The Western Suburbs' Bhakti Vriksha groups invite you to join their Jagannatha Rathayatra next Sunday.
In conjunction with the Wyndham Weerama Festival, ISKCON will celebrate a grand Rathayatra parade, with a maha prasadam feast to be served afterwards.
Join us at the parade assembly: ISKCON book stall (stall 31, Werribee Racecourse mounting yard at 10:30am. Enter via the main gate off Bulban Rd. The parade ends around 12:30pm.
Please confirm with Charu Chaitanya Dasa (0412 696 559) or Ajay Prabhu (9395-0343, 40 Baltimore Drive Point Cook) if you are joining us for the feast.
My husband Bhakta Philip and I have been active online recently about releasing the hundreds of Srila Prabhupada recordings that the Bhaktivedanta Archives are unwilling to let devotees listen to. If you wish, you can sign the petition in this regard here, and read more about the subject here.
We actually would prefer not to be involved in this issue at all. But every day we have a morning program in our sankirtan van and we pray/sing to Srila Prabhupada:
“Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, cittete koriya aikya, ar na koriho mane asa”
My only wish is to have my consciousness purified by the words emanating from his lotus mouth.
We don’t like to get involved in such difficult issues as this, and have never done so before. But we could not tolerate Srila Prabhupada’s words being locked up, the words that are our life and soul.
This brings us to the purpose of this posting, sharing some simply wonderful nectar from our service! After a day of sankirtana we always tell each other what kind of people we met and what happened. A couple of days ago I asked Philip to write down his experience so we could send to our friends that want to hear sankirtan stories. I'm posting it here as well for the pleasure of the devotees.
"By the Vaisnavas mercy, I have been able to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books for many years now. I met a young man on sankirtana who first told me that he’s totally not interested at all. I tried my best to explain the book to him. I said that this book (Bhagavad-gita As It Is) is the most important thing to all humankind because it teaches us who we are beyond the bodily, materialistic conception that we are all bewildered with. I showed him the Sanskrit verses, "These are the original texts where all knowledge of yoga, meditation and karma comes from. Einstein would read these books regularly and many other great thinkers got their ideas from here, like Emerson and Thoreau."
I continued explaining and showing him how awesome the books are. Out of the blue he started saying “You’re an angel!” He would just repeat that over and over again. “This is amazing! This is awesome!” He was almost literally jumping up and down. He said “You made my whole week! This is incredible! I’ll treasure these books and read them.” etc.etc. He gave a very nice donation and took Science for Self-Realization, Sri Isopanisad and Gita.
It was almost funny how many times he kept on repeating that I’m an angel. He wasn’t joking, he was serious. I explained I’m nobody special, I am just a conditioned soul like anyone else. The only difference between me and the next guy is that I have found these books and am trying to share them, and others don’t have these books. I am just like a mailman trying to deliver a extraordinarily valuable message to someone. Whether I am special or not. The important thing is that I am delivering an important message! "Please understand, these books are the real thing."
I think he understood, but he was just so overwhelmed with ecstasy of finally after so many lifetimes coming in contact with the real truth in its pure unadulterated form that he didn’t know what else to say. Besides that I am an "Angel".
Then he started telling me how much he’s been looking for something like this, for so long. After he was done explaining this to me I jokingly told him "Ok I have to go and be “an angel” to someone else." Even as I was walking away he was saying I’m an angel. It was kind of embarrassing, other students were watching.
There were several other people in the same school too who were surprisingly grateful. At one point I was simply walking and trying to find somebody and I hear from behind me “Hey you!” Then I hear my name “Hey, Philip?” I turned around and some girl was walking towards me. Again she asked “Philip?” Turns out a friend of hers yesterday got a Bhagavad-gita from me (everyone I give a book to I give a card with my name, phone number, email, address and website) and she was reading the Bhagavad-gita her friend got last night. I guess she must have seen my card and remembered my name. She told me “Yeah, I was reading my friends book last night and I was hoping I could find you and buy a book from you today.” Then she asked me “Please can I give you some money and you could give me one of those Bhagavad-gitas?” It was almost comical, the whole thing.
Anyway, all I could do was say “Yes.” Then after gratefully giving a donation and taking Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-Gita she truly thanked me from her heart for being out here, for doing what we do and for distributing this knowledge, and said "I hope you stay warm" (It was a very cold day). And she walked away her life being changed.
It's so nice to witness Srila Prabhupada’s mercy in action! It often even amazes me and I have been distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books for 14 years seeing it happen every day but it's always like the first day, new and fresh.”
somehow this pic came first, but that is not to say that actually the Wellingtonians like our Harinams! I think it was a joke because they missed us twice... it's amazing though that quite a lot of people were attracted to come and check out the Gaura Yoga Center (by the way: www.gaurayoga.co.nz) because they had seen a Harinam!Shastra-Krit Prabhu firing up the Sankirtan PartyeDamian Prabhu from
I woke up frequently during the night and finally got up at 2:30. I began my chanting wide awake and rapidly with a clear head. I paid attention to the syllables of the holy names. I have started reading Bhurijana Prabhu's book called Japa: Nine Keys from the Siksastakam to Improve Your Japa. He has one main new contribution to chanting which is dynamic and provocative. I will give some quotes from the early part of the book to demonstrate. "The easiest way to slow the mind is to give it a simple task. We have to stop trying to listen to our "rounds". That task is too complicated for the mind and causes it to jump ahead to all the yet-to-be-chanted rounds. Instead, make the mind's task easy: listen to only one mantra, the mantra you are chanting now.
"Don't be tempted to add anything to this task. Keep it simple. Don't even attempt to hear only one mantra at a time, this will push the mind to think of the future, demanding to know we plan to hold it captive. Keep the mind's task simple and gradually the mind will act simply." (Japa, pp. 25–26)
"And be detached. If we finally haven't listened to our first fifteen rounds—even if we didn't properly hear any mantras, even any one name of Krishna—never mind. We do not have the freedom to bring back those mantras. Neither can we promise to do better in the future. We have only enough freedom to listen to the mantra, starting with the one holy name we are chanting now. There is no point lamenting about the past or worrying about the future. Better to simply hear the one mantra we are chanting in the present.
"We should know that if we chant one maha-mantra and actually listen to it—hearing it—we have done something wonderful and our life is already successful. Focused chanting is actually the clearing stage of japa (namabhasa) and the scriptures are full of glorification of such chanting…
"Although it's true that we need Krishna's grace at each stage, and if we hope to advance, we can still use our own free will properly and we must become determined to hear Krishna's holy names. By our own efforts, based on our faith in the holy name, we should try to listen to one mantra—the mantra we are currently chanting." (Japa, pp. 30–31)
Bhurijana Prabhu bases his research on many years of serious personal chanting and teaching in japa retreats. He is deeply convinced of the efficacy of this method. I have not dedicated myself yet to this prescription, but it sounds very intriguing.
I have so far chanted thirteen rounds, not exactly isolating them as he suggests one at a time, but moving through them quickly. I will try to pay more attention to the individual mantras.
Chant one mantra at a
time, is this the means
to success? Give your mind
the easy task of just
one at a time, and
you'll reach the nectar
of the holy names.
Further stages will
develop.
I do more normal
chanting, quickly building
numerical strength. Let
me try to hear one at
a time. I am willing
to experiment with
a new technique if I
think it will help me
come out of my thoughtless,
superficial japa.
Try one at a time?
Why not?
It is highly recommended.
Do not rush through
the set.
Prabhupada Smaranam
This is the temple which ISKCON briefly occupied around 1968 at 61 Second Avenue in New York City, a block from the original storefront at 26 Second Avenue. You can tell by the mirrors and the early era paintings and a lectern. Prabhupada is interacting with an infant in the arms of a young mother, and it appears he may be giving out a cookie. There are many later pictures of Prabhupada giving out dozens of cookies to the little children in the Watseka Avenue temple in Los Angeles, where it became a great tradition. Prabhupada would select cookies from big trays and give them out individually to the outstretched hands of the children, from tiny infants to grown-up school children. It was something he very much liked to do. It brought out Prabhupada's fatherly (or grand-fatherly) side as he doted on the children of his disciples. It also demonstrated his approval of the grhasta asrama. By taking so much time every day to give out cookies to children he was showing encouragement to family life. He could have ignored it as unimportant or just given out cookies to his sannyasis, but he methodically went through this affectionate ritual with care, attention and obvious affection.
Sometimes the children were shy, as in this picture, and Prabhupada had to coax them and convince them to come forward. The mothers and fathers were delighted and considered it the perfection of their marriage to have their offspring receive a cookie from Krishna's pure devotee. After giving cookies to the children, if there were any left, Prabhupada's adult disciples would push forward like eager children, to receive a piece of the maha-prasadam.
Wherever he traveled in the world, Prabhupada would distribute prasadam from the vyasasana. In Bombay he used to give out handfuls of halava to the local urchins. Sometimes he would slice pieces of a big cake that a devotee baker had prepared. Prabhupada knew the importance of giving out maha-prasadam from his own hand, and he never neglected it. According to the scriptures it is a great blessing to receive prasadam from a pure devotee and in purely interpersonal terms it was one of the most intimate ways to exchange with His Divine Grace.
Waiting
It's March 5, and
I'm waiting for spring
but the chill winds are
still blowing on my chin.
I'm waiting for Daylight
Savings Time and for
Saci-suta to return from
India so we can proceed
with the purchase of the
house in New York.
I'm waiting for "Brasilia" to
begin so I can start this poem
with heavy music. But I'm
not just waiting around as in
idle loitering on a street corner.
I'm writing this while I wait.
I'm trying to improve my writing, but I have to admit it
seems like a standstill
waiting game. As for waiting
for death, that's something
I'd rather not think about,
although Prabhupada said,
"Philosophy means to see death
in your front." I
don't want to think, "Oh it's
coming in just a few, few
years. I have hardly any time left. I'm old and decrepit,
I'm almost dead." I don't
want to sit in front of the
TV and wait for death,
not like that. I want
to be up and progressing.
So here's "Brasilia." What
does it have to say to me?
It says Coltrane plays pretty
and maybe knew in his
bones he would die young
and wanted to get as much
done excellently, exalted
as soon as possible.
He certainly tried.
He cried and wailed
and praised the Lord.
That's it. Praise the Lord. Find out more about
Radha-Krishna, share
more pastimes, write
to Krishna and Prabhupada and share it with your friends.
I am waiting to get better.
Or maybe the waiting game should be abandoned,
and I should tell you at once
something about
my Lord.
He traveled to the place of
Yamaraja to get back the
dead son of His teacher
Sandipani Muni. He
went out every day
into the forests and pastures
of Vrndavana to herd
the cows and the
residents of Vrndavana
all missed Him very
much.
The gopis missed Him the
most of all, and they waited
in their homes absentmindedly
doing their household chores and just waiting for early
evening when Krishna would
return with a slight dust
covering His hair and clothes from
the cloud raised by the
hooves of the cows. The gopis waited at their door-
ways and Krishna waited until
He approached them and then
He cast a sidelong glance of
love their way indicating
that He was begging something
from them. The gopis knew
that Krishna was begging prema
from them just as they
were begging to be with Him.
They were both waiting for
the late evening when they
would meet at Sanket
for a lover's rendezvous.
I'm waiting to become more
eligible to hear the pastimes
of Krishna in the groves of Vrndavana.
I don't want to try for it
prematurely. I have to wait
for my adhikara to come
ripe and then automatically
these things will be revealed to
me. There is a fine line
between waiting and taking
action. You won't get
it by jumping over like
a monkey, but you have to take
action by chanting Hare
Krishna with devotion.
Please Prabhupada,
commune with me and urge me
and hold me back and guide
me how to wait and go
forward in my little-
remaining time.
Free write
Anger keep out is a good slogan. In Bhagavad-gita Arjuna asked Krishna what is it that makes a man sin against his will? Krishna replies that it is lust which produces wrath, that all-devouring enemy of the world. When you have a lusty desire and it's frustrated you get angry. That leads to progressive degradation, loss of memory and intelligence, and you fall down into the material pool. The greedy politicians, the materialistic nationalists and fundamental religionists all have greed and they're angry. They commit violence against each other. The big developed nations use missiles and high-powered jets and the rogue nations commit suicide bombings to kill as many people as possible. There's too much greed and anger. Lord Krishna says peace will come only if we recognize that He is the proprietor of all the worlds, the object of all sacrifices and the full well-wisher of all living entities. But even in the United Nations they keep their separate nationalistic spirits and don't recognize that there is one proprietor, God, who is the "Isavasya", the one supreme controller.
That's the right idea, educate the children from the earliest days for a bright future. But what will they learn in school that will serve a bright future and not more anger and sectarianism? They need a transcendental education. They need to learn the bodily self is but the outer covering, the real self is the eternal spirit soul. We are all parts and parcels of the supreme being. If they don't learn devotional service to the Lord, learning reading, writing and math and science will not insure a bright future. They will just be taught avidya, ignorance, the life of maintaining the body for sense gratification and without the Isavasya concept they will be competing for sense gratification and the weak will be exploited by the materially strong. There will be anger, war, the schools will not teach enlightenment and cooperation. There will not be a bright future. We need different signs and slogans and schools. We need a different world. Keep out anger. For a bright future teach your child transcendental knowledge.
Video of today’s Q&A and reading from My Dear Lord Krishna (Paperback, 306 pages. GN Press: 2009) and related poetry from the Yellow Submarine journal (March 2010).
(to order please email: bvdsdg AT gmail.com) or order online from SDGonline.org shop (ships internationally).
KulimeLA 2009: Bhajan Kutir – Volume 1 CD is now available on cdbaby, iTunes and Amazon!
Heartfelt Kirtans lead by Kishori Mohan, Gaura Mani, Ananta Vrindavan, Vijay Krsna & Rasika Dasi. Click on the links above to hear previews of all the tracks and to purchase a copy today!
In ancient Sanskrit, Kirtan is the sacred, joyful, and spontaneous congregational singing and dancing for the glorification of the Divine. “Kuli” refers to a member of a “Community.” “Mela” means “Festive Gathering.” Combined, “Kuli Mela” tranforms into “A Celebration of Community.” These Kirtans were recorded live in the KulimeLA 2009 Bhajan Kutir at the New Dwarka Temple in Los Angeles California.
The Kuli Mela Association is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to serving an international community by supporting and encouraging its members to come together as friends in service, association and empowerment. All proceeds from the sale of this album go directly to Kuli Mela Association and help facilitate future gatherings and recordings. Please support KMA by purchasing this album!
We should not minimize the hearing. What are we hearing? Krsna's name. Hearing oneself calling on Krsna's name is really not different from addressing Krsna. It should not be that we are repeating the name dully, or unconsciously. So let your consciousness be that you think of calling on Krsna's name while you actually recite that name. This is called attentive chanting.
1966 March 6:
"Today is Gour Purnima. I am here alone without any devotee companion. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted that His mission should be propagated all over the world and that is my objective. I do not mind the inconvenience personally felt." Prabhupada Journal :: 1966
1968 March 6: "Yes, whoever you tell the chant to, it is effective. My disciples are my agents, my representatives, so by hearing it from them, you are receiving it from me." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
1969 March 6: "When the American boys are disgusted with cigarette smokers, or listening to rock music and meaningless chattering, it means there is Krishna's Grace. May Krishna bless you more and more, as you advance." Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
1970 March 6: "We are in the midst of an ocean of Maya so you must have a boat very strong, and Krsna is the nicest boat to carry you over the ocean of Maya." Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
1973 March 6: "I am not the actual bestower of mercy, rather I am just a messenger. So work hard for Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His mercy will fall upon you like torrents of rain in the monsoon season." Prabhupada Letters :: 1973
1973 March 6: "So is it possible to save him from this dangerous position? He is important man in our Society and we cannot allow him to deviate from our principles. Please try to save him." Prabhupada Letters :: 1973
1973 March 6: "I am very glad to hear that the film, Hare Rama, was defeated there, it is Krsna's grace. This man is a very bad man for our movement's sake, that movie is a great insulting to us." Prabhupada Letters :: 1973
1975 March 6: "Our movement is completely a spiritual movement, therefore sometimes it appears to be a little different from the materialistic cultural movement. Still, we are trying to push on in the western countries." Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
Living consciousness ploughs on infinite railways
Its traveler tediously moves towards ever vanishing horizons.
The way stations spanning birth to death piles up along the treks
The traveler can never make a permanent settlement along the way
Due to the irresistible demands of the unknown destinations.
His consciousness has developed affinity
But being a lost and lonely entity
He is compelled along the railroad
The train goes on making immemorial arbitrary connections
On an inconceivable network of tracks, side tracks, spurts and traces.
To terminate the wearisome trek is to attain the end of the line
The one central turn table radiating all the strands will attract
The homesick adventurer in the sequence of spiritual evolutions
Or Transmigration of the soul.
The approach to the cynosure draws out the trek beyond the barriers of time
Onto transcendental lines.
In the supreme station the atmosphere of insensate beauty
Offers relief in the company of the chief controller, your God.
Now dawn is breaking down the metaphysical carrier
Look out at every day!!!!
There is no other excursion to make!!!
Try and locate the real objective
The real and essential trek is above the suffocating—
Pleasure trips advertised by the phenomenal billboards.
A linear odyssey through plastic form is a diversionary movement
Offered to superficial and coarse creatures
For the captivation of their whims,
While the ultimate freedom—Love ride express is running
Unnoticed into the kingdom of God.
ALL ABOARD!!!!
(Submitted by Rsabdev. It appeared in Columbus, Ohio around 1969 on a flier inviting people to the Sunday feast.)
Help fulfill Srila Prabhupada's desire to distribute Lord Gauranga's prasada to one and all!
Srila Prabhupada longed for the day when everyone will receive full-meals of prasada in Mayapur. In order to fulfill his desires, we are starting "Gauranga Prasada Seva", a full-meal prasada distribution program.
Please join Food For Life ISKCON Mayapur in this great service to humanity. You can join us by giving us your time,
Doug and I had slept off a few hours dealing with jet lag. By coincidence we had the same thing in mind during full wakefulness at mid-night, "Let's walk!"
We hit Yonge St. and chanted our japa meditation for the day but intermittently. Doug who moved to Winnipeg from Toronto in '68 recalled phantoms of the past.
"Oh! I remember this place. This was a club where BB King played. I came to hear him. I also came to see the band 'Rush' in this other place. The group 'Steppenwolfe' also had a start in the village (Yorkville) when I was living there."
He continued, "This is all baggage from the past. We don't need to wallow around in it do we?"
"This stuff will stay with you while you leave this body. Now that we have taken to superior music, chanting, we always have something to go to even if 'skeletons in the closet' come to haunt you" As I explained this to him I thought that it's not the music that was so terribly wrong but the culture that goes with it. And yet it would be hard to separate the two- the music from the culture. It's a fact that most entertainment takes you nowhere when it's mundane but sound and sights of a transcendent quality really do pick you up.
I'm glad to be back in fresh air country but sad to miss the cultural side of India. I said to Doug, "Wouldn't it be great to marry the neatness of the west and the sweetness of the east?"
It was a long flight for Doug, Max, Dustin, and myself. It was also a long journey for another soul- a cockroach. For him/her it must have started in Tirupati. As I unpacked the little creature was found in a folded dhoti (lower robe) wiggling his legs and then making a dash for outside the established comfort zone- my suitcase. The necessary had to be done. Hare Krishna! Can't let them spread. Absolutely not!
The little guy had a free ride. Thousands of kilometres in the air after crawling inside my travel bag, from Tirupati, to Delhi. There it was a stop over for a day and a half in Delhi to be on the ground. I forgot to mention a brief landing in Hyderabad where more passengers were picked up. After a Delhi stop then in the air to Brussels for another stop-over, 2 1/2 hours and finally a smooth landing in Toronto then by car from the airport to the ashram downtown.
Lucky dog he was! In the package deal were likely free meals, crumbs of prasadam (sanctified food) and maybe some nibbles from a flower garland, a favourite for these crawling things.
Being in the brief association of Vaisnava monks he was possibly privy to the name of God. So, that's why I say lucky.
Unlucky, however, is that for the entirety of his life it was mostly a life of food searching, sex, sleeping and defense. Oh, he moved fast when spotted by a devotee present during the unpacking. He was defensive.
Our response to his appearance was also defensive and it was natural to respond and it had to be quick.
In the world of freedom, moksha, or liberation, there is no need to respond as if things are life-threatening because there is only life and it cannot be threatened. The atma (soul) lives permanently. While we are here, however, it's a different story. Practicality is so much a part of life.
When, our guru, Srila Prabhupada, would take rest under the mosquito net some moments would be taken to help those flying souls move on with a smack onto their new body. They were in good company while it lasted.
Monday 8th, February 2010. It was a free day for the tour devotees. I organized to meet Madhava in Indooroopilly shopping centre. I was packed for a night or two on the run. We organized to be picked up, by his father, and we ventured to his house. He lived just in the outskirts of the city, with some trees and some nice greenery. Everything was a little dreamy. A day off on tour was mostly just a reset of the senses and the mind, so that you could overload them the very next day. Madhava and I sat, talking as good friends do, revealing our minds in confidence. The day floated away at a healthy pace.
Tuesday 9th, February 2010. We were late, as always. We scuffled over to Sakhi Rai's abode. Today was Jambhavati Mataji's initiation day. She had been a devotee for many years, more years even then myself (please note that although I was born in a devotee family that I am not actually a devotee. Such talk is merely in joke. You may therefore address me as the Smarta-Vaisnava or Vaisnava Bhandu). Finally HH Indradyumna Swami was talking charge of Jambhavati's devotional life.
We arrived to a soft, sitting kirtana in the back. The fire pit was already set up and Sri Prahlada was sitting in the priest's position. Maharaja gave a long and precious lecture on some prayers by Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He talked how we were on a sea of great material misery, and from this, he added in all his little adventures in the oceans. One day, while Maharaja was a spiritual teenager, he was looking for God in Europe. He heard of some "far out" caves to meditate in, along the Greek islands. While on a boat, to his final destination, there was a knock on the his compartment door. He opened to find a young gypsy couple. They invited him up onto the deck, so they could drink and dance together. The young gypsy women was making different gestures to Maharaja and he was about to go. All of a sudden, from nowhere (or more so, the Supersoul), he had a feeling that told him not to go. He refused the offer and the Gypsies were furious.
Maharaja later had a talk with the captain, while Maharaja was wondering the ship. The captain talked small talk and then, very gravely said, "if the Gypsies ever ask you to come on the deck with them, don't do it. They will rob you, murder you and throw you overboard. Because we are out at sea, there is never any evidence and therefore we can never hold them to it." Maharaja's eyes widened at his close call with an otherwise grim fate.
Maharaja managed to weave the subject matter expertly. He began to talk about how Daniele's three year old daughter was already chanting the maha mantra. All of a sudden he turned to the side and Dominik hit the play button. Loudly and clearly, the whole class could hear the little toddler enthusiastically chanting Hare Krsna. Daniele was new to Krsna consciousness, apparently meeting the devotees at the preaching centre in Surfers Paradise, six months before and was now on tour with us, absorbing the nectar. Hearing her daughter loudly chanting, for the pleasure of the assembled Vaisnavas, only increased her transcendental pleasure.
Maharaja made a mighty promise to Jambhavati Mataji, that he would not go back to Godhead without her. Such a promise from such a pure devotee was the perfection of life on it's own. This is why the devotees are more merciful than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because even though they have reached perfection, they will not take the reward without ensuring others take it. Jambhavati's fate was sealed.
I asked Indradyumna Swami, the night before (while we were in the car), if he was going to give Jambhavati a new name. At the time he told me that he probably wouldn't and thus I suspected he would, because he denied the fact. I then noted that Bhaktivinoda Thakura's prayers were directed at the wife of Lord Nityananda Prabhu. A few minutes before the initiation was over, I had Maharaja's master plan all worked out in my mind (or at least I had a hint of it). I managed to see the paper in his hand and the theory was confirmed. "From now on, your name shall be…Jahnava Mata Devi Dasi." There was a great cheer.
The fire yajna was conducted. Sri Prahlada chanted through the many mantras. Maharaja was throwing large handfuls of rice grains, with a sober look of inner satisfaction decorating his face. We started to walk around the fire and Jahnava Mata Mata began a spontaneous kirtana. It was funny to see Jambhavati Mataji and Carmela joining our tour last year, adding to the jokes, fun and spiritual ecstasy. Now, on this tour, they were newly born as Jahnava Mata and Gitanjali but still spiritual trouble makers.
The devotees were enthusiastic to take Prasadam. It was ekadasi and they hadn't eaten all morning. I normally fast on ekadasi but that morning, at Madhava's house, his mother had forced me to eat. I sat next to Maharaja. I asked Maharaja if he ever made it to the Greek caves, indicating what he had spoken about in the initiation lecture. "Oh yes haha" he replied. He had gone all the way to Europe searching for God, but he found Srila Prabhupada back home, in America. We had some ekadasi cake, with cream. Maharaja forced a double serving of cream on Tribi's cake. Sadhu Sastra came in, just to pick up some cake. Maharaja called him over. He started to scoop spoon after spoon of the sweetened cream onto Sadhu's plate, drenching the cake. He also added two slabs of butter and then left it with Sadhu.
After lunch, we had an ishta gosthi (meeting). It was mainly about the tour to South America. We talked about the situation, the possibility of everyone going and all the ground work. "And now back to this tour" said Maharaja. He told us not to think ahead, of all our plans but to remain in the present, focused. "Sunday is like a cliff" he said, indicating that our mind should not trail beyond the final tour day.
We finished the meeting and chanted a focused round of japa, as a group. I was whisked away, back to our place of residence. My friend from High School, Peter, came online. He asked me if I was in Brisbane last Thursday. I asked him to specify and he mentioned that he saw the devotees singing and chanting down the streets. We were indeed doing harinam last Thursday and I told him I was there. He inquired about what the harinam was about and I told him some basic things about the yuga dharma. The magic of the holy name was permeating the atmosphere and it was totally contagious. Lord Caitanya's hand was picking people up, individually and placing them in a new beginning.
Date: February 28th, 2010
Verse: Sannyasa of Lord Caitanya - Part 2
Speaker: HH Bhakti Purusottama Swami
I was explaining about the sannyasa pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and prior to the explanation or description of the sannyasa pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu had shed some light about this whole sannyasa business in Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s life,
BRUSSELS — Delegates arriving at the gates of the climate conference in Copenhagen last month were met by women in furry animal suits holding placards showing pictures of lambs, cows and pigs and warning, "Don't Eat Me."
The women were representatives of Ching Hai, the leader of a group that advocates adherence to Buddhist precepts, including following vegan or vegetarian diets.
As they lined up for hours in freezing conditions, many of the delegates seemed grateful for the neatly wrapped snacks — meat-free sandwiches — that the women were handing out free.
Followers of Ching Hai say that one of her principal goals is to fight environmental disasters, and her representatives in Copenhagen appeared eager to spread the message that methane, which is belched in large quantities by cows and other livestock raised for the meat and dairy industries, is among the most potent planet-warming gases.
But the virtues of vegetarianism as part of the battle to curb climate change are far from being an issue just for the spiritually inclined.
Long before the summit meeting in Copenhagen, rising demand for meat and dairy products, particularly among the burgeoning middle classes in countries like China and India with fast-developing economies, meant that links between climate change and food policy were becoming an important element in the debate over what to do about the rising levels of greenhouse gases.
The issue appeared to have gained traction in the weeks leading up to the Copenhagen conference, with prominent figures from the worlds of science and entertainment stepping into the fray.
Speaking at the European Parliament in early December, Paul McCartney, a former member of the Beatles, said there was an urgent need to do something about meat production, not only because of its effects on the climate but also because of related issues like deforestation and ensuring secure supplies of water.
Mr. McCartney, who has long advocated vegetarianism, urged European legislators to support policies like encouraging citizens to refrain from eating meat for one day a week, something that he said could become as commonplace as recycling or cars that run on hybrid technology.
Civil servants in the Belgian city of Ghent and schoolchildren in Baltimore already observe a meat-free day each week, he said.
Mr. McCartney was joined at the parliament by Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is the main United Nations body studying the climate.
Public awareness of the problems linked to meat is low, and the authorities might have to consider levying a surcharge on beef to discourage consumption, Mr. Pachauri said in comments reported by Agence France-Presse.
Meat farmers immediately branded the comments as an assault on the industry, and criticism came from as far away as New Zealand.
"Cutting out meat one day a week might seem a simple solution, but there is little evidence to show any benefit," Rod Slater, the chief executive of Beef and Lamb New Zealand, told the country's press association.
"Suggesting meat's not green is an emotive slur on an industry which continues investment in ongoing research, striving for further improvements," added Mr. Slater, who said people living in New Zealand obtained daily nutritional necessities, and most of their protein, zinc and vitamin B12, from beef and lamb.
In fact, like a number of other areas of research in climate science, the greenhouse gas intensity of meat production is contested.
When a study in the November-December issue of the magazine World Watch claimed more than half of human-produced, planet-warming gases were caused by meat industries, a research group for the livestock industry countered that a study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization already had shown that the relevant figure was closer to 18 percent.
The study published in World Watch failed "to enlarge on any counterfactuals, such as what a world without domesticated livestock would look like," Carlos Seré, the director general of the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, wrote to Green Inc. in November.
"Would, for example, wild herbivores and termite mounds take over many of these environments, and end up producing as much greenhouse gases as domestic ruminants?" Mr. Seré asked. "We frankly don't, and can't, know that yet."
Certainly the issue may be more nuanced than some commentators have suggested.
For example, cattle fed on grass may have much lower carbon footprints than those fed in feedlots because animals in pasture lands require fewer fossil fuel-based inputs like fertilizers and because they help the soil sequester carbon.
Renewed efforts are under way to get to the bottom of the matter.
Early this month, the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health said it would study the effect of meat output on climate change in light of requests from its member countries.
"It's a question that needs to be studied with a lot of distance," Bernard Vallat, the organization's director-general, told a news conference, according to Reuters. "We want to make a modest and independent contribution," he said.
Mr. Vallet said that one of the thorniest issues was how to involve agriculture in efforts to reduce gases while maintaining food security.
Mr. Seré, of the livestock research institute, acknowledged the need to develop a form of livestock production between factory and family farming that would ease poverty without depleting natural resources or hurting the climate.
He said environmental campaigners should keep in mind that the "biggest concern of many experts regarding livestock in developing countries is not their impact on climate change but rather the impact of climate change on livestock production."
The "hotter and more extreme tropical environments being predicted threaten not only up to a billion livelihoods based on livestock but also supplies of milk, meat and eggs among hungry communities that need these nourishing foods most," he said.
The Golden Avatar Festival (Gaura Purnima) 2010 was held in Wellington last week.
I have uploaded the photos from the event to the gallery on this website. (Note that the photos at the start of this album are from a previous Krishna Fest; actual Gaura Purnima photos being after the “Golden Avatar: Rhythm & Dance!” display board photos).
today i enabled a new user account at namahatta.org. here is the 'short bio' he supplied:
i am intiating in shri vallabhacharya's pushti bhati sampraday , my guru's name is goswami shri shyam manoharji.
i am deeply interested in learning shrimad bhagvatam. being visually handicapped i need to learn on my pc where the screen reader can read electronic fonts. in our sampradaya shrimad bhagvatam is a final praman grantha but not much work has been done on it in english language. i hope i will be given oppoertunity to study it on this site.
today in my class which is conducted in a varnacular language i could not understand the difference between 'sarga' and 'visarga'.
[he typed it all in caps which i changed to lowercase. i assume he means he's "initiated" in his sampradaya, not "initiating."]
i have no experience with screen readers but assume they may have problems with diacritics. i've sent him to vedabase net/sb/en1srimad bhagavatam, and refered him to sb 2.10.3 for an explanation of sarga and visarga. (without diacritics) for an english version of
does anybody have experience with srila prabhupada's books for the blind, on screen readers or whatever?
(to spare you the bother of going to my website, adding a comment, and perhaps filling out a captcha question, just write to me at phani@phanisvara.com.)
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By Nrsimha Kavaca dasa 
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