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DEPARTMENTAL CONTACTS
JAI NITAI DASA Temple President Charity Chairman Member of Management Board South Regional Coordinator UK Zonal Supervisor Mentor
BHAVA BHAKTI DEVI DASI Temple Administrator Charity Secretary / Trustee Member of Management Board South Regional Secretary Mentorship System Coordinator Mentor
DAYAL MORA DASA Outreach Coordinator Men’s Ashram Leader Member of Management Board Mentor
MURLI MANOHARA DASA Head Pujari Charity Trustee Member of Management Board Mentor
RSI RAYA GAURANGA DASA Facilities Manager Member of Management Board
THIRUPATI GAURANGA DASA Govinda’s Restaurant Manager Kitchen Manager Member of Management Board
RADHA RAMAN DASA Charity Trustee Mentor
ACUTYA CHARAN DASA Food for Life Coordinator
ADI GOPI DEVI DASI Radha’s Boutique Manager
ANTOINE BOUR Sankirtan Co-Leader
DEVAKI DEVI DASI Community Development Coordinator Volunteers Coordinator
DOYAL CAITANYA DASA Festivals Coordinator Volunteers Coordinator
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KAPILA MONET Radha Krishna Records Manager
KRISHNA KANTA DEVI DASI Food for Life Coordinator
MAIRIS UŠACKIS Temple Commander
MANJARI GOPIKA DEVI DASI Russian Vedic Society Coordinator
MICHELLE TCHOUKOV Financial Controller
NATASHA MENON Communications Secretary
PADMANABHA NITYANANDA DASA London College of Vedic Studies Coordinator
PRITESH PANDYA Child Protection Officer
PRIYA KUNDA DASA Atma Lounge Manager
SYAMA GAURI DEVI DASI Atma Lounge Manager
SYAMA KISORE DASA Sankirtan Co-Leader
TARUN KRISHNA DASA Krishna’s Cows Coordinator
TITIKSU DASA UK Rathayatra Coordinator
TOTA GOPINATHA DASA Head of IT Data Protection Lead
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Temple President’s Activities
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Communications
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Community Development
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Deity Department
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Festivals
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Food for Life
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Harinama
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Krishna’s Cows
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London College of Vedic Studies
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Outreach
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Regional
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Russian Vedic Society
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Sankirtan
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Spiritual Mentorship System
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Volunteering
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Editorial Team: Devaki devi dasi, Padmanabha Nityananda dasa Graphic Designer: Chandra Bellamy Official photographers: David Crick, Harsh Sharma. We also thank other members of the community for their pictures. Proofreader: Darryl Biggs For any comments or queries on this publication, please email newsletter@iskcon.london 4
TEMPLE PRESIDENT’S ACTIVITIES Highlights from Jai Nitai Dasa’s activities in March and April
MARCH Sunday 1st to Monday 2nd Jai Nitai dasa attended Part 3 of the Teacher Training Course, graduating as an official Bhakti Sastri course administrator for ISKCON-London. The course was taken at the Mayapur Institute for Education in Sridhama Mayapur, India. Tuesday 3rd Jai Nitai dasa and Bhava Bhakti devi dasi returned to the UK. Not long after returning, the UK was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tuesday 17th Jai Nitai dasa sent a communication to the community, on behalf of the Temple Leader’s Council, that the Temple would be closed
APRIL
March to April Due to the lockdown which meant that nonresident devotees serving in the Deity Department were no longer able to come, Jai Nitai dasa has been helping to cover several Deity services.
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Temple President’s Activities
from Wednesday 18th March until further notice, in light of the Prime Minister’s social distancing recommendations and subsequent recommendation from Praghosa dasa (UK GBC). The Temple would only be open to staff and those coming for services in the Deity Department except those in the high-risk category of contracting the coronavirus. Govinda’s Restaurant was closed on Friday 20th March. Tuesday 24th Jai Nitai dasa announced a full Temple lockdown following the Prime Minister’s communication to the country. This meant that no-one other than Temple residents could enter the Temple building until further notice.
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COMMUNICATIONS WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL HOLDS CONFERENCE FOR FAITH ORGANISATIONS On Monday 20th April, Councillor Paul Swaddle, Cabinet Member for Community Services and Digital at Westminster City Council held a conference call to discuss the implications of the current COVID-19 pandemic for Westminster’s faith organisations. The meeting was also attended by Lord Mayor of Westminster, Councillor Ruth Bush, who is the longstanding Chair of the Westminster Faith Exchange. Paul shared a summary of the sources of support available to the communities. The discussions were intended to make sure that the Council are doing everything they can to support the organisations in their endeavours. They also welcomed the opportunity to work with any faith-based organisation that may wish to work with them both now and in the future. There was also an opportunity to ask questions. Jai Nitai dasa and Natasha Menon attended representing the Temple.
STAYING CONNECTED WITH ISKCON-LONDON DURING SOCIAL DISTANCING With the Temple closed until further notice due to the lockdown, the Communications team have supported various departments to bring to the community a range of opportunities to stay digitally connected with the Temple during these challenging times. Community members can get their daily dose of spiritual boost through live daily arati and darshan, group japa sessions, scriptural reading sessions with our resident monks and learning sessions with London College of Vedic Studies. Visit www.iskcon.london/staying-connected for details. We may introduce new opportunities that may not be currently listed so do check here regularly.
SURGE IN USAGE OF TEMPLE APP, MY TEMPLE CONNECT The app has been extremely useful for devotees especially during the lockdown period. We now have more than 1,500 downloads of our app so far. During March and April, the app was opened and used by all users approximately 12,000 times. This represents an increase of over 300% from earlier this year. The darshan and donations features within the app have proven to be useful and convenient for devotees. In the pipeline is a Radha Krishna Records music subscription service and listening to other devotional music from within the app.
IN THE NEWS Food for All features in the Evening Standard for its efforts in feeding vulnerable Londoners Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/pr-020420
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Communications
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REVIEW The 2019 Annual Review was launched at the Gaura Purnima festival. It is a special 50th Anniversary edition, with 56 pages filled with informative, inspiring and uplifting updates from all of the service areas at ISKCON-London including a special 16-page feature section on all the activities during Golden Anniversary Week including muchrequested pictures of all the special darshans during the week. You can read the publication online via the following link: www.iskcon.london/annualreview/2019 Hard copies are available at the Temple, once the lockdown measures have ended. If you have any feedback, please email newsletter@iskcon.london
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Community Development
KRISHNA CLUB On Sunday 1st March, qualified yoga teacher, Amanda Teeha, assisted by Jigna Chauhan, facilitated another fun and interactive yoga class for the Krishna Club children. Following this, due to news about COVID-19 and the resultant social distancing and lockdown measures, Krishna Club has been postponed until further notice. To keep the Krishna Club children engaged even though the physical classes have been postponed, they have been sent slokas from Bhagavad-Gita to learn at home. Once they have learnt it, their parents have been asked to send video clips of them reciting the verses. When they have learnt the verses correctly, they are given another sloka to learn.
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Community Development
The children were also asked to read and discuss a poem that was given to them about Vrindavana with their family and then write their own poem about Vrindavana. Below are the ones sent in by (from top right to bottom right) Tungavidya, Navneet and Narahari.
LOCKDOWN ACTIVITIES Due to the lockdown, as an offering to the members of the community to keep them enlivened during this time who may be missing Temple activities and association, two online programmes were set up by the Community Development Team: Nectar of Instruction Online Sanga Siddarth has been facilitating an active reading group based on the Nectar of Instruction, which is a commentary from Sri Rupa Goswami’s Upadesamrta. The aim of the group had been to try and churn the nectar from the Upadesamrta. The reading group aim to achieve this by participants sharing their, understandings, realisations, thoughts and questions whilst going through the text. By slowly and steadily reading Srila Prabhupada’s commentaries, the group has been able to unpack the book and see it from new angles of vision. During March and April, there have been five sessions and have yet to finish Mantra 1! But that’s not the point of the reading group! The main aim is for participants to digest the material in sizeable chunks. The participants have provided good feedback so far and Siddarth feels encouraged to continue facilitating the sessions whilst everyone is still engaged and eager to read! Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara Japa Sanga Since Friday 27th March, Devaki devi dasi has facilitated an online japa sanga on Zoom which takes place from 6.00pm to 6.40pm every evening. At the start of each session, there are prayers for those who have been affected by COVID-19 or another illness, or who have sadly passed away. This is followed by a short reading about the holy names and then 30 minutes of group japa. Afterwards, devotees share realisations on the sanga’s WhatsApp group. On average, 30 devotees attend each day. Here is some feedback from attendees:
“The holy name is everything. I’m glad they (who we are praying for) are getting better, and that those of them who have passed away sadly, but by the mercy of Krsna, we have been chanting together (for them). Then all is glorious for sure.”
“It was so touching and beautiful japa session for praying for many people who are suffering and some who have left this world. Thank you all for your association and sincere service.”
“I couldn’t join the chanting group since two days and felt that something inside me was really missing this beautiful association. Feel that my battery recharged
“It was a very blissful session chanting with you all. It’s so nice to see you all chant with so much enthusiasm and determination.”
today. Thank you for this amazing group that helps keeps us inspired and charged up.”
“Thank you for all your association. I feel this sanga is my backbone for this lockdown time. Thank you.”
All are welcome, if you would like to participate, please join the WhatsApp group using the following link: https://bit.ly/esanga-japa 10
Community Development
DEITY DEPARTMENT THE DEITY DEPARTMENT DURING COVID-19
An account by Murli Manohara dasa, Head Pujari
Seeing in the news what was happening in other countries, we were readying ourselves for a “lockdown.” As 90% of the services are done by the congregation, it would obviously devastate our service schedule. Still, the safety of the devotees was of upmost importance and so with some uncertainty we had to accept the inevitable. In the beginning, for most devotees it was a novelty. To be locked in the Temple with Krishna was a unique and maybe welcome experience. That soon changed however as news of devotees in our congregation being rushed into hospital and with one passing away appearing on our phones. At the same time, devotees in the Temple were also becoming sick with symptoms of the virus. This was no longer a novelty but a stark reminder of Krishna’s declaration in the Bhagavad-Gita that this material world is temporary and full of misery. The Temple was closed to the public, the restaurant was closed, and we now just had five brahmanas on hand to cover services normally done by over 50 devotees. It became clear that some adjustments
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Deity Department
to the pujari schedule had to be made. We adjusted the size of the bhoga offerings and simplified the evening dressing. We also engaged other Temple devotees in the various back-up services such as transfers and making garlands. Although the flower market closed, we were able to buy a good supply of flowers at a cheap price the day the flower market closed. These flowers lasted for nearly three weeks. After this, devotees were kindly buying flowers from local supermarkets. In this way, we still managed to continue with the daily worship and offer fresh flower garlands each day. Another practical problem we faced was devotees in the Temple becoming sick with the virus. Our Temple is very small, especially the altar and pujari department, so “social distancing” was not possible. Also, with nowhere to go to “self-isolate,” it was a precarious situation. We had to consider at one point the possibility of moving all the Deities out of the
Temple to someone’s home. Fortunately, it never came to that and devotees battled through their sickness and gradually regained their health. Central London, especially where the Temple is situated, is normally a cacophony of police sirens, shouting people, metal grinders, buses, lorries, and loud music. Suddenly all went quiet. Although we welcomed the “peace,” it came at a cost. Better to have the noise and no virus than the eerie silence that now surrounded us. Our Temple is normally a hive of activity. All day people coming in and out. Attending classes, sanga meetings, lunch programme, Sunday Feast, kirtans, people visiting the restaurant and shop, but all was now quiet. Sri Sri Radha-Londonisvara remained ever-smiling. After all, They are the controllers of London and the universe beyond. All was going on under Their divine direction. The plans of the Lord are beyond even the greatest of philosophers, as such it was a time for reflection and prayer. Is this an indication of worse situations to come? Whatever we are destined to experience, the devotees will continue serving the Lord and singing the Lord’s glories. satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā nitya-yuktā upāsate Always chanting My glories, endeavouring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion. Bhagavad-Gita 9.14 12
Deity Department
FESTIVALS GAURA PURNIMA Monday 9th March This was an all-day festival at the Temple.
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Festivals
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Festivals
RAMA NAVAMI Thursday 2nd April Due to the lockdown, there was no public festival, although classes, darshan and kirtan were broadcast online from the Temple Room.
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Festivals
FOOD FOR LIFE
An account by Tina Savani, Food for Life volunteer assist by offering to advertise the service and by providing details to other charities as Food for Life was one of the only food charities operating during this pandemic which they were grateful for and expressed their appreciation at the value it would add.
Not All Heroes Wear Capes With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, many things came to a halt. A nationwide lockdown from Monday 23rd March forced the sudden closure of Govinda’s Restaurant and the Temple and consequently, its various events and daily activities including the Food for Life service. Food for Life team members, however, were committed to Food for Life’s core values of serving the homeless and upholding the vision of Srila Prabhupada that “No person within a ten-mile radius of our temples should go hungry.” They were painfully aware that other food charities had stopped their service and if they followed suit, the homeless would go hungry. A few of the Food for Life volunteers channelled all their efforts and energy to ensuring the service continued within legal boundaries whilst ensuring the frontline volunteers were not exposed to any risk. They engaged in discussions with and convinced the Temple Leaders Council to authorise the continuation of the service. Westminster Council were also contacted to gain approval to continue with the service despite the lockdown. After several discussions, the Council finally gave their approval. They also offered to 16
Food For Life
Once given permission, the Food for Life team started the process of arranging for a van, space to cook, volunteers to cook and distribute the prasadam, and a process to accept donations from supporters and well-wishers. Miraculously, things started to fall in place and barriers began to disappear and help poured in from everywhere. Parasuram dasa, manager of the large-scale Food for All project, kindly offered the use of Food for All’s “Krishna Castle” in Holborn and the use of their kitchen, their ingredients and anything needed. ISKCON-London also offered to lend their van and agreed to accept deliveries and donations from supporters. A WhatsApp group was setup and grew to more than 150 members within a few days with knowledge, encouragement, rota and practicality discussed on the group daily. Volunteers Some very brave souls put themselves forward to volunteer on the front line, namely, Acyuta Charan dasa, Katerina, Rahul Singh, Sat, Alka Mamtora and her two children Ashit and Krishna, Amrita, Anjali Gupta, Anucitra, Bella, Bijal Pandit, Brian Clarke, Charmi, Dipesh Sid, Dipna, Hetal, Isvara Krishna dasa, Krishna Pallavi Rajeshwar, Monica, Nik Parmar, Shiv Punj, Wojtek, and Zofia. Isvara Krishna dasa, Anterysmi, Krishna Charan dasa, and Katerina cooked from Krishna Castle. Anjali
Gupta and Sapna would often cook at home and bring the prasadam to Krishna Castle. Some days, many volunteers who had never cooked or baked a cake before did so from scratch using instructions provided which was quite an achievement for many. And occasionally, the prasadam was shared between Food for All and Food for Life. Donations and Help There has been a tremendous response from the devotee community which helped to generate over ÂŁ5,000 in donations within one month, with generous donations from Jas Vaghadia, Krupa Patel, Priya Patel, Tarun Gunamal, and many others. This money was used to buy Personal Protective Equipment, distribution containers, bottled water, snacks, napkins, and other essential items. Numerous kind donors such as Alka Mamtora and Pritesh Mashru also donated various food items including drinks, water bottles, biscuits, crisps, flour, oil, protein bars, rice, spices, and sweet treats, which were delivered directly to the Temple. Bijal Pandit donated a tea dispenser and Sunny Gandhi donated a box of hand sanitisers. Many companies such as Om Gayatri Traders Ltd donated generously with hundreds of bottled water, crisps, oil, rice, and snacks, etc. Janaki Mehta did a tremendous job of taking on the responsibility of co-ordinating the donations of food items from donors and supporters and liaised with Mairis, Temple Commander, to ensure safe delivery and distribution of the items. Dharmita Bhanderi worked hard on attracting, recruiting and co-ordinating external volunteers and set up a permission letter for
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Food For Life
all volunteers who come to serve to enable them to travel to and from the service without encountering any issues from the authorities. She has also been a key part of the social media team along with Adam Gadhvi and Natasha Menon. The team are currently working on creating a website which will enable people to book themselves onto the service online on a specific day and time of their choice. This will help to attract and recruit volunteers from a wider community and network. Achievements FFL has continued its service under abnormal and difficult circumstances. The brave volunteers have distributed more than 5,000 meals since the start of the pandemic in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, the Strand, and Trafalgar Square. Thank You The response and help the FFL team has received in response to the COVID-19 emergency appeal has been incredibly overwhelming. This goes to show that people are willing to come together and unite for a higher purpose and try their upmost to help some of the most vulnerable people in our society at this real time of need rather than just thinking of themselves. This crisis period has demonstrated the care and compassion that our Temple congregation community embody and has also brought to the fore some of the most compassionate and brave souls within our communities who have taken time out to help such as Acyuta Charan dasa, Katerina, Rahul Singh, Sat, and many others who have risked their health and wellbeing to help, serve and protect those most vulnerable and at risk in our society.
FFL want to thank all the frontline devotees and the community members who have pulled together so nicely to ensure the FFL service continues to run even during this very critical and uncertain period. May Krishna bless and protect them all abundantly for their wonderful service to humanity. FFL also want to thank Parasuram dasa from Food for All for allowing the team to use their kitchen, Krishna Castle, and operate from there.
“The homeless are extremely grateful for Food for Life’s services as most of the other charitable groups and organisations have ceased to continue serving during this period which has meant that a lot of them would have potentially been left with no food and gone hungry had the Food for Life team not continued to keep operating during this crucial time.” Rahul Singh, Food for Life volunteer
“The successful execution of Krishna conscious activities requires both patience and confidence…The devotee thinks ‘Krishna will surely protect me and give me help for the successful execution of devotional service.’ This is called confidence.” Nectar of Instruction, Verse 3 Purport
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If you would like to volunteer or donate food items, please email If you would like to donate money, please visit www.facebook.com/foodforlifefondon
info@foodforlifelondon.co.uk
www.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/foodforlife www.instagram.com/foodforlifelondon
HARINAMA
Maha Harinama on Gaura Purnima
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Harinama
KRISHNA’S COWS PROJECT GROW Reacting to the current pandemic, the Krishna’s Cows team have started a new project called Project Grow. This is an initiative to engage the ISKCON-London community in growing their own vegetables and flowers for offering to Sri Sri RadhaLondonisvara. Plants can be grown either in your gardens or local allotments. Gardening is good fun, a learning experience, and a good way to become more Krishna conscious. There is a team of devotees who can offer guidance if needed. Devotees can donate 30 to 50% of their produce to ISKCON-London. Every week, the Krishna’s Cows team are sending in offerings to Their Lordships, including fresh flowers. Thus, they are trying to apply Srila Prabhupada’s instruction to go back to the land according to time, place and circumstance. The project currently has 10 families participating in growing vegetables and a WhatsApp group of 80 devotees to share ideas and encourage one another. So please get involved and start growing! If you would like to take part in the project, please contact Tarun Krishna dasa on tkd@iskcon.london
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LONDON COLLEGE OF VEDIC STUDIES BHAKTI SASTRI CERTIFICATE CEREMONY During the Gaura Purnima festival on Monday 9th March, the London College of Vedic Studies (LCVS) arranged a certificate ceremony in the Temple Room for the Bhakti Sastri graduates from the 2018-19 course batch. ISKCON-London’s Head Pujari, Murli Manohara dasa, who is one of the Bhakti Sastri teachers, congratulated each student on passing and presented them with their certificate. Congratulations to the following 2018-19 Bhakti Sastri graduates: Adhibhuta dasa, Angela Danieli, Antoine Bour, Brioni Boykew, Divya Krishna dasa, Jhulan Lila devi dasi, Kancana-beli devi dasi, Maxim Chernetskiy, Nalini devi dasi, Shyam Govinda dasa, Visodhani devi dasi
The Bhakti Sastri students studied four Vedic texts during the year-long course which took place on Sundays for three hours: Bhagavad-Gita, Nectar of Devotion, Nectar of Instruction, and Sri Isopanisad.
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London College of Vedic Studies
There were six units, with the following senior devotees from ISKCON-London teaching the units: Jai Nitai dasa and Bhava Bhakti devi dasi taught Unit 1 (Bhagavad-Gita, Chapters 1-6) Dayal Mora dasa taught Unit 2 (Bhagavad-Gita, Chapters 7-12) Sanjaya Madhava dasa taught Unit 3 (Bhagavad-Gita, Chapters 13-18) Vamsivata dasa taught Unit 4 (Nectar of Instruction) Naam Sankirtan dasa taught Unit 5 (Sri Isopanisad) Murli Manohara dasa taught Unit 6 (Nectar of Devotion) LCVS is planning to start a new Bhakti Sastri course later in the year. Please keep a look out if you are interested in this in-depth study of Srila Prabhupada’s books with learned devotees! Testimonial from Bhakti Sastri Graduate “I always struggled to study properly Srila Prabhupada’s books due to a lack of time. Therefore, I convinced myself to attend a Bhakti Sastri course at LCVS, to help me study more and develop more knowledge about this priceless philosophy. I found the Bhakti Sastri course very interactive and useful in many ways – learning verses, writing essays and exams, discussions and very important association with devotees. Each of the qualified teachers were very helpful and compassionate towards us in all ways. It’s a long course but it is definitely worth it and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” Visodhani devi dasi (Bhakti Sastri Graduate 2018-19)
ONLINE COURSES To engage with and motivate the community during the lockdown, LCVS introduced for the first time, free online courses in April. The online courses took place via Zoom (and one via Facebook Live) and helped many people who were unable to leave their homes due to the lockdown to reconnect to spiritual classes and Vedic wisdom. Over each weekend, two sessions were arranged and included senior devotees, Bhakti Vikasa Swami, Bhakti Rasayana Sagar Swami, and Murli Manohara dasa. More sessions are planned in May with various senior speakers! Two major benefits of online courses are being able to arrange speakers from any part of the world and open the sessions to people outside of London. The sessions have been well-received and the first one even attracted one hundred participants! Participants were from far and wide places such as Manchester and India! The following online seminars took place in April: How to Improve Your Chanting with Murli Manohara dasa was based on the process of Nama Bhajana (Chanting the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra) from Chapter 36 of the book titled Nava Vraja Mahimaby Sivarama Swami. It looked at the various levels of chanting and the correct mood whilst chanting. In this interactive seminar, devotees had lots of questions on chanting which Murli Manohara dasa answered very diligently. “Murli Manohara dasa’s japa workshop today was amazing. Really insightful about the mechanics and stages of japa. Over 100 devotees joined! Recommend anyone who didn’t join to watch a recording. It will really benefit your chanting!” Channah Mace Life Without Conflicts Seminar with Bhakti Rasayana Sagar Swami looked at some valuable tools in which you can live without conflicts in a world full of conflicts! This seminar looked at the following topics: controlling anger and agitation, the art of resolving conflicts amicably, monitoring our actions and speech, and learning and growing from negative experiences.
The Glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with Bhakti Vikasa Swami looked at the importance of glorifying Krishna. Topics discussed included the Vedic literatures are meant for knowing and glorifying Krishna, how Srila Prabhupada presented Krishna with the title “Supreme Personality of Godhead” to the public and on the title of the Krishna Book and what six qualities Krishna has in full. Overcoming Anartha’s on the Path of Bhakti by Bhakti Rasayana Sagar Swami looked at identifying the various obstacles that can plague one’s devotion. Based on Caitanya-Caritamrta’s Madhya-lila 19.159 verse, the seminar looked at the unnecessary creepers (or weeds) that look similar to one’s devotional creeper that one needs to uproot in order to progress. These weeds represent bad behaviour, diplomacy, material profit and adoration.
PAST SEMINAR RECORDINGS LCVS have made available a selection of past seminar audio recordings during the lockdown for the community to listen to and download for free. There are a number of popular LCVS seminars from the last two years including the following seminars: Japa Workshop Nectar of Devotion Seminar Power of Habits Vedic Parenting Seminar The free past seminar audio recordings can be downloaded or listened to from here: https://www.iskcon-london.org/lcvs-media
Subscribe to the London College of Vedic Studies newsletter: www.iskcon.london/lcvs/signup 22 www.facebook.com/londoncvs www.instagram.com/londoncvs
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OUTREACH MARCH UPDATE March was somewhat revolutionary for the Outreach team. Due to the COVID-19 crisis and the closing of the Temple, all outreach activities and programmes had to be suddenly moved online. This was quite challenging at first, but they soon adapted to the online platform and their efforts have been quite successful so far. One key benefit of the online programmes was that it allowed friends who could not make it to the Temple to finally join in again online. Programmes have included: Wisdom Wednesdays outreach programme for newcomers with Shyam Govinda dasa every Wednesday at 6.00pm on the Bhakti Yoga London Facebook page. Spiritual Technologies outreach programme for newcomers with Shyam Govinda dasa every Thursday at 6.30pm on the Bhakti Yoga London Facebook page. Study of the Bhagavad-Gita with Dayal Mora dasa every Monday to Saturday from 11.00am to 12.00pm on the ISKCON-London Facebook page. This in-depth study group focuses on how to apply the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita and how people can explain its knowledge to others. Contemplative, Reflective and Prayerful Reading of Srimad-Bhagavatam with Syama Kisora dasa and others every Monday to Friday from 1.15pm to 2.00pm on the ISKCONLondon Facebook page. They start each session with kirtan and then a little reading from Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta. They then start reading the SrimadBhagavatam with rapt attention on each verse and then analysing what they are reading, reflecting on its meaning, and how can devotees relate it in their own spiritual practices
Daily Readings of Caitanya-Caritamrta
with Syama Kisora dasa and Antoine every Monday to Saturday from 5.30pm to 6.30pm on the ISKCONLondon Facebook page. These sessions start with a bhajan and then dive right into the reading for 45 minutes. After the reading, they discuss and reflect on what had been read and take questions from the online audience. Another special aspect of this session is that Sankirtan Co-Leaders, Syama Kisora dasa and Antoine, have been encouraging participants to purchase a Caitanya-Caritamrta set and they have even had the books placed on the altar! This has encouraged devotees to purchase the sets and relish the reading at home. “One can overcome all misconceptions and entanglement in the material world by practicing bhakti-yoga, and therefore Vyāsadeva, acting on the instruction of Śrī Nārada, has very kindly introduced ŚrīmadBhāgavatam to relieve the conditioned souls from the clutches of māyā. Lord Caitanya’s spiritual master instructed Him, therefore, that one must read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam regularly and with scrutiny to gradually become attached to the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.” Caitanya-Caritamrta Adi-lila 7.73 Purport
“Such pure devotees, always merged in knowledge of Kṛṣṇa and absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, exchange thoughts and realisations as great scientists exchange their views and discuss the results of their research in scientific academies. Such exchanges of thoughts in regard to Kṛṣṇa give pleasure to the Lord, who therefore favours such devotees with all enlightenment.” Caitanya-Caritamrta Adi-lila 1.49 Purport For recordings of all of these programmes visit: https://www.facebook.com/iskconlondon
APRIL UPDATE In April, the Outreach team attempted to improve their online preaching. With the help of the Kirtan London team, Shyam Govinda dasa recently started learning the art of making “trendy posters” to advertise their weekly events. They mainly share the artworks on the Wisdom Wednesdays WhatsApp group, which has 90+ contacts, and on the Bhakti Yoga London’s Facebook and Instagram page. This endeavour has brought some positive results, such as the increase in numbers of participants in the online Zoom meetings. Interestingly, despite the uncertain times we live in, quite a few people have shown their interest in the upcoming India Retreat 2021 which the Outreach team have recently started to advertise. For this reason, the Outreach team have been working on planning the new itinerary and booking rooms and transportation in cooperation with one of the organisers, Champakalata Priya devi dasi.
To stay updated on all newcomer events, follow the Facebook page, Bhakti Yoga London:
www.facebook.com/bhaktiyogalondon 25 Outreach
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REGIONAL South East Regional Retreats
Due to the lockdown, the South East Regional Retreat, themed “Mahabharata,” took place online on Zoom during the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend from Saturday 11th to Monday 13th April. There were wonderful and insightful classes on the great epic, Mahabharata, from Candramauli Swami, Prahladananda Swami, Bhakti Rasayana Sagar Swami, Jai Nitai dasa, and Nitai Kirtan dasa.
RUSSIAN VEDIC SOCIETY During the lockdown and social distancing rules, the Russian Vedic Society (RVS) has been keeping very active online. They have been meeting every morning for japa meditation on Skype and conducting scriptural readings in the evenings. They continued holding their Sunday programme by meeting online via Zoom, either discussing the Bhagavad-Gita or listening to special guests such as Bhakti Rasayana Sagar Swami and Nara Hari dasa.
The RVS also organised an online meeting with Srila Prabhupada disciple, Mondakini devi dasi, and Valmiki dasa from Russia, for a talk that inspired the devotees to join the online “Srimad-Bhagavatam Marathon” that took place in April. Several devotees from the RVS were participating in the organisation of the event as well as the translation of lectures and reading of Srimad-Bhagavatam online. Many devotees joined in the reading and many are still meeting daily to read for one and a half to two hours together. The Marathon was joined by thousands of participants all over the world and the devotees were inspired to organise another Marathon in May, where the aim will be to read the Caitanya-Caritamrta in one week. 27 Regional / Russian Vedic Society
SANKIRTAN With lockdown and social distancing measures in place, the Sankirtan team have not been able to go out for their daily service of sharing the glories of Krishna! The team have adapted their programmes, focusing more on online readings, studies, bhajans and reflections. They conduct three different study programmes throughout the week. All these programmes are broadcast online on the ISKCONLondon Facebook page. More information is in the Outreach section.
BHADRA CAMPAIGN 2020 The Sankirtan team have launched the Bhadra Campaign 2020. It is explained in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, “If on the full moon day of the month of Bhadra one places Srimad Bhagavatam on a golden throne and gives it as a gift, he will attain the supreme transcendental destination.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 12.13.13)
BOOK DISTRIBUTION DURING THE LOCKDOWN For many devotees, the lockdown has given them new ideas on how to continue distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books while maintaining the social distancing rules. They are unstoppable in their determination to distribute books! Yamuna, aged five, daughter of Jagannatha Sharan dasa and Vrinda Sundari devi dasi, has been distributing books from afar with a little book table outside her home. Nalini devi dasi has also thought of an innovative way to distribute books. She is distributing books by leaving them in a box outside her home with a note saying “Please Help Yourselves: Meditation Books.” And people are taking the books. One lucky lady took four books!
This year, Bhadra Purnima is on Wednesday 2nd September. The Sankirtan team have 50 sets of SrimadBhagavatam waiting for a new home (available in English, Gujarati and Hindi languages). The cost of each set is £215, or £225 with a beautiful golden throne (an asana for the books). The best gift is to give people Krishna in the form of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, so why not offer the cream of the cream of the Vedas? People can distribute the sets to their friends, family, coworkers, everyone! Please get in touch if you are interested. Contact: antoine@iskcon.london
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If you would like to invite the sankirtan team to your own town for book distribution, harinama and a house programme, please email sankirtan@iskcon.london Sankirtan
INTERVIEW WITH SYAMA KISORA DASA, SANKIRTAN CO-LEADER
period as a period of preparation before we head back to the battlefield. This preaching strategy is confirmed by Srila Prabhupada in Caitanya-Caritamrta Adi-lila 7.14: It is only by devotional service, beginning with hearing, that one can approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the only means to approach Him.
The Community Newsletter Team’s Padmanabha Nityananda dasa caught up with Syama Kisora dasa, Sankirtan Co-Leader, about how sankirtan activities have changed due to the lockdown and how Temple devotees have been coping with the Temple closure. Padmanabha Nityananda dasa: Hare Krishna! It must have been an unusual but interesting two months since the Temple closed to the public after the Gaura Purnima festival due to the lockdown! How have you found it? Syama Kisora dasa: It’s an interesting time. Krishna is allowing us to become closer with devotees as well as to hear and chant more together. It is a time of introspection and absorption in Srila Prabhupada’s books. The result? It’s blissful. Q: Yourself and Antoine together head up the sankirtan team. How have you changed your sankirtan activities since you can’t go out to distribute books? A: Syama Govinda focuses more on cultivating new people online, whilst with Dayal Mora dasa we focus mainly on the ashram devotees but by still making it accessible for the online community. We are doing Facebook live readings three times daily during the week mixed with two days of bhajan. We read Bhagavad-Gita in the morning, Srimad-Bhagavatam at noon and Caitanya-Caritamrta in the afternoon. The goal of our hearing together is to associate more with Srila Prabhupada and deepen our faith and our inspiration in taking part and supporting Srila Prabhupada’s mission. We are taking this 29
Purport: One can directly approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by executing these nine kinds of devotional service, of which hearing about the Lord is the most important (śravaṇādi). Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has very favourably stressed the importance of this process of hearing. According to His method, if people are simply given a chance to hear about Kṛṣṇa, certainly they will gradually develop their dormant awareness, or love of Godhead…We have opened hundreds of centres all over the world just to give people in general a chance to hear about Kṛṣṇa and accept Kṛṣṇa’s prasādam. These two processes can be accepted by anyone, even a child. It doesn’t matter whether one is poor or rich, learned or foolish, black or white, old or still a child—anyone who simply hears about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and takes prasādam is certainly elevated to the transcendental position of devotional service. Q: What benefits and disadvantages have you found from the online preaching? A: Krishna is so merciful that He put us in an environment where we can try something different. These new daily readings are so enlivening for us that other devotees also want to take part. We now must face a camera which makes the interaction slightly different but it’s helping us to become more confident and practice alternative ways of preaching. Q: It must be a busy time for the ashram devotees since the congregational devotees cannot come to do their pujari services. How are the other ashram devotees dealing with the lockdown? A: Some exalted Vaishnavas came in just before the lockdown wanting devotee association, and now everyone is helping each other with different services. It brings us closer and the relationships are sweeter.
Q: What extra services are you now involved in the Temple during the lockdown?
Q: What are you looking forward to the most once the lockdown is over?
A: Mostly cleaning, in either Pujari or outside the Pujari.
A: We are very much looking forward to getting out there again, seeing the faces of the devotees and meeting new people, telling them about Krishna, distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books and holding Bhagavad Gita preaching programmes!
Q: You brahmacaris must be getting all the Maha Prasadam now, right? You must all be very happy about that?! hehe A: Prasadam seva ki jaya! Yes, we got all the Maha Prasadam trays for ourselves! Due to no outside devotees coming, there is less quantity, for example the Raja Bhoga is just one tray, therefore we don’t waste anything.
Q: Thank you very much for speaking to us!
SPIRITUAL MENTORSHIP SYSTEM Some Mentee Meetings were still taking place online on Zoom during the lockdown, providing devotee association at an unprecedented time of social distancing. Tuesday 14th April Jai Nitai dasa and Bhava Bhakti devi dasi hosted an online mentee meeting with their Grihastha Mentee Group. In this meeting, Jagannath Sharan dasa and Vrinda Sundari devi dasi gave a presentation on Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 3, Chapter 22. This was followed by a lively group discussion. Saturday 18th April Bhava Bhakti devi dasi hosted an online mentee meeting with her ladies group. They read and discussed the pastime of Lord Balarama and the chess game in Krishna Book. Wednesday 22nd April Bhava Bhakti devi dasi had her first mentee meeting with the ladies ashram members. In the absence of Jaga Mohini devi dasi, the former ladies ashram leader (who was also their mentor), Bhava Bhakti devi dasi has taken over mentorship services for the ladies ashram residents. They discussed verse 3 from Teachings of Queen Kunti and shared their realisations. This meeting was in person as currently it is only the Temple residents along with Jai Nitai dasa and Bhava Bhakti devi dasi who are serving in the Temple due to the lockdown. Tuesday 28th April Jai Nitai dasa and Bhava Bhakti devi dasi, during their online Grihastha Mentee Group meeting, gave a presentation on Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 3, Chapter 23. They also produced a short video skit outlining some of the main themes of the chapter for them. Watch the skit: https://youtu.be/8-0QfBIVbHQ 30 Spiritual Mentorship System
VOLUNTEERING During the lockdown, to help keep the volunteers enlivened in Krishna consciousness, the Volunteer Coordinators, Devaki devi dasi and Doyal Chaitanya dasa, have kept in regular touch with them, informing them of various programmes taking place online, sending darshan pictures and videos, and informing them of live broadcasts taking place from the Temple Room. One popular initiative was asking the volunteers to send pictures of their home Deities over the weekend which were then shared in the volunteers WhatsApp group.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED? 31 Volunteering volunteers@iskcon.london /
Volunteering vacancies: www.iskcon.london/volunteer
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ONLINE KIRTAN FESTIVAL WEEKEND
Kirtaneers across the globe Live darshan Chant and dance from your homes
www.facebook.com/iskconlondon 35 Founder-Acarya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada
DAILY SCHEDULE ARATI TIMES 04:30 05:00 07:00 08:00 12:30 16:15 19:00 21:00
Mangal Arati Tulasi Arati Deity Greetings Dhoopa Arati Raj Bhoga Arati Dhoopa Arati Sundara Arati Sayana Arati
These are times when items are offered for the pleasure of Their Lordships.
ISKCON-London Radha-Krishna Temple 10 Soho Street London W1D 3DL
DARSHAN TIMES
CLASS TIMES
04:30 to 05:00 07:00 to 07:30 08:00 to 11:45 12:30 to 13:00 16:15 to 18:30 19:00 to 19:30 21:00 to 21:30
07:30 Srimad-Bhagavatam / Caitanya-Caritamrta 13:00 Introductory Talk * 18:00 Bhagavad-Gita * * Excluding Sunday’s
LUNCH PROGRAMME (Monday to Saturday) 13:00 to 14:00 Introductory talk and lunch.
These are times when the curtains are open and Their Lordships can be seen.
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SUNDAY FEAST PROGRAMME 15:30 to 19:30 Includes arati, introductory talk and feast.
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Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS FOUNDER-ACHARYA: HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA