Archive for July, 2007
Saturday, July 21st, 2007
The Fire Department Comes for a Visit
Two nights before, I had been startled during a rain storm by a blinding flash and simultaneous large explosion. Lightning had struck between Sudhanu’s and our house, about a couple of hundred yards on the other side of the state road, as it turned out.
Yesterday our new neighbor Keith, who just built a house […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Saturday, July 21st, 2007
24 Hour Kirtan
New Vrindavan Dham will be hosting a world-class 24 hour kirtan on August 18-19. North America’s best kirtaniyas will be there along with special guests Madhava Prabhu (Switzerland/Vrindavan) and Gopala Prabhu (UK/Vrindavan/Mayapur), seasoned veterans of Aindra Prabhu’s kirtan party!
Come immerse yourself fully in the ecstasy of the Mahamantra along with Acyuta, Ananta, Bali, Gauravani, Visvambhara, […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by rs
Saturday, July 21st, 2007
Drive to remove stray animals in Agra, India hits roadblock
By Brij Khandelwal. Uttar Pradesh, India
The much-hyped and long-awaited campaign to remove stray animals from urban
areas in Agra has been stalled by complaints from animal activist Maneka
Gandhi.
In a series of complaints to the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary, Agra
divisional commissioner and other officials, Gandhi has accused Agra
Municipal Commissioner Shyam Singh Yadav of ordering ‘the mass killing of
dogs’, a charge vehemently denied by Yadav.Gandhi has also accused the
municipal commissioner of ‘planning to kill all monkeys, donkeys and cows to
make Agra completely animal-free’.
‘The experiment to relocate monkeys had not succeeded anywhere in India. In
Vrindavan they had tried this experiment and all the monkeys perished. Delhi
also tried to relocate the monkeys in the Bhatti mines; more than 600 died.
‘If the authorities in Agra want to kill them let them say so. Before
transporting the monkeys, a proper survey of the area and the forest should
be done to make sure they had enough to eat there and the facilities
available could sustain them,’ Gandhi told IANS.
Ravindra Choudhary, head of the Animal Husbandry Department of the Agra
Municipal Corporation, said: ‘People are being bitten by monkeys daily.
Unfortunately, there are no medical facilities available for treatment and
no anti-rabbies vaccines. And how can the poor afford treatment?’
According to Choudhary, there are more than 10,000 monkeys in Agra but an
animal welfare NGO estimates that there are close to 50,000 monkeys and they
seem to be multiplying at a fast rate.
In 1996, the Supreme Court had ordered that dairies should be shifted
outside the city and several directives were subsequently issued on the same
order. The Uttar Pradesh government had also issued a gazette notification
in 2002 to control animal population and capture stray animals.
Yadav said that the registration of all pet animals has now been made
mandatory. ‘I am also looking for a suitable design to prevent littering on
the roads by horses deployed to haul carriages. The excreta of horses would
be collected in a leather bag and then disposed of,’ he added.
Although Maneka’s initiative has for the moment halted all projects to rid
the city of stray animals, Mukesh Jain, the private financer of the ‘Catch
the Monkeys’ campaign, said that he would go ahead with the drive in the
last week of July.
‘We are following the rule book and there is nothing illegal about it. The
charge of killing the animals is baseless. The animal lovers are free to
feed the monkeys in the jungle. But why allow the monkeys to bite human
beings?’ he asked.
In her letter to the Agra divisional commissioner, Gandhi said, ‘Street dogs
and cattle forage in the garbage, cleaning it of all organic waste. In their
absence uncollected garbage will rot and smell.
‘India has a long tradition of peaceful coexistence with animals. What makes
our cities special is that we share them freely with animals. To remove
animals from a city leaving only the sterility of cars and buildings in a
foolish aping of the west is to destroy the city’s character and soul.
‘The Agra-Vrindavan-Mathura area holds a special sentiment for all Indians
as the place of the cowherd god Krishna. Would we rid his place of cows or
any other creatures?’
Locals want all stray animals, including dogs and cattle rounded up, and the
monkeys killed or transported to some other location.
‘Due to the fear of monkeys we have not had the courage to sleep on our
terraces in this hot weather. Women can’t go to the roof tops and spend some
time there in the cold winter months as these monkeys target children and
young women,’ said Bankey Lal, a shopkeeper.
‘It’s not a happy situation to be in,’ said Mukesh Jain. He has already
spent quite a lot of money on catching monkeys and is willing to finance the
drive till the last monkey has been dispatched to the forest.
The municipal corporation wants a drastic reduction in the number of
animals. Gandhi has suggested sterilisation of dogs by her organisation
People for Animals (PFA) as she thinks this would be a more humane approach
to the problem.
Vasudha Mehta of the NGO Wildlife SOS, which runs a rescue centre for sloth
bears in Agra, suggests a rescue centre for monkeys. ‘Let’s work on some
netted enclosure with electric fencing on the river bank. Put all the
monkeys there and feed them at one point.
‘Obviously, it is a very tricky problem, all the more because of people’s
religious sentiments. So we must work on some innovative ideas and
technologies in the interest of the human race,’ she said.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by AR
Saturday, July 21st, 2007
My Kuruksetra
HG Partha-Sarathi Das is rare-in his humility, dedication, sincerity, and compassion. Having met him at this year’s Festival of Inspiration at New Vrindaban, playing kirtans with him, watching his worship his awesome Nrshinga Silas, sharing encouragement on the paths ahead, I was struck once again by the fact that even though I’ve never met this person before in this life, like so many other devotees, I felt like I’ve been intimate associates with him for lifetimes.
He is also rare because he is currently serving his third tour of duty in Iraq as a soldier in the United States Armed Forces. As of my last communication with him, he is in an undisclosed location, suffering from unwell health, but he is alive, in the spirit of devotion, and spreading the Holy Name, even in the most hellish of hellish environments.
You may or may not agree with the politics of his personal lifestyle choice, but it doesn’t take anything to pray to Radha and Krsna for his well-being and safe return. He has many years ahead of loving devotional service that we all need to be part of.
This is the second in a series of articles written by Partha-Sarathi Prabhu about his experiences as a devotee fighting in Iraq…
My Kuruksetra Part 1
By Partha-sarathi dasa
In
Today I met with the Chaplin, in the military we have men of faith in uniform. Their jobs are to help us keep our faith and to inspire us to follow a spiritual tradition. Contrary to what some might think the military is full of spiritual individuals and a great out let to introduce people to Srila Prabhupada’s books. I was invited by my Chaplin to be involved with our first prayer breakfast while deployed. First he wanted to talk with me and understand my faith. The day came for us to met and I brought with me about five books. I brought for him, Bhagavad-Gita, Easy Journeys to Other Planets, Life After Life, and assorted small books.
As our discussion progressed he was admitting he didn’t understand the Hare Krsna movement. I smiled and said Sir, please take these books, read them and you will understand the meaning of spiritual life. Reluctantly he took the books and said we would meet again in two days.
In two days we met again, but this time his outlook changed. He said he just opened the Bhagavad-Gita to a random verse and found the following:
“For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.”
He said Srila Prabhupada’s purport in this verse touched his heart so much that he could understand the condition soul forgetful nature is.
The soul is full of knowledge, or full always with consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Even if one does not find the soul within the heart, where he is situated, one can still understand the presence of the soul simply by the presence of consciousness. Sometimes we do not find the sun in the sky owing to clouds, or for some other reason, but the light of the sun is always there, and we are convinced that it is therefore daytime. As soon as there is a little light in the sky early in the morning, we can understand that the sun is in the sky. Similarly, since there is some consciousness in all bodies? whether man or animal? we can understand the presence of the soul. This consciousness of the soul is, however, different from the consciousness of the Supreme because the supreme consciousness is all-knowledge? Past, present and future. The consciousness of the individual soul is prone to be forgetful. When he is forgetful of his real nature, he obtains education and enlightenment from the superior lessons of Krsna. But Krsna is not like the forgetful soul. If so, Krsna teachings of Bhagavad-Gita would be useless.
Both the Supersoul [Paramatma] and the atomic soul [jivatma] are situated on the same tree of the body within the same heart of the living being, and only one who has become free from all material desires as well as lamentations can, by the grace of the Supreme, understand the glories of the soul.” Krsna is the fountainhead of the Supersoul also, as it will be disclosed in the following chapters, and Arjuna is the atomic soul, forgetful of his real nature; therefore he requires to be enlightened by Krsna or by His bona fide representative (the spiritual master).
As he was describing his realizations I saw tears in his eyes and how the spiritual world has opened up for him. How Krsna as the super soul and through Srila Prabhupada’s books woke him up and restored his memory of what it means to be a servant of God. He asked me to give a presentation at the prayer breakfast. I agreed and as I left his office, I turned around and thought maybe I should preach some more, maybe I should explain more of the philosophy to him. As I glanced at him and noticed the way he was lovingly glancing at the cover I smiled and thought how this man truly understands the Bhagavad-Gita.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Bhakta-Chris
Saturday, July 21st, 2007
Deep in The Woods
by Bhavisyat dasa ( from Sept, 1981 Issue of the Brijabasi Spirit)
Lord Balarama, Subadhra and Lord Jagannatha on their way back to Vrindaban
When New Vrindaban is mentioned to any devotee in ISKCON these days, there is virtual certainty that he will automatically think of Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold, Radha-Vrindaban Candra and Srila Bhaktipada. It wasn’t […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by jm
Friday, July 20th, 2007
Radhanath Swami Wedding lecture
Lecture by HH Radhanath Maharaja
At the Wedding of Bhavatarine and Govinda Ghosh
Govardhan Puja, New Vrndavana, October 25, 2002
Today is a very auspicious occasion. These two very wonderful devotees, Govinda Ghosh Prabhu and Maharani Bhavatarini devi have earned the respect and love of so many Vaisnavas all over the world, that New Vrndavana has become a place of pilgrimage. Actually, (it is) due to all these devotees love and respect for you. The blessings of Vaisnavas is the blessings of Krishna. With these blessings we can cross all the obstacles of this world.
Today is a very auspicious day, Govardhana Puja. There is something we could learn about marriage from the pastime of the Govardhana lila. Indra sent many obstacles, storms, lightening, high winds, massive rains, freezing cold, flying ice and from my understanding all these things will come within marriage life also. (laughter) But because the Brijbasis remained together under the shelter of Lord Krishna’s mercy, they all remained united in the service of Lord Sri Krishna and they were always protected from all these obstacles. That is an eternal truth.
Marriage is a sacred offering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Today, as Kali-yuga progresses it becomes nothing more that a legal formality. But marriage is a sacred offering of devotion. The husband and the wife come together to take vows before the deity and before the sacred fire and all the assembled Vaisnavas to live in faithfulness and dedication with Lord Krishna’s service in the center. This is the key to all success in any responsibility in devotional service - to keep Krishna in the center. As long as Krishna was in the center of the Brijbasis, there was no Indra or any demigod or any factor could do anythingvto disunite them. How to keep Krishna in the center? That is a science.
In 1969 when Prabhupada was here in New Vrndavana, he performed a marriage. And in his lecture he spoke something that fascinated me a lot. He explained how the duty of the husband and the wife were to dedicate each other to make their partner happy. Because Prabhupada said without happiness there cannot really be a growth of bhakti. It is actually the responsibility of husband and wife to keep each other happy in devotional service.
And what does it take to make another person happy? We have a physical being, an emotional being and a spiritual being. And the duty of marriage is to serve the needs of our partner- physical needs, according to the particular circumstance. Traditionally the wife takes care of the house and children, the husband provides. Emotionally- affection, respect is very, very important. One of the big problems in any relationship in this world is that everybody has a very separate and distinct false ego. And the closer two false egos come to each other the more the volatile potential is there. Does anyone have this experience? Therefore, humility in this relationship is actually our responsibility. To satisfy each other emotionally people need to feel cared for, people need to feel loved. We cannot neglect each other. We cannot disrespect each other. Love is a very, very high spiritual realization; it has little or nothing to do with the romantic feelings of this world.
In the American continent, 71% of marriages are divorced within three years. That’s a federal statistic. Because they base the relationship on this romantic attraction, often. But traditional marriage throughout the world is based on responsibility. Do not expect your partner to be what you want them to be, because they will not. When you marry, you have many things in common because you want things in common. But after some time, the differences begin to manifest. I want my wife to be this way and the wife wants her husband to be that way, but the fact is, every person is a unique devotee of the Lord and we have to both adjust with respect, with responsibility and through the process of going through the various storms of life, we actually gain deep spiritual realization and deep love and respect for each other and for Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. That’s really what marriage is about. Human life is meant for tapasya. Marriage life is not meant for sense gratification, it is meant for tapasya. Some sense gratification may be there, but the actual realization comes when we adjust ourselves to help make the other person happy in Krishna consciousness, even if it causes difficulties to myself. And through this process over the years of sacrifice, adjustment, loyalty, faithfulness, we gain tremendous deep spiritual enlightenment. We develop a very deep connection to Krishna. That is the beauty of grihastha life.
Grhastha life is designed so that by living together in a particular spiritual environment we become completely purified and learn to become completely dependent and faithful to Krishna. Srila Prabhupada explained that the primary duty of a man is to protect his wife. This means to protect physically, emotionally and spiritually, by providing the needs of the body and the affection respect and concern of the emotions. And by providing a spiritual example by which the wife feels confident to continue forward on the path of bhakti. Srila Prabhupada explained the duty of the wife is to assist the husband, to remain chaste and faithful to the husband and to inspire the husband in his devotional service.
In Srimad Bhagavatam the wife is compared to a very formidable fort that protects the husband from maya. In Krishna consciousness, the misconception of husband being superior to wife, wife should be slave to husband, has proved to be an utter failure. The fact is, marriage is a partnership of respect and responsibility. And when by the grace of God, children come through this marriage, then what a great responsibility comes in that form,when the Supreme Personality of Godhead entrusts His own beloved devotee under our care.
So please Govinda Ghosh and Maharani Bhavatarini, take this vow very seriously and understand that by having a serious responsibility toward each other with humility, with respect, with care, to help your partner to become actually happy in Krishna consciousness. That is what this vow is all about in this ceremony, isn’t it? And then you will taste the nectar of pure unalloyed devotional service. However many storms, how much thunder, lightening when the downfall comes, always remain under the sacred Govardhana hill of Krishna’s will of your sacred vows, keep your gaze always upon Krishna and He will always protect you.
The holy name of the Lord is the most merciful, munificent manifestation of Krishna in our lives. I know Govinda Ghosh Prabhu is very fond of chanting the holy names. And when he chants he has the power to induce many, many people to dance and sing in ecstasy. So please make your house the spiritual world where the chanting of the holy name is the heart of your life. Prabhupada explained that when the husband and wife are responsible to respect one another and encourage one another in Krishna consciousness, then the house becomes Vaikuntha, the spiritual world. It is my great prayer that all the assembled Vaisnavas offer their heartfelt blessings on this day.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Friday, July 20th, 2007
“Man is the only animal that can remain on friendl…
“Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.” Samuel Butler
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Friday, July 20th, 2007
Deep in The Woods
by Bhavisyat dasa ( from Sept, 1981 Issue of the Brijabasi Spirit )
Lord Balarama, Subadhra and Lord Jagannatha on their way back to Vrindaban
When New Vrindaban is mentioned to any devotee in ISKCON these days, there is virtual certainty that he will automatically think of Prabhupada’s
Palace of
Gold, Radha-Vrindaban Candra and Srila Bhaktipada. It wasn’t so […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by jm
Friday, July 20th, 2007
Solution For ED
What do devotees take for erectile dysfunction?
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Hint: It starts with a “V” and includes some “a”s.
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Vanaprastha
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
“If you are bothered you are no better than they are.”
Early in his spiritual life Srila Bhaktitirtha Maharaj learned an important lesson. When he first started joined the Hare Krishna movement he noticed that the devotees, although preaching a philosophy of absolute equality between all living entities based on every individual as an eternal spirit soul, were discriminating against him on the basis of racial prejudice.
He was surprised and disturbed to find such a low level of consciousness amongst with in a spiritual society. When he had the opportunity he approached Srila Prabhupada and told him that some of his disciples were racists.
Srila Prabhupada gave him a powerful reply, “If you are bothered by it then you are no better than they are.”
This is a powerful meditation. If we are ever disturbed by anyone in any situation we should simply see that as Krishna trying to show an area of our consciousness that we need to improve upon.
And ultimately if one is fully Krishna conscious he can never be disturbed by anyone in any situation.
“Some of the greatest problems are problems that we have to deal with inside ourselves. They involve raising our own consciousness. If I allow you to excessively bother me mentally, it means that my own consciousness is low; otherwise, your actions or words could not disturb my mind. Whatever your position may be, if you bother me, it is because I stand on insecure ground. We must avoid a mood of always seeing others as the full problem. We must avoid letting people’s nonsense turn us into nonsense. If we fall prey to weakness, it is because we do not have sufficient strength.”
Srila Bhakti Tirtha Swami
“When faults in others misguide and delude you - have patience, introspect, find faults in yourself. Know that others cannot harm you unless you harm yourself.”
Srila Bhaktisidhanta Saraswati Thakur
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
Crying over Labeled Milk
By Christopher Wanjek
Monsanto, the multinational biotechnology corporation and leading producer of genetically engineered seed with a near monopoly on many crops and annual revenue exceeding $7 billion, is worried that you are being misled.
For this reason, the company wants to ban shady dairy farmers like those rascally Amish and weirdo hippies from labeling their products […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
Faultfinding: Bathing in the Urine of an Ass
The association of devotees is the most precious gift of God in all of creation. When Krsna wants to bestow His most intimate mercy, He allows us to associate with His most sincere devotees. Srila Krsna Das Kaviraj Goswami, the author of Sri Caitanya Charitamritam has prayed that on this path of bhakti I am a cripple and I am tripping and falling but the stick in the form of the mercy of the vaisnavas is keeping me able to continue walking forward on the path of devotion. Srila Prabhupada has said that anyone who thinks that they can be Krsna conscious without the association with sincere devotees is insane. Each and every devotee who is honestly struggling to follow the path of the previous acaryas is such a rare jewel in this world and to the degree that we are able to appreciate the earnest efforts of these rare jewels; to that degree we will become dear to Krsna. And to the degree we try to see the faults of others or the negative side of a person who is struggling to be Krsna conscious; to that degree we will be neglected by Krsna.
-H.H. Radhanath Swami
The last sentence really struck me because I am beginning to realize, to some extant, how many offenses I have made by criticizing devotees who are sincerely struggling to be Krishna conscious, by trying to see their faults rather than appreciating what rare jewels such exalted personalities are.
And the amazing thing is that in the name of Krishna consciousness or devotional service one can justify criticizing the devotees of the Lord.
Srila Raghunath Das Goswami in his Manah Siksa (Instructions to the Mind) compares duplicitous and wicked activities such as fault finding to the urine of an ass. Only a great fool would think that by taking bath in the urine of an ass he can become purified, if someone is foolish enough to bath in the urine of an ass he will only become more contaminated. In same way sometimes in the course of our Krishna conscious we indulge in such lower propensities as faultfinding and criticizing and although one may justify them in so many ways and actually believe that by doing so he is cleansing his consciousness and making spiritual advancement, factually such a person is only sinking lower and lower into material consciousness.
And he says that rather than indulging in such deceitful behavior which is compared to the urine of an ass one should dive into the glistening nectar-ocean of pure love for Sri Sri Gandharva-Giridhari (Sri Sri Radha-Krsna).
In the next verse Srila Raghunath Goswami instructs us that the root cause is, pratisthasa, the desire for name and fame or as Srila Prabhupada would say desires for profit, adoration, and distinction.
His advice is that one constantly serve one’s guru who is very dear to the Lord and with a voice choked with emotion cry out to Lord Giridhari, in order to be free from such wickedness and attain the pristine treasure of pure love of God.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
Japa Training
Dear devotees,
Here are a number of versions of Srila Prabhupada chanting one round of japa.
Each version is slightly faster from the original recording accelerating from 11.5 minutes, to 10, 9, 8, 7, and 6 minute rounds.
I found using these helpful to keep my mind on track while chanting and to exercise my attention […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by admin
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
Photos of Ratha-Yatra
Many photos of Ratha-yatra festival are now on the New Vrindaban Website, in the Gallery
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by jm
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
Ummm Good!
“My friends and I rotate between two pastures on the ISCOWP farm to give each pasture some time to rejuvenate. Today, we moved to the other pasture. I must say that the grass on the other side of the fence looked a lot better than the rest of the pasture. I had to tell everyone else and they joined me in a scrumptious lunch. Maybe it is greener on the other side of the fence!” said Gita, now the King of the Herd.