Digging Deeper – The Cleaning of Shyama Kunda at New Vrindaban
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Getting the mercy while cleaning out New Vrindaban's Shyama Kunda, the devotees literally dug their hands into the mud, scooping it up and out of the kunda.  They filled up buckets after bucket of mud, formed a bucket brigade and emptied first Lalita Kunda and then Shyama Kunda.

Varsana Maharaja had to come to the rescue with his back hoe at one crucial point  to help scoop out some huge rocks.

At first, the devotees were under the impression that Shyama Kunda was only three and a half feet deep, but after discovering an additional three and a half feet of mud to sludge through, the hard work was finally completed.

Maharaja's comment was, "Yes, this is a practice in going deeper! And this is what we are here for -  the service of beautifying the Dhamas and purifying our hearts."

Cleaning the Transcendental Kundas in New Vrindaban
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Radha Kunda, the crest jewel of Govardhan, is now beautifully shining, and freshly lined.

New Vrindaban’s replica Radha Kunda up on the replica Govardhan Hill got a fresh lining at the end of this summer of 2014. It’s called “Rhino”, a type of cement which hardens into enamel, and is guaranteed for 30 years not to leak. This took two weeks, and lots of time and energy to shovel all the muck at the bottom. After seeing the beauty of Radha Kunda, and understanding that Lalita Kunda is also leaking, Gopisa Prabhu suggested that we also line Lalita Kunda and Shyama Kunda.

Sukhavaha dasi relates the story:

“We had the rare opportunity of immersing ourselves (literally) in the sacred mud of those kundas, thus  receiving  some very special mercy.  There was only two days to clean out the other two kundas. Tilak  das and I worked along with some help from Lalita Gopi  dasi, Ananda Vidya das, Madri dasi and Gaura Shakti, and some extra help from Venkatta das, TK das, Navin das, Daivata das and Bhaktin Autumn as we all  proceeded to clean out Shyama Kunda, which was going to be really simple, because it was only 3 and ½ feet deep, according to Varsana Maharaj. No big deal. “We will have this done in no time”, we thought. As the mud and muck was being taking out of the kundas, a lot of mercy was flowing into our hearts.  

by Sukhavaha dasi &  Madri  dasi

Visiting beautiful Vrindavana (Album 189 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Indradyumna Swami: "Oh my beloved Giriraj, I will take bath in all the holy rivers and bathing places near you. I will quench my thirst by drinking the ambrosial waters adorning your foothills and I will walk eternally in this holy dust of Vraja. I beg you Giriraj, kindly give me birth again and again in this sacred land of Vraja. I have no other longing in my heart apart from this." [ "Life in Vraja," - a traditional Vrindavan bhajan - Stanza two ] All photos by Ananta Vrindavan das. Read more ›

The Science of Happiness, October 1, Houston
Giriraj Swami

KrishnaPriya1Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 4.2 at a program at Krishna Priya dasi’s home.

“The impersonal speculators say that in Sanskrit ‘Krishna’ means black, that black means unknown, and that unknown means unknowable—and then there is no Krishna: He’s gone; He’s completely disappeared! We want to avoid that. We want Krishna. Especially in Kali-yuga, this whole material world is constructed in such a way as to make us forget Krishna. Either through gross materialism or subtle speculation, everything works to make us forget Krishna, which really means that we forget our own self interest and are deprived of the only means to achieve true, enduring happiness and satisfaction in this world. So we should stick to the association of devotees who are fixed in Krishna consciousness and don’t waste time in frivolous pursuits, who will help us to spend our time talking and hearing about Krishna, chanting, serving—somehow or other being in touch with Krishna.”

Kirtan
Talk

New Vrindaban Daily darsan @ October 6, 2014.
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

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As I continually gaze at Sri Sri Radha-Krsna’s splendid transcendental forms and transcendental amorous pastimes, and as I continually hear Their conversation like cooling nectar, I wonder:
Am I diving into an ocean of nectar in this forest of Vrndavana.

[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, Sataka-3, Text-12 Translation.]

Please click here for more photos …

Wednesday, October 1st, 2014
→ The Walking Monk

Toronto, Ontario
 
The Topics Are Tops
 
It is always a pleasure to go for that evening walk with a good man whose initials are KK.  (Take note there isn’t a third ‘K’.)  When we go for that stretch it’s also chat time.
 
As of late his passion is veganism.  Dairy is out of the question for him.  Animals, particularly cows and bulls, need our protection and to be spared from the gruesome slaughter industry.
 
KK, my friend, is also passionate about stereotype attitudes from amongst the spiritual ranks towards gays and women.  We talked that one out, in my opinion.  My take on it is that everyone, regardless of gender and orientation, has the equal opportunity to advance spiritually.  You may call it political-correctness.  It’s what I actually firmly believe.
 
He also argued that not enough is being done to share Krishna Consciousness in an integrated way.  Monks of the order insist on the exotic look and behaviour.  “There will continue to be so little positive input on society at large due to our more traditional approach regarding dress code and overall way of promoting.”  It is K.K.’s general feeling as this is also shared with others.
 
Despite our orthodox ways, one journalist, a Brendan O’Connor, from the Independent newspaper, expressed that impact is taking place.  In an article that just came out on Sunday, O’Connor says, “I was reading somewhere recently that while we might think of Hare Krishna as a marginal cult, their influence on the world we live in now is enormous.  The view seems to be that while the religion has not succeeded in the mainstream as such, the ideas have.  Everywhere you look there is watered down Hare Krishna-ism, from the kinds of food we eat, to the notion of sustainable, community-based living, to the whole mindfulness thing.”
 
I picked up this article only after K.K. left and our walk terminated.  It might be good food-for-thought.  Read his article entitled, “We are all Hare Krishnas now. Meditation goes mainstream.” It’s great!
 
May the Source be with you!
 
7 KM

Kartik 2014 – Bhagavad Gita – CHAD Challenge
→ Dandavats.com

When the Indian President Narendra Modi presented Bhagavad Gita to Japanese Emperor, he mentioned, “I don't think that I have anything more to give and the world also does not have anything more to get than this." That remark triggered a big round of applause from the assembled gathering. Yes, Bhagavad-Gita is Lord Krishna’s greatest gift to humanity! Bhagavad-Gita CHAD (CHapter A Day) is an amazingly easy way to practically apply this gift of timeless wisdom to our daily life and integrate it into our real-world, modern-day existence. Read more ›

Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-10-06 09:49:00 →

1975 October 6: "Our principle is to simply repeat what is there in my books. We need not give up the association of devotees simply because there is a difference of opinion how to preach. If your conviction is strong, convince the others. But living outside the association of devotees will not be beneficial to your Krsna consciousness."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

Will Bring Us Closer To Krsna
→ Japa Group

Attentive chanting can be daunting at times....it's so very easy to let the mind go into other realms of thought. Something that happened yesterday that's stuck in our mind - something that's coming up in the future or something going on around us now.
The solution is here and it's easy....whatever your thinking about ignore it and just start to listen to what your chanting.
Listen very carefully to what your chanting and do that for the next round and then the next and keep going and don't stop.
Attentive chanting will bring us closer to Krsna - it will allow us to feel the Lord's spiritual energy once again.

Visit to Goswami Academy, October 1, Houston
Giriraj Swami

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Student: How was Krishna made? How did He come?
Giriraj Swami: Listen very carefully, because this is a very difficult subject. There are two kinds of realities: material and spiritual. Material things have a beginning and an end, and spiritual things have no beginning and no end. A very important book describes Krishna as anadir adir — He is the origin of everything, but He has no origin. This is hard for us to understand, because everything in the material world has a beginning and an end, so we think that Krishna must also have a beginning and an end. But He doesn’t. For example, your father was created by his father, and his father was created by his father. If you keep going back, eventually you will come to someone who is the original father but He has no father. That is Krishna

Talk with Students at the Goswami Academy