Anuttama was joined by Dr. Michael Langone, the Executive Director of the International Cultic Studies Association. Both discussed potential problems of spiritual leadership and the means of avoiding abuse through training, accountability, and transparency. The official abstract of the panel is as follows: 

"It is an unpleasant fact, but religious and spiritual communities, despite all good intentions, are highly vulnerable to developing, or tolerating, cultures of manipulation, undue influence, and abuse by spiritual leaders. 

In this panel, a world expert on cultic behaviors, and a leader of a world-wide Hindu bhakti movement that suffered leaders who became isolated and then abusive, will discuss what years of research and practical experience have revealed: All communities are vulnerable to abusive and manipulative practices. 

More importantly, they will discuss what practical steps organizations, communities, members, practitioners, and leaders can--and should--take to ensure healthy social dynamics and interpersonal care." 

To watch the full video, please click below.

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Dharmakala Cooking Biscuits in RVC Temple devotee kitchen – 1984.

By Madhava Smullen

Dharmakala Dasi’s destiny seemed set from the start – she grew up with the smell of fresh baked bread and cookies lingering throughout her home.

“My parents had eight kids, so we didn’t really go out to eat – my mother just cooked constantly to feed us all,” she says. “So being around it all the time, I started cooking myself when I was a little kid. I baked my first brownies at the age of seven.”

But with all that good old-fashioned home cooking, Dharmakala never tasted anything quite like the Sunday Feast at the Hare Krishna temple in Ocean City, Maryland, in 1972 – “It was totally out of this world,” she says. And it was this that would lead to her cooking for Lord Krishna, and becoming synonymous with New Vrindaban’s celebrated history of prasadam baking.

First, though, she joined ISKCON in Ocean City, then moved to New York, where she was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1973. There, she began baking “Prabhupada cookies” and offered her first cake to the Lord, a huge multi-layered whipped mango affair for Radhastami.

In July 1974, Dharmakala decided to move to New Vrindaban, West Virginia, where she received second initiation the following year, and thereafter began cooking daily for the Deities for approximately the next fifteen years.

New Vrindaban, a remote, austere rural community, couldn’t have been more different from New York City. Dharmakala prepared the legendary 4pm offering of fried curd, milk sweets, cookies, cheesecake, and more using a wood oven and wood stove that had to be constantly stoked.

“There wasn’t anything electric at all at the Bahulaban kitchen – everything had to be done by hand,” she says. “The curd used in the cheesecake had to be kneaded out by hand to smooth it, as there were no blenders.”

The upside to the simple life was that all the dairy products were made from the milk of the sacred village’s protected cows, which was thick with cream. It was this cream that was separated from the milk and used in Dharmakala’s much coveted maha-prasadam condensed milk, or kheer, which was often served with peaches, strawberries and bananas.

“The feasts and Deity offerings in Bahulaban back then were so outrageously opulent you wouldn’t believe it,” Dharmakala says.

Until 1989 – during which the kitchen moved from Bahulaban to Radha Vrindabanchandra’s current temple – Dharmakala cooked full-time for the Deities and devotees.

As well as the 4pm offering, she also made popcorn, cereal, breadsticks and other snacks for the devotees in the afternoon, and cooked chapatis over gas flames on a large griddle for lunch.

“Together our team would do a thousand chapatis a day,” she says.

But over the years, Dharmakala became most famous for her baking.

In the mornings, she often baked bread for the devotees. On Sunday feasts and festivals, she would make orange cake, date nut bars, or apple and rhubarb strawberry crisp for 800 people, sending huge trays to locations all over the community.

And nothing was ever half-baked – if you’ll pardon the pun – with Dharmakala.

“Whatever I did, I would do to the best of my ability,” she says. “For instance, instead of just making normal sugar cookies for the 4pm offering, I’d make coconut walnut squares or sandwich cookies. That would be two Prabhupada cookies with a filling of fresh strawberry jam and an icing glaze on top.”

Dharmakala worked very hard, often spending eleven-hour days from 10am to nearly 9pm in the kitchen, with no days off.

“I remember being eight-and-a-half months pregnant with my daughter Dinataruni one Thanksgiving, and baking as many pumpkins as I could for pumpkin pie well into the night, because we didn’t have any canned pumpkin,” she says. “The next morning, I went in, made the crusts, and finished up ten trays of pie with fresh whipped cream on top. All while I was about to pop!”

But for Dharmakala, the memories are good, full of the kind of loving exchanges between godbrothers and godsisters that Srila Pabhupada formed ISKCON to facilitate.

“Kuladri’s wife Kutila taught me how to make milk sweets; Prabhupada’s servant Nanda Kumar oversaw the kitchen; and Hari-Kirtana, Vraja Kumari and Gita from Canada were my chapati crew,” she says. “Everybody was working together, and it was such good teamwork and camaraderie. It was devotional service for us, and we just wanted to make a nice lunch for Krishna. You just had that intention that it was going to turn out great, and it always did.”

After 1989, Dharmakala stopped serving full-time at the temple kitchen, but continued to make cakes for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and other celebrations held in New Vrindaban, a service she offers to this day.

“I make chocolate, carob, and vanilla cakes, carrot cakes, and more,” she says. “Whatever people want. I always use organic, non-GMO ingredients. I use organic flour, demerrara sugar or Sucanat, and for vegan cakes, I make my own soymilk from organic soybeans.”

In 1995, Dharmakala started her own company, “World’s Best Cookie,” selling to health food stores and coffee shops along the East Coast. Her products include raisin, chocolate-chip, carob-chip, and pumpkin-spice oatmeal cookies, along with wheat-free raisin and chocholate-chip options, and an energy cookie.

So far, she has made 500,000 of these, all by hand, in pink ovens decorated with hearts and the inscription “Baked with the intention of love,” at her bakery on the ECO-V farm. What’s more, each and every cookie is offered to Srila Prabhupada, whose murti oversees the bakery from his vyasasana. He reminds Dharmakala of a special loving moment.

“I remember that when Prabhupada visited New Vrindaban in 1976, he was giving out cookies in the tiny Bahulaban temple room,” she says. “It was absolutely packed with devotees, and I was eight months pregnant with my son Suddha Sattva and afraid that I’d get pushed or shoved. So I hid in a corner to the side of his vyasasana, and just held out my hand, and he gave me a cookie. I put it in my beadbag, then held out my hand again, and he gave me another cookie. And again, and again. I left with six cookies!”

Today, after decades of service cooking for the Lord and his devotees and raising her five children, Dharmakala is still living in New Vrindaban. And just as it did back in the ‘70s, it’s the camaraderie and devotee association that keeps her there.

“My friends are the reason,” she says. “We all built this place together. So we’re like family.”

And when asked what advice she has for the next wave of New Vrindaban residents, Dharmakala suggests trying out the simplicity that made those early days special.

“Turn off the electric, get away from your computer, and see what you can manifest,” she says. “And, in the kitchen as well as in life, work from your heart!”

Dharmakala’s Coconut Walnut Squares

“I love this recipe because it’s super rich and opulent. It has been a favorite at New Vrindaban for years, since I used to make it in the Deity kitchen for the pleasure of Sri Sri Radha Vrindabanchandra.”

Makes 18 squares.

Ingredients:

1st layer:
1 cup of butter (melted)
½ cup of brown sugar
2 ½ cups of flour

2nd layer:
1/3 cup of yogurt
2 cups of brown sugar
¼ cup of flour
1 cup of shredded coconut
1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
½ cup of chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of grated lemon rind
½ teaspoon of salt

Glaze (optional):
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of butter (melted)
3 tablespoons of lemon juice.

Directions:

To make the first layer, mix the ingredients together and press firmly into a 9 x 12 inch baking tray.

Before putting the first layer into the pan, make sure the inside of the tray is lightly greased with butter (or vegetable oil). Next, sprinkle a small amount of flour over the butter (or use parchment paper). This will help minimize sticking.

Bake the first layer for approximately 10 minutes at 400 F. Remove from the oven and and cool slightly.

To make the second layer, mix all ingredients and spread over top of the first layer.

Bake at 350 F for around 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Remove tray from oven and allow to cool.

For the glaze, combine ingredients together, stir until smooth and drizzle over the entire tray.

Finally, cut into 18 good-sized squares, offer and serve.

Bhakti primarily has two components. One is aversion or natural disliking towards materialistic enjoyment such as pleasures related to the body/mind such as entertainment, family, employment etc. The other component is the cultivation of taste (rasa) towards spiritual activities such as chanting, reading, and listening about Krishna. 

A talk by Giriraj Swami, November 22, 2004, Dallas

Today is the disappearance day of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, a great devotee–maha-bhagavata. He was a disciple of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and was very renounced. Earlier, he had lived for many years in Vrndavana, roaming the twelve forests, chanting the holy names of Krsna, eating by begging alms, and sleeping under the trees. Later, after Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura discovered Lord Caitanya’s birthplace in Mayapur, Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, the siksa-guru of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and parama-guru of Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, instructed Gaurakisora to move to Navadvipa-dhama.

There Gaurakisora resided on the banks of the Ganges and practiced devotional service with intense devotion and renunciation. Because materialistic men would come and disturb him with their desires for mundane blessings (asirvada), the babaji began to stay by a municipal lavatory, where the filth and obnoxious smells would discourage unwanted visitors. There he would chant in peace–in ecstasy. He would beg alms and cook in discarded clay pots, or simply eat parched rice with green chilies, or sometimes just put Ganges mud into his belly. Sometimes he would collect the discarded cloth from the crematorium, wash it in Ganges water, and use it to cover himself. His only desire was to be absorbed in the mellow of the holy name–in Krsna consciousness.

So, Gaurakisora was a siksa disciple and intimate friend of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The Thakura arranged a bhajana-kutira for him on the same property as Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house in Godruma-dvipa. When the time came for Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to take diksa, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura advised him to approach Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was the father of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and his first instructor in the spiritual science, but the etiquette was that one would not take diksa from one’s biological father. So Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura sent him to Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was highly literate. By the age of seven he had memorized the entire Bhagavad-gita and could even explain its verses. He had a photographic memory, and in school he read all the books in the entire library. Just by reading them once he could remember every word, and so the library had to buy new books just for him. By the age of twenty-five he had written numerous articles and published one book, Surya-siddhanta, for which he was awarded the title “Siddhanta Sarasvati.” So he was highly educated and literate, and Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja was hardly educated or literate at all.

The first time Siddhanta Sarasvati approached Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, the babaji refused to accept him. He didn’t directly say no, but he said, “I will ask Mahaprabhu.” When Siddhanta Sarasvati returned and told his father what had happened, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura encouraged him to persevere. “You must go back and beg him with all humility and earnestness to accept you.” So he went back, and Gaurakisora dasa Babaji again refused, saying, “Oh, I forgot to ask Mahaprabhu. I am so sorry.” So again he avoided him. When Siddhanta Sarasvati returned home, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was most upset. He knew that Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was a pure devotee, a maha-bhagavata, and he urged Siddhanta Sarasvati to persist. So he again instructed his son to beg Gaurakisora for his mercy, and he added, “If you fail this time, don’t bother to come back home.”

So Siddhanta Sarasvati left the house and went to the Ganges. He felt so hopeless he thought he might just as well just drown himself in the river. Just then Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja appeared; he knew what was in his future disciple’s heart. Siddhanta Sarasvati just threw himself at the lotus feet of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji in abject humility and complete surrender. Finally, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji accepted him. Siddhanta Sarasvati had shown that he was free any tinge of false pride, that “I am so learned and literate, and my guru is an uneducated fellow.”

Srila Prabhupada remarked that Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was illiterate and could not even sign his name, yet he became the spiritual master of the best scholar of his time, Sarasvati Thakura. And thus he proved the statement of the Vedas:

yasya deve para bhaktir

yatha deve tatha gurau

tasyaite kathita hy arthah

prakasante mahatmanah

“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23)

Although Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was hardly educated or literate, learned scholars and public servants would approach him with their questions on Srimad-Bhagvatam and other sastras, and with his realized knowledge he would answer their questions to their full satisfaction. And sometimes devotees would read various scriptures for him, and he would comment on them from his deep spiritual realization.

Still, out of his great humility Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja refused to accept any disciples, and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura proved to be the only exception.

Gaurakisora dasa Babaji enjoined Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati never to go to Calcutta, which he considered “a bastion of Kali-yuga.” So Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati remained in Mayapur. In 1905 he took a vow to chant the Hare Krsna mantra a billion times. Residing in a grass hut near the birthplace of Lord Caitanya, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati chanted the Hare Krsna mantra day and night. He cooked rice once a day in an earthen pot (or just parched the rice in the sun) and ate nothing more. He slept on the ground, and when the rainwater leaked through the grass ceiling he sat beneath an umbrella chanting. Locked in a small room, he chanted japa day and night, day after day, month after month, year after year. Finally, when he had completed his quota, he felt that he was ready to come out and preach. And to preach he went to Calcutta.

In a talk at the Ardha-kumbha-mela in Allahabad, Srila Prabhupada raised the point that Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji had instructed Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati never to go to Calcutta, but that everyone knows that he went to Calcutta. So, Srila Prabhupada questioned, did he disobey the orders of his spiritual master? And Srila Prabhupada replied, “No! He was never in Calcutta; he was always in Vaikuntha!”

So, we pray to Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji:

namo gaura-kisoraya

saksad-vairagya-murtaye

vipralambha-rasambodhe

padambhujaya te namah

He is saksad-vairagya-murtaye, the personification of renunciation (vairagya). And vipralambha-rasambodhe: he is always merged in the ocean of the mellow of separation from Krsna (vipralambha-rasa). Padambhujaya te namah: “I offer my respectful obeisances unto his lotus feet.”

So, that was the mood of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja: he was always merged in that nectarean ocean of devotion in separation, and he had no care for his body or for anything material–just hari-nama.

He wrote a beautiful song that is completely in the mood of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami. It is said that of the six Gosvamis Raghunatha dasa was the most attached to the service of Srimati Radharani–that he had the most intense desire to serve Srimati Radharani–and Gaurakisora dasa Babaji wrote a beautiful song completely in that mood. It begins, and the refrain is: kotai gaura premamayi/ radhe radhe radhe radhe. He prays, “Where is Gaura, so full of love? Radhe, Radhe, Radhe, Radhe!” Then he proceeds to express the mood of Raghunatha dasa Gosvami in separation from Radharani, desiring and aspiring for Her service.

When Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja left his this world, there was some dispute over what would happen to his body. His samadhi would of course become an important place of pilgrimage, and some of the heads of the local Vaisnava centers saw this as an opportunity to raise money–for their mathas and even for their own sense gratification. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati ran to the site, but when he arrived, some of the local babajis objected: “He is not a sannyasi; how can he give samadhi to such an exalted and renounced personality?” But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati responded forcefully: “I am the only disciple of Babaji Maharaja, and although I have not accepted sannyasa, I am a celibate brahmacari, not secretly addicted to abominable habits or involved with illicit activities. Who among you can say that in the last year you have had no sex or illicit contact with a woman? Please step forward.” Everyone was silent. Then he challenged, “Who has refrained for the last six months?” Everyone was silent. Next, “For the last three months?” Again, silence. “For the last one month?” Silence. “The last three days?” Still, silence. They had been exposed and humbled. Not one of the babajis was fit even to touch the transcendental form of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, and one by one they walked away.

Even then, there was still some question about how to handle the body, which was still lying on the ground. When he was still present, out of his great humility Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja had instructed that when he departed, his body should be dragged through the streets of Navadvipa so that his body would be bathed in the dust from the feet of the Vaisnavas who had walked the holy ground of the dhama. So some of the townspeople proposed to take the body and drag it through the streets of Navadvipa. Such fools! Such rascals! But Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura stopped them. “Although we are fools and offenders,” he said, “still we can try to understand the true meaning of Babaji Maharaja’s humble request. After the departure of Thakura Haridasa, Lord Caitanya Himself took the spiritually blissful body of the Thakura on His lap and danced. So following in divine example of Mahaprabhu, let us also bear Babaji Maharaja’s blissful body on our own heads.”

So Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati took charge of the body and placed it in samadhi on the western side of the Ganges, the other side of the Ganges from Mayapur. In time the course of the Ganges changed and its waters threatened the area of the samadhi. So Srila Bhaktisiddhanta brought the samadhi to Mayapur, to his matha. There he had created a replica of Vrndavana with tamala trees and kadamba trees, with Syama-kunda and Radha-kunda, and with a small Govardhana Hill made of govardhana-silas. Most appropriately, he placed the new samadhi by the side of Radha-kunda, and that is where the transcendental remains of Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji rest till today. And one can go there and pray to him and feel his presence and get his mercy.

Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja is an ocean of mercy. (All pure Vaisnavas are.) For myself, I pray that he will help me to chant the holy name, to chant with taste. When I prayed to him earlier–and this may just be my speculation–I imagined that he said, “You must give up your offenses.” Then I was thinking, “What offenses? What offenses?” And then I imagined that he answered, “You must chant with attention.”

Of course, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura does state that inattentive chanting is the root of all other offenses and that, to the contrary, attentive chanting will destroy all the other offenses. So, “Yes, but how do I do that?” And the answer came: “You must try. You just have to make the effort.” And I suppose that is always the process–that we make our honest effort and depend on the mercy of the previous acaryas and Krsna.

In my case, however, my chanting sometimes becomes such a routine that I do not even make the effort to hear every word or every mantra. Just do it. I just go through the motions. So I guess that is my challenge–my special order–to chant with attention.

Of course, devotees have raised the question of chanting with quality. On a morning walk a disciple asked Srila Prabhupada, “How can we chant with quality?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “The quality will come. For now just chant as a matter of duty; chant your sixteen rounds. When the quality comes, there will be no force. You will have taste, and spontaneously you will desire, ‘Why sixteen rounds? Why not sixteen thousand rounds?’ Rupa Gosvami desired, ‘How shall I chant with one tongue and hear with two ears? Had I billions of tongues and trillions of ears, then I could enjoy it.’” Srila Prabhupada said that quality means asakti, attachment, and that Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed that quality: “Sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda virahena me: ‘Oh, I do not see Govinda. The whole world is vacant.’ Sunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda virahena me. This is quality,” Srila Prabhupada said. When one feels viraha-bhava, when one feels separation from Radha and Krsna, one is chanting with quality.

In any case, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji is an ocean of mercy, and we pray for his grace.

Hare Krsna.

[A talk by Giriraj Swami, November 22, 2004, Dallas]

By Urmila Devi Dasi

On a visit to schools for the deaf, Hare Krishna devotees find more evidence that bhakti-yoga is for everyone.

It’s easy to imagine being blind. A simple close of the eyelids in a somewhat dark place or a walk through an unlit room at night, and we can empathize with those who cannot see. Making oneself temporarily deaf, however, is almost impossible. First of all, it’s hard to completely seal the entrance to the ears. Putting our hands over our ears or using earplugs blocks only a portion of the sound. Secondly, much sound is transmitted through the bones of our skull, bypassing the ear. A hearing person’s empathy with the deaf is, therefore, limited.

My interest in the deaf world was perhaps different from that of most hearing people. The basis of bhaktiyoga as taught in the Hare Krishna movement is to hear and chant the Lord’s name and glories. How could the deaf and mute do either? One day I got to discover the answers and to explore that silent world. I visited four schools for the deaf in Indore, India, to teach the children about Lord Krishna.

“Is this the right train? Which car?”

The four of us walked through the train and finally reached a nonsleeper car and took out our breakfast. The city of Ujjain, which we were leaving, quickly zoomed past the windows.

The other residents of the car stared at us. We were the only ones wearing dhotis and saris and displaying clay tilaka marks on our forehead, indicating that we are devotees of Krishna. Three of us also had fair skin, which usually draws some stares in India. But it was not our outward appearance that was most unusual. It was the way we were communicating in silence.

The gestures that normally complement speech had become the entire medium. One member of our group, Dayal Gauranga Dasa, has been profoundly deaf since his birth in an Indian family in the United Kingdom. Prema Pradipa Dasa, from Spain, was there as his interpreter. Kesava Bharati Dasa and I were accompanying them. We were traveling to the schools as guest “speakers.” What form would our teaching about bhakti take with the deaf children we were about to visit?

Dayal Gauranga and Prema Pradipa had recently become initiated disciples of Bhakti Caru Swami. They have been bringing spiritual life to deaf people in England for many years (see Back to Godhead 28/2, 1994, Project Profile). I tried, with a little success, to communicate directly with Dayal Gauranga, and I often had to enlist Prema Pradipa’s help.

The Plight of India’s Deaf

After about two hours of travel, Gyanendra Puroit, the head of one school, picked us up at the train station. He explained that India has the second-largest deaf community in the world, but few receive training in sign language or are given a chance to earn a livelihood. In fact, only about ten percent of the Indian deaf receive any specialized education at all. This was one of a few schools that teach children and adolescents the skills they need for the world. Gyanendra Puroit wanted our help in giving them a rich spiritual life as well.

Mostly boys filled the room. Their attractive appearance, bright eyes, and intensely eager expressions caught my attention. Many of these students had to live at the school. I was the first to speak, with the principal translating my words into sign language.

As I often travel in countries where English is not the native language, I am accustomed to giving translated lectures and presentations. Some translations are simultaneous, which requires great skill on the translator’s part. Usually translators prefer to work with phrases or very short sentences, where the speaker says a little and then they translate. To teach in such circumstances one has to keep track of one’s thoughts while frequently pausing and breaking up ideas into little “bits.” When classes have to be translated, I try to arrange the room so that people can see the body language of both the translator and me, since body language makes up about seventy percent of communication. Naturally, these students couldn’t hear my tone of voice, which is about twenty-three percent of how we understand each another’s meaning. But at least, I thought, let them see my facial expressions and gestures. Thinking in this way, I sat very close to the translator.

Fixed on the Translator

I was in for a surprise. How little I had carefully thought about the world of the deaf! All their attention had to focus on the translator because they had to read his signs, which looked to me like a blur of motion. Not for a moment could they divert even the smallest percentage of their concentration to me.

I spoke about how we are not this body. Each of us is a soul who has our original spiritual body with spiritual senses. Our bodily covering restricts our natural ability to see, hear, and so forth. In the human body, however, the soul has the special facility of awakening the true spiritual nature, just as eagles have special abilities to see, and dogs extraordinary smell. Although the deaf’s practice of bhakti-yoga would be tailored to their bodily restrictions, I explained, Krishna is independent and can fully reveal Himself to anyone who approaches Him with love, regardless of their bodily situation. I kept thinking how exhilarating it must be for these young people even to theoretically understand that their real identity has nothing to do with their temporary body.

Next, I described how wonderful Lord Krishna is His opulences, nature, and activities. And I explained how to link ourselves with Krishna through bhakti, the yoga of love and devotion. Thinking that chanting the Lord’s name would be too difficult for them, I concentrated my presentation on some of the other aspects of bhakti, especially remembering the Lord, worshiping Him, and serving Him.

The students practically jumped up to ask questions, signing so rapidly they seemed to explode with eagerness.

“Please tell us stories about Krishna!” they asked again and again.

I told story after story, and their joy brightened the room. Some asked detailed philosophical questions. I was impressed with their broad intelligence and their thirst for spiritual knowledge.

A Comrade “Speaks”

Finally Dayal Gauranga “spoke.” Although vastly different forms of sign language are used in different countries, he has mastered several of them and knows universal forms he can use in many places. Sometimes the principal had to assist him with the particulars of the Indian system, but mostly he could sign to the students directly.

How happy they were! Here was one of their own, someone who understood them and who has seriously and joyfully taken up a spiritual practice normally based mostly on sound. As Dayal Gauranga signed his presentation, Prema Pradipa translated the signs into spoken English for Kesava Bharati and me. We lived as much outside their visual exchange as they lived outside our verbal one.

Then another surprise: Dayal Gauranga had them rise at the end and chant the Hare Krishna mantra with him. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. He did this by having a specific sign for each of the three words: Hare, Krishna, and Rama. Over and over again all “chanted” the mantra with their hands and eyes. Usually such group chanting, kirtana, is a loud yet sweet mixing of voices and instruments connecting with the Supreme Lord as He manifests through sound. But in this kirtana, there were no drums, no cymbals, and no melodious harmonium. In fact, there was no sound at all. Yet the Lord, present in His name, was palpably there in that assembly.

We next spent time at three other schools, two of which had children with more severe difficulties than the first. One school catered to the very poor, and another to a mix of deaf and blind children. Our guide told me how much the fourteen million deaf in India value picture books and how his students long to read such books, in English, about how wonderful Lord Krishna is.

Deaf Chanting

On the train back to Ujjain, I asked Dayal Gauranga to explain how he chants the Hare Krishna mantra for his vow as a disciple. When ISKCON members become disciples of a guru, they promise to abstain from illicit sex, intoxication, gambling, and meateating. They also vow to chant the Hare Krishna mantra on each of 108 beads, going around the beads at least sixteen times a day.

Dayal Gauranga has four methods of chanting, and he alternates between them to keep his mind focused. The first is that he visualizes the hand gestures for each word of the mantra. The second is that he visualizes the printed words of the mantra. Third is visualizing the form of the Lord as the worshipable deity. “Hare” is Radharani, and “Krishna” and “Rama” are Krishna. His fourth method is to form the words with his mouth and focus on the feel of his mouth for each word.

When I tried his methods, I found myself automatically also verbalizing the sounds of the mantra, either out loud or in my mind. It was very difficult to only meditate on the visual or the feeling without the sound. It was also very slow.

“At first,” Dayal Gauranga signed, “it took me at least a half hour to finish one round of 108 beads.”

Hearing persons usually take between five and seven minutes to do the same.

“After many years, with increased practice and concentration, I was able to reduce the time to twenty minutes for a round. Several years later, I got it to fifteen minutes, which is how long it takes me now.” Because of his uncommon situation, his vow is for a minimum of four rounds a day, though he keeps trying to chant more.

Hearing people might feel that these methods of mantra meditation are, in a technical sense, not really chanting and hearing. But surely Krishna, who understands all languages and can hear with any of His senses accepts service sincerely offered according to one’s capacity. One can also observe practically that deaf persons who take up such chanting are becoming purified and spiritually enlivened.

We might often feel that, while we want spiritual life, the practices are too arduous. Yet here was someone who had reason for excuses but made none. His face shone with the happiness of his dedication to his desire to help deaf people find deep spiritual satisfaction. He is fortunate to have the love of his brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, all gentle and dedicated devotees of Krishna. He also has support from the Hare Krishna temple outside London, Bhaktivedanta Manor.

Generally, though, few hearing people know of the profound desire many of the deaf have for answers to life’s problems on the spiritual level. As Krishna has shown me countless times in various ways, it is often the people who seem to have less than I who actually possess much more.

Source...http://backtogodhead.in/?s=Silent+Sounds

November 22nd, 2015

 Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu is always free from politics and institutional bashing or promotion. Just simply nectarean Krishna Katha! 

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Srila Prabhupada praise His Guru Maharaja, the exalted Srila Gaura Kishora dasa babaji

excerpted from: Srila Prabhupada Lectures : Bhagavad-gita 4.24-34 — New York, August 12, 1966

Indian: Because if we go wholeheartedly to God without proper understanding, there is also a flaw.

Srila Prabhupāda: No. There is no question of understanding. Suppose this process… Just like Kṛṣṇa says, bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate: [Bg. 7.19] “After many, many births of culture of knowledge, the person who has come to the highest point of knowledge, he surrenders unto Me.” So similarly, if any person without any knowledge, if he surrenders only to Kṛṣṇa, he acquires all the knowledge. He has surpassed all stages. He has surpassed all stages. And that is also confirmed. If you say, “How he has gone, surpassed all stage?” That answer in Bhagavad-gītā you find,

teṣām evānukampārtham
aham ajñāna-jaṁ tamaḥ
nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho
jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā
[Bg. 10.11]

Teṣām: “Because he is a devotee, just to give, just to show him a special favor,” teṣām evānukampārtham, “simply for showing a special favor, I Myself, from within, I light up the knowledge, I mean to say, searchlight, and he becomes…”

And you will be surprised that my Guru Mahārāja’s spiritual master was Gaura Kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja. He was completely illiterate. He did not know how to sign, and my spiritual master was the most learned man of his age. He accepted that guru who was completely illiterate. But when he would speak, that Gaura Kiśora dāsa Bābājī Mahārāja, he would speak with all Vedic references. And you will find in the Veda that:

yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
[ŚU 6.23]

So the spiritual knowledge becomes revealed. It is not subjected to any material acquisition. It is not subjected to any material acquisition of knowledge. It becomes revealed. How? Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau. One who has a staunch faith in the Supreme Lord and staunch faith in the personality of his spiritual master, bona fide, then he gets all the things revealed in himself. Spiritual things are not just like material things.

So according to Bhagavad-gītā, sarva-guhyatamam, the Lord says that “The most confidential part of knowledge I am speaking to you, my dear Arjuna, because you are My very dear friend, that sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja [Bg. 18.66].” So one who has the conception of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and has surrendered unto Him, he is considered to be highest, topmost spiritualist.
Indian: What is the importance of prasādam? Importance of prasādam?
Srila Prabhupāda: Prasāda? Prasāda means mercy. Mercy. Prasāda means prakṛṣṭa-rūpeṇa sīdati. That is prasāda means completely satisfied.
Indian: At the end of this, you will give us some prasāda. What is the importance of that prasāda?

Srila Prabhupāda: Oh, that. Yes. Prasāda. Very good. That prasāda is Kṛṣṇa’s favor. Kṛṣṇa’s special favor. That is prasāda. Prasāde sarva-duḥkhānāṁ hānir asyopajāyate. If we simply eat Kṛṣṇa prasāda, without any culture, we can get spiritual knowledge. All right. Let us have saṅkīrtana. (end

Srila Prabhupada Lectures : Bhagavad-gita 4.24-34 — New York, August 12, 1966

Source...http://theharekrishnamovement.org/2015/11/21/disappearance-of-srila-gaura-kishora-dasa-babaji/

By Tamoharadasa

I have seen time and again how devotees who have undergone brahmacari training, and who later take up the reins of householder life, enter the workplace with skills far above those of the average man or woman. It is not that the skills and mentality of the devotional training have no value in the work theatre. On the contrary, the training as given by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada raises the devotee to a level above that of others.

The first thing that a brahmacari must do is exercise self-discipline, as according to the Iskcon temple standards. They must rise early, even though the mind may prefer to stay down for the count. This is no easy matter, especially for teenagers or younger people. They thus learn to rise to the ocassion, to do the needful, even if it initially is unpleasant They learn to stave off sense gratification for the sake of a higher goal. The brahmacari thus learns that some things are worth sacrificing for, and this becomes part of his or her mind-set.

Even in regards to a simpler matter, the mind also learns internal time-keeping, such that, even without an alarm, after a while, many automatically rise at just the right time. They learn this skill from our scheduled Iskcon activities.

The brahmacari learns to appreciate the value of putting first and foremost attention on matters of the spirit, and thus the values are properly aligned. In later years, this translates into the ability to seperate things which are important from those which can wait, or should be neglected. This disciminatory ability serves the devotee well in all walks of life, and establishes the devotees as men of higher values.

One learns to clear the mind and to focus on transcendental matters, and to thus be attentive; skills necessary for success in any program of studies or field of work. These skills are derived from paying attention in class, and staying attentive for the full morning program, all for the sake of developing bhakti. One further learns to direct the mind towards the goals of the day, a valuable lesson for anyone, and a skill often hard to attain for those with no such training. Many persons in the work world complain that their minds wander, or that their values become lost in the competitive marketplace.

Self-sacrifice for the cause instills virtue and honesty. Without these, a man cannot be said to have any good character, whether here or in the marketplace. Dedicated people find themselves ahead in the competitions of life. As well, the renunciant learns not to be envious of others’ so-called wealth. Thus, the individual becomes a loyal and dedicated employee, or manager, who is honest and self-motivated.

Devotees learn to memorize and improve their reading skills. In university, should they go to that, or in any competitive marketplace, knowledge and the ability to remember and to read with a discerning eye, are essentials. Sorting out the chaff from the grain is also important.

The brahmacari learns how to control the genitals and the urges of ego by dint of a higher knowledge and taste. This benefits society in general, and elevates the practitioner to that of the wise and self-controlled. Such a person is unlikely to get in trouble with the law over sexual criminality or become addiced to anti-social sexual activities.

The high standards of cleanliness are unsurpassed. This cleanliness goes a long way in the world, and is respected by others.

The brahmacari learns how to get along with others, how to be merciful, how to be organized, how to be humble, how to serve others, how to have faith and devotion to Godhead…the list goes on and on. I hope that others may have some attributes to add to this short list.

Brahmacaris learn to tolerate, sleeping on floors, having only a few necessary clothings and possessions, etc. This austerity means that they can be happy anywhere, despite material circumstances. They learn a higher taste that will carry them through many of the difficulties that the world tosses out to us. The brahmacari learns a transcendental set of values that are not dependent upon material circumstances, and thus the individual becomes steady even in the face of some adversity.

Thus, certainly there is no loss or diminution as a result of bhakti yoga practice as a youth. On the contrary, valuable mental skills and standards are learned which will never leave the individual, but will be helpful even in grhasta life.

Hare Krsna.

All Glories to the Brahmacaris! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Source...http://m.dandavats.com/?p=17064

Of course, today, India is a conglomeration of various thoughts, and culture. Still, I feel there are places all over the country with edifices so old no one can estimate its origins. When people visit India as a tourist spot, they approach India from a 21st century mindset coupled with their time frame. If a westerner visits India, he or she is used to the biblical time frame which at the most is 6000 years old or so and within that time relevance experience India. If one is a rational thinker he or she visits India withe a modern vs non-modern perspective about India. All of these lenses may infuse certain relative truths about the country, however, the real India is not modern or non-modern or 6000 years old, it is actually a timeless piece of history like walking into a vast museum where we can see artifacts from a timeless age. The buildings, practices, values, rituals, sentiments, emotions all of it stem from that timeless age. Unless a visitor to India has this vision of a timelessness, he or she cannot and will not appreciate the real and true Indian culture.

Even to this day, parts of India has this timeless culture rooted in its spiritual values. People still glorify and desire to have a leader like Lord Ramachandra, From North to South, Lord Ram and His transcendental companions are glorified and worshipped. According to Vayu Purana and Matsya Purana, it is mentioned that Lord Rama appeared in Treta yuga of the 24th Manu cycle, which translates to about 18 million years before today. According to modern science, 18 million years ago  there was no human beings as we know today and yet Lord Rama ruled over a vast kingdom with human subjects.

So if we really want to appreciate the "Real India", then we have to approach it in this timeless manner. In doing so, the land will speak to you and embrace you as its own!

Hare Krishna

Source...http://servantoftheservant-ananda.blogspot.in/2015/11/the-real-india.html

Read Biography of Srila Gaura Kisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja on www.gaudiyahistory.com
Bhajan by Srila Gaura Kisora Dasa Babaji Maharaja on www.vaishnavsongs.com 

Read more about Utthana Ekadasi on www.harekrishnacalendar.com
View recipes for Ekadasi on www.totalveg.com

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

This is going to be the last detailed health update on Mukunda Goswami in this
forum.

Thanks to all your prayers and good wishes, Mukunda Goswami is making a slow
but steady recovery from his two surgeries.

On November 6, Mukunda Maharaja was transferred from Gold Coast University
hospital to the rehabilitation facility of Murwillumbah hospital, which is a
15-minute drive from New Govardhan farm community and his residence there.

In the next 12 days that followed, the local medical staff have been doing
their best to gradually encourage Mukunda Goswami towards complete recovery.

Initially Mukunda Goswami was placed in a room with two more patients. But
later an intestinal infection, a highly contagious and tenacious bug,
Clostridium difficile,  was detected and Maharaja was shifted to a single room.
This was a blessing in disguise since being alone in the room allowed Maharaja
to continuously listen to Srila Prabhupada’s classes played via his loudspeaker
system, chant and converse with devotee attendants. Doctors put Maharaja on a
course of antibiotics, and as of yesterday, his blood markers indicated that
the infection is all but gone. He will still be kept in quarantine for a few
days until his recovery is confirmed microbiologically.

Although Mukunda Goswami was quite weak, dehydrated and undernourished after
the surgeries, it was a challenge for doctors, nurses and devotee attendants
alike to encourage Maharaja to eat more and drink more water. They even had to
put him on an IV drip for two days to replenish fluids in his body. It got to
the point that one nurse, an elderly lady named Jan, had to tell him: “Look,
Mukunda, you Hare Krsnas are very peace-loving people, right? So if you do not
drink enough, you’re gonna see one very angry woman!” The nurses also try to
trick Maharaja into drinking more water each time they bring him a pill, which
fortunately works. Still, Maharaja is very reluctant to drink more, joking
today, a cup of water in his hand, that he feels like Socrates forced to drink
hemlock. Heparin injections are given twice daily to prevent clotting as well
other blood thinning medications until Maharaja starts moving more and is
further reviewed by the cardiac team.

As far as nutrition, Maharaja conceded to start taking more food, and has three
meals a day supplemented by a high-protein Resource drink that is put on his
medication list so he cannot avoid it so easily. All his food intake is
carefully logged by a dietitian and Maharaja’s attendants
(https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666501709665964032
<https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666501709665964032>).

Being a rehabilitation facility, the staff here are trained (and train us as
well) to make sure that Mukunda Goswami feels him more like a normal healthy
person than a patient. Their mantra is “You are helping him best by not
helping”. They encourage Maharaja to increase his level of self-dependence each
day in such basic things as getting out of or into bed, transferring himself to
the chair, using toilet, showering, helping himself on water etc. As recently
as one week ago Mukunda Goswami could not do much on his own, but soon he
started walking using a walking frame (video:
https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/665288500447580160
<https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/665288500447580160>). From
yesterday he is shifted to a lower and much more physically-intensive wheeler
(https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666470253665226752
<https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666470253665226752>).

Maharaja walks daily laps around the rehab, as much as 800 meters a day and
counting. Yesterday, for the first time since his hospitalization on October
23, he went outside on a wheelchair accompanied by Krsna-kirtana Prabhu,
breathed the fresh air and basked in the sun for 30 min while enjoying a
beautiful view of the Tweed river commanded from the hospital deck (video:
https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666472431146565633
<https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666472431146565633>). Whether
permitting, such outings will become a daily part of his recovery. The aim is
to make him secure and confident using the wheeler so he could resume his
normal lifestyle at home. A local devotee, expert masseur Trayadisa Prabhu also
visits Maharaja twice a week to work on his legs, which helps reduce
post-operative swelling and pain .
(video: https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666809857228435456
<https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666809857228435456>)

A few words must be said about the staff. Female and male nurses, most of them
in their late 50s or early 60s, are very friendly, caring and attentive.
Murwillumbah being the seat of one of the largest and oldest Hare Krsna
communities in Australia, most of the staff workers either have friends among
devotees, live next door to one of them or in the very least have a very
favorable opinion about devotees. A couple of devotees work at the hospital
too, one of them, Mahavan Prabhu, serving as a security officer here. They
treat Maharaja will a lot of respect and affection. One lady, Maharaja’s
occupational therapist, said she was “blown away” after looking "Mukunda
Goswami" up on Google and learning of his world renown. Another male nurse
asked for the Hare Krsna mantra, which Maharaja had written out for him, and
still another swore by “that wonderful pudding with dates” (halava) and
indicated he would not mind trying it again. Mukunda Maharaja remarked that the
nurses here are very positive, personal and “winsome”.

Today’s medical assessment concluded that, if all goes well, Mukunda Goswami
would be discharged in a week or two, but still kept as an outpatient for some
more time until they are confident that Maharaja is strong and able to walk
assisted with only a walking stick. The intestinal infection quarantine forced
us to discourage visitations to Maharaja for now, but hopefully the restriction
will be lifted in a few days after Maharaja is ruled as C.diff.-negative.
Still, devotees keep regularly sending Maharaja flowers
(https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/665393740387741696
<https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666084501466972160>), garlands, and
mahaprasadam from the temple
(https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666084501466972160
<https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami/status/666084501466972160>).

With Mukunda Goswami’s discharge nearing, an assessment visit to his house is
scheduled by the occupational therapist for November 20 in order to identify
all the necessary adjustments in his living space to enable him to resume his
normal lifestyle safely and securely. We want to express our heartfelt
gratitude to devotees from all over the world who have generously contributed
funds towards preparing the house for his rehabilitation needs.

As I said in the beginning, barring any emergency, this is the last detailed
report on Mukunda Goswami’s health sent to this forum. However, we will
continue regular or live updates on Mukunda Goswami’s health, recovery and
service on hisTwitter account at: https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami
<https://twitter.com/Mukunda_Goswami>

And, again, we cannot thank enough all of you and thousands of devotees across
the world for their ongoing prayers form Mukunda Maharaja’s full recovery and
many more years of service to Srila Prabhupada’s mission.

On behalf of Mukunda Goswami’s disciples and followers

your servant,
Madana-mohan das

Read more about Bhisma Panchaka on www.harekrishnacalendar.com

In my last post, I talked about how there are different types of devotees and we should be aware not all of them are of the same qualitative nature. Similarly, when we do outreach or as in ISKCON called preaching, there are different types of audiences.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita (7.3) that among the millions of people, very few will know Him as He is. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu made it more liberal by distributing this message to one and all. Srila Prabhupada following Mahaprabhu's footsteps took up that order of practically distributing this message. However, in many instances Prabhupada himself acknowledged that this Krishna consciousness movement is not for everyone in the sense that not all will accept it. Yet Prabhupada was always finding ways to present this message to the public at large even if only few may accept at the end. In that mood of large scale presentation (with the knowledge not all can appreciate the value), we have to strategically present this message.

I say strategic because not all audiences have the same mood, intellectual acumen and capacity to assimilate and digest the information. When we get into this place of relativity, then we also have to think about self image, marketing and messaging at all types of social, political, religious, economic etc levels to suit the particular audience. In other words, we have to employ all means to reach out to the public. As my boss in my office once said, which I liked, we have to "meet people where they are". In that spirit, we have to present the message without compromise and in digestible bits so the audience can bare the brunt of the message such as "we are not these bodies" and yes "we will die" etc.

So the challenge is presenting an Absolute truth in a relative setting maintaining the purity of the message and the messenger. Indeed, as Prabhupada said "purity is the force". Without purity of heart, this message will not penetrate the hearts of the audience. Besides,  if purity is lacking, there are always the chance that the messenger can go to the dark side.  Purity is cultivated through tolerance and perseverance. But ultimately we become pure by taking shelter of Krishna and come to the realization that we are not the ultimate doers but the instruments of Krishna.

I will end with this - Prabhupada once said that we are happy to sit under a tree and chant Hare Krishna but you (pointing to the reporters and general public) will not come if we simply did that, so we have to build big temples, dramas, music, food etc to attract as many as possible.

Hare Krishna.

Source...http://servantoftheservant-ananda.blogspot.in/2015/11/absoluteness-in-relative-setting.html