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EDITORIAL  Postcard From The Eastern Capital BY SRAVANIYA DIPECORARO EDITORIAL, Mar 3 (VNN) — Greetings from Hong Kong-the land of Kuvera, the "Money God," where the residents burn offerings to the "hungry ghosts", worship the ancestors and Yakshas like the door god and the god of the kitchen. "No money no talk" is the slogan here. Boy, is this place materialistic! And yet, in a cross section of the population the nascent beginnings of a search for spiritual and alternative consciousness can be detected underlying the frenetic spin. After all, Moksha follows Kama, eh what? It is here that a small team of Vaisnavas of assorted ethnic backgrounds make an effort to do what we're s'posed to. In October the Vaikuntha Playhouse performed "The Incident at Govardhana," and Sri Krsna lifted His pastime umbrella against the King of Heaven. Complete with music, slides, voice characterizations and special effects it was a most memorable evening and more than a hundred people went home with vivid memories-not to mention full bellies-after having emotionally and physically entered the lila of Lord Krsna. Yours truly, Sravaniya devi dasi, produced the show. On Christmas eve the temple held its annual maha-harinama sankirtana on the Golden Mile of Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui and escorted Their Divine Lordships Lord Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balaramji-not to Raivataka Hill but to the pit of the not-so-Fragrant Harbor on the South China Sea. Fifty devotees, initiated and congregational, chanted on the streets, led through the mobs of holiday revelers by His Intrepid Holiness Giridhari Swami. Sri Jagannathaji smiled graciously as parents held their kids up above the crowd to see Him, and He must have brought His armed guards on the spiritual plane, because neither the Hong Kong Police nor the intoxicated inhabitants laid a finger on us in what was potentially a volatile situation. I haven't seen anything like it since Times Square New Yawk ca. 1972. Pyewah nek-tah. In February we kicked off with our first "Vedic Windows Lecture" at-guess where-City Hall. Our topic was "Karma, Vikarma and Ugrakarma-The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Karma." Smn Chandrashekhara Prabhu (gurukula graduate) opened as the MC and introductory speaker. The main speaker, Smt Sravaniya devi dasi, led a capacity crowd of forty interested persons-each of whom paid an entrance fee equivalent of US$10-through the chanting of Bhagavad-gita verse 2.22 and then facilitated the discussion on transmigration. A special handout supplement entitled "All About the Atma" was circulated to give attendees real information from the Vedic viewpoint, and each person received "Coming Back". Smn Narayana Prabhu expertly translated blow by blow into Cantonese and we had people from all walks of life-workers to professionals, expatriates, Indians and local Chinese. Our eldest comrade was a Chinese gentleman in his seventies who enthusiastically chanted Hare Krishna during the group meditation and avidly applauded Bhakta Kit's dynamic and astonishing hatha yoga demonstration. We rounded off with a melodious Krsna kirtan and prasadam was provided. All in all, a very fun and informative evening. Vedic Windows is a cooperative joint effort with everyone contributing whatever expertise they can, Aquarian style, and publicizing during the two weeks in between sessions. Here is a list of our topics for this season: Karma, Vikarma, Ugrakarma: The Environmental Relevance of Yoga Ethics Conservation in the Global Village: Stewardship of the Earth's Resources The Ocean of Desires: Importance of Controlling the Mind in a Shoppers' Paradise The Threefold Miseries: A multi-media presentation by HH Giridhari Swami Against Tribalism: A Plea for Universal Brotherhood The Ethics and Application of Ahimsa: Non-Violence in Contemporary Society The Perfection of Renunciation: How to Spiritualize Your Work The Bhakti Controversy: Two Faces of Vedanta At the end we'll invite our students to a maha kirtan at the temple and a fine prasadam feast for all. Here in the biohazard called Hong Kong, a dung-heap where 7.5 million crowlike dvi-padas are avidly chewing the chewed, the trend toward yoga is increasing almost daily. And no wonder. Anyone who has not visited this inimitable city has no idea of the pace here, an accelerated energy vortex where whatever is going to happen will happen faster than anywhere else on this planet. Fortunes are made, marriages crash, teenagers wind up in drug rehab, and a few fortunate souls are getting an earful of Bhagavata-Vedanta. That's where the ISKCON posse comes in. Although several Yogasana studios have cropped up in the past few years to help stretch, relax and virtually reconstruct some of the burnt out and dismembered refugees from modern secular liberalism, even some of those who practice Iyengar or Sivananda yoga or follow Buddhist doctrines for years still haven't made the connection between ahimsa and vegetarianism, and what to speak of any higher philosophical concepts! Chinese New Year has come and gone. May the year of the Snake give you faith in your convictions and the courage to act forcefully. Jaya Sri Sri Gaura Nitai! Yours in service, Sravaniya DiPecoraro (devi dasi of course)  Comment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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