On Saturday 23 October, 6pm – 9pm – Join Crystal Dolphin, the Bhajan Babas, and the Natyashakti Dance Troupe for an evening of story telling, singing, and dance at the Masonic Hall in Burleigh Heads (QLD). Dinner will be served throughout the evening, which celebrates the tale of Krishna lifting Govardhan Hill and saving the villagers of Vrindavan from a great inundation of rain. Remember that Queensland doesn’t follow daylight savings time if you’re coming over the border from NSW.
Namabhasa is called the clearing stage because it clears or purifies the heart of all sins. This is the intermediate stage where one hears the holy name attentively; carefully avoids offenses; and chants the holy name with determination and enthusiasm. Although not perfect, namabhasa is very beneficial because it leads to pure chanting and krsna-prema.
From The Art Of Chanting Hare Krsna by Mahanidhi Swami
Yet more recipes by my cooking guru, Yamuna Devi. Before attempting to cook any of her recipes, make sure you are aware of the difference between US measures and Australian/metric measures. See below*
Moong, North India’s most popular dal, was a great favourite of my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. It is easy to digest and has a good flavor and high vitamin content. The spinach, preferably fresh, enhances the texture and marbled color of this power-packed dal soup, and the fried spices poured in at the end of the cooking add lashings of flavor. (note from Kurma: moong dal is also known as split yellow mung beans.)
Preparation time (after assembling ingredients): 10 minutes, Cooking time: 1¼ hours or 25 minutes in a pressure cooker, Serves: 5 or 6.
2/3 cup (145g) split moong dal, without skins, 8 ounces (230g) fresh spinach, washed, trimmed, patted dry an coarsely chopped, or ½ of a 10-ounce package of chopped frozen spinach, defrosted (140g), 6½ cups (1.5 liters) water (5½ cups/1.3 liters if pressure-cooked), 1 teaspoon turmeric, ½ tablespoon ground coriander, ½ tablespoon scraped, finely shredded or minced fresh ginger root, 2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil, 1 ¼ teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ¼ teaspoon cayenne or paprika, ¼ - ½ teaspoons yellow asafetida powder (hing), ½ tablespoon lemon juice.
Sort, wash and drain the split mung beans. If you are using frozen spinach, defrost it at room temperature, place it in a strainer and press out all excess water.
Place the mung beans, water, turmeric, coriander, ginger root and a dab of ghee or oil in a heavy 3-quart/liter nonstick saucepan. Stirring occasionally, bring to a full boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to moderately low, cover with a tight-fitting lid and gently boil for 1 hour or until the dal is soft and fully cooked. For pressure cooking, combine the ingredients in a 6-quart/liter pressure cooker, cover and cook for 25 minutes under pressure. Remove from the heat and let the pressure drop by itself.
Off the heat, uncover and add the salt. Beat with a wire whisk or rotary beater (or a bamix, says Kurma) until the dal soup is creamy smooth. Add the fresh spinach, cover and boil gently for 5-8 minutes more; or cook frozen spinach for 2-3 minutes.
Heat the ghee or oil in a small saucepan over moderate to moderately high heat. When it is hot, pour in the cumin seeds and fry until they are brown. Add the asafetida and cayenne or paprika and fry for just 1-2 seconds more. Then quickly pour the fried seasonings into the soup. Cover immediately. Let the seasonings soak into the hot dal for 1- 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice, stir and serve.
*Note that since Yamuna wrote her recipes using US measurements, the weights are in US with metric in brackets.
More importantly, her tablespoons are US (15ml) whereas Australian/metric tablespoons are 20ml. So if you follow these recipes using metric measures, your tablespoons should be scant.
Similarly, the US cup is 240ml as distinct from the Australian/metric 250ml cup. The same scant measuring should thus apply to Australian/metric cup users.
We had a nice experience distributing books on Janmastami -- in Varna, a city in Bulgaria. Just for two hours, before cooking for the festival, we went on sankirtana, door to door.
In one office a lady just looked at the Srimad-Bhagavatam and said, "Wow, it is the Srimad-Bhagavatam. I love to read the Bhagavad-gita."
I offered her three volumes and explained that we have six more.
"Please, please bring them also."
I ran to the caravan and brought them. She was so HAPPY. She gave a nice donation, and I explained that this was the very auspicious birth anniversary of Lord Krishna. I invited her to the festival, but she was very busy that day.
A few days later, Padmamalini Dasi met a man from a Muslim family who had the Bhagavad-gita. After reading it, he began using a mala to chant the maha-mantra. Every day he chants four or five rounds, and he has been doing this a few years. He also very happily took nine volumes of the Bhagavatam.
‘If one chants without trying to give up offenses, the real creeper of bhakti will be stunted by the unwanted creepers of sense gratification, etc.
“[Lord Caitanya to Rupa Gosvami] When a person receives the seed of devotional service he should take care of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. if he waters the seed gradually by the process of sravana and kirtana (hearing and chanting), the seed will begin to sprout…The gardener must defend the creeper by fencing it all around so that the powerful elephant of offenses may not enter. Sometimes unwanted creepers such as the creeper of desires for material enjoyment and liberation from the material world, grow along with the creeper of devotional service. The varieties of such unwanted creepers are unlimited. Some unnecessary creepers growing along with the bhakti creeper are the creepers of behavior unacceptable for those trying to attain perfection, diplomatic behavior, animal killing, mundane profiteering, mundane adoration, and mundane importance. All these are unwanted creepers if one does not distinguish between the bhakti-lata creeper and the other creepers, the sprinkling of water is misused because the other creepers are nourished while the bhakti-lata creeper is curtailed.” (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya-lila, 19.152,157-60)
In gardening when one waters flowers or plants he also waters weeds and the weeds grow up with the desirable flowers. So a gardener has to scrupulously pull out the weeds. Similarly in chanting as one invest in chanting, if he does so with offenses, weeds will grow. There are byproducts or benefits that come with chanting which are actually materialistic or unwanted. Deviant behaviors spring up when one chants Hare Krishna if he does not do so strictly. These are mentioned in the verse of Caitanya Caritamrta. Basically what happens is that one becomes materially attached to sense gratification. He may become victimized by diplomatic or crooked behavior or may associate with women for illicit sex. One may consider a Vaisnava to belong to a mundane caste or creed and think, “This is a Hindu Vaisnava and this is a European Vaisnava. A European Vaisnava is not allowed to enter the temples.” In other words he thinks of a Vaisnava in terms of birth thinking one a brahmana-vaisnava and one a sudra-vaisnava or mleccha-vaisnava and so on. One may also try to become a cheap Vaisnava by chanting in a secluded place for material adoration. All these are just ways to cheat innocent people and make a show of advanced spiritual life to become known as a sadhu or religious person. All these are signs that weeds have grown up along with the process of chanting and the so-called devotee has become victimized and the real creeper of bhakti-lata-bhija has been stunted.
I had a difficult morning for headaches. I woke with a slight headache and took some medicine. But after a while the headache was still present and I took more medicine. The headache didn’t go down but moved into my right eye and became a migraine headache. I had to take migraine medicine and the headache remained for my whole chanting period. But like yesterday it did not affect the pace of my chanting. I was wide awake and chanted without being slowed down by drowsiness. My attention however was not the best. My mind wandered to different things which may have been due to the physical impairment. I could not concentrate fully on the meanings of Hare and Krishna. But I took solace in the fact that I was chanting alertly. I began chanting by 1:30 and finished sixteen rounds by 3:30.
The other day in class Dr. Liu, my philosophy of science teacher, got off on a tangent about quantum physics and said that he once gave a lecture entitled "What if Quantum Mechanics is True?" and one of the implications of quantum theory is that if it is true a person is as large as the universe. I put that up on my Facebook status and a friend commented sharing a link to a cool website www.closertotruth.com, I don't endorse everything there but there is some cool stuff to check out.
That little comment got me thinking about how silly our puny attempts to explain the world and our existence are so completely ridiculous.
I turned at random to Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 5, chapter 5, verse 5: “As long as one does not inquire about the spiritual values of life, one is defeated and subjected to miseries arising from ignorance. Be it sinful or pious, karma has its resultant actions. If a person is engaged in any kind of karma his mind is called karmatmaka, colored with fruitive activity. As long as the mind is impure, consciousness is unclear, and as long as one is absorbed in fruitive activity, he has to accept a material body.”
People think if they act piously, and are simply good to others and inoffensive, they will be free of miseries and go back to Godhead or to heaven. But this is not a fact. Even though one engages in pious activity and speculation he is still defeated. His only aim should be emancipation from the clutches of maya and all material activities. One should be inquisitive to know his spiritual position. Unless one utilizes the self and its activities, one has to be considered in material bondage. There is a verse in the Bhagavtam that states even if one approaches the Brahman effulgence and thinks he is liberated, he has to fall down into material life for lack of Krishna conscious engagement. As long as one is interested in karma and jnana, he continues enduring the miseries of material life. The point is to know Vasudeva is everything and to surrender unto Him.
The real bhakta is untouched by any tinge of karma and jnana. His only purpose is to serve the Lord. Unless one becomes a pure devotee, as long as one is “colored” with fruitive activity, he has to keep taking rebirth in the material world and experience birth, death, disease and old age. The pure devotee goes to live eternally with Krishna in the spiritual world.
RR read to me from CC about Lord Caitanya conferring ecstatic love on Raghunatha Bhatta. He had asked Raghunatha Bhatta to stay at home and serve his parents because they were Vaisnavas. There is no obligation to serve parents who are not devotees. After his parents died, Raghunatha Bhatta came to Lord Caitanya. He stayed with Him in Jagannatha Puri but then the Lord sent him to Vrndavana to live in the shelter of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis. He told him to chant Hare Krishna and read Srimad-Bhagavatam. When Ragunatha Bhatta read Srimad-Bhagavatam he manifested bodily symptoms of ecstasy. He chanted each verse in three separate tunes. Meanwhile, Lord Caitanya manifested symptoms of ecstasy in separation from Krishna. These were recorded in brief by Svarupa Damodara and elaborately by Raghunatha das Gosvami. There were many other notebooks kept by devotees which are no longer extant.
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Krishna book was written by Prabhupada by looking at the acarya’s commentaries and by his own straight translation and commentary. He could write about Krishna because 1) He worked tirelessly to spread the Lord’s mission 2) Krishna dictated to him to write 3) Krishna trusted him to speak it without motivation. Prabhupada wanted illustrations for his book. He wanted them painted fast.
So these thoughts of writing. Nitai Gaursundara said he liked the fresh poetry I’m writing now that I’ve finished writing poems from Under Dark Stars. It’s a challenge to write one every day, but I like to face the challenge and try for it.
Caitanya-candrodaya is publishing a collection of a hundred of my japa poems and that will be for devotees only. But that’s alright. I lived a life of a writer. My outward life is quiet and uneventful so I have to find subject matters from “within.” I usually write about something that has been read out loud to me from the sastra or maybe about my japa. I can write memories of the past. But they are censurable because I don’t want to write about mundane things. A Vaisnava isn’t concerned with his previous life. But I can write about it and say “This was before I was a devotee, in the absence of Krishna consciousness. I am not like this anymore.” I did that with my poem “Running” in which I told how I ran down the streets of the Lower East Side. I took it as symbolic of trying to run away from maya. You can try other approaches to writing about the past in that way.
You may also write about past scenes and times in ISKCON. After all, that’s over forty years of experience. There is plenty you could did up, memories of moments and situations. And you can write directly to Krishna or to yourself about your spiritual life and lackings. You can talk to your spiritual master and to devotees. You can speak (preach) to the world. Keep digging for topics to write about. Hare Krishna mantra is the life of spiritual practice and you can write about it. Decide what is suitable to share.
Don’t worry about the fact that your writing is aimed at a devotee audience. It’s what you do, and it’s your true life. I am not a college professor or a lover of women or a citizen of the world. I am a practicing bhakta, and I have to draw my material from the Krishna conscious life and choose from my practices in such a way that it carries Krishna consciousness in a nondogmatic but spiritual way. I have a long way to go to write better—like the classic Vaisnava writers and yet with a contemporary voice: “I took my headache medicine and then said my Gayatri mantras.” I am truthful.
Interesting discussion’s are the ones that make you think. The question was which is the hardest of the regulative principles to keep? Most would probably say sex life for sure it would be the most obvious pointing to someone or some incident that backs up our thought. The logic presented however was this: Intoxication, you [...]
(Click on the pictures to get the enlarged vision) By His Grace Mukunda Prabhu It is very difficult to share with you all the windfall of blissful joy we are experiencing over the last few days which has come about due to certain changes in the schedule of Guru Maharaj. Every day we have the [...]
In Kuala Lumpur, this programme is going on for the past 10 years. It is worth mentioning that we started off with only 24 homes as compared to more than 5000 home programs in the recent years. The growth is exponential with tremendous response from public as a whole. It is a feel good program that breaks the "social" barrier between the mass and ISKCON. It does change the face of ISKCON, especially for those who are very skeptical and inimical towards our movement. It is an easiest and surest way to enter almost every home. And the public reciprocation were encouragingly joyful. To top it, it is only a month efforts of preaching...
Kumari Mataji came around to the library, some time in the week, looking for volunteers. She was planning a series of adventures in Antwerp and beyond. I was hesitant - in College, a good weekend of rest doesn’t go astray, but the fallen conditioned souls were beckoning for the mercy of Lord Caitanya so I felt some obligation. “Sign us up” I finally said.
Ramacandra Kaviraja was heading off to India on the Friday. He was packing for India while I was packing for Antwerp (although I was packing a day early simply because I had forgotten the arrangements). It was the first night in my room alone since I had been in Radhadesh. I played a lecture out loud to help me lull off to sleep; packed and ready to leave in the coming morning.
HG Gopinathacarya Prabhu gave the morning Bhagavatam class. He seemed to be indirectly speaking to us College students, reminding us not to become dry, kings of mundane knowledge - it being more dangerous than material ignorance. I felt some relief, knowing that we were catalyzing our knowledge with the merciful mission of Lord Caitanya, which was to be epitomized by this weekend’s activities.
I jumped down the spiral staircase for breakfast. After smashing down some bakery bread and soup, I quickly ran back up the endless staircases to fetch my belongings, knowing I was late (due to the extensive class questions and answers; plus a casual chat at breakfast). We set off in the car; Kumari Mataji, Jai Nitai Gaura Prabhu, Bhaktin Susana, Bhaktin Hilary and Myself. I asked if there was any other car (hoping some of the other BOYS might have come) and finally I was informed that this was the only one; it was going to be a wild adventure.
Instantly we were in trouble - our Tomtom (GPS navigator) was being temperamental. It eventually led us to our destination, with only a slight sense of worry but it had us worried for a bit. We arrived in Antwerp, dropped off our belongings in the asrama and then hopped into the back of another car with HG Janmastami Prabhu. We were off again, to somewhere…?
In the car, I asked Kumari what the coming program was going to be like. She gave some information but it was all a little vague (partly because I wasn’t paying much attention). I looked outside the window as we parked; the program was outdoors and there were hordes of Indian skinned people in middle class dress. We stepped out and then I spotted what the fuss was - “is that a statue of Ghandi?” The PA speakers were set on the regulated Indian default volume - REALLY LOUD! The announcements were in Dutch, Hindi and English and the Bollywood interim music was attacking the subtle body at every step.
We quickly started our bhajana, and the scene finally felt sane. The crowds looked on in silent appreciation, while they chewed down on Prasadam. We played our quick session and then stopped for Prasadam. The Prasadam was fat, juicy and lacking in most fundamental nutrients. One had to balance sufficient intake, whilst employing sufficient sense control (otherwise there would be indigestion); it was very difficult balance, impossible even in the dictionary of the intelligent man.
While chewing down the deep fried preparations, made of heavy chickpea flour, someone pointed out to me that we were in Holland. We had only prior been told the town name (which is Dutch so no one in the three worlds is expected to remember how to say it) so I was completely oblivious that we had crossed the boarder. I mentally crossed off the milestone of entering a new country.
We chucked a few more stray mouthfuls of halava in our mouths, before we jumped back on the little stage. One man came with a video camera, making a humorous documentary for a Dutch TV station. I laughed, because the joke was on him - he was receiving unknown spiritual benefits, filming the bhajana, the many devotees and the multiple signs containing the Maha Mantra. Although he was making a whole mockery of the event (and who could blame him?) he was spreading the message of Lord Caitanya to the local viewers, extending the merciful hand that whole stretch further.
We finished up and headed back to Antwerp. I was a wreck but still had to practice patience while some devotees wrapped up a seminar in the room that we were sleeping in. We barged in on them, quickly closing the door in an apologetic manner. There was some bhajana and Prasadam downstairs and then we all headed off. Once I had my room back, I set up my nest (for those who have stayed with me, they can testify that I can really set up a bunker out of nothing).
I awoke and headed to the bathroom. It reminded me of Woodstock in 2009 - there was one bathroom for both genders. I knocked and made a call - trying to produce a masculine tone. There was some hesitation and then a Prabhu opened the door. If I could comment on one thing that has changed since I supposedly surrendered my life to Krsna, it is the lack of functional and clean bathrooms (sorry but we have to leg this department up in our society). To make matters worse, since surrendering hearth and home and heading over the Euro-land, I had also renounced working drainage (all the pipes are older than me and are only capable of carrying enough water for an English bathing - ie no water). Showering was an art, using enough water so that you weren’t swimming ankle deep in soapy, dirty water. (I apologise for the horror scene but it’s all part of the adventure.)
The Antwerp temple/preaching centre had a typical sankirtana schedule (ie a not so typical schedule) with Mangala Arati was at 5am. Most of us were up on time and jubilantly singing before Gaura Natharaja. I led the Tulasi prayers, stuck against the walls in the miniature temple room. We circumambulated Tulasi and then pinned ourselves to the wallpaper while the Matajis took their turn.
We received our action briefing over breakfast. We all left with some idea in mind of the day’s happenings. It was only moments before the plans totally shifted and we were back in confusion. Originally we were leaving at midday then, all of a sudden, I was hauling out a giant pumpkin into the back of the car right after breakfast (in Euro-land they have BIG pumpkins).
We drove into the heart of the city, to where our sankirtana mission was going to manifest. We arrived at some little International fair. There was every kind of deep fried meat (all eight million, four hundred thousand species worth) and amateur entertainment from every nation under the Belgian sun. The scene was loud and smelly. We were squashed somewhere between the Oriental egg salad, and the big mama from Africa and her fried chicken wings (at least I presumed they were from chickens). Nonetheless the devotees transcended so that they could make Prasadam easily available; veggie burgers, samosas, pakoras, sweets, lasis and fruit juices were going out like arrows in the battlefield of Kuruksetra.
We decided to free ourselves from the scene and do a little harinam (literally little, only four of us). We cruised around the block, stopping to take a look at the giraffes in the zoo, but otherwise totally focused on liberating the crazed masses of Antwerp. People opened their windows, waved in appreciation and otherwise were blatantly confused. The holy name penetrated the ether nonetheless and the mood was mildly jubilant. We passed our friends on the streets, distributing transcendental literature, and they joined in.
We returned to the festival. We waited for our spot on the stage, while there were constant delays. We waited, tolerating our surroundings, until the call was made. We rolled unto the stage with full spirits. I had to quickly scurry around and find Janmastami Prabhu so he could introduce us (we can’t speak the local language!). Kumari started the lead, with a kirtana and bhajana. She handed it over to Jai Nitai Gaura for the second session, bringing on Bhakta Tomas for the drum. Overall the performance was a bit of a flop, lacking dynamics and general musical integrity. The devotees left us with encouraging words but we decided to leave very quickly for status self preservation. We left a little distraught, mostly satisfied because the audience had received the Maha mantra and Prasadam.
We returned to the Antwerp yatra to lead the bhajana for the Sunday program. We ducked out while the Sunday class was on (being in Flemish), returning for the kirtana and then remained momentarily for takeaways from the feast. We were out the door again, heading back to the Castle. We passed Tomas on the way out, who had brought someone back from book distribution to the program.
Tomtom stopped working and Kumari began to nervously navigate home by memory. I was passed the device in the back seat. Kumari handed me the mobile phone, desperately trying to find someone who might know how to fix Tomtom. I spoke with some devotees, while I put on a fake French accent, but that was the most that came of it. While trying to draw out a digital map on the GPS, I noted that the device had started functioning again. I politely muted it and pretended that I was navigating myself. No one suspected me, even though I was making precise, hundred meter navigation notes. We made it back safely, revealing my secrets in the last few kilometres. We nearly laughed ourselves off the road but then finally rolled up the drive to Radhadesh, keen for bed.
Read original post: [http://maddmonk.wordpress.com/2010/10/10/antwerp-adventures]
After many years of regular participation in Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON Hare Krishna movement, the devotees of middle Tennessee were able to celebrate the first ever Ratha Yatra in Nashville on October 2nd, 2010
By Braja-Raja-Suta Dasa 
