Tonight on CNN...

Hare Krishna. The ISKCON Communications blog has been out of commission for some months; we are re-tooling and putting our energies into creating an informative website (which will include a blog) for IC. In the mean time, here is some news...

Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from a producer at CNN. She asked me to be a guest on a live Holiday Show, hosted by Christian speaker and journalist Roland Martin, on the subject of Christmas and the culture wars. The show is called "What Would Jesus Really Do?" and I will be part of a panel of representatives from other (i.e. - non-Christian) faith traditions.

The show is live, and is on tonight (12/21) and possiblly will be replay on Christmas Eve (12/24) at 8pm EST. Not sure about international airing.

I am excited and more than a little nervous. I've done media interviews on TV and radio before. But still, each time is like the first. The butterflies are already holding a Ratha Yatra festival in my stomach. Oh, and let's not forget... CNN is CNN.

I want to speak with integrity, warmth, and honesty. I want to communicate the essence of my faith's spiritual message, and do so in a way that comes from the heart as much as it does from my mouth. I want to be an instrument.

Dear reader, I know that I haven't been the best at keeping up my end of this blog relationship. Okay, okay: so I've been downright neglectful. But I hope that you will find it in your heart to tune in and say a prayer for me tonight. Under the glare of the hot lights, with cameras aimed at me, and knowing that millions (?) of people are watching me from the comfort of their living room couches... I will need all the prayers I can get.

More later, if I survive...

.v.

thank you for your patience

PLEASE NOTE:

This Blog is under heavy construction. We will return soon with fresh news and views (and maybe a new address). Til then, please check back for updates and pardon our mess.

Closed for Summer

Hare Krishna! Apologies to the regular readers of the ISKCON Communications Blog for not having posted in quite some time. I have been in Italy - first for an ISKCON Studies Institute conference, and then for some personal holiday time. The trip has been wonderful on many levels, but my expectations that I would have time to blog and a dependable internet connection have both proven unrealistic.

Here in Italy, I have noticed that life moves at a different pace than it does in North America. For instance, walking and bicycling is more common, meals can last several hours, and it is not frowned upon for grown adults to make time for naps in the middle of the day. Along those lines, I have also noticed that a lot of businesses and services simply close shop during these - the hottest, slowest days of summer. I have even started to get used to the simple handwritten signs on the doors of shops, cafés, or offices: <chiuso per ferie> aka closed for summer.

Unapologetic, in August many Italians pack up, flee the cities, and head for the mountains and seaside for some needed rejuvenation. And the unadorned notes they leave behind simply state the truth - "We are taking a break right now. We will be back soon enough. The world will not fall apart without us here, nor will anyone forget about us. We need this time to ourselves, but we will serve you again."

Readers, please consider this blog post my "closed for summer" sign for the IC blog. I hope that when I am back in the States and have had a chance to catch my breath and deal with the overflow of emails awaiting me, I can get back to blogging with a new passion. I'm also excited to explore some new ideas - like making this IC a team blog and building a first-draft IC website.

But all of that will happen, I hope, in due time. Til then, please excuse the locks on the door and shutters on the windows.

ys,

Vyenkata Bhatta dasa

Washington Post story on ISKCON's response to Hindu Prayer Disruption

This story appeared in the Washington Post, page A4, on Friday, July 27. I had worked with the reporter, Michelle Boorstein to help communicate ISKCON's response to the disruption of Hindu prayer. The article focuses on that fact that ISKCON Communications was one of the groups who wrote to political leaders to encourage them to support the Hindu community and condemn the bigotry.

Here is the article:

Hindu Groups Ask '08 Hopefuls to Criticize Protest

By Michelle Boorstein

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 27, 2007; Page A04

U.S. Hindu organizations are urging presidential candidates to denounce the protesters who disrupted the Senate as the first-ever Hindu opening prayer was being delivered this month.

Ante Nedlko Pavkovic, Katherine Lynn Pavkovic and Christan Renee Sugar -- identified in the Christian media as a couple and their daughter -- were removed from the Senate floor and arrested by Capitol Police on July 12 after they began shouting, "This is an abomination," and asking for forgiveness from God.

The three, from Davidson, N.C., were arrested and charged with disrupting Congress, a misdemeanor.

A brief prayer was then delivered by Rajan Zed, a chaplain from Reno who was invited by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.).

Several Christian organizations spoke out against the prayer, before and after it was delivered. The American Family Association circulated a petition, urging its members to contact their senator to protest the prayer. "This is not a religion that has produced great things in the world," it read. The Rev. Flip Benham of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America issued a statement saying the prayer placed "the false god of Hinduism on a level playing field with the One True God, Jesus Christ."

Although the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington issued a statement July 17 saying its members were "deeply saddened" by the interruption, no senators present spoke out against it publicly, according to the Hindu American Foundation and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

Both organizations said they are disappointed with the legislators, and they sent letters this week to presidential candidates and senators, asking them to condemn the incident.

"We call on you to follow the example set by [Reid] and take a stance in defense of religious freedom and equality, in the face of opposition from extremists and fundamentalists," the ISKCON letter said.

A focus of the Christian organizations was the perception that Hindus are polytheistic. "Our national motto isn't 'In gods we trust,' " Janet L. Folger, president of Faith2Action, said the day before the Senate prayer.

However, the U.S. Hindu groups say this criticism reflects ignorance of the monotheistic underpinnings of their faith. Hinduism has many deities, all manifestations of one god.

Although there were only three protesters, said Ishani Chowdhury, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, "if you look at it as a reflection of a larger number of people . . . we need people to condemn what happened and highlight the need for dialogue."

According to the foundation, there are 2 million Hindus in the United States.

source

Srila Prabhupada: "This Krishna consciousness movement is not a concocted idea..."

With Hindu prayers in the Senate, and the Hindu American Foundation including the persecution of devotees in Kazakhstan in their Human Rights report... some may wonder about ISKCON's relationship with the Hindu world.

That's a big subject, but one aspect of it is that sometimes devotees use Hinduism as a context to help others appreciate that Krishna consciousness is rooted in an ancient tradition, not a new-fangled cult. For instance, for years at the American Academy of Religion (AAR, the yearly convention of religion scholars) ISKCON and Caitanya Vaisnavism was discussed mostly in the "New Religious Movements" category. Today, due to the work of devotees in this area, the Hare Krishna movement is more likely to be discussed in the Hindu Studies or Eastern Religions section.

In this letter published in the Los Angeles Times, Srila Prabhupada refutes a claim (made by a professor at UCLA) that Krishna consciousness is a new concoction or a syncretic blending of Hindu and Christian traditions. Instead, Prabhupada points out, the worship of a personal Godhead (Krishna or Vishnu) has existed in the Hindu religion for thousands of years. Interestingly, here Prabhupada uses the context of Hinduism to help others (especially those in the academic community) better appreciate that Krishna worship is an authentic faith:

January 14, 1970

Editor
Los Angeles Times

Dear Sir:

With reference to your article in the Los Angeles Times dated Sunday, January 11, 1970, under the heading "Krishna Chant," I beg to point out that the Hindu religion is perfectly based on the personal conception of God, or Vishnu. The impersonal conception of God is a side issue, or one of the three features of God. The Absolute Truth is ultimately the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Paramatma conception is the localized aspect of His omnipresence, and the impersonal conception is the aspect of His greatness and eternity. But all these combined together make the Complete Whole. Dr. J. F. Staal's statement that the Krishna cult is a combination of Christian and Hindu religion, as if something manufactured by concoction, is not correct. If Christian, Muhammadan, or Buddhist religions are personal, that is quite welcome. But the Krishna religion has been personal from a time long, long ago when Christian, Muhammadan, and Buddhist religions had not yet come into existence. According to the Vedic conception, religion is basically made by the personal God as His laws. Religion cannot be manufactured by man or anyone except God superior to man. Religion is the law of God only.

Unfortunately, all the svamis who came before me in this country stressed the impersonal aspect of God, without sufficient knowledge of God's personal aspect. In the Bhagavad-gita, therefore, it is said that only less intelligent persons consider that God is originally impersonal but assumes a form when He incarnates. The Krishna philosophy, however, based on the authority of the Vedas, is that originally the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. His plenary expansion is present in everyone's heart in His localized aspect, and the impersonal Brahman effulgence is the transcendental light and heat distributed everywhere. In the Bhagavad-gita it is clearly said that the aim of the Vedic way of searching out the Absolute Truth is to find the personal God. One who is satisfied only with the other aspects of the Absolute Truth, namely the Paramatma feature or the Brahman feature, is to be considered possessed of a poor fund of knowledge. Recently we have published our Sri Isopanisad, a Vedic literature, and in this small booklet we have thoroughly discussed this point.

As far as the Hindu religion is concerned, there are millions of Krishna temples in India, and there is not a single Hindu who does not worship Krishna. Therefore, this Krishna consciousness movement is not a concocted idea. We invite all scholars, philosophers, religionists, and members of the general public to understand this movement by critical study. And if one does so seriously, one will understand the sublime position of this great movement. The chanting process is also authorized.

Professor Staal's feeling of disgust in the matter of constant chanting of the holy name of Krishna is a definite proof of his lack of knowledge in this authorized movement of Krishna consciousness. Instead of turning down the request to give Kary's course credit, he and all other learned professors of the University of California at Berkeley should patiently hear about the truth of this authorized movement so much needed at present in godless society. [Credit for the course was later established.]

This is the only movement which can save the confused younger generation. I shall invite all responsible guardians of this country to understand this transcendental movement and then give us all honest facilities to spread it for everyone's benefit.

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Spiritual Master of the Hare Krishna Movement

Connecting with God in Crisis

I stumbled across some advice for dealing with crises of faith on Jewcy, a hipster Jewish community blog. I found it interesting for a few reasons:

1. In advising Jews to not abandon their communities, the author begins with the blunt (actually, kind of rude) sentence: "Hare Krishna is not a good idea." Okay, so I'm tempted to be maha-offended, except that I try to understand it in context. First of all, the point being made (communicated cheekily, to be sure) is that in times of theological doubt don't be quick to jump ship and switch teams. Fair enough. And the fact that so many young Jews -- presumably some of whom went through theological crises beforehand -- did join ISKCON in the 1960s and 1970s makes it understandable why some Jewish people might harbor some particular mistrust toward us.
   
2. A few paragraphs later, the author recommends that the crisis-faring Jew try yoga. Ring, ring, ring. What was that? I'm sorry I couldn't hear you, my irony alarm was ringing too loudly.
   
3. Despite #1 and #2, it is the type of down-to-earth, simple, well-written advice that I'd like to see more of circulated within Krishna conscious circles.
   

Til then, I'm going to "Krishna-ize" this list. Yes, that means I will just jack the list and search replace KC terms for all of the Jewish ones. Bear with me.

(And if you'd like to see the list as it is, check it out here.) Okay, here it goes...

For a number of reasons I’m friends with a lot of people who are constantly being tormented by crises of faith. There are smart, educated, engaged Hare Krishnas who are passionate about Krishna consciousness most days-- until they find themselves rubbing up against the edges of acceptability within their own communities. Maybe they fall in love with someone who’s not a devotee. Maybe they become frustrated by a closed-minded understanding of sastric criticism. Maybe they have had a bad experience with a senior devotee, guru, or temple president. Maybe onion rings suddenly look really appealing. Whatever the impetus, the crisis it brings on is intense and frustrating. Men and women who have devoted years of their lives to Vaishnava study and education, who are active members of a community, who regularly pray, give donations to the temple, and are involved in various devotional programs, suddenly lose motivation, and feel alienated and angry. And for a few days, or a few weeks, or months, or years, they distance themselves from everything that they once used to identify themselves. Depending on their background, their families begin to freak out. Some of their friends edge away, suddenly uncomfortable with someone they’ve known for years.

Freak. Out.: It's normal

1. Don’t abandon your community
Chances are, this crisis is a temporary thing. Though you’re feeling tormented today, by next Wednesday, or a month from now, or next year, you’ll be over it. You might not end up in exactly the same place as you have been, but just in case, it’s important to maintain a connection to your community—whether it’s a temple, a bhakti vriksha group, a group of godbrothers and sisters, or the devotees in your neighborhood. You want to keep these people around for practical reasons . They will feed and comfort you in times of crisis, and cheer you on when things are going swimmingly. Alienating them will only end up badly. If you really can’t stand to attend Sunday Feasts anymore, or you’ve decided that gurukula ruined your life and you refuse to go back for a reunion, try to do something that keeps you in the loop—even if it means you’re consciously shifting yourself into a less public or involved position. Show up just for mangala arati on a weekday. Have prasadam with old devotee friends. Keep in mind that many of your friends have gone through similar ordeals, and they’re probably willing to be pretty tolerant of whatever you need to do or not do. As long as you don’t bring the onion rings to a home program, there’s no reason you can’t maintain your position in the community.

2. Don’t join another community right away
Returning to your Jewish roots is not a good idea. :-) Having a crisis at the Sunday Feast and then leaving Monday morning to run off with the circus is probably not going to turn out well. Respect the speed of your own transition, and accept that you may need some space from any kind of theological community for awhile.

3. Don’t use this time to experiment with new substances
Replacing a Krishna habit with a crack habit is probably not going to work out well for you.

4. Consider Krishna
For some reason, most of my friends who struggle with the pulls of Krishna consciousness and modernity don’t consider their struggles to have much to do with Krishna at all. And that confuses me, because it seems like Krishna is at the center of Krishna consciousness, and if I’m having a problem with Krishna consciousness it’s because I’m having a problem with either my own or someone else’s interpretation of what Krishna wants. Think about where Krishna fits into your religious life, and think about allowing space for a God that trusts you to live your life the best way you can. Consider that you might let Krishna down without being cast to the Hellish Planets. Consider how much you care about letting Krishna down—if at all. (I don’t mean this in a pretentious way. I frequently decide that I just couldn't do whatever I think Krishna expected of me. And I’m sorry about it, but I accept it, and move on, and hope that next time I’m more up to the challenge). If you don’t believe in Krishna anymore, try and pin down why, and whether or not you still want to be around/involved with people who don’t feel the same way. Just because you have doubts, doesn't mean that you cannot stay within the shelter of a devotional community.

5. Work out
Okay, this is kind of cheesy, but I find that going to the gym makes me feel calmer and more able to deal with my problems no matter what kind of crap is going down in my religious, academic or personal life. If you’re not too intimidated or annoyed by the idea of a hatha yoga class, I highly recommend them. To find a yoga studio near you, try talking with devotees who are involved in the yoga scene -- many of them incorporate bhakti-yoga and can also provide a devotional mood.

6. State your needs
I’m big on just asking for what you want instead of beating around the bush. When your theology is falling apart, think about what you want from religion. Do you want a comforting picture of the afterlife? Do you want Vedic culture and no religion whatsoever? Do you want to chant in kirtan, but no sense of obligation to the rules and regulations? Do you want the advantages of being a member of a tight-knit community? When you can state clearly what you really want from Krishna consciousness, and what you don’t want, too, then you can start looking for ways to maintain your identity as a devotee without ignoring the problems that brought you to the edge of your faith.

7. Stop worrying about being a hypocrite
Everyone’s a hypocrite. You need to be honest and dignified with yourself, but it’s completely reasonable to say something along the lines of, “I think the Vedic standards are really important, and not something that I’m comfortable disregarding, but I’m in favor of gay rights, gay marriage, and gay pride.” Accepting that you’re going to struggle with something is a nice way of keeping your head from exploding.

8. Respect your own decisions, and everyone else’s, too
You might decide that you can’t participate in a community because of its position on women, homosexuality, social justice, how to follow ekadasi…whatever. Flaunting your new self in the faces of former friends and acquaintances is a quick and easy way to burn bridges and look like an idiot. Try to be cool with people whose journeys haven’t coincided with yours. If you need to, I recommend spewing hatred into a journal. Harmless, but highly effective.

9. Seriously, chill out
It happens to the best of us.

originally by Tamar Fox; conversion by VBD

Smile!

Check out this Day in Pictures from BBC News. (Click on Number 4.)

Just a little reminder that even in a day filled with heat waves, soccer games, forest fires, and political milestones, the Lord of the Universe finds a way to keep on smiling for the cameras.

HAF Human Rights report released

The Hindu American Foundation's 2006 Human Rights report, detailing human rights violations against Hindus around the globe, was released this past week. This year's report includes a chapter written (by me) on the persecution of Krishna devotees in Kazakhstan.

From Ishani, the HAF executive director:

The 202 page, eleven country report more than doubles the country and region-specific coverage of our 2nd annual report released last year. It covers the areas of genocide, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, rape, murder, discrimination, temple destruction, socio-political ostracization, disenfranchisement, and forced conversions Hindus. The nations included are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad and Tobago. The report is prefaced by a detailed executive summary that provides specific recommendations that the foundation is proposing to improve the human rights situation in each listed country.

The HAF report has also attracted some media attention, including this article from Argus, a Bay-Area publication. The Argus piece includes some of Ishani's comments on Kazakhstan:

Chowdhury said the third annual "Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights" doubles the number of countries scrutinized since last year, adding Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and others.

"Kazakhstan, that wasn't even on our radar until early last year," she said, noting that Hindus there are less than 1 percent of the population. "The government is pretty much not recognizing Hinduism as a religion. Even that amount is considered a threat."

The HAF Human Rights report is a great example of why ISKCON needs to develop and maintain relationships with others, and how we can do it. Whereas thirty years ago, many devotees may not have seen that need, today we must realize that the world around is becoming increasingly interdependent.

But don't we risk losing our identity or compromising our beliefs by mixing with others? Not necessarily.

We may not agree with everything that a group like the Hindu American Foundation does, just as we can't expect HAF to buy-in to every position we take. In the new world, however, we must come together on issues of shared concern while allowing space for disagreement or individual belief.

Check out the report here, at the HAF site.

Read ISKCON North America's endorsement of the report here.

Hindu in the Senate, Bigots in the crowd

Aren't Hindu chants usually supposed to mellow people out? Apparently not. Breaking news today (thanks for the heads up, Sree) is that the first Hindu prayer opening the Senate in U.S. history... was disrupted by hecklers and protesters, who branded the Hindu prayer an "abomination."

I had blogged about some negative reaction to the Hindu prayer in an earlier post, but had opined that the voices of dissent were few and extremist. Sadly, I might have underestimated the power of prejudice.

This news report on the Raw Story reported that

Three people were arrested Thursday after staging a noisy protest as a Hindu chaplain read the opening prayer at the US Senate, branding his appearance an "abomination."

US Capitol Police said the protesters, apparently Christian religious activists, were ejected from the chamber and charged with an unlawful disruption of Congress.

As Hindu chaplain Rajan Zed started to recite his prayer, one protest or was heard chanting "Lord Jesus, forgive us father for allowing a prayer which is an abomination in your sight.

"You are the one, true living God."

Ugh. I especially like the last line. I can just imagine Hollywood's Old Bearded Man conception of God calling back down "Dude! Thanks for the reminder."

Occasionally, ISKCON devotees or Hindus opine that we ought to befriend the Religious Right, reasoning that -- like us -- they favor religion in the public square and a more faith-based approach to engaging with the world. Which is all well and good, except that there is a very ugly double standard at work that becomes glaringly obvious at times like this. The Raw Story post highlights this nicely:

The pressure group Americans United for Separation of Church and State condemned the protest.

"This shows the intolerance of many Religious Right activists," said the group's executive director, Reverend Barry Lynn.

"They say they want more religion in the public square, but it's clear they mean only their religion."

A press release from the Americans United for Separation of Church and State gives Lynn's whole statement, and also includes this juicy food for thought:

Religious Right groups have been agitating against the Hindu leader’s prayer since it was announced. The Rev. Donald Wildmon’s American Family Association has asked his members to complain to their senators about the invitation. The group’s news service reported that “Christian nation” activist David Barton said that Hinduism has few followers in the United States and that prayer to a “non-monotheistic god” is “outside the American paradigm.”

More than a few problems with Barton's enlightened view. For starters, there are anywhere from 1 to 2 million Hindus in the United States -- and possible more if you include followers of Hindu-based gurus and spiritual movements who are reticent to self-identify as an organized religion in the Western sense of the term. In any event, "few followers" is not quite an appropriate term. Secondly, how Barton can decide that Hindus pray to a "non-monotheistic god" (lower case g alert! lower case g alert!) is beyond me -- there are certainly Hindu monotheists (the list includes, but is not limited to me, Ramanujacharya, about 70% of all Hindus in North and South India). And finally, I wonder what "American paradigm" founding father Thomas Jefferson's leanings towards Deism fall under? Hmmmm.

Jesus promised that the meek shall inherit the earth, but til then a few self-righteous morons who claim to be His PR department had this to say:

WASHINGTON, July 12 /Christian Newswire/ -- Ante Pavkovic, Kathy Pavkovic, and Kristen Sugar were all arrested in the chambers of the United States Senate as that chamber was violated by a false Hindu god. The Senate was opened with a Hindu prayer placing the false god of Hinduism on a level playing field with the One True God, Jesus Christ. This would never have been allowed by our Founding Fathers.

"Not one Senator had the backbone to stand as our Founding Fathers stood. They stood on the Gospel of Jesus Christ! There were three in the audience with the courage to stand and proclaim, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' They were immediately removed from the chambers, arrested, and are in jail now. God bless those who stand for Jesus as we know that He stands for them." Rev. Flip Benham, Director, Operation Save America/Operation Rescue

Again with the Founding Fathers being super-Christians? Cheese and rice!

I'll try to keep posting about this if there are any developments, especially since I am attending the SAJA convention in NYC right now. Til then, maybe we all need to say some prayers about the state of our "religiously plural" nation tonight.

(Read the SAJA Forum post on this subject here)

festival as outreach

I will be attending the Toronto Ratha Yatra,the biggest -- and rumored to be the best -- Ratha Yatra in North America, this weekend.

That got me thinking about the communications purpose of these festivals, and their significance for ISKCON.

A blogger in Montreal recently stumbled upon one such Ratha Yatra festival and wrote a short but nice observation. Here's the intro teaser:

Every year, I see colorful tents set up at the corner of Parc and Mont-Royal in Jeanne Mance Park for the Hare Krishna/Hindu festival. I've also seen the colorful chariot covered in flowers parade by. There's always free food given out and you would think that me being me - where there's food, I would be there - but oddly enough, I have never gone to check things out. This year, I decided to be more adventurous and went to visit the festival site...

(Read the whole thing here)

I think as devotees we sometimes take it for granted that these festivals -- as much as they are in need of repair, revamping, and re-strategizing -- are attractive and valuable gifts that ISKCON shares with the world. In a world where "preaching" usually means some holier-than-thou fanatic thumping on a ____ (insert your scripture of choice) and talking down to people, such events can be an effective and pleasing way of sharing the culture of God consciousness with others.

Go Go Govinda's!

In case you missed it... a wonderful story on the Govinda's restuarant in St. Louis. Srila Prabhupada had a strong desire to see Krishna devotees open more and more vegetarian restaurants where people can be given an experience of Krishna consciousness through delicious prasadam, and a pleasant and spiritually uplifting atmosphere. Way to go, devotees of St. Louis!

Govinda's: Who knew Hare Krishnas have good vegetarian buffet?

By Stefanie Ellis

SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH

07/04/2007

In this age of instant gratification, constant flux and a demand for bigger and better, sometimes there's nothing more satisfying than simplicity — particularly when it comes to food. While I love innovation in the kitchen, sometimes I feel as if one more blood orange-tomato-pea emulsion might just send me over the edge. Thankfully, when gustatory stimulation reaches an all-time high, I can find solace in the quiet embrace of my favorite Hare Krishna temple.

I don't go there to pray, though. I go there to eat.

Those who have never been to, nor heard of, the full vegetarian buffet you can get for $7 inside a temple in midtown St. Louis might be a bit confused. Let me explain. Govinda's is an extension of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). ISKCON followers (better known as the Hare Krishna movement) adhere to a strict vegetarian diet, which includes no meat, fish or eggs. Caffeine is avoided, as are onions, garlic and mushrooms due to their belief that those foods have adverse effects on the consciousness of the eater.

That said, no one at the temple has ever, in all my years of patronage, tried to lecture me on faith. That's not part of the deal.

Govinda's has a modest buffet, yet its offerings are full of flavor, making it impossible not to sample something from each of the categories — which typically include a lentil-based soup, savories such as pakora (vegetables dredged in chickpea flour and deep fried), salad, pappadum (dried crackers made of lentil flour), chapati (saucer-size rounds of soft wheat bread), brown and basmati rice, sabji (stew) and halva, a farina-based dessert made with butter, sugar, fruit and nuts.

The sabji on a recent visit was a sweet and slightly incendiary tomato sauce puréed with homemade cheese and laced with chunks of the same cheese and sweet peas. The cheese was firm and buttery like a very mild mozzarella, and did well to thicken up the sauce. A dish of thinly sliced green beans dusted with coconut was distinctly different. The coconut, though unsweetened, pulled the sweetness from the green beans, and when eaten with nutty basmati rice was an intoxicating combination.

The pakora, which I think of as tiny doughnuts made of chickpea flour, were too spicy for me. The salad is always my favorite — so long as they have the almond dressing. A simple blend of olive oil, puréed almonds and a bit of spices, it makes for a healthy alternative to traditional cream-based dressings. Fresh romaine lettuce is offered alongside toppings of peppers, olives, carrots, cucumbers and beets.

The orange, walnut and date halva was refreshing and owed most of its sweetness to the sugar in the dates. There were bits of orange zest throughout the dish, imparting a nice, mellow orange flavor that paired well with the dates. A chilled tea is always offered, and its flavor changes daily.

Perhaps to cool the fire from the sabji and pakora, the offering on my visit was chamomile with honey. It was wonderfully soothing, not to mention perfect for a hot St. Louis day. Of course, so much more about my day was perfect. It was just me, a plate of delicious food and a giant helping of peace. What a bargain.

source

5-second Siddhanta

In his fantastic blog post about preparation and communication, Sita-pati Prabhu points out the need for devotees to become communicators:

You know, it's actually easier to give a longer presentation than a short one. The shorter the presentation, the more preparation you need. The ultimate is when someone sticks a camera and microphone in your face and says: "What do Hare Krishnas say about X". You have five seconds to give the siddhanta in a coherent, punchy sound bite. Are you ready for that?

The fact of the matter is that all devotees have an obligation to learn communications principles, work at honing these skills, and should be prepared to exercise them when appropriate. Communications is not just something for "those prabhus" in the PR department to whip out when a scandal hits -- it is the ability to effectively and accurately share the Krishna conscious perspective (the siddhanta) in a way that is faithful to the tradition and yet sensitive to time, place, and circumstance. And that is a task that we are charged with, by definition, if we are to be part of Lord Caitanya's mission.

Of course, that is not to say that everyone should take on the role of spokesperson for ISKCON. Like any other service, there will be some who will be better suited to do communications work than others. But -- and I think this is where Sita-pati prabhu's post really hits the nail on the head -- the lowest common denominator should be to prepare all devotees (at least theoretically) to deal with the camera and microphone five second scenario. That is to say, all devotees should be given the resources and skills to "preach effectively at a moment's notice or under any conditions or circumstances."

Sita-pati prabhu goes on to share an exciting idea for one such resource:

I have a desire to produce a book which presents all the commonly asked questions, along with soundbite answers, followed by more indepth explanations and supporting evidence, and advice on which one to use when. "Hare Krishna Frequently Asked Questions" is the working title. I got the idea for this by spending a couple of years hosting school pupils on their religious education investigations in a temple in Peru. They ask the same questions, over and over again. Finally I made a photo album with pictures of initiations, weddings, children, and so on, to help answer them nicely. In the same period of time I was interviewed by the media on several occasions, and really found out the dire necessity of having your sound bite brahmastras ready to roll.

At ISKCON Communications, we've done some FAQ's in the past -- particularly for media in North America -- but they are terribly out-dated and in need of revision. So, I'm psyched... and hope that Sita-pati prabhu will allow me to assist in this project in whatever way I can.

Read more from Sita-pati at Atma Yogi.

more on the Vrindavan Widows

from the SAJA forum blog:

MEDIA WATCH: Did CNN quietly change its story on India's widows?

Did CNN alter its questionable story on India's widows in response to criticism? That's what blogger and ISKCON member Vineet Chander suggests. He was one of many people, in and out of SAJA, who found generalizations and questionable assertions in the piece ("Shunned from Society, Widows flock to City to Die"), along the lines of what Arthur Dudney wrote in SAJAforum a few days ago ("The Western Press and its Blanket Statements"). On the SAJA Discussion list, a number of people across the political spectrum found that the story ascribed too much to 'tradition' rather than to more complex social realities.

Vineet noted the story in an item on his blog yesterday, then went back and looked at the CNN website again today. He found 2 examples of how the original piece had been changed. The first example is the opening sentence, while the second example is in the following graf:

Original Piece: "Ostracized by society, India's widows flock to the holy city of Vrindavan waiting to die..."

Changed to: "Ostracized by society, thousands of India's widows flock to the holy city of Vrindavan waiting to die...."

Original Piece: "Hindu widows are shunned from society when their husbands die, not for religious reasons, but because of tradition..."

Changed to: "These Hindu widows, the poorest of the poor, are shunned from society when their husbands die, not for religious reasons, but because of tradition -- and because they're seen as a financial drain on their families..."

After reading it further, I found this change as well:

Original Version: "There are an estimated 40 million widows in India, many of them shunned and stripped of the life they lived when they were married."

Changed to: There are an estimated 40 million widows in India, the least fortunate of them shunned and stripped of the life they lived when they were married."

Another aspect of the story that was criticized, and not just by Hindu activists, was its failure to show how numerous groups in India are contending with this problem. Vineet told SAJAforum that foreign media outlets such as CNN need to work extra hard to grasp this, in order to avoid sensationalizing the issue or mis-representing it.

Like other groups within the Hindu fold, the organization that I work with (ISKCON) is reaching out to help the widows while being sensitive to the religious and cultural context of Vrindavan. Food for Life Vrindavan, an ISKCON affiliate dedicated to promoting grassroots sustainable development in the area, organizes a women’s empowerment program that includes everything from nutritious food distribution to adult education centers and micro crediting. The program collaborates with the National Bank for Rural & Agriculture Development (NABARD) and the Polytechnic Institute for Women in New Delhi. Unfortunately, whether because of ignorance or lack of space, we rarely hear of this kind of stuff in stories like the CNN one. That part of the story needs to be told.

Arthur Dudney left a comment on the story here, noting that while CNN was right to cover this very important issue, it failed to do a thorough job:

There is no attempt in this CNN piece to make it clear that it is not an ironclad rule of Hindu society that widows must be exiled to Vrindavan. The complex reasons for why a widow might be mistreated are dismissed in one graf. As usual, these generalizations wouldn't work if the article were about abuse of the elderly in American nursing homes.

Posted by Arun Venugopal
source

US Senate to Open with Hindu Prayers

According to the Times of India for the first time ever, the US Senate will open with Hindu prayers.

U.S. Senate to open with Hindu prayers

New York: History will be created when a Hindu prayer will be recited at the opening of the US Senate in Washington DC on July 12.

Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain, said that he had been officially asked to say the prayer. He said he believes this may be the first time any Hindu prayer is delivered in the Senate since its formation in 1789.

Zed is likely to choose the prayer from the Rig Veda, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita. He said he plans to start and end the prayer with 'Om', the mystical Hindu syllable. The full text of the prayer will be included in the Congressional Record.

There are an estimated two million Indian Americans in the US.

Followers of Hindu groups like ISKCON may add up to another one million.

Great news! Although opening the Senate with prayer is something of a perfunctory formality, the fact that a Hindus has been invited is a sign of increased diversity and the inclusion of religious minorities. And who would have a problem with that?

Oops, apparently there are some folks who do. The red-blooded love-it-or-leave-it Archie Bunker Americans at this blog think that the very idea of having Hindu prayers is "a slap in the face to the one true God, the Judeo Christian God."

(an aside: I've always thought the idea of a "Judeo-Christian God" was weird. It makes it seem like God is some old bearded man at a cocktail party introducing Himself by way of his dual-identity. "Hi, I'm the Judeo-Christian God. Yeah, My dad's side is Jewish, but My mom is a Catholic." A bit odd, but anyway...)

Fans of the charmingly fascist PC-Free Zone -- which also features a graphic that says "Allah Sucks" -- added equally bone-headed insights like:

America is a Christian country! Christian men and women, Christian morals and Christian values made America great. Quit trying to degrade our heritage.

and

Who invited this Turkey? In High Schools they are not allowed to pray before a football game but the Senate is allowed to have some second rate money changer saying a prayer.

Is it really 2007? All I can say is... we've got our work cut out for us.

Vrindavan's Widows on CNN

The top story on CNN.com -- beating out the arrest of Al Gore's son and a new video from Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri -- is this story on shunned widows awaiting death in Vrindavan.

As expected, readers are horrified by the backwards and inhumane treatment of these women -- 40 million in India, and 15 thousand on the streets of Vrindavan. Some blame Hinduism or the Vedic scriptures for this cruel practice. Others say that it is all about money and greed.

As Gaudiya Vaisnavas we hold Vrindavan to be sacred ground -- Lord Krishna's own abode. How do we reconcile that belief with the adharmic treatment of thousands that is purportedly happening there? Can we or should we do something about it? Or is this just a case of a pro-Westernized, anti-Hindu media slant, hyping a story where there really is none? Is this an opportunity for ISKCON to be proactive and take a stance, or an embarrassment that we should hope just goes away?

In any event, one thing is clear: even if we don't have the answers on this one, we must be willing to face the questions.

Here is the beginning of the article:

Shunned from Society, Widows Flock to City to Die
by Arwa Damon; CNN

VRINDAVAN, India (CNN) -- Ostracized by society, India's widows flock to the holy city of Vrindavan waiting to die. They are found on side streets, hunched over with walking canes, their heads shaved and their pain etched by hundreds of deep wrinkles in their faces.

Hindu widows are shunned from society when their husbands die, not for religious reasons, but because of tradition -- and because they're seen as a financial drain on their families.

They cannot remarry. They must not wear jewelry. They are forced to shave their heads and typically wear white. Even their shadows are considered bad luck.

Hindus have long believed that death in Vrindavan will free them from the cycle of life and death. For widows, they hope death will save them from being condemned to such a life again.

"Does it feel good?" says 70-year-old Rada Rani Biswas. "Now I have to loiter just for a bite to eat."

Biswas speaks with a strong voice, but her spirit is broken. When her husband of 50 years died, she was instantly ostracized by all those she thought loved her, including her son.

"My son tells me: 'You have grown old. Now who is going to feed you? Go away,' " she says, her eyes filling with tears. "What do I do? My pain had no limit."

As she speaks, she squats in front of one of Vrindavan's temples, her life reduced to begging for scraps of food.

There are an estimated 40 million widows in India, many of them shunned and stripped of the life they lived when they were married.

It's believed that 15,000 widows live on the streets of Vrindavan, a city of about 55,000 in northern India....

(read the whole story here, at CNN.com)

Watch how some widows are rebelling »

source

inner space

This article from the Austin American Statesman describes a bhakti yoga class that seems to present the teachings of Krishna consciousness in an innovative, relevant, and attractive way. I don't know if the devotee running the program described here is a member of ISKCON or not, but I think his approach is inspiring and dynamic, and can teach us all a thing or two about effectively communicating Srila Prabhupada's mission.

Finding Inner Space for Meditation:
a little yoga can go a long way

I didn't know quite what to expect when I crossed the threshold of the Austin Meditation Center for the first time. I slipped off my sandals and placed them neatly on the shelf available by the door for this purpose, then took a look around.

The best way to describe the center is also the most clichéd: It was peaceful. I was greeted by the yogi, an older Englishman with a wide smile on his face. Richard Davis seemed to radiate energy and life. We sat down and talked for a while as others trickled in.

After offering us water, organic cherries and whole wheat, sugar-free, homemade cookies, he led us into the next room, where seats and pillows formed a circle on the hardwood floor. The walls were lined with paintings of figures such as Krishna and Christ. We sat as he took his place in front, closing the circle.

Richard took time discussing the concept of mantra meditation with us beginners. He told us that there are two worlds — the material world, and that of the spirit — and that we are "in illusion" when we believe that we are our bodies, and that we are of this material world. We wear our bodies like we wear a T-shirt, he said. The T-shirt is not us; we only wear it. We are "atma," the spirit-soul, that divine spark that differentiates between a living body and a dead one.

He shared an analogy of a fish in the ocean. If you were to take such a fish and put him on the hot, sandy beach, would he be happy? No. He belongs in the ocean. Likewise we, as spiritual beings, can never find happiness in the material world, try as we may. We will only find happiness when we reconnect with our "atma." Happiness — pure bliss — is possible only through the sound vibrations of mantra. Mantra is the vehicle that takes us there, to that place within.

Richard then taught us three kinds of mantra meditation. The first, "breathing meditation," consisted of saying a one-word mantra, "Gauranga," upon exhaling our breath. We inhaled deeply and when we could inhale no more, we began to push out each syllable: "Gaur ... Ra ... Ang ... Ga." "Gauranga" means the "golden effulgence" or light that surrounds God, and can be used as a name for God Himself.

Next we learned "japa meditation." We chanted a phrase as we moved our fingers along wooden beads to keep track. "Gopala Govinda Rama Madana Mohana," we repeated, which I soon learned were other names for God.

Meditation and chanting form patterns similar to the worship I had experienced in Christian churches. The most striking similarity came when we did "kirtan," which was singing the names of God as Richard played guitar: "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare."

Despite the familiarity of the phrase from popular culture, to a Western woman who was raised within the Christian church, this was all so new and strange. Yet I had made a commitment to try it, and I wanted to see if it really did offer contentment.

And so, I did it each day in my home, breathing and chanting and counting the beads. I was surprised to find that mantra had sneaked into my subconscious and was pervading my life: It was in my head at work and I would chant it under my breath in the car. In addition, I felt peace envelop me, as if nothing could harm me any longer. When I heard bad news, it did not break me. I felt above it, able to handle anything. I felt my anxiety and even some of my customary road rage dissipate. This was quite welcome.

I am still new to meditation and to the doctrines of karma, reincarnation and the like that surround it, and I cannot honestly say that I believe every single one of these precepts. Maybe I will come to, and maybe I will not. I will, however, continue to make time and space for contemplation, silence and peace in my ever-whirling, ever-changing world.

April D. Boland is a writer and editor from New York City who currently works in marketing as she completes her English literature degree.

source

Practice makes perfect

A week or two of not posting and I've (re-) discovered the obvious: blogging, like any other form of communication, is a type of sadhana, or a disciplined practice.

In the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition, sadhana is understood to come in two flavors: vaidhi (governed by rules and regulations) and raga (characterized by spontaneity).

As blogging sadhakas, we look to the day when writing will become like breathing; when the words will flow spontaneously and freely, and connection between the thoughts in the head, the feelings in the heart, and the words on the screen will be seamless. But that purity must be earned, and it is purchased through regularity, sincerity, and consistency.

Ultimately, it requires us to be enthusiastic (to embrace our practice and "just write"), patient (with ourselves and the process, humbled by writer's block, mismanaged time, and other indications of how much farther we have to go), and confident (that as long as we are committed to the practice, Krishna will carry us to our goal and use as His instruments).

The Power of Prasadam?

I just can't make this stuff up, folks.

From the Indian news, also making the rounds on some "stranger than fiction" types of blogs:

Prison food too good to leave

Inmates of an Indian prison are reportedly refusing to apply for bail because the food is so good.

Parappana Agrahara prison in Bangalore is crowded with 4,700 inmates, more than twice its capacity.

Criminals are refusing to apply for bail to get out while juvenile offenders are lying about their age to get in, reports the Bangalore Mirror.

The paper says the reason is healthy food being served by ISKCON, or the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a Hindu evangelist organisation.

ISKCON, commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, started serving its pure-vegetarian fare in the jail in May under contract from the prisons department.

Lunch and dinner typically include piping hot rice, two vegetables and a spicy lentil dish called sambar and buttermilk.

A dessert is added on festival days and national holidays like Independence Day, and also once a week.

Prisoner Raja Reddy, who has been arrested 20 times in 30 years for theft, robbery and burglary, said: "When we are getting tasty, nutritious food three times a day here, why should we go out and commit crimes."

source

NY Ratha Yatra Coverage: India Post

An article on New York Ratha Yatra, from the India Post newspaper:

ISKCON rath yatra attracts New Yorkers

Wednesday, 06.20.2007, 03:19am (GMT-7)

NEW YORK: When British colonists first encountered the Ratha Yatra festival of Lord Jagannath - a millenia-old Hindu procession of three giant chariots bearing images of Lord Krishna - they hardly knew what to make of it.

Today, the British Empire has come and gone, but Ratha Yatra rolls down some of the most famous streets in the Western world. Case in point: on Saturday, June 9, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) presented their jubilant annual Ratha Yatra (Festival of the Chariots) parade down Fifth Avenue.

Modeled after the original Ratha Yatra held in the seaside holy city of Puri, the New York City version of this event featured a procession of three 40-foot high traditional Indian chariots - pulled by hand by Krishna devotees and guests.

The custom built chariots, bearing sacred images of Lord Krishna, were festooned with colorful canopies, flower garlands, and other decorations by a team of hundreds of devotee volunteers from the Hare Krishna temple in Brooklyn, New York. "This festival brings the East and West together," said Pragnesh Surti, an architect and festival volunteer from Queens.

"It is a demonstration of universal peace, goodwill, and the equality of all in the eyes of God."Like many of the young volunteers helping to keep the parade running smoothly, Surti is a second-generation Hindu-American who grew up attending the Hare Krishna temple. He credited ISKCON with connecting him to his cultural and spiritual roots."Being a part of ISKCON has helped me to understand and better appreciate the amazing gift that I was given," he said.

"Now I am trying to do my part to share this gift with others - Indian, American, white, black, or brown." From 2pm until 7pm the celebration continued with the Festival of India, a traveling exhibition of India's spirituality and culture. Washington Square Park morphed into a traditional Indian mela, with performances by professional artists and local community groups. Western-born Krishna devotee Anapayini Dasi and her Bhakti-kalalayam Dance School presented a bharat-natyam dance ballet on the ten incarnations of Vishnu, while the East-West School of Dance portrayed Krishna's famous dances with the gopis of Vrindavan.

The show-stealer, however, was a multi-ethnic local cast performing their take on The Age of Kali, a Bengali classic. The drama, which depicted personified Sin and her agents being defeated by the power of Lord Krishna's holy name, had the audience of over one hundred adults and children spellbound. Along with the stage show, display booths allowed festival-goers to get their hands on traditional Indian handicrafts and books on bhakti-yoga, and approximately ten thousand visitors were treated to a complimentary multi-course vegetarian feast.

"The festival celebrates the beauty of Eastern spirituality encountering 21st century New York City." said Vineet Chander, a communications director with ISKCON.

The Festival of the Chariots is modeled after the ancient festival of Ratha Yatra, one of the most important yearly events in the calendar of the Hindu faith. This festival is especially sacred to Vaishnavas (devotees of Lord Krishna).In the sea-side holy city of Jagannath Puri, every summer, at the beginning of the monsoon season, the Deity is taken out of the temple amidst great fanfare, and placed on bright and colorful chariots.

Almost a million worshippers throng to the city and pull the chariots with love and devotion, accompanied by joyful music, religious chants, and dancing. In 1976 A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the worldwide Hare Krishna Movement, inaugurated the New York City version of this ancient Indian parade. Since then, it has been celebrated annually here and has become a New York summer tradition.

This festival blends the splendor of a millennia-old celebration with the excitement of a parade down New York's world famous Fifth Avenue. This event draws thousands of people of various walks of life from all over the world, bringing the best of the East and West together in a demonstration of universal peace, harmony and goodwill.

India Post News Service

NY Ratha Yatra Photo Collage

from New York Daily Photo blog:

(click on image for a larger version)

The Kazkah demolition in pictures

All the photos -- including photos of the demolition in November, which left Krishna families homeless in freezing winter snow -- can be found here.

Video can be found here.

Bulldoze now, ask questions later. Is this how an "oasis of religious accord" deals with religious minorities?

Police officers brought in by the busload to make sure that the job gets done.


Homes reduced to rubble...


... possessions thrown out into the street...


... and a community becomes a cloud of dust.



The human faces of tragedy. How long will Kazakhstan ignore them?

Crisis in Kazakhstan

Early today, the officials in Kazakhstan demolished more homes belonging to Hare Krishna devotees at the farm in Almaty.

This ten minute video gives an overview on the background of the situation in Kazakhstan.

Preliminary reports are placing the number of homes demolished today at twelve (added to the demolitions last November, that would bring the total to twenty-six homes destroyed). As before, the officials brought busloads of laborers and police officers with them, indiscriminately taking crowbars and sledgehammers to the homes. They threw personal possessions out into the street, even as the horrified devotees pleaded with them and begged for mercy. Mechanical diggers then moved in, literally "crushing the houses to dust."

We do not think that the (makeshift) temple or cow-barn have been demolished yet. However, local officials have included these buildings on their list of buildings to be demolished. This is especially troubling because the temple is the official site linked to ISKCON's registration as a religion in the country. Because of the way Kazakh law is structured, there is a possibility that if the temple structure is demolished, ISKCON will simply lose its right to exist legally in the country at all.

The latest report is available at Forum18.org, a religious freedom watchdog news agency.

Please keep checking the following sites for updates:
Forum18.org
KazakhKrishna.com
iskconcommunications.blogspot.com

His Holiness BB Govinda Maharaj is in the United States right now in order to raise awareness about (and funds for) the crisis in Kazakhstan. He is in Washington, D.C. right now with Anuttama Prabhu and they have had several successful meetings with high-ranking US officials and human rights advocates.

I will try my best to let you know more details as they emerge; right now, please inform everyone you know about the situation and request their prayers. Organized kirtan is always a nice idea in situations such as this.

Also, now it appears certain that the devotees will have to relocate very quickly and this requires substantial funds, so any financial help would be most welcome. You may help by contacting your local ISKCON temple about how to give donations, or by visiting www.palaceofthesoul.com and clicking on "Donate Online."

Please do NOT stage any protests or contact any officials without first coordinating it with our office.

on behalf of ISKCON Communications,
your servant,
Vyenkata Bhatta dasa


PS: BB Govinda Swami's inspirational words to the devotees in Kazakhstan:

"Take shelter of Krishna. Everyone should remain very brave and remain fixed in chanting the holy name. Pull together and take care of the devotees whose homes have been destroyed. What is being done is cruel and certainly not fair but we still have our lives….so those lives should be focused on serving Krishna and our consciousness should certainly not become like that of the people who are doing this. We are witnessing a rude exhibition of material consciousness – never become like that. Pull together, even more than you did last November. Make sure the homeless devotees have shelter and try to gather together their belongings. And by this try to understand how special devotee association really is…"

Too much traffic?

A letter from the Hendon & Finchley Times in the UK:

Traffic just a religious excuse

At a time when harmony between communities is seen as a matter of priority, the new Jewish Community School in East Barnet has given rise to controversy.

Karen Jordan has come up with the old objection, excessive traffic (June 7). This was the same objection raised some years ago, when an orthodox synagogue opened in Watford Way, and when the Hare Krishna movement opened Bhaktivedanta Manor, near Watford. Yet there is not a squeak from anyone about the amount of traffic generated by Christian churches.

Traffic is just an excuse for some people, thankfully a minority, for expressing objection to faiths other than their own.

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Ron Isaacs
Sebright Road
Barnet

some photos from the GBC Meetings in New Vrindaban, USA

GBC meetings@NV

Sri Dilbert Uvaca... a funny commentary on jargon

Horn Okay Please

Anyone who has ever spent any amount of time on an Indian road is likely to recognize the title of this post.

Horn Okay Please (HOP) may very well be the mascot for Indian-English, the delightfully maddening idiosyncratic use of English by Indians.

The wikipedia entry I link to above is long but interesting... and a must-read for anyone who wants to get the most of their next trip to India. Also, those who want to hardcore into the "fundas" of this language, please check out this thorough online Indian-American dictionary.

(Hinglish - a sort of mash up of Hindi and English - is a related, but distinct language.)

So what does Horn Okay Please mean, actually? Nobody quite knows, although theories abound. Driving in India means using your horn to communicate, well, everything -- so it seems like good advice however you take it. More importantly, HOP is one of those phrases that has just become part of the mysterious Indian (and Indian-American) lexicon. Its become a way of sharing common experience -- a sort of sutra that encapsulates a whole in-house experience in a simple (albeit meaningless) phrase.

In ISKCON, we have our own language. ISKCON-ese is a tossed salad of Sanskrit (suchi, laksmi), Bengali (doya koro) Hindi (pukka, accha), Hippie English (spaced out, far out, fried), British English (pass water, obeisances) and assorted Prabhupada-isms (first class, take rest, fruitive).

It would be interesting (and historically useful) to compile a running list. Is PAMHO the ISKCON equivalent of Horn Okay Please?

Jargon is useful, of course, and -- like Horn Okay Please -- can bond people together. But it can also alienate others by erecting walls between insiders and outsiders. ISKCON's history (and language) is certainly intimately linked with India, counterculture America, and (through SrilaPrabhupada) colonial Britain. But if we don't make an effort to communicate the essence of Krishna consciousness and Prabhupada's mission in language that is inclusive and meaningful to a broader audience, we may be rendering ourselves as unintelligible as the messages on the back of an Indian truck.

And as Radha Devi Dasi says in her ISKCON Studies article, jargon can be misused to more serious ends, as well:

...we have our own jargon that both isolates us and condemns those who are not members of our organisation. Those outside our movement are called 'karmis', 'demons', 'melecchas' and 'sudras'. We describe ourselves as 'devotees', 'Vaisnavas', 'devas' and 'brahmanas'. These labels shape our vision of others and ourselves in ways that divide us from the very people we are trying to reach.

Horn Okay Please can evoke nostalgia, togetherness, and good laughs -- as long as everyone is in on the joke.

- Vyenkata Bhatta Dasa

PS: Can't get enough of HOP? Okay, okay... one more link. Check out "Horn Okay Please" -- an excellent clay-mation short film on a day in the life of a Mumbai taxi-wallah.

feedback sandwich

How do you tell someone what you like and dislike about their performance? The communication demigods suggest that you serve them a "feedback sandwich" -- tell them something you appreciate, then some room for improvement, and finally some more of what you appreciate (an excellent discussion of the sandwich, in the setting of a medical practice, can be found here.)

Since I've made a conscious effort to give feedback in this way, I've found it to be extremely effective. For one thing, it forces me to replace vague, superficial comments ("Oh prabhu, what a great Bhagavatam class!") with sincere, honest assessments of what I like and don't like. For another, it allows me to look at the negatives in light of the positives, and puts criticizing in a constructive context. And of course, if I can't come up with at least two things to appreciate about the person, it raises a red flag in my mind that I'm not thinking objectively -- and gives me an opportunity to slow down, cool off, and try to heal myself first.

Still, there are limitations. Recently a colleague told me that she has started to grow wary of the sandwich -- that when she hears my words of praise she starts to cringe in preparation of the impending criticism! Her telling me this was a sobering reminder to me that merely "buttering someone up" before and after you "give them the sauce" does not a sandwich make.

Here are some tips on how to make a better feedback sandwich:

• Feedback (positive or negative) should be directed towards a person's performance, not their character or personal. "You're pretty. You're an idiot. You're trustworthy." -- not a feedback sandwich.
  
• Avoid low-carb sandwiches. The positives are the bread and the negative is the peanut butter and jelly inside (what, you forgot that we're vegetarians?) -- don't just find praises to bookend a pile of complaints. An unbalanced sandwich is obvious.
  
• Be specific in both praise and criticism. "I really liked when you did XYZ..." "When you said so-and-so, I noticed that..." "I thought your use of such-and-such was..."
  
• Criticism especially should be constructive, well-timed, and targeted.
  
• Constructive criticism is clear, objective, and employs "I statements" rather than "You statements." It offers realistic alternatives or suggestions for improvement.
• Well-timed criticism is sensitive to the time, place, and situation. It is offered soon enough after the performance to be relevant, but not so soon after as to touch on something that this still "raw." It is given privately or publicly depending one whichever is more appropriate, and is often preceded by a "heads-up" that feedback is coming.
• Targeted criticism recognizes specific behaviors (not the people acting out the behaviors) and hones in on specific skills or practices that are within the person's control. It avoids using extreme phrases like "always" and "never."
  
• Praise should not flatter the ego, it should reinforce and encourage desired behavior. The recipient should walk away more educated about what worked, not just "feeling good."
• Use non-verbal communication to package the sandwich. Let your eyes and body language express your feelings. Dramatic pauses can go a long way. A softening of the voice can make that room-for-improvement easier to digest.
• Allow the recipient to respond -- feedback does not need to be a one-way street. If recipients feel the need to defend themselves or explain their actions, allow them to.
  
• Know when you need not (and maybe even should not) use the sandwich. There are situations where using the sandwich will feel (and be) inauthentic, contrived, or insulting. Use common sense.
  

Of course, the sandwich is just a tool -- how to make and serve it is still a matter of the chef's own spiritual and emotional maturity. Ultimately, if we want to effectively communicate with others (especially devotees) without committing offenses, we have to sincerely take shelter of Srimati Radharani. We have only to sincerely try; She will make sure that all the sandwiches coming out of Her kitchen are palatable, satisfying, and delicious.