Vrindavan Days

A note on HG Aindra Prabhu's departure

2010-07-22T10:54:00.001-04:00

In the summer of 2006, this blog was created when several of us decided to go to Vrindavan to participate in VIHE courses and live in the dham for several months. I can't speak for the others, but for me that was only really a cover reason for going as my main motivation was to participate in HG Aindra Prabhu's kirtans. I had been fascinated with his kirtan for several years before that, eagerly awaiting any new live recordings or videos that would come out of Vrindavan. Back in those days there were hardly any ISKCON related media sites so these tracks were just passed person to person, and they became something to treasure. When I arrived in Vrindavan, what struck me was how simple the kirtan was. What I really mean by this is not the kirtan itself, but everything that seemed to go into it. Aindra Prabhu would sit right down on the floor with his little harmonium, mridanga and kartal players and a mind blowing melody would result from it. For over four months I had the fortune of being able to participate on a daily basis, and it is an experience that I will treasure my entire life.
While in India, I was also fortunate enough to get Aindra Prabhu's association and what struck me about him was just how humble he was. He viewed kirtan as his upmost service, and if anyone asked him to perform it, he would take every possible measure to do so. I remember going to do kirtan with him in several home programs, a jail in Agra and several new temples in Vrindavan and other areas. When Gopal Prabhu had an extra "aindra" harmonium he told me I could have it, and that I should just get it from Aindra Prabhu when it was delivered in a few weeks. When I went to collect it, Aindra Prabhu was sitting there with the harmonium wala demanding that every note was perfectly in key. The wala eventually gave up, but Aindra Prabhu wouldn't give it to me until he was satisfied, so he said that he would just have to tune it himself and told me to come back in a day or two. I couldn't believe that he was putting so much time into this harmonium for me especially when it seemed as if he had a never ending list of things to do. While he did kirtan, Aindra kept two things on his harmonium. Fisherman's Friends which are lozenges to strengthen your throat while singing, and necessary if you sing as much as he did, and a small picture of the pancatatva. It was so simple, yet so perfect, for me a simple reminder that he was just carrying out Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission in chanting the Maha Mantra to as many people as he possibly could. When I was last in India in January of 2009, I was standing against one of the pillars in the KB mandir after Aindra's kirtan, staring at the wonderful forms of Krishna and Balaram during aroti when I felt someone come up behind me and poke me in the back. When I turned around, it was Aindra Prabhu asking me how long I was there and telling me that when I graduate university I should come for longer.
I was looking forward to the next time I would have the opportunity to Vrindavan and take part in his kirtan again when I received news of his tragic departure this past weekend. I am upset now because I will never be able to do this again, and I cannot imagine Vrindavan without him. Anyone who has ever been to Vrindavan with me knows that it is almost impossible to go do darshan of any of the presiding deities of the dham in the evening because I made it a priority to be in Aindra's kirtans. While I am upset for selfish reasons, I know that Aindra Prabhu is now with Radha-Syamsundara where he belongs. From Krishna Balaram mandir, Aindra Prabhu affected the way kirtan is performed all across our movement as many of our tunes can somehow be traced back to him. He was a legend and he will be missed in ways we still do not know today. I will miss him dearly as well.

Chaitanya

HH Lokanath Swami Live at Towaco

2010-06-09T19:51:00.000-04:00

Live Video streaming by Ustream

Lokanath Swami at Towaco tomorrow - streaming live here

2010-06-08T21:50:00.003-04:00

HH Lokanath Swami will be at ISKCON of New Jersey in Towaco tomorrow thru friday and if you can't make it, I'll be streaming the classes live here starting at 7:30 each night.

Chaitanya

Youth program with Radhika Raman Prabhu

2009-06-14T11:32:00.000-04:00

Pizza for Krishna

2009-05-28T15:49:00.005-04:00

The pizza stone made the crust perfect.

I recently got into Pizza making. I don't know why (I think its because I free'd up a lot of time from being off of facebook :) ) I researched a bunch of recipes online and here is the finished result. I originally was so passionate to make it for myself but then calmed down after i remembered I should make it for Krishna. It was a great experience. I'm so happy with the outcome (with a borrowed pizza stone from my sister) that i needed to show these pictures to everyone. Please come over for pizza prasadam! :)

Here are the recipes I used (Minus the O-G). The crust is partially semolina, which is very nice:

http://www.recipepizza.com/sauces/uncooked_pizza_sauce.htm

Crust

Nama Rasa das

Tulasi Maharani's New Light

2008-10-09T10:05:00.005-04:00

I know a lot of devotees who have trouble keeping Tulasi Maharani healthy during the cold seasons of Northeast America. Our family has had that problem for many years.
Finally a solution!!!
If you don't already know, theres a wonderful light fixture on the market that is pretty cheap, reliable, and emulates the sun's rays so your Tulasi will be green and healthy through those cold months. Although it hasn't gotten that cold over here, its beginning to, and Tulasi Maharani is staying green and beautiful.
For about $150 you can get this Sunblaze T5 Florescent setup, thats what I have and it is working really well. This light uses only 96 watts!, and does not give off much heat. There are two types of bulbs, one is cool and one is warm. You can read up more on the website.
I hung it from the ceiling with chains and hooks that I bought for like $10 from Home Depot. Took me a long time to find the ceiling joists (I had to go into the attic) but when I did I screwed in the hooks. The light is pretty heavy so the guy from Home Depot recommended I don't use a toggle bolt, or it might rip out the drywall...I kinda already found that out the hard way...oops.

If its a cloudy, cold day, I keep this light on for 10 hours. I bought a timer and set it up . If its sunny and warm outside, like today, I put her outside.
I will update this when it gets really cold outside so we can see if it works. I hope.
If you have any questions, let me know through the comment section.
your servant,
Nama Rasa das
(previously known as Amul)

ps. All credit goes to Muralidhar Priya das from the 26 2nd avenue Brahmachari Ashram who informed me of this light and how to take care of Tulasi Maharani properly.

2008-02-13T15:12:00.003-05:00

Pictures

2008-01-13T09:56:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally uploaded all the pictures

India 2007

Back in America (ugghh....)

2008-01-09T23:12:00.000-05:00

Well I'm back....sadly. The feeling one gets when leaving Vrindavana is one of most empty feelings that I have ever felt, and I wish I was back there and that I had more time there. Well...definitely more tommorrow on aspects on the trip, pictures, and funny video clips involving a good friend named Satyanarain das.

Radhe Radhe

Chaitanya

Hello from mumbai....

2008-01-06T22:22:00.001-05:00

In america i have never checked my email from a cell phone, but thats
just what im doing now. Yes, i am actually posting to the blog from a
blackberry type device using thumb power...awesome. Mumbai has been
great, i attended the huge bhagavat katha at mirra road (5000 people),
and heard HH Radhanath Swami give class at Chowpatty.
Tonight Ill go back to Vrindavan, and then tommorrow night i,ll head
back. Ill try and write up everything else on the plane.

radhe radhe

chaitanya

Back From the Dead....

2008-01-02T01:18:00.001-05:00

Well....traveling in India makes it really hard to keep up a blog...as I haven't been on the internet in 2 weeks...my inbox was a little scary. Here's the quick summary, and then I'll slowly try and get you caught up on my travels. After Kurukshetra, we came back to Vrindavan for about 10 hours, after which we were immediately on our way to Ayodhya, Varanasi, and Kadia (a small village in Bihar). We stayed in Kadia for a whole week for a wonderful katha on Govardhan Lila (sometimes with 8 hours of lectures a day. I arrived back in Vrindavan this morning, and came to get the shopping list my mom emailed me. I'll try and write up every part of my journey in slow bits, so stay tuned.
Here's what's in tune for me....tommorrow, we will all be going to do Govardhana Parikrama, and then next evening I believe I will be going to Mumbai for 2 days. That's all for now....haribol...

Radhe Radhe....

Chaitanya

V.B.D. on TV

2007-12-22T12:12:00.000-05:00

Even though I don't regularly blog anymore, I had to put this up. It's ISKCON's director of North American communications on CNN. He was representing ISKCON/Hare Krishna's on a panel discussion about Non-Christians celebrating Christmas. A bunch of us watched it together and rooted for him.

-Amul

On to Kurukshetra....

2007-12-17T23:43:00.000-05:00

Haribol...day 2 in Vrindavan, and I'm already preparing to leave tommorrow. Tommorrow morning, Bhavin and I will most likely jump on a bus and head to Kurukshetra for Gita Jayanti. Over 5,000 years ago, lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita on the battlefield of Kurukshetra on Gita-Jayanti (Thursday). I'm also a big Mahabharata person, so I'm pretty excited to be going there, even though I am very sad to already be leaving Vrindavana. Otherwise, all is well here, and when we get back from Kurukshetra on Friday, I'll try and post about our visit, and public transportation in India...

Radhe Radhe

Chaitanya

Finally Arrived in Vrindavana....

2007-12-16T22:37:00.000-05:00

I have finally arrived in Sri Vrindavana Dhama. I really don't have much to say since my post yesterday, and I haven't been able to do much today. After breakfast, Bhavin and I will go take darshans at some more temples, and then go to the one of the principle places in Vrindavana, Loi Bazaar. Since I don't have much to say, I'll just list some of the glories of the cold weather here in Vrindavana:

Cold Cold Baths- they really do rock (I'm not being sarcastic). After the initial hyperventilating, you actually feel awesome.
Cool for the morning program- Yes, it is chilly, and you have to wear a sweatshirt, but I guess I've always liked cold weather....and there's no way you'll fall asleep during japa.
Prasadam- Unlike the summer when eating 1 chapatti will make you full, in the winter, you can really honor prasadam with all your glory....which is what Bhavin and I did last night at Dhenuka's....

That's all for now...Radhe Radhe...

Chaitanya

What Happened to Saturday?

2007-12-15T22:57:00.001-05:00

Haribol.....After a nice stay in the Airport in Helsinki, it was a breezy 6.5 hour flight on to Delhi. Upon arrival, what was the first thing I noticed.....yea..you guessed it...the smell of India. Its like someone took a bottle of "New Car Smell", switched it with "India smell", and sprays it all over the jetway to greet new travelers. Otherwise it was smooth getting out of the airport, and we arrived here at my fathers god-brothers house at a modest 3AM. Here are some other miscallaneous travel notes:

The plane I boarded to India had a big logo painted on it which said "FinnAir, the Official Airline of Santa Claus." It covered one whole side of the plane....just kind of amusing. (Apparently, Finnish people claim the Santa Claus came from Finland...read it in the airplane magazine.)
What happened to Saturday... i left my house in New Jersey at 2:30 PM on Friday, and now its Sunday Morning, have you ever had that feeling before?
Remember my post "Driving in Delhi" (I linked to it just in case)....well, I experienced it 2AM style...not so bad at all, our driver only ran 3-4 red lights. (I think at night in Delhi, all the lights are red for some reason...not really sure though)

The weather rocks...the last time I was in Delhi, the heat and humidity was a painfully trying experience. This time, I stepped out of the airport to what felt like 50-55 degrees. For me, this weather is perfect. Of course, people in India don't agree. One of the traffic police was sporting the all-out ski mask, with gloves and a shawl. My dad said, "Looks like he's getting ready to go to war." The marble in all the buildings does make them a tad bit chilly, but I prefer this over the summer weather.

Anyways, in about 2 hours, I will hopefully make the last leg of my trip to Vrindavan, the drive on the Delhi - Agra highway. I am very very very excited, and I can't wait to get there. Since this is the last time I will have fast internet for a while, I will leave you with a picture of Krishna-Balaram, the main deities at the Krishna-Balaram Mandir in Vrindavan, who's darshan I will hopefully have this evening.

Radhe Radhe

Chaitanya

What Happened to Saturday?

2007-12-15T22:57:00.000-05:00

Helsinki..

2007-12-15T06:33:00.001-05:00

After a long painful layover in helsinki...mostly spent chanting japa and sleeping, I am about to board my flight to Dehli....almost there...

Radhe Radhe

Chaitanya

Ahhh...not enought time...

2007-12-14T13:30:00.001-05:00

After arriving in New Jersey at 3AM last night and then entering into the mode of ignorance for a few hours (sleep), I woke up this morning to realize that I had to pack. So here I sit, at 1:30 PM, still not completely packed, when I have to leave for the airport at 2PM....I'd say this is the closest I've cut it. Since I've customarily been leaving pictures, I will today as well, but I don't have time to tell a story, in reality I should be nowhere near this computer right now. Here's a picture of a vrindavan monkey, who's association I shall be enjoying in a short while.

Catch you on the flip side....Jaya Jaya Sri Radhe

Chaitanya

PS- Get in touch with me while i'm in India by leaving comments, or writing me an email. I'm gonna try and stay off facebook.

24 Hours or so....

2007-12-13T17:02:00.000-05:00

In about 24 hours or so, I should be in a FinnAir Jet bound for the holy dham of .....Helsinki? Well, I guess Helsinki's not a holy dham, but it is a stepping stone on the way to Vrindavan (or in my case a 6 hour layover). Yesterday I asked what deities I had posted a picture of, and yes, people correctly gave me the name of those deities, Sri Sri Radha Vraja-Mohan, the worshipful deities of Srila Narottama dasa Thakur. The story of these deities is awesome, but that's for another day (its really long, and I don't remember a lot of the important details).
Currently, I'm about 470 miles from New Jersey, which means I'll be spending a wonderful evening in my car, and I'll try and listen to the story of Sri Sri Radha Vraja-Mohan en-route...

I have posted a picture of the wonderful temple of Radha Madana Mohan. For those of you who have not been to Vrindavana, this temple is famous among ISKCON devotees for its presence on the back of the "I left my Heart in Vrindavana" t-shirts. The temple was built by a merchant who's salt vessel was stuck in the Yamuna, and who prayed to Madana-Mohan to free the vessel so he could sell his salt. Srila Madana-Mohan were first moved to Jaipur for safekeeping, and then later to Karoli, which is where Madana Mohan is today. I'll try and throw up one more post before leaving tommorrow.

Jaya Sri Radhe

Chaitanya

2 Days to Go.....

2007-12-12T15:09:00.001-05:00

Hari Hari. As I sit here studying for an exam that I want absolutely no part of (when you think of it, is there ever an exam that you are ever excited for?), I remembered that I had not posted to the blog today. Amul suggested I let everyone know what I've been up to since coming back from India (Just about 1 year ago...time really flies). Well, I've been in college, slaving away and studying, but never forgetting about Vrindavana. Enough about me, and more about Vrindavana.
To the left I have posted a picture of deities in Vrindavana, the question is, what deities are they, are they one of the main deities of Sri Vrindavan Dham. I know, but I'll tell you tommorrow, until then, please leave your guesses in the comments section.

To the right I have posted a picture of Vamsivat, the first place Caitanya Mahaprabhu went when he visited Vrindavana. This is also where the original deity of Gopinath was found. Unfortunately Gopinath is no longer in Vrindavana, but Gopinath's temple can be found among the back streets of Jaipur. I almost forgot, Vamsivat is the place where the Maha Rasa-Lila took place on Sarad Purnima (which many of us know as the first day of Kartika). Thanks for checking in, and remember to leave some comments. Check back for a new post tommorrow. Radhe

Chaitanya

Welcome Back

2007-12-11T14:07:00.001-05:00

Welcome Back to Vrindavan Days, the internet blog sensation that took the material world by storm back in the summer of 2006 when Amul and I took our 6 month trip to India. Alright, I may be worshiping my false ego, but since I had so much fun doing the blog back then, I've decided to fire the blog back up for my trip to India starting this Friday. To the left I have posted a picture of what I consider to be one of the most amazing temples in the world. At one time it was 7 stories high, and the home of the worshipable deity of Srila Rupa Goswami, Sri Sri Radha Govinda. Think about it, this temple was 7 stories high, i cannot even imagine this, because the temple is humongous in its modest state today. Look for daily posts before I take off on Friday.

Jaya Radhe....

Chaitanya

PS: Feel free to subscribe to the RSS feed. I know most of you don't know what the heck RSS is, here's a link from our good friends at Digital Trends, who tell you what RSS is, and how to use it if you want to.

Digital Trends - RSS

And here's another post from CNET (which I hope you've heard of)

CNET - RSS

Separation

2007-03-17T10:58:00.000-04:00

Been feeling separation from Vrindavan lately. Something in the city always sparks my memory of Vraj, whether its a smell, sight, or just a thought. I am noticing how much an affect that place had on me. Thats my meditation during book distribution, to try to show people Vrindavan. Thats what Srila Prabhupada did. He showed everyone Vrindavan. He was staying at Radha Damodar and could have stayed there but he was so merciful to come to America. He wanted to show the fallen people of America, Vrindavan. I always find so much inspiration in that. Some things i miss in/about Vrindavan:
1. The smells, good and bad. I didnt like them then but i would do to smell flowers or vrindavan's dirt again!!!
2. Srila Prabhupada's samadhi, such a special place to sit and chant.
3. Vraj Mandal Parikrama, what an amazing experience.
4. Aindra's Kirtans, self explanatory.
5. Radha Kund, the most holy place.
6. Nitai Gaura, Radhe Syam, Krishna Balaram!
7. the goswami's temples, i didn't visit them enough.
8. My bhakti sastri class friends and jokes. they were the best!
9. Guru Puja at Krishna Balaram Mandir. Always so ecstatic!
10. Bhakti Sastri trips (Goverdhan, Varsana, etc.)

Anyways, book distribution has been good. Some days I do really well, and the next day i am puffed up and not many books go out. Its been up and down. I need to learn to be a good instrument in the hands of the acaryas and also be detached. Slowly but surely i am learning. Wish me luck. Sankirtan Yajna ki jay.

fallen servant,
amul

Pictures

2007-03-07T18:37:00.000-05:00

hey check out pics from Bhaktivedanta Ashrama's Gaura Purnima Mangala Arati and Kirtan!

click the link below
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v

Here

Amul's book distribution score for 3.6.07:
3 Big books
3 Small books
total: $18

story: This one guy i saw from far away, he was an old white guy with hair like einstein all electrocuted looking...totally science looking guy. Something told me (paramatma) to stop this guy, so i followed him and stopped him and gave him my speech and showed him the books. He was interested and took the big book. I was amazed, i wouldve never stopped him otherwise, he looked totally weird! Srila Prabhupada ki jay!

Goosebumps Weekend

2007-02-20T13:14:00.000-05:00

Went home and then to Towaco on sunday for the youth sunday feast cooking. It was really fun seeing everyone and doing some service with them again. I got to sing most of Gaura-Arati as well, that was sweet. Damodar and Nilamani prabhu did a presentation on the new temple plans. I can't wait to move from towaco and start in a new place, its going to be a lot of work but such an awesome service at the same time. Everyone working together to start a new temple..i get goosebumps just thinking about it. aight im out, later!

amul

Book Distribution

2007-02-12T10:41:00.000-05:00

For some reason, i was inspired to do one-on-one book distribution yesterday. So instead of our bhajan book table, we did that. I stayed with Kerel for a long time, to see his technique. He's so amazing. He told me we have to first be their friend, and be genuinely nice. The way he talked and interacted with people was so sincere. And they would take the books real easy.

So as we were walking in the station we were distributing, he asked me to approach this one guy. This young black man, with a pizza in his hand and a bag slung over his shoulder. I approached him and said my line, "Excuse me are you from New York or out of town?". He replied he was from out of town. I told him we were monks and I had a book for him on yoga and meditation. He broke into a huge smile and with so much enthusiasm exclaimed that his friends were looking for this for the longest time. He grabbed the book and starting looking through it. I told him we ask for a donation for the book. He's like, "Oh yea! Definately." He gave me 5 bucks for the SSR (Science of self realization), and walked away, obviously really happy that he had found what he was looking for.

I was dumbfounded. Kerel was standing next to me, smiling. I didnt know what to say. I just distributed my first hard book (not ever) !!! I gave Kerel a big hug and i think he was embarrassed. HAHA!!!

The rest of the day was amazing. I always meditated on Srila Prabhupada and how i was only an instrument in his hands and the previous acaryas. I met so many nice people. I did a bunch of small books and 3 more hard books. For a total of 25 dollars. I've never done that much before,on one-on-one.

I always remember that Srila Prabhupada said that book distribution is the service that pleases him the most. I want to please Srila Prabhupada.

Sankirtan Yajna ki jay

Amul

Pics

2007-01-31T15:21:00.000-05:00

Ghanasyam and Hrishikesh portraying Nrsimadev!

Group hug at Harinam's B-day party

Charlie brought Donut plant Donuts for Breakfast!

The senior devotees all blissed out

Dinner time

Nitai Guna Mani Amar!

2007-01-30T09:17:00.000-05:00

dina hina patita pamara nahi bache
brahmar durlabha prema sabakare jace

Lord Nityananda freely offered this exalted prema,
which is difficult for Lord Brahma to attain,
even to the fallen and wretched souls who did not desire it.

Lord Nityananda gives out the holyname freely but only asks for faith. By staying here, in association with the devotees, my faith is slowly increasing. Faith is so key. We need to really have full faith in the process, or else we are in danger of falling back.

Lord Nityananda is so merciful, he forgave even Jagai and Madhai, who attacked him. When someone attacks us verbally or even physically, are we quick to forgive them? no.

Lord Nityananda is always intoxicated. In Towaco, His eyes are rolled upward in ecstacy! I have not had His darsan in a long time! The separation only makes it sweeter. Just like when i was in India, when i came back and had their darsan for the first time in 6 months, it was so sweet, it was like seeing old friends again. No but i am not a friend, i am their servant.

"Sri Gaurahari said: 'All glories to You, O son of Rohini! I am controlled by You. If anyone even once chants the name 'Nityananda' they will become purified and I will immediately accept that person as My own.'"

(Caitanya Mangala, Madhya-khanda, Chapter 6)

Jay Nitai Jay Nitai,

A.s.

A Devotee Acts Only for Purification

2007-01-26T12:01:00.000-05:00

Today I gave morning Bhagavatam class, I was a trainwreck, so nervous. It was on SB 2.1.7. It talked about how the transcendentalists are above rules and regulations and how they are in bliss conversing on the topics about Krsna.

It's so funny that I've probably attended a million SB classes in my time, but i forgot the order of the prayers you say before you begin to speak, "om agyana timran dasya...". It made me feel more humble than ever

If you think that's scary, get this. HG Yajna Purusa prabhu was sitting right in the front, listening really attentively about what i was about to say. I had butterflies like ive never had before!

But i was pretty happy how the class went. I used alot of the knowledge i learned in Bhakti sastri. I talked about Vaidhi bhakti and Raganuga Bhakti. How the neophytes need rules and regulations and need the guru to show them. I also added some examples from my Vrindavan trip.

I always remember devotees saying that you just need to express what you know. If you try to sound too learned, you can make a mistake and people could call you out on it.

It was a great experience though, the bramhacharis were really supportive and liked the class, even though it had so many shortcomings Utlimately, it was for my own purification and so i could use the knowledge i got from VIHE. Govinda prabhu from Towaco told me, "Because if you dont use it, you'll lose it."

Jay Sri Radhe,

a.s.

my heros go out on "books"

2007-01-25T18:32:00.000-05:00

No emotion on the faces of the subway goers,

"where are they going?"

"No where.", says Karel.

"Aren't we disturbing them?"

"No, cuz they are just walking in circles." says Matthew.

"Just stop them, and the book will do the rest.", They both say in unison.

-It's hard for me, but Karel and Matthew have deep realization of what they are doing and why. Srila Prabhupada's chest is swelling with pride. They are so enthusiastic, they never feel scared, they are always bold.

I want to be like just like them.

-a.s.

The End.

2007-01-04T15:30:00.000-05:00

haribol.

its weird opening up this blog thing and not being in india. anyways, we are back in america, and getting on with our lives. Chai is going to college at V-tech, and i am going back to school in the fall. I have alot of time in between then and now so im going to get back to work at BMW, stay at the ashram now and then, and try to imbibe the teachings ive learned into my life.

later!
amul

Amul: man, its almost over...

2006-12-04T02:53:00.000-05:00

Radhe Syam Radhe Syam,

i am here at HG BhutaBhavana prabhu's place, he and Dilraj prabhu have kindly let me stay. Went to the manor yesterday for sunday program, was very nice saw many old friends. Before yesterday i went to two jammins, the famous Harrow Jamming and then Souf (South) London jamming. They were both amazing preaching programs. Amit prabhu from south london let me stay at his house and took me all those places.

This bramhachari Jaya Nitai prabhu, who is the vice prez of Soho temple, he gave the harrow jamming class. He reminds me so much of one of our old temple presidents in Towaco. Jaya Nitai prabhu is originally from USA but he joined in the UK and lives there! He knows VBD and Krsangi and thats why he took a liking to me. Im telling you, i can get attention from all the senior devotees solely because i am related to them! Just like in the Ramayana, Vibhishana was pure and Lord Rama accepted him, but Vibhishana's 4 servants who came with him were not pure, but solely because they were with Vibhishana, Lord Rama accepted them too. amazing.

So the next three days are going to be chill. I am hanging out with Raj and Shujon all day today, and then going to the manor again for another program. Then Tuesday im going to meet Govinda prabhu and Gauranga prabhu where they are staying, yes, its THE Govinda prabhu and Gauranga prabhus. Cant wait for that, i miss Chowpatty so much. Then wednesday go back to Chai's aunts and chill until we leave thursday.

Devotees are so hospitable around here, its amazing. I strive to be like them.

a.s.

amul: london

2006-12-01T10:48:00.000-05:00

im here at amit prabhu's house, him and sandeep took this video when they last came to america. its at chai's house, quite entertaining...

Pictures...

2006-11-28T12:55:00.000-05:00

Govardhana Retreat

more india pics

more india pics (part 2)

more india pics (part 3)

more india pics (part 4)

more india pics (part 5)

Pictures Coming....

2006-11-28T12:50:00.000-05:00

Here in london..with flying internet, I will try to upload as many pics as possible..haribol..

Chaitanya

amul: i lost my heart in chowpatty and thanks

2006-11-20T07:53:00.000-05:00

wow! chowpatty is the most wondeful place! so many nice devotees, there are so many, i am so angry i cant spend more time here to know each one of them. anyways, i am doing well. my cell phone has run out of credit and im not going to recharge it because im leaving india in 8 days, so theres no use. Chai came to visit today, i hadnt seen him in a few weeks, it was nice to catch up again.
not much more to say, you have to come here to experience chowpatty for yourself. everything everyone says in praise of this place is true. The prasadam is spicy, but the devotees are really sweet.

i guess this is going to be one of my last posts. I cant believe this trip is almost over. It was like yesterday when i brought the idea of coming to india to chai and damodar in the kitchen while washing pots in towaco. 5 months later, im sitting here talking about finishing the trip!

Krsna, Radharani, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai, and Srila Prabhupada have really been really merciful on me these past few months. Ive experienced some really far out, unexplainable things and met some devotees that just remind you of Krsna if you are just in their vicinity.

I think i've changed alot as well. My priorities have changed, my mindset has changed. I feel more focused and i feel like i am ready to take on the rest of my life with faith that whatever path i choose it will be perfect because it will be centered around Krsna.

Thanks for all the readers for your support, i always looked forward to reading your comments. I cant wait to see you all and talk to you in person about the many things i left out of this blog, hehe.

Also thanks to my parents, whom i appreicate even more, for giving me Krsna consciousness and letting me come on this trip (and financing it, lol). And Krsangi, my best friend and sister who support would help me when i was feeling down or lonely. Also VBD, my brilliant other best friend and brother in law, who helped me out on my chowpatty trip and sent me inspiring cards and gifts. and how can i forget Damodar, another best friend, who came to vrindavan with me and even though could not join me for the rest of the trip, kept pushing me and inspiring me to keep going. and last but not least, Chai, who i've got to know pretty well on this trip, who tolerated my chastisement and criticism with a very cool head. there are so many others, i know who you are and so do you. also thanks to those who kept in touch, it meant alot to me.

a.s.

Amul: Chowpatty

2006-11-11T07:01:00.000-05:00

After a long trainride from A-bad i finally reached Mumbai central. I didnt know how i was going to get to the temple, but i thought i would just take a taxi. As i struggled to get my two huge bags out of the train, i saw him. A devotee!!! he had come to pick me up by the order of HG Gauranga prabhu. I was so happy and relieved.
We got to the temple around 11 pm and they gave me a room, a really nice one. It was next to Srutakirti prabhu, i could hear him sometimes. It felt awkward to have such a nice room next to a really senior devotee, but i wasnt complaining.
I got up late the next day and just made it for darsan arati. Funny thing was i didnt know the temple room was on the 2nd floor. So i was looking for a while and then finally got the courage to ask someone, they said it was upstairs. duh! Darsan arati was beautiful, the dieites came to life, because i had only seen them in picture before. I saw Gauranga prabhu and so many bramhacharis. Thats what struck me, so many bramhacharis. So many devotees! That is real opulence a temple has. Devotees.

let me just say that his magesty Vyenkata Bhatta das is like the most popular american around here. If i'm talking to a devotee, and i wanna really spur a conversation, i say (ive used this many times already). "so..yea my brother in law was here before, do you know him? his name is Vyenkata Bhatta das." The devotee who im talking to, his face would light up like a light bulb, ::indian accent:: "vat?! you are vyenkata prabhus brother in law, wow!!! hes a great devotee, awesome, funny , blah blah blah south indian yatra blah blah." HAHAHAHAH.... Vbd if your reading this...i got the "in" yo, cuz of you!

so anyways, i went to a preaching program at IIT with Gauranga prabhu the 2nd night i was here. I played mrdanga for him, it was really awesome. Gauranga prabhu is really looking after me and making sure im doing okay. IIT is where all the brainiacs are from, mad smart people. He gave a really nice lecture about Srila Prabhupada and something else that i cant remember. Then we had arati and prasadam.

oh i almost forgot, HG Bhavananda prabhu was here, and he gave SB class yesterday morning. Hes really funny and tells awesome Prabhupada stories. He left today.

Srutakiriti prabhu gave SB class this morning, it was amazing. He told the most sweet stories of his pastimes with Srila Prabhupada...man it was so nice.

I moved out of my luxury room today, into the ashram. There are so guys here from psena london, chirag and a few others. The ashram is nice, i am getting to know more devotees.

So i am just trying to soak up some good association and improve my sadhana. This is definately the best place to do it.

i am def. not going to travel in india alone again. Its really boring and lonely. well, now i know so i wont make that mistake again.

Sometimes when im idle, i miss home more than ever. Im on the home stretch, the last month. I am so eager to meet my friends and family again. But i have to hold on, im almost there! i dont wanna ruin my last month here. focus amul focus!

anyways, im out, thats whats up on my side...

jay sri radhe - never forget

a.s.

On to Mayapur

2006-11-11T04:18:00.000-05:00

11/11/06

Haribol,

After a great Kshetra Parikrama, attended by over 2000 devotees, we were on to Mayapur, which is where I am currently enjoying the fastest internet I have yet to experience since being in India. It almost feels as fast as home. Otherwise, Mayapur is very nice, and I really can't think of much else to write now.

Chaitanya

amul: gujurat

2006-11-10T07:57:00.000-05:00

the day i left for gujurat i found out my train ticket wasnt confirmed, it was a waiting list ticket. i totally freaked out and didnt know if i was going to get a seat. but i did. so here i am in gujurat having major vrindavan withdrawals. today all i did was eat and engage in small talk with my relatives. I miss vrindavan so much.

they took me to the iskcon temple, it was nice until a this devotee told me to come to his room so he could give me prasad but his real goal was to try to get me to ask my temple president if he could come to america. was pretty lame.

the outside world looks even more miserable then before.

Srimati Radharani! when will you let me come back?

a.s.

Jagganath Puri....

2006-11-08T06:24:00.000-05:00

11/8/06

As I'm sitting here in an internet cafe in Jagganath Puri, I'm thinking that our blog name...Vrindavan Days 2006 is inappropriate, as I am here in Puri, and Amul is currently in Gujurat, and neither of us will be returning to Vrindavan. For those of you who do not know, Kshetra Parikrama is happening in Puri right now, and there is thousands of devotees here. I'll just give you a quick list of the high points of my trip here in Puri so far (I arrived yesterday...)

I was questioned if I was Hindu...Yes I also thought that only happened in America, but the panda in front of the Jagganath temple made that clear that it could happen anywhere. I did eventually get a wonderful Darshan of Jagganath, going right up to their lordships lotus feet, along with Vrindavan Candra Prabhu.
Someone stepped in my kichri this morning...no I'm not complaining....but its a testament to how many people there is here. How many people can really say that someone has stepped in there kichri.
Took a wonderful ocean bath...the beach here rocks...much better than the Jersey shore....

That's it from me, as yatra continues in the morning. But today, I am fortunate enough to have Rupanuga Prabhu sitting right next to me as well (yes...everyone is really here...there's thousands ....). Rupanuga says: "Haribol, as long I am in the Presence of Chaitanya and Amul, and Samikrsi Prabhu and Vrindavan Candra Prabhu, I have not time to miss anyone. However I feel after I lose their company, I will let you know."

So that's it for now, and I probably will not get to check the blog until my arrival in Mayapur, so Haribol from Jagganath Puri. Jai Jagganath.

Chaitanya and Rupanuga Das

amul: back and ready for more

2006-11-05T03:05:00.000-05:00

dear friends!

im back.

words cannot explain how much fun i had. Pandavasena has to have a trip in the vraj mandal parikrama. Its alittle austere and alot of walking (avg. 20 km per day!) but its sooooo much fun. it was def. the best decision i made on this trip after VIHE.

we finished today with a huge feast. it was amazing.

now im off to gujurat tommorow and then the chow.

the next chapter begins.

a.s.

ps. my cell fone is still on !

Prabhupada's Disappearance...and then Jaipur

2006-10-30T22:01:00.000-05:00

10/29/06

After a very nice Prabhupada's disappearance day festival here in
Vrindavan, and the craziness that went along with it, I was off to
Jaipur for a few days for Darshan of Srila Rupa Goswami's respectable
deity, Govindaji. There are a few things here in India that have lived
up to what I had heard about them before experiencing them. One which
comes to mind immediately is Bahulastami at Radha-Kund, which is
everything someone could possibly expect, and on top of that more....its
really crazy. The other thing is The Govindaji temple in Jaipur. Before
going there, I had heard about the love of Govindaji by the people of
Jaipur, and how thousands of people go there daily, but until you are in
mangal aroti there, you cannot fully appreciate how amazing it is.
Thousands of people go to mangal aroti, and are singing in different
groups to Govindaji from their hearts.....its really quite a site to
see. I was fortunate enough to have two more darshans of Govindaji
before leaving Jaipur, both of them were at 8:30 in the morning, and
both were crazy as well. When you do parikrama around Govindaji, any
item on the wall is a sanctified object for the people there (locks,
paintspecks, marble, scratches..you name it...). Finally, people are
handing out mahaprasad right and left after acquiring it. It is
impossible to leave the temple without some sort of prasad, chandan, or
oil smeared on your forehead (that happened to several of us). In
Jaipur, we also visited Radha Damodar, Radha Vinod (Deities which were
worshipped by Lokanath Goswami), and Gopinath (found by Madhu Pandit).
I'll try and get pics up asap...haribol..

Chaitanya

Amul: short update

2006-10-26T04:05:00.000-04:00

amul here,

vraj mandal parikrama is very nice, im here back in krishna balaram for a day for Prabhupada's dissapearance festival. Alot of senior devotees here. I saw Yagna purusa prabhu from NYC from far away, that was a nice suprise.

Vraj mandal is alot of fun, we are walking every morning after mangala arati then when we reach our destination we camp out and have the regular day programs, lectures, etc. Some sannyasi's come to visit each day. Its pretty austere but i have gotten used to it. Rupanuga is here too.

Just 10 more days and then im off to Gujurat and then Bombay.

haribol

radhe radhe

amul

Govardhan Pooja

2006-10-24T02:25:00.000-04:00

10/22/06

Feeling that I had experienced a good amount of festivals at KB temple, I decided to head out on the road for Govardhan pooja. Where else to go than Govardhan, and that is where we did go...I went to the Bhaktivedanta Ashraam in Govardhan, right across the road from Govardhan Hill. They had a really nice program there, starting with a nice class, then go-pooja (H.H. Jayadvaita Swami performed aroti to mother cow), and everyone was able to feed mother cow. Then, everyone headed across the road, and performed abhiseka right on Govardhan hill. It was a pretty cool thinking that I was actually at Govardhan for Govardhan pooja. After that, everyone helped carry the 56 sumptous offerings for Giriraja across the road, and tapan bhoga was offered. Then it was time to eat...not yet though as I was asked to serve.... I didn't really mind, as it was still early, and for about an hour or more, We served out prashadam to the hundreds of devotees there (there didn't seem to be that many there before, but its funny how you always notice more at prashadam time...). Then I along with some friends sat down to eat, and our plates were piled up with item after item after item, after item......When I was full the prabhu next to me, his name is Govinda Kund, got one of the servers to put a big handful of more maha from Giriraja on my plate. What could I do but honor it??? So I ended up being double stuffed. After washing our hands, I and two other friends who came with me noticed that nobody from our group seemed to be around. As we walked outside, I looked to the right, and saw three green buses (the ones we came in) heading up the road. We ended up sprinting to them...if you know Govardhan, we ran from ISKCON...all the way to the town, where we caught the buses due to the traffic resulting from the business of Govardhan pooja. Its quite an experience sprinting after eating that much....That's all I can say about that.
This evening, Aindra prabhu sang Damodarastaka, and it was a classic. (I got it all on tape) Damodarastaka in KB temple starts at 7, and usually goes until 8:15 (when the temple closes). Some singers, will take it to 8:30 (at which point the devotees cleaning the temple start the hoses and start spraying people). Aindra prabhu takes it outside in front of the temple, and goes for another 30-40 minutes, moving around the samadhi, and other areas, so it was a very crazy event. As I was walking back to my room at Keshav Kunj, In noticed the fireworks still going off. Then one went off 5 feet from me (it sounded like a bomb). The fireworks tonight don't seem as frequent (although I am hearing more and more...), but now they seem to go off with huge bangs....by the way, I did hear them when I got up at 3:30, and on my way to mangal aroti this morning....
Overall it was a fantastic Govardhan pooja here in Vrindavan. Amul left his camera behind, so I took some pictures, which I can hopefully get posted for you.....Haribol...

Chaitanya

Diwali....

2006-10-24T02:24:00.000-04:00

10/21/06

So today was Diwali in India, and I'll just give you a few basic things
which seemed pretty cool to me. Diwali started off as a completely
normal day, but you noticed that all the shopkeepers were decorating and
everyone was in a festive joyous mood. Then at around 10:30 or 11:00, I
was in the temple room, and it seemed completely normal. As I was
walking out towards the front gate, I noticed that they had opened the
two big middle gates here at KB temple (the only time I saw them do that
before was to allow the ambulance to come in...), and then a constant
flood of hundreds of people were just flowing in for about half an hour,
and then it became normal again. Then, at night, I woke up from a nap at
around 6:00, and I heard fireworks starting, because it had only just
gotten dark. Since then, all I have heard is fireworks, all night long.
When I walked out on the street, I had one explode 5 or 10 feet from me,
and I am sitting here at 10 PM, and the fireworks keep on going and
going and going and going. I'm assuming I'll here some at mangala
aroti.... This is definitely the place to be for firework lovers (yes
nimai.....it really is). Alright, I will now go to sleep, as tommorrow
is Govardhan pooja, and I will be going to Govardhan. Haribol.

Chaitanya

Govardhan Pooja

2006-10-24T02:22:00.000-04:00

10/22/06

Feeling that I had experienced a good amount of festivals at KB temple,
I decided to head out on the road for Govardhan pooja. Where else to go
than Govardhan, and that is where we did go...I went to the
Bhaktivedanta Ashraam in Govardhan, right across the road from Govardhan
Hill. They had a really nice program there, starting with a nice class,
then go-pooja (H.H. Jayadvaita Swami performed aroti to mother cow), and
everyone was able to feed mother cow. Then, everyone headed across the
road, and performed abhiseka right on Govardhan hill. It was a pretty
cool thinking that I was actually at Govardhan for Govardhan pooja.
After that, everyone helped carry the 56 sumptous offerings for Giriraja
across the road, and tapan bhoga was offered. Then it was time to
eat...not yet though as I was asked to serve.... I didn't really mind,
as it was still early, and for about an hour or more, We served out
prashadam to the hundreds of devotees there (there didn't seem to be
that many there before, but its funny how you always notice more at
prashadam time...). Then I along with some friends sat down to eat, and
our plates were piled up with item after item after item, after
item......When I was full the prabhu next to me, his name is Govinda
Kund, got one of the servers to put a big handful of more maha from
Giriraja on my plate. What could I do but honor it??? So I ended up
being double stuffed. After washing our hands, I and two other friends
who came with me noticed that nobody from our group seemed to be around.
As we walked outside, I looked to the right, and saw three green buses
(the ones we came in) heading up the road. We ended up sprinting to
them...if you know Govardhan, we ran from ISKCON...all the way to the
town, where we caught the buses due to the traffic resulting from the
business of Govardhan pooja. Its quite an experience sprinting after
eating that much....That's all I can say about that.
This evening, Aindra prabhu sang Damodarastaka, and it was a
classic. (I got it all on tape) Damodarastaka in KB temple starts at 7,
and usually goes until 8:15 (when the temple closes). Some singers, will
take it to 8:30 (at which point the devotees cleaning the temple start
the hoses and start spraying people). Aindra prabhu takes it outside in
front of the temple, and goes for another 30-40 minutes, moving around
the samadhi, and other areas, so it was a very crazy event. As I was
walking back to my room at Keshav Kunj, In noticed the fireworks still
going off. Then one went off 5 feet from me (it sounded like a bomb).
The fireworks tonight don't seem as frequent (although I am hearing more
and more...), but now they seem to go off with huge bangs....by the way,
I did hear them when I got up at 3:30, and on my way to mangal aroti
this morning....
Overall it was a fantastic Govardhan pooja here in Vrindavan. Amul
left his camera behind, so I took some pictures, which I can hopefully
get posted for you.....Haribol...

Chaitanya

Diwali....

2006-10-24T02:21:00.000-04:00

10/21/06

So today was Diwali in India, and I'll just give you a few basic things which seemed pretty cool to me. Diwali started off as a completely normal day, but you noticed that all the shopkeepers were decorating and everyone was in a festive joyous mood. Then at around 10:30 or 11:00, I was in the temple room, and it seemed completely normal. As I was walking out towards the front gate, I noticed that they had opened the two big middle gates here at KB temple (the only time I saw them do that before was to allow the ambulance to come in...), and then a constant flood of hundreds of people were just flowing in for about half an hour, and then it became normal again. Then, at night, I woke up from a nap at around 6:00, and I heard fireworks starting, because it had only just gotten dark. Since then, all I have heard is fireworks, all night long. When I walked out on the street, I had one explode 5 or 10 feet from me, and I am sitting here at 10 PM, and the fireworks keep on going and going and going and going. I'm assuming I'll here some at mangala aroti.... This is definitely the place to be for firework lovers (yes nimai.....it really is). Alright, I will now go to sleep, as tommorrow is Govardhan pooja, and I will be going to Govardhan. Haribol.

Chaitanya

Some more items....

2006-10-20T01:12:00.000-04:00

10/19/06
Well, believe it or not....I am going to add items to the list....as I promised. Of course if you reference to the earlier four items, they will be added when I said I would add them (The IST factor....), so here we go. Its hard to believe that after VIHE finished, I've barely had enough time to blink, so hopefully I get time to put this on line tomorrow.

Stuff will just randomly not work....when you need it: This is an oldie but a goodie.... A long while back, I remember getting up for mangal aroti one morning, and the shower wasn't working. Now put yourself in my shoes...you have just gotten up at 3:45, all pumped to take a shower and go to mangal aroti, but the shower doesn't work. It only has happened once, but it was really annoying. I mean you can take the random power outages, power surges, low voltage, and even turning the water off during the day...but when the water doesn't work before mangal aroti, its a problem...
Loudness: Many people in India do not know when it is necessary to be quiet. For example, I have been going on Indradyumna Mahraj's parikrama's for the past few days, and the group often stops for long talks. Some of these are outdoors, where the locals can mix. Its amazing that when 200 devotees are intently listening to a speaker, some random people can start having an argument right there, screaming at the top of their lungs. This wasn't just a one time thing, it really happens all the time. After a while you just get used to it, but its pretty funny at first.
Fights: If there's ever a fight or confrontation on the street, everyone...I mean everyone will stop to watch. This also means that if you're driving by on a rickshaw, the rickshaw wall slow to slower than a snails pace... It doesn't matter what the argument is about, but somehow, in some way, two people yelling at each other is fascinating to some....

That's all for now....I believe I have 3 more left, so check back for those in another 2 or 3 months...haha....

Chaitanya

Amul: Until we meet again...

2006-10-18T01:02:00.000-04:00

Dear readers,

A little update on what's going on: Chai and I have moved out of our room in the guesthouse, we gave the room to our very own Susan mataji from Towaco to use instead. We are now staying at Keshav Kunj by the mercy of HH Radha Govinda Maharaj, who kindly gave us a small room. I will be there until the 20th, and then i am leaving for Braj Mandal parikrama to join Rupanuga prabhu. Chaitanya will be at KB temple until the end of Kartik.
It is hard to write and check email from Keshav Kunj since it is pretty far from where i go to connect to the internet. I only have 2 more days left here, and then i wont be near a computer for another month. so i guess that's kind of..it.....
I would just like to tell you all that i am sorry i wont be able to converse thru emails so much now until i get back home, because after Vrindavan i will go to Ahmedabad for 3 days, then Chowpatty for 20 days. I will probably have limited internet access there as well.

ok well, if you want to contact me, your welcome to call, i have a new number you can get it from any one of my family members.

ill try to write, somehow.

Oh by the way, me and Chai graduated from VIHE! Woooo!!!!! we finished what we came here to do. It feels great..now i just have to glue my ears shut so the knowledge doesnt spill out!

alright, now its time to move to another paragraph in this chapter of my life.

miss you all, forgive me i wont be in so much contact.
amul butter

Amul: I love my friends

2006-10-14T07:24:00.000-04:00

A bunch of guys and girls led by Damodar, from Towaco made a video for me and sent it with Damodar's parents. It feels pretty damn good to be remembered. This definately makes up for the small amount of emails i'm getting!

Oh yea, I almost forgot. we went to bathe @ Radhakund for Bahulastami, at midnight. It was complete chaos. They estimated there was like 25,000 people there. HH Indradyumna Swami and a bunch of other sannyasis, along with Aindra prabhu came. They rocked bhajans real hard in Ragunatha das goswami's samadhi. Then at midnight EVERYONE (and their freakin sister) took bath in Radha Kund. Its a sight i will never, ever forget. I haven't seen that many people since Polish woodstock! Then, on our way back to our transport back to KB temple, i see a few familiar faces. Banke Bihari prabhu and his wife (towaco), are hanging out and i talked to them. Also Sarbendu prabhu's parents and brother are here. Then, heres the kicker, i see Gadadhar Pandit prabhu from the Bhaktivedanta ashrama, NYC!!!! i did a double take of him, and went up to him and was like "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!???" It was great, i cant believe i saw him amongst an ocean of people. What a night.

I just wanted to brag about how awesome my friends are.

later,

amul

Top Ten List....That's right..its being continued...

2006-10-14T05:04:00.000-04:00

Haribol,

As you all know I started a glorious top ten list about my realizations about india something about 4 score and 7 years ago (maybe not that long...but it was pretty long). Anyway, I've decided to continue it....before you get all excited, I am going to repost the first edition (Yes...you can say it, I am reusing material...). But I promise that there will be at least 3 more items added to the list by midweek. Without Further Ado, here is that previous entry, untouched....

Top 10 List of Realizations About India

8/8/06

Being the extremely Bhakti Sastri student which I am, I have decided to write a blog about my top 10 realizations about India, instead of memorizing Bhagavad Gita verses (I will do that when I'm done). As many of you know, India is somewhat different from America, but by living here for about 6 weeks now, I have tested some views over time, and here they are. Now, as you look down at the list, you will notice that there is not 10 items there. Before you start questioning my ability to count to ten, or to count period, I will give you my reason for only giving you four reasons, not yet numbered. Reason number 1, nobody does a top 4 list, so that Idea was out, but the reason I'm sticking to is Reason number 2. Reason number 2 is that this way, I will not give away the whole thing at once, or the order, so there's some suspense ( In reality, I couldn't think of ten things, but I'll post them as I come up with them). Without further adu, imagine David Letterman is reading these, and here is my Top 10 List of Realizations of India.....Part 1:

Time: A few years ago, we started coining the phrase IST, which stands for Indian Standard Time. Whenever we'd be late, or a program would start late, or someone else was late, it would just be Indian Standard time. Well, what I have now realized is that India is the birth place of Indian Standard time, so this is where it is personified in its most powerful form. Coincidentally, the time zone India is in has the initials IST...standing for Indian Standard Time. Anyways, everything is at least 5-10 minutes late here. If someone says they'll be there at 10, don't show up until 10:30 earliest, if you have to pick something up on Sunday, safer to go Thursday or Friday, so it'll be done. IST here in India is double or triple IST is in America.
Left...Left...Left...or Right???: As you know, people in India drive on the left (a crazy and un-needed British Tradition if you ask me...also, sometimes you're not sure what side they're driving on here). But how about when you walk up to someone. Do you go towards the left or towards the right. In the west, its a common practice that you always go towards the right, so that neither person bumps into eachother. Here however, some people go to the left, and some people go towards the right. After awhile of almost bumping into people, you just decide to do your own thing and make everyone else conform with you (its been working for a little while...).
Pushing and shoving: Indian people feel it is their absolute birthright to cut you in line. For example, yesterday I was waiting in line to swing the Jhulan in the temple. I clearly remember that I was in line behind this old dada, where a cream colored kurta. After looking around for about 5 seconds, I was now behind four ba's, one of them pushing me back, so she could squeeze her way into line. This is an example of a daily experience here. Now do you push the ba's...I mean come on, they're old people...I end up sucking it up most of the time.
Power: Everyone knows this already, but I will reiterate it. India has still not figured out power. I guess it is a much harder thing to figure out that I thought. Just as I was writing this blog alone, the power went out 3 times. I'll give India this though...when the power goes out in America, its the end of the world (ref: NYC blackout). Here, everyone is ready for it. If you're in a shop, they'll whip out their kerosene lantern while they were showing you what you were looking at, with some sort of 3rd arm.

Well, that's it for now....stay tuned for more items soon.....

Chaitanya

Hope you enjoyed that blast from the past....stay tuned for more.....

Amul: Samadhi Ceremony of HH Bhakti Svarupa Damodar Swami Maharaj

2006-10-05T03:43:00.000-04:00

Events of 10.3 - 10.5.06

man, what a past few days....

Let me start with last night. Maharaj's body was brought to KB mandir around 9 pm in an ambulence. The body was taken around KB mandir three times, and then was placed opposite Srila Prabhupada's samadhi so all the devotees could offer their respects and have darsan. It was so emotional. Many devotees were crying. Many senior sannyasi's arrived with the Maharaj's body. Also some sannyasi's i've never seen before.
After Darsan arati and Gurupuja (which was led by Guru Kripa Prabhu, yes, the Guru Kripa!) the next morning (yesterday), Sripad Maharaj's body was taken to Radha Kunda at around 8 am. Me, Chai, and Vishal didnt have a ride, so we got on a tempo. I grabbed the video camera and a change of clothes, and we left. It was an experience, it wasn't so crowded, but it was loud and slow. When we arrived in Radha Kunda, we went to Sripad Maharaj's temple (The local Iskcon temple), and Bhakti Charu Swami was singing "Je Anilo". This was taking place in the backyard of the temple, where Sripad Maharaj was to be put into samadhi. Bhakti Charu Swami added the line, "Kaha mora Svarupa Damodar...Patita Pavana". It was more emotional than the night before, many disciples from Manipur had come, they had traveled all night. It reminded me of the "final pastimes" video of Srila Prabhupada, when Narayana Maharaj sang "je anilo" for Srila Prabhupada. Everyone got a turn to offer Sripad Maharaj flowers, take darsan, and touch his wooden shoes.

Then it was time to take Maharaj for parikrama of Radha Kunda and Syama Kunda. That's when you could really tell how many devotees there were. I'm not good at estimations but i would say around 500+. While we were going around, i saw a familiar face - - Mahatma prabhu! I said 'haribol' to him but i don't think he recognized me, i would see him later anyways. I found out that he had flow in from San Diego as soon as he heard about his Gurumaharaj's

passing.

After the parikrama, it was time to place Maharaj's body in the grave(?) they had dug. They had a curtain around this, but I presume they bathed, applied tilak, and newly clothed Maharaj, and then brought him down into the grave. When they were bringing him down, everyone noticed how Maharaj looked as if he was just sleeping. It had been 3 days, but his body was still very flexible and his face was effulgent. I was very suprised. Bhakti Charu swami later mentioned thats a sign of a pure devotee, his body is not material anymore, but it becomes spiritual, even in this life. Srila Prabhupada was the same.

At this time, i had pushed my way inside crowed that had assembled around the grave. Took out our video camera and started shooting. I took a lot of still photographs with it as well, those are the ones im sharing with you all. Then they started to throw in the dirt that would fill the grave. But first they had to cover Maharaj's body in salt, then they started putting the dirt in. We got a chance to throw some dirt in too.

Then, it was time for prasadam. Rupanuga prabhu was in charge of the serve out to the general devotees, so he asked me to help. Even though i had not eaten the whole day, i thought it would be a great time to get some mercy. So I went to the kitchen, expecting to bring prasadam to the general devotees, but this prabhu asked me to bring rice where the senior devotees were eating. I didn't think much of it because i was just dropping it off, but when i got there, the prabhu in charge asked me if i wanted to serve the senior devotees! In my mind i was like "hell yea bro!", but really i said, "Oh, thank you for giving me this oppurtunity prabhu, sure i would love to." haha...I wonder when my mind and my words will express themselves in similar ways. My mind speaks new jersey slang and my speech is insincerely polite... So I helped serve different sannyasis, both from iskcon and gaudiya math, Prabhupada disciples, management, etc. It was amazing!

After i had taken paneer subji, rice, dal, chappatis, sweet rice, butter milk, and other preps, to my full satisfaction, i went back to the samadhi. I had remembered seeing Aindra prabhu and his crew arrive, so i wanted to see if they were still doing kirtan. They were, and i video taped a good portion of it.

We then took bath in Radha Kunda and left back to KB temple. This time we got lucky, and caught a ride with some devotees in a jeep.

These past few days have been very emotional, and very tense because we would get so many different types of news at different times. We didn't know what was going to happen when.

I have fond memories of Sripad Maharaj. He came to Spain for a week during the UK Pandava Sena trip. There he would hang out with us, even though he was a sannyasi and we were just some kids. I remember he did archery with us, and he was really good at it too. No one got the bullseye, but then Maharaj tried last, and he got it.

I also met him in Towaco a few months back when he came to visit. I talked to him with my parents right in front of the temple giftshop, i told him what i was doing in Vrindavan, and for his blessings. He was happy.

Maharaj was sweet, kind, intelligent, and a great singer. His kirtan style was different, but it was amazing.

Somehow a puffed-up kid like me was fortunate to be able to attend this wonderful ceremony, I pray that i never forget this.

dasdasanudasa bh. amul

HH BSDM Samadhi Update as of 15:00, October 3rd 2006

2006-10-03T05:39:00.000-04:00

Haribol,

The news over here about the samadhi is changing every hour, its hard to get the exact info.

But as of right now, Maharaj's body is not going to be taken to Manipur, but is coming to Vrindavan around 8 pm tonight. His body will be kept in the Prabhupada museum. Then, tommorow morning he will be taken on parikrama, and then at 8:00 am, he will be put into samadhi at Radha Kund.

a.s.

H.H. Bhakti Svarupa Damodar Swami

2006-10-02T06:29:00.000-04:00

Radhe Radhe,

I'm sure you have all heard the news, about HH Bhakti Svarupa Damodar Maharaj's passing.

All of Vrindavan is in complete shock, the news came so quickly.

Maharaj's body is coming to Vrindavan, the day after tommorow, on his way to Radha Kund, from Calcutta. His samadhi will be in Radha Kund. Originally, his body was going to come straight to Vrindavan, but Manipur threatened violence if he doesnt come there. He has many many disciples in Manipur, and it wasnt possible for all of them to come to Radha Kund.

Many sannyasis from all over are planning to come to Radha Kund: BCS, GKG, etc.

We are planning to go, we will be taking video and pictures so we can share this historical event with everyone when we get back.

Maharaj just came to Towaco a few months ago for a presentation, I remember talking to him.

Vaisnava Thakur Ki Jay!

Bhakti Svarupa Damodar Maharaj Ki Jay!

amul

Amul: VIHE outing to BARSANA!

2006-09-29T22:47:00.000-04:00

I made a friend!
Some Kunda where Madhumangal ate Laddus
Where Krishna took Tax

9/29/06

Today we went to Barsana with HG Janananda prabhu and HG Prabhupada das prabhu. Man, It was amazing. We did a parikrama of all the major temples (about 4 or 5, I forget their names, there were about 4 or 5. We also bathed in Prema Sarovara and had class there. I also had darsan of Ramesh Baba, the "don guru" of Varsana! That's just a rough description. Attached are some images, I have a million more but its so hard to post them up!

A scary/exciting thing happened when we got to the main temple. A little background info first: I was a little puffed-up because every temple we went, I was being all 'James Bond' about taking pictures, I would turn the flash off and use someone as a shield and take a

picture quickly, when it was strictly forbidden. I was successful throughout all the temples. So this time we were at the biggest and nicest temple, you know, the one really high up on that hill. This one was the mother of all of 'em. So, I got right up close to the deities and used Chai as a shield, but I forgot to turn off something very important: the flash. All the pujaris were doing their own thing, giving out Tulsi, Caranamrita, just really peaceful. When that flash went off, it was like that scene in "Lord of the Rings", where one of the Hobbit friends drops the skull in the dark well, and immedietly all hell breaks loose. All the Pujaris and caretakers of the dieties all looked up and started yelling. A few of the younger ones came over and grabbed me and my hands, and one of them went for my camera. I was suprisingly calm, but I was scared they were going to smash my digital camera. I had heard they do that. I thought fast and in broken Hindi, I told the guy I would delete the picture. He understood, and I quickly got on the camera menu and deleted the picture. Right before I deleted it I had a sneak peek of the image, it wasn't such a great picture, HA. They pujari told me in hindi, "didn't you see the sign, theres no picture taking!", and he pointed to two huge black signs on either side of the altar that said, "no picture taking". I smiled in my head, "I dont read Hindi bro." But then I realized, "Man, if they asked me why I didn't read the sign, they must think I'm from India...sweet!" For the first time, someone thought I was from India, and not Videsh. Then, they all left, and everything went back to normal. I stood there, stunned from what had just happened. I was a little proud that I got some attention, and a little scared that I had offended someone. Janananda prabhu came over to me to ask me if I was okay, and gave me an assuring pat on the back. I prayed to Srimati Radharani for forgiveness, and with a melodious harinam, we left.

As I sit in our room now, I ask myself, "Why did you take such a risk? Your camera could have been destroyed, or you could have gotten jumped." I reflected for a while and it hit me. I am into photography, I into taking risks, and I recently read a part in this book... its called "Vrindavan Days"... :

...If Vishakha can retrieve bananas from a monkey, she can certainly photograph the Radha Damodar Deities.

“If I try it, the pujari might react violently,” I tell Achyutananda. He agrees. Vishakha’s the one.

Her face set like a Mount Rushmore President, Vishakha, walks up the seven steps to the altar. There are no less than three sets of Deities in the dim alcoves: the Deities belonging to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s biographer, Krishnadas Kaviraj; expansions of Jiva Goswami’s original Radha Damodar Deities; and Jayadev Goswamis Deities. These Deities are guarded by strict smarta-brahmins, and photographs have never been allowed.

Before the pujari can protest, Vishakha takes five pictures. The lamp flashes like a strobe at the Avalon Ballroom.

"No photos! No photos! No! No! No!” the pujari shouts, waving his arms. The temple goswamis jump to their feet, but it’s too late. Vishakha is already walking out to the street.

“Good shots?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says, giving a tiny smile. That’s all. just a typical Vishakha-Yadubhara smile, lips closed.

-amul

Govardhana Parikrama

2006-09-24T11:11:00.000-04:00

9/24/06

After being in Vrindavana for approximately 2 ¾ months, we finally went on Govardhana parikrama. The cool thing was that we were able to go with H.H. Mahanidi Swami. We went to Radha-Kund last night, and Mahraj gave a nice class, and we slept out on his veranda there. He is so nice and simple, that he was serving us Prasad last night. We woke up, and started parikrama just after 4 this morning, and started rolling. Mahraj walks faster than anyone I know…including my dad, so keeping up with him is quite a task. He stopped at a few places and gave nice talks about the different holy sites around Govardhan which was nice because the way he puts it was different from anything else you hear. Anyway, we finished in about 4.5 hours, and by the time he finished, more than ¾ of the group had tailed off. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to bathe in Radha Kunda, and then headed back to Vrindavan.

Chaitanya

By the way…I had my first monkey encounter today. At Radha-Kunda (where the monkeys are not supposed to be so bad…. By Gopal-Bhatta Goswami’s Samadhi or Bhajan Kutir (I can’t remember which) a monkey approached me slowly, and seeing that I didn’t have anything he would be interested in, decided my dhoti was good enough, and gave it two tugs (nothing happened though…). After that, he backed off, and I shooed him away….

Amul: PICS! VIHE outing to Goverdhan!

2006-09-22T11:06:00.000-04:00

We went on an outing yesterday to Goverdhan with HG Janananda prabhu and the rest of the Nectar of Devotion crew, it was an amazing experience, enjoy the pics!

amul

HG Janananda prabhu and the rest of the gang relishing stories at Govinda Kund

Surabhi Kund

Giriraj Maharaj KI JAY! Ecstacy!

Scenic Harinam

Bhajans at Surabhi Kund

Someone tell that dude to put some pants on!

Tulsi arati in the middle of Goverdhan's forest, does it get any better?

Sadly, we had to leave!

Amul: Ujjain!

2006-09-19T06:14:00.000-04:00

September 15th-19th

Friday, 11:00 PM

It felt weird to wear pants after two months of wearing dhotis every day. Rupanuga prabhu, recommended I do so, because it would be more comfortable overnight. As I put on the pants, I lamented that I would have to one day put on pants again and leave my dhotis and Vrindavan, for a long time. I quickly stopped thinking of it.

We were on our way to Ujjain, for H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami's vyasa puja. Me, Chaitanya, Rupanuga, Dhanurdhar, Kuntibhoj, Somnath, and Bhaja Gauranga. Although I am not a direct disciple, I consider him my siksa guru. He is my parents' guru, and has known my family for many years. I also thought it would be nice to go on behalf of them.

I felt excited to leave Vrindavan for a few days, I wanted to experience something new, something different. Routine had set in very firmly with class, prasadam, and other things, so to change that was intriguing.

I won't bore you with the whole travel description. Yes, there were the funny garam chai wallas and lassi wallas. And the train was really loud, and there were smells I've never smelled before. It was comfortable though, we went to sleep and in the morning we were in Ujjain after a 9 1/2 hour ride.

Some devotees picked us up with 2 Qualis jeeps and brought us to the temple. The temple is in the outskirts of Ujjain, in a quiet part of the city. It is made completely out of beautiful white marble and three huge gopurams that you can see from far away. Minor construction was still going on, but most of the temple was done. We showered and headed down to the temple room. A seminar was finishing up, and it was almost time for prasadam. Prasadam! That's one thing we were all looking forward to, the taste of prasadam from somewhere else. But before prasadam I saw many friends, such as Sandipan Krishna prabhu, Dina Krishna prabhu, and Chiranjeev Krishna das, who we all remember as Babai. I just noticed that all of those devotees I just mentioned are "______ Krishna das", haha.

Later that day there was talk with Maharaj with all the devotees in his quarters. It was not a preaching talk, but more of a talk with people who have been in the movement for a while. The topic was about the future of ISKCON. Maharaj was telling us about one disciple he has who bought a big part of a lucrative company, and was employing other devotees. Sandipan Krishna and Dina Krishna prabhus were a part of this. Basically they were performing their job for Krishna and guru, and not only providing financial stability for ISKCON, but also preaching too. It was very interesting, and Maharaj encouraged devotees to start doing this. He also talked about how preaching is changing in ISKCON and there are so many innovative ways to preach these days. He mentioned the youth of ISKCON too and during that part coincidently, he saw me. He kind of stopped the class and asked when I had come, then he introduced me and Chaitanya as examples of youth and future of ISKCON , it was so embarrassing!

The next day we attended the morning program (almost all of it ;) ) and there was a ceremony to install Srila Prabhupada on his new vyasasan that was huge, magnificent, gold and wood colored. Oh man, I forgot to mention the deities! They are so beautiful! There is Gaura Nitai, Radha Madan-Mohan, and Krishna Balaram. All the deities are very beatiful, but Srimati Radharani is extra nice, one of the most beautiful deities I have ever seen!

Maharaj gave class and in the class he mentioned to everyone why he was reluctant to have such a big festival for his vyasa puja because of the whole sannyasis falling down in the past from being worshipped too heavily. He was very sincere when he said this, and when I thought of it, it is indeed a very important point.

He also told us to never leave ISKCON because within ISKCON we are protected. "And as soon as you leave ISKCON," Maharaj said, "your devotional life is in danger." What a bold point! He didn't mean that whoever is not in ISKCON is devotionally weak, but he was saying that for people who are in ISKCON then leave to go somewhere else, they are putting their devotional life in jeopardy. Maharaj was also telling the glories of Srila Prabhupada along with a few godbrothers, whos names I don't remember.

The temple bramhacharis of Ujjain are such nice, caring devotees. One very touching story I want to share was when I went to the bramhachari ashram to take a nap. I went to the second floor, where the bramhacharis stay, and laid down on the bear marble floor. It was comfortable because it was cold, but I did not have a pillow, but I didn't really mind because it was just a nap. I quickly fell asleep, but was awoken by a gentle bramhachari who was trying to put a pillow under my head and at the same time trying not to wake me up. I saw his smiling face for a few seconds, until my eyes closed and I fell asleep again.

When I woke up a few hours later, I quickly remembered what the bramhachari had done for me. Such a small act of kindness brought about so much emotion and realization in me. That is what a real devotee is, so caring and eager to perform service for another. Man, I wished I could be like that! He didn't even know me, a puffed-up kid from America, and I didn't know him! But I remembered his face. I saw that devotee only once again, during prasadam time from afar, he was....serving.

vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca
kripa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah
I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord. They can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees, and they are full of compassion for the fallen souls.

That night was the actual Vyasa Puja ceremony. It was held in a huge hall in the guesthouse, that was still being built. Maharaj sat on a large vyasasan decorated by flowers and accepted all the worship by his disciples with his head down and hands folded. Devotees made lines to offer flowers to Maharaj, and Maharaj reciprocated by giving devotees garlands. The atmosphere was very sweet. It made me imagine what it might have been like during Srila Prabhupada's time, worshipping the guru with great opulence.

The next day, Monday, we went to go visit holy places in Ujjain. Holy places? I never knew Ujjain had holy places. We visited a few Lord Shiva Temples, the places where Krishna studied, a Nrsimhadev temple (awesome), a river where Lord Rama came, and a few ghats. It was great!

I forgot to mention the bhajans and kirtans. They were so fired up! "There is no such thing as a mellow kirtan here" -Sandipan. He's right, everything is really heavy with wompers and loud speakers. One time, after Maharaj led, he requested me to sing. I did for a little while, it was nice to for Radha Madan-Mohan. There were some nice kirtaniyas there, like Bhagavat Tattva from Mumbai and a few local devotees who could really rock it.

Anyways, it was an amazing trip, I had a lot of fun. Please, if you ever have a chance go to Ujjain, go. You will have a wonderful time with some really advanced and downright cool devotees! I'm back in Vrindavan now, with a month left of VIHE, miss you all.

A.S.

Amul: Special Sightings and Off to Ujjain!

2006-09-14T10:56:00.000-04:00

So me and Chai were waiting for the darsan doors to open for darsan arati, and 2 feet away from us this prabhu pays his obeisances. As he gets up, I look at him, turn away, realize who it is, and look again ("double take"). It was none other than Sandipan Krishna prabhu himself, from good ol' UK bruv! It was such a great suprise, we talked for a short time, he was in Delhi for business, and he decided to come to Vrindavan that morning. Then he said he was leaving for Ujjain....

Which brings me to my next point, we are going to Ujjain tommorow too! For H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami's Vyasa Puja. I can't wait to see Maharaj and a lot of familiar faces. We are leaving tommorow (Fri.) and coming back Tuesday morning.

Anyways, everything over here is fine, guess who else is here too? Rupanuga prabhu, a fellow Towaco-vasi! He's staying with us for a few days, we are having a blast, he's like a hometown hero around here. He practically owns the place.

Classes are good, we had an NOD exam this week, and we also have a BG exam tommorow (7-12).

I can't believe its the middle of September already....

miss you all,

amul

ps. why has everyone stopped emailing? Being too busy is a lie and a lame excuse.

Amul: Sri Radha Kunda meditations

2006-09-08T11:12:00.000-04:00

Radhe Syam!
We visited Radha Kunda today, fully clear of any controversy, and with faith in our bhakti sastri knowledge, we bathed. It was an experience i cannot really describe in words. I will leave you with this short meditation and pictures from the trip:

"O friend, please meditate on Radha kunda's flowering-vine pavilion, which is praised by Vrindavan's great splendor, which is respectfully worshiped by Lord Hari's favorite regal mountain, Sri Govardhana, which bows down, placing its peak on the ground before it, and which is filled with the beauty and sweetness of Radha kunda's extremely wonderful amorous pastimes."

Sri Radha Kunda

Myself and Greg, after bathing.

A wonderful painting, at the place where Mahaprabhu Himself bathed in Radha Kunda.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur's appearance day...

2006-09-06T22:59:00.000-04:00

9/7/06
Haribol,
Yesterday was Bhaktivinoda Thakur's Appearance day, and Haridas Thakur's disappearance day. Here's one or two pictures to show what they did here. Also, today is a lunar eclipse, which in India is a very serious event. The temple will be closed for the entire afternoon and evening, but I think we still have class...haha...

Chaitanya

Radhastami.....

2006-09-02T23:31:00.000-04:00

9/1/06

Haribol, here’s my update on Radhastami as of 5:29 PM on Radhastami day….I’ll most likely add a second installment tomorrow (these will probably be posted at the same time so you won’t even notice…)

You could say that Radhastami officially kicked off last night, as the anticipation for the next day was very high. The kirtan was really rocking, and you could really feel the excitement. Then came today….mangal aroti was very nice, and then came 7:30 darshan (it ended up being at 7:43…which some may consider early for IST…). First Gaur Nitai’s altar was opened, then Krishna Balaram, and then Radhe Shyam. I had moved over to Radhe-Shyam’s altar earlier (anticipating a huge rush…Radhe-Shyam are easily the most popular deities here on a day to day basis..what to speak of Radhastami), as soon as I took darshan of Krishna-Balaram. Unfortunately everyone else did not think this way. After the small deity of Prabhupada had moved in front of Radhe-Shyam’s altar, there was a longer wait than usual for the opening of the altar. Then when Aindra Prabhu’s head appeared from behind the curtain (he dressed, and was going to open the curtain), everyone started going crazy, but still they didn’t open it. After about a minute or so of frenzied anticipation, the curtain was opened. At the same moment, I felt the force of hundreds of people just rushing in the direction of the altar, and I was getting tossed about like a buoy in the turbulent ocean. Then after they started kirtan, the pushing and shoving only increased, until it reached a point where this one brahmacari was just pushing and shoving for the sake of pushing and shoving…it was really pretty intense.. After 15 or 20 minutes in the chaos, I decided to get out, and move to another part of the temple room.
The rest of the program was really sweet, and had a nice mood. The morning class given by both Radha Raman Mahraj, and Dhruva Mahraj Prabhu was really good, and lasted almost two hours, going straight into the abhisek kirtan (once again electric), which lasted straight to noon. It was really an extremely nice program, and I will try and post pictures.
The 4:45 darshan was once again really crowded (not nearly as extreme though…), and the deities are now wearing a beautiful new outfit which is purple and has grapes on it..check it out online, it is really beautiful. By the way, the decorations in the temple room surpassed any decorations for any festival here, the front section is covered by nets of flowers, and they spared no expense. This one’s for Damodar…they spent more than 2 lakh’s on flowers….I’ll update you on the night kirtan and the night darshan tomorrow. At 10 PM they have a special darshan of the deities, and you can also take darshan of Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet (the only day of the year where this is possible). Back with more tomorrow….Radhe Radhe….

Second Installment -9/3/06
Night Darshan was really nice. Wasn’t super crowded, and the deities looked really beautiful. About an hour before the darshan, there was really sweet bhajans. Overall, Radhastami was probably the best festival since we’ve been here….That’s all for now…take a look at the pictures…. there is none from the night darshan...these are all from morning darshan....the afternoon dresswas really cool, so I recommend you go to ISKCON Vrindavan's darshan sight to check it out...

Chaitanya

Radhastami Run up....

2006-08-30T23:29:00.000-04:00

8/31/06

Haribol, I know I have not written in a while, so to update everyone, I’m fine (No I’m not sick, as everyone seems to think…). Anyway, tomorrow is Radhastami here in Vrindavan. Talking to many locals, Janmastami here was considered, well, a flop… but from seeing the preparations ongoing for Radhastami, it will be quite an event. The decorations all arrived Tuesday, and Radhastami is Friday. Yesterday (Wednesday) they started decorating the temple room, and in the afternoon, tons of flowers showed up in the area across from Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi…..so, it should be quite an event. Yesterday (Wednesday) was also Lalita devi’s appearance day, which means that they offered the deities a beautiful new turquoise colored dress…it was very nice....I am going to leave you with a quote from chapter 1 of the Nectar of Devotion, when Srila Prabhupada is describing Srimati Radharani’s glories:

“Srila Rüpa Gosvämi has stated that devotional service attracts even Krishna. Krishna attracts everyone, but devotional service attracts Krishna. The symbol of devotional service in the highest degree is Rädhäräni. Krishna is called Madana-mohana, which means that He is so attractive that He can defeat the attraction of thousands of Cupids. But Rädhäräni is still more attractive, for She can even attract Krishna. Therefore devotees call Her Madana-mohana-mohiné—the attractor of the attractor of Cupid.
To perform devotional service means to follow in the footsteps of Rädhäräni, and devotees in Vrindävana put themselves under the care of Rädhäräni in order to achieve perfection in their devotional service. In other words, devotional service is not an activity of the material world; it is directly under the control of Rädhäräni. In Bhagavad-gitä it is confirmed that the mahätmäs, or great souls, are under the protection of daivi prakrti, the internal energy—Rädhäräni. So, being directly under the control of the internal potency of Krishna, devotional service attracts even Krishna Himself.”

Chaitanya

Amul: Realizations

2006-08-27T09:45:00.000-04:00

August 27th, 2006, 11:54 AM Sunday

It's hard to write something when theres nothing really exciting going on. I've gotten into a routine, so things that might have seem exciting 2 months ago (man, its been that long!?) are just second nature now. School is going well, I'm really learning alot. Our teachers are stressing putting the knowledge into practice. It's how much you apply that counts, not the degree you get at the end. I find comfort in that statement since I am not the academic type...haha.

Nectar of Instruction is such an amazing book. I was always looking for a book that would tell me the do's & dont's, what to practice, what to avoid, in Krishna consciousness. What made it better was our instructor, H.G. Kurma-Rupa prabhu, a old-school devotee from the historical New York ISKCON crew. He really teaches from realization and tells us these awesome experiences he's had, that totally relate with the book. I'm telling you, if you have the right teacher, everything becomes perfect.

Yesterday was a whole ordeal. My friend Satyanarayan's knee was injured when he accidentally walked into a ditch. I don't know, i think he just stepped on it the wrong way, but he was in so much pain. The whole morning he was just writhing in pain whenever he moved his leg. So we decided to get him to a doctor. But how would we get him down the 4 flights of stairs, he could not even stand up on his own! And I could not lift him, he's quite a husky fellow. Chaitanya to the rescue! Chai volunteered to take Satya on his back and bring him downstairs to the awaiting riksha. Many people were astonished at the super-human strength of my roomate. It was as if he had gotten the strength of 10,000 elephants (i wonder if it had anything to do with his Mahabharata reading...he reads it every chance he gets!).

After that, we went to 2 doctors, had 2 X-rays done, and still no results. The 2nd X-ray said that Satyanarayan had a large fracture in his knee. By this time, it was 7pm! On top of that our riksa walla was so slow, he had only one working leg (here's a tip for everyone out there, make sure your riksa driver has TWO working legs). And I had an exam the next day (today, it was a take home, and i hadn't finished it yet). So I was in alittle bit of anxiety. Update: Satyanarayan went to a doctor at 10pm last night, when Radha Govinda Maharaj, his guru, found out. He's going to be okay.

But then realizations cleared my anxiety. Since everything was in Krsna's hands, what could I learn from this incident? (I have recently learned this technique, it really helps against getting fried easily). I thought for a bit, and I realized a few things:

1) The body is a huge source of suffering, there's no question about it. You may get some pleasure out of it, but it will never last. Satyanaryan was in so much pain just because of his knee, i couldn't even look at his face sometimes.

2) This world is a dangerous place. You can just be walking and two seconds later, your knee is fractured.

3) Taking shelter of the holyname can really help one's mind feel peaceful. As soon as I started chanting on the riksa, with-- care and attention (NOI), I felt assurance that everything would be alright, it reminded me of a quote from Bhagavad Gita:

“For one who has accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Mukunda, or the giver of mukti, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf’s footprint. paraà padam, or the place where there are no material miseries, or Vaikuntha, is his goal, not the place where there is danger in every step of life.” BG 2.51

Most of my realizations were based around those 3. The material world is all suffering, the body is miserable...does that seem pessimistic to anyone? Ah, but there is hope! The holyname is like a soothing balm (like tiger balm, that junk works so well ,on mosquito bites, thanks to Chai's mom, thanks Aunty!) on the worrying mind. "Similarly, if you chant this Hare Krsna mantra, then your first vision of your self, your constitutional position, will be visible just like a line of the moon. But if you go on continuing, you will find one day it is [a] full moon and brilliant, very soothing, and nectarine. You’ll taste your life as very sublime, blissful, and hopeful." -Srila Prabhupada

So much more but no time, I will write more later, until then..chant Hare Krsna!

dasamula

Janmastami

2006-08-19T05:22:00.000-04:00

8/19/06

Haribol, so here’s my version of the Janmastami celebrations here in Vrindavan. The first crazy thing that happened was the greeting of the deities, which took place at about 7:30 in the morning. Then entire front of the temple room was jam packed, and the courtyard and the back were pretty full. If you haven’t been to a deity greeting at Krishna-Balaram Mandir, the way it usually works is they open one altar at a time, starting with Gaura Nitai, then Krishna Balaram, and finally Radhe Shyam. I happened to be standing by Gaura Nitai, and got the darshan immediately, as they opened the curtain. Then, when they started to prepare to open Krishna Balaram, the sea of people started moving, and I just kind of drifted over there. I had no choice really, and I got there darshan as well. Then this happened again for Radhe Shyam, but twice as much. So after deity greeting, I had moved all the way across the temple room, by just kind of floating in the sea of people. The rest of the day went nice as well. I had the good opportunity to sit right next to Aindra Prabhu for a good part of the 10:30 – 1:30 AM kirtan (he would of kept going, but the temple management politely told him that they had to clean up…..we have it on video tape…). The temple room was pretty packed, but in talking to people the next day, I heard normally that there are 2 or 3 times as many people (which is somewhat hard to imagine), but after they heard what happened in Manipur, they severely restricted the amount of people who could come in. After eating, I headed over to Bunkibihari with Daksh, Kushal, Daksh’s parents, and Sarva-Jay Gauranga for mangala aroti there. The streets weren’t as crazy as last time, but the temple room was just mad. I went in front, and we made a chain. Then I ploughed through the crowd, and we got right to the front again. It was really a pretting intense crowd, and it was cool that we got that close.

Prabhupada’s Vyasa puja the next day was pretty cool as well. It was nice to hear so many of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples glorify him, and at 1 PM there was a huge feast in a pandal which they had built in the parking lot just for the occasion.

Chaitanya

Amul: Janmastami & Prabhupada Vyasa Puja

2006-08-17T07:04:00.000-04:00

Radhe Syam: in their midnight semi-flower dress!
The temple room was decorated with fresh flower decorations, it was beautiful and festive.
You can see me peeking my head out!
If you look closely, you can see Daksh, Kushal, Chai, and Radhey!

Radhe Radhe, Beloved Vaisnavas and Vaisnavis,

Just got back from the maha feast after fasting till noon for Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja. Boy, what a feast! Janmastami last night was very nice too. Many people, just dancing so crazily and ecstatically in the temple room. Me, Daksh, Chai, Kushal, and Radhey got seats right next to Aindra prabhu's kirtan mandali. We were really lucky, for 2 hours we just chanted there with Aindra prabhu and his crew! Abhishek was going on at the time, then at 12 midnight there was the maha darsan. It was very beutiful, the deities were wearing a new beautiful dress and some flower ornaments, like a semi flower dress. Gaura Nitai looked most beautiful to me, they reminded me so much of my Istadeva's back home at Towaco, even though they are non different (i am not advanced, i cannot see they are the same) HAHA!

Janmastami during the day was basically a regular day, just more chanting (did 32 rounds, my friend Madhura Madhava did 108!, JAY HO!), and kirtan. Most of us fasted from everything besides water, because if you dont drink water you wont be able to do anything, it was pretty hot yesterday. Then at 6:30 pm, Aindra prabhu came down to do his kirtan. After that, we all went to our room to hang for a while until we went down to the temple room to get seats for the maha kirtan, abhishek, and darsan. It was really fun to be with Radhey, Daksh, and Kushal, it reminded me of P-sena: Empower!

After everything was finished, i went to sleep, i was so beat. But the rest of the gang went to Banke Bihari's for mangala darsan. Then this morning, at 7 there was gurupuja and class given by Srila Prabhupada. Then Prabhupada's own disciples read their homages, which went on for 3 hours! During most of this i was dreaming of eating, i was so dehydrated and hungry.

Then everyone made their way to the pandala for the maha feast. As i entered, i saw all my VIHE buddies about to serve prasad. I could not sit down to eat while they were serving! But i was practically dying of starvation! The exemplary devotee Amul appeared on my shoulder and said, "Amul, devotional service prabhu!" then the sense gratifier Amul appeared on my other shoulder and said, "Amul your so hungry, who cares, think about yourself! The exemplary devotee Amul won,

It was weird though, my hunger for some reason, passed while i was serving the devotees. Then when i was finished serving, one of my classmates mentioned that all of them had already eaten before hand! AHHHH!! My hunger magically appeared again and i quickly got a plate and sat down, and ate until it felt like rice and paneer were about to come out of my ears. The sense gratifier Amul said, "told you so". I told him shut it.

Now here i am in the room, wondering how the Janmastami's in the US were! Someone hollar back!

Miss you all,

amul butter

ps. I am not schizophrenic, please dont go telling my mom i need to be admitted to the crazy house.

Amul: "Uncle Frank"

2006-08-15T02:49:00.000-04:00

Monday, August 14, 2006 12:27 pm

I got a call yesterday from my parents that our dear next door neighbor in NJ, Frank Sapienza, had past away. I was pretty distraught and then I remembered what I had learned from the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. About the soul, and how it could not be killed. Anyways, let me just give you alittle history about "Uncle Frank".

"Uncle Frank", as he was affectionately known by my family, was an old Italian man who had lived in Paramus even before we had come there, around 18 years ago. He was married to Adaleena (it was really Adeline, but my father pronounced it differently), his loving wife, who would always be seen with him.

Uncle Frank had a love for gardening and landscaping. His lawn was by far, the best lawn in our neighborhood. Whenever guests would come over, they would always remark how green his lawn was! Also, every year his garden would yield bags and bags of tomatoes, green peppers, eggplants, etc. He was truly a person in the mode of goodness. You could always see him outside, sometimes with his cowboy hat, working away in his garden or on his lawn. I used to watch him out of our kitchen window, admiring his hard working spirit. And whenever my father had a question about something to do with landscaping or home improvement, the first person he would go to was Uncle Frank. He would never hesitate to help.

Uncle Frank was a very pious person as well. During the summer, almost every evening, you could find him reading the bible on his front porch with his wife. You could tell he had a taste for reading about Jesus Christ, whom he probably had a deep relationship with. Every Sunday, without fail, he and his wife would go to church too. I remember them being dressed up and leaving around 10 am for their Sunday services.

Uncle Frank also got some chance to do service for Krishna as well. During Bhakti Charu Swami's taping of Abhay Charan in New Jersey, some shots were taken on Uncle Frank's amazing front yard. Bhakti Charu Swami was so impressed by the lawn and neat landscaping, he decided it was a great place to shoot. We were allowed to tape right on Uncle Frank's front lawn!

Another service He rendered was to our deities at home. Uncle Frank would grow tomatoes but he wouldn't like the greenish un-ripe ones. So he offered that we could take them if we wanted. I have fond memories of my childhood going to Uncle Frank's garden with my father, and picking all the green tomatoes. Then my mother would cook subji with them when they ripened, and offer it to the deities. Indirectly, Uncle Frank was performing the service to Krishna! Devotional service, nonetheless.

Uncle Frank was a dear Grandfather figure to me. He was pious, hardworking, and always willing to help. I remember his sweet Italian accent and how neat his garage was. When I was younger, he would even put air in my bike tires when I needed it. I will miss him.

2006-08-13T05:28:00.000-04:00

Balaram Jayanti Kirtan video

Haribol...another small clip from Balaram Jayanti...enjoy
COMMENTS NOW WORK!!!!! So comment away.....

2006-08-13T02:56:00.000-04:00

Balaram Jayanti in Vrindavan

Haribol Everyone. Here's a funny clip from the kirtan during Balaram Jayanti. This guy is hilarious. We've also been aware of the comment problem, so keep trying to comment, and I'm working on that. Have a great Janmastami.

Chaitanya

Top 10 List of Realizations About India

2006-08-08T04:17:00.000-04:00

8/8/06

Time: A few years ago, we started coining the phrase IST, which stands for Indian Standard Time. Whenever we'd be late, or a program would start late, or someone else was late, it would just be Indian Standard time. Well, what I have now realized is that India is the birth place of Indian Standard time, so this is where it is personified in its most powerful form. Coincidentally, the time zone India is in has the initials IST...standing for Indian Standard Time. Anyways, everything is at least 5-10 minutes late here. If someone says they'll be there at 10, don't show up until 10:30 earliest, if you have to pick something up on Sunday, safer to go Thursday or Friday, so it'll be done. IST here in India is double or triple IST is in America.
Left...Left...Left...or Right???: As you know, people in India drive on the left (a crazy and un-needed British Tradition if you ask me...also, sometimes you're not sure what side they're driving on here). But how about when you walk up to someone. Do you go towards the left or towards the right. In the west, its a common practice that you always go towards the right, so that neither person bumps into eachother. Here however, some people go to the left, and some people go towards the right. After awhile of almost bumping into people, you just decide to do your own thing and make everyone else conform with you (its been working for a little while...).
Pushing and shoving: Indian people feel it is their absolute birthright to cut you in line. For example, yesterday I was waiting in line to swing the Jhulan in the temple. I clearly remember that I was in line behind this old dada, where a cream colored kurta. After looking around for about 5 seconds, I was now behind four ba's, one of them pushing me back, so she could squeeze her way into line. This is an example of a daily experience here. Now do you push the ba's...I mean come on, they're old people...I end up sucking it up most of the time.
Power: Everyone knows this already, but I will reiterate it. India has still not figured out power. I guess it is a much harder thing to figure out that I thought. Just as I was writing this blog alone, the power went out 3 times. I'll give India this though...when the power goes out in America, its the end of the world (ref: NYC blackout). Here, everyone is ready for it. If you're in a shop, they'll whip out their kerosene lantern while they were showing you what you were looking at, with some sort of 3rd arm.

Well, that's it for now....stay tuned for more items soon.....

Chaitanya

another picture

2006-08-05T05:40:00.000-04:00

a few friends and the 3 from NJ

amul: few days blog

2006-08-04T05:17:00.000-04:00

July 29^th, 2006

So its been a monthevery now and then, when im waiting for Prasadam or walking to Vihe on my own, I think of home. I remember things like blacktop roads, cars with 4 wheels as opposed to three, walking on carpets, and wearing pants. I also remember people whose friendship I take for granted and I make a mental note to really appreciate them when I get back home. 5 more months! haha

Yesterday was Haryali Theej, a festival when the whole KB temple is decorated in greenery. The deities altar was completely covered in green leaves, it was very beautiful. Also, the temple was very crowded for Sandhya arati. Another festival that happens on this day is Banke Bihari Jhulan. Darsan is so crowded in the daytime, that most iskcon devotees go at night, when its not as crowed, but still push-and-shove crowded. So, me, Chai, Damodar, Bhaja Gauranga, Madhura madhava, Visala, and Dhanurdhar----all my Vihe classmates, saddled up and went to see Banke Bihari ji around 10 pm. I had gone during my last visit to Vrindavan, 4 years ago, so I was excited to see the Jhulan yatra again. WOW, it was definitely an amazing darsan once again. There was a HUGE silver jhulan, and 4 solid silver life sized Sakhis. Banke Bihari was closer to his devotees than usual so you could see the deity so well.

Vihe update: we finished Isopanisad!! Yesss! We have an exam tomorrow, so cant wait to finish it for good. I like the book but it was kind of complicated for me. I like Bhagavad Gita a lot better. My teacher is one of the most amazing devotees I have ever met, I gave a short description in one of my previous blogs so you can refer if you havent met him yet.

Man, can you believe that nothing else is going on? Yea, so I just wanted to write a little blurb to let all my readers that im still alive and to still check the blog once and a while. Alright keep it real, Haribol

July 31st, 2006

The exam went okay. It was pretty hard though. 15 questions, all short essay answer, took about 2 hours, we had 3. It was fun talking about it afterward because I remember in school when we would talk about tests afterward, and now I was doing it in Vrindavan with devotees! I think I did decent.

I have been doing 16 rounds straight for about 2-3 weeks now. I was doing it for the first week but then I stopped for 2 or 3 days, I dont know why, spaced out! I really like the way my spiritual life is going. By chanting I am feeling responsible and pure. By studying sastra, doubts I had are slowly being erased. A little history, if i may ;).......

After my years of huge glasses and huge neck beads (as VBd puts it), I started questioning my Krishna Conscious upbringing. I envied all the devotees that got into it because they joined or they got a book from a devotee distributing. I wondered why I could not have the faith that they did from actually going darkness to light. It is still a slight anartha of mine, that i am in denial. Hopefully by constant studying/sadhana this can be pacified. I've talked to many devotees who think i am crazy to think this because of how bad their upbringing was. As the saying goes, "the grass is greener on the other side" I gotta be happy with what i have. Kind of relates to The 'Isavasya' principle! <to all my Bhakti Sastri alumni...haha

August 2nd, 2006

Today was our first day of "Nectar of Instruction". I really like this book. HG Kurma Rupa prabhu is our instructor. His teaching style is really chill but you can tell he knows his stuff really well. The topic was about Text 1, controlling the Six Urges. He started a discussion that was aimed at seeing who is a qualified guru or who is advanced. He said in our movement there are so many misconceptions about whos a good guru or who is an advanced devotee. When he opened it up to discussion, i remembered a phrase VBD uses alot, and i said "in our movement, whoever gets the ghee lamp first is an advanced devotee, thats a misconception". My classmates thought that was pretty clever! thanks VBD! hahaha. So the point was that an advanced devotee or qualified guru is someone that can control these Six urges. They are eligible to make disciples. This was a great verse for me personally because i always come across people who think just because someone is a Prabhupada disciple, or someone is smart in sastra, is automatically, without looking at this person's life, is an advanced vaisnava. Don't get me wrong, i know many advanced devotees who are Prabhupada disciples, or who can quote sanskrit like its written on their hand, but that is not the qualifications Rupa Goswami gives in the first text. Now i can quote "Upadesamrita" to make a point.

In other unrelated, useless news, i got on AIM for the first time! It was around 7:30pm india time, and i chatted with Namai, Radhey, Gopal, Pragnesh, Pradyumna, and a few others. It was really awesome to err..read......their voices again. HAHA. Lots of people are coming here for Janmastami and Kartik, can't wait till you guys come!

Also we are now using our laptops to download our mail, so we can reply/read emails in our room, we dont have to be connected to the internet. So i encourage long emails, ill write back real long too!

OH yea i almost forgot, you probably all know, My dear dear friend Damodar who accompanied me here to India, is leaving. He's packing his stuff right now as i type this. I'm really sad to see him go but i am not letting it get me down at a time like this. He will feel my wrath when i get back to America in December. MUhhuahhahaha... later mata-g's and pravu-g's.

August 3rd, 2006

So Damodar left. A piece is definitely missing from me. I came back from class today and bought some mahaprasad. And I ate it sitting on the floor of our new room, alone. Thats when it really hit me that he was gone. I dont know what im gonna do. When he was here i felt safe. I think i was too dependent on him, now i will have to suffer for that. I was treating it like it was not going to affect me, as you can read from the last entry. boy was i dead wrong. Dont feel like writing more. haribol.

2006-07-31T06:21:00.000-04:00

Video from Vrindavan at Krishna Balaram Mandir

Haribol, this is the video I promised. It took awhile to upload, but you can most certainly kind of get the sense of what it was like.

Hariali Teej

2006-07-31T05:39:00.000-04:00

7/31/06

I am going to start this blog by saying that the reason I have not written in a while is multi-faceted. On one hand, not much blog-worthy has happened, and on the other hand, I just haven’t found time really to get to the internet in more than a week. So that’s that….now to the story. Friday, two days ago was our first real taste of chaos in Vrindavan, and from what I’ve heard, it was only a drop of nectar compared to the other festivals. I started suspecting something was happening Thursday night when I entered Aindra Prabhu’s kirtan, and the temple room was jam packed. The last time the temple room was close to that packed was around Guru-Purnima, but this was just a Thursday. I found out later that night that the next day, Friday, was jhulan and Bunkibihari Mandir. For those of you who don’t know this, Bunkibihari is by far the most popular deity in Vrindavan, so when they have jhulan, especially because there’s only one day of it there, many people will come. The next day, going into mangal aroti, the temple room was all decked out with nice leafy decorations. I also found out later that morning that this same day, the 3^rd day of Sravaan, was Hariali Teej, the day in which all the deities in Vrindavan would wear green. All the other temples also celebrate because of jhulan at Bunkibihari (not officially…but personally I think that’s why…..). The deities looked beautiful that morning, because the altars were adorned with many green leaves, and Krishna and Balaram literally looked like they were in a forest. Now fast-forward to later that night. I got back from class and entered Aindra’s kirtan. The scene I witnessed was something about ten times the scale of which I witnessed in my blog entry solely about Aindra kirtans (scroll down…). The temple room was packed, the courtyard was packed, and it felt like I was walking into some sort of big party. I could only think that if they celebrated a holiday I had never heard about before, what would they do for Janmastami? Anyways, I will try and upload a video Amul took with his camera on youtube. Later that night, around 9:30, we left for Bunkibihari. Vrindavan had been closed to cars the whole day, and there were a lot of cops all over town, It was actually pretty surprising to see…but they kept order. Arriving at Bunkibihari along with thousands, we swiftly moved into the temple room, and pushed our way right up front. Bunkibihari was right there, on a huge swing (it wasn’t swinging though), and they weren’t even closing the curtains (I don’t feel like explaining why they normally do…ask someone and you’ll find out….). As we were leaving the temple room, I turned around, and you could just see the thousands of people behind flooding in, and to think that this flow and been continuing the entire evening, probably since 6 PM or so, and to also think that it would go well beyond midnight was even more amazing. So that’s it for Hariali Teej, it was a pretty cool thing to see. Things I forgot to mention that also happened that day, Lokanath Swami showed up in Vrindavan, did mangal aroti on the Radhe- Shyam altar, led a rocking guru pooja, and gave a nice class. Also, Jhulan starts here this Saturday, so I’m sure I’ll have something to write about that. Until then….I’m out…..

Chaitanya

What's up...................

2006-07-22T02:45:00.000-04:00

What's up everyone, sorry for not writing in a while, but i don't get to the computer very much. Everything in Vrindavana is fine, the weather has gotten much more pleasant (I heard its really hot there). By the way... the best veggie burgers in the world are now found in Vrindavana, India. Its only a 14 hour flight plus 3 hour drive from new jersey, so look into it.
In other news, Damodar will unfortunately be leaving us, but you will be able to have his company for Janmastami. I believe he leaves August 4th. Well thats all for now. .........................
Chaitanya and Amul

p.s.: we love reading the comments.....keep them coming

Amul: VIHE

2006-07-19T03:48:00.000-04:00

this was written a few days back, its very nice weather today. I am getting accustomed to life here now. Time went by so fast, its already been 20 days!

Yesterday was Lokanatha Goswami (original one)'s Dissapearance day, so me and Damodar went to visit his Samadhi (Chaitan was religiously in Aindra's kirtan). Also Radha Gokulananda because they were his istadeva deities, it was very well decorated and nice bhajans and a rasa lila drama.

Then we went to Radha Ramana temple and Gopala Bhatta goswami's samadhi. I thought of VBD alot cuz of the whole VB GB connection, VBD if your reading this, Radha Raman looked so beautiful, i wish you were with me when i went! you were in my mind the whole time!

alright prabhus and matajis, enjoy the blog
-amul
********************************************************************************

I've got alot of requests to talk about our VIHE classes, so here it is, a description:

The VIHE building is located near the Goshalla, about 15 minutes walking distance from the Krishna Balaram temple. There are 2 classrooms, which are pretty nice. It gets quite hot sometimes during our late morning classes, but its bearable.

We have about 20 devotees in our class. They come from all over, there are devotees from Germany, Dubai, India, America, to name a few. They are all really nice and its fun to have such a variety of ages and backgrounds. Theres many youths, which makes the classes even more fun, because after class we hang out and joke around, its great!

Our teachers are really cool too. Adi Purusa prabhu (nicknamed "A.P." by me), is this really nice, peaceful bramhachari from Ukraine. He translated Srila Prabhupada's books into his language. Hes really into Tai chi and martial arts, he's super jacked, he gives Nishan a run for his money! He teaches Bhagavad Gita. At first I didnt really like his style of teaching, but now i understand why he does some things and I like it.

Prasanta Mataji is our Sri Isopanisad teacher. Shes from Italy or France, i forget which one. A funny thing about her is that she has an indian accent and a european accent at the same time! She's been in Vrindavan for a really long time, which gives her an indian accent when she speaks english (im sure she can speak hindi), but then she holds her mother language accent. Its really entertaining when her indian accent kicks in full power.

Phew, now that the description is over (sooo not my style, i like writing whatevers in my mind), i'll tell you whatsup around here.

Today we went to the Yamuna. It was a long overdue visit because when you first enter Vrindavan, one of the places your supposed to visit is the Yamuna, for blessings to really enter Vrindavan.

So, we took a boat to the other side and payed our obeisances and got in. We went with 2 classmates of ours, they are really nice. The Yamuna was so receded that the water only went up to our stomachs, no farther. I heard that when HH Indradyumna swami once went to take bath in Yamuna, right after he got in, the first two stones he picked up from the bottom were Shalagram Silas! I tried looking for stones but there was such a strong current that there was nothing on the bottom except mud. What i did find was an awesome piece of clay pot. It was awesome...?.......yea..............ahem. That reminds me of that Simpsons episode when Lisa's classmates are at an excavation site, and Ralph finds a "spear head" which is really his trough blade. HAHAHAHAHA, VBD and Gopal, you guys know what im talking about.

Alright, im sick of writing. I want to know whats going on over there! Current stuff at Towaco, or anything new in the US. A few people are writing to me but i wish more would!
later,
amul

ps. Haribol Mummy! your probably reading this at Krsangi's house, im doing okay, dont worry about me. And i will take a picture of Radha Syamasundar in their Night dress, dont worry.

pss. I forgot to mention i was sick for a day or two, vomiting, indigestion, fever etc. It wasn't that bad, i went to a doctor almost immediately and got some ayurvedic medicine. I am really watching what i eat. I sneak in some soan papri once and a while ;) MMMM…

Amul: a Pic

2006-07-16T03:40:00.000-04:00

Yamuna Boat ride, July 16, 2006

Akhanda Harinam Sankirtan....(I couldn't think of a title...Amul's Idea)

2006-07-16T03:04:00.000-04:00

7/12/06
I know this may be a shock to many people (Yes….I know this is a weird way to begin a blog…..), well, I am a big fan of Aindra Prabhu’s kirtans. Well I have been trying to avoid writing a blog purely about Aindra Prabhu’s kirtans for that one reason alone, none of you would take me seriously, but after several events (believe me, they’re worth reading about)…I just could not resist. The first few days we were here Aindra Prabhu’s kirtans were just as I expected, awesome. But for the past week, due to the advent of Guru-Purnima, Krishna Balaram Mandir has very busy for the last week. For those of you who do not know this, Aindra Prabhu starts singing between 6:30 and 6:40, and he goes until two or three minutes after the curtains have opened for Sandhya Aroti (7:05 on the temple room clock here). He usually cranks the kirtan up several times, and as I walked in at 6:43 today (I rush from class, I literally run), what I witnessed was an all out bhangra (I've never seen one before, but from what I've heard...) scene (Yes…you read that correctly B–H–A–N–G–R–A....it really is pretty crazy...). To top this off, the catalyst for this phenomena was what seemed like a 90 year old dude who was dancing like, well raving like…Nimai Patel (sorry Nimai….I don’t know any other dancers). Dancing has been slowly building up over the past few days, but it definitely reached another level today. Even the 24 hour kirtan devotees were laughing, I’m definitely gonna try and videotape it tomorrow. On a side note, the weather here is actually quite pleasant now, it rains for a short period of time, but the temperature stays much…much cooler. Alright…I’m out for now…..

The picture is from the Hathras program (see blog entry: Hathras)

Chaitanya

Amul: Entry 2

2006-07-11T05:54:00.001-04:00

yoo homies, yea yea i know its late, just be happy i got it up, this internet is so slow that i could do parikrama of goverdhan and come back and my yahoo still would have not loaded! HAHA. so this is a few days old, im not feeling homesick anymore. I am making alot of new friends and studying alot (yes gopal i am studying you punk) so thats taking up alot of time, no time to think of ma and pa..lol.

Its been raining the past 2 days and the temp. has gone down considerably, its awesome! there still is the constant smell of sewage everywhere from the overflooding gutters (mutter butter gutter paneer), but that doesnt really bother me. It says that the materialists see Vrindavan as a smelly dirty city with monkeys and hogs, but a devotee sees the real vrindavan as the eternal, spiritual place it actually is. I am trying..brb gotta go throw up..HAHAH J/k

I havent been attacked by monkeys for my glasses (yet) but i do have a funny story to tell, this one morning around 3 am i got up first and damo and chai were still sleeping. I keep my glasses under my bed, please dont ask why. So i ask damodar, "hey dam i dont think i can go to mangals today." right after i said that, i stepped on my glasses, full on! I WAS SOOO PISSED!!!!, i took it as Krishna telling me, "Amul go to mangals you slacker." its true that theres "instant karma" in vrindavan. i bent my glasses back and went to mangals.

We are eating prasadam at the temple, its very nice. We sometimes eat at govindas when we feel like spending money. I am very careful though, not to eat fried foods or fruits that have been out for a long time.

lastly, another funny thing that happened is that when it rained alot, the parking lot behind the temple got flooded, and from our room we have this great view of the parking lot. So the monkeys, they were doing somersaults off the roof and into the water!! it was the funniest thing, def. made my day.

enjoy the post
***********************************************************************************
Amul Sutaria
Entry 2

Feeling really homesick. Nimai Mahajan sent the link to the pics of the Sunday feast cooking, boy was I jealous! It was weird seeing those pictures and not finding myself in them, but at the same time, I felt like I was there while looking at them. I wish I could have been there with all my friends. I stay sane by reminding myself that one day I will be reunited with all of them.
Today was the Bhakti Shastri opening ceremony. There are students from all over. I made friends with this boy from Germany, he told me he spent time at the NYC Bhaktivedanta Ashram and how he loved it. He was naming all the bramhacharis there and I was like “Yea! I know him, I know him, and he’s so cool! Etc.” It was great to hear glorification of devotees that remind me of home.
Speaking of devotees I know, I can’t find any here. During the four years I was gone from Vrindavan, it completely changed. All the devotees I made friends with are scattered across the globe. There is only a handful that I remember and maybe a few that actually remember me. What a great feeling to come back somewhere expecting and hankering to meet old friends, and then finding one, who tells you how all the others left? That was sarcastic by the way.
I have been chanting 16 rounds for the past 2 days now. It really helps in keeping my mind occupied and peaceful. My dear friend and siksa guru, Kalpa Vrksa prabhu, gave me advice through Myspace and e-mail. Meditating on his words also helps me a great deal. [Paraphrased]: “Don’t get caught up in other people’s Maya and immerse yourself in studying the shastra. Wash your eyes and heart daily with Kirtan.” I am so grateful and so indebted to him for taking the time out to instruct me. I encourage all who are reading this to take his association. He’s truly a realized person.
My roommates and I are daily attending Aindra prabhu’s kirtan. They are not of this world. The way he sings, the way he gets others to chant, is so inspiring. The best is seeing the reaction of the Indian visitors who are just dumbfounded that this old white man from the Videsh can sing so well. The rupees that are thrown at his harmonium are proof of this.
Another realization I have been having is that 30 years ago, K.B. temple was mostly foreign devotees. If you watch the video of Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance, when the devotees take Srila Prabhupada around Vrindavan, you will see what I mean. And now, the only foreign devotees you will find are the old Prabhupada disciples and a handful of visitors. Then I noticed that not only in Vrindavan, but in America as well, the temples are attended and ran mostly by Indians. Just a thought that came to my mind, I don’t have a specific view on it.
Okay, I’m going to sleep, its getting late, gotta keep the Mangals streak going. If anyone is by chance near my parent’s house in Paramus, please visit them to see how they are doing, I would greatly appreciate it. Radhe Radhe.

Amul

Amul: 1/2 way post

2006-07-08T04:39:00.000-04:00

damnit, i know you guys are waiting for a new post but the computer Chai just uploaded my blog document is being used by someone, and i cant wait cuz its PARSHADUM time....so heres what i call a "half way" post.

i am sooo sorry i dont keep in contact with everyone by email. Its so hard to get on the internet because of our busy schedule:

we wake up for mangals, then japa, then greeting the dieties and gurupuja, then prasadam at 9, then class at 11-1pm, then studying/computer/chilling/wasting time, then class at 4-6, then aindra prabhus kirtan till 7, then more chanting/studying, then sleep time. Where is there a chance for walking to the cybercafe? (note: the chanting/studying time is not always that..;))

I know i know, there is time, but u all have to forgive me. With separation our relationships are growing stronger. I think about every one of you at some moment in the day, whether something sparked a memory or i just remember something funny for no reason. Ask damodar and chai, i start laughing sometimes out of the blue, and no its not cuz i am feeling ecstatic symptoms. LOL. RASIKA FOR LIFE ~!

okay my new post will come tommorow! look for it.
radhe radhe
amulio

ps. gimme a call on this cell fone we have, its free incoming calls, get the number from krsangi or n. mahajan!!!

Hathras

2006-07-08T04:13:00.000-04:00

7/8/06

Two days ago, Amul and I attended a home program in a town called Hathras. Hathras is approximately 30 kilometers from Vrindavan. In the USA, 30 kilometers by road takes maybe 15 or 20 minutes tops. Here in India it took us about two hours to get there, but I’ve already gone through driving in India (see “Driving in Delhi”) so I’ll just give you the highlights of the drive. The drivers decided to take a “shortcut”. The road for the shortcut is possibly the worst road I have ever seen. Its not that it wasn’t paved, but it was partially paved, so there was a thin strip of road in the middle surrounded by potholes varying in size from approximately 5-15 ft. Anyway, we got there, and it was the opening of the temple. Did I mention that this was a home program with Aindra Prabhu? Yes, we got to go on a home program with Aindra prabhu. We’ve made friends here with the 24 kirtan devotees, they’re all really cool, so they invited us to come on this program. Amul and I got to sit in the back of the Qualis (the standard SUV in India, made by Toyota…yes, I had never heard of it either) that Aindra Prabhu was riding in, sitting right behind him. Aindra Prabhu is one of the coolest devotees I think I have ever met. He is extremely humble, but he is not afraid to speak his mind one bit. On the way to Hathras, the back of our car was continuously making an obnoxious noise, and Aindra Prabhu did the most hilarious impression of it that I have ever seen. We were quietly cracking up for minutes after that.
After arriving in Hathras, we went right up into the temple (the program was actually a new temple opening), and Aindra Prabhu started singing. He sang in total for more than two hours. He sang every one of his signature tunes, including my beloved Vraja Vilas (Vol. 1. , Track 1, approximately 15:30 in, check it out, it’s a sick tune). This was by far the coolest program I have ever been to. I was also amazed to see all the Indians reaction to see this white devotee singing amazingly (as mentioned in Amul’s blog).
Since then, classes have started. They’re okay, but somewhat unbearable due to the extreme heat. Yesterday the electricity stopped working in the VIHE building, so we didn’t even have fans, I can tell you that it very very very very very very very (you got the point) hot. The word around Vrindavan is that rainy season is late this year, but everyone is anxiously awaiting its arrival. Well until next time, I’m out.

Chaitanya

"Time For Some LSD"

2006-07-08T04:10:00.000-04:00

7/4/06

The raj-bhoga cook at Krishna Balaram Mandir is a devotee by the name of Bhubaneshwar Prabhu. Bhubaneshwar Prabhu is a Prabhupada disciple, who for some reason or another (I wouldn’t have taken a liking to us) has taken a liking to us, and we have been to his room several times. He always has given us maha-prashad sweets, and he even made the dried fruit Amul brought into a sweet the very next day. We have also read Krishna book with him in his room, the story of King Shalva attacking Dwarka with his mystical airplane and dropping rocks and boulders on the city (It’s a good story, I would give it a read). Well today, he invited us into his room for lunch. Damodar and I went and picked up the Prasad with him (5 subjis, 2 rice preps.., dal, 3 or 4 sweets, chapattis, raita, pakora, and I think that’s about it, but I’m probably forgetting something) from the room right next to the altar. In Vrindavan, they offer 6 raj bhoga plates, and the Prasad for the three of us, came from one plate. In his room we divided it into three plates, and began to honor the prashad. Every single item was absolutely amazing, and on top of that, we were all stuffed when we finished. After we cleaned up, Bhubaneshwar prabhu told us that it was, “Time for some LSD.” After some confusing stares, he added, “left side down.” What I haven’t mentioned that it was extremely hot. The difference between heat in Vrindavan, and heat in America is staggering. In Vrindavan, when it gets hot, it is hot and humid all the time. Stepping outside is literally like stepping into an oven. And after eating so much, you could say sleep was something we were thinking about. This probably isn’t too significant to you, but to us, it was pretty funny. Classes start tomorrow, so I probably won’t write as much as I have been.

Chaitanya

Amul: First Post from Vrindavan

2006-07-04T01:45:00.000-04:00

Amul Sutaria
Vrindavan Days 2006

So, here we are, it’s been 3 days in Vraj and I am already missing my family and friends. Classes start tomorrow, so I am hoping that studying will take up a lot of my time. Because the less time to think about home the better.
We have this portable speaker system that Chai brought from home and it connects to our Ipods. The funny thing about that is that it’s not Aindra prabhu we listen to. As some of you may or may not know, a good amount of the NJ boys are completely obsessed with Aindra prabhu’s kirtans. Since Aindra is “right downstairs” as Damodar put it, we don’t listen to his tracks. On the other hand we listen to such tracks as Avatar studios P-sena Kirtans and Ragunandan’s CD. It’s amazing in the US we listen to Vrindavan kirtans and in Vrindavan we listen to US kirtans. A funny realization!
We all are chanting 16 rounds now (I still have a few left for today though). It’s great to be solely focused on sadhana. Hearing and chanting is not only something you do on the side anymore, it’s one of our main services now. I pray that I can keep it up in the USA when I get back.
Although everything with us is fine, a downside of KB temple is that there’s a whole lot of politics between devotees. I heard something like the new management is trying to kick out some bramhacharis or something like that. I don’t like to dabble in politics and such but I almost always get this bad vibe around certain devotees. More recently I have been keeping to myself and devotees I know very well. As my sister said, if you make offenses in the Dham, you’ll be “finished”.
Speaking of my sister, she wrote me a letter to read on the plane to India. I read this letter every day to remind me of why I am here in the Dham and what I should be doing. It definitely keeps me on track. I am thanking Radhe-Shyam everday for giving me a sister who’s definitely a modern day saint. Watch out Mother Urmila!
Radhey asked me to write something funny if anything like that came across. Well, across from the temple they play this Hare Krishna techno pop track that some devotees put out. No more “radhe radhe rato chale ainge bihari”. This new song is by far the most entertaining Hare Krishna techno I have ever heard. It sounds like something out of a disco-tek. It was such a hit amongst my roommates that Chai went and bought the CD. We plan on blasting it in NJ when we get back. Also big ups to all the Krishnautix fans out thurr too…ya’ll know who you are..HAHA.
Alright I gota go, if your thinking of coming to Vrindavan for Kartik (cough VBD cough) pleaasseee come, I need to see a familiar face! RADHE RADHE, im out.

The Real Vrindavan

2006-07-04T00:27:00.000-04:00

7/4/06 - happy fourth everyone...the posts as I promised, the older ones are farther down, make sure you blow up your fireworks (nimai....) ...keep in touch by email, its my gmail (same as my optonline, but with @gmai.com at the end instead)

After being sequestered in and around the ISKCON temple complex the first two days, today was the first day that I actually saw Vrindavan, in all of its glory. After doing darshan at mangala aroti, we immediately left to go on Vrindavan parikrama (to beat the heat). I immediately saw the Vrindavan I had heard about from so many people, read in so many places, and have wanted to see for a long time. What strikes you at first is how happy everyone is (there is no “drama for your mama” here). In Vrindavan, nobody says hello, how are you, or any of those useless phrases that we have become accustomed to. In Vrindavan, the phrase, I mean THE phrase is Radhe Radhe. Radhe Radhe can mean hello, watch out, or get out of the way (in the USA we generally use expletives for this). While walking through Vrindavan, besides the sounds of the horns, and Radhe Radhe, you hear bells and bhajans emanating from the many temples along the parikrama route. A prime case for this is the Jagannath temple in Vrindavan. Damodar told me that the deities were from Jagannath Puri, brought there after the deities were changed in Jagannath Puri (the deities are changed there every 12 years). Approaching this temple, from more than 500 feet away, one can hear constant bells ringing, and quite frankly, I thought it was an obnoxious recording. As we entered the Jagannath temple to take darshan, we saw that there was 7-8 people there ringing gongs with all their might on regular intervals…it was quite a sight. That is the real Vrindavan.

Chaitanya

The Market......Vrindavan Style

2006-07-04T00:26:00.000-04:00

7/3/06
Can you think of something you most direly need? Dhoti, kurta, sari, bead bag, tv, new dvd player, getting your old dvd player fixed, the list goes on and on and on and on……(you get the point). Well book your plane ticket to India, and car to Vrindavan, because Loi Bazaar is the place to go. I was surprised at what you could find here, in the middle of Vrindavan. On one hand I was looking at bicycle rickshaws, hand pushed carts which fruits were sold on, and then I go into the appliance store, and boom….23 inch flat screen tv’s playing the newest Indian music video or the ongoing cricket match. Vrindavan continues to amaze me, in the way that it is so, “old school”, yet here I am typing on a laptop, and I will be posting this on the blog tomorrow, in the internet café across from the temple. By the way…Aindra Prabhu’s kirtan today was once again unbelievable. Good Night…. 10:25 PM.

Chaitanya

Driving in Delhi

2006-07-04T00:22:00.000-04:00

7/2/06

After landing in Delhi, we were picked up and driven to the ISKCON temple (Very impressive. For those who have not experienced driving in Delhi, it is best described as absolute chaos with a high degree of organization. As much sense that makes (or doesn’t in this case), it is the best way to describe it. People randomly weave through lanes, cut people off, etc…, but everyone seems to go by the same rules, and well…it somehow works. Finding your way around is another story. Unless you have an extremely good understanding of the roads (our driver didn’t), you must constantly pull over and ask people. Sounds simple at first, but it gets much trickier. Some people give you good directions, while others…well how can I best put it…don’t. Because of this, you must make an immediate decision on whether to listen or not (any hesitation by the direction-giver, and you probably shouldn’t listen…for your own good). Amazingly we eventually arrived at all of our destinations (The key word here is eventually….) We even got pulled over once (I didn’t think it was possible considering the chaos…see earlier) Our driver made an illegal u-turn, I’ll admit I did see the no u-turn sign and we tried to mention it to him but…well…he did it any way. Driving to Vrindavan that night was an adventure as well, this same driver must have taken us in circles before we finally found our way out of Delhi. Did I mention he got a ticket when he was pulled over? (200 Rupees, he tried to bribe the officer, but he wouldn’t go for it. He might have anyway because he disappeared from view and came back.) Well that is just the tip of the iceberg about driving in Delhi, although I’m positive Ernest Hemingway himself could not do it justice.

Chaitanya

A Beginning

2006-07-03T11:41:00.000-04:00

Haribol,

I am getting kicked off the computer, but I promise big posts very soon....Haribol

Chaitanya

Today's the day!

2006-06-29T09:39:00.000-04:00

The day has finally come. After 3 months of waiting, fighting for Damodar to actually come, and preparation, we are going. Its unreal, i thought i would lose sleep worrying about stuff but i havent. I am unusually calm this time, weird.
When we get there we are meeting up with Damodar's dad, and we are going to hang out in New Delhi for the day. Damodar wants to go see the big ass swaminarayan temple, and also Chaitanya hasnt seen the iskcon temple so we are gonna see that. I have notified Annie about all this and hopefully she will accompany us while we tour Delhi. I gota finish packing, later! to all my friends and family, i will miss you all and you will be in my thoughts always.
with love,
amul
ps. big ups to Gopal for organzing the going away party, it really meant alot to me! and thanks to all the friends that came, you guys rule.

3 month count down

2006-03-27T11:23:00.000-05:00

hey everyone...this is the start of Damodar, Chai, and My blog. As some of you may or may not know, we are going to Vrindavan, india, in pursuit of our Bhakti Shastri Degrees. This will be our way of letting our fans know what we are up to ;)

Since Libras like to tell everyone what they are up to, i'll probably be on this more than Dam and Chai.

Chai got our tickets, we are leaving June 29th 2006.....so it begins.....

amul