Letters to the editor

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

All Glories to the International Society for Krsna Consciousness

I offer my respectful obeisance’s at your feet

All Glories to your Service in the advancement of Krsna Consciousness

Dear Maharaj,

I offer humble apologies for having taken so extremely long to reply to your answer to my Introduction/Shelter letter a few months ago.  There have been various spiritual, physical and emotional aspects of my life that have proved somewhat of a distraction, not to mention that I clearly also needed to make some further advancement within myself.

Earlier this year I sustained a knee injury that was misdiagnosed as a patella dislocation which I unfortunately continued to work on in service until after a more severe event it was finally realized that I had severed the ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) & torn the meniscus very badly in a few different places.  Once this was found an ACL reconstruction was necessary along with trimming what parts of the meniscus that were not repairable.

HpS - Robot maintenance!

Added to this it has taken me over a year to address my time management issues and properly balance my Sadhana, Service & Study program here at the Temple / Farm. 

ASA - Rapid progress. We come into this human form after hundreds of millions of other lifes!  AGTSP!

Having also not addressed my conditioning to be unable to refuse any kind of service offered by the Lord I found myself becoming exhausted on all levels of material existence, running from one service to the next. 

HpS - In NOD, 64-types of devotional service, 'One should not accept more service than he can do'.  I think 98% of us modern people have to learn to prioitize our service. Mother Yasoda had to decide between giving her milk to Krsna or saving His milk on the stove.

It seems that Krsna had placed me in a position to learn some assertiveness that I did not think would be necessary in a spiritual community & thus the mind took quite a beating.  Fortunately, I’ve managed to scrape through with my Bhakti Sastri studies & have maintained my Sadhana rising early enough to have my rounds chanted preferably before Mangal Arati, although my chanting could most certainly improve in quality & hopefully now will with less stress.  I have now somewhat recovered from my surgery although it will take until July next year to be safely healed.  I have only now managed to carve out a firm service program that is a healthier balance allowing for an appropriate amount of time for both personal and formal studies.

I do understand your comments referring to the formality of first initiation & quite like your Marriage Ceremony analogy.  It took me a little while to absorb your advice regarding taking initiation from someone closer whom I could have a more regular contact with.  For some reason I had my heart immovably set on gaining you as Diksa / Siksa Guru.  Sometimes understanding & comprehension can  become slightly separated.  However, since being able to clear my mind & slow down, I have had the realization that if that was truly my desire then perhaps I should have been more surrendered so as to actually listen to the first piece of advice that you offered me.  What kind of disciple would I make if I was unable to take such direction on board immediately.

I can certainly now see the wisdom of this advice along with its practicality & I am far happier for this understanding.  Recently Bir Krishna Das Goswami Maharaj visited & I was able to attend all his programs having been extended invitations from my friends here who are his disciples.  This was quite wonderful as he was also a Spiritual Master who I listen to & had considered approaching for Diksa.  This I have done & he has agreed to give me shelter in Krsna Consciousness.  He comes generally twice a year if not more as he operates within this part of the world & is also very easy to contact.  Had I been more surrendered, thinking straight & actually listened to you earlier I would have realized that Krsna was providing me with the opportunity for both Diksa & Siksa Guru’s for whose teachings and missions I feel a particular connection with.

For so very long my service imbalance & exhaustion was really causing me to be reactive & less considered in my thoughts.  I continually & repeatedly listen to your lectures & enjoy them immensely.  Most of my life has been involved with the Arts embracing a milieu informed by philosophy, psychology, science & spirituality that would be considered quite alternative to the mainstream of society.  Thus, the informed nature of your words & experiences reverberates deeply with me & I have an immediate recognition with your mood as you have a wonderful comprehension of conceptual thought in the western world as well as its application & presentation under the authoritative auspices of Sastra.  Therefore, despite it taking me so long to reply, I would very much like to accept your offer of a Siksa relationship if this is still possible.  You speak in a language that has an immediate resonance within me & I greatly enjoy your sense of humour.  I sincerely feel that I can learn a lot from building such a relationship with you.

HpS - !!!

You asked about my name which I can explain although there is no too much to tell.  I have had this name for some years before returning to look at ISKCON, though as you can guess it is not my birth name.  When changing my name, I’d decided to take a name that I was using s my ‘pen name’ under which I wrote poetry, yet when I came to complete the paper-work I simply wrote Aja Jai Ishwara Kripa.  Which according to my very poor Sanskrit was to mean Unborn Victory by the Grace of God.  There are some specific reasons for each word, but I probably don’t need to go into that, except to say that despite Aja being a name of Vishnu, to hear Aja every time I am addressed was to serve to remind me that I am not the body but rather that which is, in its true position, unborn & unconditioned by this material existence.  Anyhow, that is a brief explanation as to how & why I came to have this name.

ASA - Lord Brahma is called A-Ja. unborn, because he has no mother.  From the lotus of Visnu. 'o'

Again, I apologise for not replying to you far sooner, but it seems that Krsna had much for me to realize & organize within my self & my spiritual practise. I do very much hope that you would still be willing to act as Siksa Guru, something that Bir Krishna Das Goswami Maharaj is aware of.  I greatly anticipate the possibility of building such a relationship based upon my intense and heartfelt appreciation for your teaching.  I do believe that this would greatly assist me to more fully occupy my constitutional position as a servant of Krsna & my sincere desire to serve in some meagre way to help Prabhupada’s mission to advance Krsna Consciousness throughout the world via his international Society for Krsna Consciousness as well as aid me to purify my chanting of the Holy Names.

Sincere Humility

Aja Jai Ishwara Kripa

Hare Krsna

P. S. Apologies I don't really have any pictures of myself, so Ive just taken a quick selfie while sitting at the keyboard.

HpS - Thank you for the letter. Because of time constraints we had to start scanning it a little, but got 97.777%.   Thank you!    We are very happy to give our little Siksa, advice, as we meet or here in the Blog etc.    Please, keep us informed of your Sankirtan, and respects to Maharaja. We are old friends!!!!!

Collect some nice art and post it here after some time.

Hare Krisna, mis reverencias mi querido Gurudeva,todas las glorias a Srila Prabhupada estara si Krisna quiere Prema Murti Prabhu que esta buscando una tierra para cultivar.

Ss Jagamohan das

HpS - Donde??   Vd y Prema murti Das.  Mas?

Hare Krishna Beloved Gurudeva

AGTSP

PAMHO.

This is a photo of His Holliness Krishna Ksetra S when He was a kid. I like His soul so much

Jaya

Ys

Cmdd

HpS - Very interesting!   You can see his soul!?   As we become purified we can for sure begin to see the Atma, but also we begin to see the shirt under the jacket, no?  The shirt reveals the persons more personal taste than his overcoat, no?

Hare Krsna Dear Gurudev,
    Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet.

HpS - ASA - Paoho and agtylf.
    All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

ASA - !!!
    All glories to Guru parampara.

ASA - ! !      !*

    Hope you are good in health.

HpS - We are immortal but Brother Ass, the Donkey that we ride through this world, IS a disease. Our eyes are failing, two teeth gone, half deaf, short term memory diminished, knees getting weak, respiration shallow, but even though it is an old car it is well maintained. AGTSP, ISKCON, and we look forward to good service until the final collapse (2024).

Personally, we are surprised that we are making spiritual advancement, AGTSP, ISKCON, we are really trying to get ready for life after death and waking up, and developing our eternal service and its application in this world.  Jaya, Sri Hanumatpresaka, Sri Ramacandra Bhagavan.

    Wanted to be good in Kirtan so thinking to start practice from tomorrow.

    So if you can advise anything which can help to pick it fast, would be good for me.
    i would focus on those points while practicing.

    While, i have finalized topics for preaching in Chhattisgarh. Planning to go in
    December first week for 15 days.

    Continuing with 32 rounds, hope to increase 40 rounds after a certain time.

    Hope to keep upgrading spiritually as you expect from me.

    Thank you so much Gurudev for everything.

your fallen servant,
Girivaradhari-Gopal Das

HpS - We admire your determination. Please write to us when you leave for Chhattisgarh. Then we shall see you at the end of January. Now looks like land 23 January and then head to Govardhana Eco Village GEV. Let's all go. Education symposium. Then back to Pune (BBY) for the same in ISKCON and outside universities.     Then Delhi/Vraja.      Then 15 Feb - 15 Mar (?)   Kolkatta Mayapura.        Then two, three weeks in the North East.

By "Kirtan" do you mean singing and dancing in the Temple and Public, or do you mean direct distribution of books?     In either case, listen. When you chant, lead a Kirtan, listen to the response that the others make. When you approach people to show books, listen to their response. Then from your K.C. nature it will be natural to respond.   1) We must be pure (eg. FMP),  2) Krsna will send innocent people,    3) They must be patient to understand the situation of this material world.

Thank you.   Respects to everyone!

Hare Krsna.

AGTSP

paoho & bw.

(Purusa) Kala - Desa - Patra

(Who) When - Where - What

Monkey and Piggy (Dhruva, Dhanesvari, Gaura, Suryayani, Sarasvati, LAD, M. Rama-lila, Rai-ramananda, Lila-sri,.... Ananda, Joel, Purandara...), 3.42PM, ISKCON Arrequipa, Sitting in our Campsite with our things well set-up Calendar set doing our Letters to the Editor.

At 4.00PM we have to bathe (wash clothes (Kirtan)), then Tilak, Tea-time, brisk walk to the park (take books (get the triple-heaters opened)), Japa, 6.30PM Gaura-arati (GoToMeeting (NOI Symposium (1/2)), Japa and rest.

1. We are third class. We asked Srinivasa Das to give the Daily SB class today. We were in transit from Lima to Arrequipa. Yet, we did not give him the access codes. We are giving them to him by text-message now!  We apologize and hope to rectify this mistake.

2. Everything seems to be going O.K.: 'Art and the Sacred', 'Solaris', MOE meetings. Hare Krsna. You can make plans for serving Krsna, but better to just chant HK/HR (then you will see that the plans 'come' from the sky).

3.  "Purport: As suggested by the words cukūja veṇum, Lord Kṛṣṇa skillfully blended the sound of His flute with the lovely sounds of Vṛndāvana’s multicolored birds. Thus an irresistible, heavenly vibration was created.", https://www.vedabase.com/en/sb/10/21/2. This is the 'Venu Gita', Song of the Flute. We were doing it last Friday also. This phrase struck us. We also play a flute. You also? This merging of the sound our our flute with the ambient sounds is incredible challenge. Then you can turn all the local noises into Sankirtan, Book Distribution. Even more so, we can merge our Hari-nama Japa/Kirtan with the sounds of the environment. Listening to someone can merge with the Mantra. That is our goal of life. Your's?

Hare Krsna!

AGTSP

Paoho

We have a headache, stomach ache, back ache, laboring to breath a little, getting dark here in Lima (depressing), no Krsna kirtan in the room. No crowds of people...  but Abhi/Maria flat is very clean, new, bright. Dhruva and Dhanesvary and the babies came today. We have been having FMP that crack the neighbors windows and all of our rounds done early.

Our knees, especially the right one, seem to be coming to permanent collapse. Guess we will be on wheels soon.

Solaris is our constant meditation now. Abhi. Rama. Indu, Nitya K.   Everyone got it into a near final draft and then we looked at it and sent it off with suggestions to Dr. Samaresh and our NIOS Directors.   Lot of work.

Now lets look at our BG workshop preparation!!