Letters to the editor

Dear Guru Maharaja,

Please accept my humble Obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Kapi Dvaja family, Ki Jay!

Due to visa, me and my husband, we had to leave Bali for a while. Now we are back here.

HpS/ASA - Hare Krsna!! Thank you for writing us! Where is "here". 😃

Unfortunately, I don't get India 's student visa. I don't know when India will reopen a tourist visa to China. I was planning to meet you in Kartik in Vrindavan.

ASA - We have no plans to be in in India in Kartika!

Seems like that won't happen so soon. It's very sad.

HpS - A little bit, but Mother Saci was happy that Nimai was based in Puri. She was getting news and Prasadam from Him and He and Nitai came for lunch everyday.

In Bali,we stay in one temple, Singaraja Town, Prabhuji gives classes and does books, I do service in the kitchen and sowing deities outfits.

HpS - Super!

We attend mangala arati and other programs everyday. We chant our rounds early in the morning. To improve my chanting, I watched some seminars from Hari sauri prabhu, Giriraj maharaja and Jayadvaita Swami. I have followed all the rules strictly and have been enthusiastic. I am ready to take responsibility of being intitiated.

HpS - Have you taken The Disciple Course? You need letter of recommendation from Temple President or some GBC line authority. In any case, if you are chanting 16-nice rounds and following the four principles strictly and following Temple program and want to take shelter of Srila Prabhupada for initiation, it seems certain that he and the Supersoul are taking lasting attention to your commitment.

Can you fulfill the above administrative requirements?

How long 16/4 been doing?

Your aspirant

Wang Pan

Dandavats dear Hanunat Preshak Maharaja

Glories to His Divine Grace!

Its my privilege to write few words from the Eastern front to your Holiness. I apologise for my English mistakes.

Initially we were on the way to New Gowardhan, Australia. Rupa Ragunath prabhuji (TKG) invited me to join the green pasturing grounds on the Golden Coast in distribution of books. Mainly I thought that could be a better place for Rukmini. More girls and some senior matajis so she can grow more healthy.

Also everyone speaks English which is not the case in Indonesia. Bali although tourist place hardly anyone can say few words in English. Nothing is written in English on the streets or shops. They want to keep their culture untouched as much as possible is what they say. However, somehow we got stuck here.

Here is work in progress, New Gowardhan is already well organised. Recently in Bali government banned devotees from public activities and party members often come to temple to treaten devotees. It did had effect . Many devotees just stop coming to temple. We could say, their activities and faith were not based/rooted on sastra, so when trouble came, many left.

With sentiments they came, due to sentiment they left. Its sad. Its been long time things were going well here. Now is turning point and major test for devotees who remained. As usually, two sides are claiming they know how to continue. One wants to remain as it is and the other one wants to mix with Balinese culture to make it look more "normal".

We know everything is temporary and sooner or later things will change so we are basically unaffected by this. As Prabhupada said, nothing can stop the movement from inside. That is the case again. We have seen similar things around the society but it seems like devotees have to go through that purification.

I got good responses from local devotees. Simple people, culture of humility. Lots of facilities to talk and I hope for more as the relationships become more solid with steadiness.

Books are hard to get. Australia is expensive and Indonesia tax books from there. Mumbai gave up saying that there are no ships. So I personally went to Vrindavan and send by post and found someone who can do that when needed.

Shipping for 100 kg is 500 usd . Someone says its too much, but that would be vaishya calculation. We are interested in the pleasure of the Lord and experience showed us that yagna brings multiple benefits, not only to the person who has received the books. So we took it as a favorable and believe in Krsnas intervention.

Books only go to foreigners, its more safe. Locals are all very negative for Hare Krsna at this time. There are plenty of spots where I can move and remain invisible. Our devote bought Ganja oil online from Holland for his wife who has cancer and police found out the bottle in the post office. They took him to jail and sentenced 14 years. So severe are punishments here for small offences. That is another reason books find owners in foreigners hands. And and and....lots of things, it's a time of need in short.

Maharaja, with your prayers and attention we can continue contributing to this wonderful movement of Lord Caitanya. This movement makes sense and its worth of giving life to it. Taking Prabhupada to the future is our motto.

Book Distribution ki Jai!

Sarva Sukhino Bhavantu!

Your servant

Narayan pandit das

HpS - Wow! Thank you so much for this letter. It is an honor to know you and your Sankirtan. Our old friend Abhimanyu Das we in a center in Bali teaching in the Gurukula. Do you know him? He is disciple of B. S. Damodara Swami.

I hope you can help Mrs. Rukmni adjust the GBC requirements for initiation.

Nothing can stop us.

Hare Krishna, Gurudeva 🙏🏻

Please, accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet!

HpS/ASA - 🐷 pesunyas de loto

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

HpS/ASA - 😍

In response to your questions from the previous report..

HpS: What is style correction?

As the translation is being done by five different devotees, it results differ greatly from each other, which is why we need a job of syntax to homologate the text in Spanish in the best possible way.

The style correction eliminates grammatical errors and adjusts the text to the regulations.

Syntax inconsistencies, concordance errors, correlation of verb tenses, errors in the use of prepositions, etc. are corrected.

It is done to improve the flow and cohesion of a text.

HpS - Yes, I think Kesava Bharati Swami did this for Brhat bhagavata amrta of Gopi pranadahna. People don't realize how many people may be involved in gfetting the finished product.

HpS: Gandharva das is not working with you?

No Gurudeva, he told me that he was not able to do this service anymore. A few days ago, his wife Indira Sakti dd told me that at this time he is very, very busy in his job.

But the good news, Gurudeva are that Abhirama Thakura prabhu offered to help us in this process in various ways.

We will meet soon in order to make the work plan.

Any suggestion from you is welcome, Gurudeva.

Thank you! 🙏🏻

Your aspiring servant:

Mitravinda dd.

HpS - Our only impression is that it seems to us that when this book is available in Spanish it will create a big step forward for all the Rupanugas in the Hispanic world.

Thank you!!!

Dear Maharaj,

PAMHO AGTSP!

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to each message. Here are my responses to your esteemed questions 🙏.

1) PhD:

Here are 4 ideas that we have been brainstorming for PhD:

🐸 ASA - Wow! Too much detail for a 75-year-old brain cell! We scan them and give our best shot. Ribbit!

A) Ancient Indian Classical Dance and Mental Health Applications, PhD in Performing Arts from The Julliard School, NY

🐸 Too complicated. You don't know enough about physiology and endocrinology.

B) Psychotherapy through Ancient Indian Classical Dance, PhD in Psychology from Stanford, Harvard etc

ASA - Sounds like the first one. Real thing is you need to find a mentor at the university who can evaluate your talents and then set a practical thesis etc. for you. Big name schools, Harvard and Stanford eg. Are almost always colored by big business. Which means pharmaceutical medicine.

C) Dramaturgy in Cinema and Mental Health Applications, PhD in Cinematic Arts from USC

ASA - Huh!? Seem the same. We have so much stuff going that understanding any details of any program to make detailed decisions is not possible. Right now Dr. Samaresh is waiting for us to review Solaris 7, and in 26-minutes the BOEX meeting starts.

Hare Krsna, Hare Rama.

D) Impact on Mental Health by Supplementing Modern Cinema with Elements of Ancient Indian Dramaturgy. PhD in psychology from UCLA

PhD in psychology might help in preaching. People might take it more seriously and the earnt laxmi can be used in film-making. UCLA is about 3rd place in both cinema and dramatic arts. I might be able to take useful courses in both discplines while getting psychology degree.

In my proposal I could begin with greek medicine; Hippocrates talking about mixture of bodily humors producing behavior; controlling secretion of humors through mind; establish ’drama’ as therapy (SE somatic experience, FR fantastic reality, CBT, NLP etc), proceed to Aristotle, vs Bharata. Then after quoting my research results of Ancient Indian Dramaturgy’s effects on my IIT students (survey based) I can propose the benefits of creating films using emotion centric stories (from India)?

ASA - Had to scan through the above. Is very detailed. First thing, again, is to find a faculty advisor you can work with. If they exist.

Our perspective would on the history of cinema and its impact on society eg. Battleship Potemkin

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=c99bbc8990dbca26JmltdHM9MTY4Njc4NzIwMCZpZ3VpZD0xNTI1Yzc5Ny01YmFkLTZhYjgtMDExZi1kNmY2NWE3ODZiZTEmaW5zaWQ9NTQ0OA&ptn=3&hsh=3&fclid=1525c797-5bad-6ab8-011f-d6f65a786be1&psq=battleship+potemkin+britannica+encyclopedia&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYnJpdGFubmljYS5jb20vdG9waWMvQmF0dGxlc2hpcC1Qb3RlbWtpbiM6fjp0ZXh0PUJhdHRsZXNoaXAlMjBQb3RlbWtpbiUyQyUyMFJ1c3NpYW4lMjBCcm9uZW5vc2V0cyUyMFBvdHlvbWtpbiUyQyUyMFNvdmlldCUyMHNpbGVudCUyMGZpbG0lMkMsYXMlMjBhJTIwbWFzdGVycGllY2UlMjBvZiUyMGludGVybmF0aW9uYWwlMjBjaW5lbWEuJTIwQmF0dGxlc2hpcCUyMFBvdGVta2lu&ntb=1

Or The Great Dictator.

Then use that for your Sankirtan. Of course, that is our perspective. May not be too much use to you as as Siksa for your Sankirtan.

2) Publications/Research.

Yes Maharaj, IIT Mandi Director Dr. Lila Purushottam (The General of the army) has an entire team of researchers doing phds on various Indian Knowledge Systems (yoga, odissi, pranayama, yoga nidra, mantra meditation, kirtan etc) for Mental Health Applications (IKSMHA). Because it is an IIT they have almost every resource in India available. This topic is interesting to me and they are also paying me to teach and monitor results on enrolled students and they will give me the monitoring equipment (Captain of classical dance).

One paper has already been published on heart rate variability and Odissi, conducting tests on my 300 class students. Tests showed a reduction in stress in students after Odissi class. Because of suicide rates in India, student mental health is being seen as important. This HRV correlation with Odissi paper has been accepted in a conference in Italy.

Being first author in this research, will be useful for phd applications. I know preaching efforts usually don’t get funding because we go against Maya Devi 🙏. But somehow some little window of service opportunity is opening up here for time being 🙏. I hope it’s worth while. Also I’m very happy to work with Dr. Ravi Singh and NIOS as well if they are open. A lady (from Nashville in Geriatric care) on the plane overheard me on this research topic and was so interested she asked me to share more.

ASA - Ask Lila and his crew about this line of work! Contact Dr. Ravi directly. Let us know the results😃

3) Film-making:

HpS/ASA - Here we have to stop! 😅 All our brain cell can handle for one letter. Doctor limits our academic work each day or else we will have brain hemorrhage.

Please use us properly.

HpS - ASA

... Yes Maharaj, I’m building my community beginning with Yogi from Houston. He’s quite enthusiastic and guiding me, he has a lot of contacts with Hollywood as well. I have shared with your esteemed self the first draft of the pitch deck on WhatsApp (it’s missing few slides, work in process).

I’ve also reached out to devotee film makers. Of course after I enrol there I can also build my own community of contacts.

Sanskrit verses: Maharaj you were suggesting you had some ppts made for festivals that you wanted to share with me to guide my dance productions 🙏. You mentioned there are selected verses in those ppts. Hence it was in that context I asked. As the film is evolving and we are approaching various sponsors, I’m adapting the content of the film also.

I just met with DG ICCR Delhi, Tuhin Kumar, he is interested in empanelling our theatre production group and taking our Ramayan on North America tour after Dec.

4) Kalaripayattu diploma starting in July from Kalarigram (Indian martial arts).

YAS

SMDD

Maharaj, PAMHO AGTSP!

I hope you’re feeling better 🙏. Maharaj I’ve been thinking a lot about the Hollywood films/novels.

I could either:

1) write the stories like Norse mythology (Thor, Loki etc became so popular). And manage bbt copyright issues.

2) I could write it like children’s fantasy like Harry Potter, e.g. take Prahlad’s story and dedicate 1 book per torture: being thrown off cliff, burnt etc, that he had to overcome. But change the names, attire, location and circumstance a bit, adapt to western story. The conundrum of ‘restaging’ according to audience, medium of communication etc while respecting Vyasadev and SP’s original work. In this option I’ll have to judge how much divergence from real story is too much.

What do you suggest is better or should we just try both?

YAS 

SM DD

HpS - We just finished the other two letters. Will try to look at some others that are two weeks old also.

We smile at how little we are able to do.

Like in the other letters, we think that you need to look for others who are in similar work and coordinate with them.

These seem like big projects.

Do you already belong to a broader community?

Dear Maharaj,

PAMHO AGTSP!

In accordance to your guidance to pursue doctorate/title/awards from academic sources,

HpS/ASA - I hope we were clear in presenting it as a suggestion, no? Srila Prabhupada suggested to Tamal Krsna Swami and Giriraja Das to go to Red China to preach. They were developing a scheme to go in as beer salesmen for GD father's company, but finally Srila Prabhupada said that it seemed too complicated to him.

I tried to apply for faculty with Mandi IIT. In response they offered me to do PhD under them. My father suggested better to pursue that in the US. So now I’m upgrading my relationship with the institute by working on research projects for journal publications with them instead. This is my current research topic. Please advise if you feel it’s worthy of research 🙏:

The human body consists of various systems that co-function in order for an individual to experience a wholesome life.

Beginning with motor functions, digestion etc., all the way up to neurological systems responsible for computing responses to external stimulus.

When an individual is physically injured, the damage usually doesn’t percolate to other systems.

ASA - Huh? Damage to the liver has reaction in the function of the other organs, no?

However when mental or emotional injury, i.e. trauma, is introduced into the human system, a trickling effect of dysfunction is observed

affecting other systems of the body such as the respiratory, immune, even digestive, endocrine, as well as the autonomic nervous systems, which makes it imperative that trauma-healing be researched thoroughly.

ASA - Dr. Carlos Mello in Mexico was a industrial trauma psychologist. People lost a had or something in industrial accident and insurance paid for him to counsel their mental state. Stomach ache can make you angry at everyone.

Various therapies have emerged over the years, but most of them remain drug based, treating mental well-being like a chemical from the neurological perspective. However, there are lesser mind-healing therapies available in the field of medicine. The term "psychotherapy", comes from the Greek word "psyche" or the mind. Some recent findings show SEE-FAR-CBT-SIT-NLP protocols as emerging, integrated and innovative treatment methods already proving themselves as effective treatments in the field of psychotherapy.

After a deeper look at these techniques, several parallel elements came to light in the traditional practices of ancient Indian classical dramaturgy, which seemed to effortlessly combine the fundamental techniques in these protocols under its curriculum.

This research aims to explore Odissi’s therapeutic benefits, depending upon varying levels of exposure to the artform, from the perspective of these healing protocols by conducting similar surveys.

Being already encapsulated as a tradition, the therapeutic practice of dramaturgy may re-emerge as a self-administerable lifestyle enhancing practice, making smooth integration into modern lives.

It is not only sensitive to all ages, genders and cultures, but may also feel more organic to adapt and feel less clinical and thus benefit a large range of patients with varying levels of illness.

ASA

Hanging our with Nitai-gaura-sundara Das, Dr. R. P. Singh, Head of Geriatric Psychiatry at the "Trustpoint Psychiatric Hospital", we think his first response would be that there would no funding for the research. Big pharmaceutical companies dominate the economic resources. Then, if the research was done and published, the experience is that 80% of the research is never implemented.

If you find a General who is minding an army who is developing such projects then you might sign on as a Captain.

That is our perspective, which we feel is maybe 70% accurate.

O.K.?

Do you have the knowledge and resources to do the biology, brain scans, hormone levels that seem to be required?

What we were suggesting was a Doctorate in something like 'The History of Cinema' , "The History and Potency of Dance". Raul is doing his PhD from University of Birmingham I think because it is one of the like three places in the world that has a PhD program for 'Cinema and Community'.

What do you think?

UCLA? UC Berkeley? In Texas near your family, devotees. Doing a PhD in co-ordination with NIOS and Abhiseka Das?

YAS,

SMDD

Maharaj, PAMHO AGTSP!

Hanumatpreshaka Production: Inspiring the god of Inspiration.

HpS - ASA --- Hare Krsna!!! Thank you for this letter and this work! Who is the god (Not God) of Inspiration? 🐵

The film’s story line is:

A little girl approaches you (with father or adult brother?) to ask the meaning of your name during a Diwali festival where an Odissi/Manipuri dance drama is happening.

The scenes will interchange between English description of Hanuman's feats by you to her, shots of dancers (dances?) on Sanskrit verses, actual scenes with costumes and characters and locations on instrumental music.)

Requesting recomendations for the selection of Sanskrit verses for the following sections:

1) 2 verses inspiring Hanuman before the leap (istadev Vandana part of hanuman mangalacharan dance piece). And 1 verse glorifying him in general (opening verse, setting the scene)

2) I need maybe 4-8 verses describing sita’s plight. This will be choreographed as a solo expressional Odissi Abhinaya piece. One verse’s translation will be selected for poetic English narration in between

3) Verses summarizing Ramayan in 20 min (https://youtu.be/tsscKC7wYYM) Rama’s birth, Sita’s swayamvara, exile, golden dear/kidnapping, Jatayu passes, search party, Hanuman leaps.

4) celebratory verses for grand finale dance on Sita found and Hanuman’s victorious character!

YAS

SMDD

HpS - Awk! Gronk! Prkk! SmaCH! 😕

Wow!

We don't even know where to begin to look for such verses?

Is there a Sanskrit Ramayana that we could use?

We don't read Sanskrit... Ooof.. and even if we had the books our eyes are getting weak, the DTC(UT) Spain and India need editing. NIOS Nashville, and consolidating NIOS for future life or dissolution, personal letters to devotees. . .

Hmmm? Who is the audience? Most people Western people haven't the the slightest hint what classical Indian dance is doing, no?

For a cultured Indian audience?

Let us look at the other post.

Prabhupada made Rathayatra appreciable to some people!!!