Story of Lord Nṛsiṁha - told by Viśākhā - age 7

Deep Ellum Art Festival Street Kirtan - 2015

The Twelve Month Sandwich - Going on 8 years

In an effort to compete with Sabjimata Mata's and Kurma Prabhu's delicious prasadam blogs, I hereby submit our twelve month sandwich.


There are five main cooks who are always involved. The first one is Gaurachandra; on His right side stands Nitaichand, and on His left side stands Gadadhara. Cooking nearby is Advaita, and Srinivas is holding the spatula. Sweet Mrdanga sauce is mixed in with spicy kartals - all accompanied with side orders of conch and bells. All the demigods headed by Lord Brahma line up to get an opportunity to relish this sandwich. In fact the flavor of this sandwich conquers the flavor of millions upon millions of curd sabjis. Lord Shiva, Sukadeva Goswami, and Narada Muni are all there and are choked in ecstasy to get but just a taste.


This sandwich is what we have had the pleasure to honor for the past twelve months: the ISKCON sandwich. During Srila Prabhupada's time he established a program of spiritual purification by which one can make steady progress in Krishna Consciousness. It was nicknamed the ISKCON sandwich, a Krishna conscious program of bhajan, kirtan, artik, and class every morning and every evening. Many devotees eager to rapidly expand Krishna Consciousness asked Srila Prabhupada if it was ok to miss the evening program in the event of late evening book distribution and other such outreach functions. However, when such late activities were decreased, the habit of returning back to regular programs in the evening also waned. Instead of live chanting during the Gaura Artik, more often it would be found that there was simply a tape playing. This one slice sandwich was not enough to fill up the spiritually starved soul. Therefore, the devotees decided to return to the healthy diet of the double slice, Mangal mustard, Gaura Artik greens, and a class every few days for proper nutrition.


We have seen many health benefits to this diet given by Srila Prabhupada. Even our restaurant customers are finding new energy in their spiritual attraction. Before, if they ventured into the temple in the evening, they were greeted only by an electronic kirtan - hardly enough to encourage one to start singing with full lungs. But now we are serving the real organic kirtan, fresh from the hearts of the devotees. And as they say local is more healthy, these local lungs are inspiring to hear for all who enter. So whether you are at home, at the gym, watching TV, or out on book distribution make sure to get some daily doses of the ISKCON sandwich. Thank you.


-posted July 23rd 2008, Now we are going on 8 years!

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Texas Faith 136: A cup of coffee and other holy rituals

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

Every faith has its rituals. Hopefully these help put us in the mind of being with God and make us more present in our prayer.
Our lives have their little rituals too.
In a recent article,Rabbi Patrick “Aleph” Beaulier wrote about the ritual of a morning cup of coffee.
The coffee is a pleasure certainly, but it is also a moment set aside, at best, for a little peace, perhaps silence and reflection. These moments apart are important to our lives as people of faith, as people who are trying to draw ourselves nearer to God. We have our rituals in our religious ceremonies too, often freighted or filled with symbolism and intended, in their own way, to draw us away from the run of our thoughts and into the peace we hope faith will bring.
How can our little daily rituals bring us closer to God? How can we make sure that, in everyday moments, we are building our path to the divine?
 

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

In the Bhagavad Gita Śrī Krishna states in the ninth chapter that the art of doing everything for His sake is the perfection of yoga. In fact this is the perfection of life. To be 24 hours a day engaged in consciousness of Krishna, God. Our daily habits play a huge role to cultivate this consciousness. Upon waking a bhakta first chants the Lord’s holy names and bows with his head down before even leaving the bed. Followed by an early morning shower to not only keep the body clean but to refresh one’s consciousness. Kirtan and prayers begin at the temple at 4:30 am followed by a 2 hour session of meditation. Then again there is kirtan at 7 am followed by a class on the ancient Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. The bhakta follows a similar program in the evening as well, creating a sandwich of transcendental experiences.

 
Speaking of sandwiches this brings up another related topic. Everyone has to eat but food is not simply something for the belly, food is often a practical means to express love. Who better to love than the supreme loveable, Krishna? God is the root of everything, by watering the root all the leaves can be satisfied. Therefore the bhakta does not eat any food that cannot be first offered to God with love. Thus they abstain from eating animals. So not the act of eating can be a spiritual engagement but even the shopping, the cooking, and prep work as well. This is the art of Bhakti, to learn the ancient and blissful science of doing everything in the service of God.
 

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

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