Letters to the editor

All glories to Sri Sri Guru And Gauranga!

PAMHO AGTSP!

Hare Krishna Maharaj:

How r u? I’ve been trying to recover my lost Twitter account in order to follow you there, but I wasn’t lucky so I will create a new one and check regularly your posts.

hps/asa 🐵

Although I’m watching your classes regularly. Usually I’m busy when you give live classes, so I search upon YouTube and check some old ones.

First of all I would like to thank you, it’s been 2 days since I don’t smoke. I’m still eating during night time so I’ll try to fix that in a near future, trying to make gradual changes.

My sadhana, luckily, in some ways is better than before, I’m performing a morning program with a short Kirtan, offering a fruit, water, flower petals and an incense to my deities, and chanting 10 rounds.

HpS/ASA - 👍

Also I’m taking more care of the house cleaning and order, and walking almost every day to complete the rounds during the late afternoon.

I’m about to restart English classes, so I’m quite happy about that and I keep attending to an English conversation club where I have some friends and acquaintances.

I’d been praying to Krishna for help to quit smoking, and now that I’ve been better I feel so grateful. Some lyrics of Christian songs came to my mind, in which the author said that He is faithful.

HpS - Prabhupada said the intoxication, like tobacco, marjuana, goes away as we learn to honor Prasadam properly.

Make progress.

I’ve been going through some other difficulties with the mother of my child, and we’re dealing the issue with lawyers. I don’t think might be useful to tell you the details, but summarizing she’s neglecting my daughter’s health and wellbeing, so I please request if you just could pray for a happy ending, that would be of so much help for me.

HpS/ASA - Hare Krsna. Hare Krsna. Krsna Krsna. Hare Hare. /// Hare Rama. Hare Rama. Rama Rama. Hare Hare.

Thank you infinitely once again Maharaj!

HK! Dandavats!

Federico

HpS - Thank you!!!

Hare Krsna, Beloved Gurudeva:

AGTSP, pamho.

I hope this meets you well.

HpS/ASA - Same to you, agtSP!!! Especially spiritually well!

There have been episodes in my life that astrology helped me understand.

HpS - Seems like same for me.

And it also serves to be prepared. I have been studying that during March there are important movements in the sky and that is why I wanted to share it on the Blog

From the 16th to the 30th there are accumulation of planets between Aquarius Pisces and Aries.

It means that there are lots of air, water and fire energy but lack of earth. So that there is an energy imbalance.

Mercury, the planet of communication, is in a bad position and this increases as we approach the date of the first eclipse of the year.

On March 25th there is going to be a partial lunar eclipse in Virgo at 11 degrees

Let's recall that Eclipses occur when the sun and moon align with rahu and ketu

The best shelter as always is the holy names, but if we can diminish our material activities on the day of the eclipse that will be superb.

HpS - Thank you! Any astrologers whom you take as teachers?

As devotees it seems that there is nothing inauspicious. We just have to learn how to use the lack of earth.

Dress according to our age.

Yet, if we cannot do this yet, we should avoid the demonic and grasp the daivic as you suggest!

Thank you.

CMDD's report: I work from Monday to Sunday but the good thing is that there are just 2 days that I have to commute to work the rest of the days I have virtual classes. Nevertheless, sometimes it is a little bit demanding

HpS - Very demanding!

I try to join the FMS most of the days, 16R and 4P are ok.

I go to the church every Sunday is right in front of my house. My sister joins me. I haven't gone to any temple recently. That is something that I miss a lot

Thanks Gurudeva hope to visit you soon

Trying to be your disciple

CMDD

HpS - Is your sister going to join us in Nabadvipa in her next birth??

Hare Krsna Dear Gurudev,

  Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.

HpS - Lettuce feet.

  All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

HpS - !!!

  All glories to Guru parampara.

  Gurudev, I was thinking what will happen once you left [leave] this material world.

  And then how we have to continue spiritual journey further and meet your 

  expectations.

  So thought to seek couple of points with you:

  1. What we have to follow once you left this world. Means, do we need to follow

    any karma kand activities.

HpS - Maybe some rituals. Eg. Nitai-gaurasundara Das is the offical Executor of Our Last Will and Testament. There we have asked to have our body cremated and the ashes put in the Yamuna or Ganges.

There seem to be nice devotees in ISKCON to do these simply.

In general it seems nice to have photo of departed devotee in front of us and chant Hare Krsna. Maybe photo at Sunday Feast and offer Maha-prasadam.

  2. Do we need to follow any thing specific as per Srila Prabhupada's guidelines.

HpS - Same as above.

  Please guide.  

Your dependent,

Girivaradhari-Gopal Das

HpS - In general, we can always be connected by our participation in Srila Prabhupada's Sankirtan.

We hope we can develop those relations more and more. This Blog is good tool for that, no?

Thank you!!!

asa[e] ISKCON, three levels.

Dear Guru Maharaja, Hare Krsna!

Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I watched more than a few of your talks in Houston. Not all, as there were many of them, and were not listed by name. So between all the other lectures by different devotees, I tried to find yours and listen. Thank you and all the devotees who made the lectures available online.

If you allow, I would like to comment and ask about what you wrote here:

https://monkeywarrior.com/detail/14793/

Somebody said: “Thank you so much for mentioning the three levels of Iskcon, I'm interested to know about that!😃

You answered: HpS/ASA - Look for "Gopis Attracted by the Sound of the Flute" chapter title in the KRSNA book. Tell us what you find there.

——————

I read the chapter.

My observations follow…

Different gopis talk about Krsna and Balarama and Their connection to different personalities (cows, peacocks, birds(sages), clouds, Giriraja, deer, Yamuna, etc.). Each gopi shares something about Krsna. 

There are aborigine women in Vraja. It looks (from my memory of hearing elsewhere) like they are not from Krsna’s village. Interesting is that one meaning of aborigine is original inhabitants. 

Gopis talk about Krsna and what they remember, i.e. they had a direct experience of Krsna as seeing Him. In other words, they did not need to hear and then talk about what they heard but experienced Him face to face. 

Whoever heard the sound of Krsna’s flute was captivated. The flute’s sound extended to all corners of the universe. Does it mean that around 5000 years ago, everybody present in the world heard the flute? If yes, why in another sentence is said that sages took the form of birds in Vrindavana to be able to hear the flute?

HpS - What, agtSP, comes to our mind is that we are always existing in Bhur Bhuvah and Svar. It is like being in the movie theater. We have our immediate sensual environment, but it is limited to what we are seeing and hearing on the screen. We are not conscious of who is sitting next to us.

So, the sound of Krsna's flute is really available to everyone at all three levels, but some are absorbed in the Bhumandala so they need to focus, take birth, in hearing it there.

Calve’s mouth got stuck to the cow's nipples and could not suck milk and tears were coming from their eyes. They knew how to embrace Krsna heart to heart!

Please, could you share the three levels of ISKCON and how they connect to this beautiful and magical chapter?

HpS/ASA - I think I answered this in another letter, but cannot find it. So, this time I am tagging it Category B.

1st level is that the Gopis are good citizens of Nanda Maharaja's village. They milk cows, bargain over the price of their milk products, pay their taxes, voice their opinions about the management etc.

Of course, this is all done with service attitude.

So, we should all have the same relationship to ISKCON as an institution and of course at this level management structure, GBC, is prominent.

We should do our jobs and expect the GBC to do theirs.

2nd level of ISKCON is that it is a group of friends. Gopis heard the sound of Krsna's flute, and externally continued with their institutional, household activities, but began to start having confidential words about the situation, sound of the flute... with their friends.

So, we may have a very close friend who is GBC, Sannyasi, PhD etc but we are Temple cleaners. We act with each other in our Institutional perspective but have confidential relationship.

3rd Level is that each one remembered her direct experience of her relationship with KRSNA. Eg. "Oh, Krsna, composed that song to make me laugh when we were alone last night as arranged by Srimati Radha making garlands for next Surya puja."

When she remembers that she cannot even be completely coherent in your friendly relations, level two.

So, we all have to have a direct, personal relationship with Srila Prabhupada. It may be through so many media, such as his books, other devotees, within our heart, but it is there. It informs us about how to execute levels one and two.

I remember that I had read KRSNA book for one year. Then came to Temple and maybe visited for another year, and then moved in.

At one point I was walking to my outside work up a hill trying to sort out all the chaos of living in the Temple etc.

Then I had this realization that it did not matter if everyone else was crazy, I was going to serve Srila Prabhupada, and I knew enough about what he exactly wanted me to do.

He wanted me to chant 16-good rounds.

He wanted me to make my best contribution to his Sankirtan.

He wanted me to support his institution, make compensations for shortcomings of my superiors etc.

I felt that Prabhupada was aware of my determination and accepted it.

Stopping to meditate on Srila Prabhupada's murti, picture, stimulates this perspective. It also makes me humble in appreciating the superior connection that other disciples have with my Guru and how he is happy when I take advantage of that to approach him.

O.K.?

Thank you very much!

Your servant Namacarya Das

Dear Maharaj,

PAMHO AGTSP!

I can definitely try to put something together for Ram Navami.

I need some more clarity.

So you would like the story to not have too many sci-fi or wizardry elements but more modern archetypes, so that the story is relatable?

Or can we use magical elements and just not sci-fi?

This will help me in forming the story.

HpS - We, agtSP, struggle with this ourselves, so ask a lot of people, and let us know their opinions also. One standard that keeps coming to me is a phrase from Srila Prabhupada, "Whatever sells books is legal".

Yet this must be taken with depth.

If it sells one book today and gets us blocked from selling 1000 books in the next month, then it is not legal.

If it sells one book to a future book distributor, social leader, Prakazananda Sarasvati, then it is legal.

Clarify your audience.

Magical fiction//SF, modernization all seem important in the Sankirtan perspective. Think about it. Talk with others. Try something out. Watch the results.

Regarding my sadhana at Kalarigram, yes they know I’m a Gaudiya Vaishnava and they allow me to skip 1st morning class for my sadhana. However I’m still trying to figure out a schedule in which i can do both. But as a bottom line I aim to finish chanting before breakfast as you guided.

ASA/HpS - We also!!!

Now we join FES with Radha Natabara!!

Your work seems to be going well. Basic parameters fine. Just refining things so that you can be an active participant in Nitya-lila.

Yas,

SMDD

Hare Krishna Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! 

Thank you so much for Vijaya Prabhu’s Treasures of the Brhat Mrdanga book and the prasadam. We are very inspired by the nice forward that Vaisesika Prabhu wrote. Hope to dive further in soon.

HpS - We, agtSP, were just looking up topics that we liked and reading clips from it!

The painting of Sri Advaitacarya that I sent was posted on Facebook by a devotee. On His appearance day I impulsively sent it to you. I really love the painting so I wanted you to see it in case you hadn’t seen it before. 

Maharaja, I want to apologize for my long letter I sent last month. At the time it seemed like the right thing to send but I can see now that a lot of it was unnecessary and maybe too personal and vulnerable and much too long. Been really struggling internally. 

Maharaja, I’ve heard you talk about becoming too institutionalized within ISKCON a few different times throughout the years and I’m just wondering how to understand this more.

And maybe it’s not something I can understand at this neophyte stage?

I’m just always dealing with this rugged individualism that I was brought up in and heavily conditioned by, so for me the institutional aspect of ISKCON seems to be something I need to lean into more?

I’ve had some very profound and instructive dreams recently where you had answered some questions I have really struggled with. 

Anyway, thinking about you being back in the Murfreesboro camp and hoping this finds you very well with no more mouth pain.

Maharaja, would you be able to visit us in Boise this year? 

Your aspiring servant, 

Nitisara das 

HpS - We, agtSP, are struggling to answer this Blog timely. We are lazy, and actually limited. This letter seems to have had a FMS/BPC but we missed it!!!

Noted all of your good concerns.

Becoming institutionalized would seem to relate to 'niyama agraja' as in NoI 2. We go through the institutions rituals because it accommodates our sense gratification, gives us friends and family etc.

Yet, the rituals, eg. Japa Vrata, pushes us to reflect, "Why am I doing this?". If we are sincere and take advantage of this natural push from the Sadhana, then we really ask the question and we can see for example how we joined ISKCON, took up some service, for a certain vision, but now we have lost that.

It has repeatedly happened to me and I guess of course others, even you!! Then I took a month off in Braja as it offered itself to get back on track.

It may take a month every now and then to adjust for six years of institutional conditioning.

Helps?

So, much more detail in Prabhupada's books.

It seems that we will be based in Nashville until mid-May unless we die during this breath. By then, any travel plans should become clearer, but really seems that we should stay anywhere we can prepare for a change of body, engage in strong Sankirtan with deep meaning.

🙂

Another letter!