Wedding update!

2 years, 1 month ago by sriram in Personal Sadhana Reports

Hare Krishna Guru Maharaj. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.


I am chanting 16 rounds everyday and following the 4 regulative principles. (I still have multiple rounds left from the 3 days we were busy with the wedding Guru Maharaj. I will catch up on them asap)


The wedding went really well Guru Maharaj and i am now a Grahastha. Please bless us both to progress nicely in Bhakti and serve you and Prabhupada's mission to the best of our abilities.


HpS - Are you going to take your new bride to visit all the places of celestial enjoyment in the universe like Karadama Muni? 😎 Well, you can take your Deities to the beach for a nice day of fresh air sunshine and sand castles. with other grhastas.


Me, Vishaka, my wife, and her parents have come to Sri Rangam to take darshan of Sri Ranganathar.


I will be leaving India on 4th February. Vishaka will come in the third week of March after completing visa formalities. I am planning to come to Houston at the end of February to meet you Guru Maharaj. Hope you had a comfortable journey back to the States.


Thank you. We get news from your good brother and others also. We were thinking of your wedding while we were in the air at 33,000 feet!

Hope to see you in Houston, Nila madhava Dhama, but don't make undue strain!

Congratulations!!


I have ordered Gaura Nitai deities from Vrindavan, Guru Maharaj. The deities were delivered but they were damaged, so i had to send them back for replacement deities. Vishaka will bring them when she come. I would like to visit you along with Vishaka in April Guru Maharaj, when you're back in the Boro.


Waiting eagerly to meet you in person soon, Guru Maharaj.


Your humble Servant

Srirama Krishna Das


HpS - Brass deities damaged? Interesting. Must be some deep meaning!

hare krishna Gurudev

2 years, 1 month ago by parama karuna das in Personal Sadhana Reports

hare krishna Gurudev dandavat pranam

all glories to Srila Prabhupada...¡

Me gustaria escribirle en español entendiendo q ahora esta ud. en España, el año pasado nos mantuvimos haciendo mucho seva en diferentes sangas como diferentes lugares ayudando a

todos en la cocina, en la predica, en el canto y siendo alguna fuente de inspiración para ellos. distribuimos mucho prasadam (panes) a los amigos vecinos y familiares haciendo un pequeño

negocio para mantener nuestra adoracion diaria a nuestras Nitay sacidulal y silas, ademas claro manteniendo nuestro ashram de grihasta alado de nuestra esposa Radharani Gopi y de Soren

Prahlada (ya tiene 3 años y mejor de salud).

En este nuevo año estamos asumiendo nuevos desafíos tomando la oportunidad de expandir nuestro sankirtan..volveremos en Febrero a la India (por 1 mes)para continuar nuestro seva de hacer dramas

bajo la dirección de ss Bhakti Marga Swami, luego a nuestro regreso nos quedaremos en Europa buscaremos una estabilidad ahi y trataremos de buscar una casa para q luego mi familia me acompañe el prox año. Es importante muy necesario hacer estos esfuerzos en este momento de nuestra

vida porq la situación caótica del mi país lo amerita, porq mi hijo pronto empezara los estudios y porq tengo deseos intensos de q mi familia tenga mejores experiencias y asociación alado de devotos.

Se muy bien q el mundo material es lo mismo en todos lados con sus desafíos y necesidades, pero siempre me caracterice por ser una persona emprendedora q busca algo mas y para alguien mas...por eso fue tambien q me volvi hare krishna jaja anyway...estamos bajo el refugio de Srila Prabhupada y tomamos las bendiciones de nuestros maestros, familiares y amigos para esta nueva etapa.

nos mantendremos comunicados.

muchas gracias por sus bendiciones y buena asociación

con esperanzas nuevas su sirviente

Parama Karuna das


-0-0-


hare krishna gurudev dandavat pranam


all glories to Srila Prabhupada...!


I would like to write to you in Spanish understanding that you are now. in Spain, last year we kept doing a lot of seva in different sangas like different places helping


everyone in the kitchen, preaching, singing and being a source of inspiration for them. we distribute a lot of prasadam (breads) to neighboring friends and relatives making a small


business to maintain our daily worship of our Nitay sacidulal and silas, also of course maintaining our grihasta ashram alongside our wife Radharani Gopi and Soren


Prahlada (already 3 years old and in better health).


In this new year we are taking on new challenges taking the opportunity to expand our sankirtan..we will return to India in February (for 1 month) to continue our seva of drama making


under the direction of ss Bhakti Marga Swami, then upon our return we will stay in Europe, we will look for stability there and we will try to find a house so that my family can accompany me next year. It is very important to make these efforts at this time of our


life because the chaotic situation in my country deserves it, because my son will soon start his studies and because I have intense desires for my family to have better experiences and association with devotees.


I know very well that the material world is the same everywhere with its challenges and needs, but I always characterized myself as an enterprising person looking for something more and for someone else... that's why I also became a Hare Krishna haha anyway ...we are under the shelter of Srila Prabhupada and we take the blessings of our teachers, family and friends for this new stage.


we will keep in touch.


thank you very much for your blessings and good association


with new hopes his servant


parama karuna das


HpS - Jaya!!! Thank you for writing to us. Your life is an inspiration. New Vraja Mandala, here, is a nice community. Maybe you know it. Has Gurukula with many little people, et al.

Starting, joining a rural community where you can visit the city to work from tuesday after noon to friday morning, sounds like a nice option. family staying in nice place, papa going to city to work few days and other days working locally and online.


If city temporarily chaotic, stay in the rural community. have 3-months of self sufficient resources.

city won't stay chaotic because people need it now.

Good plan??


Hare Krsna, half way house.

Start with orchards!


Respects to family. See you on internet from Mexico.

Personal Reflections

2 years, 1 month ago by balabhadra dasa in Personal Sadhana Reports

Hare Krishna maharaja, please kindly accept my most humble obeisances; all glories to his divine grace, Srila Prabhupada, our founder acharya. And all glories to your good self, for you are extending the mercy of Srila Prabhupada to fools like myself.


I was doing mangala arotika one morning, when instead of focusing of the ceremony, I found myself thinking "What if something happened to me, and suddenly I was no longer able to do something as simple as offering arotika? I have built so much of my devotional life around this simple, and yet meaningful and profound event? It is a mainstay shelter in my devotional life; what if Krishna took it all away? " I found myself realizing that such a thing could easily happen. I have personally come to realize that when there is old age, the body doesn't need an excuse to break down or succumb to disease: the glories of old age.


It's so strange how it is that we have lived enough years to see the how TIME slowly removes all of our faculties and our abilities, steadily bringing us closer and closer to death, and yet we still look the other way, in fear of inevitable death. I have always been aware of the Bhagavad gita's teachings of how the body is temporary, and that we are not this body but eternal spirit souls. Yet my awareness still hasn't matured to where I am prepared to meet my own demise, in spite of all the warnings that come with old age. I reflect more soberly on Srila Prabhupada's words that were spoken to his very young disciples, when he was lying on his deathbead: "Don't think that this won't happen to you."


I find myself thinking about the verse in the 2nd chapter of Bhagavad gita, wherein Krishna says "For one who has taken his birth, his death is certain; and for one who has died, his next birth is also certain." Years ago, when I first read the 3rd Canto and the chapter entitled "Movements Of The Living Entity," about how the soul survives and suffers whilst in the womb of his mother, I thought to myself "I can't let myself go through all of that again. That is pure and total hell." But lo and behold, I don't know how I am going to escape another birth, because I am still not yet Krishna conscious. How odd that these thoughts should come to my mind when I am supposed to be worshipping Krishna because of arotika.


I hope that all is going well for you in the Holy Dhama. I miss your association very much. I find myself enlivened to listen carefully when I am in your association. Perhaps you can return for yet another visit.


Your lowly servant,

Balabhadra dasa


HpS - Just answered your last letter and now this one. We left Braja on January 4th and then India about two weeks later and got here, Spain like about 24th January.

Staying here in one place.

Adi bhautic

Adi atmic

and Adi daivis all here.


Yet, go enough situation to do Sankirtan.

Back in Houston the 24th!

Don't worry!!!!! Krsna will arrange high speed internet for us in our next womb and Translate.googl.com will translate "Moo", "Moo", "Moo" from our parents into "Spot sqwalling and drink your milk!"


Get ready.

🙂

A Struggling Devotee

2 years, 1 month ago by balabhadra dasa in Personal Sadhana Reports

Hare Krishna Maharaja, please kindly accept my most humble obeisances; all glories to his divine grace, Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He sacrificed everything to fulfill the orders of his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, and in so doing he spread this Krishna consciousness movement all over the world. And all glories to your own good self, for you are a beacon in the lives of many like myself, because you are completely surrendered to the service of Srila Prabhupada.


I thought to share something about my personal devotional service here at my home, and what is happening in my heart. I would like to first say that I struggle a lot with the feelings in my heart. It scares me to think just how deep my envy really runs, especially towards other devotees. I struggle so much with fear and anxiety because of it. I never thought that I would be in this position of being envious of other devotees, particularly in my later years of devotional service. Consciously I know that the devotees around me are truly very nice devotees, they are very sincere, kind and respectful. But inside of me there is so much anger because I feel like I deserve better from life. It's no wonder I suffer so much: who wouldn't?


Here in the shelter of my own ashrama, I continue to maintain daily sadhana, although sometimes my mornings are more difficult than others because of laziness, carelessness and ongoing offenses. Oftentimes I have to force myself to keep up with the practice of sadhana, because I have given the greatest measure of my life to this process of devotional service. I am convinced that there is no alternative to devotional service; there is no such thing as "second best." There's only the best and then there's the rest. From the very beginning of my life as a devotee I have always held this conviction, and it still holds true today. And yet, despite this truth I still have to force myself in the early morning hours to maintain some standard of sadhana. And still I am drowning in this vast ocean of material desires which torments me in my heart.


HpS - AGTSP paoho We have to push also, but so many habits, and adjustments to our environement, make it full of good results!


Each day still begins with waking the Deities, mangala offerings and arotika, Tulasi puja and guru puja, japa and reading from Srimad Bhagavatam. Bhagavatam class is given on an online chat site 3 times a week. Sometimes, when I am not so overwhelmed by the lower modes of nature my wife and I will continue with reading from the CC in the evening: other times I'm usually not so lucky. But the morning program is done every single day without fail and an evening arotika concludes each day without fail. On Thursdays, when I have finished cooking for Their Lordships at the temple I visit two devotees to distribute the prasadam. One devotee has been in ill health lately, and his wife is in a bad place mentally. The other devotee is a long time pujari from Detroit and from the old time Fate Museum in LA; he is now living here in Boise in an assisted living facility. Both of these devotees are disciples of Srila Prabhupada, and so I take prasadam to each of them every Thursday. Lately I have revived my preaching efforts of giving Bhagavad gita classes via the Boise Community Education program. I have a Powerpoint compilation for introducing the 5 subjects of Bhagavad gita in a very simple manner to the class. I did have a second class of this sort which I conducted in a tattoo parlor, but that had to be put on hold until whenever.


My wife is dealing with her own health issues, both physically and mentally; these problems never seem to 'let up' for her. By the time you peruse thru this letter she will have been in and out of the hospital for minor surgery, thus rendering her somewhat incapacitated for a while. Her mental challenges are as persistent as ever. It puts a great strain on us in terms of trying to remain enlivened in our spiritual life. It's easy to be surrendered when the prasadam is amazing, the kirtans are ecstatic, the classes are enlivening: not so when everything feels off, and nothing seems to go right. Oftentimes I have to reflect on the verse from the 10th Canto which reads "tat te nukampan su-samiksamano..." in order for me to have any peace of mind. Be it suffice to say that my wife is being very brave and persistent to keep up with her rounds every day, and she is very diligent with reading from the Krishna Book every night, as per your instructions.


HpS - Next life as Nimai's neighbor?


I will close here, ever hopeful that you will continue to bless us with your special mercy, in spite of our faults, foolishness and our weaknesses.


Yls, Bbd


HpS - Hare Krsna. Hope we are publishing enough on Twitter, Blog and Kapi Dhvaja so you can see that we have basically the same challenges as do you. One thing I see is that when I contact people that I knew many years ago who have been engaged as devotees, non-devotees, weak and stritch devotees, I can really see contrasts and comparisons in my own life.

There is no doubt that this process is great! Let us look at you next letter.

Answers to your questions about my last report

2 years, 1 month ago by Carlos Rold in Personal Sadhana Reports

From Whatsapp:

HK GM PAMRO AGTSP


I'm writing to you just to let you know that 7-8 days ago I sent you a letter to the blog with the answers to the questions you had asked me in relation to my previous letter.


I have to tell you that finally I won't be able to go to Mexico now, I already notified my decision to your disciples Asta Sakhi DD and Lalita Gopi DD; I have more things to tell you, but I will wait at least 1 more week to write you again to the blog (or the time that you recommend me); I'm really sorry GM, but things didn't work out and my current economic context doesn't allow it, so it's not my time to travel, yet.


Thank you very much for everything GM, I just want to tell you before saying goodbye that your association is the most important thing for me in my life today,


See you on MNK WRRR BLG


HpS - Thank you so much for drawin our attention to your Blog post by Whatsapp.

We are trying to balance our work and were just getting to a long session of Blog posts after editing DTC-USA credits and guru-tattva.txt.


All glories to Srila Prabhupada!


Hare Krishna Maharaja!


PAMHO AGTSP!


I read in your report today that you are well and in good health or the best that can be expected in this material world, what a joy to know that you have energy to continue with your mission and expanding Srila Prabhupada's movement!


The truth is that I have not been completely well, I don't know if it's the withdrawal syndrome for having stopped smoking cannabis, and/or my chaotic mind that is difficult for me to calm down and control, my lustful desires, but for a few months I feel with little energy during the day and by night I feel very tired but anyway I cannot have a good time sleeping, I sleep but it seems I can't reach the level of deep sleep that allows me to rest adequately and renew my energy.


In any case, I continue doing sports, jogging and weights, a couple of times a week, and I eat well, helping myself with food supplements of B12, calcium, magnesium and creatine to train; and maintaining and developing good friendships with those around me, avoiding association with toxic people.

  

HpS - Jaya -- You only eat Prasadam? Keep looking for some adjustment, maybe our daily schedule, but as you don't find it, I would say that it is Krsna's arrangement, some natural situation, that you have low energy. Same thing happens to me and I used to try and eat really rich foods do drive my body with more energy and maybe it wokrked a little bit but the reaction later was bad. Now I just accept I am low energy and let it develope later. I think, as long as I can breath I can chant.


I'm writing to you now to answer the questions that you asked me in your response to my previous letter

 https://monkeywarrior.com/detail/13781/     


Part of some of these answers were already in my annual report https://monkeywarrior.com/detail/13722/



HpS - Jaya! Are you still growing Marajuana as a commercial crop?


This work that I do is not in fact a commercial crop, this type of crop here in Chile is classified as follows: collective self-cultivation for medicinal use. It's an NGO, non-profit foundation, whose objective is to cover the needs of the associates for their respective medical treatments.


People register sent by their treating doctor, they have to present the medical prescription and other documents that prove the need for the specific treatment that is being carried out under the supervision of a specialist doctor. Our model is based on the iconic NGO in Chile, https://greenlife.cl/, founded several years ago by a devotee disciple of H.H. Mahavishnu Swami, his institution is the 1st NGO of its kind to be authorized by the Judiciary Power of Chile to function without restrictions or obstacles, its experience constitutes one of the main elements of the jurisprudence that exists today in Chile in this regard.


HpS - Sounds nice!


This project in which I'm involved is the 2nd NGO that I have created (I resigned from the previous one called Sana Tierra). We are called now Prana Sana, we still don't have a website, and we work with the same lawyer from Green Life and from the main specialized NGOs in Chile, who is also a Hare Krishna, but isn't initiated, he is probably the best lawyer specialized in defense of medical cannabis users in Chile. Curiously, the Hare Krishna are highly respected and valued for their seriousness and professionalism in this field among Chilean and South American activists, doctors, lawyers, growers, users, etc.


During all the years that I've been working with medical cannabis, I've empirically verified the remarkable benefits that the use of medical cannabis can provide to children with autism through non-psychotropic resins and oils, high in cbd and low or zero in thc, as well as also people of all ages who suffer from painful diseases such as osteoarthritis, arthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, psoriasis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cancer, and others, and represents a very good option for those who prefer avoiding allopathic or traditional medicines that have so many unwanted side effects. There is a lot of documentation from great universities about it on the web and a lot of research is underway and the potential of cannabinoids remains an unexplored universe for modern science.


I want to clarify that I'm not defending the use of recreational cannabis or to get high or intoxicated, for the same reason I spend 5 months without smoking this February 17, but I do defend its medicinal use for specific treatments directed by a specialized doctor.


HpS - Remember reading one article that was accredited to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta where he said that marijuana may give you some different perspective on life if you are naturally conditioned to gross material consciousness but in the long run it has bad side effects. 


HpS - How is Rodrigo's family?


I visited Rodrigo's family during the last week of December. I brought them prasadam, we talked and shared for about 1 hour. Mrs. Yolanda, Rodrigo's mother, she is very tired, her disease is under control (a cancer that she managed to stop and didn't spread), but she has trouble walking so she spends most of her time lying down and resting; she is always sorry for the departure of her son.


Mr. Rolando, Rodrigo's father, is fine, working all day in the store, I saw him in good spirits. Claudio, Rodrigo's brother, is at home helping her mother by taking care of her, taking her to the bathroom, cooking, etc., and supporting her father in running the business. Rodrigo is sorely missed. They asked me about you, how is the Guru, so I told them about you and your stay in India and your trips preaching Krishna Consciousness around the world. They maintain Rodrigo's altar, which is now in the marriage bedroom, and with a Rodrigo's picture. They also maintain Rodrigo's office and his desk.

 

HpS - ASA -- So nice to hear. If you have contact with them, please ask them to tell us if they have any dreams from him etc.

Thank you.


HpS - How is your family?


My family is fine. Currently my mother, my sister Gita V DD and her husband Vishvanatha CTD, are in India doing the Dhatri tour. I've decided to take a long time away and avoid family relationships, because I believe and feel that distance and time are elements that provide healing when human relationships have become toxic. Of course I continue to relate to my mother and my father to some extent, one week ago we went with my daughter to visit my father in the south of Chile, and his recovery from the serious accident he suffered is a true miracle; and the harmonization of our relationship has been something that has brought me healing and relief in my mind and heart.


Thank God the relationship with my daughter is very good, currently she is working in the first vegan taqueria (mexican food) of Chile, cooking and serving the public, the owner is a friend of mine, a good boy with a wife and a daughter born a few months ago. Simultaneously, Belém continues studying vegan cooking and pastry and in March she will return to university to start her 2nd year of business administration. She is still with her soccer player boyfriend, they have been together for several years, he is a good boy and they love each other very much. My daughter and I have very good communication and we see each other often.



HpS - How is your career in Journalism?


I'm currently focused on the musical project that I told you about a few months ago. On the day of Nityananda Trayodasi I went to the department of intellectual protection in Chile to look for the registration certificate of the pseudonym that I will use and the authorization to use it: Sit Properly 108. By the Berne Convention it's protected in several countries, approximately 180, and the rights and royalties that will generates are inheritable up to 70 years after I leave this body. The project is about urban music with fusions of hip hop, soul, funk, gospel, oriental and experimental music, and the character is a Hare Krishna or Vaishnava singer and emcee, who sings about things that happen in the world, society, politics, romance, etc., from a spiritual and conscious approach, transmitting values and principles, in some songs using samples from Srila Prabhupada's classes and his voice, integrating mantras into the songs and other aesthetic resources of the Vaishnava culture, as devotional instruments and sounds and images; from the 7th song onwards, more and more philosophical and Vaishnava themes are included in the songs, quoting Srila Prabhupada's phrases and his books. As for the sound and visual aesthetics, which will include vintage or retro elements, a fundamental concept is the 1970s, which is the time when the A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's Hare Krishna movement exploded and Krishna consciousness spread all over the world and Srila Prabhupada lived it in all His glory.


Fortunately and only thanks to God and by the mercy of H.H. Hanumatpresaka Swami, after our conversation where you authorized me to use the pseudonym and to carry out this musical project, the people that I was needing to make up the high-level work team began to appear, that persons that I need to professionalize my style and deliver good quality music to the world. Currently my work team is made up of: Pablo Facusse, a friend of more than 15 years, a great Chilean musician, he helps me put my lyrics to music and we make the demos or music mockups, and also the record of the final takes for the voices, mix and master; Nicolás Libertad, one of the most influential musicians in Chile, actually settled in Eureka California for 10 years, music producer and beatmaker, in charge of producing the final instrumentals based on our demos (he lived in India for 3 years in Benares and Mumbai studying Sitar, he is very favorable and very skillful); César Augusto Pastrán, Venezuelan tenor and artistic director with 40 years of trajectory and extensive experience in Venezuela on radio, television and the academic world, a country from which he had to leave in 2018 for political reasons, his wife is a senior devotee dancer, he is my vocal coach and master of singing, we have been working together for almost 4 months and he has helped me improve remarkably; Parvati Devi Dasi, César's wife, a dancer of different Eastern and Western styles with 50 years of experience, she is my coach of body movement and coherent gestures based on my songs; Pablo Rosales, Chilean filmmaker, member of the board of TVN, the most important television station in Chile, managed by the state, he is the audiovisual director of my project. I still need a marketing and promoting team.


HpS - Wow! So much work. We had to scan the contents a little but we got a lot of the details!     


I keep posting photos and videos of your trips around India and the world on the social networks of the Anjana Suta Academy Chile, posts, reels and stories, you can review them in the links below:


https://www.instagram.com/anjana.suta.academy_chile/ 


https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063216489339 


HpS-ASA - Thank you.


Your disciple from Manipur Brajagopal Kshetriya Das has contacted me on instagram and has sent me via whatsapp photos and videos that he took during your stay there and I will post this material during the week.


I apologize to you for this long report, I tried to make it shorter but I wanted to adequately answer the questions you asked me.


Thank you very much for everything, Gurudeva, it's still not clear yet if I will be able to go to Mexico, so as soon as I have the final decision I will write to you again.


HpS - Yes, it would be nice if you or your representative could come from Chile!!


My greetings and obeisances to all the devotees there, Brihuega, Spain, especially to Dhruvananda Das, all glories to Srila Prabhupada!


Your would-be servant,

Carlos Rold.


¡HARE KRISHNA!


HpS-ASA -- Hare Rama!

🙂🙂🙂

Thank you so much! We really hope to see you soon!!!

Let us look at some more posts.

Sadhana plus request for departed soul

2 years, 1 month ago by Rituraj majumder 8165 in Personal Sadhana Reports

Hare Krsna Srila Gurudev

All glories to Srila Prabhupada and parampara


Dandavat pranam


Your association in Radha kund was very inspiring for the rejuvenation in my bhakti life. The association of senior disciples, especially HG Radhika Ramana prabhu has been very productive.


Chanting my 16rounds and 4 regs ok. Brahma muhurta waking has been inconsistent. So that's the next goal. I started a book reading session with a devotee friend. We read Bg, bhagawatam and NOI.


A request- a friend, Kuldip Dasgupta committing suicide. He was a nice person but took this intense stupid step out of frustration. Gurudev, if possible can you kindly pray for his soul. He had always helped me through my bad times.

If you pray for his soul Krsna might mitigate some of the torture in his astral body.


It's very difficult to be detached when things like this happens. I understand this is the practical test of our sadhana.


Thank you Srila Gurudev


Trying to be of better discipline.


Rturaj Krsna Das


HpSwami - Hare Krsna. Send pictures of Mildura!


Bhakta yoga is work, but with good pay.

We will look for more news from you.

Brahmana means active during Brahma muhurta, no?

Then we get the Shakti to become gurus.