I was thinking about this aspect of Japa during the Japa Room presentation today . When I think about my Japa when I rise in the morning, do I chant because I have to chant? Or is it because I want to chant!

1971 January 4: "My Guru Maharaja has declared that the real life of a man is preaching. If one has got any life at all in him then he will preach. So I am very, very pleased by your constant efforts."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1972 January 4 : "People are appreciating how pure our devotees are. Stick very strictly to these principles. Then very soon our movement will become the world religion as has been predicted."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1973 January 4: "Unless I order you otherwise, go on with the usual standard way. I have given you everything already, there is no need for you to add anything or change anything."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1973 January 4: "The greatest danger to our movement will come when we manufacture and create our own process. Whatever is going on, follow it just to the exact standard as I have given you, that's all."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1973 January 4 : "You may be appointed by me to give first initiations. They shall, of course, still be considered as my disciples, but you will be empowered by me to chant their beads and that is the same effect as if I were personally chanting."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1973 January 4 : "My Dear George, I am so much pleased that you sent your car filled-up with fruits and flowers on the Disappearance day of my Guru Maharaja. Surely you will become blessed by Him more and more."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1974 January 4 : "Yes, if we have too much money then unwise spending enters. You have just enough to get by and you are therefore having to spend wisely."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1975 January 4 : "Those young boys are living as true brahmacaris. Bring them all to India for Lord Caitanya's appearance day and they can also attend the opening of the Krishna-Balarama Temple in Vrndavana."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975:

Source: thestar.com.my BY DR AMIR SHAIK A gathering in India of different religions and different people offers hope for the unity of religions. MAYAPUR, INDIA - I recently spent nearly two weeks as a vegan, interfaith explorer and peace-pilgrim at the world headquarters of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness, more popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement) [...]

The Bhagavad-gita verse that I’ve picked for this week comes from Chapter 8: Attaining the Supreme. The original Sanskrit title of this chapter is Taraka Brahma Yoga. Directly translated, it’s The Yoga of Attaining the Absolute (as translated by Tripurari Swami).

Each week, I am choosing a Bhagavad-gita verse and sharing four different Gaudia-Vaisnava translations of it. I then pick it apart and sometimes interject my own unsolicited commentary.

Chapter Eight begins with Arjuna asking Krishna some very important questions. He asks “what is the absolute truth? what is karma?” Krishna then teaches him that whatever one remembers at the time of death is what he attains in his next life. Those who remember the Supreme Lord, attain Him.

Bhagavad-gita 8.16 sums up the first part of the chapter and of Krishna’s teachings.

abrahma-bhuvanal lokah
punar avartino ‘rjuna
mamupetya tu kaunteya
punar janma na vidyate

From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.
-Srila Prabhupada

O Arjuna, all realms of existence up to and including the abode of Brahma are places from which one must again return. Only on who reaches me is never reborn.
-Tripurari Swami

O Arjuna, all planets in this universe up to Brahma-loka are places of repeated birth and death, but one who attains Me, O Kaunteya, never takes birth again.
-Narayana Maharaja

From the earth up to
    the realm of Brahma,
    the worlds undergo
    repeated cycle, O Arjuna.
Having come to me,
    however, O Kaunteya,
    one does not find
    repeated birth.
-Garuda dasa
-Garuda dasa (Graham M. Schweig)

Arjuna is not addressed by name until the end of the first stanza of the verse (’rjuna). While Srila Prabhupada skips this entirely, both Tripurari Swami and Narayana Maharaja begin their translations with “O Arjuna.” Garuda dasa’s poetic translation stays as true as possible to the original sanskrit, placing this addressing at the end of the first stanza. While this does not add or take away from the meaning of the verse, it’s a good example in showing the different personalities of the different translations, especially Garuda dasa’s which strives to be as poetically accurate as possible.

The Sanskrit actually starts off as Srila Prabhupada and Garuda dasa have translated. Though the original text does not state that it is speaking specifically of planets “in the material world,” Srila Prabhupada adds that phrase where the others do not.

Loka, as many devotees know, is often translated as “planet.” Tripurari Swami translates it as “realms of existence,” which seems to indicate that not only is it planets in the material world, but everywhere in the material world, planetary or not.

Srila Prabhupada translates that it is the highest planet to the lowest. Tripurari Swami’s translation puts it that it is “up to and including the abode of Brahma.” Narayana Maharaja’s is roughly the same.

However, Garuda dasa’s leaves out the lower planets, stating “earth up to the realm of Brahma.” I’m not sure why this is as there is no word-for-word commentary in his edition. It can be deduced that bhuvanal, which is basically translated by the other three devotees as “all the way up to [Brahma-loka, the highest planet],” may have the starting point of the speaker. Meaning, when Krishna says bhuvanal, it means “from here on up.” Obviously the lower planets aren’t to be left out of the material world.

Continuing on, Srila Prabhupada, when compared to the others, is a little wordy. The Sanskrit phrase punah avartinah literally means “again returning.” Srila Prabhupada expands on this, describing these realms as “places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place.” He seems to be explaining the verse as he is translating it. While this might not suit some Sanskrit scholars, I personally enjoy when he does this.

Tripurari Swami and Narayana Maharaja both stick closer to a literal translation: “places form which one must again return” and “places of repeated birth and death” respectively.

Garuda dasa’s translation is a bit more vague, “the worlds undergo repeated cycles.” It’s times like this when I wish he would have also published a word-for-word. It’s true, the worlds and all of material creation undergo repeated cycles, but if punah avartinah means “again returning” with avartinah emphasizing birth and death, why translate it in such a removed fashion?

The second part of the verse clarifies any confusion. It explains that one who reaches Krishna never experiences this repeated birth and death again.

Mam upetya means “arriving unto me” or, in this case, “Attaining the Supreme.” Srila Prabhupada translates it “attains My abode.” While the other three translate it as “attains Me.”

In Krishna consciousness, we believe in a truly absolute God. There is no difference between the abode of God and God Himself.

Krishna explains this material world is one of misery. While it might seem pretty good here and there, it’s not at all comparable to God. In fact, there really is no comparison. As Tripurari Swami states in his purport, “a life of spiritual culture is infinitely better than a life motivated by materialistic values.”

A gathering in India of different religions and different people offers hope for the unity of religions.

I RECENTLY spent nearly two weeks as a vegan, interfaith explorer and peace-pilgrim at the world headquarters of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness, more popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement) at Sri Mayapur, West Bengal, India.

King Prithu will be able to see all the internal and external activities of every one of his citizens. Still no one will be able to know his system of espionage, and he himself will remain neutral regarding all matters of glorification or vilification paid to him. He will be exactly like air, the life force within the body, which is exhibited internally and externally but is always neutral to all affairs.

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 4 Chapter 16 Verse 12

By Krishna-kripa das

(December 2008, part two)

Philadelphia, Queens, and Montreal
(Sent from Albany, New York, on 1/4/09)

Where I Am and What I Am Doing

I split the second half of December between Philadelphia and Montreal, both of which have daily harinama programs. One Sunday I took a day trip to Queens.

I lived in Philadelphia in the mid-1980s.

I was so happy to see the Deities Radha Saradbihari once again.

It was also nice to see devotees who had lived in Philadelphia ever since I was last there, headed by Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu.

There are unique things about each of our temples: In Philly they offer the Deities flower petals during the greeting, they chant the Prabhupada Strotam before Guru Puja, and they have lots of maha sweets at breakfast, including burfi, which is rarely attained without special endeavor in most temples. They have a Sunday School with three different grade levels. Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu gives regular lectures during which you always learn something new about Krishna, and Vishnu Gada Prabhu is there to lead some great kirtanas. Then there is Govinda’s which is both fast food and a regular restaurant.

 

Prabhupada Nectar

One Prabhupada disciple told me he stopped chanting for some years. Prabhupada came to him in dreams several times and asked him to chant. The last time Prabhupada asked him to chant in a dream, the devotee replied, “But I have to work to maintain my family.” Prabhupada responded, “So did I, but I chanted.” Since then the devotee has chanted sixteen rounds each day.

One young lady, although attracted by Krishna consciousness, had doubts when the devotees described Srila Prabhupada as being completely pure. “How can anyone be completely pure?” she thought. Later she had a dream in which she saw Srila Prabhupada conducting an initiation ceremony, chanting on the devotees’ beads, etc. The more she watched him, the more she appreciated the purity of his actions. Finally, she came to the point of accepting that Prabhupada really was a pure devotee. Just then, in the dream, Srila Prabhupada handed her some beads and told her to chant Hare Krishna.

 

For me, these kinds of dreams remind us that although Srila Prabhupada appears not to be present, he is still here, ready to reciprocate with us and elevate us to spiritual life. If we really are sincere, we need not worry.

 

Gaura Prabhu: Srila Prabhupada says that if someone leaves we should think that it is at least 50% our fault.

 

Gokulananda Prabhu: One devotee was telling Srila Prabhupada that many devotees, especially the big devotees, were coming where Prabhupada was for the Ratha-yatra. “Big devotees?” Srila Prabhupada replied, with surprise, “We are trying to become small devotees.”

From Srila Prabhupada’s CC Adi 5.66, purport: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the Absolute Whole, and the living entities are parts of the Absolute Whole. This relationship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entities is eternal. One should never mistakenly think that the spiritual whole can be divided into small parts by the small material energy. The Bhagavad-gita does not support this Mayavada theory. Rather, it clearly states that the living entities are eternally small fragments of the supreme spiritual whole. As a part can never be equal with the whole, so a living entity, as a minute fragment of the spiritual whole, cannot be equal at any time to the Supreme Whole, the absolute Personality of Godhead.”

 

From his SB 5.18.4 purport: “No one should think of himself as a liberated person immune to the influence of maya. Everyone should very cautiously execute devotional service by rigidly following regulative principles. Thus he will remain fixed at the lotus feet of the Lord. Otherwise, a little inattention will create havoc.”

From his SB 5.18.11 purport: “All the great saints in the devotional line very strongly recommend the process of hearing. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced the congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra to give everyone a chance to hear Krishna’s holy name, for simply by hearing Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, one becomes purified (ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]). Therefore our Krishna consciousness movement is chiefly engaged in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra all over the world.”

From NOD, Chapter 25: “Anyone who becomes exhilarated by hearing of the pastimes of Lord Krishna when He was present on this earth with His associates is to be understood as nitya-siddha, eternally perfect.”

From his SB 3.21.31, purport: “To award fearlessness to the common man is the great act of charity.”

From Friends of the BBT Newsletter, January 2009:

When Tribhuvanath Dasa, who had been staging festivals up till then, asked, “Should I stop and just do book distribution?” Prabhupada replied, “No. Do everything side by side.” He elaborated, in a 1973 letter to Prabhavishnu Swami, “Go and do these six things: Distribute books, chant in public, give out prasadam, give out flyers, answer people’s questions, and hold a program in someone’s home.”

 

A Dream That Increased My Faith

 

A teenaged girl who had some attraction to Krishna consciousness wondered how to proceed. It was difficult for her to get devotional association as the nearest temple was several hours from her home. At one point, a devotee who was one of the ISKCON initiating gurus appeared to her in a dream and introduced himself by name. He then began to teach her from a book called Science of Self-Realization, proceeding through it, chapter by chapter. Finally, he instructed her to teach others. After awakening, she remembered the guru’s name from the dream, and did an Internet search, finding a web page with his name and photo. Indeed, the photo matched the person in the dream! She got his contact information from some devotees she met who, coincidentally, were his disciples. She corresponded with him for some time, and ultimately took shelter of him by initiation. Now a decade since the dream, she is very happily engaged in his service.

For me the amazing part of the story is that she did not know the name of the guru or what he looked like, nor had she ever seen the book called Science of Self-Realization before. Usually, in dreams, images we have seen previously are often combined in new or odd ways, but how would content that we had not experienced enter our dreams, except by divine intervention. The story may increase the faith of some people who doubt the potency of ISKCON gurus. It might also benefit new persons who are worried about choosing a guru. Sometimes, as in this case, the Lord makes an obvious arrangement.

 

Christmas Eve Day in Suburban Station

 

Philly’s Suburban Station is a great location to chant on cold, windy, or wet days. You do not need permission to do music, only if you set up a table and sell things. There is, however, the problem of competition with other musicians. Anindita Mataji, took a break from her book table to make a deal with the acoustic guitarist with an amplifier who was playing at the same time, and he agreed we could play together.

I started out playing my mini accordion, with the guitarist following.

 

He was a great musician who had been playing for twenty years. It must have been a great act of tolerance for him to follow me, an amateur musician playing the accordion just a few months. Some people appreciated the unusual experience. Seeing the guitarist begin to tire of chanting Hare Krishna, Bhagavatananda Prabhu suggested that he play George Harrison’s classic “My Sweet Lord”, which includes a Hare Krishna mantra chorus in it.

 

Queens Sunday Feast

 

Sunanda Prabhu, and some of my godbrothers from Queens, invited me to give the Sunday lecture at our temple there. They have the most beautiful Krishna-Balarama Deities, carved by the same person as the Vrindavana’s Krishna-Balarama.

The temple is attended mostly devotees of Indian descent from the Caribbean, many who love kirtana and have a nice service mentality. I had a very positive experience there.

Montreal Metro Meditations

 

Radha Govinda Prabhu of Montreal told me back in 2005 that the devotees chant daily in the subways in Montreal in the winters, so I decided to spend part of my winter break there. I went out for four days of harinama and gave at least a lecture a day for five days as well. They reserve two hours slots in the subway station six days a week, once the weather gets cold in mid-November and from four to seven devotees go chant there, more on Saturdays. Harinama leader Nrsimha Caitanya Prabhu goes to the metro station sometime between 3 and 5 a.m. in the morning to reserve the spot, a great sacrifice. Guy Concordia station, near a college in the English speaking area of Montreal is a favorite location.

 

Gaura Prabhu, who I met in Mayapur, and chanted with on the sidewalks of London and the park in Amsterdam led harinama the first day. The rightmost devotee gave a flyer to a Chinese man, who came to the Sunday feast. A well wisher gave a donation of $20.

 

One day a flute player stopped to join us briefly.

 

Some passers by look with curiosity.

 

Some leave donations and receive Bhagavad-gita for $5 or a small book for less.

 

Once someone asked if we had Bhagavad-gita for sale, and gave a $10 donation. In December the devotees received over $500 just by doing harinama.

The acoustics is great in the metro station and while waiting for the trains and when leaving them one can easily near the kirtana which fills the air. We also can chant softly with harmonium and drum on the metro back to the temple. The regular harinama devotees were all enthusiastic singers and dancers, and very friendly. I hope they can keep up their nice standard.

 

Although never in Montreal as a devotee, I met many devotees I knew in addition to Gaura Prabhu, who I already mentioned. Jagannatha Prabhu studied Bhakti Sastri with me in Mayapur. Janadhana Prabhu took a course on Sadaputa Prabhu’s Origins lectures I taught at Rupanuga Vedic College., and I met Golukananda Prabhu and his son, as well as Nrsimha Caitanya, in Mayapur. The newlyweds, Jaya and Uddhava, who showed pictures from their marriage one evening, I knew from Alachua. Akhilesvara Prabhu once spent some time in Alachua as well. It is truly a small world!

 

On New Year’s Eve, the Montreal youth had a program at the temple until midnight including three plays, two in English and one in French. All thanks to Bhakin Tanya for directing them. One was the best rendition of “The Brahmana and the Cobbler” I had ever seen, with both the brahmana and the cobbler playing their parts very nicely. In another play, Bhakta Greedy heard in one Bhagavatam class that you could go back to Godhead by merely taking prasadam. Following that leading, he ate so much prasadam, it took four brahmacaris two hours to pull him through the temple room. Finally he could not rise, and a doctor put him on a diet of boiled vegetables, which cured him. When cured, he could not take only one plate of halava, remembering the austerity of the diet. His saving grace was a great service attitude he acquired through prasadam and devotee association.

 

Montreal is not on the circuit of many world preachers, and the devotees there are hungry for good association, and they do reciprocate. There biggest day for harinama is June 24, and their Ratha-yatra is one or two weekends after July 4. Check out their web site at www.iskconmontreal.ca.

 

Their Radha Manohara are ever-fresh beauties.

 

I had a great time there, and I look forward to returning next time I come to Albany, NY to see my family.

 

Insight from Lectures

 

Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu, SB 11.4.6, weekly conference call class:

 

Nara-Narayana Rsi promotes naiskarmya
karma.

 

Indra was worried about Nara-Narayana Rsi’s powerful penances, thinking the Rsi may seize his kingdom. “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” (From Shakespeare’s Henry IV. Part II, 1597.)

 

Tridasapura-akasa-puspayate: The cities of the heavenly kingdom are like flowers in the sky. Devotees are not attracted by such illusory pleasure.

 

Nara-Narayana Rsi lack of anger when tempted by Indra’s dancing girls is especially mentioned. Lord Siva once conquered lust with wrath but was unable to be free from wrath’s effects. Sometimes demigods place obstacles in the path of those, who do not give sacrificial results to them, because they prefer to worship the Supreme Lord alone.

 

The way to deal with obstacles is to use their energy in a positive way, just as an expert martial artist uses his opponent’s energy to defeat him.

 

Not only does Indra get carried away by lust and anger, but in the Greek tradition, the gods also get carried away by such things. Thus thinkers like Socrates did not have a high opinion of the worship of “the gods.”

Q: In the Christian tradition, saints see temptations as sent by demons, but here we see that temptations are sent by the demigods.

A: Any Christian who thinks about it must come to the conclusion that the devil must be some representative of God, otherwise there must be two Gods. In the course of spiritual life we see that material things come to us, and we have to reject them. The early Christians believed the Greek and Roman gods to be demons. Sometimes when they exorcized the spirits, the spirits would say as they departed, “I am Apollo and my temple is there.”

 

Ramananda Prabhu: If a peon comes and gives you a letter with a thousand dollars, you don’t reject it, thinking how can this poor man give me a thousand dollars. Similarly we do not reject the spiritual knowledge, when given by the humble representative of God.

 

Gaura Prabhu: When we chant “Sri Vishnu, Sri Vishnu, Sri Vishnu” before taking medicine, it is not that we are offering the medicine to the Lord, but we are remembering the medicine is not all in all. Without the mercy of Lord Vishnu, medicine alone is not enough.

 

Gokulananda Prabhu: The upraised arms of the devotee dancers have a dual meaning:

1) All glories to You, O Lord.

2) I surrender to You.

 

Anubhava Prabhu:

 

When you chant Hare Krishna you must do it while willing to attain Krishna.

Whatever devotional service we are doing, we should be very glad that we have the opportunity to serve Krishna, instead of serving our senses.

When we conquer over our lower self, we feel satisfied.

When love is there, you can do anything to serve Krishna.

 

Vibisana Prabhu:

 

What ever the spiritual master says, you must try to execute. You may be successful or not, but you have to try.

 

While serving the Lord we feel more satisfied as the tree is satisfied when the root is supplied water and not the leaves.

 

One friend who was very advanced intellectually, but when I showed him Bhagavad-gita he could not understand a word of it, and he became angry with me.

 

One man in LA used to spit and throw rocks at the harinama party. He later became a devotee.

 

Ramananda Prabhu tells a story of a man who was so angry seeing a devotee lady distributing a Krishna book on the train, he ripped up the book and threw the lady, who was very slight in stature, off the train as it was pulling out, injuring her. He had thrown the damaged book in his own bag. At home, his maid found it, repaired it, and put it on his bookshelf, where it remained for years. After his wife died, and his son left home, he happened to read the book. The philosophy concerning reincarnation comforted him in his loss. He came to a Hare Krishna temple near his home in very humble and apologetic mood, explaining the whole story to the temple president. He gave a donation to the temple and regularly attended, and finally became a devotee.

 

Mother Savitri: “Hiranyakasipu, on the occasion of Hiranyaksa’s death, gave a very Krishna conscious lecture to his relatives about the immortality of the soul. He is the best example of a person who gives a great class but doesn’t follow his own instructions.”

 

Celia, a UF student who chants on the campus with us in Gainesville, from an internet chat: “When you miss devotees, it’s a different kind of missing. You miss more and stronger because you miss a link to Krishna. Every devotee is like a little link to Krishna.”

duhkha-madhye kona duhkha haya gurutara?

krishna-bhakta-viraha vina duhkha nahi dekhi para

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu asked, “Of all kinds of distress, what is the most
painful?”

Sri Ramananda Raya replied, “Apart from separation from the devotee of Krishna, I know of no unbearable unhappiness” (Cc. Madhya 8.248).

Parikrama

Conch.

Consciousness.

Environment? Dark. Pre-dawn. It must be before 4 am. Conch outside the house? I hope not. If the conch, it means Param Satya is outside the house, instead of in bed downstairs. An airhorn maybe? One that sounds like a conch? A stretch.

Conch.

Conch in the temple means arati. Conch outside means something very different: War.

A window shatters outside. Voices are raised and in conflict. Heart rate increases. Is that our car? Adrenaline hits the bloodstream. Body surges up, mind focuses to a single point: no matter, what is done is done, what is about to be done has to be done with full focused attention.

Searching for my glasses. Not there. Curses! Deviation from routine leads to dangerous vulnerability.

Abandon the search for glasses. Lights. Check time. 2.55 am. Outside pants? On the railing. Retrieve them. Glasses nearby. No shirt - if application of force is required appearing with no shirt will be a greater deterrent.

Outside. No movement near our car. Voices across the road. Param Satya is there. Approach at an angle, stand off and assess.

Two people, both disturbed. Listen to the tones of voice, look for the posture of the body. No immediate threat. Don't go in, because with no shirt on and adrenaline in the bloodstream it will raise the intensity.

Situation seems stable. Another neighbour appears. Christopher, an older man. He reminds me of Bhagavat Asraya. He reassures the couple and together he and Param Satya work with them to resolve their situation. The girls feet and hand are cut from broken glass. She is drunk and distressed. The guy is rapidly sobering, and embarrassed.

Return to the house and put on a shirt and hooded jacket. Watch from the shadows.

They go back inside. We return to the house. 3.30 am.

Happiness in the mode of ignorance is nectar in the beginning and poison in the end. When you trace the chain of action and reaction back from your suffering you find that it directly connects with your proactive attempt to create enjoyment.

"Don't worry," Param Satya told her. "When you've been married for twenty years you'll look back at this and laugh."

Reassuring, perhaps, but I am more cynical. Statistically it is unlikely that they will marry, or remain married for 20 years if they do. And then, I would be more likely to cringe than laugh looking back at it.

Social destruction.

www.foodmatters.tv

FLUORIDATED water will begin flowing from Brisbane taps in December after a deluge of publicity to convince consumers the water is safe.

Consumers in the greater Brisbane area and Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast will be the first to drink the treated water forced on them by the State Government.

- Brisbane to get fluoridated tap water in December, Courier-Mail, July 3, 2008

This in spite of the conclusions of the Lord Mayor's Taskforce:

A small majority of Taskforce members (52%) stated that they were opposed to the fluoridation of Brisbane’s water supply. A significant proportion of members (23%) who had initially been supportive of fluoridation had changed their opinion to opposition by the end of the Taskforce process.
...
Many Taskforce members were unconvinced by assurances that serious risks to health were negligible or non-existent. In particular, there was concern about ambiguous scientific evidence of an association between water fluoridation and higher levels of hip fracture.

- THE LORD MAYOR’S TASKFORCE ON FLUORIDATION BRISBANE CITY, AUSTRALIA. FINAL REPORT

My commentary:

What knucklehead drinks tap water anyway?

<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:\"\"; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:\"Times New Roman\"; mso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";} p {mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0cm; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:\"Times New Roman\"; mso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> !!Attention Preachers and Book Distributors!! Are you already in the fire of preaching? How was your Gita Jayanti and Srila Prabhupada marathon this year? Wanna improve your sankirtan? Here is your chance! The VTE Graduate Course on Book Distribution is being taught at at the Mayapur Festival 2009 on the occasion of the 10th aniversary inauguration of Sri Mayapura\'s Vaishnava Academy. This course is an intensive 30 hour seminar for devotees wishing to learn the art and improve their style of distributing Srila Prabhupadas books. It is mandatory for all full time distributors and also recommended for devotees who wish to aquire basic and advanced skills of book distribution and removing obstacles in their preaching.

Things have been quiet here lately because my spare time has been consumed by another project a number of other devotees and I have started: The Samprajña Institute.

The Samprajña Institute is a free-market public policy research center, otherwise known as a "think tank." Public policy covers any kind of laws, guidelines, or policies that affect the lives of people or the allocation of resources. As a research group, we work at producing intellectual goods that try to point out how public policy should best be shaped in a broad range of areas. Further details can be found at the Samprajña Institute website.

One of the reasons we created a public policy institute is that we wanted to see how far we could go in creating public policy proposals using dharma and bhakti as first principles. If the varnashram system is universally the best social system, then it requires a group of people who can make it competitive with liberal democracy and socialism in terms of theory and practice. As a think tank, we focus on the theoretical side. Just as a Communist Manifesto preceded the global spread of communism, a systematic, and well thought-out conception of varnashrama dharma is a prerequisite for a global Krishna conscious culture.

Another reason we created the institute is our dissatisfaction with the trend to bring in outside experts to tell us, in our Vaishnava society, how best we should organize ourselves and what morals we should follow. While it is good to consider outsider opinions and sentiments, we think it has been bad public policy to adopt their various approaches wholesale, at great cost, and with little debate or regard as to how they might work with or oppose dharma and bhakti. Hence, a policy institute that conducts research that starts with dharma and bhakti as its first principles and is able to market its ideas successfully to the outside world will also produce policy solutions that are favorable to a Vaishnava society.

And finally, the institute is a good way to bring people of various perspectives together to think hard and work on solutions to real world problems. Within a religious institution, diversity of doctrine tends to be a liability; it hinders cooperation, fosters dissention, and often enough leads to splintering and schism. However, diversity of doctrine is an asset within an organization like a think tank. That is because a think tank's work tends to be (should be) focused on specific issues and specific problems. And to come up with the best solutions, you want diversity of perspective just so you don't end up talking to yourselves.

As far as ISKCON-ites are concerned, this project is a golden opportunity to put the principle of unity-in-diversity (acintya-bhedabheda tattva) into practice. We have been consciously working to make the Samprajña Institute a place where intelligent people who have widely differing perspectives go to work together on creating important solutions for pressing social issues.

If you have some interest to participate, please send an email to me at krishnakirti@samprajna.org.

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Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.10 - Settle your mind and take guidance from your closest friend, Paramatma.

Janardana dasa: The Camfrog Video Chat network, a system of thousands of video chatrooms from around the world, is a unique opportunity for preaching Srila Prabhupada's mission.

Tapasvini: Many temples have taken advantage of the Sunday school curriculum compiled by Tapasvini devi dasi and Sangita devi dasi. We're happy to announce that there is now a website for the Hare Krishna Sunday School program.

There is an English word: "If you love me, love my dog." So the spiritual master is dog-God. He's dog of God, therefore he's dog-God. He's to be worshiped. He's the pet dog of God. Therefore if you love the dog, you love God. Spiritual master will not claim that "I am God," but it is our duty, because the dog is pet.... Here it is said, na ca tasman manusyesu [Bg. 18.69]. You have to love that dog. Then you'll get perfection.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Garden Conversation -- June 8, 1976, Los Angeles

This is one of the many things I love about Mayapur...LOL...I know I write that a lot...but I really mean it! What is it? Why the elephant procession with Radha Madhava every Saturday night! I've been wanting to take pictures for months and FINALLY stopped being lazy and took my camera along. Enjoy!


Beautiful elephant-Lakshmipriya


Two of the world's most beautiful people. HG Jananivas and Pankajanghri prabhus.


The procession stops about 5/6 times and each time foodstuffs and aarti are offered.


HG Pankajanghri Prabhu offering aarti


Gaura Nitai leading the way!


The crowds!


Chota Radha Madhava!


Beautiful rangoli designs




Jaya Radha Madhava!


Back to the altar!


Gurukula boys chanting mantras after Radha Madhava are escorted back to the altar


HG Pankajanghri Prabhu with Srila Prabhupada

This short poem was composed many hundreds of years ago by Srila Narottama das Thakur, in classical Bengali.

Narottama Dasa, born about 1466, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava saint who was responsible for spreading Vaishnava bhakti throughout Orissa and Bengal in India. Narottama dasa was the son of King Krishnananda Datta and Narayani Devi who resided in Gopalpur Pargana of the Rajsahi district of Bangladesh.

The subject of this poem is the most intimate of Bhakti (devotional) meditations.

Vasanta Rasa (Divine Pastimes in the Spring)

Vrndavana ramya-sthana dibya-cintamani-dhama Ratana-mandira manohara Abrta kalindi-nire raja-hamsa keli kore Tahe sobhe kanaka-kamala

Vrindavan, resplendent abode, of transcendental touchstone, jewelled temples divine, enchanting the mind. Yamuna with gentle waves flows, where swans swim within shaded groves, a lotus of gold on that water shines.

Tara madhye hema-pitha asta-dale bestita Asta-dale pradhana nayika Tara madhye ratnasane bosi achen dui-jane Syama-sange sundari radhika

Golden altar within its whorl, where eight bright petals unfurl, where stand the sakhis led by Lalita. Sitting in the centre of them, on a throne of brilliant gems, are the radiant Shyama and Radhika.

O-rupa-labanya-rasi amiya poriche khasi Hasya-pariasa-sambhasane Narottama-dasa koy nitya-lila sukha-moy Sadai sphuruka mora mane

Their beauty, their sweetness and smiles; their talks and their teasing and wiles, exudes showers of ecstatic nectar. Narottama dasa does pray, that this pure loving display, may in my heart stay seated forever.

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I PLAN TO WIN 11:10pm
1:Defeat the tendencies to be lazy and morose: THE BODY-Martial arts,Tai chi-wushu

2:Defeat the tendencies not to focus: THE MIND-Studying, philosophy,science, arguing.

3:And to defeat the tendencies to think I'm either of these two: THE SPIRIT-To hear about krishna, to talk about Krishna, to chant his holy names and to associate with his Devotees.

Dear disciples and friends,

Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Here is an update of what I have been doing for the last few weeks.

After returning from Sri Vrindavana Dhama via Mauritius I spent some days in Johannesburg and then went back to Mauritius to spend about a week there with my disciples and doing some preaching programmes. Particularly I attended the Rathayatra there, in Mahebourg over the weekend of December 12-14.

It was a very nice programme, although fraught with a few problems which are typically Mauritian. Mauritius is a wonderful place and there are many wonderful devotees there, although there is a tendency among some to have a very easy going attitude which sometimes translates into a type of inefficiency.

For example, when I was there a year ago for the same Rathayatra, we were told it was going to start at 2pm and that we should be there on time. We were, but when we got there we found there was not a single person there. The place was completely deserted.

So this year we were not in such a rush to get there on time, and even though it was meant to start again at 2pm, by the time 3pm came we were still in the house of my disciple Harideva prabhu and his wife Manasi Ganga, where I was staying, and I was becoming a little anxious. Harideva phoned the devotees at the starting place and they said they were going to start in 5 minutes and that we should get there as soon as possible.

So we drive there, which was about 45 minutes or a little more, and arrived at 4pm, to find out they had started about 5 minutes before we arrived.

Such is Mauritian time!

Anyway, the Mauritian devotees are very nice indeed and I hope they don’t
feel offended when they read this. I apologize if they do.

The programme was very good, particularly on the last day, Sunday the 14th, when we took the small Deities of Radha Golokananda from the altar in the main temple in Phoenix on a boat ride. Mauritius is surrounded by a big coral reef, and inside it there is a lagoon, sometimes almost a kilometer wide, and only about 2 metres deep.

So little Radha Golokananda were placed on a swan boat which was towed behind another boat, and about 500 devotees got on about 40 other boats, and we went out into the lagoon for boating pastimes, something like when Radha and Krishna go boating on Manasi Ganga in Sri Vrindavana Dhama.

For some time we drove around here and there, and then the main boat, towing the Deities, stopped and the other boats drove around Them with kirtana. It was really very nice. Next year the idea is that each boat will approach the Deities’ boat and offer bhoga and then arati, and then distribute the prasadam. It is going to be ecstatic!

The rest of the time I visited some Nama Hattas and did even programmes with them, which is something I always enjoy doing.

I arrived back in South Africa on 19th and did an evening programme at the house of Anil and Sheena, a nice couple from Durban, and then on Saturday the 20th we went to Pietermaritzburg, about an hour’s drive from Durban, and took part in a Deity installation at the house of Krishna Prasada and his wife Radhika Prasada,

As usual it was a wonderful programme, and particularly the kirtana was great. At one point I got a little carried away and dived onto the devotees who then carried me around over their heads! Perhaps I should be a little more conservative in my older age!

On Christmas Day, the 25th I flew to Cape Town for the annual Rathayatra there, which was to be on the 26th. It was a smaller programme than previous years, with maybe 400 people attending. After that I stayed on in Cape Town, working on my latest DVD, of festivals I’ve attended this year in the former Soviet Union, and then I returned to Durban on the 31st for the annual New Year’s Even festival in the Phoenix temple, New Jagannatha Puri.

(One note: there is a Phoenix in Durban, where we have a big temple, and there is also a Phoenix in Mauritius, which I’ve referred to above, where we also have a fairly substantial temple.)

Before the programme I made my yearly visit to the house of Madhumangala prabhu, a disciple of Partha Sarathi Maharaja I have known for many year.  This was the 12th time in a row that I’ve been to his house on New Year’s Eve.

We went to the temple just before 7pm and took part in the final part of a 24 hour kirtana the Phoenix youth group had been having, and then we got into the main programme. I gave a class based on Bhagavad Gita 9.14:

satatam kirtayanto mam
yatantas ca drdha-vratah
namasyantas ca mam bhaktya
nitya-yukta upasate

“Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.”

There’s a practice in the western world of making New Year’s resolutions in which people vow to improve themselves and live better lives etc, but generally nobody fulfills them, and it all ends up being a bit of a joke. But I stressed that in Krishna consciousness it is natural to take vows - after all we take vows when we are initiated, and in general devotees maintain high personal standards and are trying to advance and become more purified and serious in their devotional service.

So I suggested to the devotees that they could consider what might be a reasonable vow they could take. They should review how they’ve done for the last year, and see what direction they would now like to go in, and what particular qualities they might like to develop, and then pray to Srimati Radharani and Lord Krishna to help them work in those directions.

The highlight is always the harinama, and this year was no exception. We’ve been doing the New Year’s Eve programme every year since the new millennium came in, and each time I have led the harinama from beginning to end. But this time Madhumangala started leading it, and I only took over after about 15 or 20 minutes. He was in very ecstatic form and the devotees were chanting and dancing in ecstasy. Then I took over and Madhumangala was dancing wildly amongst the other devotees. At one point he got so carried
away that he collapsed and we were afraid that something had happened to him, but then he got up an continued.

Later other devotees led the kirtana, and particularly Gaura led very nicely.

About 500 devotees went out at about 10pm for almost 2 hours, arriving back at the temple around midnight for the midnight arati and kirtana.

So now it is January 1st 2009. on Monday the 5th I’m flying to Vilnius, Lithuania, for the annual winter festival there with BB Govinda Maharaja and Bhakti Nrsinga Maharaja from South Africa. I will let you know in a while what happens there.

Hoping this meets you well.

Your ever well wisher,

Bhakti Caitanya Swami

Hare Krsna everyone. Recently I went to my Gurudeva's site www.girirajswami.com and there were some holiday bhajans, one of them is very sweet and it is a song from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur. This bhajan #4 is a song called Kabe Ha'be Bolo which describes the wish to chant the Holy Names with taste, so I am sharing with you the amazing translation of it.

Kabe Ha'be Bolo - from Saranagati

Written by: Chayadevi (Balabhadra's Wife)

Dear Maharajas and Prabhus,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

We would like to thank all of you for your phone calls, messages and prayers. It means a lot to Balabhadra.I will try to explain as simply as possibly what has been happening with Balabhadra's health.

Balabhadra has always had back problems for over 40 years
(he is approaching his 63 birthday in April). He was always able to get over any flare ups and continue to physically work very hard. His whole life has been full of physical work and in his devotee years (initiated in 1969) mostly centered on farm life and the cows. This last year has been different. He has collapsed about four times and his recovery has been slow, like two weeks or more for each collapse. His visits to doctors, MRI, etc. revealed herniated disks, moderate spinal stenosis and some other deterioration but nothing that was considered an emergency surgery candidate. Some meds, instructions how to go about his activities, and physical therapy was recommended. At the same time it was found that the pain he was experiencing in his left knee was a result of very little cartilage on one side of the knee. Because he was favoring the other knee this was also negatively affecting his back problems.

Five weeks ago he was in physical therapy to strengthen his left knee and felt a tinkling and burning in his right leg. He told the therapist and was told to work through it. The following day he could not walk, the pain in his right leg was so severe. We went to the emergency room and were told he sprained his knee and the pain should decrease in a few days. The next five weeks were spent trying to get the state clinic we are a member of to understand this is not a sprain because the pain is severe and not getting less intense. After being prescribed more meds, we were told they could do nothing for us. The third week we then tried an acupuncturist who gave Balabhadra some relief but was scheduled to go on vacation for the next two weeks. The acupuncturist felt positive he could relieve the pain with more treatments.

Last Tuesday we were able to get a treatment at the acupuncturist and for the first time in five weeks Balabhadra could lay in bed without constant pain. We were very happy thinking we were on the right path to recovery. The past five weeks he had been bedridden, his only activity trips to the bathroom which is about 15 feet away from the bed. The pain became most intense when standing upright. Then Wednesday night he went to the bathroom and I heard a loud noise, as if something was knocked over. I opened the bathroom door and found him lying on the floor, his forehead bloody. He fell and hit his head on the ceramic floor. He was conscious and I tried to help him move back to the bedroom. Halfway there he began to slowly fall from me onto the floor. On the floor his neck began to arch and his eyes began to roll to the back of his head. He was moaning and he seemed to be leaving me and this world.

From caring for dying cows and other animals, this is what I have seen before the soul leaves the body. I started lightly slapping him and calling to him, he came back to consciousness and I called 911, turned up the volume of the Prabhupada bhajan tape we had playing and gave him rescue remedy. At one point he began to lose consciousness again but by talking to him he stayed conscious.

The ambulance came and brought us to the hospital where he was hooked up to a lot of wires and drips and monitors. It was decided he should stay overnight since some of the readings were questionable. The next morning we were told the blood tests indicated he had a heart attack and it was ongoing. That was why they were checking on him constantly and readjusting all the drips. It was a mild heart attack and his heart was not damaged. Eventually the heart would stabilize or something bad would happen. We were told that people who have this type of heart attack usually have one again within 6 months, and then it might be more severe. It was decided that he needed a procedure (angioplast ?) in which the doctor goes in through a vein in the groin and takes pictures of the heart to see if and where any blockage might be. In the meantime the blood tests found that there is something not quite right with his liver.

His heart stabilized by the following morning (yesterday) and he had the procedure. Problems were found which needed some consultation with the expert cardiologist in the area. We are now waiting to hear what the doctors recommend as to the next step for his heart, more test results on what is up with his liver, and a report from the neurologist as to what is causing the pain in his left leg and hip.

The good news is that since the one treatment by the acupuncturist he has been off most of the meds for his leg pain and is experiencing far less pain in his leg and hip. His heart remains stable and he is off the drips. The other good news is that he is hearing from devotees their concern and that they will pray for him. He is still in the hospital and has been receiving calls at (304) 843 3301. You can also write him a note at iscowp@earthlink.net and I will print it out and give it to him. It really does mean a lot to him when he hears from the devotees. We are now just waiting for information. It may be a few days as it is the weekend and a holiday here.

Balabhadra is realizing he is at a crossroads in his life. He no longer has the facility to be the workaholic "earthworm" and has to now become a "bookworm." With your prayers and blessings and Krishna's desire he will recover and in the years to come will engage himself more in speaking about cow protection with the purpose to encourage others and fulfill his eternal debt to Srila Prabhupada who has saved us all.

Your servant,Chayadevi (Balabhadra's wife)

A brand new year often beckons us to both start things off with a fresh outlook and approach things with a clean slate. It is no surprise that the annual Srila Prabhupada Festival, held every New Years Day at Toronto's Hare Krishna Temple, draws such a large crowd. While festivals at ISKCON Toronto almost always result in an absolutely packed temple, our festival on January 1st seems to bring out a few more non-regulars as people look to start their year with a spiritual flavour.

Until you decide what you want even God cannot help you achieve it.

Reading my new years post I couldn't help but hear the pessimistic chorus in my head, or that that I fear is out there in the blog world. The voices of mockery. "Yeah right, you can't possibly be that perfectly happy," I hear. Can such happy things really be happening to me? Sometimes I feel that it is in my devotee make-up to expect distress in this tragic material world, that something doesn't feel quite right if things are working in my favor. I feel like happiness and contentment are Maya's veil, and that I'm just not really realizing the distressing nature of this world which is dukhalayam ashashvatam, if I feel satisfied.

But as I ponder these thoughts, the voices of optimism and siddhanta actually speak through. A devotee only wants to serve, whether that is in the material world, heavenly planets, hell, or Goloka. Fear is what compels me to want to return to Goloka, to get out of this tragic place. But that is simply the desire for liberation, a palsy desire for one aspiring for prema. It is actually something so distasteful, that true bhakas spit on that desire. Actually, true devotees have Goloka consciousness, so that they are joyful and satisfied in whatever sphere they are in.
I don't ascribe to the thought that this world is simply a prison house, and we are all doomed from our one true sin. To me this sounds more like Christian thought, an Adam and Eve scenario.

So though my life feels ideal right now, I know at times distress will also be upon me. I also know that gratitude can keep me happy in whatever circumstance in life I am in. My life is what it is from grace. Gratitude for that grace is my right, my natural obligation. And when I put myself in a position of gratitude then I feel more happines, more abundance, more grace. I know that my blessings and good life are to be shared. How will I impact the sankirtana movement? How will I share my happiness and grace?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Happy 2009!!!

I am very excited about this year. A new year is motivating for me, I feel like it's a clean slate, and opportunity to see the year ahead and what I want accomplished. Here is my list of resolutions that I wrote yesterday on the airplane coming home from a vacation in Wisconsin.

*Budget my income and keep track of my expenses.
*Personal sadhana everday.
*Send cards and/or call my extended family on their birthdays.
*Do not gossip about people.
*Once a month invite people from my community for dinner.
*Blog at least twice a week.
*Regulation, evening home program, grocery shopping day.
*Dinner menu made for the week.
*Save money each month for travel fund and emergency fund
*Donate each month to Gurumaharaj

Things that I want to happen in 2009

*Grand-opening of dance studio
*Fundraiser dance recital with the whole school
*Go to San Fransisco and L.A. Ratha-yatras and 20th Anniversary Gurukula Reunion
*Get uniforms and new costumes for dance school
*Get t-shirts and hand bags with dance school logo made for fundraising.
*Have a girls dance camp this summer
*Have vegetable, herb, and flower gardens at home.
*Help create an inspired, attractive, and dynamic New Goloka community.

I wrote a list of things I wanted to do in 2008 and am going to assess how I did. Making resolutions at the new year is only powerful in so much that those resolutions are acted upon.

*be more conscious of my impact on the environment (don't buy plastic, find out where the stuff I buy is from, buy more locally, walk when I can, grow more of my own food)

I eliminated using plastic or paper bags at grocery stores. In the summer I worked for Ramdas so that I could get organic, locally grown produce. I am more aware of how much stuff I use is from China. I don't walk places very much at all. I drive a lot, and shopping locally, ironically, is too expensive for me.

* get up early and chant before kids awake
I have wanted to do this for about 8-years now, and it is one of the hardest things for me, early rising. Until I go to bed at 9:00 or 9:30pm, I won't be able to rise as early as I would like.

* keep in touch with long distance friends
Myspace and facebook have helped with this. Calling and talking personally is much nicer though. I'd like to do that more often.

* study scripture regularly
I did read the first volume of C.C. last year. Not regularly though.

* have family home morning program
Not very successful.

* do yoga
:0(

* take my vitamins everyday
I got a weekly pill container, and did take my vitamins most days.

* drink lots of water
Lots is too ambiguous.

* buy fresh flowers for our Deities every week
Did not do this.

* plan out dinner menus for the week
Oh, here it is again. My constant desire for menu plans.

* have one birth doula client a month
I had four births last year, definitely not one a month. But I did get my postpartum doula training, and got hired by Triangle Mothercare, a postpartum company.

* start going to dance classes for myself in Greensboro
I did do this, but now the roles have changed. I go to Greensboro once a week, but now to teach.

* have a girls party/outing at least once every two months with girlfriends
I'm still sorely wanting this.

* take a class for myself twice this year (pottery, expressive writing, or photography)
No classes. Still want to do photography, and now quilting too.

* be kind
I try.

* don't gossip or criticize others
Again here it is. Working on that.


And lastly here are the highlights of 2008 for me. It was a great year. I feel so blessed to be in Caitanya Mahaprabhu's Sankirtana movement, to have the opportunity to serve Sri Sri Radha-Golokananda and Srila Prabhupada at the New Goloka temple, to have a spiritually accessible Guru, to have an amazing group of friends, to have a loyal, kind and supportive family, and abundance, health, and beauty in my life.

Here are the highlights, the memorable events that I'd like to look back on when thinking about 2008.

The opening of the Gaura Vijay Mandir at my Gurumaharaj's Audarya Ashram.
Having a family reunion on my father's side of the family.
Chosing Emerson Waldorf School as my childrens' school, and feeling so happy, settled, and pleased with their teachers, surroundings, and education. It is a true blessing, as their education is a huge commitment and worry for me.
Visiting Kansas and seeing Kristina, and my devotee family in Lawrence, and seeing my dance teacher Hema Sharma in Wichita was awesome. Cooking for the wedding there with my father as a father/daughter team was also amazing.
Teaching at the Artscenter summer camp, and holding 3 of my own summer dance camps.
All of Prema Natya Vidyalaya's dance performances for the year, particularly Dasavatara on Nrisinghadeva's Appearance Day, and Damodarastakam for Govardhana Puja.
Buying our first house and renovating, painting, and decorating it. We love it!
Nandulal's birth was a magical day for me.
Starting the "It Takes a Village" afterschool program is something that is very close to my heart, and to see the children all learning about Krsna and serving together is so special.
Falling in love with my husband, again.

Cheers to an amazing new year!

We ensured that everything went well on the streets. Some devotees were deputed to ensure that we didn’t block the path of people who used the sidewalk. They also ensured that we didn’t venture out into the traffic in our efforts to click photos and be in the front.

Many of them took the responsibility of seeing that we stopped at major intersections and waited for the right traffic signal before we crossed.

I am a big fan of Krishna Graja prabhu, the most photogenic devotee at the temple, a great kirtan leader and a bit naughty. When I first stepped into the Melbourne temple, I used to relish in watching him do the pujari (priestly) work, clean the temple floors, singing in beautiful variations, pull the legs of junior devotees and offer advice on many issues. He always has a nice smile. When he took charge on the streets today, everybody went wild !

I must say that the matajis who were right in front of the yatra were the best of dancers. And many of the street onlookers couldn’t take their eyes of them, scanning their Indian outfits and the big smiles.

They kept an eye out for the best places to get their coordinated dance steps. Here they are in front of StarBucks cafe. I could see many coffee drinkers immediately pull out their cameras.

Ciranjeev prabhu got the dancing devotees to dance more, guiding them with his own moves. He held a strong kirtan in front of the church as we waited for the traffic lights to change.

Rasanandini mataji was more energetic that me. I thought I was all over the streets taking photos. Nope. She ran, climbed and hid to get as many images as possible. I think she will be posting her collection on the Melbourne temple website soon.

I could see so many people wonder what was in the chariot as it moved past them. Many of the onlookers got close to the deities to get a better photo.

This prabhu was the most enthusiastic on the roads. Like a grasshopper, he jumped here and there, yelling “Hari Hari !!”. He was also the subject of many stares and photos.

The matajis were over the moon when they got their chance to carry the chariot. The best part about them was that they carried on with their dancing even while carrying the chariot…not wild ones but nice smooth moves.

Many devotees used the dirty streets to pay obeisances on the streets. Others hungrily walked over to the moving chariot to touch the little Lotus Feets of the Lords, hidden somewhat amongst the flowers.

Every now and then, besides taking photos, I was also looking for a chance to touch the feet but more importantly a chance to carry the chariot. It wasn’t happening! There were many devotees who waited eagerly for the precious moments. And I didn’t want to budge in and carry it for my own selfish motives. Who could I go and ask? Everybody were in an ecstatic mood. I didn’t want to intercept their activity. But I want to carry ! So sad. Anyways, I thought to myself that at least I got a chance to make it to the festival and taking these photos could be somewhat of a small service I can do. Maybe, when I attend the temple more often and work hard seriously like all these devotees around me, I will get a chance too. With that motivation, I assumed the monkey form and began jumping here and there in front and beside the procession to take more snaps.

Before I knew it, we had made a complete circle from the starting point. And preparations were being made to carefully load the deities back into the back of the temple van. The Lord had finished His task of showing Himself to the public on the streets for the year. And there went my chance of carrying Him too. 

As I walked beside the van to take more photos of the deity being loaded, I ended at the drivers seat. It was Adrian. We had just spent the past 4 days with him in catering for a rock show (post coming soon).

Me : “Can I take a snap of you?”
Adrian : “Sure“
And I take the above picture.

Me : “Can I get in to take a snap of the deity being loaded?”
Adrian : “Sure“
By the way, Adrian doesn’t talk much. A few words here and there. But its always clear. I climb in and I start clicking away.

Me : “Is the van now going back to the temple?”
Adrian : “Yes…any minute now…”
Me : “Who is sitting with you here?”
Adrian : “I have no idea…but I need to get out of here quickly…there’s much traffic behind“
Me : “Ummm…can I…like accompany you…I mean I can take more snaps…and that too with your camera….”
Adrian : “Sure“

WoooooHooooo !!! Hooray !!!!!!!! I get a chance to be with the deities !!! How about that !! I proceeded to give Adrian a satisfactory hug.

Adrian : “I think it would be a good idea if you fasten your seatbelt instead…we are leaving…”

And with that we zoomed out of Swanston Street. I turned and began to talk a few more shots.

There were only 7 passengers in the van. Adrian, Bhaktin mataji, Rasanandini mataji (in pic), myself and our beloved Lord Jagannath, Lady Subadra and Lord Baladev. Rasanandini mataji slowly fanned the Lords the entire way. I put on a nice melodious kirtan of BB Govinda Swami from my iPod which I had downloaded the day before. It was a nice, peaceful trip.

Few minutes later, we reached the temple. Just as I got down, so happy with the opportunity to have ridden with the Lords…Rasanandini mataji asked around: “We need someone to help carry Lord Jagannath back to the altar.”

What? Say that again….you are looking for someone to carry the Lords…and there is no one….

WooHoooo !! Hooray !!

Me : “Me, Me mataji….I am Manoj…I can carry mataji…please….”

With that I threw my shoes away and quickly took the right side of the chariot. Adrian prabhu took the back section and 2 other devotees took the left side of the chariot. I was now carrying. I got my chance. I was thinking how merciful Lord Jagannath is. Just an intense desire to serve in some capacity bears so much opportunities for a devotee…even if he is a useless one like me.

Right from the van, past the temple compounds, into the temple room and back to the altar area, I carried Him with others. I was happy. Very Very Very Very Very happy ! I could see visitors and devotees fall in front to pay their obeisances. I was giving some instructions from the front informing the others when to go low to avoid overhead branches, when the steps to the temple began, informing them of prostrated devotees in the front etc.

Then Bhaktin mataji carefully and very lovingly transferred the little deities back into the altar room. And I watched with a huge, big and massive smile. My heart was full of glee. What a perfect way to finish the holidays.

Then we took the empty chariot of the Lords into the theatre room and carefully placed them in the theatre room where a large portrait of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami was present. After paying obeisances, we moved out of the room.

WoW !!! What an experience ! I got what I wanted so badly. Now, it was time for the arrival of the devotees from the city and then prasadam !!!

Once the devotees from the city procession arrived together at the temple, there can only be one possibility - kirtans, quick drum beats, dancing ! Here you can see all those present jumping up and down with their hands up in the year.

Once the kirtan finished, there was a quick scramble to get the best position in the line for prasadam. We knew it would be a feast. As we waited, we could see devotees carry subjis, pooris, cakes, gulab jamuns, water melon drinks, rice and desserts. Then seated amongst the young Melbourne devotees, I honoured the food with much gratitude and without talking finished everything !

My heartfelt thanks to all the devotee cooks again who couldn’t attend the yatra but spent cooking all these delicacies. My deepest thanks to all the devotees and kirtaneers who gave everyone a chance to participate in this wonderful event. But I would also like to take the time to thank Srila Prabhupad who inaugurated the Lord Jagannath Ratha Yatra in the lands outside of India. As well as his special devotees who assisted him much. Very much. And its our duty, I feel that we always remember their efforts rather than our own.

The first Ratha Yatra was held in 1967 at San Francisco, USA. Srila Prabhupad had organized his followers to arrange for a chariot to deliver the Lordships out onto the streets of San Francisco. Shyamananda and Jayananda prabhus constructed the first 2 1/2 ton chariot which allowed the westerners to have a glimpse of the Lords for the very first time. An important event in the history of earth. The above poster was designed by Haridas prabhu with simple sentences :

“The Rathayatra Festival of India, a sacred celebration in worship of the Supreme Lord, Krishna, will be enacted Sunday, July 9, for the first time in the western world. People and cars meet at 1 p.m. at corner of Haight and Lyon to form a processional to the sea. There will be 8 days of festivities, chanting, dancing and feasting on ocean beach. All are welcome to this joyous event!”

You can watch the video of this first yatra at
http://krishnatube.com/video/33/Rathayatra-1967-with-Jayananda

“The Ratha Yatra festival was performed with great pomp. More than five hundred people followed the procession to the beach, and there were about two dozen cars. They distributed thousands of chapattis and at last Sri Jagannatha, Subhadra and Baladeva, kindly came to stay in our house.” — Srila Prabhupada (in a letter)

Their Lordships Jagannatha, Subhadra and Balaram aboard a bright yellow Hertz Rent-a-truck. Within the next ten years, Srila Prabhupada held Ratha Yatra festivals in major cites around the world.

Second “thanks” to Malati Devi Dasi for having walked into an import store and discovering the “3-inch wooden dool with a flat head, a black, smiling face, big round eyes, stubby figure, forward-jutting arms and a simple green and yellow torso with no visible feet“. And then later on Srila Prabhupad’s command running back with her husband Syamasundara Das to the store to fetch Lady Subadra and Lord Baladev as well.

Third would be Syamasundara Das who was asked to carve the first ever 3 foot high copies of the little 3 deities. Based on the details he received from Srila Prabhupad, he carved the intended size from 3 large hardwood blocks in his balcony.

And there was one special devotee who made the actual ratha yatra possible.

Although a mechanical engineer by degree, he worked as a taxi driver. He never fitted into the rat race and did not consider himself as very religious. However, he came across and article on Srila Prabhupad and decided to “check him out”. After listening to the lecture and buying some volumes of Srimad Bhagavatham, Jayananda continued with his visits, chanting, singing, honoring prasadam, performing Deity worship, buying supplies, helping new devotees, taking the trash out, cleaning the kitchen etc. He would often remark, ‘Krsna consciousness is so sweet“.

He worked hard and gave his earnings to Srila Prabhupad for his mission. In fact, in the “Nectar of Devotion” book, Srila Prabhupad thanks Jayananda, “I beg to acknowledge, with thanks, the contribution made by my beloved disciple Sriman Jayananda Brahmacari ”.

Srila Prabhupada had an intense desire to organize a ratha yatra. And that’s where Jayananda would contribute every inch of his determination to please his guru and in turn please the rest of the world. Starting with a basic truck, he put together a chariot with whatever help he could get. He also took the responsibility of getting the permits, the publicity and even bake pies for the police and officials he interacted with. He would sleep with the chariots he built and often slept little to finish the tasks that lay ahead. He knew only 2 truths - Krishna and Srila Prabhupad. And he wanted to give them to the people as much as he could till he passed away.

Srila Prabhupad often expressed his deep gratitude for Jayananda. When he passed away, Srila Prabhupad instructed that his photo be carried on one of the chariots at every ratha yatra.

I am sure that Srila Prabhupad is looking at Jayananda Dasa and all those early devotees who put their heart and soul to kick start the first ratha yatra right down to us Melbourne temple devotees and saying,
“Thank You Very Much“.

      

 

The day before we left South Africa, we had our final kirtan concert at the Bikram Yoga Studio in Randburg, another suburb of Johannesburg, not far from where we were staying.  This concert was quite different from the others. The setting was less formal, and the audience was made up of a more varied crowd, many of whom loved kirtan, but weren’t necessarily part of the Hare Krishna community. For Gaura and the others, the setting of a yoga studio is perhaps the most common for their US kirtan performances, but for me, this was a first time experience. (more…)

One way to help us realize "I am not this body" is to remember that
forgetfulness generally happens when we change bodies. Actually the body is
constantly changing, so we're constantly forgetting. But the reason we can't
remember past lives is because we have completely changed bodies.

A great
way to explain this is as follows. When I dream vividly, I think it's real.
Therefore I am totally forgetting that I'm the body lying in the
bed.

Near death experiences and other out of body experiences are also

read more

I’ve been trying to come up with some more recipes lately. I have one for pasta sauce that I’m pretty certain of, as well as one for pizza sauce (it’s different, you know?). I’m also working on one for Szechuan sauce.

The reasons are several (most of ‘em federal)¹. Firstly, I do my best to cook without onions or garlic (keeping in the Vaisnava tradition). Also, if I make it myself, I know it doesn’t contain wacky stuff I’d rather not eat. And it’s just fun.

One of the problems with some recipes is that they call for whole tomatoes, which are often expensive and hard to get. On the other hand, some recipes call for prepackaged ingredients. My recipes fall in between that. No prepackaged spices (and thus no garlic, etc), but I used canned tomatoes. They’re cheaper and I know how to work with them.

Here we go!

Ingredients:
1 28oz can of diced Italian tomatoes
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 c TVP
1/4 c olive oil
4 dried chipotle peppers
1/2 t hing
1 carrot (cut up on largish chunks)
2 T butter (of the vegan variety)
1 t basil
1 t sugar
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 t marjoram
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t salt
2 T nutritional yeast
2 bay leaves

And here’s how to play along…

prep - open the cans, mix the spices and soak the tvp
1) Oil in pan and fry the hing and the dried peppers and fry for a minute (careful they don’t explode - seriously). Add the TVP and fry for another minute Add the carrot and fry for yet another minute.
2) Add the whole can of tomato chunks and fry for another minute (it’ll be more like boiling at this point).
3) Add butter and spices, frying for a bit more - not long (again, more like boiling).
4) Add crushed tomatoes, nutritional yeast and bay leaves.
5) Mix and let cook for at least 30 minutes.
6) To serve, remove carrots, peppers and bay leaves.

People like to do different things with pasta sauce. Some like it spicy or smoky (I like it both, thus the chipotle peppers). Play around with it and make it your own.

1. Couldn’t resist a PE reference, you know…

1972 January 3: "I am the only one in India who is openly criticizing, not only demigod worship and impersonalism, but everything that falls short of complete surrender to Krishna."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 January 3: "This we must declare boldly to the whole world. My Guru Maharaja never compromised in His preaching, nor shall I - nor should any of my students."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 January 3: "So with full faith in Krishna and Spiritual Master, push on this work with full force. We have got a great mission to fulfill, and these books and magazines are the torchbearers of Truth which can save the world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1973 January 3: "Let any man see our devotees working so hard for Krishna, then let anyone say that they are not better than many millions of so-called yogis and transcendentalists, that is my challenge."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1973 January 3 : "Just go on preaching His message. Remain always without anxiety for destination and comfortable situations, always relying only on the mercy of Krishna for your plan."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

1974 January 3 : "You are trying your best especially even though the weather is cold you are emphasizing Sankirtana book distribution. So that is very important and that is why we are opening Centers."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 January 3 : "Keep strong by following the spiritual practices as I have taught them and do not unnecessarily add anything; otherwise, everything will automatically degrade."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1975 January 3 : "Swami has left our camp. He has his own plans. He has violated our rules and regulations and thus fallen down from the spiritual platform. Under these circumstances, please do not act under his advice."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

This post is about Ethics from Bhagavad-gita.

If you scanned the second chapter of Bhagavad-gita looking for the verse where Krishna explains the difference between "Doing the Right Thing" and "Pretending to Do the Right Thing" you were probably surprised when you couldn't find it.

I scanned it and I couldn't find it. I could, however, remember writing about it in a commentary on the second chapter that I wrote while I was in Ecuador in 2001, pre-9/11.

I dug around and found it - it's old school, written on paper with a pen.

Here's the relevant section, picking up from 2.37:

2001 "Ecuador" Gita Commentary

Krishna has now redirected Arjuna's compassion to the spiritual platform, removing the conflict between this and Arjuna's duty. He has at once validated Arjuna's compassion (2.11) and his varnashram duty.

Krishna then proceeds to demonstrate that there is no conflict between varnashram duty and material enjoyment, as Arjuna had presented. Arjuna's presentation was more the product of his compassion, an attempt to justify his not fighting on other terms than a serious analysis of the situation, as revealed by the exchange in 2.2-2.4. Krishna has now finished with that presentation. "Even if you are after enjoyment, following your duty is the way to get it, so fight"

In text 38, Krishna answers Arjuna's concern about incurring sinful reactions for his actions. The answer lies not in some pop notion of sin, based on sentimentality, but in performing one's duty in a particular state of consciousness - without calculation such as Arjuna has made [ed: emphasis added 2009]. Krishna has shown that varnashram duty is not incompatible with either compassion or material enjoyment, the two objections that Arjuna raised. Now he is signalling that sinful activity arises when one makes calculations which, due to a lack of knowledge, contradict one's duty and thus one deviates from his dharma [ed: emphasis added 2009]. In order to avoid this, one should simply carry out his duty without considerations of factors.

Note that this does not advocate blind following. Krishna has demonstrated the superiority of dharma over Arjuna's faulty calculations in this specific case, and now he lets it be known that this is also the general rule.

Although here it is not stated whether one receives sinful reactions simply by carrying out one's duty in a calculative fashion, or by calculating one inevitably deviates from his duty, Krishna will explain this in the balance of the chapter* [ed: see the 2009 commentary on this point, below]. This calculating mentality arises from attachment to the results.

2.39: "O Arjuna - thus far I have minutely analyzed the situation according to so many constituent factors (sankhya), and the conclusion is that you should fight. Now I will give you the general rule, the holistic approach that does not rely on specific factors, and which produces the same result. I have proved the specific case, now I will give the general rule."

or

"I have explained this in an analysis that relied on your material desires. Now I will explain it in terms of an approach that does not rely on your material desires, and that allows you to become free from the reaction of activity"

Summary and Analysis of Krishna's Instructions on Buddhi-Yoga

In this section Krishna is doing two things - he is instructing Arjuna in how one can follow his dharma without being deviated, or in other words without incurring sin. He also answers Arjuna's deeper concern: the fact that the promise of sense gratification in the heavenly planets is no longer sufficient to keep him on the path of dharma. Due to this, Arjuna requires a higher consideration to motivate him, and Krishna explains how the two are one - it is precisely the attachment to the fruitive results promised by the Vedas as an inducement to follow dharma that leads one to the calculative mentality that inevitably causes one to deviate. Without coming to the crisis point Arjuna has come to, one cannot discover the true purpose of dharma.

In other words, Arjuna has tired of karma, and through speculative knowledge (jnana) was seeking to renounce action.

2.41 Those working with resolute intelligence have only one goal - to discharge their duty. Those with irresolute intelligence have many goals in terms of the different superficial results of their duties. They are attached to the results, not to the duty. Thus when duty and a desired result diverge, they deviate from dharma.

* Some 2009 commentary on Motivation and Sin

I now have a thought about whether sin is incurred when following dharma with a calculative mentality, or attachment to the result. I think it is.

I have a thought experiment for you, arising from two things that I've studied since 2001. One is the compulsory ethics training that all employees, associates and managers alike, at my work must take each year. This year we had a module named "International Bribery and Corruption". It was quite a laugh to receive a certificate in this subject. The other thing is Transparency International's "Confronting Corruption: The Elements of a National Integrity System"

Anyway, think about this scenario:

You work in an office where vehicle registrations are issued. The cost of a vehicle registration is officially $100, but due to rampant corruption officials in the registry are able to charge $150 or more. You routinely charge people higher than the standard price.

I don't think that anyone has trouble identifying this as corrupt behavior.

One day your friend comes in. Rather than charge him $150 you charge him $100. Is that a corrupt action?

YES. Although you are charging him the official amount, your action is part of a pattern of corrupt behavior, where you preferentially treat personal friends. Therefore this action, while appearing to conform with official standards, is also corrupt.

That sentence above is the kind of explanatory sentence that will appear after you answer the multichoice yes/no in the online ethics training.

I've thought a lot about this, and right now I think this is correct. The person charging $100 to a friend is not Doing the Right Thing. They are Pretending to Do the Right Thing. There is a difference, and it is noted by the universe.

The inverse of this example / thought experiment is also illustrative: you are a sheriff who lets his friend get away with murder. Then when you are punishing some other criminal you are still not Doing the Right Thing, you're just Pretending to Do the Right Thing. Again, your pattern of behavior is corrupt, and this action is part of that pattern.

The terrible thing about this is that in a corrupted system all actions are essential corrupt, even those that superficially appear to be the Right Thing. If the fundamentals are askew, it is not possible to Do the Right Thing, ever. Thus we have personalities like Duryodhana, who, even while superficially appearing to follow dharma, are completely deviated.

Today I struggled like a little girl in the Bikram class. Actually, girls are quite flexible, and I'm not, so I'm using that as a manly metaphor for having difficulty.

Last night I slept 7 hours, from 11pm - 6am. I went to bed so late because I waited up for Adam to arrive from Sydney, and then had prasadam with him and Prem, Vraj, and Josh.

The night before I also slept 7 hours, but from 7.30pm - 2.30am. And that day I did two classes, back-to-back, like I was drinking a glass of water.

The conclusion? As any Ayurvedi will tell you - the hours before midnight are worth twice those after in terms of sleep.

Maha-mantra wrote me a while back with this gem:

Oil massage is medicine for the vata body type,
Exercise for the pita body,
and Sleep for the Kapha.

My body type is a combination of pita and kapha, so I need to do hard exercise and sleep. My New Year's Resolution for 2009 is to get more quality sleep. Pretty spiritual, huh?

By Madri dasi

H.H. Bhakti Charu Maharaja arrived at about 9pm on 31 December 2008 at The Oliver Tambo International Airport, which was previously known as The Johannesburg International Airport. The Airport has gone through major renovations. A group of enthusiastic devotees gathered half and hour earlier in anticipation of Maharaja’sarrival. Nrsimhananda Prabhu sang kirtan and all the devotees were dancing and chanting much to the amazement of the onlookers, many of whom were clapping, waving and dancing as we chanted. The kirtan gained greater momentum as we saw Maharaja’s graceful and effulgent arrival. After lovingly acknowledging everyone with heartening smiles or in some cases warm loving embraces, Maharaja sat on the airport bench and address us all.

Maharaja giving class

He began by acknowledging the magnificent change in the airport’s renovations by saying that the materialists have done their bit and now we as Srila Prabhupada’s followers need to do our part. He boldly conveyed defeat to the impersonal theory that everything comes from a big bang by alluding to the fact that the airport with all of it’s intelligent design could not have originated from a big bang. He further substantiated this point by saying the flowers on the garland that he was wearing was not created by a big bang either.

Surendra Krishna Prabhu then drove Maharaja to Harinamananda Prabhu and Mother Bhagavati’s house. (Due to accommodation limitations at the temple all sannyasis and visiting preachers are housed at nearby devotee houses.) Despite the exhaustion of the flight Maharaja still spoke to the devotees that followed him to his accommodation and then took very late rest around midnight.

A picnic was scheduled for the next day, New Years day, with all of the devotees. This was meant to take place at the Zoo Lake. However due to the heavy  rainstorm the previous night it was decided that the gathering would take place at the Sri Sri Nitai Gaura-Hari Mandir in Lenasia. Maharaja arrived at the temple at around 11am and led a very ecstatic kirtan. He spontaneously took the kirtan out to the neighbourhood. (Pictures of which will be sent in a separate mail.) Upon returning to the temple with the harinam party Maharaja delivered a lecture to a crowd of about 230 people based on a conversation Srila Prabhupada had with him regarding the 50% of the work he had not completed. (We shall try to upload the lecture and also make a transcript of it available soon for the pleasure of the devotees.)

During the lecture a child was making some noises and when the mother was leaving Maharaja compassionately asked her to remain. This exchange reminded me of Srila Prabhupada’s advice, “Do it enthusiastically with the courage of an Englishman and the heart of a Bengali mother.” (SP Room Conversation –August 10, 1977, Vrndavana)

Maharaja then led more kirtan, spoke to the devotees who approached him individually and did a grain giving ceremony for little Tulsi das, son of Gurudas Prabhu and Mother Rucira. The baby had many spoons of maha sweet rice that Maharaja lovingly fed him. Maharaja mentioned to the Mother that up until the age of 8 this child should be mainly under the mother’s care, then from 8 to 14 he should get mainly sheltered by the father and thereafter they can give him to Maharaja for training. Maharaja left the temple at about 3pm.

Maharaja returned to Harinamananda Prabhu’s house, took lunch that Mother Bhagavati and Mother Jahnavi and team lovingly prepared. Later he had a group darshan with a few devotees.

Below are some photos:

More ecstatic kirtan

As we welcome in 2009, ISKCON News Weekly takes a look back at ten stories that helped to shape the last twelve months. It was hard to narrow the list down to just ten, and we wanted to make sure that we tried to capture the diversity of people, places, and things that made headlines in 2008. From the inspiring to the informative, the tragic to the heart-warming – these are ten stories that changed ISKCON, and us, forever.

Last September saw the first ever US Brahmacari Conference held at San Diego’s ISKCON temple. In the Gaudiya vaishnava culture followed by ISKCON devotees, four stages of life are central to a regulated devotional life: Brahmacarya, wherein the celibate student is trained in discipline and respect; Grihasta, wherein the householder raises a Krishna conscious family; Vanaprastha, wherein the older married couple focus more on spiritual life and prepare themselves for renunciation; and Sannyasa, or complete renunciation.

As Barack Obama begins his first term this January, the world is hoping for change. But on January 19, the night before the inauguration, a group of kirtan singers will bless the event with what they believe is the real solution to all problems, political and otherwise – the holy names of Krishna.

In Krishna consciousness, life is a preparation for one moment -- the moment of death. Devotees of Lord Krishna believe that whatever a person thinks about at that crucial moment determines the next destination of the soul. Therefore, they hope to think about Lord Krishna at the moment of death and thereby return to His home in the spiritual world.