Letters to the editor

Hare Krsna / Hare Rama!

Thank you Visvambara Das et al, (SEE LETTER BELOW)

KALA

15th - 18th June 2017

Thursday Evening - Reception: Temple Hosts (Eg. President, Harivilasa Das), Sesa Das (Rama-giridhari Das) Ministry of Education, Protocol Officer.

Friday Morning - Srimad Bhagavatam Class (???), Topic 1 - Chairman: HpSwami, "Philosophy and Strategy of Education with ISKCON" (Presentation about 20-minutes, Contribution Discussion from Everyone. Chairman and others can make the Presentation)

Topic 2 - Chairman: Visvambara Das (And one other?!), Early Education (Pre, Primary, Secondary)

Topic 3 - Chariman: Partha Das / Uttama Devi Dasi (Grhastha Vision Team), "Varna-ashrama Education, Preparing for Marriage, Preparing for Sannyasa" 

Friday - Afternoon - Gay and Delightful Workshops to be decided. These of course can be topical groups such as Early Education, but they can also invite expert contributions eg. Early Education can Invite Sastric Education for 15-minutes.

Friday - Evening - Cultural - Entertainment. Suggested: "The Taming of the Shrew" with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, with short intro by HpS on Teaching and Shakespeare in the Guru-kula

Snore!!!!!!!!

Saturday

Srimad Bhagavatam (???  Maybe Vaisesika Das on line)

Topic 1 - Chairman: Radhika Raman Das - "Studying and Preaching in the University and Academic Environment". This will include reports of the incredible results. Orienting Early Education to send students on this route etc.

Topic 2 - Chairman: Hari-lila Das (HpS) - "Sastric Education". Report of Results in USA and World. Discussion of how this fits with other topics eg. Early Education.

Topic 3 - Chairman: Rama-giri-dhari Das (Ananta-rupa Das). "Education in with ISKCON in the Western Hemisphere - Building a Global System". This will include Latin American Devotees who will be involved with Tele-conferencing and a Simultaneous Translator.

Saturday Night - Cultural Program (???)

SUNDAY

Srimad Bhagavatam (??)

Breakfast of Fraternal Felicity

Closure Session with Summation and Action Items

NOTES: You can see that this is going to be a tight, intense, powerful program. We will need the Chairpeople to start collecting input, discussingn topics, so that this meeting is just a moderate part of the pre and post work.

We are available. We will be in Boise and San Jose the weeks before.

As an action item we would very much like to see the selection of an Editor for a Periodical: Education with ISKCON in the Western Hemisphere.

PURUSA

Who is joining?

Physically

Sesa Das, Rama giri dhari Das

Harivilasa Das, HpSwami, Seattle Devotees, Synergy School! Ananta-rupa Das

Visvambara Das, Gopi-gita, Subra DD, Dallas Gurukula,

Ananda Vrndavana DD, Hari-lila Das, Kartamasham, Uttama DD and Partha Das.

On-line:

Mother Aruddha Devi Dasi, Radhika-raman Das, Nitya-ananda Das Prabhu (Dallas, GBC North American Chairman), Srivasa Pandita Das (Sastric Education ISKCON Silicon Valley). Devotees from Latin America such as Candra-mukhi DD + Lalita-gopi DD (PhD both (Mexico Yatra)), Laksmana agraja Das (et al Peru), Jagat-guru Das, Param-padam Das, Baladeva Das, Mathuresa Das (GBS Zonal Supervisor) (Running Schools and Education in South America), 

We will broadcast this schedule now and invite more participation on line. The connection, in the shadow of Micro-soft, should be excellent.

TRANSPORT AND ACCOMODATION

Temple can house 15-devotees in devotee homes:

We count -

HPS, RGD, SESA, Partha - Uttama, Kar, Vis, Subra, Gopi + Nitya, Hari-lila, Anantarupa, Ananda V Mataji.  Any others?

That's thirteen.

Airport is like 45-minutes from the Temple.

HpS, Hari-lila Das, Anandavrndavana DD are arriving at Seattle airport from San Jose at 2.37PM on Delta 5738.

Please send your itenarary ASAP and try to combine things for easy travel.

FINAL WORDS

This program is about 51% organized, but we are all Brahmanas, right?

We have just brushed the surface describing the intense qualifications of the people coming and the programs that are in motion.

We hope that the sound of Krsna flute is everyone's dearmost companion during all these days!

HpS

From: David Aguilera 
To: 13- primary schools et al
Sent: Saturday, May 6, 2017 10:10 AM
Subject: ISKCON Ed Conference Agenda
 

Dear Friends,

Hare Krishna. I hope this email finds you all well.

Subhra and I had the opportunity to meet with Hanumatpresaka Maharaja by phone to discuss the upcoming ISKCON Education Conference in Seattle on June 15 - 18. The general agenda that is shaping up seems to be morning presentations with afternoon breakout sessions. 

We want the time we spend in Seattle to be worthwhile. A thought Subhra and I had was for the school leaders to spend the afternoons together supporting each other by presenting relevant topics and sharing our experiences. The idea is for us to come away from the conference having had the opportunity to connect with each other and to bring back ideas from the discussions that we can use to help improve our schools.

I have put together a Google Sheet for us to start compiling what we want to talk about:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16gQ7WtbgyYaoLO5NG7GO4vNNwxOKL0ouGAAleHXfCCk/edit?usp=sharing

I encourage you to start plugging in topics as they come to mind. Don’t hesitate to duplicate topics that someone else already put in. If the same topic comes up multiple times, we will know this is something that should go to the top of the discussion list.

Another thing we want to have on the agenda is to allow time in the morning sessions for each of us to give presentations about our schools: introduction, history, current status, accomplishments, and challenges. Let me know if you are interested in doing a presentation, so I can work with Maharaja to put them in the morning agenda.

These are just some ideas. None are set in stone. Your thoughts on the formatting and how we best spend our time is much appreciated. 

I am looking forward to finally getting together with all of you (knock on wood).

Yours in service, 

Visvambhara Dasa
Head of School
Bhaktivedanta Academy
 

Hare Krsna.

Nandulal Das will arrive on same plane as us in Lima and will leave back to Houston same day we leave for Santiago.

Who wants to help him with his visit. Very, very nice person. He owns an elephant.

Go sightseeing in Lima.

Shopping.

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

HpS - ASA -- Load bearing feet.

    All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
    All glories to Guru parampara.
    ASA - Jaya!

    Thank you so much Maharaj for India date, you are going to stay 3 weeks ( 27 Sept - 18  Oct ). If GBC meeting is in Mumbai then it would be good.

ASA - It is in Ujjain. 9-17th, but we will not be involved the whole time. Final estmate seems we will fly from Houston on the 27th of September and then return on the 1st of November. During that we will go for 10-days in Australia!  Any suggestions about how to adjust the within India/Australia schedule?  We will ask Mukunda in Kolkata and also look at the Puja Calendar etc. Just about ready to buy.

    Please let me check with senior b'chari in temple with above date and update you again.

your fallen servant,
Girivaradhari-Gopal Das

Calendar Santiago Chile (Jun-Jul 207)

All Glories to Sri Sri Gaura Nitai,

All Glories to Srila Prabhupāda

Dear Guru Maharaj,

Please accept my humble obeisances

I’m sending the calendar scheduled, but just proposed until now. We couldn’t send you early because I’m still in one travel outside Chile and with not too much internet access.

Is a very intense calendar but nothing is confirmed now, due we want to wait until your review before. The dates are flexibles because we depend on the date of the places to manage the public conference.

Despite is intense we are following your request about “just one program by day”. So, when something appears on the calendar now is not another program scheduled that day, just with one exception which I detailed bellow.

I have attached a picture with this same calendar in an illustrative way. I expect that you could see it. I would like to talk with you directly about this calendar if you agree.

ASA - The smiling Monkey said, "Smartavam satatam visnor... All plans are to increase our Krsna bhavanamrta".
June, 28^th Wednesday: Arriving at 11.50PM

June, 29^th Thursday: University Lecture

Thursday is the best day to make public events here. Priyasakhi and Nanda-Gopal (Oscar before) are working in this Diploma about Psychology and THE Vaisnavism perspective in Academia de Humanismo Cristiano University. It would be a 2 hours lecture from you. They have more details, but the thing is the date from the University to this make this Diploma is not ready. But we propose this date.

However, if is not working we will try to organize another program in another university. We have several contacts so is possible.

ASA - Have them look at the youtube clip from the Keyword Search: psychology and the sacred 2016. Then let us all talk on the telephone to see if we can do something significant eg. The professors, us and the students produce a booklet, movie, for distribution by the event.

June, 30^th Friday: Prabhupāda’s Night

This is the traditional Prabhupada’s Night at Santiago Mandir. We propose a general conference about who is our Acarya and what is his contribution to our world. We are planning to invite people from our list of contact, from festivals, harinamas, etc to this conference.

ASA - Maybe (!!) "Prof. C. G. Jung and the Bhagavata, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada". How long is the program? Maybe (?) Srila Prabhupada your personally Guru.

July, 1^st Saturday: Hindu Community

Due in your last two visits we were very busy with the Congress, we should decline the invitations to you from the Indian Community in Santiago in its program of Saturdays. So I think that could be nice agreed to this third time. I think that we can show them how the Indian communities in the world are not just supporting ISKCON, they are joined ISKCON. This is just my personal opinion. If you agree we can inform to the Indian local leader here, Sri Nama-Radha devi dasi.

ASA - Super. Again, lets all talk with her and plan the program!

July, 2^nd Sunday: Kirtan Yoga

Kirtan Yoga is a new program of the Sunday, from 4 pm to 6 pm, which started like one year ago. Is about chanting maha mantra in bhajans, only harmonium, and other instruments but in a meditative mood, sometimes they dance in the last part but is more about meditation and try to concentrate on the sound of the maha-mantra. A lot of non-devotees are attending this program.

Between every kirtaniya sometimes I read some extracts from Prabhupāda’s book about chanting. The invitation is if you would want chant in this part, and then give a special lecture (6:40 pm) about how we can improve our mood in the kirtan, how we chant together better, and the risk in just dance and dance without really fix our mind in the holy name.

ASA - Yes!! Such nice movement you are offering.

July, 3^rd Monday: Srimad Bhagavatam in our lives

It could be a special morning class, the whole community of devotees invited, and the topic is about how this Srimad Bhagavatam is still applicable nowadays in the modern world to our lives.

ASA:     '@'qoq~~     !      Got full sets to sell?    People will then join study groups to learn to preach/teach SB?

July, 4^th Tuesday: Yoga and Ayurveda Center Dhatri

This is very good place founded by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur dāsa and his wife Gita Vali dāsī where they are giving yoga classes and Ayurveda diagnosis and therapies. Two floors. 9 minutes walking from the temple.

They have a community of yoguis so they are eager to invite you to preach them.

ASA - AAAA UUUU MMMMM

July, 5^th Wednesday: Martial Arts and the energy

Parasurama Avatara das and Bhadra Gopal das and others are very involved in the martial arts like Judo and others in Kung-Fu, for example. Their sensei are teachers in universities and are inclined to know more about Krishna Consciousness. So, the devotees think that a talk (little conference) by you in one of this Martial Arts centers to all these communities of students about the energy, prana, and the “source of all energy” would be a success. Good chance to prasadam distribution and mantras introduction.

ASA - "Yogic pranayama!   The power within."

July, 6^th Thursday: Main Public Conference> Two Princes: Hamlet & Arjuna

This would be the main preaching program of your visit. Our idea is to transform this event into a very useful platform of networking to get help from more institutions to other events.

Rodrigo had the wonderful idea to invite to Raúl Zurita to make a recitation of an extract from Hamlet, who is an official translator of Shakespeare to Spanish, and Hamlet, his favorite from Shakespeare included. So, due to this amazing coincidence, I suggest that he could be co-speaker of the conference. Rodrigo is trying to get him but is difficult. He won the Literature National Award the last year so now is even more famous, but still, he like the Prabhupāda’s work.

In the case that Raúl Zurita agreed to join us in this event, we should get a larger place than Biblioteca Nacional (only 200 people) so for this reason, the definitive place for this conference is not confirmed and we are being flexibles with this date despite we prefer Thursday.

But, we want to know your opinion about this idea?

ASA - You have to ask!?     Of, course. Then one night we can also show "The Taming of the Shrew" with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Spanish. Everyone please look for a copy!!   We can also make this a part of the "Art and the Sacred" Symposium, Lima 2018!

July, 7^th Friday: Prabhupāda’s Night

We have the regular Prabhupāda’s Night of the Friday but there is not a topic proposed to this special event of the temple. Now the Sunday feast with the kirtan yoga is becoming stronger but always the Prabhupāda’s Night attracts to young people from the university neighborhood to the temple in this weekday.

ASA - Why not, "Srila Prabhupada as our personal Guru", the first Friday and, "Prof. Carl G. Jung and the Light of the Bhagavata, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami", this night!  Sell books make book distributors! 

July, 8^th Saturday: ISKCON Chile Reconciliation Program

In the last year, we have seen a deteriorating in the relationships among devotees and from some parts of the community with the authorities also.

So, the idea is to make a kind of mini-Congress about this topic of Vaisnava relationships, with workshops, dynamic activities, etc. The idea is to have a whole day program outside the city, in a space similar to the Congress but onsite, because will be cold.

 Our idea is that you will be the main figure of this program to attract as many devotees as possible. This is possible because you’re one of the gurus with more proximity to this community, and you know very well the devotees here and they trust in you.

In a few words,  you generate consensus because everyone appreciates you a lot, so because you’re a powerful figure could be a great contribution if you speak about to improve the quality of the relationships, improve the appreciation and even about forgiving.

Like your disciples, our idea is to manage this program like spiritual family with more spiritual cousins, and use this program like and offering to our dear yatra.

On the other hand, we have a little conflict here because there is a specific invitation to you on the same day. I received it after this calendar was done. One of your disciples will get marriage this July 8^th, Saturday, and he wants that you attend the ceremony to give your blessings. An official will be there at 6 pm.

He said that he can’t invite to every devotee to the ceremony so he prefers to keep his name more confidential. But, maybe you already know who is. Despite that, I will send you the complete information.

I’m thinking of two solutions. To make the reconciliation program shorter this Saturday or the second option is to organize it the next day, on Sunday. What do you think?

ASA - Yes, we know the devotee's names!  Seems we could do both.  Seems we should do the program someplace in Santiago, no?   Not outside.

July, 9^th Sunday: Sunday Feast

We have the regular Sunday Feast but there is not a topic proposed either to this special event of the temple.

ASA - What topic does Arjuna Das want?

July, 10^th Monday & 11^th Tuesday: Principles for marriage couples from Sri Caitanya Caritāmṛta

I remember once, a couple a month ago, in one of your online lectures that I attended, you showed us in the share screen a section from Sri Caitanya Caritāmṛta, and you told us that “this section could be easily converted in a seminar about grhasta asram, a lot of useful advice”. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the specific section but I thought that if we can discover it and share it with the devotees here in Chile in the form of a seminar, addressed to the devotees, in the last two day of your visit here, it would be so useful and well received by our community. We need more sastric approach from a spiritual authority regarding this important issue. We have seen big mistakes because misunderstandings about what marriage life means.

I know that you’re a sannyasi, however, precisely, maybe here we need exactly listen to someone like you, in your position and state of life to speak about marriage life, telling us what the Sastras tell us about it.

On the other hand, Monday and Tuesday are the days when mainly the devotees could make the effort to move from their jobs to attend directly to talks about so useful and practical issue. This facilitates more an intimate audience.

ASA - All this can be integrated with the Seattle Symposium results. We can get connection with the Grhastha Vision Team etc. I don't remember what that CC section was either???  Was it marriage of Kardama and Devahuti?     Many titles you could have like, "Marriages from Heaven, Marriages from Hell if You are both Devotees, then both of them Are Swell!" We can relate the "Taming of the Shrew this".

July, 12^th Wednesday: Good bye! Namaste! Thank you. Despedida.

ASA - Shifting to Lila-smarana-svarupa!

----------------------------

Our idea is to make high-quality records of this talks in audio and give them a special use soon.

Please Gurudev, excuse the extension of this calendar proposal but I couldn’t be more concise. I prefer to give you details so you can give us your feedback with the more information possible.

Thank you very much for your effort, visit us and giving us the right example all the time.

Your aspirant to servant,

Jagad Guru Dāsa.

ASA - Is very nice.  We can sell everyone a custom notebook with quotes from Prabhupada at the start of the visit. We will buy one, and then we could all develop it as we visit. We will leave our's behind and take one of yours with us. Rodrigo can design the book with help from lots of devotees.

This co-ordinates with Priya Sakhi D D's programs???   Teleconferencing for some programs. Raul can do, "To be or not to be..." and we can do a commentary and phrases from the Gita. Sell a lot of Gitas. First Twenty for 1,000 pesos (auto-graphed) etc. etc.

You wrote on Twitter:

huber robinson‏ @huber_robinson <small class="time"> 9h9 hours ago </small>

 

 

Ooops. Big wind storms here. State warning. Could not do Europe class. Tomorrow? Post message in Blog of you like. We will see it.

Tuesday is very busy for us. Can we do it on Wednesday same hour?

HpS - Yes!   AGTSP!    paoho...  Thank you.  Wind has gone down....  Wednesday 1.30PM = 8.30PM (Croatia)

Dear Maharaja,

PAMHO AGTSP.

No we are not living on New Govardhan plantation. In October last year we took a mortgage on a house in Murwillumbah, 10 min drive from ISKCON. Snakes are currently looking for places to hide for their winter snooze. No, no catering at festivals. I'm studying computer science part-time, painting houses part-time and renovating our house in my spare time.

Looking forward to you visit!

Ys

Dhruva

HpS - Thank you!     We are still working on this!!   Is a challenge. If we go round the world it will be $2,000+.  So we are looking at Houston - India (Australia) round trip. Then later Boise (Hawaii) round trip.  We will let you know any progress!!