If all had gone according to plan, I would have started my ultimate Tasmanian backpacking adventure with an ocean kayaking exercise this weekend. But I decided few weeks ago that I was going to sacrifice this pleasure and spend time instead with the devotees at the Melbourne Hare Krishna Temple who would more or les provide me with the same, perhaps more adventure and memories. I couldn't have been more right as this weekend, I went on a farm retreat with His Holiness Devamrita Swami and his wonderful disciples.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 22/12/08; 6:01:29 PM to the Farm dept.
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Just at that moment a well-dressed man came up to me. "Excuse me," he said, "are you Indradyumna Swami?"

I was surprised that a guest would know my name. "Well, yes, sir," I said. "I'm Indradyumna Swami."

"Will you be speaking tonight?"

"Yes, I will," I said, "in just a few minutes."

"I've come for your talk."

"Have you?" I said, somewhat embarrassed.

"Well," said the man, "I attended one of your festivals in the Sydney area last year, and the lecture you gave proved a turning point in my life."

"Whatever I know I've learned from my spiritual master," I said.

"Actually, I just stumbled in off the street that evening," he said. "I was a homeless person. The stress of life had made me an alcoholic. I lost my well-paying job, and my wife kicked me out of our home. For two years I wandered around Sydney getting free meals at food kitchens or eating out of garbage cans. Whatever money I'd get from begging would immediately go on wine."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 22/12/08; 11:07:35 AM to the Travelling Preacher dept.
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In the most recent of many known state actions against everyone's right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief, a Baptist is facing threats by the authorities to confiscate his means to support himself and his family because he led worship without state permission, the country's only Hare Krishna commune is still being pressured to accept a rubbish dump in exchange for their land, and Jehovah's Witnesses are still being denied the rights to use a private home and a Kingdom Hall they built for worship meetings. These human rights violations take place as President Nursultan Nazarbaev considers new legislation to even further restrict fundamental freedoms in the country.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 22/12/08; 10:58:37 AM to the News dept.
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# Posted by Timothy Mcleod at 22/12/08; 10:44:06 AM to the Daily Class dept.
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In neighboring Katwa, we saw walls painted with red hammers and sickles, reminding us that the state of West Bengal currently has a Communist administration. In Mayapur, downriver, we visited the huge headquarters of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, where a long stream of saffron-robed devotees chanting "Hare Krishna" passed by, except for one follower bizarrely dressed as Elvis Presley.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 22/12/08; 10:38:14 AM to the News dept.
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# Posted by Timothy Mcleod at 22/12/08; 10:26:58 AM to the Daily Class dept.
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# Posted by Timothy Mcleod at 22/12/08; 9:54:07 AM to the General dept.
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# Posted by Timothy Mcleod at 22/12/08; 9:41:15 AM to the Daily Class dept.
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# Posted by Timothy Mcleod at 22/12/08; 9:28:20 AM to the Daily Class dept.
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