Media Rebuttals 1: Expat Priests

Hare Krsna! Recently, there have been two articles - one in the Straits Times, the primary newspaper in Singapore, and the other in the www.sampradayasun.com. These articles directly or indirectly belittle the Hare Krsna movement here in Singapore as they provide either inaccurate or/and erroneous information. So we have rebutted these articles using factual information. In the first instant, our reply to the editor was not allowed to be published in the forum. Our second rebuttal was successfully posted on the sampradayasun.com.

The following is the rebuttal to the Expat Priests article in The Straits Times:

Well, I am quite disappointed with the article "Expat Priests" published on the 23rd of August (Saturday) in the Home Page B8. I feel that the interviewer might have been misinformed.

Before anything else, the word "Priest" itself was misrepresented. The actual word is "Brahmana". According to Vedic Civilization, the human society is divided into four social orders and four spiritual orders. The four social orders are Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra. This division is unavoidable for the smooth running of society. These divisions are not based on birthright. They are based on the aptitude and work of the person concerned. This is confirmed in the Vedic literature. The Brahmanas are the intellectual or the priestly class, the Kshatriyas are the warrior or administrative class, the Vaishyas are the business class and the Sudras are the laborer class. The Brahmanas are considered to be the head of the society, the Kshatriyas are the arms, the Vaishyas are the waist and the Sudras are the legs of the society.

The Brahmanas are first class ideal men. They have six kinds of activities. Firstly, Pathan Paathan; he is well-versed in the study of the Vedic scriptures. Not only is he well-versed, he teaches this knowledge to others without any monetary remuneration. A Brahmana never accepts any salary. He voluntarily keeps himself in a poverty-stricken condition so that he will not be intoxicated with wealth and be always dependent completely upon God for his necessities. He is not very anxious to maintain his body. He has full faith that God will supply him everything. His main concern in life is how to develop unconditional love of God. Then the next activity is Yajan Yaajan; he performs sacrifices to purify himself and he performs sacrifices to benefit others. Then Daana Pratigraha; he accepts donations from the general people, offer them to God, uses whatever is barely necessary to keep his body and soul together and distributes the rest back to the public. A Brahmana never hoards any money or anything for that matter. All these are the qualifications of real Brahmanas, not of so-called Brahmanas who only worry about their own bread and butter.

Well, let's now look at the article itself.

The article says:

In fact, community leaders claim that there has never been a locally born Hindu Temple Priest.

And....

"Singaporeans? Nobody is interested."

I am member of Sri Krishna Mandir and the Temple President His Grace Sundar Gopal Das has been a priest for the past 30 years. All these years, he never had any salary whatsoever. In fact, he trained so many others also in this respect. All of them follow these principles very strictly. They even have Chinese priests, what to speak of Indians. None of them accept any salaries. They are genuinely not interested in earning a salary. They are 100% dedicated to the service of the Lord. Therefore the above statements quoted in the article are completely false.

The article then says:

Even if a Singaporean Hindu wants to become a temple priest, he would have to head to India for training, as there are no schools here.

There it is:

Sri Krishna Mandir

9, Geylang Lorong 29, #03-02

(S) 388065

Tel: 6250 2280

They have already been teaching this invaluable science for decades now. Again the quoted statement is wrong.

In fact, the job of a priest or Brahmana is not just to mechanically perform some prayers keeping the public in the dark about the knowledge of self-realization. A real Brahmana is very compassionate. He always looks out for ways and means to enlighten the suffering humanity about the authorized science of self-realization based on authoritative Vedic sources such as Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, which alone can bring complete peace to the afflicted soul.

I positively suggest that the interviewer kindly interview the monks and priests at Sri Krishna Mandir as you can find locally-trained priests there.

Prison Preaching Excellence Award

Here's another feather in the cap for Sri Krishna Mandir. We have received the Prison Preaching Excellence Award on the 15th of November, 2008 at the Suntec City. Jaya!! Haribol!! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!

Govardhana Puja Pictures

The Govardhana Puja pictures are out. It has been quite some time. Any way, they are out.



Hare Krsna!!

Book Distribution Marathon Month Concludes

Hare Krsna to all devotees & everyone!

Please excuse us for not updating this news page for over a month now. We have been quite busy in the Deepavali Fair distributing Srila Prabhupada books!!

Well, we are very pleased to announce that around 3,000 Srila Prabhupada books in the last one month!!Srila Prabhupada is undoubtedly very pleased. All the devotees who have participated in selling Prabhupada books are ecstatic beyond limits! It was really NECTAR!!

Please visit the Vaisnava Nectar page for more stories at the Deepavali Fair and devotees' preaching encounters and realizations while preaching at the fair. If there are none, they will be up soon.

Thank you. Hare Krsna!

Book Distribution Marathon Month in Singapore has commenced

Hare Krishna!!

So, this year, we are at the Deepavali Fair again as usual distributing Srila Prabhupada's books. It commenced on the 29th of September. It will continue till 27th of October. So all devotees of Sri Krishna Mandir are requested to participate in this most auspicious preaching program that will please Srila Prabhupada the most.

Srila Prabhupada ki Jaya!!
Brhad Mrdanga ki Jaya!!

Boat Festival 2008 Report

Hare Krsna everyone!!

With the boat festival, the major festivals of the 2008 have concluded.

The day was cloudy and just prior to the commencement of the festival, the clouds seemed to threaten us with a heavy downpour. They were pitch black, covering the entire sky except the moon. It seemed as if the Moon of Nadia Lord Gauracandra was witnessing this great festival. After all, the festival is His pastime.

Probably owing to this rain, the attendance was not much. About 200 people assembled. The kirtan was really first-class as was the prasadam. Extra prasadam was distributed to the needy outside the stadium complex.

We shall put up the pictures very soon.

Hare Krsna!

Harinama at Chinese Festival

Hare Krsna!!

It was a very unique preaching opportunity indeed! A few weeks ago, one Chinese gentleman came to our Sunday Love Feast. He invited us to a joint celebration of all the societies, organizations and clans of Geylang Lorong 29 on the occasion of Mid-Autumn Festival which falls on the 13th of September, wherein each society, clan, etc. have to display their unique activity on stage for 5 minutes. Sundar Gopal Prabhu, our President here, accepted the invitation. 

This is a Chinese traditional festival. Nevertheless, they opened up and invited all socities thus making it a multi-racial event. Dr. Fatimah Binte Abdul Lateef, the MP for Geylang Serai Community presided over the festival as Guest of Honor.

As soon as she arrived, a small girl devotee of Sri Krishna Mandir, Bhaktin Pavitraa, presented her some transcendental books of Srila Prabhupada in a nice gift pack thus making her very fortunate.

Amongst all the items displayed, our item stole the show!! It was HARINAMA!!

Everybody present there really appreciated the kirtana.

One comment was particularly notable. The Event Manager commented, "How is it that your temple is full of youngsters?" All the Chinese clans comprised of old people.

This is the dynamism of Srila Prabhupada! Srila Prabhupada ki Jaya!

Srila Prabhupada ki Jaya!

Radhastami 2008 Report

Hare Krsna to one & all!

Yesterday, we have concluded the Radhastami festival. It went on very well. The temple room was exquisitely decorated with flowers. At noon, we had a Puspanjali for Srimati Radharani and a special Prasadam feast was served to the devotees and attendants. We had a special program in the evening too!

The highlight of the program was the initiation ceremony. Five devotees have taken vow to become disciples of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada with the full blessings of all the Vaisnavas present. 

The initiates were: Sridhara Dasa, Saksi-Gopala Dasa, Prahlada Bhakta Dasa, Radha Ramana Dasa & Anuradha Devi Dasi.

It is very heartening to see that the above-mentioned five people have taken up the path of Bhakti Yoga in all seriousness on such an auspicious occasion as Radhastami.

This was followed by another feast for the devotees and attendants of the ceremony.

With that we would like to conclude this post. Thank you for all your support once again.

The Significance of Radhastami

Hare Krsna everyone!!

Radhastami is not very well known as compared to Sri Krsna Janmastami. The reason is that to understand Srimati Radharani constitutes even more confidential knowledge than to understand Sri Krsna. The following is a very brief understanding of the position of Radharani.

Madana means Cupid. We, in the material world, are all afflicted by the sharp arrows of Cupid. In fact, these arrows of Cupid are the cause of our perpetual bondage in this material world. Cupid reigns supreme in this material world.

But Krsna is called Madana Mohana - The Enchanter of Cupid. In fact, His beauty defeats the beauty of Cupid multiplied a million-fold. Everyone, in the material and spiritual worlds, are directly or indirectly enchanted by Krsna. Therefore, Krsna's position is supreme.

Although Krsna is such an ocean of reservoir of pleasure, there is one person who can completely enchant Krsna. That person is none other than Srimati Radharani. She is so perfect in Her devotional service to Krsna that although Krsna is very sober and completely aloof from all affection, even He cannot help but be attracted to Her. Such is the force of Her devotional service. Within the entire material and spiritual worlds, She alone can completely attract the mind of Krsna. Therefore She is also called Madana-Mohana-Mohini.

Therefore if we try to please Srimati Radharani, then Krsna will be more pleased with us than when we try to please Him directly. We observe this celebration in commemoration of the Appearance of Srimati Radharani so that Krsna will be very much pleased.

Ratha Yatra '08

The Singapore Ratha Yatra ’08 or the festival of chariots was recently concluded on 13th Jul 08. It was held at Toa Payoh Stadium in its third consecutive year running. The guest-of-honour for the festival this year, His Honourable Mr. Inderjit Singh, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC represented the head of state for Singapore and performed the long standing tradition of sweeping as is done by the King of Orissa just before the start of pulling of the chariot.

During the festival, devotees took the opportunity to distribute the transcendental books of Srila Prabhupada as well as other paraphernalia that included Lord Jagannatha keychains, pendants, stickers, posters and even T-shirts designed by Sri Krishna Mandir’s own brahmachari. Prasadam was freely distributed to the public along with mouth-watering laddus and cakes. The three chariots belonging to Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Lady Subhadra were beautifully decorated with newly sewn extravagant embroidery, throngs of strung up fragrant flower garlands and plenty of various coloured balloons.

Devotees and visitors alike started streaming into the stadium as early as 4.30pm and they were kept engaged at the store either by the books, paraphernalia or the ratha yatra documentary displayed on the large LCD screen. At the time of arati when the deities were on their respective chariots, the space between the stadium tracks and the stadium terraces was packed with so many people that there was hardly any space to maneuver. After the arati, His Honourable Mr Inderjit Singh flagged off the pulling of the chariot by sweeping the path leading to the chariot of Lord Jaganntha. The chariots were pulled in the particular order: Lord Baladeva, Lady Subhadra and Lord Jagannatha.

The kirtan at each of the three chariots kept everyone energised throughout the pulling the chariots. To combat thirst and encourage people to continue pulling the chariots, drink stations were positioned at the two extreme ends of stadium. Visitors spoken to felt that the festival was well organised and that they felt happy that they were part of such a wonderful and colourful festival. The festival was also published in colour in the largest selling English newspaper, The Straits Times as well as the Tamil newspaper. The success of this festival attributes to the fact the devotees at Sri Krishna Mandir follow the orders of their spiritual master, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada rigidly and preach accordingly without any liquidation to his work. Lord Jagannatha in that manner becomes pleased when His pure devotee is served properly and so The Lord of the Universe rewards accordingly.

Jai Jagannatha Ratha Yatra ki Jai! Jai Srila Prabhupada ki Jai!

New Nrsimhadeva Deity Installed!

Sunday, 18th May 08 marked the auspicious day of the appearance of Lord Nrsimha. Over here at Sri Krishna Mandir, it was a cause for special celebrations as a new deity of Lord Nrsimha was installed. The older deity made of marble, was softened over time due to the constant abhishek (bath) of the Lord over an extended period of time. Just prior to over a month before the festival, the hand of the deity was broken and was temporarily sealed back in place. It was decided that a new deity made of sturdy element brought in and to permanently retire the old deity to the sea. The new deity arrived at Sri Krishna Mandir a week before Nrsimha Caturdasi and is made entirely of a compound of metal elements and weighs in at slightly over thirty-one kilograms.

The installation ceremony lasted for two days. The first half was held on the morning of the eve of the Nrsimha Caturdasi. The second half of the ceremony was held on the auspicious day itself. Part of the rituals included bathing the Lord with panca-gavya (five byproducts of the cow: urine, waste, milk, ghee and yogurt), and a fire yajna. The Taman Daya temple president, His Grace Saci Suta Prabhu, administered the entire ceremony. After all second-initiates (brahmana) offered abhishek to the Lord, the Lord then retired briefly to put on new garments assisted by brahmanas and away from everyone’s vision. The Lord then appeared all dressed up with elegance and opulence for everyone to have darshan for the first time. His Grace, Govardhan Prabhu initiated the first arati of the Lord manifested in the new deity over a rousing kirtan led by Tattva Vit Prabhu.

For the rest of the devotees, the opportunity to offer abhishek to the Lord occurred in the evening after Gaura arati. The Lord was brought down from the altar to a makeshift stage at the carpark at ground floor. After which, devotees made a beeline acquiring a small pot of milk for offering to the Lord. The cultural program started after the abhishek ceremony with performances by children, traditional Indian dancers and even a live band. The day was capped off with a drama depicting the appearance of Lord Nrsimha.

Jai Nrsimhadeva ki Jai! Jai Prahlad Maharaj ki Jai!

First Spiritual Retreat

1st May 2008 marked a public holiday as Singapore celebrated Labour Day. Sri Krishna Mandir took this opportunity to stage the first spiritual retreat to Malaysia. Eighteen devotees from Sri Krishna Mandir were joined by two devotees from the Taman Daya temple in Johor, Malaysia. Devotees from Sri Krishna Mandir started their journey at 8pm on 30th Apr 08 to the causeway in Woodlands. As they approached the causeway, there was a long queue of vehicles as expected due to Malaysians going back home for the long weekend. The van carrying the devotees maneuvered to the nearest location to the Woodlands checkpoint without being caught in the jam. The devotees disembarked and started their journey by foot. Passing the causeway through the two checkpoints, the devotees embarked an air-conditioned coach in Johor that comfortably fetched them to the Taman Daya temple. Despite being arriving at a late hour the hospitality shown by the Taman Daya temple president, His Grace Saci Suta Prabhu and the other devotees made their guests feel homely as they served them prasadam consisting of biryani and sabji (vegetables). After prasadam, the devotees were shown their lodging at the Rose Cottage Hotel, a budget hotel with a simple yet comfortable stay having rooms equipped with air-conditioner, television and heater shower. Before devotees retired for the night, a small request was made by Sri Krishna Mandir Singapore temple president, His Grace Sundar Gopal Prabhu requesting all to join him for mangala arati the next day at 5am.

The next morning as the time ticked away to 5am, all the guest devotees from Singapore joined their Malaysian counterparts for the start of mangala arati. This was the first time that the Taman Daya temple has experienced such a huge gathering of devotees from Singapore and Johor for mangala arati. His Grace Raghupati Prabhu led the kirtan as devotees chanted the holy names and danced for the deities of Gaura-Nitai. After the Srimad-Bhgavatam class, devotees had breakfast and checked out of the hotel all ready for the adventures ahead. A 25-seater air-conditioned coach ferried them to their first stop, Malaya Giri Dhama, the future site of the first spiritual farm stay near Kota Tinggi, Johor. As devotees enjoyed the beauty and the bliss of the place, a clairvoyant wave of expected questions filled the air, “When will this project be completed?”

Next stop was Kota Tinggi waterfalls. Being a holiday in Malaysia as well, the environment was crowded with locals hoping to have a dip and feel the rush of the falls. The devotees manage to find a secluded spot at the top of the waterfalls just before the rapid falls. After quickly changing to their swimming attire, the devotees took a plunge into the pool. The coldness of the water was enough to jolt one into delirium. But the small rapid of water into the pool was refreshing as devotees took turns to sit in the midst of the rapids. It was duly labeled fresh water massage treatment by the devotees. As the rapids pushed against their bodies, a relaxing, soft touch was all that was needed to relax the joints and the body parts that are ached by the mediocre city lifestyle. After being rejuvenated, the devotees changed to dry attire and broke for lunch.

After lunch, devotees rested in the coach as it made its way to Desaru, a sleepy coastal town on the east coast of Johor. A half-hour pit stop was made at a fruit farm where devotees took the opportunity get their hands on cheap fruits and freshly squeezed fruit juices. Finally, the devotees made their final stop of the day at a beach resort in Desaru. Desaru, which is well known among the locals and Singaporeans for their wide sand tropical beaches became a transcendental playground for the devotees. After a game of beach football, the devotees headed into the water to cool off and engage in water games such as wrestling, tug-o-war and even something as naïve as wave slamming. Some even took off early from the beach to race in go-karts. Soon, the time came to depart, and all the devotees departed filling refreshed and light-headed.

The first spiritual retreat was a grand success with another retreat soon to follow in June. This trip has given devotees a temporary hermitage from the hustle and bustle of a stressful city life. Because of such a lifestyle, city dwellers become too attached to their work commitments and often fail to realize that there is more to life than working as if there is no tomorrow. This attempt of this retreat was to re-ignite sadhana bhakti for the city dwelling devotees through the morning program that Srila Prabhupada very heavily stresses upon. With the association of devotees and the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Supreme Lord, the retreat definitely brightened up a lot of faces. Sadhana bhakti that includes attending the morning program coupled with a day out in the water played a big part in re-igniting the devotional spirit of everyone. Even though it looks more like fun and games, there is constant association of devotees who are properly following the orders of their spiritual master, congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord as well as prasadam honouring. It was indeed a win-win situation for all. Vinay, a Mauritiun teaching in Singapore summed it up the best, “Prabhu, when are you planning to go back again?!”

Minister Receives Bhagavad-Gita

It was 10am on the Sunday of 27th March 2008 when a crowd gathered on the street beside the building where Sri Krishna Mandir is situated. Residents from adjacent condominiums were also waiting by their windows, observing the proceedings. An air of excitement lingered in the air as everyone awaited the arrival of Health Minister, Mr Khaw Boon Wan.

The Health Minister graced the Geylang Serai District as part of the ministerial community visit. As Geylang Lorong 29 was one of the stopovers for Mr Khaw, Sri Krishna Mandir decided to take this opportunity to distribute a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is to the minister. His Grace Raghupati Prabhu delivered the two copies; one in English and the other in Mandarin. Mr Khaw graciously accepted the two copies of the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. To fulfill the order of our spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, we at Sri Krishna Mandir, have to actively preach and distribute his transcendental books describing and glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna.

It is the mercy of Lord Sri Krishna that such a prominent head of state of Singapore was able to receive the transcendental instructions of a pure devotee in the line of disciplic succession.

Jai Srila Prabhupada!

Spiritual Retreat in Malaysia

Hare Krishna!!

We have planned a spiritual retreat on the 1st of May, 2008 to Malaysia.

So we'll be moving in the night before and put up at the Sri Krishna Mandir at Taman Daya. We'll be having a mangala-arati on the 1st of May and after the solid morning program, we'll be heading to the Kota Tinggi waterfalls. From there, we'll pay a brief visit to the to-be farm community at the Kota Tinggi, and will head straight to the Desa Ru beach. There we'll have a kirtana following which we shall partake of prasadam. We'll spend some time at the beach and head back to Singapore in the evening.

This trip is a great way for serious candidates to get away from the hustle-bustle of a metropolitan and fully be with the devotees for a whole 24 hours and experience spiritual life.

Once the Kota Tinggi farm gets kicked off, that will be a valuable feather in the Yatra's cap.

Hare Krishna!!

A change in the Sunday Program

Hare Krishna! To all devotees, well-wishers and visitors,



There will be a slight change in the kirtan schedule on Sunday.



The arati will start as usual at 6pm along with kirtan. With the completion of the arati at about 6:30pm, the kirtan will be stopped and a Hare Krishna bhajan will begin and it will last until about 7:15pm.



After this it is as usual - Bhagavad Gita lecture and Prasadam.



Kindly note that these changes will be in effect from the 27th of April, 2008.



Hare Krishna!

Rama Navami was a blissful event

Hare Krishna everyone!!





Sri Rama Navami celebration was very encouraging for the devotees. Despite being a week day, the attendance was about a hundred. Most of them were new faces. And surprisingly, six of them were Chinese!!!





All the people liked the Hare Krishna kirtana, the abhisheka, the class and of course the Prasadam. When asked how they liked the festival, many of them replied that it was like a really rejuvenating experience. They seemed to feel full of vitality despite a tiring day of work.





The festival was especially blissful to the devotees as a result of seeing so many souls witnessing the transcendental event. This is the sole happiness for the preacher - to see others happy in the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna or Lord Ramacandra.








One can be happy only in the association of God, Krishna because our position is to be with Krishna, serve Him with love and devotion in the kingdom of God, Vaikuntha. We have come far away from Him to enjoy on our own. This we have been doing since time immemorial. This much-hyped quest for happiness in this material world is nothing but a struggle for existence. Everyone is only embarassed by the ever-entangling network of misery. If we just turn our face back to God, we will begin to feel blissful again. As Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to say:



"I have gotten the Lord of My life and soul, for whom I was burning in the endless fire of lusty desires."



So this explains the rejuvenating experience of the new witnesses of the Sri Rama Navami.

So by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, everything is all slowly falling in place. The Singapore Yatra is beginning to evolve in the true line of Lord Caitanya's movement ever since Srila Prabhupada is the centre without any deviation.

Hare Krishna to all, thanking you for your attendance!

Rama Navami 2008

We will be celebrating the Rama Navami, the Transcendental Appearance Day of Lord Ramacandra, on the 14th of April, 2008 (Monday). The program timings are as follows:

• 7:00pm - Arati and Kirtan
• 7:45pm - Abhishek
• 8:15pm - Lecture on Lord Ramacandra
• 9:15pm - Prasadam

We invite everyone to attend this great festival and get blessings of Lord Ramacandra.

Thank you!

Hare Krishna!!