by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 03:45 PM
It has recently come to my attention that Hare Krishna centers in New Zealand have stopped offering milk products to Krishna because they don’t have any protected cows giving milk. Of course we know we must do our best to protect cows and that much more should be done, but I don’t believe stopping milk offerings is a step in that direction.
As I recall, most of the time when Srila Prabhupada gave a reason for protecting cows, it was that we take her milk and therefore the cow is our mother. That argument is weakened when we renounce milk.
The material condition is suffering a variety of pains and anxieties with repeated birth, disease, old age, and death (though unprotected cows rarely get to experience old age), and the body cannot be protected beyond what the individual karma affords, except through mercy connected with devotional service. Real protection is to engage someone in Krishna’s service.
So here is a situation where devotees apparently have bowed to the social influence of overwhelmingly atheistic vegan animal rights activists (I was one of those before finding Srila Prabhupada’s books) and stopped offering milk to Krishna. Devotees have thereby stopped connecting suffering dairy cows with Krishna through devotional service.
Now Krishna will apparently have no reason to think, “Since I have taken this cow’s milk, I should save the soul from this unfortunate condition and place her in a family of My devotees.”
I’m not aware that Srila Prabhupada ever said to only offer milk to Krishna if it can be obtained from protected cows. If there a written analysis of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings on this subject that prompted this decision, I’d like to see it.
Hare Krishna
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 02:11 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 02:09 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 02:07 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 02:05 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 02:00 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 01:58 PM
"We do not mean to say that Reason is a foolish principle. On the contrary we do not find better admirers of Reason than our humble selves. We hold that man's superiority amongst all created beings consists in man's possessing the noble gift of Reason."Thus we find that the object of Reason is to help Love and not to create it. Reason may be properly styled as the servant of Love and must always be subject to her in all her hopes, aspirations, and holy works.
The Rationalist on the contrary considers Reason as all and all! This is a degradation of humanity! The progressive Rationalist, on the other hand, believes in the principle of love, but attempts to make her the maid-servant of Reason! This is another error! He makes spiritual love sometimes a prisoner in the jails of Reason! Love wants to soar on her spiritual wings to a realm where the Jailer (Reason) cannot go and the latter is sure to tie up her wings for fear lest she goes to an unworthy place!
Love utters sounds of a spiritual character peculiar to herself, but Reason, having no previous experience of it, mistakes it for a disease and administers medicine for her cure!! Thus it is that the natural strength of the Queen of our Soul is crippled by artificial administration of the dry principle of Reason and she rests in us as if a bird taken in a cage! Oh! What a havoc doth Reason commit by abuse of his power. Oh! Shame to the Rationalist! God help the man!!"
From an article by Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura entitled, "The Temple of Jagannath at Puri (India)", published September 15, 1871
by Gauranga Kishore Das (gaurangakishore@gmail.com) at May 12, 2009 12:39 PM
VII
Sing the song of the moment in careless carols, in the transient light of the day;
Sing of the fleeting smiles that vanish and never look back;
Sing of the flowers that bloom and fade without regret.
Weave not in memory’s thread the days that would glide into nights.
To the guests that must go bid God-speed, and wipe away all traces of their steps.
Let the moments end in moments with their cargo of fugitive songs.
With both hands snap the fetters you made with your own heart chords;
Take to your breast with a smile what is easy and simple and near.
Today is the festival of phantoms that know not when they die.
Let your laughter flush in meaningless mirth like twinkles of light on the ripples;
Let your life lightly dance on the verge of Time like a dew on the tip of a leaf.
Strike in the chords of your harp the fitful murmurs of moments.
At present there are about five thousand temples in Vrndavana, and still our society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, is constructing a huge, magnificent temple for the worship of Lord Krsna and Lord Balarama, along with Radha-Krsna and Guru-Gauranga.
Since there is no prominent Krsna-Balarama temple in Vrndavana, we are attempting to construct one so that people will be attracted to Krsna-Balarama, or Nitai-Gauracandra.
Vrajendra-nandana yei, saci suta haila sei. Narottama dasa Thakura says that Balarama and the son of Maharaja Nanda have advented Themselves as Gaura-Nitai. To propagate this fundamental principle, we are establishing a Krsna-Balarama temple to broadcast to the world that worship of Gaura-Nitai is the same as worship of Krsna-Balarama.
-- Srila Prabhupada in Śrī Caitanya Caritāmrita Madhya 16.281
"The Amar Ujala, a daily Indian newspaper ranked 34th in the world in circulation, has selected ISKCON's Bhaktivedanta Gurukula and International School in Vrindavan (BGIS) as the top school in the Mathura district and the second best school in the State of Uttar Pradesh.
The selection was released in the Newspapers’ Education and Career section on 6th May.
The Director of BGIS, Ananda Vrindavanesvari devi dasi, was overjoyed upon receiving the news. “This is a tribute to Srila Prabhupada who opened this school in 1976. I take this as recognition of his genius in wanting schools that not only taught academics, but also focused on the moral and Krishna conscious needs of students.”
We are happy to announce that our gallery could be accessed now. We have resumed posting daily darshan pictures of Mayapur deities from yesterday. Please visit here for Chandan Yatra festival pictures. You can take darshan of small Radha-Madhava in various pastimes. Today was Raghunatha Vesha (as Lord Ramachandra). Sri Nrsimha Chaturdasi pictures are uploaded here. Have a great viewing.
From Theology For Beginners by Frank Sheed, and shared with us by Caitanya Mangala Prabhu from a great class he just gave.
Dear devotees,
Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
When I had arrived in Moscow initially on April 28th I was picked up at the airport by my disciple Jai Sacinandana das, who is also know as the famous Russian DJ, DJ List. He and his friend Marina, a well known television personality in Moscow drove me from the airport to the flat of Talavana das and told me how they had been on holiday in Thailand andhad met devotees there. Now Jai Sacinandana was back in Moscow and was finding that due to the financial crisis, work was not as easy to get as before.
They drove me to the airport in the afternoon and I spent two days in Izhevsk and then returned to Moscow on May 1st, a famous holiday in Russia - “Workers’ Day”. I arrived there in the morning, and spent the day again in the flat of Talavana das, one of my disciples there, and then flew to Omsk at 11.40 at night, and after a three hour flight landed there at about 6am local time, having not really had any sleep.
We had an evening programme at the temple that night, and then a morning programme in a big yoga studio the next morning, and then went to the Sunday programme in the temple again.
At about 6pm we started driving to Novosibirsk, from where I was to fly at 8am the next morning to Krasnoyarsk, the official start of my East Siberian tour for this year. It was a truly austere experience, and we finally arrived in Krishna Kaneya’s flat there at about 2am, and then at 5 had to get up to prepare for the flight. What a life!
Svarupa Damodara, my chief disciple in West Siberia, which Novosibirsk is the capitol of, came with me to the airport, along with Krishna Kaneya, and I checked in for the flight. We went upstairs to the security check, and the police there told them they had to get out, as they weren’t flying.
So there I was, just me and these really mean Russian police who didn’t speak any English, and they started firing questions at me in Russian. My Russian is very poor, but somehow by Krishna’s grace I managed to follow what they were saying. The flight was going first to Krasnoyarsk and then to some other town, and they asked me which place I was going to. I answered them correctly and they accepted it and let me know without further interrogation. One of them said quietly to the other “on gavarit po Russkie” (he speaks Russian). Little did they know how far from the truth that was, but still by Lord Krishna’s mercy they thought I could handle them and stopped trying to bewilder me with their aggressiveness.
The flight was uneventful, and I arrived in Krasnoyarsk at about 8.30am local time, to find the temperature was 3 degrees above zero. I was met by Subala and Nityananda, two of my leading disciples from the area, and on the way to the temple they filled me in on the local ISKCON politics. The temple is in the name of an individual devotee, as according to Russian law an organization cannot own a building unless it is completely built. If it is not built yet, or is partially built, it has to be owned by a private person. This is certainly a crazy law, and now they were experiencing how mad it was here.
So now the devotee in whose name the property is registered is refusing to sign it over to ISKCON, unless the whole management is changed to suit him.
We met with him a day or two later, and he was adamant that he would not sign it over, even though it is ISKCON’s building, until the changes were made to the management, and it appeared to us that there was no guarantee he would do it then, either.
A devotee who is a lawyer was there trying to help us resolve the situation, and I asked him “if someone demands something like this under these circumstances, what do you call that?”
“Blackmail!” the lawyer replied.
The “owner” responded “yes, I am blackmailing you”. Very honest of him to admit that!
Such are the problems we encounter sometimes in our service as GBCs around the world. Actually we encounter all sorts of extraordinary things.
On the 7th of May we went to Achinsk, a town about 2 hours drive from Krasnoyarsk, to do a Deity welcoming programme with the devotees there. Achinsk was one of the main places affected when Murali Krishna das came to the area a couple of years ago. Suddenly we found that more than half of the ISKCON devotees had left us and joined him, before we could do anything about it, due to the divisive preaching of Murali Krishna.
Still now most of that group of devotees are still following him, although through the efforts of the local ISKCON members, now our numbers and programmes are building up again. The wife of the main person who was assisting Murali Krishna in those days came and apologized to me and asked if she could be in ISKCON again, and we were very happy to welcome her home.
We celebrated Lord Nrsingadeva’s Appearance Day on May 8th, there in Krasnoyarsk, and that evening Subala and I flew to the next town, Ulan Ude. We flew out of Krasnoyarsk at about 8.30 in the evening, but due to the flight going through another city, Irkutsk, we eventually only got to Ulan Ude at about 2am the next morning.
As we were standing on the bus to go out from the terminal in Krasnoyarsk to the plane two very drunk businessmen got on the bus, shouting and generally overflowing with liquor driven ecstasy. They had apparently just completed a successful business deal that afternoon.
When they saw me, dressed as a devotee they called out “Hare Krishna!” Then they discussed among themselves whether I was a Hare Krishna or a Buddhist, but fortunately they didn’t bother me. When we went into the terminal in Irkutsk, in between flights they again had an friendly drunken outburst of “Hare Krishna” but fortunately then got sidetracked by something else and didn’t bother us.
In Ulan Ude the devotees had been renting a kindergarten for about 10 years, which was a very nice facility, but then late last year they lost it, and are now trying to build a temple outside the town, which will take some years. In the meantime they are renting a hall for holding programmes, and we got together with the devotees there on the Saturday and Sunday evenings.
Ulan Ude is in a region known as Boryettia, which is really part of what used to be Mongolia. The majority of the population are known as Boryettis, and look like typical Mongolian people, and they’re all Buddhists. They’re the majority of the population in that area and near the city is the headquarters of Buddhism in Russia.
On my first visit there in 1994 the local Regional Secretary, Laksmi Narayana das (at that time Bhakta Leonid) took me to meet the leader of Buddhism in the country. I spoke to the man for a while and he was quite
friendly, but when I mentioned Shankaracarya, the original acarya of the Mayavadi line, who drove Buddhism our of India, his mood changed and he became disturbed.
He told me “we don’t accept Shankaracarya as an authority!”
At our programmes, to my surprise I found that there were more devotees in attendance than there had been when we had the temple before. On Sunday there were probably 100 devotees present and we had a nice programme for Lord Nrsingadeva.
Previously the Ulan Ude temple had been vibrant, and when I would come we would have some of the most amazing kirtanas I’ve ever been in. I used to call them “The Ulan Ude Kirtanas” and had wanted Jai Sacinandana to record them when he came with me one year. Unfortunately he was not able to do so very well, so it has been lost, but still the memories are there.
Then on Monday, May 11th we flew early in the morning from Ulan Ude to Irkutsk, where I am now, and that evening we had a nice programme in the temple there.
I will write again shortly when we move on further.
Hoping this meets you well.
Your servant,
Bhakti Caitanya Swami
Lecturing on Srimad Bhagavatam 1.7.47-48 in Vrindabana on 6 October 1976, Srila Prabhupada said this about Canakya Pandita: 'And from ordinary moral point of view, it is said by Canakya Pandita, atmavat sarva-bhutesu yah pasyati sa panditah. Anyone who can see in others, feeling like himself... If I cut your throat, you'll feel pain. How I know it? Now, because if you cut my throat I'll feel pain. So para-duhkha-duhkhi.'
Lord Nrsmha was bathed with fragrant oils. This very special prasad has been bottled, and is available from the book stall on weekends.
Hot on the heels of the "Student Hoaxes World Media with Wikipedia" story comes the result of a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey: "Readers reluctant to pay for online news .
It's not just the increased pace of news reporting that is causing journalistic standards to drop, but the increased economic pressure. Newspapers cannot afford to pay for the research needed for good journalism, and are instead reduced to republishing things verbatim from the internetz. (Australian urban commuter newspaper MX reads like a hardcopy of Reddit)
The survey, conducted in seven countries, was also at odds with some of the industry's hopes for new funding sources, seeing limited potential for electronic readers "due to unfamiliarity with this medium" and finding consumers were "currently unwilling to pay for online content on mobile devices".
What is happening is that the old economic model that underwrote journalism is being eroded by online content and advertising. This is destroying newspapers, and they are unable to fund journalism. In order to claw back some profits from their shrinking income streams they are forced to cut corners, cut costs. Journalistic quality suffers. (See: Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable", by Clay Shirky).
We need a new model for funding quality journalism. The old one is broken. The alternative is not inevitable bad quality journalism, but rather a new model that empowers quality journalism while recognizing the changed reality of the post-printing press digital distribution model.
It might be some time coming, but in the meantime, don't believe everything you read. Check the citations.
by course@ultimateselfrealization.com at May 12, 2009 02:30 AM
When Dublin university student Shane Fitzgerald posted a poetic but phony quote on Wikipedia, he was testing how our globalised, increasingly internet-dependent media was upholding accuracy and accountability in an age of instant news.
His report card: Wikipedia passed. Journalism flunked.
The sociology major's obituary-friendly quote – which he added to the Wikipedia page of Maurice Jarre hours after the French composer's death on March 28 – flew straight on to dozens of US blogs and newspaper Web sites in Britain, Australia and India. They used the fabricated material, Fitzgerald said, even though administrators at the free online encyclopedia twice caught the quote's lack of attribution and removed it.
A full month went by and nobody noticed the editorial fraud. So Fitzgerald told several media outlets they'd swallowed his baloney whole.
"I was really shocked at the results from the experiment," Fitzgerald, 22, said Monday in an interview a week after one newspaper at fault, The Guardian of Britain, became the first to admit its obituarist lifted material straight from Wikipedia.
"I am 100 percent convinced that if I hadn't come forward, that quote would have gone down in history as something Maurice Jarre said, instead of something I made up," he said. "It would have become another example where, once anything is printed enough times in the media without challenge, it becomes fact."
So far, The Guardian is the only publication to make a public mea culpa, while others have eliminated or amended their online obituaries without any reference to the original version – or in a few cases, still are citing Fitzgerald's florid prose weeks after he pointed out its true origin.
"One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack," Fitzgerald's fake Jarre quote read. "Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head that only I can hear."
Fitzgerald said one of his University College Dublin classes was exploring how quickly information was transmitted around the globe. His private concern was that, under pressure to produce news instantly, media outlets were increasingly relying on internet sources – none more ubiquitous than the publicly edited Wikipedia.
When he saw British 24-hour news channels reporting the death of the triple Oscar- winning composer, Fitzgerald sensed what he called "a golden opportunity" for an experiment on media use of Wikipedia.
He said it took him less than 15 minutes to fabricate and place a quote calculated to appeal to obituary writers without distorting Jarre's actual life experiences. He noted that the Wikipedia listing on Jarre did not have any other strong quotes.
If anything, Fitzgerald said, he expected newspapers to avoid his quote because it had no link to a source – and even might trigger alarms as "too good to be true." But many blogs and several newspapers used the quotes at the start or finish of their obituaries.
He said the Guardian was the only publication to respond to him in detail and with remorse at its own editorial failing. Others, he said, treated him as a vandal who was solely to blame for their cut-and-paste content.
"The moral of this story is not that journalists should avoid Wikipedia, but that they shouldn't use information they find there if it can't be traced back to a reliable primary source," said the readers' editor at the Guardian, Siobhain Butterworth, in the May 4 column that revealed Fitzgerald as the quote author.
"It's worrying that the misinformation only came to light because the perpetrator of the deception emailed publishers to let them know what he'd done, and it's regrettable that he took nearly a month to do so," she wrote.
Fitzgerald said he had waited in part to test whether news organisations or the public would smoke out the quote's lack of provenance. He said he was troubled that none did.
And he warned that a truly malicious hoaxer could have evaded Wikipedia's own informal policing by getting a newspaper to pick up a false piece of information – as happened when his quote made its first of three appearances – and then use those newspaper reports as a credible footnote for the bogus quote.
"I didn't want to be devious," he said. "I just wanted to show how the 24-hour, minute-by-minute media were now taking material straight from Wikipedia because of the (More) Page 2 deadline pressure they're under."
- via Stuff.co.nz
May 12 2009
Here’s a wonderful service opportunity for anyone interested in information technology, storage and retrieval systems:
I just put this advert out on Dandavats.com
Head Librarian
The Bhaktivedanta Research Centre (BRC) situated at 110A Motilal Nehru Road, Kolkata 700029 is seeking a creative and enthusiastic librarian.
The successful applicant should ideally hold an MLS or B. Lib. Sci or have on-site experience of information management and be able and willing to lead a variety of services in the development of the BRC library:
• collection development
• marketing
• proposal writing (fund raising)
• providing user education to patrons
• liaison to various ISKCON bodies, the BBT, as well as secular institutions, libraries, centers of education, academics etc.
The librarian will develop the library in a variety of formats; develop and manage exhibits and outreach events; research external funding sources, write proposals, be detail-oriented and have a minimum of several years of computer experience.
Librarian must have strong communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills and be able to assess patron information needs to determine appropriate information resources to meet patron requirements.
Work will include research, serials management, cataloging collection development, instruction on accessing library services, acquisition of hard-copy and electronic information resources, website maintenance and customer service.
Librarian must be fluent in English and a working knowledge of one or more of Bengali/ Hindi/ Sanskrit is a big plus.
We would like to stress that this represents an ideal opportunity for devotional service in the academic field and should be seen from that perspective, rather than as merely a work or job opportunity. Modern accommodations and a basic stipend will be provided to the successful candidate.
——————————————————–
If you are interested, or you know someone who might be qualified and interested, please contact me.
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 12:22 AM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 12:22 AM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 12:21 AM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 12:21 AM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 12:20 AM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 12:19 AM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 12:19 AM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 12:19 AM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 12, 2009 12:19 AM
There are certain questions which always seem to pop up. In regard to the existence of God, a question that philosophers have pondered for centuries… ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ The Greek philosopher Epikouros, succinctly summarises the argument. Is God willing to prevent evil but not able... but then He is not Omnipotent. Is God able to prevent evil but not willing... but then He is not compassionate. Is God able and willing to prevent evil... but then why would evil exist? Maybe God is neither able nor willing... but then why call him God? So the question remains as to how suffering can coexist with the notion of a compassionate, all knowing and powerful God.
by Sutapa das (sutapa.kks@hotmail.com) at May 11, 2009 10:09 PM
If the subject of vegie pets is not your 'bowl of chum', have a look at the latest Memory Lane #3.
This is my most-often-asked question. Today Miss Harsha Advani from Pune, India, wrote and asked it again:
"...my query is why shouldn't onion and garlic be consumed in sattvic diet? what are it's side effects or consequences?"
My reply:
Dear Miss Advani,
You may know that onions and garlic are botanical members of the Allium family - along with leeks, chives and shallots. According to Ayurveda, India's classic medical science, foods are grouped into three categories - sattvic, rajasic and tamasic - foods in the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. Onions and garlic, and the other Alliums are classified as rajasic and to some extent tamasic, which means that they increase passion and to some degree ignorance.
Those that subscribe to pure brahmana-style cooking of India, including myself, and Vaishnavas - followers of Lord Vishnu, Rama and Krishna - like to only cook with foods from the sattvic category. These foods include fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs, dairy products, grains and legumes, and so on. Specifically, Vaisnavas do not like to cook with rajasic or tamasic foods because they are unfit to offer to the Deity.
Rajasic and tamasic foods are also not used because they are detrimental to meditation and devotions. Of course some of the Alliums have specific health benefits; garlic is respected as a natural antibiotic. In recent years, the cardiovascular implications of vegetable Alliums has been studied in some detail, although the clinical implications of onion and garlic consumption from this point of view are not well understood (Block 1992; Briggs et al. 2001). Nevertheless, despite medical comings and goings, alliums are still avoided by spiritual adherents because they stimulate the central nervous system, can act as a natural aphrodisiac, and disturb meditation.
You may be aware that strict Buddhists also do not eat any of the Alliums for the same reasons as adherents of India's Ayurveda - they disturb meditation. If you visit any strict vegetarian Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, or Japanese restaurant anywhere in the world you will most likely find no Alliums in any of the cooking.
One reason is because in ancient Tao writings, one sage Tsang-Tsze described the Alliums as the "five fragrant or spicy scented vegetables" , and that each have a detrimental effect on one of the following five organs - liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and heart.
Tsang-Tsze said that these pungent vegetables contain five different kinds of enzymes which cause "reactions of repulsive breath, extra-foul odour from perspiration and bowel movements, and lead to lewd indulgences, enhance agitations, anxieties and aggressiveness," especially when eaten raw.
That in a nutshell is why I don't cook with garlic and onions.
The following is a Sunday feast lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 10 May 2009 at Hillsborough, USA.
To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either “Save link as” or “Save target as”
The following is a Sunday feast lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 10 May 2009 at Hillsborough, USA. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo;The following is a lecture (part 3) given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 11 May 2009 in Hillsborough, USA.
To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either “Save link as” or “Save target as”
The following is a lecture (part 3) given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 11 May 2009 in Hillsborough, USA. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo;The following is a lecture (part 2) given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 9 May 2009 in Hillsborough, USA.
To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either “Save link as” or “Save target as”
12 May 2009: Low quality link was broken, fixed now.
The following is a lecture (part 2) given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 9 May 2009 in Hillsborough, USA. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo; 12 May 2009: Low quality link was broken, fixed now.>>> Ref. VedaBase => KB 21: The Gopis Attracted by the Flute
by Gauranga Kishore Das (gaurangakishore@gmail.com) at May 11, 2009 05:13 PM
Darsan - 10th May 2009 - Iskcon in Lenasia, Johannesburg, South Africa
Guru Puja for Jayapataka Swami's Vyas Puja celebration.
Dallas, TX
2009-04-05
Pushpanjali offering on Jayapataka Swami's Vyas Puja celebration.
Dallas, TX
2009-04-05
I was doing door to door book distribution in Ireland. I was talking to one man who gave a nice donation but didnt want a book, I was thinking how to get him to take a book. He didnt believe in God. So I looked into his eyes and said, "I'm a fortune teller, would you like to know your future?
The man said, "Yes.OK."
I said, "You're going to get old, diseased, and then you're going to die. If you want to do something about it then read this Bhagavad-gita."
He then took the book.
Hare Krishna, Ananta Nitai das
I was doing door to door book distribution in Ireland. I was talking to one man who gave a nice donation but didnt want a book, I was thinking how to get him to take a book. He didnt believe in God. So I looked into his eyes and said, "I'm a fortune teller, would you like to know your future?
The man said, "Yes.OK."
I said, "You're going to get old, diseased, and then you're going to die. If you want to do something about it then read this Bhagavad-gita."
He then took the book.
Hare Krishna, Ananta Nitai das
Wow ! Its been a while since I last wrote something interesting here. I had been away on work for a while and only just got back. I was wondering what I would share with you. This weekend was great with Friday being the Sri Narasimha Chaturdasi festivities at the temple. I have taken some snaps on the day but I am yet to upload them and write something on it. But as I was lazying at the temple on a slightly yet beautiful rainy day in Melbourne, my thoughts wandered back to Mayapur where I was few months back. One of the highlights of that trip was the time I spent in the kitchen there. And a busy kitchen it was ! No, I didn’t do any service there. Just wanted to have a look at those behind the scenes devotees at work.
Vegetable Cutting
One of the first thing I saw when I made my way in, were these women who were busy cutting and chopping vegetables. The whole scene looked very colorful. Blood red tomatoes, yellow melons, green leaves mixed with many bright sarees. All the time, as they cut the vegetables, they chattered away in Bengali, completely oblivious to my presence there. They have no time to waste. In fact, for the 1/2 day I was there, I don’t think I saw these hard working ladies ever get up, look tired or complain.
Plenty of chopping up...
And they cut that many !! Here I am, after cutting few carrots, potatoes and soaking frozen peas, just for a 1 person dinner, feel that I had put in so much work. And the above baskets were only the first run. They did a few more of these. I was also pleased to see how clean the kitchen was. Although there were plenty of cooking happening all around, the place was clean, had fresh air to breathe and utensils shone in the sun light pouring in. A truly well-lit place.
The Stir
As the ladies cut up the veggies, this devotee had the rice ready. He mixed some spices and stirred it with all his might. At a certain point, another devotee joined in from the opposite direction to stir the same bucket of rice. Stirring rice is my favourite exercise in the kitchen. Not sure why. Even during catering events here, I quickly take position to stir the rice. Nothing like that fresh steam hitting your face. Very refreshing. Therapeutic almost.
Subji preparation - Starting with tomatoes
Back to the vegetables. They were preparing a mixed vegetable subji I think. In goes the tomatoes. And the long stirring exercise takes place here as well. This gentleman was fun. Although, I told him I couldn’t speak Bengali, he however decided to lecture to me on something in Bengali. I think he was talking about cooking and photography at the same time. But every time I clicked a photo, he would come running with his chef cap moving from side to side, to see what I had taken. He was a hard man to please. He didn’t look satisfied with what I had taken. So, he went back and continued the exercise of stirring. I sensed that he wanted me to take a few more and the above one he liked. Finally.
More veggies added
The tomato stirrer’s best mate was busy stirring away the melons and some other vegetable that looked like Zucchini. Nice aroma sprang forth here. He looked a seasoned melon stirrer. He was quick and moved around his stove many times to ensure that the spices were well mixed.
Spices
I saw these spices where the rice was being mixed. I am not sure what they are actually. Perhaps, raisins and cashew nuts. Whatever it was, sure smelt good. And positioned well for a photograph.
Customized Chappatis
The counterparts of the vegetable chopping ladies were the chappati women. You won’t believe the number of chappatis they had to roll out. Before I started clicking away, I just sat on the floor and watched them. This group was very quiet and concentrated much. Size does matter here. Very quickly, they made the ball and rolled out the chappati for their friends nearby to fry them.
The Chappati making stove
That was hot. I mean, really hot. All around it. But the ladies didn’t care. They were mused that I was so spoilt that I couldn’t bear a little heat and many giggles came my way. Once again, these devotees concentrated on getting those chappatis made as quickly as possible. Chappatis were tossed up in the air and for a few seconds looked like flying saucers in the air before they made a smooth landing on the hot plate.
Gulab Jamuns!!!!
What ISKCON temple would miss out on Gulab Jamuns !! And this is one of the man at Mayapur, responsible for belting out those spongy wonders. Looking back, gulabs were never my favourite till I came to Melbourne ISKCON temple. I adore them now ! Anyways, this devotee single handedly made thousands of gulabs for the guests all day long. He never spoke much. Every now and then, he would look and smile at me.
Aahh...the Lassi
And when in hot Mayapur, lassi is a must, watched over by friendly flies. The first time I had lassi was as a child in Varanasi. My parents and extended family had booked almost a whole compartment in a train and went on a pilgrimage to many holy sites across India. While on a boat on the river Ganga, a man on another boat came cruising by and sold us lassi in mud cups. I had never tasted anything like it. The thick yoghurt. The sugar. Fell in love immediately with the drink. Clearly my favourite even now.
Rice on wheels
This devotee boy made many trips to the kitchen to fill his bucket of rice. Looked like he was on a skateboard most of the time. He would come in a flash, with few large scoops fill the bucket, load it on to the wheels and scooter past skillfully through the many devotees doing their service in the kitchen.
All preparations ready to go...
Many stainless steel vessels get filled with various preparations, ready to be served to the hungry devotees from all over India and perhaps the world as well.
Devotees and guests take in the mercy
You know the food is good when the serving hall is silent. There must have been hundreds of people here but it was almost quiet. You could see everyone relishing the Hare Krishna mercy.
State of the art dishwashing system
Never again will I ever complain about dish washing. That lady with a huge smile and a gentle song on her lips went about cleaning every single utensil that were used in the mammoth cooking exercise. And how clean they were ! And how happy she was !
" Hari Bol !!!!! "
When I mentioned to the chappati ladies at the kitchen that I would be sharing the photos with a lot of people and if they had anything to tell you all, they said loudly in unison, “Hari Bol !!!”
That’s what brings all these devotees together. Whether you are cooking, or in deity worship or singing kirtans or visiting the temple, its the desire to please Hari and His devotees that keeps all of them going on and on, no matter how tough the exercise might be. These hardships and long hours are nothing compared to their desire to serve. To serve unconditionally.
Kripamoya, one of our favourite kirtan leaders, wrote about his recent participation in the Oxford Kirtan Experience in his blog - The Vaishnava Voice. I think he's described it all better than we have! You can read it here.
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by Bhakti-Tirtha Swami
It’s been quite a run. Wednesday Hari Bhakta sponsored a feast for noon prasadam in memory of the one year anniversary of his wife’s leaving her body. That evening there was a gathering in the temple with feast to remember Jayananda.
Thursday was Lord Nrshimadev’s Appearance Day and being so close to the Festival of Inspiration a lot of devotees came in early so that was quite a festive event.
Friday through Sunday was the FOI and it was great but by Sunday noon I was almost looking forward to having a mundane Monday. Except that ain’t gonna happen because today I am going with the devotees from the Hungarian farm project up into Amish country to make a pilgrimage to Lehman’s Nonelectric Harware store.
They also are wanting to visit some Amish but we will have to see how that goes. Amish aren’t into proselytizing and are fairly private. It’s not like you can call them up, either, to make an appointment. You sort of have to know them.
My only Amish friend is out in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, too far to go visit. We will just have to go there and play it by ear. Gopish is going to drive us up there.
Everyone had a different experience at the FOI, mine was mostly hanging out and talking to devotees, and even then I didn’t get around to everyone I would have liked to — so much katha, so little time.
I almost hate to point out any highlights because I might be seen as slighting some others, so consider anything I mention today or later as randomly selected.
One high point was during a Srimad Bhagvatam class that was ostensibly given by Devamrta Swami, somehow it segued to Ramesvara who was visiting the festival. He gave a wonderful and often humorous story about the sacrifices the devotees in LA did during the production of the Chaitanya Charitamrta, 17 volumes of which were published in about a year and a half. A feat considered impossible at the onset but Prabhupada had said that impossible is a word in a fool’s dictionary and they did manage to pull it off.
I have to confess I have some mixed feelings about Ramersvara returning to ISKCON but, letting go of the past, the intensity of being in the moment in the temple room during that class was a wonderful shared experience with all the devotees hearing about a marathon team effort that was inspired by Srila Prabhupada.
It made me remember another side of it. After each book would be received from the printer, copy was immediately sent out to every temple and then they would make their orders for distribution.
So there we would be in New Vrindaban at that time, maybe a 120-150 devotees, all wanting to read the latest nectar and only one copy. Also, I might add, everyone in a very work ethic oriented environment with little time for reading.
The way it was resolved is that Taru would be given the day off from his regular service and he would read it. Then in the evening the devotees would gather and he would retell what he had read during the day.
Meanwhile, my garden gate remains unhung and various chores have been let go. The ground has been wet the whole time so so at least I haven’t lost any tilling time which I do need as some broccoli I was given is getting leggy and the rest of my tomatoes have to go out. The ground is warming up so it is time to plant beans but until a get a few days of dry weather … Maybe Wednesday is the best I can hope for at present. More on the FOI later.
Posted in News, Ramblings or Whatever
by Vijay Teli (noreply@blogger.com) at May 11, 2009 11:46 AM
by Bhakti lata (noreply@blogger.com) at May 11, 2009 10:56 AM
A provocative and challenging article from our friends at Above Top Secret.
In a lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam 1.4.24 in Montreal, Srila Prabhupada told us: "Chanakya Pandita says that 'If you want to make spiritual advancement, then you should always think that 'Death is next moment. Death is next moment.' Because there is no guarantee when death is coming. If I think that death is next moment, that is not any [sic] utopian. The next moment may be my death. And Chanakya Pandita says, 'But if you want to be materially happy, you should always think that I shall never die.' "
Swedish "Lounge Metal" band Hellsongs do acoustic folk-pop-indie versions of classic metal songs. For some reason Iron Maiden songs lend themselves to this treatment nicely:
by course@ultimateselfrealization.com at May 11, 2009 02:30 AM
Every Town and Village is our ongoing attempt to fulfil the instruction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu to chant the Holy Name in every town and village. Our definition of a "town or village" is a suburb with a distinct postcode. Since 2007 we have chanted in more than 50 of Brisbane's 150 postcodes. You can read more reports here
Some weeks there are a few people, some weeks more. This week we had quite a few people, with Sridhar playing saxophone, the one man cartal section Aprakrt das brahmacari, and Prabhu and his daughter joining us for the first time.
The obligatory video, shot this week by Nathan:
May 10, 3:30 A.M.
I did not get a good night’s sleep. I was awake much of the night. I finally decided to get up at 2:30 or 2:40 A.M. At least my head was clear. My mind drifted back to days when I was a young man living on the Lower East Side and going to Brooklyn College. I washed those memories off my face with water and prepared to call Baladeva. I began chanting at 3:30 A.M.
4:46 A.M.
I was drowsy while chanting and I only did four rounds. We will have to go to to the beach behind in the quota. I hope I’ll be able to stay awake there and pick up my pace. It’s depressing when I cannot chant at a fast clip. The drowsiness was due to the sleeplessness last night.
I finished only four rounds. I see I am a mass of distracting thoughts and, separate from them, I see my desire to fix my mind on the holy names. Periodically, I catch myself and express at least the desire to hear the names as they vibrate on my tongue. No one knows, only me, how strong this bad habit is. I’ve indulged in it like any other addiction. To get free isn’t easy. It’s a mental habit of allowing the mind to go wherever it wants during japa yajna.
There, I’ve said it concisely and accurately. Now stay on this one point. Whatever gain I can make, please do it. Continue to focus on that problem. Distinguish the distractions form the desire to hear. Start a new habit of deliberately taking the mind away from other thoughts and applying it to hearing Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Don’t expect this to easy at first but be persistent. Just hope I can make some headway. I shall not indulge so wantonly, obliviously, callously in other thoughts while chanting the Hare Krishna mantra on beads. I’ll remind myself what to do.
From Forgetting the Audience (1993): “I'll get up, ready for the last seven rounds. You can’t keep me down. I’m trying to squeeze a real sentiment out of the rock that is covering my heart. ‘Who goes there?,’ says the guard of the treasure. I slink away. But I’ll be back. The waves crash and jump upward, wind catches their tops and spins the foam higher.
“Learn from nature, Prabhupada says. The gulls are feeding in the same yard as the sheep. I thought there was no grass there at all, but they keep nibbling whatever they can get. Learn from life. In the kitchen next door, my friends are talking, although I told them not to. Learn how to concentrate and write despite that. Be tolerant, like the grass blowing in the wind and holding on by the roots. Be like a stone wall to maya. Be humble like a small daisy on the shore. Stand up for your rights like a fence post. Live in danger like the road and the car that passes by the cliff (with no guard rail) and the wind’s buffets and the waves’ booming in space and falling open like white flowers on the rocks in Brandon Bay.”
8:37 A.M.
The temperature is sixty-one degrees, and it’s sunny, but the wind is gusting and is blowing the sand on the people. When Baladeva came up to my room at 5:00 A.M., I had only chanted four rounds and decided to stay indoors and chant some more until breakfast. Now we have come to the beach, and I still have four more rounds to go. it’s a slow day for me. I don’t have much enthusiasm for chanting. We’re in the car, but we may not be able to go out for a walk because the blowing sand is stinging. Beach walkers go down to the water’s edge but then retreat within a few minutes because of the sand blowing. Today is Sunday, but the wind will probably keep the beach mostly empty. The breakers are coming in with lots of foam. Two old-timers are taking pictures of each other. The Lewes–Cape May ferry boat looms high on the horizon.
We are reading an amusing section in the Brhad Bhagavatamrta. The Yadus are trying to keep Krishna from going to Vrndavana, but He is crying out of separation. Kamsa’s widow, Padmavati, who lives in Dvaraka, says the Yadu dynasty will crumble if Krishna leaves, and the other Yadus are taking diplomatic positions so as not to oppose Krishna but to get Him to stay in Dvaraka. Krishna is obliged to all His dear devotees, and He is sometimes put into a quandary as to how to satisfy them all. Krishna’s strongest characteristic is to please His devotees, but it sometimes creates a problem.
I should behave like Krishna with my strongest desire to please others. But I ahve a strong desire to please myself. I am more inconvenienced with my won broken collarbone than I am with the more serious illness of a friend. This is not the Vaisnava spirit.
Now I am behind on my rounds and will have to catch up. That is not a selfish desire. Neither is my desire to write in the journal. They are services to Krishna and the devotees. I had better tend to them now.
10:00 A.M.
“The Circle With the Hole in the Middle.” This is an odd title. It sounds like a donut. Ornette is playing fast. It sounds like a modern painting, a circle with a hole in the middle. Something painted like that. It’s a colorful painting. It’s got more of that freedom and that forerunner and that face of the bass. How can a circle have a hole in the middle? It does so by geometric design. It’s easy to understand once you see it, once you experience it. It’s like other things Krishna does. He does the impossible. He does the delightful. He makes a circle with a hole in the middle. His wriggling, squeaking. Krishna does things like this, too—makes circles with holes in the middle. Lord Caitanya used to throw His cowherd boy’s stick in the air and swirl it around like a firebrand, so it looked like a continuous circle of fire. He made a circle with a hole in the middle. Everyone was astounded and cheered Him on. They said, “You are a real cowherd boy, that You’re able to do this miraculous thing. No one has done it before.” Krishna smiled and continued to do it, circling the firebrand so it looked like a continuous circle of fire. So it looked like a circle with a hole in the middle. The boys were delighted at His expertise. It was just another form of play. You know how Krishna likes to do those things. He delights the Vrajabhasis.
“Ramblin’.” This has got a nice beat, with Charlie Haden’s bass. It’s rambling sound. It’s like a cowboy western. Don Cherry plays a rambling line, and Ornette too. It’s their esoteric music, which is also just downhome country. The cowherd boys used to play like this too, get around together and make music out of their instruments just for fun. It has no other purpose but the fun of making music and being together in sanga. It’s a merry tune, but with some mourning in it, too. Rambling means they’re just having a good time, moving along at a rambling pace. This is how music should be. Going its own way and its own pace. It’s not very formal. It rambles, like a man on a horse or like some boys playing together. Like having fun in the land of eternal bliss. Charlie Haden takes a piece, strumming chords on the double bass. That’s the essence of rambling. Everyone else listens when he plays. All those deep notes. What fun. It’s not as simple as it sounds. Let’s ramble with Krishna. He’s always having fun. Even when the demons come, it’s just another kind of rambling. Come join us.
“Little Symphony.” This is playful, like making fun of a symphony. Ornette cuts loose. I’ve decribed it already as being like the neighing of a horse. Like Morse code, too. It’s a little symphony played in Vraja. It’s not like Beethoven, but it’s cowherd music. Don Cherry on pocket trumpet follows his master, Ornette, in a similar way. It’s all freedom, but it’s a little symphony. How is it like a little symphony? Because it plays like great music, only in a simple way. These men are masters, and they are doing something that was never done before. They’ve got a drummer, too, who plays a little symphony. It’s all playful, and the Vrajavasis join in the fun. It’s tongue in cheek.
Down at the beach this morning, I wrote that I was not enthusiastic about chanting today. I also said that I am more concerned with my own pains than with the diseases of others. These are not very good sentiments, but I confess them. Sometimes I think that I am not going to be able to improve these shortcomings of mine. I’m getting old and tired. Surely that’s not the fact. Prabhupada has written in his books that Vaisnavas don’t grow old, they keep their energy right up until the end. So I should have hope for improvement, with Your help.
But I do think I will have to improve in different ways than I used to. I do not have the youthful vigor, which enabled me to give four lectures a day at college classes and to go out in the street and distribute books and magazines. I can’t go back to the GBC meetings, and neither do they want me there. So my improvements will have to be in other ways. Also, my headaches seem to be a permanent part of my remaining life, and they prevent me from traveling and giving lots of lectures in temples. There are certainly ways in which I can improve, and I have to find them and work on them. One of the obvious ways I can improve is by my inward life. If I can’t go running out in the streets so much, I can stay in my bhajana-kutir and chant with enthusiasm on my beads or my clicker. I can improve my inner qualities of not being envious toward others and being more compassionate toward them. Even if I cannot meet with devotees so much, I can think well of them from a distance, and on the occasions when I do meet, I can be gracious and loving. These things will endear You to me, so I must try for them.
I also see no reason why I should slow down in my writing, which is my main service. I’m writing differently now, and perhaps I’ll have to keep writing in this way. It is harder for me to write orderly books than to write journals, but the journals are valuable, and people appreciate them. But whatever form it takes, I must not give up writing, even if I have to do it at a slower pace, less words per minute. Baseball pitchers wear out. Their arms lose strength, but some of them become baseball managers, and even when they’re too old for that, they become baseball broadcasters and stay in the game. I saw a TV commercial showing an old man playing softball. He said he loved softball so much he will never stop playing. But he admits now that he gets pains whenever he runs the bases. He says he takes an Aleve pain pill each day, and this keeps him going. His final remark was, “I will never stop playing softball.” Now that’s an overestimation of his abilities. One day, he will have to stop playing softball. Maybe he’ll be reduced to watching games instead. Or maybe he won’t even be able to do that. We do come to an end of our energies. My point is that we have to keep up our enthusiasm in one form or another. When Rupa Goswami became too old to circumambulate Govardhan Hill daily, as was his custom, Krishna gave him a Govardhana sila with His foot imprint and told him that if he circumambulated that sila daily, it would be as good as circumambulating the whole of Govardhana Hill. That was Krishna’s kindness, accommodating a devotee who had slowed down due to old age. Haridasa Thakura was also told that he did not have to worry that he could no longer chant three hundred thousand names a day because of old age and illness. Lord Caitanya said that he had already become liberated by his chanting. But Haridasa was not satisfied and requested the Lord that he please die first, before the Lord did, so that he would not have to bear the separation from the Lord. In different ways, devotees try to keep active and keep ahead of the game.
The bad thing is if we actually make an excuse of our loss of energies and not do things even though we can do them. We become hypochrondriacs, or we just retire prematurely. Prabhupada said we should never retire, and he never did, even into his eighties. Of course, Prabhupada is not someone we can imitate. We must do what we are able to do and not imitate him. But we do have to be careful that we don’t slow down unnecessarily and take a vacation mentality, thinking, “Now I’m a senior citizen. Not so much is expected of me. Krishna will excuse me.”
I pray to You, Krishna, not to let me make excuses for not serving You vigorously while I still have the energy. Let me not drop out completely just because I get headaches. Let me not say that I cannot lecture anymore because I’ve lost the ability and the newcomers are now so much better than I am. I can still give a simple talk. It’s my duty, and it will be appreciated.
Most important are my mental functions. Especially let me be free of envy and fault-finding. These are like poisonous snakes whose bite is fatal. After decades of decent service, I should not allow my devotional service to be killed by the mad elephant offense and similar aparadhas. My steadfast devotion to Srila Prabhupada should be as fresh and loving as it was in the early years. In fact, it must grow and mature into a more loving state, a more appreciative state. So I pray for spiritual youthfulness and energy, Lord. I know You can give it to me, even though my body grows older. I can grow more gleeful and jolly with each passing year, as I see myself coming closer to You and closer to the goal. Growing older means coming closer to the prayojana, the goal. It does not mean sliding back. Each year should mark an advance. I truly believe I am capable of advancing as time goes by, and I pray for it dearly. One doesn’t have to think strongly and play the mrdanga to be a kirtaneer. Singing comes from the heart. Prabhupada used to say that if you can’t get up and dance, you can dance from your chair. Each year should be happier, each year should fine a change, with material attachment loosening and breaking. Each year should bring me closer to Your lotus feet. Please don’t allow me to slough off physical activities that I am still capable of doing, and mental activities that I am still sharp enough to perform. Give me a life in high consciousness. These are some of my desires, and I pray You will give me the gumption to keep up my side of the bargain and remain a youthful devotee to the end of my days. To the degree that I admit I am older, let it be a wiser older, an older with experience, and let me use it to help others.
the yellow submarine, my bhajana kutir #67→
Srila Prabhupada used to call the youth of America, the flowers of this country. Youth are progressive, independent thinkers, educated, they are the future of every country. There is nothing like extending Krishna consciousness to the youth. Here are a few pictures of a group of hitch-hiking youth who we ran into in Encenitas, a beach town north of San Diego, as they were reading our 16 Rounds To Samadhi newspaper.
Khichari - the delectable, nourishing, succulent stew of rice, dal and vegetables has been the mainstay of millions since the dawn of creation.
Here's a letter from another appreciative recipient of the soothing balm which is khichari:
Dear Kurma, Wow!!! Thanks for that Khichari recipe in "Vegetarian World Food". I feel like I have been looking for this recipe for 20 years and finally found it. Home with the flu and trying to get better, I thought I would check out some healthy recipes and found Khichari. By luck, I had most of the ingredients here at home.
Whole-hearted thanks for your wonderful book and great intentions to offer delicious, nutritious recipes shared by peoples around the world.
Absolutely delicious! Perfect! Fantastic!
BRAVO!!!!! YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! J.S. San Francisco, California, USA
.............................................................................. So, here's the recipe:Mung Beans, Rice & Vegetables (Khichari)
Khichari (pronounced ‘kitch-eri’) is such an important dish for vegetarians that I have included a different recipe for it in each of my cookbooks. The flavoursome, juicy stew of mung beans, rice and vegetables is both nutritious and sustaining. It can be served any time a one-pot meal is required. You can practically live on khichari, and in fact some people do. I eat it accompanied by a little yogurt, some whole-wheat toast, lemon or lime wedges and topped with a drizzle of melted ghee. Bliss! Serves: 4 - 6 persons.
½ cup split mung beans, washed and drained 6 cups water 1 bay leaf thumb-size chunk ginger, chopped fine 1 small green chili, seeded and chopped ½ teaspoon turmeric 2 teaspoons coriander powder 1 cup Thai rice, or other long-grain rice of your choice 1 packed cup each broccoli, potato cubes and quartered Brussels sprouts, or vegetables of your choice 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped 1½ teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons ghee 2 teaspoons cumin seeds small handful curry leaves ½ teaspoon yellow asafetida powder ½ cup chopped fresh coriander leaves wedges of lemon, some chilled yogurt, and extra ghee for serving
Bring to a boil the mung beans, water, bay leaf, ginger, chili, turmeric and coriander in a saucepan, then reduce to a simmer, and cook, partially covered, for about 15 minutes or until the beans start to break up.
Add the rice
, vegetables, tomatoes and salt, increase the heat, and stirring, bring to a boil, then return to a simmer, covered. Stirring occasionally, cook for another 10–15 minutes, or until the rice is soft.Season: Heat the ghee in a small saucepan over moderate heat. Sprinkle in the cumin seeds, fry until a few shades darker, and add the curry leaves—careful, they crackle. Sprinkle in the yellow asafetida powder, swirl the pan and empty the fried seasonings into the khichari. Stir the seasonings through, then return to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes or so, or until the rice is fully swollen and soft. If you desire a moist khichari, add a little boiling water now.
Serve: Fold in the fresh coriander, and serve the khichari piping hot with a drizzle of warm ghee, and the accompaniments suggested above.
On Thursday, the 7th, we held a festival in Pandavas Paradise to celebrate the appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva.
This is a picture of our Yoga-Nrsimha deity with Lakshmi Devi and Sesa Naga.
Some of our Brasilia congregation were inspired to drive the 250km to Pandavas Paradise, just to participate in the Festival, driving out the next day very early, arriving in time for their jobs.
Most of the participants were from the local town of Alto Paraíso, though none of them “native” townsfolk. Alto Paraíso attracts seekers and hippies from all over Brazil and even other countries. It’s really the most “far out” small country town I know.
All in all we had about 50 people there.
These locals just love a good Hare Krishna Festival. They’ll sit and chant along for hours. They also pay close attention to the talk. I spoke a little about Lord Nrsimhadeva and together we chanted the Nrismhadeva prayer from the 5th Canto of the SB, spoken by Prahalada Maharaja.
When it’s time for kirtan, they dance very, very enthusiastically!
And they eagerly anticipate the prasadam, eating with great gusto, getting seconds and thirds.
The prasadam for this festival was especially tasty. It was prepared by Karuna Rsi Prabhvi (picture above), from Switzerland.
During the festival I also celebrated my 40th b-day! The crowd chanted a nice “Happy Birthday” and a nice big cake was made.
We had a wonderful time in Krishna consciousness!
You can see more pictures of the festival here.
This is Bhakta Franky’s short story how he journied to the shelter of Krishna’s lotus feet.
by Anuradha Keshavi (rt.kanna@gmail.com) at May 10, 2009 04:37 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 10, 2009 03:00 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 10, 2009 03:00 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 10, 2009 02:59 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 10, 2009 02:59 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 10, 2009 02:58 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 10, 2009 02:57 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 10, 2009 02:57 PM
by letters (wmdean@btopenworld.com) at May 10, 2009 02:56 PM
Hare krishna
Dandavat Pranams
This session focuses entirely on the Concept of the Individual Soul (Atman). The materialistic carvaka school, Buddhist philosophy, and the analysis of David Hume, the influential 18th century Scottish philosopher, are compared with the nyaya and vaisesika systems. In these later two systems, the soul is shown to be a unique substance — indestructible and eternal — with consciousness as it’s attribute. The nyaya arguments for the permanent existence of the soul, and the individual nature of the soul, are discussed in considerable detail.
Please click below link to download recording.
download (Downloads 34)
Click here for the full text.
Servant of Servants.
by Bhakti lata (noreply@blogger.com) at May 10, 2009 01:55 PM
Festival of Inspiration rolls on, I’m too into it to write about it at this time so here is an article with a picture of my son who is a cop in Georgia:
Cops on Shops raises more than $8,000
May 06, 2009
For three days, members of the Johns Creek Police Department sat up on the roof of Garrison’s Broiler & Tap in Johns Creek collecting donations for the Special Olympics. The department raised $8,000 from the community.
Johns Creek Police will join 1,000 other Georgia law enforcement agencies in the annual “Law Enforcement Torch Run” for Special Olympics Georgia.
In conjunction with the run, the JCPD will host a fundraiser golf tournament May 18 for the non-profit that provides year-round sports training and athletic competition programming for more than 22,000 Georgians with intellectual disabilities.
For more information about the golf tournament or Torch Run, call 678-474-1580 or 678-474-1587
end story
I will say that Vidya took some surplus asparagus from our garden to sell, about 8 bunches worth, and left it on someone’s booth table for a few minutes and when she came back it was all gone. I was helping Hari Bhakta plant 100 asparagus in the Garden of Seven Gates this spring and it makes me think we should plant a couple of hundred more next spring.
Posted in News, Ramblings or Whatever
Japa is a blessing. You bless yourself, as when taking caritamrta. It’s like when you take the flame which is offered by the pujari, or when he sprinkles you with water or offers you the flower to smell. It is like honoring prasadam. Only it is better. It is directly Radha and Krishna. You are nourished by your tongue and your ears. Japa is even more merciful than the saksad darsana of the Lord’s form. I am a japa chanter. I do not chant at the perfect stage (suddha nama), but I am very fortunate. I chant sixteen rounds a day and try to avoid offenses. I am bathed in Krishna’s mercy, Harinama. It is the best way to approach Radha and Krishna and ask for seva.From Bhajana Kutir #65
by Rasa Rasika (noreply@blogger.com) at May 10, 2009 11:17 AM
Where I Am and What I Am Doing
Now by the grace of Brahmatirtha Prabhu and Hridayananda Dasa Goswami, I have a computer so I can write while traveling. I shall try to share the high points of the last three months, going into detail on other journal entries.
The happiest thing for me is to see young people taking the congregational chanting of the Lord's holy name more and more seriously, especially with a little or no encouragement. One time Bhakta Tim had explained how he had too much schoolwork to come on harinama. He walked with us to the car, to wish us well as we were leaving. As the door between us closed, I smiled, and said, "See you there!" Amazingly enough, despite his previous protestations of being too busy, he came out and had a great time.
Once I spent half an hour trying to encourage Bhaktin Jena to go chant with us at the Tallahassee Rainbow Gathering. At least a couple times during the conversation, she even said she would not go. As it turned out, she did finally go, bringing her guitar and ukulele to play along. She had a great time and was glad she came. I see in these examples the power of the holy name to attract people out of their humdrum material life and give them a higher taste. Now that many of the old-timers are leaving their bodies for new ones, it is heartening to see the young people are becoming more and more attracted, and so the movement will go on. Our Gainesville evening programs have such lively kirtanas that once when the lecture went an hour and twenty minutes, the lecturer tried to forgo the kirtana and go straight to prasadam, but the congregation refused to agree. The lecturer offered a ten minute kirtana, but the devotees kept going twenty minutes or more. Once in Tallahassee I had a party of five to chant at the local downtown park, Lake Ella. All were uninitiated devotees who had a taste to chant. During spring break, Tim and Kelly each drove me two hours to Jacksonville to chant at the campus there, and on the weekend they and some college-aged friends went to the beach in St. Augustine and chanted bhajans much of the time. This all reminds me that the interest in the Hare Krishna mantra among the youth is not just a 1960s phenomenon but the spiritual inclination of the soul shining through his/her coverings of ignorant darkness and thus we should give people all facility to gain such attraction.
Enroute to Europe, while waiting in Jacksonville airport for Jet Blue's afternoon flight, having missed the morning one at an expense of $40, I had the good fortune of meeting Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Swami who was just arriving, and who in his usual jovial mood firmly embraced me with affection. He told me about his latest innovative outreach strategy—to enthuse householder devotees to grow vegetables and fruits for Krishna. It gives them something practical to do that gives a good result, and can inspire them further in Vedic culture and Krishna consciousness. Every little bit of land can be utilized for such gardening, even the roof of buildings. You can grow potatoes in the rings of old tires, stacked one above the other, and at the end of the growing season harvest the potatoes simply by removing the tires.
The Jet Blue flight to JFK was an hour late, and I arrived at the gate designated for my Delta London flight twenty minutes after it was scheduled to depart. I was the last person to board, and I apologized but the stewardesses said not to worry.
When I arrived in London, my customs officer turned out to be a Brahmin who got a masters degree in Sanskrit from Punjab University. I told him I was here to give a few lectures on Bhagavad-gita, and then go on to Amsterdam. He asked if I knew Sanskrit. I said I knew a few words and quoted Bhagavad-gita 4.9. He chants the Hanuman Chalisa and other prayers at 3:30 a.m. every morning. I suggested that he become a preacher as he was a Brahmin but he did not reply. He was aware of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and when I said I would speak on Gadadhara Pandit, he said that he was not a mortal. I replied affirmatively saying, "All the principle associates of Caitanya Mahaprabhu were liberated souls." I invited him to come to our temple at 10 Soho Street. He said he rarely comes but that his wife comes there almost every day. Because of my inviting him, he said he might come. It is nice to connect with people who have a connection with Krishna.
Harinama in London was great as usual. The day I arrived we had a party of nine devotees and Krishna blessed us with a rare sunny afternoon. One girl joined us midday, dancing as enthusiastically as the other devotees for at least half the harinama. Turns out she had seen the devotees in her homeland of Poland and she does Indian dance professionally so for her to join us and participate was natural.
On Saturday, I joined the "weekend warrior" party who went to Kensington and set up with sit down kirtana, prasadam, and book distribution. They were mostly new devotees, so I got lots of opportunity to play my harmonium tunes. After that, we stopped half an hour from the temple on the way home, and chanted harinama the rest of the way. Later to top of the day, we had the famous Saturday night downtown harinama. Many people danced with us. I distributed invitations to those who smiled, danced, or took pictures of our party. Once I gave a flyer to three teenaged girls who were approaching our party with great curiosity. I told them, "Don't repress your natural urge to dance." Two of them gave their belongings to the third for safekeeping and joined the female kirtana dancers with great delight. Another time I encouraged a couple in their thirties who were dancing with each other, amidst the kirtana dancers. I praised their dancing, and they continued another ten minutes before remembering their planned evening engagement, and leaving with invitation in hand. My realization is that a few positive words can really increase a person's participation in devotional service.
In London I was reminded of the smallness of our Hare Krishna world when, one day, four different devotees came up to me and reminded me of my previous connection with them—one girl from Finland, one boy from Slovakia, and two boys who visited Alachua.
On the flight from London to Amsterdam, I happened to sit with an Indian student who is just becoming interested in Hare Krishna. He had read Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers and was beginning Science of Self-Realization. He was going to Amsterdam to visit some friend who had invited him for Queen's Day. I gave him a copy of my BTG with the article on last year's devotee participation in the event, and he was grateful. I hoped to see him there, but I think his association with friends that were not devotionally inclined kept him from meeting up with the devotees during his brief visit to Amsterdam.
Kadambda Kanana Swami's Vyasa Puja was a nice event. He gave a couple of lectures that day that I attended. Here are some of his realizations:
The secret of Krishna consciousness is to remain always inspired. We must fix our mind on Krishna, not just for some time, but at every moment. We must create a culture where this constant remembrance of Krishna goes on.
It is said a pure devotee of Lord Caitanya can deliver the universe. In Srila Prabhupada, we can see how it is possible. We are here by the devotees' mercy.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati Thakura said that the kirtanas of Lord Caitanya and His associates are still going on at Srivasa Angam and some can hear while others cannot. Those who cannot can hear them through the scripture, and then there is no different between the two groups.
This movement is compared to waves. Different groups appear from time to time and play key roles.
Always make sure our roots are strong. See what Srila Prabhupada valued and make sure we are doing that.
This movement is flooding the entire world, and yet it is simply moving from one person to another.
Q: How can I not be proud of what you [as my guru] have been able to do through me?
A: Just look at how much more devotees like Vishnujana Swami and Jayananda Prabhu were able to do. And look at Srila Prabhupada himself.
The spiritual master is always present, even if he doesn't always answer our emails.
It makes me feel like a failure as a guru that a disciple wound up in jail. As far as disciples disobeying the order of the guru is concerned, I simply ask that they are honest with me. In this way, things will not get completely out of hand.
Suhotra Swami would practically never argue on the basis of his being a GBC or temple president. He would argue philosophically. Suhotra Swami could not tolerate compromise. He was a sadhu, a man of truth.
To think we are mercy cases is actually good, especially if we aspire to repay the guru, but still, the chanting of the daily sixteen rounds and following the four principles is good enough.
I want you to utilize your nature and capacity in Krishna's service. I look for maturity, sadhana [spiritual practice], and doing something for the mission. If you need ideas, I have them.
As a youth, I vowed never to follow any authority, other than my own. I was depressed, and encountering Srila Prabhupada, I agreed to surrender to him, but to surrender to the different leaders of his movement, was another thing. But I was able to because I was not willing to let temporary, insignificant things, get in the way of attaining Srila Prabhupada's mercy.
Everything is parampara [the line of spiritual predecessors]. That is the essence. I am simply trying to follow the parampara.
Lord Caitanya promised his followers who chanted 64 rounds they would attain Krishna. Srila Prabhupada reduced it to 16 rounds and four rules. Can those who recommend four rounds really promise their followers that they will go back to Godhead?
Spiritual life is more than choosing a service or accepting one chosen by the spiritual master. Our natural inclinations will become obvious in the course of time. Anyone who is a natural book distributor should try to do it as long as possible without being disturbed by asrama or other external considerations.
I will tolerate all kicks from any cow that gives milk.
Do something special in acara [behavior] and pracara [enlightening others] and get some special mercy.
Notes on Vyasa Puja offerings:
Mayapur Chandrodaya Prabhu mentioned that although he played the role of his guru's personal servant and that others were also eager to serve him, his guru always made sure there were proper accommodations for his personal servant.
One lady, I didn't know, mentioned how hearing the realizations of the other disciples brings us closer to the guru.
The feast was so extensive that if you took all you felt like, your body could not handle it, so it was a test of my self-control. There were several desserts including the treasured gulabjamons.
Our chanting party lasted seven and a half hours, two hours sitting at our booth, and the rest during two harinamas through the streets, before and after our lunch and rest break. In the beginning at least twenty people joined in dancing with us, becoming part of a 'snake' of dancers winding through the crowd, and they all appeared very happy to take part. [Click here for video.] While at our booth, I would dance at the side of the entrance, offering invitations to those who took pictures, smiled, or stopped to look. [Click here for video.] One pair of college girls watched for a while, and taking an invitation, one began chanting the mantra along with us. I informed her about the prasadam, the books, and the temple nearest her. She was interested in other cultures and had a special interest in India. For more videos on the Hare Krishna participation in Queen's Day 2009, click here.
"Lord Krishna told Narada, 'I am not situated in the spiritual world Vaikuntha, nor am I in the hearts of the yogis, but you will find me, O Narada, wherever My devotees are chanting my glories.'" --Padma Purana
by Krishna-kripa das (noreply@blogger.com) at May 10, 2009 10:51 AM
Pankajanghri prabhu: On 18th March, Sri Maheshbhai Dhokia, congregation member from London called me and told me that His wife, Srimati Jayshree Dhokia is suffering from acute uterine cancer and she is being flown to Frankfurt for the last time...The following is a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 9 May 2009 in Hillsborough, USA.
To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either “Save link as” or “Save target as”
The following is a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 9 May 2009 in Hillsborough, USA. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo;The following is a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 8 May 2009 in Hillsborough, USA.
To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either “Save link as” or “Save target as”
The following is a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 8 May 2009 in Hillsborough, USA. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo;The following is a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 7 May 2009 in Hillsborough, USA.
To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either “Save link as” or “Save target as”
The following is a lecture given by H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami on 7 May 2009 in Hillsborough, USA. To download the lecture, right click on the download link and choose either ldquo;Save link asrdquo; or ldquo;Save target asrdquo;
Inspired by my readings of "Contemplative Prayer" and "Contemplation In A World Of Action" by Thomas Merton
You might have noticed a few articles on this blog about water fluoridation.
In the course of reading about this I came across a common meme that "the Nazis used fluoridation in water to dull [the population|concentration camp internees]". (Check out a wikipedia search of "Nazis fluoridation" to get an idea)
It's a common theme repeated in many places. A common version is that either the Nazis, or the Soviets in the gulags, or both, used "sodium fluoride" in the water.
It's just interesting to see people repeating this thing over and over again uncritically, and without either asking for or supplying any kind of reference.
I used my Google-fu to trace it back to something with a reference. The only cited reference for this that I could find was a book called "The Crime and Punishment of IG Farben". The citation included a page number. (I can't be bothered going through the exercise again to find this citation - I leave it as an exercise for the interested reader).
I got the book. I checked the page (from memory is was 43, or thereabouts). There was no mention of fluoride there. I read the entire book. There was no mention in the whole book.
So in this case, you have the story being widely repeated without citation. In a few rare cases there is a citation, which kind of looks authoritative, but when you actually chase it down, it's completely bogus.
There are a lot of things out there like that. "The Internet" is not a source, it's a medium. To say that you read something on the Internet neither makes it unbelievable, nor credible.
Critical reading is important. Every "fact" has two aspects - the information that it presents, and its strength as evidence. It is important to be able to describe not only what you say, but also where it comes from, how reliable it is, what other supporting evidence reinforces it, counter arguments and opposing evidence, and what other caveats may exist.
It's always convenient to present things in black and white, but reality is multi-coloured.
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