ARTICLES

Kazakh President Meets With World Religious Leaders
http://www.prabhupada.org/rama/?p=3156

ASTANA, September 11, 2006 (RFE/RL) — Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbaev today held a series of meetings with delegates to a three-day world forum on religion that opens in Astana on September 12.

A statement posted on Nazarbaev’s official website says he met with Abdullah Ibn Abdul Muhsin Atturki, the secretary-general of the Muslim World League; Salman Al-Husaini Al-Nadvi, the leader of India’s Jamiat-e Shahab-e Islam Muslim organization; and Nicholas Baines, the Anglican bishop of Croydon in Britain.

The upcoming forum will bring together some 45 national delegations and as many spiritual leaders to discuss religious freedom and tolerance.

Nazarbaev’s spokesman Mukhtar Kul-Mukhammed said the event reflects Kazakhstan’s political stability and religious openness. However, Kazakh rights groups say the upcoming event is overshadowed by what they describe as official harassment of nontraditional religious groups, such as the Hare Krishna and Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic revivalist group.

Religious Leaders Meeting in Almaty
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/12/015.html

Tuesday, September 12, 2006. Issue 3495. Page 2.
Religious Leaders Meeting in Almaty
By Bagila Bukharbayeva
The Associated Press

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Religious leaders gathering in Kazakhstan for a two-day forum opening Tuesday are scheduled to discuss tolerance, even as concerns mount over the increasingly hostile treatment of religious minorities in the country.

Kazakh authorities have long been seen as being more tolerant of other religions than some autocratic governments in predominantly Muslim Central Asia, but in recent years they have tightened laws governing religious organizations, citing concerns about extremism.

The forum is expected to gather 42 delegations, 29 religious leaders, and guests such as former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Ninel Fokina, head of the Almaty Helsinki Committee rights group, said it was part of a general, more authoritarian trend in Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s policies.

“It’s all about controlling people’s minds. It’s all links of one chain: The growing pressure on the mass media, opposition and independent religious groups,” Fokina said.

Plans are in the works to further toughen religious control. A newly established religious affairs committee has been holding closed meetings with regional authorities across the country spreading a message that nontraditional religious groups should be kept in check, she said.

One such group, the Hare Krishnas, has been fighting possible expulsion for two years.

Courts have found the Hare Krishnas guilty of illegally acquiring land and summer houses outside the commercial capital, Almaty, ordering that the houses be destroyed and the land confiscated. The group sees the legal campaign as a government attempt to squeeze it out of the country.

Maxim Varfolomeyev, spokesman for the Hare Krishna community in Kazakhstan, said a public relations company that had held talks with government officials on its behalf relayed that it was on a black list of organizations seen as a threat to the country’s national security “because it’s quite organized and hard to penetrate and control.”

Varfolomeyev said that the Hare Krishnas initially thought that the authorities’ move against them was merely a land-grab of their 48-hectare plot, prime real estate in the rapidly growing city that is seeing a construction boom. Acquired in 1999, the farm outside Almaty has been a place where Hare Krishnas from other more tightly controlled Central Asian nations could come to openly practice their religion and mingle with their spiritual brothers and sisters.

“We’ve understood now that the [government’s] intentions are more than serious. The land dispute is just a consequence. … The policy is to create a monopoly of the two main religions and do away with minorities,” said Varfolomeyev, speaking of the state-controlled Spiritual Board of the Muslims of Kazakhstan, or SBMK, and the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Orthodox church enjoys favorable conditions to keep happy the large ethnic Russian population and Moscow.

Kairat Tulesov of the religious affairs committee denied the existence of any black list of religious groups as well as government plans to toughen religious control.

“They are making it all up,” he said, of Hare Krishnas and rights groups.

Tulesov said the Hare Krishnas’ problem is about economic relations and law. “There is nothing political or religious about it.”

“All religious groups peacefully and freely operate in Kazakhstan,” he said.

source http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/09/12/015.html

Devotees in Kazakhstan Need Our Help:

Kazakhstan Hare Krishna Temple Website:
http://www.palaceof thesoul.com/ pressrelease_ 1.php

More info on the Kazakstan crisis:
http://www.dandavat s.com/?p= 831
http://www.krishnat emple.com/ homepage_ extras/KHAZAKHST ANPACK.pdf

Brief History:

The temple and multiple homes owned my devotees were threatened with confiscation and destruction by the local government in the Karasai District Kazakhstan. A bulldozer was sent by the local govt to demolish the buildings last April and was only stopped by the civil disobedience of the devotees (they blocked the bulldozer) and the presence of the media and human rights organizations.

That demolition attempt due the attention of additional human rights organizations, national governments (including the US, UK and India) and international media, who have been putting pressure on the Kazakh government.

Human rights organizations, legal experts and even the local Kazakh neighborhood association have confirmed that whatever charges the local govt has made against the devotees are unsubstantiated, and their aggression is simply an attempt to seize the land and is clear harassment of a religious minority.

Last month there was held the first of two recent conferences in Kazakhstan about religious liberty. ISKCON devotees attended that conference, and our case was brought to the attention of the whole convention by scholars and other delegates from the UK and the USA–who pointed out that religious freedom principles were being violated by the hosts of the conference– the Kazakh government.

Representatives of the national government have told devotees they want to find a solution to the situation, but nothing in writing or conclusive has been done. In the meantime, local govt officials refuse to meet with devotees to work out a solution and continue to threaten the devotees that they will take their homes and land—although no action has been taken since the bulldozer attempt.

The fear is that the government is just waiting for public concern to quiet down before they make their next attempt to seize the land, and bulldoze the homes of innocent devotees.

The devotee leaders in Kazakhstan have appealed to devotees in the UK, USA, Canada, and India to hold demonstrations next week to draw attention to the plight of the Kazakh devotees–prior to this conference.

WE NEED YOUR HELP.

HINDUS PROTEST HARASSMENT IN KAZAKHSTAN
http://www.dandavats.com/?p=1247

By Vineet Chander - ISKCON COMMUNICATIONS

Over a Hundred Participate in Demonstrations, Refused Entry to Embassy

DATE: September 14, 2006

Washington, D.C.—Over one hundred members of a local Hare Krishna temple, the Hindu-Jain Temple Association, and other Hindu organizations and interfaith groups, protested in front of the Kazakhstan embassy for two hours on September 13, carrying a dozen brightly colored placards that called upon the government in Kazakhstan to stop the ongoing abuse and mistreatment of innocent Krishna devotee, Vaishnava Hindus, in that country.

A simultaneous protest took place in New York City. Both demonstrations were timed to intentionally coincide with the “Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions,” held in Kazakhstan. Many human rights groups and international governments, including the United Kingdom and India, are pressuring the Kazakh government to go beyond sponsoring conferences on religious freedom, and instead work to stop bigotry and harassment of religious minorities in their own county.

“National Hindu organizations from the UK, United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries call upon the Kazakhstan government to stop harassment and discrimination of Hindus,” said Ramesh Kallidai, Secretary General of the Hindu Forum of Britain.

According to Kallidai, Hindu groups are preparing to launch an expansive international campaign of demonstrations, if the situation is not resolved by the time of Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev’s official visit to the United States later this month.

A disturbing sign of the continuing tensions between Kazakhstan and the Hindu community was the disrespect shown to community leaders who had pre-scheduled a meeting with Embassy officials in Washington, D.C. When Sonia Chopra, of the Hindu-Jain Temple Association, Erik Schwarz, a lay Christian minister and interfaith leader, and Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON Communications Director, tried to attend their 1 pm meeting with the Ambassador’s representative, they were refused entry to the building. The three leaders were made to speak their case while standing on the steps outside the embassy, despite the fact that they had duly made, and had been granted, an appointment for a formal meeting.

To many, the embassy’s cold shoulder was just another reminder that Kazakhstan officials do not take the voices of the Hindu community seriously.

“I felt offended and demeaned,” said Mrs. Chopra, “I was promised a meeting with a high-level official, and instead our peaceful group of three religious leaders was refused entry to the embassy. This clearly demonstrates what is wrong in Kazakhstan.” Chopra is planning on lodging a formal complaint with the Ambassador.

The protests stemmed from attempts by local officials in Kazakhstan’s Karasai district to bulldoze the homes of Krishna devotees, and an ongoing effort to defame the Hindu tradition in the public and in the media by the local government.

“We call on the Kazakh government to follow their own principles of religious freedom and tolerance,” said Anuttama Dasa, Hare Krishna spokesperson. “It is an embarrassment for the nation of Kazakhstan that local officials are allowed to threaten and abuse innocent people while the head of state proclaims a progressive stance on freedom.”

To voice your concerns about attacks on religious liberty in Kazakhstan, please email:
Kazakhstan@un.int

For more information on the struggle for religious freedom in Kazakhstan, please visit: http://www.Forum18.org

Whose Funding Uzbekistan's anti-Vedic Crackdown?

Date: Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:20 pm (PDT)

Students interested in Krishnaism found themselves in trouble. Officers of the National Security Service battered Jalil Abdullayev, a student they wanted a confession from. Five other students were forced to sign false statements to the effect that they knew Jalil as a preacher of Krishnaism. Jalil wouldn't confess. He was battered black and blue for his "obstinacy".
"I know several officers of the National Security Service, some of them from the department that deals with confessions," Hasanov said. "They do not know what is happening. They say they sent a cable to the Committee for Religions in Tashkent and received a reply to the effect that Krishnaite books are not on the list of outlawed publications. Also importantly, this persecution campaign is waged by officers from other departments, the ones that are not supposed to handle religious matters at all. I suspect that they were paid to launch this campaign."
Urgench: Krishnaites persecuted as public enemies 11.09.2006 15:22 msk
Syd Yanyshev

Krishnaite communities in Uzbekistan are not numerous at all. Krishnaites number 150 people at best in the capital city of Tashkent. Fortunately for them, this community is officially registered by the Justice Ministry as a religious organization. This status permits Krishnaites in Tashkent to own a large mansion across the road from the mental diseases hospital not far from the Northern Railroad Station.
In the meantime, Krishnaites clad in orange silks no longer meditate in the center of Tashkent the way they did 15 years or so ago. Everything is different now, and even the color of the traditional accoutrements may make the authorities suspicious. In any case, Krishnaites in Tashkent do not complain. They have their mantra Hare Krishna! Hare Rama! to rely on.
Their brothers in faith in the distant city of Urgench are considerably less lucky. Even the mantra does not help there. Most Krishnaites flee Urgench altogether, unable to tolerate the campaign of harassment. The impression is that the whole world has rallied against these hapless innocents who aren't even dedicated Krishnaites. There is only one faithful in all of the city, the man who observes all rites. He is left alone for the time being. Instead, the authorities riveted their wrath on whoever visits the one Krishnaite for even so innocent a purpose as asking to be given something to read.

Ruzinboi Hasanov

"Whoever is interested in the Conscience of Krishna nowadays is doing so at his or her own peril," Ruzinboi Hasanov, translator of Vedic texts into Uzbek and the one Krishnaite in Urgench, said. "Particularly students. Persecution began at the Faculty of Biology of the Urgench Medical Institute four years ago give or take a couple of months when everyone known as reader of Krishnaite books was branded as a public enemy. Institute administration was convinced that Krishnaites "assassinated Indira Ghandi and conspired to engineer a coup d'etat in Russia" and that "they study Kamasutra that urges its readers to engage in sex every day."
Students interested in Krishnaism found themselves in trouble. Officers of the National Security Service battered Jalil Abdullayev, a student they wanted a confession from. Five other students were forced to sign false statements to the effect that they knew Jalil as a preacher of Krishnaism. Jalil wouldn't confess. He was battered black and blue for his "obstinacy".
"I know several officers of the National Security Service, some of them from the department that deals with confessions," Hasanov said. "They do not know what is happening. They say they sent a cable to the Committee for Religions in Tashkent and received a reply to the effect that Krishnaite books are not on the list of outlawed publications. Also importantly, this persecution campaign is waged by officers from other departments, the ones that are not supposed to handle religious matters at all. I suspect that were paid to launch this campaign."
"My own place is under surveillance. Whoever turns up at my door - no matter under how innocent an excuse - finds himself in trouble," Hasanov continued. "Jalil came over once, and the dean of his institute got a phone call the following day. "Send Abdullayev down or we will take measures," he was told in no uncertain terms. Abdullayev was summoned to the dean's office and informed that he was out because he had missed 30 hours of lectures. Jalil referred to one other student who had missed 200 hours and wasn't any worse off. He told the dean that he would complain... In short, he was merely ousted as the course leader. Abdullayev was then summoned to the local office of the National Security Service and beaten there. His interrogators wanted Jalil to make a statement that I had said something insulting against the president of Uzbekistan. Jalil refused."
"We, Krishnaites, do not watch TV. We do not even know where the president is at this or that moment. We are not interested in politics. We do not even study religion, we study the God. The Veda is knowledge of the God and we share this knowledge with others. It's science we deal in, not religion. The Constitution of Uzbekistan states that every citizen may obtain and spread information, and that's what we are doing. We spread information on the God and that does not have anything to do with preaching or religion," Hasanov said. "The National Security Service in the meantime spread the rumor that Krishnaites were bad folk to chum up with and that four young men were sacked from an institute for being Krishnaites. All of Urgench rallied against us then. Families grew scared and put their children under pressure. Readers of Vedic literature were persecuted."
Hasanov continued, "One of my acquaintances by name of Nadira was beaten and locked up at home by her own father. Nadira, 23, is a teacher. She managed to escape and made it to Tashkent where she spent the following two months at her friends'. It was only then that she summoned the courage to phone her parents. The parents said that she had disgraced them, that they disowned their daughter, and that she was a public enemy now... The police found Nadira and put her in the detention cell of the Uch-Tepe District Department of Internal Affairs. Her father and fiance travelled to Tashkent in order to have her institutionalized but the fiance rebelled at the last moment. The father then took Nadira home and locked her up again. Her young man returned to Urgench too but... In short, we do not know anything about Nadira now. We do not even know if she is alive."

Mukaddas Kurbanova

"We are a homeless family now," Mukaddas Kurbanova of Urgench told Ferghana.Ru. "We lived with my husband and my daughter at our own place once and everything was all right, but my father-in-law decided that he didn't like it that we read Krishnaite literature and that we never ate meat or drank alcohol. He took our passports and my husband's KamAZ truck and locked us up forcing us to eat meat and drink vodka. We called a local human rights organization whose activists came over and had the father-in-law return our passports to us. That was when we hit the road."
"We cannot get back what belongs to us," Kurbanova said. "We approached every structure we could think of - courts and so on - but we are always told that this is our own family affair we should sort out on our own. My husband went to the police with a complaint against his father but nobody would listen to him. When the father-in-law discovered it, he branded my husband, his own son, as the Wahhabi, and he was immediately arrested. We fled to Tashkent as soon as he was released and were taken up by some friends of ours..."
"It would have been all right had we managed to register our own organization in Urgench," Hasanov concluded. "As things stand, however, it's a vicious circle. We need at least 100 signatures on the petition for registration, but who is going to sign the petition when Krishnaites and sympathizers are persecuted? People are afraid, and that means that registration is out of the question."
"As we are known as religious people, we cannot even have some tea in groups of more than three people," Hasanov said. "We are said that more than three people means an organized group i.e. an organization that is not registered. Why is it that a believer cannot visit a friend? Everyone who visits me is summoned to the National Security Service. That is why we are shunned. I do not see any way out."
http://enews.ferghana.ru/article.php?id=1592
http://enews.ferghana.ru/index.php

Catholic Priest also becomes a Hare Krishna Hindu

http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/13/stories/2006091302071400.htm

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A controversy has broken out in the U.K. and the U.S. with the media reflecting a debate over an Anglican priest who converted to Hinduism in Kerala where he has now stayed for nearly a year, and where he regularly offers ritual prayers in a temple.
Rev. David Hart, 52, who has a fascination for Lord Ganesha, celebrated Vinayaka Chathurthi in front of his house here last month. Mainstream newspapers, church journals, popular websites and radio stations in the U.K. and the U.S. are now debating the propriety of allowing Rev. Hart to continue his "pluralist religious identity" while remaining a priest of the Church of England.

The Times, of London, in a report headlined `Hinduism no barrier to job as priest in Church of England' (September 8), published a photograph of Rev. Hart offering prayers to Ganesha and quoted from a report in the Kerala editions of The Hindu on August 27. Church Times, of the Church of England, launched a poll on whether Rev. Hart, "who recites the Gayatri Mantram with the same devotion with which he celebrates the Eucharist or offers namaz in Muslim prayer halls" should be allowed to continue as a priest.

The Times' report by its religion correspondent Ruth Gledhill quoted Pauline Scott, the team vicar of the St. James' Parish Church, Stretham, Cambridge, where Rev. Hart offers communion while in England. The vicar said she would now oppose Rev. Hart celebrating the Eucharist in Ely diocese. It was under the Bishop of Ely that Rev. Hart renewed his orders for priesthood nearly two months ago. The Times on September 8 said the Bishop's office had denied knowledge of Mr. Hart's conversion. However, a letter written by the Communications Officer of the diocese, published by The Times on September 11, said Rev. Hart's permission to officiate was under review.
The religion correspondent of The Times triggered a debate in her weblog by seeking comments on whether "this Hindu convert should remain as a `C of E [Church of England] priest'?"

Church Times, in an article headlined `Ely diocese finds out that one of its priests is a Hindu,' on September 8, quoted the Bishop's lay chaplain, Dr. Bridget Nichols, as saying that the news of Rev. Hart's conversion was "a complete revelation to us."
She said: "The first time we had heard that David Hart had converted to be a Hindu was yesterday... We cannot keep an eye on all our non-resident clergy who have permission to officiate... We take an application for permission to officiate in good faith."
Rev. Hart, an Associate Professor in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Winchester, mentions his conversion in a book Trading Faith: Global Religion in an Age of Rapid Change. Focussing on a new model for understanding religious practice and faith, it was released here earlier this year. A follower of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Rev. Hart has changed his middle name from `Allen' to `Ananda Krishna Das.'

He is unruffled by the debate. On September 10, the BBC's Radio 4 did a live telephone interview with Rev. Hart for its `The Sunday Programme.' Around 20 U.S.-based online discussion groups have sprung up debating the controversy.

Defending his decision not to inform the Bishop of Ely about his conversion while renewing his orders, Rev. Hart told The Hindu : "Becoming a Hindu has not brought about any change in my spiritual status. The act has not shaken my Christian beliefs by even one per cent."
Also the international secretary of the World Congress of Faiths based in London, he does not find any contradiction in being identified as a "religious pluralist."

He said: "Asking me to express my preference for any particular faith is like asking me to choose between an ice-cream and a chocolate. Both have their own distinct taste."

Spiritual Amnesia
http://www.dandavats.com/?p=1194

Remembering Not to Forget: But if its amnesia you want, Krishna will give it to you

By Satyaraja Dasa

It’s funny how if you give Krishna, God, an inch, he gives you a mile. I remember in my earliest days as a devotee, I had left the movement for some time. I was home, watching TV with my family. All of a sudden, right on the screen there was an ad for the television station with a photo of New York City streets. There he was, my Godbrother Bhaktivinoda, with a close-up of the Channel Two logo below his chin. I had forgotten Krishna for a few weeks, but, compliments of his devotee, he forced himself back into my mind.

An avid comics collector, I was thrilled when that most popular of the Norse gods Thor allowed Vishnu (one of Krishna’s primary manifestations) a guest appearance in several issues. Krishna just didn’t want me to forget him.

Then I started reading the classics. Herman Melville depicted the great whale Moby Dick as a powerful force of nature, impossible to comprehend by ordinary means. Believe it or not, he attributes to the whale not only great antiquity, but also divinity. One of the most striking and poignant ways in which he does so — are you ready for this? — is by describing the whale as a manifestation (avatara) of Vishnu known as Matsya. This is an incarnation of Krishna, of course, mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam, and in other Vedic texts as well. Matsya is elaborated upon in the fifty-fifth chapter of Moby Dick.

I also found Vishnu in The Moonstone, by Collins, where the Lord is again mentioned by name, as he appears to three Brahmins in a dream. And also in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days, where Vishnu is described as God. Everywhere I looked — well, almost everywhere — there was Krishna, a reminder that spiritual life is what I really wanted.

The point is this: If you make the slightest endeavor to remember Krishna, he’ll put you in a situation where it is in fact difficult to forget him.

We are easily covered over by the illusory energy, known as maya. In that state, we forget our real self-interest, which is service to Krishna, and we suffer in the material world. Still, our natural desire for self preservation — since we sense that, as eternal souls, our “birthright” is an ongoing life of bliss and knowledge — leads us to seek shelter in temporary solutions, which only brings us into further misery. The strength of the material energy is such that vigilant protection of our devotion must be maintained by practice, which includes praying, daily chanting of God’s names, worship services — all of which are meant to invoke remembrance of Krishna, or God.

The idea is to absorb one’s senses in Krishna — to see his form, to taste food and to smell incense that is offered to him, to read about his pastimes and, mostly, to hear the chanting of his names. This creates a sort of “wrap-around awareness” that engulfs you in the spiritual world. And by being so engulfed, you remember what you have long forgotten.

Prabhupada often compared it to being cured of amnesia. In the conventional treatment of the disease, one is given a daily regimen of gradual exposure to his or her former life. Hopefully, through a sustained effort, the patient gradually remembers and becomes cured. This is called anamnesis — the reversal of amnesia. Similarly, through a daily regimen, known as sadhana, one becomes relieved of their spiritual forgetfulness and gradually remembers their life in the spiritual world with Krishna.

The amazing thing, though, is that Krishna often helps us get there in spite of ourselves. As Prabhupada says, “If you take one step toward Krishna, he’ll take a thousand toward you.” I’ve seen that in my own life, and while I’m hardly cured of my spiritual amnesia, I do see hopeful signs for the future, and I remember the numerous ways in which Krishna helped me.

A Hindu view on drug use
http://www.hinduvoice.co.uk/Issues/8/drugs.htm

By David Frawley

We live in a culture today in which the use of drugs is widespread at both medical and recreational levels. It has been estimated that nearly twenty five percent of children in the United States are under regular medication, extending to over ninety percent of seniors, who may be taking several drugs daily. Many new drugs have been invented to treat such physical conditions as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and allergies, as well as a broad range of anti-biotics for infectious diseases. At a mental level, there are many new drugs for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, insomnia, and for attention deficit and hyperactivity in children. Certainly many of these drugs have their benefits but one wonders if the pursuit of drugs is the best way to handle our human problems.

Physical diseases are rooted in poor diet, lack of exercise and other life-style factors for which taking a drug may not provide the long term solution. Problems with the mind and emotions are connected to physical factors, but also to situational problems, wrong life-style and lack of purpose and spirituality in life, for which a pill may not provide a truly meaningful alternative.

Recreational drugs are also commonly used today from legally available alcohol and tobacco to marijuana, which can be easily found in most cities in the West and is legal in some places. In addition, and more dangerously, illegal drugs are commonly available not only for adults but also for teenagers and are involved with criminal elements in society. The statistics here are not clear but it is likely that a majority of the youth in all western countries has tried recreational drugs and a significant minority takes them regularly. This cuts across all ethnic groups and levels of society from the rich to the poor, though it is more a problem among the poor.

On top of such more overt taking of drugs, many people take junk foods, fast foods and soft drinks that are low in nutritional factors and contain many artificial chemicals, additives and colorings. Pesticides and chemical fertilizers are common in the vegetables we eat and our air contains various chemical pollutants. Even our water is not always safe to drink owing to its chemical content!

If this was not enough, we fill our minds with artificial impressions through the mass media, computers, television, movies and so on. There is little in our lives that is natural.

We certainly live in a chemical age and our bloodstream often carries a variety of chemicals that we are not aware of and which our ancestors never had to deal with. Reflecting this 'chemical orientation' of our society, it is not surprising that the youth looks to drugs to either provide them happiness or solve their problems. Drug addiction is arguably a social problem encouraged by the greater artificial life-style of our culture. It reflects a deeper seated weakness in our cultural life-style connected to a lack of spirituality and introspection.

What is the Hindu view of the use of drugs? Traditional Hindu medicine or Ayurveda does accept the value of drugs to treat certain physical health conditions. However, it sees them more as a secondary and temporary tool for health, not the first line or primary approach. Our health is determined by the primary factors of our physical existence which are the food we eat, the beverages we drink, the air we breathe, the exercise we do, how we adjust to climate, seasonal and age changes in life. Our state of health is a matter of our own action or karma, how we live on a daily basis. To have good physical health we should first address how we live relative to the natural factors of physical life. We should make sure to have good food, natural beverages, good air, adequate exercise and sufficient rest and relaxation.

In this regard Hindu practices of yoga postures and pranayama, as well as a sattvic diet emphasizing natural foods, are more important for long term physical health than any drug, however useful these may be at certain times for extreme conditions.

Ayurveda also accepts the value of drugs for treating psychological problems, but again regards them more as a secondary or temporary treatment for extreme conditions in which the patient may be in danger of losing control of their faculties. Our psychological health is the outcome of the primary factors of our mental existence, the type of sensory impressions we take in, the emotional states we are involved with, our basic values, relationships and associations in life. Again our psychological health is a matter of our own action or karma, how we think on a daily basis. To have good psychological health we should first address how we live relative to the natural factors of psychological and spiritual living.

In this regard, Hindu practices of mantra, meditation and devotion to the Divine are more important for long term psychological health than what any drug or therapist can do for us, however necessary these drugs may be in extreme conditions.

Some people point out that a number of Hindu sadhus take marijuana, as if this was some justification for the recreational use of all kinds of drugs. There are a few Hindu sects which do this. Smoking of marijuana can help sadhus deal with the cold and bodily discomforts of their austere lives. Ayurveda uses small amounts of marijuana in its formulas mainly for its pain relieving properties. Yet many other Hindu sects do not accept the use of any type of drug, including marijuana. Even a classical yogic text like the Yoga Sutras defines the use of drugs for spiritual purposes as a non-yogic approach that has its limitations.

Many native people use natural mind-altering drugs in a sacred way under special conditions and as part of traditional rituals. This is very different from recreational usage of drugs for personal pleasure as well. While one may not agree with the use of any drugs for spiritual purposes, one must discriminate between a regulated sacred use of natural mind-altering substances and an indiscriminate and self-indulgent use of recreational drugs.

The main problem with most pharmaceutical drugs is that they tend to accumulate in our tissues. As unnatural substances of a chemical and metallic nature, the body is not able to eliminate them. Their heavy nature also allows them to get deposited in the tissues and organs for which it can be very hard to extract them. Above a certain very low threshold they become toxic to the body as a whole.

So we should be very conservative in our taking of drugs, particularly when we are young, in order to avoid their accumulation to toxic levels within us during the course of our lives. As medicinal drugs may not be entirely avoidable, we should at least not expose ourselves to recreational drugs whose short term pleasure may result in long term health problems that may not manifest until our later years.

Drugs can have their benefits medicinally but they are not the main factor behind human health and disease either physically or psychologically. We should never forget that the ability to master our own existence and gain the real goals of human life lies in our own power and is a result of our own attitudes, values and actions. Recreational drugs can also provide enjoyment for us but they tend to weaken the nervous system in the process and make us less capable of finding natural happiness and contentment.

Hindu Dharma offers an inner technology of yoga, mantra and meditation for accessing higher states of consciousness, peace and happiness without needing to rely upon any external medications. If the Hindu youth studies and practices these then they will find the solution to all the issues and problems of life taking one to the highest Self-realization and universal awareness, understanding one's own nature and the nature of all of life as part of the same unfoldment of Divine bliss. Yet unless we make these yogic practices part of our daily lives, we should not be surprised if the youth follows the ways of the outer culture of today in which drug addiction is more likely.

Read similar articles HERE

NASA spaces out
Submitted by Jayadvaita swami on September 6, 2006
http://www.jswami.info/nasa_spaces_out

According to an August 15 news item (news reaches me slow), a spokesman for NASA says the U.S. government has misplaced the original recordings of the first moon landing—and the other five landings as well.

“We’ve been looking for over a year and they haven’t turned up,” the spokesman said.

In all, some 700 boxes of transmissions from the Apollo lunar missions are missing, he said.

(You can see the report from the Reuters news agency at CNN.com.)

The only recordings NASA still has are copies of the television broadcasts. But those are of lower quality than the originals. Because NASA’s equipment was incompatible with TV technology of the day, Reuters reported, the original transmissions had to be displayed on a monitor and re-shot by a TV camera for broadcast. Now the low-grade re-shot versions are all that’s left.

Hare Krishna devotees are unlikely to be surprised. At the very least, the loss is an instance of what the Vedic literature points to as one of the fourfold human defects: the tendency to make mistakes.

Or perhaps it’s something more. Back in the 1970s, Srila Prabhupada had some controversial things to say about the moon landings. I wrote about that back in 1977 (when shooting for Mars was in the headlines) in an article called Mars Bars: Why Mars? Why Indeed?

Still relevant. Not much has changed since then.

Oh, but one update:

According to rumor, sources close to the State Department say the missing boxes may have been stolen by agents of Osama bin Laden, who may be hiding them on the moon.

That’s not a problem. But what about the weapons of mass destruction that never turned up in Iraq? What if Al-Qaeda has stashed them on the moon too? We’d better get up there fast!

The Mirror of Cartoon Satire
http://www.iskcon.com/new/060305_opinion.html

In a recent advertisement on UK television, some reformed Daleks tag along a group of Hare Krishna devotees chanting down the street. Renouncing their exterminating ways, these alien miscreants happily sing in metallic voices, “Peace & Love, Peace & Love”.

I feel proud that my religion is depicted in this way. Sure, there are negatives, but, at least, this advert is indicative of how the public regards the Hare Krishnas. When you want to characterise peace and love who springs to mind? The devotees. Considering the reaction of the public to organised religion in these troubled times of religious strife, war and terrorism this is perhaps as good as it gets.

It’s not all positive in the media, however. ISKCON sometimes suffers from the depiction that it is a little too other-worldly. Cartoons, comedy sketches and adverts play on that image and promote it. Krishnas are nice, harmless, doing a bit of good, but essentially irrelevant when it comes to the big issues of the real world. That image hurts me, because I know how much our philosophy has to offer society in all aspects of life.

So, do I feel sympathy for the followers of Islam who are aggrieved by the cartoons of the prophet Mohammed printed in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten? Yes and no.

Yes, I can understand how upsetting it is to see sacred personalities belittled by people who really have no concept of who they are dealing with. I would be desperately hurt and angry if ISKCON's founder, Srila Prabhupada, was depicted badly in a newspaper. But, would I call for retribution? We may be able to point a finger at the uninformed, callous cartoonist, but, as we are warned in kindergarten, three other fingers are pointing back at ourselves.

Comedy and social/political/religious satire have a valuable role in society. They hold up a mirror and reveal what we look like to others. Sometimes it’s a shock. I may not like the image propagated by the media, but I would be foolish not to realise that it represents the public perception.

I have witnessed appalling news articles written about ISKCON, but often stimulated by real mistakes of the devotees. The media exaggerates and sensationalises, but usually there is a kernel of unsavoury fact. Sometimes, and this hurts the most, the behaviour of the devotees has been so grievous that it has caused the media to question the teachings of ISKCON and, by the next logical step, to throw dispersion on Srila Prabhupada. It’s not the reality of ignorant hacks anxious to sell a few more copies that hurts it’s when we, ourselves, have caused a situation that reflects badly on our movement, our philosophy, and our founder.

I believe that the recent protests in London and around the world in complaint at the Danish cartoons are a disgrace to Islam. No matter how upset you are over somebody’s depiction of your faith and prophets; I don’t accept that it gives anyone the right to commit violence or to issue threats. These protests have served only to substantiate the opinion of the infidel world that Muslims are too ready to resort to hostility and aggression against anyone who crosses them. Despite the many millions of peaceful, devout and highly spiritual Muslims, there seem to be more than a few who are willing to cause death and destruction in the name of God. Either they are so far out of line with Islamic teaching that their ideas should be drowned out by vocal moderates or there is something in the theology that needs closer scrutiny.

Rather than call for the punishment of the European press, I feel that the Muslim community needs to look in the mirror of these cartoons and ask itself some tough questions. How has it come to the point that the behaviour of some of our people has caused dispersion to be cast not only on our faith, but even on our prophet?

But, do I think that the Danish newspaper was right to publish the cartoons in the first place? No.

I do believe in the value of free speech. I want to have the freedom for myself to announce that “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead”. Therefore, I must accept the right of someone else to say the opposite. Jyllands-Posten had the right to publish, but, as has been said by many already, having the right to do something, doesn’t mean that you should do it. The Bhagavad-gita states that austerity of speech can be summarised as "satyam bruyat, priyam bruyat" speak the truth and speak it pleasingly.

Even if we feel we have something valuable to communicate, it is best done in a sensitive fashion especially if it contains an unpalatable truth. A satirical message which caricatures others but is disseminated solely amongst one’s own tribe cannot claim to be serving a broader good. It is more likely to be an incitement to ridicule and, possibly, worse. It is part of the problem, rather than the solution.

The same is true of our response to perceived injustice and offence. If something needs correction, let it be done in a manner that is consistent with our message. If ever we are criticised for being nasty, the only way to respond is by being thoroughly nice; upset OK, but, still, nice

As a person of faith, I will happily support my brothers and sisters of other religious traditions against insensitive or malicious misrepresentation of their sacred icons and personalities. But, all I ask is that each one of us plays our part in demonstrating that religion of whatever flavour is a force for peace and love.

Akhandadhi Dasa

Creating Revolution in the World’s Misdirected Civilization
http://www.dandavats.com/?p=1092

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Mathajis,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupad and Gurudev.

Recently I heard an awe-inspiring incident from one of the devotees. There was a very very notorious criminal,(who had two files full of crirminal records) in one of the Far-east countries and the police were on the look out for that person. The criminal decided to hide himself in the Hare Krishna Temple. After staying in the temple for a few months, his heart was purified and he ultimately changed to a devotee. He had his head-shaven and started distributing books to various people. Once while he was distributing books, he was recognized by the police and they took him to jail. Because of the severity of his criminal acts, the government wanted to send him to an island (Hard core criminals are sent to island for the sentenced period and also to avoid prisoners escaping from the jail, they give an injection so that it tranquilizes their brain. They forget their original identity and they become almost like a vegetable). The devotees of the temple went and pleaded to the police commissioner to release the devotee as he had completely changed his way of life.

But the Commissioner expressed his inability that because of the huge criminal records, the devotee has to undergo the punishment and there is no escape from that. The prisoners in the camp were very badly treated. The police used to throw loaves of bread on the ground and the criminals had to fight among themselves like dogs to get the morsel of bread. Since the temple devotees requested a lot, the Commissioner agreed not to give injection to this devotee since he has changed totally. The devotee was sent to this island and after few months the Commissioner went there to see the status of criminals in that island. To his astonishment there was no more throwing of bread to the prisoners. Each prisoner will get his loaf of bread and then they would offer it to the Radha-Krishna deity they had made out of sand and then take them as prasadam. All the prisoners were chanting the Mahamantra and they were completely transformed into devotees by associating with the criminal turned devotee. The Commissioner came back from island and informed the temple about the developments in the island and he was quite happy about transformation of character of such notorious criminals including the devotee criminal. He was completely stunned at the whole episode and decided to reduce the sentence of the devotee criminal in the island.

This Hare Krishna movement as predicted by HDG Bhaktivinod Thakura and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, has inundated every nook and corner of the world. This of course reminds us our beloved Jagat Guru Srila Prabhupada whose invaluable contribution has really created a revolution in this world of deterioration.

This reminds of a beautiful verse in Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.11,

tad-vaag-visargo janataagha-viplavo yasmin prati-shlokam abaddhavaty api naamaany anantasya yasho ‘nkitaani yat shrnvanti gaayanti grnanti saadhavah

“On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world’s misdirected civilization. Such

transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest.”

Srila Prabhupad in his unparalleled purport gives how the transcendental literatures can create a revolution.

“But a saint is far above the level of an ordinary man. He is always absorbed in glorifying the Supreme Lord because by broadcasting the holy name and fame of the Supreme Lord, the polluted atmosphere of the world will change, and as a result of propagating the transcendental literatures like Srimad-Bhagavatam, people will become sane in their transactions.”

The revolution was possible in the island because of the devotee’s (originally criminal) unflinching faith in Srila Prabhupada and the Holy name of the Lord.

I used to wonder that inspite of my little knowledge about the sastras, Why I am not able to convince even few people who are pious and religious to chant the holy names of the Lord. Now I understand that the reason is the lack of faith in Srila Prabhupad and his books. I therefore pray at the lotus feet of Gurudev and Lord Sri Krishna to shower their mercy by instilling unflinching faith in Srila Prabhupada which alone is the only way for perfection.

Jagat Guru Srila Prabhupad ki jai!

Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupad and Gurudev
Sajjana priya Krishna Das
Abudhabi

Vedic World Heritage links:

See our pages supporting these views HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/VWH.html (Vedik World Heritage)
Western Indologists been exposed page:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/WesternIndologists-page.htm
How British Misguided the World on Vedic History
http://www.hknet.org.nz/MotiveBritishRajMissionaries.html

Recent Poll Indicates that Vegetarians are not Faring That Well in India

http://www.ibnlive.com

NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 13, 2006: A survey conducted by CNN-IBN and The Hindu has found many Indians are not vegetarians. The food habits varied on the basis of region and religion. The survey says while just two per cent of Keralites are vegetarian, less than four per cent survive on greens in Andhra Pradesh and eight per cent in Orissa and Tamil Nadu. The percentage of vegetarian families are higher in northern India, with Rajasthan accounting for 63 per cent vegetarian people, Haryana 62 per cent, Punjab 48 per cent, Gujarat 45 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 35 per cent and Uttar Pradesh 33 per cent. There are nine per cent others who are vegetarians but they eat eggs. Overall, only 31 per cent individuals prefer vegetarian food and 60 per cent others have shown a definite preference for non-vegetarian food. In the overall count, 21 per cent Indian families are pure vegetarians while 44 per cent families prefer having non-vegetarian food. And 32 per cent families have people who eat both vegetarian as well as nonvegetarian foods (ie, have both vegetaraian and nonvegetarian members). The poll lists other habits such as the most consumed beverage, whether a household has smokers, the consumption of alcohol, and how much hunger is prevalent in the country. Check the URL listed above for all the interesting statistics.

Courtesy of Hinduism Today http://www.HinduismToday.com

India: land of non-veggies; boozers
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/poll-nonveg-buzz-in-indian-kitchens/18443-3.html

Posted Sunday , August 13, 2006 at 22:15
Updated Monday , August 14, 2006 at 12:27

New Delhi: If you thought India is largely a vegetarian country, then think again. An exclusive survey conducted by CNN-IBN and The Hindu have found majority of Indians to be non-vegetarians.

The food habits, however, varied on the basis of region and religion.

The survey reveals, while just 2 per cent of Kerala residents are vegetarian, less than 4 per cent survive on greens in Andhra Pradesh and 8 per cent in Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

The percentage of vegetarian families are higher in northern India, with Rajasthan accounting for 63 per cent vegetarian people, Haryana 62 per cent, Punjab 48 per cent, Gujarat 45 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 35 per cent and Uttar Pradesh 33 per cent. There are 9 per cent others who are vegetarians but they eat eggs.

Overall, only 31 per cent individuals prefer vegetarian food and 60 per cent others have shown a definite preference for non-vegetarian food.

In the overall count, 21 per cent Indian families are pure vegetarians while 44 per cent families prefer having non-vegetarian food.

And 32 per cent families have people who eat both vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian foods.

When it comes to beverages, tea and coffee remain the most favoured drinks with as many as 77 per cent people consuming tea or coffee on a daily basis while 44 per cent have milk everyday.

The percentage of people who consume soft drinks on a daily basis is still a low 15 per cent.

The survey, however, found that drinking habits were on the rise in both urban and rural areas in the last decade. As many as 40 per cent people agreed that alcohol consumption has increased considerably while 24 per cent believe that it has increased only a little.

Fourteen per cent people thought drinking has gone down in the last decade.

As many as 73 per cent people said the government should ban consumption of alcohol and while 18 per cent others said it should be left to the individual's choice.

The survey also found 21 per cent people to be regular smokers.

When asked about the quality of food available now as compared to their parents' generation, 45 per cent people said the quality has improved.

However, it was alarming is that almost one-third of the Indians still go without two square meals a day.

As many as 27 per cent Indians said in the survey that they experienced hunger sometimes in the last one year. That means one-third of India has experienced hunger often or sometimes in the last one year.

However, 65 per cent Indians say that they never experienced hunger in the last one year.

Incidence of hunger is higher among the rural poor with 45 per cent having experienced it. Over 40 per cent people in the urban poor category have experienced hunger.

Among dalits, 44 per cent say they have slept on a hungry stomach often during the last one year while 50 per cent Adivasis have experienced hunger at some point or the other during the last one year.

(Go to pages 2 and 3 bottom right buttons and see the charts)

Subject: International holy cow mail art exhibition

Haribol,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I am the author of "Picture a Cow" a little art book with quirky stuff about cows in it.

Now I am having a MAIL ART EXHIBITION in Brisbane Australia.

It is entitled "HOLY COW"

So if you could advertise it in your newsletter or on your website, (let the devotees around you know) I would be grateful. Already I have received art work from America for this event. It is in the spirit of increasing awareness about cows.

This would be the text for your advertising.

HOLY COW mail art exhibition.
A call to all cow lovers and artists, young and old.
Mail me a postcard sized artwork (any media, eg collage, crayon, pencil, watercolour...) using the theme, HOLY COW. Just stick my address on the back and yours too, like a postcard and a stamp for international postcards to this address:

TO
HOLY COW MAIL ART
PO BOX 145
Indooroopilly, 4068
QLD Australia.

Last post on December 25th, 2006. The exhibition will be in January at an inner city gallery. Your work will be on a website dedicated to the exhibition

VEGETARIAN FOODS: POWERFUL FOR HEALTH

A vegetarian diet has been advocated by everyone from philosophers, such as Plato and Nietzsche, to statesmen, such as Benjamin Franklin, to modern pop icons such as Paul McCartney and Bob Marley. Science is also on the side of vegetarian foods. A multitude of studies have proven the health benefits of a vegetarian diet to be remarkable.

"Vegetarian" is defined as avoiding all animal flesh, including fish and poultry. Vegetarians who avoid flesh, but do eat animal products such as cheese, milk, and eggs are ovo-lacto-vegetarians (ovo = egg; lacto = milk, cheese, etc.). The ranks of those who eschew all animal products are rapidly growing; these people are referred to as pure vegetarians or vegans (vee' guns). Scientific research shows that ovo-lacto-vegetarians are healthier than meat-eaters,and vegans are healthier than ovo-lacto- vegetarians.

Preventing Cancer

A vegetarian diet helps to prevent cancer. Numerous epidemiological and clinical studies have shown that vegetarians are nearly fifty percent less likely to die from cancer than non-vegetarians.1 Similarly, breast cancer rates are dramatically lower in nations, such as China, that follow plant- based diets. Interestingly, Japanese women who follow Western-style, meat- based diets are eight times more likely to develop breast cancer than women who follow a more traditional plant-based diet.2 Vegetarians also have lower rates of colon cancer than meat-eaters.3 Animal products are usually high in fat and always devoid of fiber. Meat and dairy products contribute to many forms of cancer, including cancer of the colon, breast, prostate, and other organs. Colon cancer has been directly linked to meat consumption. High-fat diets also encourage the body's production of estrogens, in particular, estradiol. Increased levels of this sex hormone have been linked to breast cancer. One recent study linked dairy products to an increased risk of ovarian cancer. The process of breaking down the lactose (milk sugar) into galactose evidently damages the ovaries.4

Vegetarians avoid the animal fat that is linked to cancer and get abundant fiber and vitamins that help to prevent cancer. In addition, blood analysis of vegetarians reveals a higher level of Natural Killer Cells, specialized white blood cells that attack cancer cells.5

Beating Heart Disease

Vegetarian diets also help prevent heart disease.Animal products are the main source of saturated fat and the only source of cholesterol in the diet. Vegetarians avoid these risky products. Additionally, fiber helps reduce cholesterol levels6, and animal products contain no fiber. One study even demonstrated that a low-fat, high-fiber, plant-based diet combined with stress reduction techniques, smoking cessation, and exercise could actually reverse atherosclerosis~hardening of the arteries.7 Heart diets that include animal products are much less effective, usually only slowing the process of atherosclerosis.

Lowering Blood Pressure

Back in the early 1900's, nutritionists noted that people who ate no meat had lower blood pressure.8 It was also discovered that vegetarian diets could, within two weeks, significantly reduce a person's blood pressure.9 These results were evident regardless of the sodium levels in the vegetarian diets.

Preventing and Reversing Diabetes

Non-insulin-dependent (adult-onset) diabetes can be better controlled and sometimes even eliminated through a low-fat, vegetarian diet along with regular exercise. Because such a diet is low in fat and high in fiber and complex carbohydrates, it allows insulin to work more effectively. The diabetic person can more easily regulate glucose levels. While a vegetarian diet cannot eliminate the need for insulin in people with insulin-dependent (childhood-onset) diabetes, it can often reduce the amounts of insulin used. Some scientists believe that insulin dependent diabetes may be caused by an auto-immune reaction to dairy proteins.

Gallstones, Kidney Stones, and Osteoporosis

Vegetarian diets have been shown to reduce one's chances of forming kidney stones and gallstones. Diets that are high in protein, especially animal protein, tend to cause the body to excrete more calcium, oxalate, and uric acid. These three substances are the main components of urinary tract stones. British researchers have advised that persons with a tendency to form kidney stones should follow a vegetarian diet.10 Similarly, high-cholesterol, high-fat diets~the typical meat-based diet~are implicated in the formation of gallstones.

For many of the same reasons, vegetarians are at a lower risk for osteoporosis. Since animal products force calcium out of the body, eating meat can promote bone loss. In nations with mainly vegetable diets (and without dairy product consumption), osteoporosis is less common than in the U.S.~even when calcium intake is also less than in the U.S.11

Asthma

A 1985 Swedish study demonstrated that asthmatics who practice a vegan diet for a full year have a marked decrease in their need for medications, and in their frequency and severity of asthma attacks.

Twenty-two of the twenty-four subjects reported improvement by the end of the year.12 Dairy allergies may be part of the reason.