New Vrindaban’s Transcendental Throwback Thursday – 03/20/14
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

NV TBT 03-20-14

New Vrindaban’s Transcendental Throwback Thursday – 03/20/14.

Each week we highlight an earlier era of ISKCON New Vrindaban.

This week’s challenge: Despite a slight blurriness, there are four devotees whose faces are recognizable and two with their backs to the camera. How many can you identify?

Extra Credit: What is the special name of the place they are in?

Post your guesses on the “who, what, when, where & why” in the comment section at the New Vrindaban Facebook Page.

Technical stuff: We share a photo Thursday and confirm known details Sunday. Let’s keep it light and have a bit of fun!

Special request: If you have a photo showing New Vrindaban devotees in action, share it with us and we’ll use it in a future posting.

Tuesday, March 18th, 2014
→ The Walking Monk

Toronto, Ontario

Incidents Do Happen

Nick and I left the ashrambefore retiring for the night ‘to get some rounds in’.  By that term we don’t mean we’re playing golf or anything of the sort.  We are referring to having our fingers go a revolution or more on our mediation beads while reciting mantras.  And in the process, we are walking.

A good progressive walk we did in terms of speed, up Bloor Street West to Christie Pitts and back in one hour. 

Nick has been fairly occupied as of late in the care of Tulasi, the sacred plant so commonly honoured in Vaishnava ashrams and temples around the world.  He’s also doing extra kitchen duties, filling in for one of our monks who slipped and fell on the kitchen floor, landing on his right hand and leaving him incapacitated. 

Accidents and incidents do happen, even in a spiritual environment.  Currently, our community in Toronto is quite shaken up about losing a dear member.  Mayapur Chandra was a young man whose body was recently found outside in the snow.  He passed away from hypothermia.  He had a lot of young friends who feel a great loss in the community. 

It was this evening that a grievance counselor by the name of Rajnish from amongst our community took the group of mourners through introspection and prayer.  The support system is well in place, and in an effort to help boost the morale, I had made a special dedication through a 9 Devotions workshop this evening before ‘getting some rounds in’. 

I wish to give a special moment of reflection to honourMayapur Chandra for his kind, sharing ways.

May the Source be with you!

6 KM

Monday, March 17th, 2014
→ The Walking Monk

Oshawa, Ontario

In Rick’s Class

I arrived early at Durham College’s room where Rick conducts his classes.  I sat down waiting in the room with just a few students who are also early and who had made themselves comfortable along the classroom’s edge.  As the trickling in of students trailed on, there was a continuation of gravitating to the outer seats where they opened up to their individual computer gadget or book.  Book?  Yes!  Surprise!

Rick came in.  It’s always great to see him.  By now, the middle portion of the room filled in.  Rick gave the intro to the students about the guest speaker and mentioning about my pilgrimages across countries.  More so, he wanted me to speak about the Krishna culture.  I was to convey how Krishna devotees theologically see the world through our lens.  Whether we accept or reject other paths to the absolute.  What do we as a group struggle with amongst ourselves, and how do we solution this?  There were other points he wished me to cover.

They were a good group of students, really attentive, and especially so when I began to speak about our challenges in recognition of a divorce rate that should and could be lowered within our community.   I mentioned that we started to give attention to the problem, “Faith and family should run together relatively smooth.”  I explained that secularism and materialism have imposed a major shakeup to the family unit.  In other words, I was taking a strong position for spirituality being a major component within relationships.  “Spirituality is supposed to build up your sensitivity, tolerance, patience, love, and togetherness.”  It has been observed that many people take to the spiritual track to gain stability in their lives and that by partaking in community activities aim to achieve enhanced harmony.  We all need a good support system.

In any event, questions came.  Time spun by very quickly.  I was just about to do a demo on the drum, the mrdanga, and then to chant, but the hour zipped by in a flash and the next guests came in, two young male members of the Mormon Church.  They were absolutely amiable.  We exchanged handshakes and words of goodwill.  Of course, spiritualists should support each other and not see each other as adversaries, even if from a different denomination. 

May the Source be with you!

6 KM

Supreme Detachment of the Supreme Enjoyer
→ The Enquirer

[Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.3.19-23 - Uddhava speaking to Vidura]

In Dvārakā, the All-Attractive enjoyed all desirable things as a follower of Vedic and popular custom. Yet, being the soul of all, he was unattached to all of it, and fixed in a philosophical outlook.

This is the premise that Uddhava elaborates on in the rest of the section: that the Supreme Enjoyer is also the Supreme Renunicant.

The point made here is that Krishna did interact with sense objects, following the normal Vedic customs and even following mundane popular customs. However, he was unattached to these interactions, due to his enlightenment.

The next two paragraphs will elaborate, first by explaining how he truly enjoyed,  then by explaining his renunciation.

To hear his words — expressed with affectionate, smiling glances — seemed like drinking nectar. His character was flawless and the very home of beauty and grace.

Krishna does not enjoy external sense objects, he enjoys love and affection. He is renounced from external objects and attached to the pleasures of internal sensations of love. He enjoys by sharing his internal energy (love) with others.

Thus he shared joy with this world, with other worlds, and most especially with his family, the Yadus.

He shared his internal love with the normal world, and also with the higher beings on other words, but most importantly and most intimately of all he shared love with his intimate companions, who appeared as members of his family.

Among those companions the most intimate of all were his queens…

Among them he shared the most special joy with his ladies, enjoying intimate moments with them in the relaxing opportunities of the night.

I can only direct the reader to the Sanskrit poetry here (3.3.21). It is impossible for me to do it justice in English. The poetic repitition and play on the word kṣaṇa is astonishing.

While enjoying like this for many dozens of years, he certainly did so with the fullest sense of detachment from the ordinary sexuality of ordinary couples.

This makes the point that Krishna’s interactions with his queens, family and so on, is not an affair of a bewildered soul grasping towards external objects and situations to fill a void of unhappiness within. His romantic interactions with his queens, for example, was essentially not  the same as the romantic interactions of ordinary couples because his queens are a manifestation of his own internal potency, and the romantic exchanges with them is expression of the internal energy (love). In the case of ordinary couples, on the other hand, the participants see themselves externally – as objects and subjects of material energy, and their expressions are not acts of joy but acts of hunger. Krishna’s romantic deeds are nothing like this, although of course ordinary romance cannot but imitate the external form of his divine romance.

Fate controls sense objects, and fate controls those who enjoy such objects. How can anyone be dedicated to the Master of Unity, if they have serious ambitions to unite with such sense objects?

Uddhava makes a concluding argument and statement simultaneously.

Uddhava’s argument is that even the devotees of Krishna (those “dedicated to the Master of Unity”) are devoid of interest in sense objects that are under the control of material fate; so what to speak of the person they are devoted to!? He certainly cannot be an external sense object, nor can he be interested in enjoying such things.

Uddhava’s statement is that if anyone wishes to participate in this exchange of spiritual, internal pleasure and joy with the All-Attractive, he or she needs to reduce and eventually eliminate their interest in pursuing external pleasures within the realm of karma / fate.

- Vraja Kishor

www.vrajakishor.com


Supreme Detachment of the Supreme Enjoyer
→ The Enquirer

[Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.3.19-23 - Uddhava speaking to Vidura]

In Dvārakā, the All-Attractive enjoyed all desirable things as a follower of Vedic and popular custom. Yet, being the soul of all, he was unattached to all of it, and fixed in a philosophical outlook.

This is the premise that Uddhava elaborates on in the rest of the section: that the Supreme Enjoyer is also the Supreme Renunicant.

The point made here is that Krishna did interact with sense objects, following the normal Vedic customs and even following mundane popular customs. However, he was unattached to these interactions, due to his enlightenment.

The next two paragraphs will elaborate, first by explaining how he truly enjoyed,  then by explaining his renunciation.

To hear his words — expressed with affectionate, smiling glances — seemed like drinking nectar. His character was flawless and the very home of beauty and grace.

Krishna does not enjoy external sense objects, he enjoys love and affection. He is renounced from external objects and attached to the pleasures of internal sensations of love. He enjoys by sharing his internal energy (love) with others.

Thus he shared joy with this world, with other worlds, and most especially with his family, the Yadus.

He shared his internal love with the normal world, and also with the higher beings on other words, but most importantly and most intimately of all he shared love with his intimate companions, who appeared as members of his family.

Among those companions the most intimate of all were his queens…

Among them he shared the most special joy with his ladies, enjoying intimate moments with them in the relaxing opportunities of the night.

I can only direct the reader to the Sanskrit poetry here (3.3.21). It is impossible for me to do it justice in English. The poetic repitition and play on the word kṣaṇa is astonishing.

While enjoying like this for many dozens of years, he certainly did so with the fullest sense of detachment from the ordinary sexuality of ordinary couples.

This makes the point that Krishna’s interactions with his queens, family and so on, is not an affair of a bewildered soul grasping towards external objects and situations to fill a void of unhappiness within. His romantic interactions with his queens, for example, was essentially not  the same as the romantic interactions of ordinary couples because his queens are a manifestation of his own internal potency, and the romantic exchanges with them is expression of the internal energy (love). In the case of ordinary couples, on the other hand, the participants see themselves externally – as objects and subjects of material energy, and their expressions are not acts of joy but acts of hunger. Krishna’s romantic deeds are nothing like this, although of course ordinary romance cannot but imitate the external form of his divine romance.

Fate controls sense objects, and fate controls those who enjoy such objects. How can anyone be dedicated to the Master of Unity, if they have serious ambitions to unite with such sense objects?

Uddhava makes a concluding argument and statement simultaneously.

Uddhava’s argument is that even the devotees of Krishna (those “dedicated to the Master of Unity”) are devoid of interest in sense objects that are under the control of material fate; so what to speak of the person they are devoted to!? He certainly cannot be an external sense object, nor can he be interested in enjoying such things.

Uddhava’s statement is that if anyone wishes to participate in this exchange of spiritual, internal pleasure and joy with the All-Attractive, he or she needs to reduce and eventually eliminate their interest in pursuing external pleasures within the realm of karma / fate.

- Vraja Kishor

www.vrajakishor.com


Gaura Purnima at the Bhakti Centre
→ Ramai Swami

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We had the pleasure of attending two Gaura Purnima festivals, one at the Bhakti Centre on the Gold Coast and the other at Brisbane temple.

Lord Chaitanya manifests the audarya bhava, or the most munificent and merciful aspect of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The program schedule at the Bhakti Centre was very well attended and the devotees enjoyed an evening of kirtan, lila, drama, abhiseka and wonderful feast.
IMG_0604IMG_0602

To be or not to be… vegan?
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 01 October 2013, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.1)

More and more devotees are becoming vegan because they say milk is not pure; so much cruelty to the cows is involved now. But Srila Prabhupada was not fanatic about this. Srila Prabhupada felt that milk was very important, that we needed it for finer brain tissue development. Even in America, when the milk was adulterated with Vitamin D which might not have been of a vegetarian source, Prabhupada said, “Don’t worry about it, just take it. We need to take milk.” So, Prabhupada sometimes seemed to be quite pragmatic in these matters.

Now they say, “But it is worse than ever. Now, we do better to become vegans.” Well, I respect these devotees but personally I feel that even if a cow is kept in a hellish condition and being mistreated, it’s a bad thing. It is bad!

cute calvesI’ve seen here in Australia, many cows waiting to be put on the train. Calves, all in a pen, locked up. I was chanting japa early in the morning, there was nobody around, just these calves… something in me felt like… I sort of felt an urge to let them escape. But there was nowhere for them to go to. I felt like letting them out but they had nowhere to go! The whole planet is a prison for them. There is not a free inch of space for them. Wherever they go, they will be caught – so hellish, absolutely hellish!

But, at least if we take their milk and offer it to Krsna, they make eternal benefit! Although their suffering is hellish, it is temporary. If we don’t take their milk, we may bring some relief to them; a few, tiny drops of relief to their temporary suffering.

We don’t take their milk, okay… (booming voice), “If everyone becomes vegan and like millions and millions of people in the world don’t drink milk, then the milk industry will feel it and milk consumption will go down and less cows will have to suffer for all this. That reduces the temporary suffering of the cows! Yay! We got some temporary benefit for the suffering of those cows.”

But what if we take the milk and offer it to Krsna? We give those same cows eternal benefit that cannot be destroyed by anything. Let devotees take all the milk, as much as possible, and offer it all to Krsna! In this way, give the cows as much eternal benefit as possible. The rest of the world should become vegan (laughing). We should have lots of milk, lots of it and we give milk sweets to the vegans!

Gaura Purnima, March 16, ISKCON Silicon Valley, Mountain View, California
Giriraj Swami

03.16.14_04.GauraPurnima_ISV03.16.14_03.GauraPurnima_ISVGiriraj Swami spoke during the evening part of the celebrations.

“Srila Prabhupada, at the age of seventy, and at the order of his guru maharaja, crossed the ocean and sat down under a tree and chanted Hare Krishna. He said that anyone could take Krishna consciousness to anywhere in the world by the same method. You just go to a park in the center of the town, sit down under a tree and chant Hare Krishna. And—this is Srila Prabhupada’s own words—’Immediately people will think, Who is this crazy fellow sitting and chanting in the town square? And they will come around to find out about this crazy fellow.’ Then you tell them about Bhagavad-gita and Krishna consciousness. So, this is continuing by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy. All we have to do is take it and distribute it. This is the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu—that you should taste the nectar of the holy name, taste love of God and distribute it—share it with others.

Gaura Purnima, ISV, 2014

Feeding 2500 Vrndavana sadhus in the name of Govinda Swami’s departed mother (Album 71 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Govinda Swami: Today we served the Vrindavan sadhus and acaryas. Tomorrow we will serve a feast to all of the ISKCON devotees at Krishna Balaram Mandir, as well as sponsor all of the Deities Seva's and feeding the cows in the Bhaktivedanta Goshalla. May Gaura Nitai, Krishna Balaram, Radhe Shyam, the vaisnavas, and the cows bestow their grace upon the soul of my mother. Read more ›

Gaura Purnima: Blissful celebrations at Sri Jagannatha Mandir, ISKCON Malaysia Head Quarters (Album 138 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Sri Jagannatha Mandir, ISKCON Malaysia head quarters celebrated the most auspicious appearance day of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The programme started with Tulasi Puja and Guru Puja followed by Abhishekam of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. His Holiness Bhakti Vrajendranandana Swami Maharaja, President of ISKCON Malaysia, graced the occasion with his presence and talk. HG Simhesvara Prabhu, Regional secretary, also spoke and inspired everyone highlighting the glories of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His blessings to all of us. We were also honored to have the presence of YB Senator Datuk Dr Loga Bala Mohan (HG Loka Bandhu Gauranga Prabhu), the Deputy Minister of Federal Territories and His Excellence the Ambassador of Venezuela. Read more ›

SRILA PRABHUPADA ON WRITING
→ Gita Coaching

Realization means you should write, every one of you, what is your realization. What for this Back to Godhead is? You write your realization, what you have realized about Krsna. That is required. It is not passive. Always you should be active. Whenever you find time, you write. Never mind, two lines, four lines, but you write your realization. Sravanam kirtanam, writing or offering prayers,