A Packed Weekend in London

Three congregational programmes happening today. First was a devotee weekend retreat at a temple over in east London. The theme was practical preaching for congregational members and Jayapataka Swami was the main speaker. A mini-Rathayatra was part of the weekend. We’ve been having some brilliant sunshine over the past few days - quite remarkable for this country (that’s why I’m remarking on it) - and its giving a new mood to our events.

Second was a feature talk given by Gaura Gopala das from the Chowpatty temple in Mumbai. A young but excellent public speaker he has been out every evening in different homes or in the temple enlivening the community 70,80, or 100 at a time. He is here with fellow brahmacari Siksastakam das who will also be speaking to our small groups in Milton Keynes and in Cambridge tomorrow evening.

Third was a ‘Kirtan on the Thames’ boat programme with Indradyumna Swami. 230 devotees aboard a riverboat plying down the Thames River from the Houses of Parliament right down to the Thames Barrier and back again, with kirtan and talks. I was on that one, and finished up the day by leading half an hour of kirtan.

Fourth and Fifth of course were the regular Sunday programmes at both London temples. I would say that was quite a busy Sunday with lots of events to choose from for our congregation.

Below is a poster for the monthly ‘Lads Event’ where the brahmacaris invite students to hear something helpful, to chant in kirtan, and to eat all they can. Happened last night.

Preaching in Gaudiya Vaishnavism

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada

What is the history of preaching in Gaudiya Vaishnavism? That was a question put to me recently. So I did another of my lists. I invite readers to write to me with their suggestions of what I’ve missed out

Preaching is the compassionate activity of reaching out to others with wisdom and guidance, in order to help them advance further along the path of spiritual life. The first objective is to help someone come to the point of choosing to walk the path of spiritual life; the second is to help them stay on the path they’ve chosen.

Vaishnavas throughout history have almost always been preachers. They have visited villages and towns, urging all they meet to hear about God and to chant His many names. They have empowered their followers to create fellowships and ashrams, places where people could come to listen and be inspired. In more modern times they have used every modern invention to broadcast their message of love to as many as possible.

Here is a short synopsis of the history of those innovations, the means by which the Vaishnavas delivered their message and preserved the spiritual strength of their followers.

First the traditional ways spiritual life begins…

After the visit of a saint to one’s home or village

During a public address or talk on some holy topics

While at a festival to celebrate some holy day

After a visit to a holy place and experiencing the atmosphere of devotion there

After experiencing a mystical dream or personal revelation

Inspiration upon reading a holy text

And how spiritual life is traditionally maintained…

Small temple in the village

Periodic visit from a teacher or a group of wandering sadhus

Supportive community of spiritually progressive people

Songs

Literature

Theatre performances

Religious observances in the home

Collective scripture recital or story telling

Temple building

Our greatest preachers…

Lord Nityananda Prabhu

Toured northern India under the orders of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Took many Vaishnavas with him, under the leadership of twelve who settled in different regions and established ashrams there, providing local inspiration, guidance and support

Emissaries sent further off to different places

The Six Goswamis of Vrindavan

(16^th century)

The immediate followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

They wrote books of his teachings under his order in Sanskrit, the language of the scholars of the day

Those books went on to become the standard texts of the new movement

They held vigorous debates with the famous philosophers of the day

They recovered the lost holy places of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan

They built temples for people to visit

They organised a society with various departments and areas of responsibility – known as the Vishva Vaishnava Raja Sabha

They left behind them a huge community of Gaudiya Vaishnavas

Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur

(19^th century)

Travelled as a magistrate for the British Raja in eastern India

On his travels, met up with associates and held large sankirtan celebrations in the villages

Created 500 ‘nama-hatta’ groups in those villages, many of which still meet today.

Wrote new songs to old tunes, and printed and distributed those songs

Wrote many books of philosophy carefully outlining what was - and wasn’t – pure devotional service to Krishna

Used the Bengali language to attract local people to his message

Wrote in English to share the teachings with the British and the Bengali intelligentsia.

Personally defeated the pseudo-Vaishnavas of his day, and others who threatened the devotee community

Created a regular magazine – The Sajana Tosani

Revived the publishing of the Chaitanya Charitamrita – the life of the Lord.

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada

(20^th century)

Followed Bhaktivinode Thakur’s example in his vigorous teaching and writing

Created and guided an organisation expressly for the purpose of preaching

Set up a pyramid-shaped care system for all his 10,000 disciples

Preached in Burma, the furthest the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had been

Sent preachers to Germany and London

Started 64Ashrams

Wrote books in English, Bengali and had them translated into various Indian languages and scripts

Started both a daily newspaper and a monthly magazine

Used a travelling show of diorama ‘waxworks’ to preach at community shows

Was the first to take kirtan onto the radio

Employed a steamship for preaching

Recreated an order of saffron-clad sannyasa monks for disciplined preaching to the public

Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

(20^th century)

Although Srila Prabhupada’s techniques of preaching are well documented and will be known to readers, it might be worth summarising them here. He brought with him not only the practises of the Gaudiya Math, but also his own ideas. He also accepted some innovations from his disciples and welcomed some aspects of modern technology.

His early preaching…

Correspondence

Writing and personal distribution of Back to Godhead newspaper – a newspaper offering spiritual commentary on the news of the day

Kirtans and public speaking in homes and halls

‘League of Devotees’ organisation and a membership scheme

Personal writing for greater authority in preaching

His ISKCON preaching – the early years…

Public classes three times weekly in publicly accessible premises

Daily sacred meals for all

Sales of Srimad Bhagavatam to bookshops

Personal conversations

Kirtan and public address in local parks

Compilation of new version of Back to Godhead magazine sold by first students and disciples

Sending out disciples to new locations

Establishment of Deity worship

Rathayatra and large hall events

Regular chanting parties in public places

Later years…

Illustrated literature profusely distributed in hundreds of millions

Gaudiya Vaishnavism established worldwide

Chanting parties in major cities

Sunday Feasts and Festivals

Rapid proliferation of new centres in all parts of the world

More colourful festivals developed, with profuse distribution of sacred food

Modern musical recordings

Stage plays

Films and slide shows

Systematic training of new devotees

Annual India pilgrimage

World headquarters established in the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

How he maintained his followers’ spiritual lives…

Devotees in small communities, often in same building

‘Temple president’ given responsibility for ensuring spiritual standards

Stretched his disciples to their maximum potential, thus facilitating their spiritual experiences

Creation of GBC to supervise spiritual standards and temple administration standards

Made himself accessible by correspondence for philosophical questions and service instruction.

Handbook on Deity standards, Educational System, and Marriage ceremonies compiled

Schools for children developed

Personally attended GBC meetings and occasionally corrected ‘mission drift’

Conflicts repeatedly resolved

Fashioned policies that would remain after his physical disappearance.

Established himself as the acarya – the head of the institution

Ensured that Sannyasis remained travelling 

From this list we can see that the ISKCON of the 21^st century has more than enough information to conduct its preaching activities. Most things we do will never change; how we do them might. Information technology has given us access to digitisation and rapid transit of the message of Krishna, to film, satellite television, and to the Internet. But it also means that atheism uses the same techniques. Ultimately, it will not be our means of transmitting information that will help the mission in the 21^st century, but the oldest technique of all: making friends.

The current demographics of ISKCON tell the story that we now have many more people and many more centres in countries where ISKCON’s presence would have been unimaginable before. But out of the quarter million more people that ISKCON has since the day that Srila Prabhupada stood under a tree in a New York park, hardly 5% of them live in the communal way that he envisaged as being most helpful for spiritual life.

What this means for ISKCON today is that new forms of community are required. Devotees do not conveniently live in one suburb of one city. Half of them don’t live in cities at all. So perhaps maintenance of spiritual community for ISKCON in the 21^st century means exactly what it meant for Bhaktivinode Thakur: travelling, establishing in each village a network of Vaishnavas who agreed to have weekly or fortnightly kirtan and readings, offering support and guidance and safeguarding the correct understanding of Krishna consciousness by vigorous discussion of what is, and what is not, progressive spiritual life.

More ‘New Beginnings’ yesterday…

King Shibi protects a pigeon from a hawk but ends up sacrificing his own flesh to do it.

I was writing yesterday on Akshaya Tritiya, the ‘Day for New Beginnings’. Another important project begun on this day was the writing of the Mahabharata by Srila Vyasadeva.

Yesterday evening I attended and spoke at a function to mark the completion of a year-long restoration project. Harivamsa das and wife Krishnapurna dasi, two pillars of our community, have been extending and fitting out a house not far from the Manor. In keeping with their long tradition of hospitality, their new home was packed with Vaishnavas. A fire yajna was conducted by Arjuna, the house purified with kirtan and Ganges water, and a talk given by Gaura-gopala das. He chose to speak on the meaning of bhavan, a name that many Hindus give their home, as in Shanti-Bhavan and so on. He commented that the ‘bha’ stands for bhagavan, or God, and if God is not present in the home then all we are left with is ‘van’ or ‘forest’ where the animals live. So for true shanti or peace, there must always be God in the home.

I spoke briefly on the sacrifice required by married people, and how incumbent upon them is the requirement to feed those who are hungry. I gave King Shibi as an example, who sacrificed his own flesh in order to keep his promise to a bird.

One more excellent project completed yesterday was the new houses for the Bhaktivedanta College in Radhadesh, Belgium. The roof went on, signifying the new beginning for teachers and staff accommodation. So well done to them. Here’s a picture of what the new place looked like yesterday, and, just over the road and down the village a little way the Chateau with its library, temple, and conservatory cafe visible in the photo.

New college building from the street (above) and the castle (below)

Akshaya Tritiya today

After much time spent in penance, King Bhagairathi is overjoyed at the descent of the holy waters of the Ganga from the celestial regions. She would only descend if a suitable place was selected for her. Lord Shiva’s hair coil was the only place strong enough. Today was the day it happened.

Akshaya Tritiya today, the ‘Day for New Beginnings’. Today, it is said, any religious performance will not be compromised by any of the normal astrological considerations that attend such events on other days. According to the lunar calendar there are ‘good times’ and ‘good days’ for doing important things like moving house, starting a business, signing on any kind of dotted line, buying jewellery or getting married.

The tithi is the lunar day, and the muhurta is named according to the portion of the day. One brahmana I consulted told me that the Tritiya actually started yesterday and was over by midday today. Its important to get these things right, specially with weddings. Everyone wants a good start to their marriage and I am often asked to begin within a five minute period just to start at the right time. Today there was none of that, but just the same, the wedding began on time.

Special day today was the turn of Kishor-murti Das and Bhaktin Dhunya Kani to make their vows before assembled family members and well- wishing Vaishnavas. Kishor is from the north of England and Dhunya is from Zagreb in Croatia. Her family came all the way over to celebrate and enthusiastically took part in the ceremonies.

Brilliant sunshine today of course, which always helps. We started with a harinama parade of the groom and his friends and family around the temple, to be welcomed by the main entrance by the brides family. The fathers greet each other and exchange hugs and flower garlands, which always seems to melt everyone and produce a few tears - even before entering the building!

Next the brides father and mother - today Mr. Yadro Kani and his wife Mia - give the groom some ceremonial items of welcome. Today, as a bit of variety, I had arranged for some barley to be presented as today is also the day when, according to tradition, barley was created. Next a pot is broken by the groom’s foot to symbolise the removal of any obstacles from the past, and the beginning of a fresh period in his life.

Once inside, the groom is given Ganges water to sip. Again, this is significant today, as this is the day after massive penance when King Bhagirathi finally managed to bring the Holy Ganges river down to Earth by having the fall of her waters caught in the hair of Lord Shiva.

And so the wedding continued. You can read what else happens at Vedic weddings in, rather appropriately, my ‘Weddings’ pages.

The snowy peaks of the Himalayas from Badarikashram, one of the four holy places many followers of the Vedas wish to visit. Rameshvaram, Jagannath Puri and Dwaraka are the others.

At one stage in the proceedings I asked the father to smear scented sandalwood paste on the head of Lord Narasimha, the groom’s deity. Anyone who gives such chandan to a deity on this day is also blessed, as today is also the beginning of India’s official ‘hot season’ (as if India needed one!) and the paste has a cooling effect and is considered a suitable offering to God at this time. Today the gates of Badarikashram, an ancient temple high up in the glacial Himalayas, are thrown open to thousands of patient pilgrims. They will close again in August when the snows and the extreme cold come back again.

So if you plan to make a new beginning in your life - today still has a few hours left. But there’s always tomorrow!

How I was saved from a pagan cult

Its true. And now I feel it’s time to tell my secret. I was a child member of a strange cult down in Cornwall. My parents were members, my father charged with the responsibility of stewarding the musical procession of a pagan god through the streets. They would dress in white, decorate themselves with flowers, and sing and dance through the streets every May Day morning.

How it happened I don’t really know. My mother was a good Christian, my father a policeman and a pillar of the community. But you know how these cults operate, and I guess we all got sucked in. One minute there we were, normal people, the next minute behaving erratically, singing and dancing to the hypnotic beat of the heathen drums.

I was only two. Well, two, three and four, then we moved away. But for those three years, every May 1st I’d be dressed in white clothes with a little neckerchief, have flowers pinned to my chest and brought down into the main square of the fishing village where the cult had their headquarters, a little place called Padstow.

I never knew whether my parents were offering me up to the god, but I would always be pushed forward to the front, right up close.

The strange image resembled a lion with a ferocious mouth full of sharp white teeth, sharp, pricked up ears, wearing a large headress, and riding on a black horse. It came running out of a place called ‘The Golden Lion’. All the cult members - hundreds of them - would lift up their arms in welcome and begin singing their strange songs. And the drums…oh those drums…I can still hear them now.

All the elders would smile and pat me on the head, happy to see that I’d joined the cult at such a young age. Whether it was some form of hypnosis or brainwashing I can’t really say. I was far too young. All I know is that every May Day morning, even today, I wake up with ‘that song’ in my head.

Anyway, I now feel its my duty to warn all my friends about this cult and the long-lasting effect it may have on you and your children. The god they worship is called Obby Oss. I have attached a video so that you can recognise them. Please watch it - but don’t get taken in by them.

British satire magazine examines RSPCA

I couldn’t resist sharing this new piece from the satirical magazine Private Eye. The publication is well known for lampooning powerful figures and organisations within the British establishment. Here, they take to task - and not for the first time - the animal welfare charity the RSPCA. They mention the double standards that came into evidence after the killing of Gangotri, on the Hare Krishna farm in Hertfordshire, England.

Vaishnava History 101

I wrote this article last year for the online New Statesman magazine. My thanks to the editor, Ben Davies, for keeping it up all this time. I post it again here as it may give my new readers a quick introduction to Vaishnava history:

India has the longest continuous religious tradition of any country in the world. Long before Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam were conceived, the path of Sanatana-dharma was followed by millions.

The sacred writings of the Vedas were in existence long before the Egyptians built their pyramids, and the way of life we now call Hinduism has remained intact through thousands of years right up to the present day.

That’s an incredibly resilient spiritual tradition. Kingdoms have come and gone, and mighty civilisations and empires have simply melted away under the inexorable force of time; but the worship of Vishnu and Lakshmi continues.

Where does the history of the Hare Krishna movement begin? Perhaps, since it is the latest expression of the oldest of all, we could start at the very beginning, even before the dawn of history. But that’s too far back for a simple blog like this; it would take many pages. Let’s just go back to a time that gave the modern movement some of its current shape.

From approximately 500-900 AD there lived a succession of Vaishnava saints in south India. Known as the Alvars they toured the Tamil country, writing hymns and poems at the many beautiful Vishnu temples, established hundreds of years before. Their mood of utter devotion to Vishnu, the supreme God, was preserved and found philosophical expression in the writings of Ramanuja-acharya (1017-1137) who wrote extensive commentaries on the main theological works, helped to codify temple rituals and systems of personal discipline, and inspired and shaped a major religious movement.

Madhva-acharya (1238-1317) propounded the worship of Vishnu in the region of India now known as Karnataka. His robust declaration of the soul’s eternal servitude to God was decried by his opponents, yet his following thrived, and his disciples travelled far and wide re-establishing the worship of Vishnu where Buddhism and other teachings had once held sway.

Both Vedanta Deshika (1269-1370) and Manavala Mamunigal (1370-1443) continued the tradition of writing poetry and philosophy in the local languages, in addition to Sanskrit, thus expanding the possibilities for many more to follow a life of intellect-based devotion. They defended in vigorous debate the principles of Vaishnavism against the incursions of Islam, now invading from the north.

Finally, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486-1534) appeared in the east of India and articulated a philosophy of devotion which reconciled and harmonised many subtle points expressed by those who came before him. He led a popular movement of millions, and converted many leading thinkers and political leaders to the worship of Krishna. His stress was on the congregational chanting of the names of God as the pre-eminent method of self-realisation for the age.

His immediate followers, the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan, the holy place where Lord Krishna was born, wrote many books on the science of devotion, re-discovered the lost holy places where Krishna spent his youth, and they established many beautiful temples where millions of pilgrims could come and experience the sacred darshan of Krishna.

From them, a chain of gurus and their disciples preserved the teachings and practices until modern times. The founder of the Hare Krishna movement, Srila A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), was requested by his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura, in 1922, to take the teachings of Krishna to English-speaking people throughout the world. He founded an English language publication in 1944 and finally journeyed west in 1965. He incorporated his new organisation as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON, in 1966.

Spending some years developing his new movement amongst the youth of America, he eventually came to England in 1969. By 1970 the Hare Krishna chant was being broadcast as a pop song on the radio and the early followers, supported by their new celebrity status, attracted many interested people to the ancient teachings of India. The purchase of a large country manor house by George Harrison of the Beatles in 1973 helped to establish a headquarters for the movement in Britain.

Before he died in 1977, Srila Prabhupada had created an organisation with small yet dynamic branches in every country. He appointed an international governing body, the “Governing Body Commission” (GBC) to oversee the affairs of the Society. The members of this body are predominantly sanyasis, or monks, who travel to ensure that spiritual standards are being met and that the various centres under their jurisdiction are adhering to both the local government laws and the procedures and systems of the ISKCON movement. National affairs in each country are co-ordinated by a Council.

Although the centres, temples, restaurants and farms are the institutional core of the movement, their residential membership represents only five percent of the movement’s total membership. Devotees of Krishna are now of all ages and careers. Many attend sanghas in the town where they live – there are some 40 in the UK – and help to spread the message locally. A little known fact is that outside India, where the ISKCON movement has helped to reform and revitalise Hinduism through some 50 temples, Russia has the greatest number of practising devotees of Krishna, with some 10,000 in the Moscow area alone.

The Hare Krishna movement has a somewhat flattened hierarchy where trust and friendship are the most important factors in governance. However, human nature being what it is, there are sometimes disputes on philosophical or administrative points. Whilst ISKCON has a quite developed internal system of conflict resolution, with regional ombudsmen and procedures of appeal, there are nonetheless some half-dozen splinter groups that have sprung up from this particular limb of the Vedic Tree.

Faith cultures living together: challenging, but not impossible

A friend in India wrote to say that the BBC’s ‘History of India’ is now playing on the Discovery Channel which is broadcast all over the world, including India. I sent him my piece on the first programme of the series, Hinduism Damned with Faint Praise, and he then sent it to all his friends. Somehow it reached the Hindu press and other media and I’ve started getting responses to it.

As I said then, I don’t like to unnecessarily criticise anyone’s work of art, and I’m all for film makers expressing themselves, but sometimes you have to speak up in support of a culture which, over many centuries, has been repeatedly mauled by treasure-seeking adventurers, envious politicians, and pseudo-intellectuals. The Vedic culture has suffered from poor representation for centuries; perhaps this is the generation when we can do something about that.

I made mention in my last post, about artists, that India has never had an iconoclastic historical period - a stretch of history when the representation of God in material elements was forbidden. Thats not strictly true of course. For 800 years the Moguls were there in India as the government and, as Islam forbids artistic representation of any human or divine form, the temples of India came in for some horrific treatment.

If that wasn’t enough, Adi Shankaracarya (788-820 AD), though externally behaving as a classical follower of the Vedas, sought by his teaching to relegate the form of Vishnu to that of a mundane manifestation, albeit in sattva-guna.

Then the bhadraloka, the intelligentsia of Bengal in the mid-1800s, fell in with the new teachings of preachers like Dayananda Saraswati and the promulgators of the new Arya Samaj, who, embarrassed at ‘idol-worship’ of traditional Hinduism, tried to come up with a neo-Hindu religion minus the veneration of the forms of God. By this they sought to appease their Christian overlords who were generally appalled by such things, and establish Hinduism as something respectable and dignified.

The results are still felt today, where the pejorative English Christian expression for murti-seva or deity puja, still endures. In the Indian press (now dominated by Muslim media barons) and in common parlance, the term for the most sacred act of the Hindu religion remains ‘idol worship.’

Hindus are still explaining their millenia-old traditions using the language and mindset of the conquerors who dominated them for so long. They never seem to appreciate that the word ‘idol’ is not the English translation of the word ‘murti’ (which is a neutral term) but a term meaning ‘veneration of a non-monotheistic man-made object’ itself a definition overloaded with Judaeo-Christian disdain.

Not that I have anything against anyone who feels that it is theologically inadmissible for God to be portrayed; my objection is just that you cannot adequately express the notion of Deity worship using parts of the English language which are redolent with centuries of revulsion at such ideas. The English language does not contain enough words to express such things properly, or the philosophical ideas underpinning them.

Its not that Vaishnavas are intolerant of the religious conceptions of others, though. There has never been a time in history when Vaishnavas sought to impose worship of Krishna by force. It doesn’t work like that. The variety of religious conceptions are always given respect as a necessary stage in the evolution of the soul. Vaishnavas invite others to enjoy the beauty of Krishna, according to the person and the circumstances, but will be cautious not to speak or act in such a way as to cause offence.

What a fine line we all walk when attempting to broadcast the specific glories of Krishna, yet simultaneously trying to establish cordial relations with members of different faith communities. His Holiness the Pope was attempting to do that this week in America, as were the Vaishnavas who came to meet him one evening. The result was the presentation of a flaming aum sculpture in brass by Dr. Ravi Gupta on behalf of the Hindu community.

At only 24, Dr. Gupta achieved his PhD rather early in life, after a brilliant academic career. Educated at home by mum and dad then over here in England at Oxford University, Radha Ramana Das, as we all know him, is an extremely likable and very knowledgeable devotee. His doctorate was based on his own Translation from the Sanskrit of Jiva Goswami’s Sat Sandarbha, the mediaeval treatise on Krishna bhakti.

He was very happy to meet the Pope and spoke with him for a few seconds. Here’s what he had to say about the meeting:

“It was a great honor to meet His Holiness Pope Benedict on behalf of the
Hindu community in America,” said Dr. Gupta. “I was impressed by the
intimacy of the gathering, and the Pope’s genuine interest in meeting with
us. It was my feeling that the Pope - as both a holy man and a scholar -
wished he had more time to spend with his guests, and to be able to know us
all better,” Gupta said.

“I greeted the Pope with our traditional Hare Krishna greeting,” reported
Gupta. Then I said, ‘Your Holiness, you are well aware of the richness
within Hinduism, including a strong tradition of monotheism and religious
tolerance. I hope these can be a foundation for a strong and continued
dialogue with the Church.”

The Pope responded, “Yes, our dialogue should continue to grow,” accepted
the aum symbol, and held Dr. Gupta’s hand before the next representative came
forward.

“It was a historical occasion,” said Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON GBC Member. “The
tensions on the world stage call for religious leaders to understand each
other better and to teach their respective congregations to not only
respect, but to learn from one another. The Pope, while careful to not
minimize his own tradition’s values and faith commitments, opened the door
wider for increased cooperation with the Church.”

ISKCON Artists - we need you!

This is not one of my long posts. In fact, at the advice of experts on blogging, my posts are becoming shorter but more regular.

Today, I just wanted to encourage anyone who is a devotee of Krishna, and who is also an artist, to please continue using your art to share Krishna to others. I’ll say something about musicians on another day, but today its for all the artists, OK?

The reason that artists are important is because the founder of the Hare Krishna movement thought they were important too. He wanted his followers who could draw and paint to use their skills to illustrate his books, thereby creating ‘windows’ to the spiritual world. At one time we heard that he wanted a minimum of 32 paintings in each of his books so that readers would be immediately attracted.

And he wanted paintings in his temples - and on the walls of his temples - so that visitors could appreciate the beauty of Krishna, and the teachings of Krishna.

There is an incredibly long history of paintings and sculpture being employed to uplift and enlighten the spiritual pilgrim. Go into any Orthodox Christian church today and you will find brightly coloured and well-executed murals of religious stories and themes. The art extends all the way up to the ikon or the very object of worship within the church.

India is well known for its lavish temple paintings and sculptures - and the vivid colours. Thousands of years of history can still be seen in the religious art of India.

Unfortunately, the churches in my own country, whose interiors were once covered in rich Biblical paintings, suffered a lot during the Reformation of the late 1530s, when much beauty was ripped out of the churches, regarded as too sensual to help people with their world denial. Russia and the non-Roman world also suffered during the period of the iconclasts, when it was expressly forbidden to depict the form of God. It was considered that to depict Him in form was to reduce His position to a material substance such as paint, stone or wood, and could thereby border on blasphemy.

India never went through such a period, and the work of the artist - of whatever degree of sophistication - was always encouraged as an act of devotion in itself. When painting Krishna, for instance, no painting is considered ‘not good enough’ because it is the devotion with which it is executed that is accepted by the Lord. To this day there are many ‘tribal’ or ‘primitive’ images of Krishna, in both painting and sculpture, that are worshipped by hundreds of people.

Srila Prabhupada once chanted his rounds while gazing at a picture drawn for him by a three year old child. He could see Krishna there.

Now, when all of his books are illustrated; when many of the Hare Krishna movement’s original artists are no longer painting scriptural themes for that purpose as they did before; now, we need artists as much - if not more - than we ever did before. All types of artists are valued and needed. Through your work, and your devotion, you can introduce an entire new generation of devotees to Krishna.

So whoever, you are, how ever you think you can paint, ISKCON still has a great need for your talent. Your devotion will increase as you paint - in whatever style - and those who view your work will understand something of Krishna’s beauty and message through your artistic expression.

So here’s a few samples of British Vaishnava art that have reached my ivory tower over the past few months:

Jereme Crow painted this Sri Chaitanya Kirtan scene and you can see more of his work here.

Kristen Healy currently has an exhibition based on Harinama Sankirtan titled Chanting Dancing Soldiers showing at the Old Town Gallery in Margate, Kent.

Steve Smith executed an attractive mixed media portrait of Sri Sri Radha Krishna for his local devotee group altar. Of course, there are many more devotee artists and I’ll willingly promote them too.

Unfortunately, and perhaps rather ironically, my computer is having a hard time uploading images. Which kind of proves a point about the importance of art. Now, thats an artistic statement…

“How is the water in there, young goldfish?”

Old Chinese story: Once a philosopher asked a young goldfish: “How is the water in there, young goldfish?”

“Water?” replied the young goldfish, “What water?”

Moral: When you are completely surrounded by something, so much so that your very existence depends upon it, it is a curious fact that you may not even see it.

I was talking to two university students yesterday. They are students of religious education and had chosen Bhaktivedanta Manor for a three-day study of a religious community. The day before they’d witnessed me conduct a wedding and wanted to ask me some questions on Vaishnava ritual.

After half and hour of discussion one of them asked a common question: ” Um, I was just wondering -er -do your children get to choose what religion they belong to, or do they have to believe what you believe?”

Cue images of poor, unhappy child being brought up in community of glazed-eyed religious cult members, roll video forwards to reveal an adult with acute loss of rational thought processes, intellectual functioning hampered by superstition, and dysfunctional citizen unable to fully integrate with modern society.

I took a deep breath. “How were you raised as a child?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well what belief system did your parents follow?”

“None, They weren’t religious so we didn’t follow anything. I was left to be free to make my own choices as an adult.”

I couldn’t resist a smile at this, the common assumption that absence of a defined and articulated religious system means that one is free to make choices in some sort of philosophical  and ethical vacuum.

“Is democracy a belief system? Leftist politics? Western consumerism? Judaeo-Christian ethics and social mores? Post enlightenment scientific analysis of reality?”

She thought carefully and nodded, as her friend was vigorously nodding already.

All of these are so much around us we don’t even question them as specific belief systems. Yet they affect the way we think, speak, act and dress. They inform the choices we make, who we choose as a leader, and how we analyse reality itself. Yet because we’ve grown up with them since childhood we can’t even ’see’ them.

Just like my young goldfish…