2014 THE HOLY NAME SEASIDE RETREAT
→ Welcome to the official site of ISKCON Perth

Dear Devotees and well-wishers,

It gives us great joy to invite you and your loved ones to the first Perth Hare Krishna spiritual event for 2014 THE HOLY NAME SEASIDE RETREAT.

Come and join with your friends, fellow devotees and special guests to get their sublime association in the tranquil settings of the Indian Ocean, whilst participating in a spiritual feast of activities ranging from transcendental kirtans, spiritually uplifting workshops on the Holy Name, international cuisine prasadamc cultural and beach activities, japa walks and more!

Everyone’s welcome and if you book and have paid in full by 31 October 2013, you will also get Early Bird Discount!

We request a donation of only $120 per adult and $70 per child (under 16) for the whole retreat including accommodation and prasadam. Early bird donations are only $108 per adult and $60 per child (under 16) for the whole retreat it includes accommodation and prasadam.

If you are unable to join us for all the days, you can also come on a daily basis on the days you can attend and the donation request for each day is only $60 per adult and $30 per child and it also includes prasadam for the day you are attending.

Venue:             Alfred Hines Seaside Camp, Hymus Street, Point Peron, Rockingham
Dates:             24 -27 January 2014
Arrival Time:    Friday from 5pm

Register now, by simply completing the attached registration form and returning with full payment into the following bank account:

Account Name:      ISKCON Inc
BSB Number:         036041
Account Number:   120564
Bank:                    Westpac
Reference:             HNSR Don (insert your name as stated on registration form)

Hand in this form duly filled to Jane or scan and email to iskconperth1@gmail.com

For more information or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Jane on 0430810 800 or email iskconperth1@gmail.com

Your servants,
The Holy Name Seaside Team

The Mercy Of The Dhama
→ travelingmonk.com

Yesterday we went back to Radha Gokulananda for kirtan and a talk by Sitala dasi on Lokanatha Goswami, who’s samadhi is in the courtyard of the temple. Then more kirtan in the nearby samadhi of Gopal Bhatta Goswami and yet another darsan of the ever-merciful Radha Raman. A wonderful day in the auspicious month of [...]

Supporting A Loving Godbrother
→ travelingmonk.com

Pundarikaksam das, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada from the USA, is terminally ill in the Bhaktivedanta Hospice in Vrindavan. The doctors have given him 2 months to live. Today our parikrama party visited the hospice to encourage him in his final days. We expressed our appreciation for his service to Srila Prabhupada through the years [...]

Kartik meditations – Part III
→ KKS Blog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 October 2011, Melbourne, Australia, Home Program)

The pastime of binding of Krsna is interesting. We remember that Yasoda was trying to tie up Krsna and each time, the rope was two fingers short. She added more ropes, still two fingers short; more ropes, still two fingers short - no matter how many ropes she brought!

damodaraVisvanath Cakravarti Thakur said that she asked neighbours for ropes; she asked everyone in Vrindavan for more ropes. She was tying more and more ropes and in the end, there were just no more ropes to be found in Vrindavan. She was exhausted from running around and getting all that ropes and tying them together. When she was getting exhausted, pearls of perspiration began to form on her forehead. At that time, Mother Yasoda sort of reached the limits of her endeavour. She took it really to the limits and THEN Krsna’s mercy made up.

So, one finger is for the endeavour of Yasoda and one finger is for the mercy of Krsna. And suddenly Krsna was bound! So, if one wants to capture Krsna, there are these two elements. The endeavour from our side – which has to not just be half-hearted but one has to give everything. Complete! Yes, everything we have, we have to give and sacrifice to Krsna. That is actually the endeavour. So this month is a special month, it is the month for making a special endeavour.

 

 

Tips On Writing
→ NY Times & Bhagavad Gita Sanga/ Sankirtana Das


Several years back  I was  attracted by this two full page ad in the NYT Book Review section highlighting two pages of a new book's opening. It was The Man From Beijing, an international mystery thriller. I had thought of opening the Mahabharata like a mystery story.   Those two provocative and well chosen pages were a powerful hook, although it turned out they weren't  the book's very opening pages. I got the book and it promised to be a powerhouse, as was the premise of the book, and the flashbacks. But after mid way,  the story began to unravel as the author moved away from the basic premise.

Henning Mankell is one of Sweden's great writers, so it was alarming to see such a potentially good story fall flat on it's face. The author tried to take the story where it really didn't have to go. He lost momentum in the process.  If Mankill couldn’t get a handle on his story, how was I going to do it with the vast Mahabharata. Later, I found the reviewers and readers had a mixed response to his book.  A lot of people still seemed to like the book because it was from Mankill. Unfortunately, I did not have a dedicated following like he did.

For me, however, the lesson was  simple. That is, to stick to the premise of your story. Premise means the purpose, the idea, the essential message or meaning of the story. The basic truth of the story.  The premise should be a compass for the author. It may take a while working with the story to begin to fully define and  understand your premise. It's easy to start a story. You might have one definite idea or a jumble of ideas and scenes. But in the excitement, you can't let that jumble carry you away, which it did with The Man From Beijing which got into superfluous passages and scenes.  Once you find it,  keep your eye on  the premise. Don't lose sight of it.  As a writer, that's what you have to serve.

For more tips see www.Mahabharata-Project.com  - On Writing
Coming in November - Free Shipping on my book Mahabharata: The Eternal Quest

CARE PERSONIFIED BOOK
→ Gita Coaching

A collection of memories from the disciples and acquaintances of His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Care Personified Published by The Devotee Care Committee for the GBC of ISKCON. A11 quotations are from Srila Prabhupada’s books, letters, and conversations, as well as all illustsrations and other excerpts are from Bhaktivedant Archieves. Copyright © ISKCON Devotee Care

One Woman’s Road to Krishna
→ Dandavats.com

The reason I came back to New Govardhana is that it reminded me strongly of a farm that my church community is running in Eastern Germany. There I was trained how to be a volunteer in pastoral care for kids, leading groups, and so on. This was when I was 14-19 years old and for me these were some of the most significant times of my adolescence - serving, singing, having special conversations and just 'being'. I had never found a place that felt 'home' like this again until I came here. Read more ›

Tsunami of Service and KARTIK nectar! Come drown with us:) (Album 187 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Kārttika could be thought of as the ultimate “buy one, get a-whole-lot-more free” sale, or the equivalent of a “super, multi-triple word score” in the game of Scrabble. For a limited time only, whoever is lucky (or greedy, or intelligent) enough to do some service for Krishna during this special month gets a uniquely huge return on their investment. The ultimate return: one becomes more Krishna conscious. Read more ›

Organised Chaos
→ Tattva - See inside out

When driving in India anything goes. No speed limits, no lane discipline, no right of way... do what you want, just make sure you horn so that everyone’s aware! Once, I witnessed a head-on collision, causing both vehicles serious damage. As the two drivers emerged unscathed, they came face-to-face and began debating whose fault it was. There was loud argument, fiery gesticulation and a crowd of excited onlookers who offered their “two rupees” worth. Within a few minutes, however, they came to some resolution, headed for a tea stall, and sat down together for a good old natter! It was an incredible sight! No animosity, no grudges, no bad feeling. It taught me something about their culture: chaos on the outside, calm on the inside.

Our modern culture is often the complete opposite: orderly on the outside, but chaotic on the inside! We have complex infrastructure, documented rules for everything and refined social niceties that govern day-to-day dealings. External social intercourse may be prim and proper, but many individuals experience huge chaos within. People are often inhibited from revealing their hearts, and instead lock up things within, causing destructive emotions to brew up and eventually surface in unhealthy ways. While modern culture may have succeeded in organising society into a well-oiled machine, there are clear deficiencies in the areas of community, relationships and meaningful human interaction. We’ve learnt how to live a life of organised chaos; bottling everything up, it’s often a case of smiling faces but parched hearts.

A self-development guru once held up a glass of water in front of her audience. While everyone was expecting the usual “half empty half full” exercise, she instead asked them how heavy the cup was. The answers varied from 3 oz to 10 oz. She then explained that the weight and volume of the water is not what makes it heavy – rather it’s the length of time for which we hold it. Similarly, everyone goes through challenges, anger, frustration and unrest in their life (the water in our cup). The problem is when we carry these things and fail to let go. Good social structures allow people to ‘get things off their chest’ and get on with living life. The freedom of expression helps keep things in perspective. We need to free up some internal breathing space, lest we choke our consciousness.

Kartik meditations – Part II
→ KKS Blog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 October 2011, Melbourne, Australia, Home Program)

kks_goverdhanIn the Bhagavad-gita 10.35, Krsna says that of all the months, “I am marga-sirsa,” which is a name for the November-December period. It is said that before Krsna, first comes Radha – Radha-Krsna, Radha-Syam, Sita-Ram, like that. First the consort of the Lord is mentioned. Therefore the month of Kartik, which comes before this month of marga-sirsa, is a month of Radharani. It is a month when we are meditating on pure devotional service because she is the proprietor of pure devotional service! No compromise at all, no self-interest whatsoever, only the interest of Krsna in mind and nothing but the interest of Krsna.

That is pure devotional service and that is found in Srimati Radharani, so this month of Kartik is about that. So everyone who is ordinarily sort of compromised in his devotional service, in the month of Kartik, will try for pure devotional service. In this month, one can take vows to perform some special service because this month is the month of Srimati Radharani. She is especially noticing the service that we render and when she recommends us to Krsna, then Krsna will also be inclined towards us. Radharani is very compassionate and soft-hearted. Therefore, this month is especially a very favorable time to try and attract the mercy. In that way, we prepare for the month of Kartik and see what special service can we offer?

 

 

Radhadesh, Daily Darshan 22-10-2013 (Album 42 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Radhadesh is a spiritual community based in a 19th century chateau in the Belgian Ardennes. There are presently around eighty people living in the community, which was founded about 1980. In the Château, which has been beautifully renovated by the present inhabitants, you can see a gorgeous temple-room which is unique in Belgium and the Netherlands. Yearly we have about 40.000 visitors. Radhadesh is the main center for ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) in the Benelux Read more ›

Monday, October 21st, 2013
→ The Walking Monk

The Jungle and the Temple

Mahabaleshwar
 
There was a high concentration of saffron at our morning sadhana program.  This simply means that monastic fellows were in good attendance.  The venue was the conference room at Ram Sukh Resort.  We enjoyed singing in gratitude to guru, to Krishna, to His pleasure potency Radha - Female Divine.  And for meditation on the Earth green we praised Tulasi, the sacred herb mentioned over and over in ancient texts of bhakti (devotion).
 
To prove our amicable nature towards the earth's bounties coupled with a fever for seeing old and antiquated anythings, a few of us set foot to trek in the local wilderness.  We had in mind to explore.  Two groups went their own chalked out routes.  Lokanath Swami heading the first group and Dominique was our guide for the second group.  It was a two and a half hour exploration through the low jungles of the area.  We then ventured to a Siva Lingam Temple, a structure from another era; rewinding time 5000 years to when the warrior Bhima of the famous Pandavas erected this piece of wonder.
 
While Bhakti Bhringa Govinda and Radhanath Swamis were being treated for leech attacks, the balance of us zealously stepped into a moment of great honor in time.  At this temple courtyard a stone carving of Siva's bull Nandi spouts out from his mouth the pure water source of one of India's sacred rivers, The Krishna.  The river flows for hundreds of kilometers to the southern state of Kerala - awesome.  We stand to be corrected however, because just a few meters in elevation is another temple where apparently 5 rivers converge in the form of spring water, which come forth like little trickles before they transform into volumes of Bhumi's (earth) elixir.
 
Prahlad Rathi, our resort owner, so kindly ventured with us.  And although he may be classified as being in the big-shot category as a swanky businessman, on the contrary he is as humble and accommodating as they come.  It is not that saintly hood only comes in packages of saffron or in the dress of the royal order like the hero Bhima, but you can find it streaming from anywhere and everywhere like the many springs that rhythmically descend to the base of the Krishna Valley.  By the end of the day we fondly looked at the sun's bowing out in this magical valley.
 
May that great Source be with you!
 
10 KM