of kilometers. "I had never witnessed anything like it in my life. I was visibly shaken," he said.

On January 14, our Emergency Relief team reached Matar and met with a Major General in one of the many army camps. After showing us around several refugee camps he requested that we cook each day for the 10,000 people living there. Maharaja noticed immediately, however, that the refugees were eating quite well. Further inquiry revealed that the government was giving them food to cook for themselves. When he asked the Major General about this he said it was true, but nevertheless he wanted our team to cook for the refugees, using our own rice and beans!

We came to the conclusion that there was no need to expand our food relief projects to the extent we previously planned. It would best to focus on pockets of under served areas in the North and East since most people on the Island, especially in the South, are getting ample supplies of food and water from the government.

It had taken Maharaja 7 days to fully understand this and he immediately contacted our headquarters in Washington DC and told us not to send too many volunteers for relief work.

This then put us in a very tricky situation. Food for Life Global had already informed 30 volunteers to come to Sri Lanka to help us in our food relief expansion program, and many of them had already purchased tickets. On top of this, we had collected many thousands of dollars specifically to help expand our food relief projects in Sri Lanka. Well, despite the awkward situation, we believe we have a very good solution.

The majority of the money we collected for the Tsunami relief could be used for another type of relief work that is, in fact, desperately needed in Sri Lanka: taking care of newly orphaned children of the Tsunami, and counseling parents who lost their children. No amount of money could ever solve the loss of a child or parent, but Food for Life, through its cooperation with the Bhaktivedanta Orphanage in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is willing to do whatever it can to alleviate the pain even a little.

The ISKCON temple has been running this successful and well organized orphanage for many years. The 80+ children who reside there are getting a healthy education and the loving affection of the staff. Mr. Mahakarta Das is presently making plans to expand the orphanage to accommodate the huge increase in orphans in Sri Lanka. Food for Life is therefore planning to finance the expansion of this orphanage.

As more information comes to light and we have a clear idea of how Food for Life plans to assist the orphans of Sri Lanka, I will inform you.

In the North, South and East, Food for Life was there

A FFL team from Switzerland have set up camp in Point Pedro on the farthest Northern tip of Sri Lanka and are currently serving thousands of cooked meals. Our project in the South which has been serving up to 5000 meals daily will be winding down soon and two new teams will work for at least one more month in the Eastern towns of Batticaloa and Ampara, although the urgency in both areas has diminished somewhat. A full report of all these projects will appear in our next newsletter. (Picture: Batticaloa)

FFL Honesty

We received a nice compliment from one of our FFL volunteers planning to join us in Sri Lanka, I just wanted to thank you for your honesty about the whole situation. As I learned more about Food for Life and more about what the organization was doing in Sri Lanka, I became more and more impressed and won't hesitate to advise friends to support Food for Life in the future."

FFL Global Web Site Draws Attention

One very positive result of Food for Life Global's participation in the Tsunami Relief efforts, has been the marked increase in visitors to our web site. Many people, including many vegetarians, had never heard of Food for Life before. "To know that there is such an organization that is consistent in its compassion to humans and animals, is just wonderful!" said one lady. Many other people echoed the same sentiment. It was very heartwarming to know that there are so many friends of Food for Life.

Try for yourself! During the first 10 days after the Tsunami, Food for Life Global received over 2500 emails and our our phone kept ringing at all hours of the night. It got to the point where I had to turn the ringer off so that I could get some sleep. I asked people how they heard about Food for Life and everyone told me they found Food for Life through a search on Google. This fascinated me to think that a small grass roots NGO like Food for Life, with a very limited PR budget, could be ranked so high in Google that indexes over 8 billion web pages. I decided to try it myself. To my surprise, searching with the string, "Tsunami Food Relief," resulted in Food for Life Global being ranked as the 4th and 5th link, above USAID and Catholic Relief Services! Even more astonishing is the same search on Yahoo results in Food for Life Global being ranked 2nd and 3rd!!! 

My conclusion was that our sudden thrust into the "Google and Yahoo Spotlight" had to be the result of the vegetarian and vegan communities actively promoting www.ffl.org through their newsletters, banners, web sites and word of mouth. Many of you receive this newsletter and we just want to let you know how much we appreciate your support. Thank you.

Volunteers

Food for Life Global received well over 400 applications from people all across the US and abroad, including doctors, nurses, attorneys, pilots, boat captains, fire fighters, soldiers, business owners, engineers, housewives and students. All of them expressed a very sincere desire to assist Food for Life in its relief projects. Unfortunately, our limited funds and infrastructure would not permit us engaging all of you in volunteer work at this time. But you can be sure that we will keep you informed of future volunteer opportunities as they arise.

Donations

Donations continue to come in to the FFL Global office and through the web site. To date, over $50,000 USD was raised from online donations alone. Many ISKCON temples, businesses, social organizations, and individuals also came forward and gave generously. To all of you, we offer our deepest gratitude.

Hungarian Government

The Hungarian government granted Food for Life Sri Lanka the equivalent of 20,000 USD to support relief efforts in Sri Lanka. The Food for Life projects in Hungary have an excellent reputation and so the Hungarian government gladly offered this small grant knowing fully that the money would be very efficiently utilized.

Film Crew

A television film crew from Hungary will be flying in soon to record our projects on the East Coast. More on this in our next newsletter.

How to Contact Food for Life Global in Sri Lanka

The Food for Life base camp is situated at:
ISKCON
188, New Chetty Street,
Colombo 13
Sri Lanka

email: iskcon@slt.lk
Office phone: +94 11 2433325
fax:+94 11 2471099
Paul Turner Cell: 94 77 302 0495

We ask that all volunteers inform Food for Life Global of their intentions before coming, as there may not be any volunteer opportunities available.

Volunteering Offshore

Food for Life is encouraging people to give their time in their local area to help raise awareness of FFL's activities and thus raise much needed money. The relief efforts we are undertaking will continue for at least one year -- and that means money is crucial. Many students have emailed to ask if they can organize a fundraising drive at their campus. The answer is a resounding "Yes." Please help in whatever way you can, whether it is selling t-shirts, approaching your local businesses, or writing an article. We just ask that you keep Food for Life Global informed of all your activities.

Poster - Please Distribute

Please print and post this new poster around your city. You can also print this flyer and place it in vegetarian restaurants or hand them out at your church or shopping center.

For the webmasters among you, we humbly ask that you place one of these banners on your web site with a link to our home page (www.ffl.org).

Donations by Check

Send to:
Food for Life Global
PO Box 59037
Potomac, MD 20859, USA

All donations are tax deductible.

Our "Money Back" Guarantee

All the donations Food for Life Global receives for the Tsunami Relief effort will be wired in bulk to our FFL teams in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. Our FFL teams then guarantee that 100% of these monies will be spent exclusively on relief services.

Where You Can Donate

JustGive and Network for Good, both of which are prominently displaying Food for Life on their hunger relief pages and of course at the FFL web site using PayPal. (Note: PayPal does extract a very small percentage of the donated money for transaction fees. Typically $3 for a $100 donation).

Thank you for your friendship.

On behalf of all the Food for Life volunteers, we hope this meets you all the in the best of health and happiness.

The Food for Life Global Friends Newsletter is distributed to more than 20,000 vegans and vegetarians worldwide.

Paul Rodney Turner (Priyavrata das)

Food for Life Global
PO Box 59037
Potomac, MD 20859, USA
phone: (571) 277-2329
http://www.ffl.org  Go to FFL web site
SUPPORT Food for Life

Diary of a Traveling Preacher

Volume 6, Chapter 2

December 25, 2004 - January 11, 2005

"Tsunami!"

Like most people, in the early hours of December 26, 2004, I had no idea what the word tsunami meant. Had I been a tourist on the beach at Phuket, Thailand, sunbathing on that ill-fated day the "harbor wave" (the Japanese translation for tsunami) hit, I probably would not have taken heed when a vacationing scientist, seeing the sea mysteriously recede several hundred meters, screamed out a warning to others, "Tsunami!" Tsunami!" and ran for his life. He survived, but most on the beach didn't.

The death toll the deadly wave caused in 12 countries around the Indian Ocean may never be known, but it is estimated that more than 200,000 people lost their lives, with many thousands missing. 500,000 were injured and millions left homeless.
 
I had just arrived in Australia to participate in the Sydney temple's Christmas marathon festival. The day after Christmas we were returning from a joyous harinam on Sydney's packed streets when I saw the word tsunami in the headlines in the evening newspapers. "Huge waves devastate populated areas in the Indian Ocean!" screamed one.

Within hours the world was educated in the deadly phenomenon of a tsunami. The event was caused by a powerful underwater earthquake near Indonesia. The energy released by the quake was equivalent to 40,000 "little boys" - the atom bomb detonated over Hiroshima. It was equal to a billion bolts of lightning. The explosion was so strong that studies show the earth might have wobbled on its axis by as much as an inch and the length of the day altered by microseconds. So forceful as the earthquake that islands southwest of Sumatra (closest to the epicenter) moved by more than 20m.

The quake created 10m waves that fanned out and moved at speeds of up to 750kph across the ocean, eventually slamming into populated areas.

The rest is history, as the media was soon saturated with news of the destruction the waves caused.
 
Like millions around the world, I sat in disbelief as I read the news reports. Within hours rescue work began in all the countries affected, including Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. An unprecedented out-pouring of sympathy from people around the world would eventually raise over 5 billion dollars for relief work.
 
A devotee of the Lord is not callous to such catastrophes. He doesn't simply pass them off as global karma. By his very nature a devotee is sensitive to the suffering of others. Although Arjuna's concern for his family members and their suffering is often analysed as a weakness, it has also been described as characteristic of a pure devotee:

"Any man who has genuine devotion to the Lord has all the good qualities ... as such, Arjuna, just after seeing his kinsmen, friends and relatives on the battlefield, was at once overwhelmed by compassion for them who had so decided to fight amongst themselves ... he was a crying out of compassion. Such symptoms in Arjuna were not due to weakness but to his softheartedness, a characteristic of a pure devotee of the Lord."

[Bhagavad-gita 1.28, purport]

The more the media revealed the suffering caused by the disaster, the more I began thinking of helping in the relief work. Although I am usually busy with various responsibilities, ironically, at that moment I had the time. Just after the new year, I was planning to go to Durban, South Africa, for a month-long break.

But the past 12 months had been particularly intense, and I sorely needed time to recuperate my health. I also hankered for time to read and chant. I had planned to do so in Vrindavan during the month of Kartika, but had sacrificed the time to take my disciples on parikramas. After giving the matter much thought, I concluded that because of my physical exhaustion and need to spiritually replenish myself, I would go to Durban as planned.

On January 2, I arrived at Sydney airport to catch a flight to Mumbai, and on to Durban. While passing through the airport, I was bombarded with media coverage of the tragedy. Newspapers and magazines still carried front-page reports on the devastation. Televisions in lounges aired heart-breaking scenes of destruction and appeals for help.

I stopped briefly outside one cafe and joined a group of people watching a television newscaster describe how some remote areas and islands near Indonesia still had not been reached by relief workers two weeks after the tragedy. He said that entire indigenous tribes living in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands may have perished. Smiling slightly, he described how a hail of arrows, fired from the forest of one tiny island at an Indian coastguard helicopter hovering above, suggested there were at least some survivors. But as I looked around at the crowd watching the report, not one person smiled. They found nothing humorous in the tragedy.

By the time I checked in for the flight, I was again in duality. "People are suffering in vast numbers," I thought to myself. "The whole world seems to be reaching out to help them by offering welfare in one way or another. Surely devotees should be there as well, offering spiritual welfare in the form of prasadam and the holy names. I have time to help. Perhaps I actually should go."

After checking in, I proceeded towards a security checkpoint near to my departure gate. As I put my bags on the conveyor belt to be x-rayed, a security official on the other side smiled at me. After I passed through a body check, he called me over and asked me to open one of my bags. As I stood there he said, "It a wonderful thing you're doing."

A little surprised, I replied, "Excuse me?"
 
"Going over there to help those people," he said. "I know Hare Krsnas give out a lot of food here in Australia. But now it's really needed in those places hit by the tsunami."

"But I'm not actually .... " I started to say.

"If I could go, I would," he cut in, "but really it's the work of people like you. It's your business to help others."

I stood there speechless.

"God will bless you," he said, patting me on the back.

I turned and walked towards my departure gate.

As the flight took off I looked out of the window. The security man's words echoed in my mind. "It's your business to help others."

"But it's my break," I said to myself. "I need rest," and my thoughts drifted off to Durban and the warm summer weather, the pool where I'd be doing my laps every day, the extra rounds I'd be chanting and the books I'd be studying.

"I'm doing the right thing," I thought. "After all, Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita that a yogi is balanced in his work and recreation.

yuktahara viharasya
yukta cestasya karmasu
yukta svapnavabodhasya
yogo bhavati dukha ha

"He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system."

[Bhagavad-gita 6.17]

Only such a balanced program of study and preaching qualifies one to attain Vaikuntha, the spiritual world. If I was serious about achieving the perfection of life, I'd have to strike the balance.

Exhausted from the long festival in Sydney, I soon drifted off to sleep. It must have been an hour later that I heard someone address me.

"I'm sorry," said the steward. "Did I wake you?"

"No," I replied. "It's OK. I was just napping."

He sat down in the empty seat next to me.

"It's people like you who will make a difference in the lives of those who are suffering from that horrible disaster," he said.

My eyebrows went up as I looked at him in surprise.

"When I was younger I often went to your Crossroads center in Melbourne to eat," he said. "I was pretty down and out at the time. If it wasn't for your food, I don't know what would have happened to me. You must be going over to India to feed the victims of the tsunami. Or are you going to Sri Lanka?"

I hesitated to say anything. Taking my silence as an expression of humility, he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you" he said. And then he got up and walked away.

The person across the aisle overheard his remarks and nodded his head at me, appreciating my supposed mission of mercy. Responding, I slighted bowed my own head - in reality hiding my guilt at receiving such undeserving praise.

I turned and looked out of the window again. It was getting dark. "Is all this just a coincidence, or is Krsna trying to tell me something?" I thought to myself. Then while looking at my reflection in the glass, I said softly to myself: "Putting the mystical aside, the writing is clearly on the wall. You're off to one of the areas devastated by the tsunami."
 
I took the in-flight magazine out of the seat pouch in front of me and scanned the world map at the back. Chennai, one of the areas hit by the wave, was closest to Mumbai, where I would be spending one day before heading to Durban. Upon landing in Mumbai, I sent an email to Bhanu Swami asking if he needed help with relief work. He wrote back quickly:

"For the moment we are doing prasadam distribution in Chennai where not so many lives were lost. Sri Lanka is bad and Sumatra is even worse."

Sri Lanka was obviously closer, so I called the temple in Colombo and spoke with the temple president, Mahakarta prabhu.

"We're not equipped to do any significant relief work at the moment," he said, "but we hope to build it up."

My last chance was Indonesia. But by evening I had learned that Gaura Mandala Bhumi, the devotee in charge of ISKCON there, had sent out a communication that for the moment there was not much he and the other devotees could do, as the affected area was 2,000km away and difficult to access.

With no relief work in sight, the next day I boarded my flight to South Africa.

Arriving in Durban early in the morning, I quickly settled into my quarters at the temple. Placing all my books neatly on a shelf near my desk, I thought, "I'll start with Caitanya-caritamrta and after a few days I'll begin the second volume of Brhat Bhagavatamrta." While arranging my CDs in a drawer in the desk, I thought, "And I'll listen to three lectures of Srila Prabhupada each day, and several of my godbrothers as well!"

At noon I gave instructions to the cooks: "I'd like simple healthy prasadam while I'm here. Lots of salads."

And to my assistant, Anesh, I said, "Register me with the local gym. I'll swim in the pool for two hours every day."

By the evening I had made a schedule for myself, beginning with rising at 2am and going to bed by 8pm. "After six weeks I'll be as fit as a fiddle," I joked with Anesh.

"And well read, too," he replied with a smile.

It was getting late and as I prepared to take rest, I said to Anesh, "Please download my mail before I go to sleep."

As I dozed off I heard Anesh say, "You have four emails, Srila Gurudeva."

"Who are they from?" I said half asleep.

"Well, the first one's from Mahakarta das in Sri Lanka," he said.

My eyes popped open and I jumped out of bed.

"I have been thinking about you since you spoke to me when I was at Trincomalee," Mahakarta began. "We are doing prasadam distribution successfully there as we have some local support to help us.
 
"But during the past two days there have been many offers of help from devotees around the world who are willing to donate money and even volunteer for our relief work. Please, I am begging you to come and help us coordinate everything."

I sat for several moments in the chair, thinking to myself.

"Gurudeva," said Anesh. "It's getting late. You should to go to bed."

"Maybe Krsna actually is trying to tell me something," I said softly to myself.

"What's that?" said Anesh.

I looked up. "Book me a ticket to Sri Lanka as soon as you can," I said.

He was dumbfounded. "Gurudeva! Book you to where? Sri Lanka? You just got here!" he said.
 
Throughout the next few days, I solicited donations from local devotees for the work ahead. They gave generously, like people around the world were doing.

As the devotees drove me to the airport for my flight on January 11, my heart beat in expectation of the mission ahead. An historic opportunity was at hand. Much of the world was aiding the suffering of the people affected by the tsunami. Billions of dollars of aid was pouring into the area. All the main humanitarian organizations were mobilizing and tons of food, medicine and clothing were on their way. ISKCON could hardly match such resources. But we had our part to play. As humble as our effort would be - a little prasad and some kirtan of the holy names - these things are of a spiritual nature, capable of delivering one beyond the world of birth and death.

As I boarded the flight to Colombo I knew I had taken the right decision. A devotee is duty bound to put others' interests before his own.

But what about my striking the balance of sadhana and preaching in order to go back to the spiritual world?

If the words of the steward on the airplane proved true, I had nothing to worry about.

"It's your business to help others," he'd said. "God will bless you."

"The self-effulgent Vaikuntha planets, by whose illumination alone all the illuminating planets within this material world give off reflected light, cannot be reached by those who are not merciful to other living entities. Only persons who constantly engage in welfare activities for other living entities can reach the Vaikuntha planets."

[Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.12.36]

indradyumna.swami@pamho.net

http://www.traveling-preacher.com
Official website for Diary of a Traveling Preacher

Spirits without bodies

  Patrick Barkham in Khao Lak

  Monday January 17, 2005

  The Guardian

  Thousands of Thais will take part in a week of formal Buddhist and Chinese rituals beginning tomorrow to lay to rest the "wandering spirits" of the tsunami victims.

  In a deeply spiritual country many survivors have become increasingly concerned about the presence of angry spirits. The survivors cite traditional Buddhist teaching, which says that the spirits of those whosuffer a sudden, violent death often roam the land until they are calmed andblessed.

  Ceremonies will take place in Phuket and Phang Nga and small groups of Buddhist monks are also touring beaches, particularly the razed resorts at Khao Lak, where they turn to the ocean and lay to rest the spirits that are still out at sea.

  In nearby Krabi City monks have sought to ward off stray spirits byencircling the entire settlement with a holy thread.

  By day the shores of southern Thailand are a hive of industry: churned up mud is levelled, splintered steel is hauled away, fallen trees are burned and mangled motorbikes are carefully collected on the roadside.

  By night people sit, reflecting on the disaster that befell them and telling tales of the tsunami and what they have seen since.

  Many are straightforward ghost stories, often derived from the Buddhist belief in the wandering spirits.

  One night last week a taxi driver in Patong Beach was said to have beenhailed by four western tourists, who asked him to take them to the airport. He chatted as he drove, grateful to have a rare tourist fare. When he pulled up and turned round to let them out there was no one in his cab. His story was taken seriously and reported in a local newspaper.

  It is no accident that the main morgue at Wat Yanyao is based inside a Buddhist temple. Many Thais are deeply troubled by the presence of so many unidentified bodies. They believe it is not just survivors and pathologists who want to identify the corpses but that the wandering spirits, too, are seeking their bodies from the 4,000 stacked anonymously in grey refrigerated containers inside the temple grounds.

  No ordinary Thais pray at the temple at Yanyao while it remains a morgue, but there has been a surge in the number of people visiting other temples to make offerings.

  Among the volunteers helping identify bodies and comfort the homeless are Roman Catholic priests and evangelical Christians.

  One young missionary from Cumbria said he was not surprised at the talk of spirits or the increased attendances at the temples.

  "When your life is taken apart, when your home is destroyed, your family lost to such devastation, what do you have left?" he said.

  Jureeporn Khongkhem, 24, sells chilled juice to local people who stop by a lagoon to watch it be drained. The tsunami carried cars full of families into the lake and there are still bodies to be found.

  She is not worried in the day, sitting in a blue plastic chair by the lagoon, but she would not come here at night.

  "Two people died from the tsunami in my house," she said. "When I sleep now the door opens by itself. I get up and close the door and when I wake it is open again. Some nights it looks like people carry chairs about in my room."

  When Mrs Khongkhem gets scared and can't sleep at night she calls her neighbour round.

  "My friend had dreams asking her to go to a place to find the bodies because they haven't been collected yet," she said. "That's the spirits speaking."

You may or may not like to visit our ghosts page:

If you have similar challenges with spirits visit here
http://www.pagalbaba.com

Ushers With Stun Guns Stir Controversy

Ekendra's Mrdanga : An insignificant attempt (by an insignificant entity) to render service to this instruction.13/01/05
http://www.gopinatha.net/journal/mrdanga.php/2005/01/13/stun_guns

MONTGOMERY - Ron Henning recalls the day he first "put a man down" in the center aisle just before the pastor gave the altar call.

"I thought he was reaching for a weapon in his pocket," Henning says. He rushed over, zapped the man with a church-issued stun gun and sent him to the floor for seven minutes, throwing the service into tumult. It turned out the man was heading to the altar to give his heart to Christ, but couldn't wait for the pastor to finish the altar call. The church apologized and paid the man $500, but he has not returned.

"Mix-ups happen, but we're safer as a congregation because of the stun guns," says head usher Tim O'Daley. "There are crazies out there, terrorists who might try to take out the man on the platform."

[More:]

First Baptist Church has gone further than most to protect its congregation. As their city grew larger and more diverse - with a sizeable Muslim population immigrating from Florida - they adopted a far-reaching "prudent measures" plan. Now Cyclone fence rings the church property, two 24-hour security booths sit at both entrances. Concrete barriers protect the sanctuary from car bombers, and the pastor travels with three plainclothes bodyguards. Whenever the pulpit is occupied, even for small women's ministry events, guards stand on either side of the platform.

Most dramatically, the church has outfitted the entire usher crew with high-powered stun guns, which are allowed under Alabama's lenient weapons laws.

"It feels good," says O'Daley, patting the stun-gun holster concealed under his usher jacket. Now, he and 40 other ushers don't just lead people to open seats and pass the Communion and offering plates; they stand armed and ready to take down assailants.

Jake Fitzgerald, 18, was zapped when he got up to use the restroom during the sermon. The jolt was so powerful that he "forgot I was on planet Earth," he says. Ushers say they thought he was making a move toward the pulpit.

"There's an invisible line, and when people cross it, we pounce," says O'Daley unapologetically.

Fitzgerald recovered in a back room and was released, with a free copy of the sermon on tape. He now sits in the back on Sunday mornings and never moves during the service.

The ushers practice their drills monthly, tackling dummies, leaping over pews and jogging around the parking lot. Some in the church say they fear being targeted by an over-eager usher, but others enjoy the safety of having "a small standing army" of protectors, as one elderly man puts it.

"I'm more afraid of Muslims, suicidal teenagers and disgruntled ex-church members," says Donavan Smith, 87.

Though the ushers have made several mistakes, they have yet to confront a real malefactor. That doesn't mean they aren't ready.

"I can get the gun out in less than 1.5 seconds," O'Daley says, snapping it out quickly. "Someday I'll get to use it on a real bad guy."

[Health India]: London, Jan 10: A new study conducted by leading scientist Professor Robert Winston suggests that children who spend hours playing computer games and watching television are failing to develop the skills to succeed at school.

According to the Daily Mail, he added that youngsters are not acquiring the long-term powers of study and application they need in class. This is because the games they play and programmes they watch require only short-term bursts of concentration.

The programme surveyed a group of primary school pupils and found one in five had played Grand Theft Auto - a notorious 18- certificate game where players steal cars, kill people and pick up prostitutes.

"Many children who love computer games find it hard to concentrate on the sort of tasks that require slow application and are necessary for school success," he said.

Winston studied the impact of computer games on children's ability to tackle various tasks. Those who spend long periods playing quick-fire, adrenaline-pumping games often lack a long- term attention span, he found.

Children who have computers and TVs in their bedroom and sit in front of the screens into the early hours instead of getting enough sleep.

"Children are sleeping between two and five hours less than their parents did at the same age. This affects their performance at school and their behaviour at home and some of that is down to computer games," Winston said.

"Digital media may well have some dangers as well as some advantages for children. Modern children are spending three to four hours a day in front of a computer or television screen of some kind, often unsupervised," he added. (ANI)

"Here in this world there are thousands of newspapers and magazines reporting the stale, repetitious happenings of this limited space. So for reporting the news of the unlimited spiritual realm, concerning the eternal, ever-fresh Supreme Personality of Godhead, we could publish a newspaper at every second, what to speak of daily."

- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad.

Courtesy of Ekendra's Mridanga:
http://www.gopinatha.net/journalKC/

A devotee editor fights religious bias.
by Satyaräja däsa

Sometimes people accuse the Hare Kåñëa movement of being a new cult. We find that both sad and humorous down at the Journal of Vedic Heritage. That's the monthly newspaper I work for. It's one of the four most widely read Hindu newspapers in the greater New York metropolitan area. There are fifty full-time Indian employees on the staff, but I, an American Hare Kåñëa devotee, am editor in chief. Have my employers been duped into hiring a brainwashed cult member to edit their paper?
Of course not. Anyone who knows Indian culture and philosophy knows that the Hare Kåñëa movement isn't a cult. The other men and women on the paper, all born in India, marvel at the stories I bring back—accusations of brainwashing, accounts of brutal deprogramming tactics, reports of outrageous lawsuits. They find it difficult to believe that right in the mainstream of Western civilization—a civilization that prides itself on its learning and technological advancement—anyone could be so culturally isolated. And yet I must admit to my Indian co-workers that because many Americans and Europeans are unaware that the Hare Kåñëa movement is rooted in the world's oldest and most consistent religious tradition, the movement is often mistaken for a cult.
To the Indians I work with, the Hare Kåñëa devotees are sädhus (holy people) who have seriously embraced the practices of Vedic devotional theism. And since my co-workers—people from India—accept the Hare Kåñëa movement as part of an authentic religious tradition, how can the typical Western-born casual observer disagree?
Who knows better what is Indian than an Indian? In fact, if the Indians on the staff of the Vedic Heritage thought the Hare Kåñëa movement were a cult, I'd be out of a job!
As editor in chief of the Journal of Vedic Heritage, I must not only write editorials but also edit and rework articles by noted Hindu scholars and theologians. Clearly, my employers wouldn't trust me with these sensitive tasks if they thought the Hare Kåñëa movement dubious in any way.
One can trace the modern-day Hare Kåñëa movement back to antiquity. The movement is based on India's ancient Vedic texts, the most time-honored and comprehensive of the world's scriptural classics, and was founded by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda, a scholar, pure devotee of Kåñëa, and religious leader of unassailable character and integrity.
In 1965, at the age of sixty-nine, Çréla Prabhupäda sailed alone and penniless from India to the United States and. after a year of great personal struggle and sacrifice, founded and incorporated the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in New York City. His movement then expanded rapidly throughout the United States and the rest of the world.
By the time Çréla Prabhupäda passed away in 1977, he had established more than one hundred Kåñëa conscious temples, äçramas, farms, and schools worldwide, and the public chanting of Hare Kåñëa had become a colorful, familiar sight on the streets of most major cities. To date, the movement has distributed well over a hundred million copies of the sacred literatures of India in some thirty languages.
In its theology and practices, the Hare Kåñëa movement participates fully in the rich religious and cultural tradition from which it originates, and this has been confirmed not only by Indian laymen but by numerous scholars and religious leaders throughout the world. A. L. Basham, one of the world's foremost Indologists and the author of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica's "History of Hinduism" article, had this to say: "From the point of view of spreading knowledge of Indian religions, you [ISKCON] have done a great deal in the Western world. Yours ... is the best form of it."**
Writing on ISKCON's work in India, J. Stillson Judah, former professor of the history of religions at Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union, wrote, "India has long received Christian missionaries from the West, and conversely, the United States is used to the visits of Hindu swamis and yogés. It may appear unusual, however, that in recent years hundreds of American devotees of Krishna have been sent to India as missionaries to the Indians. There they have been trying to revive and spread the message of Krishna Consciousness among the Hindu population."** The Hare Kåñëa center in Bombay now has more than ten thousand members. It hardly seems ISKCON would have been so successful had it not been genuinely representing Vedic culture.
The renowned O.B.L. Kapoor, who has held many important posts in the Indian educational system (for a time he was head of the philosophy department and dean of the faculty of arts at B.R. College in Agra), has written, "Sankirtan [the congregational chanting of the Lord's holy names] has been in vogue throughout the length and breadth of the Indian subcontinent since the time of Çré Caitanya and before, and now it is being spread all over the world by the Hare Kåñëa movement."**

Further, on September 30, 1976, at the annual convention of the American Academy of Religion, two hundred American and Canadian scholars signed a petition asserting the Hare Kåñëa movement's authenticity. So among Western scholars of philosophy and religion, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness has become widely known and accepted.
But people in general need to be educated. Cultural isolation is a dangerous thing. And when someone points his finger at a traditional form of Indian religion and claims that its adherents are "brainwashed" or that they are victims of some new "cult" employing "mind control," the problem requires immediate attention. As Harvard theologian Harvey Cox put it, "A glance at some of the groups usually included in the cult category should raise questions right away about the category itself. The Hare Kåñëas, for instance, represent the coming to America of Vaiñëavite 'bhakti,' a centuries-old Indian devotional tradition."**
Indians themselves offer the greatest affirmation of the authenticity and significance of the Hare Kåñëa movement. Throughout America, Europe, and the entire civilized world, ISKCON temples have become places of worship for many Indians abroad. The ISKCON temples are their "India" away from India.
Famous politicians and musicians of India have endorsed ISKCON's work. Çré Lal Bahadur Shastri, the late prime minister of India, said, "His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda is doing invaluable work, and his books are significant contributions to the salvation of mankind." Lata Mangeshkar, the world's most prolific recording artist and winner of the Padma Busham Art Award, India's highest national award, said, "As an artist, I am most grateful for Çréla Prabhupäda's efforts toward bringing about a religious cultural revival of Indian classical arts in all parts of the world. By the blessings of Lord Çré Kåñëa, many talented disciples of Çréla Prabhupäda have virtually mastered the arts of bhajana and kértana [devotional music] and classical dance."
Finally, Dr. Rasik Vihari Joshi, chairman of the department of Sanskrit at the University of Delhi, once stated, "Indian religion and Indology will both forever remain indebted to Çréla Prabhupäda for making Vaiñëava thought and philosophy available around the world through his translations of and commentaries on Bhagavad-gétä and Çrémad-Bhägavatam. Words fail to express my joy and appreciation for these excellent editions."
As for my own milieu, down at the Journal of Vedic Heritage I see a profound appreciation for ISKCON's work every day. We regularly print articles confirming that ISKCON's conception of Indian spirituality is indeed authentic. And since I started working on the Vedic Heritage, Saraswati Vimala Didi, the paper's publisher, has said, "Our newspaper has improved a thousand times. I think that ISKCON has properly trained our young editor."

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 World on Vedic History
http://www.hknet.org.nz/MotiveBritishRajMissionaries.html

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

THE KSHATRIYA QUEEN

There is one battle where the Muslims took siege on one Hindu fort.  They surrounded the fort and waited for everyone to starve to death.  The Muslim king wanted the Hindu princess.  He said he would give up the siege on the fort if the Hindu princess would come out and marry him.  The hindu king had been killed, so the queen was now the ruler.  The Muslim king wanted to marry her.  But she was a very chaste woman.  "I'm not going to marry this rascal."  "All right," the king said, "let me just come and see you.  If I can see you I will be satisfied and I will go away and we will stop the war."  She said, "I am a chaste woman.  Why should I let a rogue like you see my body?"  But the Muslim king said, "I will stop the war if you just let me look at you."  "All right," she said, "you can look at me through a mirror."  So he allowed her to look at her face in a mirror.  But he was such a rascal that as he was leaving the palace, he said, "That is not enough.  If you do not marry me, I will destroy your entire population."  So she was a very intelligent kshatriya woman, and Kshatriyas have to be a little diplomatic sometimes.  So she said, "OK, I've got an idea.  I surrender.  You can enjoy me.  You can enjoy my beauty.  Simply let me spend the next day preparing myself so that we can enjoy.  I promise you I will come to your camp tomorrow evening with some of my maidservants, and then we can enjoy.  But you have to stop the siege now and leave us alone."  He said, "Yes, no problem."  So he left the palace with his men, and he went back to his Muslim camp which was a few hundred metres away, and they began to have a big party in expectation.  That whole day they were simply drinking wine and dancing, "Yes, the princess is coming!  The princess is coming!"  And they all got drunk.  Sure enough, as the queen promised, that evening the doors of the palace opened and so many palanquin came out.  There were over one hundred palanquins carrying the queen and her maidservants.  So when the Muslim emperor saw this, he began to dance in ecstasy.  They began to drink more and more wine, "Here comes the queen!  Here comes the queen!"  And all the soldiers were shouting, "Here come the maidservants!"  They put away their weapons and started putting on perfumes and nice clothes.  The woman were very chaste, so the palanquins were all closed with curtains around them.  The palanquins were getting closer and closer.  And the palanquins got right inside the camp of the Muslims.  All of a sudden the Muslims heard this terrific roar.  "Aaaargh!"  Coming from the palanquins, and out jumped all the Rajaputa soldiers, the Kshatriyas.  They slaughtered all those Muslims to the last man.  Meanwhile the queen was watching the whole thing from the palace.  Not only did the kings have these qualities, but also the queens had these qualities.

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

Dear Prabhus,

  Please accept our respectful obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 With thankfulness to our Founder Acharya Srila Prabhupada, Sri Gaura-Nitai, and the inspiration of all of you, we announce the Grand Opening of "NECTARBOOKS.COM". This website contains rare, wonderful Krishna Literature by our Vaisnava Acharyas, beautifully and carefully translated by Dasaratha Suta Prabhu, a scholarly disciple of Srila Prabhupada, long known for his translation work.

It was a desire of Srila Prabhupada to give all of us, his children and grandchildren, the entire Vaisnava Library of devotional writings, and we are  blessed by His Divine Grace to recieve some of this literature with which to further water our creepers of devotion.

Please consider forwarding this email to your address list in the mood of going for the mercy of Lord Chaitanya by assisting His missionary desires.

http://www.nectarbooks.com

Your aspiring servants at NectarBooks.Com

Dasaratha-suta Dasa and Dina Sharana Dasa

********
Letter to: Hayagriva
Tokyo April 27, 1972

.. It is my serious desire to devote the fag end of my life to translating Srimad Bhagavatam and so many other Vaisnava literatures so by assisting me in this regards you will be performing the highest service to Krsna....

UNITED STATES, October 20, 2004: Are you fascinated by the many things in life that cannot be scientifically explained? Do you seem to have a "sixth sense" that sometimes allows you to know what is going to happen? Do you sometimes feel so connected to nature that everything seems to be part of one living organism? To find out how spiritual you are, click on "source" above. The short test is adapted from a personality inventory devised by Washington University psychiatrist Robert Cloninger, author of "Feeling Good: The Science of Well-Being."

Indymedia is a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a democratic media outlet for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth.

Free computer and Net tutorials
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/freeskil.html

 PRABHUPAD FESTIVAL, MUMBAI

"GLOBAL KRISHNA:  PRABHUPAD'S LEGACY LIVES!"

VENUE - CROSS MAIDAN
FEBRUARY 12 - 20, 2005

A GRAND-SCALE PRABHUPAD FESTIVAL WILL BE CELEBRATED THIS WINTER, IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE 1971 CROSS MAIDAN PANDAL, IN THE VERY HEART OF DOWNTOWN MUMBAI.

The goals of this Festival are:

(1) In the 108th year of his birth, to re-affirm Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad's pre-eminence as the single greatest Indian-born spiritual messenger of modern times.

Over the past 33 years the consciousness and worship of Radha and Krishna have increased greatly all over India. Yet the names Bhaktivedanta Swami and Prabhupad remain unfamiliar to many citizens. The name ISKCON is well recognized, but has been lumped with other Hindu societies as just another religious institution. Other personalities dominate the public image as great torchbearers of Hinduism, while the real Hero responsible for single-handedly reviving the spiritual life of India in its purest form and spreading it all over the world, has been largely forgotten.

(2) To inspire a cultural renaissance among Indian youth; to become the preferred spiritual guides for India's new generations;

Thousands of Indian youth--including a great many hi-IQ students and young professionals--are being attracted to Krishna Consciousness, especially in Mumbai.

(3) To bring together ISKCON devotees from all parts of the globe in a joyous celebration of Srila Prabhupad; from Mumbai devotees can travel onwards to the Mayapur Festival in early March.

2004's deity installation gathering in Mayapur was a major eye-opener: to have so many thousands of global ISKCON devotees assembled in one place was a blissful experience beyond compare.

THEMES:   BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPAD'S 108th YEAR!
          PRABHUPAD'S CHILDREN: 33 YEARS LATER!

    The format of the 1971 event will be followed in all respects. Each day different ones of Prabhupad's most advanced disciples from around the world will give morning and evening lectures, just as Prabhupad did back in '71. International devotees will perform kirtans under the leadership of famous kirtan leaders.
Gorgeous Radha-Krishna deities will be housed and worshipped around-the-clock.
A "Vedic Global Village" tent will be constructed where the public can view big-screen videos and check out displays and presentations by individual temples from different parts of the world.
Drama groups will stage performances.
A "Life of Prabhupad" photo display, dioramas, book stalls and information booths will surround the main pandal tent.
Krishna prasadam will be distributed throughout the day.

Public Impact:     Being in the heart of India's most populous city, there is a ready-made audience of many thousands of people per day. A widespread advertising campaign will be launched to insure large public participation. Media coverage will be extensive.

 "By the Grace of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha and Krishna our recent festival in Cross Maidan Exhibition Ground has been counted a grand success, and quite noticeably the spirit of bhakti has been actively revived in  Bombay. My blessings go especially to all of you who have joined with us in service." ---A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, April 1971.

 "On behalf of those who were blessed to witness Srila Prabhupad's wondrous pastimes  conceiving, organizing, managing-and starring in-the 1971 Cross Maidan event, I am appealing to all Devotees, especially the old Bombay hands, to help us make this 2005 show a similar resounding success!" ---Shyamasundar das, 33 years later.

Contributions, inquiries or ideas can be addressed to:

Shyamasundara1967.ACBSP@pamho.net
Telephone:  +91-22-2369-7228
ISKCON Radha-Gopinath Mandir
7, K.M.Munshi Marg,
Chowpatty, Mumbai
India 400 007

Co-Chairmen, Prabhupad Festival:    H.H. Radhanath Swami,  H.H. Giriraj Swami, Shyamasundar dasa

Finest Incense and Oils
Pure Incense, the worlds finest incense now on-line!
http://www.pure-incense.com/

Incense from the comfort of home, choose from 14 pure incense flavours. This incense is
like no other, made according to ancient principles rather than commercial constraints.
Incense made in one family for hundreds of years. Incense developed for worship of local
temple Deities and discovered by western travellers and incense hunters during the late
sixties. Pure-incense.com now offers exclusive availability real incense.

Wrapped in 50 gram bundles, it will be posted to your home and soon be taking place of
all your aromatherapy needs. On this site you will find all the ingredients that make up
these ancient recipes, plus a fascinating insight into the making and consciousness behind
a product that is made in a devotional spirit - where purity is the most important element
but.....it has to smell GREAT!

Pure-incense.com's natural sticks are steeped in over 200 years of family history using
timeless recipes passed down from father to son.

Made with focused consciousness within a family atmosphere, free from exploitation, we
are happy to be able to offer you the finest range on the planet.

The end result? A clean, natural burning, temple grade stick that is completely different
from the harsh, synthetic-perfume that has become a hallmark of cheap imports.

Again mention that you came through this site for preferential treatment.

comment by JTCd: Adi-guru prabhu in the UK sent me some samples for my Deities.
This incense is 108% Divine...and no, I'm not on a commission

Problems with Ghosts, Evil Eye, Curses, Black Magic etc etc
http://www.pagalbaba.com/

Continuous illness - All medical treatments fail.

Constant worries, Suicidal tendencies, or Desire to move away from home and family.

Continuous illness of any member of the family.

Tiredness and weakness like M.E.

Eating disorders associated with obesity and anorexia.

Being short tempered. Sterility, without any physical

deficiency or without any medical reason.

Repeated miscarriages or death of children.

Sudden unnatural deaths in the family.

Problems in the construction of new houses, new factory or any other building.

Shortness of money, in spite of hard labour.

No desire to live. Feels suffocated. Life seems useless.

Apathy, no desire to rise In Life.

Achievement of objectives seems impossible.

Sudden quarrels between brothers or the members of the family, without any reason.

Unexpected loss in the business of property.

Ill health and under development of children.

Loss of peace due to the fear of enemies and their evil designs.

Discord between spouses or the family.

Greatest efforts always resulting in failure.

Lack of Govt, favours, promotions and the desired raises or transfers.

Poverty, in spite of hard work.

Mental disorders - Insanity - Craziness.

These are some effects which prove that one is under the spell of the supernatural or black magic.

Even though Intelligent, one still fails to find solutions to such problems.

It is only due to "Black Works" that all your wisdom, all your strategies and all your intelligence fails.for relief
http://www.pagalbaba.com/

To see the Online 2004 Vyasa Puja Book visit:
http://www.krishna.com/vyasapuja

http://www.dipika.org/2004/05/20/13_online_vyasa_puja_book/

Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa pujan in Mayapur 2003 pictures:
http://64.28.101.188/2003/08-26-03/

Go to Links to Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Pujan

HH Bir-Krishna Goswami's site
http://www.bkgoswami.com/

HH Devamrita Swami
http://www.devaswami.com/main.php
http://www.devaswami.com/main.php?&displayPage=home

HH Gopal Krishna Goswami:
http://www.geocities.com/gopalkrsna/

HH Indradyumna Swami
http://www.traveling-preacher.com/
http://www.harekrishna.asn.au/speakers/indradyumna_swami/indradyumna_swami.htm

HH Jayapataka Swami
http://www.hearjps.com/
http://www.jpsoffice.com/
http://www.harekrishna.asn.au/speakers/jayapataka_swami/jayapataka_swami.htm
http://www.victoryflag.com/
Many lectures by HH Jayapataka Swami and HH Radhanath Swami
http://www.radiokrishna.com/rkc_archive_new/

HH Kadamba Kanana Swami
http://www.geocities.com/kksaudioministry/

HH Prabhavishnu Swami
http://home.iprimus.com.au/naractl/Biographys/ISKCON_Gurus/Srila_Prabhavisnu_Swami_Biography.html#Prabhu

HH Prahladananda Swami
http://home.iprimus.com.au/naractl/Biographys/ISKCON_Gurus/Prahladananda_Swami_Maharaja.html#mod

HH Romapada Swami
http://www.prastha.com/cgi-bin/uncgi/renderphilo.pl?ndx=2

HH Sacinandan Swami
http://www.saranagati.net/

HH Sivaram Swami:
http://www.sivaramaswami.com/

HH Sridhar Swami (the late Sridhar swami)
http://www.jollyswami.net/home.php

HH Suhotra Swami
http://www.suhotraswami.com/ (new)
http://www.use.cz/ss-archives/index.htm (old)
http://www.in2-mec.com/
This takes the surfer to the startpage where they can see the cool animation.

HH Trivikram Swami
http://www.tvswami.sotiko.pl/

HG Vaiyasaki dasa Adhikari
http://www.kirtan.org/index.html

If you know of any other senior Iskcon devotee web-sites please send their URL to us to share with others through this media mailto:jtcd@xtra.co.nz

Here's a short list with some links - sadhu sanga ki jaya
http://krisna-volgy.hu/sadhu/

What's Going On Where &Adds

FESTIVAL EVENTS AND VENUES:

A two day celebration of the Earth and Nature based faiths, religions and beliefs. Stalls, lectures, workshops, discussion forums and a general get together! The festival will be held at Scoutlands, 316 Kaitoke Road, Wanganui, NZ on the 19th-20th of March 2005, opening with a dawn ceremony on the Saturday morning.

Day entry will be $2 for adults and $1 for children. Sorry folks but no animals please.
A dollar per entry will go towards Scouting Wanganui for generously allowing the use of their grounds for the duration of the festival. Day Entry fees don't include entry to workshops or lectures. Entry to these two activities are a gold coin donation which will go directly to the lecturer (either as a monetary or grocery donation, depending on their preference).

For those that need accomodation, take a quick squiz at the accomodation page for options and prices. Scoutlands has powered sites, camping sites and cabins and is actually in the middle of a bird sanctuary! Plus for those that need a more gentle style of accomodation, there are several hotels and motels available a short distance away.

Any queries or suggestions are welcome so drop us a line at:

Magick Earth Festival
c/o Pamoana Station, RD3, Parapara Highway, Wanganui, New Zealand
Phone 021 243 1912
Email traditionsnz@orcon.net.nz

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME AND SUPPORT!
 
 

Seven hundred plates of free prasadam (food offered to the Lord) were distributed to an appreciative public and to 50 devotees who took part in a central city Harinam (chanting in the streets).

By the mercy of Guru, Gauranga and Radha Krishna, (after our first bhajan album Bhajanamrtam) we have managed to produce a new CD entitled "Bhaktivinoda", a collection of bhajans of Saccidananda Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur and other Vaisnava acaryas in Orissi classical ragas.

The CD includes 8 bhajans and a 12-page booklet with all lyrics and a translation of the songs:
Gurudeva! Kabe Mora Sei Din Habe
Hari Hari, Kabe More Hoibe Sudina
Kabe Sri Caitanya More
Radha-Kunda-Tata
Narada Muni
Janama Saphala Ta'ra
Brajendranadana, Bhaje Jei Jana
Kabe Ha'be Bolo

Price, inclusive of shipping, is 15 Euros per CD. If you want to order this CD, please transfer the amount to the following account (and send us your shipping address by mail or email):

Account number 3125628, Ashok Jagram, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Bank details: Postbank, Foreign operations, P.O. Box 1800, 1000 BV Amsterdam [Swiftcode: PSTB NL2]

- HEALTHY ISSUES - Ayurveda:-
Visit Vaidya Yolande Manson's Ayurvedic practice - in Hamilton:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/YM-Ayurved.html

dhanvantaris cha bhagavan svayam eva kirtir
namna nrnam pururujam ruja asu hanti
yajne cha bhagam amrtayur avavarundha
ayusya vedam anusasty avatirya loke

"The Lord in His incarnation of Dhanvantari very quickly cures the diseases of the ever diseased living entities simply by His fame personified and only because of Him do the demigods achieve long lives. Thus the Personality of Godhead becomes ever glorified. He also exacted a share from the sacrifices, and it is He only who inaugurated the medical science or the knowledge of medicine in the universe." (Srimad Bhagavata Purana 2.7.22 )

Sacred Vegetarian Recipes - Prasadam

World Vegetarian Day 1st October each year

World Vegetarian Awareness Month - October

http://www.hknet.org.nz/VegeWVD.html

see what's already happening this year http://www.hknet.org.nz/VegeWVD2004.html

See our World Vegetarian Day issue of the newsletter for a wide range of Vegetarian issues

The Animal Spirit Newsletter - Issue #2 -  4/21/03-4/27/03

http://www.hknet.org.nz/Calendar-glossary.htm#Chaturmasya
 

Venn Pongal

     Ingredients
     Rice 2 cups
     Moong dhall 1/2 cup
     Hing a small pinch
     Curry leaves
     Cashews - small handful
     Black Pepper crushed 1/2 t.spoon
     Cumin seeds 1/2 t.spoon
     Ginger a small piece finely chopped
     Ghee 1/2 t.spoon
     Salt 1 t.spoon

    Method
     Cook rice, moong dhall and turmeric powder with extra water and keep it aside.
     Fry pepper, cumin seeds, hing, curry leaves, and ginger in 2 t.spoons ghee, and add this to the above pongal.
     Fry cashews in 1 t.spoon ghee and add to the above.
     Add salt and remaining ghee and mix everything well.

Peas Masala Bath

     Ingredients
     Rice 2 cups
     Peas 1-2 cups
     Coconut 1/4 cup
     Green Chilles 4-5
     Ginger a small piece
     Clove 4 pieces
     Cardomam 2
     Cinnamon Stick a small piece
     Mustard 1/4 t.spoon
     Salt
     Cooking oil 2-3 t.spoons

     Method
     Cook rice with less water as you would cook for pulauv.
     Wet grind coconut, green chilles, ginger, clove, cardomon, and cinnoman stick and keep it aside.
     Splutter mustard in oil, and add the ground masala, salt and keep stiring for a few minutes until the flavour comes out.
     Now add the cooked rice, peas, and mix it gently.

Sambhar Spicey Dahl Soup

Ingredients:
3 cups mung beans soaked overnight
1 kg fresh tomatoes or 3 cans chopped pealed tomatoes
50 - 75 grms fresh seedless tamarind pulp (size of a small orange) or 1 tsp tamarind concentrate
1 cup raw sugar or gur
vegetables are optional - I use pumpkin, potatoe, carrots, slices of fried coconut, green runner beans.
grated coconut (or desecated coconut)
50 grams butter
2 table spoons Madras Sambhar powder (see that recipe) (or you can buy - all are not one though....there's sambhar and sambhar we have experienced)
handful of whole green chillis
curry leaves
corriander leaves to garnish
salt

Method:
Soak mung beans over night and rinse. Bring to a rolling boil for two to three hours until soft and breaking up. Add tomatoes, tamarind pulp or concentrate, add sugar and any vegetables and coconut. Add salt and butter. Keep on boil, keep stiring the bottom to keep from burning.

Make it thin or thick.

Serve hot with rice, or venn pongal or idlis. (may need cocnut chutney too hahaha see below)

JTCd's Madras Sambhar Powder

     Ingredients
     Red chillies 1 cup (about 15-20 chillies)
     Corriander seeds 1.5 cups
     Channa dhall 1/4 cup
     Thuvar dhall 1/4 cup
     Methi (fenugreek seeds) 1 t.spoon
     Mustard seeds 1 t.spoon
     Curry leaves 1/4 cup
     Turmeric 1/2 t.spoon

     Method
     Dry roast every ingredient seperately without oil till the flavour comes out.  Fry methi until it turns dark brown.
     Grind the above with curry leaves, and turmeric into nice powder.

Cucumber Pachadi - Raita

     Ingredients
     Cucumber washed, peeled & finely chopped
     Yogurt 2 cups
     Cilantro (coriander leaf) washed and finely chopped
     Green chillies 1-2 finely chopped
     Coconut grated 1 t.spoon
     Salt 1/2 t.spoon
     Mustard seeds less than 1/4 t.spoon
     Hing a small pinch
     Cooking Oil 1/2 t.spoon

     Method
     Wet grind green chilles, salt, coconut and little cilantro in little yogurt.
     Mix the above with cucumber, and the remaining yogurt.
     Fry mustard and hing in little oil and add it to above.

Coconut Chutney (4 Idlis & Dosas or Venn Pongal too)

Cooking Time :  15 min.
Preparation Time :  10 min.
Serves/Makes :  Makes 1 cup.

Ingredients
1 cup coconut, grated
2 small green chillies, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 tablespoon roasted split gram (daria dal), optional
salt to taste
For the tempering
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 red chilli, broken into pieces
2 to 3 curry leaves
1 teaspoon oil

Method
1. Put the coconut, green chillies, ginger, roasted split gram and salt in a blender with a little water and grind to make a fine paste.  Keep aside.
2. Prepare the tempering by heating the oil and adding the mustard seeds, red chilli and curry leaves and stirring till the mustard seeds crackle.  Pour this tempering over the chutney and mix well.
3. Refrigerate to cool, offer when ready and use as required.

Recipe Source
A New World Of Idlis & Dosas by Tarla Dalal

Coconut Sheera
 A dessert made of coconut milk.

Cooking Time :   60 mins.
Preparation Time :   5 mins.
Serves/Makes :  Serves 4.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups coconut cream
1 litre full fat milk
1/2 cup sugar
5  cardamom (elaichi) pods, crushed
1/4 cup chopped cashewnuts

Other ingredients
ghee for greasing

Method
1. Soak the cashewnuts in hot water for about 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
2. Mix together the coconut cream and milk and simmer in a non-stick pan, stirring continuously.
3. When it reduces to half, add the sugar and continue simmering on a low flame stirring continuously till it thickens and leaves the sides of the pan and resembles khoya.
4. Add the cardamom and cashewnuts and mix well.
5. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate.
6. Offer & Serve chilled.

Recipe Source
Mithai by Tarla Dalal

The Animal Spirit Newsletter - Issue #2 -  4/21/03-4/27/03

The book "Living a Good Life" normally selling at $21.95 is now going at the $14.95 price which lasts until just after Xmas, although we could consider extending it if anyone were to approach us after them with this reference.http://vegsoc.wellington.net.nz/livingGd.htm

 Krishna Conscious - Vedikly acceptable Jokes

Healing with humour: Taking better care of ourselves  =>;-))
http://www.hknet.org.nz/healthNhumour.html
Visit our Hasya Rasa pages

Laughter Therapy - its no joke:
http://www.healthlibrary.com/reading/yod/march98/news.htm

Emperor Akbar was taking a stroll in the palace garden with his courtier Birbal following close behind. Just then, they sighted a tall Pathan approaching them with reins of a pure bred horse in his hand. Said he, "Your Majesty, I am a horse trader from the Middle East. If Your Majesty would allow, I would like to supply the best Arab horses for your army. I have brought a horse as a specimen for your inspection. If you like this one, I'll get any number for Your Majesty."

Emperor Akbar inspected the horse from all sides and patting the mane of the stallion, whispered to Birbal, "Birbal, ask the treasurer to hand me a lakh gold sovereigns so that I may buy such beautiful animals."

Birbal bowed to the Emperor in respect and left. In no time he returned with the treasurer in tow. Said the treasurer, while handing over a bagful of sovereigns to Emperor Akbar, "Here is the money asked for by Your Majesty."

Akbar happily took the bag and handing it over to the horse trader, said, "Here is a bagful of sovereigns. I wish to buy all the horses you have on your estate. Kindly provide them soon."

The trader with shining eyes took the bagful and promising to return with all the horses he possessed, left the palace garden.

Next day, Akbar said to Birbal, "Birbal, I asked you to chalk out a list of fools present in my kingdom. Have you done the work?"

Birbal replied, "The list is ready with me, Your Majesty. I have, however, to add another name on this."

The Emperor was pleased at the prompt action taken by Birbal and impatiently said, "Hurry up and add the last name. I want to know the names of all the fools now."

Birbal promptly noted down the name on his list before handing it over to the Emperor. On seeing a long list of names, Akbar was very amused. "Gosh, I did not know that I had so many fools in my kingdom." So saying, he began to read the names on the list. On reading the first name itself, the Emperor expostulated, "Birbal, what is the meaning of this impertinence? How dare you put my name on top of the list? I want an immediate explanation from you."

Birbal, without losing his cool, began to explain, "Your Majesty showed how gullible and foolish Your Majesty is. By giving away a lakh sovereigns to a complete stranger without even asking for the address of the horse trader, has not Your Majesty shown his foolishness?¡"

The Emperor realised his mistake but not given to accepting defeat easily, said, "I'm sure he will return soon with all the horses for me."

Birbal, not to be left behind either, added, "In that case, I shall delete Your Majesty's name and replace it with the horse trader's to the list."

Trivia!

Eating just 35 sour cherries may reduce pain better than aspirin because the anthocyanins found in cherries inhibits inflammation-causing enzymes.

A vexillologist is one who is an expert in the history of flags.

The relationship of a godparent to the real parent of a child is called "compaternity".

Blood races through the human arteries at 3 feet (90cm) a second.

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise it will digest itself.

The sense of touch: electrical impulses travel from the skin toward the spinal cord at a rate of up to 425 feet per second.

You blink every 2-10 seconds.  As you focus on each word in this sentence, your eyes swing back and forth 100 times a second, and every second; the retina performs 10 billion computer-like calculations.

According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association, during the last decade, sales of ab crunchers and the like rose 193%.  When it comes to actually using the stuff, the scales don't lie:  80% of us are overweight, up from 64% in 1990.

The 57 on Heinz ketchup bottle represents the number of varieties of products the company once had.

On February 18, 1979, snow fell in the Sahara Desert. There are no records to indicate if it had snowed there before or since. Not surprisingly, the 1979 snowfall quickly melted.

China was the first country to introduce paper money (in 812), but it wasn't until 1661 that a bank (Banco-Sedlar of Sweden) issued banknotes.

....don't you feel wiser for that?

from  AikensTrivia

1. Since my last report, your child has reached rock bottom and has started to dig.

2. I would not allow this student to breed.

3. This student has delusions of adequacy.

4. This student is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.

5. This student sets low standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.

6. The student has a "full six-pack" but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together.

7. Student has been working with glue too much.

8. When the student's IQ reaches 50, he/she should sell.

9. Gates are down, lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming.

10. If this student were any more stupid, he'd have to be watered twice a week.

11. It's hard to believe the sperm that created this student beat out 1,000,000 others.

12. The wheel is turning but the hamster is dead.

13. Your child is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

14. If your child had two brain cells, they'd kill each other - but no fear of that......
 

Ishy
 
 

.......and always remember (don't forget...)

You might like to check out Krishna-conscious jokes - http://vedaveda.com/anglais/joke/deux.html
Also check out the Humour section of the Main Index: http://www.hknet.org.nz/index.htm

A Grateful Word to our Supporters

to all the readers who have one way or another subscribed to N.Z.H.K.S.R.Network.
Your interest and support makes this work possible.

A special thanx for the devotees who are sponsoring the site over 2004-2005

Those wishing to contribute to this Net-work, send articles, and or information please do so by contacting me here ...

Similarly if anyone would like to send donations to help maintain this and similar work,
especially on a regular basis please contact me here also ...

Every little is VERY much appreciated, and is what allows the service to continue regularly. Thanx

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We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

*DISCLAIMER: All information featured in this newsletter is verified with the original source. I cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information or for the consequences of its use.

*COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, and International Copyright law, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under "fair use" without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.