SGGS Plans

8 years, 3 months ago by hps in Special Category A
<dl><dd id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482942340386_5700">

Dec 27 at 7:43 PM

</dd></dl><dl id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1482942340386_5622" role="presentation"><dt aria-hidden="true">From: Braja Bihari (das) BJD (Vrindavana - IN)</dt><dt aria-hidden="true" id="hdr-to">To: HpS (HHR)
CC: Anuttama (das) ACBSP (IC N.America)
Dear Maharaja,</dt></dl>

PAMHO AGTSP

The first sanga was indeed the GBC basically communicating where their strategic plan was at. And we got a lot of feedback that attendees didn't feel that first sanga met its potential. 

The second sanga got rave reviews by just about everyone who attended. 

This next one I'm helping to organize (as I did the last one), and a lot of the discussions will be around looking at the future of our Society and the direction this group of leaders wishes to see us go in. I think it will be fulfilling and lots of good association!

There's no one really "presenting" at this event. 

Ys, Vraj Vihari dasa

Wednesday Night - ASA Bh.Sastri Workshop

8 years, 3 months ago by hps in Special Category A

Hare Krsna, Prabhus,
ASA - Bhakti-sastri Workshop.

We made it to Mexico. Programs are so nice, so intense but we are integrating them with our regular ASA schedule, Wednesday evening is Bhakti-sastri workshop.

We can't join on line tonight but we have gone through the study material and are very satisfied.

Are we all learning with the perspective that we have to teach this next.

We spontaneously asked Sriman Hari-lila Das if he could join you all while we are gone and he very graciously agreed.

For him, maybe he could look at "Waves of Devotion" by Dhanurdara Swami and include some comments in the evening meeting. For Bhakti-vaibhava diploma we should maybe teach BhSastri NOD two times, no?

The www.jayarama.us/archives/tpp-nod.docx file has nice notes for this second chapter of NOD. The actual text is full of citations from other sources. For BhVai one might look these up in Bhanu Swami's ''Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu''. Especially one verse Prabhupada quotes, explains and uses: smartaya satam visnor. . .  We should memorize this for BhVai, no?

Please post messages on the Blog!!

Dealing with Weight!!!

8 years, 3 months ago by Patrak das in Personal Sadhana Reports, Special Category A

Hare Krsna Hare Rama

dear GuruDeva... all glories to Srila Prabhupada and U!!!  ______'0__  

PAMHO

How are U????

HpS - Exhausted from this trip to Houston, but happy. Recovering. Learning how to manage my Donkey.

here we are writing again to you... 

For many years we heard a lot about people talking about weitght and that stuff... we really never care until it was our turn... jo jo jo jo

as you may know we were dealing with wieght for more than one year... talking with many specialists and doctor about our weight (we lost almost 30 kilos) and we could not get a good and convincing diagnosis... all they did was trying to push us to do things we dont want to do... we were so frustrated and worried that we almost lost control of our direction....

thanks to your advices and help we could contact our godbrother from Argentina who is doctor and practice ayurveda.... we talked with him and he finally told us what we were supposing... our doshas are unbalanced... Pitta is burning all the nutrients in the body and that does not allow us to gain weight....in addition the body as usual is using its defense organisms in the new kidneys which produce more heat... so practically we are "FIREMAN!!!!" jojojojojo

 So now we are on a diet (for almost 2 weeks)... this diet is for balancing the doshas, specially to lower pitta and rise vatta.... so basically we are eating 60% of everything bitter...dhal everyday, sweet raw fruits, vegetable juice...no dairy products... only eating at fixed times... it's gonna take some time to balance all the doshas but until now we feel much much much better...

HpS - Jaya!   Death in Krsna consciousness is of course the ultimate way to balance all the dosas, no? <img alt="smiley" height="23" src="http://hps.monkeywarrior.com/sites/all/libraries/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/regular_smile.png" title="smiley" width="23" />

thanks a lot for all your advices and suggestions... for helping us to keep our principles and for always being there for us....

now we are chanting 8 rounds a day... we hope we can increase them very soon...

your useless disciple

Patrak Das

HpS - It is no problem for me to consider you a more advanced devotee than we are. I guess in general we are all devotees, and have to fight both our fights alone and in the association of devotees. Achintya bheda abheda tattva.  Please send us more news.  We are fixing our schedule for Peru for June.  Chandra mukhi Devi Das should bring back a lot of news from Houston and I hope that the stuff we are doing here an online is useful for you to develop powerful Sankirtan.

Kunja-bihari Das, ki jai.

Raktak das. Glory...Budanath

8 years, 4 months ago by H.Rama in Special Category A

AgtSP

Agt Guru y Gauranga

Jay Radha and Krsna!

Jay Vrndavan Dham!

Jay Braja vasis!!

Jay Raktak Das!

I´m Budanath das.

My humble condolences, and congratulations.

My concern for the family, especially women and children.

ASA - If Krsna takes someone like that then He takes care of that persons family responsibilities personally!   Good deal!

In music it is demonstrated that the first LP of a music group, marks the whole course of that group of music, it is possible that it moves to one side or another, but it will always be the backbone of its race and its base in the success. I imagine it will be the Muhurta creator of that group of music. In the same way, Raktak Das, Your first disciple, with the high end he has obtained, I imagine that shows the nature of You, and of Your music, Your disciples.

HpS - We can form a herd of pigs together in our Braja in our next life?

I will pray for the glory of Your disciple Raktak Das, and I will ask him to sprinkle some mercy on me. I feel a very healthy envy.

I wish all the best to his family, I will ask Krsna for them.

I'm fine. Going through a very personal stage. I imagine my stars have been and are moving. I need time to sort my thoughts, my life, everything. My principles ok, sadhana, although it could be better.

I need peace and quiet a few days or a season to think. Pray more. Find more Radha and Krsna.

Thank you very much for everything, and again my condolences.

I will not be long in writing to you.

Jay, Raktak Das!!!

Hare Krsna!

HpS - ASA

http://www.jayarama.us/archives/vdm.doc

SATAKA 16
***5 If you yearn for what is above the material and spiritual worlds, then wholeheartedly love Lord Madana-mohana. Don’t live in a crowded city. Live in Vrndavana. Offer respects to all living entities there. Never offend them.

6 In Vrndavana please worship the very wonderful splendor that has all transcendental opulence, that is an eternal ocean of ever-new wonderful, sweet, perfect handsomeness, that is wonderful with mercy, forgiveness, and other virtues, and that has a form that enchants Kama.

......Hare Krsna......

"Anatomy of Self" Art Exhibition + DAKOTA PIPELINE

Dear Guru Maharaj, 

Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada!

It was a lot of work, but the "Anatomy of Self" art show turned out quite well for a trial run. Everyone was impressed with what we were able to accomplish in such a short span of time. We had a great lineup of emerging artists, the space was perfect, we sold a few pieces, and everyone seemed happy.

In the course of about one week while I was preparing for the event I made some of the biggest sales of my life when I sold a handful of artworks for just about $1000, but at the same time my van got towed in California so I had to spend my last dime to get it out of impound :(. Krishna giveth and Krishna taketh away, but I'm just grateful that I didn't lose my van and now I feel sure that I can actually make a living like this!

The lady who bought my art was a chef, so she helped us with some simple vegetarian preparations that we could offer and serve as prasad. There is so much potential for more elaborate events, but mainly I feel like this was a great learning experience for me and I'm full of ideas for what I want to try next time.

We made disclaimer forms, press releases, flyers, social media advertisements, we set up a silent auction... I even learned how to make my own business cards practically for free. I established valuable connections with tons of artists in Charleston over the course of the event and we had some great discussions on art and philosophy. I feel like I grew tremendously from the experience and was able to pique some interest in Krishna consciousness along the way. 

If I do this again, some things I would try to improve are that I need to get better at advertising. Even though we had ads in most local publications and I put up tons of flyers and facebook ads, still we didn't have anywhere near the number of people I was expecting. Probably I should've tapped the local artists for contacts of local influencers and tried to get the former owner to invite people. If we had started sooner we would've been more likely to get a news feature and I think that would have significantly helped to bring more new people outside of our personal circle of friends and family.

HpS - ASA --- One thing in our respect in doing these things is that there is no force like reputation and personal recomendation.  If you d the same event again, people will know you.

Also it would've been great to have some kind of performance, or guest lecture or something. Instead of having an opening, brunch, and closing reception over the course of a week I think next time I would just focus on one reception and make it more epic.

I'm happy also that I'm starting to accumulate a good body of work with the kind of content I've been going for. At this point I feel like I'm about 90% ready for a solo exhibition, so now I feel confident to start approaching LA galleries and museums to find gallery representation. 

I think the next steps for me will be to start traveling to art fairs, start seeking gallery representation, and start signing up to do live art at music festivals over the summer. My hope is that if they let me on board I can get book distributors into events for free. After some time, if I can save up a little, I hope to return to New York for maybe a few months to take courses at the Art Student's League. It's one of the best art schools in the country but its inexpensive since it's more of a conservatory which does not offer degrees. I think spending even just a little time there will help me refine my message and penetrate into the art world.

HpS - Are you getting in touch with the big, big community of professional ISKCON artists? In Canada there were some who were very rich and successful.

DAKOTA PIPELINE
Have you heard much about the events surrounding the construction of the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline in North Dakota? The story has really captured my heart lately and I'm actually considering going up there for some time to participate and gather some inspiration after taking a week or two to catch up on some sadhana. Basically a massive oil conglomerate deceptively attained permits to construct a huge pipeline through the sacred grounds of a large indian reservation in North Dakota without consent from the tribes. Concerned that the water supply for millions of people will be contaminated, 1000's of "water-protectors" from around the world have been gathering there for months in peaceful protest while the Oil company is bringing in militarized police and armed mercenaries to assault the protesters with mace, rubber bullets, LRAD cannons, concussion grenades, attack dogs, and freezing water. So far hundreds of people have been injured (some critically) and hundreds more have been arrested. Despite a media blackout for months, social media has carried the story to the point where it can no longer be ignored and now its drawing international outrage.

This protest strikes me as different from others because although externally the demonstrations are about protecting mother earth, I'm seeing that there is an internal message that goes much deeper which has resonated with people all over the world. Basically I see the environmental concerns as merely a point of friction between two opposing worldviews about the direction of human civilization. On the one hand, you have a culture that values a simple, God-centered life in harmony with nature; and on the other side you have a culture that values a self-centered life of conquest and sense- gratification which lies at the root of modern industrial kali yuga civilization. Central to the ethos of the demonstration is that no one can have any intoxication on site and nobody can strike out in anger. Everyone is practicing meditation and self-restraint. At a time when people are probably more divided than ever, people from around the world are gatheringfor the sake of dharma. This incident is drawing young and old, democrats and republicans, celebrities and veterans, buddhists and politicians. If it's ok with you I would like to go there for a while myself to represent the Hare Krishna movement and do whatever I can in terms of prasad, kirtan, and book distribution, and also artistic social commentary. I think I've mentioned to you before that for years I've thought it would be an extremely valuable alliance to establish interfaith connections with the native american community, so it seems like now this is the perfect opportunity to do so since this incident seems to already be turning the course of history in our favor.

HpS - We just heard about it from Bh. Daniel, who is staying with us for a few days. Yes, it seems that it falls within the category of Vikarmis vs. Pantheists (SB 2.1) with a ready nature to consider God. I would say that you should just confirm any participation with the GBC for the place and then keep a Krsna conscious perspective on whatever you do.  SB 2.1 calls Pantheism the first step in God realization, but. . . It says that unless there is a service attitude toward the Virat-rupa, rather than using and integrated perspective for cooler exploitation of Mother Nature, then there won't be much result.

Attached are some photos of my friends Blake and Chap who helped and the art show and the pieces I showed. Basically the series I completed for this event illustrates the interactions of body, mind, and soul. The first three are about different kinds of folly which result when people work to serve the  body, when people work to serve the mind, and when people think to serve the body. The examples I chose to illustrate each are a chain gang, virtual reality, and the trans-humanism movement. To complete the series I want to make one that shows what happens when one thinks just to satisfy the mind. I was thinking of depicting a daydreamer builiding "castles in the sky" with a superimposed image of time flowing out of an hourglass. Some other possibilities were images showing when someone misplaces their heart or their devotion to serve the body or the mind but I'm still thinking about that. The rest of the series basically illustrates karma, jnana, and bhakti (using body, mind, and soul in the real interest of the soul) with  interfaith examples. The first image shows a native american offering a sage flower, the next one  is inspired by the greek philosopher Diogenes studying near a barrel where he was said to live.  Then the "bhakti" image depicts a gospel choir glorifying God. This was inspired by the great  gospel singer Mahalia Jackson who was instrumental in the civil rights movement, and it was also a tribute to the Emmanuel Church, who set a tremendous example of grace and forgiveness in the face of a racial shooting that occurred some years ago there in Charleston. The culmination of the whole series shows samadhi or total spiritual apsorption in the example of Radha-Krishna at Kusum Sarovara. I hope you like it! 

What are your thoughts about all this?

HpS - ASA -- That it is very good and you seem to have good guidance, and we cannot give much more than a general perspective, and this point, and PLEASE keep us Bloggers in the loop like this. How can we contact you?   Web-page???   And please see what we are doing with NIOS and Peru etc!

Your servant,

Ekashma Das

Pranam mantra

8 years, 4 months ago by BDianakarla54 in Special Category A

All Glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada
All Glories to His Holiness Hanumatpresak Swami

Hare Krsna dear Maharaja, please accept my most humble and respectful obeisances.

How is your health condition today?

HpS/ASA - We follow four principles, so it is relatively good. Of course, we have a terminal condition. We will get old, get diseased and die. Eyes ache a little, respiration is shallow, little kneck and back ache, little stomach ache. Cooking breakfast (lunch and dinner) for Lord Nrsmha deva. 7.18AM

The main reason for this letter is I want to request your permission to sing the pranam mantra with your name every day, I would sometimes sing it reciting but I would like to have your consent.

HpS - In ISKCON the fomal arrangment is that first we chant Srila Prabhupada's Pranama Mantras, then when someone is a formal Refugee, after six months of following and letter of recomendation from Temple President, then they can chant a Pranam Mantra to their ISKCON diksa guru.  You have not been recommened as a Refugee yet, no?

I also want to thank for all the mercy that pours on me, to always rescue me from my own thoughts every time I want to leave the temple and desert the mission, for being my friend and for the opportunity that is giving me to be his servant.

HpS - All the 'mercy' we are giving is a fraction of what Srila Prabhupada is giving to us. We are a slow, selfish media hoping we can pass something along, if only an appreciation for Srila Prabhupada's personal presence in his books.

Maharaja I have a doubt I am confused. Can I go to Ratha Yatra of Guadalajara on November 24 and 25 or would it be preferable for me to stay in the temple to fulfill the service inside the temple?

HpS - I guess it would be O.K., no?  Many devotees from DF will go, no?

I do not feel good because I feel like I acted as a girl. How can I improve my attitude in service and not act capriciously?

HpS - Become a very chaste daughter of Srila Prabhupada!

Pd: I am happy because my parents came to a kirtan and take maha prasad continuously.

Bhaktin Diana Thank you.
 

HpS - What do your parents do?  Any other family members?   Thank you for your news and your strong service. Guess we see you in less than four weeks.