Hare Krishna! “By his example”: GOVARDHAN HILL About the…
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Hare Krishna! “By his example”: GOVARDHAN HILL
About the Vrindavan days from my book “By his example”. The entourage included the Maharaja of Bharatpur, two queens, the prince, various relatives, zamindhars (landowners loyal to the king), agents, a doctor, and eight soldiers dressed in Jat military uniforms, part of the Maharaja’s private army. Twelve servants carried the supplies and the largest incense sticks I have ever seen. These sticks were twelve feet high and thick as a python. Servants, beautifully dressed in long, silk robes, carried large torches ahead of the party so we could see.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16643

Glorification of HH Jayapataka Swami from HH Radhanath Swami
→ ISKCON Malaysia

BY RADHANATH SWAMI

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

 
His Holiness Jayapataka Swami

Jayapataka Swami is a senior disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

He was born John Gordan Erdman on April 9, 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA to John Hubert and Lorraine Erdman. He was born into opulent surroundings, his grand-father being the founder of a large paint factory, which was a multi-million dollar concern at the time of his birth. Later HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja was glad to see that his name – Gordan John (Gour Dhan Jan) – already suggested what Srila Prabhuapda confirmed, that he and two other devotees were formerly associates of Lord Caitanya and that they had taken their birth in the west to facilitate spreading Krishna consciousness around the world.

In 1968, Gordan John took first initiation in Montreal, Canada and was given the name Jayapataka dasa brahmachari and he was very soon awarded 2nd initiation in New York. On the day of the most auspicious Radhashtami in 1970, in Calcutta, Srila Prabhupada personally performed the fire sacrifice and Jayapataka dasa got his sannyas initiation.

Jayapataka Swami started as GBC secretary in 1976 in East India which includes Bihar, Odisha and Bengal. From 1980 to 1999 he was the GBC for South-East USA, as well as South America. He is also the GBC for Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, the Far East and Assam.

He is also the Minister of Congregational Preaching and Minister of Congregational Development, and the Vice-chairman of the World Hindu Federation.

Presently he is one of the senior initiating spiritual masters of ISKCON, a member of the Governing Body Commission (GBC), and is a divisional trustee for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT).


Taking devotees to the holy place

Srila Prabhupada wanted Mayapur to be a center where devotees from all over the world could conglomerate and be strengthened spiritually to continue their preaching. In March 1974, the first Gour Pournima festival was held. Four hundred devotees from America, England, Europe, South America, Australia, India, and other parts of the world joined in the festival.

So, for the first time in 1974, HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja led groups of devotees on parikrama (pilgrimage) to local holy places. This visit to Mayapur would constitute the first half of the devotees’ Indian pilgrimage; after ten days they were scheduled to go to Vrndavana.

The Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama has been continuing ever since with the number of devotees participating increasing each year in the thousands. During these parikramas, HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja takes care of not only the spiritual earnestness of all the devotees but as a perfect host, he also sees to it that they are comfortably situated.


Serving in Mayapur

There were 5 other devotees with HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja in Mayapur. As funds were short, HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja began engaging in agriculture. He studied several books, learnt different methods and got the best crop. Local farmers were surprised and wanted to learn from him. This helped build a lasting relationship with the local people. Maharaja taught them modern techniques of agriculture and the farmers taught him Bengali. He began to give classes in Bengali where his few listeners would correct him in his language and soon he began to perfect his knowledge of the language. Jayapataka Maharaja had wanted to learn even in 1968 when he was in the West but it did not seem necessary there. His desire was fulfilled automatically when he was sent down to Bengal by Srila Prabhupada.

At Calcutta, Jayapataka Maharaja began to learn Bengali by going out to buy fruits and vegetables. Along with the other devotees, he conducted house programs, organized pandal programs, and personally went out on nagar sankirtan and book distribution though there was so much violence in the city.


An expert traveller

Jayapataka Maharaja’s flight to India gives already the hint of his expertise in traveling with the most mileage and least expense possible.

He flew for 48 hours in what was the “cheapest flight in history” flying Montreal – London – Brussels – Bombay – Calcutta.

Service to BBT

Jayaptataka Maharaja, (then Jayapataka dasa) began to render a number of services for ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada. The first most important was the service as the president of ISKCON Montreal. Srila Prabhupada wrote him in a letter, “For the present I think you cannot leave Montreal… Your service is much too valuable there.”

While in Montreal, His Holiness was engaged in the service of printing books and dispatching them to other ISKCON Centres around the world. In a letter dated 6th October 1968, Srila Prabhupada wrote him, “I am interested in starting the press, so if you can manage it will be very nice.” His service to the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust continued in India and continues until today as he is one of the trustees of the BBT.

Later, on the instruction of Srila Prabhupada, HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja went to Toronto to open a center there. Later he wrote to Srila Prabhupada enquiring about his service and Srila Prabhupada told him to go to India on a long visa as “we have a great deal of work to do there”.


HH Jayapataka Swami said:
“My disciples expect some special instructions from me. Srila Prabhupada had instructed me to distribute 10,000 big books and 100,000 small books every month. So I need a lot of help. I don’t know how much that is now with interest because that was told in the 1970s, so with interest, maybe that is much more now. The Mayapur Sankirtan parties help me by distributing books but anyone here can help me pay my debts to Srila Prabhupada.”


Initiation

In just two months after visiting ISKCON, HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja decided to commit himself to the principles of ISKCON. Jayananda prabhu shaved his head and everyone was surprised to see that within two months of coming in contact with ISKCON, he had shaved up and joined in. In 1968, Gordan John took first initiation in Montreal, Canada and was given the name Jayapataka dasa brahmachari and he was very soon awarded 2nd initiation in New York.

Re-awakening

As he was preparing to leave for India, he met the devotees of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, founder acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, doing kirtan and distributing BTGs at the park. When one devotee approached him to take a copy of the BTG, he was stunned to see the tilak on his face and experiencing some strange feelings he began to run. After running a few minutes, he stopped to contemplate on what he had seen and how he had been so much affected. It was the experience of seeing something after a long time, a re-awakening of something that had been dormant and hidden from his memory. He walked back to the park but by then the devotees were gone!

Searching for a spiritual teacher

When Jayapataka Maharaja was eleven years old, at the suggestion of his grandfather he cured himself of a skin disease by calling on the name of God. At 14, he graduated almost effortlessly in the very top of his class from St.John’s academy, a college preparatory school. He was offered full scholarships including tuition, books, fooding, lodging plus incidental expenses by several major universities around America. He accepted admission into Brown University. There, as a fresh enrollee, he was so much moved by a guest lecture on the life of Buddha that he lost all interest in his studies and began searching for a spiritual teacher. After some time of searching and austerity he concluded he would have to go to India to find his spiritual teacher.

Gour Dhan Jan

Jayapataka Swami was born John Gordan Erdman on April 9, 1949 (the Ekadasi after Ramanavami) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA to John Hubert and Lorraine Erdman. He was born into opulent surroundings, his father’s father being the founder of a large paint factory, which was a multi-million dollar concern at the time of his birth. Later HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja was glad to see that his name – Gordan John (Gour Dhan Jan) – already suggested what Srila Prabhuapda confirmed, that he and two other devotees were formerly associates of Lord Caitanya and that they had taken their birth in the west to facilitate spreading Krishna consciousness around the world.

Greetings from Radhanath Swami

Dear HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaja,
Please accept my respectful obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I on this special and sacred day of your Vyasa Puja I wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to you. Your lifetime of devotional service, at times in most difficult situations is a tribute to your surrender and your love for Srila Prabhupada, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the vaisnava community. It is a joy to see how your wisdom and compassion are uplifting people to Krishna all over the world.

I feel your encouragement upon me is Srila Prabhupada’s priceless blessing.
Your are a great inspiration in my life.

With my sincerest gratitude and prayers for your good health,

Your servant,
Radhanath Swami

Impurely Imitation, But Eventually Waking Up
→ Karnamrita.das's blog

Author: 
Karnamrita Das

(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed)
Photobucket
[Originally posted on October 10, 2012] By participating in regular spiritual practice we learn to see through the scriptures and to think spiritually beyond the material duality of good or bad, happy or sad, etc. What might seem to others like an ordinary life of work, school, and/or family, is for a devotee of Krishna, full of meaning, with lessons everywhere—if we are willing to look. Our ability to look for the seeds of instructions and mercy depends to a large extent on our positive absorption in Krishna thought and remembrance, or we could say our attitude toward life—what we look for or give energy to. On the one hand we see everywhere the shortcomings of matter in a life with no spirituality (or even how material attachments and desires in ourselves slow our spiritual progress). On the other, we also see the arrangement of Krishna, and how we are being guided and helped.

Though there are perhaps unlimited perceptions of a life, in general we could say that there is a negative material perspective, and a positive spiritual one. By this I don’t mean to imply that difficult challenges or seemingly “bad” things don’t happen to a devotee, but that an advanced devotee always knows that behind the problematic situation is an important lesson which may lead to more dependence on Krishna. Depending on Krishna means a less stressful life and a life lived in increasing happiness and devotional advancement. Everyone on the path of bhakti knows that the goal of Krishna prema (love for Krishna) is the highest ideal. To the extent that we realize and act on this, to that extent we will experience deeper joy, and even ecstatic moods in our spiritual practices. If our spiritual life seems stagnant or stuck, we can take note of what we are doing that doesn’t foster our spiritual life, and increase or begin those recommended practices for being Krishna conscious. Our life can seem complex, and yet the solution to our problems is simple, requiring that we believe in the possible by the power of grace as we focus on the holy name and devotional service.

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Bali Nama Hatta
→ Ramai Swami

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In Bali there are at least 5 or 6 home programs going on in any week of the year. The devotee community is mainly grhastha and they live all over the island.

Yudhamanyu das and Sundari devi dasi are both professionals but still find the time to invite devotees to their home. Yudhamanyu is the architect who designed the Jagannatha Gauranga temple.
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Will Bring Back The Mood
→ Japa Group

I received another message from one of our group subscribers today:

Association will bring back the mood that I am chanting because I really want to serve Radha and Krishna - that desire should be higher than my any other material tendency to search for material pleasures.

Regards,

Freejo

Artistic Holidays at Prabhupada Desh – Italy 13-19 July 2015…
→ Dandavats.com



Artistic Holidays at Prabhupada Desh – Italy 13-19 July 2015 Transcendental Art Seminar
For spreading Krsna conscious art and for the pleasure of those who are fond of art, we propose a seminar of painting. The intensive seminar will be conducted by two excellent and famous artists, direct disciples of Srila Prabhupada: Ram Dasa Abhirama and his wife Dhrti Devi Dasi. They will accompany the students in a complete experience of art by teaching them the traditional classic techniques to produce a painting and they will also bring their students in an intense meditation on the form of Lord Krishna.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=16638

New Vrindaban Members Appreciate Each Other in Moving Ceremony
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

New Vrindaban Members Appreciate Each Other in Moving Ceremony

By Madhava Smullen

 March 15th saw the second installment of a new tradition for New Vrindaban – holding “service appreciation ceremonies” in honor of devotees who have contributed their valuable time and effort in the development of the community.

During the first, at the ISKCON New Vrindaban and Eco-Vrindaban Board Meetings in November last year, long-time residents Madhava Gosh Dasa and his wife Vidya Dasi were honored for their more than forty years of service to the cows and gardens.

At the conclusion of this year’s spring Board Meetings, seven more devotees received attractive cherrywood plaques thanking them for their valued service.

Beginning the ceremony, ECO-V Board Chairman Bhima Dasa honored outgoing garden manager Kacey Orr for her exceptional work towards the development of local food production.

 

Former Garden Manager Kacey Orr

Former Garden Manager Kacey Orr

Several devotees then expressed how Kacey, an experienced local farmer, had brought the community gardens through a difficult transitional phase, and in just one year attracted many volunteers, produced large quantities of vegetables used in the Deity, devotee and restaurant kitchens, and laid the groundwork to make moving forward easier.

Kacey is now going on to work with an organization that provides organic food to low income families; but she has clearly left her mark on New Vrindaban, judging by the outpouring of affection and gratitude from residents.

“Everyone who worked closely with Kacey was infected by her incredible enthusiasm – she can make anyone smile, and you could feel that her soul was really in her service,” said President Jaya Krishna Dasa. “We will keep you in our hearts, Kacey, and I hope we cross paths again.”

Next the newest Board Member of ISKCON New Vrindaban, Ananga Manjari Dasi, presented a plaque to Jamuna Dasi, who has been on the board for twenty years since 1985 and a community member since 1980.

Yamuna dasi receives plaque from Ananga Manjari dasi

Jamuna dasi receives plaque from Ananga Manjari dasi

Everyone then shared their appreciation of Jamuna, especially her kindness, gentleness, approachability and wisdom. Board members like Anuttama Dasa were particularly grateful for her balancing the sometimes “over-abundance of testosterone” in the boardroom with her well-thought out perspectives that always put people at the forefront.

Gopalasyapriya Dasi then gave a personal example of how caring Jamuna was. Telling a story about how Jamuna had looked after her in just the way she needed when she was overstressed in her service, Gopa moved herself and many others in the room to tears. “I’m just so thankful to know her,” she said.

Incoming ECO-V Board Chair Bhima Dasa then led the group in honoring his predecessor Navin Shyam Dasa and his wife Krishna-Priya Dasi, who were unable to be there that day.

Now a U.S. attorney living in Dallas, Texas with Krishna-Priya and their two children, Navin helped the organization GEETA when it began the process of becoming ECO-V in 2010. He also helped set up the legal mechanisms by which the ECO-V board now runs, and served as its chair from 2012 to January 2015.

Appreciating Navin, devotees spoke about how he was always the calm and meticulous voice during turbulent times, making sure everything was done right and keeping everyone on course.

Navin Shyama enjoying some NV prasadam.

Navin Shyama enjoying some NV prasadam.

They pointed out how he also applied his sharp legal mind to thoroughly studying all Srila Prabhupada’s instructions on cow protection, and working to make sure New Vrindaban’s cow care would be sustainable into the future. And all this while caring for a young family, going through law school at Temple University full time, and graduating as valedictorian in his class!

Next, current co-GBC Anuttama Dasa thanked Malati Dasi – who was in hospital with pneumonia – for her work as co-GBC for 15 years. He noted her “unbelievable energy and enthusiasm,” her pivotal role in developing and managing Festival of Inspiration for 13 years, her global contribution as the first Vaishnavi on the GBC body, and her role on the Prabhupada’s Palace Restoration Committee.

“She has also helped the New Vrindaban community tremendously by being a great source for what Prabhupada would do or say in any given situation,” he said, while others expressed gratitude for her association and her constant stream of rare Srila Prabhupada anecdotes.

Some also spoke of her big heart. There was strong emotion in Thakura Dasa’s voice as he recounted how he had been “on the fringe” for 20 years, and no one was more important in bringing him back than Malati. “She’s one of the greatest gifts in my devotional life in a very, very long time,” he said.

Community and board members alike are praying for Malati’s health, and hope that she will continue to play an important role, giving her guidance and sharing her energy.

Malati Prabhu

Malati Prabhu

Finally, Chaitanya Mangala Dasa, a joint board member who grew up in New Vrindaban, presented Kripamaya Dasa and Krsna Bhava Dasi with a special lifetime appreciation plaque for their nearly forty years of service in the community.

Telling the story of their life of service with an accompanying slideshow, Chaitanya Mangala recounted how they both joined ISKCON in 1971, and were initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1972. They were then married in 1974 in Buffalo, New York.

After doing various services such as book distribution and fundraising, they moved to New Vrindaban in 1979 with their two children Krishna Balarama and Krishnapriya.

In the 1980s, they took care of life membership, raised their children and put on some of ISKCON’s best plays with the Brijbasi Players. In the 1990s, they managed the Palace Lodge, coordinated festivals, and ran bhakta programs.

In the 2000s, Kripamaya and Krsna Bhava worked with the cow protection and congregational departments.

Today, Kripamaya is a charter member of the board of ECO-V, which he helped start in 1998. His music classes and his wife’s art classes are treasured by children attending the Gopal’s Garden School. And together, they run the gift shop at Srila Prabhupada’s Palace, where they have also organized regular sangas in Prabhupada’s gorgeous temple room for the past two years. These sangas have brought New Vrindaban residents together to share memories and appreciations before Prabhupada’s murti, inspiring them and revitalizing relationships.

As the slideshow ended, a cavalcade of love and appreciation for the two burst forth from community members. Some devotees spoke about Krsna Bhava’s positivity, her dedication to chanting sixteen rounds a day, her excellent listening skills and her first-class cooking of bharatas, halava and malpuras for Sri-Sri Radha-Vrindabanchandra’s Tuesday morning offering.

Others talked of Kripamaya’s scholarship, the way he lights up while singing kirtan, his ambition in going back to college in his fifties to study music, and his Ramayana opera.

“They’re both really strict, dedicated devotees, and a fantastic example of the ideal,” said Jamuna, while Sankirtan Dasa called them “wonderful surrendered souls.”

In response, Krsna Bhava said, “We’re feeling very grateful for our experiences in New Vrindaban – there have been both hard times and good times to learn from. It’s always been a blessing to live close to the temple and Krishna and so many wonderful devotees.”

Kripamaya added, “We ask for the blessings of all the assembled Vaishnavas that we have many more years to serve here at New Vrindaban.”

Kripamaya & Krsna Bhava Prabhus

Kripamaya & Krsna Bhava Prabhus

In closing, Chaitanya Mangala, who introduced the idea of the service appreciation ceremony, recited the translation of Verse 4 from Rupa Goswami’s Nectar of Instruction, his favorite book, which discusses the six “symptoms of love shared by one devotee and another.”

He then quoted the purport, where Srila Prabhupada writes: “Even in ordinary social activities, these six types of dealings between two loving friends are absolutely necessary,” and further clarifies, “The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has been established to facilitate these six kinds of loving exchanges between devotees.”

“It’s something I hope we can all start to take to heart,” Chaitanya Mangala commented.

And from the moving and heartwarming evening full of laughter and tears – from a community of devotees who have been through so much but continue to hold such deep love and appreciation for each other – it’s clear that many in New Vrindaban are ready to do just that.