CW News Video–Hare Krishna temple damaged by fire.

Fire In Kitchen Ruled An Accident, No One Injured

Daniel Novick CW 33 News DALLAS—

The members of the Hare Krishna Temple in Dallas tried Saturday to move past a fire that started in their kitchen and caused damage to some of their building Friday night.
A large amount of damage was done to the kitchen and great hall where members hold feasts on a regular basis.
Children took to upbeat drumming Saturday while standing just feet from their charred and heavily damaged Hare Krishna temple.  It was the children who set the tone for everyone at the temple just one day after fire ripped through their building.
On Friday night, 500 people had gathered in a nearby park for the marriage of the son of temple president Nityananda Dasa.
“During the marriage ceremony, we saw smoke going out of the building.  So we all ran over here and we realized it was the kitchen here,” said Dasa.
Everyone was worried about the same thing.
“I was really concerned that there might have been somebody in there.  My only concern was, because we have children and all of our children are very free willing,” Dasa told CW 33 News.
The fire was put under control quickly, and most importantly, no one was injured or killed.
“They went inside and said there was nobody in there, so we felt great relief,” said Dasa.
On Saturday, temple members gathered for chanting.  The main room where they prayed was unaffected by the fire, and their spirits were not doused by the damage.
“Yes, of course we lost our kitchen and that is causing some disruption, but you know, life has disruptions in it, it happens to us all the time.  People go through much worse than this,” said Dasa.
The minister at the Hare Krishna temple, Nityananda Granger, said the fire was a reminder to not invest happiness in temporary and material things.
“Buildings may come and go, but you’re relationship with God, that is what is most important,” said Granger.
The popular vegetarian restaurant the temple owns, Kalachandji's Restaurant, was not damaged by the fire.  However, due to gas lines being cutoff, the restaurant will not reopen until Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

BenLoka's stay at the Bhaktivedanta Manor Temple

Famous Youtube Comedian, BenLoka recounts his 3 month stay, in the Bhakta Program, at the Hare Krishna temple in England, the Bhaktivedanta Manor.
He has also posted a full length lecture of His Holiness Radhanatha Swami, that was filmed at the Manor, which can be found on his other youtube page.
Hare Krishna
Your humble servant,
Nityananda Chandra Das
ps. Don't forget to subscribe to his channel

Commercial about Chanting Hare Krishna

tv time

I wish I had some devotional dvds for my kids to watch. I hate to admit that I do use the tv as a babysitter at time, but with three kids under 5, if I want to get anything done they have to be occupied by something. Don't even suggest paper and crayons, lol, they have already redecorated my living room walls with their um..art.
We watch PBS Sprout, they have safe shows for the most part, Sesame Street, Bob the Builder and a show I even like called Zooboomafoo, all about animals. My kids like Caillou and that is the show I am going to tell you about.
Caillou is about a 4yr old boy, he lives with his mom and dad and his baby sister Rosie, his grandparents are active in his life, he has multicultural friends, is helpful to elderly neighbors and although I find him irritating, my kids love him.
One day we were watching and Caillou's grandfather decided to take him fishing. My first instinct was to shut the tv off or change the channel, but my husband said, "Let's see where they are going with this" I agreed, but kept the remote in my hand. Caillou and his grampa went out on a small boat and his grandfather started reeling in the fish. Caillou was disappointed that he hadn't caught anything, but then lo and behold he hooked a small one. My kids were horrified. My 3yr old son Rama asked, "Why are they hurting the fish?" Even at his age he understood that a hook in the face cant be comfortable. My husband said, "Some people think that hurting fish is ok. We dont hurt fish" After they caught enough fish, they went home with their catch..and you know what happened next..Gramma starting cooking the poor fish. When Caillou sat down and started eating the fish, little Rama said , "Daddy!! They are EATING THE FISHIES BODY, ...yuck, that's gross!!!" My husband said, "Yes, Rama, some people think it's ok to eat other creature's bodies.They call it meat. We do not eat bodies. That is very gross" Harsh lesson for a three year old? I am not sure...he needs to know we dont eat meat, he needs to know WHY we dont eat meat. I am all for protecting my kids from the ugliness of life, but he has to learn sometime.
This made some kind of impression on Rama. He wasn't scared like I thought he would be. He actually turned into quite a little vegetarian activist!. Soon after we went to Walmart and he engaged a lady in line behind us in conversation. he told her we were going home to "make dinners" She asked him what we were having. He said, " potatoes and carrots" (his faves) She said,"What else? Are you going to have some chicken with that?" He said, "No, I don't eat bodies" The look on her face was priceless. I explained we were vegetarian and she asked the classic"Is that healthy for kids?" I asked her, "Does he look like he is malnourished?" She said, "NO" and I said, "OK, would you believe me if I told you he was premature and weighed 4 pounds at birth?" She was amazed, "I guess it is a healthy diet. That kind of gave me a new perspective hearing a little kid call meat a body, that is really gross, isn't it?" She put her rotisserie chicken back on the hot table next to us, "I think I will just go home and have a salad" Well done, Rama!
One show I want everyone with kids to check out is WonderPets. It's about 3 little animals that save other animals from all kinds of perils. They had a really awesome show where they went to India to save a Bengal Tiger. It was soooo cute, had a great lesson about how all life is important no matter how small, and they did some yoga!!

MTV films Sunday Program at Dallas Temple

MTV filmed the Sunday temple program in Dallas (08/17/2008)--they had a 5camera shoot. The story line (for real)was this 17 year old film student wentto three religious places she had never gone before-MTV followed her andfilmed.The segment will air on MTV september-January. The film student went to the Dallas Buddhist temple, the Bahai temple and the Dallas Hare Krishna temple. Anandini (my daughter)sat next to her in the temple restaurantafterwords-- "she took one bite of prasadam and said she had never tasted anything so good before." She also said she enjoyed the enthusiastic chanting and dancing in the temple room. She lives in Burleson(near Dallas) andNitayananda Chandra is planning to do a home program at her house.Pictures atat:http://www.flickr.com/photos/rupagopi/sets/72157606809881891/your servant behind the Dallas TV program,Pandava vijaya dasa