Planet ISKCON

“Don’t use treated wood in your veggie garden!”

How many times have you heard this?

CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate) wood has been off the market for seven years now, so there is no need to discuss that. The newer wood (ACQ) has copper and an ammonium compound, so the primary concern is the copper. The type available in the south [...]

<p>Every year Hare Krishna devotees from around Australia and New Zealand get together for an 11-day Spiritual Recharge Festival. Lots of feasting, chanting, seminars and association (and my wedding - see previous post). This year there were 130 guests at the retreat. The biggest ever! So much opportunity to meet many wonderful souls. </p><p>At this festival I also got Brahminical-initiation (the day before the wedding). So, I am now a Brahmana (teacher/intellectual) by Varna (occupation) and a Grihastra (householder) by Ashram (stage of life/shelter).</p><p>I took so many photos. It took quite a while to narrow them down to the 280 best pictures. But that process is now complete ... and here they are. Please browse them to your hearts' content:</p><p> <a href="http://deltaflow.com/pictures/v/retreat2009/"><img src="http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/2009-12-31-imgp0167.jpg" alt="Spiritual Recharge Retreat Festival 2009 2010" title="Spiritual Recharge Retreat Festival 2009 2010" width="199" height="300" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-503"/></a></p>

<p>Have you heard of Gaura Haven? It is in the Otaki gorge region (1 hour's drive North of Wellington, NZ). Lots of work has gone into the place over the past year. It is very beautiful and many new crops have been planted in the garden. I took a bunch of pictures of Gaura Haven and its surroundings.</p><p>Take a look at the wonderful natural beauty:</p><p><a href="http://deltaflow.com/pictures/v/gaurahavenjanuary2010/"><img src="http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/2009-12-30-imgp9968.jpg" alt="Gaura Haven January 2010" title="Gaura Haven January 2010" width="300" height="199" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-499"/></a></p>

Our community garden is now open to anyone who wants a plot.

The last soil amendment – soft rock phosphate – is being shipped from Arkansas. The trucking company was delayed due to weather and it will not be here until Wednesday February 17.

If it doesn’t rain in the next few days we’ll spread it on Wednesday [...]

<p>After my wedding my parents, wife and I headed up to Rotorua for a vacation. We toured the powerful Huka Waterfalls and visited the strange and wonderful volcanic landscapes of Rotorua (and had some fun riding down the "Luge".</p><p>Lots of photos of all that. Check them out here:<br/><a href="http://deltaflow.com/pictures/v/rotorua/"><img src="http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/2010-01-05-imgp0716.jpg" alt="Huka falls and rotorua" title="Huka falls and rotorua" width="300" height="199" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-496"/></a></p>

Every year Hare Krishna devotees from around Australia and New Zealand get together for an 11-day Spiritual Recharge Festival. Lots of feasting, chanting, seminars and association (and my wedding - see previous post). This year there were 130 guests at the retreat. The biggest ever! So much opportunity to meet many wonderful souls.

At this festival I also got Brahminical-initiation (the day before the wedding). So, I am now a Brahmana (teacher/intellectual) by Varna (occupation) and a Grihastra (householder) by Ashram (stage of life/shelter).

I took so many photos. It took quite a while to narrow them down to the 280 best pictures. But that process is now complete ... and here they are. Please browse them to your hearts' content:

Every year Hare Krishna devotees from around Australia and New Zealand get together for an 11-day Spiritual Recharge Festival. Lots of feasting, chanting, seminars and association (and my wedding - see previous post). This year there were 130 guests at the retreat. The biggest ever! So much opportunity to meet many wonderful souls.

At this festival I also got Brahminical-initiation (the day before the wedding). So, I am now a Brahmana (teacher/intellectual) by Varna (occupation) and a Grihastra (householder) by Ashram (stage of life/shelter).

I took so many photos. It took quite a while to narrow them down to the 280 best pictures. But that process is now complete ... and here they are. Please browse them to your hearts' content:

<p>It seems about time I posted something on this blog. I has been quite a while. News of the moment: I have gotten married. On the 1st of January 2010 I, Candidasa dasa, married the lovely Visnumaya devi dasi. Or, if you prefer, our western names: Julian Malik Seidenberg and Susan Elizabeth Burrows (now Seidenberg).</p><p>Lots of great pictures from the event (thanks to Thakur Saranga and Sukanthi Radha for taking the pictures):</p><p><a href="http://deltaflow.com/pictures/v/wedding/"><img class="size-full wp-image-491" src="http://www.deltaflow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/candidasa-visnumaya-wedding33.jpg" alt="Candidasa Visnumaya Wedding" title="candidasa-visnumaya-wedding33" width="300" height="169"/></a></p><p>The wedding was traditional Vedic/Hare Krishna style. Here are some of the fun traditions depicted in the photos:</p><ul><li>showering the deities with flowers (pushpa abhishek) and then showering those flowers over the audience and married couple to counteract any bad astrological influences</li><li>the groom leaving the wedding with his Bhagavad-Gita and umbrella to meditate in the forest as a celebrate monk (brahmacari) for the rest of his life (but being convinced otherwise by the spiritual master - representing the father of the bride)</li><li>exchanging garlands</li><li>tying the hands together with a flower garland and sealing it with water<br/> tying the couple's clothing together with a knot</li><li>a fire sacrifice (agni-hotra) where various grains, seeds and fruits are thrown into a fire to purify any bad karma reactions</li></ul>

Have you heard of Gaura Haven? It is in the Otaki gorge region (1 hour's drive North of Wellington, NZ). Lots of work has gone into the place over the past year. It is very beautiful and many new crops have been planted in the garden. I took a bunch of pictures of Gaura Haven and its surroundings.

Take a look at the wonderful natural beauty:

Have you heard of Gaura Haven? It is in the Otaki gorge region (1 hour's drive North of Wellington, NZ). Lots of work has gone into the place over the past year. It is very beautiful and many new crops have been planted in the garden. I took a bunch of pictures of Gaura Haven and its surroundings.

Take a look at the wonderful natural beauty:

After my wedding my parents, wife and I headed up to Rotorua for a vacation. We toured the powerful Huka Waterfalls and visited the strange and wonderful volcanic landscapes of Rotorua (and had some fun riding down the "Luge".

Lots of photos of all that. Check them out here:

After my wedding my parents, wife and I headed up to Rotorua for a vacation. We toured the powerful Huka Waterfalls and visited the strange and wonderful volcanic landscapes of Rotorua (and had some fun riding down the "Luge".

Lots of photos of all that. Check them out here:

It seems about time I posted something on this blog. I has been quite a while. News of the moment: I have gotten married. On the 1st of January 2010 I, Candidasa dasa, married the lovely Visnumaya devi dasi. Or, if you prefer, our western names: Julian Malik Seidenberg and Susan Elizabeth Burrows (now Seidenberg).

Lots of great pictures from the event (thanks to Thakur Saranga and Sukanthi Radha for taking the pictures):

The wedding was traditional Vedic/Hare Krishna style. Here are some of the fun traditions depicted in the photos:

• showering the deities with flowers (pushpa abhishek) and then showering those flowers over the audience and married couple to counteract any bad astrological influences
• the groom leaving the wedding with his Bhagavad-Gita and umbrella to meditate in the forest as a celebrate monk (brahmacari) for the rest of his life (but being convinced otherwise by the spiritual master - representing the father of the bride)
• exchanging garlands
• tying the hands together with a flower garland and sealing it with water
  tying the couple's clothing together with a knot
• a fire sacrifice (agni-hotra) where various grains, seeds and fruits are thrown into a fire to purify any bad karma reactions

It seems about time I posted something on this blog. I has been quite a while. News of the moment: I have gotten married. On the 1st of January 2010 I, Candidasa dasa, married the lovely Visnumaya devi dasi. Or, if you prefer, our western names: Julian Malik Seidenberg and Susan Elizabeth Burrows (now Seidenberg).

Lots of great pictures from the event (thanks to Thakur Saranga and Sukanthi Radha for taking the pictures):

The wedding was traditional Vedic/Hare Krishna style. Here are some of the fun traditions depicted in the photos:

• showering the deities with flowers (pushpa abhishek) and then showering those flowers over the audience and married couple to counteract any bad astrological influences
• the groom leaving the wedding with his Bhagavad-Gita and umbrella to meditate in the forest as a celebrate monk (brahmacari) for the rest of his life (but being convinced otherwise by the spiritual master - representing the father of the bride)
• exchanging garlands
• tying the hands together with a flower garland and sealing it with water
  tying the couple's clothing together with a knot
• a fire sacrifice (agni-hotra) where various grains, seeds and fruits are thrown into a fire to purify any bad karma reactions

Two weeks ago Kunti and I visited New Talavan for the very first time. It is a rural community about one hour northeast from New Orleans, in Mississippi.

We had a great time! Devotees were nice, Deities were nice, and I finally met a good online acquaintance, Adi Karta prabhu. He is moving to New Talavan from Alachua, and his mobile [...]

Dear fellow gardeners,

We are continuing to make progress in setting up the community garden.

There are still some open plots that have not been reserved. Please contact any member of the Community Garden Planning Team to reserve one by phone, email, or in person. (Shalagram, Rasaraja or Sucarya, Rangavati, or Kunti)

The deadline for reservations is this [...]

Below is the response I got from our other senator regarding the email I sent:

Dear Mrs. van Nus:

Thank you for contacting me regarding food safety. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this matter.

The United States’ food safety policy is rooted in sound science and is supervised by both the Food and Drug [...]

I got the response below from one of our senators on the emails I sent on S425 :

Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced the Food Safety and Tracking Improvement Act, which would establish a nationwide traceability system monitored [...]

One of the advantages of living in a diverse metropolitan city is that exotic items are readily available for offering to their lordships. For some time I've wanted to offer nice fragrant flowers to my deities. However most of the commercially grown flowers available in the market are virtually scentless. So for Nityananda Trayodashi I wanted something different, luckily I was able to find a store that regularly gets fresh jasmine from India. The simple jasmine (mogra) buds made perfect garlands for Gaura Nitai, thier sweet fragrance filling the altar.

One of the advantages of living in a diverse metropolitan city is that exotic items are readily available for offering to their lordships. For some time I've wanted to offer nice fragrant flowers to my deities. However most of the commercially grown flowers available in the market are virtually scentless. So for Nityananda Trayodashi I wanted something different, luckily I was able to find a store that regularly gets fresh jasmine from India. The simple jasmine (mogra) buds made perfect garlands for Gaura Nitai, thier sweet fragrance filling the altar.

It's funny how everyone here in Damodardesh associate Kirtans with me.

This was the scene in Atlanta:

It is Saturday around 9a.m after the morning program. Time for Mrdanga class with Vedasara.

"Where is Anuradha?"
"She is in the pujari making garlands..."

It is the Sunday feast night and you can see and hear all the smiles and 'haribols' going back and forth. It is 'socializing' time......that is prasadam time.

"Where is Anuradha"?
"Oh she is on the altar with Madhavi helping her do the evening service"

(Yup, Madhavi always maganged to lure me to help her on the altar even though it was not my day to do evening seva :) ......and i'll always be grateful for that!)

It is time for the Sunday night kirtans. And I would be scrubbing the altar or putting away necklaces, earrings as Uttam Prabhu drowned everyone in Mayapur mellows :) Oh I would also completely lose myself in UttamPrabhu's transcendental tunes......but I would be doing so in the pujari room as the holy names waft in through the doors.

(Shhhh....but it also used to be my excuse.... "Can you help us wash these pots?", "Nope, sorry, have to do the evening arati!" :D )

It was quite hard for me in Dubai initially. No temple. No Deities. What seva would I do? Now I realize my immaturity during my 'depressed' days. My only solace was turning to my second love - Kirtans.

When I was talking to Mandali recently in Chowpatty, she expressed that one of her realizations when she wasn't able to do as much deity worship in India, was that it was an opportunity to internalize deity worship. Women can't be on the altar doing abhishek, but who can stop you offering a manasa abhishek to Krishna?! :)

And I realized another aspect of deity worship! What I was doing as my 'second' love in Damodardesh was really just another aspect of my first love. So now, I regularly peform deity worship in Damodardesh. I regularly serve the deities - the deities of the holy name. Kirtan is a beautiful way of internalizing worship. Getting absorbed in Kirtan, meditating on his form with the holy name just engulfing you.... Staying in Damodardesh has opened my eyes to another beautiful form of the Lord - his transcendental name....

"Nama-bhajana is not bound by any rule—the holy name is beyond all virtuous acts—He is spiritual—He is virility and luster in a person. All the Vedas have been manifested from this holy name. The holy name is bliss, the holy name is ananda. We can excellently be devoted to Him. The holy name is worship and is to be worshiped; Your feet are to be held in veneration. "

Kirtaniya sada hari... :)

It's funny how everyone here in Damodardesh associate Kirtans with me.

This was the scene in Atlanta:

It is Saturday around 9a.m after the morning program. Time for Mrdanga class with Vedasara.

"Where is Anuradha?"
"She is in the pujari making garlands..."

It is the Sunday feast night and you can see and hear all the smiles and 'haribols' going back and forth. It is 'socializing' time......that is prasadam time.

"Where is Anuradha"?
"Oh she is on the altar with Madhavi helping her do the evening service"

(Yup, Madhavi always maganged to lure me to help her on the altar even though it was not my day to do evening seva :) ......and i'll always be grateful for that!)

It is time for the Sunday night kirtans. And I would be scrubbing the altar or putting away necklaces, earrings as Uttam Prabhu drowned everyone in Mayapur mellows :) Oh I would also completely lose myself in UttamPrabhu's transcendental tunes......but I would be doing so in the pujari room as the holy names waft in through the doors.

(Shhhh....but it also used to be my excuse.... "Can you help us wash these pots?", "Nope, sorry, have to do the evening arati!" :D )

It was quite hard for me in Dubai initially. No temple. No Deities. What seva would I do? Now I realize my immaturity during my 'depressed' days. My only solace was turning to my second love - Kirtans.

When I was talking to Mandali recently in Chowpatty, she expressed that one of her realizations when she wasn't able to do as much deity worship in India, was that it was an opportunity to internalize deity worship. Women can't be on the altar doing abhishek, but who can stop you offering a manasa abhishek to Krishna?! :)

And I realized another aspect of deity worship! What I was doing as my 'second' love in Damodardesh was really just another aspect of my first love. So now, I regularly peform deity worship in Damodardesh. I regularly serve the deities - the deities of the holy name. Kirtan is a beautiful way of internalizing worship. Getting absorbed in Kirtan, meditating on his form with the holy name just engulfing you.... Staying in Damodardesh has opened my eyes to another beautiful form of the Lord - his transcendental name....

"Nama-bhajana is not bound by any rule—the holy name is beyond all virtuous acts—He is spiritual—He is virility and luster in a person. All the Vedas have been manifested from this holy name. The holy name is bliss, the holy name is ananda. We can excellently be devoted to Him. The holy name is worship and is to be worshiped; Your feet are to be held in veneration. "

Kirtaniya sada hari... :)

First wrap the contents tight and store it in a blue box 6 meters high and 93 meters wide and 108 meters long. Click your feet four times- not three, learn to say abracadabra in Polish and then after you- oh wait! Wrong audience.
But the question still remains what to do, what to do...
I have heard, and dare to write it before verifying these statements, that magnanimity, a very rare gift is still more rare in the Spiritual world. Why? Well its like Never land up there where every being is seriously satisfied and is in danger of breaking sweat at any moment due to ever-increasing perfection.
Cows have way too much milk up there and so the land is soaked with milk ( when you're God, you can water your lawn- or sand- or touchstone particles with milk), H2O isn't enough either and so all water is nectar. And dare ask a mango tree for peaches; but I'm sorry you walked up to it and didn't dance, and you asked, not sang- you must be in the material world again. Still perfect is when that hippie in you can use your “be here now” skills when a new to town traveler asks you for the time: “ time”, you'd say, “ is now.” And yesterday? “ Still now.” While we're at it, your soul mate happens to be there, so is Mr. Right, Prince Charming and your knight in shining armor. And for the guys, you won't find damsels in distress, and the damsels I'm sorry to say belong to the Knight in shining.... Better yet, your knight and his shining Armor are non different! So magnanimity, although part of the spiritual world is sort of conspicuous by its absence.
On the other hand (are five fingers), down here Prince Charming might be found hanging out with Mr. Right, intimately... Your knight's armor may have been traded for some thick green cloth and yesterday means- yesterday. We could go into filtered H20 and scarce cow's milk, but I don't want to mirror my thoughts; so back to magnanimity.
When Krsna descends he needs a place to call base, just as when a king travels, at least in the old days, he went with an entourage for his utility. Mayapur, Vrindavan and other holy places are exact replicas of the eternal abode with equal potency available here to help us understand the nature of eternity, knowledge and bliss. Here in Mayapur that magnanimity factor can be perceived by anyone whether qualified to practice spirituality- and who is, or not. The atmosphere is so surcharged that mercy just flows even when a person is asleep. (Sleep is considered paying prostrated respects to the holy land)
But how to get this mercy an open secret expressed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu quoting the Mahabharat : dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam, true spiritual revelation lies within the hearts of great souls. One is advised to sincerely serve those great souls by following whatever instructions they may give; and also by intelligently staying away from what they stay away from. Each great soul is like a mercy station; a place where the matter of business is magnanimous blessings given for a little price- one's faith.
Srila Prabhupada has opened the doors to Mayapur for us and beckons us to come and experience real life everyday, and when we're satisfied beyond measure, go and give it to others. Even if we just take a drop and give it to another person, we'll find ourselves with two drops. The more we give the more we get. Like that ol
d saying, “the gift that keeps giving.”

First wrap the contents tight and store it in a blue box 6 meters high and 93 meters wide and 108 meters long. Click your feet four times- not three, learn to say abracadabra in Polish and then after you- oh wait! Wrong audience.
But the question still remains what to do, what to do...
I have heard, and dare to write it before verifying these statements, that magnanimity, a very rare gift is still more rare in the Spiritual world. Why? Well its like Never land up there where every being is seriously satisfied and is in danger of breaking sweat at any moment due to ever-increasing perfection.
Cows have way too much milk up there and so the land is soaked with milk ( when you're God, you can water your lawn- or sand- or touchstone particles with milk), H2O isn't enough either and so all water is nectar. And dare ask a mango tree for peaches; but I'm sorry you walked up to it and didn't dance, and you asked, not sang- you must be in the material world again. Still perfect is when that hippie in you can use your “be here now” skills when a new to town traveler asks you for the time: “ time”, you'd say, “ is now.” And yesterday? “ Still now.” While we're at it, your soul mate happens to be there, so is Mr. Right, Prince Charming and your knight in shining armor. And for the guys, you won't find damsels in distress, and the damsels I'm sorry to say belong to the Knight in shining.... Better yet, your knight and his shining Armor are non different! So magnanimity, although part of the spiritual world is sort of conspicuous by its absence.
On the other hand (are five fingers), down here Prince Charming might be found hanging out with Mr. Right, intimately... Your knight's armor may have been traded for some thick green cloth and yesterday means- yesterday. We could go into filtered H20 and scarce cow's milk, but I don't want to mirror my thoughts; so back to magnanimity.
When Krsna descends he needs a place to call base, just as when a king travels, at least in the old days, he went with an entourage for his utility. Mayapur, Vrindavan and other holy places are exact replicas of the eternal abode with equal potency available here to help us understand the nature of eternity, knowledge and bliss. Here in Mayapur that magnanimity factor can be perceived by anyone whether qualified to practice spirituality- and who is, or not. The atmosphere is so surcharged that mercy just flows even when a person is asleep. (Sleep is considered paying prostrated respects to the holy land)
But how to get this mercy an open secret expressed by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu quoting the Mahabharat : dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam, true spiritual revelation lies within the hearts of great souls. One is advised to sincerely serve those great souls by following whatever instructions they may give; and also by intelligently staying away from what they stay away from. Each great soul is like a mercy station; a place where the matter of business is magnanimous blessings given for a little price- one's faith.
Srila Prabhupada has opened the doors to Mayapur for us and beckons us to come and experience real life everyday, and when we're satisfied beyond measure, go and give it to others. Even if we just take a drop and give it to another person, we'll find ourselves with two drops. The more we give the more we get. Like that ol
d saying, “the gift that keeps giving.”

Many people I meet express their most difficult problem- too little time to actually relish, or absorb themselves in life. When you wake up the rush starts- class, work, cram!
Here's a small experience that I relish here in India and hope to really inspire people with in the near future. Do few things diligently, consciously and properly.
An example of my schedule in the last few months:
3:00 am wake up (shower, dress, chant japa, mangala arati, class.)
9:00 am wash laundry, eat.
10:30 bhakti sastri class (lunch also)
3:00 pm  one hour nap
4:30 study
6:30 return clean and folded laundry
7- 8: socialize
8:30 give massage
9:30 bed
as this happens, I perceive how the mind becomes calm. When the mind is calm, thinking about deeper topics is possible. Most people are interested in Spiritual life, but their

external world is a bit in disarray  and so a war between outside and inside leaves on between a rock and a hard place.
 I suggest association of people who do what challenges you most. So if you're trying to be more spiritual and its difficult, associate with spiritual people.
There's so much to learn in spirituality, but our very minds stop us.

After a few days in Mayapur, my Spiritual Teacher asked me how I was doing, so I explaind my schedule and he was very encouraging. He said, “ that is sadhu (spiritual) life; doing
the same thing over and over will steady the mind, when the mind is steady then one can proceed nicely in Krsna Consciousness”
Plus, you'll find you have so much time because everything starts to have its place and quality
tatata tatata tatata tatata tatata- steady

Many people I meet express their most difficult problem- too little time to actually relish, or absorb themselves in life. When you wake up the rush starts- class, work, cram!
Here's a small experience that I relish here in India and hope to really inspire people with in the near future. Do few things diligently, consciously and properly.
An example of my schedule in the last few months:
3:00 am wake up (shower, dress, chant japa, mangala arati, class.)
9:00 am wash laundry, eat.
10:30 bhakti sastri class (lunch also)
3:00 pm  one hour nap
4:30 study
6:30 return clean and folded laundry
7- 8: socialize
8:30 give massage
9:30 bed
as this happens, I perceive how the mind becomes calm. When the mind is calm, thinking about deeper topics is possible. Most people are interested in Spiritual life, but their

external world is a bit in disarray  and so a war between outside and inside leaves on between a rock and a hard place.
 I suggest association of people who do what challenges you most. So if you're trying to be more spiritual and its difficult, associate with spiritual people.
There's so much to learn in spirituality, but our very minds stop us.

After a few days in Mayapur, my Spiritual Teacher asked me how I was doing, so I explaind my schedule and he was very encouraging. He said, “ that is sadhu (spiritual) life; doing
the same thing over and over will steady the mind, when the mind is steady then one can proceed nicely in Krsna Consciousness”
Plus, you'll find you have so much time because everything starts to have its place and quality
tatata tatata tatata tatata tatata- steady

My Alarm goes up at three....
I finally get up at 3. 30, bathe and then warm up for 20 minutes before getting ready for the temple
Why all this headache?
Because it pleases Krsna.
Why should we do anything? Because it pleases Krsna.
So much is happening here that I won't digest for another lifetime or few. Lets just say reality as we know it is dead, and recycled over and over again. But there is another reality, hidden the hearts of those great souls who have dedicated many years to spiritual life. Find one, serve one, and be happy

My Alarm goes up at three....
I finally get up at 3. 30, bathe and then warm up for 20 minutes before getting ready for the temple
Why all this headache?
Because it pleases Krsna.
Why should we do anything? Because it pleases Krsna.
So much is happening here that I won't digest for another lifetime or few. Lets just say reality as we know it is dead, and recycled over and over again. But there is another reality, hidden the hearts of those great souls who have dedicated many years to spiritual life. Find one, serve one, and be happy

Peep through the door
It seems as though the grass was much greener before
The dead life has been washed upon the sea shore
Money and greed deluded what is truly pure
And yet our flesh keeps screeching out for more

Now you’re trapped
A hole in the ozone about to make the world collapse
Pollution fills the air and minds with bullet twisted facts
Midnight is now upon us people righteous laws are coming back

Don’t turn your head away cause you can’t get away
Your mind is lost because your spirit has been led astray
Don’t ever say you gave it all if you ain’t gave it all
Just fade it in the hazy purple twilight
No more time I tried to warn you all it’s now approaching midnight

Panic’s in the air
Some jumping out of buildings others on their knees in prayer
Some cry out to the sky and yell they aren’t quite prepared
You looked god in the face and said forgive me all he did was stare.

Now you can run,
But where you gonna hide from all the power of the sun?
The cosmic reprecussions of what human kind has done
No understanding of the fullness everything is simply one

Soon to be none again so that new life can come again
Illusions rule the mind your soul is never gonna end
So don’t pretend you gave it all if you ain’t gave it all
Just fade it in the hazy purple twilight
No more time I tried to warn you all it’s now approaching midnight

So I bid farewell.
No more good times or bad times, no more heaven no more hell.
Now brace yourself for impact it’s a half hour to twelve
Complete in total darkness empty space is where you’re left to dwell.

And all you had to do was live today for your tomorrow
But now it’s over and you’re drowning deep inside your sorrow
You could’ve led but instead you confirmed and chose to follow
So once again I bid farewell

There’s only seconds left you’d like to second guess
But through your foolish ways you’ve literally beckoned death
So just don’t say you gave it all if you ain’t gave it all
Just fade it in the hazy purple twilight
No more time I tried to warn you all it’s now approaching midnight
[ Midnight In A Perfect World (Gift Of Gab Mix)

I was sitting in our big white van cruising through the streets of LA, when Gaura, who was driving and eating and talking on the phone (always multitasking!), threw the question to us over his shoulder, “hey guys, how would you like going to Australia?” Need I make our unanimous answer explicit?!

When Australia sent out initial feelers to Gaura, they were thinking to bring him and maybe one more person, that’s it. Ultimately there was six of us! Due to a combination of Gaura’s love for all of us and his insistence that we come, and the Aussie organizers giving in to Gaura’s “demand”.

And so it happened, that six of us stepped out of the airport coming to Australia for the first time. It didn’t take Vish and Gaura long to figure out that now we’d done kirtan on every continent (save for Antartica).
It’s an amazing thing when total strangers met for the first time and immediately feel bonded. This was the case with the Australian crew that brought us over, took care of us, and traveled with us through the country. I didn’t feel that I was among strangers at all. Maybe our goal, or interest, in kirtan simply took over and connected us on a higher level.
Before we arrived Sitapati, the main organizer, sent us a forty-page playbook, indicating every show, every meal, basically every detail. We were quite blown away by such detailed pre-planning. The person behind such meticulous planning had to be a seasoned older gentleman. When Sitapati met us at the airport, I think everyone of us asked him a version of the question, “Who are you?” Because we simply didn’t expect the force behind such a major tour to be our age.

And this turned out to be one of the many sweet things about the Australia tour. The guys who brought us out there were not rich people dipping into large bank-accounts. They hustled to get us over there, called everyone they knew with the idea, collecting funds as one person here and there would donate. There was a real grassroots feel to it.

We did around ten shows and one 24-hour kirtan during the fourteen days we were there. But because the organization was seamless and our reception so enthusiastic, we did not feel drained or tired but enthused and inspired. So many Aussies love kirtan! I was delighted by Janardan in Brisbane, Tina in Sydney, Krsnagraja in Melbourne, to mention a few. Notably, this enthusiasm was not limited to experienced kirtan-singers like the above, but to those completely new to it.

“Is there anything bad about Australia?” I kept asking our hosts as we drove through the beautiful country side from Brisbane to Sydney, then Sydney to Melbourne.

I was particularly happy when Sitapati, who had never seen The Mayapuris and As Kindred Spirits play together, commented that “We couldn’t imagine you without each other. You complement each other so well. ” His observation highlighted something I’d been reflecting on for a while. Gaura and As Kindred Spirits are melodic, sweet as honey, soulful, while we are passionate and fierce, with an edge that would border on aggressive without the soothing vibe of our kindred spirits. We feel so blessed to be singing, dancing, and serving together.

And being Down-Under only made it more dreamy and surreal. Did we dance with Kangaroos? No, didn’t even see one (though Gaura did chase a wallaby up a hill with his iPhone for a close-up) But everyone we did kirtan with put a kangaroo’s jump to shame, as they reached their arms high in the sky, jumping high, spirits soaring! Singing the holy names!

What more can I describe than this? Millions of opulences are of no use to me, my only wish is to have these pastimes constantly appear in my mind.

-Vrinda

Pretty picture ;0)

Pretty picture ;0)

This album was requested some time ago and I’ve been meaning to get around to it. It wasn’t the easiest to clean up, but now that it’s finished, it really does sound great! I hope you enjoy it. Happy downloading. Haribol!

Vrindavana
Parampara Productions
RPI 102

The Vrindavana LP, released by Parampara Productions, is tied for my favorite Classic ISKCON record with Temple Radha Krsna, also released by Parampara. It’s got almost everything you could want, including an amazing rendition of “Kesava Kali Mala” by Acyutananda Swami.

Sure, if you wanted to, you could see this as the poor-man’s Radha Krishna Temple (the George Harrison-produced LP that everyone has). Vrindavana seems to be trying mimic Radha Krishna Temple to a large degree. Most of the instruments are traditional, save a bass guitar and an often haphazardly played flute.

To me, however, the Radha Krishna Temple LP has always seemed over-produced. It’s too slick in many places and while a beautiful album, it doesn’t capture what you’d hear in the temple. Vrindavana pretty well fills that gap. It’s fairly well produced, but keeps enough of the temple spirit to satisfy my uselessly picky tastes.

Unlike many of the other records, there’s nothing weird or overly mysterious about this release. I have two copies of it and it’s obvious that they’re different pressings, but nothing too wacky.

The pressing from Holland has a purple stripe around the cover image. The French one has a blue stripe. Holland’s back cover gives a bit more information about the songs and places captions on the pictures (albeit, in Dutch). The Holland release came with an insert containing lyrics and purports (again in Dutch), while the French release (at least my copy of it) didn’t.

If I could find one odd thing about this release it’s that each country’s release is a completely different pressing. The French vinyl is of higher quality and much thicker. Holland’s label is the same as the French label, except they printed some copyright and “Made in Holland” info around the outer edge (probably for legal reasons specific to Holland).

The mixes are the same on each release, though the French release has two songs (the last songs on each side) that were mixed a bit too high, clipping a good deal of the vocals. Luckily, I was able to lift those two songs from the Dutch release. My copy of the French release was in much better shape than my copy of the release from Holland, which is why I chose one over the other.

There’s also a Spanish release from 1978 on the Producciones Govinda label. I don’t have that one though.

As interesting as I’m sure this is, let’s get to the songs themselves.

Kant A / Face A
1. Sri Rupa Manjari (6′30″) par Kausalya dasi
A beautiful flute and sitar accompany the beautiful voice of Kausalya dasi. I’ve never heard of her before, but she’s a great singer. This is a pretty mellow piece and a fine way to start a great album.

2. Manasa deha geha (5′) par Manibandha das
The first of two “Manasa deha geha”s. This is slow, but kind of funky too. There’s definitely a bit of swank going on here. Especially with the bass guitar and the what is probably an autoharp. The flute adds to the swankiness, especially during the flute-freak-out towards the end.

3. Bhaja hunre mana (5′) par Achyutananda Swami
It’s Achyutananda Swami! There’s some pretty steady sitar work going on here. This is very Indian. Even more so than Achyutananda Swami’s bhajans usually are. This is practically a song ripped straight from a Bollywood movie. You can almost picture some chubby and sweaty Indian guy patting his chest and doing a well-choriographed dance while inexplicably kicking piles of colored dust.

4. Gopinatha (4′30″) par Manibandha das
Very slow and mellow. There’s a great rolling rhythm to this. Something very bassie about it. Maybe it’s just the bass guitar. There’s a lot going on here. The kartalas seem to be playing in a 3/4 meter (like “Damodarastakam”) while the rest of the music is in 4/4. Not totally sure about this, but it works.

Kant B / Face B
1. Srita kamala (4′30″) par Kausaya dasi
Back with Kausaya dasi! A very sweet voice, twice overdubbed. It’s quite nice.

2. Kesava kali mala (3′20″) par Achyutananda Swami
Hey now! This is just funky! Totally worth the price of admission right here. Again, nearly Bollywood in its swankiness. Is that a bongo drum I hear? No idea, but it’s great. Check out the kartalas! And yet again with the funky flute. Please listen to this. There are maracas!

3. Manasa deha geha (7′30″) par Kausalya dasi
Kausalya dasi gives “Manasa deha geha” a try. This is a very mellow, yet menacing take on this classic. It works, even with the oddly placed bass guitar.

4. Hare Krsna kirtana (4′30″) les bhaktas assembles
Let’s all get together and chant Hare Krishna! Kausalya dasi leads and everyone follows. This is the same melody that’s used on the Radha Krishna Temple.

As I said before, my copy of the French album was in pretty ok shape – better than my copy of the Dutch album. Still, this was a tough one to clean up. Some of the pops were probably from the source tapes as they didn’t sound like vinyl pops. I fixed what I could and I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

The Vrindavana LP is my friend Rati’s favorite and I’m really happy that I can offer it to her in a much better quality than it was before. Vaisnavas should always leave a record cleaner than they found it! Hopefully they’ll play it for their beautiful deities, Nitai-gauracandra.

I’m unaware that any of these songs were ever officially rereleased by ISKCON (or anybody else for that matter). The album itself isn’t too difficult to track down. Some copies are selling for $100ish, but I see others for less than $10. This is definitely one you’d want to pick up.

And as always, this LP is available as high quality mp3s and as “lossless” FLAC files. For most of you, the MP3 at 320kbps will be more than sufficient.

Fairly high-quality scans of the album covers, records and insert are included as well (and as usual).

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Download the FLAC files, if you like: Part One, Part Two

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl LP from my personal collection.

Hardware Used:
Turntable: Audio Technica PL-120A
Cartridge: ATP-2XN (Stock)
TCC TC-750LC Audiophile Phono Preamp
Soundcard: Roland Edirol UA-1EX USB external soundcard

Software Used:
Audacity 1.3.7 on Linux Mint 7
-Digital recording from soundcard
-Editing and splitting of tracks

Gnome Wave Cleaner 0.21-10
-Manual and automatic click/pop removal

SoundConverter 1.4.1
-Converted WAV to 320kbps MP3 and FLAC

Artwork Scanned from Original @ 300 dpi with XSane .996
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.6.6

October was another good month here at Pandavas Paradise. The rains came, the flowers bloomed, and our garden provided many delicious items for offering to our beautiful deities of Sri Yoga Nrsimha and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. In our modern … Continue reading →