Letters to the editor

Hare Krishna beloved Gurudev,

Please accept my humble obeisances,

All glories to Srila Prabhupada,

Here we are very happy cause we will see you soon. Having moved to Sri Govardhan was excelent. Spiritual life improved so much. Fmp 3 days a week, 16r4p ok.

I'm concern about my children's Spiritual life. We are trying to develop a Gurukula. Manu is very fond of reading. Prabhu Mahajan suggested to buy him Mahabharata by K M Ganguli cause by reading it they will learn dharma. The thing is that while english version is free available by gutemberg project, spanish edition cost 370 us dollars.

So the question is, do you think is worthy to spend so much money on it or I rather give him Srimad Bhagavatam? 

HpS - Hmm.  I don't know. I like Krsna Dharma's M'bharata and Ramayan. They are available in English on vedabase.com. Another is Purna-prajna Das. He wrote them for teenagers. All in English. Is the Ganguli translation in Spanish good?  The original was not written for teenagers. Did Swami Mahajana Das read it as an adult???

Borrow one volume and read it with The Manu and The Benjamin, no?

What would be your advice for his reading? He is 12 years old.

Thank you so much Gurudev.

Your fool disciple,

Nikunja bihari das.

HpS - Some of Srila Prabhupada's books in Spanish everyday with you. Others, but if he wants adventure then dovetailing Mahabharata as mentioned above.   Read  Don Quixote and do KC commentary???  Is there a teenager's Quixote?

Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja

Please accept my humble obeisances. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Thank you very much for your holy association. I continue with the pujari service. We had a seminary of worshiping by Anandamaya Prabhu at Abhiram's house. This help me to clear some doubts and learn about the importance of a service with love and surrender. I continue with the Bhakti Sastri classes by p. Lakshman. I'm trying to understand the knowledge and apply it in the best way.

Dear Gurudeva, I want to comment you about my work, the edition of magazines abouth health and integral culture. Last year, I was difusing them in a shop, but now this will change of owner who has other purposes. So, I'm meditating, exploring my internal desires and trying to purify them. I wish to continue writing about health and intregral cultural connected to an spiritual and trascendental aspect. 

I studied and worked for a while as a nurse, then I got ill. By the mercy of Sri Guru and Gauranga, I met the devotees. I met Rupanuga Caitanya Das who helped me to recover health and taught me Ayur Veda. I studied for a short time with him, in his house and at university Ricardo Palma. After many months, he's giving classes again and he is inviting me. I had some experiances in the application of Ayur Veda on myself, with my family and some devotees. And the conclusion I reached to the moment, is that the majority of diseases are originated by mind. That's why is so important the control of senses and mind. So, I want to ask you:

1. From the situation that I am, how could I be useful in the help of your sankirtan?

HpS - Any ISKCON Sankirtan is our Sankirtan, but you can see some details of some specific things we are doing here in the Blog. Get some BBT books. Stack them up where you can see them and think what is good abot them. What do you like, love, die for, about them, and get them out.

Say hello to Rupanuga Das and his household for us.

What is your relationship with your father?   Do you have brothers?

2. Do you consider that I should deepen in any of this aspects related to my service?

HpS - Do you mean the Ayurveda studies?   If you can get a good teacher it is good. Do what you like to do... for Krsna.   It will get more and more wonderful.

Thank you very much, dear Guru Maharaja. Thank you very much for allow me to refugee at your lotus feet.

Trying to follow your instructions,

Tarangaksi Devi Dasi (t'aksi)

ASA - Foto of Taranga aksi below!

Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada! 

Thank you very much for your answer to the last report. Your message was very inspiring. Now, I'm in vacations. My classes at Catolica University starts in March 12th. I will make friends there and listen to them. But, I have a little doubt. What means to be a good friend? Who is a real friend?

HpS - See picture below. A real friend is someone who gives us to Krsna.

We were on a mini tour with m. Gauri for almost a month. We travelled to Cusco, Puno, La Paz (Bolivia) and Arequipa. In each place we arrived, we had the merciful association of great vaisnavas. We learnt how to improve our sadhana and devotional service.

HpS - Wow!!!

After one year of trying harder, I'm finally chanting 16 rounds everyday, very early at the morning. Now I'm working on chanting GOOD rounds.

ASA - Yes.....   even chanting 16-O.K. rounds is quite an accomplishment.  The 16-enthusiastic rounds.   Then. . . .

Also, I'm doing Mangala Aratik at Wilson Temple once a week. And the other days, we are trying to connect to FMP. 

At house, we have Gaura Nitay deities and we'd recently started to worship them again. Two weeks ago, we went to a Worshiping Seminary by p. Anandamaya Das. Due of this, we decided to establish a standard for the deities. We are doing Govinda Aratik and Bhoga Aratik.

HpS - ... and take them to the beach sometimes? Temple? 

Everyone here in Peru are anxious of your arriving. We hope have your holy association in the days you come. 

Thank you so much for reading this letter. Thank you so much for your mercy, association and inspiration.

Trying to serve,

Bhaktin Rukmini.

HpS - You should visit Laksmi, Raktaka Das's daughter, and her family, in Australia.

What do you think of the story of Krsna Kidnaps Rukmini?   Do you do powerpoint shows?

Hare Krsna dear Gurumaharaja
Please accept my humble obeisances
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I hope you are in good health, I hope you are resting as necessary and feeding ['feeding' would be for a donkey, 'eating' for a 'gorilla'] correctly.

HpS - So sorry not to answer sooner. We have been rushing, pushing, whinning, to get everything done for this 10-week tour. Now it is Friday and basically we just have to accept whatever we have arranged.  Whew!!   It is good to die....    Our body is just like your body.     '@'pop~
 

Little is missing for your visit to Lima and I could have expected to tell you some things personally but I prefer to do it this way. I have started an intense psychological therapy that will help me overcome some emotional slopes that have prevented me from doing many things in recent years. These emotions have to do with a turbulent enough past and an exemplarily dysfunctional family. I do not want to continue dragging conflicts, so I am taking this decision. I have clung to the Mahamantra and the process, however, there are some impediments that make it difficult for me to relate well with my wife, my family and the devotees. This has produced a state of deep melancholy that I have always known to disguise, however, in the last year, the issue became unmanageable, sometimes. At first I thought that any extra attention to the affairs of the mind and emotions was a way of identifying with them but they do not allow me to unwrap as I need to, sometimes I feel a heavy stone in my chest as I stretch my limbs to fly. What can you recommend me, Gurudeva? What readings can serve me as a tool to turn this healing process into an offering for Lord Jagannatha?

I'm very excited to serve you again.

Your little servant

Gandharva dasa

HpS - I would suggest talking with The Candra-mukhi Devi Dasi and her Sister. She is a psychologist and maybe could recommend some help.

Not wrong to get help from a psychologist like getting help from a doctor for your gross body, but a devotee psychologist, Catholic, Mormon, Hare Krsna. They all will tell you that our process is very good tool. In the end it will solve all your problems, but if the Maha-mantra recomends you see a doctor to fix a broken bone, then why not accept that it is telling you to see a psychologist to deal with covered mental fractures?

Have you read Jung's biography?  That is nice. He looks at his own problems and of course we can apply it in our lives.

Yes, talk when we are in Lima.

Hare Krishna querido Gurudeva

Por favor acepte mis mas humildes y respetuosas reverencias

Todas las glorias a Srila Prabhupada

Espero se encuentre muy bien de salud y tambien en su sankirtan. Siempre estoy tratando de leer su publicaciones en el blog, sus tweets y tambien sus charlas en StartMeeting, solo que a veces muy tarde para mi por el uso horario.

Yo ahora me encuentro en Asuncion, Paraguay. viviendo en el templo de Iskcon. realizando FMP rondas, servicio de pujari y distribucion de libros. Tambien estare facilitando para la comunidad aqui un seminario de Kirtan, enfocado en la practica de instrumentos clasicos como mrdanga, kartalas y harmonio. 

Estare en Iskcon Asuncion por 2 mes aprox. luego viajar a Brasil, campina grande. Ya que fui aceptado de participar en seminario Gbc college . La idea de pasar estudios en buena asociacion con uds me convencio.  Luego posible viajando a Mar de Plata 9 abril y Buenos Aires para visitar templos y obtener mas su asociacion, ya que segun su calendario ud estara esas fechas. Despues de estos viajes aun no tengo claro a donde ir. Pero pensando en Lima para terminar estudios, ya que he estado viajando un tiempo ya fuera de Peru (2 años) y volver para termimar estudios no estaria mal creo. 

Bueno muy contento entonces de escribirle y por esta oportunidad de tener su asociacion en su siguiente visita a sudamerica. Muchas gracias por todo. acepte por favor mis mas humildes  reverencias.

su aspirante a sirviente. Vijaya Govinda Das.

HpS - Jaya. AGTSP paoho!!!  Muchas gracias para su carta y su vida. Adelante. Adelante. No hay mas hacer. En la comenza es mas Brahman, pero mas adelante es eligir de diferente servicios.

Dear Guruji,

Please accept my most humble obeisances and all glory to Srila Prabhupada.

I have realized that my chanting is largely ineffective because of my inattentive nature. I find that probably my biggest offense while chanting is not having faith. I am always worrying about my job, my family, my problems, my expenses, the future, and on and on.

I realized that if I had true and complete faith in the Lord then I would not be stressed out and worried all the time and I would be calm and peaceful while I was chanting.

So I realized that the cause of my grief is my lack of faith in God. I find myself chained in a box of my own creation and I miss the freedom I experienced while being a brahmacari, distributing books while living in San Jose or Los Angeles temples, or traveling and distributing Prabhupada’s books while living in San Jose or Los Angeles temples, or traveling with sannyasis and gurus.

My only hope for redemption is association (sat-sanga). We are starting again our weekly programs for our Vedanta student club (here at Texas A&M University Kingsville) in which we read the Bhagavad-Gita as it is and we do Kirtan, Aarthi, and Prasad.

In this program my main focus will be on chanting because I need to improve my chanting of the holy name and I need to learn to have faith in God. Though trying to finish chanting 16 rounds, I often have Japa left over and this is building up. I need to catch up on my leftover rounds accumulated due to my schedule and time mismanagement. 

I can come to Houston any time before March because March is when my sister’s wedding will happen in India.

YAS,

Aja govinda dasa

HpS - No one told us about Satakshi's wedding!   What date is it? Dr. Bandyopadhaya said any one who gets her for a wife will be a very lucky person.

On the way to Krsna.

Maya comes in waves. Each time we learn a new skill. eternally. Join us online everyday for Full Morning Program 4.30-5.30AM. It is not great but it is workeable. You can lean Spanish.

Make a report of things you read that surprise you. Even just 10-minutes before breakfast or lunch. Little snacks like that. You will get addicted.