Dear Devotees, Supporters and Friends ...

Welcome to the February edition of our Multimedia Newsletter. We hope you will enjoy reading it as much as you have enjoyed our previous Newsletters and thus keep in touch with our Temple and our Community. Again, thank you for your ongoing support. It clearly shows that you enjoy reading this newsletter, which has an ever increasing readership of hundreds of devotees, supporters and friends worldwide. We hope that you will also find this February issue to be a useful resource and that you will get fresh inspiration to commit yourself more and more to the process of Devotional Service.

In our efforts to keep in touch with you and to inform you about upcoming events and updates on our website we are producing this Newsletter on a bi-monthly basis. Back issues are available by clicking here. However, there was no December issue due to an overwhelming workload towards the end of the year. We want to apologize for that fact. Moreover, a few links to some of the new articles are not active yet. If you visit the back issue page over the next few weeks you will be able to access those articles from there.

As always we appreciate your suggestions of how to improve. Please drop us a line by clicking on the icon below. If you want to be removed from our mailing list click also on the icon below and send us an e-mail with the subject header "Unsubscribe ISKCON Newsletter".

                                      

"But the reason I do not immediately reciprocate the affection of living beings even when they worship Me, O gopis, is that I want to intensify their loving devotion. They then become like a poor man who has gained some wealth and then lost it, and who thus becomes so anxious about it that he can think of nothing else. My dear girls, understanding that simply for My sake you had rejected the authority of worldly opinion, of the Vedas and of your relatives, I acted as I did only to increase your attachment to Me. Even when I removed Myself from your sight by suddenly disappearing, I never stopped loving you. Therefore, My beloved gopis, please do not harbour any bad feelings toward Me, your beloved." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.32.20-21)

• Gita-jayanti
• The Reader's Corner
• Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
• Songbook Introduction by H.H. Sivarama Swami
• Albert Einstein
• The Line has been Drawn
• Surrendering to the Spiritual Master
• Dhanvantari
• A Transzendental Granny
• The Four Wives
• Temple Under Threat
• The Pace has been set
• Harmonium Lessons for free
• Srila Prabhupada's Page with lots of New Music 
• Membership Program
• Na Paraye 'Ham by H.H. Sivarama Swami
• The Real Audio Page has New Music
• Ras Lila Comes West
• Initiation And Siksa Programme
• Gaura Purnima 2001

• Initiations & Siksa Ceremony have been on 6th of January 2001

• The next monthly yajna for auspiciousness is on 4th March

• Save the Temple Fundraising Campaign is still on

• Weekly Bhakti-vrksa Meetings on Friday

• H.H. Sivarama Swami's New Book 'Na Paraya 'Ham' (I Am Unable to Repay You) is still available at the Temple

• Krishna Dharma Prabhu's Mahabharata and Ramayana are also available at the Temple shop

• Ras Lila comes West - we need some help ...

The Line has been Drawn

The line has been drawn in a historic meeting with H.H. Sivarama Swami, the GBC secretary for the UK, in order to end the ongoing difficulties of the Leicester yatra. Maharaja made it very clear that those who are constantly trying to undermine the temple management by dividing the congregation and persuading devotees not to take part in temple functions could open their own center as desired. However, such a center would not be recognized as an ISKCON center nor would those devotees be able to use ISKCON assets and its name for fund raising purposes. Maharaja emphasized that he was not prepared to work with those devotees in his position as GBC secretary for the UK if they were not prepared to work within ISKCON and with the Leicester temple management. He also rejected any attempt to open a separate account for festivals such as Ratha Yatra but emphasized that devotees wanting to stage any festivals would have to fully work and co-operate with the temple. [More]

A Transcendental Granny

That was really the beginning. One night Granny had a dream about Prabhupada. Something really happened to her then. I don’t know what it was, but she begun to get very enthusiastic. Next she begun to get the whole family involved. I mean, not just me and my mother and sister, but her two sons, their wives and six children, as well as her brothers, sisters, and relatives. Before she used to carry a Bible with her and quote Jesus Christ. Now she has a Bhagavad-gita and quotes "the good Lord Prabhupada". She became a veritable transcendental terror. Everyone in the family has to chant at least one round a day. In addition Granny made everyone become a vegetarian including my dog Sikra, and we offer our food to a picture of Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya. [More]


Songbook Introduction by H.H. Sivarama Swami

Thirty years later (in 1995) my mother was in Budapest when our festival tour was reaching its climax. I invited her to the program in which I sang bhajans while playing the harmonium. The next day, true to form she phoned me at the temple and said, “You see how good it was that you learned the keyboards. Now you can put it to good use for Krsna.” I had to admit to her foresight and wisdom. The skills I had learned on the piano had certainly served me well in Krsna Consciousness. [More]


Letters from our Readers

To shorten a rather long story: Krishna Consciousness IS part of my life and IS growing day by day. Maya does her tricks as well - at times there just doesn't seem enough time to live. Let alone to chant ... I love to speak to other people and colleagues about what Krishna Consciousness does to people and I always try to make more time... Still many questions remain, but every time I visit a temple and talk to bhaktas and bhaktins I feel rather free to ask them their ears off. Living is learning and to learn is fun. The newsletter is to me another important source of information. [More]


'The World as I see it' ... from Albert Einstein

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. [More]


Surrendering to the Spiritual Master

Yes, this attitude of surrendering to the Spiritual Master is the best qualification of spreading this movement of Lord Caitanya. That is the Vedic way. One should have unflinching faith in Krsna and similarly in the Spiritual Master. That is the way of understanding the secret of Krsna Consciousness. Unfortunately, attempt has been made lately in our Society to shake this formula. This mischievous attempt has done a great harm, but if you the members of the Governing Body Commission can rectify this mischievous attempt, then still there is hope of making our progress uninterruptedly. I hope Krsna will help us. [More]


Dhanvantari

While the demons and demigods churned the ocean of milk, a very wonderful person appeared. He was strongly build; his arms were long, stout, and strong; his neck, which was marked with three lines, resembled a conchshell; his eyes were reddish; and his complexion was blackish. He was very young, he was garlanded with flowers, and his entire body was fully decorated with various ornaments. He was dressed in yellow garments and wore brightly polished earrings made of pearl. The tips of his hair were anointed with oil, and his chest was very broad. His body had all good features, he was stout and strong like a lion, and he was decorated with bangles. In his hand he carried a jug filled to the top with nectar. [More]

We hope you enjoyed this Newsletter.

Gauranga Sundara das
(President & Web Servant of ISKCON Leicester)

     website: http://www.gauranga.org

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