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Cows in Need of New Home by Manmohini dd Posted August 29, 2010
Hare Krishna! A very nice lady from Amaji's group contacted me regarding two sweet cows and their two calves. They are not able to care for them and are hoping that someone in ISKCON might want them. The cows are three years old and are producing milk. Their calves are four months old. One is a steer named Nanda. He is a Jersey and the others are Holsteins. The cows and calves are currently about a half hour north of Fresno so the group is hoping to locate them somewhere around central California to avoid a lengthy and expensive transport. If interested please contact Anu. Her phone number is #925/829-0161
This is in response to the inaccurate and misleading Public Notice issued on May 21, 2010 in some newspapers by the agents of ISKCON-Mumbai. The information provided therein is false, and has been released with the mischievous intention of misleading the public at large. We issue the following clarification. Claim on ISKCON-Bangalore Temple Property The City Civil Court, Bangalore on April 17, 2009 declared, “The Plaintiff (ISKCON-Bangalore registered in 1978 under Karnataka Societies Registration Act) is declared as the absolute owner of the ISKCON Temple and land at Hare Krishna Hill, Chord Road, Rajajinagar, Bangalore 560010 and is in possession and enjoyment of them, being an independent legal entity.” Further the court decreed, “ISKCON-Mumbai are restrained by means of permanent injunction from interfering with the ISKCON-Bangalore peaceful possession and enjoyment of the temple properties or attempting to take possession or control them.” Aggrieved by this order the agents of ISKCON-Mumbai are putting up such mischievous Public Notices to tarnish the image of ISKCON-Bangalore. Claim on properties of other trusts functioning from ISKCON-Bangalore temple ISKCON-Mumbai had made a claim on the properties of various independent entities/institutions/trusts functioning from the ISKCON Temple in Rajajinagar before the City Civil Court. The Court disallowed their claim. ISKCON-Mumbai appealed the order before the Honourable High Court of Karnataka. The City Civil Court’s order was confirmed by the Honourable High Court of Karnataka in Writ Petitions W.P.No.12106/2005 and W.P.No. 13748/2005. It is not challenged and hence it is final. Housing Project at Kanakapura Road It is hereby clarified that ISKCON Charities and India Heritage Foundation, two separate institutions/trusts are engaged in the housing project on it’s property that is meant for raising funds to set up a Krishna Lila Theme Park at Kanakapura Road. This project was presented to the Government of Karnataka as a tourism project and was cleared by the State High Level Clearance Committee, vide Government Order No. ITY 52 TTM 2005, Bangalore dated 28-06-2005. As individual citizens of this country, the missionaries of ISKCON-Bangalore, have every right to legally create any number of independent institutions in the form of associations or trusts for developing distinct activities in pursuance of the vision of the Founder Acharya, Srila Prabhupada and in the service of humanity. All these separate institutions are compliant with all the laws of the land. Further each of these institutions are formed as charitable trusts with no personal gain to any of the trustees who are all dedicated, voluntary and full-time missionaries. Hence it is misleading propaganda that ISKCON-Bangalore, the society registered in Karnataka is engaged in any real estate business activity. The Akshaya Patra Foundation The Akshaya Patra Foundation, which runs the mid day meal program, feeding about 12 lakhs school children all over India is an independent institution. ISKCON-Mumbai is also behind the recent spate of attacks on this program just because hundreds of missionaries of ISKCON-Bangalore are the main work-force behind this noble programme. Attack on Leadership of ISKCON-Bangalore The present senior leadership of ISKCON-Bangalore consists of full-time dedicated missionaries who have put in 15 to 30 years of service in Srila Prabhupada's Hare Krishna movement in Bangalore. Till 1999, ISKCON-Mumbai had recognized the leaders of ISKCON-Bangalore for their commitment to service, integrity and organizational skills. In 1999, the devotees of ISKCON-Bangalore became involved in a theological debate, internal to ISKCON, and took up a stand contrary to that of ISKCON-Mumbai’s. This theological debate has been raging in the ISKCON Movement all over the world. Soon after this, the agents of ISKCON-Mumbai have been vilifying the leadership of ISKCON-Bangalore, now for nearly a decade. ISKCON-Bangalore society avows allegiance to Srila Prabhupada, the Founder Acharya of ISKCON and the institution he personally founded in 1966, ISKCON Inc. New York. ISKCON-Bangalore does not align with ISKCON-Mumbai’s disobedience and disregard of Srila Prabhupada’s own written directive on the succession of Acharya within ISKCON. Contrary to the explicit directions of Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON-Mumbai has been involved in promoting and perpetuating the system of self-appointed fallible persons as successor Acharyas of Srila Prabhupada and as “God’s representatives on earth.” In the last 30 years of ISKCON’s history, post Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance in 1977, nearly fifty such self-appointed successor Acharyas have had the most dishonourable and disgraceful fall downs from spiritual grace and extreme deviation from their spiritual vows. Their saga constitutes the unfortunate annals of ISKCON’s dark history, post 1977. Though painful to say, the truth is that the misuse of power and authority of these self-made Acharyas that resulted in scandals of abuse of women and children by sannyasis and even murder of those devotees who opposed the system proves a radical departure from the pure path of Krishna bhakti taught by the most revered and saintly Srila Prabhupada. The perplexing and staggering fact is that the ISKCON world leadership has not been able to contain the perpetration of the same over three decades. This is so because almost all of the leadership are occupied by the self-appointed Acharyas themselves. Bogged down by the power, wealth, flamboyant lifestyle provided by submitting disciples (contrary to the principles of austerity or tapasya, taught by Srila Prabhupada) they have been unable to take corrective action. These repeated occurrences have brought immense disrepute to ISKCON world over; it has disillusioned thousands of ISKCON followers; resulted in ISKCON losing temple properties and a long list of organizational woes. The devotees of ISKCON-Bangalore, for the last 12 years, have vigorously taken up the cause of implementing the directions of Srila Prabhupada on the matter of spiritual succession within ISKCON movement after Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance. We have been demanding reforms to abolish the flawed and self-appointed Acharya system prevalent in several ISKCON temples and implement Srila Prabhupada’s own direction on spiritual succession. The devotees of ISKCON-Bangalore have been affirming that Srila Prabhupada is the only Acharya within ISKCON institution at all times and that the spiritual leaders after him are only Shiksha Gurus (instructing gurus), and not Acharyas who are revered “ as God’s representatives” . ISKCON-Mumbai has refused to acknowledge the authenticity of the cause of the devotees of ISKCON-Bangalore and their allegiance to Srila Prabhupada in trying to follow his instructions for spiritual succession in ISKCON. On the contrary, the agents of ISKCON-Mumbai are camouflaging this fundamental issue and falsely portraying, over the past decade, that the leadership of ISKCON-Bangalore is interested in holding control of the assets of ISKCON-Bangalore temple by fraudulent means. In 1999, the agents of self-made gurus of ISKCON-Mumbai attempted to forcefully take physical control of the temple in Rajajinagar and the funds of ISKCON-Bangalore society (that are being properly rendered in the service of God and mankind) by expelling over 150 dedicated missionaries. Having no other alternative, the devotees of ISKCON-Bangalore were forced to take protection from the courts to defend against ISKCON-Mumbai’s attacks. After ISKCON-Bangalore won the court case, ISKCON-Mumbai have intensified their ongoing maligning campaign against the leadership of ISKCON-Bangalore. We call upon the public to ignore such mischievous propaganda meant to disturb the activities of ISKCON-Bangalore and other legally independent institutions like ISKCON Charities, India Heritage Foundation, Sankirtan Seva Trust, Goloka Seva Trust and The Akshaya Patra Foundation.
Issued by: Jai Chaitanya Dasa
For more information, please visit www.struggle-for-truth.org / www.iskconbangalore.org
“The Festival of Inspiration inspires devotees to do amazing things!” said Nityodita dasa, President of New Vrindaban Community Board of Directors. “The Palace restoration project actually began when Ramesvara Prabhu attended the Festival of Inspiration in 2009.” Ramesvara Prabhu went for darshan of Srila Prabhupada and took notice of the serious deterioration on the Palace exterior. He could see that although devotees have been working on the Palace one section at a time, there was no comprehensive restoration being done. Ramesvara, who currently specializes as a building restoration project manager in Manhattan immediately approached Malati devi dasi, one of the GBCs for New Vrindaban. Malati and Nityodita then spoke with Ramesvara together, and asked him to make recommendations for a comprehensive restoration of the entire Palace. Ramesvara gave his firm opinion that New Vrindaban take a professional approach to the task. Thus, during the fall and winter of 2009, Ramesvara researched three well established restoration firms and after reviewing their portfolios, the New Vrindaban Community Board of Directors unanimously selected Kayafas Architects of Wheeling, WV. They were contracted to create a master plan for all the areas that need renovation and to supply quotes from various contractors for the work. “Kayafas is a local firm with an excellent reputation for historic preservation,” said Nityodita. “They worked on the historic Strand Theater, the Wesbanco Arena, as well as other prominent local projects.” In April 2010, Kayafas’ team of nine specialists met with approximately twenty devotees for five hours. During that meeting, each specialist reported his initial assessment of Palace conditions and his recommended immediate measures. Those recommendations included roofing work; restoring the steel slabs over the restaurant / gift shop; restoring the cupolas; heating system upgrade; plumbing upgrade; and water run-off. Kayafas is now evaluating each of these areas of immediate concern in more depth. Their next report to the Palace Board will include their findings and contractor quotes for the work.
Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold is the puspa samadhi of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The Palace is the heart of the New Vrindaban Community and has attracted hundreds of thousands to hear Srila Prabhupada’s teachings! It was truly a community effort. Hundreds of young devotees . . . men, women and children . . . took part in its construction and did not get paid but did it all as . . . selfless devotional service! We must preserve this monument of pure devotion so that whoever visits the Palace will be able to witness with their own eyes the power of Srila Prabhupada’s loving influence on his followers, thus opening their hearts to the message of Krsna!
This past weekend, New Vrindaban Community hosted 36 students from the Global Leadership Center (GLC) at Ohio University it Athens, OH. Dr. Greg Emery, the GLC’s Director, is an affiliate of Harvard University’s Pluralism Project, which studies religious diversity in the United States, focusing on communities and religious traditions from Asia and the Middle East. The Pluralism Project is funded by the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. Dr. Emery first encountered the Hare Krishna tradition as an undergraduate student in 1980 when he met Radhanath Swami, who was then a member of New Vrindaban Community. Dr. Emery continues to visit New Vrindaban regularly as part of his on-going research on the community. The GLC offers a two-year undergraduate certificate that prepares students to be internationally-minded professions. “Studying the Hare Krishna tradition is the most exciting project we’ve had over the past two years,” said Diana Gryniuk, a junior in Communications Studies. “A lot of us are Catholic, and this is the first religion-based project we have had.” “Visiting New Vrindaban was refreshing,” agreed Tara Frazier, a junior in Communications Studies. “All our other projects have involved business, politics, and history. It’s nice to think about something besides yourself and the world’s problems.” “I am going to go back to school happy. Visiting New Vrindaban got me out of my bubble and made me see that spirituality is important,” said Michael Lupsa, a junior in Arabic and Italian. On Saturday, the GLC students took guided tours of the Palace of Gold, and attended workshops on spiritual food and the intersection between spirituality and sustainability. In the evening, there was a variety of entertainment options, including a lake-side bonfire, music in the temple, and a showing of the new film “The Lost Village.” On Sunday, the GLC students heard some basics of Hare Krishna philosophy, visited New Vrindaban’s Small Farm Training Center, and attended a panel discussion on women in the Hare Krishna tradition. Many students agreed that they will visit New Vrindaban again, when they need a break from school and studying. “I definitely want to come back for the 24-hour Kirtan Festival on June 19,” said Lupsa hopefully. “This is what I want to do with my life – experience things, taste the food, and visit the farm. I want to be a world citizen and not live in a bubble.”
New Vrindaban Community is located south of Moundsville – Wheeling, off Route 250. For more information, contact (304) 843-1600 x105 or mail@newvrindaban.com.
Recently, I was given a Salagram Sila as a gift from a well-intended person. However, when I inspected the Salagram, it was clear that It had been cracked open (no doubt by a hammer) and then polished back down to resemble a natural appearance. This is done to reveal the inner charas, for which ill-motivated people will then ask a higher price when selling or to look for gold. I asked where the sila came from. Sadly, they did "make a donation" for it via the website www.shaligram.co.in
I ask that all devotees avoid buying silas under the guise of giving a donation. Not only is it against shastra, but there is a high chance you will get an outright fake, made of stone like plastic resin, or a sila that has been altered, like the one I was given. When I looked at this website, it is clear that many are also altered. Donor beware!
Members and supporters of ISKCON agricultural communities are invited to participate in a 3 -1/2 Day conference in the first week of December, 2010 (exact dates to be determined after hearing back from interested persons). Already committed is Radha Krishna das from the Eco-Village ISKCON farm in Hungary. A partial goal of this conference is to introduce and study methods of practical sustainability in current day ISKCON agri projects or future projects and to define how our philosophy meets real life in practice. It is planned to facilitate a limited number of interested persons in order to maximized interactions, exchanges, learning and sharing of the same. We'd especially like to invite younger generation members to participate with the distinct hope of inspiring them towards a more simple fulfilling life-style in the near future. We also welcome those who might wish to offer a presentation or workshop to contact us (see below). The venue will be ISKCON New Vrindaban, West Virginia and registration will include meals and accommodation. Some non-ISKCON people from the secular world who are expert in various areas related to the Conference will be invited to share their knowledge and skills. Please respond indicating your interest and possible attendance asap. As indicated, the number of participants will be limited (approximate 35 attendees). You may call: 304-845-9591 after Feb. 20 th or e-mail servingkrishna@aol.com for further information or with your suggestions towards making this a memorable and meaningful event.
Thanking you at the feet of Srila Prabhupada, Malati dasi (GBC)
I work in a mental health facility which cares for troubled teens. I am designing a mural for the boys there which will read "Every boy is a great man in the making." It will feature painted portraits of prominent male figures in various fields with a corresponding portrait of those figures when they were young boys/teens. The purpose of this piece is to inspire our residents to overcome the obstacles in their lives, and to let them know that the world's great men were once young boys like them. I would like to prominently feature Srila Prabhupada. I believe that even though our facility is a secular one, our staff and residents will definitely benefit from there being a picture of Srila Prabhupada on our unit. There are many photos of him once he began his important ministry, but I have been unable to locate one of him in his younger years. Does anyone have access to such a photo that they could email me avrilheffernan@comcast.net? It would be so appreciated. Thank you.
Looking for devotee mentors, preferably of the first generation. I'm a 26-year-old single mother of one, who's been avidly studying Vaishnavism for the past ten years (though longer if you count my childhood years of attraction to the movement). I have Asperger Syndrome (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome), and am very introverted, so meeting devotees by any medium (in person, by phone, email, etc...) has always been some what of a difficulty for me. I would like to make contacts with sincere Vaishnavas, of any age (because age is just a measurement of time, and not a measurement of sincerity or maturity) whom I could look up to as mentors, or as guides, as I am often easily misled and find myself confused with the norms of social etiquette, in spiritual and material society. Ideally I'd be interested in finding some kind of ashram I could stay at, because my desire to remain in material society is non-existent, and I'd like to be able to actively do some service, rather than only chanting and reading... I desire devotional association terribly.
I'm living in New Zealand, but am willing/eager to relocate, especially as I am quite eager to take initiation within the ISKCON sampradaya, but haven't have much in the way of opportunity to meet or serve Krishna's devotees... Please email me (Fiona) at hologrammaticsapiens@gmail.com, or phone +64-27-235-6223.
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Nominations for Excellence Awards by Dinadayal dasa Posted July 29, 2010 We would like to call nominations for the second ISKCON Europe Excellence Awards (IEEA) for the year 2009-2010. IEEA are meant to recognize the sincere devotees who have dedicated their lives to the mission of Srila Prabhupada in Europe. These awards are to encourage such exemplary devotees. The last year's winners can be viewed here: Click Here IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR NOMINATIONS 1. Nominations can be made by anyone but the nomination should be endorsed by a temple president or an authority who is equal to or above the temple president in ISKCON's administrative hierarchy. 2. Please duly fill in the nomination form for every individual nominee. Click Here 3. Latest date for sending nominations is SEPTEMBER 15, 2010 4. Awards will be announced at the ELM 2010 gathering in Prabhupadadesh, Italy, 1-2 October 2010. 5. Please send all nominations to Euro.GBC.Secretary@pamho.net CATEGORIES We would like to invite recommendations for the IEEA 2010 for the following categories of service. However you can send nominations of sincere and exemplary devotees even if their service does not fit in the below categories (alphabetically sorted):
Hare Krishna! Looking forward to hearing from you.
Your humble servant,
::: www.EuroGBC.com :::
This past weekend, 45 administrators from 40 Hare Krishna centers met in New Vrindaban for the semi-annual North America Leadership Conference for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). ISKCON was founded in 1966 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. As ISKCON’s first generation of leaders reaches retirement age, the organization is planning a smooth transfer to the next generation. Ali Krishna devi dasi of Gainesville, Fla., is one of the new young faces in ISKCON leadership. The Buffalo native joined ISKCON in 2006 in New Vrindaban, and lived in the community for nearly one year. “I was 25 years old at the time, and I wasn’t satisfied with my life,” said Ali Krishna. “Although I had lived in agricultural communities before, I had never lived in a God-centered community. I later moved to New Vrindaban and spent nearly one year here.” In 2008, Ali Krishna became the Director of the newly formed Institute for Vaishnava Studies (IVS) at Krishna House, a student housing facility at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Krishna House allows students to simultaneously pursue spiritual life and a secular education. The Institute provides education in the ancient science of bhakti yoga, or devotion to God. “IVS is an unqualified success,” said Ali Krishna. “This past school year, Krishna House was filled to capacity. We had 20 full-time undergraduate and graduate students in residence. Next year, half the students will be coming back.” Ali Krishna was part of a panel that discussed innovative outreach strategies. Many of the other panelists were also young people who are successfully reaching out to youth. “I felt comfortable at the conference,” she said. “Quite a few of the older people told me that they felt inspired to see a young woman in a leadership role.”
New Vrindaban Community is located south of Moundsville – Wheeling, off Route 250. For more information, contact (304) 843-1600 x105 or mail@newvrindaban.com.
Hold on to your hearts, folks, because they are just about to get smashed to smithereens. I heard that Sri Sri Radha Kalachandji are leaving Gita-nagari. I'm sure you have all heard about an unreliable bumble bee who is the servant of an unreliable Master. Well, you are just about to get a taste of it.
Within the last month, e-mail accounts, especially Hotmail accounts, it seems, have been hacked and used to spam mailing lists with a false "Help" letter describing the person as stuck in London or some other place due to robbery and asking for money to purchase a ticket to get back home. Akuti dasi and my daughter Nitai dasi have both been victims of this scam. In the case of Akuti prabhu, some devotee acutally sent money, via Western Union, to London, following the direction of the scammer, and that money was picked up at the Western Union office in London by someone falsely identifying himself as "Akuti dasi". Hence that money was lost to {anonymous} criminals. The scary part is that it may be that these e-mail addresses are being monitored before the scam actually takes place. In the cases of both Nitai and Akuti, the scam took place when they were away from home. In Nitai's case she was in Alachua, so many of her family and friends knew immediately that it was a scam, as she was not in London and they knew it. Facebook was buzzing with: "Where are you? Are you okay? Should I send money?" Fortunately there was a post, almost immediately, that said: "Don't worry; I'm fine and in Alachua. My e-mail was hacked." With Akuti it was not so easy, as she is not nearly as busy on e-mail and Facebook as my daughter, and she was visiting her mom, which put her out of communication range. She couldn't access her e-mail and couldn't communicate with her e-mail contacts. Unfortunately, many devotees actually could not contact her, and one good-hearted person unaware of this scam actually sent, and lost, around $500.
Devotees need to beware of this scam. The scammers now have the e-mail contact lists of both of these devotees, and
it seems that especially those on easily accessible accounts like Hotmail are in danger. Both Nitai and Akuti had simple passwords, so devotees might want to make their passwords more complicated, including using some symbols.
Thursday, December 17 was the formal inauguration of the Belgian Council of Religious Leaders (Conseil des leaders religieux de Belgique) in the Parliament of Brussels. Hṛdaya Caitanya prabhu, temple president of Radhadesh, was elected to represent in the council the Hindus of Belgium.
The main guest of the event was the future Queen of Belgium, Her Majesty Princess Mathilde. The devotees of Radhadesh provided prasadam for the reception after the inauguration ceremony. Leaders of all the other major religious groupings in Belgium &mdash Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Jewish and Muslim — as well as ministers and parliamentarians, enjoyed the beautifully presented and very tasty prasadam.
Among the interfaith spiritual leaders present were: Ven. Lama Karta (Tibetan Buddhist); Ven. Phra Suddhiñanavides (Theravada Buddhist); Frank De Waele (Zen Buddhist); Robert Innes (Anglican); Rev. Dr. Guy Liagre (United Protestant); Francis Renneboog (Evangelical); Cardinal Godfried Danneels (Roman Catholic); Metropolitan Pantéleimon (Eastern Orthodox); Ramesh Mehta (Jain); Grand Rabbi Albert Guigui (Jewish); Dr. Abdulaziz M. Al-Yahya, Şemsettin Uğurlu and Ahmed Hany Mahfoud (Muslim); as well as ISKCON's Herman Janssens (Hṛdaya Caitanya das).
The pictures will show you how HRH Princess Mathilde and the other dfignitaries loved Krishna prasadam. For more pictures of the event, you can visit Bhaktin Santusha prabhu's Picasa web page.
On behalf of the management, I wish to thank the devotees who worked very, very hard. Cooperation and forgiving each others' mistakes in performing service can lead to grand successes for ISKCON.
Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha ki jaya (108 times).
on 28th July, 2009 during the Press Conference at ISKCON Sri Radha Krishna Mandir Bangalore (slightly edited for clarity) Welcome to all of you. Thank you very much for coming here. On this occasion, I would like to dwell on the allegations about diversion of funds from Akshaya Patra to Real Estate activities. It is actually a totally baseless allegation. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an independent trust. ISKCON is a separate society which is running this temple. Apart from these, there are various other trusts in connection with various specific activities of this temple. So the point that we are engaged in property development - this was raised in some sections of the media and also in the Assembly by a Honourable Member of the House. We boldly say, "Yes, and what's wrong with it?" The relevant question that should be asked is, "For what purpose are we doing it?" Why can't the trust develop its own properties to generate funds for its own projects? What's wrong? History of formation of various trusts In fact when we got this temple land (Hare Krishna Hill), around 1987-88, we actually started the first commercial activity in order to raise funds for our temple projects. We started with the incense business. We did the business in the ISKCON society name for one year, and then our tax consultants advised us: since the temple is raising donations from the public it's advisable to separate the activities which are commercial in nature from the ISKCON society, where public donations are collected. So it was at that time, in the year 1992, that we started a separate trust, Goloka Seva Trust and we started doing the incense business in that trust's name. This incense business is continuing even today. And later on when this temple was inaugurated, we began to see high volume sales of religious paraphernalia (Lord Krishna's pictures, videos, photo frames, cassettes, devotional music cassettes, etc.) here. And sale of these items attracted sales tax. It was at that time, we created Sankirtan Seva Trust in 1997, to handle the sales of devotional paraphernalia. And then we have started a Krishna prasadam restaurant here in the temple, along with sale of various kinds of prasadam. As this is also an activity involving sales, for this purpose we started a separate trust called ISKCON Charities in 1999. This is the background of the missionary monks of this temple registering different trusts at different times: in order to keep the activities and funds generated from public donations and funds derived out of commercial activities separate and unmixed. Is it a sin to think intelligently? Is it a sin to conceive grand projects for the promotion of our culture and heritage? A few years ago, we conceived the theme park project, Krishna Lila Park. It is a huge project (estimated to cost Rs.350 crores). It was obvious that it has to have a robust financial model. We can't be collecting donations alone to complete this theme park project. It will take several decades to collect donations from the donors to accumulate such large sums. And that is one of the reasons why no duplication of Disney World-kind of park has ever happened in this country. Relatively small and medium sized amusement parks and entertainment parks have come up in India. But nobody has dared to do the quality of world class theme parks like Disney World and Universal Studios. We dare to do it, for our culture and our heritage. And this is the financial model we hit upon: to acquire lands next to the proposed Theme Park, before someone else comes and acquires and exploits and derive the benefit of the value enhancement that the Theme Park is bringing. We have acquired about 35 acres of land near the proposed Theme Park and we plan to develop this. And with the revenues generated from this hinterland development we build the Theme Park. So is it a sin to think intelligently? It is for fulfilling our mission. We don't hesitate to take up such endeavors. What is the taboo on the term 'real estate'? If you do it ethically, if you do it properly - what's wrong? And no laws of the country are violated. It is legal and permitted for a trust to engage in business activities as long as the profits of the business are spent towards achieving the objectives of the trust. What did we do with the money from the residential development (Phase 1)? Today we have developed and sold 600 apartments in the privately purchased land. (See sketch on page 4). These apartments are not in the land allotted to us by the government. And we have nothing to hide. We have generated a surplus of Rs.75 crores in 3 years from this activity. The first phase of the project is completed. All the apartments are sold. Where did all the money go? (1) We have repaid the loan from the bank with interest.
(3) We've spent more than Rs.15 crores on development of roads, compound wall, filling and building retaining walls. (I invite all of you to visit the site of the Krishna Lila Park. It is an abandoned quarry measuring about 28acres. There were huge rocky pits and we have filled some of them to create terraces. To develop the land is itself a big challenge. People who have seen this Hare Krishna Hill at the time of allotment will also tell you how rocky and barren this hillock was when we got it from BDA!!). (4) Apart from all these, we have purchased lands in a few places of pilgrimage like Vrindavan, Jagannath Puri, Haridwar and Guruvayoor and also in some important cities like Chennai and Jaipur in order to initiate temple and cultural complex projects. (5) In addition to all these, we have spent Rs.21 crores in producing a world class animation project on Krishna's pastimes in Vrindavan. (Little Krishna, a 13 episode series is being currently broadcast on Nick channel. This is a co-production with Big Animation). As far as the Krishna Lila Park, we have an intelligent plan for setting up a project of monumental proportions, creating a tourism attraction for this state. And that is the reason why the government has come forward to support us. They have supported us by clearing this as a tourism project. The government cannot say that they were not aware of the building of the apartments. The government order issued in connection with this project has all of the details. (We've given you a copy of the government order). The government order allows residential development and IT Park as part of the development of this land. Why do we want to do residential development or the IT Parks? Of course that is not our primary interest. But we have got a prime piece of land, we want to develop it and the surplus will go to build the Krishna Lila Park. So all these are mentioned in the government order. So it cannot be said, "Oh, we are shocked why ISKCON is doing apartments?" Actually ISKCON is not doing apartments. A separate trust has been created for this activity and for utilization of the fruits of this activity for religious and charitable purpose. A trust called India Heritage Foundation has been created for this activity with missionary monks of ISKCON-Bangalore as trustees. It is totally a false allegation that money from donations have been used to build apartments. No, the funds are completely segregated. One trust fund does not get mixed with other trust funds. Even ISKCON's funds don't get mixed with other trust funds; what to speak of Akshaya Patra Foundation funds, where government money is involved? We have not asked any financial grant from the government for the Krishna Lila Park project. We have asked what the government gives to any other industrialist or promoter who comes with a tourism project. The government gives land at 50% of the guidance value for tourism projects as per the Karnataka Tourism Policy. The 28-acre hillock has been given to us on this basis. This residential development to raise funds for the Krishna Lila Park is very much within project scope in our application to the government. If you read the application that we have made before the government, we never said that we have got huge funds and we are going to invest Rs.350 crores. No. We explained how the Rs.350 crore is going to be raised. We showed them the privately acquired lands next to the proposed theme park land and explained that this is how we're going to develop. Structuring each activity through distinct trusts, so that the donation money is never mixed with activities which have a commercial or business orientation, is the professional method of conducting such activities. These commercial activities are meant to raise funds for our core projects like Krishna animation and Krishna Lila Theme Park. We are not shy of doing business for furthering our sacred mission: We are not ashamed of doing these business activities. ISKCON is an organization. During our founder-acharya, Srila Prabhupada's days, he instructed his disciples to start a business of incense manufacturing and trading in Los Angeles. It was called Spiritual Sky. This business grew and Spiritual Sky become the largest distributor of incense in the US during the 1970s. With the profits generated out of this business many temples were built in the US. So we're not shy about doing it. And we will do it ethically. We will pay proper taxes. This ISKCON temple is probably one of the few temples where sales tax is paid for Prasadam sales and religious paraphernalia sales. Luxury tax is paid for the guest house and for hiring the marriage hall. We are law abiding citizens. Everything is done professionally. And if you take Akshaya Patra, it's being audited by globally renowned auditors. Akshaya Patra has about 3330 employees all over the country. ISKCON-Bangalore has nearly 900 employees. All statutory requirements like ESI, PF, health insurance, etc is being complied with for their welfare. Our Pain Without even one prima facie evidence of misappropriation, it is painful to us that we the missionaries have been suspected. Our missionary monks slog from 3 am in the morning to manage these Akshaya Patra kitchens, collect funds to enhance the meal for the underprivileged children and we have been alleged for misappropriation of funds. We are doing the government's work! And we are pained that today without an iota of evidence, without a pinch of prima facie evidence a House Committee has been formed. We don't see it as a problem. We are happy with the outcome. We will open all our books and give them the chance to see everything. We have nothing to hide. But as far as the common man is concerned it really sends a very wrong signal putting the temple in a bad light. Nobody should be punished or humiliated with a semblance of doubt if there is no prima facie case. Where is one case of misappropriation? Where has one donor complained? Has any donor complained of diversion of funds? No! Yet it is made to sound like a big scam!! Who are the people who are managing all the funds of the trust whether it is Real Estate or whatever? And for what purpose? Aren't there so many Christian missionary organizations on MG Road and elsewhere in the city who are involved in developing their properties for furthering their organization's purpose? There are hundreds of examples. Prime properties in the city have been developed by different missionaries for the furtherance of the objects of the trust. There is nothing wrong with it! Hence our involvement in this activity is also for a noble cause, for a grand vision, to create an asset for the state. It is very unfair to mix up Akshaya Patra and Theme Park. It is very, very unfair! We want the House Committee to look into it and see that there was not even a prima facie case. Just because we are collecting foreign funds, that fact alone does not mean there is misappropriation. Just because the people who are connected to Akshaya Patra are doing a grand Theme park and doing property development to generate funds for a grand project, that alone does not mean there is diversion of funds. It's just like putting A & B together, which are two distinct activities, just because the same people are behind it. This is very unfair. Where is the evidence for diversion of funds? And as far as those projects are concerned the government is very much aware of that - they have given the land, they have approved the project. The government order says there will be residential development. It is an open book! And it is alleged that the trustees have amassed wealth out of this real estate activities!! All the trustees have filed a voluntary disclosure of personal assets before the Metropolitan Magistrate. We have nothing to hide. We are missionaries who have dedicated our lives, left our homes, kith & kin, given up our career pursuits - all for the service of God and humanity and are not after creating material wealth for ourselves. And when we are assisting the government in this activity, we are all very much pained by these allegations raised on the floor of the Assembly. While we appreciate the step taken by the government in constituting a House Committee, we are definitely pained by this. This has caused damage to the reputation of our institution! This is a blemish on us and dharma that we represent! Alas! What a loss!! The common man doesn't know all these structuring we have done for different activities under different trusts!! Does he know there is a difference between the Akshaya Patra Foundation and ISKCON in terms of finances? Common man doesn't know that is done so that things don't get mixed up. When such serious allegations are raised in the Assembly and in the media, what would the common man think? There is something fishy going on. Perhaps people are making money!! They are filling their own personal coffers!! Whereas the truth is that even though it has a business model, it is being run by monks and missionaries. Where is the diversion? Who is taking away all this money? Who is enjoying all this money? First let one case of diversion of funds be shown. We reiterate that everything in Akshaya Patra is very absolutely clean. Anywhere government grant, anywhere public funds and donations are received, everything is accounted. It is an open book for everyone. Now if anybody wants to see the finances of even our apartment projects, even that we are open. Though we are not bound to! We are not collecting money from the public nor are we getting any grants from the government in the India Heritage Foundation. Still to increase our good will towards the people, because we have nothing to hide, we are ready to open our books to the House Committee. How much profit was created out of this apartment project? Where has every single paisa of that gone? Of course, without prejudicing our right to privacy which is characteristic of every business, but to earn their good will, we will open up everything for them. And then the House Committee will see for itself that we are clean. Please do it fast Our only request to the government is this, "Please do it fast!" The more there is delay, more the people's mind will think, "What is happening?" This kind of seed of doubt has been put in. As far as our existing supporters are concerned, they have confidence in us. They don't get disturbed by all this. We have received hundreds of calls and assurances of confidence and support from our donor community. They know us. Our present patrons and supporters are very much aware of our honesty, sincerity and integrity of this institution. We are an institution that has been functioning since 1978 in this state of Karnataka. Has there been ever a precedence of any of such thing? No! Whatever the Member of the House has spoken in the Assembly, he enjoys privileges of not being criticized for it. Today whatever we have spoken is not on the basis of what was spoken in the Assembly. Almost every point that was raised by him in the Assembly had been already raised outside the assembly and media had reported them. As far as what happened in the assembly, we only have to express our pain and anguish! The government may not appreciate our work. But we request that at least they shall not cast aspersions of us. Out of 10 lakh children served by Akshaya Patra, five lakh children are in Karnataka. As we discussed earlier, we started Akshaya Patra program 3 years before the government launched the cooked meal program. There was no cooked mid-day meal program in the state in the year 2000 when Akshaya Patra initiated the program. There was no subsidy from the government. It is not that we thought, "Oh, the government will give money, so let us do some program and siphon off some money." This is not the way this Akshaya Patra began. The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been doing its work even when government was not giving one paisa for feeding children. The missionary monks begged money from people, collected donations and fed nearly 50,000 children up to 2003, even before the government subsidy was there. We dared to do that. Among all the other trusts that we have, Akshaya Patra Foundation is the only trust that receives money from the government. And to maintain transparency, we have got five external trustees and while missionaries trustees are only three. They are the majority. The five external trustees like Sri Mohandas Pai and others are important people in the corporate world. They will vouch for the Akshaya Patra accounts. One of them signs the Akshaya Patra balance sheets. So that being the case, to say that money from abroad is collected in the name of Akshaya Patra and then it is used for Real Estate - where is the evidence? Simply one should not throw allegations at innocent people, at those people who are dedicated to serve the country and serve humanity. That is all our pain. Come what may, all our books are open to the House Committee. Let them see for themselves. But however it is important that we express our deep pain at what has occurred on the floor of the Assembly. Lastly, we are well aware that ISKCON-Mumbai is behind this maligning campaign against ISKCON-Bangalore since the past nine years. And more fiercely now after recently losing a nine-year-long legal battle seeking to control the properties and funds of ISKCON-Bangalore. ISKCON-Bangalore is a legally independent society registered in Karnataka. The maligning song sung by the MLA to the media is the same song with identical lyrics and tune that ISKCON Mumbai has been singing for the past nine years. The difference is that they found a new and loud singer this time.
Thank you very much!
Does any devotee book distributor have any story they can tell of Michael
Jackson ever receiving any of Srila Prabhupada's books? If so, please send
to dasarath@sedonavedicculture.com
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