| Wednesday, August 25th - Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 |
Wednesday, September 1st: Sri Krishna Janmastami Thursday, September 2nd: Appearance of Srila Prabhupada
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| | | | | | | | | From Srila Prabhupada: "Balarama is presenting Krishna, therefore He is the original guru. Any bona fide guru must be a representative of Balarama, or Nityananda. Because Balarama is presenting Krishna, He is prakasa. When the sun shines, you can see everything clearly. That is prakasa. At night everything is covered and we cannot see, but during the daytime, when there is prakasa, illumination, we can see everything." Lecture, March 1975 |
| | | | | His Holiness Radhanath Swami - The Story of Dorothy
 We waited. And waited. It was a sweltering summer day in the Florida panhandle. The morning sun glared through the expansive windows of an airport departure gate. There, a young blond haired lady, neatly uniformed with a blue vest over a pressed white shirt and matching blue pants, stepped up to the counter, timidly surveyed the room, then announced a one hour delay. Passengers sighed, edgy to escape from the heat and travel north. With cellular phones pressed to their ears, they persistently glanced at their wristwatches. Among them stood a middle-aged woman. She had nicely coiffed reddish-brown hair. Her dress and demeanor hinted that she was a lady of wealth and taste. Suddenly, she flushed red, flung her boarding pass and screamed, "No! You can't do this to me." Her outrage jolted the assembly. Everyone stared as she stomped to the counter, stuck her finger in the face of the receptionist and shouted, "I warn you, do not anger me. Put me on that plane, at once!" The airline hostess cowered. "But ma'am, there's nothing I can do. The air conditioning system of the plane has broken down." The woman's lips quivered. Her eyes burned and she screeched louder, "Don't you fight with me, you stupid child. You don't know who I am. Damn it, do something. Now! I can't take it." She ranted on and on. After finishing her verbal lashing, she fumed and scanned the lounge. Her eyes landed on me sitting alone in a corner of the room in my saffron colored swami robes. She stormed toward me while everyone looked on. Now, standing almost on top of me, her face distorted with anger, she yelled, "Are you a monk?" Oh God, I thought, why me. I really didn't need this. After an arduous week of lectures and meetings, I just wanted to be left alone. "Answer me," she persisted. "Are you a monk?" "Something like that," I whispered. The whole room watched, no doubt delighted that I got to be the lightning rod and not them. "Then I demand an answer," she challenged. "Why is my flight late? Why is God doing this to me?" "Please ma'am," I said. "Sit down and let us talk about it." She sat beside me. "My name is Radhanath Swami," I said. "You can call me Swami. Please tell me what is in your heart?" I have asked this question thousands of times and never know what to expect. She said her name was Dorothy, that she was a housewife, fifty-seven years old, and lived on the east coast. She had been living happily with her family until...then she started to weep. She pulled tissue after tissue from her purse, blew her nose, and wept some more. "It was tragic," she said. "All at once I lost my husband of thirty years and my three children. Now I'm alone. I can't bear the pain." She gripped the handle of her chair. "Then I was cheated. The bank put my house into foreclosure and kicked me out on the street. You see this handbag? That's all that's left." Looking more closely at her face, I noted that beneath the well coiffed exterior her complexion was pale, her eyebrows tense, and her lips slanted down in sadness. Dorothy went on to explain that, if all that sadness were not enough, she had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She had one month left to live. In a desperate effort to save her life, she had discovered a cancer clinic in Mexico which claimed they might possibly have a cure. But she had to be admitted today. If she missed her connecting flight in Washington, D.C., her chances of survival were finished. One of my duties is to oversee spiritual services in a hospital in India. I have ministered to victims of terrorist bombs, earthquakes, tsunamis, rape, trauma, disease, poverty and heartbreak of all sorts, but I cannot remember more anguish written on a human face than Dorothy's. "And now this flight is late," she said, "and there goes my last chance to live. I tried to be a good wife and mother, I go to church, I give in charity, and I never willfully hurt anyone. But now there is no one in the world who cares if I live or die. Why is God doing this to me?" Minutes before, I had been cringing at her obnoxious behavior. How easy it is to judge people by external appearances. Understanding what was below the surface flooded my heart with sympathy. When she saw tears welling in my eyes her voice softened. "It seems maybe you care," she said. What could I do? I felt too weak to do anything. Closing my eyes, I prayed to be an instrument to help her. "Dorothy, I do feel for you. You're a special soul." "Special." she huffed. "I've been thrown out like a worthless piece of trash and I'm going to die. But I believe you think I'm special, and I thank you for that." "There may not be anything you can do about what has happened," I said, "but you can choose how you will respond to what has happened. How you react can affect the future." "What do you mean?" "You can lament how cruelly the world has cheated you and spend your days cursing life, making others uncomfortable, and dying a meaningless death. Or you can go deeper inside those experiences and grow spiritually." I remembered her comment about going to church. "Doesn't it say in the Bible, 'Seek and ye shall find' and also 'Knock and the door will open'? Would you rather die in depression or in gratitude? You have that choice." Her hand trembled and she grasped my forearm. "I'm so afraid, Swami. I'm so afraid of dying. Please tell me what death is." Her face had all but wilted. What could I do? I felt so incompetent. If only I had the power to heal her disease. But I didn't. Still, my years of training in Bhakti had taught me that we all have the power to soothe another person's heart by accessing the love that is within ourselves. I felt like a surgeon in an operating theater and silently offered a prayer before speaking again. "In order to understand death," I said, "we must first understand life. Consider this question: Who are you?" "My name is Dorothy, I'm American..." Read the rest of the story |
Welcome to the Community Please welcome our newest member of Kalachandji's Community, Radhe Vrindavanesvari, who came into this world on Friday, August 6th. Please congratulate her proud and happy parents, Dharma Prabhu and his wife Urjesvari dasi. |
Appreciating Kalachandji's Community  Many thanks to Kardama Muni Prabhu for arranging for the restoration of the altar fountains. He has taken them to the best antique restoration company in Dallas. The fountain actually looks even more wonderful then it looked when it was brand new. The second fountain should be up on the altar in time for Janmastami |
Prayer Request Manny Parker, husband of Krishna Parker, has been in the hospital since Saturday with an apparent blood infection from a cyst on his spine. It is quite serious, and may require surgery. Please keep him in your prayers so he may pull through this situation as soon as possible. |
Pre Janmastami Community Programs Starting at 7:00 pm
Kirtan, Discussing Sri Krsna's 64 Qualities and light prasadam (snack)
Wed. 8/25 - Santosh Prabhu's - 5430 Parry Ave.
Thur. 8/26 - Manjuali & Nityananda's - 5404 Gurley Ave.
Fri. 8/27 - Rasakeli & Rasaraj's - 5415 Gurley Ave.
Sat. 8/28 - Sanjay Singhania's - 16817 Rustic Meadows Dr., Dallas 75248 (please note that this program will start at 6:00 p.m.) Mon. 8/30 - Sri Rangavati's - 5308 Garland Ave.
Tues. 8/31 - Temple room |
Recipe Corner Cauliflower Korma Prep and cooking time : 45 mins 1 cup blanched almonds 1 tablespoon anise or fennel seeds 1 4-inch cinnamon stick 6 cloves 4 cardamom pods 5 small green chilies, seeded one 1.5cm 1-inch cube peeled fresh ginger 1 cup yogurt 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons sugar 4 tablespoons ghee or oil 1 very large firm cauliflower, about 1kg, cut into 16 large pieces 1. Dry-roast the almonds on a tray in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and allow them to cool. Grind the almonds to a fine powder in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Set the powder aside. 2. Set a heavy frying pan over low to moderate heat. When the pan is hot, sprinkle in the aniseed, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, and dry roast the spices for 3-5 minutes or until they darken a few shades and give off a strong aroma. Grind the spices to a fine powder in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Set aside. 3. Place the green chilies and ginger in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until finely chopped. Add the yogurt, the salt, sugar, the powdered almonds and 1 cup cold water. Process to a smooth, saucy paste. Add the ground, roasted spices. Process a little more and then remove the paste and set it aside. 4. Heat the ghee in a heavy 5-litre/quart, preferably non-stick, saucepan over moderate heat. Drop in the cauliflower pieces and stir-fry them for 5 minutes or until they soak up the ghee and become golden on their extremities. 5. Pour in the paste and stir to mix. Increase the heat, bring the sauce to the boil, then reduce the heat to very low. You may need to add more water as the sauce thickens. Cook for 25-30 minutes, partly covered, stirring often or until the sauce thickens to the desired consistency and the cauliflower is tender but not falling apart. Serve hot with rotis or flat bread or rice | Contact Information | Main Temple phone: 214-827-6330, Congregation Services: 214-827-6330 x 216
Email for general questions and information
To schedule a tour, home or school program: Nityananda Chandra 214-669-3369, or email him
To place an item in next week's bulletin, please send it by Monday each week |
| | August Feast Sponsorships Aug 1st
Talati family in memory of Umesh Talati & Ganga Ba
Aug 8th Banu Chasmawala Aug 15th Amrith Bhai & Savita Ben Patel
Shimul & Janto Sarkar
India Bazaar for Sivananda Aug 22nd
Darshan Gandhi Aug 24th (Balaram Purnima) Dharma and Urjesvari for Baby Radhe Vrndavanesvari Aug 29th
2 Sponsorships Available Kindly come forward and sponsor a feast |
Sri Krishna Janmastami Wed, Sept. 1st, 2010 We Invite all of you to take part in the festivities Available
Sponsorships 1) Deity Dresses (4 in #) $2,501 2) Kalash Abhisheka $2,501 $1,001 $501 3) All Day Festivities $2,501 4) Flowers $1,001 5) Prasadam $501 Please kindly come forward to help us celebrate Sri Krishnas Appearance in a grand celebration To sign up call 214 454 5267 Email |
call 214 454 5267 214 827 6330 x 216 |
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