Letters to the editor

Dear Maharaja

PAMHO    All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

    Good to hear your safe return from another sussessful mission.  Fasting two days in a row is draining, sorry to hear the spicey food complicated things. Please take care of yourself.  We have been very busy this summer.  Good family visits at home and away, and plenty of things to do.  I was keeping my little project quiet until its completion but Kalindi let the cat out.  Was given the great opportunity for service when asked to build a portable altar.  We presented it to Krishna on Janmastai.  I hope the photo from Janmastami came through.

HpS - Hare Krsna! Yes, the photos came through. Again, it is so much fun doing that kind of construction work for God!

  Being on a weekday we were not sure what kind of turn out there would be for our Janmastami celebration, but 200 devotees and friends particpated. 

HpS - We had twenty devotees here, but such a nice program. The new temple in New Bombay had 60,000 people!

We saw Lucile for the first time since Ron left his body.  She rented out their house because it's too painful to live there without Ron.  They are having a memmorial gathering September 24.

HpS - Extend our regards! Ask if there is any service we can do?

    As you know, we have to pack everything for our Saturday Program in and out of the meeting hall we rent each week.  So the altar is fully assemblable with no moving parts.  The columns slip into the square holders at the top of the canopy.  And the deity pedestals are in sections - we do not usually have for sets of deities at our weekly program.  If you know any devotees who need something like this I can give you more details.  ( I was unable to upload the photo so I will send some to you a different way.)

    We will try to make the trip to Seattle, I'm sure it will be most rewarding.  Will keep you informed on our plans.  Kalindi is having minor surgery on her bladder in October.  The condition is not life threatening.  We pray that Krishna continues to watch over you.

Your humble servant and friend

David

HpS - Yes, looks like we could come to San Francisco and then so take the Amtrak to Seattle. Choo! CHOO! C H O O !

Hare Krsna, Gurumaharaja
Please, accept my humble obeisances
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

We are doing well, working to simplify our lives, to find the common thread that allows us to carry out our service in the best way, smoothly and balanced.

HpS - Wow!  That sounds like going beyond Karma-misra-bhakti to Dhyana-misra-bhakti, heading toward Raganuga Bhakti.

This balance is delicate, unstable, volatile, but we are making some progress.

HpS - It is unstable for the inexperienced chemist like walking is unstable for the baby who is just trying to do it, but now, how many times an hour do you fall on your butt when walking?  Ahh, it will become second nature!

 
I have already finished reading the Chaitanya Caritamrta. What a beautiful adventure! I tried to enjoy the huge variety of emotions which stimulates this great poem. Different feelings were provoked: laughter, tenderness, anger, doubt and love; I think that, thanks to the book, my heart softened
a little more and is very good to know it. I found a set of lessons on certain chapters written by HG Gauranga dasa. I am translating them into spanish, in order to make some lectures and seminars on the teachings of Chaitanya Caritamrta for begginers.

HpS - Super!  If it is the same one, he is a very famous devotee in India. Even big international preacher.

Last Sunday NIMSAR organized a meeting with Prabhu Baladeva and interesting ideas emerged. In summary, I'll colaborate with Prabhu Jiva Sakti in developing short seminars on various topics for basic, intermediate and advanced levels. It would be great that these short seminars could be given online, as well as to bhakti vrksa groups (one is starting in Chosica), exposed during Bhagavatam classes or to take them to different cities. The idea is to apply modern pedagogy that allows the assimilation of background ideas supported by workbooks and audiovisual materials. I love this service, the development of educational content is really my thing.

HpS - This modular education is very nice. Actually many people say that the BA and BS degrees are disappearing. Everyone wants short seminars on specific practical topics, but, it is important to integrate them into a general whole.
What is the goal of education?  What is your Mission Statement for Education with ISKCON Peru?

I have already presented the communications plan to the board and has been accepted. As you suggested, I will dedicate the most resources to recover communication channels among devotees. It is a challenge, Gurudeva. Trust is something badly damaged in the Yatra. It abounds mistrust, backbiting and gossip, but we are devotees and that is the key to heal. We all have the same desire to serve Srila Prabhupada and this special motivation is almost impossible to find in other enviroments.
For now, I am organizing communication spaces for different sangas:pujaris, educators, kirtaniyas and senior devotees to start with. Everyone has something to say, and sometimes the authorities are unwilling to listen as it should. Later, we will have the collaboration of a specialist in group psychology. At the moment we have received a Baladeva Prabhu good training through the ISKCON course for alternative conflict resolution, organized by NIMSAR last week. I hope these efforts are directed properly for the welfare of this wonderful community.

HpS - O.K!  You saw our answer to M. Isvari's last NIMSAR report and that includes some ideas we have that we would like to see presented to the National Council also.

Indira Sakti and I are fine, we miss you while doing very clumsy efforts to follow your instruction. Thanks for giving us so many things and stimulate in us the daily desire to become your servants.

Your servant
Gandharva dasa

HpS - ASA!!  Hare Krsna!    Thank you for such a nice letter.  It seems that you need to develop a more defined strategy to organize many different work projects, but priority to 16-good rounds, no??   If we can teach people to love basic Sadhana practices and use those as the basis for everything else, we have become first class educators, no?

Hare krishna Gurudeva, Pamho-tlgSP, Tlg a Usted. 

Espero que al recibir este mensaje se encuentre bien de salud.

HpS - AGTSP!   Salud esta bien, Vd? 

Gurudeva el Profesor Graciano Gonzales Arnaiz, quien es uno de los cinco contactos que nos ha facilitado Abhiram Prabhu, aceptó entrevistarse con usted. 

El nos ha pedido llevarla acabo para el mes de Octubre, ya que ahora se encuentra de viaje.

Volveremos nuevamente a ponernos en contacto con èl a finales de este mes, para concretar fecha y hora.

De momento eso es todo. 

Muchísimas gracias por dejarnos colaborar con este pequeño servicio. 

Sus aspirantes a sirvientes Sananda & bhadra vardhana.

HpS - En la otra carta a Vd. estamos explicando el viaje ahora en terminos de parar en Espanya regresando de India.  Ya no es posible, PERO, otro visita particular es bueno.

Podemos, todos, hablar por Skype?  Vds en cuarto con el con alguien otro quien es devoto/psychologo en Espana?

                    HARE KRSNA GURUDEVA,

                    PAOHO, AGTSP

                    HOW ARE YOU?

HpS - ASA -- We are O.K.   Our days are like 97% Krsna-conscousness. We just have to get the other 3% purified and that takes WORK!

                    OK, WE THOUGHT OF TWO POSIBLE TOPICS FOR NEXT SOLARIS:

                    "ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION AND MENTAL HEALTH"

HpS - Each of these topics are whole areas in themselves and can be connected to the SB etc very nicely.

                     "HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY AND ITS ORIGINS" (IT COULD BE EASILY CONECTED TO JUNG AND THEN THE BRIDGES BETWEEN ORIENT AND WEST, COULDN´T IT?)

HpS - Is Humanistic Psychology still a School of Psychology. Carl Rogers, Gordon Allport and other worked under that name. What has become of it now. We see that Dr. Almendro and others are using Trans-personal Psychology but that they attempted to have it listed as a formal division of Psychology by the American Psychological Association and failed. It goes in as a sub-division of somethings else.

                     <img alt="indecision" height="23" src="http://www.hps.monkeywarrior.com/sites/all/libraries/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/whatchutalkingabout_smile.png" title="indecision" width="23" />...

HpS - It seems that all these topics depend on who they will reach. If we are focused on "Art and the Sacred" for 2018, and another "Psychology and the Sacred" in 2017 that would be feeding into the 2018 theme, then from that perspective we could determine our audience. To whom do we want to preach. Prabhupada established institutions and wrote different things for preaching to different communities.
Please continue to meditate on this!
We got a letter from Kalyan Kumar Cakravarty. He is in the current issue of Solaris and is in Spain until 30 September. I told him that you all could help him if he wanted to get in contact with you. 

                      WE HAVE WRITTEN TO ALL THE CONTACTS, EXCEPT FOR ONE...WE WILL DO THAT ONE SOON...

                      WE WISH TO KNOW THE EXACT DATES  THAT YOU WILL BE HERE SO WE CAN START ORGANIZING.

HpS - ASA --- Ooomp!    Did you see our India itenarary?    We spent THREE-HOURS working on the India (Europe) ticket and had quotes up to $6500.   We tried left, right, center, leaving from different places, including segment for Madrid, including stop-over for Amsterdam and then looking for separate ticket for Madrid....    Conclusion is for $785 (incredible price) we have a round-trip ticket from Houston, Texas to Delhi.

Now.   It appears that God wants us to work on visiting Europe as a whole separate show. That makes sense to me.

So, the Spain dates are open!!!    If we get a chance to meet with Shonu Shyamadasani we will be there tomorrow [more or less].

                       NICE THINGS NICELLY, AND AVOID YOU GETTING SO TIRED LIKE LAST YEAR (AFTER SUCH HORRIBLE

                       TRIP...ETC)

                       THANK YOU FOR LET US DO OUR BEST TO SERVE YOU, THANK YOU ALSO FOR YOUR DAILY ASSOCIATION

                       AND THE CHANCE TO GRADUALLY BECOME ACTUAL PEOPLE.

                       BHADRA VD AND SANANDA DD

HpS - Our pear tree had some disease when we bought it. Maybe thats why it was only $12 and now it is spreading. We don't know what will happen. We pray for it and water it.

08/27/16  Esteemed Guru Maharaja:  All glories to Srila Prabhupada!  Please acceptmy humble obeisances.

1.     Yes I can do some editing.  Thank you for the offer of this seva!  If there are questions on my part, I will be able to contact Monkey or Piggy via text, phone or personal e-mail, no?  If so, please send me an attachment so I can take a look at the project.  T.Y.

ASA - We are just getting to the actual work now. We are supposed to have all the files, now we need to open them and then we can start send to you if need be.

2.  By Krsna's mercy, ISKON Sac Janmastami program went smoothly with 200 attending!!!! I will request Dave P attach photos to another e-mail within 2 days.

ASA - Jaya!!!!

Best I can do.  YR attended with Mother Lucille.  Was sooo good to see her!!!  She looked the same; recently broke a toe so is coping with that.  Said she has rented out their previous house and she cannot go back there for grieving.  She has stayed in 26 different places during the last year.  I guess with Narayan Maharaja devotees, 2 weeks at a time.  I will contanct her soon.  She's a dear.

HpS - Please give our respects!   Can she join our Blog?

3.     "Iron Woman."  I like that!  The iron has put me on my feet but I'm still tired alot and need too much rest.  Chanting is very nice.. Hoping energy will improve in time as I begin to store more iron reserve in bone marrow.

HpS - We have never had any problem with being vegetarian for over 40-years. If there was a Vitamin B-12 deficiency of something like that you think it would have shown up by now.  Every Body is different.

3.    Hummmm... leave body.  Not sure this event is immenent.  However maintaining body is getting disgustingly time consuming.

4.     Jai Radhe!  Jai Krsna!

Your useless servant,

Kalindi Devi Dasi

HpS - ASA --- Thank you for news from New Jagannatha Puri.  Second week in June is the plan for  Seattle, Education with ISKCON.  We could come to Bay Area before that. Muck around in autos and then all get on the Amtrac and ride together on the Sunset Limited to Seattle.

"We would have liked for people to chanted differently etc. but we expect that maybe until we get to Goloka we may still find imperfections in the Kirtan's etc as far as we are concerned."

Dear Guru Maharaja, please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Please, can you tell what you mean when you say that you would like that people chant differently etc. ?
Thank you.
Your servant Namacarya das

HpS - ASA -  Hmmm.  There are many things in Kirtans that we would like to be different. We would like that our Kirtans would be different.

1. The Kartals are played on beat. Sometimes, Indians will play they in a completely asynchromous manner and it is very hard to chant in group then.

2. Prabhupads said, "First I chant and then you listen, then you chant and I listen, this is Hearing and Chanting". It is a very intense kind of group yoga. Improvisational Theater training does similar things, but often the leader just chants and then doesn't listen to the response but goes on chanting, or he stops chanting but is not really listening to the response, nor are the responders really listening to his leading, so it becomes two paralletl mono-logs. Has some value. May take your to take birth in India is a pious family.

People engage in other discussions during the Kirtan and it makes it hard for us to concentrate.

The chanting is for sense gratification. albeit celestial sense gratification. If we chant the name properly then the Form Manifests everyone starts looking at the Deities.

Often the drum covers the Holy Names.

We don't realize that the Holy Names are people and that chanting is really calling a real person and that They can answer with Their Form, Qualities (smile), Associates and Lila.

We got a lot of room for our own improvemt.