It has to be one of the most exhilarating experiences in life to be the bearer of good news.

The good news is that we will soon have our very own Radha Krishna Temple in the DFW  

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metroplex. The ground-breaking ceremony was initiated in the city of Allen on August 13, 2014. The construction for the foundation of the temple building has begun in full swing. Swami Mukundananda visited the construction site with local devotees. We are excited to share these photos with you, and will keep you updated of the future progress.

"I am counting the days until this magnificent place of worship also becomes my second home - where I can talk with Radha Krishna and express my appreciation to them for the many blessings in life. I want to tell them that I do not take for granted that their grace is the reason our community is blessed to have a temple. Let the spiritual journey continue...."

The RKT will be a place where the devotees will savor the nectar of love for God, celebrate festivals with members of the DFW community, practice meditation and yoga, enrich the lives of children with rich Vedic culture, or simply relax and enjoy the spiritual environment with their family and friends.  

The visual image of the temple seems to have such an ethereal quality - like something out of a dream. When I close my eyes, I can visualize myself climbing up the stairs of this magnificent temple where the bells seem to serenade the devotees. I can feel the cool caress of the marble floor on my feet. I can hear the music of Murari's magical flute, compelling me to run up the stairs. I can smell the fragrance of beautiful flowers and agarbatti. I can taste the nectar of His charnamrit and feel the love of Radha Krishna flowing right to my heart, telling me that things will be alright; that life is tough but I'm not alone. I have a lot of love from Radha Krishna and my DFW community.

There is no school for learning lessons of life, yet, these lessons can be found ubiquitously provided we keep an open mind.  If we reflect on Bal Krishna's leelas, it will remind us of how these leelas are designed to provide life lessons for average human beings.  Do you remember the captivating story of the divine leela where Bal Krishna created an illusion that confused even Brahma ji? 

In this story, one time Shri Krishna and his young friends were playing in a field while the calves were grazing.  Then, Brahma ji quietly and unobtrusively kidnapped the calves.  When Lord Krishna's friends surprisingly noticed that the calves had vanished, they became very anxious.  Bal Krishna reassured them not to worry and that he would go look for the calves in nearby fields where they may have strayed.  Lord Krishna searched everywhere but could not find the calves anywhere.  He returned to where his friends were waiting for him.  Upon his return, Shri Krishna noticed that even his friends had vanished.  Lord Krishna had an epiphany that this was Brahma ji's doing, however, he knew that if he went back home alone, the parents of all his friends would experience grief at not seeing their children and the calves.

So Lord Krishna, donned the swarup or form of each gwal bal or cowherd friend and the calves.  Because Lord Krishna himself assumed the forms to look just like each friend, no one could tell the difference and life continued as normal.  However, what was really interesting was that the parents of the other gwal bals became increasingly more affectionate toward their children as did the cows toward the calves.  Clearly they were all enthralled by Lord Krishna's divinity reflected in their own children. 

Brahma ji decided to return to the scene after a year to observe the effects of his actions.  To his amazement, Lord Krishna and all the children were still playing in the same field and the calves were grazing as usual.  He wondered how the kidnapped children and calves could have been released from the cave where they were trapped.  So he returned to the cave and found that the children and calves were still in the cave.  He could not distinguish between the real versus illusionary children and calves.  So he went back to the field in Vrindavan but this time the scene was very different.  He saw that each and every gwal bal looked just like Lord Krishna but they all had four arms like Lord Vishnu.

When Lord Krishna noticed the utter bewilderment of Brahma ji, he removed the veil of maya.  Brahma ji lay on the ground doing Dandvat Pranam at Lord Krishna's feet, begging forgiveness repeatedly for his gross mistake.  Lord Krishna, with divine kindness, forgave Brahma ji. 

The moral of this story is that we should not become confused when we hear Shri Krishna's Vrindavan leelas.  Although Shree Krishna appears to be an ordinary child, he is in reality the Supreme Lord.    

As Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj had said, "We cannot know God by our senses, mind, and intellect. These instruments of knowledge of ours are material, and cannot fathom the Divine nature of the Supreme Being."  

This month's inspirational story is entitled  

Weakness or Strength

This is the story of a 10-year-old boy, Jay, who decided to study Judo even though he had lost his left arm in a devastating auto accident.

Jay started taking lessons from an old Japanese Judo master. He was apparently doing very well, so he could not understand why, after three months of training, his master had taught him only one move. One day Jay asked his master, "Sensei, shouldn't I be learning more moves?" The master replied,  "This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you will ever need to know."

Not quite understanding, but trusting his teacher, Jay continued to train harder each day. Several months later, his master took Jay to his first tournament. Much to his surprise, Jay easily won his first two matches. The third match was more difficult but Jay persisted. However, his opponent became impatient and charged. During an opportune moment, Jay deftly used the one move to win the match.

Still amazed by his success, Jay now got to the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while Jay appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that Jay might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the master intervened. "No," he insisted, "Let him continue."

Soon after the match resumed, Jay's opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, Jay used his move to pin him down and won the match as well as the tournament. He was declared to be the champion. On the way home, Jay and his master reviewed and debriefed on each and every move used in the tournament. Then Jay summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. "Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"

"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you have almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grasp your left arm." Jay's biggest weakness had become his biggest strength. Sometimes our biggest weakness can become our biggest strength.

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Benefits of Massage 

It is hard to believe that there would be anyone who would not want to get a nice, relaxing massage. While many of us may think that getting a massage has cosmetic benefit only, nothing could be far from the truth.

Massage is one of the many important ways to preserve good health. It improves blood circulation, provides strength to body organs, and helps to regenerate the muscles. Massaging with oil (e.g., mustard, sesame, coconut or olive) has enormous therapeutic benefits.

• It is very effective in toning the muscles and nervous system.
• It helps to eliminate body waste/toxins through the kidneys, bowel, skin, and lungs.
• It helps to improve blood circulation and respiration.
• It relieves pain and fastens the metabolic rate.
• It delays the appearance of facial wrinkles.
• It eases body stiffness.

Finally, remember that while someone else will need to massage parts of the body we cannot reach ourselves (e.g., back or spine), we can definitely massage our own toes, soles of the feet, fingers, palm, neck and scalp. Work out those knots to remove the stiffness and treat your body, mind and soul.