International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)Founder Acarya His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

0007 March 2020

CommunityNewsletter

“The devotees of the Lord,who are in Krishnaconsciousness, offer food toKrishna and then eat—a process which nourishesthe body spiritually.By such action not only arepast sinful reactions in thebody vanquished, but thebody becomes immunized toall contamination of materialnature. When there is anepidemic disease,an antiseptic vaccineprotects a person from theattack of such an epidemic.Similarly, food offered toLord Visnu [Krishna] andthen taken by us makes ussufficiently resistant tomaterial affection, and onewho is accustomed to thispractice is called a devoteeof the Lord.”

-- Bhagavad Gita purport3.13

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This is the official community newsletter ofISKCON New York City, Sri Sri Radha Govinda Temple

Become a contributor!email media@iskconnyc.com

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Govinda's Food For Life.........................................................2Gaura Purnima Festival 2020.................................................3Monthly Sankirtan Festival ....................................................3Chant & Be Happy..................................................................4Srila Prabhupada in New York ...............................................5Book delivery service.............................................................6Bhakta Ken relocates.............................................................6DIY Make Over....................................... ...............................7Hey look we are on TV!..........................................................7Featured in ISKCON news.....................................................7Sri Nrsimha Yagna for protection ..........................................8Daily live streaming for you....................................................8Quarantine in style!................................................................8Japa Circle International.........................................................9Important GBC 2020 Address................................................9Global streaming a pick of the best......................................10Devotees around the world...................................................11

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ISKCON NYC gears up toprovide much needed mealsfor healthcare workers amidstNew York's Covid-19pandemic. Across the worlddevotees in groups big andsmall are busy preparinghealthy prasadam meals forthose who need them themost; doctors, nurses, andthose in financial hardship.

Cover: Our Temple PresidentHansarupa Prabhu delivering30 packed prasadam mealsto healthcare professionals atRoosevelt Island.

When filling in your donationplease put 'Govinda's FoodFor Life' in the notes.

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Help us to expand our

distribution of Krishna

Prasad, help our

healthcare professionals

stay fit and healthy, and

join the fight against

Coronavirus in

New York City!

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On March 9th this year'sGaura Purnima Festival sawover 300 devotees gather incelebration of the birth of theGolden Avatar, Lord SriCaitanya Mahaprabhu.A beautiful abhishek wasperformed by SrilaPrabhupada's disciples andseniors. HH JayadvaitaSwami, HG Adarshi prabhu,HG Locanananda prabhu,HG Bhusara and HGBhumipati came to bless uswith their association.

Here is a reminder of theday's events...

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“Since I came to New Yorkfrom Butler, Pennsylvania,I have rented the above roomat seventy dollars per month,and am delivering lectures onthe Bhagwat Geeta andSrimad Bhagwatam,accompanied by sankirtan,and the American ladies andgentlemen come to hear me.You will be surprised to knowthat they do not understandthe language of sankirtan,yet they hear with attention.The movement which I havestarted here is completely newto them, because theAmericans are generallyacquainted with the Indianyoga gymnastics asperformed by some Indianyogis here. They have neverheard of the bhakti cult of thescience of Krishna before, andstill they are hearing me. Thisis a great success for me.”Srila Prabhupada in a leter toSumati Morarji.

From the humble beginningsof this simple, bare andnarrow room, SrilaPrabhupada began to lectureon the Bhagavad Gita,introducing curious minds tothe science of Bhakti Yoga.He spoke with such poise,confidence and conviction thatpeople came despite themeagre and uncomfortablespace, and even though theseyoung seekers were unsureexactly what they weresearching for they believedthis uptown Swami could haveit.

A young man named Roberttook an interest and began tosupport Srila Prabhupada invarious ways, he wasinterested to make a recordwith Prabhupada's chanting,and so his offer of service wasaccepted and he andPrabhupada began to spendmore time together, evenlooking at prospectiveproperties in which to housethe first Radha KrishnaTemple. Mr Robert, asPrabhupada would call him,was a simple man, of limitedintelligence, with little meansof connecting Prabhupada touseful contacts, yet heshowed some affection anddesire to help, and so SrilaPrabhupada reciprocated.Mr. Robert, and the Swamimade an odd combination.Prabhupāda was elderly anddignified, a deep scholar ofthe Bhāgavatam and theSanskrit language, whereasRobert Nelson was artless,even in Western culture, andinept in worldly ways.Together they would walk –the Swami wearing his wintercoat (with its imitation furcollar), his Indian dhotī,andwhite pointed shoes; Mr.Robert wearing old khakipants and an old coat.Prabhupāda walked withrapid, determined strides,outpacing the lumbering,rambling, heavyset boy whohad befriended him.

Soon word began to spread ofthis 'new uptown Swami' andnew faces began to visit room307. Bill Epstein, HarveyCohen, David Allen andJames Greene came from a

nearby cafe called 'Paradox',and they were in contrast tothe pervious uptown crowd,forerunners as to what wassoon to be known as thehippie movement. SrilaPrabhupada took to them,and welcomed them, in turnthey recognised Prabhupada'spotential and becameconvinced that they needed torelocate downtown...

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Bhakta Ken had served withus for nearly one year,helping out with Govinda'sLunch Club, we really couldnot have done it with out him.Soon all of us became awareof his talent for baking bothsavory and sweet delightswith such skill, that weeagerly learnt some of hisdelicious recipes and utilisedhis culinary flair to lendsupport to outreach programsand Radha's Bakeshop.He will surely be missed.Rumours have it that he hasnow relocated to Hawaiiwhere he has once againfound himself at the service ofGovinda's Lunch!

Never has there been a timewhen so many people arelooking for answers, anopportunity not to be missedby our keen sankirtan team,who began deliveringtranscendental literature rightto your very doorstep!Why not gift some books?Never has there been a bettertime to introduce your friendsand family to the philosophy ofbhakti yoga.

Pictured: Bhakta Ken and agoodbye cake

email: divyangidevidasi@gmail.com

for details

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As the City of New York beganto close its doors, theresidents of ISKCON RadhaGovinda found a greatopportunity to carrying outmaintenance work around thebuilding.Everyone rallied together toperform a deep clean, andgive the walls a new lick ofpaint. Activities like this bringus closer together and makeuse of the current situation, asthe make over continues.

Some of you may remember,that back in the summer of2019 a few of us featured in aHBO production called 'HighMaintenance'. Recently, onMarch 13th, epidsode 6, fromseason 4 was aired.Check it out to see some ofour temple residents make acameo appearance!

Faced with a reduced numberof devotees to carry outservices, no funds from thehundi (public donation box),and a lack of in-personassociation, it is undoubtedlya very challenging time. Yettemple leaders are tacklingthe challenges head on,creating innovative ways tocontinue services and reach

out to the community, helpingaffected members, finding thesilver lining, and taking solacefrom a deep philosophicaltradition.Pictured: residents saygoodbye to a devoteereturning to Europe amidst thecurrent pandemic.Read the full article here.

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March 30th a full Sri NrsimhaFire Yagna was performed andlive streamed via ourFacebook pageWatch it again and bring LordNrsimha dev's protection rightinto your home.

From morning SrimadBhagavatam to MantraMeditation, join our growingonline community and takepart in classes streamed livefrom Sri Sri Radha GovindaTemple. That's right, regularclasses will continue.Join us for MeditationMonday's, Bhakti Night,Saturday Night Kirtan, VirtualSunday Feast,Srila Prabhupada Lilamritaand memories, as well asKrishna Book Readings.

Be sure to follow us onFacebook or Instagram tostay up to date with timingsand newly announcedclasses!

Heartfelt kirtan from home.As the world faces lockdowncheck out what devotees aredoing globally to help thecommunity at large...

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Ramai Swami the GBCChairman for 2020 speaks tothe devotees about theCOVID-19 situation and howto they can deal with some oftheir concerns.

A Facebook Live event wheredevotees from all over NorthAmericacome together for 10 minuteseach day to givetranscendental relief to theworldby chanting 1 round japa.Starting with North Americaand then, scaling up to aninternational level.

Japa Circle Internationalpromotes peace and wellnessthrough chanting the names ofthe Supreme Personality ofGodhead.

Duration: 1 round of japa(108 mantras) chantedtogether by multipleparticipants over 10 minutes

Time: 9:00 PM ET /8:00 PM CT /6:00 PM PT /6:30 AM IST

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Join HG Vaisesika Prabhuand our friends at ISKCONSilicon Valley for dailyclasses and shortinspirational films.

Join HH Jayadvaita Swami ina Zoom conference live fromNew Jersey Mon/Wed/Fri8pmmeeting ID 558762270

Catch HH Kavicandra Swamidaily on Fb live, times vary.

HH Kadamba Kanana Swamishares daily classes live fromSouth Africa, as well asZoom, see fb page forannoucements

HH Indradyumna Swami livefrom Sri Vrindavana Dham,giving daily webinars at6am EST

Join HG Madhava Prabhu ataround 2am (or catch it after)daily for heart melting kirtanslive from Melbourne.

HG Jahnavi Jivana dasi hostskirtans live on her youtubechannel, subscribe fornotifications.

All around the world variousdevotees are hosting classeson Krsna Katha, sharing theirjapa meditation and kirtan, sothat we can come togther as aworldwide community and'Keep the transcendentalvibration flowing'Let us keep strong asdevotees, and nourish ourneed for community by onlineparticipation, and make effortsto become stronger in oursadhanna to enable us tostrengthen our relationship withthe Lord thereby be able tocomfort those in distress.

THE COMMUNITYNEWSLETTER OF ISKCONNEW YORK CITY

DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATION:Hansarupa das

CONTRIBUTORS: Bipin Biharidas, Antaryami Krsna das,Divyangi Devi dasi, JayaRadhe Devi dasi

Do you have a story you wouldlike to see in our nextnewsletter?Or would you like to sponsorprinting ?

email: media@iskconnyc.com

RadhaGovindaGifts

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ISKCON temples across Indiahave been busy feeding tensof thousands of those in needwith Krishna Prasadam. Thecountry's Prime Minister Modi,asked for assistance andISKCON has increased itsoutreach to the needy tenfold.Particularly in Delhi where westarted with 30,000 mealsdistributed on the first day ofthe lock down.Now within 2 days we havestarted distributing 200,000meals every morning andevening to underprivilegedpeople.

As per request andrequirement coming fromfurther afield, this distributionin Delhi will go up to 500,000meals every morning andevening within next 2 days.

Food For All UK gets ready tofeed 20,000 across Londonper day.Distributing healthy veganmeals to National HealthService workers, schoolchildren – who often rely onschools for their lunch,elderly, and disadvantagedpersons throughout the Cityof London.Food For All has teamed upwith other charities andgroups such as ExtinctionRebellion, to ramp up itsdistribution of KrishnaPrasadam.

Join your local cause,

and help ISKCON

NYC support

New York City's health

service professionals!

Please add 'Govinda's FoodFor Life' in the 'notes'.

Thank you