“Cultivating Positive Emotions for a Healthy Society” Islam seeks to improve our well-being by teaching us how to develop positive emotions and avoid negative ones. People with positive emotions tend to be happier, healthier and better members of the society. Islamic teachings will contribute tremendously in this regards.”

This was our contribution as delivered by Abhay Charan dasa:

On behalf of the branch of the Hindu community that I represent I wish to thank the Muslim community for taking this initiative and allowing us the opportunity to participate and say a few words from our tradition. Hinduism seeks to uplift humankind from suffering and misery – and transcend those negative emotions arising especially from our lust, anger and greed – which lead to oppression and suffering. According to Hindu scripture – selfless love, eternal compassion and enduring forgiveness characterize a civilized and enlightened society. Hinduism’s scripture – the Bhagavad-Gita (16.1-3) prescribes the emotions and qualities of the divine nature; and I wish to read the following verses to illustrate this: ”The Blessed Lord said: Fearlessness, purification of one’s existence, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity, self-control, performance of sacrifice, study of the Vedas, austerity and simplicity; nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger; renunciation, tranquility, aversion to faultfinding, compassion and freedom from covetousness; gentleness, modesty and steady determination; vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy and the passion for honor–these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men and women endowed with divine nature”. The essence of the Bhagavad-Gita is in harmony with the other scriptures and faiths of this world: love God and love your neighbour as you love yourself. Develop compassion for all living beings; and thus demonstrate your love for all of God’s creation. This means we eradicate our feelings of fear, envy and hate for others. A true saintly person is ever friendly, kind, generous, forgiving and merciful to others. A true saintly person is never one-eyed and sectarian – conversely a saintly person is joyfully convinced that each and every one of God’s sons and daughters are equally valued and equally loved. The emotions of tolerance, humility, tenderness and charity as enunciated in Bhagavad-Gita should be spread throughout the communities making up our world. We members of different faith communities have a great responsibility to follow in the footsteps of our many traditions’ saintly persons. If we can imbibe their saintly qualities and demonstrate to the world such enriching emotions as humility, tolerance, compassion, mercy, kindness, and selfless love; we too can start to experience serenity, peace, joy and spiritual happiness. By projecting these loving emotions, we help to destroy the six enemies of this world: selfish desire, anger, greed, attachment to “I and mine”, pride and jealousy. Exploitation of people, animals and the environment is due to our false belief that we are the proprietors and enjoyers of all that we survey. Such a mentality fails to see that since we did not create this world, we are not the owners of it. If we can utilize this world in such a way that it’s creator is pleased, our world can become a place of peace and happiness. And how can we change a selfish, exploitive and materialistic world society – we have to begin with ourselves. We must strive to become men and women who express emotions of selfless love, benevolence and generosity of spirit. We do so with great confidence knowing that we are all the much loved sons and daughters of our shared creator. We express our love for God and all His creation with enduring generosity, so that our children and all future generations may live happily and peacefully together.

“World Holy Name Week,” a celebration of the spiritual practice of chanting God’s names begins September 2. The event also marks the 50^th Anniversary of ISKCON’s founder-acarya, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada‘s accepting vows of renunciation, or sannyasa, thus launching his mission to spread the chanting of God’s names around the world. Srila Prabhupada, who came to America by cargo ship in 1965 at the age of seventy, is honored as the first to carry the millennia-old tradition of Krishna worship–with its special emphasis on the Hare Krishna mantra, or sacred chant– outside of India. 

Although the Hare Krishna mantra is rooted in the ancient Vaishnava faith, a monotheistic denomination within the broad Hindu tradition, the practice of chanting – individually and congregationally – is found in most faith traditions.

 “The Lord has millions of holy names and you can chant any one of them.” Srila Prabhupada wrote, “Each and every name of the Lord is full of potency.”

 In Hamilton we will mark the occasion by bringing together the largest chanting party ever seen in Hamilton – at midday on Saturday 12 September.    We have been chanting in Garden Place and the CBD for some years now – usually with just eight devotees.  On Saturday 12 September we are hoping to have up to 50 devotees take part, with His Holiness Janananda Goswami Maharaj leading us.  We want to show the spiritual power of this public chanting process.  We warmly invite all spiritually-inclined people to come and join us in Garden Place at midday.  This is a chance to experience the pleasure that comes from joyfully singing this maha mantra.  To all of our regular temple visitors – please make a special effort to join us on Saturday 12 September, thus showing the Hamilton public that we are a significant and vibrant faith community – the more that join us the better. 

 For more information about World Holy Name Week, please visit www.worldholynameweek.org

The chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare goes back thousands of years. The mantra translates as “Oh Supreme Lord, of Divine Energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your service.” The chanting gained prominence in the early part of the 16th century, when a Bengali mystic named Caitanya Mahaprabhu revitalized the devotional tradition by introducing an expansive spiritual movement that swept India. Central to this renaissance was Caitanya’s emphasis on the public chanting of Krishna’s name.

 Following in Caitanya’s footsteps, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada arrived in America in 1965, sat beneath a large elm tree in New York City’s Tompkins Square Park and held the first outdoor chanting session outside of India. In 2001, the city of New York recognized this historic event by officially naming the elm the “Hare Krishna Tree” and erecting a plaque describing its significance.

The mantra was popularized in the west by Krishna followers singing it on public streets.  The mantra was featured in the Broadway musical “Hair,” and endorsed by pop culture figures such as Beatle George Harrison, who included it in his hit song “My Sweet Lord.” Today, the chanting of Hare Krishna has penetrated the mainstream, with well-known recording artists singing the mantra to packed auditoriums.

Appearance Day of
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

Saturday 15 August 2009
6.00pm—9.00pm, followed by full prasadam

Discourse by Sri Radhavallabha Maharaj – in Hindi

Programme kindly sponsored by an anonymous donor

“Just a few months ago in Vrndavana I had quite an amazing experience.
Sitting outside the MVT guest house one sunny morning, our conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud bang. We looked around as to the cause. Some security guards are running in the direction of the overhead electric wires. What’s happening? Let’s go and have a look. Amazing – The same guards who throw stones, threaten and sometimes even hit the monkeys, are fervently trying to revive a baby monkey that has been electrocuted and badly burned. With cloth they are massaging the body of the stricken little creature. Somehow by their efforts the monkey comes to consciousness and crawls out of the cloth. Blood oozing from it’s burnt skin. An eye opening event – to see the pain in its eyes, the feeling of loneliness and helplessness. To feel that here is a soul just as much as I am, who is craving for love, freedom from pain and relationships. Now desperate for help and totally dependent. Surrounded by foreigners in human bodies.

Communication of a different nature. By some causeless good fortune for me, the tiny monkey crawls along and lays itself across my foot, holding on for reasons I do not know. Maybe seeking shelter and affection in times of intense distress. I crouch down and look at the little fellow. An intense feeling of a soul looking through the eyes of a monkey – please help me – please don’t reject me. I feel so much the suffering he is going through.

It’s a miracle, or rather the kindness of the security guards that he is still alive. How much this little fellow in the body of ignorance is teaching me about others and about life. Thank you little monkey. How much the guards have taught about life and how precious it is. When it comes down to it, if we don’t try to help each other who will. We will all be electrocuted one way or other in time. Race, species, age, gender, class, can all be bridged when we realize the emergency. I wish I could have done something more to alleviate it’s suffering but all I could do was to allow it to rest there for as long as providence ordained. and gently chant Hare Krishna at the same time. He is a resident of the Dhama and shocking as it may be, very fortunate to be in this position. Crowds gather round.

After a few minutes he slowly crawls away as if guided by the Supersoul into a nearby bush. Within seconds hordes of irate looking monkeys appear on the walls of the nearby buildings. The guards quickly usher us all away from the place and prevent any human entry. The monkeys mean business and will go to any extreme to achieve it.
Cautiously they approach, ready for war if necessary to reclaim their child. Guarded by the males, the mother swoops down and picks up the baby in her arms – he cannot hang on. She literally flies up the walls to the high roof and shelter from the danger of humans. It does not seem they appreciate the kindness of the guards. (of course we have created the inhuman cause of the monkeys suffering by putting such dangerous things as electric wires – particularly the loose ones in Vrndavana – hanging everywhere.
We have taken away their trees and claimed proprietorship over orchards. We even attack them when they try to get something to eat.) I wonder what will happen now – is there any chance of its survival? Will it be a cripple for its whole life, should it survive? We can but leave that in the hands of Krsna. This whole incident revealed so clearly the statements that the soul is equal in all bodies. For a few moments there it was, no longer a monkey and a so called human, but two souls feeling each others presence in a common union. The attachment of the family to their little one, even though an animal was so profound – they were ready to kill for him. The intense fear that exists in conditioned souls. The immense suffering, even without our knowledge, that is inflicted in this world. The natural compassion that is there in all souls which may spontaneously manifest when others are in distress. The lord is teaching us in so many ways. He is softening our hard hearts.
Two days later as I was walking along the path I see him again in the shelter of his mother. Still badly injured but none the less alive. The quest for staying alive is as strong in other species as it is in us. Thank you little monkey friend.“