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International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)Founder Acarya His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
0006 Jan-Feb 2020
CommunityNewsletter
"If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇamantra, then the time is notlost. Time is not lost.Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, readbook, Kṛṣṇa book.Any moment, any time youspend for thinking of Kṛṣṇa,working for Kṛṣṇa, chantingfor Kṛṣṇa, eating for Kṛṣṇa,dancing for Kṛṣṇa, that timeis saved.That time is saved.Therefore it isrecommended, harer nāmaharer nāma harer nāmaivakevalam, kalau nāsty evanāsty eva..."
-- Srimad Bhagavatamlecture, January 20th 1974.
Contents
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This is the official community newsletter ofISKCON New York City, Sri Sri Radha Govinda Temple
Become a contributor!email [email protected]
Be sure to follow us on social media
New Years Harinam ..............................................................22019 Sankirtan results...........................................................2Monthly Sankirtan Festival ....................................................3NItyananda Trayodashi..........................................................4Sankirtan keep the flame alive through winter.......................4Srila Prabhupada in New York January - February................6HH Kadamba Kanana Swami initiations ...............................7Rathe Yatra dates annouced!................................................8Govinda's Lunch reviewed by local vlogger...........................9Kitchen Religion...................................................................10Devotee of the month...........................................................11TOVP opens 10,000 sqft pujari floor....................................12Tallahassee Krishna House rebuilds community..................12HG Vaisesikha Prabhu at ILS Mayapur................................12
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New Years Eve brings a greatopportunity for the followersof Lord CaitanyaMahaprabhu, for all aroundthe world people take to thestreets to join together towitness the greatest streetparty of their lives. This yearover forty strong HarinamParty, left the temple andheaded towards ProspectPark to meet withcelebrations going on there.An ecstatic harinam went onfor several hours, all of whichwas live streamed andreceived over 90K views.
The year of 2019 sawISKCON New York rocket upthe charts from out ofnowhere!It is a massive achievementthat we have managed tocome 13th place overall inthe North American sector.Harinam Yuga Dharmaashram acheived a superimpressive 3rd place, lets seeif this year we can pushNew York up the chartstogether!
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MonthlySankirtanFestival
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HG Locanananda Prabhu one of ISKCON's founding fathers ofkirtan, gave an inspiring class and joined us!
44 Maha16 Big58 Small (including 6Arabic and 2 Chinese)
A total of 163transcendental books!
Haribol!
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As the New Years Evecelebrations are echoedthroughout the world, theycarry with them the mercy ofLord Nityananda, dancing withthose intoxicated on wine andliquor we give them a glimpseof a higher taste.The appearance day of LordNityananda heralds not just aparticuar day, but serves as ameditation, to remind us of ourduty to spread the glories ofthe Lord via HarinamSankirtan.HH Kadamba Kanana Swamiled an lecture and right afterclass devotees took fulladvatage of the half day fastand went out to share the loveperforming harinam on the
At midday an incrediblydelicious feast was served,which was cooked beautifullyby Manjuali devi dasi,Premadhana dasi and VilasManjari dasi.
Lord Nityanada's appearanceday is a day of special mercyand even more so for BhaktaBlake, who received hisHarinam diksa from HGVaisesika Prabhu in Sri DhamMayapur, he has been giventhe name 'Balaram Pranadas'.
Despite freezing temperatures,we are forever eager todistibute Srila Prabhupada'sbooks to the people of NewYork! Keeping the sankirtanflame burning our wonderfulteam continue to follow in theline of our Founder AcaryaSrila Prabhupada,enthusiastically spreading theLord's mercy throughHarinama and transcendentalliterature throughout the citythrough the cold winter. For inthis age of Kali Yuga this is thegreatest benefit for allmankind, the only way to trulyalliviate misery and suffering,warming the heart with therememberance of Lord SriKrishna. 4
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In the month of January ISKCON NYC came7th in the national book distribution charts!
Toward the end of January1966, New York was hit byseveral snow blizzards,causing the City to go into astate of emergency, offeringshelter for those who had noheating as temperaturesdropped well below freezing.Meanwhile, our FounderAcarya Srila Prabupadacarried on unphased, goingout for his daily walks dressedin his cotton dhoti, hat, scarfand over coat. It was the firsttime that Srila Prabhupadahad seen snow, yet he hadother more pressing matters athand; the purchase andconstruction of the firstKrishna Temple in the West.He desired it so much, yetfaced many a set back, withdifficulties in obtaining thefunds, Srila Prabhupada wroteto the owners of the two-storied structure at 143 WestSeventy-second Street,requesting that they woulddonate the building for the useof Krishna Temple. Howeverthey were not favorable, andSrila Prabhupad looked againtowards India, writting to SriPadmapat Singhania, a richindustrialist, whose familywere traditionally devotees ofLord Krishna. The reply cameback positive, yet the two ofthem could not agree on whatkind of temple should be built,Srila Prabhupada relating thatit would be easier to use anexisting building and SriPadmapat Singhania insistingit should be a purpose builttemple of Indian architecture.
Much of this can be attributedto the fact that Sri PadmapatSinghania worshipped theLord in His Dwarka lila pasttimes, which meant he desiredto support such a temple asbefitting that mood. There wasa second problem, and thatwas getting such a largeamount of funds, as wasrequired, through the foreignexchange, this would meanthat the Indian Governmentwould have to sanction it.Srila Prabhupada was incontact with the then PrimeMinister of India, Lal BahadurShastri, who was due to visitthe USA, however Mr Shastrisuddenly had a heart attack.Srila Prabhupada continuedahead and requested BonMaharaj, to assist in gettingthe sanction for money to bereleased, money that he wassure Sri Padmapat Singhaniawould donate. “Tell him,”Srila Prabhupada wrote BonMaharaj, “that it is not anordinary temple of worship butan international institution forGod consciousness based onthe Srimad-Bhagavatam.”
As February began SrilaPrabhupada moved his roomfrom 501 to 307, remaining inthe same building on Seventy-second Street. Desiring tohave his own place,independent of the Misra YogaSociety. Here SrilaPrabhupada lived very simply,with no furniture, nor facilitiesfor bathing or cooking,sleeping on blankets on thefloor. Each day walking to DrMisra's to bathe and cook.However he was nowindependent to preach as heliked.Using what funds he couldraise from meagre book salesto pay for rent andsustainance, he continuedwith his mission to preach theglories of Lord Krishna, everyday on his typewritertranslating SrimadBhagavatam.This narrow room housedSrila Prabhupada and thosewho came to visit him over thenext few months...
Amidst severe blizzards,New York was covered inseven inches of snow, andSrila Prabhupada wasstruggling, but remainedconvinced that the world'ssuffering could be solved onlyby Krishna consciousness. Ifonly he could bring Radhaand Krishna to a building inNew York, it would bepossible for the Supreme Lordto do anything, even in themidst of Kali Yuga, a goldenage could appear and benefitthe people. 6
HH Kadamba Kanana Swamigave Harinam diksha to bothBhakta Jose and BhaktinYana, and Brahmin diksha toboth Karuna Avatar das andhis wife Prema Manjari devidasi.The initiations occured rightafter February 9th's morningSrimad Bhagavatam class.Bhakta Jose was given thename Jay Sacinandana dasand Bhaktin Yana is nowknown as Jagadhatri Priyadevi dasi!
A big haribol for theseaspirants who have nowformally joined theISKCON family!
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At Govinda's you never knowwho will pop in for a bite toeat, but what can beguaranteed is that they willleave with a stuffed belly anda smile on their face.
Govinda'sVegetarian Lunch
Recently a local YouTubeVlogger, 'Vegan Bodega Cat'happened to chance uponGovinda's Lunch Club.In 2019 Govinda's Lunch Clubwas included in TimeOut NewYork's 'The eat list' and alsoreceived Yelp's 'People loveus" award.
Govinda's
Vegetarian Lunch
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The Chaitanya-charitamritaoffers detailed lists ofpreparations cooked forKrishna and then relished asKrishna- prasadam by LordChaitanya and His devotees.Lord Chaitanya wasconcerned that prasadamshould be served as nicely aspossible, and He often servedthe devotees Himself. Ofcourse, no one would eat untilthe Lord had begun, and soafter serving everyone for awhile He had to sit down andbegin eating, as some of Hissenior followers continuedserving.With this background themembers of the Krishnaconsciousness movementhave been busy for the lastthirty years cooking anddistributing large amounts ofprasadam, and therefore themovement has sometimesbeen referred to as “thekitchen religion.”Pictured are residents,community members andvisiting devotees carrying onthis tradition, preparingofferings and most importantlycleaning the kitchen.
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Dhenukari das!
Always there to help with amyriad of different tasks,Dhenukari das, with such apleasant demeanor, and awarm smile that matches hiskind heart. Serving atGovinda's Lunch as well asbeing a handy man, not tomention he recently savedthe roof above the deitiesfrom severe water leaks.
RadhaGovindaGifts
His hard work over the pastyear, and his readiness to beon call for service at any hourhas won us all over.Each week helping BhaktinElena with maha clean-up ofthe temple room.
He will sadly be missed as hesoon returns to education.
We wish him the very best!
Dhenukari prabhuKi...Jai!
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THE COMMUNITYNEWSLETTER OF ISKCONNEW YORK CITY
DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATION:Hansarupa das
CONTRIBUTORS:Antaryami Krsna das,Divyangi Devi dasi, JaghadhatriDevi dasi
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Our Chairman HG VaisesikaPrabhu led several seminarsentitled the 'you gottas for agreat future in ISKCON'.Each seminar was differentand took a journey throughthe ettiquette, values andlifestyle choices which willensure each of us can serveKrishna, one another andourselves towards a morefocused, positive, dynamicand harmonized future.Starting with ourcommunication skills towardsothers, and how to create andkeep nice connections,
Vaisesika Prabhu then spokeabout how to maintainbalance and focus andultimately how to maintainsadhana with enthusiasmwhilst helping everyonearound us to growsimultaneously. Keep thetranscendental vibrationflowing!
Krishna House – and a newyoung president, BrajanandaDas.Originally from West PalmBeach in South Florida,Brajananda, 31, joinedISKCON in Gainesville in2012 and served as a full-timebook distributor withRupanuga Vedic College’sTraveling Sankirtan Party,touring the U.S. for sevenyears. When he becameengaged to Kumari SakhiDasi last July and beganlooking to settle down,however, he needed a moreanchored service, andISKCON Tallahassee wasseeking help at just the righttime.
First established byBrahmananda Das in the1970s, ISKCON ofTallahassee, Florida closeddown before restarting in anew building in the 1990s.After struggling with financialand organizational challengesin more recent times, thecenter is once again getting anew lease of life with a newname – the Tallahassee
ISKCON’s flagship center –the Temple of the VedicPlanetarium in Mayapur,West Bengal – has justreached a major milestonewith the grand opening onFebruary 13th of its massive100,000 square-foot pujariseva facility to serveSri Sri Radha Madhava.As it was held during theannual Gaura Purnimafestival, three to fourthousand devotees fromaround the world, along withISKCON India leaders,sannyasis, and all themembers of ISKCON’sGoverning BodyCommission were inattendance.
