FAMILY GATHERINGS
THE MAGIC OF COMMUNITIES
There’s something wonderfully magical about communities. One of the most powerful aspects of a well functioning community is that it can scale trust beyond individual relationships. Here are four benefits that you get from being part of a Temple community. Growth: Being part of a Temple community brings purification, correction and encouragement that ultimately lead to stronger and more mature devotees. We grow best in Bhakti when we have brothers and sisters who fast-track our spiritual maturity by being a helping hand. We grow best when we grow alongside others who can lead, guide, counsel and pray for us and our relationship with God. Purpose: Deep inside, we all want to be part of something bigger than us. When we become part of a community, this is exactly what happens. In a community, we serve a purpose and in serving that purpose, we grow in significance and belongingness. The community is like a body where every member/organ plays a specific role. When we become part of a community, we are given a role to play. We don’t look at this as a requirement, but rather as an opportunity to put to use gifts that God has brought into our lives. Fun and Enjoyment: Bhakti is not about rituals, practices and rites. It is primarily about enjoying a relationship with the loving Supreme and with our fellow practitioners.
FAMILIES THAT- dine together, shine together
- pray together, stay together
- talk together, walk together
- dance together, advance together
- dine together, shine together
- pray together, stay together
- talk together, walk together
- dance together, advance together
VASUDHAIVA KUTUMBAKAM
Seeing the world as one family – connected to that one Supreme, who is known and remembered by different names and methods across the globe. This has huge consequences: suddenly, when you’re searching for the answer to a question or need help, you’re not just looking among your family members, friends or personal network, but within a much larger group, potentially thousands of people across the whole globe.
Searching, collaborating and working within a devotional community means that the chances of finding answers to the queries we always had, the support we always needed, the true-friendships we always sought, are much bigger. There will be more people who could potentially help. The set of people who could help us will be more diverse (and therefore more valuable). A match and meaningful insights are more likely. Benefits of growing spiritually within a devotional community are always much greater than what one could ever imagine.
CHANNELS
WHERE DO WE MEET?
For over 3 decades now, we’ve been facilitating family gatherings in a number of ways to suit everyone’s convenience. The temple premises has been the most important and sought-after venue for families to come together on Sundays and festival days, to hear and share their endeavours, experiences and struggles while growing on the spiritual path. In addition, there are gatherings (also known as “congregation programs”) held in almost every part of Mumbai on some evening during the week. Families also love to go out on spiritual tours (yatras) to be together. And of course, we meet online as well.
CATEGORIES
WHO CAN JOIN US?
All. However, one size doesn’t fit all. Therefore, ISKCON Chowpatty has been endeavoring to come up with specially-curated programs for different sections of the society – the kids, the teens, the youth, just-married, settled-householders and the senior citizens. Group gatherings serve two-fold purpose – providing a generic devotional inspiration and providing a platform to interact with others like us who’re trying to advance in bhakti. By coming together to hear and share, keeping the Supreme in the centre, the bonding between individual members of the family as well as between different families only increases.
CONSTITUENTS
WHAT DO WE DO?
Once the founder of the ISKCON movement, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, was asked by a reporter – what do you do for recreation? His reply was candid – “our movement is only recreation – chanting, dancing and feasting. And in between we do some work”. Indeed, our gatherings are meant to engage our senses in what we always do, but in a manner that’s prescribed in the scriptures. So that we eventually experience our senses getting purified. But the proof is in eating the pudding. So let’s come together with our friends and families and enjoy a spiritual experience of hearing, singing, dancing, eating and praying.
