Archive for September, 2007
Sunday, September 30th, 2007
Sri Sri Radha-VrindabanChandra Today
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by jm
Sunday, September 30th, 2007
Caution: Strict Vegetarians May Be Offended By These Images
See more images here.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
Tortoise and the Hare?
How will this race pan out over the next 1000 years? Like the tortoise and the hare*?
“One who becomes fully Krsna conscious can attain the Absolute Truth. Krsna is the Absolute Truth. Relative truth is not truth in all the three phases of eternal time. Time is divided into past, present and future. Krsna is […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
Radhanath Swami Pics (London and Slovenia)
I didn’t take many pictures of Maharaj because I know it is something he is not so fond of and I was trying to keep a low profile. But Janak Prabhu took some really nice photos of Maharajs visit to London.
London pics here. London initiation pics here
Courtesy of Urukrama Prabhu here are a some pics and videos of Maharaj’s one day visit to Slovenia.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Friday, September 28th, 2007
New Vrindaban Local Hari-nam, Saturday Sept. 29th
Dear Devotees:
In celebration of the Holy Name, you are all invited to join in an enthusiastic Sri Hari Nama tomorrow evening, from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm, convening in front of RVC Temple. We will circumambulate Radha Vrindaban Chandra, then head for Srila Prabhupada’s Palace, via the Goshalla and return, via the Lake, offering special attention to Sri […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by jm
Friday, September 28th, 2007
Road Between Temple And Route 250 Closure
Monday September 24th the ridge road between the temple and Route 250 will be closed between the school bus runs, approximately 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM.
It will be closed between Sudhanu’s and Tejo’s houses in order to stabilize and fix the slip that occurred there in January 2005 and has had the road reduced to […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Friday, September 28th, 2007
Road Between Temple And Route 250 Closure
Monday September 24th the ridge road between the temple and Route 250 will be closed between the school bus runs, approximately 7:30 AM to 3:00 PM.
It will be closed between Sudhanu’s and Tejo’s houses in order to stabilize and fix the slip that occurred there in January 2005 and has had the road reduced to […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by mg
Friday, September 28th, 2007
Varsana, Kuladri, and Radhanath
photos courtesy of Jivagoswami.
Pretty much from the 1980s, I guess. I don’t know if Varshana or Radhanath were or were not swamis at the time of these photos, but probably they were.
This is back in the day when the work ethic was valued and devotees were more task oriented than position oriented.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by mg
Friday, September 28th, 2007
The Small Farm Training Center
The Small Farm and Teaching Garden, a project of SANTEE Farm and Gardens, hosted this past weekend Dr. Barbara Liedle and three graduate students visiting from West Virginia State University. Dr. Liedle, a research scientist has chosen the 6.5 acre Gar…
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Friday, September 28th, 2007
Exercise In Futility
Here is a volunteer gourd going for broke in our front yard. It got a late start and for sentimental reasons (we do like gourds) Vidya didn’t weed it out when she was working in the flower bed.
For some reason, a groundhog didn’t chew it back before it managed to get a start up the […]
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Madhava Gosh
Friday, September 28th, 2007
The Small Farm Training Center
Check out the new blog for Club 108, New Vrindaban’s progressive outreach hub, at www.nvclub108.blogspot.com.
The Small Farm and Teaching Garden, a project of SANTEE Farm and Gardens, hosted this past weekend Dr. Barbara Liedle and three graduate students visiting from West Virginia State University.
Dr. Liedle, a research scientist has chosen the 6.5 acre Garden of Seven Gates, our main agricultural project here at New Vrindaban, another grant to test organically grown seed lines.
This project, called the Organic Seed Partnership, collects data from field green crops such as bell peppers. summer squash, winter squash, tomatoes, and okra. Dr. Liedle and the grad students harvested 50 bushels of butternut squash. The produce that is produced will be utilized by the RVC Temple kitchen and the Lodge snack bar.
Following the arduous, rewarding, and sometimes odorous task (rotten squash doesn’t smell like strawberries), our guests also toured the Palace of Gold and ate sumptous amounts of Krsna prasadam. We thank them kindly for their involvement and interest with New Vrindaban in this progressive project.
Here are some photographic highlights:
A Club 108 production
For more info on Club 108, New Vrindaban’s progressive outreach hub, please e-mail us at nvclub108@gmail.com
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Club 108
Friday, September 28th, 2007
Radhanath Swami in Italy
My first day in Villa Vrindavan was really difficult I was exhausted from the previous days travels, I started questioning what I was doing in Italy, and wishing I was anywhere but there. I felt alone in foreign place, I knew very few devotees there, most of Italian devotees don’t speak English. But in the end it turned out to be a wonderful trip, I met many wonderful devotees. I even found some Alachua gurukulis to hang out with. And as always Maharaj was very kind to me the entire trip, much more so than I could possibly deserve. I am very grateful for this wonderful opportunity to have the association of my spiritual master and so many sincere vaishnavas.
Here are a few experiences and reflections from the past few days during my recent travels with Maharaj through Italy.
I was on the computer doing so blog stuff and he walked by and stopped to see what I was doing, and said “You are doing seva.” I was very happy because sometimes I wonder if I am just wasting time with the blog, and it also feels strange just putting my life and person thoughts out on cyberspace for the whole world to see, so it was nice to get confirmation from Maharaj that I was doing a service and not just indulging my over inflated false ego. A few minutes later Maharaj came by and very humbly asked me if I could do some service for him. He said it in such a genuinely humble way, not as a order but a very humble request. I said, “Of course Maharaj.” He walked away and brought back a handful of some type of vitamin or herb capsules and a little cup of water and asked me to empty the capsules into the cup of water. I was overjoyed to be able to do this simple service for Maharaj.
Another time while I was on my computer Maharaj walked by and asked me if I had a cell phone, I said no, but I could get one for him, then he very lovingly smashed me in the face with his beads and walked out of the temple for a late evening japa walk. Being the idiot that I am I didn’t realize that I should have immediately gotten a phone for Maharaj so that when he got back he would have a phone to use, instead I just kept doing emails and chatting, then when Maharaj came back he again asked someone else nearby for a phone, I immediately ran to get a phone but it was too late, someone had already given him one. Maharaj is not easy to serve because he rarely asks for service you have to be really conscious to understand what he wants or will need and then provide it because he probably will not ask.
During the trip to Italy I got to play a lot of mrdanga for Maharaj. Whenever I am playing mrdanga for Maharaj I feel like I have achieved the perfection of life, I feel as if I could be fully satisfied to do this for the rest of eternity. A few times while playing Maharaj looked at me and just gave me this amazing smile of gratitude, thanking me for my efforts. What more could one ask for.
During his last class at Prabhupadadesh Maharaj was thanking all the devotees, he was thanking the devotees and mentioning the different parts of the world that they came from. Devotees from the audience were mentioning different countries that devotees had come from. Someone said “New Vrindaban,” and Maharaj said “No, Gauranga Kishore is from Govardhan.” For sometime I’ve been wondering if I am still a “New Vrindaban devotee” taking some time off to study or if I am now a “Govardhan devotee.” It is now official I am from Govardhan.
And then Maharaj said a few nice words about me and thanked me for coming to Italy. The feeling of being in the presence of the spiritual master or Krishna in his form of the deity and the holy names when they are genuinely pleased with your service is something beyond description.
On a japa walk at Prabhupadadesh I found some grapes in the vineyard that had turned into raisins. So, instead of paying for prasadam I was mostly eating these raisins. One day Sandipan Krishna bought me lunch and I had the Sunday feast which was free but I was eating a lot of raisins. And when it was time to go I collected whatever was left of the raisins in box. The next morning in Slovenia Maharaj saw me, I had some raisins in a bag. Maharaj walked by and said, “Raisins, like Kumbha Mela?” I said, “I do have raisins,” and Maharaj said, “I know.” I was really surprised that Maharaj knew that I was eating raisins, only a couple of other people knew, I guess someone told him, and I was also a little surprised that he remembered the Kumbha Mela when he caught me in a corner eating raisins by myself and told me to break my raw food fast. His memory is quite amazing but more amazing than that is how he is so aware of what I am doing and how I am doing, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, where I have been and how I am progressing.
What has really stood out in my mind during my association with Maharaj this year is just how much of himself he gives in his lectures. Everywhere he goes he speaks for hours on end and he put so much energy into his lectures. In order to inspire the devotees he tells so many stories and he is always so dramatic, and animated, making all kinds of funny sounds just to entertain the devotees and enable to hear for hours on end.
One of the highlights of the Italy trip was on Radhastami during japa period, I sat nearby in order to try and his mood while chanting. First he chanted the full mangalacarana and then with even greater intensity he began to chant the mangalacarana prayers from the Caitanya Caritamrita. He was chanting two verses in particular over and over and with great feeling, “anarpita cirim cirat” and “radha krishna pranaya vikrti.” Then he began his japa, his japa is usually intense but this most intense I have ever seen him chant. It was a special blessing to witness this.
Maharaj is so funny, his lectures have been hilarious, one aspect of Maharaj’s sense of humor is that he likes to play with words. He was meeting with a few devotees from Romania and he told them, “We will go to Rome and do harinam there and dance like maniacs, and then will will all become romaniacs.” He visited Slovenia, which is quite and amazing place but more about that later, and he told the devotees “Due to your love I have become a slave of slovenia.”
He is such an expert preacher. In a lecture at Prabhupadadesh he was glorifying Italy, he likes to do this because he knows that the Italians are very proud of their country. He was speaking about how in every country people think that their country is the best, then he said, “But in my travels I have seen that Italy is the best country.” Everyone loved that, then he glorified the Roman empire, and then he started naming various great persons from italy, Michealanglo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc, then he said Mussolini. It was so great because what was apparently a glorification of Italy turned out to prove exactly the opposite point. The history of Italy is not all glorious. He perfectly proved the point that everyone falsely thinks that their country is the greatest, and revealed the foolishness in such false identification, yet he did it is such a way that all the Italian devotees were able to appreciate his point without being offended.
One of highlight of this years trip has been my first experience of boils. By the time we got to Rome a boil on my thigh made almost any kind of movement excruciatingly painful, not wanting to miss out on the nectar I made the mistake of attempting to go on harinam. Harinam in Rome with Maharaj is not something you want to miss. It is amazing to see Lord Caitanya’s sankirtan party dancing over the ruins of the Roman empire. By the time we made it home it felt like there was a dagger in my leg. I spent the entire next day just laying in bed. Unless you have experienced a boil it is difficult to imagine how painful they can be.
One of the devotees told Maharaj that I was sick with boils, when we saw him at the airport as we were seeing him off he called me over, put his hand on my forehead to check my temperature, and asked me how I was doing. He said “I can sympathize, for years there was not a time I didn’t have a boil. I had hundreds of them.” I knew that he used to suffer from boils but I now I had realization of what this meant. It was not like Maharaj was just laying in bed with people taking care of him. He was doing immense amounts of service during this time. Maharaj likes to quote Srila Prabhupada “A persons greatness has to estimated by his ability to tolerate provoking situations.”
During one lecture Maharaj said “How many people have ever had Malaria.” I raised my hand, Maharaj looked around the room and when he looked at me he lost his train of thought, he paused for a second, it was like he saw something or wanted to say something, but then he just went back into the lecture without saying anything. I took this to indicate some special purification coming my way.
Recently in one lecture Maharaj was speaking about how obstacles are not something that we are prepared for, they are something unexpected, and beyond what we feel like we can deal with otherwise they would not be obstacles. I pray to always remember Lord Caitanya’s instruction, “All obstacles are my servants.” And that despite all the obstacle that may present themselves I am allowed shelter at Govardhan.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Gauranga Kishore Das
Thursday, September 27th, 2007
The Saffron Revolution
Here’s a link to an article from today’s The Independent detailing some of the recent developments from the situation in Burma, where thousands of Buddhist monks are at the center of a popular uprising against the military junta running the country’s infrastructures.
As devotees of Krsna, we are also apt to throw ourselves into chaotic social situations, but our tendency is rather to feed the hungry and comfort the afflicted, as devotees organized with Food For Life did in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the Indonesian Tsunami in 2005.
Still, what if we were being prevented from entering our own temples? From engaging in our worship? If devotees were being beaten and killed in the streets by state-police forces? Such totalitarian hell may seem to be only the product of the Third World, but it’s closer to home than you think.
The example of the monks in Burma is inspiring for their courage and conviction, but we as devotees must also take caution. Fighting the demons of this world at this time is usually not best served by such a direct approach. Prabhupada taught us many techniques of “guerilla spiritual warfare” (distributing books, prasadam, etc), and these are our main tools.
Still, as spiritual warriors, who knows what the future holds, and what kind of courageous stands we will have to make if things turn for the worse in our overly chaotic global situation. For now, we should send our prayers to the people of Burma that they may be able to shake loose the chains that are binding them without too much blood being shed.
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by Bhakta-Chris
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
Life Not As we Know It
Back in the July 7th edition of the NY Times an article appeared called Scientists Urge A Search For Life Not As We know It by Carl Zimmer. A report published by the National Research Council explained that scientists are looking around the planetary system, and even on our own planet, for “weird life.” Surely, they surmise, there must be life forms that can function in bodies and environments totally different then our own.
I can safely say that I’ve encountered weird life. It’s no big secret. They’re on the news every night. The activities of these weird life forms appear as headlines screaming at us from tabloids and televisions. And as we listen, shaking our heads in disbelief, we’re hard pressed to understand how some of these creatures think and how they reach the decisions they make and how they do the things they do. They certainly have to be aliens because their actions defy human reason, logic, and compassion.
Even rats can exhibit more human kindness than humans. This is revealed in an article from July 10th entitled Rat To Rat, Kindness Takes Hold. Researchers trained rats to pull levers to supply food to other rats. The experiment was started with three rats in adjacent cages trained to be providers of food, and they were never rewarded for their behavior by the researchers. After a time one of the rats was replaced and the behavior was learned by the new rat from the remaining two. Eventually all the original rats were replaced, but the training to be providers was transmitted to the new guys on the block.
As human beings, harassed by the forces of the kaliyuga, we are being untrained in kindness, especially toward those not of our own tribe and species. Instead, we are being reconditioned to be unkind, greedy and totally self centered. Why is it that rats can learn to cooperate and help one another, but not the life forms who inhabit the White House or the board rooms of big corporations?
Another article, from July 24 entitled Smart Curious Ticklish, Rats, explains that rats and human beings have a lot in common. Rats, like human parents, like to tickle their little ones. Rats, like many humans, are “sociable, curious, and love to be touched.” When threatened with a shock, and the shock doesn’t come, rats, like some humans, are observed to breathe a sign of relief. And yes, they even anticipate enjoying sex, (as one researcher says “it’s not simply instinctual for them”). And get this - rats can distinguish between good and bad sex. (How the researchers have figured this out one may never know.) Another thing: “”One study showed that rats accustomed to good times tend to be optimists, while those reared in unstable conditions become pessimists.” Rats are also very adaptable. Rats raised in the lab and then released into the wild did just fine. And one final observation - rats, unlike humans, don’t lie. Really. That’s because they immediately express their likes and dislikes through their bodies and actions.
But getting back to the article from the first paragraph, this search is nothing new. For thousands of years, sages have been in search For Life Not As We Know It. And the good news is that it’s available without having to search on other planets. Another way to put it would be “A Search For Intelligence Not As We Know It.” We all have seen where the usual type of “intelligence” can lead us. The living entities who thrive everywhere – in the earth, water, fire; on all planets and in different shapes and sizes – all use their specific types of intelligence to gain control over their environments as much as possible, and desperately try to emerge as the lords of all they survey. They squabble, they claw, they growl, they roar, they bite, they gouge, they shriek, they swarm, they sting; all to protect their territories or their mates.
For the most part, humans use their intelligence in the same ways animals use theirs. It comes down to four propensities: we all eat, sleep, mate, and defend. And often enough it seems many animals have an edge over us on one or more counts. It’s a jungle whether the creatures are running on four legs or driving on four wheels. So the trick is to search for an Intelligence Not As We Know It, but rather the sublime, Transcendent Intelligence; the Supreme Intelligence; the All Knowing Intelligence, by whose grace we can extract ourselves from the multiple layers of material bondage which entangle us. The National Research Council’s report concludes that it would be a shame to encounter intelligent life and fail to recognize it..
“Now listen to the knowledge of yoga whereby one works without fruitive result. When you act by such intelligence you can free yourself from the bondage of works.” Bhagavad Gita 2:39
“I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible.” Bhagavad Gita 7:25
“One who is transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything. He is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.” Bhagavad Gita 18:54
No Comments » - Posted in Contributors by NY Times & Bhagavad Gita Sanga/ Sankirtana Das
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
The Pope “Gets” It: Creation Care
Pope puts focus on climate change, environment
“The Vatican has added its voice to warnings from churches around the world that climate change and abuse of the environment is against God’s will.
“At a Vatican conference on climate change, Pope Benedict XVI urged bishops, scientists and politicians to “respect Creation” while “focusing on the needs of sustainable […]