Madri Hardwick-Smith - Witness to a Temple the Hare Krishna Movement in Auckland 1972-2004

Witness to a Temple

The HareKrishna Movement in Auck land

New Zealand19722004

by Mdr dev ds

Publishedby Madri Hardwick-Smith (Mdr dev ds)

Distributed bySmashwords September2015

Copyright MadriHardwick-Smith 2015

SmashwordsEdition

Quo ted text andphotos courtesy of

TheBhaktivedanta Book Trust International,Inc.

Used withpermission.

The printversion of this book is available at most online retailers andcontains over 100 colour photographs.

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Witness to a Temple

Contents

Chapter 5 End of an Era1976 1978

Foreword

Byinstalling the Deity of the Lord one becomes king of the entireearth, by building a temple for the Lord one becomes ruler of thethree worlds, by worshiping and serving the Deity oneg oes to the planet of LordBrahm, and by performing all three of these activities oneachieves a transcendental form like My own.

( rmad-Bhgavatam 11.27.52)

The Blessings of rla Prabhupda

It is acrisp but sunny afternoon inMay 1989 as we enter the driveway of New Varshan, the Hare Krishnacommunity farm near Auckland, New Zealand. This is my first visitand little did I know that it would be the beginning of a long anddeep relationship with TheirLordships r r RdhGiridhr and Their devotees in Aotearoa,the land of the long white cloud.

I stayed in the small,cabin-like brahmacrrama . The atmosphere of the temple wassweet, friendly and welcoming. Although life there was somewhataustere, the community had an attractive individuality about it.Seeing the beautiful forms of r r RdhGiridhr , Their charming gracefulfeatures, Their child-like mood and the magnanimity that seemed toemanate from Their smiling faces, even my stone-like heart melted.At that time progress on the construction of the new temple, calledBhakti Bhavan or the Temple of Devotion, had considerablyslowed.

I visited New Zealandseveral times over the successive years before settling there in1996 for the good part of three years. Since then, I have continuedto visit more than once a year. Staying in New Zealand for a lengthy period of time enabledme to develop appreciation and love for the devotees, despitefrequently diverse opinions, natures and approaches. Experiencingtheir apparent pleasures and pains, their anguish, the rational andsometimes irrational behaviour, the frustrations and emotions was agreat lesson for me, for which I am very indebted.

By the mercy of r r Rdh Giridhr, I have been to a small extent involved in theproject and the building of Their magnificent temple. I have beenasked to write the Foreword to this book, although there are manyfar more qualified servants than I who have sacrificed so muchfor rla Prabhupda in New Zealand. I offer my humble respects to allof them and pray that these words may be pleasing.

The story conveyed in thisbook, meticulously researched by Mdr dev ds, isn ot exclusively about thetemple. Indeed, we find ourselves entering, deeply at times, intothe lives and the challenges of the devotees. The book alsoillustrates the many interactions with the public at alllevels.

Witness to a Temple describes the struggles, the truths,the diversity, the determination, tolerance, sincerity, endurance,tenacity, excitement, adventure, faith and the love of manydevotees, over a span of three decades or more, from the day thedevotees of the International Society for Krishna Consciousnessfirst set foot in these South Sea Isles. It gives us a chance tosavour the mysterious adventures of young, inexperienced spiritualwarriors venturing into the unknown, fuelled by their determinedfaith in rlaPrabhupda and the power ofthe holy names.

Thiscolourful and sometimes spicy account of the growth of individuals,of a movement, a community and a temple illustrates the essentialinstruction of ISKCONs Founder- crya rla Prabhupda Unity in Diversity. This book exemplifiesthat ISKCON is a movement of overwhelming diversity andindividualism. Varietys thevery spice of life, That gives it all its flavour. (WilliamCowper)

rlaPrabhupda made his missionclear from the start. In 1966, when he officially formed thesociety in New York, he put into writing seven purposes he wantedit to achieve. Among those were:

To erect forthe members an d for societyat large a holy place of transcendental pastimes dedicated to thepersonality of Ka .

To bring themembers closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler, morenatural way of life.

rlaPrabhupda , having received the instruction from hisspiritual master to teach the message of Krishna consciousness inthe English language, dedicated his life to fulfil that order. Hetook it even further and went to task to see that Krishnaconsciousness was spread to every corner of the globe. In October1969, he wrote a letter to Bali- mardana, his then Secretary in thePacific region:

There is NewZealand, Fiji Islands, etc. So by the order of Lord Sri ChaitanyaMahaprabhu we shall not leave any place within this world at leastwithout Krishna Consciousness.

So it wasthat in April 1972, the first devotees arrived in New Zealand andstarted their centre in a suburb of Auckland. From there theadventure unfolds in Witnessto a Temple, and we willleave that to the readers to discover.

Within thepages of this book we will read of major splits among the devoteesat different times and the remarkable way rla Prabhupda dealt with them. The following letter sent in January 1976t o Bhakta Ralph in Auckland illustratesthe point:

Sometimes there will be alittle misunderstanding between Godbrothers; that is even going onamongst liberated souls. What is important is that everyone mustengage in Krishnas service under the direction of the spiritualmaster.

In 1978, the devoteesacquired the property now known as New Varshan and Rdh Giridhr moved there from Their city residence. The consequentbuilding of the Temple of Devotion, Bhakti Bhavan, was a rollercoaster ride and one that was sometimes on the verge ofabandonment.

Throughout the entirety ofthis adventure, although keeping herself well in the background ofher book, Mdr was at the heart. Her determination to see thetemple completed never waivered, despite seemingly impossibleodds.

For a devotee, the trialson the path can serve as a great impetus to take more shelterof Ka . Such tests bring uscloser to God and free us from the material world. We understand that all the challenges are nothingless than the mercy of the Lord. The great spiritual masterof rlaPrabhupda , rla Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat, points this out on numerous occasions.

The Lord, Gaurasundara,puts His devotees in various difficulties and associations to testtheir patience and strength of mind. Success depends on their goodfortune.

After 17years of sacrifice, at last in 2004 the day finally arrived and allthe sweat and tears, thehopes and fears proved more than worthwhile, as Their Lordshipsmoved into Their grand new temple. It is often said that goodthings take longer to attain but last longer. Temples in past agesoften took centuries to construct. It was indeed a glorious daywhen devotees from all over the world came together to witness thishistoric and spiritual event, with Rdh Giridhr centre stage. It is sometimessaid: Determination can move mountains. And in this case it seemstrue, as the great mountain of Giridhr moved at last. (Giridhris the name of Ka, meaning He who assumes the form of amountain.)

By theblessings of rlaPrabhupda , we hope that thisgreat labour of love will enable countless souls to awaken theirlove for Ka and our beloved rla Prabhupda , to whom we owe everything. We pray that he will bepleased by the sincere efforts of all the devotees who have in anyway been involved in the fulfilment of Lord Caitanyas desire tospread the holy names to every town and village and to establishtemples in such far distant places as Auckland.