Letters to the editor

Hare Krsna Maharaj, PAMHO, AGTSP.
i think this may bring smile on you face. 

Tomorrow is the Vyasa PUja of my dear god brother, HH Bhakti Swarupa Damodar Goswami.
He is very dear to Srila Prabhupada. As a science student he was able to ask all the right questions so that Srila Prabhupada could put the modern scientists in the right perspective. 
He was also one the first Indian born devotees to get initiated by Srila Prabhupada.

I had second initiation at the same time as him. I did not know him as he was a Ph.D. science student coming to LA every morning form Laguna Beach and going on the walk with Srila Prabhupada, and going back to school.

   A  G  T  S  P !    (((paoho(((          Basically we are fighting for our life.     It started like around 6AM this morning.   We had to go into complete withdrawl and start doing Pranayama like anything, like we have never done before and anytime during our life.    It took about 10-minutes to get our right side open. We almost sufficated doing it.   Now, 8.42AM, its keeping about 70% open. We've COMPLETELY stopped left side breathing.

Srila Prabhupada's Maha-mantra Bhajan is playing in Nandulal Das' cellular.  Intense, deep, inhalation through the right side and blowing it out forcefully through the lips from intense diaphram thrusts.  We are trying to respirate our heart. It is INTENSE.

Hari bolo..    We don't know what's happening, but the most simple sane estimate that we can come up with is that Laksmana-agraja Das is dying and we have a strong Karmis connection with him. Our feet swelled up for no reason when he went into shock from the diabetes and colonic perforation.

Are we breathing for him?

Don't know but sure seems so.       Mind very clear.              Presence of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Nrsmhadeva very strong, clear!!!!!!!           We are servants.           We will keep you informed.  Please don't bother us.

Breathing has to penetrate.    Pratyahara in heavy effect.     Deeper.   Deeper.         Srila Prabhupada Mantra!!!! ! ! !      !           !

hare krsna maharaj. pamho, agtsp. how are you.

   HpS - Almost dead!  AGTSP   paoho.  Many letters to answer after Blog is back!  {:O)+

.... how was program in ecuador. what did yiu present there. can u upload socrates y pariksit on archives. ------------ in india a terrorist was hanged. at his last moment he was chanting lord name(may be he can not remember lord). it seems he was convinced what he was doing was for god, he is dieing for god. may be this is offensive chantingg..... so how to avoid offensive chanting. esp third offence disoneying sp master. esp when he gives adcices, suggestions.. are his advices and suggestions are also instruction .... we can not expect guru to micro manage life. but is it possible that devotee can b in illusion that he is following guru and god. regards, caballo

            HpS -  AGTSP!!!!! ! ! ! !       Yes, if we want to think we are following Guru so that we can obtain material gratification then Krsna will cheat us with false inteligence.    We will think, I am an intimate associate of Gurudeva,I deserve special treatement!   Yet Krsna will use this teach us.   We can know when we are sincere.  BG 10.8-9..   Krsna is in our heart, He will tell us.
Everyone is different.   Prabhpada took like 11 years to get initiated formally, no?   He teaches by example.  So it may take some time to control our senses, vanity, anger.  Yet, we should be able to see progress!

Dear Maharaj:

Namaste. Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

1.  Sorry that my last attempt at explaining what a naskshatra is was confusing. Let me try again.

HpS - Jaya!   AGTSP   paoho.   Sorry our Blog hasn't been working.   We read the last letter but didn't get a chance to post any answer.
       In Berkeley all the lower division classes were one or two digits. So beginning astronomy would be Astronomy 1A, B, C and third semester would have been 101!!!       I have a pretty good grasp of astronomy in some ways. We just came from Ecuador and the sun was rising over the column in the Centennial plaza across the street at a little different point each morning. So, as the earth revolves around the sun (in a helio centric model) it also revolves on its axis which matches the 24-hours of day changes, but the earths axis is tilted at xxx degrees from perpendicular to the plane of its rotation around the sun which as I understand is an eliptical orbit and not a circular orbit, so this is why the sun appears to change its position each day. also is terms of the star map this inclination is also rotating something like every 73-years. How much is it?
So this must also change the position of the star map from the view point of the earth.
Then,   from a geo-centric model, which is one of the three models presented in the 5th canto, the planets such as mars are traveling in epicycloidic motion, like a cockroach on the wheel of a bicyle.  Even this is of course eliptical and not circular motion.

Such a technical field. Then we have to change these to Sanskrit terms. Then we have to discuss the relationship between these bodies in motion.
So, wow. For some people it is their service.  For others it is cooking. I bet that most ISKCON astronomers don't know the recipe for gulabjamons.   However, it doesn't restrict them from offering them to Krsna and knowing that they are a sweet that needs to be served in a bowl to keep the juice and not a savory.
Ha!     Ha!!!!!!!    Know a little about everything and a lot about something(s)..

2.  What is a nakshatra? It is a group of stars close enough together to be called a constellation. There are 27 such groups and these are called "nakshatras", the vedic term for constellation. Nakshatra (singular) and nakshatras (plural). This word is Sanskrit in origin.

3.  These nakshatras (27) are all located along the same path of the sun and moon

    ASA - Using geo-centric model, no?

...which is called the "ecliptic". They make a single rotation around the Earth 24 hours as the sky rotates aroung the Earth, or in modern terms, as the Earth rotates on its axis. They were identified to keep track of the daily progress of the moon as it (the moon) goes through its various phases during a single month.

4.  Each day the night sky advances eastwards a little bit so that in one month's time, a different constellation (nakshatra) is in the background of the full moon. The full moon of each month gets its name from whatever constellation is in the background at that time. Out of 27 such constellations, only 12 of them are ever in a full moon's backround. All of them however are in the backround of various moon phases throughout the year, during different months, one day at a time.

   ASA -  Jaya!  That's nice.   It's interesting that the moon and the, and all the planets as far as I know, fall within the same "plane", ecliptic, by only a few degrees of inclination. The moon could go arounf the earth in a north pole, south pole orbit. Mars could go aroud the sun the same way.  Hmmm?  Designer? Also, the speed of rotation of moon on its axis EXACLTY equals the time it takes to rotate around the earth, so... we only see one side.  Even if these to rates of rotation were different by the tiniest degree after 2,000 years we would be peeping at a little othe backside of the moon. Yet the map of the moon from our ancestrial cave men was just the same as today.
However, there is progression of the Naksatras, no?    The rotation of the moon around the earth, fixing full moons, is not exactly in correspondence with the one year around the sun, star map, so the Naksatras are in a little different place each year, no??
 

5.  There is one exception to the 12 full moon rule. Once every 3 years the is an "extra" full moon in one year's time which shows up against a background constellation which typically only shows up in other moon phases. A moon phase is a visible or invisible (new moon) portion of the moon. They change everyday from new moon  to new moon. Each constellation has a Vedic name.

6.  Therefore, in one year's time, the moon moves through all of the 27 constellations (nakshatras),  one moon phase each day, one constellation a day. It does so 12/13 times a year. This can be easily seen with the aid of simulation software, such as at, www.astroviewer.com.

7.  Please let me know any portion of this explanation which is still unclear to you. You are my test case and explaining this effectively to an intelligent new-comer is very important to me and to my service as a Vedic cosmologist/astronomer.

8.  Sorry, I already quit my day-job and this is my full-time service!

Thanks for taking the time to stick with this with me.

Your servant, Saranga Thakura das

HpS -  Wow!   Long to study this.  Now we have 25-more letters.  I hope nobody wants to teach us how to make Gulabjamons today!  Ha!               Ha!           Ha Ha Ha(re)!!

We will look at www.astroviewer.com after we send this letter!!!  Thank you.

Nitai-Gaura, Radhe-Shyama, Jaya Krsna-Balarama!

AGTSP!  (paoho)   By the mercy of PND we have the ASA Blog again. It is now 5.10AM, Monday, 17 December. We are in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in our ASA Trailer-Camp Office.

Oink!       Oink!                Whoop!   Whoop!

We've not got much to say: Many people, many projects, one Mantra, Hare!     We must do some more Japa to keep our 25>28/day on beads.

         Pause, to chant one Mantra during any work.  Chant while you work. Make chanting your work and let everything else flow from it.

                   Vande guroh sri caranaravindam.

    Japa, 64-rounds/day.   25 on beads, or more, and the rest as you type, cook, dance, your flute with all the other boys play. 
 

           Hare!    Krsna!                         Hare!  Rama!!!

 

    AGTSP   paoho.   Our Blog may be working again.  I got your call I will respond by phone.