2013-09-14 Chetana Festival – Dare to be Different by Rukmini Mataji ISKCON Chowpatty

Our Whereabouts & Festivities
in September
First of all..
Before telling you about what we have done and whats coming up, I would like to proudly announce that last month our Mayapuris group grew. She hasn’t debuted in a performance yet, but that’s because she is on the bench practicing her long Alaps,”Guuuuuuguuuugaaaga!”
Yes! It’s a baby! And it’s a girl!!
Her name is Naimi Sharanya Sheth

Congratulations to Vish and Vrinda!

Now prepare yourself for this months transcendental craziness

Krishna’s Birthday & Prabhupada’s too

Taken By:Krsna Katha Devi Dasi

So after this ecstatic event there has been many others, back to back actually.
We celebrated the famous Janmastami (Krishna’s Birthday) in Alachua Florida and soon after headed to the West Coast for Bhaktifest, where we reunited with many of our Kirtan friends and family. But let me not skip ahead so quickly because what was experienced in Alachua was most definitely a rarity.
The community comes together and creates something called “The Village of Vrindavan”. This village is the most popular attraction on the Krishna farm, where groups of people by the dozens go from tent to tent to see the replicas of the 7 main temples in Vrindavan. Since we don’t have the fortune to go to Vrindavan on this auspicious day, we try our best to bring Vrindavan to us. There are Pujaris (priests) at each temple to greet you with a smile and a sweet ball. The Village of Vrindavan opens up at 7 and closes 1 hour before midnight, when the main Arati (function) happens. Its a big Party and concludes with a midnight feast, where many Krsna Bhaktas taste food for the first time that day to break fast. They fast, then enjoy a warm meal in honor of Krsna’s appearance in this world a little over 5000 years ago.
It is an all day celebration followed with a half day celebration the next day. The founder of the Hare Krishna Movement, Srila Prabhupada, was born the day after Janmastami, so its basically a party…then an after party. The best feast of the year is served on Srila Prabhupada’s appearance day and lots of people like to go to the springs right after the noon feast. It has become a tradition. Dont you just love those type of traditions?

A Glimpse of Village of Vrindavan

Now are you convinced to come to Alachua for Janmastami?

BHAKTIFEST

Bhaktifest has definitely made its stamp in Joshua Tree National Park and quickly has become the most talked about Kirtan festival in the West, well except for the Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork Utah. That Festival is just insane, a most definite phenomenon where 80,000 people gather in just 2 days. Well anyways, back to California.

The name of Shyam was being uttered through out the whole festival. Mostly because a sincere servitor of Shyam (an intimate name of God), Shyam Das, passed away last year and he was a very influential speaker and teacher in Bhaktifest and at other important gatherings. He is a true bhakta and will always be lovingly remembered by all of us. So to honor his departure along with honoring the Bhakti tradition in Bhaktifest, we had rip roaring Kirtans whenever we could.
Some other things we did were: we had some nice jam sessions for Shiva Rea’s yoga class, joined other bands for their Kirtan slots, did street Kirtan, drank Ginger Beer in the pool, met new friends and Kirtan artists and had the honor of closing the festival with a rocking set, Mayapuri Style! here is a clip of thanks to Bond Graham:)
1.(Traditional Song in honor of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, The Founder of Kirtan)

2.(Reggae Hare Krishna)

Our friend Bill was able to edit in 3 different songs in this clip and here you get the crowds point of view of what the main stage is like in Bhaktifest:

Radhastami
We came back home then Celebrated Radhastami with our community which was ecstatically blissful. Its been a tradition (for who knows how many years now) that Vish’s father, Bhadra Prabhu, leads the evening Kirtan and makes all of us forget this material world by chanting the names of Radhe. Radhe is short for Srimati Radharani, who is the Mother of the Universe, The One Supreme Goddess where all other goddesses emanate from. Her compassion is immeasurable and on this day it is magnified even more, so being greedy for her mercy, especially on this day, is a wise thing to do that’s for sure
            
Taken By:Krsna Katha Devi Dasi

Festival of Colors: New Vrindavan

Then we packed our bags and flew into Pittsburgh and caught a ride to the Hills of West Virginia where the 2nd annual Festival of Colors was held. The land where this wonderful community of Krsna Bhaktas resides is known as, New Vrindavan Dham. The headliners for this event were: Nam Rock, Ananda Groove, Ghost Brothers and us!
3,000 attended and the weather was exquisite, a little dry, but exquisite.
We returned home on the earliest flight possible, which definitely isn’t our favorite but it turned out alright since it gave Bali and Vish time to settle in at home before they dove back into household duties and their University Studies. Oh, just in case you didn’t know, we are Gators. That means that everyone else is Gator Bait! hahaha just a joke..

(Bali and Vish got color mobbed as soon as they stepped in the Color Zone!)

Bloomington
Then after a week of home time, Vish, Goshi and myself flew into Bloomington, Illinois for an event on Saturday. The day before however, 90 ISKCON devotees gathered in a mansion and had some spiritual discourses with Govinda Prabhu, who is an elderly monk that was visiting from Radha Gopinath Mandir (A temple under the guidance of Radhanatha Swami located in Bombay, India). Vish lead the Kirtan and afterwards there was sumptuous food, of course.
Meet Goshi. (Vish and Goshi doing the classic indian pose while rocking the Maharashtrian style hats, you guys can make anything look good)

Saturday was an all day event with different Pujas, Abhishekams, dramas, classes and dances. The venue was super nice and we got to perform in front of 500 people in a professional theater with lighting and all.
Towards the end of our set the Mayor and Senator came on stage and danced with us, what a joyous ending that was.
(sound checking while 500 people waited outside)

 

Bay Area Tour “The Whirlwind Tour”

On our way back to Alachua from the Bay Area Vish named this tour, “The Whirlwind Tour”, because that’s what it felt like. Getting scooped up, twirled around Santa Cruz, San Jose, San Rafael, The City, then thrown back into our plane back home. Felt like One long day and night but it was filled with so much warmth, friendliness, Kirtan and Love, that it made the whirlwind feel like comforting breezes on a hot day.
The tour started with my late arrival to the airport, having Vish travel solo and to perform at Google alone.
What a bummer. But since he is super human then it didn’t even budge his flow. But yes, he arrived at Google, as in the same Google you tell your friends to search when you want to make a point, “Google It!”
At the event Vish told the employees,
” There are many dimensions, just like the World Wide Web. It’s another dimension that is present all around us but only accessible through the proper device. Similarly the spiritual dimension is omnipresent but not easily achieved except by the simple yet scientific process of chanting mantra. Hare Krsna”

I arrived late at SFO then waited an eternity for the rental car, well at least it felt like an eternity knowing that Vish and the Kirtaniyas were performing for a large audience at Rudra Mandir. My phone died so while i was in the plane i quickly wrote the directions on the back of my ticket and had to be stealth about it since it was time for take off,
“Shut off your phones” they reminded my neighbors, but i anticipated their arrival and hid my phone under my chadar and when they would walk away would continue writing the confusing directions. Gosh, driving in San Fransisco is no easy task, especially for a simple Alachua boy like myself.
I got the car and followed the directions like a devout practitioner and made it to my destination fairly fast and with no detours. I grabbed my whompers and walked towards the building to hear Vijay Krsna chanting the names of Mahaprabhu on top of Vish’s intoxicating mridanga playing. Krsna Devata saw me and invited me to the front and I didn’t hesitate to listen and joined right in till the last beat.
It really was a pleasure to do Kirtan with our friends on stage and our friends in the audience. The wonderful thing about Kirtan is that, if the Kirtan artists have the right mood then the stage quickly dissolves and the feeling of a family unified through joyous prayer takes place.
(A short clip of Vish on guitar with the Kirtaniyas)

We enjoyed Prasadam afterwards then took rest for the next day of activities.
We ate breakfast with Lloyd then met KD for lunch at Radiance Cafe.

From there we met up with Micheal Bredan and did a Harinam Photoshoot at Golden Gate Bridge. My favorite part was when the bystanders started filming the Kirtan instead of their family and friends as they posed in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. Not that it was great because they filmed us instead of them, but it was great because I know now that they will have the Kirtan on their devices for as long as they live.

We headed directly to San Jose with only one stop for some lip balm and cough drops because of the change of weather. We arrived there during the yoga class and they fed us nice prasadam which was cooked earlier for Vaisheshika Prabhu’s birthday feast: Nutloaf, pokaras, mash potatoes with gravy and yummy chocolate chip muffins. How i remember those muffins dearly.
The temple room filled up as we began the Auspicious invocation. Vish sang a variety of bhajans with the Name Gopal since there were many young kids in the crowd. Afterwards he spoke about sweet pastimes of Krsna in Vrindavan as I decorated his story telling with some Bansuri. Vish seamlessly started to tell the pastime of how the Flute became the Mridanga. The crowd was enchanted and became even more so when he stood up and made the mridanga sound like an intricate flute.


After chanting and dancing for a couple hours we had to end because we are in the material world with many other responsibilities other than spending time with Krsna. But of course maybe one day we can all have that transcendental vision where we see Krsna at all times in whatever we do. That will be the day this material world becomes the Spiritual world, for all of us!
Anyway, we headed to David Estes house with a small crew and he showed us all of his studio gear and his awesome instruments. The Pakistani tabla was Vish’s favorite and my favorite was his comfortable couch. Prajna sang beautiful Bhajans and i woke up to her chanting, “Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana!” I thought I woke up in Vaikuntha! Not my favorite place but definitely good enough, for sometime

We sang some more bhajans passed midnight then we really had to go because we had to drop off a friend all the way in Santa Cruz, then return to San Jose since we had a morning yoga class with Prajna near by.
We woke up and didn’t have time for breakfast so we brought it with us, thanks to Hamsa. Muffins, Doughnuts, Cupcakes and some Jamba Juice!
We arrived a little late so I dropped Vish off and looked for parking. I entered the yoga room and heard melodious guitar playing and singing as people slowly changed postures in unison. Quite hypnotizing the whole thing. But of course, By the end we had everyone dancing, which is the Origin of Yoga, Lord Shiva’s Dance.

We headed back towards Santa Cruz to Hamsa’s parents Hotel which is right by the beach. The water was freezing! But we got warmed up by a warm meal cooked by her mother. The prasadam was so good that we automatically took a 20 minute nap with no questions asked.
It was time for Sound check at the Cultural Center so we headed into the mountains up and down windy roads to pick up the organizer of the event, who worked really hard to make everything happen, she even got different types of flowers to add a sweet touch. Thank you Sumatiji!
We had an intimate crowd and took the chance to teach them how to play Kartals. Somehow we had the perfect amount of kartals and whompers for the whole room. We chanted and danced the night away then finished off with our rendition of “Give me Love” By George Harrison.
We Drove back to San Jose again for some short rest and woke up at 4am for an early departure out of SFO.
(Ironically there was a whirlwind device in front of our gate bidding us farewell)

So there you have it, Lets see what happens in October

& it don’t stop!

With Love and Joy, Kish

 

Kṛṣṇa’s holy name is transcendental.  Therefore it is not surprising that it remains transcendental, even when altered by the font conversion process.   When pasting on the web a text with Balarama font the name Kṛṣṇa becomes Kåñëa.   That is not too bad as one of Kṛṣṇa’s names is Kanhaiya.  However when words such as Śrīla become Çréla and other words are sometimes very hard to figure out, it becomes frustrating.  However there is a simple solution that will allow you to maintain all your files formatting.  Keeping all your Bolds, your   centered    text, italics, and everything in between.  It is Macros, by using macros one can changes the Balarama diacritic characters to the correct corresponding unicode characters that remain readable one the web and can be seen in most fonts.  This also means that searching become easier to use as well. 

The macros that I was able to put together can be found here.  https://pastee.org/qhp8a It also works on your footnotes as well. 

Notes:

If you have a file that has footnotes it will convert it and save it as is.  If it the files does not have footnotes it will say error and you can choose end or debug.   Press end and save or save as and you are done. 
Do not use files that have fonts that are similar to the diacritics in Balarama but have different corresponding letters to the diacritics letters.  I think Tamal is ok, It seems like the all corresponding letters that are converted are the same as the Balarama font

“Am I really free?” We may get this situation when we try to change ourselves for the better and realize how difficult it is, realize how easily we tend to relapse to old habits and attitudes.

The subject is complex with many nuances, but a general answer is: We are free to choose our desires, but having done so, are compelled to act according to those desires. Here’s an example.

Imagine a vast ocean with three currents going in three different directions. Suppose a boatperson is trying to navigate the way through such an ocean. Once a boatperson chooses a particular current, its force pushes and drags the boat. Our situation is similar – we are souls in the ocean of material existence, the human body is like the boat for navigating the ocean and the three modes of material nature are like the three currents. The Bhagavad-gita (14.05) indicates that the modes bind all living beings, no matter how powerful they may be. These modes propose different kinds of desires. Once we choose a particular desire, the mode that induced the desire takes control of us just as the current takes control of the boat that enters into it. Of course, a determined and skilled boatperson can resist the current and choose a different trajectory. Similarly, if we are determined and skilled, we can resist the dominant mode and act differently.

The heart of the determination and the skill is the humble devotion that enables us to take shelter of Krishna, who resides as an infallible shelter beyond the range of the modes. When we anchor ourselves to Krishna through bhakti-yoga, he becomes our guarding and guiding anchor for resisting the current and making wise choices – choices that set us free to progress towards real happiness.

Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world...simply send me an introduction message and I will be happy to make you a member:

rasa108 ::_::{.at.}::_:: gmail dot com

ys

Rasa Rasika dasa

Every day we do the same thing; get up, shower, have a morning program and go on samkirtan. It’s been going on like that for 40 years, to be exact. But we never become bored, tired or satiated because it’s devotional service to the Lord and always new and fresh. And it always will be! [...]

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 22.62.

‘sraddha’-sabde — visvasa kahe sudridha niscaya
krishne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krita haya

TRANSLATION

By rendering transcendental loving service to Krsna one automatically performs all subsidiary activities. Such confident, firm faith favorable to the discharge of devotional service is called sraddah.

PURPORT

Firm faith and confidence are called sraddha. When one engages in the Lord’s devotional service, he is to be understood to have performed all his responsibilities in the material world. He has satisfied his forefathers, ordinary living entities, and demigods and is free from all responsibility. Such a person does not need to meet his responsibilities separately. It is automatically done. Fruitive activity (karma) is meant to satisfy the senses of the conditioned soul. However, when one awakens to Krsna consciousness, he does not have to work separately for pious activity. The best achievement of all fruitive activity is detachment from material life, and this detachment is spontaneously enjoyed by the devotee firmly engaged in the Lord’s service. —Cc Madhya 22.62

Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 22.62

Every year HG Candidasa Das puts together and co-ordinates the offerings of the disciples and well wishers of my Guru Maharaja HH Devamrita Swami.

This years offerings are available online here:

http://devaswami.com/writings/from-disciples/vyasa-puja-offerings-2013

As always I am inspired by the amazing outpourings by my God Family if only my words were so inspiring but for what it’s worth this is my simple offering:

Hare Krishna
Please Accept My Humble Obeisances
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

Dear Devamrita Swami Maharaja

Another year and another opportunity to write a small offering and again I stare at a blank page wondering what to write, words appear inadequate how does one express their feelings given all that you have done for each one of us.

The patience and tolerance shown
The words of guidance that often appears to fall on un-listening ears

Get you remain their willing and encouraging, caring and inspiring.

I remember how you challenged me all them years ago over nursing the body asking what is the benefit; they still will suffer and eventually leave their body; I remember you asking what about the soul?
You made it more personal, to the point? What are you doing to help the suffering of the soul?
Seeing your example the care of looking after the spirit soul, and seeing this reflected in your humble disciples in their actions and words.
Tolerating my irrationality, my doubts, answering each e-mail with a few words which always inspires and encourages; giving me shelter and taking me as a disciple even their showing the greatest compassion a name that reminds me of the most important weakness of mine to help focus my mind.
The simple words of thank you appears weak inadequate, my wish is may I have more of your association and loving care; but more important that your words of advice remains ever present in my mind and heart.

Yours Humbly
Dhirabhakta Das

The Food For All band took to the stage last Saturday at the famous Half Moon, for a sold out gig in honour of a wonderful devotee and singer Maharani Devi or as the world knew her Polystyrene, singer with X-ray Specs.

Maharani left her body a few years ago due to cancer, but she had a great positive effect on millions of young people. She kept her spiritual life always at the forefront of her life, she is greatly missed by so many

your servant Parasuram das

It was with great delight that my Guru Mahraja HH Devamrita Swami came and gave class at Bhaktivadanta Manor which was warmly received and as always inspirational:

It was also an wonderful time having my Guru Maharaja lead Kirtan

The temple president Sruti Dharma Prabhu took the time to show Maharaja the George Harrison Garden:

It was also a special day as the deities here at Bhaktivadanta Manor wearing their new outfits made by over 200 devotees that attend the Manor co-ordinated and directed by one amazing mataji; high praise was given by HH Devamrita Swami who suggested that may be she should become a GCB member:

Their was also a special cake made for her amazing contribution given by the head pujari:

Enjoy

In life, always, there are two things (1) form and (2) substance. In other words form represents the external act or ritual and substance represents the inner meaning behind it. Ideally the inner meaning should drive the external word, act or ritual. Otherwise the act in itself has little meaning.

Today in ISKCON, whatever little I have seen, initiation is taken seriously by aspiring devotees only up to when they get it. Of course, I don’t want to generalize but there is this tendency also among devotees today. They practice Krishna consciousness seriously to the point of initiation and then after initiation, spiritual life becomes hackneyed. But real spiritual life begins after initiation. Also, I have seen initiation is seen as a social status symbol within ISKCON and devotees have a sense of air around them. Such behavior actually is contradictory to the inner meaning of initiation.

Once initiated, the devotee actually must become more humble and tolerant and in fact aspire to seriously take the position of servant of the servant even if it is difficult. But initiated devotees (even so called senior devotees) lack the mental discipline to reject all forms of adoration, profit and distinction (materialistic qualities) thus beginning the road for downfall. So yes initiation is a serious commitment externally to practice our sadhana and internally to remain humble servants in the hands of Guru and Krishna.

Below is a transcript from a lecture about initiation given by H.H.Radhanath Swami. He captures the idea very nicely.

We should know that initiation in itself doesn't mean anything. Real initiation does not mean getting a name, sitting in front of a fire, and throwing some grains in the fire. That is not initiation. There are many people who get initiated who never got initiated…not really! It’s not something cheap. But in Kali Yuga everyone wants something cheap. 

Prabhupada said don’t try to keep your guru like your dog. Don’t think your guru is just a picture to put on the wall and say this is my guru. It’s the way most people are. What does initiation mean? It means the willingness to surrender your life to following the instructions of the guru. If you are not willing to do that, initiation is a farce. It means nothing. Then we should never encourage anyone to get initiated unless they are living a life sincerely to follow the instructions. It is better to remain a congregational devotee without an initiation. 

Getting initiated means following the four regulative principles strictly, if you are not following the four regulative principles strictly in this sampradaya and get initiated, it is a farce. It means nothing. If you are not willing to chant 16 rounds everyday it’s a farce! It means nothing! It’s a show bottle! It’s nonsense! We are not concerned with such show bottle nonsense cheap things. We are concerned something with substance. You are not going to back to Godhead because you are initiated. You are going back to Godhead because you surrendered to Krishna through surrendering to his pure devotees through the parampara and part of the process of that surrender is to accept initiation but it is not the end of itself. 

To initiate means to begin - its beginning a higher realm of surrender if you do it right. If you don’t do it right it does not mean anything. If you are not willing to put your own ego aside to hear from the words of your guru and follow, then forget about initiation. 

Initiation means a formal vow that I am going to put my ego aside and I am going to humbly follow you throughout my life with faith and if someone is actually living according to that principle then he will make real spiritual advancement and whatever spiritual advancement you make all of those connected to you will share the benefits from your spiritual advancement and eventually you will become a pure devotee – definitely! And at that time all of your descendants and all of your forefathers will be liberated for so many generations.  

- H.H.Radhanath Swami, lecture - Uttara Mother In Krishna Consciousness

8 year old Jude cycled 62 miles from Oxford to London for the Ahimsa Dairy Foundation, promoting cruelty-free milk production. Read more ›

Bhandirvan where Radha and Krishna were married by with Brahma as the priest, Mansarovar, a lake made of Radharani’s tears and Baelvan where Goddess Laxmi performed tapasya to enter into Raas-lila. Read more ›

Our 3rd annual Chariot festival big success with loads of new faces. It wouldn't have been possible without your support and blessings. Read more ›

VIEW WITH FULL SCREEN. CLICK ON ARROWS AT THE BOTTOM.

"Glory to the Sri Krsna sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious." Siksastaka Read more ›

"John and his wife were very kind upon me when I was staying at Tittenhurst Park as their guests. I always prayed for them to Krsna for understanding this great movement. Please inform him this message on my behalf. I have dreamt something very nice about John which I shall disclose in proper time. In the meantime, please ask him to cooperate with this movement as you are doing, and he will be very happy."(Srila Prabhupada letter to George Harrison, February 16, 1970) Read more ›

Beautiful Villa Vrindavana, an oasis of peace. Hare Krishna Read more ›

SKCON Nairobi has been actively promoting the ideals of Krishna consciousness since 1973, through college programs, a vibrant Sunday feast with Sunday School for the children, book distribution, and harinam sankirtana. There is an active congregation of 350 devotees. Find the Nairobi temple on Facebook as ISKCON Nairobi. Read more ›

Cusco, often spelled Cuzco, is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. Cusco was the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO. It is a major tourist destination and receives almost 2 million visitors a year. Read more ›

ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes – 9-29-2013.

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban (ECOV) is dedicated to cow protection, sustainable agriculture, self-sufficiency and simple living — all centered around loving service to Sri Krishna, as envisioned by the ISKCON New Vrindaban (INV) Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Participating Board Members: Anuttama, Chaitanya Mangala, Kripamaya, Madhava Gosh, Navin Shyam, and Ranaka.

Participating Project Managers: Rafael

1. Deity Flower Garden / Trees & Berries

Flowers:  Rafael reports that the flowers have been suffering from blight.  They had been sprayed earlier in the season, but have not been recently.  Next year a regular spraying schedule should be implemented. Other than that, the growing season is coming to an end, and the area is being wrapped up for winter.

Rafael has been watering several flowering bushes that need to be planted, but he will not be able to do so before he leaves next month.

Trees: Many that have been planted need additional caging to protect them from being further damaged by deer.  The trees at Madhuban have been mulched with wood chips and cardboard, which prevents grass from growing in spaces that cannot be mowed.

Rafael mentioned that in 2014 he plans to propose hiring a permaculture expert and development of an ox-training program for the bulls that are taking birth in New Vrindaban.

2. G7G Cabin Construction

As it turns out, Tom prabhu has some experience with green building and has addressed a number of construction issues with the cabin (e.g. the need for a moisture barrier and perforated drainage pipe). A concrete floor will be installed soon.

3. Deity Dairy Project

Nityodita prabhu provided a progress report and financial review. He reported that the program was a great success because they were able to supply the cooks in the Deity Kitchen with butter, butter milk and small amounts of ghee through out the summer. Nityo’s conclusion is that one can understand Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra are pleased to be once again relishing milk products coming directly from cows lovingly cared for by Their devotees.

Gosh explained that the project was well under budget because Anandavidya and others separated the cream at the same time they were cleaning the barn, thus significantly reducing previously anticipated labor expenses. These remaining funds continue to facilitate Anandavidya’s service past the initial trial period.

Nityodita is planning to write an article for publication. ECOV Board Members look forward to reading it.

Connected to this, and as part of our overall herd management strategy, Ranaka reports that he is breeding 3 heifers, which will increase the available milk supply.

4. Sustainability Poster Display

12 posters can be displayed behind Srila Prabhupada’s Palace or in the downstairs of the Palace Lodge.  The Lodge is more likely because of Jaya Krsna’s preference and because of wall mounting difficulties at the Palace.

5. Bahulaban Pink Building Demolition

Jaya Krsna & Gopisa prabhus provided the following information through e-mail:

In addition to the $10K for Savage demolition, there was $4,320 in other costs, as follows:

• Varsana Swami had 100 hours of preparation for the pink building and the dam – $2,500 + expenses $500
• Maharaja used for four hours the D4 = $90 * 4 = $360
• Backhoe: 10 hours * $60 = $600
• We have still to bury the wood – I propose to add another 3 hours for the final burying. $270

6. 2018: INV’s 50^th & ECOV’s 20^th Anniversary Celebrations

INV’s 50^th anniversary will be in 2018. This same year will also be the 20^th anniversary of ECOV. The Board agreed to regularly use meeting time to explore what projects and initiatives we would like to dedicate for that celebratory year.  All directors and advisors are requested to come to these meetings with ideas and thoughts prepared ahead of time, ready for discussion.

7. Budget for Promotional Items

WHEREAS: The ECOV Board wishes to gain greater visibility in the public eye, while remaining consistent with its ecological focus.

RESOLVED: The Board authorizes up to $1,500 for the purchase of reusable stainless steel water bottles and up to $2,000 for organic cotton T-shirts (all with custom ECOV & INV logos) to be resold at various points within the community, as well as on the ECOV website.

8. Special Note

The ECOV Board Members note that several initiatives were highlighted in these minutes. These projects were completed timely, well under budget and done in a cooperative spirit that brought members of our community closer together. We pray that Srila Prabhupada and their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra bless us with many more of these kinds of opportunities. We thank Gopisa, Varsana Swami, Rafael, Tom, Anandavidya, Nityodita and other crew members for their part in making these efforts a success.

H.G Saci Suta Dasa kirtan

Nicole’s Day

Toronto, Ontario

Today we had another birthday in the ashram, it was Nicole who took the honour on this fine day.  Born in the Philippines and in her early 20’s, she has captured the hearts of all the ashram dwellers with her fine devotional qualities.

We have a kind of family atmosphere in the ashram and when it is someone’s turn to be recognized it becomes moments of lightness and gratitude.  Manish is an outstanding artist who designed a gorgeous card for all of us to contribute our tribute to her.  Kanad is our main cook these days and he made a cake with an outstanding icing, at least that was the consensus.  And my input was, well, it was not an out of the way gift, but I encouraged her to come on that early trek with us as we chant our japa, mantra meditation, which is the ultimate medication.

Let’s face it, we are all imbalanced in some ways in this dark age of Kali.  Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, in his brilliant delivery of  7 purposes of the bhakti devotional technique expresses the need to check the imbalanced lives of today and the root cause of the problem is emphasis goes so much to ‘me’ and not ‘we’.

I was delighted that Nicole be part of our small troupe on the street.  As of late she has come to like the process of chanting while on the feet.  I do wish her the best on this day and in this life.  She carries a real sweet attitude that rubs off onto others.  It’s contagious.

While she spent a section of her day with family and friends, some of the boys and I made our way to Dundas Street and the Bhakti Lounge run by a devotional stalwart, Mangal Aarti by name.  There we had staged our latest drama production, Gita: Concise, to a small group.  This was an important venture for me because the lounge attracts among a diversity of people, the artistic types.  One chap completed his four year course at Ryerson U in theatre arts, and Melinda is an actor and dancer who very much liked the drama.  In fact, her comment at the end of the presentation was that she wants to read up on the Gita now that she saw the rich concepts that the philosophy contains.  The actors too had a great time at this humble venue wherein was included a tasty vegan meal of kofta, veggie rice and halava.  It was a good day at these two places of bhakti.

8 KM

Answer Podcast

Giriraj Swami gave class to devotees and guests in the Darshan Room in Dallas.

“This magazine had an article on the 25th anniversary of the Woodstock festival, with profiles of one hundred people who had been at the original Woodstock. There was a little photo of each, with a brief description of what they experienced then and what they were doing now. Ninety-six had become conventional mainstream people. All their idealism from the sixties when they went to the festival was gone. The other four still had ideals but were a bit wacky. And I thought, ‘Thank Srila Prabhupada. Now, twenty-five years later, we still have our ideals—and we’re not wacky.’ We do not do wacky things like some of the people, who still had long hair and drove around in psychedelic VW vans with strange ideas. So I thanked Srila Prabhupada. Twenty-five years later we still had the same ideals. And what he gave us—Krishna consciousness—is not crazy or impractical. It is revolutionary, but in a spiritual way. And it is eternal, and it continues. When Srila Prabhupada came to America he was seventy years old, but because it is eternal and universal, he was able to touch our hearts and infuse us with spiritual knowledge and inspiration.”

Bhagavad-gita talk

There are many possible motives for suicide. Saintly people sometimes commit suicide to attone for some serious mistake or as an involuntary expression of some extremely deep emotion. Śiva’s wife Sati, for example, committed suicide out of grief of being related to her father, who had disrespected her husband. Coṭa Haridāsa committed suicide by drowning himself in a sacred river as an expression of his grief over so seriously displeasing Sri Caitanya. Sanātana Goswāmī planned to kill himself under the wheels of Jagannātha’s cart during Ratha Yatra, feeling that his life was useless. Sri Caitanya stopped him, affectionately explaining, “Your life belongs to me, it is not yours to throw away.” Raghunātha dāsa Goswāmī attempted suicide by leaping from Goverdhan hill. Rupa and Sanātana Goswāmīs gave him the inspiration to continue living.

The result of suicide, like everything, depends on the motive. Sati’s result was that she became Parvatī, married Śiva again and was free from her inglorious previous family / father. This shows that suicide does not always have a negative result.

Almost always, however, suicide is an unrecognized expression of the desire for mokṣa. The pains and depressing inescapable realities of existence become too great to bear, they vastly outweigh the joys and pleasures of life – one decisively prefers not to exist at all, rather than exist amidst such unbearable circumstances.

Since the desire for mokṣa is unrecognized, the individual seeks to end their existence by some physical means – a bullet, a pill, a blade, a steep drop, etc. If the desire were recognized as a desire for mokṣa the individual would instead recourse to nihilistic spiritual disciplines to extinguish his or her existence altogether – a much more effective form of suicide – since it destroys not just the physical self, but also the emotional self.

What destination is attained by a person who physically kills themselves?

It depends on their consciousness at the time of death. yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvam tajantyante kalevaraṁ - “whatever your heart is absorbed in when you die will become the general condition of your next birth.” (Bhagavad Gita)

Not always, but most often the consciousness of a person committing suicide is tragic and filled with negative emotions. Therefore most often, the destination of those who commit suicide is tragic. It is not always the case, but it is arguably the norm. When a person dies with a lot of unfinished, unresolved emotional ties to people, places and things in their life, they will find themselves unable to move on to their next birth. A suicidal person, specifically, will also be loathe towards the proposal of starting the whole depressing cycle over again in another birth. When the mind is paralyzed from moving on to the next life, the being has to exist for a while without a physical form, only in an emotional “body” – a very troubled emotional body.

People tend to experience such beings as “ghosts” and so on. Often, people who commit suicide have many, many unresolved issues with their life, thus it is quite frequent that suicide produces what many people call “ghosts.”

Another problem is that suicide most often leaves behind unfulfilled responsibilities. This is a serious karmic problem incurred by committing suicide. If a person is old, legitimately renounced, or somehow has fulfilled or never incurred many familial and social responsibilities, this may not be an issue.

Eventually (it can take centuries) the ghost forgets his or her negative ties to the previous life and drifts slowly towards another birth. In that next birth they will have to again deal with what they wanted escape: being alive in a painful world.

If a person recognizes the suicide impulse as the desire for mokṣa and fulfills that impulse not by physical suicide, but by “spiritual” nihilism – what is the result?

Another type of “ghost” – really.

They extinguish their false existence, which is good, but they do so with a sense of disgust, disdain, frustration, or repulsion. These negative motives invariably generate negative results. The result of such mokṣa is to obliterate one’s false being, but not attain any true being – a type of ghostly existence in a sense, in between falsehood and truth, and neither of either. Like a ghost, they exist for sometime without any tangible existence. Eventually, the negative, unresolved emotional ties to the false world will again pull them into subdividing their consciousness into negative existence and they will again acquire a material birth.

In the end, suicide of either type fails to solve the problem. You eventually have to actually face your problems and solve them. The problem is suffering. Self-centered existence is the root of suffering. Selfless existence is the end of suffering and the root of joy. “Selfless existence” means an existence of pure love. Pure love is realized in its most perfect zenith when the beloved is absolutely pure and real - focused on the absolute reality as the supreme beloved.

The only real way to end suffering is love - bhakti. Practice of bhakti is the only way to accomplish what suicide would like to accomplish, but cannot.

Hare Krishna.

"I am very glad to learn also that you are feeling joy while chanting the mantra Hare Krishna. Yes, it is exactly like this. If anyone chants this mantra in good faith and in simple understanding, then surely this transcendental vibration will act immediately in spiritual bliss."

Letter to Sriman Minoru and Kenji
Los Angeles 22 April, 1970

POWER IS ALWAYS DESCENDING By Mayapur dasa Power is always descending. All history books show that Monarchy was the established system of government across the globe, from Asia to India, Africa and Europe. Until relatively recent times, guided by detached clergy (brahmanas), monarchs (ksatriyas) were educated and trained to fulfill their duties as earthly representatives of the

The Radha Krsna Temple, or now more commonly Radha Krishna Temple, was the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in London from the late 1960s. The Temple came to prominence when The Beatles, and especially George Harrison, started to publicly express their interest in Eastern philosophy and Krishna consciousness. The Radha Krsna Temple is also the name of an album of devotional music issued by the Temple on The Beatles' Apple Records label, produced by Harrison Read more ›

Shopping Cult @ Oxford Circus
Episode Two of Parasociology Series.
http://youtu.be/mz-D8AxREcw


The Cult of Shopping | Parasociology at Oxford Circus
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Nicolas Riddihough is a world wide researcher into the science of Parasociology which he introduces to us with clarity and insightfulness. The second episode... Continue reading →

24-12-2012 SB 8.6.21-28, Churning the Milk Ocean, Cape Town, South Africa om namo bhagavate vasudevaya! om namo bhagavate vasudevaya! om namo bhagavate vasudevaya! Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 8, Chapter 6, “The Demigods and Demons declare a Truce”, text… it says 20 here; I was told it was 21. Is this correct? Or is Devotee: [...]