viernes, 3 de septiembre de 2010

Srila Prabhupada’s Master Plan For New Vrindaban



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Srila Prabhupada Vyasapuja offering

Srila Prabhupada Vyasapuja offering

cde05.jpg
Above: Taking initiation, Los Angeles 1973

By Citraka dasa

Dearest Srila Prabhupada, divine sage, liberator of the soul and ambassador of Lord Shri Krishna Bhagavan, all glories upon You!

I am prostrating my self in front of your lotus feet, exactly as I did 37 years ago, during the most blissful event of my official acceptance by you into the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya family of Vaishnavas!

As then, similarly now I feel intensely gratefulness for the eternal benefit you have bestowed upon my insignificant self and in this day of your glorious Vyasa Puja I want to try for the umpteen time to express it properly to you.


more...

Citraka dasa: Srila Prabhupada your clever creation, the organized effort of many souls under your guidance, known as International Society for Krishna consciousness has saved my life and that of many others from the onslaught of Kali

[pensamiento-del-dia:846] Vyas Puja de Srila Prabhupada

Pensamiento

del

Dia

Sankarshana

Das

Adhikari

Jueves, 02 de septiembre del 2010

PENSAMIENTO DEL DÍA: Vyas Puja de Srila Prabhupada
 
Enviado desde el Ashram Bhativedanta, Austin, Texas, EE.UU.
 
 
Canción a Srila Prabhupada 
 
Srila Prabhupada, usted me salvó
De la desgracia y desesperanza.
Bendígame con una visión divina
Que este más allá de este lugar.
|Entonces expertamente usted desarraigo mi confusión
Al distinguir la realidad de la ilusión.
Entonces ahora nada hay que haga esta alma débil
Sino darle mi existencia eterna a usted. 
 
Srila Prabhupada me bendijo
Con un éxtasis sin igual.
Me liberó del infierno del nacimiento y muerte
Y la pesadilla del karma que acumulé.
Usted me dejo estupefacto increíblemente en este mismo día
Por sus palabras de un dominio inaudito.
Entonces ahora nada más hay que haga esta alma harapienta
Sino ofrecer mi existencia eterna a usted.
 
Srila Prabhupada, ruego por la misericordia
Que pueda agradarlo ilimitadamente.
Porque he estado intentando repagar la deuda
Por la dicha ilimitada que me está dando.
A pesar de mis descalificaciones desesperadas
Ruego servir en la inundación mundial de su movimiento.
Si, los libros de historia declararán todos solidamente
Que Prabhupada salvo al mundo de la devastación desesperada.
Entonces ahora nada más hay que haga esta alma caprichosa
Sino dedicar mi existencia eterna a usted. 

Sankarshan Das Adhikari
 

RESPUESTAS DE ACUERDO A LA VERSIÓN VÉDICA:

Pregunta: ¿Cuál es la mejor manera de agradar a Dios?
 

Todas las glorias a Srila Prabhupada.

Por favor acepte mis humildes reverencias. 

Querido Señor, 

1. Ha sido pronosticado que la población humana será reducida a un numero muy pequeño en el inicio del siguiente siglo. ¿La razón será que las personas llegarán a estar tan materialmente contaminadas que llegarán a descender al reino animal o porque el movimiento de conciencia de Krishna llegara a ser tan prominente, que todos serán transferidos al reino espiritual? 

2. ¿Se siente Dios triste cuando lo ignoramos? 

3. ¿Qué debería hacer para ser inspirado a ejecutar mis deberes solo para Krishna? 

4. ¿Cuál es la mejor cosa que puedo hacer para agradar a Dios? 

Estas son algunas de mis dudas. Amable y humildemente requiero que usted las aclare. 
 

Su estudiante humilde, 

Naresh

Respuesta: Rendirse totalmente a Él
 

Esto no suena como una predicción genuina, pero seguramente estaría bien si nuestro movimiento se volviera tan prominente que prácticamente todos regresen al mundo espiritual! 

Krishna definitivamente está infeliz que actualmente estamos sufriendo en el ciclo del nacimiento y muerte. Este es el porque Él esta haciendo todos  los arreglos para convencernos de venir a Su morada eterna en el cielo espiritual. 

Deberíamos hacer todo para Krishna solo porque esta es Su orden dada a nosotros en el Bhagavad-gita

La mejor cosa que puedes hacer para agradar a Dios es rendirte totalmente a Él.
 
Sankarshan Das Adhikari

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Derecho de propiedad literaria 2005-2007 por www.UltimateSelfRealization.Com

Estás autorizado para distribuir libremente este conocimiento alrededor del

mundo con tal de que  des a conocer su fuente dando el link para mencionar

nuestra página señalada en:      www.backhome.com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Traducción del inglés por cortesía de:

Wilmer Alberto Estrada Morales

Sullana-Piura-Perú

 

Redacción y gramática revisadas por:

Caitanyadeva das

San José, Costa Rica

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ceremonia de iniciación en Lituania

(durante la celebración de Nrisimha Chaturdasi)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITE LA SECCIÓN:       Curso de la Máxima Autorrealización
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Esta semana -

Clase del Bhagavad-gita: Lección 132

    "TU AMIGO O TU ENEMIGO"

http://www.spiritual-revolutionary.com/Espanol/Curso/LeccionBG132.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nuevo nombre del sitio de Sankarshan Das  Adhikari en Español

www.regresoacasa.com

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nuevo libro sobre Su Gracia Sriman
Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Por Devadeva Das

http://www.spiritual-revolutionary.com/Espanol/SDA_Libro_DdD.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

CLASES CON TRADUCCIÓN AL ESPAÑOL

Las clases que Srila Sankarshan ha dado en Perú  y México

están disponibles en el enlace siguiente:

http://www.spiritual-revolutionary.com/Espanol/Clases.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

NOTICIA ESPECIAL:

===============

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Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: pre-Vyasa puja meditation: bits of Srila Prabhupada ecstasy



PLANET ISKCON

 

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"Planet ISKCON" - 33 new articles

  1. ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Nanda Mandir Prabhu
  2. Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: lecture webcast
  3. Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: pre-Vyasa puja meditation: bits of Srila Prabhupada ecstasy
  4. Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Finished Kitchen: Cabinets–Inside & Out
  5. Babhru das (ACBSP), Alachua, USA: Vyasa-puja 2010
  6. ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Srila Prabhupada Vyasa-Puja - LIVE!
  7. Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: Bhajan - Rupa Madhurya das - Nrsimhadev Prayers
  8. Japa Group: Not A Material Sound
  9. H.H. Sivarama Swami: Janmastami class by Devamrta Swami
  10. H.H. Sivarama Swami: Janmastami class by Devamrta Swami
  11. H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 59
  12. H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Prabhupada Smaranam
  13. Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Spritz Cookies
  14. H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja
  15. Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Quick Lunches
  16. Dandavats.com: Srila Prabhupada's Master Plan For New Vrindaban
  17. Dandavats.com: 24-hour Kirtan program & Inter-faith dialogue in Murfreesboro, Tennessee
  18. Maddy Jean-claude Durr, New Govardhana, AU: Homage to Sri Krsna, the Eternal Cowherd Boy
  19. ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa-Puja Celebrations - TONIGHT!
  20. H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
  21. Dandavats.com: Scandinavia Rathayatra Tour 2010
  22. H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami: Monday, August 30th, 2010
  23. Dandavats.com: Presentation of the Temple of Vedic Planetarium at Indian High Commission UK
  24. Akrura das, Gita Coaching: SRI KRSNA JANMASTAMI
  25. ISKCON Klang, Malaysia: ISKCON set for a World-stopper
  26. Yoga of Ecology, Bhakta Chris, USA: A Battle In Mining Country Pits Coal Against Wind
  27. On the Web: Srila Prabhupada Vyasapuja offering
  28. Mayapur Online: Happy Janmastami
  29. H.H. Sivarama Swami: Janmastami darsana
  30. Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN: 2010 Mayapur Janmastami
  31. Hari Sauri das, Mayapura, IN: Srila Prabhupada Vyasapuja offering – "I am next."
  32. Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Finished Kitchen: Before & After Pics
  33. Gouranga TV: Radhanath Swami – Srimad Bhagavatam Class – ISKCON Mayapur – Part 2/4
  34. More Recent Articles
  35. Search Planet ISKCON

ISKCON Melbourne, AU: Daily Class - Nanda Mandir Prabhu

Srila Prabhupada's Appearance Day

Prabhupada wanted that his followers propagate Krsna consciousness in a spirit of co-operation.

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Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: lecture webcast

Correction

Central European Time is (due to daylight saving) GMT +2 hours

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Bharatavarsa.net: Bhakti Vikasa Swami: pre-Vyasa puja meditation: bits of Srila Prabhupada ecstasy

>From New Delhi VP offering 1973

In Bombay, on the last day of our "Hare Krsna Festival", we saw you [Srila Prabhupada] dance and watched you circumambulate the Deities twice, clapping and smiling and turning so respectfully so that your back would not be to Them. The third and fourth times around you put your hands in the air and you were jumping. Effortlessly, you lifted the whole assembly far beyond this temporary material manifestation. We were exhilarated and we bounded around full of joy upon beholding this wonderful sight. An instant later it was over and again you were very grave. You are so kind to display to the fallen conditioned souls these wonderful manifestations of ecstatic feeling which arises from pure devotional service to Sri-Sri Radha and Krsna, in Mayapura you reminisced fondly with your Godbrother Sridhara Svami of the early days in your first meeting with His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada and of the events which followed, and in the end you shed tears. Then you danced with Sridhara Svami and your disciples wept with joy upon seeing this exchange of love between two surrendered servants of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada.

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Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Finished Kitchen: Cabinets–Inside & Out



The following people may be interested in this post:

a) someone who wants to rob me of nutritional yeast and coconut oil
b) persons interested in kitchen organization in anticipation of a remodel
c) my husband, who is still learning where everything goes

72 white dishes in buffet cab bird dishes in buffet cab upper cabinets left of sink jar drawer pots more pots towels, aprons, mitts jars sink base cabs recycle center large cookie sheets & trays, garbage bags, general bigger stuff upper cabinets right of sink right of sink, more towels, baking center blenders, stick blender, hand mixer, juicer towels and bamboo steamer. chinese prefold diapers are great for pressing tofu! syrup baking pans flours...storage containers TBA left of range buckets o' oil & molasses, nooch, pasta stuff can openers, peelers and such pastry cutters stuff tiny bowls, croissant roller and cookie cutters right of range. yes, that is a microwave oven. spice drawer spoon drawer misc. utensil drawerl jar overflow bowls, colanders, sugar, olive oil, sesame oil, braggs, vinegar big stuff and glass measure cups. oh, and my stas of fair trade cocoa. enemies of the environment. i do wash and re-use my plastic bags and parchment paper. to the left of the dish sink sucanat and serving dishes room for buckets--serving stuff, garbanzos, barley montessori kids live here lunch bags and snacks of desperation madrases. because i am a hare krishna. dish sink and to the right under dish sink. oops...popcorn and detergent in the same cabinet! dining utensils and servers glasses random dishes and plastic lunch containers
FOR BEFORE & AFTER PICS CLICK *HERE*
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Babhru das (ACBSP), Alachua, USA: Vyasa-puja 2010


(Today was the 114th anniversary of the appearance of our beloved spiritual master, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, among us. This is the homage I wrote to mark this occasion.)


namah om visnupadaya krsna-presthaya bhutale
svami sri bhaktivedanta prabhupadaya te namah


I offer my humble obeisances to His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krsna on this earth, having taken shelter of His lotus feet.

gurvajnam sirasi-dhrtva saktyavesa sva-rupine
hare-krsneti mantrena pascatya-pracya-tarine


Taking the order of his guru on his head, he became empowered by Nityananda Prabhu to act as a saktyavesa avatara. He distributed the Hare Krsna mantra all over the Eastern and Western world, uplifting and delivering all fallen souls.

visvacarya prabharyaya divya karunya murtaye
sri bhagavata-madhurya-gita-jnana pradayine


He is the best of millions of gurus because he is the personification of divine mercy. He has distributed the sweet nectar of Srimad-Bhagavatam and the transcendental knowledge of Bhagavad-gita all over the world.

gaura-sri-rupa-siddhanta-sarasvati nisevine
radha-krsna-padambhoja-bhrìgaya gurave namah


He is constantly engaged in exclusive devotional service to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, Srila Rupa Gosvami, and Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu. I offer my humble obeisances to Srila Prabhupada, who is like a bumblebee always tasting the nectar of the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha and Govinda.

(These prayers of praise for our beloved spiritual master, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, were written at his request by Sripada Bhakti Sundara Govinda Maharaja, under the direction of his spiritual master, Sripada Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja. Sripada Govinda Maharaja left our vision earlier this year.)

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati wrote that at the beginning of every new year, at the beginning of every new month, at the beginning of every week and every day, and at every moment, we should progressively remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I have sometimes said that Vyasa-puja is an opportunity for us to remember the spiritual master and dedicate our lives anew to his service. I want to do so this year with a particular focus on one aspect of the guru's place in a disciple's life.

Devotion to the guru is absolutely essential to spiritual progress. Krsna das Kaviraja says in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta that the spiritual master's instruction is "the active principle in spiritual life": acaryera mata yei, sei mata sara. The Bengali word Srila Prabhupada gives as "active principle" here is sara. Another way to understand this word is essence, or essential principle. Consequently, we can see that surrender to the guru is itself the essence of spiritual life, and failure to do so means we completely miss the point of spiritual endeavor, which renders our attempts at progress useless. Srila Jiva Goswami says in Bhakti Sandarbha that satisfying the guru is the main cause of attaining divine love and service.

In each of the centers Srila Prabhupada and his followers have established around the world, devotees begin each day with a meditation on the guru by singing Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti's Gurvastakam. In the eighth verse, Cakravarti Thakura says,

yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado
yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto 'pi

"By the spiritual master's mercy, one may receive Krsna's blessings; without the guru's grace, no one can make any spiritual progress." From the beginning of his mission Srila Prabhupada established the central position of the spiritual master in the lives of spiritual practitioners.

We see in Bhaktirasamrta-sindhu that practical spiritual life is built on the foundation of taking shelter of the spiritual master, which includes several items. Srila Rupa Goswami explains the first items of sadhana: guru-padasrayas tasmat krsna-diksadi-siksanam/ visrambhena guroh seva. A sadhaka takes shelter of a guru, accepts initiation, takes instruction from, and serves the guru with faith, with trust. Sometimes we see the word visrambha translated as respect, or reverence, but a quick exploration of that word reveals that the relationship with the spiritual master should be much more than the kind of distance implied in words such as respect and reverence.

Srila Rupa Goswami himself defines visrambha later in Bhaktirasamrta-sindhu, in the context of discussing the mood of friendship. He says that deep, familiar trust, free from any sort of restriction or control. Srila Jiva Goswami further explains that deep trust implies not only freedom from excessive reverence and fear, but also a sense that friends are in no way different from each other. Elsewhere, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti says it is a sense that one's own life, body, mind, intelligence, clothes, and everything else are one with those of the object of love. So visrambhena guroh seva seems to point to service based on a real sense of identity with the guru to the extent that the disciple has no doubt whatsoever that the guru has only his or her best interests in his heart.

So just how deeply does this confidence based on identity run? How far does this intimate trust extend? Visvanath Cakravarti seems to answer this in a commentary on a verse in Srimad-Bhagavatam's fourth canto:

A devoted and chaste wife, while absorbed in the service of her husband, may ignore even her own children. Similarly, a disciple who is deeply absorbed in the service of the guru may even ignore practices such as hearing and chanting, knowing that by guru-seva alone he can easily attain complete perfection in devotion. And just as a devoted wife ignores her own pleasures and home comforts, so too does a disciple completely absorbed in guru-seva ignore even the divine bliss arising out of hearing and chanting, nor does he seek out the kind of secluded place suitable for such bhajan. That is the instruction in this verse. The Vedas also proclaim the supremacy of service to the guru.

Visvanath Cakravarti Thakura's analogy in no way minimizes the practices of sadhana bhakti. Our experience, in fact, is that the guru teaches us to engage progressively in cultivating those practices. Rather, it points out, as Visvanatha says himself, "the supremacy of service to the guru" over all else.

The essence of devotional service for a disciple, then, seems to be dedication to the service of the spiritual master without any reservation, with complete confidence that such service will carry us to Krsna's lotus feet. This confidence finds support in Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura's assurance that those of us who regularly chant his eight beautiful verses of praise for the guru during the brahma-muhurta will certainly attain direct service to Vrndavana-natha, Sri Krsna.

With this in mind, then, I beg that I may be able to continually increase my dedication to the service of my eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, without which my life has no meaning.

Babhru das
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ISKCON Toronto, Canada: Srila Prabhupada Vyasa-Puja - LIVE!

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Rupa Madhurya das, TX, USA: Bhajan - Rupa Madhurya das - Nrsimhadev Prayers

Rupa Madhurya das (hey, that's me!) singing Nrsimhadev Prayers at the end of an ecstatic home bhajan program. 

Dallas, TX
2010-01-09 


Download: 2010-01-09 - 5 - Home Program - Rupa Madhurya das - Nrsimhadev Prayers.mp3
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Japa Group: Not A Material Sound


[The maha-mantra] is not a material sound like the sounds we hear on a radio. It is a spiritual sound that comes from the spir­itual world. Even in the material world we can release the sound from one place, and it can be heard thousands of miles away. A spiritual sound can be released from many trillions of miles away, and it can be heard, provided that one has a machine to capture it. That machine is bhagavat prema. Those who have developed love of Godhead can hear it.

From Teachings of Lord Kapila
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H.H. Sivarama Swami: Janmastami class by Devamrta Swami

Part two of the over two hour long morning lecture.

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H.H. Sivarama Swami: Janmastami class by Devamrta Swami

Part one of the over two hour long morning lecture.

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H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: 59

www.sdgonline.org. SDGonline Daily updates

3:59 A.M.

From Namamrta By A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami:

"The maha-mantra is a form of prayer:

"Simply by offering prayers to the Supreme Lord one can become perfect…one can execute devotional service anywhere and everywhere in the material existence simply by offering prayers unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead.The Hare Krishna maha-mantra is also a prayer, for a prayer addresses the Supreme Personality of Godhead by His name and invokes good fortune by petitioning the Lord to allow one to engage in His devotional service. The Hare Krishna maha-mantra also says, “My dear Lord Krishna, my dear Lord Rama, O energy of the Lord, Hare, kindly engage me in Your service.”(Srimad Bhagavatam 4.24.69)

"The Hare Krishna mantra addresses the Lord and His spiritual potency, and is a prayer requesting engagement in Their transcendental loving service:

"When we chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra we are saying, “Hare! O energy of the Lord! O my Lord Kṛṣṇa!” In this way we are simply addressing the Lord and His spiritual potency represented as Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Sītā-Rāma, or Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa. The devotee always prays to the Lord and His internal energy (consort) so that he may engage in Their transcendental loving service. When the conditioned soul attains his real spiritual energy and fully surrenders unto the Lord’s lotus feet, he tries to engage in the Lord’s service. This is the real constitutional position of the living entity." (Cc. Madhya 22.16)

We should always remember that the Hare Krishna mantra is a prayer. The Christians and Muslims pray in their own way, and we pray by chanting Hare Krishna. The meaning of the prayer is to ask Srimati Radharani and ask Sri Krishna to please engage us in Their service. We are petitioning Them. We are not asking for material benefits or relief from miseries or even liberation. We are praying to Them to be engaged in Their service. This is real prayer life, and when we chant japa and sankirtana we are offering the highest kind of prayers.

I always wanted to pray.
Once I prayed like the
Christian saints and
devotional engagement and
special word formulas.
Then I realized again
that Prabhupada had taught
us the best prayer
formula in the Hare Krishna
mantra. I pray every
morning in my imperfect way.
Sometimes I forget
to ask for engagement
in Their eternal service.
Still, I pray the
transcendental sound.
It is vandanam
in the most congenial form
given by Lord Caitanya
and recommended as the
only way to call
on Him in Kali-yuga.
I pray to pray.

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H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Prabhupada Smaranam

www.sdgonline.org. SDGonline Daily updates

From One Hundred Prabhupada Poems #16

Dear Prabhupada, in about an hour
we start our van for
the farm somewhere in the hills
of the Czech Republic.
I hear they go out early there and work
in the fields, stop at 3 P.M.
for their daily Srimad-Bhagavatam class.
I guess you would approve.
Can I do some good there?
Please visit me, or rather,
never leave me.

I'm counting on writing my way to you,
it's my festival of preaching,
my obedience, the way
I command,
the way I face the opposition.
I offer it all at your feet.
Let me go all out as you did
in those years in India
after your spiritual master's disappearance.
You didn't care to develop buildings
or manage the institution—you
wrote with pen or typewriter,
you wrote without even knowing
who would publish or read it.

You wrote Science of Devotion and
Talks with Ramamanda Raya and
Isopanisad and
King Kulasekhara's Prayers
and many BTG essays and
Easy Journey.
I can't write like you, but
still it is writing.
I am yours,
please don't disown me,
this thing I am writing is
a raid on the inarticulate, a
stab at the demons' stronghold.

On your order
I used to place the letters in the sign
announcing your evening lecture
at 26 Second Avenue.
I think I still have that service.
Please don't reject me.

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Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Spritz Cookies

Here is a recipe for eggless spritz cookies. Spritz cookies are really cute and this recipe is not exceptionally buttery or sugary. The result is a nice little breakfast cookie that can be eaten any time of day, especially at tea time. The dough is a bit dry and does not expand much at all when baked, so it can also be used as a lower sugar alternative for sugar cookie cutouts.

This recipe makes *a lot* of cookies and is great for when you need to maximize your cookie output. Also, this is a great *make ahead* recipe–these cookies taste better the next day!

Spritz Cookie Recipe (Eggless)

1.5 c butter

1 c brown sugar (packed)

1 tspn baking powder

1 tablespoon cream cheese

1.5 tablespoon yogurt (plain or vanilla or whatever)

1/4 tspn almond extract (optional)

3.5 cups unbleached white all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar, add cream cheese and baking powder. Mix. Combine other ingredients.

Put unchilled dough in your cookie press and pump them out onto parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake in pre-heated oven 7-9 minutes @ 375 degrees.



spritz cookies with colored sugar crystals
My spritz gun is cheap, old and difficult. So I abandoned spritzing, added chocolate chips and carried on with my chin up and my teaspoon filled with un-rounded, un-heaping scoops. I had a lot of cookies to make and decided to abandon all varieties of cuteness and just be practical.


one stingy teaspoon: tiny chocolate chip cookies


cookie crisps
Okay. I couldn’t totally abandon cuteness. With my mini-food processor I whipped up a very low sugar cream cheese frosting that I piped onto a large circle cut cookie and then topped with another–a’ la’ peanut butter sandwiches. Minus the peanut butter.

cream cheese frosting chocolate chip cookie sandwich


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H.H. Satsvarupa das Goswami: Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja

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Free Write

Today is Vyasa Puja for Srila Prabhupada, and I will offer it in the journal. I have made it in the form of an innovative poem, based on a poem in the workshop handbook titled In the Palm of Your Hand, written by my Brooklyn college classmate Steve Kowit. He writes at the beginning of a chapter called "Shards of Memory: Playing with Time." He writes, "Some of the memories that writers make use of are unforgettable, life-changing experiences. But many others are likely to be those vagrant, momentary encounters that are memorable for no apparent reason: experiences that are part of our ordinary daily lives that for some reason remain significant enough to be remembered." He then says, "Here's an odd and engaging poem in which the poet makes use of scattered, fugitive and seemingly disconnected memories." I'm going to publish a few of those stanzas to give you an idea of the model I use in my Vyasa Puja homage:

"How I Knew Harold" by Deborah Harding

"Around 1953 Mom tells the family she's pregnant. My brother bounces around the living room with a pillow on his head wailing, "It will change our whole lives!" This story is recounted each year around my birthday.

"Around 1978 I leave home to move in with Jack. Dad and I are standing in the driveway. They don't want me to go. He's Jewish. Mom packs ham sandwiches and slips me two twenties. I move back in three months.

Around 1979 my friend Sandy plays Taps at a funeral gig, so I come along. I walk up to the casket in my boots and fur jacket. I'm checking out the deceased when a woman grabs my elbow. She wants to know how I knew Harold."

My homage follows this innovative poem, writing non-chronological stanzas of fugitive memories of Srila Prabhupada. The poet quoted wrote in the present tense, but I will write in the past tense because I feel it is more realistic. I will use the word "around" just as the poet has to begin each stanza.

Some Ways I Know Prabhupada

Around the end of November 1977, I spent the last days with him in Vrndavana. He laid in his bed, nearly  blind, and did not communicate. He only waved to his secretary, Tamal Krishna Maharaja, who would go over to his bed and exchange with him in whispers. A few devotees stayed in the room chanting kirtana. At one point I was leading the kirtana. I was singing the Nrsimhadeva prayers when Srila Prabhupada motioned Tamala Krishna Maharaja over to his bed. Later TKG told me that Prabhupada asked him, "Who is singing?" Tamal Krishna Maharaja replied, "Satsvarupa Maharaja." Prabhupada replied simply, "Hmm." In my desire to always want more attention, I lamented that Prabhupada didn't say more. Tamala Krishna Maharaja told me I should be fortunate that Prabhupada had at least said, "Hmm," considering the state he was in. And in fact he passed away within two days. That was my last personal exchange with Srila Prabhupada.

On November 14th, I stood at the foot of his bed all day as he stayed internal and finally passed away at 7:30 P.M.

Around April of 1977 I massaged his feet with talcum powder and felt I was saying farewell.

Around January 1974 he called me to be his permanent servant, and I joined him in L.A. I was in high spirits and felt very privileged.

Around May 1968 he arrived in Boston and gave lectures at our storefront and at the universities for a full month. Various personal exchanges with him.

Around February 1974 he brought me with his entourage to Vrndavana and made me feel at ease in India by his fatherly presence.  On the way to Vrndavana in our taxi, we came behind an old Indian bus that was belching black smoke out its exhaust. Prabhupada turned to me and said, "They don't have buses in your country like this, and if they did have them, they would not let them stay on the road." Actually I had been afraid of the sight of this bus, and Prabhupada in a fatherly way gave me consolation for the culture shock of arriving in India.

Around July 1966—I walked into the storefront at 26 Second Avenue and saw him for the first time. I thought he looked like Lord Buddha. After that first night I never stopped coming back, and I followed the four rules. I began reading his books, which I continue to do now, 43 years later.

Around spring 1973 I joined him on my first trip to India and Mayapur and served him as his secretary, taking dictation for his letters. We went to visit his Godbrother Sridhara Maharaja in Navadvipa.

Around all the time—Whenever I chant japa I am following his order.

Around 1971 he visited us at Dallas gurukula and there were fascinating exchanges involving the installation of Radha-Kalachandji. They had arrived with decorative paint, but the devotees convinced me that the decorations should be scraped off and They should be repainted straight black. When Prabhupada arrived he was angry that this had been done, and he said that the decorations should be restored. On one morning walk I told him that I thought the new painting had not dried. He said to Syamasundara, "Let us get tickets and leave Dallas immediately." But fortunately we used electric fans on the Deities, and They dried in time for the installation. During that same visit Prabhupada reprimanded me for chopping down a tree that had fallen and was leaning against a building. When I asked him if my act was "demoniac," he said, "No, just ignorant."

Around 1970 I answered the invitation Prabhupada extended to all his temple presidents and visited him in Los Angeles, his Western-world headquarters,  to learn the ideal way  to run a temple.  I copied everything I saw there, the white-colored tiles and yellow painted walls of the temple room, the way Visnujana Swami used black electric tape on his fingers to play mrdanga, etc., and brought it back to Boston. Two previous times I asked Prabhupada if I could quit my welfare job and he said no. I asked him again and he said yes.

Around April 1974 I grew restless as Prabhupada's permanent servant and asked him in Bombay whether I could change my service. He grew irritated and told me not to jump around like a monkey. I wrote him a letter of apology and said I wanted to stay with him. In the upper corner of my letter he wrote in his hand, "You are pure. May Krishna protect you from calamities."

Around June 1974, while still his servant, I sat in the room in Geneva and heard him speaking of the need for a group of men to travel to the universities to place standing orders of his books. I spoke up and said I could do it. "Then do it!" he said abruptly.

Around the fall of 1966 I first heard Prabhupada  say Krishna married 16,108 wives. I raised my hand and said, "I'm trying to understand the Bhagavad-gita philosophy, but now you tell us that Krishna married 16,000 wives. How can I understand this?" He replied, "You cannot understand it? The greatest scholars cannot understand it."

Around the summer of 1966, I asked Prabhupada my first personal question: "Is there a level of spiritual advancement from which you don't fall down? He answered simply, "Yes." That one-word answer gave me  confidence and ability to follow the four rules.

Around the spring of 1967 I was accompanying Prabhupada in the New York City streets after a visit to his lawyer on Chambers Street. Prabhupada said, "The city is like a jungle." I replied, "Except there are no snakes." Prabhupada said, "What about Mr. Payne?"

Around May of 1968 Prabhupada and the devotees went to Boston Commonwealth Pier, where he first arrived in America in 1965. We went in Hamsadutta's used schoolbus. Except for the driver's seat, it had no seats. The devotees placed a chair for Prabhupada, and a strong devotee, Vamana dasa, held the chair, but still the chair slid back and forth. At the pier there was a sign, "Unalloyed Steel." Srila Prabhupada said, "They have unalloyed steel, and we have unalloyed devotion." On the way back he told Hamsadutta he should not have bought a used bus.

Around Memorial Day of 1967, Srila Prabhupada was in the Beth Israel Hospital with a stroke. Devotees took turns staying with him in his room so he was never alone. Once I was the only person present while he was sleeping. He woke, sat up and said, "I do not know Krishna. I only know my Guru Maharaja."

These are just a few times that I have jotted down. There are many ways I know Prabhupada, and I treasure them all.

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Devadeva Mirel, Alachua, USA: Quick Lunches

Sometimes I mismanage our leftovers and am left to scramble, last minute, to get together a lunch for The Babu’s work.

This happened twice this week and comes as no surprise to me as I am trying to adjust to life with a first grader with homework, a kindergartener with a reading folder and a pretty full after school schedule of dance, gymnastics, mrdanga, appointments and the usual etcetera.

Rice paper wrappers, God bless you! No cooking required. Just a quick soak and shimmy–makes me feel like I am panning for gold. I had leftover jiaozi filling and was happy to use it in such a simple application. No floured table. No kids turning the crank. Just a plate of water, my finger tips and the delicate wrappers. I fried up some tofu to add to them and, when I ran out of filling, improvised with other provisions.


summer rolls filled with leftover jiaozi filling


summer rolls packed for lunch on a bed of lettuce. the one on the left is filled with lettuce, pan fried tofu, toasted nori and yellow bell pepper.
Couscous. Not really on The Babu’s Top 10 list, but it cooks quickly and is a grain so, you know, deal. To make couscous, simply boil water! Two cups of water per one cup of couscous. Boil water, add couscous, simmer and stir. Off heat. Leave covered. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes. Basically you just want the grains to absorb the liquid.
Now, some may feel it a cruel punishment to serve couscous with a dry vegetable, but it was late and I was really just feeling like The Babu was blessed that I remembered he needed to eat the next day. High heat and cast iron are my friends at such moments. Tofu, zucchini, tomatoes and the other half of that yellow bell pepper met a tasty fate.

quick and easy: couscous + cast iron veggies and tofu


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Dandavats.com: Srila Prabhupada's Master Plan For New Vrindaban

By Madhava Gosh das

Krishna by His practical example taught us to give all protection to the cows and that should be the main business of New Vrindaban. Vrindaban is also known as Gokula. Go means cows, and kula means congregation. Therefore the special feature of New Vrindaban will be cow protection, and by doing so, we shall not be loser

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