Middle Elementary students have been busy!  In January, they became Oceanographers as part of their Science and Social Studies Unit on Oceans. Here are a few of their accomplishments!  Ocean Currents Experiment, Geographical Regions, Oceans Book Swap, Layers of the Ocean Posterboard Project, Marine Pollution, Why Not to Eat Fish, and the Dallas World Aquarium Field Trip.  Full “gallery” of pictures is at the end of the blog.

Ocean Currents:  Currents travel around the continents, mixing the warmer waters surrounding the equator with the cooler waters from the poles. Students replicated this by blowing through straws to create wind, and seeing how ice cubes melt, and boiling water mixes, with different colored drops of food coloring.    After they stopped shrieking in excitement, they recorded their observations.

Continental Shelf, Continental Slope and Ocean Floor:  Students built their own Ocean Wall, where they labeled and described geographical locations in the ocean.  Seamounts, Trenches, Underwater Volcanoes, Coral Reefs, etc.  They were given assigned jobs and independantly worked, with little teacher’s assistance, to create their Ocean Wall.

Oceans Book Swap:  For research, students brought a total of 21 different ocean books from the library and home!  At research time, they sat at 2 books, gathered as much information as they could into their Science Notebooks, and then 15 minutes later, swapped the books with the next student.  This enabled them to determine which books would be helpful for their project.

Layers of the Ocean Posterboard Project:  This was the finale to the session!  Students studied almost 100 sea creatures, all set in the different layers of the ocean.  They researched, gathered facts, made mini-books, painted and presented their findings to the class.

Marine Pollution:  After studying the ecosystems in the ocean, we were surprised to learn about all the pollution dumped by humans!  Among other books, we read Abigail the Happy Whale and her decision to work with the other sea animals remove all the pollution on the ocean floor.  Did you know that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area of pollution greater than Texas?  Students wrote persuasive expository pieces to convince us to keep our oceans clean!

Eating Fish:  Because of all the toxins in the ocean, fish have also become poisonous.  Students were able to explain why eating fish, harmful for one spiritually, is also harmful from a biological health standpoint!

We ended the unit with a field trip to the Dallas World Aquarium.  How amazing it was to see all of the creatures that were studied in real life!    Field trip pictures can be found here.

Hare Krishna! Narada Muni – The Father of Devotional Service
NARADA MUNI is exalted in Vedic texts as one of the twelve mahajanas, or great authorities on eternal truth. Details of his life and teachings are recounted in the Narada Purana, the Padma Purana, and throughout Srimad-Bhagavatam. So advanced is his level of spirituality that in these texts he is even sometimes called “Bhagavan,” a term usually reserved for the Supreme Lord, and in the Bhagavad-gita (10.26) Lord Krsna Himself says, “Of the sages among the demigods, I am Narada.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15961

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Maha Harinama in Israel for Gaura Purnima, 5/03/2015 (Album 81 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: When there is large-scale congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, we keep our temples open for everyone to join, and by the grace of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu this policy has given good results. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 17.35 Purport)
See them here: http://goo.gl/3WrjR8

Guest leaves his body amongst devotees chanting the Lord’s Names!
Kadamba Kanana Swami: There was this man lying on the floor, flapping and totally grey… and, you know, he was clearly on the edge and there were three hundred devotees chanting Hare Krsna for him. The temple president called the emergency number and a helicopter came flying in. These men in red overalls came out of the helicopter and tried to revive the man with electric shock but three hundred devotees were chanting and praying, “Let him die!” because what better way to go than with three hundred chanting devotees! They could have revived him and put him in a hospital on some respirator and he may have lived a few days longer until somebody pulled the plug but instead, it was better to let him die in the middle of the kirtan which was his best chance.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/rH4AkV

Over 70:000 people hear the Holy Names in Kumeu, New Zealand! (Album 28 photos)
See them here: http://goo.gl/qPmuf7

SB 06.17.15 by Jayadvaita Swami at ISKCON Juhu on 2015-02-02

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 15 January 2015, Soho Temple, England, Srimad Bhagavatam 10.77.33-37)

I like to tell this story. I was in the Czech Summer Camp one year and it was prasadam time. So the devotees went into the prasadam hall and I was expecting to hear, “Sarira avidya-jal…” but instead, I heard, “Namaste Narasimhaya…” The wrong song! What was going on, so I went to have a look.

There was this man lying on the floor, flapping and totally grey… and, you know, he was clearly on the edge and there were three hundred devotees chanting Hare Krsna for him. The temple president called the emergency number and a helicopter came flying in. These men in red overalls came out of the helicopter and tried to revive the man with electric shock but three hundred devotees were chanting and praying, “Let him die!” because what better way to go than with three hundred chanting devotees! They could have revived him and put him in a hospital on some respirator and he may have lived a few days longer until somebody pulled the plug but instead, it was better to let him die in the middle of the kirtan which was his best chance.

We started to ask around, “Who was he?” One devotee knew and said that he was someone who had always bought books. He had bought many books over the years, including the Bhagavatam, and recently he had finished reading the Bhagavatam. The devotee had invited him to Summer Camp and that was the first day that he had ever chanted japa and walked around Tulasi… and then, he just collapsed during prasadam! It was all so auspicious. When the corpse was being taken away, everybody was saying, “Jaya… Haribol…” The mood was not heavy because we had appreciated that somehow or other, this man had made an eternal connection in his life!

Gita Verse-by-verse Study Podcast

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Holy Name Meditation Podcast

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Holi 2015 Celebration at Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Temple, Mumbai (Album 108 photos)
Holi Celebration with Small Deities Radha Gopijana Vallabha at Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Temple, Chowpatt, Mumbai, India on 6th March 2015 in presence of HH Radhanath Swami
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Bhagavatam-daily Podcast:

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Hundreds of bhaktas received initiation in Mayapur on Gaura Purnima day
An initiation ceremony took place on auspicious Gaura Purnima day (5th Mar, 2015) in auspicious Mayapur dham. Around 300 devotees got initiated from HH Jaya Pataka Swami Maharaj .There were several others who became Maharaj’s aspiring disciples. Many devotees also took His shelter on the occasion. The ceremony took place in Namhatta prasadam hall and it went from morning till late afternoon. The program started with a lecture by HH Danavir Goswami. He told the assembled devotees about importance of human life and how by practice of bhakti one develops brahmanical qualities listed in Bhagavad Gita. This was followed up with a lecture by HG Sankarsan Nitai Prabhu in both English and Bengali. He explained the ten offenses against chanting of the Holy Names. He concluded his talk by saying that diksa is glorious but the disciples need to be serious in carrying out their vows.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/a3kqFH

Harinam Nectar from Melbourne, Australia (Album 72 photos)
See them here: http://goo.gl/ZGA8HY

What Are The True Qualities Of A Vaishnava?
Ananta Acharya called the devotee and told him that he will now reply to his question. *He answered that a true Vaishnava is like a crane, like a hen, like salt and like you.* The devotee thanked him but he could not understand its real meaning. He comes back to Parasara Bhatt, narrates him the whole story and then requests him to explain its meaning to him. Parasara Bhatt, of course, understood it all and explained as follows…
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/Ae1ohw

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Beautiful Mayapur during the festival (Album 89 photos)
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Hare Krishna! ISKCON-London Annual Review 2014
Department Heads presentation Annual Review. This year’s Annual Review is out! Once again we have tried to create a more visually appealing and interactive experience. You can play videos, visit web pages and contact persons in the areas of your interest. We hope you will enjoy revisting the past years activities and events of the London Temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15958

Puri Parikrama.

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Puri Parikrama.

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Gurukula Puri Parikrama.

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Puri Parikrama.

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Puri Parikrama.

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Puri Parikrama.

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ISKCON Chowpatty celebrated Holi festival in a grand way on 6th Mar 2015
This festival of colors, Holi, is being celebrated all over India since ancient times. And celebration for devotees means another chance to offer a service to Radha Krishna. Thus at Radha Gopinath temple we play this festival with dry natural colors and colored water by smearing them at our Radha Gopijanavallabha Deities.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/i48Mwi

Hare Krishna! Nedzad and his amazing Sankirtana experiences
Nedzad was born in a family of practicing Muslims in the city of Tuzla in present day Bosnia in the year 1965. His father was from Tuzla, but his mother was born in Montenegro. His father was not very strict in his practices and was into music. But his mother was a very strict Muslim and she had attended Muslim school. “My mother was from a strict family tradition wherein the girls were trained in high standards. They were much regulated with no illicit sex even in mind and they knew even as a child that they were meant to be married to and stay loyal to one man throughout the life,” Nedzad quips.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=15955

Govardhan Seva (6 min video)
A small team is making a big difference to holy places in India. Renovating holy sites, and feeding widows and children, this film was created to increase awareness of their efforts.
Watch it here: http://goo.gl/fJ6ai7

SB 06.17.20 by Goura Krishna Prabhu at ISKCON Juhu on 2015-02-07

Artist rendering of the Radha Gopinath Mandir under construction in New Vrindaban.

“Therefore, I may once more request you to try your best to construct New Vrindaban an exact duplicate of Vrindaban, and that will give me the highest pleasure.” – Srila Prabhupada, 1970.

Click here to read the rest of the letter at the Vanipedia website.

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Report by Ter Kadamba Das

This year, again we had the great honour of extensive association of His Holiness Kadamba Kanana Swami in Mayapur (14-27 February). As the process of transforming the management structure of Mayapur, from a temple to an actual city progresses, Maharaja consolidates his position as a central figure in that transformation. This means that Maharaja will spend roughly three months a year in Mayapur, and he will be very busy while here.

A seemingly endless array of meetings take up the majority of his time but fortunately for us, he is very committed to also making time for evening kirtans, home programmes, parikramas and such, because as he says, “This is what keeps me sane!” All the devotees in Mayapur are very appreciative of Maharaja’s presence. Just keeping devotees up-to-date with what Maharaja was doing and arranging darsanas became a daily routine for me, one of which I was honoured to do, of course.

As usual, Maharaja also served as teacher for the Mayapur Institute Bhakti Sastri course, teaching Nectar of Devotion. Several of the students, independently of each other, told me confidentially, that he is their favourite teacher. Also this year, Maharaja was one of the most prominent kirtaniyas of the annual Mayapur Kirtan Mela. His trademark fired up kirtans took over the crowds of devotees as we have become accustomed to. One evening, he kept going until 10.30 pm and only ended because the organizers were getting tired. “I could have easily kept going for another hour,” Maharaja said afterward and this was after a whole day of meetings with GBC and Mayapur management. One group of devotees, who were staying in Nabadvip, contacted me to find out Maharaja’s schedule for Kirtan Mela. They were completely disinterested in any of the other kirtaniyas on the programme. Once they got information of when Kadamba Kanana Swami was leading kirtan, then they knew when to come to Mayapur.

Having the opportunity to be close to Maharaja for longer periods of time, makes me appreciate what he does so much more. The level of commitment to Srila Prabhupada’s mission is amazing, and his personal renunciation and regulation is incredible. But what really wins me over every time is that, just like Sri Mayapur  Dhama, Kadamba Kanana Swami always has some extra added mercy. I think that is one of the reasons why Sri Sri Panca Tattva, Sri Sri Radha Madhava and Sri Nrsimhadeva keep him around so much!

Audio

Courtesy of Varun Sharma

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KKS_Mayapur_February 2015_SB_6.4.13_Russian

Videos of Kadamba Kanana Swami’s participation in the Kirtan Mela may be found by clicking here.