On Kazakhstan issue, we will be having having public demonstration at
Valluvar Kottam, Chennai on 3rd December 2006 between 4 & 5 p.m.
All devotees and well-wishers are welcome to participate and express
solidarity with the devotees in Kazakhstan.
Valluvar Kottam, Chennai on 3rd December 2006 between 4 & 5 p.m.
All devotees and well-wishers are welcome to participate and express
solidarity with the devotees in Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh government has demolished more than a dozen homes of Krishna devotees. This follows an earlier thwarted attempt in April 2006. Kazakh officials have claimed that the land was transferred against Kazakh law. ISKCON devotees claim that this is not true and that this is a case of religious discrimination.
Kazakhstan has recently worked at portraying itself as a place where religious tolerance is respected. At the same time it has been repeatedly criticised by groups such as Forum18, a Norwegian human rights organisation, and is under observation by the OSCE, a group Kazakhstan's President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, wants Kazakhstan to chair in 2009.
After the April attempt to evict devotes from their land, a government commission was set up to investigate the matter. According to Forum 18, there was a belief that this was merely to deflect criticism from the government during its Second Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
Other groups claim to have suffered at the hands of the Kazakh government, including the Presbyterian Church, one of whose ministers was evicted from the country for “missionary activity without registration” shortly after being an official speaker at a state "Day of Spiritual Unity and Conciliation" ceremony, marking the official claim that "religious people and communities" have "full rights".
On 20 November at 6 am, orders were received for the devotees to demolish their homes or to have them demolished by the state at their expense. The next day, government demolitionists arrived.
By 23 November thirteen houses had been destroyed. The houses that weren't yet demolished have had their windows and window frames destroyed, making them uninhabitable in the freezing Kazakh winter.
In a phone call, the head of the committee investigating the issue, Amanbek Mukhashev, said "I know nothing about the demolition of the Hare Krishna homes – I'm on holiday. As soon as I return to work at the beginning of December we will officially announce the results of the Commission's investigation."
ISKCON's leader in Kazakhstan, Govinda Swami, who has attempted to raise international awareness of the problem said : "It is snowing in Kazakhstan and these folks are losing their homes. They entered one home where there was a woman with an infant and started destroying her home. We have been regularly told that the work of the commission is not finished and still they have attacked in this way." He said that it is "not a coincidence" that on 20 November his Kazakh visa expired "and on 21st they attacked".
Meanwhile, President Nazarbayev, is in England seeking economic investment for his country and was invited to officially open the London Stock Exchange.
In September, protests against Kazakhstan's treatment of ISKCON devotees were held in Washington DC. Following the recent demolitions, protests were quickly organised at the London Stock Exchange during President Nazarbayev's visit.
An “early day motion” was passed in the UK Parliament condemning “harassment of and discrimination against Hindu minorities in Kazakhstan”, noting that the Kazakh “Supreme Court reviewed two cases regarding Hindu cottages and ruled against the Hindus without inviting the plaintiffs to the hearings;” and called for President Nazarbayev “to intervene to stop action to demolish houses belonging to the followers of Hare Krishna, facilitate legal registration of properties owned by Hindus, allow Hindus to occupy their homes and worship freely.”
Kazakhstan has recently worked at portraying itself as a place where religious tolerance is respected. At the same time it has been repeatedly criticised by groups such as Forum18, a Norwegian human rights organisation, and is under observation by the OSCE, a group Kazakhstan's President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, wants Kazakhstan to chair in 2009.
After the April attempt to evict devotes from their land, a government commission was set up to investigate the matter. According to Forum 18, there was a belief that this was merely to deflect criticism from the government during its Second Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
Other groups claim to have suffered at the hands of the Kazakh government, including the Presbyterian Church, one of whose ministers was evicted from the country for “missionary activity without registration” shortly after being an official speaker at a state "Day of Spiritual Unity and Conciliation" ceremony, marking the official claim that "religious people and communities" have "full rights".
On 20 November at 6 am, orders were received for the devotees to demolish their homes or to have them demolished by the state at their expense. The next day, government demolitionists arrived.
By 23 November thirteen houses had been destroyed. The houses that weren't yet demolished have had their windows and window frames destroyed, making them uninhabitable in the freezing Kazakh winter.
In a phone call, the head of the committee investigating the issue, Amanbek Mukhashev, said "I know nothing about the demolition of the Hare Krishna homes – I'm on holiday. As soon as I return to work at the beginning of December we will officially announce the results of the Commission's investigation."
ISKCON's leader in Kazakhstan, Govinda Swami, who has attempted to raise international awareness of the problem said : "It is snowing in Kazakhstan and these folks are losing their homes. They entered one home where there was a woman with an infant and started destroying her home. We have been regularly told that the work of the commission is not finished and still they have attacked in this way." He said that it is "not a coincidence" that on 20 November his Kazakh visa expired "and on 21st they attacked".
Meanwhile, President Nazarbayev, is in England seeking economic investment for his country and was invited to officially open the London Stock Exchange.
In September, protests against Kazakhstan's treatment of ISKCON devotees were held in Washington DC. Following the recent demolitions, protests were quickly organised at the London Stock Exchange during President Nazarbayev's visit.
An “early day motion” was passed in the UK Parliament condemning “harassment of and discrimination against Hindu minorities in Kazakhstan”, noting that the Kazakh “Supreme Court reviewed two cases regarding Hindu cottages and ruled against the Hindus without inviting the plaintiffs to the hearings;” and called for President Nazarbayev “to intervene to stop action to demolish houses belonging to the followers of Hare Krishna, facilitate legal registration of properties owned by Hindus, allow Hindus to occupy their homes and worship freely.”
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One of the greatest contributions of India to the world is Holy Gita which is considered to be one of the first revelations from God. The Social, philosophy and management lessons in this holy book were brought in to light of the world by divine Sri. Srila Prabhupada Swami. Swamiji calls the Bhagavad-Gita the essence of Vedic Literature and a complete guide to practical life. It provides "all that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible level." Swamiji reveals the deep, universal truths of life that speak to the needs and aspirations of everyone. Swami preached and educated the people especially the youth of America is saved from Hippism at that time and able to revolutionaise a section of the society to bhakthi marga and His followers continuing the mission by keeping this lantern burning always knowing the wishes of the modern generations. Arjuna got mentally depressed when he saw his relatives with whom he has to fight.( Mental health has become a major international public health concern now). To motivate him the Bhagavad Gita is preached in the battle field Kurukshetra by Lord Krishna to Arjuna as a counseling to do his duty while multitudes of men stood by waiting. It has got all the management tactics to achieve the mental equilibrium and to overcome any crisis situation. The Bhagavad Gita can be experienced as a powerful catalyst for transformation. Bhagavad gita means song of the Spirit, song of the Lord. The Holy Gita has become a secret driving force behind the unfoldment of one's life. In the days of doubt this divine book will support all spiritual searches. This divine book will contribute to self reflection, finer feeling and deepen one's inner process. Then life in the world can become a real education—dynamic, full and joyful—no matter what the circumstance. May the wisdom of loving consciousness ever guide us on our journey? What makes the Holy Gita a practical psychology of transformation is that it offers us the tools to connect with our deepest intangible essence and we must learn to participate in the battle of life with right knowledge?
The Holy Gita is the essence of the Vedas, Upanishads. It is a universal scripture applicable to people of all temperaments and for all times. It is a book with sublime thoughts and practical instructions on Yoga, Devotion, Vedanta and Action. It is profound in thought and sublime in heights of vision. It brings peace and solace to souls that are afflicted by the three fires of mortal existence, namely, afflictions caused by one's own body (disease etc), those caused by beings around one (e.g. wild animals, snakes etc.), and those caused by the gods (natural disasters, earth-quakes, floods etc).
Mind can be one's friend or enemy. Mind is the cause for both bondage and liberation. The word mind is derived from man to think and the word man derived from manu (sanskrit word for man).
"The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy."
There is no theory to be internalized and applied in this psychology. Ancient practices spontaneously induce what each person needs as the individual and the universal coincide. The work proceeds through intellectual knowledge of the playing field (jnana yoga), emotional devotion to the ideal (bhakti yoga) and right action that includes both feeling and knowledge(karma yoga). With ongoing purification we approach wisdom. The Bhagavad Gita is a message addressed to each and every human individual to help him or her to solve the vexing problem of overcoming the present and progressing towards a bright future. Within its eighteen chapters is revealed a human drama. This is the experience of everyone in this world, the drama of the ascent of man from a state of utter dejection, sorrow and total breakdown and hopelessness to a state of perfect understanding, clarity, renewed strength and triumph.
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