Here's a great post from Kurma with some really good pictures of the Festival of Appreciation he catered for on the weekend.

A Festival of appreciation, gratitude and thanks was organised by the inspirational Vara-nayaka at the North Sydney Hare Krishna Temple last Sunday. I was requested to cater for the function, and I did. I spent all of Saturday and half of Sunday with a large crew of assistants.

# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 24/12/09; 2:16:11 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Festival of Appreciation in Sydney

This celebration of Hindu spirituality, arts and culture was held at La Trobe University, Bundoora campus.

The event was an initiative of 'The Hindu Community Council of Victoria' and was organised primarily by Lakshmi, from the Shiva Ashrama and Bhakta Dasa, from the Hare Krishna Temple.

 The program featured a Hindu Women's forum, Maha pujas, dancing sapta, classical Indian jazz and dancing, carnatic classical vocal and of course, Le Carnaval Spirituel orchestrated by Indradyumna Swami. The latter gave a talk on the Bhagavad Gita after the philosophical yet entertaining discourse of Swami Shankarananda.

Bookstores, face painting sessions, henna-tattoo workshops and food were also popular. Here's a slideshow.

# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 14/12/09; 3:16:17 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Sanatana Dharma Festival- Sunday 13 December

Indradyumna Maharaja and his crew have been actively participating in various interfaith initiatives over the past few weeks. On their busy agenda featured a program at the Shiva Vishna temple in Carrum Downs, a most successful satsanga at the Shiva Ashrama in Mt Elisa and mostly the Parliament of World Religions (POWR).

Maharaja's presence has been significantly felt at the POWR.

So much so that the organisers of the Parliament have asked Indradyumna Swami and his crew to perform at the closing ceremony. The Hare Krishna stall has been busy throughout the duration of the Parliament; many participants and visitors popped in to share their appreciation of the Hare Krishna movement locally and worldwide. Many have been touched by Srila Prabhupada's movement in some inspiring ways.

Here's a slideshow of some of the events.


# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 10/12/09; 3:38:26 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Interfaith Initiatives

Preceeding 'Le Carnival Spirituel' Australian tour, congregational members from Werribee have expertly devised a plan for flyer distribution in their neighbourhood; it is a joint effort of the  Deer Park and Derrimut Bhakti Vrksa teams.

Jagannathan Ram Prabhu is the main coordinator of this program and his co-anchors of the Deer Park program are Michael Prabhu, Shashi Prabhu and Sandeep Prabhu.

They are in the process of allocating a well-defined geography for each member to drop their individual 500-flyers quota in the respective letter boxes. The operation altogether is to be completed within the coming two weeks.

The volunteers involved are:
- Ashok     - Sivananda      - Shashi                  - Prateek      - Michael      - Chandramani          - Dr Nandakumar            - Dhanasekar             - Sanjay Prasad  - Jwalesh Babu
- Rajath             - Pavitra    - Ramakrishna        - Sandeep           - Savitri     - Prasad

We thank the pro-active coordinators and their dedicated team for their effort and we invite more volunteers to join the fun.

# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 26/11/09; 7:16:50 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Le Carnaval Spirituel - Flyer Distribution strategy

On Sunday 8th November we participated in the annual festival of Sri Rama Pattabhishekam at the Sri Shiva Vishnu Temple in Carrum Downs.
 
The event commemorates the coronation of Lord Rama on His return to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana and being re-united with Srimati Sita Devi. It is a time to ask the Lord for spiritual upliftment and blessings. The highlight of the celebration was a horse-drawn cart procession of the Lord's Crown around the Temple complex.

The Iskcon devotees performed Kirtan for part of the procession and the Holy Name lifted everyone to transcendental heights. Other groups such as Swami Shankarananda and his disciples from the Shiva Ashram in Mt Eliza also participated in the chanting. It was a fantastic intra-faith experience.  Later we performed more Kirtan in the main Temple complex.
 
We extend our warmest thanks to the Sri Shiva Vishnu Temple management for their invitation and look forward to many more opportunities to praise the Supreme Lord together in the future. In the meantime, here are some pictures.


# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 11/11/09; 4:15:39 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Krishna Kirtan at the Sri Shiva Vishna Temple

At 6.15am on Sunday 11th October, a dynamic crew left the temple premises to head towards Federation Square for the Diwali catering.


The Victorian Government injected $20,000 into the event inviting everyone for a glimspe of material manifestation in the form of fireworks in the sky, as per the words of Guru Prabhu, one of the main organisers. The predominantly Indian crowd was was attracted to our prasadam. Indeed, our "Hare Krishna: Pure Vegetarian" banner drew the attention of many pious souls.

At peak hour, around 8.30pm, Masala dosa orders were sky rocketing. According to the servers the Phav bhaji introduced for the first time this year was a super hit. This event inspired many new volunteers to further their service to the temple. Together with the organisers, the newcomers gathered solid experience for the betterment of next year's program.

The enthusiastic crew happily reached home at 1am the next morning after giving their very best in the service of Their Lordships. Here are some pictures.

# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 26/10/09; 3:20:38 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Diwali Catering Event

Recently, Gokula das from New Govardhan featured in an article entitled "Govinda's prasadam at music festivals". Gokul prabhu has been to Radhadesh, Belgium to assist the Bhaktivedanta College with one of their new projects: 'prasadam distribution at a summer rock festival in Germany'.






Quoting Yugal Kishor, who wrote the article, "...Gokula Dasa was flying to Belgium from Australia, bringing onboard his practical know-how of organizing similar events down under..." The crew's effort met with a smashing success and they are now seeking support so that they can further and better the adventure.

Read the article here.



# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 18/9/09; 2:29:45 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Bhaktivedanta College's Catering Venture

On Thursday, sixteenth of July Interfaith Director Bhakta Das facilitated a dinner meeting at Gopal's Vegetarian in the city with members of the Hindu Foundation and organisers of the Parliament of World Religions (POWR) which promises to be a major event in the Melbourne community calendar to be held in December this year.

The aim of the meeting was to consolidate our connection with the broader Hindu community in organising activities for the event. We focused on working together to best present Vedic culture and Hindu spirituality on behalf of the Hindu congregation in  Melbourne. The Executive Director Rev. Dirk Ficca, and Partner Cities Director Zabrina Santiago were present to oversee progress in the planning.

The event was organised by Pandit Abhay Awasthi, Executive Director of the Hindu Foundation. All present complimented and thanked the Hare Krishna Movement for generously providing Gopal's as a venue for the meeting and sumptuous meals to top it off.

# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 24/7/09; 6:06:58 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Interfaith Meeting - 16th July

On Sunday, twelfth of June we participated in the The Walk for Harmony, an initiative launched by Hon. John Brumby, the Victorian Premier, to promote multiculturalism in Victoria.

Its aim was to show support for the Indian student community who have been subject to attacks and robbery over the last few months in Melbourne. Since the Hare Krishna temple is closely involved with many of the Indian students in Melbourne, it was considered most appropriate for us to join in the march against racism and violence towards that community.

We were marshalled at the southern end of Carlton Gardens at 1pm sharp, ready for action feeling privileged to rub shoulders with the Indonesian, Jewish, Turkish, African and other community groups gathered there. Bhakta Dasa, our Interfaith Director, managed the enthusiastic team of singers and dancers placing the colourful ladies in front of the musicians led by Aniruddha Prabhu, the temple President.

We danced our way down Swanston St via La Trobe to Federation Square where the devotees mingled with the crowd gathered to hear the guest speakers' calls for unity in diversity. We called it a day at around 3pm after cheering Mr. Brumby's Multiculturalism, Peace and Tolerance declaration.

Here's the slideshow.

 

# Posted by Rasanandini at 18/7/09; 6:50:43 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Walk for Harmony

Mark Hare Krishna Valley on your calendar for Saturday week!

Join the farm crew for a day away on May 30th.

The Valley devotees are inviting everyone to a working bee for the pleasure of Sri-Sri Gaura-Nitai and Srila Prabhupada. Their goal is to clean the farm campus (dhama seva), and to prepare for Bhurijan Prabhu and Jagattarini Mataji's June 5-8 sadhana retreat (vaisnava seva).

The peace of the Valley, the eagles, and the Stringbark forest await...and then there's Sri-Sri Gaura-Nitai's prasadam!

Phone Kesava dasa on 0405-577-453.  



# Posted by Rasanandini at 19/5/09; 2:51:10 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Working Together

I was inspired by this quote from David Haslam today whilst trolling through PlanetISKCON...

I remain reliant on the Internet, each class posted by the Melbourne devotees, each piece of devotional music more precious than the finest of diamonds.

I started this blog in 2001 and of late I've been contemplating writing for it more often. I originally conceived of the site as a vehicle for us to share spiritual life. It wasn't meant to be a place just for me. As it is this year I've been way too busy to write having taken on more managerial responsibility than is probably healthy. That's another story.

What prompted me to get back into it, at least for today was the simple statement from David quoted above.

At least if noone is writing it has been satisfying to see the daily class go up. In fact I get upset if it doesn't. I don't listen to the classes myself but I know many of my friends do. It's a way for them to stay connected. It's important.

I'd like to thank Rasanandini, Tim and Nanda Mandir for keeping the blog going, especially for keeping the daily class happening. I'd also like to invite anyone who has an idea for a story or a contribution to please let us know. We can find a way to fit you in.

Oh, and as far as ownership goes we are happy to share. We should probably make a statement to that affect somewhere on the site. If persons want to use our materials they are welcome but we would like to see our work acknowledged. You can use it but it would be nice if you told everyone where you got it from and link back to the page it came from originally. That's fair isn't it?

# Posted by Aniruddha at 5/8/08; 11:52:31 AM to the Working Together dept.
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simple thoughts » Ownership and copyrights

An interesting question and answer session with Bhakti Caru Swami. Community development means economic development...

Actually dealing with money is not the main consideration and concern. How one is dealing with money-that is what really matters. When one is in a proper Krishna conscious environment, motivated by a spiritual objective, then he may deal with millions of dollars but he will not be affected. To be Krishna conscious means to understand that everything belongs to Krishna and everything must be used in His service. If one is constantly reminded of this objective, then there will be little chance of falling into maya.

It looks like this idea may have come of age. We aren't going to get too far as a society without money and that means on the whole encouraging the economic endeavours of the householders!

# Posted by Aniruddha at 30/4/08; 12:58:57 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Yukta-vairagya. Dealing with Money in Krsna Consciousness - H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami

Jagannatha Rama has kindly offered to coordinate a set of interviews with Michelle Lim who is researching Well Being in religious communities for a Psychology thesis.

Why is non-conventional spirituality just as - or more - beneficial compared with other beliefs?

Our aim is to help find out why?

Melbourne University's Department of Psychology is conducting research into this question. Devotees are invited to participate in the 'Beliefs &Well-Being Study.' Participation will involve attending one interview session with a researcher.

You will be invited to answer questions via an interview and simple questionnaires. These questions relate to the following: . Your level of involvement in your spiritual/religious community . Your current physical & mental health. Your relationships with people around you . Any stressful events that may have occurred in your life recently. Any spiritual or mystical experiences that you may have had . Any "out of ordinary" experiences you may have experienced, eg. psychic phenomena, telepathy etc. There are also two simple computer tasks. You will be asked questions relating to these tasks.

The total interview time is 1.5 to 2 hours. In order to cover your time and travel expenses, you will be reimbursed a total of $20 after completing all the face-to-face assessment interviews.

Please discuss your availability with Jagannatha Rama.


# Posted by Aniruddha at 26/4/08; 4:53:16 PM to the Working Together dept.
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Well Being Survey

I've created a new department for this topic...

Are we alone in this? Is ISKCON the only organisation where deeply held opinions over relatively minor points threaten to open up wide schisms? Of course not. Everybody's at it. This is the Age of Quarrel after all, so feeling that you are right and the other guy is definitely wrong comes as second nature.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 25/6/07; 11:08:35 AM to the Working Together dept.
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On opinions, dissension and ISKCON schisms « The Vaishnava Voice