I believe if there is something great out there, it would always stand out & be recognized by anyone despite the culture one may follow. I know a lady who is a close family friend she is a evangelistic healer in a church & she even receives many people to her home coming for healing sessions, people who are sick , possessed by ghosts, you could think of her as a psychic or a spiritual faith healer. On many occasions, whenever I used to meet her, she used to try to explain & preach & convince to convert me to become a Christian by various philosophic gospel message of Jesus Christ.

On this one particular occasion, I happened to have the hardcover edition of Bhagavad-Gita & as we sat down I explained to her about the appearance of Lord Krishna & his various pastimes on how he conquered various demons. She asked me about ISKCON & the devotees who surrender to serve the temple on how they dress themselves in dhotis & shave their heads, as I was explaining her about Srila Prabhupada being the founder of the Society. I showed her the back cover of the book displaying a picture of Srila Prabhupada , she looked at the picture very closely & then looked at me & said she had a vision of him & said the exact words "god sent this man , he was sent by god" & "his health was struggling as he had a weak heart" , the incident of Srila Prabhupada on the Jala Data and how he suffered the stroke recalled to my mind .

From this meeting I gathered the Father of Jesus Christ she believed in sent Srila Prabhupada. It didn't matter to me weather I was a Christian or not weather I was saved or Initiated or not. I discovered Srila Prabhupada in my life & I have firm faith & his endeavor to spread the massage of chanting the Hare Krishna Maha mantra & that is the Instruction of Sri Chaitanya Maha prabhu.

So to all my fellow brothers & sisters weather you are a Hindu or not , let's not waste time blaming or pointing fingers about who has the authority to initiate or not. Just try to encourage everyone as you can to chant the Hare Krishna maha mantra

In response to Agni Elen Moe's letter (Wrong To Portray Manor School As Just a Hindu Establishment) and the previous article from Mahavidya ACBSP (Racism In ISKCON) I would like to make the following points.

It is undoubtedly a worrying trend in the UK and elsewhere to jump on the Hindu bandwagon. Yes, the movement has reached stability by this move. However, this trend has also negative ramifications. There have been numerous articles of concern about the Hindufication of ISKCON. Raising such concerns I can already hear shouts of racism coming from those who have established their comfortable management positions and salaries with the help of the Hindu money. But it is not racism to express concerns about ISKCON being overly influenced by the Hindu community. If anything is racism then it is picking out the 'white kids' in order to paint a fitting picture of a Hindu school for the media. It is dishonest and hurtful to the children as we have heard. Of course it is all justifiable in the name of 'preaching', isn't it?

However, this is not why I am writing this article. The worrying trend is rather that due to the vast financial input of the Hindu community ISKCON's core values are watered down and are in danger of getting lost altogether. In not more than one generation much will have disappeared. Money obliges, especially if it is coming repeatedly from the same source. Influence is being bought and vision is being changed. Srila Prabhupada wanted the help of the Indian community no doubt but he didn't want the preaching to the Westerners stagnate or directed entirely towards the Hindus.

Let me give an example to show what I mean. It is obvious that book distribution has massively declined in the past so many years. There is no immediate economic need any more to distribute books as the temples are secure because of donations from the Hindu community. Naturally book distribution is in the decline.

Hardly any new devotees are being made either. Those serving at the temples are mostly imported from Eastern Europe or from India. We don't even have to sincerely look after or care for devotees any more because we are rich enough to 'buy' and 'import' any devotee we want. It has regrettably left temples with much of an impersonal atmosphere.

Visiting Bhaktivedanta Manor you are forgiven to think you are coming to a 'Hindu Mandir' as perhaps 95 percent or more are Hindus who attend the programs. Any Westerner will definitely feel out of place. I have been told there was once a thriving devotee community of hundred or more Westerners living around the Manor. They have almost all moved away because there was no need for them anymore.

The Hinduization in the UK has also implications for the wider preaching. Due to historic reasons all temples in the UK are managed by one centralized charity. This is in direct contradiction to Srila Prabhupada's instructions on management. Everybody knows those instructions. There is no need to repeat them here and I am sure most would even agree. There have been moves towards de-centralization in the UK but more than five years have passed without any tangible result. One can only assume there is no real will for it anymore.

This has far reaching implications for the overall preaching. A rigid central management is trying to control almost every aspect of development throughout the country thus stifling the preaching due to fear of loosing control. Only one vision is being pushed, the 'Hindu Paradigm'. After all one needs good press more than anything else, especially if one shakes hands with ministers, rich Hindu industrialists and even the Prime Minister who himself needs the Hindu votes. Political influence is being bought. But there is a high price to it. The preaching to the indigenous people of the UK has more or less stopped. One can only wonder why Srila Prabhupada came to the West. To liberate the two percent of Hindus in the UK? Their Krishna consciousness is just under their skin. But what chance do the 98 percent of Westerners stand if the outreach towards them has trickled to almost zero? How will they get liberated or receive Lord Nityananda's mercy?

In short, the 'Hindu paradigm' is so strong and all encompassing that any other preaching endeavour is made almost impossible by default. Bhaktivedanta Manor, the UK's headquarter, is the heart and powerhouse of the Hindu preaching. It is leading the centralized management in the UK. This is a worrying trend I feel.

What we need more than anything else in order to bring Srila Prabhupada's preaching, vision and outreach back is de-centralisation and diversity. Why should we be afraid of it? Why not give it a chance? Our philosophy is after all 'Unity in Diversity' and NOT 'Unity through Centralisation and Control'. I feel the Hare Krishna movement in the UK would rise to new heights if the 'Hindu paradigm' was not the ONLY possible preaching and outreach route. I know from my own experience and community that Hindus do actually respect and support ISKCON for preaching to the Westerners. We know they need it most. We also know why Srila Prabhupada left India and took on great austerities to preach to the mlecchas and yavanas. Let's therefore make a concerted effort to bring Srila Prabhupada's legacy back before it is too late.



No Racism In ISKCON
by Radha Mohan das, ISKCON UK Communications Secretary
Posted May 18, 2006

The incident described in the article "Racism In ISKCON?" concerning the photographer from The Independent newspaper and the temple school is not a typical example of conduct at Bhaktivedanta Manor.

During the visit, the newspaper photographer was very sensitive and respectful. However, we were more concerned with the way one of our staff members had communicated with some children. We had an investigation and corrected the situation and apologised to the related individuals.

The school at Bhaktivedanta Manor is well known for the excellent and holistic education that it provides. Each child's education is subsidised by the Manor, which contributes over £50,000 ($90,000) annually in facilities, resources and finance. Thus, in effect our children receive a private education for next to nothing in fees.

The newspaper simply desired photos that would reflect what the future Hindu school in Harrow may look like. That was what their feature was about. Considering the school is likely to be more than 95% British Hindu children of an Indian ethnic background, that was what the newspaper wanted to capture. (Harrow has the highest Indian Hindu population in Britain thus entitling the area to the government-funded school in the first place). Therefore, although the newspaper took pictures of all the children, they used the ones most useful to their needs. In the same way if they had wanted to run a feature on children of a European origin that have taken up Krishna Consciousness (which has happened on various occasions), the photos selected would have been specifically focused on that subject.

Perhaps when prejudice persons on either side of these matters hear of such indifference they become agitated and interpret the matter in a negative and fault finding way.

As a result of receiving our guest from the Independant (who could technically could have gone to any temple), Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON got some excellent publicity in full colour in one of our country's most popular national newspapers. It's just a shame that some people related to ISKCON continually contribute to bad publicity with their redundant criticism.