Hare Krsna dear devotees, I hope your chanting has been peaceful and you are able to connect your heart to the Supreme, Lord Krsna. I was reading an article and felt the importance of letting go all your thoughts and be prepared to chanting. In the article Maharaja gave the idea of sitting properly in a quiet place....if you can in a holy place if not maybe make this place a holy place....offering an incense to the Lord....cleaning yourself and the place you are going to chant and after that getting yourself prepared for japa.
I start making a prayer and thinking of how important is this chance we have got, I pray and thank Krsna for giving me this mantra and this opportunity to be able to chant in association of devotees, family and having the desire for that. This mood makes me more aware of the offences and helps me to concentrate and forget about what is happening around. What to do when you have to chant and you don`t have all these facilities? The best thing is to pray and close your eyes, think and meditate that you are in a very special place where you can be around devotees and you will be blessed by this mercy of chanting with more attention.
The Lord sees our efforts and He is very much interested in seeing His devotees chanting nicely and being dedicated to making advancement.
I pray so you can attain great mercy from Nama Prabhu and that you are able to experience nice realisations through powerful chanting.
I wish you a very nice week and a peaceful chanting.
Jigger & Jolly update: Last Saturday we were off to the White Memorial Family Fun Day. The boys travelled by trailer with a little more confidence this time out and were more settled among all the people and activity. We gradually worked our way in from the outskirts at first, then along to the main thoroughfares. Many questions were answered to satisfy the curious and Jigger & Jolly were treated to a lot of nice scratching and adoration. Thanks to all who made this possible. Next, Cider Pressing at Local Farm this Sunday.
Lecture on Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15, Text 8 titled “No One Died because they didn’t have an iPod” by Prahladananda Swami. The lecture starts in Spanish and then transitions to English with some mixture of Spanish.
The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another.
PURPORT
Here the living entity is described as isvara, the controller of his own body. If he likes, he can change his body to a higher grade, and if he likes he can move to a lower class. Minute independence is there. The change his body undergoes depends upon him. At the time of death, the consciousness he has created will carry him on to the next type of body. If he has made his consciousness like that of a cat or dog, he is sure to change to a cat’s or dog’s body. And if he has fixed his consciousness on godly qualities, he will change into the form of a demigod. And if he is in Krishna consciousness, he will be transferred to Krishnaloka in the spiritual world and will associate with Krishna. It is a false claim that after the annihilation of this body everything is finished. The individual soul is transmigrating from one body to another, and his present body and present activities are the background of his next body. One gets a different body according to karma, and he has to quit this body in due course. It is stated here that the subtle body, which carries the conception of the next body, develops another body in the next life. This process of transmigrating from one body to another and struggling while in the body is called karshati, or struggle for existence.
Boy, was it dismal in the morning. Clouds looked menacing. It was our chill-out day - a day for recreation which hasn't been happening. The monks and I were looking forward to a trek on one of the world's most beautiful trails - the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton.
Fortunately for us clouds cleared by mid-day and we were able to accomplish a gradual 725 ft climb from the base of Smokey Ridge to the summit. I believe we dripped sweat for the first time on this trip since beginning ten days ago. There was chanting and panting.
Another climb was at Provincial Park Cape Breton Highlands, where at a terrific vista view, we improvised musical instruments to the sound of the chant. Rocks clapping, dead tree sticks banging, coniferous tree cones rubbing, and more provided the rhythm we were looking for. And while that sound reverberated within the space of a cove the happy couple Daniel and Jeanie, who were 'just married' last Saturday with the presence of our musical monks, just showed up. It was their honeymoon which was now garnished with mantras and music.
Things didn't turn out so glum after all. Our grand finale for the day was a presentation, primarily to the local Hindu community of Sydney. The topic was 'Adventures on the Road' covering the experiences of past cross country walks. How gracious these people were, feeding us and booking us in motel rooms for the night.
It was just another day of niceness. Every day is truly an adventure. And now if I could quote from a fictitious hero's story. Forrest Gump, the runner, was told 'life is like a box of chocolates. Yah neva know what yah gonna get."
The first time I came to this place and heard its name, without seeing the spelling, I wondered what people had against Ganesh, the loveable elephant-god. I heard Anti-Ganesh. And then I wondered how even such a Vedic name entered into such an Anglo-saxon region. I learned that it is the place where tree branches are torn off by bears gathering beech nuts in the native Mikmaq language.
It was in this strictly university town that five of the Haligonian monks came to visit (Haligonian refers to Halifax and that's a nomenclature that also baffles me). We rested ourselves upon rocks edged by a creek and played at our instruments. Students looked over a bridge that arches over the water like a terrace, to see the musical sensation. Some of the students descended to join us including a Catholic priest who is also a student.
Student life can be hectic and generally you see someone under educational duress walking swiftly from one building to another trying to meet the demands of the classroom but here students were taking their time to stop.
Stopping was something we did once more at the rustic home of Mirian and a woman's group. Her home, situated on a 200 acre lot and driveway that is forever, was our venue for the evening. She heard about our mantra meditation presentation and so at last minute she invited her friends to hear us monks sing and speak.
In the beginning the ladies looked at us with curiosity and caution but by the end we were a compatible unit. We had become one in the joy of kirtan.
When it was time to depart one of the women insisted on having her picture taken with the monks. "I need this photo to prove to my friends that I do have some men in my life." To that remark we had a good cackle.
One time I saw Srila Prabhupada read a man's palm. Srila Prabhupada looked at it and then, in a very heavy voice, told him "All bad. Birth, death, disease, and old age". The man almost had a heart attack. Then Srila Prabhupada smiled and said "But clap your hands at kirtan and all the lines go away."
This Saturday the grand finale of Maha Mantra Week will be taking place with an estatic 12-hour Kirtan! This extremely grand way to cap off 15 days of fun and bliss will be taking place from 9:00am - 9:00pm on Saturday, October 2, 2010.
Londoners are simply like sheep found here on the Welsh mountainside, unintelligent rushing to a destination that will ultimately lead to there destruction. So during my stay at the Sri Sri RadhaKrishna Temple I had the experience of traveling on the integrated London Transport service and to say it is crazy is well an understatement; [...]
1951 October 1: "Mayavadins have no entrance into Vedanta Darsana. Sankara made a misinterpretation for his own purpose. They have unnecessarily cast a cloud over Bhagavad-gita and have misled the common people." Prabhupada Letters :: 1947-64
1951 October 1: "Indian philosophy means Sada Darsana. The last Darsana compiled by Sri Vyasa is accepted by all Indian scholars and nobody is recognized as bonafide who has no interpretation of this Vedanta Darsana." Prabhupada Letters :: 1947-64
1968 October 1: "I am so pleased your program is going on although you have not got yet our own temple. Why not get Back To Godhead? That is our backbone. Here the Sankirtana party, headed by Jayananda is collecting $45 daily and selling an average 100 copies of Back To Godhead." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
1968 October 1: "Our Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and Teachings of Lord Caitanya are coming out by the end of this month. So Kirtana plus distribution of our books is the basic principle of our success.If we can hold Kirtana 24 hours, and distribute our publications, that is our great success." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
1968 October 1: "I am little concerned. We should not form a separate organization. The basic principle of our preaching work, methods and management must be the same. I do not know why a separate registration is required." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
1968 October 1: "All participants must follow our principles. You should be careful on this point. Our main principle is Krishna Consciousness on the basis of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and Lord Caitanya's Teachings. If management falls to other hands it will be difficult for preaching our principles." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
1968 October 1: "My final desire is that whatever you do, you must do it strictly on the principles of our society as we are doing here in the US. Do not be misled that because some of the Hindus are taking interest in this movement, they are of the same opinion. You have seen the affairs elsewhere." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
1968 October 1: "If the local Englishmen come forward, that is welcome. So far Indians are concerned, there are so many varieties of split-up Hindu society. So I hope you will take necessary precautions." Prabhupada Letters :: 1968
From Namamrta by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
“One who chants the holy name will be situated in the transcendental disciplic succession:
“One must have firm faith in the process of devotional service and the scriptures that support it….In this age a person should…chant the holy names of Hari and Krsna, the maha-mantra. That is the sum and substance of eternal religion, known as sanatana-dharma….If one strictly follows the Vedic literature and chants the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he will actually be situated in the transcendental disciplic succession. Those who want to attain life’s ultimate goal must follow this principle.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 9.362)
I received the maha-mantra from Srila Prabhupada. I did not read it in print in a Mentor paperback on Oriental religions. It could not have stirred me in that way. I received it from a living guru who chanted loudly in the storefront singing in kirtana and who led us in the morning in chanting a round of japa. He received it from his spiritual master, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, who received it from Bhaktivinode Thakura and Gaura Kisora das Babaji. Thus the mantra comes down in disciplic succession and has to be received in that personal contact. The maha-mantra existed since the beginning of time, but it has been given great emphasis and impetus in the age of Kali with the advent of Lord Caitanya. He created a flood of Krishna-prema, chanting the holy name in the stage of love of Godhead. All His followers were inundated by the chanting of Hare Krishna in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. All those who chant at the present time continue the parampara process, receiving it from practicing devotees in the Hare Krishna movement. Thus the chanting comes down the live wire of parampara, and whoever chants in that way is following the bona-fide principle. It cannot be learned academically or theoretically or without associating with practicing chanters.
After a good night’s sleep I woke at 12:00 A.M or just before 12 and read some poetry first. It proved to be a bit of a distraction, because when I began my chanting the poetry was on my mind. But I controlled my mind and paid attention to the maha-mantra, the repetitions of the thirty-two syllables, and I steered away from my reading session before beginning japa. I managed to chant sixteen rounds and chanted an extra one for good measure, and chanted my Gayatri all at an early hour. My chanting was rapid and awake, not slow and drowsy.
More view of the sanatorium life. They keep to themselves and exert as far as they are able, which isn’t very much.
They have sweet and confidential association among the inmates, and reach out to active visitors who come to see them on occasional stops. Mention of the Deity worship and memories of sacred reading and a secret sharing of a music only few can relish
I turned at random to Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto One, Chapter Eleven, verse 21:
“Lord Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, approached them and offered due honor and respect to each and every one of the friends, relatives, citizens and all others who came to receive and welcome Him.”
Krishna is neither impersonal or unable to reciprocate the feelings of His devotees. In Bhagavad-gita He says, “As they approach Me, I respond accordingly.” He reciprocates with different devotees just as it behooves their mood in approaching Him. When He entered Dvaraka, he was met by dramatists, artists, singers, historians, genealogists and learned speakers, and they each gave their respective contributions. The Lord reciprocated with them in different ways according to His specific relationship with them. But the pure devotees were of one type only because they have no other object of service but the Lord. To some He waved His hand, to some He exchanged greetings, to some He shook hands, looked and smiled and gave assurance even to the lowest in rank. Only to the impersonalists who do not recognize Him does the Lord not reciprocate. Elderly brahmanas chanted His glories and were therefore glorified themselves. The ladies from the respectable houses of Dvaraka went up to the roofs of the houses just to have a look at the Lord.
Within the five mellows or rasas the Lord responds differently with His devotees. One can have an etermal relationship with the Lord as a servant, friend, parent or conjugal lover, and the Lord reciprocates with each differently. But each one is absolute in their complete and unalloyed devotion to the Lord, and He deals with them in affection accordingly.
Gita Nagari used to be a big agricultural community. They had a tractor mower that cut down the corn in autumn, a machine that baled it, and a whole community of about 20 men who would carry the bales by cart to the silo, where it would be mechanically rolled up to the top and dumped in. That was the cows’ food during the winter, and there were about 30 cows and bulls. Some milked, some were retired. I could go on and on and say how big it was with its yogi-bar factory, women’s traveling painting sales party, gurukula, resident guru, etc. But it all eventually collapsed, being run on unsound economic principles and loss of enthusiasm for the voluntary team effort under the authority of Paramananda. Why bring it up now? After slimming down to near-extinction, Gita Nagari is finding new life with a garden, new devotees joining, and a more cooperative spirit. It seems the fortunes of temples run in cycles.
The Ganges sometimes runs with wide breadth and big waves, and sometimes goes down to a trickle, but it keeps flowing. Staunch devotees hang in there and weather the changes. We maintain faith that Lord Caitanya’s movement will persevere, and it will swell to worldwide ecstatic proportions. Despite breaking into schismatic tributaries, the main branch will stay strong. From imperfection, purity will come about.
And I have gone through my own changes, good times and bad times. Visakha-dasi autographed her latest book to me, “To Satsvarupa Goswami, in gratitude for your decades of sincere service for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada.” How comforting and encouraging a thought, overlooking my serious faults. A Vaisnava is like Krishna, bhava-grahi-janardana. She sees the good in what you have done. Now you are writing, and you hope it is for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada. Yenatma suprasidati—it’s giving me pleasure, and a sadhu once told me that is a symptom that it is giving the spiritual master pleasure. I am working at it by the method of spewing forth creative juices, these writing sessions and a daily journal. When I finish this midnight journal entry I will begin my japa and try to make that pleasing to guru and Gauranga. You do that by enumerating the holy names clearly and with feeling, praying, “O energy of the Lord, O Lord, please engage me in Your service.” The act of chanting is itself a form of practical and active service of a very important kind.
You run the names through your mind quickly and pay attention to the transcendental sound vibration. Wherever the mind wanders you go and bring it gently back under the control of the higher self. This is my main early morning activity, and I will begin it in five minutes.
Poems he writes, for the song part
of the self, he imitates the birds.
He sings in pen kirtana in praise
of Lord Hari.
He sees his beloved in all things
in this world and uses them in His
service, including the
clock’s last ticking of this
timed writing session, including
his heartbeat, his
even breath, his relaxed
posture in the chair.
Everything is used in His service with a practical
Last week we had a read through Shel Silverstein's classic book the Giving Tree. Some of the topics of discussion were the balance (or often times imbalance) of giving and receiving in relationships, the needs we enter into relationships with, and the importance of spending more time on understanding our own selves a bit better. Who am I and what are my needs, and what am I looking for in my relationships with others? The more in touch we are with ourselves and the stronger spiritual foundation we have in our own lives can help us enter relationships with a stronger sense of stability, maturity, and understanding.
1/2 cup (125 ml) spinach leaves, chopped and lightly-blanched
1/3 cup (85 ml) chopped fresh parsley
extra oil for brushing and the baking tray
1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, add the sugar, mix well, and leave covered in a warm place for 10 minutes or until the mixture froths.
2. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast, oil, and enough lukewarm water to make a smooth dough. Knead well for 5 minutes. Rub oil inside the bowl and over the dough. Place the dough in the bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
3. To prepare the pastry filling: heat the olive oil in a small frying pan over moderate heat. Saute the asafoetida in the hot oil for a few seconds; then add the diced peppers and saute for one minute. Add the chopped black olives, salt, and pepper and stir to mix; then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
4. Combine the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, cooled olives and pepper mixture, spinach, and parsley in a large bowl. Mix well and set aside.
5. After the dough has risen the first time, punch it down with your fist, remove it from the bowl onto a floured bench top, and knead again for one minute. Roll the dough out with your hands into a long tube and cut into 18 portions. Roll each portion into a smooth ball and, with a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a 13 cm (5-inch) disk.
6. Divide the filling into 18 portions. Place a portion in the centre of each disk. Fold over and seal around the edge either with a fork or by pressure from your fingertips to make small semicircular pastries. Place all the pastries on a oiled tray and place in oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or unitl golden brown.
This year at Bhaktifest we were so excited to present our new friend – 12 year old Ayush Sharma from Seattle. He’s not just a fantastic singer – his sweetness and devotion shine through and we are looking forward to seeing him grow and develop. Most of all we can’t wait for him to hurry up and finish school so he can travel around the world spreading his love for kirtan wherever he goes! Keep an eye out for him at the 24 Hour Kartik Kirtan in New Vrindavan, West Virginia this October.
Check out the newPutumayo ‘Yoga’compilation – a new mix from the popular world music record label created especially for yoga classes and meditation. Our track ‘Moods of Kirtan’ features alongside tracks from artists like Susheela Raman, Krishna Das, Niraj Chag and Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band. We’re excited that they chose this track – one of our absolute favourites that really says what we’re all about: param vijayate shri krishna sankirtanam – long live kirtan! Here’s a beautiful video that Prananatha das in New Zealand made to go with the track. It features footage from the holy towns of Vrindavan and Mayapur in India, some of the most beautiful places in the world.
On the Putumayo website, you can listen to sample tracks as well as read more about this fantastic new release. Here’s what people are saying about it:
“…Over seventy minutes of sacred sound that tends toward the chill with … a throughline of the gorgeously lyrical.” – LA Yoga
“Kudos to Putumayo for maintaining such a high standard and delivering a yoga CD that will hopefully be the first of many.” – Common Ground
Once again Brisbane show us all how it’s done. Twenty one devotees chant and dance in the streets of Brisbane City for 2hrs distributing Prasadam cookies and the Holy Names.
The Kirtan wallahs include Krishnapada Dasa, Deva Gaura Hari Dasa, Acyuta Priya Devi Dasi, Prema Yogi dasa and Rasika Seva Devi Dasi.
Once you go out on Harinama Sankirtana you don’t want to stop. When you are out there singing and dancing and glorifying the Names of Lord Krishna you realise that the assembled members of the public love it. What’s more it is to their, and your eternal spiritual benefit.
Once the Holy Names dance on your tongue you cannot go back. Once the Holy Names enter the ears of the living entities it is too late, their spiritual journey has begun.
