Wednesday, March 1st, 2017

Vrndavana, India

Triumphs and Defeats

After the morning arati song, one of the temple administrators at Krishna Balarama Mandir announced book scores to the temple goers.

“Matchless Gifts (the temple boutique) sold 326 books.”  He also mentioned one other source, likely a book stall on the premises (I couldn’t quite hear).  There, too, over 300 pieces of transcendental literature was sold, mostly in Hindi and English.  That brings it to a tally of over 600 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust publications going out, on a slow day.

Good news!  People are seeking enlightenment.

One really nice couple from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, had secured a flat (apartment) in the area.  His name is Dharma and hers is Manasi Ganga.  Although not present, they desired to have a house warming, Vedic style, with myself conducting the kirtan.

A group of brahmacaris (monks) accompanied me for the chanting, and oh, how sweet it was, although two of them sang with tone-deafness.  Well intentioned they were, but why sing so loud?  I felt it my duty to let them know that perhaps some lessons in voice would help.  They are Hindi-speaking but I believe they got the point.

For some reason or other, my gout got irritated again.  My medicines were running out and perhaps a spicy tomato soup didn’t help the situation.  My limp is accentuated again and I’ve been doing all I can to stave off further infection.

One medical person brought various flours, and turned them into dough to wrap around my left big toe.  This draws out the infection.  By morning, voila, the pain had subsided.

May the Source be with you!

2 km

Tuesday, February 28th, 2017

Vrndavana, India

Back in Krishna’s Back Yard

When I arrived in Vrndavana, it was a little late for darshan (viewing of the Krishna deities) but my craving for some veggie-filled Chow Mein was an irresistible one.  One manager at the Krsna Balarama Temple, Pancha Gauda, made sure the desire was fulfilled.

I did squeeze in a visit to dear friend, Gunagrahi Swami, suffering from cancer.  How is he dealing with it?  It’s the evening kirtans which he organizes that are keeping his spirits up.

Through the course of the day, I have been indulging in the book, Sannyasis in Modernity, covering high and low points in the not-long history of renouncers in the Hare Krishna movement.  Again, good research.

One gentleman came to me, near the temple, with a pressing question.  “I understand from the books, like Bhaktivinode’s Jaiva Dharma, that it is necessary to explore your sambhandha (unique and personal relationship with God) in order to attain self-realization.  How can this be achieved?”

My response to him was that relations among devotee peers is the way to Godhead.  “Let us achieve this channel first.  This is the green light.  Please the fellow servants and win the favour of the master.”

The man walked on in a calm mood, grateful to have something to dwell on.  I lingered on with the concept.  “Surely, this is the way of reaching the Supreme.  It is the blessings and well-wishes from those in our midst which earns us God’s favour.”

May the Source be with you!

2 km

Monday, February 27th, 2017

Panihati/Sonaspura, India

Departing from Mayapur

I received an e-mail from a friend asking how I liked the “Swami tossing.”  The other night I snuck into the Kirtan Mela and a crowd of young men, knowing I go along with a little frivolity at times, pulled me in and tossed me up repeatedly, only to be caught in a human trampoline.

I saw it as good clean fun.  Everyone was chanting at the time.

An assistant and I left for the Kolkata area today.  Suta Goswami Das, a very good and caring young monk, arranged for our transport to a place called Panihati.  This is the place where, five centuries ago, the monk who inaugurated kirtan to the world, Chaitanya, with associate, Nityananda, honoured a huge, chipped rice feast.  The contents are of dahi (yogurt), rice—of course—some fruit and a moderate dash of camphor.

Panihati was a simple village at the time.  Situated along the Ganges, the massive food feast occurred under a large banyan tree, which is still there.  A modest temple and additional buildings form the foundation of a lively community.  Raghava Pandit, and his sister, Damayanti—two very devout contemporaries of Chaitanya—became masters at food combinations that sometimes spun out of this festival.

I sampled the prep with the camphor.  Loved it, but I am still watching my purine diet—low protein for gout.

Panihati is visited by monks, colleagues of mine, who are my go-bros (god-brothers) but it was at Sonaspura, after our seven hour drive, where I found out that no swamis have ever come to this village community.  I was treated like a superstar.  It was not necessary, and I asked the crowd to tone down in as diplomatic a way as possible.

Good hearts!

May the Source be with you!

6 km

Sunday, February 26th, 2017

Mayapur, India

A Day of Lightness

In many ways every day is the same.  The sun rises gloriously over the eastern direction.  It is a clear and round redness and moves ever so subtly.  A perfect example of levitation—you can find in the sun.  At least it looks like the sun is the perfect yogi.

Most mornings display layers of fog.  As a group of us were ambling along, with coriander fields on both sides of our trail, we were frivolously doing limbo under the lowest layers of mist.  We cleared that bar of fog quite easily.

Limbo, we could do.  Levitate, we could not.

Devananda is a Bengali pujari (priest) who served in our Toronto temple some years back.  He returned to his homeland and built up a business and a house, and now we have found ourselves in his simple tiny, but charming, home.  What a feast he cooked up for us!  We were in a light mood after that meal and consequently posed ourselves into a service mood.  We formed a massage circle and went to it, hoping to assist in digestion.

I reflected on the night before, when the kirtan mela (chanting festival) was in full swing.  The Pancha Tattva Hall, the venue, was just packed with enthusiastic youths engaged in surrender to the mantra.  The body was in motion, as in dance.  The mouth was fully sounding out that mantra.  The mind was absorbed in abandonment to the service.

When I jumped into the circle of dancers, it excited the guys that an old geezer like myself would join them.

May the Source be with you!

7 km 

Saturday, February 25th, 2017

Mayapur, India

A Book on Monks

I am thoroughly enjoying reading Yadunandana Swami’s book, Sannyasis in Modernity.  Yadunandana is a monk from Spain and has done a scholarly look at the history of monastics in the Hare Krishna society.  In Chapter One he opens with the foundational elements of his research.

“A prominent characteristic of the early twenty-first century is the rapid worldwide growth of secularization.  Many accept humanistic values and material development as top priorities in life.  Although many people identify with a religious community or denomination, tendencies toward spirituality and religious practices are decreasing in favour of more ‘tangible’ goals like economic development and worldly pleasures.  Then again, practitioners and communities of religious and spiritual traditions are endeavouring to maintain and promote their core values by expressing them in ways adapted to the present socio-cultural context…

“In this study I examine how ISKCON members live the ancient practice of sannyasa in a social environment that promotes values opposing this practice.  The etymological meaning of sannyasa is ‘complete renunciation.’  Sannyasa is the last of four life stages followed by practitioners of Hinduism.  It was traditionally practiced by mature elderly men with a lifelong monastic inclination…

“There are two types of ISKCON monks, brahmacaris (celibate students) and sannyasis (mature renouncers).”

Published by SANKIRTANA BOOKS. It’s a good read.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Friday, February 24th, 2017

Mayapur, India

Satisfy the Self

My artist friend, Puskara, from Florida informed me that a barefoot walker across America was struck by an SUV and killed in Florida just outside of Mossy Head very recently.  His crusade had to do with raising awareness for climate change. http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2017/01/23/man-walking-barefoot-across-america-killed-florida/96950426/

Due to limited access to international ground-breaking news, I have few details on the incident.  It was indeed sad news to hear.  It reminds me of the passing of the Peace Pilgrim who died from a head-on collision when being transported to a program.  This woman who referred to herself as the Peace Pilgrim had walked tens of thousands of miles through the U.S. and Canada. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Pilgrim

Meanwhile, here in not-so-peaceful Mayapur, the motor-bike culture persists.  Noise and speed are the culprits that threaten a sattvic (calm) environment.  Fortunately, someone by the name of Tara heads up the transport department and he sounds very positive about tackling the monsters.  Hopefully by next year some positive progress can be made.

Peace comes from hearing something soothing.  I cannot credit myself for any reassuring words.  I can only function as a parrot and repeat the message that ignites progressive action.  I was invited to the Chaitanya Bhavan to speak to a Spanish group on a famous verse from the book “Bhagavatam.”  From the first Canto, the verse reads like this: “The supreme occupation for all humanity is that by which people can obtain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord.  Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self” (SB 1.2.6).

May the Source be with you!

4 km