Below is an excerpt on a very revealing note on the true meaning of St Valentine's Day. Unfortunately the original 'www.RajVidya.com' link is broken, so it is an adapted version of the original text entitled "A Thoughtful Valentine's Day".

Beyond the love and romance cliché fabricated around that date is the commeration of a saint, St Valentine, who was a great lover of God and a celibate bishop or commonly known as a monk. In February 270 A.D, St Valentine was clubbed, stoned and beheaded because he wouldn't stop preaching true love: love of God, for the world's people to receive in their hearts. Since his emblematic death as a martyr coincided with the budding season of Spring, the season of courtship, the English and French decided to celebrate this time of the year as the 'Festival of Love'.

We have practical experience in our own sampradaya (disciplic succession of great personalities) of surrendered souls who didn't stop in front of any adversity to preach unconditional devotion to God. Lord Nityananda didn't flinch in front of the aggression of Jagai and Madai, out of dedication for Lord Chaitanya's preaching mission; Srila Prabhupada relentless rendered loving service to Lord Krishna until his last breath; more recently we have the example of Jayapataka Maharaha who defied death, so to speak, to continue to spread love of God.

Wouldn't it be rightful to state that St Valentine's Day commemorates all these true lovers of God whose only mission in life is to propagate service to the Lord!
 



# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 14/2/10; 10:36:45 AM to the General dept.
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A thoughtful St Valentine's Day

The disciples, aspirants and well-wishers of Jayapataka Swami in Melbourne have started a Prayer Marathon for Maharaja's speedy recovery.

One of the disciples assisting Jayapataka Swami in India has conveyed that Maharaja has asked devotees to continue the prayer sessions that were launched after his tragic health complications. Jayapataka Swami has expressed his desire to walk again so that he can continue to spread the message of Lord Chaitanya far and wide.
So this is a golden opportunity to assist such an elevated Vaisnava in his relentless preaching mission for the pleasure our founder Acarya, Srila Prabhupada.

The prayer sessions are held in the temple room, every evening from 7.30 to 8.30pm, till Gaura Purnima, i.e. until the 1st March.
For more updates on Maharaja's health, you visit his website.
Sankirtan yajna ki, jaya!


# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 12/2/10; 1:16:46 PM to the General dept.
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Jayapataka Swami's Prayer Marathon

Here are some photos from Sevamrita and Bhagavat Katha Prabhus' wedding last month.


Sevamrita asked me to photograph her wedding 'from the vaisnavis' side,' so here you'll find my perspective on the celebration so far as I am able.

Please pray for them to develop unalloyed Krishna consciousness in their new ashram.


# Posted by Rasanandini at 9/2/10; 6:39:10 PM to the General dept.
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Sevamrita & Bhagavat Katha's Wedding: Pictures

Lately it's all about 'Avatar'! James Cameron's new release has created a lot of waves and is still is.

Below is an article written by a Hare Krishna devotee, Maxim Osipov, who is also a student in Sanskrit and Indian philosphy. Mukunda Goswami also contributed to the article.

"...But let's get it straight — Avatar is a downright misnomer for this latest new blockbuster.

No, not because, sadly for Hare Krishna moviegoers, the film's got nothing to do with Hinduism except its Sanskrit name..."

You can click here to read the rest of the article, if it pricks your interest.


# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 7/1/10; 10:01:37 AM to the General dept.
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'Avatar' - the controversy around the movie

The Hare Krishna Valley in Bambra was the setting for last weekend's yoga retreat conducted by Prahladananda Swami. This 3-days program was organised by Vraja Nari Dasi and the Urban Yoga crew and proved to be very successful.

The first day featured a casual introduction of everyone and mantra meditation. The following day was action-packed: yoga session in the morning, elaborate breakfast, three and half hours bush-trek, copious lunch, a presentation on the practical application of yoga and meditation in a fast-pace life, sumptuous dinner followed by a movie night on the 'Holy Ganges' which was concluded by a heated spiritual debate. Sunday started with a yoga session, followed by a most beautiful breakfast after which those who were brave enough renewed the bush-trek adventure. Everyone gathered again around an elaborate Lebanese banquet followed by kirtan. By 5pm everyone was ready to cruise back to Melbourne after a memorable first-weekend-of-the-year.

Here are a few pictures giving an aperçu of the weekend!


# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 4/1/10; 10:58:27 AM to the General dept.
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Prahladananda Swami Yoga Retreat: 1st - 3rd January 2010

In Goloka, Sri Krishna thinks, 'Accepting the role of a devotee, I'll make the whole world dance in ecstasy, realizing the four mellows of loving devotional service. I will personally inaugurate the religion of this age - nama-sankirtana - in the form of Lord Gauranga!'


Gaura Purnima - the appearance of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu - is on the way.

So is the new year's edition of FOLK news. Subscribers' magazines should arrive in their letter boxes around January 12th. If you can't wait, here's the PDF version in colour!

See you at Ratha Yatra next Saturday.


# Posted by Rasanandini at 3/1/10; 4:14:16 PM to the General dept.
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Make the Whole World Dance: FOLK 2010

Adrian and the devotees distributing prasadam at the Pyramid Rock Festival at Phillip Island have just returned to Melbourne Mandir, looking tired but blissful.


I hear that rain-wear for Rock-goers in last night's thunder storm featured rubbish bins! Then the marquee beside Food For Life was stopped from flying only by four men holding the poles to the ground.

No doubt honouring the Lords' prasadam has added an transcendental note to the Pyramid buzz.

Now Gaura-Nitai's cooking gear is heading to Ocean Grove with Keshava, Veda Priya and crew.

Food For Life ki jaya!




# Posted by Rasanandini at 1/1/10; 12:00:26 PM to the General dept.
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Stormy Finish to Pyramid Rock Prasadam Distribution

In a few days, we will celebrate the 500th anniversary of Lord Gauranga taking to the renounced order of life. Janananda Goswami made a special mention of that event in Srimad Bhagavatam class this morning. Below are some of Maharaja's insights on the matter:

“I wanted everyone to be immersed in this inundation of love of Godhead, but some of them have escaped. Therefore I shall devise a trick to drown them also.” Thus the Lord accepted the sannyäsa order of life after full consideration..."
Click here to read more.

To commemorate this event at the Melbourne Temple, Prabhavisnu Maharaja will be giving the morning classes based from readings from the Caitanya Caritamrta and the Caitanya Bhagavat from the 14th to the 19th of January 2010. Please join us!


# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 30/12/09; 1:13:06 PM to the General dept.
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Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's Sannyasa

The new year is a promise of a new beginning and fresh opportunities.

It is a common ritual at the Melbourne temple to make this transition utmostly auspicious by the performance of a Yajna (fire sacrifice) at 5pm to invoke all good fortune, joy and abundance for the coming 12 months.
This will be preceeded by the Dhupa arati at 4.30pm. The New Year's Feast will be honoured at 6pm which will culminate in the Sandhya arati at 7pm.

On behalf of our beautiful temple-based team and our dedicated congregational community, I wish you all the best for the year 2010 and many happy returns.




# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 29/12/09; 12:07:28 PM to the General dept.
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New Year's Day - Friday 1st January

The preparations for the day started early for some: Acintya rupa Mataji and Sri Murti Mataji have been cooking since yesterday and were back for more early this morning to make the Christmas-devotee lunch a total success.

In the meantime devotees had the normal program, followed by the first part of a 2-day seminar conducted by Bhanu Swami on Bhaktivinoda Thakura's 'Hari Nama Cintamani'. The next part of the seminar starts at 10am tomorrow and goes till 12pm.

The highlight of the day was of course the mega-feast of Acintya Rupa Mataji. All devotees enjoyed the prasadam to their greatest satisfaction... and beyond. Here's a slideshow.



# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 26/12/09; 3:28:48 PM to the General dept.
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Christmas Day at the Melbourne Temple

There was a problem with the sound quality of the class given by Gangesvara prabhu for the Disappearance Day of Srila Prabhupada (Thurs 22/10) so I have made it into just a mono recording and re-uploaded it.
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# Posted by Tirthapada Dasa at 1/11/09; 3:29:02 PM to the General dept.
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Class re-posting

Bhakta dasa, our Interfaith Director at the Melbourne Mahaprabhu Mandir, has recently been appointed vice-chairman of the 'Hindu Community Council of Victoria Inc' registered on the 4th October 2009.

The aims of the Council are primarily to organise and promote pre-Parliament of World Religions events involving the Hindu faith, to co-ordinate Hindu functions at the Parliament (3rd to 9th December) and stage various post-Parliament events with a view of on-going functions that will build a united council on behalf of the Hindu community in Melbourne.

One of the council's first tasks was to seek funding from the Victorian Multi-Cultural Commission who was more than willing to financially support the council's efforts and was extremely pleased to see that ISKCON was so strongly involved.

The director of the Commission, Mr. George Lekakis pointed out to all present how the Hare Krishna Movement had grown steadily over the years and is now a rock solid foundation here in Melbourne. He appreciated the movement's efforts in our welfare work through Food for Life programs and our participation in the annual Moomba Festival and he even remembered the early Ratha Yatra Festivals in the heart of the city with Srila Prabhupada in attendance."By the way" he said, "my daughter eats at Gopals every second day, great food!!"

Find out more about the Parliament of World Religion here.



# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 26/10/09; 3:14:55 PM to the General dept.
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ISKCON's participation in Hindu Council.

The disciples of HH Devamrita Maharaja celebrated their spiritual master's Vyasa Puja (birthday celebration) on Thursday the 24th of September. Amongst other ladies, Govinda Kunda Mataji and Vrndaranya Mataji, were busy since the morning making garlands and decorating the theatre room which was the venue for the event. The men took charge of the prasadam which was coordinated by Brahma Kunda Prabhu.

The celebration started at noon with Dandakaranya Prabhu welcoming everyone present for the occasion and read Maharaja's Vyasa puja offering to Srila Prabhupada. Dandakaranya Prabhu, Maharaja's senior most disciple in Melbourne, then opened the floor for the audience to express their homages to Devamrita Maharaja. Aniruddha Prabhu, our temple president, lead the way and was followed by the disciples, friends and well-wishers.

Then Kundalata dasi and Svarupa Sakti lead a most enlivening kirtan while Nanda Mandir Dasa performed the Guru Puja arati to their Guru Maharaja. The program was concluded around 3pm with a fabulous feast in the prasadam hall.
Here's a slideshow.


# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 27/9/09; 8:39:32 PM to the General dept.
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HH Devamrita Swami's Vyasa Puja - 24th September

This year's theme is: "Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Srila Prabhupada's Sannyasa".

On September the fourth, we are organising a harinama party of 50 or more devotees to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada's taking sannyasa. We will start from our usual Friday night spot at 6.30pm in front of Crossways and continue till 8pm or later if the mood takes us. We invite you all to be amongst those 50 enthusiastic devotees.

During that most auspicious week, devotees worldwide are pledging to chant extra rounds as a contribution to Srila Prabhupada's effort. You might also like to consider increasing your rounds during the week.

For more information on the significance of the event, please visit the World Holy Name Week website.


# Posted by Guna Mani Nitai dasi at 20/8/09; 11:34:32 AM to the General dept.
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World Holy Name Week: 2nd - 11th September

In Kartika (October-November) Krishna's Tour of India will visit Mayapur, Puri and Vrndavana once again this year.

Visit the holy Dhamas in the association of the vaisnavas. Contact Kesava on 0405-577-453 or keshava.tkg@pamho.net for details.


# Posted by Rasanandini at 5/5/09; 1:18:03 PM to the General dept.
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Krishna's Tour of India, Kartika 2009

This year, once again Bhurijan Prabhu and Jagattarini Mataji will lead a sadhana retreat at Hare Krishna Valley.

Join them from Friday June the 5th. evening until Monday June the 8th afternoon. You can book by phoning Keshava das on 0405-577-453.

Places are limited, so don't delay.

Your costs will be as follows:

Singles        $155
Couples       $205
Concessions $105
Per child       $25
Day visit       $40


# Posted by Rasanandini at 30/4/09; 12:15:22 PM to the General dept.
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Jagattarani Mataji and Bhurijan Prabhu's Farm Retreat 2009

Besides being Good Friday, today was little Aaron's second birthday and Bhakti and Bhakta's thirtieth wedding anniversary.

Acintya Rupa inspired her kitchen crew to offer a special breakfast for the devotees' pleasure. Prasadam included string hoppers with creamy tomato sauce, panir pakoras with tartare sauce, fresh green salad with French dressing, crunchy granola and milk; milk sweets, fruit and maha-prasadam. Highlights included birthday and anniversary cakes, hot chicory milk, and hot cross buns!

Bhakta and Bhakti shared their secrets to maintaining an enduring grhasta ashram with the assembled vaisnavas. Not the least of these qualities are their pure devotion, creativity, and infectious sense of humour!

We wish our guests of honour many more years of bliss at Sri Gaura-Nitai, Radha-Ballabha and Jagannatha-Balarama-Subhadra's  lotus feet.












# Posted by Rasanandini at 10/4/09; 5:13:59 PM to the General dept.
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Good Friday Breakfast at Mahaprabhu Mandir

For the information of the worldwide community of devotees, this year's GBC Resolutions and Zonal Assignments have just been published and are available for viewing.



# Posted by Rasanandini at 2/4/09; 6:46:05 PM to the General dept.
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Minutes of the GBC's annual general meeting Sri Mayapur Dham, February 12-23 2009

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# Posted by Tirthapada Dasa at 15/3/09; 5:19:00 PM to the General dept.
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Kirtan - Ramai Swami (Sunday Feast)

I apologise that you found this article duplicated. I made a slip with the mouse that I didn't know how to correct.

On the morning of Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada's Appearance Day, Kadamba Kanana Maharaja gave first initiation to Bhaktin Lovela, who serves in Melbourne temple's single women's ashram.

 
Still immersed in meditation on Lord Nityananda following His Appearance Day, Maharaja extended Nitai Mahasaya's mercy to his new disciple, and gave Lovela Prabhavi the name Guna Mani Nitai dasi. Please also give your blessings for her continued progress in spiritual life.

Here is a brief extract from Srila Prabhupada's purport to Nitai Guna Mani Amara:

This is a song by Locana Dasa Thakura, almost a contemporary of Lord Catanya Mahaprabhu. He has got many books on the life and precepts of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So he is saying that Lord Nityananda is full of good qualities, guna-mani. Guna mani means the jewel of all good qualities. So nitai-guna-mani amar nitai guna-mani. He is repeatedly uttering that Lord Nityananda is the reservoir of all good qualities. Aniya premara vanya bhasasilo avani. And on account of His spiritual qualities, He inundated the whole world by the flood of love of God. It is by His kindness people feel what is love for God.

You can also see a slide show of the yajna.

# Posted by Rasanandini at 18/2/09; 8:23:42 PM to the General dept.
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Initiation on Bhaktisiddhanta Pradupada Appearance Day

Thank you for making Snana Yatra and the Panihati festival auction a great success. We hope you enjoyed bathing the Lords and honouring Their prasadam.

Unfortunately Sri-Sri-Sri Jagannatha-Balarama-Subhadra caught colds, and went to Prabhupada House to rest. Please offer your prayers that They will recover and accept our service again.

The Lords need lemons and honey. They also enjoy get-well cards and flowers.

This year there is a special opportunity to render service. Jagannatha-Balarama-Subhadra are encouraged by listening to Their pure devotee Srila Prabhupada singing. However Their old tape deck no longer plays. If you would like to donate a portable CD player for Their Lordships' pleasure, please contact Their receptionist on 9699-5122. 

Hopefully The Lords will be well enough to ride on Their palanquin in the city on Saturday.


# Posted by Rasanandini at 29/12/08; 10:08:55 PM to the General dept.
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Lord Jagannatha Sick

Sunday Feast 21st December, 2008.
2.2MB
# Posted by Tirthapada Dasa at 22/12/08; 9:54:07 AM to the General dept.
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Jaya Radha Madhava - Bhakta Prabhu

Bhagavad-gita As It Is 4.9 - The importance of authoritative spiritual knowledge.

8.5MB
# Posted by Tirthapada Dasa at 15/6/08; 7:32:57 PM to the General dept.
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Sunday Feast Class - Ciranjiva Prabhu

Ciranjiva Prabhu gave a nice rendition of Jaya Radha Madhava for the Sunday Feast program.
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# Posted by Tirthapada Dasa at 15/6/08; 7:32:19 PM to the General dept.
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Jaya Radha Madhava - Ciranjiva Prabhu

An insightful article by Satyaraja...

For many, as the twin towers came crashing down, so did Western innocence, or the illusion that the world is a safe place and that America is as loved by people of other lands as it is within its own borders. Inescapably, "violence and religion" are the new twin towers, replacing the old because the perpetrators claim that their crime was not only sanctioned by God but commanded by Him.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 21/8/06; 11:33:31 AM to the General dept.
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Violence and Religion - Dandavats.com

On thursday H.H. Devamrita Swami gave first initiation to Bk. Vijaya (Vrsni Vamsa dasa), and second initiation to Kilimbika devi dasi and Bhagavata-katha dasa. Sitting in on the yajna was Bn. Sonya (Sri Murti devi dasi) who was initiated by H.H Indradyumna Swami in December.   

                                                                            

                                                

Bk. Vijaya (Vrsni Vamsa dasa) receiving his new name.

# Posted by Divya Jnana at 2/4/06; 10:19:05 AM to the General dept.
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Initiation Ceremony - H.H Devamrita Swami

Today we had a most ecstatic Hari-nama through the streets of Melbourne, at one stage we had well over fifteen people.

Dandakaranya prabhu made a good comment on the way... "Imagine Hari-namas like this during the Commonwealth Games!"... and that got me thinking... Imagine Hari-namas like this all the time.
 
The response we get from the public is most pleasing, it's a great way to get the word out about Crossways, the Loft, the Temple, and of course... it's the yuga-dharma!

It would be great to get all available devotees and enthusiasts onboard, and fine tune our Hari-namas before the games are upon us.

Please add some comments for ideas and discussion, some ideas I have:

• New colour flyers for Crossways, Loft and the Sunday Feast programme for distribution
• Possibility of prasadam distribution as a regular on Hari-nama, and for the games
• Dress standards

Yuga-dharma Hari-nama Sankirtana Ki!!


# Posted by Glenn at 19/10/05; 4:39:41 PM to the General dept.
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Hari-nama Sankirtana!!!

Karunanidhi Krsna and family have arrived safely in Chennai (Madras). Karunanidhi and his family will be missed by everyone. He has been cooking the Saturday feast every week for as long as I can remember. Fortunately he has left a great team to take his place. May he continue his preaching and prasadam distribution where ever he goes.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 8/8/05; 3:05:37 PM to the General dept.
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Karunanidhi Krsna arrives in Chennai

This news is actually a bit old but just in case you didn't know it we've got boxed DVD sets of Kurma's cooking classes in the shop. There are also some children's puppet shows as well.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 16/3/05; 8:01:14 PM to the General dept.
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Cooking with Kurma on DVD

I'm off to India tonight for the annual meetings in Mayapur. I'm going to attempt at least one post everyday but this is the most intense two weeks of the ISKCON year for me. This is the first post where I've spoken in the first person for a while. I hope to improve on that in the future also.

I won't speak too much about what I'd like to do however; actions speak louder than words.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 21/2/05; 6:12:44 PM to the General dept.
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Off to Mayapur Dhama

As you can see we've started work on replacing the front fence. We won't start the actual replacement work until after Gaura Purnima but for the time being in order to show the council we mean business and to remove the palm we've knocked the top off the wall. We've got a buyer for the palm. Prabhupada House is going to look really good when it's completed.

We are going to need some help finishing this project. For the moment if you would like to clean some bricks, be my guest. More on other help required later.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 12/2/05; 9:05:34 AM to the General dept.
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Front Fence

Here's something interesting I found out about the Truth today.

Food for thought. Can we take advantage of this?

Yoga we identified is the ultimate truth brand. The very thought of it combines so many different emotions, pre-conceptions and reactions all of which are positive and based on the truth.

Of course you need to take it with a grain of salt since it is part of the relative world but what I find interesting is their take on Yoga. If you want to be cool, at least for the moment and that's in a marketing sense, then you need to have a bit of Truth in your walk and if you spice it up with the connection to Yoga then all the more Truth to you.

It's a .pdf file so you might have to wait a while for it to load.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 10/2/05; 6:48:21 PM to the General dept.
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The Truth

Sita-pati Prabhu came up with these links for distance learning. Thanks.

On the subject of distance learning there is www.vedalearn.com. which has a bhakta program and Bhagavad-gita online. At www.spiritualachievers.org there are question sheets for the Science of Self-Realization.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 2/2/05; 4:17:08 PM to the General dept.
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More Distance Learning Links

Thanks to Uddhava Bandhu Prabhu for this link.

Online Bhakti Sastri with the VIHE at http://www.vihe.org/corresp.htm.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 2/2/05; 1:54:24 PM to the General dept.
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On Line Training from the VIHE

I've just had a request for information regarding distance education for devotees. Does anyone know of any courses that can be pursued on-line? Please let me know.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 1/2/05; 1:37:21 PM to the General dept.
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Long Distance Training Courses for Devotees

We've got some viewing for you from shots I took over the last week.

Today's darsana is here. The shots are a bit dark. I forgot to use the proper white balance setting but I'm slowly getting the hang of it.

Our hay bale stacking from last Tuesday is here.

I also took some shots of Radha-govardhanadhari last week. This was Thursday's darsana and Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's disappearance day on New Years Eve. The second lot are a bit better than the first.

I decided to just get the pictures up rather than make sure they were all perfect. I didn't take my camera to the Byron Bay Ratha-yatra. I wasn't confident of my night photography skills. As it was it turned out to be a pretty wild night. Thousands participated. It was a very young crowd, mostly intoxicated but friendly and respectful, in most cases.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 3/1/05; 10:51:56 AM to the General dept.
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Galleries

I'm testing a new Gallery Tool kindly provided by our software advisor, Steve Hooker. It's something I've been dreaming of for ages.

You can check out the first gallery I created here and some shots from today's darsana.

There's a nice shot of Indradyumna Swami's Radha-vallabha, a deity worshipped for over 250 years.

The gallery took me about half an hour to create. I'd like to hear your feedback.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 21/12/04; 10:30:14 AM to the General dept.
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Daily Darsana 21/12/2004

Here's something pertinent in any times.

I got this Chinese proverb from Braja Bihari on Mediator's Sanga, a conference for ISKCON mediators on PAMHO.

Regarding maintaining sadacara when disagreeing with one another:

"Do not remove a fly from your neighbor's face with a hatchet"

# Posted by Aniruddha at 19/12/04; 8:28:14 PM to the General dept.
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Get out your hatchets!

Here's a great review of Crossways I just found looking for the name on the web.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 18/12/04; 9:38:30 PM to the General dept.
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Great Review for Crossways

Indradyumna Swami will be doing a program at Bhakta's house tomorrow starting midday. He lives in Rowville.

If you want to come along give me a call and I'll give you the address. You can get me on my mobile. 04 1444 1428.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 18/12/04; 9:01:06 PM to the General dept.
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Home Program at Bhakta's

If you are looking for some Christmas gifts we've just brought back some new items from India which you might like to have a look at. Ask Susan to show you what's new.

We've also received three sets of the small compact Srimad Bhagavatam which we are selling at $240 per set.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 17/12/04; 2:23:28 PM to the General dept.
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Christmas Shopping

Test post from Singapore.

I've got an intermittent connection which won't allow me to download my email in one go. Consequently I have six or seven copies of the same messages. Fortunately web mail works but that also intermittently. It's less of a nuisance.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 19/11/04; 9:19:38 AM to the General dept.
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First post from Singapore

Test from remote location in my office.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 18/11/04; 9:03:37 PM to the General dept.
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Out of Station

We've got some new arrivals in the shop.

Satyaraja's new book called "Holy Cow" looks like a good read. There's also the last ten copies of Prabhupada Slokas from the BBT in India and two sets of Prabhupada Siksamrta, extracts of pertinent instructions from Prabhupada's letters.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 17/11/04; 8:29:32 AM to the General dept.
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New Stock

At PayPal, protecting your account's security is our top priority. Recently, PayPal members have reported suspicious-looking emails and fake websites. These emails are not from PayPal and responding to them may put your account at risk. Please protect your PayPal account by paying close attention to the emails you receive and the websites you visit.

Please use the following tips to stay safe with PayPal:"

# Posted by Aniruddha at 9/11/04; 5:42:01 PM to the General dept.
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Speaking of Diwali and Govardhana Puja, we have a lot of arranging to do this weekend.

We need to make sure we have plenty of Arati trays set up for the weekend. Sweets need to be prepared and boxed. There are going to be a couple of big feasts. Muni-cari will need help setting up the Abhisheka and Acintya Rupa is going to need assistance making sweets for Govardhana Hill.

We are going to need to plan for what will be a busy weekend. We'll also need some extra hands as well.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 4/11/04; 7:17:03 PM to the General dept.
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Festival Planning

This is a little note from Kurma I picked up from the Perth temple mailing list.

ps...and for those devotees (who shall remain nameless) who complained and harassed me in the kitchen yesterday because I didn't allow them to leave their cooking tasks to go to the temple program so they could ‘think of Krishna’ ...I humble (sic) submit this for you to all to read...

Early one morning Subala left the land at Ramana-reti, where he had been staying, and approached Srila Prabhupada on the roof of the Radha-Damodara temple. "Prabhupada," he said, "I am having so much difficulty. I don't have time to read, I can't chant my rounds properly, I can't think of Krsna. I'm always thinking of how this contractor is cheating us, or I'm thinking of signing cheques for labor and materials. It's just too much. All these things on my mind are stopping me from thinking of Krsna."

"Do you think Arjuna was simply meditating on Krsna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra?" Prabhupada replied. "Do you think Arjuna was sitting in yogic trance, while on the battlefield Krsna worked? No, he was fighting. He was killing for Krsna. He was thinking of all the soldiers he had to kill for Krsna. "Thinking of the checkbook, thinking of the men, thinking of the contractors - this is also like Arjuna's thinking. This is Krsna's service.

You should not worry about thinking of Krsna directly. Arjuna wasn't sitting before Krsna in a trance, meditating on His form. He was engaged in Krsna's service. Similarly this is Krsna's service, and you should engage. Your life is full of Krsna's service, and that is very good."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 23/9/04; 1:03:17 PM to the General dept.
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Thinking of Krsna

Well we managed to survive Radhastami without too many incidents. Madhava Maharaja gave a great class which went on right up till the arati. Those who stayed for the kirtana arrived a little late for prasadam and so a few missed out on prasada which had been served since 6.00 pm. The feast was magnificent. Acintya Rupa did a really good job ably assisted by Scott, Renu and Sudama. There were also quite a few others who helped with the cut up and other preparations.

Veda Priya ogranised the flower set for Radha-vallabha and it was really bright and colourful. I thought it was the best yet.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 23/9/04; 12:50:26 PM to the General dept.
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Radhastami

Tomorrow is Radhastami. It's a half day fast.

Out temple progam will start at 5.00 pm. Bhakti-visrambha Madhava Swami will be giving class till 6.00 pm when we serve the feast.

Acintya Rupa is cooking the feast and is looking for assistance. Kurma's helped her out with some recipes.

He's cooking for 150 in Perth. Acintya Rupa is struggling with the idea of cooking for 350. Please give her a hand if you have some spare time tomorrow.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 21/9/04; 3:41:08 PM to the dept.
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Radhastami

I just spoke to Gopala at the Show. He confirmed my suspicions of this morning. The traffic on Epsom Rd was a lot heavier this morning than on any other day, even Sunday. It looked to me like it was going to be another busy day at the Showgrounds.

I got the picture above from Manigriva yesterday. Nobody's going to miss our stall.

You can see what Manigriva was really into from the picture below. He tells me this pure bred Brahman bull is worth around $8000. He's a beauty. They've been designed to pull a cart, haven't they? Look at that hump over his shoulders.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 21/9/04; 2:56:12 PM to the General dept.
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Royal Show

For those of you looking for some excitement in the kitchen, and an opportunity to learn some culinary tricks, Kurma is canvassing for an assistant during his next visit to Melbourne in October.

Prabhu, do you know of any devotees who would like some work experience in the cookery/teaching area who would like to accompany me to any of the 4 TAFE classes I will be conducting whilst in Melbourne? They would drive me to the TAFE, learn how to cook, eat like kings and come back with me. The first one commences Saturday 2 October. Any cooks should take up this opportunity.

If anyone is keen on the idea contact me here.

I'm not sure if he means ‘all cooks’ or ‘any cooks’ but it is a good opportunity.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 21/9/04; 1:57:49 PM to the General dept.
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Kurma — looking for assistance

I've got stuff to post and things to say but not enough time to organise myself to do it.

We did a very nice home program today which took up the better part of the middle of the day.

Reports from the show are promising. Manigriva was told by one of the gate attendants that the wait at the gate was between 2-3 hours. Our crew get in easily because they are pass holders. Now that the football is all but over, at least for most Melbourne fans, attention is turning to the show and it is packed today. That of course means lots of customers for Krsna's prasada.

Some customers have mentioned how happy they are to see us at the show. It means they can get something decent to eat.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 19/9/04; 8:01:22 PM to the General dept.
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Time is Tight

Madhava Maharaja didn't do the home program last night since he hasn't been feeling well. Kadamba Kanana Swami also left with the flu and a healthy cough.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 18/9/04; 2:59:29 PM to the General dept.
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Ooops

Our new site design is making progress. We are discussing with our designer the combination of our web graphics with a new letterhead and other stationary so that our branding is consistent. We might even revamp the FOLK News printed edition so it echoes the theme to. So far we have pretty much settled on our home page layout. It will be tweaked over the next week or so. We'll be adding pages and sites for the restaurants, farm and other temples in Australia. There's a fair bit of work to be done but I'm hoping it will look pretty good. The response I've received from those who have seen our current design has been very positive.

We'll be pulling all the posts from here and squeezing them into the new site so we'll keep our history. At this stage it looks like we might abandon the FOLK News name. The site will basically be ISKCON news. It will function the same as FOLK News but have a different name and a lot more links and information. ...which I will have to get together.

That's our current thinking at this stage. This is a work in progress so things may change.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 18/9/04; 2:25:41 PM to the General dept.
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Site Development

Our router and internet connection have finally settled down. We have also settled into the show schedule and routine nicely. Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Swami is giving morning and evening classes. Tonight he'll speak at the student program at Nityananda's. Last night he did a program at Ranga and Usha's.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 18/9/04; 7:48:25 AM to the General dept.
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Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Swami

I just received the following news from Ekendra Prabhu.

This is to let you know that Sukha-sindhu das was born this morning - 17 September at 5:32 am - amidst the chanting of the holy names and loving supervision of devotee matajis from the community here in Christchurch, New Zealand. Both Sukha-sindhu and Seva Kunja mataji are doing fine.

Congratulations. Now the fun starts!

# Posted by Aniruddha at 18/9/04; 7:37:09 AM to the General dept.
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New Edition to the Family

Manigriva has promised me some shots from the show. He'll upload them to me today.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 18/9/04; 7:08:51 AM to the General dept.
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Show Progress

We are changing the morning program slightly so that those of us going to the show early will get a chance to hear the Bhagavatam class and breakfast.

Guru puja will start at 6.45 am and class will begin right after greeting the Deities at 7.05 am. We'll finish class at 8.15 am. Cooks will need to have breakfast ready by 8.15 am.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 15/9/04; 2:42:27 PM to the General dept.
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Show Program

We are still having major problems with our connections so until we fix it I'm restricted from posting a lot here.

Koti and I spent a lot of time working on the problem yesterday and today. We thought we had it sorted out. One thing keeps on popping up after another so we are now back to the drawing board again.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 13/9/04; 8:37:25 PM to the General dept.
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Internet Connections

It looks as if the router has settled down for today.

We are still going to exchange it for something more stable.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 11/9/04; 4:22:49 PM to the General dept.
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Router Problems

Our Router is playing up. One minute it is up then it is out of action for an hour or so. We are going to have it replaced but we need to set up a replacement in the mean time.

I've got a few links and items to post but will have to sort out the router first.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 9/9/04; 6:20:47 PM to the General dept.
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Router Problems

It is pretty hectic in the temple at the moment. There's a lot going on around the place. The tents are going up. Buckets of vegetables are piling up in the car park. Rooms are being readied. Visitors are arriving.

We managed to finish the Vyasasana today. We are missing the bolsters and cushions which should arrive tomorrow. It still looks pretty good though. We experienced a few minor hiccoughs but it all came good in the end.

Thanks to Jason we were able to get a pretty reasonable finish. I'm going to try to get him to build some shoe racks for the shoe area tomorrow. Hopefully we can ease some of the congestion there tomorrow night.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 6/9/04; 7:01:47 PM to the General dept.
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Janmastami in Melbourne

I hear there are some concerns regarding replacing the woodwork on Prabhupada's Vyasasana. I appreciate we are replacing the original and that will be a loss. However it is inevitable we will have to do these things as they age. In removing the upholstery I became more aware of this than I was earlier. The foam on the seat is turning to powder. It's just reached its use by date. It's my realisation that the same type of work will have to be done again in another thirty years. Materials just don't last for much longer.

As for the molding it was beyond repair. It was ‘shabby’, to quote a word a reporter used to describe the temple a year ago. To repaint or re-gild was going to be a nightmare. It would have taken forever to do and the cost would have been prohibitive. We couldn't even be guaranteed of a good result. Therefore we decided to recreate the original design with wood rather than plaster which will last a lot longer, be easier to work with; what to speak of the improved durability, finish and look of the Vyasasana.

We've kept the original blue cover and will offer framed samples to our donors. We'll probably have some left over which we can sell or auction to help cover the cost of the renovation.

We face another similar situation replacing the carpet on the ‘red stairs’. Things wear out over time and even though it was the carpet Prabhupada walked on it is now time to change it. What to do?

We've got a number of maintenance items to work on this year. We need a well ordered and neat appearance; rather than well ordered and shabby. First impressions are lasting impressions. I am confident Prabhupada would be pleased to see his temple neat and orderly.

The next major job is replacing the front fence. That will keep us busy for a while.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 3/9/04; 8:15:40 AM to the General dept.
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Vyasasana Update

Koti and Guru put the final touches to the ceiling tonight. Muni-cari and the boys will be painting the ceiling over the weekend. The temple room looks like magic now that the whole room has been done. Thanks to the determination of Vijay and his crew. It has been a real team effort that has paid off. They now only have the chandeliers to go and a final polish of a few stray items; some smudged mirrors and a couple of Prabhupada's spotlights need a wipe.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 2/9/04; 9:54:57 PM to the General dept.
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Temple Room Cleaning

Jason and I had a pretty busy day breaking down Prabhupada's Vyasasana preparing it for the addition of the new wooden moldings. As you can see there isn't much left to look at. The base and the back go to Bill the upholsterer tomorrow.

Ken Smith, the gentleman who arranged the carving of the new moldings came over and was impressed by the quality of the finished product. You can see Jason fitting the back panel of the upright piece. We were shaving a bit off the sides so we can wrap the upholstery around the back of the panel and do away with the need for the braid that usually covers the staples. It will be a neat finish. You can see the gold looks really shiny.

The gold is really outstanding. Ken had dulled the footstool but that didn't impress those who saw it. Usually customers want an antique finish on their gilding. They want it to look old. Ken told me we are the first customers he has ever dealt with who wanted it to look brand spanking new. It's not a problem since it means less work for him.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 2/9/04; 9:50:27 PM to the General dept.
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Vyasasana Upgrade

We had a great celebration yesterday for Baladeva Purnima. The Monday evening crowd was just as big as a Sunday Feast. The feast was exceptional thanks to Acintya Rupa and her team of helpers. Jaya Sacinandana cooked some really superb subjis. Gopala Guru helped out with the sweets. Bhakta Scott was in the kitchen all day and Renu helped roll the samosas. Dandakaranya Prabhu helped cut up the vegies. Thanks to all those who I've not mentioned.

The sweet rice was memorable. I left a cup on my desk last night. I didn't have time to finish it as I wanted to lead the final kirtana of Jhulana Yatra. I figured I could finish it off for breakfast. Well, no such luck for me, unfortunately. It wasn't there when I got into the office this morning. Someone beat me to it. I was lucky enough to have some that Acintya Rupa had saved tonight.

One point I might mention; it has been brought to my attention that some of the temple devotees have gotten into the habit of jumping the queue at prasadam time. This isn't good behaviour. Our guests get upset by these poor manners. We should be setting an example of the best hospitality, shouldn't we? These are manners we should have learnt already from our Mum and Dad.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 31/8/04; 10:10:47 PM to the General dept.
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Balarama Purnima

Steve Hooker has a new version of our template ready for comment. As he says, this one is wilder but still appealing.

I may have gone too far. But, I love it. The flow, the dance, the mantra. The colours too, are gorgeous, bright and vivid.

I'll await the feedback.

I've sent my comments off.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 31/8/04; 8:32:13 PM to the General dept.
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Another Visual for Krsna

If you are looking for a Krsna conscious screen saver this site has some on offer. gauranga108.co.uk

# Posted by Aniruddha at 31/8/04; 5:24:03 PM to the General dept.
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Screen Savers

If you are wondering what the FOLK News of the future might look like then the above is a sneak preview. Click on the picture above to see two variations of the theme.

I've been working with a fellow who lives somewhere in England; Telford to be exact, which I just found out is 36 miles west of Birmingham and 213 miles north of London. His name is Steve Hooker. If you catch his blog now you will see a couple of nice posts he has written about his experiences researching graphics for our new web design.

Responses thus far have been pretty positive. Let me know if you like it, please. If you think it needs something let me know about that to.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 28/8/04; 9:21:22 PM to the General dept.
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The Future of FOLK News

The new back for the Vyasa-asana showed up on Friday. Acintya Rupa rang me as soon as she saw it to tell me how good it looked. I'll try to post a shot of it tomorrow. The finish of the wood is very smooth and the guilding looks like the real thing. I have to arrange the upholstery with Bill the upholsterer this week and Rati Priya will work on the bolsters. Thanks to all those who helped with a donation.

We also get news that the kalash for the bathing ceremonies were shipped on Friday from Delhi.

A few devotees have been asking me whether you can bathe both Prabhupada and Krsna on Janmastami and Vyasa-puja day. The answer is yes. That's what it said in the letter. If you sponsor a kalash you get a chance to bathe on both days, Krsna and Prabhupada.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 28/8/04; 8:56:30 PM to the General dept.
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Vyasa-asana

As you can see I'm back on deck today. My computer is singing along thanks to Satananda Krsna Prabhu.

We spent the last couple of days returning to Melbourne from Port Augusta. It was 31 in Port Augusta on Wednesday. My cold was completely dried up after only one day in the place. The cough has returned on my return to Melbourne.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 28/8/04; 8:50:18 PM to the General dept.
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Back on Deck

We closed Gopal's today for some badly needed maintenance. Manigriva and Robert Veltmeyer got stuck into the walls and ceiling as you can see from the picture. You can see the drink's fridge sitting in the middle of the room.

Gopal's has needed a coat of paint for a long time. The plan was to have it ready by the time the segment on Postcards went to air last Saturday. We didn't know George Negus was also airing his show on the ABC on Tuesday. We had a huge day on Wednesday; lots of middle aged couples came in saying "We saw you on the tele last night."

# Posted by Aniruddha at 28/8/04; 8:48:08 PM to the General dept.
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Gopal's Painting

Manigriva just sent me a few pictures of work at Crossways. He, Muni-cari and Bhauma Krsna, who came over from Auckland especially to help us, have been spending some late nights making sure we could repair the rotting floor over the weekend and at a reasonable cost. We didn't want to disrupt trade at Crossways for obvious reasons.

It looks a lot better than it did; don't you reckon? If we were to have hired a regular set of contractors to do the work it would have cost us at a minimum $6500 and probably more seeing the extent of the work that was actually done. At this rate we spent about $500 for Bhauma Krsna's fare and covered his personal expenses which aren't a lot plus the cost of materials.

We'll be inviting him back to help with some of our other construction jobs we've got pending around the place. I am very happy with what our crew managed to achieve in what amounts to not a lot of time.

The vinyl layers will come in on Tuesday to lay the vinyl floor covering to finish it off.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 23/8/04; 12:04:10 AM to the General dept.
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Crossways Flooring

I'm mucking around with the page layout tools so if things look like they have disappeared don't worry. You can find old entries by using the calendar links to the right.

# Posted by Aniruddha at 15/9/03; 12:48:25 PM to the General dept.
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