What is this Hare Krishna, a cult?

If by cult you mean a group of lazy, navel-gazing, distrustful, anti-social misanthropes following a made-up "philosophy", no.

The Hare Krishna teachings represent a genuine and respected branch of the ancient Vaishnava monotheistic traditon of India. The aim of this tradition is to help any sincere person to develop pure love of God.

While this may seem to be a strange goal to strive for in the world of gross materialism, we think its reasonable and worthwhile.

The fact that the tradition originates in India might raise an eyebrow or two, but if something is good, why not accept it, wherever it it from? That is part of the value of living in a fresh, new culture like Australia's - that we have the freedom to look right around the world and adopt whatever cultural practices that are positive, useful and uplifting. We have succesfully adopted many of the very best foriegn food items with gusto. Why? Because by doing so we have enriched our lives and our own Australian culture. So why not accept Godly cultural practices on the same basis? Any close examination of the pure bhakti tradition, culture and philosophy will clearly show that it is worthy of respect on many grounds, not least its valuable contribution to the lives of its practitioners and anyone who carefully investigates it.

What public benefit do the Hare Krishnas provide to Australian society?

There are a lot of obvious, as well as some intangible, social benefits that flow from the practices and lifestyle of the Hare Krishnas in Australia. Among them are:

- The promotion of vegetarianism and simple living in general. 

- The encouragement of healthy and clean principles of life, e.g. avoidance of drugs, etc.

- The promotion of religious principles. By investigating the philosophy and by practicing any of the principles of pure bhakti, any sincere person from any (monotheistic) religious tradition can experience benefits in their own religious life. Guaranteed. 

- The promotion of cultural diversity and tolerance by respecting all religious traditions and sincere practitioners through the development of a personal attitude of love, respect, friendship and/or tolerance towards all people, regardless of colour, caste or creed....

Do Hare Krishnas love Australia?

Yes, Hare Krishnas love Australia.
The love of a person for their place of birth is an entirely natural human trait. Simultaneously, as is described in all Godly teachings, this world is not actually our real home. Since we are eternal souls, we all can only find a real home in the eternal atmosphere where the soul is not embarrassed by birth, old age, disease and death. And although Australia is prettttty old, it isnt eternal.
So how do we feel about Australia then? Well, according to the Hare Krishna scriptures, the origin of all energies, including all matter, is the Supreme Lord. So rather than attempting to artificially renounce things (that aren't ours to claim and/or renounce in the first place) of the world, a practitioner of pure bhakti develops the understanding to see the things of the world in the correct perspective, that is, with respect and love for the owner of everything, the Supreme Creator. In the bhakti view this is the right way to love Australia.

What is that I see you doing sometimes, going through town in a little parade?

That little procession is called Harinam Sankirtan, or the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of God. This is a prescribed religious practice for all Hare Krishna people.

On Harinam we sing God's Holy Names in the Sanskrit language. All genuine names of God, in any language, are recommended however, and we encourage anyone and everyone to try this process - it doesn't always have to be performed in public parades though - it can be tested at home or anywhere,  as a kind of private prayer or meditation (japa).

Every religion says that it has the answer......

The speciality of the Hare Krishna teachings, as passed down through the disciplic succession of spiritual masters and disciples, is the emphasis on the prime importance of pure love of God.

 

Our spiritual master , Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, teaches about this only.

Aren't you running away from reality by being a Hare Krishna?

Reality has been sought by saints and philosophers throughout the ages, in all cultures.

 

By following in the footsteps of succesful seekers of the Truth, we find that our own personal horizons tend to expand, and that at the same time other peoples' perspectives become more understandable...

 

We like to live our reality. 

Why are there so many Hare Krishna groups in the Tweed Valley?

Our tradition is at heart a personal one, and its message and mission have been preserved throughout the ages by a process or Guru-parampara, that is, a tradition based on an unbroken chain of spiritual masters and disciples. Because of this, there are various branches - like in any family.

The establishment of ISKCON New Govardhan in 1979 was the beginning of the Hare Krishna migration to the Tweed Valley that has made Murwillumbah into the Hare Krishna capital of the southern hemisphere!!!

There are three main communities in the Tweed Valley:

 

New Govardhan (ISKCON) link
525 Tyalgum Road, Eungella. Phone: 6672 6579.

The founding Hare Krishna community in the area. The devotees at new Govardhan have continued to maintain their high standard of daily Temple worship day in, day out since 1979! Devotees there attend morning ceremonies (mangala-arati) at 4.30am and perform various other temple services throughout the day as per the program of religious duties (sadhana) instituted internationally by the astounding missionary work of ISKCON's founder and teacher-by-example, His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja (also called 'Srila Prabhupada' by his disciples and ISKCON members).

 

Sri Govinda Dham
(Sri Chaitanya Saraswa Math)
Kyogle Road, Uki. Phone: 6679 5541.

The Sri Govinda Dham ashram is a six acre property bordered by Kyogle Road on the East and the Tweed river to the West. The devotees living here help to support the devotional lives of their community members living throughout the Tweed, under the guidance of His Divine Grace Srila B.S. Govinda Maharaja, successor to His Divine Grace Srila B.R. Sridhar Maharaja.

 

Giriraja Govardhana Gaudiya Math & Sri Giriraj Gaudiya Math:
Thats uslink

Why do Hare Krishna people take Indian names?

On initiation, a devotee recieves a spiritual name from his or her spiritual master. The traditional principle is that the new name is a name of Lord Krsna or His devotee, followed by 'das' for a man or 'dasi' for a woman (or 'devi dasi' for a married woman). It signifies that the devotee is no longer interested in trying to be an artificial, wannabe 'lord and master' of this world, butis instead practicing to become a loving servant of the Lord of the Universe.

Whats that little bag I see you carrying sometimes?

That is a "bead bag" and it contains japa (prayer) beads.

What do you eat?

Tthe word vegetarian doesnt fully describe it. Vaishnava devotees of Lord Krsna only eat foods that have been offered with love to the Lord.

patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhakta prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah

If any pure hearted bhakta offers Me a leaf, a flower, fruit 
or water with love and devotion, I will surely accept that gift.

(Srimad Bhagavad-Gita 9.26)

 

Of course, the Supreme Lord has no need of rice or vegetables, but He actually accepts the geniune devotion with which it is offered. Bhakti yoga is the practice of developing that devotion, and offering foodstuffs is an important part of this practice.

This site will soon provide an e-book with the most simple yet unbeleivably healthy and delicious recipes that you have ever seen. 

Who is God?

The One Absolute

by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya told us that we should first acquire self-determination, without which we will mistake the mind for the soul. Mind is quite different from soul. The mind conducts all the activities of the physical plane. It receives impressions from Nature through the medium of the senses and through the functions of our body, that is, through the mind’s interfacing with external objects, which are made of matter.

Although we are habitually occupied with matter, when we begin to study theism, that is, when we enquire about the actual figure of Godhead, we find within the four seed verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (catur-ślokī bhāgavatam) the words that the Absolute Fountainhead spoke to Lord Brahmā, the creator of this material universe:

“If I am to bestow My mercy upon anyone, I must reveal Myself to him fully. Those with wayward aspirations and minds that tend to speculate will be debarred from attaining unobscured perception of My actual size, figure and colour. If I do not confer My mercy upon them, they will simply miss Me all together.”

In light of this, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya has disparaged all mundane thinkers, who are busy with grand philosophies or diligently adhering to their mundane ethics, along with all those who propagate their own humanitarian enterprises.

We find in the writings of our ācārya’s that, in essence, “No one should wrongly consider that when we speak of Śrī Kṛṣṇa we are speaking of an entity who is wholly different from Śrī Rāmacandra. The fact that we talk of Śrī Kṛṣṇa does not mean we are differentiating between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Rāmacandra, for Śrī Rāmacandra and Śrī Kṛṣṇa are not essentially different entities. They are identical. But just as in this world, the perverted reflection of the transcendental plane, we find that a single man considers himself to be the father of one person, the son of another and the physician of someone else, in the transcendental realm, also, we find that the same, one Absolute appears in manifold aspects.”

So let no one imagine that we are talking of wholly different objects when we mention theavatāras. Vāsudeva is the same as Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa; Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa is identical with Sītā-Rāma. Sītā-Rāma is the same as Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. We do not find any differences between them. There should not be any controversy in this matter, and, aside from their respective planes of rasa, there is no scope to draw a distinction between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Rāma.

* * *

We simply want to appreciate the respective positions of the One Absolute and we have no ambition to change our position. Still, we must strive to render all possible confidential services to the Over-soul, and there is no harm in this. Yet in relation to Rāmacandra we find that in one kind of worship all of our activities cannot be one hundred percent engaged for Him. In another, only some portion of our activities are engaged in serving the entity of our adoration, while the other portion is kept aside for our selfish, personal use. These kinds of worship are not perfectly selfless.

We often find in this world that a man believes himself to be the master of a range of subordinate properties. He proclaims, “I have many servants,” “I have a large estate,” “I have great learning,” and so forth. It would not really be compatible with human nature were a man to confine himself to a single aspect of an entity, for then he would have nothing to do with the other aspects of that same entity.

If we were to cast aside all of that One Integer’s awe-inspiring and majestic attributes apart from His absolute blissfulness and His absolute ecstatic beauty, we would be known to have advanced quite far in our theistic aspirations for that Fullest Form. So when we approach Śrī Kṛṣṇa we find that all sorts of aspects are fully in Him and we can offer all sorts of confidential services to Him with our transcendental and eternal body. We can offer ourselves to Him in all ways with the closest intimacy.

We must not think that restricting ourselves to a particular aspect shall result in a quarrel with some one involved in another school of thought or philosophy or that it shall result in some other religious controversy. There shall be little scope for that since our attention should, at all times, be one hundred percent devoted to Him and His Counter Whole. This is the general outline of the teachings of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.

Lord Kṛṣṇa Caitanya is the combined personality of the predominating and predominated moieties of the Absolute. We, the individual souls, are endowed with a mixed aptitude. Our consciousness possesses a two-fold potentiality. It becomes cognizant of material categories, but it is open to the influence of the spiritual as distinguished from the mundane. Lord Caitanya is our only support and the source of our animation. He is the only object of our worship. As a matter of fact, every activity of ours owes its possibility and existence to His initiative and works as a natural result of His own activities.

Lord Caitanya displays the pastime of seeking Himself. All through His manifestation He is found most anxiously devoted to the exclusive quest of the Absolute Godhead, His predominating Moiety, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. We, His eternal protegés, are conditioned to follow His lead in this matter. And if we do follow Him, we shall be doing the right thing. By following Him we will obtain knowledge of the realm of the Absolute. We will no longer have to remain trapped within the narrow scope of the material dimensions.

Yet, we are handicapped by our mixed aptitude. We have the option of becoming involved with the spiritual but we also have the option of meddling with the material. As soon as we indulge this mixed aptitude by mistaking it to be our real function, our progress toward the Absolute is obstructed and we find ourselves subjected, for the most part, to insurmountable disqualifications. These disqualifications have been analyzed and classified under four groups. They are the tendency to commit mistakes (bhrama), inadvertence (pramāda), deception (vipralipsā) and limited, imperfect senses (karaṇāpāṭava). These are very serious defects. They make it impossible for us to obtain even a glimpse of transcendence. Hence there arises the compelling necessity of seeking the help of those who are free from those defects.

The functioning of our present senses does not give us any knowledge of the Whole Truth. On the contrary, it always keeps us away from the Full, Eternal, Blissful Being. We are prevented from full access to uninterrupted existence, uninterrupted knowledge and uninterrupted bliss. Although these constitute the reality to be gained by the exercise of our present facilities, we obtain instead the so-called knowledge of the things of this world. We perceive matter alone and we can imagine a state of material negation, yet neither of these is Reality proper.

We cannot avoid the existence of distinctions, but any thesis we may encounter regarding distinctive entities, we shall entertain under the operation of the four-fold defects mentioned above. It is, however, incumbent on us to try to be perfectly free from those defects. Methods based on sense-experience are useless for this end, for they can never free us from those defects.

Those who rely upon the resources of mind express themselves through language. The words exchanged between such people are more or less defective and mutually contradictory. The experience of a particular moment is different from true experience. We are trying to gain admission into the realm of true experience and we hanker to make progress in such experience. It is our purpose thereby to fall in love with the Real Entity. This is the supreme goal.

Adapted from The Gaudiya Volume 26, Number 3–4
Posted by the Rays of The Harmonist team

Is japa really an effective form of meditation?

 Is japa really an effective form of meditation?: Go to top

 

Hare Krsna Japa meditation is extremely effective. Attemptong to abnegate the senses is totally impractical. Rather japa meditation utilises the senses of touch, speech and hearing together, and by this, the mind also becomes more effectively controlled. 

Like any proper form of meditation, mantra meditation has to be done seriously for success. These golden rules were printed on a pamphlet published by ISKCON 15 or 20 years ago:

 

 "Hare Krishna Hare krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare "

1. "Chant the Panca-tattva Mahamantra* before each round for blessings to chant"

2. "Pronounce each syllable of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra" (try to avoid 'schniggering'),

3. "Chant the full Hare Krishna mahamantra on each bead" (try to avoid the bad habit of skipping over beads),

4. "Simply listen carefully to the sound vibration" (there's no need to imagine anything - the mind can 'take rest'.)

 

Having said that, the best way to assess the effectiveness of japa meditation is to try it for yourself.

 

* "Sri Krsna Caitanya, Prabhu Nityananda, Sri Advaita Gadadhara, Srivas adi Gaura Bhakta Vrnda"

How do I try this out for myself?

Chanting

You can chant Hare Krishna (Names of God) yourself - either singing or in meditation. The Hare Krishna mantra can be sung or chanted without restriction, i.e. there is no need for any kind of ritual cleansing or for a particular setting.

However, chanting Hare Krsna in meditation, using "japa" beads, is recommended because this gives you an easy method of chanting a regular number of mantras daily as a kind of experiment so that you can test the results of chanting more or less. Hare Krsna japa mediation also provides valuable insight into the challenges involved in controlling the mind, which is of prime importance for the transcendentalist. Generally the mind is focused on sense gratification, and to perceive and focus on happiness beyond the senses is a gradual, though rewarding journey.

Association

Another extremely effective way to get the benefits of pure bhakti is to meet with sincere practitioners, who can share experiences as well as the benefits of their pratice. Advanced devotees are generally quite willing to help to inspire others in their personal development of pure love for God.

Reading

By carefully studying the philosophy of Krishna consciousness, you will be able to understand the goal and practices clearly from the beginning. There are many e-books available online for free here, and you can purchase a book from our local bookstore here.

Prayer

:)