Touchdown!
→ Seed of Devotion

My husband has an amazing capacity to receive love.

He's a wide receiver.

No, literally, he's a wide receiver. As in, one of these:


Now, I had no idea what a wide receiver was before I got married to one. In fact, I attempted to understand American football many times and attended my fair share of Superbowl parties and STILL was clueless (you Europeans aren't the only ones!). 

But football is my husband's favorite sport, and with patience he unraveled this sport for me. Similar to chess, each player in football has his own position, and the strategy is a complicated feat of skill and psychology involving multiple coaches for each position. 

In football, the quarterback throws to the wide receiver. This fascinates me that ever since he was a boy, Ghanashyam has played wide receiver. You see, I experience my husband as loved. He's loved by family and friends and mentors and his patients and bosses...! If footballs were love, he'd be pelted with those brown pointy things on a daily basis. But more importantly than being loved, my husband receives love. He actually catches the ball of love and doesn't let it bounce off his heart. Then he goes for the touchdown.  

The thing is, he doesn't just catch any ol' ball hurtling down the field. There's strategy. Discussion. Boundaries. Rules. Intuition. Love is about cooperation and then being open and ready to receive with a trusting heart. 

I've seen Ghanashyam play football. He is focused. Present. Mostly, though, he's grinning. Even when he misses a pass, he smiles and tries again. And again. 

What I'm coming to realize is that if life was a giant football game, we would ALL be surrounded by brown pointy balls flying our way all day, every day. We would be throwing balls, hoping others would catch our love. And hopefully, we would be receiving the love that our heart desires, opening our hands to catch that love and go for the touchdown. 

By cooperation with one another to give and receive love, ultimately we experience the touchdown of God's love. 
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Krishna Institute of Alachua Hosts “Mysteries of the Universe” Workshop
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On May 21-22nd, the Krishna Institute in New Raman Reti Florida along with the Bhaktivedanta Institute of Gainesville, organized a lively onsite and online workshop titled, “Unraveling the Mysteries of the Sacred Universe, Level 1.” Bhakti Caru Swami, ISKCON’s GBC Chair, opened the workshop on both days with an inspiring talk sharing his realizations on the significance of Prabhupada’s outreach program engaging this subject.

Sanatana Goswami on Guru and Disciple. Kripamoya das: Sri…
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Sanatana Goswami on Guru and Disciple.
Kripamoya das: Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu begins his teaching to Sanatana Goswami by explaining that the soul wanders the universe, life after life, and then in one special life, by the grace of Krishna and the guru, he begins the journey of bhakti.
When Srila Rupa Goswami wrote about the sixty-four elements of bhakti, the first five on the list are related to the guru and disciple; and when Sanatana Goswami wrote his Hari Bhakti Vilasa along with his friend Gopala Bhatta Goswami, the first two of twenty chapters in the manual explain the guru and disciple relationship. This is a brief extract of his quotations from several scriptures.
“The human body is a ship, the guru is the captain, the instructions of God are the favourable winds.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.20.17
“Any person who desires happiness must seek a guru and take shelter of him. The qualification of the guru is that he has realised the conclusions of scripture and is able to convince others.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.21
“One should approach a guru who is in full knowledge of me as I am, who is peaceful, and who by spiritual elevation is non-different from me.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.10.5
“To learn about transcendence one must approach the guru with wood in his hands for the fire sacrifice. The symptom of such a guru is that he is expert in the Vedas and therefore he constantly engages in the service of God.” – Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.12
“The disciple should be free from false prestige, active, never lazy, and should give up all proprietorship. He should have feelings of friendship towards the guru, and should not become bewildered or deviated. The disciple should always desire advancement in spiritual understanding, should not not envy anyone and always avoid useless conversation.” – Srimad Bhagavatam 11.10.6
“The guru and disciple should reside together for at least a year, testing each other before they decide to enter into a guru-disciple relationship. They should examine each other to find out their nature, character and compatibility.” Mantra Muktavalli
“A disciple must endeavour with his life, wealth and work for the favoured projects of the acarya and serve him with body, mind and words. In this way the disciple attains the highest spiritual good.” – Vishnu Smriti
“When a person obtains the mercy of his guru, he receives the Vaishnava mantra from him. By constantly chanting the mantra he inherits unimaginable opulence and ultimately the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. Those who have performed immense pious deeds and austerities over many hundreds of years chant this mantra and thus are able to deliver the entire world.” – Agama Shastra
“When a person who has been properly chanting the Vaishnava mantra constantly for a long time glances on anyone, that person is instantly freed from the worst type of fear and anguish.” – Vishnu Purana

THE ALL INDIA PADAYATRA IN KANYAKUMARI, TAMIL NADU (Album with…
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THE ALL INDIA PADAYATRA IN KANYAKUMARI, TAMIL NADU (Album with photos)
Acarya Dasa: The Southernmost tip of India!
We reached Kanyakumari on March 29th, also known as Kanniyakumari and formerly referred to as Cape Comorin. It is located in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu and situated at the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent at the confluence of the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. These bodies of water are the final destination of most of India’s holy rivers such as the Ganges and the Yamuna. The nearest town, Nagercoil, serves as the administrative headquarters of the Kanyakumari district and is twenty-two kilometers away. Kanyakumari is less than a three hour drive from Trivandrum.

A special place for Vaishnavas

dakṣiṇaṁ tatra kanyākhyāṁ
durgāṁ devīṁ dadarśa saḥ

Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.79

Kanyakumari is a significant place for all devotees. It is mentioned in Srimad-Bhagavatam Canto 10, Chapter 79, in verses 16 to17 that Lord Balarama visited Kanyakumari on pilgrimage. It states that He went to the shore of the southern ocean, where He saw Goddess Durga in her form as Kanya-kumari.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu also visited there during His South India tour.

kanyā-kumārī tāhāṅ kaila daraśana

Translation: “Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to Kanyakumari. Lord Caitanya took His bath at the holy confluence of three oceans” (CC Madhya 9.223).

Other great souls have also visited this place. On his way to America, Srila Prabhupada sailed through here on the Jaladuta. However, the main reason why we, as Vaisnavas should visit Kanayakumari is because Lord Caitanya visited there. Wherever the Lord went that place was transformed into Vrindavana. Srila Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami explained that what Lord Caitanya didn’t give in Navadvipa, He gave in South India. During that time many people in Navadvipa were very materialistic and ritualistic but in South India people were simple, and they opened their hearts to receive the Lord’s mercy and thus attained perfection.

The All India Padayatra’s experience in South India

We stayed at the Vivekananda ashram in Kanyakumari for three days. While there we visited the sea shore, Lady of Ransom Church, Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Sunrise Point and Sunset Point and performed sankirtana along the way. We went to the temple of mother Kanyakumari as well and took darsana of her foot prints. Mother Kanyakumari is a great Vaishnavi, she is always chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. When Lord Caitanya visited Kanyakumari, He gave her darsana. She becomes very happy when Vaishnavas come to take darsana and so we all prayed to her to give us unalloyed devotion to Lord Krishna. All the padayatris took bath at the same place that Lord Balaram and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu took bath at too.

During the sankirtana we met many pilgrims from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bengal all of whom joined us in loudly chanting the mahamantra. It was a great pleasure being in Kanyakumari –as padayatris we travel all over India from North, to South, to East and West all by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, who gives us the strength to walk.
Photos and videos: https://goo.gl/L2rvEH

Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk. Krishna-kripa Das: I share…
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Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk.
Krishna-kripa Das: I share some fascinating material on Hare Krishna devotees surviving the war in the former Yugoslavia by Vrsabha Prabhu of Croatia.
Vrsabha Prabhu: Material opulence can never give us satisfaction. There was one beautiful opera singer who was very fat and voluntarily ate a tape worm, hoping that would help her become more shapely. It worked, but unfortunately the worm did not leave enough to nourish her, and she ultimately died. Other people who were rich and famous, not being satisfied, turned to drugs and ruined their lives. So many examples are there, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monoe, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, etc.

Many people received Srila Prabhupada’s books in Yugoslavia, but most did not take them seriously. When the war began, however, people began to take the books off the shelves and read them.

Sarajevo is a city in valley, and Serbian soldiers surrounded it. Only a one-kilometer tunnel the residents had dug could take people out of the city. One man, who read the books and heard there were devotees in Sarajevo, wanted to go inside the city. No one could believe it. He did and found the devotees and became one.

The UN donated two truck loads of ingredients to devotees distributing food in Sarajevo.

The devotees in Sarajevo were so enthusiastic to hear about Krishna, they would walk across the city at the risk of being shot by Serbian snipers, either coming or going to the Sunday feast. One invalid devotee had a friend who would bring him and his wheelchair, one at a time, down 14 flights of stairs and push him 7 kilometers to the Sunday feast.

There is one Croatian devotee Madhavananda who was captured by the Serbians, who put him to work in a death camp. He refused to eat meat, and said, “You can kill me but I will not eat meat.” They needed him to dig ditches, so they gave him vegetarian food. He would preach Bhagavad-gita to people in the camp, whether they were Croatians or Muslims. Serbian army people noticed that the people who heard his preaching were easier to control, so they told him to give classes twice a day and gave him an office to prepare for them. Previously before being captured, he had organized a gurukula in one city because the men were engaged in the war and the city was filled with women and children who were unengaged. He taught them verses and bhajanas and the chanting of Hare Krishna. Even so many years later, he still gets messages on Facebook or by email from kids who were there, thanking him for taking care of them.

One woman who came to Hare Krishna in Sarvejo during the war, considered, “When I was chanting Hare Krishna in a mood of helplessness and praying to God, I was in bliss, I complete forgot about my identification with the material body. That was best time of my life.”

One person who later became a devotee but was an atheist at the time, when he saw a line of Serbian tanks approaching him, addressed the Lord, “Dear God, if you really exist, get me out of this situation.” Dark clouds appeared, lightning struck his machine gun, which exploded and blew off his boots and left him unconscious. He was moved off the battlefield and was saved. Many of his friends were killed.

Sometimes war causes people to take shelter of God. Many people in Bosnia, and also in Croatia, became devotees because of the war. Not a single devotee in Bosnia died or was injured.

Just one virus, so small you cannot see it, can reduce a body builder, who has worked out for years, to a skin-and-bones guy like me.

God does not need money from us. He is the richest person in the world.

God demands us to give up only that which is not good for us anyway, sinful activities.

Comments by Bhakti Rasa Prabhu:

One of the consequences of misusing of our independence is that we come to this world. You can say “if things are so nice in the spiritual world, how could anyone one leave?” but by eliminating the possibility of one leaving, you eliminate their free will.

It is comforting to reflect, “Our karma is temporary, but we are eternal and Krishna is eternal.”

Comment by Caitanya Vallabha Prabhu: Suppose after 45 years of marriage to your wife, you find out the only the reason she married you was someone put a gun to her head, how would you feel? In the same way, Krishna is looking for freely given love.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/rKxqvI

Holy Cow! Another early morning at the Krishna Village. Walking…
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Holy Cow!
Another early morning at the Krishna Village. Walking towards the paddock amidst the dew and early morning light, a group of around twenty cows becomes visible, calves and their mothers huddled around the milking shed. A mixture of black and white friesians and light brown and white Indian gyrs, they are waiting patiently to be herded after the daily 5am milking, an activity that can be joined by any Krishna Village guest who wishes to attend.
Claire, one of their main custodians, explains how despite being vegan she drinks this milk because it is ‘ahimsa’ milk - obtained in a non violent way. Unlike the cows at mainstream dairies, these cows are milked by hand, leaving them with more than enough milk for their calves, who are free to stay with their mothers from birth. Visible most times of day in the paddocks eating grass or frolicking with their friends, the cows are an integral part of the Krishna Farm, considered sacred by Hare Krishnas and loved by everyone in the community.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/IPkfXo

Book distribution for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada
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Hare KrishnaThe Spiritual Master and Krishna are two parallel lines. The train, on two tracks, moves forward. The Spiritual Master and Krishna are like these two tracks, they must be served simultaneously. Krishna helps one to find bona fide Spiritual Master, and bona fide Spiritual Master helps one to understand Krishna. If one does not get bona fide Spiritual Master, then how he can ever understand Krishna? You cannot serve Krishna without Spiritual Master, or serve Spiritual Master without serving Krishna. They must be served simultaneously. Letter to Mahapurusa, February 12, 1968

Monday, May 29, 2017
→ The Walking Monk

Brule , Nebraska

Memories, Memorials

The purpose of early trekking at 3:30 a.m. is to get the mileage in before the sun truly burns in the afternoon. Well, the plan paid off. By noon, I had completed the day’s quota of twenty miles.
Some highlights were the cool air and the cool coyotes. Their yipping and yapping was something to cause me to daydream. I reminisced about early morning singing as is done in our ashrams or temples. I would not say that these wild dogs compensate for my missing the chants by monks, but they did demonstrate togetherness, synergy and a sense of community.
Our gang of three are not totally absent of song and mantras. Daily we sing standard bhajans(devotional songs) in honour of the guru. And in the evening, our hosts, the Rajputs, had us sing for them in their living room at the Lodge American, their motel.
On this Memorial Day, I imagine there would have been music, song, and dance in a more patriotic tone. One van-load of American flags went from business to business, where they were propped up—those Stars and Stripes—as an honoured memory of deceased soldiers.
One of the two men got out and said, “So you made it halfway!(meaning the Lincoln Highway and halfway across America) I read about it in the paper!”
One state trooper parked on a side road as he saw me coming. He opened his trunk and grabbed with a firm grip, two bottles of water, and waited till I actually got to him. “These are for you!”
And I thanked him. I thanked him for checking on my safety. Like everyone else I meet, he received a mantra card.

May the Source be with you!

20 miles


How can a frog in a well understand the vastness of the ocean?
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Hare KrishnaBy Krsnā devi dasi

The participants of “Unraveling the Mysteries of the Sacred Universe Level 1” were asking themselves this very question while attending this informative workshop co- sponsored by the Bhaktivedanta Institute of Gainesville and the Krishna Institute in Alachua on May 20-21. How we view the universe impacts our understanding of ourselves. Additionally, the more we push the boundaries of knowledge, the more knowledge expands before us. In the Vedic literature it is said, sa-tattvato 'nyatha-buddhir vikara ity udahr?tah? from one fact another fact is generated. For example, a father is one fact, and a son generated from the father is a second fact. Thus both of them are truths, although one is generated from the other. Continue reading "How can a frog in a well understand the vastness of the ocean?
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How to respond when others serve in ways that don’t make sense to us – should we criticize them?
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Answer Podcast

The post How to respond when others serve in ways that don’t make sense to us – should we criticize them? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Do interruptions in our remembrance of Krishna occur because of circumstances or consciousness?
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Answer Podcast

The post Do interruptions in our remembrance of Krishna occur because of circumstances or consciousness? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Is the mood of dasyam not present in Goloka Vrindavan because it is madhurya dhama?
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Answer Podcast

The post Is the mood of dasyam not present in Goloka Vrindavan because it is madhurya dhama? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Gita 09.14 The claim – religion is an agreeable illusion – is atheists’ agreeable illusion
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Podcast

The post Gita 09.14 The claim – religion is an agreeable illusion – is atheists’ agreeable illusion appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Gita 16.09 Developing better HD streaming may be individually meaningful but consuming what is streamed is hardly ever so
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Podcast

The post Gita 16.09 Developing better HD streaming may be individually meaningful but consuming what is streamed is hardly ever so appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Prison Ministry: Romanticism versus Realism
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Hare KrishnaBy Bhakti-lata Dasi

For many years I have wondered why it is so difficult to find devotees who are inspired to not only correspond with inmates but to do so steadily as well. It’s been quite a bottleneck since there are far more inmates who write than there are volunteers to reply to them. It seems that often the devotees who volunteer with IPM have an unrealistic, romantic view of what this service is and they get discouraged when reality turns out to be different. I am wondering if, in some way, this IPM NEWS itself contributes to this misconception. Why? Continue reading "Prison Ministry: Romanticism versus Realism
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Wellington Retreat connects Hearts and Souls
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Hare KrishnaBy ISKCON Wellington

What began as a wet and cloudy Friday evening marked by long traffic jams quickly opened up into a pleasant, spiritually charged morning as devotees trickled in for Mangala Arati. After Tulsi Arati, the enchanting voice of Srila Prabhupada accompanied the devotees in the chanting of 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Devotees from all walks of life and age groups took part in the programs – from toddlers and teenagers to adults – all gracefully dressed in Vaishnava attire. While the parents and young adults attended the presentation and group activities, the children were engaged in storytelling, games, art and craft to teach them the values of patience and gratitude. Continue reading "Wellington Retreat connects Hearts and Souls
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Krsna has given us a million chances
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 25 April 2017, Radhadesh, Belgium, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.68)

Srila Prabhupada explained that this material world is just a tiny little corner of the spiritual sky and that tiny little corner of the spiritual sky is covered by a cloud, therefore we feel disconnected from the sunshine of the spiritual world. But the effulgence of Krsna, the brahma-jyotir, is pervading in all directions and then there is this little corner of the spiritual sky which is covered by a cloud of illusion, thus we think that we are separated from Krsna and that Krsna is far away and that we are alone.

We think therefore we struggling because we are abandoned. We think that we have to cope with things that we cannot cope with, ‘How can all these things happen? How do I deal with this? This is too much. Krsna, come on! You know, give me a break!’

But Krsna has given us a million breaks, a million chances! He gave us like not one, not two but unlimited breaks – all the time. And we just cause so much trouble, but do we see how much mercy there was every time along with it? How when something happened, we survived! Krsna is completely in control even of this little corner of the spiritual sky which is covered by a cloud.

mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ
sūyate sa-carācaram, (Bhagavad-gita, 9.10)

Every moment, not just sometimes, Krsna manifests his mercy. Krsna is manifesting his mercy all the time. Never is there a moment when Krsna withdraws his mercy. Krsna is known as the ‘avyakta-mūrtinā,’ (Bhagavad-gita 9.4) or the unmanifested form in the universe.

Transit Point
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Regardless the politicians' agenda or the prevailing public opinion, in democracy, everyone has the freedom to follow their OWN moral compasses. A short film about aid workers of different spiritual backrounds, who, despite the hostile public environment, provided help to hundreds of thousands of refugees crossing Hungary in 2015.

A hiphop track about the power of malas and Tulasi! (2 min…
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A hiphop track about the power of malas and Tulasi! (2 min video)
Gauranga Simha: the lyrics as requested:
There’s power in this string of sacred beads that I carry
they help me understand the kind of person that I can be
by steady meditation realize that I am free … realize that I am me you are you and I worship the sun and the moon as the eyes of the most high witness the beauty of the soul and almost cry choose the light every time and let the ghost die
chant the mantra get high and let my soul fly
Lord is in my heart so you know he’s always close by
These beads give me guidance beads give me hope
when the world gets dark these beads help me cope
wanna wash away your karma these beads are the soap
you can string them on silver string them on rope
these beads keep me high I don’t need no dope
I keep my malas real close to me just the way a lover supposed to be
they’re way more than beads on a string you see and the highest of the high is Tulasi Maharani
now mala thats a fact meditate activate love attract wear a mala round your neck to keep love in tact raise your malas in the air we on a love attack let the people of the world know love is back
let the people of the world know god is black, blue, yellow, green and sometimes white when you get to know the truth then the sun shines bright when my hearts’ in the lyrics then I rhyme tight and lead the people of the world to the sublime light
I can reach up touch the stars when I speak up spit fake nonsense boy you can’t keep up I’m a hurricane you’re a storm in a teacup
I don’t watch that material accumulation I’m all about that spiritual illumination check my progress everyday when I’m in meditation every second celebrate coz life’s a celebration use my mala to accelerate my elevation through the school of transcendental higher education
These beads give me guidance beads give me hope
when the world gets dark these beads help me cope
wanna wash away your karma these beads are the soap
you can string them on silver string them on rope
these beads keep me high I don’t need no dope…
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/skKoRs

Community Dialog Covers Village Association, Rover Pipeline, and NV50
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON New Vrindaban Communications

On the afternoon of March 25th—after hearing inspiring news from ISKCON New Vrindaban and ECO-Vrindaban’s various department heads—Board members and Village Association members settled in for a lively community dialog on some important topics.

Village Association Foundational Document

The first was the presentation of a foundational document for the New Vrindaban Village Association. The Association defines itself as “A loving family of Krishna devotees, spiritual aspirants and friends” whose aim is “to empower and assist devotees to happily live in, or contribute to New Vrindaban.”

The Association also votes to elect members of a Village Council, through which New Vrindaban residents can participate in the governance of their community. The first vote, which elected the first Council, was carried out in November 2016.

Council member Gaura Bhakta Das presented the foundational document. It consisted primarily of rights Village Association members are entitled to, and matching responsibilities that create a good balance of reciprocation between the individual member and the group.

These included the right to spiritual guidance / responsibility to provide spiritual guidance; right to contribute freely / responsibility to focus on what we want; right of respectful disagreement / responsibility to speak up; right of involvement / responsibility to be informed; and others.

The essence of the Village Association was also boiled down to three recommendations: aim in good faith to be spiritually conscious; be a contributing community member; and be aware of Srila Prabhupada’s intents and purposes for New Vrindaban.

After Gaura Bhakta’s presentation, there was some discussion on the meaning and implications of the rights and responsibilities. Some expressed concerns that the document may be too idealistic. Gaura Bhakta responded that the Village Association needed to develop a starting point – however the document is a living one, which can evolve with community feedback.

Success in Re-Routing Rover Pipeline

Next, Gopisa Das reported on the recent legal struggles with the Rover Pipeline and success in getting it re-routed to avoid specific sacred places in New Vrindaban.

The Rover Pipeline is a 713-mile long multi-state project, starting in West Virginia and travelling through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan before ending in Canada. It will deliver gas for distribution throughout the Midwest, Northeast, East Coast, and Gulf Coast.

Rover first contacted New Vrindaban residents two years ago saying that they were seeking eminent domain – a federal right to use private property for public use – to run one of their tributary pipelines through the community.

The route they wanted to take would have passed close to Prabhupada’s Palace and directly across Madhuban hill, where previously there was a Jagannath temple and a house Srila Prabhupada stayed in during his 1972 visit. It would have then cut right through the yard of the original Vrindaban farmhouse, where Prabhupada stayed for one month during his first visit to New Vrindaban in 1969.

Devotees met with Rover over the next couple of years but could not convince them to consider re-routing the pipeline. In February 2017, with no warning, the company announced that it had acquired eminent domain from the Federal Government, and that devotees were summoned for a federal district court hearing.

That meant ISKCON New Vrindaban and ECO-Vrindaban had just days to put together a full case against the $4.2 billion dollar project. To make matters even more daunting, Rover turned out to actually be Energy Transfer Partner (ETP), the same company that ran the Dakota Pipeline through sacred Native American land.

On the morning of the hearing, devotees organized a Harinama Sankirtana protest outside the court house in Wheeling, which was filmed by Channel 7 and Channel 9 News. Vrindavan Das also gave interviews to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and Wheeling News Register.

Gopisa and INV President Jaya Krsna Das first testified, explaining that the specific areas ETP wanted to build through were sacrosanct to Vaishnavas because of Prabhupada’s presence there. They were then directed by the judge to work out an agreement with ETP’s lawyers.

The result was that ETP agreed to re-route the pipeline away from the designated sacred spots despite having full federal support and approval. Gopisa credited this to the power of chanting the Holy Name outside the courthouse, and said it was likely that ETP did not want to face more of the kind of negative media attention that they received with the Dakota pipeline.

During Gopisa’s report, a proposal – first suggested by INV Board Director Ananga Manjari –  was made that a portion of the funds INV and ECO-V receive from ETP could be used to construct a new Community Center. A majority of those participating in the discussion warmly embraced the proposal; and a decision was made to form a Community Center planning committee consisting of Village Association, INV & ECO-V members.

“We also negotiated an agreement with ETP that they would deliver to us all the trees they cut for use in building the Community Center, as well as fixing the old Vrindaban farmhouse,” Gopisa added.

Work on the pipeline is likely to start this spring.

NV 50 Plans and New Jagannath Altar

Rounding off the afternoon, Jaya Krsna Das presented plans for New Vrindaban’s 50th anniversary next year.

NV 50 themes will be integrated into every festival throughout 2018, and there will be a major celebration at the end of September 2018. There will also be a VIP event, and an Open House day for neighbors and the local community.

Meanwhile Sankirtan Das is interviewing many New Vrindaban devotees for an oral history project so that their experiences, challenges, successes and realizations can be secured for the benefit of future generations. There are plans to create both a video and book from these interviews, along with a shorter souvenier booklet with lots of photos.

Another major offering for the 50th anniversary will be that of a new altar for Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra at the front of the temple room next year. The reasoning was that devotees currently do not get darshan of Lord Jagannath when facing the main altar during aratis, and show their backs to the Lord during gurupuja.

The move was decided based on a straw vote by residents and support from the ISKCON New Vrindaban board, GBC and ISKCON Deity Worship Ministry. The new altar will be in the spot the six Goswamis currently occupy, and will be an ornate wooden affair covered with gold and silver leaf.

Previously, Jaya Krsna promised devotees they would receive news of the move during this Spring’s weekend gathering, and the announcement was an auspicious and uplifting way to wrap up the Community Dialog.

 

For the Love of Wisdom
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Philosophy means the love of wisdom, the ability to separate truth from error, reality from illusion, and the subsequent discernment as to correct action. Professional philosophers use the word in specific ways according to which type of reality and illusion they are talking about.

Mohanasini Devi Dasi: Book Distribution weekend of May 25-28, 2017
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Hare KrishnaMohanasini Devi Dasi: My husband said something so sweet this week...I just have to share it with you....He said, "This album you post every week is your garland that you offer to Srila Prabhupada...every book distributed is a flower in that garland!" Book totals for this weekend: 11 Perfection of Yoga, 20 Chant and Be Happy, 76 Higher Taste cookbooks, 4 Science of Self Realization, 129 Bhagavad Gitas, and 4 Srimad Bhagavatams 1.1 Total: 244 books.