Holy Pilgrimage - Hindu temples in United Kingdom
ISKCON Manchester, United Kingdom
20 Mayfield Road
Whalley Range
Manchester
M16 8FT
Ph: +44 (0)161 226 4416
contact@iskconmanchester.com
About ISKCON
The International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON) is a branch of the monotheistic Gaudiya Vaishnava
tradition within Hinduism dating back 5000 years to Lord Krishna Himself.
ISKCON was established in the West in 1966 by His Divine Grace A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada) and has since developed into
a worldwide confederation of over 500 temples, centers, communities, schools,
and restaurants with some 250,000 devotees.
The mission of this nonsectarian,
monotheistic movement is to promote the well-being of society by teaching the
science of Krishna consciousness according to Bhagavad-gita and other ancient
scriptures.
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada incorporated the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness in 1966 with seven explicit purposes. This list of purposes
(below) was one of the official documents incorporating ISKCON as a charitable
organization
1. To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to
society at large and to educate all people in the techniques of spiritual life
in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and
peace in the world.
2. To propagate a consciousness of Krishna (God), as it
is revealed in the great scriptures of India, Bhagavad-gita and
Srimad-Bhagavatam.
3. To bring the members of the Society together with
each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, thus developing the idea
within the members, and humanity at large, that each soul is part and parcel of
the quality of Godhead (Krishna).
4. To teach and encourage the sankirtana movement,
congregational chanting of the holy name of God, as revealed in the teachings
of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
5. To erect for the members and for society at large a
holy place of transcendental pastimes dedicated to the personality of Krishna.
6. To bring the members closer together for the
purpose of teaching a simpler, more natural way of life.
7. With a view towards achieving the aforementioned
purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other
writings.
His Divine Grace A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), Founder Acharya of the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness, is the extraordinary person
who dedicated his life to teaching the world about Krishna consciousness,
ancient India's most noble message of spiritual wisdom.
Teachings
The philosophy of the Hare Krishna movement is
based on ancient Indian scriptures known as “The Vedas”. This vast body
of knowledge, originally written in Sanskrit, dates back to about 3000 BC, yet
before that it was passed on by word of mouth.
The Vedas describe “sanatana-dharma”, the
eternal and natural inclination of mankind towards spiritual activity. There
are many sections of the Vedas, but the best known are Bhagavad-Gita and
Srimad-Bhagavatam. These constitute the cream of Vedic knowledge and
form the foundation of the philosophy of the Hare Krishna. Some key principles
are give below.
- We are not our bodies, but are eternal spirit souls, part and parcel of God (Krishna). Although we are essentially spiritual, we mis-identify ourselves as our material coverings (Our bodies).
- Our Dormant relationship with Krishna can be reawakened by the devotional practice of Bhakti-yoga, the science of spiritualising all human activities. This ancient yoga system gradually frees us from the entanglement of karma and therefore the cycle of birth and death.
- The process of bhakti-yoga begins with daily meditating on the Hare Krishna mantra.
Hare Krishna Hare
Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
ISKCON Manchester -
Activities
Harinama-Sankirtana
Harinama-sankirtana
(the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord) dancing and
chanting the maha-mantra Hare
Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama,Hare Rama, Rama
Rama, Hare Hare accompanied by mridangas (two headed drums)
and karatalas (hand cymbals).
Krishna's
holy names are endowed with all of His potencies and this sound vibration can
reawaken a person to his spiritual identity and existence. We have forgotten
our real identity as spiritual beings, part and parcel of Krishna, and this
forgetfulness is the root cause of all our suffering.
500 years ago Lord Krishna came as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (or Lord Gauranga). He appeared as a devotee of Krishna (Himself) to reawaken all the conditioned souls by the method of Harinama-sankirtana. He would go with His followers into the streets and chant the names of Krishna so that people's suffering could be ended, and they could take to the real activity, the spiritual activity, of worshiping and serving the Supreme Lord.
500 years ago Lord Krishna came as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (or Lord Gauranga). He appeared as a devotee of Krishna (Himself) to reawaken all the conditioned souls by the method of Harinama-sankirtana. He would go with His followers into the streets and chant the names of Krishna so that people's suffering could be ended, and they could take to the real activity, the spiritual activity, of worshiping and serving the Supreme Lord.
Harinama
in Manchester: Second Sunday of every month 2:00pm to 4:00 pm.
For more information please contact temple Harinama-Sankirtana team.
For more information please contact temple Harinama-Sankirtana team.
Preaching
Lord Krishna states in Bhagavad
gita(18.69) that there is no one in this world dearer to Him than one who preaches
His message.Preaching is an integral part of our temple's activities. Srila
Prabhupada writes "Preaching is the easiest way to realise the Supreme
Personality of Godhead" (Srimad-Bhagavatam,7.6.24 purport).
ISKCON is based on the timeless
teachings of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam as received in
disciplic succession from Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Classes are held regularly at our
Manchester temple on Friday and Sunday evenings and other locations around
Manchester during the weekdays.
For more information please contact
temple Preaching team
Spiritual Counsellor System
Spiritual Counsellor System is introduced in ISKCON
Manchester in 2010 with six counsellors. Counsellor system is to help
congregation devotees to progress in their devotional practice; a Counsellor is
a friend, Philosopher and guide in Krishna Consciousness. Counsellors are to
inspire and encourage their counselees in Krishna Consciousness and monitor their progress.
Counsellor system is meant to:
1. Educate and train devotees to live according to the Krishna conscious
principles.
2. Provide systematic training to devotees in matters of philosophy,
sadhana, Vaisnava behaviour, etiquette, lifestyle and attitudes.
3. Provide a formal framework within which personal care and attention can
be extended to all devotees so as to make them feel loved and wanted and part
of a wonderful spiritual family.
4. Foster warm personal relationships and a spirit of love and trust
amongst devotees based on Krishna Conscious principles.
5. Provide a forum through which allocation of service, organization of
major events, communication of important decisions, etc., can be facilitated.
For more
information please contact temple
Spiritual Counsellor
System team
Food for Life
Hare Krishna Food for All is an
independent charity providing free vegetarian food and other help to the
homeless and needy along the same lines as Food for Life.
Hare
Krishna devotees around the world bring much-needed food relief to people
suffering from wars, natural disasters, homelessness and poverty. Our
founder-acharya Srila Prabhupada instructed the devotees that no one should go
hungry within a ten mile radius of our temples.
The
food consists of pure vegetarian ingredients (grains, dairy produce, vegetables
and fruit, but no meat, fish or eggs) cooked with love and offered to Krishna.
This is known as Krishna-prasadam, or the mercy of Krishna. In this way, not
only are peoples’ bodies nourished; prasadam also gives spiritual benefit,
ultimately resulting in love of Krishna and relief from the four material
miseries (birth, disease, old age and death)
Nama-hatta
Nama-hatta literally
means “market place of the holy name” or a place where one buys the Hare Krishna maha-mantra! The purchasing currency is simply one’s faith and,
according to how much faith one has, that much spiritual benefit one will get
from the chanting.
The term
nama-hatta is used in ISKCON to describe a group of devotees and interested
persons who regularly gather to chant and discuss Srila Prabhupada’s books
together
Book Distribution
You just
cant keep it to yourself´you have to share it with others.
This
transcendental literature is distributed worldwide in over 50 languages and the
distribution team, here at the Manchester temple, we give these books to the
people come to the temple and also distribute at the streets.
Manchester
ISKCON team is very aggressive during the Prabhupada book Distribution Marathon
period, the glorious time of year when there is an intense focus on the distribution
of our jewels of wisdom, Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Srila
Prabhupada's Quotes about Book Distribution
1. Book Distribution is the greatest welfare activity to this world.
2. What is the use of your 2 minutes preaching. The person will hear and go
away. If you distribute one book to him means, he will be eternally benefitted.
3. Book distribution is brhat mrdunga (biggest mrdunga).
4. Chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra is Kirtana. Book Distribution is also
kirtana.
5. If we do kirtan means it will hear within this room. But if we do book
distribution means it will hear home to home, country to country, community to
community.
6. My books are time bombs. We have to drop these millions of millions of
these bombs (books) on the lap of conditioned souls.
For more
information please contact temple
Book Distribution team
Celebrating The Festivals
Festivals are to celebrate a
significant event in the life of a deity (e.g. Janmashtami is Krishna's
birthday) or to celebrate a significant event in the life of a holy person
(e.g. appearance day of Srila Prabhupad) or to celebrate a seasonal customs.
Festivals are celebrated
with great enthusiasm and pomp @ ISKCON Manchester centre . The main purpose of festivals are to create a special
atmosphere, diverting the mind from worldly concerns and joyfully focusing on
spiritual matters, also to forge a healthy sense of belonging by peacefully
bringing together individuals, families and communities. Festivals invoke the soul's
natural qualities by creating an environment replete with auspiciousness and
the abundant gifts of nature. Festivals gives people spiritual momentum and
inspiration, which helps them perform their daily duties.
Some of the main practises while celebrating these festivals are cleaning and decorating the temple, deity worship, glorification of God (by kirtan, story recitals, dance and drama), taking deities on procession, preparing and distributing prasadam , fasting and feasting and Giving in charity (to temples, saints, the poor, etc)
For more information
please contact temple Festivals
team
Dramas
ISKCON Manchester’s Drama team is one
of the best in UK working hard towards fulfilling Srila Prabhupada’s wish to to
perform dramas during every Sunday programs at each ISKCON centres in the
world.
“ The common people would be very
entertained by the performances of dramas, and yatra parties played wonderfully
on the superhuman activities of the Lord, and thus even the illiterate
agriculturist would be a participant in the knowledge of Vedic literature,
despite a considerable lack of academic qualifications. Therefore, expert
players in drama, dancers, singers, speakers, etc., are required for the
spiritual enlightenment of the common man.”–Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.11.20, purport.
Lord Chaitanya Himself took part in dramas during
His grihasthadays: “Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to perform dramas with
Adwaita Prabhu, Srivasa Thakura, and other devotees in the house of
Chandrashekhara.” –Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 10.13, purport.
In this purport,
Srila Prabhupada set high standards for actors:
“Dramatic performances were also
enacted during the presence of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, but the players who
took part in such dramas were all pure devotees; no outsiders were allowed. The
members of ISKCON should follow this example. Whenever they stage dramatic
performances about the lives of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or Lord Krishna, the
players must be pure devotees. Professional players and dramatic actors have no
sense of devotional service, and therefore although they can perform very
artistically, there is no life in such performances. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Saraswati Thakura used to refer to such an actor as yatra-dale narada, which
means “farcical Narada.” Sometimes an actor in a drama plays the part of Narada
Muni, although in his private life he is not at all like Narada Muni because he
is not a devotee. Such actors are not needed in dramatic performances about the
lives of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Krishna.”
Ratha Yatra
Rathayatra is a huge
festival for Lord Krishna and His devotees. An extraordinary chariot festival
that originates in Jagannatha Puri on the east coast of India and dates back
over 2,000 years.
Everyone chants the
Hare Krishna maha-mantra and dances in ecstacy as Krishna in His most merciful
form of Jagannatha is pulled along on a huge wooden cart.
Rathayatra is now celebrated by devotees of Lord Krishna all over the world after being introduced to the west in 1967 in San Franscisco by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his first American disciples. Rathayatra is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness‘biggest street festival – it features huge wooden chariots pulled by hand.
All throughout the festival there is constant singing, chanting, drums, cymbals and dancing. The procession ends with a stage show, festival and delicious vegetarian prasadam feast
Rathayatra is now celebrated by devotees of Lord Krishna all over the world after being introduced to the west in 1967 in San Franscisco by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and his first American disciples. Rathayatra is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness‘biggest street festival – it features huge wooden chariots pulled by hand.
All throughout the festival there is constant singing, chanting, drums, cymbals and dancing. The procession ends with a stage show, festival and delicious vegetarian prasadam feast
Chant and be Happy
Everyone wants to be happy. Some of us seek happiness through our families, in natural and healthy living, in successful careers, active social lives, fine gourmet foods, gambling or through sports and exercise. Others experience happiness in politics, the arts, academia, or in hobbies ranging from mechanics and computer science to drama, philanthropy, welfare work, and literally thousands of other activities that comprise man's unending quest for pleasure. Millions of people try to find pleasure in alcohol and other drugs.Each day doctors and scientists discover more about how the human mind and body work. Yet with this abundance of scientific knowledge and space-age technology, which vastly outstrips that of previous generations, is modern man really any happier than his predecessors?
The basic problem in our search for happiness is that our sources of pleasure are all limited.
If we are intelligent & smart we want to
(a) expand our pleasure beyond our present limitations
(b) Know pleasure principle that operates beyond the bounds of time and space and emanates from the very innermost part of our being.
The answer is this is possible through the power of transcendental sound vibrations of Hare Krishna Maha Mantra
HARE
KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA
KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA
RAMA RAMA HARE HARE
Our Spiritual master His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada founder Acharya of the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness said following words about 'Chanting & Hare
Krishna Maha Mantra'KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA
RAMA RAMA HARE HARE
"As living spiritual souls we are all originally Krishna conscious entities, but due to our association with matter from time immemorial, our consciousness is now polluted by material atmosphere. In this polluted concept of life, we are all trying to exploit the resources of material nature, but actually we are becoming more and more entangled in her complexities. This illusion is called maya, or hard struggle for existence for winning over the stringent laws of material nature. This illusory struggle against the material nature can at once be stopped by revival of our Krishna consciousness.
Krishna consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind. This consciousness is the original energy of the living entity. When we hear the transcendental vibration, this consciousness is revived and the process is recommended by authorities for this age. By practical experience also, we can perceive that by chanting this maha-mantra, or the great chanting for deliverance, one can at once feel transcendental ecstasy from the spiritual stratum.
When one is factually on the plane of spiritual understanding, surpassing the stages of sense, mind and intelligence, one is situated on the transcendental plane. This chanting of Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is directly enacted from the spiritual platform, surpassing all lower status of consciousness, namely sensual, mental, and intellectual.
There is no need of understanding the language of the mantra, nor is there any need of mental speculation, nor any intellectual adjustment for chanting this maha-mantra. It springs automatically from the spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in this transcendental sound vibration without any previous qualification and dance in ecstasy. We have seen it practically. Even a child can take part in the chanting, or even a dog can take part in it.
This chanting should be heard from the lips of a pure devotee of the Lord so that immediate effect can be achieved. As far as possible, chanting from the lips of a non-devotee should be avoided, as much as milk touched by the lips of a serpent causes poisonous effect.
The word Hara is a form of addressing the energy of the Lord. Both Krishna and Rama are forms of addressing directly the Lord and they mean, "the highest pleasure eternal." Hara is the supreme pleasure potency of the Lord. This potency, when addressed as Hare, helps us in reaching the Supreme Lord.
The material energy, called maya, is also one of the multi-potencies of the Lord, as much as we are also marginal potency of the Lord. The living entities are described as superior energy than matter. When the superior energy is in contact with the inferior energy, it becomes an incompatible situation. But when the supreme marginal potency is in contact with the spiritual potency, Hara, it becomes the happy, normal condition of the living entity.
The three words, namely Hara, Krishna, and Rama, are transcendental seeds of the maha-mantra, and the chanting is a spiritual call for the Lord and His internal energy Hara for giving protect the conditioned soul. This chanting is exactly like the genuine cry of a child for its mother. Mother Hara helps the devotee achieve the grace of the Supreme Father, Hari or Krishna, and the Lord reveals Himself to the devotee who chants this mantra sincerely.
Therefore no other means of spiritual realization is as effective in this age of quarrel and hypocrisy as the chanting of the maha-mantra:
Hare
Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare.
Om
Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My
humble salutations to the great
devotees and Pilgrimage tourist guide
for the collection)
(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth,
lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the
spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial blog)
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