Archive for July, 2007
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
Eating Beef ?Is Less Green Than Driving?
Cows on pasture, harvesting their own feed directly. Modern beef production concentrates cows in large feedlots and brings the feed to them.
From Telegraph.co.uk
“Producing 2.2lb of beef generates as much greenhouse gas as driving a car non-stop for three hours, it was claimed yesterday.
“Japanese scientists used a range of data to calculate the environmental […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
Question
hare krishna prabhuji–
please accept my obeisances. jaya swami prabhupada.
thank you thank you thank you for the nectar posting. i have a quick question for you…
do you have any other yamuna devi nectar…specifically related to cooking…or for that matter, anything from your guru maharaja or your own realizations?
i am in the process of getting ready for a course on deity cooking which i will be teaching this winter at the mayapur academy. any drops of nectar would be appreciated.
thanks for your inspiring blog…one of the few places i visit on the web.
your lowly servant, devadeva dasi
Hare Krishna Prabhu,
Thank you for you nice question.
I have had the the good fortune to cook with Yamuna devi and also eat her prasadam many times, the last time I was in Sharanagati she invited me to come everyday day for prasadam. That is always a special experience. These days she mostly cooks simple prasadam but everything does is amazing. And sometimes on special occasions she makes deserts or big feasts.
As I mentioned I think the most amazing thing is the attention to detail. Everything she does is so meticulous and thoughtful. If we care about something we will be attentive.
“Bhakti means attention to detail.” H.H. Radhanath Swami
One thing I learned from her, which I believe that Prabhupada taught her, is that before cooking one should always chant the pranam mantra to one’s spiritual master, she always chants “om ajnana” prayer before cooking. Whenever I remember I usually try to chant entire mangalacarana, or at least prayers to guru and Srimati Radharani, one can also use the “sri guru paramananda” prayer, I don’t think she ever learned that prayer but it embodies the mood of what I learned from her. She takes cooking as seriously as being on the altar. The same standards of cleanliness, attention, and meditation are required.
As far as Radhanath Maharaj, he was famous in the early days for his sandesh. Everytime Kirtanananda Maharaj would go to visit Prabhupada he would bring some of Maharaj’s sandesh, and everytime Prabhupada would see Kirtanananda he would ask, “Where is Radhanath’s sandesh.”
One time there was one devotee who wanted to compete with Maharaj and make better sandesh so he practiced and practiced for a long long time and eventually thought he had perfected the art, and when they offered it to Prabhupada he said, “It is good, but not as good as Radhanath’s.”
So he surrendered and went to New Vrindaban to learn from Maharaj. He was blow away when he saw the way Maharaj made sandesh.
He would make it piece by piece. He would take enough “dough” to make one piece of sandesh and spread it out on a large metal counter until it was so thin that you could not even see it. Then after kneading it in this way he would gather it all together and get one piece and he would it each piece like this, it would take him all night to make a batch of sandesh. When he saw Maharaj make the sandesh like this he surrendered and admitted defeat because he was not willing to go to such lengths. He was also famous halavah, especially halavah at the rainbow gathering. When he would cook halavah he would cook it for hours very very slowly.
I think the sandesh story gives you some insight into his mood.
I hope that helps. Good luck.
Your Servant,
Gauranga Kishore Das
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Monday, July 30th, 2007
Weekend in New Dwarka
It has been a pretty hectic weekend. Lots of fun stuff.
Saturday morning Jaya Keshava invited Maharaj to go on a walk in a nearby park. I also invited myself hoping that I might get a chance to speak to Maharaj. So I jumped in the car with Maharaj, Jaya Keshava, and Sri Sacinananda (Maharaj’s servant and driver while he’s at New Dwarka).
The park was beautiful, the main attraction was a beatiful lotus pond. I had never seen anything like this, there were what seemed like hundreds of huge pink lotuses all stretching towards the sky in full bloom. The flowers were blooming on steams that were about three or four feet out of the water. It was an amazing site.
Instead of a japa walk it was more like a japa hike up what we later found out was the steepest trail in the park, in the mid day Southern California sun, as always Maharaj was like a lotus, completely uneffected. Sri Sacinandana who is built quite largely with a heavy set six foot plus frame struggled a bit as we ascended the mountain. The view from the top was quite amazing, we could see all of LA, from the coast past downtown. And the other side of the mountain was just desert with a few oil rigs quietly drilling away to support all the cars that I could see moving around like littles ants on the other side.
While standing there I realized how temporary precarious. I think because most of the people on the the planet have grown up with cars, airplanes, televisions, computers, skyscrapers, highways, cities, cell phones, and ipods we tend to think of these things as permanent but really they have only been around for at most a hundred years and the computer age has only been around for twenty years or so, and very easily within a hundred years everthing it could all very easily collapse. It is humbling to think about our place in a planet that is at least four billion years old.
We rested at the top of the mountain for sometime, chanting japa under that shade of manmade pavillion. After some time of struggling to be attentive Jaya Keshava shows me his cell phone, he typed me a message “Maharaj is supposed to meet Bridget at 12, right?” It was Eleven Thirty, and just then Maharaj looks over at us and motions that we should be on our way. We could not help but laugh.
On the way down we briefly paused before the lotus pond, the whole time during the walk I was really anxious wondering if I would get and chance to speak with Maharaj but at the same I time I felt really stupid bothering him with my petty concerns. Just before we got in the car he looked me in the eyes and said, “Happy?” Now I really felt like a fool.
Spent most of the rest of the day spacing out, I took a little rest, help Balaram dye Maharaj’s clothes, at first they came out way way too dark, so I went and got some bleach from the restaurant and after we add that to the rinse cycle they were perfect.
A little later in the afternoon my mom showed up. We had dinner in the restaurant,and then headed to the temple for arati. Maharaj was going to be giving the evening class after the arati.
As usual he gave a wonderful class, because I was too tired to get on the computer to blog so I actually made it into bed before midnight. But it took me quite a while before I actually fell asleep.
I hadn’t been going to Mangala arati but since today was my last chance I figured I better get up and go. In preparation for the Ratha Yatra festival and for the temple cleaning that was scheduled for the entire day Maharaj spoke on the cleansing of Gundica temple. The verse were specifically about Lord Nityananda’s and Adwaita Prabhu’s mock fighting.
My mother and I left class about five minutes before Maharaja finished to attend a program with Brighu Ma. Sunday was guru purnima which quite a large festival amongst devotees of Brighu. Ma presided over the event of the day. We got there a little late, they had already begun a yajna, mostly to Hanumanji, it was a simple yajna with Ma leading the ceremony by chanting various prayers in glorification of Hanumanji and the Lord.
The we all went inside and did bhajans for about and hour and half. Ma didn’t lead any of the bhajans although she has a beautiful voice, she just had others sing mostly she engaged the teenagers and yound adults in chanting. She would call them individually and no one could refuse her. A few tried unsuccessfully. Then there was an arati to conclude the gathering, and Ma passed out fruit prasadam and there was a big feast. It was nice to see a woman in such a role, and to see so many men bowing down to her and touching her feet.
It was wonderful to be in her presence. She is the really the classic archetypal holy woman, kind, caring, compassionate, loving, affectionate, strong, extremely devotional, artistic, creative, beautiful in her own way and usually older and heavy set. This is how I imagine someone like Amachi to be, and being with her reminded me alot of being with Yamuna devi. Ofcourse there is something very very special about Yamuna devi but I still felt a similar energy from Ma.
After the program for Brighu we bade farwell to Ma and headed back to the temple for the evening program.
While I was waiting in the car for my mother to finish up inside I found an old Back to Godhead magazine, and in the Prabhupada lecture that I was reading he mentions Brighu. Prabhupada said, “From the Brighu samhita it was acertained that I was a big physician in my lst life, with a spotless character, no sins. I don’t know. It may be.” He was speaking about how our previous lives have no reality they are just like a dream.
Ma tells the story that just after she was married as a very yound girl a man came to her husband to get his reading from the Brighu samhita and the reading said that he would travel accross the ocean to preach. She said that when Prabhupada heard this he became ecstatic and began to dance in jubilation. It was quite syncronous to read Prabupada speaking abou this just after seeing Ma.
Just as we were arriving back at the temple Maharaj was also just returning from Maddy and Subhadra’s weding at the lotus park. He spoke with us for a few minutes, he asked about the Brighu samhita reading and I told him that I didn’t get it yet, I would get it later in the week, and then he asked how long we would be here for and said that we would speak sometime, let’s see what Krishna has in mind. Then we excused ourselves because I knew that Maharaj needed a little rest before the program in the evening.
I went back to the ashram and also took a little rest, I was quite tired by this time, after lying down for an hour I got up and got ready for the program.
Maharaj gave an amazing two and half hour sunday feast lecture, that was the longest lecture I’ve ever heard him give outside of India. He spoke on Ratha Yatra and on Sanatana Goswami, Guru Purnima is also his dissapearance day. Then Maharaj led an equally ecstatic kirtan.
After saying our goodbyes, we went over to Balagopal Prabhu’s place to get my mothers stuff. His wife fed us some soup and bread and we were on our way.
I’ll be staying at my mothers house in Fullerton for the week and then I’ll be back in LA for next weekends Rath Yatra festivities, and then back here for the week and then next weekend I’ll be flying back to Columbus.
Here are a few pictures I took over the weekend:
Radhanath Maharaj offering obeisances to Prabhupada before the Sunday morning Bhagavatam class.
Ma sitting outside leading the Yajna.
Ma distributing prasadam to everyone at the end of the program.
Maharaj chanting the Mangalacarana before the sunday lecture.
Bhakta Avatar Prabhu dancing ecstatically behind the vyasasana while Maharaj chants “Jaya Radha Madhava.” For anyone who does not know Bhakta Avatar Prabhu he is amazing, he dances constantly, and is such a wonderful vaishnava. Before Maharaj began the lecture he asked if he should speak on Ratha Yatra or Sanatana Goswami and everyone replied both, so Maharaj agreed but he said that prasadam might be a little late. Bhakta Avatara Prabhu turned to me and said, “This is the real prasadam.”
My final darshan of Rukmini Dwarkadisha on Sunday night just before we left.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Monday, July 30th, 2007
6th Annual Vaishnavi Retreat, For Women, By Women
Inspired by the sublime teachings of Srila Prabhupada
October 5th, 6th and 7th , 2007 (Columbus Day Weekend)
All Vaishnavi’s, as well as female friends and followers of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna are invited to attend the Annual Vaishnavi Retreat in New Vrindaban hosted by Malati Devi Dasi. This event includes interactive presentations, panel discussions, courses in Shastra, Yoga, Health, Massage, […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by jm
Monday, July 30th, 2007
Sun Ceremony
Spent the weekend at a Sun Ceremony in Friendship Village, about an hour and a half away in Ohio. Misogynists might want to stop reading now because the community is run by (gasp, oh the horror!) a woman. Here she is with Vidya.
Notice how all the pillars of the dance arbor are decorated with corn, […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Sunday, July 29th, 2007
Confessions of a Prasadam Addict
by Taru dasa
(the first in a series of six continuing articles (Sections) as taken from the Brijabasi Spirit from the 1970s)
Section. 1 Prasadam is All-Attractive
Someday the masses of people are going to find out about prasadam. It’s inevitable.
Prasadam is all-attractive, who could resist it? No matter who you are there’s some variety of prasadam which has the […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by jm
Sunday, July 29th, 2007
Smarter Than The Average Weatheman
Most of us came to this material world because we felt we could have a good time trying to be the Supreme Controller. Beyond this desire for mere enjoyment, some of us want to put this misconception to more practical uses.
As China gears up for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also fights the seemingly near-worldwide drought conditions that have been plaguing this planet during this past year, they are going up to Indradeva and shoving the King of Heaven right out of his bejeweled seat!
Check out this article from Asia Times Online, which explains how China has brought the practice of weather modification out of the conspiracy theory message boards and made it into official government policy.
Here’s an excerpt…
“In the beginning, the idea was to ease drought and improve harvests for Chinese farmers, but over the decades other functions have evolved such as firefighting, prevention of hailstorms, and replenishment of river heads and reservoirs. Artificial rain has also been used by some provinces to combat drought and sandstorms. In 2004, Shanghai decided to induce rain simply to lower the temperature during a prolonged heat wave to bring relief to an increasingly hot and sweaty urban populace.
And now China’s weather officials have been charged with another important task: ensuring clear skies for the Summer Olympic Games next year.
Zhang Qiang, the top weather-modification bureaucrat in Beijing, said her office has been conducting experiments in cloud-busting for the past two years in preparation for the Games’ opening ceremony on August 8, 2008.
She said that according to past meteorological data, there is a 50% chance of drizzle on that day. To ensure blue skies, the Beijing Weather Modification Office is busy researching the effects of various chemical activators on different sizes of cloud formations at different altitudes. The aim is to catch pregnant clouds early and induce rainfall ahead of the big day so that during the opening ceremony the sky is cloud-free.
Wang said similar efforts in the past have already helped to create good weather for a number of international events held in China, including the 1999 World Horti-Expo in Yunnan and the 1993 East Asian Games in Shanghai.
However, Zhang warned that her cloud-fighters will only be effective in the event of the threat of a drizzle: “A heavy downpour will be impossible to combat.”
Her caveat goes to the heart of the primary criticism leveled against weather-modification efforts worldwide: doubts about their effectiveness. Wang himself admits that it remains notoriously difficult to establish how much real impact cloud-seeding has, since there is no foolproof way to establish how much rain might have fallen without intervention.”
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Bhakta-Chris
Sunday, July 29th, 2007
Time Is Conspicuous By Its Absence
“In the material world everything is created, and everything is annihilated, and the duration of life between the creation and annihilation is temporary. In the transcendental realm there is no creation and no destruction, and thus the duration of life is eternal unlimitedly. In other words, everything in the transcendental world is everlasting, full of […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Saturday, July 28th, 2007
Remove the Mud Campaign Finished
Because the location where we needed to pour concrete was inacessable to the concrete trucks, we had to hire a boom-pump truck. With its boom fully extended it could reach a hundred and ten feet.
We hired a local concrete contractor to help with the pour. We had hired them before and they enjoyed doing this job because of the unique nature of the project.
Halfway through the project and still going strong.
Bhima wouuld like to come into the barn and help with the pouring of the concrete. However we have a full crew for this job and Bhima doesn’t have his rubber boots with him.
76 1/2 yards of concrete later and the job is finished.
“Ah, now I can come up the ramp and get back into the barn. Thanks guys, you did a good job!” Bhima exclaims.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Balabhadra das
Saturday, July 28th, 2007
Eternal Quest For The Meaning Of Life
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Saturday, July 28th, 2007
Bhakti ~ Bhukti (Vrindaban & Krishna Prasadam)
From Mahanandi
Cooking with Consciousness ~ Recipes from India and the World
(click here to see pictures of New Vrindaban)
“One of the places we visit whenever life overwhelms us here in US is the New Vrindaban Holy Dham. Located in beautiful and peaceful Appalachian mountain range in the rural West Virginia panhandle, in almost 500 acres, the […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by mg
Friday, July 27th, 2007
The Nectar Train Continues
Shri Shri Rukmini Dwarkadisha Ki jaya!
Dwarkadhisha was looking especially beautiful this morning.
The diety of Srila Prabhupada is especially beautiful here in New Dwarka.
Radhanath Maharaj giving bhagavatam class this morning, speaking on cleansing of Gundica temple.
Maharaj having breakfast in the restaurant with his Godbrothers and Godsisters.
Balaramachandra and Erin, she was one of our good friends from the cooking class in Athens, she graduated two years ago and has been living out here in LA, she just recently came back from India.
This evening we had a program with Maharaj at Jhulan Yatras, Maharaj led us in wonderful kirtan and then at the request of Sri Sacinandana Prabbhu chanted “Akrodha Paramananda” by Locan das Thakur. Then Maharaj gave an amazing lecture about the glories of Lord Nityananda, one thing he shared was that all of the biographers of Lord Chaitanya, Vrindaban das Thakur and Krishna das Kaviraj, were both disciples of Lord Nityananda, so without Lord Nityananda we would literally not know anything about Lord Chaitanya, which is of course an extension of the philosophical principal that one can only approach Lord Caitanya or Radha and Krishna by the mercy of Sri Nityananda Prabu.
Here is Sriman Joseph Prabhu who in a fit of ecstasy thought it would be a good idea to consume a whole gallon of icecream. When I questioned him he explained that in Bhagavad Gita Krishna says that someone who is Krishna conscious is transcendental to the laws of material nature, so for an ordinary person it is probably not a good idea to eat a gallon of icecream, but devotees being transcedental may do as they are inspired by Krishna within their heart. I had my doubts but he does look pretty blissful.
Unfortunately I missed the Harinam in Hollywood, it is always a blast, but I can’t complain Krishna is very kind to me to give me such wonderful association.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Friday, July 27th, 2007
Waddle like a Duck
By Srila Jiva Goswami dasa
In the late nineties, I started coming back to The Temple. I was living in Wheeling. I came to the Temple every morning, took the Association of The Devotees, participated at Mongol Aortik, chanted 16 Rounds and Guyatri, and polished it off by taking morning Prasadama with the Devotees. […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by mg
Friday, July 27th, 2007
This Is How Yogadev Rolls
Soma and I went over to Pennsylvania yesterday to do an inipi (a purification ceremony, commonly called a sweat lodge) with Yogadev.
Part of the ceremony is gathering wood for the fire to heat the stones.
Yogadev met Radhanath Swami in Athens, Ohio in 1981, early in RS’s preaching career. He used to drive him to various […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Friday, July 27th, 2007
A Day in New Dwarka Dham
Shri Shri Rukmini Dwarkadisha ki jaya.
Gaura Nitai were looking especially beautiful today.
Jaya Gauranga Prabhu demonstrating how not to sit while chanting.
Jagannath Puri Prabhu demonstrating how to sit properly while chanting.
Maharaj arrived just in time for the childrens Ratha Yatra festival. It was really cute, the cart was built out of legos. Everyone had lots of fun pulling the cart up and down the street. 
Harinam on Venice Beach, MTV was supposed to come and film us but somehow there was a little miscommunication, but we had a good time anyway.
Advertisement for hamburgers on Venice Beach. Definitely not good karma. Prepare to suffer.
Lunch and disciples meeting at Jhulan Yatras. 
Maharaj spoke on the same two themes I’ve heard him speak throughout the summer, the environmental crisis and the importance of developing good qualities in order to properly hear and chant. Previously I heard him speak about environmental issues in a way that new people could appreciate it, but today he was speaking to devotees, he chastised the host for serving lunch on styrofoam plates, and urged the devotees to really examine weather they are using modern technology to serve Krishna or for sense gratification. He gave the example that yukta vairagya is like using a thorn to remove a thorn, but if you are not careful you end up with two thorns, then three, then one hundred and eight and then you think that it is very auspicious because you have one hundred and eight thorns in your foot. And he also spoke in depth about developing the mood of goodness (in connection with devotional service) as being the only way to transcend the modes of material nature. You can only transcend the mode of material nature from goodness, not from passion or ignorance.
During the darshan I mentioned to Maharaj that Jaya Gauranga Prabhu was supposed to give the evening class, and then Jaya Gauranga said that he wanted me to give the class, then Maharaj suggested that we both give class. That was a first, it was really fun to be able to do with such a dear godbrother.