Lord Chaitanya.

Discovering Sri Chaitanya, his personality, and teachings, has been a surprising revelation to many outside India over the last few decades. Thoughtful people, those concerned with the plight of our world, seekers of truth and a spiritual path, and people simply looking for personal happiness, have been surprised to discover such profound and vital truth in such an unexpected place. After all, who has heard of Lord Chaitanya!

Yet, for 500 years Lord Chaitanya has been acknowledged as the spiritual leader for our age by many of India’s most respected philosophers.

In the fifteenth century, Sri Chaitanya created a spiritual revolution in India , attracting followers from all levels of society. Kings, government ministers, scholars, poets, people of all religions and people of none, the rich, the poor, all were moved to take part in his extraordinary movement: sankirtana—the congregational chanting of Krishna’s holy names.

Out of this rich, joyful experience, came an outpouring of cultural expression—literature; poetry, drama, and song—which continues to this day.

Sri Chaitanya combined transcendental knowledge, the essence of the ancient Vedic scriptures, with a practical, yet dynamic process for self-realisation: the simple chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. Over the past thirty years, people from all over the world, have delighted in this un-guessed at solution to the perplexities and dullness of materialistic life.

Article about Sri Caitanya by a Spanish monk: My First Encounter with Sri Caitanya here.

Prasadam.

Sumptuous Cuisine Offered to Krishna on His Altar.

Since the Krishna-consciousness movement's founder, Srila Prabhupada, first cooked for his young disciples in New York, the movement has become famous for its delicious, pure vegetarian food.

In Vaishnavism, food is more than just food; it is prasadam, God's mercy. Devotees cook as a meditation, to please God - Krishna. This means they select the purest, freshest ingredients - all vegetarian - and try to make each dish the best offering possible for the Lord. They also endeavour to keep mind and heart pure, so that the food is not subtly contaminated. When the meal is prepared, they offer it to Krishna with special prayers. Only then may it be tasted. The picture here shows an offering in our temple, but at home devotees also offer everything they cook, before eating it themselves.

Eating only prasadam is important to devotees. "You are what you eat" is a well-known saying; for someone who is practising spiritual life it's helpful to eat sanctified food, which purifies the whole body and helps keep the mind peaceful.

Creativity in the Kitchen for Krishna.