Letters to the editor

Dear Hanumat Presaka Sawmi:

PAMHO AGTSP

Hare Krishna from north Spain:

Well, well, well, sorry for taking so long to write but has being very intense times for bhaktin Marta, my self et all.

HpS - ASA ---- Ha! Ha! Hare!! I feel the same way then I realize that Srila Prabhpada had even more intense times! Thank you, so much. You can see in the Letters-to-the-Editor of the Kapi Dhvaja that we are struggling with our lust, Kali-yuga to answer so many letters, so we answer (first) those that have the Kapi-dhvaja Priority Code KPC) in the Title section of the posts!!

We are still live in my parent´s property, we are producing 75% of what we eat (Of course we eat very simple) now eating once a day but very high quality Vegetables.

HpS - Are you growing long wiskers a little tail and nice white fur? 😁 Of course, that is very, very good!!! You are living in Satya yuga!!!

We do a very simple farming style that we called "Lazy farming" we basically do nothing and let all the work to Krishna´s wonderful nature.

We do not dig and basically we put any organic matter we get like grass or leaves on the ground and we let all the bacteria, worms and millions of living entities there take care.

So we just plant or seed what we need, we water (Just the first day) and we chant Hare Krishna, next thing we do is to take whatever is grown, offer to Krishna and eat it.

So it takes us 1 hour to plant and 1 hour to collect enough pumpkins for the half year.

Potatoes 2 hours planting 2 hours collecting for the whole year.

We have lettuces all year round and also Spinach, swiss chard and Kale and cabbages.

So our daily meal consist on a big salad and baked vegetables and potatoes.

HpS - To whom do you offer it? Do They leave everything?

Some times we get milk from a neighbour and Marta makes yogurt and panir.

ASA --- Moooo! Give the neighbor Prasada!!!!?????

The community is developing very nicely, as we have no land still we are like a tribe with no land but we are constructing an strong sense of community and friendship that I believe is the core of a successful community.

HpS --- !!!!!!

Marta and my self, Prema Rasarnava and Sukania Sita, Seva Kunja and Kaveri (From Argentina & Chile) Guru Gauranga and Yasoda, Madhava, Dharma Vatsala and Arantxa, Ananta Sesa and Natalia and some others is the core of the community.

We gather officially once a month and we do bhajan, comunal reading of the scriptures and discussion, kirtan and prasadam.

With Prema and Sita and Seba and Kaveri we have a daily relationship as we are always serving together.

I am serving as GBC Secretary for Spain.

HpS - Zonal Supervisor?

But my main service is within the youth and farm community developing in EU ISKCON.

We have developed a nice team of work involving 25 countries in EU.

This in a sense is already a great service as is not easy to manage such a big network and is also benefiting ISKCON in the sense of developing again this feeling that we are a family that must work together because it will be this way (Cooperating among us) or will not be.

I am getting so much mercy from Krishna so now I have devotee friends in so many countries and I feel like if I have family and homes all around.

We are becoming experts in getting Grants from the EU and in this way we can help devotees and ISKCON projects.

So now by Krishnas mercy we travel a lot visiting amazing yatras and meeting with great vaisnavas all around Europe.

Our typical program is that we gather lets say 10 young devotees from Spain, 10 from France, 10 from Portugal and so on up to 50-80 then we have fun in Krishna consciousness.

This summer for example we will gather 100 devotees in my home town and we stau in a nice youth hostel in the beach, we have spiritual program in the morning, then after nice breakfast the kids have Surf training in the sea and after lunch kirtans and a japa retreat with Yadunandana Swami.

After that we will have similar programs in Latvia, New Vrajamandala, Barcelona, Tenerife, Simhacalam in Germany and New Mayapura in France.

The good thing is that the participants do not have to pay anything, we cover the travels and the host and accommodation so is very easy for them to accept to participate.

HpS -- Amazing!!

We try to stay as much as possible in ISKCON farms and temples and in this way we can give a substantial donation to the projects.

After participating in this projects we tray to help the youth to understand who they are, what is their nature and we get grants to support their varna training.

We are also working with Yadunandana Swami and Mahajan Prabhu (from Argentina and now living in New Vrajamandala) in order to develop a Varna Asrama college in New Vrajamandala.

The idea is to offer like a Bhakta course where you get a formal and basic spiritual training but at the same time expert devotees help you to understand your own nature. (We will use techniques like vedic astrology and Psychology) Urmila mataji is also working in this regard and will release a book on the matter soon.

After the 6 months training there will be another 6 months or year training for Ksatrias and Brahmanas (Basically a bhakti sastri but also varna oriented like teaching Ksatrias to manage and take care of people properly and Brahmanas to be good bramanas)

Ok so this is basically from Nanda Gram.

In Spain Madrid temple is now managed by SP disciple Paramdham Prabhu and his family.

New Vrajamandala is flourishing under the direction of Yadunandana Swami and his team.

Gurukula is developing nicely and they are getting permission for Grihasta housing development.

The guest house is developing a lot and there are groups booking every weekend (Like Yoga groups, reiki, buddhist and things like that)

Yasodananda Prabhu and all his descendants are now living in Brihuega.

Jayanta and Purnamasi are doing an extraordinary service with their preaching center in their area and have very nice and popular weekly meetings.

Patita pavana is struggling but fighting very sincerely to develop the amazing Tenerife´s Jaganath Baladeva and Subadra temple.

Malaga keeps going on.

And Mantri, Janardhan and Kesava Bharati are developing very nicely the Krishna Cuisine project in Alicante.

Barcelona is now days probably the most active temple with a lot of action and many young devotees around.

And devotees in Valencia are growing slowly but surely.

Well well well this mostly what I can tell you from here.

I am sorry that I do not communicate on a more regular basis.

I miss you a lot but at the same time I always feel we are connected as I am trying my best to serve you and Srila Prabhupada.

Hope to see you soon dear Gurudeva and hope that krishna helps me to serve you for many life times.

When are you coming to Spain?

All the best

Your fallen servant

JMHD

HpS - AGTSP! This is good enough! Send Quarterly letters!!! This is very nice! We think many, many devotees will benefit. How is Hanuman Das and the Spanish BBT??? We will visit Spain, maybe one more time, before we die.

Any service for us?!

Dear Guru Maharaj,

Finally, I can write you well. This week was one of the worst in my job. I used to have an assistant but three weeks ago the company promoted her, because an emergency in the other branch, since the father of the chief of the other space was evicted so she travel to the north of the country to stay with him until the end.

Sometimes this kind of things helped in the workplace to have a more philosophical topics in the lunch break, that give us the chance to share things like:

– Oh, My mother died too.

– Oh, really, man, we didn’t know. So sorry.

– But it wasn’t a too much terrible thing. She was a God’s devotee. When doctor said to her that she would die in 6 months, her replied something like OK. That’s it. We will finish then. And the doctor reply that always when he gives the bad news the people react in a very very very not calm and easy-way either, at all.

And my colleagues reply: What? She doesn’t put herself under a powerful treatment like chemotherapy. –No, this would be an expensive thing. He just approaches to a doctor who work in alternative system who recommend to her became vegan. She did it. Finally, she lives one year and half more. SO, when the died is close this kind of things are part of the conversations. The people reflect about it.

Max Delporte, the startup founder who borrowed us the computer, explain to me for example that he’s no completely afraif of death but is afraid about the death of others.

Anyway, Is supposed that someone else will coming soon to be my assistant again. But ultimately my boss and I we are inventing a new position for me again, coming back to my last position, taking care of the whole community and the culture of iF (Ideas Factory), but now of the 8 branches. We’ll see.

-0- 

So, the news that you can come here arrived with surprise and happiness in the devotees.

29 th Arriving Santiago

30 th Last details of program

May 1^st “International Women Day” in Vaisnava Tradition

Srimati Sita Devi’s (consort of Lord Sri Rama) Appearance and Srimati Jahnava Devi’s Appearance.

Like HDG Maharaja post recently

https://www.hdgoswami.com/chronicals/letters/the-suppression-of-women-in-iskcon/

HpS - Hmmm. It is very general, no?

Definitely, there is a negligence of our movement regarding the women. And this could be very harmful in Chile. I remember one my college female teachers confessed to me that she felt very enthusiastic with Krishna Consciousness in her student days, but when she went to the temple honestlyy she was shocked after to see that the women were outside the temple, despite the raining, and the men were inside, warming. It seems that the explanations to her then, were much worst. I lived a similar thing a couple of year ago when I invited some of my classmates, one Brazilian women included to the ISKCON Hyderabad. The prasādam room of women was not too much light, no images of Krishna in the walls, and even not too much clean.

So, this attitude against women in our movement could be very harmful to our development so your idea to talk about this is such a cleaver and very necessary idea.

HpS - For us it is one of several important issues. For example, the development of our Sanyasa ashrama so that they find real Brahminical engagement, because real, fearless leaders, is also and important issue to me. Of course, they are related. It Sannyasa ashrama is leading, then we will not tend to see people prominently from a bodily concept, no? 

One example of the leading Chilean feminist movement

On the other hand, I talked with Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur -and with Kishori Mani a little bit- and we all had the same conclusion, is a very sensitive topic to cover if we pretend to invite people outside because we have really extremist feminist women here.

I would like to share one example about how the way how is lived this philosophy here is particular and even, that even it gives examples to abroad.

I say philosophy because, for example, the book co-authored by our known David Haberman, now is entitled “Thirteen Theories of Human Nature” (Oxford University Press), because the seventh edition adds a chapter on feminist theory to those already there like Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, Islam, Kant, Marx, Freud, Sartre, and Darwinism.

“Las Tesis” is feminist Chilean collective -Valparaiso specifically- that created a song called "The rapist is you" but is a protest with movements. There is an English slang for that: “flashmob”. The people sung something, and the people make a particular movement connected with the words. And it become completely viral in the world, literally thousands and thousands of women replicate this musical protest.

I’ll share some of the links of worldwide press covering of the phenomenal when arrived it to their countries. A general clipping:

BBC: Las Tesis feminist protest song of Chile goes global

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-50751736/las-tesis-feminist-protest-song-of-chile-goes-global

The Guardian: Chilean anti-rape anthem becomes international feminist phenomenon (Dec 6^th, 2019)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/06/chilean-anti-rape-anthem-becomes-international-feminist-phenomenon

Indian Times: Kolkata Women Sing Bengali Version Of Chilean Song 'Rapist Is You'

https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/human-interest/viral-video-kolkata-women-sing-bengali-version-of-rapist-is-you-to-protest-pms-visit-504102.html

CNN: Women staged a flash protest outside the courthouse where Harvey Weinstein is being tried

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/10/us/weinstein-flash-mob-new-york-trnd/index.html

Aljazeera News: -Chile's 'A rapist in your path' chant hits 200 cities: Map

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/chile-rapist-path-chant-hits-200-cities-map-191220200017666.html

The Times of India: An Anti-Rape Song to address violence against women

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/events/pune/an-anti-rape-song-to-address-violence-against-women/articleshow/73773284.cms

Euro News: ‘A rapist in your path’: This Chilean feminist anthem is spreading around the world

https://www.euronews.com/2019/12/07/a-rapist-in-your-path-this-chilean-feminist-anthem-is-spreading-around-the-world

EFE News: India adapts Chile's feminist protest song amid rapes, deaths

https://www.efe.com/efe/english/portada/india-adapts-chile-s-feminist-protest-song-amid-rapes-deaths/50000260-4127667

The Guardian: ‘The rapist is you!’: why a Chilean protest chant is being sung around the world (Feb 3th, 2020)

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/03/the-rapist-is-you-chilean-protest-song-chanted-around-the-world-un-iolador-en-tu-camino

“From Santiago to Nairobi and Tijuana to Stockholm, women in hundreds of cities worldwide have executed a Chilean choreographed feminist performance protesting sexual assault, victim-blaming and state violence.” (Source: Aljazeera News)

HpS - We looked at the first three articles but none of the video clips. I have to smile and say I am afraid of being Assaulted by the videos! 

Two options

So, after the conversation with Visvanath we had a conclusion:

One option is to have a festival for the internal public, devotees. Covering the mindset of devotees. Maybe participative, with talks. Actually, this day is free day, because is the Day of Employee, is a free day.

A good place to do it is the temple, but Of course, we have a serious division here in Chile now, and the 30% maybe 35% of devotees don’t attend the temple in protest, so maybe be is better to find a neutral but big place to invite to the devotees to know more about the misconception and the evidence about the presence of women in the history of our tradition and movement. 

Other option is making the public event, probably not in the temple, and invite to general people to understand that our view about women is much wider that they think. Vishvanath suggest invite one or two female devotees to talk there to share their experiences with the public there.

What do you think?

HpS - AGTSP. Paoho. I tell many people about my experiences with Feminism in Chile. It seems we should do both. Have an internal program and an external program. You would know better than I how we could arrange both so that there is no disturbance to Srila Prabhupada's community. [I don't find Amara-gauranga Das' number on my Whatsapp anymore! Can you send it here. I won't publish it].

Whether they are male or female, some people are demons and some people are Godly, deva/asura, so we avoid the demons, offer our ideas to the innocent and share ideas with the devotees, and LOVE K-R-S-N-A! [Picture below].

5^th Jayananda Disappearance.

There is a devotee very active around him here.

6^th Nrsimha Caturdasi: Appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva

The gurus always spend big festival in the big temples like Buenos Aires or where there are Radha Krishna deities like Chosica. And always here in Chile the big festivals a lot of people come, a lot, but the lecture is given by ourselves. It would be so nice that you could received all this people from outside that come here.

The devotees could encourage themselves to have a Drama , never does in the last years.

Second week.

The first days of the second week could be to organize and meeting to the big program of November, 1st,2^nd is already planned the event of the Religious Department of the Católica. The idea would be meet them finally in may.

Regarding the Colloquium canceled in November, The Universidad Católica teachers tell me that now in march they will have a meeting again to fix the date of the . Summer holiday is going on now here. But Elvira told me that they re planning the Colloquium to May and June. So, with Arjuna think that if we help them to organize this event about taking care the environmental from the spiritual perspective, they could convince of putting before, in the middle of may, like 19th may, it would be nice because you could be here.

Excuse me for the extension, it happens when I let pass too much time without writing you.

Your eternal servant,

Jagad Guru Das.

HpS - I am not sure what the actual dates are that you are suggesting for Chile. I think they are the same as ours.

April

1-15 -Peru

15-29 - Argentina

29-13 May - Chile

13-28 Peru

Is rough idea, but we should fix it soon. If others can't fix their dates then we should fix ours and then let them adjust to ours as they can. Light in the Darkness. Ha! Ha!

If it is necessary we could return to Lima later, like 20th or even 22nd if it is very important.

What do all of our readers think. It is one month in Peru and only two weeks in Chile-Argentina. Better is like 2.666 weeks each one?

Hare Krishna, dear Gurumaharaja. Pamho. AGTSP!

This one just to invite you to spend Rama navami Festival in Chosica.

We will prepare a very nice festival since we have Sita-ram-laksmana-hanuman here. Seems appropriate, right? And weekends in Chosica are nice as well. Even you can stay the first part of your tour in Chosica. I mean, you arrive and stay in Callao and next day you go to Chosica like in the afternoon when we usually celebrate Rama Navami festival (from 4.15 onwards)

Then you can stay, if you want, from thursday to sunday 3pm more or less. I think is more healthy for you than running around for Lima, at least this first part of your trip. Then, next weekend you can visit the other centers, Wilson, San Borja, Miraflores, etc. That's my suggestion. Please consider it. If you agreed, we can do nice programs. Maybe a seminar on VAD on friday (Very appropriate since we just celebrated Lord Ramacandra as ideal king and ideal husband), and an education thing on saturday, and Fiesta de Domingo. I think is a nice idea. We'll work hard to do a nice weekend program. That's my humble suggestion. Please, it will be nice for your health and for our benefit.

Your servant,

Laksmana-agraja das

HpS - ASA ...We have been discussing this with other devotees also! Yes, we should show our Rama-raja, the government of Rama to the world!

Thurday is for the whole world!! Yet, not to many people can come on Thursday, no? So we can celebrate Thursday at home, (your home, Sita Rama especially at home in Chosika) and then M. Kausalya can bring the "baby' out on Sunday!??

ie. Work in in Lima Th, Fri, Sat and then spend Sunday early morning until night in Chosika.?

Hare Krishna, dear Gurumaharaj. Pamho, AGTSP!

I am a bit slow for communications, but I like to have something solid to say.

ASA - AGTSP!!!! paoho. Then this biography might interest you.

Two points:

1.- Education.

I liked your idea of ​​three levels of Pada Padma students. It's natural. Let's see if it works. I'm starting soon.

Some questions about it. According to what I understand, then, it will be an exam as you have described it. I guess students will be have a bank of questions beforehand so they can be trained, right?

ASA - Yes, that is our idea. Many short answer closed book questions and open book essay questions that are subject to oral presentation for evaluation. Dharma for ladies in Canto One. Examples and principles of reception in Canto One...

So, the old ASA system of one essay per chapter is abolished? I think tpp are still good. I may make some notes with the documents you sent.

ASA - We are thinking of a system where people can get certified by Canto and then take up the next Canto when it is convention.

Apart from a Bhakti sastri and a Disciples Course, soon to start, I will also give some (4) seminars throughout the year. It will be on Sundays immediately after Srimad Bhagavatam's class in Chosica. I have proposed that the first two be about communications in ISKCON.

The first on internal communication and another on external communication, that is, the local community, institutions, etc. These two points seem vital to me. Many times the lack of good internal communication, and therefore relationships, generates misunderstanding that does not allow us to grow. Likewise, due to poor external communication we have lost our influence in the community. Of course, as a devotee commented to me, without a solid spiritual foundation, a solid sadhana, these issues would only be inconsequential rhetoric.

HpS - Sounds very nice!!!

The third and fourth seminar would be about Srila Prabhupada. One about his position in ISKCON and another about the importance of reading and studying his books. I believe that all these seminars will be of benefit to all.

ASA - Super!

2.- VAD

My relationship with Raman reti mataji is very solid. We get up (each one is his house, of course) at 3 am to chant our rounds. It gives me time to do some readings and then connect to the FMP. We also read the Krsna book together (by phone) at night.

Our plan, with the blessings of you and the devotees, is to go to Chile at the end of July to bring her to Peru to prepare our home and get married in November, settle down and start our life together. It is very clear to us that the reason for getting married is to help us be better devotees, better people and make our sankirtan together. We have several plans about it.

ASA - HpS - Santa Rosa of Lima - Confucious --- Hare Krsna. God Bless you! Plan for eternity, but also realize that you are both individuals and that marriage is just one part of your reality.

Thank you for being so understanding and tolerant of me.

Your eternal servant

Laksmana-agraja DAS

ASA - Rama Das!!!!! See you in one month! So much we can do, no?

Hare Krsna Beloved Gurudeva AGTSP PAMHO

It is superb to have your association everyday at FMP.

ASA - Oh, no! It is superb to have yours!

I just asked for some mercy during the Gaura Purnima festival in Chosica I will help in Pujari. I am over the 🌕.

HpS - Nothing destroys ignorance like humility.

I was accepted in another University. They sent me an invitation to teach in there due to my professional experience. Besides I continue in Jaime Bausate y Meza University. I am not a full time professor. So as U said I can be involved in more brahminical activities. I do not have a hefty schedule.

Regarding the New Center in Lima that I put in the title Jaya Laksmi dd will send you a letter with deep explanations. Neverheless, I will give you a summary.

The New center is located in Miraflores, it is modern, big, well located. In the center we do yoga, Bharatanatyam, Holistic therapies, mantra meditation. We perform mangal Artik on Saturdays we have Gaura Nitai deities, Yoga Nrismha. Namahatta programs. We distribute prasadam. We are really looking forward to invitating you when you came in April. On Sunday we have a meeting in Callao in order to plan your visit. In this center we are trying to avoid Vaisnava aparadha, and try to enthuse the devotees to continue firmly in Krsna consiousness. I am overjoyed to have the opportunity to work with such top notch devotees. Please your blessings to continue with this project. I did not tell you this in advance due to I did not anything about that in advance and I just collaborate there giving gem therapy.

I am attaching some pictures. Nevertheless Jaya Laksmi dd will send you a letter with more details.

Thank you all so much Gurudeva

Trying to be your disciple

Cmdd

HpS - This news of "The New Center" is very nice. Yes, we need to fix the Calendar for Peru, Chile, Argentina ASAP. Maybe

Arrive April 1st (10.45PM)

2nd - Rama-navami (where?).

3rd-4th - Friday Night, Saturday (Where? Wilson, San Borges, Miraflores).

5th - Chosika! ???

15th :>> BsAs - Chile.

13th May :>> LIma

28th :>> Houston.(12.10AM)

Hare Krishna Gurudeva!

Please, accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet!!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!

Thank you Gurudeva for your reply to my last letter, it was a very precise answer! 🙏

I meant to write you again a long time ago, but I could not find the right time to do it..

Maybe for my mind this moment is not appropriate either, but if I wait for the "right moment" I am going to take too long to write....so I do it now!

HpS - AGTSP!!! One man was in his chair, sofa, at the beach reading a book, and he notice another man step into the water at the edge of the ocean with his bathing suit on and stand there, but the first man went back to reading his book. Then after about ten minutes he looked up and saw that the second man was still standing in the water of the ocean up to his ankles and had not gone any more into the water. So the first man, with a smile asked, "Are you going into the water or not?". The second answered very seriously, "Oh, yes, but I am just waiting for the waves to stop before I go in."

Gurudeva, I wanted to sent you a report about our progress in Vedabase service, but I saw that Prahlada Nrsimha prabhu already did it.

HpS - It is worth reporting many times. Such great Sankirtan. He had cards to hand out to people.

Anyway, I want to inform you that we were waiting for books from BBT to continue with importing. The Books are being sent and now we have started with "Teachings of Queen Kunti".

ASA - Oh, yes! Reina Kunti, prima de Isabella!

Also we have already corrected the typing mistakes that LOB had. As I once told you...Importing is usually about copy and paste paragraphs and not necessarily reading the paragraphs completely, but then I noticed that some words in the paragraphs were misspelled. The original versión in Spanish which we were working had these mistakes, so it was necessary to check all the text and re-edit it. We will check the other books to see if there are those errors to correct them.

HpS - French poet: Nobody ever finished a poem, they just stopped working on it. Nobody ever finished correcting all the mistakes in a book, they just stopped looking.

Gurudeva, by your desire we want to complete all the Bhaktivedanta library in Spanish!!

HpS - Then Santa Rosa of Lima will take birth in Lima again to read them!

I like to do this service, I think it fits my nature. I like to do things in detail, writing, editing, etc, and I have time to do it.

On the other hand I want to talk about my sadhana...

Gurudeva, for a long time I have been feeling dissatisfied with my sadhana..

It is like...lately...I have been making the minimum effort to do it. Not trying my best to do my best...as other times I did. I know that I can give more, do it better, but my mind, lazyness...tama guna?? are like a constant obstacle....Gurudeva, please...what is the cause of it??

I know that I can give much more to Krishna and I do not do it. I am like a miser who have a 100 dollar bill in my pocket and only gives Krishna two dollars. 😭 Gurudeva, what is the cure for this??

HpS - I do not know. I have the same problem. We have our Karma, which is now being controlled by Radharani not Durga, but still it is there. Now it is being used for our purification and service. So, some times we are in Tama guna and because we are not pure devotees it has some influence. It hurts us!!! We decide to become pure devotees. In the ultimate issue, our Sadhana is a very, very personal relationship with your old friend, Krsna, and how we are being His friends or not.

I wanted to talk to you about one more topic but I better leave it for the next letter..

Please, forgive me if I have been a little complaining in this letter..😥

Thank you very much for your causeless mercy!!!

HARE KRISHNA !!!!

Your aspiring servant : Mitravinda dd.

HpS - Thank you so much for your letter. Many subtle things in spiritual life. Many are very funny. Is God a joker? You seem to be on the right path. Maybe you were a Monk in your last life. Maybe you were Santa Rosa of Lima. Look at your resources, association, and do the best you can.

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