Letters to the editor

Hare Krsna dear Gurumaharaja

Please accept my humble obeisances

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I hope your trip to India has been profitable.

HpS - Super, but not without investment of years of our life. "You can die for something or you can live for nothing", Rambo.

You are always in our thoughts occupiying a very important place in our home and our heart.

I am writing to greet you and present this report of activities that have been carried out since a month ago. First of all, I would like to tell you that the appointment has been taken with pleasure by most educators so this has allowed me to start my activities with enthusiasm.

• In the first place, we have made contact with Mathuresh prabhu, in charge of the Bolivian Yatra, Divya Priya devi dasi (GBC representative for Ecuador) and Karunya Nitay prabhu, director of the educational program in Ecuador. The representation is now official in all three countries.

HpS - Super...

I will make the arrangements to travel in the year to Ecuador (Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca), and if it is possible, to south Peru (Cuzco and Arequipa) and Bolivia (La Paz and Cochabamba). In the same way we are working closely with Karuna Krsna Das, national education program director.

• I have been in touch with Tapana Misra prabhu by mail and today we have had our first telephone conversation. Prabhu has answered my questions with great kindness and I will be reporting to him as well as to you.

I have talked with the educators of Lima, at first, one by one and then they were called for a meeting this past Sunday. Karuna Krsna das, Jiva Sakti das, Jagat Pavitram das, Isvari devi dasi, Abhinanda das and me attended. The meeting was fruitful and nice, agreements were signed, the most important being:

• To comply with the MOE requests: semiannual report, register in the MOE's database, subscribe to MOE publications and attend the coordination meetings that will be every three months, in addition, a group has been created on Facebook to address issues of greater urgency.

HpS - Get ahold of the Blue Baboon (LAD). He is old. He is cantakerous, but he has a heart of gold.

• To propose as Bhakti sastri examiner to Baladeva prabhu and Jiva Sakti prabhu as administrator. In case this proposal does not prosper, we suggest Jiva Sakti prabhu as examiner and Candramukhi devi dasi as administrator. The final decision is in Mathuresh prabhu, the National Board and your hands. From then on, we must request the license to the BoEx.
• To create two working groups, one for Introduction to Bhakti yoga and another for the Disciples course. These work groups have the task of standardizing both courses, that have been imparted very differently by different devotees. The idea of fund is to create a structured course that can be facilitated in provincial cities on the basis of a coherent study guide. The course of Bhakti sastri will continue as it is until Bhakti sastri and Bhakti Vaibhava standarized courses are ready, that it will happen in two years, according to Tapana Misra prabhu.

HpS - The Boex is working on Intro to Bhakti yoga course guidelines and posting a list of good courses that are available around the world. Be sure to put all this stuff in Abhirama's "Jayam". Your Spanish version will be great.

• I am in talks with Hari Purana prabhu and other members of the Chosica community who see fit to develop education programs for children (more and more children among the devotees!). I spoke with Tapana Misra Prabhu and he will put me in touch with a team of devotees from India who are developing a similar project. Meanwhile, I have recommended Sunday school and later develop a home schooling program as the natural previous step for the Gurukula.

HpS - Yes. Keep after Tapan-misra Das. Also contact Gopi-gita Dasi in Dallas. [email protected]

First of all I am attending the most urgent matters but I need a strategic plan. Any suggestions Gurumaharaja?

HpS - Vidya vadu jivanam. If you chant good rounds. Keep you DOnkey well, then Krsna will send plans. Catch them. Who are you? WHo are your associates? Then a plan based upon the personal relations of intelligent associatiotes.

*******************************

On a personal level:

As you already know, we have been in Chosica for 2 months, happy because it is where we feel better. We are serving Sri Sri Radha Madana Vihari on weekends at kitchen, attending Mangala arati (we live three minutes from the temple!) and teaching the Introduction to Bhakti yoga course to three students of the university where I teach and my sister in law. My wife is doing well, studying (and falling in love with the Bhagavad Gita, in her own words) and successfully deciphering her mission in the movement of Lord Caitanya. I go to work in Lima three days a week and the rest here, more serene, more controlled, more safe. Simple life, high thinking ki jaya !!

We hope to see you soon, dear Gurudeva.

I will send my report next month.

Your tiny servant

Gandharva das

HpS - I hope we can buy our Lima ticket in the next few days.

Hare Krsna dear Maharaj,

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Please accept my humble obeisances!

I am not sure if you've read my last message. You responded to 2 parts but not the entire thing. I have copied and pasted it to the end of this message just in case. I had some questions there. Sorry for any inconvenience Maharaj. I know I am very annoying XD.

HpS - NOT IN THE L E A S T!

I have begun Uni now. We are 6 weeks in and I utterly dislike like my course.. I have had as many breakdowns as you can think of 😆

. Mainly because I don't really enjoy the course content - I am studying the Bachelor of Business Management. I actually got accepted into the dual degree with Bachelor of Arts but I dropped that before my course begun. I thought I didn't really need it (since I don't really know what I'm doing anyway) and any extra time at Uni is seen to me as quite unnecessary.

Anyway, I have talked to so many people about my dilemma. They've either suggested me to change courses or do this or that, but none of it seemed to really appeal to me. I'm a very confused person. But, as of last Friday after Harinam, I had an epiphany and I thought, perhaps I should just stick out my course (even though I may dislike it) and just accept all the opportunities that Uni offers me. And on the side, I can do all the activities I am passionate about and hopefully everything will fall into place. I hope this thinking will last me the next 3 years of my course 😂

HpS - ASA --- To us studying business seems crazy. Seems to us you have a female machine. You should pray to Krsna to send along a great prince on a white horse who will be overwhelmed by your beauty, wonderful voice, clever mind and carry you away to his castle in the sky (and also have place for your mother and sister and brother and aunt and.... so visit). So you should study Nursing at the Uni so that you can bandage his and his soldiers wounds when they come back from fighting dragons.

Of course, this is probably the worst advice you have got so far, but in general look and see if there are any good teachers there and take whatever courses they have.

. Assignments have already begun and I am not very enthusiastic about them.

Besides that, I also attend the weekly 'Urban Monk' program at UQ for students. It's a great program and hopefully that, Harinam and Saturday Feast can keep me sane throughout my course, as did Harinam during Year 12.

I won't blabber on much else for now. I'll save you the sanity.. I know you have much more significant issues to deal with than to read my complaints.. Sorry Maharaj. Anyway, anytime I have a question, I tend to ask you so I'll definitely be messaging some point soon hehe.

HpS - ASA --- Your questions are for a lot people in similar situations. Many people will read these dialogs.

As per my sadhana, I am chanting 12 rounds everyday as of now. Sometimes I do not complete them and I record these so I can catch up later. I know it's not ideal but I'm trying to improve. I hope, by your mercy, I will be able to chant 16 rounds soon with complete faith and conviction, and after that, officially take your shelter.

ASA - At 12-rounds you can marry a Baron. At 16-rounds a prince.

I also went to a Japa retreat recently run by Mahatma Prabhu. He's so sweet and humble and I was really inspired. It was amazing. Sometimes I believe if I could just drop my studies and join the Ashram, then I can concentrate more on Krsna Consciousness. But, since I must study, I have to figure out how to think of Krsna at all times and see how everything is still connected to him and how I may serve him doing my required duties.

I hope your health is in the best condition Maharaj and I pray that you visit Brisbane some time soon. We need some mercy down here (mostly my fallen self actually).

Please guide me. I am too lost.

Your servant,

Lakshmi

HpS - We answered two more questions below. Thank you. Any news from Sriman Raktaka Das?

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Please accept my humble obeisances!

I haven't written to you in a long time..

HpS - We are slow to answer this letter! AGTSP.

Sorry Maharaj. We just came back from India around 3 days ago. All of us got sick within the one week that we were there. I myself am still recovering a little bit. Pity that we got sick there so we couldn't enjoy as much. We were in Vrndavan for 3 days and before that in Ludhiana, Punjab. All of papa's relatives wanted to meet us.

HpS - Yes, people were talking about your visit.

Vrndavan is always nice. Even in 3 days, you can fall in love. I would love to spend more time there but we always have these short trips. Perhaps in the future I may go myself or with some friends and stay in India longer, do some tapasya.

In Azerbaijan, the temple is also very nice. The devotees are very welcoming and everyone is so ecstatic. The mood is quite different there. I can see. Here in Brisbane, the devotees seem dull in comparison. I mean everyone meditates differently so I can't really speak on behalf of anyone but when I saw basically the entire temple jumping up and down during Arati in Azerbaijan, I thought there is something different here. Kirtan should be most jubilant experience, no? Why just stand when you can dance? It really is so nice when you see other devotees dancing in ecstacy.

My mother's family is beyond loving. They're so sweet and kind. We had quite a nice time in Azerbaijan. We spent 3 weeks there. We even drove up to some mountains where it was snowing because all of us kids had a burning desire to see snow. It was soo fun.

Anyways, I hope your birthday/ Vyasapuja was spent nicely with LOTS of Prasadam and wonderful Kirtan. One day, we would all like to attend personally. Hopefully your health is in best condition, Maharaj. We are waiting for your visit to Australia again, please. It will be so nice. We need some awesomeness :) That has been lacking lately!

I am now high school free. Well I have been for more than 2 months now. But it doesn't end there :( I am forced to go to uni and study more. yay. Uni will start in less than a month and my course will go for 3 years - Business. I actually got accepted into a double degree with Business and Arts. But now, I really don't see the point. In fact, I don't even see the point in studying business because it all seems to be basic knowledge and common sense. But, I have to study something at least and Business seems an easy route. I hope that I can achieve something fruitful with this. And somehow dovetail it to Krsna Consciousness... I really need to get my sadhana in check. Right now, I am chanting 12 rounds a day. I'm not sure about the quality but I'm trying to improve. And the timing.... Definitely not in the early morning XD. I need to start rising early. Soon hopefully I'll be chanting 16 rounds Maharaj. Please bless this fool and give her some intelligence so that she may know what is good for her actually.

As usual Maharaj, I have some questions ;)

What happens to the animals that pass in Vrndavan? Are they reborn or do they go to the higher planets?

ASA - We don't know. We think they go to Goloka.

Also, the Brijbasis? Do they go to the same Goloka Vrndavan that ISKCON devotees go to? Becuase their love for Radharani and the Holy Dham is unmatched. Perhaps even greater than some of us, due to their simplicity and generosity.

ASA - We don't think all ISKCON devotees go to Goloka immediately. There are Life Members who eat chicken and initiated devotees who have problems like Daksa.

I had so many questions in mind but that is all I can remember at present XD. Sorry for the trouble. I know I can be very annoying at times (if not always lol).

I wish your health and well-being is in the best condition always. Hopefully your stay in India is pleasant and uplifting :) GAURANGA!

Please accept my most humble obeisances.

Your most fallen servant,

Lakshmi

Hare Krsna Maharaj,

PAMHO, AGTSP

there is nothing new in this world, but there is news ( north, east,west, south). haaa...

we were reading Krsna book, and read G Harrison letter.. "everybody is looking for Krsna"..

so we tried reading BG chapt 10. and came across wonderful things (see pic attached).

this was prepared by Chowpatty devotee.

I request to see his video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO4koKObSj8)

Srimad Bhagavatam - Canto 1 Chapter 9 - Part V (bheesma dev prayers) by HG Gauranga Priya Prabhu

hope it helps in your sankirtan and BhVai study guides

HpS - We saw the first 2-minutes. It is wonderful! We put the link in our ASA Encyclopedia and will publish. Hope you can offer puris cooked in Ghee to your Deities. Lord Nrsmha deva?

Hare Krishna, dear gurudeva. Pamho, AGTSP!

In the previous letter I expressed the frustration and disagreement of my situation. I wanted to go somewhere else. I always thought that preaching in my country was what belonged to me. I also thought he was too old to start over again somewhere else.

I lost several weeks trying to discover what I had to do without apparent response. I went to my friends and of course to you. I was not exactly confused, it was simply the matter of in what place where I had to fulfill my mission. I was ready to accept any challenge. But the answer did not come. I had already submitted my CV to several institutions, etc. It's not like I was lying in bed waiting for something to come up. But eventually that happened. I felt defeated.

I talked to a good friend and she gave me some hope. Then my goo friend Haribhuddi, who is very ingenious, passes me a job search link on-line. Almost immediately I received several proposals. The one that interested me the most was an alternative school. Immediately I went to an interview and it went very well. The coordinator, a young teacher was enthusiastic about my ideas and they hired me.

Tomorrow I start this new educational adventure. It's an interesting challenge, as I like it. They are young students who do not fit into society, who have lost hope, who need to be reunited, misunderstood, who are looking for something more. That's where I come in. First cultivation of the human spirit and then we will see what happens. Actually I wanted something like that.

Please, give me your blessings to do well this predicate, shall we say, indirect so to speak. This topic fascinates me because sometimes I see that many devotees lack sufficient human qualities. I do not know, maybe I'm wrong.

Thank you for your words of encouragement. Your guide is essential to do some service appropriately.

HpS - ASA - Very nice. The more you are Krsna conscious, good morning program, the more you will see opportunities to glorify Krsna in this work, no? Keep notes (as The Blue Baboon) and send us a story every semester at least. Respects to you family and friends.

Now a brief report from Goura Gadhadara dasi that she asked me to give it to him.

She is doing well, she is doing a lot of service to the devotees in Mayapur. She was in the main kitchen for the festivity. Now he (she) is doing the safari with the disciples of HH Jayapataka swami. The Gouri bhumi mandala parikrama. She is learning to listen more to the gurus and to better serve the devotees. She is knowing the places where Lord Caitanya was. For the vyasa puja of Jayapataka Maharaj she has also been committed to doing much service. She tells me that has also done mandala parikrama of Mayapur for seven days with many devotees and gurus. He says that took refuge in Maha Vishnu swami in the parikrama. Then she will go to the temple of Radhanata Swami to do a yoga teacher certificate. She has traveled to India for a year and is seeing opportunities. GG is grateful for having allowed her to go to the holy dham and asks for your blessings so that she can continue to do well as he has done up to now.

HpS - And The Divya-drsti Devi Dasi?

For my part, thank you very much for your blessings to move forward.

Thank you, again.

ssLAD

HpS - We all thank you! It is not an easy austerity keeping the Blue Baboon civilized, no?

Todas las Glorias a Srila Prabhupada!!!!

Hare Krsna recordado Guru Maharaja, por favor reciba mis respetuosas reverencias.

Seguimos acá en Huancayo-Perú, no viajamos a Ayacucho, pero si a Huancavelica por un dia, Huancavelica es un departamento del Perú que esta a 4 horas de Huancayo, tiene mayor altura y hace mas frio, Sankirtana!!!

HpS - ASA --- !!!!!

Estamos manteniendo nuestro Sadhana, 4 am, Mangal Artik, 16 rondas de Japa,4 principios, luchando con la mente, y leendo el Srimad-Bhagavatam, canto 3, cap 1 ,segunda parte.]

HpS - Encuentra de Vidura con Uddhava!

Tenemos algunos problemasde salud, bronquios, falta de aire y parece ser que el pancreas esta mal, por los sintomas que tenemos, parece ser que estamos muriendo, como todos!!!

HpS - Si, esta cuerpo es como un bromo, no? Pero la misma para M. Pariksit, no?

Por otro lado queria hacerle unas preguntas!!!

Hace 2 años y 5 meses le escribi una carta titulada "DECISIONES", en una parte de la carta usted me dice lo siguiente:

Luz de la Bhagavata es super para predica, no?  Puede imprimir unos Textos de ww.vedabase.com, Espanyol, y distribuir,

Mis preguntas son las siguientes:

Mi esposa Nadiya Nivasi quiere hacer un libro Recetario y yo quisiera hacer 2 pequeños libros de unas 60 paginas ó folletos que hablen sobre La Conciencia de Krsna, que tengan la bibliografia de algunos libros de Srila Prabhupada, Bhakti tirtha Swami, Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, etc. Queremos hacer nuestros propios libros y enfocar todo hacia la predica de Srila Prabhupada. Claro también seguir distribuyendo los libros de Srila Prabhupada.

HpS - Si, aparece muy bien a nosotros. El Instituto Bhakti-vedanta hace la misma. Por que no incluyir Caturatma Das de Lima del BBT con un consejero en esta esfureza. Pienso es super.

¿Usted nos puede autorizar para compilar e imprimir estos libros?

¿Se nesecita alguna autorización especial?

HpS - No tengo super autoridad pero aparece muy bien como yo entiendo el proyecto. Toma consejo de Caturatma y unos mas buenos devotos, autoridades del Yatra.

Bueno Guru Maharaja me despido. Que Nrsimha lo proteja. Esperamos su respuesta, para poder entender como hacer las cosas sin cometer ofensas. Hare Krsna!!!!

Gadai Gauranga Dasa.

His Holiness Hanumatpresaka Swami will give class on the 4th Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam on e-sanga.org on Thursday, April 11th at 6:00 AM Hawaii time. The verse describes instructions to Dhruva as follows:

SB 4.8.23 — My dear Dhruva, as far as I am concerned, I do not find anyone who can mitigate your distress but the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose eyes are like lotus petals. Many demigods such as Lord Brahmā seek the pleasure of the goddess of fortune, but the goddess of fortune herself, with a lotus flower in her hand, is always ready to render service to the Supreme Lord.

If you'd like to participate please join the meeting useing this link: Live Broadcast

HpS - At 7AM Hawaii time we have our Latin American GBC Meeting. Awk.