Letters to the editor

HOW TO LEAD MANGALA ARATI

Once I, T. Brown, approached Uncle Gismo, who was seated in Samadhi next to his thing-a-majig, and asked him how to lead Mangala-arati.

Sri Gismo Uvaca (The Blessed Uncle Gismo Said): In ISKCON there are three ways to lead Mangala-arati: The right way, the wrong way and the ASA way. Even the ASA way has varieties but now, I shall describe one. (Sound of heavenly 'Uuus and Aaaas')

First, with love!

If you haven't got pure love then at least do it clean. I mean the Kartals and drum should never be louder than the Bhajana, Gurv-astakam. The frame should not detract from the picture. The frame should stand unnoticed but magnify aspects of the picture.

Learn the translation, word-by-word, the grammar. If with meaning you sing, your heart will certainly ring.

It's not two parallel mono-logs.It is a dialog. Got it?  Both sides should listen to the other, not just chant.

2/3 of the time should be Maha-mantra: HK HK --- KK HH ... Skc, Pn... HK HK... and Haraye namah ... Just the first and third line of that song. Look for the explanation at the end of 'CC, Adi-lila, Chapter on "Lord Caitanya in His Youth"'.

Your hands should not separate from your body by more than four inches and foam can come from your mouth only as long as it is of good quality and digestible like cotton candy.

Any other questions?

T.B. - Seems like enough for now.

U.G. - Haaa Rummfff. (One of the Professor's 'bija-mantras'.

Letter to the educators coming to the ISKCON Pune conference.

AGTSP paoho I talked with Radha-Krsna Das for 34-minutes today. He is one of our greatest inspirations for work in Sastric Education in North America. We have a team of about five people now and are identifying our situation and how to go ahead.

Reviewing:

1) I think a simple, short answer, test from a good Question Bank of many, many, practical questions from the books is an essential for evaluation eg. what are the three mode, three levels of devotees, three types of suffering.

2) Short closed and open book essay questions oriented to practical application and preaching challenges that test for citations from the books.

3) Association with authorized teachers and fellow Students. This can be on-line in various degrees. With visiting scholars and required attendance in residential programs eg. RKD and I et al are planning a Retreat in Houston at the end of March that would require applicants for Bh. Sastri etc to all attend. Teachers and Students can associate. Students can be properly evaluated.

4) Certain number of hours.

5) Parallel lines of authority. Temples have to keep a standard of Deity worship in terms of the Ministry of Deity Worship, so there should be a standard of hearing and chanting to be certified as a Temple. Other side diplomas should not be granted without Temple perspective.

6) The BOEX at the current moment should be doing 70% academic evaluation and 30% character evaluation unless it is a case where the Teacher is also a part of the relevant Temple.

Offer variety of curriculum for different types of students.

7)All this will take time, my commitment, group work, to implement but we were the first to read one letter from Srila Prabhupada where he responded to Sriman Jayatirtha Das comments that we have discovered that preaching is good in Berkeley by saying "you have discovered that preaching is good in Berkeley because you have made the endeavor there. Anywhere you that you make the endeavor you will discover that preaching is good".

Is this in general line with everyone else's thinking?

Thank you.

HpS - ASA

Hare Krishna

Hanumatpresaka Swami,

please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Prabhupada!

I have a big dilemma. One of the 4 regulative principles is ahimsa, not eating meat, not hurting others (or the least possible), that's how I understand it. If to obtain industrial milk, the cows are exploited, raped and separated from their babies, who are subsequently deprived of their milk and sent to the slaughterhouse in the case of males, all this process is very painful.

I understand that killing cows is not ahimsa.

In addition there is no dairy industry as such, since beef comes from the same industry from which the milk comes. If we buy industrial dairy, we are paying to kill and injure cows. Their udders are wounded and infected, which is very very painful, their minds are disturbed, they are given antidepressants to overcome the traumas of being separated from their babies again and again year after year, in addition to physical exploitation. These cows live about 6 - 7 years, when they could live 20. It is also violence against the calves, since they separate them from their mothers as soon as they are born and do not allow them to suckle from their udders, and then kill them.

They suffer a lot of terror and pain. This should not be justified with what is for Krishna or what is Kali yuga. Rather, I think these are excuses for satisfying the tongue, which is no different from eating meat (because you are mistreating cows as in a concentration camp to get that milk).

That is to say, for me to offer sweets, guewes, dairy products to Krishna, I have to collaborate with the physical and psychological mistreatment of hundreds of cows and also collaborate with the killing of calves and cows. It seems to me a barbarity to justify violence by saying that it is in the name of God.

I am very confused and I do not understand why this is normal and the devotees accept it, could you please advise me on this. What do you think? Thank you very much, your servant Arina.

HpS - AGTSP. Paoho. We answered this in a previous Blog post. Do you read the posts? We don't do too many while we are traveling. Now with the current arrangement for the Blog (PND is improving it!) we can't search for the post very easy.

Trying to accomplish several things at the same time we updated our "asa-encyclopedia.docx" file in the Archives in our webpage, www.jayarama.us with an entry on our understanding of Vegan diet.

There a lot more things that could be said, but we would like to hear your ideas on this first.

Thank you,

Hare Krsna!

Hare Krishna Gurudeva, please accept my humble obeisances

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!

All glories to Hanumatpresaka Swami!!

This is a brief summary of what we consider, the most outstanding points of the international symposium THE ART AND THE SACRED held from October 24 to 26 at the National Library of Peru.

1.- This event has allowed us to maintain and expand our range of action. In relation to the former, the participation of prabhu Radhika Raman (professor Ravi Gupta of USA) and of mother Lalita-gopi (professor Dolores Chaves of Mexico) has been very valuable. Regarding the extension of our call, at the National University of Music (formerly National Conservatory of Music), teachers Nilo Figueroa, Aurelio Tello and teacher Maria Tuslokova, said that we can count on them for another call and congratulated the completion of the event. The same happened with Carlos Sánchez of the University Center of Folklore of Peru, Patricia Llosa of the Metropolitan Museum of New York, José Luis Valencia of Mexico, Paula Miranda of Chile and Gustavo Corso of Argentina. At this point we would like to thank Druva O'shea (Druvananda d.), From Australia, for his interesting and enjoyable conference and his wife Dhanesvari for all their collaboration.

2.- The SOLARIS Magazine is positioning itself very well as an integrating vehicle of our academic and cultural activities, under the guidance of SS Hanumatpresaka Swami, the magazine was the axis to develop the content of this Symposium. This edition No 3 has almost 200 pages (16 articles and 4 reviews) with contents from the USA, India, Japan, Italy, Australia, Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Peru.

3.- On Saturday, October 27, we held a camaraderie lunch with the exhibitors. By consensus, three points were agreed: 1) To suggest to NIOS that the content of 2019 continues to be based on ART AND THE SACRED (this content allows develop fully bridges between East and West in all academic disciplines) and also add, as specific content, this year to ECOLOGY, 2020 could be ART, THE SACRED AND EDUCATION ... 2) Starting in January establish a monthly meeting with all the exhibitors, it can be through GoToMeeting, to define and refine the details, participation and new guests. And 3) Support the dissemination of SOLARIS and invite some important academics from their environment in each country to write articles.

4.- The organization team has really had moments of hard work and dedication, we want to thank very much all those who in a direct or indirect way participated and helped the realization of this Symposium THE ART AND THE SACRED, sincerely without their cooperation it would have been impossible to perform this activity.

In particular we want to thank again and again our spiritual mentor His Holiness Hanumatpresaka Swami. GURUDEVA his inspiring sadhana, his classes of Bhagavatam and his auspicious guidance and association have been and are the compass that guides our humble service.

Personally, for his mercy I have been able to better understand BG 9.2. Life in this world is hard, but based on spiritual knowledge it is always possible to have a positive and ironic perspective of our existence and therefore there is always the possibility of doing seva with good conscience and joy. MANY THANKS FOR ALL GURUDEVA.

Hare Krishna, his insignificant servant, Abhiram Thakur das.

HpS - ASA --- AGTSP paoho. We just feel like little part of this machine now. We are getting such global contacts. At any moment it may all fall apart by Krsna's desire or it may become a participant in the struggle against evil on the global level. Thank you. We will try to help everyone!!

Este es un breve resumen de lo que consideramos mas resaltante del Simposio internacional EL ARTE Y LO SAGRADO realizado del 24 al 26 de octubre en la Biblioteca Nacional del Perú.

1.- Este evento nos ha permitido mantener y ampliar nuestro radio de acción. En relación con lo primero ha sido muy valiosa la participación de prabhu Radhika Raman (profesor Ravi Gupta de USA) y de la madre Lalita-gopi (profesora Dolores Chaves de México). En cuanto a la ampliación de nuestra convocatoria, en la Universidad Nacional de la Música (antes Conservatorio Nacional de Música), los maestros Nilo Figueroa, Aurelio Tello y la maestra María Tuslokova, manifestaron que podemos contar con ellos para otra convocatoria y felicitaron la realización del evento. Lo mismo sucedió con Carlos Sánchez del Centro universitario del Folclore de Perú, Patricia Llosa del Museo Metropolitano de Nueva York, José Luis Valencia de México, Paula Miranda de Chile y Gustavo Corso de Argentina. En este punto queremos agradecer a Druva O´shea (Druvananda p.), de Australia, por su interesante y amena conferencia y a su esposa Dhanesvari por toda su colaboración.

2.- La Revista SOLARIS se está posicionando muy bien como vehículo integrador de nuestras actividades académicas y culturales, bajo la orientación de SS Hanumatpresaka Swami, la revista fue el eje para desarrollar el contenido de este Simposio. Esta edición No 3 tiene casi 200 páginas (16 artículos y 4 reseñas) con contenidos provenientes de USA, India, Japón, Italia, Australia, Argentina, México, Chile y Perú.

3.- El sábado 27 de octubre realizamos, con los expositores, un almuerzo de camaradería, por consenso se acordaron tres puntos: 1) Sugerir a NIOS que el contenido del Sankirtana académico del 2019 siga siendo EL ARTE Y LO SAGRADO (este contenido permite desarrollar plenamente puentes entre oriente y occidente en todas las disciplinas académicas) y además agregar como contenido especifico este año a la ECOLOGÍA, el 2020 podría ser EL ARTE, LO SAGRADO Y LA EDUCACIÓN… 2) A partir de enero establecer una reunión mensual con todos los expositores, puede ser a través de GoToMeeting, para definir y afinar los detalles, la participación y nuevos invitados. Y 3) Apoyar la difusión de SOLARIS e invitar a algunos académicos importantes de su entorno en cada país para que escriban artículos. 

4.- El equipo de organización realmente ha tenido momentos de ardua labor y entrega, queremos agradecer sinceramente a todos los que de una manera directa o indirecta participaron y ayudaron a la realización de este Simposio EL ARTE Y LO SAGRADO, sinceramente sin su cooperación hubiera sido imposible realizar esta actividad.

En particular queremos agradecer una y otra vez a nuestro mentor espiritual Su Santidad Hanumatpresaka Swami. GURUDEVA su sadhana inspirador, sus clases de Bhagavatam y su auspiciosa guía y asociación han sido y son la brújula que orienta nuestro humilde servicio.

En lo personal, por su misericordia he podido comprender mejor el BG 9.2. La vida en este mundo es dura, pero en base al conocimiento espiritual siempre es posible tener una perspectiva positiva e irónica de nuestra existencia y por lo tanto siempre hay posibilidad de hacer el seva con buena conciencia y alegría. MUCHAS GRACIAS POR TODO GURUDEVA.

Hare Krishna, su insignificante sirviente, Abhiram Thakur das.

Dear NGD, RRD, Srinatha Krsna Das, Directors of NIOS,

Hare Krsna, Prabhus,

AGTSP!

Paoho.

According to our dull brain you, Srinatha Das, must be a Grhastha by this time!  Congratulations. We follow the example of Devahuti and Kardama Muni to ultimate success for everyone (as opposed to Romeo and Juliet which leads to destruction for everyone).

We are running like dogs for Krsna (and a certain percentage for Maya) in Peru and Chile but not forgetting ASA publications within NIOS. I sent a request for approval to take up the work to our Board of Directors as I remember but have not got any direct response. So I will just outline the project here again for everyone's benefit and then move ahead assuming that it is O.K.

1. Anjana Suta Academy (HpSwami [H. H. Robinson]) is an esoteric community for promoting full creativity etc in Krsna consciousness, but a lot of its productions with some proper editing can be useful to NIOS, our esoteric effort.

2. With editing of materials by HpS, Radhika-ramana Das and Srinatha Krsna Das we will present things as an aspect of NIOS.

3. Now that includes a small, good quality book, Twirl Your Beads, which we showed to most everybody, that included Tweets, Kapi Dhvaja, blog posts and DTC articles edited from 2017; and next a commentary on NOI and then essays on Sankhya, structure of SB etc.

4. Srinatha Krsna Das will act as agent of NIOS to set up an account with Amazon for distribution by  print-on-demand and also e-book format. He will check with HpS before signing any documents and HpS will keep in touch with the Officers and Directors of NIOS.

Qui tacet consentire dicat

Srinatha Ji, here is the NIOS EIN (20 0875 105) for setting up the account. Any income should be sent payable to NIOS to Dr. Ravi Singh, President NIOS; 2129 Stratford Rd.; Murfreesboro, TN 37129.

O.K.??

HpS - ASA

ART AND THE SACRED

Academic and Cultural Preaching Program

AgtSP

Paoho… First let us apologize that we have not submitted this earlier. We have tried several times and the pace of the Sankirtan here in Chile has been so intense that we could not, but I think it shall still be of good use with our short verbal presentation at the Latin American GBC meeting today.

Of course, this preaching has its roots in our opportunity to work with H. H. B. S. Damodara Swami and the Bhaktivedanta Institute and his cultural programs such as the Manipuri Ranganiketan Troupe.

This year, with our NIOS (North American Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies), we have again realized an intense program with the Peru National Library. For the three previous years it was Psychology and the Sacred but by advice of the Ambassador of India and many others it has expanded to Art and the Sacred. At heart, our contribution to the events is still Psychology and the Sacred culminating in our efforts to preach through the via media of the excellent world of Carl Gustav Jung. Srila Prabhupada concluded Spiritual Dialecticism by saying that of all the Western philosophers Jung had the most sense. Jung’s community is still incredibly dynamic and has volumes to offer ISKCON devotees in terms of psycho-therapy and excellent bridges between East and West.

This year in Lima the event went from the 24^th-26^th of October and, for example, featured:

• Oscar Natars, Director of the Year for 2017 from the Latin American Critics Association and Premio Nacional de Cultura, the highest cultural award from the government of Peru;
• Patricial Llosa, teacher and curator for the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and co-founder of the Jungian Philemon Foundation;
• Jose Luis Valencia Gonzalez, Professor of Cultural Anthropology, ICONOS Mexico, with vast knowledge and research of the still alive, pre-Hispanic tradition of dance and ritual, La Colchera.

The variety, quality and depth of the presentations was over the top in terms of international standards.

ISKCON people included Dhruva O’Shear from Australia, Radhika Ramana Das and H. P. Swami from USA, Dolores Chavez from Mexico.

A twenty man orchestra from the National Peruvian Music Conservatory did one hour of 18^th century religious music that brought the house to its feet for roaring and extended applause.

The conclusion is that here is a rich field of communicating the rich resources of Sri Krsna Chaitanya and Srila Rupa Goswami’s cultural heritage to a much beleaguered modern world. It is a format that satisfies Srila Prabhupada’s vision of a cultural presentation meant to review today’s materialistic and self-destructive civilization. We are very disqualified to even participate in these efforts and beg you all to take a hand to guide and develop these efforts.

Central to the effort is our annual NIOS publication, Solaris. Which show-cases the writings and art of this global effort and then clearly offers scholars and devotees a chance to contribute their voice into the choir.

Right now we are in the middle of the same effort, Art and the Sacred, here in Santiago. With dialogs with the national poet Laureate, Raul Zurita; Christian Contreras (Dr. File), https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristi%C3%A1n_Contreras_(periodista), who has about 30,000 people on his Face-book account et al. ISKCON devotees here are incredibly talented, and the level of university faculty involved is also amazing and instructive.

Please write to us if you have any questions or comments. We printed 1,000 full color copies of Solaris in Peru and are sending them to Chile, Mexico, Argentina; and expect to have it on the internet soon.

We were the first to read a letter that Srila Prabhupada sent to the USA to Jayatirtha Das in 1976 and were shocked when we read the last line: You cannot exist without my mercy.

It was so strong to us, but our intellect bowed down and accepted it, but that surprise even expanded more when we read the whole comment: You cannot exist without my mercy, and I cannot exist without your mercy. This mutual respect, this mutual love, is Krsna Consciousness.

Again thank you and please help us.

Hanumatpresaka Swami and all the Advisors, Directors and valiant members of NIOS.