Bhaktivedanta Academy Alumni Page
“Hare Krishna,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. I would just like to tell my humble story and experiences in gurukul, and my great gratitude for His Holiness Śrīla Bhaktividya Purna Swami and all the teachers of the Bhaktivedanta Academy of Mayapur.
I was born in 1995, and by Krishna’s mercy in a family of exemplary vaisnavas. My father is Śrīman Prahlad Nrisimha Prabhu, my mother is Śrīmati Manorupa Mataji, and my brother Śrīnam Vanamali Krishna Dāsa. I was brought up in New Talavan, America, until the age of 5 when my studies were going to begin. Then we moved to Mayapur and joined the Bhaktivedanta gurukul. My father became a teacher there and I stayed there for six months until the Bhaktivedanta Academy finally reopened in September 2001. My brother and I both joined and I have been there ever since. My experiences in gurukul are definitely the highlights of my life, and the teachers, namely Śrī Madhava Gauranga Prabhu, Priti Vardhana Prabhu, Śrī Radhe Mataji, Vagisha Prabhu, Subeksana Prabhu, and many others, are so dear to me, some of them I see just like my parents. They have cared for and looked after me so perfectly ever since I was 6, and still do. My brother left the gurukul in the end of 2007. I was so happy in the school that I still wanted to stay and continue my studies. It was really just the best — my friends are all like brothers to me, and still are; with them even the hardest services were fun.
In 2009 I left the school in the beginning of my teens, wanting to go and try something else. With my parents and brother we moved to Ecuador and started a new life there, trying to preach to our relatives and many, many families and friends there. We would put up great festivals on Gaura Purnima, Nrisimha Caturdāsai, Janmasthami, ect. We would even make excuses to do programs like birthdays, full moons, ekadāsais, weddings, anything that would bring people to come listen, chant and take prasad. We would get easy around 50 people, and serve them all prasad. It was really ecstatic. But due to my laziness, my studying was not doing too well; I was doing an online course and would get extra tuitions here and there. But being 13 and really not wanting to study it was difficult to focus. After a whole year and a half my father decided that although the preaching was going good and we were making quite a community, it was important that my brother and I first finish our studies and be properly rooted in Krishna consciousness before attempting to do anything else. But then the question was if the gurukul would allow me to rejoin after being a whole year away. My father said we should at least try and if not, then I would join the Śrī Mayapur international school and get my high school diploma. We sold everything: the car, TV, fridge, ect. Even the Xbox 360, which was the latest one at the time, and moved back to Mayapur.
We arrived the day before Janmasthami 2010 in the night, and the next day took part with the gurukul boys in the preparation for the festival. I felt so at home and like family that I told my father, “I need to go back. I won’t go anywhere else.” He picked up the phone and called Madhava Gauranga Prabhu. He told Mahasay (a way of addressing your teacher with great respect) of my request, and Mahasay simply said, “Yeah of course, send him over with his bags.” Within an hour I was on my way to school, completely overjoyed. I never regret leaving though, because it really made me realize what I had and not take gurukula for granted. I made a decision to really try my best and give it all I had. I joined back as a completely new student and worked my way through the levels and in 2013 took initiation from His Holiness Indradyumna Swami. I then started to help with teaching and also in the management of the boys, under the guidance of the senior teachers and deans of the Academy. In December 2015 my dear Mother moved to Mayapur to leave her body due to so many diseases, one of them being cancer. I was destroyed and really torn at heart. But the teachers and boys of the school were my greatest strength. I was told by my teachers to go and serve my mother in her last days and to really try to learn from her and get her association. It was by far the greatest experience of a lifetime. I saw my mother day in and day out, twenty four hours a day, staring death in the face, but at the same time she was in complete bliss. We had kirtan for her 8 hours a day and there were so many senior sannyasis and Prabhupāda disciples, so many devotees and well-wishers constantly there. On one day my mother called my father over and said to him, “It’s amazing that even though you took me to every paradise this world has to offer, and gave me every desirable thing, you still managed to keep the best for last.” She was happier than I have ever seen her. She kept on saying to me to please stay in Mayapur and serve. She stayed on the verge of death for two whole months and then on the 16th of February 2015 my mother left this world at 4:45 AM during mangal arti, and by Krishna’s mercy I was allowed to sing for her during this most auspicious moment. That day I sang for 8 hours straight with so many mixed feelings in my heart. But over all I just so proud to be connected to such a great group of Vaiṣṇavas.
After some time my father left Mayapur to go preach again and my brother too. I was in gurukula, and can’t find the words to express the love that I felt from my teachers and friends. I will be forever grateful. My mother’s passing had such a great impression on me; I really wanted to do more for Śrīla Prabhupāda and for the school. I took my responsibilities and service up with so much more determination and with so much faith in the Lord and his service.
On the 4th of May, 2016, I graduated from the school and now along with my two good friends Baladev Śrīman dāsa and Krishna Caitanya dāsa we are helping as trainee principals and headmasters of the Academy. I hope that I may be a servant of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission and be an instrument in the gurukula educational system we all know was so dear to him. In conclusion, my experience of gurukula was by far the greatest thing I could have ever imagined. I love my gurukula, my life, so much that now even though I graduated, and could go where I like — and ‘experience’ the world — I really want to stay and serve in the gurukula. I want to help others, and to make sure that their experience of gurukula will top even mine. When I think back it fills me with pride to say that I really lived such a life. The relationships I made will last a lifetime, and my memories I hope will too. Of course, there were ups and downs; being six in the ashram is no walk in the park. But thinking back I wouldn’t have changed my past for that of a prince. For it made me what I am today, and although I’m not much, I really do want to serve and I ask for your blessings.
Your servant, Śrī Paramahamsa Gaura dāsa
For Gaudiya Vaishnavas, or devotees of Lord Krishna in His form as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the best samvada is a conversation between Chaitanya and Ramananda Raya, recorded in the seventeenth-century text Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya, Chapter 8). Their conversation in Vidyanagar on the bank of the Godavari River (east coast of south-central India) details the highest […]
The post Ramananda Raya, A Super-Excellent Vaishnava appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Maha Harinam in Vienna, Austria (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: In this Age of Kali, the process of worshiping Krishna is to perform sacrifice by chanting the holy name of the Lord. One who does so is certainly very intelligent, and he attains shelter at the lotus feet of Krishna. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 20.11)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/msNhJY
Iskcon Los Angeles: 25th Annual Prabhupada Festival (May 28th, May 29th)
This year marks the 25th Annual Prabhupada Festival. The Prabhupada Festival was founded as a venue for all followers, newcomers, and interested persons to come together, learn about, and glorify His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and his accomplishments.
Held every Memorial Day Weekend since 1992, the festival has always been free of charge and open for all who wish to glorify and learn about His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The Los Angeles Temple, designated as ISKCON World Headquarters by His Divine Grace, is the location; and this festival has emerged as one of the largest festivals held there.
The festival includes special talks and remembrances from senior disciples, glorious kirtans, six sumptuous feasts, an annual boat festival, Maha Harinam, original artistic performances, representatives from diverse preaching projects as well as a variety of Vaishnava vendors.
If you have never attended the Prabhupada Festival, we enthusiastically invite you to attend; and if you have come before, we warmly invite you to attend again. This festival gets better every year and it is not to be missed! We look forward to seeing you. Srila Prabhupada Ki Jaya!
More info here: http://prabhupadafestival.com/
May 27. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: “All Right”
After a 1966 lecture in the storefront, Prabhupada sometimes asked for questions from the audience. When he felt he had answered enough, he said, “All right.” Sometimes he said it with resignation, almost sadness. He seemed to mean, “All right, I’ve tried my best.” Sometimes after answering many questions, Prabhupada’s utterance of “all right” sounded disgusted. He had just given a wonderful parampara speech, and yet people were raising their hands and asking challenging, doubtful, or crazy questions. He looked out at the audience before him, sensing that they were not asking intelligent questions. “All right,” he would say, “let us have kirtana.”
Swamiji sharing an apple with us as the last act of the evening at 26 Second Avenue; when he said, “All right,” it meant we had to leave. It was sad. Although we had just had such a nice meeting, it had to end, just like everything else in the material world. In that sense, “all right” presented a challenge to those souls who wanted to return to their maya in Manhattan.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=8
“All Right”
The following blog was one of my very early ones I posted in 2007, which I included in my book, Give to Live. I post it again because of my thinking this morning on the importance of seeing our life--with its many ups an downs--in the best light possible. This is true even as we strive to improve and may still feel bad about the mistakes of the past. Part of the spiritual and human journey is feeling our life has value, and in making the best use of it, even as we have to cut the karmic cords that bind us through forgiveness, acceptance, and prayer.
I share with you here four quotes from people glorifying the telling of our personal stories (and then comment on the general idea) from the introduction to the "4th course of Chicken Soup for the Soul" series (copyright 1997 Jack Canfield). If you like, you can call it "Chickpea Soup for the Soul."
"Everybody is a story. When I was a child, people sat around kitchen tables and told their stories. We don't do that so much anymore. Sitting around the table telling stories is not just a way of passing time. It is the way the wisdom gets passed along. The stuff that helps us live a life worth remembering. Despite the awesome powers of technology many of us still do not live very well. We need to listen to each others stories once again." Rachel Naomi Remen
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 04 February 2016, Bhaktivedanta Manor, United Kingdom, Srimad Bhagavatam 10.2.21)
It is true that there is that inner animal within us. The animal that we hide. The animal that lives behind the saintly expressions on our faces. There is this animal and we have chained him up in regulative principles by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy but he wants to break loose. That inner animal which lives within and he OR SHE wants to break loose and waits for opportunities!
I like this theme. I found it somewhere in a magazine, a lady writer picked up on it. She had this bag of special chips and she was like really lusting over the chips in her mind for a long time, and was waiting for an opportunity to sort of like get into it and stuff them in her mouth. So when no one was around, she attacked it, ripped it open and just like packed it in… and then someone came!
Now we can easily translate that into a mangal aarti sweet. You know, you get caught just as you secretly stuff it in your face. For a moment, you give some room to lusty desires by taking shelter of prasadam. It is good to take shelter of prasadam but you feel embarrassed when you get caught with a mouthful and you try to inconspicuously swallow it, as if everybody does not know what you doing since everybody you know does it too!
The point I am making is that it shows that we are indeed a combination of the modes of material nature and that indeed all these pushings of the senses are within us and we are controlling them with good behaviour. We say the right words, “Jaya… nectar… bliss.” Whatever words are there in the jargon, we say them and we dress in a particular sort of way… We are experts in projecting an image but internally it is still raging – there is still a volcano. There are still so many influences pulling us in so many directions. And therefore there is still a little bit of Kamsa in us… still a little bit of Putana and still a little bit of all these demoniac personalities.
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 8.28.
“One who has a little faith in Bhagavad-gita should learn Bhagavad-gita from a devotee, because in the beginning of the Fourth Chapter it is stated clearly that Bhagavad-gita can be understood only by devotees; no one else can perfectly understand the purpose of Bhagavad-gita. One should therefore learn Bhagavad-gita from a devotee of Krsna, not from mental speculators. This is a sign of faith.” (Bg 8.28 purport)
“Adau sraddha—The first stage in devotional service is sraddha or faith. Without sraddha one cannot make any progress in devotional service. Or, in other words one cannot begin in devotional service. Here Srila Prabhupada emphasizes that faith means faith in the devotional scriptures and faith in the devotees who explain the devotional scriptures and apply them. And that faith is described in the verse we just read—just by engaging in devotional service one does not have to engage in other activities separately but one gets the result of all the other activities just by engaging in devotional service. So that is faith. And that is just the beginning of Krishna consciousness. Advancement in Krishna consciousness really means development of faith.”
Bhagavad-gita 8.28, Houston
A video by Ananta Vrindavan of Indradyumna Swami's travelings.
Beautiful Vrindavana. Aerial shots of this holy place and its residents (5 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: Philosophy is the highest, but even higher than philosophy is the practice of philosophy. So if you simply remain pure, your preaching will have effect. Letter to Brihaspati, November 15, 1971.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/y9xc1e
A brand new single-volume biography of ISKCON Founder Srila Prabhupada, created to be marketed and accessible to the general public, was launched in New York City on May 19th. The book, “Swami in a Strange Land: How Krishna Came to the West,” comes from publisher Mandala and author Joshua M. Greene (Yogesvara Das), a Prabhupada disciple, scholar and author of many books including George Harrison biography “Here Comes the Sun.”
Vivaha-yajna in Russia (5 min video)
“In this video is presented a colorful ceremony called - Vivaha-yajna or a wedding ceremony, a Vedic ritual.
It is the key to a successful marriage and one of the ten major purificatory ceremonies, which must pass a man in his life.
This ritual gives a person the strength to follow his vows for the rest of life. The wedding "is recorded in heaven” at a time when the young are aware of the fact that they promised each other, to God and to others never to leave only if they can be considered as husband and wife in the Vedic tradition of marriage - an act of celebration, and not an agreement that people make among themselves, motivated by lust compound of married men and women -. not only the physical, moral, but also -. a spiritual process he imposes on the spouses responsible not only for their material existence, but also for spiritual development. Together husband and wife are united in the service of God. His wife protects her husband from the other women, and the husband the wife of sexual harassment of other men. A woman can only have one husband, and the man only one wife. “
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/q5nRrU
The utsava Radha Madhva displayed the pastime of killing of the demon aghasura. A huge ferocious snake Aghasura had its mouth open in front of Madhava. The big body of the demon snake coiled around small Radha Madhava. Sri Madhva and Srimati Radharani looked dazzling in their new garments. Madhava with cascading curls circling his […]
The post Aghasura Vadha Chandan Yatra Day- 18 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Ratha Yatra in Rijeka, Croatia, 04th June 2016.
We are most happy and enthusiastic to invite you to participate at the 14th Ratha Yatra festival in Rijeka, Croatia.
Festival will be held on the 4th of June at 11 am. This year we celebrate 50 years of ISKCON and we want to make the biggest Ratha Yatra so far.
Please come and join in our celebration for the pleasure of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Subhadra Devi.
Ratha-yatra procession will start at 11 am from Jelacic Square. It will then proceed through Korzo street to Jadranski trg and back to Korzo. Program on stage will start at 11 am and will be going on continually until 3 pm, with a break when the Ratha chariot passes by.
Special guests of the festival are HH Candramauli Swami, HH Krishna Kshetra Swami and HG Rohini-suta Prabhu.
Prasadam distribution will be at 1,30 pm, close to the parked Ratha chariot and the stage.
Everybody is heartily invited to come and enjoy the rain of mercy that will shower on the whole city, and especially on the heart of our town – Korzo.
To see the photos of last year’s festival: https://goo.gl/9WXMIW
Mega Harinama in Ekaterinburg 07.05.2016 (18 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: These four principles: Always think of Krishna, become Krishna’s devotee, worship Krishna and offer your respect, obeisances to Krishna. That’s all. This is Krishna consciousness. Hyderabad, November 17, 1972.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/ajZviS
Bhaktivedanta Manor School
Hilfield Lane, Aldenham, Herts WD25 8EZ
bvmanorschool@gmail.com
Tel: 01923-851000 Ext.241 FAX: 01923-851006
KS2 Primary School Teacher
Reception Teacher
Full Time
Salary negotiable
Interested in being part of a school where values come first?
We offer a holistic relevant education rich with the culture and teachings of Vedic wisdom situated at Bhaktivedanta Manor
To begin employment in September 2016
The qualities we are looking for are:
Willing to be an active part of a team striving to educate and nurture the children
Experienced and competent with an ability to take initiative
A respect and understanding of Krishna conscious philosophy and Vedic culture
A methodical, organised, calm and creative approach to teaching and working with the children
Experience in working with the national curriculum and in the classroom preferably with qualified teacher status (also Early Years Foundation Stage (for Reception)
A commitment to the educational needs of the children they are working with.
If you are interested please contact Guru Carana Padma at the school office (details above) or write the above address for an application or for further information.
Closing date is May June 30th 2016
A video by Prananath Das.
An inspiring video to invite people to Washington DC to the Chant4Change event on October 8th, 2016.
By Giriraj Swami Today is the disappearance day of one of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's most confidential associates, Sri Ramananda Raya. Lord Caitanya is Krsna Himself in the mood of Srimati Radharani, with Her bodily luster. Thus Lord Caitanya is the combined form of Radha and Krsna (sri-krsna-caitanya radha-krsna nahe anya). And in krsna-lila Ramananda Raya is the gopi Visakha, one of the most confidential associates of both Srimati Radharani and Krsna. Spiritually, Visakha enjoyed a very intimate relationship with both Sri Krsna and Sri Radha. In His later years, after He toured South India, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu retired to Jagannatha Puri, and He experienced intense separation from Krsna, just like Srimati Radharani did after Krsna left Vrndavana. In that ecstatic mood of separation, He would confide in two very close associates--Sri Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, who in krsna-lila is the gopi Lalita, and Sri Ramananda Raya. Continue reading "Jewels in the Ocean
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By Lakshman das
