Kartik & Message from Vibhu Caitanya

Dear Friends and Well Wishers,

Hare Krishna.

I trust you all feel inspired by the 30th Anniversary Festival.

One of the highlights was Sri Sri Radha Radhanath’s flower bathing ceremony. As I watch the petals showering down on Sri Sri Radha Radhanath, I thought that this represents all the devotees’ loving service over the last thirty years.

Those devotees who were here thirty years ago have pleased the Deities by selfless sacrifice thus making this project a success. Now, we have that same opportunity to offer service to Sri Sri Radha Radhanath, in this life and the next — by making our Deities beneficiaries in our wills and policies. We can contribute to the history of the temple by becoming more involved in this aspect of the Master Plan as the Deity Trust is part of it.

Spiritually we understand there is no end therefore we can dive deeper into the bottomless ocean of devotional service. The moth of Damodar, is the ideal time for us to dive deeper in our devotion to Krishna. I look forward to offering a lamp with you in the coming days and serving with you in the years to come.

Your servant

Vibhu Caitanya Das

Kartik Evening Festival begins every night at 7pm

4th Month of Chaturmasya – Fast from urad dhal.

7:45am Class by His Holiness Bhakti Caitanya Swami

6:30pm Kirtan by His Grace Agnidev Das

7:00pm Greeting of Sri Sri Radha Radhanath in Their new outfit

Arati & kirtan by Agnidev Prabhu

8:00pm Class by His Holiness Partha Sarathi Das Goswami (This is Maharaja’s last class in Durban this year.)

7:30pm Class by Bhakti Caitanya Swami in New Jagannath Puri Temple (Phoenix)

8:30pm Damodarastaka by Agnidev Prabhu & offering of lamps followed by simple prasad

Keep an eye out for an 8 page souvenir supplement in POST newspaper.

30^TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF

THE SRI SRI RADHA RADHANATH TEMPLE OF UNDERSTANDING

MESSAGE OF SUPPORT 

FROM

PRINCE MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI MP

PRESIDENT OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY 

AND TRADITIONAL PRIME MINISTER TO THE ZULU MONARCH AND NATION

DELIVERED ON HIS BEHALF 

BY

THE HON. MR NAREND SINGH MP

TREASURER GENERAL OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY

Chatsworth, Durban: 24 October 2015

President of the Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple, Vibhu Caitanya dasa, and the Temple Management Board; Members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness; esteemed guests and friends.

Let me immediately apologise for not being present this afternoon to celebrate with you the opening of the 30^th anniversary festival of this Temple. Unfortunately, the date coincided with the elective conference of the IFP Women’s Brigade in KwaZulu Natal, where I was scheduled to speak. This is a tremendous pity, for I would have enjoyed sharing this moment as you look down memory lane, and celebrate all that lies ahead.

In my absence, however, I feel it appropriate that my support be conveyed by the Honourable Mr Narend Singh MP, for he was with me thirty years ago, on the 18^th of October 1985, as we witnessed the opening of this Temple. He will know how profoundly affected I was by the beauty of this place, and how privileged I felt to speak as the guest of honour.

I was serving at that time as Chief Minister of the KwaZulu Government, President of Inkatha yeNkululeko yeSizwe, and traditional Prime Minister to the Zulu Monarch and Nation. Already I had travelled extensively throughout the world and had enjoyed the privilege of visiting many temples, cathedrals and places of worship. But nothing had prepared me for the extravagant beauty of this, the largest Radha-Krishna temple in the southern hemisphere. I understood then why it had taken ten years for the devotees of Śrīla Prabhupāda to fulfil his request in building this Temple.

As beautiful as it is, however, this Temple was never intended to be a purely aesthetic expression of Krishna Consciousness. It was intended to be a place that drew people together, a place from which practical helps sprang from spiritual focus. In my experience, that has always been the character of the Hare Krishna Movement. Spirituality is expressed in educating, feeding and assisting those in need.

Our province benefitted from this tremendously during the most trying times of apartheid. Through a close collaboration between the Divine Life Society and my administration, for instance, we built many classrooms and educated South Africa’s most vulnerable children. I enjoyed a close friendship with Sri Swami Sahajananda, who was commended by Śrīla Prabhupāda for working conjointly to propagate Krishna Consciousness. Thus I have seen how spirituality is linked to practical service.

This same passion for serving is evident at the Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple, where the Food For Life programme has provided sustenance for millions of impoverished people over the course of thirty years. In addition, the temple outreach programme has supported many individuals, and this has become a place of sanctuary, hope and learning.

I thank you for all that has been achieved and all that you are still doing for South Africa.

As we celebrate thirty years of this Temple, it is good to know that the focus of the Management Board is on spirituality as a catalyst for social cohesion. I fear that in the present political and economic climate, people are increasingly being divided by ideologies and separated by the lack of resources and opportunities.

Even when one looks at the intractable issue of fee increases at institutions of higher education, social division is clearly being exacerbated. All too easily the debate moves from the substance of the issue to become an ‘us-versus-them’ confrontation. We may not even choose sides, but are allocated a side by default depending on the colour of our skin or the size of our bank balance.

This is a tragedy in a democratic country that fought so fiercely to create a unified nation. As the challenges mount, we must take heed of the threat of social division and seek by all means a way towards cohesion. Spirituality may indeed be one of those ways, for when we refocus our minds away from our own rights and needs to consider something outside of ourselves, something greater than our own minds, we open the space to consider others. The basic human need for relationship will naturally lead us to harmony.

With these few thoughts, I wish you a wonderful celebration of the 30^th anniversary of the Sri Sri Radha Radhanath Temple.

I thank you.

—————–oo0oo—————–