Letters to the editor

Hare Krishna, dear gurudeva, Pamho, AGTSP!

There are several issues that I have to tell you. I will try to be brief and summarized.

1.- Education.

I always saw two aspects.

a) My contribution to ISKCON and

b) My contribution to the community in general.

That's why I was encouraged to do a master's degree so that my contribution is more professional. I am missing the thesis that I hope to do next year.

a) I am currently giving the Disciples Course to a group. I also have the Bhakti sastri group that ends this year. Next to them I have some students waiting for the exam. All of them would take the exam approximately in March 2020 with M. Candramukhi as an evaluator. From the beginning we kept the course development separated with the examiner. I have been doing this program for ten years.

My proposal is that we follow the program as it is, basically ASA, until the new proposal scheduled for 2021 comes out. Gandharva prabhu agrees. That is why I am going to propose to make a bhakti sastri for a year, for the last time, until the new proposal appears, with a slightly different design with some innovations that I have been making. I hope they let me work well. My fear remains in the implantation of an academic dictatorship through an immovable standard. I'm sorry, I can't avoid my anarchic tendency.

HpS - I hope Gandharva Das can work out the bureaucratic details. We can help. Srila Prabhupada's diploma.

b) Krishna is taking me along interesting paths. I left the previous job in August and continued wandering, thinking if it would be good to continue working outside, etc. The sankirtan of cultivating the human spirit really compels me.

Then came the initiative of the devotees of Chosica who wanted to have a good education. Over time, two groups with different interests emerged. The first wanted one more Vaishnava thing, to put a name, a Sunday school. The second, wanted something different.

The second group was like in limbo and met with you, basically M. Krsna karmini. And you presented your vision. I offered to participate in a meeting to see what it was. They were going to start practically from scratch.

Finally we had a meeting M. Krsna karmi, M. Padmavati and I, the three educators by profession. A brainstorm began and little by little we realized that we wanted practically the same. Of course we start with the dynamic “Who am I? Who we are? What's the plan? What do we need?"

For now I can only say that something interesting will come up. I will not give the details. In the next meeting we will summon other devotees and discuss and shape the ideas. This is not a report in itself. We will create a minimal organization to draw up the plan. The communications officer will give the appropriate report.

ASA - Avanti School in England!

Personally I feel very excited. When we went to visit that interesting school in Chorrillos, with a large campus, I was very impressed. I told myself, this is what I was looking for. The three mentioned were thinking the same. We will analyze the conformation of the team to work radially, as I say, from a nucleus outward according to the degree of commitment.

I have the impression that the gurukula of 2003 and NIMSAR ceased to exist because the team never consolidated.

Now we hope that Krishna's desire is manifested and if he approves this budding project. It is clear to us that it is our sankirtan.

Well, I think we have enough with this. Other issues, later.

Thanks for listening.

Bless, please, my sankirtan, our sankirtan.

Your servant,

Laksmana-agraja das

ASA - This is an example of what you might do? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avanti_Schools_Trust

Hare Krishna gurudev,

There is no need of article and abstract either for your presentation at Universidad Católica.

They just need the power point presentation on Friday 15th November with you when the moment to present arrives.

HpS - O.K.!

ASA - Sigue una carta del gran viajera Yugala Kishora dasi!!! No tiempo ya leer pero pasando. Que pasa Yugala???

Peregrinaje por Vrndavan y sus peligros

Todos los deseos se hacen realidad en Vrndavana. Por arreglos de la divina providencia encontré a latinas viviendo en Vrndavana, escuche decir que Vrndavana es para devotos puros, seguramente estas personas que son tan bondadosas llegarán a serlo. Estas dos amigas en especial, son mis protectoras y acompañantes, Krsna las puso en mi camino. Con ellas realizamos la mayoría de parikram a templos principales. Después de casi dos meses en el dham, empiezo hacer caminatas en solitario, y recuerdo que utilizar el cuerpo en ir a lugares sagrados es también un servicio para Krsna. Después de ir acompañada a Vrndavana Parikram, decidí ir sola a los templo, por ese recorrido. Un día decidimos ir al templo de Radha Raman, pasamos el Yamuna, pero el templo cierra por intervalos cortos, entonces por evitar a monos y posible lluvia pensamos ir antes a templo Radha Gokulananda, en el camino preguntamos y un Vrajavasi muy amable nos llevó, pero también estaba cerrado. Vrajavasi nos quiso mostrar otro templo, a pesar de todas las advertencias de no hablar en la calle con vrajavasis, lo seguimos con un ojo muy alerta, algo me decía que debía irme, muy cerca había un templo lindo con una vista increíble del Yamuna y templos cercanos. A veces se utiliza el título de vrajavasi para tener libertad de actuar, así que en más de una ocasión esta persona me quiso dar la mano, le dije que la etiqueta en ISKCON era diferente, no contacto, en un momento su actitud de que “vrajavasi no hay problema” que decidí irme, manifestando mi incomodidad porque me empezó a tomar foto e intento tocarme la cabeza, me retiré aludiendo que era una mujer casada. Lo cual no es del todo falso, las madres solteras vemos a Krsna como nuestro todo, nuestro esposo y Él me estaba protegiendo, sin ser grosera me retiré en paz y rápido. Cuando le conté a mi amiga, me advirtió los peligros de hablar con vrajavasis varones, respetarlos pero desde la distancia, que las extranjeras somos el blanco de ellos, que en los parikram los líderes siempre advierten, que cosas terribles a veces ocurre a matajis por no ser estrictas en esta instrucción de no hablar con desconocidos. Mi integridad estuvo en peligro por un instante, por no seguir esa instrucción. Al final llegué al templo y pude ver a Radha Raman, mi protector, olvide rápidamente el impase, más no por ello, la lección enseñada.

Gurudeva me encanta Vrndavan, ya vienen los parikran de kartika y más devotas amigas, estoy muy agradecida, hasta estoy empezando un estudio gratiuto del Caitanya C. con P. Mukunda, el líder del pujari, un devoto ejemplar. Krsna hace realidad todos mis sueños hasta traductora tengo, estoy muy feliz, me encanta el templo Krsna Balarama es muy inspirador, quiero llorar de la emoción, cada día cada hora es simplemente maravilloso en Vrndavan. 

Por favor deme sus bendiciones para que se me revele el santo dham y para siempre estar protegida de cualquier mal.

Su hija que lo adora:

Yugala Kishora Dasi

(El león solitario)

Hare Krishna dear Gurudeva,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

It's been a while since i last wrote. Good things develop both internally and in the family, but in this case i feel the need to share about my practical service.

Yesterday i've organized our third bi-annual kirtan event, which was received with joyful and satisfied response. We had about fifty people this time, a steady increase. A team is starting to form and for our next event we work on establishing this more solidly.

I consider this my offering to you and Srila Prabhupada, to organize this facility for community building and devotee cooperation and the chanting of the Mahamantra. Especially the time prior is very enlivening and spiritually saturated. Since i'm not in the high speed lane of vaidhi sadhana bhakti, this is very much appreciated.

I pray this meets you well.

In the process of becoming a humble servant,

Raghava Pandita dasa

HpS - Jaya! As we read this we are in your neigborhood, Spain. How long is the Kirtan event? Different people lead? For how long each one? Is it only Maha-mantra? Do you match it with a specific holiday???

Hare Krishna Dear Gurudev, 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada, 

I would like to ask you something very particular. Is about a very good invitation for you. Then, I'll send you the whole report later because the invitation is an urgent issue.

María Elvira Ríos, a Claudia Lira's colleague and part of the "Centro UC Estudios Asiáticos" is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Aesthetics of UC (Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile); PhD of the College of Mexico (her research areas are Buddhism, China, ecological reflection of Buddhism). María Elvira is inviting you to a colloquium about philosophy and compared religion, the ecology and the sacred. 

It should be pointed out that currently, PUC (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) is the best Latin American university according to the respected QS World University Rankings® 2019, 132 in the world, the same position of University of California.

Your influence due to your effort and nice preaching all these years are waking up the interest of such nice institutions.

They don't know yet how many people could attend, but they're waiting for 30 people that will be there the whole day, for sure. I mean, academically very interested in the topic, and in general 50 people will attend the talks.

Soon they will send the program, advertising, and everything. I sent to them your biodata already.

The proFile of the public is varied because they are looking for to spread colloquium not just in academics and students, but to the general public and associations linked to environmental projects, like religious centres.

The best contribution that they are hoping from you, apart from your presence that is itself an "enormous support" (her words), is that you could speak about "how the Hare Krishna community take the doctrine to the ecological practice, the sacred spaces versus the conception of the protection of the nature" (I'm just quoting and translating her)

Your presentation will be 20 spoken minutes and 10 of questions. Their special request from us is strict dovetail to the given timeframe because of the intense program. I think that is a very interesting opportunity and new networking to our main event the next year. 

The only thing that is missed now is the title of your conference.

She requested us almost one month ago but I couldn't write to you before. I was managing with two devotees the Mahatma Maharaja's first visit. 

Hare Krishna dear gurudev,

Here happy serving you with the devotees.

Jagad Guru Das

HpS - AgaSP. Yes. We want to join. For title we can use Light of the Bhagavata, Ecological Wonders from Classical Asia. Okay?

Beloved Guru Maharaja thank you for answering my letter, I left the temple 4 days ago, I no longer live there, after 10 years. I have distributed 540 large books and 50 Bhagavad Gitas in his 4 days, it was incredible, by force and dedication that comes from your practice and high devotion, I am emotionally destroyed and I have a strong existential crisis, so I occupy all the time in sankirtan, tomorrow we will do Sankirtan Harinama with the devotees of the temple, I found a family that can help me open a Ashram for university students, I travel to Colombia tomorrow and Maha Visnu Swami asked me to return to Mexico to join her group to travel through South America, I really give up Guru Maharaja I don't know how to stay longer in this world, I hate being here in this world Matter Guru Maharaja, please beg me to explain how I can get out of this jail, please help me. I love you more than everything. 

his servant Vrajendra Kumara Das

HpS - Good!!! Very Good! You will go to hell for Krsna!

That is all there is to devotional service.

Serving Krsna in any circumstance.

DO IT!!

16-GOOD ROUNDS AND YOU WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO!!! We hope after two weeks to hear from you.