HARE KRISHNA! from the devotees at New Gokula Farm!!
Dear friends and devotees,
We hope this newsletter finds you, your family and friends in good health and spirits.
It has been a wonderfully busy time at the farm with thousands of guests visiting over the Christmas, New Year and school holiday period. Thank you for good company and generous donations.
For those who are not aware;
GUESTS WANTING TO VISIT THE FARM MUST BOOK ONLINE via our website www.newgokula.com
This booking should be done in ADVANCE, especially for weekends, festival days, long weekends and holiday periods.
Best regards,
The New Gokula Team
Whats been happening at the farm?
Our cows enjoying a good feed!
Over the last couple of weeks our cows have enjoyed occasional romps in the sorghum field planted by Manapati Prabhu.
Building a new work shed
Our building team, which includes our friendly builder Bhakta Simon and his offsider Manapati Prabhu, have been working tiressly through the hot summer days and have almost completed their work on the farms new machinery and work shed.
Haze gets some dental work done!
Haze, our ageing mare, has been treated to a dental service by a local expert Jackson, who loves his chosen vocation as a horse dentist. Haze was a little nervous about having a grind of her molars but seems to be chewing well ever since.
A trip to the animal sanctuary
A group of New Gokula devotees paid a visit to a local animal sanctuary called Where Pigs Fly. Deb and Jamie, who run the sanctuary, are appreciated for their dedicated efforts to house animals and birds that have been abused or neglected. We had a very open exchange and they shared their experiences and knowledge with us.
Upcoming Events
Lord Nityananda Trayodasi
Thursday 25th February, 5-8pm
Sri Nityananda Trayodashi is the auspicious appearance day of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Lord Sri Krishna appeared in Navadvipa, West Bengal more than 500 years ago as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He also appeared with Lord Balarama in the form of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. Together they established the Sankirtana Movement of the congregational chanting of the holy name throughout Bengal and the subcontinent of India and directed their disciples to spread this process throughout the entire world to alleviate the suffering of mankind and reawaken divine love. The Vedic teachings recommend this as the principal process for self-realisation during this current age of Kali Yuga.
Kirtan Festival
Saturday 27th February 12-8pm
We invite you to come and visit us either for the day or the weekend at New Gokula Farm, nestled in the beautiful green rolling hills of the Hunter Valley. Let your voice soar and heart open as you experience an ecstatic afternoon of kirtan lead by many gifted kirtaneers from around NSW. This is a free outdoor marquee event with vegetarian meals included. Please tell your friends and register on www.newgokula.com
Our guesthouse is fully booked but there are many inexpensive motels in Cessnock should you want to make a weekend of it.
Newcastle Rathayatra
The Chariot Festival
Sunday 7th March
10.30am-2.30pm
Newcastle Museum, 6 Workshop Way.
Join the party mood with many others, pulling an authentic hand painted wooden chariot of Lord Jagannath along the foreshore of Newcastle. This ancient festival initiated 5000 years ago in India is celebrated annually worldwide by millions of people. Lord Jagannath leaves his temple and goes out in the public arena to bestow his mercy and benedictions on all those who see him regardless of creed. He is the Lord of the Universe symbolising the spiritual unity of all life which transcends any diversity.
The parade starts at 10.30am at the Museum and finishes at the Foreshore Park around noon where there will be a dance, music and entertainment accompanied by a delicious vegetarian lunch.
Yoga and Volunteer Day
Neeti Pandya from Newcastle is running monthly yoga and volunteer days at the farm.
Participants start off with a gentle hatha yoga class then do some service around the temple followed by some delicious lunch prasadam. It is generally held on the second Saturday of each month. The next yoga and volunteer day will be on Saturday the 13th of March.
Contact Neeti for more details on 0432 324 465
Devotee Spotlight
Bhaktin Katherine
Bhakin Katherine has been staying at the farm for the last four months. For the last 10 years she has worked as a massage therapist, studying natural therapies. Prior to that she was a commercial kitchen manager for 20 years.
Katherine’s interest in Krishna Consciousness started when she was fortunate enough to meet and get the association of a very dedicated and experienced devotee. He talked to her about Krishna’s past times and invited her to visit North Sydney Temple. The day she visited was very auspicious, it was Lord Caitanya’s appearance day and there was a big festival taking place. Katherine met some of the devotees including Ghanashyam Govinda who was the head Pujari. He was running a 15 week course on the Bhagavad Gita which she participated in and loved. After that a Bhakti Sangha group was formed in which they studied Bhagavad Gita and Nectar of Instruction, went on different excursions and attended programs and cooking classes. This was an amazing experience for Katherine as the close knit group of friends shared their spiritual realisations in a very nurturing environment .
Diving into service at the farm has allowed Bhaktin Katherine to engage in activities which are aligned to her Dharma and her natural desire to help and serve others, especially the devotees. She sees her role as a support person helping the devotees to serve Krishna. All of her life and work experiences especially in the kitchen have given her the ability to do this service which she sees as a blessing.
Bhaktin Katherine has been also been organising volunteer days at the farm. The next one will be in March. If you are interested in engaging in some volunteer work please contact Katherine on 0405 097 424.
Hare Krishna.
As a farmer all my life i enjoyed reading much of the information about New Gokula.
However i did think it worth pointing out that the item about building a new work shed was rather misplaced. It looked as though there was very little imagination and design put into this building. And it is concerning in these days of ecological mindfulness that devotees are still using heavy industrialized materials and a warehouse design to construct. And of course concrete and cement have a ratio of 1:1 of pumping out greenhouse gas in its production.. I tonne of Cement = 1 tonne of Greenhouse Gas, and its very industrialized. So a very polluting construction material.
There are some really lovely looking natural materials for construction that are more in keeping with the mode of goodness than the ones chosen in your article and shown in the picture.
For example green oak or the local equivalent could be used or a Cob mixture of mud, water and straw for the walls. And then a beautifully designed self-supporting reciprocating roof made from round wood and then with a green roof of grasses and wild flowers.
I think from every social,economic and aesthetic and constructional angle this would have resulted in a far better example of Simple Living than erecting a very impersonal industrial construction. The 6th purpose of iskcon is to live a more natural way of life to bring the devotees closer together and then to teach this lifestyle to others. A farm situation is ideal for this goal. Isn't it about time we started practicing what we preach?
Hare Krishna.
As a farmer all my life i enjoyed reading much of the information about New Gokula.
However i did think it worth pointing out that the item about building a new work shed was rather misplaced. It looked as though there was very little imagination and design put into this building. And it is concerning in these days of ecological mindfulness that devotees are still using heavy industrialized materials and a warehouse design to construct. And of course concrete and cement have a ratio of 1:1 of pumping out greenhouse gas in its production.. I tonne of Cement = 1 tonne of Greenhouse Gas, and its very industrialized. So a very polluting construction material.
There are some really lovely looking natural materials for construction that are more in keeping with the mode of goodness than the ones chosen in your article and shown in the picture.
For example green oak or the local equivalent could be used or a Cob mixture of mud, water and straw for the walls. And then a beautifully designed self-supporting reciprocating roof made from round wood and then with a green roof of grasses and wild flowers.
I think from every social,economic and aesthetic and constructional angle this would have resulted in a far better example of Simple Living than erecting a very impersonal industrial construction. The 6th purpose of iskcon is to live a more natural way of life to bring the devotees closer together and then to teach this lifestyle to others. A farm situation is ideal for this goal. Isn't it about time we started practicing what we preach?