Last Sunday twenty-four Melbourne devotees completed a nine-day-intensive teacher training course.
The course was facilitated by Atul Krishna das (Vaisnava Training and Education - Mayapur, India).
This course is very interactive and fulfills the training needs of bhakta and bhaktin leaders, bhakti vriksha preachers and all devotees who are called upon to become ISKCON educators. The system is based on the process of sharing knowledge, skills and values that Srila Prabhupada used to establish ISKCON.
Each participant received a VTE certificate, which qualifies them to sit further VTE certified courses.
A smaller group of Bhakti Sastri graduates who hope to facilitate Bhakti Sastri courses will continue their training this week.
Here is an interesting mod that Bali Fergusson (Balaram Das) from Hawaii has done to his Balarama mrdanga. There are two holes drilled in the body inline with the strap rings, towards the center of the drum.
Apparently this increases the volume and resonance of the drum. I'm interested to try it out...
Last night was daylight savings time, and we forgot to turn the clocks. I went to bed early and got up at 1:30 A.M. without a headache or without interrupted sleep. I've chanted my sixteen rounds. I chanted them rapidly and while paying attention to the syllables. I concentrated on the sound but did not think of the pastimes of the Lord. My chanting is at a routine level, and I don't complain about it because there doesn't seem to be a chance of a quantum leap in improvement. But there's a sadness in my chest that I'm not chanting in the exalted footsteps of the acaryas and not feeling bodily symptoms of ecstasy.
Each morning you say your japa obediently and with a minimum quota, a minimum attention. I can't seem to improve, and so I take it in stride that this is my norm. I am grateful for the gift of sankirtana-yajna but a sadness sits in my heart that I don't do much better. I pray silently and hope against hope that there will be a change. It has been a long time, I wait for Krishna's mercy and try to push myself better on my own.
These are pictures taken up to the very end of Prabhupada's manifested pastimes in this world. The first picture shows him in his daily ritual which he followed in his last weeks. He would be carried in a palanquin before the Deities of Krishna-Balarama and transferred to a rocking chair in front of the Deities. You can see the tamala tree blooming luxuriantly behind him. That tree has since died and been replaced by a new one. Prabhupada's intimate servant and secretary for his last year, Tamala Krishna Goswami, is standing directly behind Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada's eyesight was no longer very good, and he always wore dark glasses. He was not eating or drinking in his last weeks, and his face is thinned out. He used to sit and watch the Deities while a kirtana was held, and the young gurukula boys danced in front of him. Everyone was somber and feeling loving, but helpless about Prabhupada's condition. He was no longer fighting to keep his life, but gradually diminishing. Everyone in Vrndavana and all his disciples around the world loved him and anxiously somehow hoped he would get better. But it did not appear that he would. He had done his tremendous achievements, and Krishna was calling him back to Godhead.
I hesitate to post the second photo on the website. Prabhupada is in his last moments, or he may have already passed from his body. I print it because the helpless, lost, tender feelings of the surrounding devotees present a memorable portrait. One moment he was with us, leading us, guiding us, and the next moment, we were without him. Of course we still had his vani to guide us, but the shock of his departure that has registered on the devotees faces, and gestures shows what it was like at that moment. It was devastating and difficult to accept. We had stayed surrounding his bed all day, and now it was 7:25 P.M. and he had finally, actually departed. Now the awful news spread around the world, and we had to assimilate it. We knew it was coming for days, for hours, and now it had finally happened, and it seemed like the end of the world.
I keep chasing Krishna, but I don't catch Him because I'm too slow and He's too fast.
Besides, I'm not determined and sincere. I'm a kind of hypocrite. You can't catch Krishna unless you love Him and follow your guru.
If you catch His lotus feet you're home safe, and you don't have to return to this material world.
But it is impossible to catch Him. Even mother Yasoda couldn't catch Him or she at least couldn't tie Him up because He did not want her to. He wanted to show her, "Unless I allow you, you cannot tie me." When He saw she was perspiring and all worn out with effort He acquiesced, and out of love He allowed her to tie Him.
But He won't let you catch Him if you are less than a hundred percent sincere and true. A lazy so-called bhakta can never attain Krishna's lotus feet.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati scorched the pseudo bhaktas and smarta-brahmanas, and said they were just phonies and would go to hell. He minced no words.
He saw through them falsely. He sees through my own insincerity. I claim to be a poet of Krishna poems but I can't write them in the spirit of the previous acaryas.
2. Krishna is too fast for a slow boy who trips over his own feet and is insincere. He can only be reached by the pure servitors who delight in working hard for Him and who want to spread His message around the world.
The nirjana-bhajananandis sit back and do nothing, and they can never please Krishna because He sees they are interested in sense gratification and fame and don't have the real drive to please Him.
I'm saying all this, and I know it's true of me. But I have some good in me too. It's been put there by Prabhupada. And I have been using it in his service. But if I don't use it truly I'll loose it and all will be in vain.
All the good he did for me will wither away, and I'll be left with nothing. I have to reform and get back on the track.
He knows my actual heart and knows when I'm being phony and sees a little good too and can distinguish.
Lord, how can I be- come a better bhakta? Will You give me a hand? I have misused my plans and have failed to work hard for You. I don't know what to say. Can my past good work be counted in my favor now? Can I make up for current failures? Am I overdoing this self bashing? Will You show me the true way and calm me down? I am too exited and ill and lost in the dark.
3. Now let's take it slower. You can treat me kindly with a tune like "Green Sleeves" quietly and gently and yet not get me so riled up. I need to settle down and find a temper with peace. This is a different mood than I've been expressing in this crazy poem. I had to find a kinder path, a saner wisdom. Will You slow me down and give me less headaches? Will You allow me to give lectures without getting too nervous? Will You ease the traumas? I want to be a peaceful man. Is it possible You will give me drops of peace like dew drops on a summer night instead of this wind lashing?
I am a bit of a mad man. But I want to be sane and true to You. Please calm me down and let me please You in a peaceful but courageous way. I don't want to be loony and exaggerated and sick. I want to be well and in Your sampradaya. Please help me. I'm desperate.
Six birds sitting on a fence, a peacock, a cruel man with birds on strings. What do you make of it? They are God's creatures. You want to tell us something about them and praise yourself. You want to say you can fly, which a human being can't do. In Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds, the birds terrorized the humans and overpowered them. Garuda is the chief of the birds. He is the carrier of Lord Vishnu. In the scale of evolution the humans are superior, more intelligent and powerful than the birds. But if Krishna wanted He could have made the birds more powerful. But Krishna wants peace, and He wants the humans more powerful.
Krishna is human-like. Radha and Krishna are the most beautiful. The birds please Radha and Krishna. The peacocks are especially pleasing. Swans are beautiful birds. The Sanskrit word for swans is hamsa. The saintly person is called a paramahamsa. Rupa Gosvami wrote a book called Hamsaduta in which Lalita sent a swan to Krishna in Dvaraka to tell Him how much Radharani was suffering in separation. Crows are not so pleasing. Their song is harsh and annoying. They eat garbage. They are aggressive and will invade a human's dinner table and steal food. Wood thrushes have a pleasing song with a variety of notes. Bird feathers used to be used as writing quills. Humans should not eat bird's eggs because they are conceived living entities. And they should not eat birds. There are gigantic birds that fly in outer space, and they can fly from one planet to another. They lay eggs and the birds hatch as the eggs fall through space. This information is given in Vedic knowledge. Geese and other birds mate for life. Sukadeva Gosvami is the pet parrot of Srimati Radharani. As Radha's pet parrot, Sukadeva knows all Her intimate pastimes. There are one million species of birds. More than a mundane ornithologist knows. The figure is given in the Padma Purana. Sparrows are plucky birds and blue jays shriek. William Carlos William wrote poems about those birds and his most famous one is about the wheelbarrow and the chickens.
The Red Wheelbarrow
"So much depends upon
a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens."
Jatayu was the brave old bird who challenged Ravana and sacrificed his life but gave Lord Rama the crucial information about the kidnapping of Sita. Birdsongs in spring are very pleasant. But bird droppings are disgusting and a nuisance.
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
It's starting this year: an annual Vyasa-puja book for Srila Prabhupada in which individual offerings from all of his disciples can be included. Though ISKCON's official Vyasa-puja book began as just such a book, as the movement grew the book evolved in such a way that most of Srila Prabhupada's disciples are no longer eligible to contribute.
For this new book, on the other hand, all of his disciples will be welcome to write their individual offerings.
What's in a printing press? Do we as devotees understand the importance of printing books? More importantly do we understand our own personal responsibility in this printing and distributing of books? I was online listening to a class from Soho Street the devotee was talking about the mood of book distribution and that although the targets set were [...]
In the Tenth Canto, Fourteenth Chapter, verse 8, it is said, "My dear Lord, any person who is constantly awaiting Your causeless mercy to be bestowed upon him, and who goes on suffering the resultant actions of his past misdeeds, offering You respectful obeisances from the core of his heart, is surely eligible to become liberated, for it has become his rightful claim."
This statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam should be the guide of all devotees. A devotee should not expect immediate relief from the reactions of his past misdeeds. No conditioned soul is free from such reactionary experiences, because material existence means continued suffering or enjoying of past activities. If one has finished his material activities then there is no more birth. This is possible only when one begins Krsna conscious activities, because such activities do not produce reaction. Therefore, as soon as one becomes perfect in Krsna conscious activities, he is not going to take birth again in this material world.
A devotee who is not perfectly freed from the resultant actions should therefore continue to act in Krsna consciousness seriously, even though there may be so many impediments. When such impediments arise he should simply think of Krsna and expect His mercy. That is the only solace. If the devotee passes his days in that spirit, it is certain that he is going to be promoted to the abode of the Lord. By such activities, he earns his claim to enter into the kingdom of God.
The exact word used in this verse is daya-bhak. Daya-bhak refers to a son's becoming the lawful inheritor of the property of the father. In a similar way, a pure devotee who is prepared to undergo all kinds of tribulations in executing Krsna conscious duties becomes lawfully qualified to enter into the transcendental abode.
1966 March 15: "Navami. Today no letter received. Deposited in the Bank $25. No other expenditure. In the evening five ladies and gentlemen visited. There was some talks. Mrs. Leblanc is losing interest since she has learnt it that Bhagwat Geeta does not support monism." Prabhupada Journal :: 1966
1969 March 15: "Your only business is how to become pure devotee of Lord Krishna. Then everything is all right. My ambition is to form a strong Sankirtana party and travel all over Europe, Africa, Asia, India, and Japan. This is my thought. Please try to give it effect." Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
1969 March 15: "I have received the pictures, and it appears things are going there very nicely. No letter from you is useless for me - they are all important. And you can write as long a letter as you can. I shall read them carefully with attention always in spite of my various duties." Prabhupada Letters :: 1969
1970 March 15: "When I remember all of you in London, as well as George Harrison, I become very happy because the combination is very much hopeful. George has very willingly and gladly served Krishna in so many ways. The Govinda record is certainly super-excellent, and it has become so nice because of George's attention upon it." Prabhupada Letters :: 1970
1973 March 15: "India is the spiritual leader of the world but the fools and rascals are trying to sabotage its position. I have already outlined this program for the factories. Let the labor-management disputes be finished by prasada and kirtana with temples right on the premises." Prabhupada Letters :: 1973
1974 March 15: "When this hearing began there is no history. Simply the sruti was recorded and there is no question of change. We have to understand Vedic knowledge on the authority of disciplic succession and not from mental speculators who are simply rascals and have no entrance into the Vedic knowledge." Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
1974 March 15: "If you are a preacher you can take a donation from the audience. Don't demand but you can ask and there is no harm. You must speak Krsna Consciousness knowledge with no interpretation of your own. Speak the philosophy exactly right as it comes in disciplic succession." Prabhupada Letters :: 1974
1975 March 15: "I am on world tour. I have traveled to Hong Kong, Japan, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Caracas, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, New York, London, and now Tehran. You can meet me at our festival in Mayapur in March or the opening ceremony for our Vrndavana temple in April." Prabhupada Letters :: 1975
As my flight to Los Angeles took off, I looked through the window at the disappearing Australian landscape and thought about my three-month visit to the country. "Our festival tour was intense," I thought, "but it went by in a flash. When you enjoy what you're doing, time passes quickly."
"When one is freed from all material contamination, his firm faith in devotional service awakens. When firm faith develops, a taste arises, and by that taste one becomes attached to devotional service. When this attachment intensifies, the seed of love of Krsna fructifies. This position is called priti or rati (affection) or bhava (emotion). When rati intensifies, it is called love of Godhead. This love of Godhead is actually life's highest perfection and the reservoir of all pleasure."
Chaitanya Caritamrta Madhya 23.13
"Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity, and love."
Merton, Thomas, New Seeds of Contemplation. New York: New Directions, 1961, p. 14.
Hare Krishna. A few days ago we had an exciting event in my family. My son, Caitanya Gopala Howard, whose hair has been getting longer since his birth in June 2008, got shaved up. It was pretty strange for all of us at first, but I think we're getting used to it. It's really nice, I think.
I've been keeping a sikha and shaving once or twice a week for several years, and it's good that now he looks more like his dad than his mother and sisters. He always gets excited when we have kirtan, and he loves to play the mrdanga. He even has his own kid-size mrdanga and is surprisingly good with it. So now he looks the part too.
I wonder what his grandparents will say. "Hare Krishna," I hope.
Join Gaura Vani, Ananta & Acyuta, the Mayapuris and many friends along with special guest Indradyumna Swami this Saturday, March 20th for 12 hours of kirtan (10am – 10pm) for the third monthly event.
This time we're celebrating the birthday of Sri Ramachandra, the divine hero of the epic Ramayan, who exemplified the ideal character of a saintly king.
Rama is known to many through his famous devotee Hanuman, the divine Monkey who is constatnly signing Rama's glories. We aim to carry on in this spirit!
A live webcast will be on GauraVani.com and Mantralogy.com.
Ananta Govinda /Acyuta Gopi 10:00-11:00 H.H. Indradyumna Swami 11:00-12:30 Kancanamayi 12:30-1:00 Sanga 1:00 to 1:45 Vishwambhar 1:45 to 2:45 Ghanasyam 2:45 to 3:15 Raghunath 3:15 to 3:45 Gopika 3:45 to 4:15 John Kruth 4:15 to 4:45 Ananta Govinda 4:45 to 5:30 Nama Rasa 5:30 to 6:30 Gaura Vani 6:30 to 7:30 Kish and Bali 7:30 to 8:15 Acyuta Gopi 8:15 to 9:00 Gaura Vani – All hands on deck 9:00 to 10:00
The book will accept offerings from everyone directly initiated by Srila Prabhupada, regardless of their personal history, present circumstances, personal views, or institutional affiliations.
While touring in Australia 3 months ago we were very fortunate to meet Carmella Baynie a very talented and soulful kirtan leader. Not only is she a kirtan leader but she also teachers vocal training and sacred chant workshops. Carmella is starting her first USA tour in April and I'm sure crowds around the States will be touched by her kirtan.
Carmella is a world renowned singer, composer, and voice therapist based in Sydney, Australia. She is an accredited voice and yoga teacher with over twenty years experience in the practise of yoga, meditation, martial arts, the dramatic arts, and singing. Carmella has dedicated her life to facilitating sound as a healing force, as a vehicle for transformation and vibrational healing.
Creator of the acclaimed Voice in Yoga, Born Singing, and The Nada Method seminars, Carmella offers a unique and inspiring approach in her workshops and private consultations. Her methods include sound release, vocalizing and vocal training, breath meditation, chakra sounding, resonance and conscious sound vibration, mantra yoga and sacred singing.
Bhakta Rahul, a dentist, who is member of the Brahamchari Trainee group of Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir, Chowpatty recalls this interesting experience from last year's Marathon:
I was distributing books in the local trains when these two men starting making fun of me. When I was announcing they were mimicking me. I ignored them and tried to focus on the announcements. When after the announcements, no one took the books and there was still time for the next station, I decided to tackle these fellows. I went to them and held the books for them. They giggled, and one said to the other, "You see," The other said,"No, no. You see." They were making fun and asking each other to see the books first. It went on for some time. I said, "Don't worry, I will show both of you the books." I opened the page straight to the painting where hellish punishments were shown. How a meat eater is boiled in water, how illicit sex leads to embracing a fiery body, and how intoxications and gambling lead to similar horrifying 'rewards.' I spoke all this in a simple straightforward manner. But, the result was devastating. Their smile evaporated. They stared with unblinking eyes. Something was serious. I don't now what was happening to them. They took the Bhagavad-gita in their hands, turned a few pages and then one of them paid the money.
Hare Krsna my dear devotees, I hope your week of chanting has been blessed with nice realisations and also that you were able to focus on the sound vibration of the names.
Today was the cooking service day, so I woke up early chanted some rounds and started preparing everything for the offering of the day, the boys helped me bathing the Deities and doing the arati, we still have this mercy of growing our own spicies and flowers for Krsna. We offered a beautiful jasmine flower and cooked with rosemary, basil, coriander and mint from our garden.
I made sure that the boys chanted their rounds before starting the service so they could be more prepared to worship the Lordships with their hearts opened and dedicated to the service. All the cooking was peaceful and nice - we prepared everything on time and all looked very tasty. The Deities had some aromatic rice, lentills dhal, cake with lemon cream on the top and a zuchinni lasagna. I could understand how important is to serve Krsna in association of devotees. By the association of devotees we can become more focused on chanting and understand some things about our spiritual path. We are all in different levels of service and only Krsna really knows our hearts, we can't judge other persons service or advancement....that's why we need to offer service and respect to everyone so we can be free from offenses that will impede our chanting to develop.
I still have this bad habit of observing and judging - even if it's without noticing I do....maybe because of my teacher's side, I like correcting and changing things in others into my own style and this is not right. We do have a lot to learn from others, specially devotees and when we need them....they will always be there for us. When we chant with attention we perceive this in ourselves. We tend to offer more respect to others because we know devotees are important to our spiritual life and that we can develop our love for Krsna through service towards the vaisnavas. In order to improve this mood of service I got a verse from Sri Nityanandastakam that describe the glories of Lord Nitai and how we should approach devotees.
"I perpetually worship Sri Nityananda, the root of the tree of krishna-bhakti, who is very dear to the son of Saci devi and who is worshiped by the entire universe. He is the embodiment of happiness and out of infinite mercy he is chanting the holy names of Lord Hari, thus delivering the souls drowning in the age of Kali and eradicating the swelling false pride of the ocean of repeated birth and death."
Sri Nityanandastakam 3
May Lord Nityananda bestow His shining rays of mercy towards us so we can develop our love for Krsna and chant the holy names with deep affection and proper respect. All glories to Harinam Sankirtan and All glories to the assembled devotees of the Lord that devotee their lives to this preaching.
By Priya Vrata Dasa (Paul Turner) on 10 Mar 2010 From ISKCON News
Food for Life Global is currently serving 3500 meals in camps in Haiti. We have plans to expand to schools and increase the distribution to 10,000 meals a day. But we urgently need cash and volunteers.
Our emergency relief fund is itself on life support. Sadly, it appears that people are beginning to forget Haiti and now that we are in the middle of establishing a very wonderful service in cooperation with the World Food Programme, our funds are at their lowest.
Responsible and experienced kitchen hands are also invited to help with this food relief project. Volunteers will need to commit to staying for at least 1 month and make their own way to Haiti. Food for Life Global will provide accommodation, meals and and other personal support. If you have cooking skills and can speak French and/or Creole, that is a big plus.
Regards ---------------------------- Paul R. Turner International Director Food for Life (Priya V) FFL Global: http://www.ffl.org Haiti Relief: http://haiti.ffl.org Toll Free: 1-(888)-816-6977 Fax Number: 208 906 8689 FOOD FOR LIFE GLOBAL PO BOX 471 RIVERDALE, NY 10471 Download our latest flyer and post at your favorite cafe. Click here
"The frog in the well" logic illustrates that a frog residing in the atmosphere and boundary of a well cannot imagine the length and breadth of the gigantic ocean. Such a frog, when informed of the gigantic length and breadth of the ocean, first of all does not believe that there is such an ocean, and if someone assures him that factually there is such a thing, the frog then begins to measure it by imagination by means of pumping its belly as far as possible, with the result that the tiny abdomen of the frog bursts and the poor frog dies without any experience of the actual ocean. Similarly, the material scientists also want to challenge the inconceivable potency of the Lord by measuring Him with their froglike brains and their scientific achievements, but at the end they simply die unsuccessfully, like the frog." [SB 2.5.10]
"If I do not think of Krsna, My impoverished mind will die within a moment like a fish out of water. But when I see Krsna's sweetly smiling face, My mind and eyes are so pleased that My desire for Him redoubles." [Antya 17.59]
The pursuit for happiness in this material world in like a fish trying to survive out of water.
Srila Prabhupada write in this connection, "Everyone in the material world is engaged in all kinds of political, philanthropic and humanitarian activities to make material life happy and prosperous, but this is not possible. One should understand that in the material world, however one may try to make adjustments, he cannot be happy. To cite an example I have given many times, if you take a fish out of water, you can give it a very comfortable velvet bedstead, but still the fish cannot be happy; it will die. Because the fish is an animal of the water, it cannot be happy without water. Similarly, we are all spirit soul; unless we are in spiritual life or in the spiritual world, we cannot be happy. That is our position.Everyone is trying for that spiritual realization. But we do not know. Therefore, we are trying to be happy here, in material conditions. We are becoming frustrated and confused. Therefore, we have to withdraw this understanding that we shall be very happy by making adjustments to this material world. Then Krsna consciousness will be effective. " [TYS 3: Beyond the Laws of Nature]
Bhayahari dasa: Please join us for a weekly (free) phone conference on the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. This is very nice way to read the Gita in a systematic manner.
The Appearance Anniversary of Lord Ramachandra falls next Wednesday.
Mahaprabhu Mandir will celebrate with kirtana and arati at 4:30pm, a special class at 5:00pm., then an elaborate abhisheka (with kirtana) at 5:45pm. At 7.00pm. the Lord will be offered arati. We will distribute His prasadm feast at 7.30pm.
For those who wish to remember the Lord by fasting, the time to break fast (sunset) is 7.26 pm.
By Indradyumna Swami
By Pradyumna das
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario