BRIJBAN Janmastami | 24 August 2019 INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS FOUNDER - ACARYA : HIS DIVINE GRACE A. C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA ISKCON BRISBANE TEMPLE - 32 JENNIFER STREET, SEVENTEEN MILE ROCKS, QLD 2 Janmastami 2019 Janmastami 2019 Celebration by Ajita dasa | Regional Secretary - ISKCON Australia Dear Devotees, Krishna is the Supreme Person, and as such, He can do whatever He likes without any constraints. As Srila Prabhupada states: The Lord does not create this material world at anyone’s request…If one argues. “Why does He act in this way?” the answer is that He can do so because He is Supreme…The answer is that to prove His omnipotence, He can do anything, and no one can question Him. If He were answerable to us concerning why He does something and why He does not, His supremacy would be curtailed. Srimad Bhagavatam purport 7.2.39. Krishna is beyond any material wrangling and can free us from all our problems at once. To do that, Krishna says we simply have to understand the nature of His birth and activities. An apparently easy solution, yet, how does one understand the Supreme person who is beyond the comprehension of the most refined senses such as the ones of the demigods and great sages? By Him, even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire or land seen on the water. Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.1. What hope do we have? But Krishna can and does whatever He likes. So are we chosen ones or people who choose? We are not chosen ones, as some may propound. We are people who have chosen to understand Krishna, God, who is beyond any mundane logic, intellectual pursuit and pious merits. A devotee is one who chooses to adopt the process, to understand Krishna, given by Krishna Himself. This process is the congregational chanting of the holy name Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. This process of chanting Hare Krishna can and will solve all problems at the root. As Krishna can do anything, so can His name because Krishna’s name is Himself in the form of sound. So on this auspicious Janmastami day let’s renew our vows to deepen our faith in the sincere gift Krishna has given us; His name. Srila Prabhupada was successful in his mission, unlike his Godbrothers, because of his faith in the holy name. As his followers, we should deeply understand the principle of chanting Krishna’s names and give it to others. This is the essence of Janmastami, facilitating others to see Krishna appear in the sound form of His name. Wishing you a wonderful Janmastami 2019, Your servant Ajita dasa 3 Janmastami 2019 4 Janmastami 2019 Janmastami 2019 by Janardan dasa | Vice President - ISKCON Brisbane Way back in the early 1970’s, when it was still normal to go for a swim in the Brisbane River, mullets and shaggy sideburns were all the rage and before State of Origin was a thing, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was first introduced to Brisbane. Then in 1980, two devotees rented a house in St Lucia and started handing out vegetarian lunches to hungry students at The University of Queensland. Lord Krishna’s delicious prasadam had a powerful effect, and in 1985 a temple was established in Graceville. Fast forward three and a half decades. Brisbane’s ISKCON community is now based at 32 Jennifer Street, Seventeen Mile Rocks, and has blossomed into a wonderful family of devotees who enthusiastically distribute prasadam, share Krishna’s Holy Name through kirtan and provide spiritual knowledge to the people of Brisbane. On this most auspicious day, let’s thank Krishna for bringing us together into His glorious family. Janmastami is the perfect day to leave unwanted desires and habits behind, the same way we dispose of yesterday’s newspaper. Today is a perfect day for new beginnings. On this perfect day, make a resolution to reciprocate with Sri Krishna’s magnanimity by taking up some service and developing better relationships with others who are also serving. Krishna cannot be perceived through mundane vision, only through love. As we nurture love for Him by offering service, the Lord becomes more available to us. Although your life is busy with many important responsibilities, make a conscious effort to prioritise love over convenience. In this way with your help we might soon see this community, which was born back when the Brisbane River still had a hint of blue in it, grow up to shine so brightly that it becomes a spiritual beacon not only for Brisbane, but for the whole country. Your servant Janardan dasa 5 Janmastami 2019 Srila Prabhupada Interview are very clean—they’ll never be attacked by serious diseases. Actually, giving up meat-eating is not a question of Krishna consciousness but of civilized human life. God has given human society so many things to eat—nice fruits, vegetables, grain, and first-class milk. From milk one can prepare hundreds of nutritious foods, but no one knows the art. Interviewer: One of the most difficult aspects of Krishna consciousness for an outsider to accept is the Deity in the temple—how it represents Krishna. Could you talk a little bit about that? Srila Prabhupada: Yes. At the present moment, because you have not been Interview by freelance reporter ecstasy throughout the whole Ratha-yatra trained to see Krishna, He kindly appears Sandy Nixon, July 1975, Philadelphia procession [an annual festival sponsored before you so you can see Him. You can see by the Krishna consciousness movement wood and stone, but you cannot see what Interviewer: My first question is very basic. in cities around the world]. Do you think is spiritual. Suppose your father is in the What is Krishna consciousness? that was artificial? No. Artificially, nobody hospital, and he dies. You are crying by his can chant and dance for hours together. bedside, “Now my father is gone!” But why Srila Prabhupada: Krishna means God. They have actually awakened their Krishna do you say he is gone? What is that thing We are all intimately connected with Him consciousness by following a bonafide which is gone? because He is our original father. But we process. Krishna consciousness is dormant have forgotten this connection. When we in everyone’s heart, and when one comes Interviewer: Well, his spirit is gone. become interested in knowing, “What is my in contact with devotees, it is awakened. connection with God? What is the aim of Srila Prabhupada: And have you seen that life?” then we are called Krishna conscious. Interviewer: Could you explain the spirit? meaning of the Hare Krishna mantra? Interviewer: How does Krishna Interviewer: No. consciousness develop in the practitioner? Srila Prabhupada: It is very simple. Hare means, “O energy of the Lord,” and Krishna Srila Prabhupada: So you cannot see spirit, Srila Prabhupada: Krishna consciousness means, “O Lord Krishna.” Just as there are and God is the Supreme Spirit. Actually, He is already there in the core of everyone’s males and females in the material world, is everything—spirit and matter—but you heart. But because of our materially similarly, God is the original male (purusa), cannot see Him in His spiritual identity. conditioned life, we have forgotten it. and His energy (prakrti) is the original Therefore, to show kindness toward you, The process of chanting the Hare Krishna female. So, when we chant Hare Krishna, He appears out of His unbounded mercy in maha-mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, we are saying, “O Lord Krishna, O energy of the form of a wooden or stone Deity so that Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Krishna, kindly engage me in Your service.” you can see Him. Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare— revives the Krishna consciousness we Interviewer: Can one function better in Interviewer: Thank you very much. already have. For example, a few months society by becoming Krishna conscious? ago these American and European boys Srila Prabhupada: Hare Krishna! and girls did not know about Krishna, but Srila Prabhupada: Yes, you can see that my just yesterday we saw how they were disciples are not drunkards or meat-eaters, chanting Hare Krishna and dancing in and from a physiological point of view they 6 ISKCON Brisbane Temple Daily Program Contact: Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 1.00 pm Ph: (07) 3376 2388 4.30 am Mangal Arati facebook/ISKCONBrisbaneTemple 5.00 am Tulasi Arati Address: 32 Jennifer St. Seventeen Mile Rocks QLD 4073 5.10 am Group Chanting www.iskcon.org.au 7.00 am Deity Greeting 7.10 am Guru Puja & Kirtan Janmastami 2019 - Saturday 24th August 7.30 am Srimad Bhagavatam Class at Croatian Community Centre, 8.30 am Breakfast Prasadam 164 Dunn Road, Rocklea 4.00 pm Arati 6.00 pm Evening Prasadam For Sponsorship service please contact: 7.00 pm Gaura Arati Krishna Bhavana dasi - Mob: 0435 920 081 Sri Sri Gaura Nitai His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ISKCON Brisbane Activities Harinam Sankirtan in the City Saturday Feast Conscious Collective Every Friday starting at 5.00 pm with Every Saturday at the Temple Tuesday Meditation - 6:00 to 7:30 pm a “sit-down” kirtan on Adelaide st close to Program: 5.00 pm - Bhajans Sunday Wisdom & Meditation - 6:00 to 7:30 pm King George Square on the same side. Then 6.00 pm - Class, 7.00 pm - Gaura Arati at 394 Montague Rd, West End at 6 pm we share the ecstasy of Harinam with 7.30 pm Prasadam feast FB/ConsciousCollectiveBrisbane everyone on the streets.