1970 March 12: "We are the eternal servants of Krsna, and by the Divine Will of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura we are now combined together, although unknown to one another. This is the way of Krsna transaction."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1970 March 12: "The secret of success will depend on keeping in the spiritual strength by regularly chanting and following the regulative principles and side by side preaching the gospel."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1972 March 12: "Unless poems and songs can be accepted as gospel, as Vedas or the Absolute Truth, such writing is diverting the attention from the subject matter only and should not be regarded very seriously."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 March 12: "You can write, but one cannot take it very seriously. Writing song about Krishna, that should be from one who himself has realized Krishna, just like our great saints and acaryas."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1975 March 12: "Other commentators tamper with the lines and twist the meaning. We present it exactly as it is. That is perfect and it is having a tremendous effect all over the world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1968 March 12: "He cannot take charge because he has violated the regulations of our society. When one takes charge of a center, one has to become completely above suspicion."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1968March 12: "Outside the Temple householders may wear American gentleman's dress, with Tilaka, flag, and beads. If they so desire, for ceremony, they can dress in dhotis for Kirtana."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1968

1970 March 12: "We have to make our steady progress, keeping both sides in balance. Although chanting is quite sufficient still we must observe the rules and regulations of Pancaratriki Viddhi."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1970 March 12: "We are the eternal servants of Krsna, and by the Divine Will of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura we are now combined together, although unknown to one another. This is the way of Krsna transaction."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1970 March 12: "The secret of success will depend on keeping in the spiritual strength by regularly chanting and following the regulative principles and side by side preaching the gospel."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

Two Mayapur residents, Jahnudvipa Dasa from Holland, and his wife Brajasevaki Dasi from Australia, were badly injured in a car crash at Madhyamgram just near the Kolkata airport this morning. A full story will be published this Saturday.

1972 March 12: "Unless poems and songs can be accepted as gospel, as Vedas or the Absolute Truth, such writing is diverting the attention from the subject matter only and should not be regarded very seriously."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 March 12: "You can write, but one cannot take it very seriously. Writing song about Krishna, that should be from one who himself has realized Krishna, just like our great saints and acaryas."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1975 March 12: "Other commentators tamper with the lines and twist the meaning. We present it exactly as it is. That is perfect and it is having a tremendous effect all over the world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

New Vrindaban’s deities looked resplendent in a new outfit and the altars decorated with flowers and fruit.  HH Indradyumna Swami started the evening program with an enlivening harinam parikrama up to the Palace of Gold and back, followed by a lecture, a dance performance, an ecstatic kirtan and abhisek, and of course a sumptuous feast!  Thank you to all the devotees who brought bhoga preparations and did other service to make this a successful event.

 
 

For the past several weeks, I’ve been giving quite a lot of thought to a few things that Srila Prabhupada has said that could be seen (by pretty much anyone) as controversial. Over the next week, I am planning on reviewing these statements.

There’s been quite a bit of talk about this already, but much of that, in my opinion, is made of either excuses or anger. Neither will be here. I’m in no position to make excuses for Srila Prabhupada and I really have no time or patience for anger, especially about spiritual matters.

I plan on simply being fair. I am pretty good at not taking things out of context, but also not allowing the context to be used as a free pass.

While these topics have been discussed, ISKCON has not really addressed them. They almost did when the whole “footnotes” thing came up, but it quickly died down.

And actually, the “footnotes” thing is what originally got me thinking about this. Some devotees wanted to add footnotes to some of Srila Prabhupada’s books in order to explain some of the controversial things he had written. Those footnotes never came to be.

My take on that was that I didn’t believe that Srila Prabhupada’s books should be changed in any capacity. They are his books (for better or worse). Just as I’d be against changing Stephen King’s books or Mark Twain’s books, I’m against changing Srila Prabhupada’s books. Basically, if you want the books to say something they didn’t say, write your own book and say it yourself - that’s the tradition in our line (and in the real world too!).

Anyway, my soul searching on this issue has very little to do with book changes. It has everything to do with my own reconciliation with some statements made by Srila Prabhupada.

Until this point, I basically ignored it. I knew that he said some controversial things - hell, I even knew what most of them were - but I excused all of them with the “he’s from a different generation in a different culture” pass. While that is most certainly true and does, in my opinion, explain some, it does not explain all.

Mostly, those are the ones that I’ll be exploring.

I won’t be hitting upon the spiritual differences between Srila Prabhupada’s teachings and other Gaudia-Vaisnava groups. I’m not qualified to do that. So things like “origin of the jiva,” etc won’t be touched here.

What I’ll be posting will definitely not be everyone’s cup of tea. But it’s my promise that it will be devoid of anger (because I’m not angry) and fair/balanced (but not in a Fox News sort of way). Much of what has been written about this is long, ranty and often boring. I’ll try to be brief, to the point and hopefully not boring.

At this point, I don’t really have an opinion. I have some thoughts, but I don’t know where I stand (or, in some cases, where to stand). And if it’s also fair and without anger, I would very much enjoy feedback on this from anyone. Angry stuff and long rants will be deleted no matter which side you’re on.

All of this said, no matter how this turns out, it will not waver my faith in Gaudia-Vaisnavaism even a little bit. Quite to the contrary, it will strengthen it.

Again, help is always welcome. And if there be questions, feel free to ask.

Dear devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

As you may have guessed from the title, I have finally come to that point that I always felt I would eventually come to- leaving the ISKCON institution. In case you are wondering, I am the same “Caitanya dasa” that used to maintain a blog titled “Hare Krishna Diary, Sankirtan Diary”, which unintentionally created a large controversy (http://www.dandavats.com/?p=5872) last year in May 2008 by some of my writings which appeared on that blog.

I would like to explain a few of the reasons I have decided to leave ISKCON. I will first explain the social, cultural, and personal reasons, and then lastly I will explain the spiritual reasons.

The first reason is a philosophical reason. As many of you are aware, last year in 2008, the GBC tried to pass a resolution (GBC Resolution 311) to add footnotes or annotations into Srila Prabhupada’s books, effectively changing the meaning behind many of Srila Prabhupada’s purports. Most devotees felt that the GBC was minimizing or rejecting Srila Prabhupada’s authority by doing this, and it was met with such a large public outcry that the GBC very quickly rescinded the 311 Resolution to change Srila Prabhupada’s books. I was the creator of a petition to rescind the resolution, and the response was enormous. The petition received over 800 signatures within only two weeks. Here is a link to the petition, http://www.petitiononline.com/GBCre311/petition.html

Please read some of the comments written by devotees on the petition. Many devotees were very, very angry and upset by the GBC’s decision to change Srila Prabhupada’s books, and many of them threatened to leave ISKCON if the GBC dared to change Srila Prabhupada’s divine books.

The next reason is a cultural one. About two months ago, Hrdayananda Maharaja gave his public blessings and support to a homosexual male devotee couple to get married (http://chakra.org/announcements/persFeb01_09.html). I found this to be so completely absurd that I could not believe it at first. That Hrdayananda Maharaja could even think something like this calls into question his very qualification to act as a spiritual master. Srila Prabhupada never, ever supported anything like this, and he never encouraged homosexuality or gay marriage. Hrdayananda Maharaja has been publicly supporting the idea of gay marriage/monogamy for the past few years. The GBC has of yet made no public condemnation of Hrdayananda Maharaja for this (Hrdayananda Maharaja is also a GBC, in case you didn’t know), and thus I come to the conclusion that the GBC supports such ideas as gay marriage. Silence means consent.

The next reason is a philosophical/organizational reason. Many devotees have a problem with the current authority structure in ISKCON. In short, we believe that ISKCON’s culture of absolute control and blind following is not conducive to spiritual advancement. I will give an explicit personal example of this.

One of my first bhakta leaders was a follower of this tyrannical policy of “just surrender”, absolute control, and blind following. We were simply supposed to follow his every order, no matter how absurd, and if we didn’t, we would get severely chastised for being an “independent demon”, “anti-authority”, etc. On a few occasions, he even threatened to inflict physical violence on me if I didn’t “surrender to his authority”.

Even though at that point, any sane or rational person would have called the police, being a blind, naïve, and “surrendered” bhakta, I continued to blindly accept and follow his authority. Sometimes though, I would become so frustrated that I would become almost suicidal, telling myself “I would rather die than remain a part of this ISKCON”. I feel that one of the reasons that ISKCON cannot attract normal and intelligent people to join this movement is due to this culture of blindly following authority, no matter how wrong or abusive the authority happens to be.

The next reason is a social/cultural reason. I see the degrading influence of feminism (aka “women’s liberation” or “equal rights”) to be increasing within ISKCON. The “ISKCON Women’s Ministry” has been promoting feminist policies for over a decade now. Aside from being a very socially destructive policy, feminism is clearly against Srila Prabhupada’s teachings. Simply search for “equal rights” in the Vedabase and you can see for yourself how strongly Srila Prabhupada was against the idea of “equal rights”. Those devotees who are promoting feminism are actually rejecting Srila Prabhupada’s teachings. It is also an interesting observation to note that most of the people promoting and supporting feminism are western devotees- thus suggesting that the source of this problem is their own western conditioning. Generally, you never see Indian devotees promoting feminism.

The latest manifestation of feminism in ISKCON is the GBC’s latest decision to acknowledge and even accept the idea of “female diksa gurus”, something which Srila Prabhupada himself never established (this idea would also be unthinkable to anyone coming from a traditional Vedic background). I will not get into a lengthy discussion on this issue of feminism at present, because that is not the intention of this letter to do so. I will simply request you to read a few links that I feel strongly prove that ISKCON is indeed being contaminated by feminism.

Feminists Want to Change Prabhupada's Books
http://www.vnn.org/world/WD9905/WD03-3779.html

Feminists Openly blasphemy Srila Prabhupada
http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9912/ET06-5033.html

Srila Prabhupada was blasphemied, and the GBC remained silent
http://rails.bharatavarsa.net/articles/show/7337

Feminist Theories and their Effect on ISKCON
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/05-08/editorials2928.htm

Feminists violently Disrupt the Vrindavan Kartik Festival
http://www.vnn.org/world/WD9912/WD09-5048.html

A Philosophical Refutation of ISKCON GBC’s 2000 “Women in ISKCON” Resolution
http://iskconjiva.blogspot.com/

Notes from a Think Tank (a very detailed exposition of feminism)
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/05-08/nftt.doc

Madhusudani Radha (Maria Eckstrand), Editor of Chakra.org blasphemies Lord Rama
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/05-08/madhusudani.doc

Debate about feminism in ISKCON on Dandavats.com
http://www.dandavats.com/?p=2232#comment-1476

Another reason that I have chosen to disassociate myself from the ISKCON institution is because I, and many others, feel that ISKCON has become compromised, or “watered down”, from following Srila Prabhupada’s teachings purely and strictly. I will give one such example out of the many “compromises” and deviations in ISKCON. Remember the “Govinda’s Movie Theater” in Sydney, Australia? (www.govindas.com.au) It is run by a couple of Prabhupada disciples. They were showing a movie called “Sex in the City” at the Govinda’s Movie Theater. It isn’t very difficult to realize that it is probably NOT very pleasing to Srila Prabhupada to show such pornography at an ISKCON center (the Govinda’s Movie Theater address is listed in the ISKCON.com website directory- http://iskcon.com/worldwide/centres/australasia.html).

One particularly disturbing trend in ISKCON, and which is also supported and encouraged by the leadership, is the acceptance of western education, especially secular university education. A few prominent sannyasi leaders have gone to secular universities, even though Srila Prabhupada very strongly called the modern academic institutions “slaughterhouses”. In many ways, ISKCON has become so watered down that you can’t even quote a statement from Srila Prabhupada without someone freaking out. As the previous examples illustrate (feminism, GBC changing Srila Prabhupada’s books, homosexuality and gay marriage), even the ISKCON leadership, the GBC, encourage and support these deviations. The mood of strictly following Srila Prabhupada “as it is” has been lost to a great degree. Instead of following Srila Prabhupada absolutely, “as it is”, many devotees simply follow what they want to follow, and they reject whatever they don’t want to follow. What it actually comes down to is a lack of faith in Srila Prabhupada’s absolute purity and position. I find such an offensive and disrespectful attitude towards Srila Prabhupada too hard to tolerate, and thus I have no choice but to simply remove myself from an organization that tolerates such an offensive attitude. If you love somebody, it is very difficult to tolerate blasphemy of them.

Of course, there are some noble devotees within ISKCON who are trying to defend Srila Prabhupada and his teachings from this attitude of compromise, but after long consideration, I feel that in the long run, they won’t be successful maintaining Srila Prabhupada’s pure teachings and standards within the ISKCON institution. After all, history shows that once something degrades, it is extremely difficult to bring it back up to it’s original pure position.

Finally, the real reason, main reason, that I am leaving ISKCON is for spiritual reasons. This human lifetime is simply too short to waste being absorbed in political or institutional affairs, rather than in Krishna consciousness. When I really think about it, I honestly do not feel that I have made much real advancement in Krishna consciousness. How much attraction have I actually developed for Krishna? How much love or affection have I actually developed for Krishna? Sometimes I feel that instead of developing Krishna consciousness, I have been cultivating political or institutional consciousness. And I simply cannot bear to waste any more time in that direction. Krishna is so beautiful and sweet that I am bewildered as to how I could have wasted even a moment absorbed in mundane political/institutional affairs.

This human life is so short- I am only 24 years old, and I could die in 40 years, or in 4 years, or in 4 days, or even in 4 minutes. And at the end of my life, will I want to experience the great disappointment of having missed attaining Krishna and His association simply because I have wasted so much time being absorbed in political/institutional consciousness instead of Krishna consciousness? The only thing that matters at the time of death is how much Krishna consciousness we have developed.

When I look at myself, I do not feel that I have developed any real Vaisnava qualities. Instead of developing compassion, I have developed bitterness and anger. Instead of developing love, I have developed envy and hate. Instead of developing humility, I have developed pride and intolerance. Narottama dasa Thakura’s famous words of humility actually apply to me:

Ki mora duhkhera katha, janama gonainu vrtha
Dhik dhik narottama dasa

“This is the sad story of my life. I have spent my life uselessly absorbed in distressful topics. What a shameless life I, Narottama dasa, have led.”

I do not want to waste my human form of life. I desperately want to become a humble, sincere, and serious Vaisnava. In my own case, I feel that remaining a member of ISKCON will not be conducive towards that goal.

Many devotees both inside and outside of ISKCON feel that ISKCON is seriously lacking in care and compassion- towards it’s own members and towards the society at large. There is such a great pressure put on making new members, collecting money, building temples, that if we are not careful, we may even miss the entire point- which is to develop love for Krishna. Ultimately, bhakti means love- love for others and love for Krishna.

Basically, I do not feel that my spiritual desires are going to be fulfilled in ISKCON. So it is because of this main reason, as well as the other above stated reasons, that I can no longer conscientiously consider myself to be a member of the ISKCON institution.

I will be maintaining a small blog where I will share my own personal realizations and how my spiritual life is going: http://harekrishnadiary.blogspot.com/

I will end with a prayer:

Vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca
Krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
Patitanam pavanebhyo
Vaisnavebhyo namo namah

das,
Caitanya dasa

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Jahnudvipa dasa and Braja Sevaki dasi suffered a head-on crash with a truck in the early hours of this morning on the way in to Kolkata, at Madhyamgram just before the airport.

Alas! I forgot to press the "Post to Home Page" button yesterday, and so this never went out into Blogland:

The sun's rising and I'm off to the North Sydney Hare Krishna Temple (Corner Miller and Falcon Streets) to cook a 13-course dinner feast for 800. Yes, of course I've got some helpers. Many, in fact. And there's room for more if you wish to assist.

And dinner is free of charge, though any contributions are welcome. It's the culmination of a day of chanting, fasting and festivities celebrating the yearly full-moon birthday celebration of Sri Caitanya, the most recent avatar of Krishna who appeared in West Bengal in the fifteenth century.

See you there, 5.30 pm culminating with the feast at 8.00pm! Chant and be happy!

Postscript: The feast was a grand success, well over 700 guests attended, and I spent today getting myself back into shape for a busy cookery weekend. 'No rest for the wicked'.

A couple more points on making your resume / CV:

Run a spell checker over it

You would be amazed how many cover letters and CVs I receive with spelling errors that would easily be detected and corrected by an automated spell checker.

We specify that CVs should be sent to us in pdf format, but people will often send an accompanying cover letter in Microsoft Word format. (They would get bonus points for taking the hint and sending the cover letter in pdf format too...) When I open many of these cover letters in Open Office I immediately see a whole lot of red lines from the Open Office spell checker.

When these people are applying for a job writing professionally we don't bother going any further.

Have someone else manually check it

Their are many errors that an automated spell checker won't find, like the first word in this sentence; or if I accidentally miss out word.

Get someone else to go over it and look for these kinds of errors. If you can't do that, take a break for a few hours, print it out, then read it as if you were an HR recruiter reading it for the first time. One common pitfall when editing your own work is mentally reading what you meant to say, rather than what you wrote.

First Impressions count

Do it wrong and it may be the only one you'll get.

Your CV is your first impression, it's your best foot forward.

We're in a global recession, heading into a depression right now. Whether you've been made redundant, finished a contract, are returning to the workforce, or are just getting started, you are competing with a lot of people for few jobs. Be the best you can.

Richmond Hill, Ontario

"A MEEK MOUSE"

Naresh is from Kashmir and he's 59 today. Some of us members of the Krishna community descended upon his home (by invitation) to celebrate the occasion with chanting and a tasty grainless feast. An additional spontaneous feature to the event also manifested. I'll explain.

Most of the attendees to the lively program are seasoned followers which means they have been participating for thirty years average. Seeing that much experience was in our midst instead of a small talk delivered by myself to address the group I thought let's try a game at interaction. I proposed to the group to open-up with a topic and deliver one minute of a message on that topic and then go around the room asking each person to continue with the theme expounding on the message. One person blurted out, "I'm too nervous." So our topic was obvious, "Nervousness - Why and What to do about it?"

I nervously began and as we went around the chain very decent responses come from all. When we completed one revolution much wisdom pervaded the atmosphere and there was a sigh of relief from the more nervous, while others spoke confidently. The consenus amongst the group was that nervous, lack of confidence or stage-fright (whatever you will call it) stems from the bodily conception. When we appreciate our true essence "I am not the body but spirit", there is less apprehension. The world is full of a population of shyness. I was personally a victim of uncertainty and fear and expressing this through jitters in my hands when I first joined to become a monk. Eventually through the kindness and love of the Krishna community I gained confidence and now have little fear of getting behind a microphone, except when in front of peers. I believe I'll remain permanently paralyzed in front of my monastic peers. Why? I have a profound respect for them and I feel like a meek mouse before them.

No matter how they may try, fine artists never capture the beauty and symmetry of a flower. They merely copy and try to give viewers an impression of the real thing. At any art gallery in Auckland, New Zealand in 1972, Srila Prabhupada said this: "You are painting one picture, one flower, very nice flower. You have to take your brush, the color and the plate, so many things, and you are taxing your brain, how to make it beautiful. But you see one rose flower in the garden. Not only one rose flower, many millions of rose flowers, they are coming out very artistically painted.

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This is small video clips taken during Pancha-tattva Instalation in 2004, ISKCON Mayapur temple.. This year 2009 we will have a maha-abhisek of Pancha-tattva in celebration of 5-th anniversary of T

Sri Mahaprabhor Sata-nama - Caitanya Mahaprabhu's 100 names

rasa108@gmail.com

ys

Rasa Rasika das

Without a bona fide spiritual master we are nowhere. While we may be impressed by a spiritual master who has many followers or who can display mystic powers, it does not matter how powerful or famous he is. If the spiritual master is not presenting the Absolute Truth as it is, as confirmed by the authoritative Vedic wisdom, he is nowhere. If we become...

The videos from the Gaura Purnima program can be seen by clicking the image below. Stay tuned for the festival update and pictures!

As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our new ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.

I can't believe I've had access to internet for a couple of hours now, so I thought, "Why not write something else since I might not have so much time in the next coming days."

I'm feeling nostalgic and very grateful right now here in Chowpatty. Grateful for the endless mercy that I have received and am continuing to receive (I'm to go to Vrndavana dham tomorrow!!!!).

But I'm also feeling nostalgic. After having lived in Mayapur for four months I'm missing everything that reminds me of Mayapur. I miss Pankajanghri and Jananivas prabhus, my siksa gurus, role models and just the most amazing people in the universe. Of course it goes without saying that I miss all the deities. It's just not the same not waking up to see Radha Madhava, Panca Tattva and Nrsimhadeva. I also miss just walking around the holy dham, running into devotees and having unplanned conversations.

Speaking of devotees, I really miss my friends. I miss my Apurva Nilacala and her singing my name, "Vrndavana, Vrndavana Vrndavana!" I can't tell you how much I miss her. She's one of my closest friends and being with her was one of the highlights of my stay. I also miss my dear Malini who is probably on her way back home. I miss hanging out with her at Vaisnava Academy, complaining about how there is nothing new to eat at Bhakta Tomato and having Sacinandana Swami katha. I also miss her calling me Vrin.

It's so funny how it's the small things that I actually miss the most. Yes, I miss the deities but there's very specific things I miss. For example, standing in front of Radha Madhava and praying to them right after the Govindam prayers and sometimes, seeing a flower fall from Radharani's hand. I also miss seeing Mahaprabhu's amazing turbans, not to mention when Nrsimahadeva wears his tight gold or silver pants.

Sigh....but you know it's true what they say. I'm more absorbed about these things now that I'm away from Mayapur than when I was there. Of course, I'm sure I'll feel the same way when I leave Chowpatty and go to Vrndavana and then when I take leave of Vrndavana....

Krsna always finds a way to make me remember him, whether through his deity form, his dham or his devotees and for this I'll always be grateful.

After receiving my hundredth badly written CV today...

When you're making your CV:

Cut the BS

Get rid of all marketing-speak: Results-driven, team player, outcome-oriented, paradigm-shifting, etc... I mean, please!

Cut to the chase

Remove all the clutter. I don't care about all the different versions of software that you've used. The ability to use different tools is what I'm looking for, and that's demonstrated by what you've done with them. You can give me details in an interview, if I want to hear about them. Intrigue me with your CV.

Use a clear information hierarchy

Do you know how many of these things I have to look through?

Here's what I'm looking for:

Overall pattern / Narrative

What jobs did you do in what order, what's the overall pattern in your career, and is our position the next logical step in the story?

Who you worked for, what you did, how long you did it

Make it easy for me to pull this information out by using filters in my brain. If you apply unique styling to each of these aspects (font, font style, physical layout), then I can mentally switch filters in my brain to pull the information out.

The order that I want this information in is the reverse of the title above - it's "when, what, who".

Examples:

Bad

Marvin is a results-driven Business Process professional. He is a strong team player who excels in outcome-oriented environments where using best-of-breed methodologies to shift the paradigm is the order of the day.

Work Experience
Company X Level 1, 455 Venice Blvd, Downtown, STA 5067
Jan 2008 - Present
Position: Methodology Consultant - CorpTech Services

Key areas of responsibility included, but not limited to:

• Consultation Participated in workshops to validate business requirements during forward planning.
• Review: Reviewed scope documentation including business plan proposals and Methodology schematics.
• Documentation: Prepared functional and scope assessments for NeXt Generation Business Process project.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Analysis

Actually, this might be a good CV if you're chasing a job where you spend most of your time talking and writing about doing things, and very little of your time actually doing those things. Large corporations can afford to support people like that.

However, here are a couple of things that could be changed to make this one crisper and cleaner:

Better (in my book):

I am a Business Process expert. I'm seeking opportunities to apply my natural talents and accumulated experience to a challenge where I can make a positive difference.

Professional History

2008 - Present
Methodology Consultant - Company X

Internal business process engineering.

• Achieved ISO 9001 accreditation for Company X
• Contributed to Company X's NeXt Generation Business Process project
• Business Process Professional Certification

--------------------------------------------------------------

Here's what we changed:

1. Get rid of the "talking about yourself in the third-person like you are your own marketing department" section.
2. Clearly state your intention and path.
3. Work Experience? - "Professional History"
4. Use a clear information hierarchy. List your jobs from most recent first to oldest last, with the date range clear. No need to break it down to months unless they are really short, like 3 or 6 month contracts.
5. I don't need to know the addresses of your employers. If I do, I can find out. What I want to know when I look at your CV is "when, what, who" - in that order.
6. Brief statement of what the role entailed.
7. Major accomplishments only. Don't tell me you are "results-driven" and "outcome-oriented" and then talk about process. You sound like a talker, not a doer.

The idea of the CV is to paint a broad picture, and invite a dialog. Sure you didn't do ISO 9001 certification single-handedly, but to find out what your role in it was I need to talk to you about it. It's intriguing. Your CV is a story-telling device.

You may not have much to put on your CV yet, but don't worry. You should think carefully about the story of your life so far, and what the next episode would / should be, then aim for that, while using a CV that tells that story.

I got my first job at a PC assembling company in 1994. I had been washing dishes for a year in a cafe. However, at the same time I'd done a short course in microcontrollers, and had sketched some schematics of a single chip computer. I used those and my CV to tell a story of someone who was washing dishes and looking for a break into the IT industry.

For my next job, as a programmer, I delivered my CV as a 3 1/2" disk with my CV as a Visual Basic program on it.

Distinguish yourself from the crowd.

And do the hard yards. Decide what your career path is, and apply yourself to it. Do courses, read books, study your craft.

Your CV is a form of marketing - make sure that you have good marketing, and a good product.

This Gaura Purnima marked the 500th anniversary of Lord Caitanya's taking sannyasa. On this most auspicious occasion, all the devotees who were fortunate to be in Gopinatha dham (aka: Chowpatty) were able to witness the sannyasa initation of HG Jagat Caksur prabhu. In the presence of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha, HH Kavicandra Swami, HH Candramauli Swami and all the assembled vaisnavas, prabhuji received sannyasa initiation from HH Radhanatha Swami and was given the name Bhakti Caksur Sundara Goswami.

For me, the underlying message behind this year's Gaura Purnima was the unceasing and compassionate mercy of Caitanaya Mahaprabhu. Yes, as devotees we may theoretically know and even accept this fact, but do we really feel it? It's a question that I'm now asking myself as I reflect upon the hours of katha I heard yesterday. Caitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa at the tender age of 24. He gave up a loving mother, an incredible wife and all facilities just so he could spread the holy name around to everyone. He did this for us. How much more compassionate can someone be? But am I truly grateful? The sad truth is a resounding NO. I'm not grateful.

Why do I actually feel this now? Because being in the association of HH Radhanatha Swami is always sweet torture for me. It's sweet because it's HH Radhanatha Swami who is one of my beloved siksa gurus and the epitome of humility, but on the other hand it's torture because Maharaja has the incredible ability to show me exactly who I am. I am normally under the blissful illusion that I'm a good devotee, but with Maharaja, there's no room for that pretense. I instead realize how ungrateful, undetermined, and proud I actually am.

Yesterday was definitely no exception. Hours upon hours upon hours of listening and hearing to Gauranga's pastimes has such an impact on the heart. By hearing the attitude, behavior and genuine love the associates of Mahaprabhu had for him and the holy name it gives a good reality check as to what I am. That reality check is that I am a mercy case.

I am a mercy case who desperately needs the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And instead of feeling completely wretched and fallen, I feel so happy because this is the only pre-requisite I need for the mercy of Mahaprabhu! I actually qualify! :D How much more fortunate can I be?

So on this 500th anniversary of Lord Caitanya's taking sannyasa, the ultimate act of compassion, I beg at his lotus feet that I may be utilized as an instrument to spread his glories and that I may truly become trnad api sunicena...

While searching for information on the evolutionary narrative around multi-host parasites I came across this interesting article: The biomedical sciences: variation and species differences.

This article makes a very strong case for the ineffectiveness of animal testing of drugs, based on genetics.

The existence of intraspecific variation is but a foretaste of the biological problems confronting those who seek to use animals to model human biomedical phenomena. As Darwin observed in the Origin of Species:

As each species tends by its geometrical rate of reproduction to increase inordinately in number; and as the modified descendants of each species will be enabled to increase by as much as they become more diversified in habits and structure, so as to be able to seize on many and widely different places in the economy of nature, there will be a constant tendency of natural selection to preserve the most divergent offspring of any one species.

Hence, during a long continued course of modification, the slight differences characteristic of varieties of the same species, tend to be augmented into the greater differences characteristic of species of the same genus [[3]:108].

In other words, one effect of evolutionary processes in the formation of new species, is essentially to amplify the differences that existed in the varieties belonging to the common ancestor from which the new species descend in the course of evolutionary time. Thus, further bad news lies in the fact that interspecific variation is likely to be even more of a problem for the animal modeler than the already confounding intraspecific variation we have just discussed.
...
The consequences of the belief that humans and rodents are the same molecular animal dressed up differently can be (and have been) catastrophic. As Goldstein recently put it in an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine:

One of the most striking features of modern medicines is how often they fail to work. Even when they do work, they are often associated with serious adverse reactions. Indeed adverse reactions to drugs rank as one of the leading causes of death and illness in the developed world

Big it up for Darwin, animal rights activist.

Note: this is actually a genetic argument against animal testing. Evolution is just the back story - it could be easily exchanged with another back story, but this is the current predominant scientific one, so another back story might prejudice the "scientific" nature of the argument. You could make the same argument without a back story, just on the basis of genetics. However, with evolution in the picture the two, the genetic argument and the evolutionary back story, reinforce each other. The same is probably not true for a "creationist" back story.

Toronto, Ontario
"The Hind-Jew"

Each day health gets progressively better, as far as leg mobility is concerned. To help me in the foot-recovery department is Maheen, a Sri Lankan cab driver. He spends 2 or 3 hours at the ashram everyday cleaning pots in kitchen, cleaning the washroom and handling garbage. Bless his soul. When I was in the prime of pain he would massage my infected right foot. Bless his soul once again. Now that I can manage to walk some distance I asked Maheen to take me to a spot in the downtown, where I would be forced to make it back to the ashram instead of walking some convenient loops. I measured a distance of 4 km, and while taking a walk (with a limp of course), I had time to reflect.

During the morning sadhana, or spiritual exercise, a presentation was made by Barry Brown, a journalist, before a group of us monks. I had intentionally invited him to speak about his passion, which is the India-Israel connection. I had known Barry for years. He was a former monk and he is also known as Baladeva, as he was initiated by our guru Srila Prabhupada. Back in 1975 he and I traveled together as monks in the southern states while on our mission most endearing was our getting arrested and jailed for 3 days; the charge being soliciting literature without a permit. That was an interesting time. I won't forget Greensborough, North Carolina and the deep south, where some people are not always so deep.

In any event, Baladeva and I and a third monk used to travel and stay in motels. We would open up the motel rooms' dresser drawer and pull out the Gideon's Bible or St.James version - Whatever they had. We would read some passages and then see some Vedic connections with ancient Indian culture. Incidentally Baladeva introduces himself to people nowadays as a "Hind-Jew". Being born Jewish and then coming to Krishna Consciousness I believe that he is really on to something when he speaks about his theory including dates and people of the pre-Jesus era. Surely the true traditions, that is Judaism and Hinduism, both having existed for thousands of years, have much in common. In his presentation, it was evident that not only these two paths he was putting into parallels, Baladeva referenced a book, "Anacalypsys" by author Geoffrey Higgins, where he says that once there was a world religion that worshipped the negro god Kresna. Higgins further went on to say that Stonehenge was a temple where Kresna was honoured. That's very interesting material, Baladeva. Keep-up the good work on your reserach.

4 Km

1966 March 11:
"I went to see the Paragon Book Gallery. Nine set up one set down total 10 sets. Add 35 new sets. Total 45 sets. Transfer to old stock 25 sets. Balance 20 sets. Taken today 4 sets. Balance 16 sets new stock."
Prabhupada Journal :: 1966

1966 March 11:
"I went to see the Paragon Book Gallery. Nine set up one set down total 10 sets. Add 35 new sets. Total 45 sets. Transfer to old stock 25 sets. Balance 20 sets. Taken today 4 sets. Balance 16 sets new stock."
Prabhupada Journal :: 1966

1969 March 11: "So far the strange colors, etc., better you chant and hear; that will help you to understand what they are. So far painting on the body the Names of the Lord, this is all right. But simpy hearing is sufficient."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1974 March 11: "We are coming in disciplic succession from Bhaktivinode Thakura and you are coming in family succession from a great friend of Bhaktivinode Thakura, so if we combine together it will be a great benediction."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 March 11: "There must be a division of society according to quality and work. It is a very scientific way of keeping peace in the world. If we start a varnasrama college that will be the basic principle of Krishna Consciousness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1975 March 11: "I am in due receipt of your letter along with the enclosed information of Who's Who in America. I thank you for your having selected me for being listed in this noteworthy publication."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

1974 March 11: "The Krishna Consciousness movement is supposed to create actual intellectuals to guide society. If the varnasrama college is started, I am sure the chaotic condition of human society will be completely settled up."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1967 March 11: "I am so much thankful to you all for encouraging me in my humble attempt to preach the message of Srila Prabhupada in this part of the world. I am sure to be successful if I am blessed by you all Vaisnavas."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1969 March 11: "Relishing the transcendental sweetness of Krishna Kirtana is only possible when one is actually advanced, towards perfection. In the conditioned stage, we chant Hare Krishna officially without any attachment."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1969 March 11: "So far the strange colors, etc., better you chant and hear; that will help you to understand what they are. So far painting on the body the Names of the Lord, this is all right. But simply hearing is sufficient."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1967 March 11: "I am so much thankful to you all for encouraging me in my humble attempt to preach the message of Srila Prabhupada in this part of the world. I am sure to be successful if I am blessed by you all Vaisnavas."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1969 March 11: "Relishing the transcendental sweetness of Krishna Kirtana is only possible when one is actually advanced, towards perfection. In the conditioned stage, we chant Hare Krishna officially without any attachment."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1974 March 11: "We are coming in disciplic succession from Bhaktivinode Thakura and you are coming in family succession from a great friend of Bhaktivinode Thakura, so if we combine together it will be a great benediction."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 March 11: "There must be a division of society according to quality and work. It is a very scientific way of keeping peace in the world. If we start a varnasrama college that will be the basic principle of Krishna Consciousness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 March 11: "The Krishna Consciousness movement is supposed to create actual intellectuals to guide society. If the varnasrama college is started, I am sure the chaotic condition of human society will be completely settled up."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1975 March 11: "I am in due receipt of your letter along with the enclosed information of Who's Who in America. I thank you for your having selected me for being listed in this noteworthy publication."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

This year's Gaura Purnima festivities were a grand success filled with lots of highlights! A full festival report will be posted shortly, in the mean time please enjoy the stunning darshan of their lordships Sri Sri Gaura Nitai.

Giridhari Das: I wish to sell the gopala. com domain to a devotee. Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing it.

By Basu Ghosh Das

Shortly after our arrival, Maharaj's transcendental body was taken in a procession around the Gundicha Mandir, and also the Chaitanya Chandra Ashram, entering the Puri Bus Stand, and returning to the ashram.

***Update - 10:00am - 03/10/09 - The temple was not able to secure free parking at the underground parking lot on Pears Ave. Devotees are are encouraged to find legal parking on the surrounding streets. However if street parking is unavailable, please feel free to park at the Pears Ave lot, at a cost of $5, and provide your receipt to the temple reception desk for reimbursement.

Nimai wants the moon.
In this way a blissful day turned into a full moon night. After engaging the servants in their evening duties, Sacidevi took Nimai into the courtyard for some fresh air. The full moon was climbing the sky. Acting like an innocent boy, the clever Nimai cried, "Mother! Mother!"
Sacidevi said, "Don’t cry. I will give You whatever You want." The Lord replied, "Mother, please give Me the moon." Saci said, "Can anyone catch the moon in the sky?"

Nimai said, "Then why did you say that you would give Me whatever I wanted? For this reason, I asked for the moon." Then Nimai began wailing. Holding the comer of Sacidevi's sari, He kept crying while rubbing His eyes with His free hand and kicking the dirt with His feet. Nimai was insistent; He wanted the moon. Gaura Raya clutched His mother's sari and yanked her hair. The next moment He hit her in the head with His hand. Still unsuccessful, He rolled on the ground and cried.
Sacimata said, "O Nimai, You are incorrigible and Your behavior is most unusual. How can I possibly catch the moon in the sky? There are already so many moons on Your body. Look how the moon has become ashamed before You. Out of shyness, he is now hiding himself behind the clouds. O my son, please listen."
Then Sacimata placed Nimai on her lap and showered Him with kisses. Obsessed with parental love, Sacidevi forgot herself in transcendental bliss. Her voice became choked up in ecstasy. Locana Dasa joyfully sings the glories of Lord Gauranga. Moonstruck yet?

Not yet, then this should do the trick!

If you would like to contribute to our year-long "celebration" of Darwin's 200th birthday, please send your articles, editorials, or any other creative and informative pieces to nvclub108@gmail.com

HG Narasingha Gurudas (a.k.a Martin Lyons) was gracious enough to share with us a few excerpts from his upcoming book, in which he plans to establish the Krsna Conscious positions of evolution and creation in opposition to some of the fallacious dogmas of modern religion and science.

Here is the first excerpt he shares with us, a story of a real "fluke"

Twelfth Argument: It’s Just A Lucky Fluke

From the enormity of examples the natural world offers to utterly confound any proposal of evolution, I must admit I do have a pet favorite – although I certainly wouldn’t want one as a pet. The creature I have in mind is a parasite known as the Lancet liver fluke (Dicrocoelium dendriticum).

Like many parasites, liver flukes require several entirely different host-species to carry them through the various stages of their life-cycles. As adults, they live in the livers of cows, where they mate, and their eggs are then excreted via the host’s fecal matter. Terrestrial snails that eat such matter become infected by the fluke’s larvae, which settle in the snails’ digestive tracts. The snails protect themselves by forming cysts around the little parasites, which are then excreted in turn. Ants looking to snail slime as a source of moisture simultaneously ingest these cysts, which are each filled with hundreds of juvenile flukes. These juveniles are free to wander throughout the ant’s body, but one in particular moves to the sub-esophageal ganglion, and this is where the most extraordinary element of this whole story takes place.

We can already recognize that the development and survival of such parasites requires an incredible degree of synchronicity and precise co-ordination. It is inconceivable that the myriad specific adaptations required for the parasites to not only thrive in the various host species, but to take advantage of unique processes within the hosts themselves (e.g. the snails’ cyst-manufacturing processes), could all have simply ‘evolved,’ unplanned, unguided, and all ‘by chance’ – along with the actual processes by which they are transferred from one host to the next.

Yet putting all such observations to the side for the moment, let us continue our story from the point where one fluke has journeyed to the aforementioned cluster of nerve-cells lying just underneath the ant’s esophagus. Somehow or other this fluke is able to manipulate the nerves there so as to cause the ant to act in a most peculiar manner. What happens is that as evening draws near, such an infested ant leaves the nest and climbs to the top of a blade of grass, where it locks itself into place with its mandibles and patiently awaits being eaten by a grazing cow. Should no cow happen to graze on its particular grass-blade, the ant climbs back down at dawn to rejoin the rest of the colony, and so escapes the heat of the day which would kill both it along with its parasitic controllers. In other words, it has now been programmed to follow a suicide-mission specifically tailored for the benefit of the flukes.

This fascinating scenario raises many questions. How did the first fluke that was swallowed by an ant come to figure out how to pilot such an alien craft, how did it determine its destination (the cow’s liver) as well as the actual means by which it could arrive there (involving activities entirely foreign to the fluke itself, e.g. climbing up grass-blades for the night, locking mandibles in place and awaiting the approaching ‘jaws of death’)? And of course, the favorite old conundrum, suitably reworded for this particular example: which came first (as far as the fluke is concerned, that is): the cow, the snail or the ant? Or isn’t the simple fact that all three are required simultaneously? What series of gradual adaptations could be imagined that could have led up to this spectacularly complex and precise set of arrangements? How can the fluke’s behavior be explained by any undirected random evolutionary process? Rather, it suggests a level of foresight and planning, i.e. intelligence, that in no way can be ascribed to the fluke itself. Perhaps that’s why they call it a fluke.

On the joyous occassion of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s 523 appearance anniversary, a maha abhisheka will be performed to Their Lordships in Mayapur. Thousands and thousands of devotees are crowding the campus and continous prasadam distribution to pilgrims are taking place. Maha Abhisheka will begin at 4 p.m. (IST) in the evening. Watch Maha Abhisheka LIVE here from 4 p.m. onwards.

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Nagy örömömre szolgál, hogy egy új bhakta blogot jelenthetek be. A barátom, Vijaya Gouranga prabhu, aki mellesleg a budapesti templom vezetője, kezdett el blogolni. Már régóta unszolom és már egyszer majdnem sikerült rávennem, de úgy látszik csak most ért meg benne a mag. Ezen címen nézhetitek meg: http://bhaktijoga.freeblog.hu/

Hare Krsna Prabhus,

After having lunch in the van at avondale New Zealand, I filled my bag with a few more books before hitting the street again. I very, very rarely take chinese books with me because I very rarely approach chinese people, but this time Krishna inspired me to take my only small chinese book, just in case something unusual did happen. A few hours passed and the time had come for me to stop sankirtan for the day and start some sastric study so I began walking back to the van. Along the way I was thinking, "I've got to be more like Khela Tirtha Prabhu. He's so enthusiastic and he's always in sankirtan mode." So this thought inspired me continue approaching persons en route to the van. The first man I met was so cruel that he practically tried to extinquish his cigarette on my face. I quickly renounced his association, and quickly lost that fresh enthusiasm. I tried to consider that the Lord is in control of everything and that I've just got to do my duty regardless, but for some reason none of the relevant slokas were manifesting in my mind... The last two persons between me and van were (of course) two young chinese boys, waiting at a bus stop. Although feeling dejected, I showed them the pictures of Lord Buddha and Lord Krishna and they said that their families have always respected this knowledge and the monastic culture. They quickly gave 20 dollars for the small chinese book and boarded their bus just in time. Had I spent a moment longer with the first man I would have missed them completely.

Your servant, Yasodev das

Hare Krsna Prabhus,

After having lunch in the van at avondale New Zealand, I filled my bag with a few more books before hitting the street again. I very, very rarely take chinese books with me because I very rarely approach chinese people, but this time Krishna inspired me to take my only small chinese book, just in case something unusual did happen. A few hours passed and the time had come for me to stop sankirtan for the day and start some sastric study so I began walking back to the van. Along the way I was thinking, "I've got to be more like Khela Tirtha Prabhu. He's so enthusiastic and he's always in sankirtan mode." So this thought inspired me continue approaching persons en route to the van. The first man I met was so cruel that he practically tried to extinquish his cigarette on my face. I quickly renounced his association, and quickly lost that fresh enthusiasm. I tried to consider that the Lord is in control of everything and that I've just got to do my duty regardless, but for some reason none of the relevant slokas were manifesting in my mind... The last two persons between me and van were (of course) two young chinese boys, waiting at a bus stop. Although feeling dejected, I showed them the pictures of Lord Buddha and Lord Krishna and they said that their families have always respected this knowledge and the monastic culture. They quickly gave 20 dollars for the small chinese book and boarded their bus just in time. Had I spent a moment longer with the first man I would have missed them completely.

Your servant, Yasodev das

Reportedly, Srila Prabhupada quoted more Bhagavatam verses from the eleventh than from any part of the Srimad Bhagavatam. In the "Uddhava gita" section of this canto we find a verse that closely parallels that Gita verse 2.13.

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The Holy Name

There is a vast tidal wave of transcendental kirtan bliss which is currently sweeping the planet earth. The parched wasteland of this material existence is now being inundated by this amazing wave of bliss liberating fortunate souls from the distresses of mortal existence such as birth, death, old age, and disease. For those who are riding this ecstatic...

Today i read that B.V. Puri Maharaj, the 96 year old sadhu and Gaudiya vaisnava guru of his own mission, passed away last week at Visakapatnam, India. He was one of the very last of his generation who took initiation from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and who faithfully carried on his teachings. That generation of devotees contained many great souls who were real sadhus. They may not have been exceptional managers from the material perspective, but just to see such sadhus in Vrindavan or in Mayapur was purifying and satisfying. I remember seeing Puri Maharaj there many times. I am more and more feeling the absence of such personalities in our world. Their absence is our loss.

In a world deprived of genuine sadhus, imitation sadhus prevail. In an insane world, a rational person is unwelcome.

The diaspora of devotees, those who became disgusted by or who were chased away from Iskcon, are now scattered around the world by their karma. Everyone is suffering. Most are silent, some are talking, others have made new alliances. But there is no magic bullet, no solution, no redemption for anyone who is competing or placing their hopes in the material world. Maya is in charge here, and she creates endless problems for the jivas in this world. Even if someone is charismatic and empowered to influence others towards good or evil, he cannot liberate others or even himself. daivi hy esa gunamayi.

Srila Prabhupada confirms this when he explains that "a man bound by the hands and feet cannot free himself-- he must be helped by a person who is unbound. Because the bound cannot help the bound, the rescuer must be liberated." This is the problem. Unless sadhus are real, they cannot liberate anyone, even themselves. Those who merely pretend to be sadhus still want to control others. They create more problems than they solve.

Prabhupada then quotes Lord Siva: mukti-pradata sarvesam visnur eva na samsayah. "There is no doubt that Visnu is the deliverer of liberation for everyone."

Friend and enemy, lover and hater, member of this institution or that-- all positions are relative in this world. Even my own body and mind are very often uncooperative and unenthusiastic for my spiritual life. Passion pushes me in the wrong direction. Inertia is a powerful force that keeps me down. Nothing seems to move me towards Krishna. Yet, the wonderful thing is that sraddha--transcendental faith-- is not dependent on any of this. No external or internal obstacle, no actor in this world, not even the powerful mind, can check faith. Bhakti is independent like Krishna. This is the secret gift we have received by divine mercy. And it is within the garden of this faith that we must cultivate our hopes and prayers so that one day they will bear fruit.

We cannot expect an easy path. Things may get worse before getting better. "Those favored by God find their paths set by thorns." This quote is attributed to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and should give us hope. When we see thorns or when we step on them, we should think that the roses of God are not too far away. We should learn to search out the roses rather than curse at the thorns. Perhaps even see the thorns as our guides....siksa gurus, friends of ours who have come to lead us to the soft rose petals of ruci and bhava.

In any case, the thorns are on our path and this path is our way home. Whether we are walking in loneliness or in the company of many, we must each walk this path with our own faith. There is no alternative for us.

I wish you success today, Gaura Purnima, and on your journey during this new year of Gaurabda 523.

Gaura Hari...Gauracandra...Gaurasundar ki jaya!

Caitanya Caritamrita Adi-lila 13.71 - 14.1 - Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance day.

1969 March 10: "I have only one hope - my Spiritual Master - He is very kind. Someway or other He is dragging me towards Krishna. That is the only hope. Guru Krishna."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1969 March 10: "Narada Muni is our original Spiritual Master and he has dragged so many fallen souls towards Krishna, and we are also hoping to be dragged by Him through the disciplic succession."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1970 March 10: "One of my American students has gone to your country to spread the gospel of Krishna Consciousness under superior order. The original order is from Lord Caitanya."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1970 March 10: "I have sent three of my young students to preach this sublime cult. We do not want any remuneration for this service neither we are sentimentalists without any background of philosophy and knowledge."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1971 March 10: "Birlaji, when you were in New York you saw our Sankirtana Party on Fifth Avenue. Now I wish to stay at Mayapur for a few days with my disciples may you kindly ask Sri Bhakti Vilas Tirtha to do the needful in this connection."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1973 March 10: "Devotees do not suffer from skin disease. In the material world black and white are opposites, but spiritually black and white are varieties. That is the proper vision."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

A young bhaktin writes about her spiritual abuse and rejection of (soon-to-be) spiritual master. As regards to who has sent her letters of support, there is this currious postscript to her short article:

"P.S. I am happy to correspond with those of you who genuinely want to share. Ritviks, I appreciate your service at the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, but please do not send me any manifestoes. I can make up my own mind philosophically, thank you. Oh, and I do not want to be anyone's 16,108th wife - unless, of course, Your real name is Dwarkadish!"

Hmmmm. Do the math: Ritvik + long, long posts or attached documents + 16,108 wives = message received from Guess Who?

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Anish singing a Hare Krishna Bhajan.  This was during the annual temple presidents meeting in Houston.

Houston, TX
2009-01-18

Download: 2009-01-18 - 2 - Houston Bhajans - Anish.mp3

Over the past few months a focus within the press has highlighted social problems with teenage birth and also that of young girls abused by those who should be they’re to protect them. We see the case of one nine year old who was abused by a relative who should have been protecting her, this meant [...]

1971 March 10: "Birlaji, when you were in New York you saw our Sankirtana Party on Fifth Avenue. Now I wish to stay at Mayapur for a few days with my disciples may you kindly ask Sri Bhakti Vilas Tirtha to do the needful in this connection."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1971

1970 March 10: "One of my American students has gone to your country to spread the gospel of Krishna Consciousness under superior order. The original order is from Lord Caitanya."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1969 March 10: "I have only one hope - my Spiritual Master - He is very kind. Someway or other He is dragging me towards Krishna. That is the only hope. Guru Krishna."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1969 March 10: "Narada Muni is our original Spiritual Master and he has dragged so many fallen souls towards Krishna, and we are also hoping to be dragged by Him through the disciplic succession."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1969

1970 March 10: "I have sent three of my young students to preach this sublime cult. We do not want any remuneration for this service neither we are sentimentalists without any background of philosophy and knowledge."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1973 March 10: "Devotees do not suffer from skin disease. In the material world black and white are opposites, but spiritually black and white are varieties. That is the proper vision."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1973

Lord Rishabhadev:

My dear sons, you should not envy any living entity--be he moving or nonmoving. Knowing that I am situated in them, you should offer respect to all of them at every moment. In this way, you offer respect to Me.

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 5 Chapter 5 Verse 26

Dear Rasa Rasika pr,

Pls. accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Shree Guru & Gauranga!

Today I noticed for what I think may be at least the 2nd time that my 9-yr old son was chanting in his sleep!

Once I was chanting with him and he fell asleep, all of a sudden I noticed his volume went down, he was chanting the Maha mantra softly a few times.

He has not been feeling well the last 3 days or so; he had fever for the last 2 days, so last night (just before falling asleep), after he said his, "Jaya" while I recited a few pranams, I told him to pray to Lord Narasimhadeva to get rid of his illness. Then this morning I woke up while he was softly saying the Maha mantra in his sleep!

Pls. bless him to be a dedicated follower of Srila Prabhupada.

So I am praying to also be like this everyday 24 hrs day - in sleep or while awake. "When oh when will that day be mine?"

Thanks for your time.

Your servant

I hope you get some inspiration to chant as much as possible in your day.

ys

Rasa Rasika dasa

Mukunda Goswami wrote:

Regardless, biological texts worldwide, generally refer to randomness as the cause for the existence of today's complex universe and its varieties of life.

This is an interesting conflation of biology and metaphysics that allows an atheist agenda to hijack evolutionary theory, and that interestingly, devotees seem to have difficulty discerning, although the Catholic Church has picked up on it.

The "cause of the universe" is not a biological question. It's not even a physics question. It's a metaphysical question.

Professor Richard Dawkins, known as "Darwin's Bulldog" and perhaps the most vociferous contemporary proponent of evolutionary theory, agrees.

In a video I watched of him the other day he made this exact point: biology has its unifying theory in evolution - physics on the other hand, does not. How do we get a universe that can support evolution? That's the metaphysical question. Dawkins mentioned the infinite universes theory as the the leading proposal, but it has no experimental support, and so far no planned experiments that can prove or falsify it. As such, Dawkins did not mention it as a doctrine, but rather as the leading in a field of so-far purely speculative hypotheses.

American scientist Carl Sagan once famously said that "to make an apple pie from scratch you have to start by making the universe".

It's not necessary to attack the idea of infinite universes on empirical grounds, for in reality it has no empirical grounds to support it; rather the question to pose is: "Why is such a metaphysical claim conflated with the empirical theory of evolution?"

The two are quite distinct.

Here is an exchange that I had today with Gauranga Kishore:

GK: Darwinism is a theory of the origin of species that is specifically non-theistic, it posits random mutation and natural selection as the two mechanism responsible for the creation of living organism.

[My note: non-theistic and atheistic are two different things. The statement above is correct. Evolutionary theory makes no claim about the origin of the universe, and is thus non-theistic. When someone asserts that there is no God, which is not scientifically provable, it becomes an atheistic dogma]

SP:The universe is deterministic and infinite complexity arises from the massive repeated interaction of simple principles. Chaos is just massive complexity. "Random" is a word used to describe it, but it's just a word.

The question is this: where does the stochastic system come from?

Is it self-manifested, or does it have a cause? If it is self-manifested then Darwinian evolution has no cause, which is the atheist's metaphysical definition of "random".

Otherwise, Darwinian evolution is indirectly caused by the direct cause of the universe.

According to Vedic metaphysics the Param Brahma is the direct cause of the cosmic manifestation, therefore He is the indirect cause of Darwinian evolution.

GK: I agree that Darwinism is, in theory, science and not metaphysics, but in practice it has become metaphysics.

In this context random took on the metaphysical connotation of atheism, the randomness of Darwinian evolution was contrasted with the idea that we were created by God.

If God created the world, with certain laws, with the intention of it ultimately producing conscious living organisms, then it is innapropriate to use the word random. And in that sense we don't have Darwinian evolution.

I don't think the intention of random in this context has to do with scientific determinism.

SP: And here we get to the crux of the matter.

The real argument is not against Darwin's empirical explanation, it's against extended metaphysical claims made using this as support.

In other words, we're not against evolution, we're against atheistic evolution - and evolution is not intrinsically atheistic.

My contention is that evolution became atheistic because the church allowed it to, or even forced it to - on several fronts.

1. By trying to fight on empirical ground, asserting the creation model of the Bible as their empirical explanation. This was something that was bound to fail, because empirically it's weak. As is the Bhagavatam version. Neither contains dinosaurs or epochs with different forms of bodies. Evolution does. A counter-explanation has to account for these things.

2. By trying to control society politically and viewing science as a threat to that control. Just as Buddha rejected the Veda in order to depose the corrupted brahmanas and effect a social revolution, science was the philosophical system that was used to throw off the stranglehold of the Catholic Church, which propped up the feudal system. This was replaced by today's liberal democracy, which is based on similar principles to the scientific method.

Religion gets into trouble when it is wedded to a) a particular empirical model b) a particular political structure.

If the empirical model is disproved or superseded, or the political structure becomes corrupted, then religion gets kicked out along with it.

I think that it's important to recognise the valid progress of science and liberal democracy, and point out it's failings, or excesses.

Darwinian evolution is an elegant explanation. It may be wrong, but it should be treated scientifically. As an empirical explanation we should look for areas where it can explain things and make testable predications, and look for evidence that can falsify or modify it.

If you attack it on empirical grounds, or even attack the scientific method itself, don't be surprised when the counter attack takes the form of a metaphysical counter-offensive.

Acknowledging it within its bounds helps keep it within its bounds, and it is this exceeding of bounds (linking it with unscientific metaphysical assumptions) that is the real crux of the matter.

It's not meant to be a doctrine, it's meant to be a working hypothesis. I prefer to keep it scientific and stop it from escalating into a Holy War.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I prefer to talk about Darwin's theory of evolution, or evolutionary theory. "Darwinism" seems to be a code word for evolutionary theory + an atheistic metaphysical belief system.

Happy to deal with them separately, each on its own merits.

Today is a holiday called Gaura Purnima. It celebrates the appearance day (birthday) of the founder of the Sankirtana movement, Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

The Sankirtana movement is what most folks would call the “Hare Krishnas.” But the Hare Krishnas are one of many branches of this tree. Sankirtana literally means “group chanting.” 500 or so years ago, Caitanya Mahaprabhu took religion from the so-called higher classes and distributed it to the masses. He and His followers took to the streets with a mantra that has become known the world over:

hare krishna hare krishna
krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare

Before Mahaprabhu, there were practitioners of this faith, but never on such a grand and public scale. His followers were from all walks of life and from different religions. He did not discriminate, love of God is for everyone.

From the days when He started this tradition to the present, devotees of the Gaudia-Vaisnava philosophy regard Caitanya Mahaprabhu as an incarnation of Krishna, God.

Though He traveled widely and spoke countless times to the public, He only wrote eight verses, called Siksastakam. Here in these eight short stanzas one can find everything needed for the perfect spiritual life.

Of these eight, it is said that the path to true love of God runs through one very in particular. If all of Mahaprabhu’s instructions were to be summarized into one verse, the third verse would be it.

trinad api su-nicena
taror iva sahisnuna
amanina manadena
kirtaniya sada harih

Being humble like a blade of grass,
being more tolerant than a tree,
expecting no admiration
yet showing others veneration,
one should glorify Hari [God] constantly.

I first heard this verse soon after discovering that being a Gaudia Vaisnava was for me. It was the one verse that I kept in mind, always trying my best to live up to this high standard. Of course, I failed miserably for the longest time, but, thanks to age and a better understanding of just what kind of a role humility and tolerance play in spiritual life, I’m slowly getting better.

Each spiritual path has teachings that are meant solely for that specific spiritual path, Gaudia Vaisnavism is no different. But this verse can be taken by anyone who is even a little serious about spiritual life. It will help the neophyte just as it will help the wise old sage.

A few years ago, Tripurari Swami wrote a book called Siksastakam of Sri Caitanya. He takes each verse and breaks it down from the most basic, universal meaning to the esoteric. For a deeper study of the Siksastakam, I strongly recommend this book.

Happy Gaura Purnima!

Dear devotees and friends,

Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

The GBC meetings finished on the 23rd, and I had a couple of days “free” before the Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama began on the 28th. One day I went with some disciples to Lord Caitanya’s birthplace up the road from our Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, and then to Srivasa Angan, where Lord Caitanya would have kirtanas for the whole night when He began the sankirtana movement.

On the 26th we went with a group of Russian devotees to Ekacakra, the birthplace of Lord Nityananda. Caitanya Bhagavata describes how an old man told Mother Jahnava, Lord Nityananda’s main wife, about the Lord’s childhood:

“Harai Pandita was very happy when he heard that His wife Parvati was pregnant. She gave birth to a beautiful child on an auspicious day and the religious minded ladies of the village came to see the child and bless Him. Each gave a different opinion of the child. One woman questioned whether the child was actually a boy or a doll made of golden butter. Another woman commented that she had never seen a child who could cool both the eyes and the heart. Every day a crowd gathered at the house of Harai Ojha and for the well being of His son Harai Ojha would distribute money to needy people and perform other types of charitable activities. Harai Ojha’s son grew like the waxing moon and remained the center of pleasure for His parents. His mother
loved Him so much that she never put Him down from her lap. At the time of His name giving ceremony someone suggested the name Rama and someone else suggested the name Nityananda for the child. When he was old enough to crawl on the ground people spontaneously called Him Nitai and wanted to hold Him
on their laps. People were enchanted by His sweet smile and His tiny teeth which looked like drops of milk. Nityananda became the centre of life for the people of Ekachakra.

“The old man continued to tell His story to Jahnava Isvari and her associates. He said that one day he felt disturbed for some reason so he went to the house of Harai simply to see Nitai. When he took the child in
His lap, all His miseries seemed to vanish. Harai Pandita’s affection for His son was boundless and he would never go anywhere far from the child. Once he went to the house of a Yajamana but returned immediately to His home to check on Nityananda. His mother used to smear the dust of tumeric on His body to brighten His complexion but the tumeric seemed dull next to Nityananda’s own golden color. She smeared scented oil on His head to cool it but His body was cooler and sweeter than the oil itself. After giving Him a bath His mother would dry Him with a soft piece of cloth. Then she would dress Him in silk and advise Him to play in the house.”

Such were some of the childhood activities of Lord Nityananda.

When Lord Caitanya appeared, Lord Nityananda was already about 12 years old, and understanding that His friend had at last appeared, Lord Nityananda roared with delight. Caitanya Bhagavata describes: “Some people speculated, ‘It must be a thunderclap.’ Others thought it was the sound of some impending disaster. Still others said, ‘We know the reason for this sound. Lord Nityananda, the Lord of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas, is roaring in ecstasy.’”

But then shortly after that, when Lord Nityananda was still 12, He left home, and everyone in Ekacakra became devastated. Caitanya Bhagavata describes:

“The residents of Ekachakra regularly visited the house of Harai Pandita to console him and his wife. Three months had passed but Harai and Parvati had not taken a bit of food. They had grown mad by continuous crying and calling out the name of Nityananda. Villagers would offer them food but the thought of sustaining their lives simply increased their misery.

“In his madness Harai would call out to Nitai requesting Him to come and sit on his lap for he had not seen Him in such a long time. Other times he would call Nitai to accompany him to the tank for a bath. Then he would call his son to walk in front as they walked in the field inspecting the ripeness of the rice plants. Then he would call Nitai to accompany him to the market to buy new clothes and other things. He would call his son to come and eat the prasad of Visnu, telling Him that His mother was waiting. Or he would ask Nitai to take part in a debate on Sastra with other students of the Pandita. Occasionally he would call his wife in great excitement to come and see that Nityananda was coming down the road. The sannyasi Thakura had kindly returned their son.

“In this way the parents of Nityananda passed their day until the time of their death. After their disappearance the friends of Nityananda left Ekachakra and the villagers also moved to other places without telling anyone where they were going. Across the river a Yavana had built a village in his own name and a small population had developed there. In the passing of time, Ekachakra had become simply ruins.

“The old brahmana continued to tell Jahnava Isvari and the Vaisnavas that only he and a few other men remained in Ekachakra because of the memory of Nityananda. Although he was old and he could not walk properly, he would nevertheless leave his home each day and wander the streets and fields of Ekachakra to visit the places where Nityananda used to play. Just in the shadow of his peepal tree Nityananda and His friends would eat and play.

“‘Providence is cruel for I have lived this long life with only my memories of Nityandanda. I simply hoped that one day I would see Him again but, alas, he has never returned to Ekchakra. I simply pray to be reborn in Ekchakra life after life on the hope of seeing my Nityananda. And at the end of each life let me simply call the name of Nitai Cand.’”

Srila Vrindavana das Thakura glorifies Lord Nityananda and Lord Caitanya: “All glories to Sri Nityananda, the primeval Lord and first manifestation of Sri Caitanya, it is only by His causeless mercy that the glorious pastimes of Sri Caitanya manifest within one’s heart.

“By the grace of Sri Gauracandra, one can become lovingly attached to Sri Nityananda. All obstacles and misfortunes in life are then extirpated as soon as the truth about Sri Nityananda becomes revealed within one’s heart.

“Those who desire to overcome the material whirlpool and drown in the nectarine ocean of devotional service should worship Sri Nitaicandra.

“Many praise My Lord saying, ‘Lord Nityananda is like Lord Balarama.’ While others say, ‘He is most dear to Lord Caitanya.’

“I hear various opinions about Him-that He is a sannyasi, or a humble devotee, or an erudite Vedic scholar. People may say whatever is their desire and conjecture without inhibition, stopping at nothing. Some may even go to the extent of saying that His connection with Lord Caitanya is not intimate-that He is just a menial servant. None of this affects me at all. I simply pray that His lotus feet remain impressed upon my heart eternally.

“After repeated attempts to invoke good judgment in all people, if some sinful lot continues to criticize My Lord, then I will kick them on their heads to save them from imminent disaster.

“Those persons, who misinterpret the playful remarks of Advaita Acarya Prabhu to Sri Nityananda as criticism, should realize that those remarks were actually shaded glorifications of My Lord.

“All the Vaisnava associates of Lord Caitanya are eternally liberated and enlightened souls. What is sometimes wrongly understood to be disturbing arguments or abusive language used between them is actually one of the ways they express their deep love for each other and is part of their pastimes.

“An ordinary person is therefore discouraged from taking sides in such a mock fight, for if he criticizes any one of the parties, he then places himself in a most precarious position.

“One who follows Sri Nityananda without being critical of Him becomes steadfast in his spiritual practices and will certainly attain the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya.

“I intensely yearn for the day when I will see my Lords, Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Sri Caitanya, surrounded by all their devotees. Lord Nityananda is my absolute master. By taking shelter of His lotus feet and His
instructions, let me serve and worship Lord Caitanya. I greatly desire to study the Srimad Bhagavatam in the presence of Sri Nityananda-svarupa, birth after birth. This is my humble submission eternally.

“All glories to the Supreme Lord, Sri Caitanya! You are fully independent to act as You wish. You can give me the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, or You can separate me from them. Therefore, I pray that You-My dear Lord, Sri Caitanya-will mercifully grant that my whole heart and soul will eternally remain fixed at Your lotus feet and at the lotus feet of Sri Nityananda.

“O Lord Caitanya, Sri Nitaicandra is devoted exclusively to You, so no one can attain His shelter without Your blessings.”

Hoping this meets you well.

Your servant,

Bhakti Caitanya Swami

PS I will write a report about the Navadvipa Parikrama in a few days.

Mayapur is busier than ever before with enthusiastic devotees from all over the world eagerly waiting to celebrate the 523rd appearance day of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. On this Gaura Purnima day, there will be 523 lamps offering for the pleasure of the Lord. The lamps offering will be performed during the arati time after the Maha abhisheka. To make this offering complete, still more lamps are available for sponsorship. Come forward and celebrate this glorious moment of Lord’s appearance by offering a lamp. You can also sponsor kalash/ conch for bathing the Lordships.

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Hundreds of devotees from all over the world, amongst them were HH Chandra Mauli Swami , MahaVisnu Swami and several Senior devotees, gathered on Saturday, 7th of March in front of Sri Sri Radha Madhava’s Chandradoya temple at 4 pm, well equipped with towels and sun hats, to celebrate together the “Gangapuja”. They all carried an earthen water pot to collect Gangawater for the bathing ceremony on Gaura purnima. A traditional Indian music band headed the procession, followed by Sri Sri Gaura Nitai deities, Sastra Prabhu’s joyful Harinama party and the heavy palanquin with the small yet majestic deity of Jagatguru Srila Prabhupada’ under an pompous umbrella.

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If you are an experimenting beader as I am you may find my beading useful. First pic shows some turban decorations that I made. The beige stone piece is made from some non symmetrical stones that I purchased and mounted on hard backing. A brooch pin is affixed to the back.

Then the yellow flower piece is made from flowers I purchased and I then added drops with gold bead caps. The other pieces are from home made satin roses with drops added and brooch pins.

Further below are belt patterns I experimented with. The satin ribbons are attached just as in the previous post regarding the chokers.

Bhagavata-sparsa is a new three-month course offered to you under the direction of Sri Gopiparanadhana Prabhu by the Srimad-Bhagavata Vidyapitham, an educational project set up by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

The course is designed to

(1)Help students become familiar with the Bhagavad-gita and a portion of the Srimad-Bhagavatam,

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By Ananda Tirtha das

Thanks to Sukirti Madhavi DD from Chennai and other devotees who are doing the entire transcriptions you can read the SB classes given in Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir!

We would like to introduce you to our new web blog, where we can regularly share new pictures and updates with you. In this way you can remain connected to our Harinama and Food For Life activities in Mayapur wherever you are, and also show your friends something about our program here.

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