An invitation to all dear Devotees to kindly join us in the celebration of the VYASA Puja of His Holiness Janananda Goswami Maharaj on Saturday 9th February at Hare Krishna Temple – New Varshana from 10am onwards
Vyasa Puja Celebration of HH Janananda Goswami Maharaj on Saturday 9th February 2013
UTA Planetarium Field Trip
→ TKG Academy
Everything we had learned the past month came to life in our UTA Planetarium Field Trip! Students got to see an IMAX size presentations of all the planets, go on a very dizzying roller coaster ride sitting right in the auditorium seats and pinpoint all the constellations that they had previously learned.
As an added bonus, we had scheduled a science Magic Show, where they saw styrofoam cups melt away, flowers turn into crisp icicles with liquid nitrogen, chemicals emitting flames, “elephant” toothpaste, and many more exciting science experiments!
How Can I Become a Peacemaker?
→ Matsya Avatar das adhikari
Part I
Science and religious traditions of all times, agree by stating that there are universal laws which govern the universe (in Greek the word is cosmos, its meaning is either ‘order’ or ‘universe’). Such laws rule and support the whole creation and every manifestation of life, from mankind to the microscopic insect, and are the expression of an order that the modern quantum physics defines as “implicit order”, which is beyond mere appearance; a veiled, subtle reality from which derives “the explicit order” visible through natural phenomena.
In the Vedic Vaishnava tradition, this order is found by the reunion of life and the world and is known with the word dharma, from the Sanskrit root dhr which means ‘hold, support’, or else with the noun rtam, defined as "fixed or settled order, rule, divine law or truth” which derives from the Sanskrit root ṛ- "to move, rise, tend upwards" that, in this case means “regular flowing of things”.
By being really interested to build a world of peace we intend to be interested with knowledge and harmonization of these universal laws, which the religious tradition of all times consider the expression of a superior Intelligence, the cosmic Consciousness, God. Peace means to synchronize one’s own inner dynamics with the cosmos’ dynamics; by learning to move in harmony with that universal order which already exists (there is no need to make it up), and whose infraction is the cause of unsteadiness, wounds, conflicts, within us and outside. Peace is not a need for a moral order, it is an indispensable factor for man whose life, in order to live in harmony, is tightly connected to the whole universe and all the creatures in it. Without such awareness, the value of peace becomes a meaningless concept designed to remain ambiguous and prompt to be jeopardized by those who persevere in other purposes. In the name of such kind of peace, all the crimes committed in the present and the past, testify it as true.
How Can I Become a Peacemaker?
→ Matsya Avatar das adhikari
Part I
Science and religious traditions of all times, agree by stating that there are universal laws which govern the universe (in Greek the word is cosmos, its meaning is either ‘order’ or ‘universe’). Such laws rule and support the whole creation and every manifestation of life, from mankind to the microscopic insect, and are the expression of an order that the modern quantum physics defines as “implicit order”, which is beyond mere appearance; a veiled, subtle reality from which derives “the explicit order” visible through natural phenomena.
In the Vedic Vaishnava tradition, this order is found by the reunion of life and the world and is known with the word dharma, from the Sanskrit root dhr which means ‘hold, support’, or else with the noun rtam, defined as "fixed or settled order, rule, divine law or truth” which derives from the Sanskrit root ṛ- "to move, rise, tend upwards" that, in this case means “regular flowing of things”.
By being really interested to build a world of peace we intend to be interested with knowledge and harmonization of these universal laws, which the religious tradition of all times consider the expression of a superior Intelligence, the cosmic Consciousness, God. Peace means to synchronize one’s own inner dynamics with the cosmos’ dynamics; by learning to move in harmony with that universal order which already exists (there is no need to make it up), and whose infraction is the cause of unsteadiness, wounds, conflicts, within us and outside. Peace is not a need for a moral order, it is an indispensable factor for man whose life, in order to live in harmony, is tightly connected to the whole universe and all the creatures in it. Without such awareness, the value of peace becomes a meaningless concept designed to remain ambiguous and prompt to be jeopardized by those who persevere in other purposes. In the name of such kind of peace, all the crimes committed in the present and the past, testify it as true.
The TOVP Architecture and Design Department
- TOVP.org
What have we done in 2012?
The Inspiration
As the clocks tick and calendars turn pages, the verdict of Lord Nityananda manifests into a tangible reality. Weaving the thread between then and now is Srila Prabhupada’s instruction to our beloved Ambarisa Prabhu, who has laudably carried it in his heart for over 30 onerous years.
While Sadbhuja Prabhu ingeniously puts the works into motion, Bhavananda Prabhu creatively reflects– what would Srila Prabhupada like? The three form a fascinating team of directors on an onward journey and an intimate guiding force for the TOVP Architecture & Design Department.
Nested in the city of Pune, this department has become the design development centre of the TOVP, assisting Sadbhuja Prabhu to create the Architecture and Construction Drawings.
Achievements
2012 has been a year of success for us in various ways, as we have completed the items below.
- Construction Drawings (over 120 drawings):
- All the Staircase Towers
- Main Wing
- Planetarium Wing
- Narsimhadeva Wing
- Ramps
- Finishing Drawings (75 drawings and still ongoing):
- Decorative Interior Columns and Arches
- Flooring Pattern Working Drawings
- Decorative Railing
- Door, Window details
- All decorative details
- Research Building Materials and Agencies (Ongoing):
- Blue Tile
- Gold Tile
- Specialized Glass for the big domes
- Glass Reinforced Concrete
- Elevator, Escalator Agencies
- Special Acoustic Material
- Landscape Layout concept
Design Development
From an architect’s perspective, the temple is designed to facilitate the performance of devotional service by crafting constructional elements into a stage, in which the link between building elements and participants is direct and unmitigated. The architecture is aimed to serve either as a prop or at other times, a focus of devotion to aid the spiritual exercise. In essence, it is a direct catalyst of the experience.
A significant milestone in our design process has been achieved by modifying the proportions of the columns in the Main Temple interior elevation consisting of 3 gallery floors. As a backdrop to the altars, it now strikes the optimum balance between the splendor and the anthropomorphic scale – an architectural intent of poise and elegance, ushering the vision towards the Proprietor of the TOVP residing in the altars.
The Team
- Vilasini dd (Varsha Sharma)– Architectural Co-ordinator, TOVP
(M. Arch, The University of Arizona, Tucson) - Anupama Gore– Architect (Proprietor, Piankh Designing Spaces, Pune)
(B.Arch, MMCA, Pune) - Devendra Dhere– Architect (Partner, DD Architects, Pune)
(B. Arch, BVP, Navi Mumbai M. Tech, Urban Planning, COEP, Pune) - Vrushali Dhere– Architect (Partner, DD Architects, Pune)
(B. Arch, DYP, Kolhapur) - Sandeep Khapte– Architect (Proprietor, Tanishqaa Architects & Planners)
(B. Arch, BKPS, Pune) - Anup Shah – Architect (Director, Medialab, India)
(M. Arch, The University of Arizona, Tucson) - Atul Jagtap – Office Boy
Anupama Gore overlooks the drawings released on the site and facilitates internal communication between the architects, at the same time acting as our ‘fireman’. Devendra Dhere and Vrushali Dhere, the architect couple complement each other in a way where one conducts the research of various suppliers and manufacturers while the other thoughtfully implements them on drawings and design research. For most of 2012, we also had Sandeep Khapte who tackled the challenging Staircase Towers, Kalash and other technical aspects of the building. Anup Shah, through his design and 3-D visualization skills, has facilitated in envisioning the temple interiors through experiential design process.
I am grateful for this team’s sincerity and attentiveness to the ‘mood’ of the TOVP.
Spiritual Melting Pot
→ Tattva - See inside out
The focal point of the entire site is the triveni-sangam, the meeting place of three sacred rivers: the Ganges, Yamuna and the subterranean Sarasvati. By bathing in the confluence at astrologically auspicious periods, lifetimes of karmic baggage can be destroyed, and one can free themselves from the complex meshes of action and reaction. Thus, one can transcend the temporal world of perpetual rebirth and open the doors to liberation. Needless to say I capitalised on the opportunity. It was a powerful experience. This human spectacle, however, has also become renowned as a forum to exchange spiritual values, religious ideas and moral codes. Above and beyond the exotic mysticism that can attract and capture one’s attention, these festivals offer the golden opportunity to meet saintly and self-realised people. This is the essence of Kumbha Mela.
But who is a true saint? The Bhagavad-gita explains that such persons are not stereotyped. They may be recognised by many people and famed in spiritual circles, or maybe not. They may be erudite, scholarly and philosophically astute, or maybe not. They may be renounced, austere and free from worldly responsibility, or maybe not. The one essential quality of the truly saintly person, however, is their enthusiastic, dedicated and unwavering conviction to selflessly serve. They exist to give happiness to others. It is those souls who we have to seek out, for the sacred truths of dharma are hidden within their hearts. As I head towards London Heathrow, I reflect on the many saintly people I have met on this trip. Over the years I have become more and more convinced that saints are not just personalities of the past, but that saints are also living in our midst. We walk and talk with spiritually evolved people more often than we may appreciate. I sincerely hope these special souls will remember me. I’ll surely be blessed if they do.
Spiritual Melting Pot
→ Tattva - See inside out
The focal point of the entire site is the triveni-sangam, the meeting place of three sacred rivers: the Ganges, Yamuna and the subterranean Sarasvati. By bathing in the confluence at astrologically auspicious periods, lifetimes of karmic baggage can be destroyed, and one can free themselves from the complex meshes of action and reaction. Thus, one can transcend the temporal world of perpetual rebirth and open the doors to liberation. Needless to say I capitalised on the opportunity. It was a powerful experience. This human spectacle, however, has also become renowned as a forum to exchange spiritual values, religious ideas and moral codes. Above and beyond the exotic mysticism that can attract and capture one’s attention, these festivals offer the golden opportunity to meet saintly and self-realised people. This is the essence of Kumbha Mela.
But who is a true saint? The Bhagavad-gita explains that such persons are not stereotyped. They may be recognised by many people and famed in spiritual circles, or maybe not. They may be erudite, scholarly and philosophically astute, or maybe not. They may be renounced, austere and free from worldly responsibility, or maybe not. The one essential quality of the truly saintly person, however, is their enthusiastic, dedicated and unwavering conviction to selflessly serve. They exist to give happiness to others. It is those souls who we have to seek out, for the sacred truths of dharma are hidden within their hearts. As I head towards London Heathrow, I reflect on the many saintly people I have met on this trip. Over the years I have become more and more convinced that saints are not just personalities of the past, but that saints are also living in our midst. We walk and talk with spiritually evolved people more often than we may appreciate. I sincerely hope these special souls will remember me. I’ll surely be blessed if they do.
In Energy Taxes, Tools to Help Tackle Climate Change
→ The Yoga of Ecology
The erratic weather across the country in the last couple of years seems to be softening Americans’ skepticism about global warming. Most New Yorkers say they believe big storms like Sandy and Irene were the result of a warming climate. Whether climate change is directly responsible or not, the odd weather patterns have underscored the risk that it poses to all of us.
What’s yet to be seen is whether this growing awareness of the risks will translate into sufficient political support to address climate change, especially after we figure out the costs we will have to bear to do so.
In his inaugural address, President Obama wove Hurricane Sandy and last year’s drought into a stirring plea to address climate change. “The failure to do so would betray our children and future generations,” the president said.
But even as he put global warming at the top of his agenda, he avoided dwelling on how much it would cost to address. And nowhere in his speech did he allude to the most powerful tool to address the problem: a tax on the use of energy.
In Energy Taxes, Tools to Help Tackle Climate Change
→ The Yoga of Ecology
The erratic weather across the country in the last couple of years seems to be softening Americans’ skepticism about global warming. Most New Yorkers say they believe big storms like Sandy and Irene were the result of a warming climate. Whether climate change is directly responsible or not, the odd weather patterns have underscored the risk that it poses to all of us.
What’s yet to be seen is whether this growing awareness of the risks will translate into sufficient political support to address climate change, especially after we figure out the costs we will have to bear to do so.
In his inaugural address, President Obama wove Hurricane Sandy and last year’s drought into a stirring plea to address climate change. “The failure to do so would betray our children and future generations,” the president said.
But even as he put global warming at the top of his agenda, he avoided dwelling on how much it would cost to address. And nowhere in his speech did he allude to the most powerful tool to address the problem: a tax on the use of energy.
Designer Forests
→ Devamrita Swami's Facebook notes
Which forest do you like? Life for me is a choice of two forests. Let's meet the options. First, the forest of material enjoyment—familiar territory to us all. As described in the Fifth Canto, Srimad-bhagavatam, this woodland beckons to us with material opportunities, acquisitions, and sense objects—all for me and mine.
Our enjoying spirit produces the bodily conception of life: "I've got to have it!" And then, "Got to get more." Like merchants seeking valuable commodities or nations probing the Earth for oil and strategic ores, we trudge deeper into the forest—sense gratification, achievement, and exploitation on our mind. After all, we are the predominators, the enjoyers, right?
Pitiably, though, what we planned as a profitable outing turns into a nightmare of entanglement, for the pure spirit soul. The summary of Chapter 13 tells us:
"In this forest there are plunderers (the six senses) as well as carnivorous animals like jackals, wolves and lions (wife, children and other relatives) who are always anxious to suck the blood from the head of the family. The forest plunderers and the carnivorous blood-sucking animals combine to exploit the energy of a man within this material world.
"In this forest there is also a black hole, covered by grass, into which one may fall. Coming into the forest and being captivated by so many material attractions, one identifies himself with this material world, society, friendship, love and family.
"Having lost the path and not knowing where to go, being harassed by animals and birds, one is also victimized by many desires. Thus one works very hard within the forest and wanders here and there. He becomes captivated by temporary happiness and becomes aggrieved by so-called distress. Actually one simply suffers in the forest from so-called happiness and distress.
"Sometimes he is attacked by a snake (deep sleep), and due to the snakebite he loses consciousness and becomes puzzled and bewildered about discharging his duties. Sometimes he is attracted by women other than his wife, and thus be thinks he enjoys extramarital love with another woman. He is attacked by various diseases, by lamentation and by summer and winter. Thus one within the forest of the material world suffers the pains of material existence.
"Expecting to become happy, the living entity changes his position from one place to another, but actually a materialistic person within the material world is never happy. Being constantly engaged in materialistic activities, he is always disturbed. He forgets that one day he has to die. Although he suffers severely, being illusioned by the material energy, he still hankers after material happiness. In this way he completely forgets his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
Now that was just from the chapter summary. Just think what the full chapter of verses and purports is like! And then because the audience didn't grasp the full import of this forest allegory given in Chapter 13, the speaker further elucidates, in the next chapter.
Tell me, how can we go wrong, with all this crucial information, patience, and thoroughness at our fingertips? Yes, maya makes us crazy. We work, struggle, and exhaust ourselves, just to live a lie. Humans are madly deforesting the Earth, but unaided by Krishna, there's one they'll never clear: the forest of material enjoyment.
But what about the other choice of forest? We'll get to that next.
Chowpatty Festival, Mumbai © 2013 Michelle Haymoz
Designer Forests
→ Devamrita Swami's Facebook notes
Which forest do you like? Life for me is a choice of two forests. Let's meet the options. First, the forest of material enjoyment—familiar territory to us all. As described in the Fifth Canto, Srimad-bhagavatam, this woodland beckons to us with material opportunities, acquisitions, and sense objects—all for me and mine.
Our enjoying spirit produces the bodily conception of life: "I've got to have it!" And then, "Got to get more." Like merchants seeking valuable commodities or nations probing the Earth for oil and strategic ores, we trudge deeper into the forest—sense gratification, achievement, and exploitation on our mind. After all, we are the predominators, the enjoyers, right?
Pitiably, though, what we planned as a profitable outing turns into a nightmare of entanglement, for the pure spirit soul. The summary of Chapter 13 tells us:
"In this forest there are plunderers (the six senses) as well as carnivorous animals like jackals, wolves and lions (wife, children and other relatives) who are always anxious to suck the blood from the head of the family. The forest plunderers and the carnivorous blood-sucking animals combine to exploit the energy of a man within this material world.
"In this forest there is also a black hole, covered by grass, into which one may fall. Coming into the forest and being captivated by so many material attractions, one identifies himself with this material world, society, friendship, love and family.
"Having lost the path and not knowing where to go, being harassed by animals and birds, one is also victimized by many desires. Thus one works very hard within the forest and wanders here and there. He becomes captivated by temporary happiness and becomes aggrieved by so-called distress. Actually one simply suffers in the forest from so-called happiness and distress.
"Sometimes he is attacked by a snake (deep sleep), and due to the snakebite he loses consciousness and becomes puzzled and bewildered about discharging his duties. Sometimes he is attracted by women other than his wife, and thus be thinks he enjoys extramarital love with another woman. He is attacked by various diseases, by lamentation and by summer and winter. Thus one within the forest of the material world suffers the pains of material existence.
"Expecting to become happy, the living entity changes his position from one place to another, but actually a materialistic person within the material world is never happy. Being constantly engaged in materialistic activities, he is always disturbed. He forgets that one day he has to die. Although he suffers severely, being illusioned by the material energy, he still hankers after material happiness. In this way he completely forgets his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
Now that was just from the chapter summary. Just think what the full chapter of verses and purports is like! And then because the audience didn't grasp the full import of this forest allegory given in Chapter 13, the speaker further elucidates, in the next chapter.
Tell me, how can we go wrong, with all this crucial information, patience, and thoroughness at our fingertips? Yes, maya makes us crazy. We work, struggle, and exhaust ourselves, just to live a lie. Humans are madly deforesting the Earth, but unaided by Krishna, there's one they'll never clear: the forest of material enjoyment.
But what about the other choice of forest? We'll get to that next.
Chowpatty Festival, Mumbai © 2013 Michelle Haymoz
Sankirtan is Fun And Easy!
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures
Sankirtan is Fun And Easy!
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures
We Did It!
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures
It was one of the coldest days of the year so far, but as has been a tradition, devotees headed out at 6:30am to catch the early shoppers and stayed on till about 4:00pm when we met our target. There was constant kirtan for the entire duration we were out and many many devotees came by to participate throughout the day. At the end of the day, we had distributed about 350 books on the street. from the Toronto Sankirtan Adventures Diary
We Did It!
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures
It was one of the coldest days of the year so far, but as has been a tradition, devotees headed out at 6:30am to catch the early shoppers and stayed on till about 4:00pm when we met our target. There was constant kirtan for the entire duration we were out and many many devotees came by to participate throughout the day. At the end of the day, we had distributed about 350 books on the street. from the Toronto Sankirtan Adventures Diary
Vedic Discourse on "The perfect investment in devotional service & the duty of the human being" by His Grace Hayagrīva Das
→ ISKCON BRAMPTON'S BLOG
Sunday Feast, February 3rd @ 11:00am
Join us this Sunday for a blissful kirtan lead by Bhakta Jeff. The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse on "The perfect investment in devotional service & the duty of the human being"
by His Grace Hayagrīva Das
The 2013 Vaisnava Calendar is still available at ISKCON Brampton. Please come and pick up your copy!
Upcoming events:
ISKCON Brampton Youth Program - Friday February 8th 2013 @ 7:00pm
Everyone is welcomed to come and participate. The program will start at 7:00pm sharp! So please try to make it at around 6:45pm. Sumptuous Prasadam will also be served at 9:00pm.
This event is absolutely free, but donations to the temple are always accepted.
Anyone that would like to help out with prasadam, or has any questions/queries please contact Sukhavak Das at sukhavakdas@hotmail.ca.
Saturday February 23rd - Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day
Celebrations at ISKCON Brampton starting 11:00am. Please mark your calendar for this date. More details of the program will be sent in the following weeks.
Join us this Sunday for a blissful kirtan lead by Bhakta Jeff. The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse on "The perfect investment in devotional service & the duty of the human being"
by His Grace Hayagrīva Das
1:05 pm - 1:20 pm Tulasi Puja
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
The 2013 Vaisnava Calendar is still available at ISKCON Brampton. Please come and pick up your copy!
Upcoming events:
ISKCON Brampton Youth Program - Friday February 8th 2013 @ 7:00pm
Everyone is welcomed to come and participate. The program will start at 7:00pm sharp! So please try to make it at around 6:45pm. Sumptuous Prasadam will also be served at 9:00pm.
This event is absolutely free, but donations to the temple are always accepted.
Anyone that would like to help out with prasadam, or has any questions/queries please contact Sukhavak Das at sukhavakdas@hotmail.ca.
Saturday February 23rd - Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day
Celebrations at ISKCON Brampton starting 11:00am. Please mark your calendar for this date. More details of the program will be sent in the following weeks.
Vedic Discourse on "The perfect investment in devotional service & the duty of the human being" by His Grace Hayagrīva Das
→ ISKCON BRAMPTON'S BLOG
Sunday Feast, February 3rd @ 11:00am
Join us this Sunday for a blissful kirtan lead by Bhakta Jeff. The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse on "The perfect investment in devotional service & the duty of the human being"
by His Grace Hayagrīva Das
The 2013 Vaisnava Calendar is still available at ISKCON Brampton. Please come and pick up your copy!
Upcoming events:
ISKCON Brampton Youth Program - Friday February 8th 2013 @ 7:00pm
Everyone is welcomed to come and participate. The program will start at 7:00pm sharp! So please try to make it at around 6:45pm. Sumptuous Prasadam will also be served at 9:00pm.
This event is absolutely free, but donations to the temple are always accepted.
Anyone that would like to help out with prasadam, or has any questions/queries please contact Sukhavak Das at sukhavakdas@hotmail.ca.
Saturday February 23rd - Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day
Celebrations at ISKCON Brampton starting 11:00am. Please mark your calendar for this date. More details of the program will be sent in the following weeks.
Join us this Sunday for a blissful kirtan lead by Bhakta Jeff. The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse on "The perfect investment in devotional service & the duty of the human being"
by His Grace Hayagrīva Das
1:05 pm - 1:20 pm Tulasi Puja
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
The 2013 Vaisnava Calendar is still available at ISKCON Brampton. Please come and pick up your copy!
Upcoming events:
ISKCON Brampton Youth Program - Friday February 8th 2013 @ 7:00pm
Everyone is welcomed to come and participate. The program will start at 7:00pm sharp! So please try to make it at around 6:45pm. Sumptuous Prasadam will also be served at 9:00pm.
This event is absolutely free, but donations to the temple are always accepted.
Anyone that would like to help out with prasadam, or has any questions/queries please contact Sukhavak Das at sukhavakdas@hotmail.ca.
Saturday February 23rd - Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day
Celebrations at ISKCON Brampton starting 11:00am. Please mark your calendar for this date. More details of the program will be sent in the following weeks.
Культурно многообразны, духовно едины
→ Traveling Monk
Глава 8
Ваше Величество король Гудвил Зветилини, Ваше Превосходительство президент Джейкоб Зума, глубокоуважаемый премьер-министр Квазулу-Натала д-р Звели Мкизе, уважаемые министры и члены правительства, дамы и господа!
Благодарю вас за возможность выступать сегодня перед вами. Я перейду сразу к делу. Нет необходимости подробно описывать социальные беды Южной Африки: каждый из нас в той или иной степени испытал на себе репрессии и агрессию и разочаровался в нашем обществе, разделенном по этническим, племенным, религиозным, экономическим и политическим признакам. В глубине души все мы желаем, чтобы это общество было поистине сплоченным: чтобы люди в нем уважали права других и трудились сообща, как единое целое.
Мое сегодняшнее скромное предложение основано на учении древнеиндийских священных писаний, где говорится, что социальное единство возможно, только если мы перестанем обращать внимание на наши различия, и поймем, в чем мы схожи. Что же у всех нас есть общего в этой стране, где один радикально отличается от другого – по языку, экономическому положению, религии или цвету кожи? Общее у нас то, что все мы созданы одним Богом. Задумайтесь на мгновение: если все мы созданы Богом, значит у нас – общий отец. Когда у двух человек общий отец, они – брат и сестра. Когда у четверых общий отец, они – братья и сестры. И когда у пятидесяти миллионов человек общий отец, они – братья и сестры. Что я хотел подчеркнуть, так это то, что все мы здесь, в Южной Африке, – братья и сестры. Бог-Отец – вот общий знаменатель и объединяющий фактор для всех жителей этой страны.
Можно задаться вопросом: какой именно Бог – наш общий отец? Христианский Бог? Мусульманский Бог? Индуистский Бог? Иудейский Бог? Нет. Подобно тому, как одно и то же солнце в разных частях света называется по-разному, так и Бог известен под разными именами, такими как Христос, Аллах, Адонай, Кришна и Ун-кулун-кула*. Очень важно это понять: для того, чтобы достичь настоящего единства общества, мы должны подняться надо всеми, даже религиозными, различиями. Другими словами, мы должны объединиться на духовном уровне, осознавая, что все мы – части и более огромной семьи, семьи Бога. Есть такая пословица о семейных узах: «Кровь гуще воды». Если мы поймем, что Бог – это Верховный Отец и все мы – Его дети, ничто не сможет разрушить наши узы.
Еще один важный момент: если мы осознаем идентичность друг другу, то наши различия будут не разделять нас, но дополнять. В симфоническом оркестре отдельные инструменты явно отличаются, но стоит им заиграть вместе под управлением дирижера, эффект – просто удивительный. Если все мы, – и африканцы, и белые, и цветные, и индийцы, – научимся уважать друг друга и осознаем ту нашу общую особенность, что все мы – вечные слуги верховного дирижера, Бога, – тогда в Южной Африке будет социальная сплоченность.
Движение Харе Кришна пытается продемонстрировать этот принцип единства, пропагандируя публичное воспевание имен Бога. Как результат, по всей стране в любом нашем центре есть мини-сообщества африканцев, белых, цветных и индийцев, живущих в полном согласии друг с другом. Мы хотим поделиться нашей удачей с другими и пытаемся ломать социальные барьеры практически, в повседневной жизни. Например, на протяжении последних двадцати четырех лет наше Движение распространило десятки миллионов тарелок горячей сытной пищи в бедных пригородах и деревнях Квазулу-Натала. И сегодня мы обещаем сотрудничать с другими, чтобы добиться ни многого, ни малого – «Свободной от голода Южной Африки». Когда дети этой страны накормлены, они могут сосредоточиться на учебе, а за образованием последует карьера и стабильность. Когда жизнь граждан стабильна, преступность и насилие идут на спад, люди становятся более открытыми друг к другу, великодушными и способными увидеть, в чем они похожи.
Мы стараемся достичь социального единства, организуя во время пасхальных каникул в конце марта на набережной Дурбана грандиозное культурное событие, Фестиваль колесниц. Тема этого фестиваля схожа с темой нашей сегодняшней программы: «Культурно многообразны, духовно едины». Мы приглашаем все этнические и религиозные группы принять участие в семинарах и выступить на главной сцене. Король Гудвил уже милостиво принял наше приглашение.
В заключение я бы хотел сказать следующее: давайте и с уважением относиться к нашим различиям, и осознавать, что все мы связаны одними узами, будучи детьми Бога, – чтобы действительно стать “радужной нацией”, страной, в которой люди разного цвета кожи и разных культур объединены на платформе духовности. Есть такая пословица: «По краям каждой радуги есть горшочек с золотом». В такой стране, как Южная Африка, благословленной таким многообразием культур и религий, горшочком золота поистине станет проявляемое друг к другу уважение и чувство гордости за нацию, которое охватит нас, если мы, наконец-то, осознаем, что все мы – братья и сестры.
Победив социальные недуги Южной Африки, жители этой великой страны однажды объединятся в пример всему миру. Это возможно. Это не какая-то мечта. Это не фантазия, ибо Веды говорят: вашудхайва кутумбакам: “Весь мир – это одна семья”.
Да благословит вас всех Господь. Да благословит Господь Южную Африку.
Харе Кришна.
_________________
* “Бог” на языке зулусов ( прим. перев.)
* * *
26 марта 2013
Претензия
Сэр,
Надеюсь, что пишу о своих беспокойствах по адресу. Я связан с ИСККОН и во многом разделяю взгляды преданных. Следя за тем, что пишет на Facebook Индрадьюмна Свами, я отметил, что он в Южной Африке. Я увидел, что фото, которые он разместил на своей странице 23 марта 2013 г., явно пропагандируют ANC и президента Зума. Весьма расстроен тем фактом, что Индрадьюмна Свами/ИСККОН поддерживает политическую партию, – думаю, ни один Духовный Лидер не должен с трибуны наставлять политические партии или пропагандировать их. Реклама ANC слишком явная.
Буду признателен за ответ,
с уважением, …
************************
Сэр,
Спасибо за ваше письмо. Пишу в ответ на возникшие у вас беспокойства.
В древности, согласно Ведической культуре, у царя – который в те времена и являл собой правительство – всегда был консультативный совет из священников-брахманов, которые помогали ему принимать решения. Брахманы эти не были политически ангажированы. Они были нужны, только чтобы помогать царю в выполнении его основного долга, который заключался в том, чтобы содействовать духовному высвобождению общества, которым он правил. В противовес ситуации со светскими правительствами нашего времени, тогда священники помогали царю, чтобы быть уверенными: в царстве практикуются принципы религии (чистота, правдивость, милосердие и аскетичность). Брахманы не говорили людям, какой религии им следовать, но поддерживали универсальные принципы религии. Без этих принципов люди в обществе лишены своей истинной цели жизни.
К духовным личностям предъявляется это требование – помогать править обществом. Поэтому, до некоторой степени, они и вовлечены в политику. Политика – это средство управления, и во времена Вед правление влекло за собой две фундаментальных обязанности: помогать людям жить в этом мире и помогать им выбраться из него, т.е. отправиться обратно в их изначальный дом в духовном небе. Царь это понимал, но ему напоминали об этих принципах духовного правления.
Это явно видно из слов Господа Кришны в Бхагавад-гите:
evam parampara praptam
imam rajarsayo viduh
sa kaleneha mahata
yogo nasta parantapa
«Эта высшая наука передавалась по цепи ученической преемственности, и так познавали ее праведные цари. Со временем эта цепь была нарушена, и потому сущность знания кажется сейчас утраченной».
[БГ 4.2]
В свете этого на мое общение с правящей партией (ANC) надо смотреть не как на амбиции политика или поддержку мной какой-то политической программы. Я, следуя линии Ведической культуры, присутствовал на их недавнем съезде с намерением действовать как брахман, советник. Во вступительной молитве я написал:
«Стоим перед Тобой сегодня, как один народ. Хотя мы родились разными – черными, белыми, индийцами и мулатами, христианами, индуистами, мусульманами, иудеями и последователями духовных традиций Африки, – нас связывает то, что все мы – Твои дети. Пусть же эта изначальная духовная истина будет тем путем, которым мы достигнем гармонии в обществе, который объединит нас в единую нацию с демократическими свободами и равными для всех возможностями».
Это подводит нас к другому важному моменту: правительство и сейчас пытается найти решения для достижения социального единства, но до сих пор безуспешно, несмотря на долгие годы усилий. Потому что выход из этой проблемы – не в области политики. Что бы ни говорили, но существует идеальное духовное решение: перестать сражаться из-за наших явных различий и постараться увидеть, что у нас общего. Что же у нас общего? То, что все мы сотворены одним и тем же Богом. Имея много имен, Бог – один. Поскольку все мы – каждый из нас – сотворены Им, по сути дела, все мы братья и сестры. Если у всех нас один Отец, мы братья и сестры.
Политикам необходимо услышать это. Они принимают и отменяют законы. Но без знания и осмысления – благодаря брахманам – вселенских законов Бога, как они могут эффективно править? Это основная проблема современных политиков: по большей части люди предпочитают Бога игнорировать. Так что, безотносительно к тому, кто у власти, что за партия правит, долг тех, кто знает духовные истины – это направлять лидеров. Если это подразумевает посещение их съездов, чтобы поделиться знанием на их открытии – что же, пусть так.
Я и раньше делился этими истинами с демократами, социалистами, коммунистами и царями. Я не состою в ANC. Но как преданный Господа я связан обязательством общаться с этими людьми и смиренно стараться убедить их понять, как именно выправить социальные болезни, с которыми мы сегодня сталкиваемся. Мой духовный учитель, Шрила Прабхупада, как-то сказал одному моему духовному брату: «Напиши книгу «Духовное решение материальных проблем».
Если лидеры не приходят к нам, мы должны идти к ним. Это ясное наставление моего духовного учителя. Он написал в 1972:
«Что касается твоих идей о влиянии на лидеров общества, – да, это нужно делать. Если на лидеров можно повлиять и проповедовать в наших интересах, это поможет нам как-то на деле распространять сознание Кришны, – это лучшее служение».
Так что, по сути дела, я использовал трибуну съезда ANC, чтобы поделиться с присутствующими идеалами духовного правления. И должен также сказать, что мы, преданные, были любезно приглашены членами этой организации и приняты со всем уважением и почтением, за что очень благодарны.
В результате моего общения с ANC городской совет Дурбана предоставил нам разрешение провести Фестиваль колесниц на престижной городской набережной. Это позволит познакомить с сознанием Кришны сотки тысяч людей.
Фотоальбом же, сопровождающий мою речь на заседании ANC – это просто запечатление того факта, что мы там были, чтобы поделиться духовными идеалами, чтобы напомнить лидерам об их высочайшей ответственности и чтобы вдохновить их поддержать наш фестиваль на побережье. Если через десять лет у власти будет другая политическая партия, я сделаю то же самое. Пожалуйста, не смотрите на это так, что преданные встречаются с политиками и продвигают политическую партию, – ANC или любую другую. Мы продвигаем Кришну. Мы не сможем это сделать, сидя дома. Надо выходить и быть активными, ради Кришны.
«Я рад, что ты вхож к политикам. Это хорошая возможность широко проповедовать, продавать нашу литературу, так что воспользуйся этим преимуществом». [письмо Шрилы Прабхупады Балаванте дасу, 1972]
Харе Кришна,
С наилучшими пожеланиями,
Индрадьюмна Свами
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
→ TKG Academy
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star… how I wonder what you are..
An early preschool song that many of my students had learned when they were itty bitties..
Now they no longer needed to wonder! With our week of studying the Constellations, students were able to identify Orion’s Belt, the Great Bear, Leo the Lion, The Big Dipper and many other stars.
And lets not forget the most important: The Pole Star – Dhruva’s star. Also known as Polaris, North Star, Bethlehem’s Star. All the other stars, and indeed the entire solar system according to the Srimad Bhagavatam, rotates around this one bright star.
We pricked black construction paper with pushpins and created our own night sky, by taping the ‘star pictures’ up onto the bright window. Check out our project!
ISCOWP Update January 2013
→ The Yoga of Ecology
ISCOWP Update January 2013
→ The Yoga of Ecology
Calling theists for debate
→ OppositeRule
During my very recent two-year denial of Krsna consciousness, I was invited to a large community of atheists on Google+, presumably because I seemed like one. Oddly enough, it was about the time when I had become frustrated with atheistic reasoning (which seems to be thoroughly ignorant of Krsna conscious philosophy), so I turned out to be somewhat of a misfit there. I’m used to that.
Anyway, the atheist group has about 17,000 members last I saw, and recently a sub-group was created for organized debating with theists about various subjects. However it’s very lopsided, so the group owner asked for folks to put out the word inviting theists. That’s what I’m doing now. The first debate topic is about to be chosen.
If anyone is interested, let me know, and I will arrange to get you in.
I hope that there are devotees who are expert at this sort of thing and would be willing to get involved. IMHO, preaching to the converted is lame by comparison. Let’s see some courage! If my understanding of Krsna conscious philosophy is insufficient, then I may go back to the other side. Sometimes I think that’s what Krsna wants.
I would also be interested in discussing strategy here for debating against atheists on various topics.
Travel Journal#8.24: New York City and Albany
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 24
By Krishna-kripa das
(December 2012, part two)
By Krishna-kripa das
(December 2012, part two)
New York City and Albany
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on January 30, 2013)
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on January 30, 2013)
Where I Went and What I Did
When Yadunandana Swami came to serve Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami on December 19, I left my guru’s personal service to go to New York City to chant in Union Square Park with Rama Raya Prabhu and his harinama party. For the rest of the month I lived in our Brooklyn temple, Sri Sri Radha Govinda Mandir, attended the morning program there, and spent two hours afterward chopping vegetables for the temple and its weekday restaurant program, Govinda’s Vegetarian Lunch. Every afternoon from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. I would chant with Rama Raya Prabhu and his harinama party, consisting of from three to seventeen devotees, at Union Square Park, or on the cold days, in various subway stations at Union Square, Grand Central, Times Square, and Columbus Circle. Sometimes, especially on weekends, we would begin at 3 p.m. or even 2 p.m., and still continue till 8:00 p.m. I took a two-day break for Christmas Eve and Christmas, when I visited my family, my Quaker meeting, and my initiating spiritual master, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, along with a few of his disciples including Yadunandana Swami.
I was happy to be visiting New York City at the same time as Radhanath Swami, and I include some notes from his lectures, in addition to some material from Srila Prabhupada directly.
At the end I summarize my activities in the year 2012 and include my annual financial statement and thank my donors. I also talk about what to do differently in 2013.
The Christmas Story Seen from a Hare Krishna Perspective
Twice on Christmas Eve I encountered the story of the appearance of Lord Jesus Christ in this world, once at my Quaker meeting and once reading a book with my relatives, which had become a family tradition at Christmastime since I lived at home, called The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
Living as a Hare Krishna monk for the last thirty years, I naturally viewed both encounters from the Hare Krishna perspective. Lord Jesus Christ is seen by Hare Krishnas as a realized son of God, and as such, his appearance in and disappearance from this world are spiritual and transcendental, and one advances spiritually by coming in touch with narrations of them. In the Quaker meeting, as newly recruited players from the audience dramatized the script of the event and the congregation sang appropriate songs, I did feel a kind of transcendental joy coming from being in touch with the account and the songs glorifying God and His son. And although it is repeated every year there is a certain freshness and wonder in it.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, written by Barbara Robinson in 1971,told of another interesting feature, the transforming power of such narrations. The book is summarized aptly on Wikipedia: “It tells the story of Imogene, Claude, Ralph, Leroy, Ollie, and Gladys, six delinquent children surnamed Herdman. They go to church for the first time after being told that the church offers snacks. Despite protests from other church members, they are given roles in the Sunday school’s Christmas play, in which they tell the Christmas story in a nonconventional fashion.” [Buck, Jerry (1983-12-03). “Meanest kids in town make the best pageant”. The Free-Lance Star.] The interesting feature of that story is that the character of the children changes from demonic to divine as a result of hearing the narration of the appearance of Lord Jesus and from acting it out. Hearing the story the first time, the delinquent Herdmen kids, instead displaying their usual mentality of taking pleasure in causing others to suffer, show sympathy for Mary having to give birth to baby Jesus in such an unsuitable environment as a manger, and in a land ruled by a demonic king. Although the kids previously took pleasure in stealing and destroying property, in the course of enacting Christmas story they end up giving charity, without even desiring anything in return. It all calls to mind a few verses from the ancient India spiritual classic Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), namely verses 1.2.17–19 which describe how narrations concerning God and his pure devotee, such as Lord Jesus Christ, cleanse the heart of demonic qualities, such as lust, greed, and anger, bring one up to the platform of goodness. It occurred to me that it was the best Christmas pageant ever because it demonstrated the divine power of the spiritual narration to transform the character from demonic to divine, which really is what religion is all about, not just some dogma one claims to have faith in, but narrations with uplift our consciousness to the plane of loving God and all his children, our brothers and sisters. It also calls to mind another verse, our verse for the week in the Gainesville Krishna House, about the pastimes of the Supreme Lord Himself, which was spoken later in Bhagavatam by His most intimate devotees, “The nectar of Your words and the descriptions of Your activities are the life and soul of those suffering in this material world. These narrations, transmitted by learned sages, eradicate one’s sinful reactions and bestow good fortune upon whoever hears them. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Certainly those who spread the message of Godhead are most munificent.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.31.9)
Harinamas in New York
Rama Raya Prabhu, playing harmonium above, who was part of Aindra Prabhu’s 24-hour kirtana in Vrindavan for many years, is focusing his attention on steadily doing harinama each day in Manhattan for at least four hours between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and I had the good fortune to join his party for three and a half weeks in December 2012 and January 2013. He has been going out since the end of March 2012. Each day for the last two or three hours we would regularly have around eleven people, and sometimes as many as seventeen!
When it was in the 40s (5-10 C) we would chant in the parks, mostly Union Square but sometimes Washington Square.
But when it was in the 30s or less (below 5 C) we would chant in the subway stations, which were warmer.
We had a beautiful Hare Krishna maha-mantra sign that was decorated and lighted.
Whoever gave some coins or just expressed interest got a Krishna Reservoir of Pleasure or an On Chanting Hare Krishna pamphlet.
Whoever gave a dollar got a small book. If they gave five or more, they got a Bhagavad-gita.
Sometimes people would dance with us.
I would dance at one end of our party.
Almost every day on harinama something special happens, that is something in addition to thousands of people becoming from free from karma and taking a step toward Krishna, which are in themselves pretty amazing wonders.
At the Union Square market, one young man who was loading a truck came up to me and said our incense smoke was blowing down to his work site and making it difficult to breathe. He asked if we could put out the incense for an hour until he was finished. I complied as incense is not an important part of our function. To devotees who were upset I joked that Lord Caitanya did not advent Himself to distribute maha-incense. A few minutes later the man came back with two packages of organic sprouts as a donation. Deva Madhava Prabhu suggested we give them to Radha-Govinda so the donor would make great spiritual benefit, and so we did.
One young Oriental man came up to me and said, “Didn’t I see you in Soho (London) giving the lunch program lecture?” And it was true. I gave lectures there this summer and fall. It is a small world! He said he would be in New York City for ten days and asked about our local programs, and I gave him invitations and details about them all. He said he would come to the Bhakti Center Thursday night kirtana the next day. Another day he came by Union Square to listen to the harinama for half an hour and dance a bit.
One young Christian man stopped by and danced for a while, and then came up to talk to me. He told me how he had just come to New York a week ago and that by the grace of Lord Jesus Christ he had money, a place to stay, and a replacement water bottle for one he recently lost. I told him in the course of our conversation that we accept the Biblical idea that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, that the best spiritual practice was to sing the glories of the Lord congregationally, and that dancing was an expression of love of God. He seemed to be getting into the kirtana, so I invited him to play an instrument, and he sat down and picked up some karatalas and played a beat of his own that was in time with the music, and he stayed in the kirtanafor fifteen minutes.
One young lady with dog on a leash passed our party, and the dog was focused on the chanting devotees the whole time. Even after his owner had passed us, he continued looking back toward us, coming as close as his leash would permit. I had see children often looking backward toward the devotees as their parents pulled or carried them onward, but never a dog.
Young children are often attracted by the chanting, and some of the parents are very open to let them investigate it. We have some small shakers just for kids to use to play along with the music. Some children live in the neighborhood of Union Square, and their parents regularly bring to the park, and some spend fifteen minutes or even half an hour with us. We have smiling Jagannatha stickers for the kids whose parents give donations. Occasionally the kids dance and attract a crowd.
Once several kids, probably all under ten years old, were sitting with us on our mats, playing the different extra instruments like shakers that we brought for people to play. One boy tried playing every instrument we had a least once, demonstrating a lot of natural rhythm as he did so. The kids seemed happily engaged, and seeing them, passersby were attracted. Thanks to Rasika Gopi Devi Dasi and Bhakta Alex of the Bhakti Center for their beautiful photographs on the Manhattan harinamas.
At Union Square, one couple came up to me, and said, “Are you from Gainesville?” I replied, “Yes.” Turns out they were Tiffany and Joshua, occasional attenders at the Krishna House programs. When they saw the Hare Krishnas, they glanced at the chanters looking for Rasaraja Prabhu, who they knew from Krishna House and who came to New York for the break, and then they saw me. I suggested that Rasaraja would probably be at the Bhakti Center Thursday night kirtana at 7:00 p.m. and they might find him there, and so they did.
At Grand Central Station one young man asked how many of the ten or fifteen people chanting were from Gainesville, and I looked at our party, and seeing Rasaraja Prabhu, told him two. He mentioned how he had Krishna Lunch for four years there, and he really missed it. I told him that we have Krishna Lunch in Brooklyn, and he was overjoyed to hear it, and so I gave him an invitation to the Brooklyn temple and its weekday lunch program.
Also at Grand Central I met a guy from India who knew Hare Krishna and even Radhanath Swami from there, and so I invited him to Radhanath Swami’s Sunday lecture at the Bhakti Center.
Again at Grand Central, one lady exclaimed with joy, “Great! You guys are back! I haven’t seen you in 30 years.”
One young lady smiled and watched us the entire time she was walking past. I asked her how she knew about Hare Krishna. She said, “I just know you from this, but I am attracted to what I see.”
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.2 in Johannesburg on October 22, 1975:
The aim should be how to become a friend of God.
Radhanath Swami:
The spirit in which something is spoken and received needs to be understood to have more than a theoretical understanding.
We do not have to experience the extreme situations that Pariksit and Arjuna experienced to learn from their experience.
Maharaja Pariksit would not be rude to an insect but this world is so arranged that despite all good intentions, we make mistakes, and due to circumstances, we make people miserable although we desire to make people happy. This happens to everyone, and so it happened to the King [who when thirsty was so frustrated due to a meditating sage’s neglect to offer him water, he garlanded the sage with a dead snake and was cursed by the sage’s son to die in seven days].
Krishna can reciprocate everyone’s love simultaneously and fully satisfy them.
Due to false ego we become upset if someone is doing something better than us, or even if they are not doing something better than us, but they are getting more credit for it.
Sometimes when people are good at something you can not get them all together in the same room.
In the early 1970s, eight hundred yogis joined together for the first time for a conference. There had never been such an opportunity before or has there been since. At the end, the main sages and yogis each had 2 minutes to speak. I was in ecstasy. I had hitchhiked to India to encounter enlightened beings, and here was a whole stage full of them. The first person spoke ten minutes, the next person about fifteen minutes. As time went on, about a dozen of them were literally fighting over the microphone. It is on film. It was a great embarrassment—so many ‘enlightened’ people acting in such a way. However at Naimisaranya, the sages unanimously agreed that Sukadeva Goswami would speak. He was not arrogant but asked for the blessings of others.
We talk about it as a curse [that he would die in seven days], but Pariksit saw it as a blessing.
When we see this life as all in all, we see everything in one way, but when we see this is just one of many lives, we see it all differently.
One sage said this life is one point in a line that goes on infinitely. When we understand that, then we can harmonize the blessings and curses we receive. We can focus on the opportunity to advance spiritually.
You say you didn’t make castles out of sand as a kid, but your whole life is probably making castles out of sand.
You see the tide is coming in, and you try to build walls to protect your castle. The parents laugh. Why are you taking your castles so seriously? But the enlightened souls see all that we are doing in Washington and Wall Street to be like castles of sand.
The great sages were not concerned that they speak, but rather that some competent person was speaking nicely.
Pariksit. although cursed to die in seven days, was the happiest man in that glorious assembly of sages with such a great opportunity.
Stokakrishna, my disciple in India, at age 32 was diagnosed with one of the most fast acting forms of cancer. When I came to see him he was paralyzed and emaciated. He said, “Why am I so fortunate that I could chant Lord Krishna’s name so many times in this life? Why did I get to hear so many classes on Srimad-Bhagavatam? I did not deserve that. Why did I get the association of such nice devotees? Why did I get to be part of Srila Prabhupada’s movement?” Because he was so consistently happy in such an externally miserable situation some originally doubtful brahmacaris concluded that he must have a higher realization.
If something is inevitable, we might as well see it as a blessing.
Some friends who were brijbasis [residents of the sacred land of Krishna’s childhood pastimes, Vrindavana] happened to visit America, and I invited them to come to chant at Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s deathbed. One of them, Madana Mohan Brijbasi, was singing so simply and so sweetly, tears poured from Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s eyes in a way that his disciples had never seen. Bhakti Tirtha Swami said that because he could not go to Vrindavana, Vrindavana had come to him in the form of these devotees from Vrindavana. Madana Mohan Brijbasi was also there to chant for my disciple Stokakrishna at the end of his life.
We have to deal with the material world responsibly but keep it in perspective and remember our ultimate spiritual aim.
If when we are fasting, we think, “I am so austere, and look at these people, they are eating,” then our body is fasting but our false ego is feasting. Fasting is meant to humble us and meant to help us to take shelter of Krishna. Then we are really fasting.
Unless we prepare for the exams along the way we will not be prepared for the final exam of death.
When the tests come we have to apply all we learned from previous struggles.
To overcome pride, we have to watch from a detached point of view. If we see ourselves thinking “I am better than others,” that is the weed of pride, which impersonates the creeper of devotion and induces us to water it instead. If we see that we are envying others that is also a manifestation of pride.
Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami was selected by the great Goswamis of Vrndavana to write Sri Caitanya-caritamrita because of his great realization, scholarship, and humility.
The title The Journey Home [Radhanath Swami’s autobiography] was selected at last moment. The working title was Autobiography of a Worm in Stool, but the publishers would not accept it.
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
“Here is a quote from an initiation lecture by Srila Prabhupada in July 1970 in Los Angeles. Srila Prabhupada spoke on each of the ten offenses and then said, ‘Then, what is next?’
“Devotee: ‘To become inattentive while chanting Hare Krishna.’
“Prabhupada: ‘Yes, when you are chanting, you should hear Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. You should hear at the same time. Then the mind and the senses are compact. That is samadhi. That is perfection of yoga. This yoga is recommended in the Bhagavad-gita.Yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar-atmana. So everyone, by chanting he should hear.’”
A Summary of the Year 2012
I started the year being part of a 12-hour in our Mexico City temple. At that time, we were on the Vaishnava Youth winter bus tour to Mexico and were blessed by the association of Madhava Prabhu, who takes great pleasure sharing Lord Krishna’s name with others in a mood of complete concentration. A 6-hour kirtana in Dallas, and a final kirtanaby Madhava in Alachua finished off the youth tour, which was the best event I had been part of in the months of December and January. The rest of January I spent assisting Krishna House in Gainesville, and the new weekly programs the devotees started in Jacksonville. In February I visited Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami and our temples in Manhattan and downtown London, on my way to India to attend the Kirtana Mela in Mayapur. After a wonderful Gaura Purnima, bathing in the Ganges and reciting verses about Lord Caitanya’s appearance with Danavira Goswami and some of his followers, I joined Navina Nirada, Ekalavya Prabhu, and others at the Bhakti Experience, a two-week Krishna outreach program in Rishikesh in March. We met some interested people and took down contact information for fifty of them. Some even later visited Vrndavana, although previously they had not known of Krishna. Then I returned for more harinama in Mayapur, after an ecstatic Delhi Ratha-yatra and three days on the 24-hour kirtana party in Vrindavana on the way.
I returned to Europe in April, catching the tail end of a Chennai temple opening enroute, for Kadamba Kanana Swami’s Vyasa-puja and the amazing Queen’s Day harinama in Amsterdam. After Queen’s Day we traveled with Leipzig devotees from Belgium, through Luxembourg and Germany to the Nrsimha farm for Nrsimha Caturdasi, doing harinama in several cities on the way. After that, we spent the rest of May and the beginning of June with Janananda Goswami and his followers, based in Newcastle, England, and doing harinama three hours each day. Janananda Goswami greatly encouraged me in my service of harinama by giving me a wonderful amplifier, money for travel, and assistants to chantwith, as well by as his personal example of complete dedication to harinama and by wisdom shared through lectures. On the way to London for Ratha-yatra I attended the monthly harinama in Manchester, nama-hatta programs in Leeds and Sheffield, and the UK brahmacari conference. For me, the attendance of the brahmacaris in the devotee procession in the Borehamwood Carnival (parade), adding lots of extra energy, was a high point. After London Ratha-yatra, I did harinama in London for a few days with some followers of Janananda Goswami, then attending the Stonehenge Solstice festival, where we chant from midnight to 6 a.m. and distribute prasadam. I was invited to a nonexistent weekend warrior program in Croydon, where I chanted for three hours and distributed flyers for the next day’s Ratha-yatra by myself anyway, collecting 27 GBP for the Soho St. temple sankirtana office. On the way back to Newcastle, Sri Gadadhara and I did the Sunday program in Leeds, and nine devotees from the congregation went with us on harinama afterward, causing us to think perhaps post feast program harinamas may be introduced elsewhere. After all Kharkov, Ukraine, does them every week, even in the winter. After two weeks in Newcastle, I returned to the Manchester area for more harinamaand more nama-hatta programs on the way to Ireland. Ananta Nitai Prabhu traveled with me from Dublin to Belfast, to Govindadvipa, where we chanted at a couple nearby towns, and back to Dublin, where by his inspiration we had organized a 12-hour harinama. He and I both did over eleven hours and other people joined for some of the time. We felt it was so successful that we decided to organize more in the future.
Next I flew to France for three days of harinama in Paris, and then to Switzerland for an evening program in Langenthal and two Jhulan Yatras and a harinama in Zurich. Then by train to Berlin and then Kostrzyn for the Polish Woodstock festival where hundreds of thousands of people hear the holy name and take prasadam. Our harinama at the Kostrzyn train station for the those returning home after the festival was the best ever, and the officials were so pleased with the calming effect the chanting had on the tired crowds they asked us to do it next year. I did a few days harinama in Prague and then on to the kirtana mela in Spain, and three harinamas there, two of which directly inspired people to come to our local temples. Then to Trutnov, Czech Republic, for the Czech Woodstock, where we did lots of kirtana late into the night, and a harinama as well, with our guest, Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Guru Das Prabhu. Next I attended a brief Polish padayatra which gave some transcendental experiences to the residents of the towns near our New Shantipur farm, where we had a weekend nama-hatta festival afterward. Then onward to travel with Janananda Goswami doing harinamas and evening programs in Slovakia and one in Czech Republic. After that, we went with Dhruva, Trevor, and Vamana to the Wroclaw Ratha-yatra, and then the German Kirtana Mela, with three harinamas embedded in it, and followed by the wonderful Leipzig Ratha-yatra. Trevor and I then joined the Nitai Gouranga harinama bus tour for a day from Leipzig to Wroclaw where we did a beautiful three-hour harinama in the square where we had Ratha-yatra the week before. We stayed in Wroclaw and did harinama there, next traveling to Bydgoszcz, where we did harinama and an Ekadasi evening program. Then back to Czech Republic for evening kirtana programs in Trutnov and Prague, and a nama-hatta program in Slovakia. Then on the the Ukraine festival (Bhakti Sangama) with lots of seminars and great three-hour evening kirtanas. Then to Warsaw for Radhastami, and then Simhachalam, the German Nrsimha farm, for the festival for the 30thanniversary of the Prahlada-Nrsimha’s installation, with a few small harinamas on the way. That festival ended with the first ever Passau Ratha-yatra.
Then I returned to the UK to travel with Janananda Goswami in The North of England for the World Holy Name Festival, ending with a harinama and an eight-hour kirtana in Edinburgh, Scotland, a new city and country for me. Dhruva Prabhu and I then went to Belfast, where we were joined by Ananta Nitai for more harinama there, and in the cities of Enniskillen, Dublin, and Bray. Ananta Nitai, inspired by the July 12-hour harinama, planned for a 12-hour harinama on Saturday, followed by the Sunday feast, and a 12-hour kirtana in the temple on Monday. The program was successful enough that he wants to do it the first week of every month. Then I went back to Newcastle for a week or so, and then nine days worth of evening lectures beginning there and including all the nama-hattas nearby Manchester, my third swing through there this year, as opposed to my usual one. We preceded the Bolton nama-hatta with the monthly harinamaand were encouraged to see several local children enthusiastically taking part for forty-five minutes. Back to London for a few days with more harinama and lectures, including four hours of harinamaon Halloween, while waiting for New York airports to be reopened after hurricane Sandy.
Then back home to America for a week on harinama in Manhattan with Rama Raya and Ekalavya Prabhus, some days on a book production marathon for Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s The Story of My Life, and a brief visit to my family in Albany. Then I flew to Jacksonville where I chanted on the campus for two hours, meeting a couple people I who had come to our programs back in January and a nice Indian man who started coming to our Jacksonville programs as a result. Then I caught the end of a beautiful ceremony in honor of Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance in Alachua with a wonderful feast. The next several days were many evening kirtanas leading up to the 24-hour kirtana, the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving and it was great to hear Madhava Prabhu so much. The 24-hour kirtana was special this year with guests Niranjana Swami and Agnidev Prabhu. Dravida Prabhu led for two hours on a wonderful harinama in Tallahassee that Saturday at the last football game of the season. Then a couple weeks at Gainesville’s Krishna House, and another evening at our Jacksonville program on the way to fly north for Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s Vyasa-puja in December in Stuyvesant, where I cooked breakfast and lunch for him for nine days afterward, punctuated by a harinama in Hudson and a day trip to New York City to see Niranjana Swami and do kirtana and harinama. Then we ended the year with eleven days of four hours of harinama in Manhattan, with two-day visit to my family for Christmas in the middle.
Niranjana Swami advised I go to fewer places and stay longer and try to increase the devotional service in those places, and reading the above account where I travel to fifteen countries, it sounds like I was a dismal failure. I did, however, spend 53 days in Newcastle, England, 43 days in Gainesville, 39 days in The Northern UK and Ireland, and 18 days doing harinama in New York City. Successes include new people coming to the temple from the harinamas in Newcastle, Belfast, Sheffield, and Jacksonville, a new popular program, the back-to-back 12-hour harinama and 12-hour temple kirtana in Dublin, and a string of nine evenings of lectures in a different cities in England each night. By the inspiration of Janananda Goswami, we also went to towns where devotees rarely if ever to harinama, so new people got exposure to the recommended spiritual practice of the age. Incidentally, the guy who came from harinama to the Belfast temple bought four books. The best comment on harinama was “seeing your party was the best part of my trip to Dublin” by a girl from Seattle.
With the blessings of my advisers Niranjana Swami and Janananda Goswami, I hope to increase my focus and continue to try to spend more time in fewer places, trying to bring people to a higher level of devotion, including myself. I am thinking of just spending one month in Europe in the summer instead of two, and going to the Lithuanian festival instead of the Ukraine festival so I can return to England and New York sooner.
Financial Statement for 2012
Srila Prabhupada taught his followers to keep careful records of expenditures. People always wonder how devotees get their money and how they spend it. Here is a summary for me for 2012. If for some reason, you want more details, let me know.
INCOME donationsbook sales total income EXPENSES travelgifts to temples, swamis, etc. maintenance (clothes, medicine) internet, phone, computer, etc. festival fees loans food (bhoga, prasadam) rent unaccounted for expenses total expenses balance | 4107.59 18.32 -------- 4125.91 3360.59 277.06 88.54 72.25 63.00 50.00 39.25 24.75 130.41 -------- 4105.85 -20.06 |
I would like to thank all the very kind and generous people and organizations who contributed to my expenses so I could share the congregational chanting of the holy name with people in fifteen countries this year. These include, with those contributing the most listed first, GN Press, Kalakantha Prabhu, Kaliya Krishna Prabhu, the devotees in Manchester (England), my mother (Pat Beetle), Rama Raya Prabhu, Paramesvara Prabhu and his congregation in Modra (Slovakia), Bhakta Clive, Ali Krishna dd, Janananda Goswami, Touchstone Publishing, Vrajendralal Prabhu, Bhakta Andy (Gainesville), Bhakta Steve (Belfast), Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu, Raj Sharma, the congregation in Leeds, Balarama Prabhu (Opole, Poland), the Nama-hatta leaders in Poland, the devotees in Langenthal (Switzerland), the JPS office in Mayapur, Prema Sankirtana Prabhu of Newcastle, Ramai Prabhu of Sunderland, Sidharth from Michigan (who bought me some very nice boots for cold weather harinamas), Pandava Prabhu, Govinda Prabhu from Scotland, Bhakta Andrzej, Bhakta Doug, Bhakta Sumit, Bhakta Suresh, Parananda Prabhu, Gaura Karuna Prabhu, Tara Prabhu, Adi Karta Prabhu, Kishore Prabhu, Bhaktin Padma, Ramiya Prabhu, the over twenty people who donated less than twenty dollars each, and all the people who bought books on harinama. I hope Lord Caitanya blesses them all with some of the transcendental merit from our sharing the congregational chanting of the holy name with the people in general.
-----
yei yahan tahan dana kare prema-phala
phalasvade matta loka ha-ila sakala
“The fruit of love of God is so delicious that wherever a devotee distributes it, those who relish the fruit, anywhere in the world, immediately become intoxicated.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 9.48)
Travel Journal#8.24: New York City and Albany
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 24
By Krishna-kripa das
(December 2012, part two)
By Krishna-kripa das
(December 2012, part two)
New York City and Albany
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on January 30, 2013)
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on January 30, 2013)
Where I Went and What I Did
When Yadunandana Swami came to serve Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami on December 19, I left my guru’s personal service to go to New York City to chant in Union Square Park with Rama Raya Prabhu and his harinama party. For the rest of the month I lived in our Brooklyn temple, Sri Sri Radha Govinda Mandir, attended the morning program there, and spent two hours afterward chopping vegetables for the temple and its weekday restaurant program, Govinda’s Vegetarian Lunch. Every afternoon from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. I would chant with Rama Raya Prabhu and his harinama party, consisting of from three to seventeen devotees, at Union Square Park, or on the cold days, in various subway stations at Union Square, Grand Central, Times Square, and Columbus Circle. Sometimes, especially on weekends, we would begin at 3 p.m. or even 2 p.m., and still continue till 8:00 p.m. I took a two-day break for Christmas Eve and Christmas, when I visited my family, my Quaker meeting, and my initiating spiritual master, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, along with a few of his disciples including Yadunandana Swami.
I was happy to be visiting New York City at the same time as Radhanath Swami, and I include some notes from his lectures, in addition to some material from Srila Prabhupada directly.
At the end I summarize my activities in the year 2012 and include my annual financial statement and thank my donors. I also talk about what to do differently in 2013.
The Christmas Story Seen from a Hare Krishna Perspective
Twice on Christmas Eve I encountered the story of the appearance of Lord Jesus Christ in this world, once at my Quaker meeting and once reading a book with my relatives, which had become a family tradition at Christmastime since I lived at home, called The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
Living as a Hare Krishna monk for the last thirty years, I naturally viewed both encounters from the Hare Krishna perspective. Lord Jesus Christ is seen by Hare Krishnas as a realized son of God, and as such, his appearance in and disappearance from this world are spiritual and transcendental, and one advances spiritually by coming in touch with narrations of them. In the Quaker meeting, as newly recruited players from the audience dramatized the script of the event and the congregation sang appropriate songs, I did feel a kind of transcendental joy coming from being in touch with the account and the songs glorifying God and His son. And although it is repeated every year there is a certain freshness and wonder in it.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, written by Barbara Robinson in 1971,told of another interesting feature, the transforming power of such narrations. The book is summarized aptly on Wikipedia: “It tells the story of Imogene, Claude, Ralph, Leroy, Ollie, and Gladys, six delinquent children surnamed Herdman. They go to church for the first time after being told that the church offers snacks. Despite protests from other church members, they are given roles in the Sunday school’s Christmas play, in which they tell the Christmas story in a nonconventional fashion.” [Buck, Jerry (1983-12-03). “Meanest kids in town make the best pageant”. The Free-Lance Star.] The interesting feature of that story is that the character of the children changes from demonic to divine as a result of hearing the narration of the appearance of Lord Jesus and from acting it out. Hearing the story the first time, the delinquent Herdmen kids, instead displaying their usual mentality of taking pleasure in causing others to suffer, show sympathy for Mary having to give birth to baby Jesus in such an unsuitable environment as a manger, and in a land ruled by a demonic king. Although the kids previously took pleasure in stealing and destroying property, in the course of enacting Christmas story they end up giving charity, without even desiring anything in return. It all calls to mind a few verses from the ancient India spiritual classic Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), namely verses 1.2.17–19 which describe how narrations concerning God and his pure devotee, such as Lord Jesus Christ, cleanse the heart of demonic qualities, such as lust, greed, and anger, bring one up to the platform of goodness. It occurred to me that it was the best Christmas pageant ever because it demonstrated the divine power of the spiritual narration to transform the character from demonic to divine, which really is what religion is all about, not just some dogma one claims to have faith in, but narrations with uplift our consciousness to the plane of loving God and all his children, our brothers and sisters. It also calls to mind another verse, our verse for the week in the Gainesville Krishna House, about the pastimes of the Supreme Lord Himself, which was spoken later in Bhagavatam by His most intimate devotees, “The nectar of Your words and the descriptions of Your activities are the life and soul of those suffering in this material world. These narrations, transmitted by learned sages, eradicate one’s sinful reactions and bestow good fortune upon whoever hears them. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Certainly those who spread the message of Godhead are most munificent.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.31.9)
Harinamas in New York
Rama Raya Prabhu, playing harmonium above, who was part of Aindra Prabhu’s 24-hour kirtana in Vrindavan for many years, is focusing his attention on steadily doing harinama each day in Manhattan for at least four hours between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and I had the good fortune to join his party for three and a half weeks in December 2012 and January 2013. He has been going out since the end of March 2012. Each day for the last two or three hours we would regularly have around eleven people, and sometimes as many as seventeen!
When it was in the 40s (5-10 C) we would chant in the parks, mostly Union Square but sometimes Washington Square.
But when it was in the 30s or less (below 5 C) we would chant in the subway stations, which were warmer.
We had a beautiful Hare Krishna maha-mantra sign that was decorated and lighted.
Whoever gave some coins or just expressed interest got a Krishna Reservoir of Pleasure or an On Chanting Hare Krishna pamphlet.
Whoever gave a dollar got a small book. If they gave five or more, they got a Bhagavad-gita.
Sometimes people would dance with us.
I would dance at one end of our party.
Almost every day on harinama something special happens, that is something in addition to thousands of people becoming from free from karma and taking a step toward Krishna, which are in themselves pretty amazing wonders.
At the Union Square market, one young man who was loading a truck came up to me and said our incense smoke was blowing down to his work site and making it difficult to breathe. He asked if we could put out the incense for an hour until he was finished. I complied as incense is not an important part of our function. To devotees who were upset I joked that Lord Caitanya did not advent Himself to distribute maha-incense. A few minutes later the man came back with two packages of organic sprouts as a donation. Deva Madhava Prabhu suggested we give them to Radha-Govinda so the donor would make great spiritual benefit, and so we did.
One young Oriental man came up to me and said, “Didn’t I see you in Soho (London) giving the lunch program lecture?” And it was true. I gave lectures there this summer and fall. It is a small world! He said he would be in New York City for ten days and asked about our local programs, and I gave him invitations and details about them all. He said he would come to the Bhakti Center Thursday night kirtana the next day. Another day he came by Union Square to listen to the harinama for half an hour and dance a bit.
One young Christian man stopped by and danced for a while, and then came up to talk to me. He told me how he had just come to New York a week ago and that by the grace of Lord Jesus Christ he had money, a place to stay, and a replacement water bottle for one he recently lost. I told him in the course of our conversation that we accept the Biblical idea that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, that the best spiritual practice was to sing the glories of the Lord congregationally, and that dancing was an expression of love of God. He seemed to be getting into the kirtana, so I invited him to play an instrument, and he sat down and picked up some karatalas and played a beat of his own that was in time with the music, and he stayed in the kirtanafor fifteen minutes.
One young lady with dog on a leash passed our party, and the dog was focused on the chanting devotees the whole time. Even after his owner had passed us, he continued looking back toward us, coming as close as his leash would permit. I had see children often looking backward toward the devotees as their parents pulled or carried them onward, but never a dog.
Young children are often attracted by the chanting, and some of the parents are very open to let them investigate it. We have some small shakers just for kids to use to play along with the music. Some children live in the neighborhood of Union Square, and their parents regularly bring to the park, and some spend fifteen minutes or even half an hour with us. We have smiling Jagannatha stickers for the kids whose parents give donations. Occasionally the kids dance and attract a crowd.
Once several kids, probably all under ten years old, were sitting with us on our mats, playing the different extra instruments like shakers that we brought for people to play. One boy tried playing every instrument we had a least once, demonstrating a lot of natural rhythm as he did so. The kids seemed happily engaged, and seeing them, passersby were attracted. Thanks to Rasika Gopi Devi Dasi and Bhakta Alex of the Bhakti Center for their beautiful photographs on the Manhattan harinamas.
At Union Square, one couple came up to me, and said, “Are you from Gainesville?” I replied, “Yes.” Turns out they were Tiffany and Joshua, occasional attenders at the Krishna House programs. When they saw the Hare Krishnas, they glanced at the chanters looking for Rasaraja Prabhu, who they knew from Krishna House and who came to New York for the break, and then they saw me. I suggested that Rasaraja would probably be at the Bhakti Center Thursday night kirtana at 7:00 p.m. and they might find him there, and so they did.
At Grand Central Station one young man asked how many of the ten or fifteen people chanting were from Gainesville, and I looked at our party, and seeing Rasaraja Prabhu, told him two. He mentioned how he had Krishna Lunch for four years there, and he really missed it. I told him that we have Krishna Lunch in Brooklyn, and he was overjoyed to hear it, and so I gave him an invitation to the Brooklyn temple and its weekday lunch program.
Also at Grand Central I met a guy from India who knew Hare Krishna and even Radhanath Swami from there, and so I invited him to Radhanath Swami’s Sunday lecture at the Bhakti Center.
Again at Grand Central, one lady exclaimed with joy, “Great! You guys are back! I haven’t seen you in 30 years.”
One young lady smiled and watched us the entire time she was walking past. I asked her how she knew about Hare Krishna. She said, “I just know you from this, but I am attracted to what I see.”
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.2 in Johannesburg on October 22, 1975:
The aim should be how to become a friend of God.
Radhanath Swami:
The spirit in which something is spoken and received needs to be understood to have more than a theoretical understanding.
We do not have to experience the extreme situations that Pariksit and Arjuna experienced to learn from their experience.
Maharaja Pariksit would not be rude to an insect but this world is so arranged that despite all good intentions, we make mistakes, and due to circumstances, we make people miserable although we desire to make people happy. This happens to everyone, and so it happened to the King [who when thirsty was so frustrated due to a meditating sage’s neglect to offer him water, he garlanded the sage with a dead snake and was cursed by the sage’s son to die in seven days].
Krishna can reciprocate everyone’s love simultaneously and fully satisfy them.
Due to false ego we become upset if someone is doing something better than us, or even if they are not doing something better than us, but they are getting more credit for it.
Sometimes when people are good at something you can not get them all together in the same room.
In the early 1970s, eight hundred yogis joined together for the first time for a conference. There had never been such an opportunity before or has there been since. At the end, the main sages and yogis each had 2 minutes to speak. I was in ecstasy. I had hitchhiked to India to encounter enlightened beings, and here was a whole stage full of them. The first person spoke ten minutes, the next person about fifteen minutes. As time went on, about a dozen of them were literally fighting over the microphone. It is on film. It was a great embarrassment—so many ‘enlightened’ people acting in such a way. However at Naimisaranya, the sages unanimously agreed that Sukadeva Goswami would speak. He was not arrogant but asked for the blessings of others.
We talk about it as a curse [that he would die in seven days], but Pariksit saw it as a blessing.
When we see this life as all in all, we see everything in one way, but when we see this is just one of many lives, we see it all differently.
One sage said this life is one point in a line that goes on infinitely. When we understand that, then we can harmonize the blessings and curses we receive. We can focus on the opportunity to advance spiritually.
You say you didn’t make castles out of sand as a kid, but your whole life is probably making castles out of sand.
You see the tide is coming in, and you try to build walls to protect your castle. The parents laugh. Why are you taking your castles so seriously? But the enlightened souls see all that we are doing in Washington and Wall Street to be like castles of sand.
The great sages were not concerned that they speak, but rather that some competent person was speaking nicely.
Pariksit. although cursed to die in seven days, was the happiest man in that glorious assembly of sages with such a great opportunity.
Stokakrishna, my disciple in India, at age 32 was diagnosed with one of the most fast acting forms of cancer. When I came to see him he was paralyzed and emaciated. He said, “Why am I so fortunate that I could chant Lord Krishna’s name so many times in this life? Why did I get to hear so many classes on Srimad-Bhagavatam? I did not deserve that. Why did I get the association of such nice devotees? Why did I get to be part of Srila Prabhupada’s movement?” Because he was so consistently happy in such an externally miserable situation some originally doubtful brahmacaris concluded that he must have a higher realization.
If something is inevitable, we might as well see it as a blessing.
Some friends who were brijbasis [residents of the sacred land of Krishna’s childhood pastimes, Vrindavana] happened to visit America, and I invited them to come to chant at Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s deathbed. One of them, Madana Mohan Brijbasi, was singing so simply and so sweetly, tears poured from Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s eyes in a way that his disciples had never seen. Bhakti Tirtha Swami said that because he could not go to Vrindavana, Vrindavana had come to him in the form of these devotees from Vrindavana. Madana Mohan Brijbasi was also there to chant for my disciple Stokakrishna at the end of his life.
We have to deal with the material world responsibly but keep it in perspective and remember our ultimate spiritual aim.
If when we are fasting, we think, “I am so austere, and look at these people, they are eating,” then our body is fasting but our false ego is feasting. Fasting is meant to humble us and meant to help us to take shelter of Krishna. Then we are really fasting.
Unless we prepare for the exams along the way we will not be prepared for the final exam of death.
When the tests come we have to apply all we learned from previous struggles.
To overcome pride, we have to watch from a detached point of view. If we see ourselves thinking “I am better than others,” that is the weed of pride, which impersonates the creeper of devotion and induces us to water it instead. If we see that we are envying others that is also a manifestation of pride.
Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami was selected by the great Goswamis of Vrndavana to write Sri Caitanya-caritamrita because of his great realization, scholarship, and humility.
The title The Journey Home [Radhanath Swami’s autobiography] was selected at last moment. The working title was Autobiography of a Worm in Stool, but the publishers would not accept it.
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
“Here is a quote from an initiation lecture by Srila Prabhupada in July 1970 in Los Angeles. Srila Prabhupada spoke on each of the ten offenses and then said, ‘Then, what is next?’
“Devotee: ‘To become inattentive while chanting Hare Krishna.’
“Prabhupada: ‘Yes, when you are chanting, you should hear Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. You should hear at the same time. Then the mind and the senses are compact. That is samadhi. That is perfection of yoga. This yoga is recommended in the Bhagavad-gita.Yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar-atmana. So everyone, by chanting he should hear.’”
A Summary of the Year 2012
I started the year being part of a 12-hour in our Mexico City temple. At that time, we were on the Vaishnava Youth winter bus tour to Mexico and were blessed by the association of Madhava Prabhu, who takes great pleasure sharing Lord Krishna’s name with others in a mood of complete concentration. A 6-hour kirtana in Dallas, and a final kirtanaby Madhava in Alachua finished off the youth tour, which was the best event I had been part of in the months of December and January. The rest of January I spent assisting Krishna House in Gainesville, and the new weekly programs the devotees started in Jacksonville. In February I visited Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami and our temples in Manhattan and downtown London, on my way to India to attend the Kirtana Mela in Mayapur. After a wonderful Gaura Purnima, bathing in the Ganges and reciting verses about Lord Caitanya’s appearance with Danavira Goswami and some of his followers, I joined Navina Nirada, Ekalavya Prabhu, and others at the Bhakti Experience, a two-week Krishna outreach program in Rishikesh in March. We met some interested people and took down contact information for fifty of them. Some even later visited Vrndavana, although previously they had not known of Krishna. Then I returned for more harinama in Mayapur, after an ecstatic Delhi Ratha-yatra and three days on the 24-hour kirtana party in Vrindavana on the way.
I returned to Europe in April, catching the tail end of a Chennai temple opening enroute, for Kadamba Kanana Swami’s Vyasa-puja and the amazing Queen’s Day harinama in Amsterdam. After Queen’s Day we traveled with Leipzig devotees from Belgium, through Luxembourg and Germany to the Nrsimha farm for Nrsimha Caturdasi, doing harinama in several cities on the way. After that, we spent the rest of May and the beginning of June with Janananda Goswami and his followers, based in Newcastle, England, and doing harinama three hours each day. Janananda Goswami greatly encouraged me in my service of harinama by giving me a wonderful amplifier, money for travel, and assistants to chantwith, as well by as his personal example of complete dedication to harinama and by wisdom shared through lectures. On the way to London for Ratha-yatra I attended the monthly harinama in Manchester, nama-hatta programs in Leeds and Sheffield, and the UK brahmacari conference. For me, the attendance of the brahmacaris in the devotee procession in the Borehamwood Carnival (parade), adding lots of extra energy, was a high point. After London Ratha-yatra, I did harinama in London for a few days with some followers of Janananda Goswami, then attending the Stonehenge Solstice festival, where we chant from midnight to 6 a.m. and distribute prasadam. I was invited to a nonexistent weekend warrior program in Croydon, where I chanted for three hours and distributed flyers for the next day’s Ratha-yatra by myself anyway, collecting 27 GBP for the Soho St. temple sankirtana office. On the way back to Newcastle, Sri Gadadhara and I did the Sunday program in Leeds, and nine devotees from the congregation went with us on harinama afterward, causing us to think perhaps post feast program harinamas may be introduced elsewhere. After all Kharkov, Ukraine, does them every week, even in the winter. After two weeks in Newcastle, I returned to the Manchester area for more harinamaand more nama-hatta programs on the way to Ireland. Ananta Nitai Prabhu traveled with me from Dublin to Belfast, to Govindadvipa, where we chanted at a couple nearby towns, and back to Dublin, where by his inspiration we had organized a 12-hour harinama. He and I both did over eleven hours and other people joined for some of the time. We felt it was so successful that we decided to organize more in the future.
Next I flew to France for three days of harinama in Paris, and then to Switzerland for an evening program in Langenthal and two Jhulan Yatras and a harinama in Zurich. Then by train to Berlin and then Kostrzyn for the Polish Woodstock festival where hundreds of thousands of people hear the holy name and take prasadam. Our harinama at the Kostrzyn train station for the those returning home after the festival was the best ever, and the officials were so pleased with the calming effect the chanting had on the tired crowds they asked us to do it next year. I did a few days harinama in Prague and then on to the kirtana mela in Spain, and three harinamas there, two of which directly inspired people to come to our local temples. Then to Trutnov, Czech Republic, for the Czech Woodstock, where we did lots of kirtana late into the night, and a harinama as well, with our guest, Srila Prabhupada’s disciple Guru Das Prabhu. Next I attended a brief Polish padayatra which gave some transcendental experiences to the residents of the towns near our New Shantipur farm, where we had a weekend nama-hatta festival afterward. Then onward to travel with Janananda Goswami doing harinamas and evening programs in Slovakia and one in Czech Republic. After that, we went with Dhruva, Trevor, and Vamana to the Wroclaw Ratha-yatra, and then the German Kirtana Mela, with three harinamas embedded in it, and followed by the wonderful Leipzig Ratha-yatra. Trevor and I then joined the Nitai Gouranga harinama bus tour for a day from Leipzig to Wroclaw where we did a beautiful three-hour harinama in the square where we had Ratha-yatra the week before. We stayed in Wroclaw and did harinama there, next traveling to Bydgoszcz, where we did harinama and an Ekadasi evening program. Then back to Czech Republic for evening kirtana programs in Trutnov and Prague, and a nama-hatta program in Slovakia. Then on the the Ukraine festival (Bhakti Sangama) with lots of seminars and great three-hour evening kirtanas. Then to Warsaw for Radhastami, and then Simhachalam, the German Nrsimha farm, for the festival for the 30thanniversary of the Prahlada-Nrsimha’s installation, with a few small harinamas on the way. That festival ended with the first ever Passau Ratha-yatra.
Then I returned to the UK to travel with Janananda Goswami in The North of England for the World Holy Name Festival, ending with a harinama and an eight-hour kirtana in Edinburgh, Scotland, a new city and country for me. Dhruva Prabhu and I then went to Belfast, where we were joined by Ananta Nitai for more harinama there, and in the cities of Enniskillen, Dublin, and Bray. Ananta Nitai, inspired by the July 12-hour harinama, planned for a 12-hour harinama on Saturday, followed by the Sunday feast, and a 12-hour kirtana in the temple on Monday. The program was successful enough that he wants to do it the first week of every month. Then I went back to Newcastle for a week or so, and then nine days worth of evening lectures beginning there and including all the nama-hattas nearby Manchester, my third swing through there this year, as opposed to my usual one. We preceded the Bolton nama-hatta with the monthly harinamaand were encouraged to see several local children enthusiastically taking part for forty-five minutes. Back to London for a few days with more harinama and lectures, including four hours of harinamaon Halloween, while waiting for New York airports to be reopened after hurricane Sandy.
Then back home to America for a week on harinama in Manhattan with Rama Raya and Ekalavya Prabhus, some days on a book production marathon for Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s The Story of My Life, and a brief visit to my family in Albany. Then I flew to Jacksonville where I chanted on the campus for two hours, meeting a couple people I who had come to our programs back in January and a nice Indian man who started coming to our Jacksonville programs as a result. Then I caught the end of a beautiful ceremony in honor of Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance in Alachua with a wonderful feast. The next several days were many evening kirtanas leading up to the 24-hour kirtana, the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving and it was great to hear Madhava Prabhu so much. The 24-hour kirtana was special this year with guests Niranjana Swami and Agnidev Prabhu. Dravida Prabhu led for two hours on a wonderful harinama in Tallahassee that Saturday at the last football game of the season. Then a couple weeks at Gainesville’s Krishna House, and another evening at our Jacksonville program on the way to fly north for Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s Vyasa-puja in December in Stuyvesant, where I cooked breakfast and lunch for him for nine days afterward, punctuated by a harinama in Hudson and a day trip to New York City to see Niranjana Swami and do kirtana and harinama. Then we ended the year with eleven days of four hours of harinama in Manhattan, with two-day visit to my family for Christmas in the middle.
Niranjana Swami advised I go to fewer places and stay longer and try to increase the devotional service in those places, and reading the above account where I travel to fifteen countries, it sounds like I was a dismal failure. I did, however, spend 53 days in Newcastle, England, 43 days in Gainesville, 39 days in The Northern UK and Ireland, and 18 days doing harinama in New York City. Successes include new people coming to the temple from the harinamas in Newcastle, Belfast, Sheffield, and Jacksonville, a new popular program, the back-to-back 12-hour harinama and 12-hour temple kirtana in Dublin, and a string of nine evenings of lectures in a different cities in England each night. By the inspiration of Janananda Goswami, we also went to towns where devotees rarely if ever to harinama, so new people got exposure to the recommended spiritual practice of the age. Incidentally, the guy who came from harinama to the Belfast temple bought four books. The best comment on harinama was “seeing your party was the best part of my trip to Dublin” by a girl from Seattle.
With the blessings of my advisers Niranjana Swami and Janananda Goswami, I hope to increase my focus and continue to try to spend more time in fewer places, trying to bring people to a higher level of devotion, including myself. I am thinking of just spending one month in Europe in the summer instead of two, and going to the Lithuanian festival instead of the Ukraine festival so I can return to England and New York sooner.
Financial Statement for 2012
Srila Prabhupada taught his followers to keep careful records of expenditures. People always wonder how devotees get their money and how they spend it. Here is a summary for me for 2012. If for some reason, you want more details, let me know.
INCOME donationsbook sales total income EXPENSES travelgifts to temples, swamis, etc. maintenance (clothes, medicine) internet, phone, computer, etc. festival fees loans food (bhoga, prasadam) rent unaccounted for expenses total expenses balance | 4107.59 18.32 -------- 4125.91 3360.59 277.06 88.54 72.25 63.00 50.00 39.25 24.75 130.41 -------- 4105.85 -20.06 |
I would like to thank all the very kind and generous people and organizations who contributed to my expenses so I could share the congregational chanting of the holy name with people in fifteen countries this year. These include, with those contributing the most listed first, GN Press, Kalakantha Prabhu, Kaliya Krishna Prabhu, the devotees in Manchester (England), my mother (Pat Beetle), Rama Raya Prabhu, Paramesvara Prabhu and his congregation in Modra (Slovakia), Bhakta Clive, Ali Krishna dd, Janananda Goswami, Touchstone Publishing, Vrajendralal Prabhu, Bhakta Andy (Gainesville), Bhakta Steve (Belfast), Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu, Raj Sharma, the congregation in Leeds, Balarama Prabhu (Opole, Poland), the Nama-hatta leaders in Poland, the devotees in Langenthal (Switzerland), the JPS office in Mayapur, Prema Sankirtana Prabhu of Newcastle, Ramai Prabhu of Sunderland, Sidharth from Michigan (who bought me some very nice boots for cold weather harinamas), Pandava Prabhu, Govinda Prabhu from Scotland, Bhakta Andrzej, Bhakta Doug, Bhakta Sumit, Bhakta Suresh, Parananda Prabhu, Gaura Karuna Prabhu, Tara Prabhu, Adi Karta Prabhu, Kishore Prabhu, Bhaktin Padma, Ramiya Prabhu, the over twenty people who donated less than twenty dollars each, and all the people who bought books on harinama. I hope Lord Caitanya blesses them all with some of the transcendental merit from our sharing the congregational chanting of the holy name with the people in general.
-----
yei yahan tahan dana kare prema-phala
phalasvade matta loka ha-ila sakala
“The fruit of love of God is so delicious that wherever a devotee distributes it, those who relish the fruit, anywhere in the world, immediately become intoxicated.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 9.48)
Re-Creating the Solar System
→ TKG Academy
As part of our study of the planets, students made actual representations of each planet as part of the Art Class. Check out the pictures here!
Tues 4th Feb
→ Bhakti Lounge - The Heart Of Yoga in Wellington
She’s back!
Shyam Gauri the famous, loved & missed “Tuesday Night Challenge”
teacher is visiting Bhakti Lounge! Shyam is trained in Ashtanga and
Power Yoga and has been teaching since 2005 in New Zealand, Australia
and India. She used to run Yoga-2-Work corporate Yoga in Wellington,
as well as teaching at Bhakti Lounge.
Her once a month Yoga classes/workshops will be themed around
different postures. First class kicks-off on Tuesday 4 February with a
“Level 2 Vinyasa class leading up to funky headstand and side-crow
variations”. Come early to grab a space!
75 minute class starting at 6pm, followed by dinner, $18 or $15 students with ID.
Reading: Raceway Report
→ TKG Academy
Reading Raceway Report: 1st grade is on Step 23 or 32 steps. Looking Good! We’re moving along with words such as - why, flower, ground, new, queen. The underlined sounds are the focus. So parents point out words that you’all use or see which have these sounds. Playing rhyming games with words that have the key sounds is a fun way to practice too.
Spelling for both 1st and 2nd grades is now on the menu. You will be seeing a weekly list which will serve as a word bank for our daily quizzes. 10 words a day for 1st. 5 more for 2nd. Some the 1st’s like to try out the upper classes’ words to see how they do. We’ve been doing practice quizzes for a few weeks. The students really like them. They say its “fun”, “sometimes challenging”. We even have classroom spelling bees.
Hot Danger in the Summer Night
→ Devamrita Swami's Facebook notes
Strangely my sleep broke, in the middle of the night. Sometimes, owing to so much traveling, I do wake up at odd hours not knowing where I am. But this sudden awakening was different. Arising clumsily in the darkness, stumbling around, half-asleep, I kept asking myself, "Why am I awake, what's this all about?"
I found myself staggering toward the window overlooking the backyard. Body dragging, eyelids drooping, I looked out. Great balls of fire.
An intense blaze consumed the back yard, its flames reaching from the ground below to upper levels of the house. Supersoul, the best security, had awakened me.
Quickly, while calling the fire brigade, all the occupants prepared to exit downstairs, through the front door. The members of each social order, each ashram, scooped up what was most essential to them: the householders grabbed their baby, and the sannyasi, his travel documents.
Waiting in front of the building, the neighbours all notified, we heard the sirens of the fire trucks before we saw them—just as a bhakti-yogi first hears the spiritual reality and then sees. Approximately five minutes after our emergency call, the firemen and firewomen of Melbourne, Australia, jumped off their trucks, and with fixed focus trooped single file into the narrow passageway behind the houses. The fire, now roaring wildly, was under attack.
Anticipating a synthetic blaze, the lead fire fighters had tanks of chemical extinguisher strapped to their backs. Behind the houses was a restaurant under renovation, stockpiling paints, enamels, varnishes, and assorted building materials in a rear yard shared with the residences. Who set the fire?
During the day, temperatures had reached 40 degrees C (104 F); night-time brought slight relief—down to 36 C. Roasted by the heat, the man-made chemicals spontaneously ignited, the fire feasting on all the building materials, melting anything it couldn't burn.
Just as living entities burn to death in fires they didn't cause, similarly they undergo varieties of suffering in material worlds and bodies they didn't create. In other words, we spirit souls get the blame for associating with material nature, with a material body, even though we are not the ultimate source or the ultimate cause of material nature and its various bodies.
As Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita (13.21-22):
"Nature is said to be the cause of all material causes and effects, whereas the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world.
"The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species."
Forget the innocence plea. We are blameworthy because we chose to associate and identify with the temporary bodies and locales that material nature supplies. Forgetting Krishna, we attained those residences due to our mistaken desires. Then we further complicate our plight by plunging into the material flavours of happiness and distress—intricacies packaged into those accommodations according to our past karma.
At 2am, the fire in the back extinguished, the sleepy devotees reentered the house. Glancing out the window before trying to get some rest, I saw fire investigators raking through the rubble and ashes. They wanted to make sure of the cause—no arson but spontaneous combustion of the overheated chemicals.
Bhakti-yogis know, however, that in the blazing fire of material existence, though we are not the ultimate cause, we deserve the blame. We chose to hang out here, in a high-risk, fire-hazard zone. Amidst the accumulated trash-heaps of our material desires, spontaneously igniting frequently, we try to laugh and play.
Hot Danger in the Summer Night
→ Devamrita Swami's Facebook notes
Strangely my sleep broke, in the middle of the night. Sometimes, owing to so much traveling, I do wake up at odd hours not knowing where I am. But this sudden awakening was different. Arising clumsily in the darkness, stumbling around, half-asleep, I kept asking myself, "Why am I awake, what's this all about?"
I found myself staggering toward the window overlooking the backyard. Body dragging, eyelids drooping, I looked out. Great balls of fire.
An intense blaze consumed the back yard, its flames reaching from the ground below to upper levels of the house. Supersoul, the best security, had awakened me.
Quickly, while calling the fire brigade, all the occupants prepared to exit downstairs, through the front door. The members of each social order, each ashram, scooped up what was most essential to them: the householders grabbed their baby, and the sannyasi, his travel documents.
Waiting in front of the building, the neighbours all notified, we heard the sirens of the fire trucks before we saw them—just as a bhakti-yogi first hears the spiritual reality and then sees. Approximately five minutes after our emergency call, the firemen and firewomen of Melbourne, Australia, jumped off their trucks, and with fixed focus trooped single file into the narrow passageway behind the houses. The fire, now roaring wildly, was under attack.
Anticipating a synthetic blaze, the lead fire fighters had tanks of chemical extinguisher strapped to their backs. Behind the houses was a restaurant under renovation, stockpiling paints, enamels, varnishes, and assorted building materials in a rear yard shared with the residences. Who set the fire?
During the day, temperatures had reached 40 degrees C (104 F); night-time brought slight relief—down to 36 C. Roasted by the heat, the man-made chemicals spontaneously ignited, the fire feasting on all the building materials, melting anything it couldn't burn.
Just as living entities burn to death in fires they didn't cause, similarly they undergo varieties of suffering in material worlds and bodies they didn't create. In other words, we spirit souls get the blame for associating with material nature, with a material body, even though we are not the ultimate source or the ultimate cause of material nature and its various bodies.
As Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita (13.21-22):
"Nature is said to be the cause of all material causes and effects, whereas the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world.
"The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species."
Forget the innocence plea. We are blameworthy because we chose to associate and identify with the temporary bodies and locales that material nature supplies. Forgetting Krishna, we attained those residences due to our mistaken desires. Then we further complicate our plight by plunging into the material flavours of happiness and distress—intricacies packaged into those accommodations according to our past karma.
At 2am, the fire in the back extinguished, the sleepy devotees reentered the house. Glancing out the window before trying to get some rest, I saw fire investigators raking through the rubble and ashes. They wanted to make sure of the cause—no arson but spontaneous combustion of the overheated chemicals.
Bhakti-yogis know, however, that in the blazing fire of material existence, though we are not the ultimate cause, we deserve the blame. We chose to hang out here, in a high-risk, fire-hazard zone. Amidst the accumulated trash-heaps of our material desires, spontaneously igniting frequently, we try to laugh and play.
The Milk Issue Part 2
→ Life With the Cows and Land
Discussion about the milk issue with Balabhadra das and members of the Hawaii ISKCON temple Part 2.
The Milk Issue Part 2
→ Life With the Cows and Land
Discussion about the milk issue with Balabhadra das and members of the Hawaii ISKCON temple Part 2.
How High Could the Tide Go?
→ The Yoga of Ecology
"In previous research, scientists have determined that when the earth warms by only a couple of degrees Fahrenheit, enough polar ice melts, over time, to raise the global sea level by about 25 to 30 feet. But in the coming century, the earth is expected to warm more than that, perhaps four or five degrees, because of human emissions of greenhouse gases.
Scientists say it has been difficult to get people to understand or focus on the importance, for future generations, of today’s decisions about greenhouse gases. Their evidence that the gases represent a problem is based not just on computerized forecasts of the future, as is commonly believed, but on what they describe as a growing body of evidence about what occurred in the past.
To add to that body of knowledge, Dr. Raymo is studying geologic history going back several million years. The earth has warmed up many times, for purely natural reasons, and those episodes often featured huge shifts of climate, partial collapse of the polar ice sheets and substantial increases in sea level.
“I wish I could take people that question the significance of sea level rise out in the field with me,” Dr. Raymo said. “Because you just walk them up 30 or 40 feet in elevation above today’s sea level and show them a fossil beach, with shells the size of a fist eroding out, and they can look at it with their own eyes and say, ‘Wow, you didn’t just make that up.’"
How High Could the Tide Go?
→ The Yoga of Ecology
"In previous research, scientists have determined that when the earth warms by only a couple of degrees Fahrenheit, enough polar ice melts, over time, to raise the global sea level by about 25 to 30 feet. But in the coming century, the earth is expected to warm more than that, perhaps four or five degrees, because of human emissions of greenhouse gases.
Scientists say it has been difficult to get people to understand or focus on the importance, for future generations, of today’s decisions about greenhouse gases. Their evidence that the gases represent a problem is based not just on computerized forecasts of the future, as is commonly believed, but on what they describe as a growing body of evidence about what occurred in the past.
To add to that body of knowledge, Dr. Raymo is studying geologic history going back several million years. The earth has warmed up many times, for purely natural reasons, and those episodes often featured huge shifts of climate, partial collapse of the polar ice sheets and substantial increases in sea level.
“I wish I could take people that question the significance of sea level rise out in the field with me,” Dr. Raymo said. “Because you just walk them up 30 or 40 feet in elevation above today’s sea level and show them a fossil beach, with shells the size of a fist eroding out, and they can look at it with their own eyes and say, ‘Wow, you didn’t just make that up.’"
The Milk Issue Part 1
→ Life With the Cows and Land
Discussions on the Milk Issue with Balabhadra das and members of the Hawaii ISKCON temple.
The Milk Issue Part 1
→ Life With the Cows and Land
Discussions on the Milk Issue with Balabhadra das and members of the Hawaii ISKCON temple.
Chant Culture and Happiness in Bhutan
→ sriprahlada.com
On a flight from Bangkok, Thailand to Paro, Bhutan, I found myself sitting next to David Silverberg. A geologist expert on the Himalayan region, David had been contracted by National Geographic to lead a group of travellers on a trip of Bhutan. A founding White House staff member for AmeriCorps under the Clinton administration and teacher at […]
Teachings of Bhagavat Gita by Her Grace Jayaraseshwari Devi Dasi this Sunday
→ ISKCON BRAMPTON'S BLOG
ISKCON Brampton Youth Program - Friday January 25th 2013 @ 7:00pm
Everyone is welcomed to come and participate. The program will start at 7:00pm sharp! So please try to make it at around 6:45pm. Sumptuous Prasadam will also be served at 9:00pm.
This event is absolutely free, but donations to the temple are always accepted.
Anyone that would like to help out with prasadam, or has any questions/queries please contact Sukhavak Das at sukhavakdas@hotmail.ca.
Everyone is welcomed to come and participate. The program will start at 7:00pm sharp! So please try to make it at around 6:45pm. Sumptuous Prasadam will also be served at 9:00pm.
This event is absolutely free, but donations to the temple are always accepted.
Anyone that would like to help out with prasadam, or has any questions/queries please contact Sukhavak Das at sukhavakdas@hotmail.ca.
Sunday Feast, January 27th @ 11:00am
The Vaisnava Calendar 2013 will be distributed this Sunday at ISKCON Brampton. Please be there to receive your copy!
ISKCON Brampton has been issuing tax receipts for 2012 donations. Please come this Sunday to collect yours.
Presentation slides used in last week's discourse are now available for download on our blog gallery: http://
Upcoming events:
Saturday February 23rd - Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day
Celebrations at ISKCON Brampton starting 11:00am. Please mark your calendar for this date. More details on the program would be sent in the following weeks.
The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm by Her Grace Jayaraseshwari Devi Dasi
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm by Her Grace Jayaraseshwari Devi Dasi
1:05 pm - 1:20 pm Tulasi Puja
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
The Vaisnava Calendar 2013 will be distributed this Sunday at ISKCON Brampton. Please be there to receive your copy!
ISKCON Brampton has been issuing tax receipts for 2012 donations. Please come this Sunday to collect yours.
Presentation slides used in last week's discourse are now available for download on our blog gallery: http://
Upcoming events:
Saturday February 23rd - Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day
Celebrations at ISKCON Brampton starting 11:00am. Please mark your calendar for this date. More details on the program would be sent in the following weeks.
Teachings of Bhagavat Gita by Her Grace Jayaraseshwari Devi Dasi this Sunday
→ ISKCON BRAMPTON'S BLOG
ISKCON Brampton Youth Program - Friday January 25th 2013 @ 7:00pm
Everyone is welcomed to come and participate. The program will start at 7:00pm sharp! So please try to make it at around 6:45pm. Sumptuous Prasadam will also be served at 9:00pm.
This event is absolutely free, but donations to the temple are always accepted.
Anyone that would like to help out with prasadam, or has any questions/queries please contact Sukhavak Das at sukhavakdas@hotmail.ca.
Everyone is welcomed to come and participate. The program will start at 7:00pm sharp! So please try to make it at around 6:45pm. Sumptuous Prasadam will also be served at 9:00pm.
This event is absolutely free, but donations to the temple are always accepted.
Anyone that would like to help out with prasadam, or has any questions/queries please contact Sukhavak Das at sukhavakdas@hotmail.ca.
Sunday Feast, January 27th @ 11:00am
The Vaisnava Calendar 2013 will be distributed this Sunday at ISKCON Brampton. Please be there to receive your copy!
ISKCON Brampton has been issuing tax receipts for 2012 donations. Please come this Sunday to collect yours.
Presentation slides used in last week's discourse are now available for download on our blog gallery: http://
Upcoming events:
Saturday February 23rd - Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day
Celebrations at ISKCON Brampton starting 11:00am. Please mark your calendar for this date. More details on the program would be sent in the following weeks.
The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm by Her Grace Jayaraseshwari Devi Dasi
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm by Her Grace Jayaraseshwari Devi Dasi
1:05 pm - 1:20 pm Tulasi Puja
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
The Vaisnava Calendar 2013 will be distributed this Sunday at ISKCON Brampton. Please be there to receive your copy!
ISKCON Brampton has been issuing tax receipts for 2012 donations. Please come this Sunday to collect yours.
Presentation slides used in last week's discourse are now available for download on our blog gallery: http://
Upcoming events:
Saturday February 23rd - Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day
Celebrations at ISKCON Brampton starting 11:00am. Please mark your calendar for this date. More details on the program would be sent in the following weeks.
Govinda Valley Kirtan Music Fest 22-24 March
→ sriprahlada.com
Looking forward to the Kirtan Music Fest 22-24 March at beautiful Govinda Valley just outside of Sydney! www.govindavalley.com
A small gallery
→ Traveling Monk
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