Archive for June, 2007
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007
New Vrindaban Bloggers Unite!
Hear ye! Hear ye!
The long and sometimes exhaustive efforts of His Grace Madhava Ghosh Prabhu have finally bore fruits.
Now, all at one time, in one sparkling package, you can check out the exploits and insights of the very vibrant and dynamic New Vrindaban Blogosphere.
Check it all out at www.newvrindabanbloggers.org
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Bhakta-Chris
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007
Cow Philosophy
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007
Newvrindabanbloggers.org
See the Brijabasi Spirit and all the New Vrindaban bloggers in one place at a new feed reader called New Vrindaban Bloggers.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by mg
Monday, June 25th, 2007
Radhanath Swami in New Vrindaban
Last night after all the guests left Maharaj had a program at Raghunath and Jamuna’s house especially for the New Vrindaban devotees.
He gave a beautiful lecture. The opening sentence of the lecture was the best introduction I’ve ever heard. He said, “Krishna consciousness is so deep, so simple, and so mysterious.”
He began speaking about how Jamuna was diagnosed with cancer last year but she remained completely Krishna conscious through that difficult situation. He spoke about Madhava Ghosa Prabhu and Malati Prabhu and how they have also had very severe health difficulties but through it all they have managed to take shelter of Krishna. Then he spoke about the community of New Vrindaban as a whole, what difficulties have the residents of this community been through over the years?
With this introduction he spoke on the topic of difficulties and suffering in the lives of devotees. I was so happy that Maharaj was speaking on this topic because ever since I heard B.B. Govinda Maharaj I was pondering this apparently difficult to understand topic.
Maharaj related the example that Srila Prabhupada would use to explain this, he said that the mother teaches the daughter in law through the daughter, and in the same way Krishna teaches the world how to deal with all of the difficulties of the material world through the example of his pure devotees.
To illustrate this point he described the story of Srila Sanatan Goswami.
Sanatan Goswami was a multi-billionaire by todays standard. He had power, prestige but they gave up every to serve Lord Caitanya. And what happened? He was put in prison. He went from living in a magnificent palace to living in a dungeon. He risked his life to escape and traveled through the jungles as an escape convict. During this time there was a plan to kill him because of the person he was traveling with had a few gold coins. Eventually after traveling for a long distance he met the Lord in Varanasi, but then on the way to Puri because he drank some bad water he got a terrible disease. He developed sores all over his body, they itched and were very painful and they oozed blood and pus constantly. He wanted to commit suicide by throwing his body under the Jagannath’s cart in the presence of the Lord and all the devotees, but Lord Caitanya understanding his mind and chastised Sanatana for being a thief, “You want to destroy another’ property, you have already given me your body, I have many things I want to do through your body.” But in the meantime Sanatan continued to suffer this disease, and everyday the Lord would forcibly embrace Sanatan and from the sores on Santan’s body Lord Caitanya’s transcendental body would be smeared with blood and pus. Eventually with the council of Jagadananda, Sanatan decided to leave for Vrindaban and at least in this way he would not make any offenses to the Lord. Lord Caitanya understood Sanatan’s mind and He chastised Jagadananda, He told Sanatan, “You do not understand my love for you, I love you as a mother loves her child, even if the child passes stool on the mother the mother smells that stool to be the most fragant smell of chatusma (sandlewood, musk, saffron, and aguru mixed together). Then the Lord again embraced Sanatan, but this time with His embrace he cured Sanatan of the disease and Sanatan’s body became lustrous and effulgent.
Seeing this Haridas Thakur became ecstatic, “This is your pastime, you gave him this disease, you manifested it for some time, and now you have taken it away.” Throughout the entire 9 months Sanatan never complained, he never asked the Lord to take away this difficulty, he very humble tolerated it and accepted it as the Lord’s mercy.
The Lord was teaching everyone that the material world is a place of suffering, devotees must pass through the same situations but they grow and move closer to God, whereas karmis simply continue their bondage and suffering.
Then Maharaj spoke about the example of Srila Prabhupada. He explained the Krishna could have arranged for Prabhupada to fly to America on Air India with a grand reception, but instead he arranged that Prabhupada had to sit outside Sumati Morarji’s office waiting for days begging for ticket on a cargo ship, he arranged for Prabhupada to suffer heart attacks on the Jaladuta, He didn’t arrange any elaborate reception for Prabhupada, He could’ve arrange gorgeous accommodations and immediate success instead He arranged that Prabhupada had to struggle in the Bowery of New York with his life being threatened, but eventually Krishna arranged for success.
Good and bad times, praise and blame, honor and dishonor, success and failure, happiness and distress, you cannot have one without the other, but Krishna teaches how to grow in all situations. Some people become bitter, and some people grow and move closer to Krishna.
Even today we see so many examples. Stoka Krishna Prabhu had just gotten married, after being in the brahmacari ashram for ten years, he was 33 years old, his wife was pregnant and he was told by the doctors, “you have one month to live.” He was paralyzed and emaciated but always smiling. He would say, “Why is Krishna so merciful to me? For so many years I got to chant Hare Krishna and associate with devotees, he was so grateful, even when his wife brought his baby daughter to him just before he died he remain grateful to Krishna for everything.
We may be young or old, there will be so many temptations, we should therefore understand that real enjoyment is inner peace and to feel the loving hand of Krishna, that is real happiness.
And Maharaj ended the lecture as poetically as he began, “Life is beautiful when you look for Krishna, because when you look for Krishna, Krishna reveals Himself.”
Here are some notes that I took during Maharaj’s Bhagavatam class on Saturday.
Radhanatha Maharaj SB class 6-23-07
1.3.44
kåñëe sva-dhämopagate
dharma-jïänädibhiù saha
kalau nañöa-dåçäm eña
puräëärko ’dhunoditaù
This Bhägavata Puräëa is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Kåñëa to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Puräëa.
PURPORT
Lord Çré Kåñëa has His eternal dhäma, or abode, where He eternally enjoys Himself with His eternal associates and paraphernalia. And His eternal abode is a manifestation of His internal energy, whereas the material world is a manifestation of His external energy. When He descends on the material world, He displays Himself with all paraphernalia in His internal potency, which is called ätma-mäyä. In the Bhagavad-gétä the Lord says that He descends by His own potency (ätma-mäyä). His form, name, fame, paraphernalia, abode, etc., are not, therefore, creations of matter. He descends to reclaim the fallen souls and to reestablish codes of religion which are directly enacted by Him. Except for God, no one can establish the principles of religion. Either He or a suitable person empowered by Him can dictate the codes of religion. Real religion means to know God, our relation with Him and our duties in relation with Him and to know ultimately our destination after leaving this material body. The conditioned souls, who are entrapped by the material energy, hardly know all these principles of life. Most of them are like animals engaged in eating, sleeping, fearing and mating. They are mostly engaged in sense enjoyment under the pretension of religiosity, knowledge or salvation. They are still more blind in the present age of quarrel, or Kali-yuga. In the Kali-yuga the population is just a royal edition of the animals. They have nothing to do with spiritual knowledge or godly religious life. They are so blind that they cannot see anything beyond the jurisdiction of the subtle mind, intelligence or ego, but they are very much proud of their advancement in knowledge, science and material prosperity. They can risk their lives to become a dog or hog just after leaving the present body, for they have completely lost sight of the ultimate aim of life. The Personality of Godhead Çré Kåñëa appeared before us just a little prior to the beginning of Kali-yuga, and He returned to His eternal home practically at the commencement of Kali-yuga. While He was present, He exhibited everything by His different activities. He spoke the Bhagavad-gétä specifically and eradicated all pretentious principles of religiosity. And prior to His departure from this material world, He empowered Çré Vyäsadeva through Närada to compile the messages of the Çrémad-Bhägavatam, and thus both the Bhagavad-gétä and the Çrémad-Bhägavatam are like torchbearers for the blind people of this age. In other words, if men in this age of Kali want to see the real light of life, they must take to these two books only, and their aim of life will be fulfilled. Bhagavad-gétä is the preliminary study of the Bhägavatam. And Çrémad-Bhägavatam is the summum bonum of life, Lord Çré Kåñëa personified. We must therefore accept Çrémad-Bhägavatam as the direct representation of Lord Kåñëa. One who can see Çrémad-Bhägavatam can see also Lord Çré Kåñëa in person. They are identical.
Notes on H.H. Radhanatha Swami’s class
I am very grateful to be able speak something on this illustrious verse selected by Malati Prabhu and Rukmini Prabhu.
In 1922 Srila Prabhupada first met his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur on the rooftop of One Ultadunga Junction road in Calcutta, at the first instance of meeting his guru he was given the order, you are an intelligent young man, you should take this message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and teach it in the English language
Srila Prabhupada prepared for this mission in all the years to come. 11 years later he took initiation at the Rupa Goswami Gaudiya Matha in prayaga. In 1944 he began writing Back to Godhead. In the 1950’s he retired from family life, went to vrindaban, he had already written a Gita commentary, in 1950 after taking sanyas he commenced what he considered to be the most important contribution of his life, to translate and write commentary to Srimad Bhagavatam, why did he give so much effort to this, we find today, Krishna descend from Golaoka, once in a day of Brahma in his original form, once every 4,320,000,000 million years, Krishna reveals His Vrindaban lila only once every 8 billion years, and after departing at the commencement of kali yuga, Krishna incarnate in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam, which the acaryas tell us is not different Him, by attentively hearing Srimad Bhagavatam we can gain the same experience of being in the direct personal presence of Krishna, all the blessing of being with Krishna directly are accessible simply by hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, it is the essence, the cream of all Vedic literatures, in Bhagavad Gita Krishna tells Arjuna, trai gunya visaya veda, the Vedas deal mainly with modes of natures, for this matter all the scriptures in the world, how to improve sense gratification (karma kanda), or how to abandon sense gratification (jnana kanda), the Vedas mainly deal with this subject, rise above them, be free from dualities and anxieties fro gain and safety and be established in the self. In Srimad Bhagavatam we read how vyasa deva after compiling all the vedas (puranas), he was not satisfied because his existence was only to show compassion, sitting on the banks of Mother Saraswati, Narada Muni approached him, as of now all of your literatures are tainted with kaitava dharma, you have not revealed the Supreme Personality of Godhead and his pure devotees. In the Vedas there are many references to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but they are mixed. Therefore Vedavyasa begins Bhagavatam, Dharma projita, from the very beginning all is kick out, the singular subject for Srimad Bhagavatam is shuddha bhakti, which culminates in the love of vraja vasis, which culminates in Srimati Radharani’s love in separation.
When Srila Prabhpada began his commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam he wrote a life sketch of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who also appears once in a day of Brahma who is Krishna who came in the mood of Radharani to taste her love and distribute it, His life is the perfect manifestation of Srimad Bhagavatam, his relationships with devotees and his compassion is the perfect visualization of Srimad Bhagavatam.
Lord Caitanya taught that Srimad Bhagavatam is the amala purana, Vedavyasa took the essence of all histories, from millions of planets and universes, whatever histories were for the ultimate benefit of conditioned souls, from the wide range of all the puranas he extracted the essence, that is what we have here, simply by attentively hearing Srimad Bhagavatam one can achieve the level of a paramahamsa, hearing means to follow, and by following comes realization, Vedavyasa spoke this literature to Sukadeva Goswami, he was in the womb for 12 years, how many of you ladies would like to have a child in your womb for 12 years, he understood the nature of this world, and that was before Kali Yuga, but when he heard Srimad Bhagavatam he eagerly came out to hear more, Sukadeva Goswami realized it perfectly.
When I was young there was TV show Run for You Life, it was very famous, about a doctor who only had a year to live, he was trying to enjoy as much as possible, with beautiful women doing all kinds of exciting things, snorkeling and skydiving, they extended his life year after year, but Pariksit Maharaj chose to give up every and fast until death hearing the glories of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada explained if you want to actually understand Srimad Bhagavatam you have to follow in the footstep of Lord Caitanya, you don’t have to fast until death, that would be imitating him, but we have to follow in his footsteps, the number one priority of his life was to hear about Krishna, it was not a regulation to hear Srimad Bhagavatam, it was not a form of spiritual entertainment because he liked it, it was urgent, there was a sense of great need, unless there is hunger on can not digest properly, unless there is hunger, greed, I need the mercy of the vaishnavas, even when it comes we cannot digest it. Pariksit Maharaj was starving for Hari katha.
We must follow in his footsteps, we must feel the need, that is why austerity is important, if we are feeling very comfortable with our material situation, or distracted by material complications, how much attention can we really give to Srimad Bhagavatam, we must comprehend the reality that there is danger at every step, we should never be complacent , with terrorism, with the breakdown of ecology, droughts, floods, entire cities can be washed away by the oceans, it is a very dim society, what to speak of diseases, I read a report where one out of every 2.5 people living today will die of cancer. That does not just come when you are old. In our congregation in Mumbai a four year old girl got cancer, she had to get chemotherapy at a children’s hospital, and it is overflowing with patients, the example of goat in the slaugthere house line, just enjoying the grass, so yes, if we open our eyes we will see the need for spiritual life. Prahlad Maharaj’s friends were only 5 years old, you don’t know when you are going to die, this is the most important subject. There is a story of Aristotle, a lady approach him, “I want you to teach my son, he is young,†Aristotle replied, “how old is?†the mother said, “he is five years old†Aristotle response was, “he is already five years too late.â€
Srila Prabhupada with tears in his eyes would plead with us, please take this Krishna consciousness seriously, but the illusory energy is always trying to take us away and give us some excuses, it may be our occupation, health, or that we have been mistreated by devotees, and even those excuses are accurate, the reality remains the same, our human life is diminishing with every click of the second hand of the clock. So Pariksit Maharaj taught us how to hear, he heard form someone who was perfectly situated in parampara, one must hear from self-realized souls, Srila Prabhupada studied all the acaryas and when we give Srimad Bhagavatam to others they are directly hearing from Srila Prabhupada, he wanted us to distribute these books, read these books, and live by these books.
Krishna will reveal Himself according to how we surrender to him, that means according to how we make Krishna a priority in our life he will reveal Himself to us
Lord Caitanya and his devotees taught us how to realize Srimad Bhagavatam. There were three devotees in particular who revealed certain qualities, and Lord Caitanya took shelter of these devotees.
One was Paramananda Puri, Lord Caitanya honored him as good as his spiritual master, he followed this etiquette very strictly. Paramananda Puri in Krishna Lila was Uddhava, we read in the vaishnava literatures of how Uddhava was sent from Dwarka to Vrindaban to give a message to the gopas and the gopis. He was thinking that I will be benevolent and give them relief from their suffering, but when he saw their absorption he prayed and performed tapasya, and what was his goal, he was the best friend of Krishna in Dwarka, but he prayed let me be a little piece of grass, so that I remain in Vrindaban forever and perhaps the gopis will step on me and I will get the dust of their on my head, just behind kusam sorvara is Uddhava Bituk, when he is residing as a gulma lata (bush or creeper) where he is completely immersed mediating on the dust of the feet of the gopis. Through Paramananda Puri Lord Caitanya taught meditation or absorption in Krishna.
The second devotee was Svarup Damodar, in Vrindaban Lila he is Lalita Sakhi, when Srimati Radharani was in intense separation Lalita would sing songs that would satisfy her with songs, in the same way Svarupa Damodar was the only one knew Lord Caitanya’s heart, and would sing songs just appropriate.
During Ratha Yatra Rupa Goswami composed a prayer, Lord Caitanya asked Swarup Damodar your are the only one who knows my mind, how has he understood my heart, Swarupa Damodar replied, “because you have give him your mercy†Lord Caitanya replied, “Yes.â€
When Rupa Goswami met him, he said I am the lowest of the low, and Lord Caitanya bestowed his full mercy so that he could understand the heart of Lord Caitanya.
Raghunath Das Goswami who is our prayojan acarya was put under the care of Swarupa Damodar.
During Ratha Yatra Lord Caitanya was almost like a puppet, he was enacting the songs of Swarupa Damodar Goswami.
One day when Swarupa Damodar Goswami was singing Lord Caitanya was dancing in Puri, Lord Caitanya danced into a well, a deep well with no water, they ran to the well, they thought they would find him deep in the well, but when they got there they found it filled to the top with fresh butter and Lord Caitanya was floating in fresh butter. That was the power of Swarupa Damodar Goswami’s kirtan.
The third person was Gadadhara Pandit. In Krishna lila he is Srimati Radharani. His absorption was in Srimad Bhagavatam. When Lord Caitanya was in Puri everyday Lord Caitanya would go to hear Srimad Bhagavatam from Gadadhara Pandit for three hours. Gadadhara Pandit would be absorbed in Bhagavatam all day. He tasted the sweetness of every aspect of Bhagavatam. Gadadhara Pandit would tell the story of Dhruva, it takes many hours, they would read it one hundred consecutive times. Then after some time the story of Prahlad Maharaj, read it again, read it again, Lord Caitanya would not allow him to continue until they heard it one hundred times. It is not that they were only reading 10th canto. He was not only tasting it but also teaching us how seriously we should absorb ourselves in Bhagavatam,
Through Swarupa Damodar Goswami in kirtan, through Paramananda Puri remembering Krishna, and through Gadadhara Pandit reading of Srimad Bhagavatam.
Srila Prabhupada after working harder than all of his disciples, he would be up all night translating Srimad Bhagavatam, he called it his devotional ecstasies, in one purport in Caitanya Caritamrita Srila Prabhupada writes similarly I am very old, I have so many physical frailties, in case of I cannot finish Srimad Bhagavatam he wrote Krishna Book. So that his followers for all time would have Krishna Lila direct from his heart.
In the midst of this he decided to translate Caitanya Caritamrita. That is not a small essay, it was 17 volumes. It appears that Srila Prabhupada did this that because in order to properly understand Srimad Bhagavatam we must understand Lord Caitanya.
Srimad Bhagavatam ends by glorifying the holy name. We must take very seriously our responsibility as human beings to know God and to love God, and the greatest gifts the lord has given us is the holy name and Srimad Bhagavatam, and the association of devotees.
We should hear Srimad Bhagavatam with rapt attention, we cannot hear with rapt unless we are pure in mind, we cannot be pure in mind unless we are pure in body, we cannot be pure in body unless we are pure in eating sleeping mating and defending.
I would like to say one thing that is important, the essence is to always remember Krishna, the easiest way to remember Krishna is to chant his names, sp said 99% of our advancement comes from our chanting, but what does it mean to chant the holy names, in one purport Srila Prabhupada quotes Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, unless one is living a life where one is meek andhumble one can chant the holy names birth after birth but not attain the goal.
We understand all these good qualities come simply chanting, but there is an argument a controversy, do all good qualities come from chanting or do we have to have good qualities to chant. Srila Prabhupada is saying that unless you meek and humble you are not chanting properly, therefore you will not get those good qualities.
To be meek and humble means to have a serious service attitude to God and all living beings, with this our chanting will little effect, many births may pass until we finally come to the conclusion of trnad api. In one purport Srila Prabhupada explains how people are so much competing for sense gratification, a real devotee is one who has nothing to do with all this competition. Arjuna was competing for Krishna, a devotee who is doing business has to compete for Krishna
A devotee must be free form envy, pride and must be everyone’s well wisher, not trying to defeat others or be better than others, that is the spirit we find in Srimad Bhagavatam, Caitanya Caritamrita, that is the spirit that will attract Krishna, and that is gift Srila Prabhupada has given us.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Monday, June 25th, 2007
Newvrindabanbloggers.org
With the help of assorted others I have finally got a feed reader set up where you can see all the bloggers in New Vrindaban in one spot. Check it out at New Vrindaban Bloggers.
I have been working on this in fits and starts for the last two years. Or more accurately, I had a […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Sunday, June 24th, 2007
First Annual Patron-Leader Bhakti Yoga Festival
Please don’t ask what the heck Patron-Leader Bhakti Yoga Festival is, but here are some pictures I took over the weekend.
Shri Shri Radha Vrindabanchandra ki jaya
Malati Prabhu, B.B. Govinda Swami, and Radhanath Swami 
Radha Vrindabanachandra enjoy their Swan Boat Festival
Lokanath Swami leads the chanting with Ananta Govinda Prabhu playing mrdanga
Radhanath Swami and B.B. Govinda Swami watching the swan boat festival
Lokanath Swami leads gurupuja
Radhanatha Swami playing mrdanga while leading gurupuja kirtan 
Prema Dhvani Prayers
Radhanatha Swami offers the mangalacaran prayers before Srimad Bhagavatam class
B.B. Govinda Swami chanting “Jaya Radha Madhava” before Bhagavatam Class. 
I also wanted to mention, after B.B. Govinda Swami gave the class he made a heartfelt appeal to the devotees to help out with the desperate situation they are currently facing. The government is taking away their land, their temple, and their houses. It is a very painful and difficult situation for all the devotees involved. He is asking devotees all over the world to help out, if anyone would like to learn more about thier situation or help out in any way check out, http://www.kazakhkrishna.com/en-main/.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Sunday, June 24th, 2007
Nocturnal Visitor
   This is a photo of a “possum” (opossum), Didelphis virginiana, that was in our yard last week. I had to shine a flashlight on it in order to take a picture because my camera doesn’t have a flash suitable for night photos. It is the largest possum I have ever seen. The possum is […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Ms. Rural
Sunday, June 24th, 2007
Mac Plus Does a Tuck and Roll
“Gosh come quick — the clothesline fell over and it’s starting to rain!”
The world lives primarily on solar energy. However, in order to convince us to stay addicted to fossil fuels, there are whole series of stats demonstrating our dependence on them. Of course, as my father used to say, you can make statistics prove […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Sunday, June 24th, 2007
Ghee Wick Making Transformed
Here is Mother Jayasri prabhu making ghee wicks for all the pujas using a machine designed and prototyped by Rupanuga prabhu.
It is a spindle rotating at a high RPM. She shreds cotton off a roll and applies it. The spindle “grabs” the cotton and winds it tightly. She adds more at the bottom than the […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by mg
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007
Heifers Rule in Brattleboro for a Day
From the Times Argus
The heifers, which ranged in age from a couple of months to almost two years old, wore flower wreaths and, in some cases, Vermont license plate nametags.
The Vernon Cow-Licks 4-H Club, which led off the bovine portion of the parade, had the large name tags with the participants’ names like “Sugar,” “Raisin” […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007
Latest ISCOWP Newsletter Online
Rathi Indian breed
Latest Newsletter to access the PDF file with color pictures of “Cow Protection Around the Globe.†Hard copy is also available in black and white. Let us know if you would like to be put on our web update mailing list or if you would like to receive a hard copy.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Balabhadra das
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007
Return of the Red Fox
The red fox returned last week. About 9:30 p.m. I heard the alarm calls for a few minutes, then silence. It’s strange how this is the first time I’ve heard it calling since March. That’s from vernal equinox to summer solstice, almost. Does it have some kind of internal clock that sends it to this […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Ms. Rural
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
BACE in Athens
At Radha Gopinath Temple in order to facilitate the college outreach programs they have houses near all the campuses that they preach at. These houses are called BACE’s (Bhaktivedanta Academy for Cultural Education), or otherwise known as Brahmcari Ashram Covered Expansion. It a facility for students who want to be serious about Krishna consciousness to live together, have good association with each other, eat prasadam, and practice Krishna consciousness together. And every week a brahmacari comes and spends a few days there to spend time with the students and do outreach programs.
We recently took our outreach program in Athens one giant step further by signing a lease on a house. It is a three bedroom house with a spacious living room perfect for hosting transcendental parties. There are two students who are devotees that will be living there, and the extra bedroom will be for guests, and brahmacaris.
We just got back from there, Soma Prabhu, Balaramachandra Prabhu, Bhakta Justin and myself went down there to fix the place up a bit.
The first step towards making it live able was to rip out the old nasty dirty carpet and install new flooring.
The operation was very successful, the new floor looks great.
Last night after we finished up for the day a few students came over and had dinner with us and then chanted together. It was our first program in the new house.
It is going to be great to finally have our own place. For four years we have just been sleeping in peoples living rooms. It has been quite an austerity at times, somehow Krishna has blessed us with this wonderful facility, and hopefully we can use it properly in his service.
Soma Prabhu and Justin tear out the offending carpet while Balarama shows of his muscles.
Almost half way there.
Balaram installing the last piece of flooring.
The place looks great with the new floor in place.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
Death of a Younger Father
By Srila Jiva Goswami dasa
Mukta Kasa Prabhu had a funny way of chanting Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. I used to tease him by getting up in his grill and intoning, “Hey ditty ditty,†as if that was what he was actually saying. […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by mg
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
Solar Shingles Could Power Tomorrow?s Homes
 Complete article at Live Science
“Tired of your roof just soaking up rays and not pulling its load? You’re not alone. Increasing numbers of people are putting their roofs to work generating electricity. And that does not necessarily mean installing unsightly steel-and-glass solar energy modules.
“Today you can get photovoltaic shingles (or tile, or slate) that […]