New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Another fantastic 24 hour kirtan rocks New Vrindaban!

Lilasuka dasi

Many devotees at New Vrindaban live for the 24 hour kirtan.  I think there are devotees all over the world who live for this special phenomenon.  There’s really nothing that can be compared to chanting Hare Krsna for 24 hours straight, or at least for as many hours as one can stay awake.

New Vrindaban recently hosted their  6^th 24 hour kirtan on June 16 – 17.  However, on Fri. June 15, even before the 24 hour kirtan began, there was a special memorial service held for the sacred memory of the three devotees who recently departed , namely Nitai das, Bhakta Tim, and Yadupati das.  There were beautiful slide shows, accompanied by music, depicting each of the departed Vaisnavas.  Tim’s parents were in attendance, as were Nitai’s.  Carmen, Nitai’s mother, read an incredible poem of farewell to Nitai that she had written.  Nitai (Eli Drury), who had been one of the original founders of the 24 hour kirtan, had lived in New Vrindaban for some time and so the whole program was very moving and emotional.

The evening after the memorial service, we had a big kirtan at Prabhupada’s Palace, followed by an ever-popular Swan Boat festival, where the devotees serenaded  their Lordships as They glided around the lake on Their Swan boat.

Saturday morning at 11:00, the 24 hour kirtan began with the sweet, slow, melodious tune of Madhava Prabhu.  One young lady said that just hearing the first chords of Madhava’s harmonium, she knew this was going to be special. As she gazed around at the faces of the devotees, she felt totally inspired to get into the mood of what she felt other devotees were experiencing.

Another guest said that for the time she was in the kirtan, it took her right out of the material world.  She exclaimed, “At times, I was transported to Vrindavan!”

Another visitor declared, “The prasadam was great.  I always like coming here for the 24 hour kirtan, where the service mood is very strong.”

About 700 people were in attendance.

The next 24 hour kirtan will be Sat Oct 13 to Sun Oct 14 2012, when I’m sure that we’ll all rock the dhama once again.

(HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, Melbourne, Australia, 20th May 2012) Lecture: Sunday Feast

In America there is a famous project in a farm known as New Vrindavan, and there was some time that that farm was separating from Iskcon and Prabhupada’s movement, and they were not exactly strictly following Prabhupada’s standards anymore, it was in time like that for sometime. They used to live off tourism because they had a beautiful place called ‘Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold.’ Many buses would come with tourists. So there was a tour and all the tourists came, and the tour guide was there:

‘Ladies and gentlemen and here we see the beautiful floor which was carved by the devotees themselves. See the beautiful flower design in the middle.’

The tourists saw and clicked with their cameras, ‘very nice.’

Then they took the whole group to the deity of Prabhupada. The tourist said:

‘Yes this is actually the founder of our movement…’

All the tourists are looking and taking photos and pictures of the deity of Prahbupada. And one lady she heard him speak in a deep commanding voice. And he said:

‘Take my shoes!’

She was wondering who was speaking.

‘Take my shoes!’

She thought:

‘Who is speaking?’

She saw that no one else was noticing it.

‘Take my shoes!’

Then the tour guide said:

‘Now we are going to have a look at the ceiling. At the beautiful mosaic inlay that the devotees had laid with their own hands.’

And all the tourists were looking up. Then the voice said:

‘Take my shoes!’

The voice was so strong, so she just did it, and put them in her bag. Never in her life had she stolen anything and she had stolen those shoes!

So there’s a big drama in the temple, ‘someone stole Prabhupada’s shoes! Who would do such a thing? Who in the world would steal Prabhupada’s shoes?’

It had to be a devotee, since no one else would care for those shoes, but a devotee might know that the shoes are very valuable. Therefore, the temple authorities decided to call a meeting, and they called everyone into the temple. They said:

‘We called everyone together for a very serious thing. Someone has made a very very great aparadha, a very great offence. The reactions will be terrible. I mean I wouldn’t want to be in a position of that person who stole Prabhupada’s shoes. I don’t know how many lifetimes this person will have to suffer in hellish conditions, but although the offence is very great, the devotees are very forgiving. Therefore we do not hold it against you and we understand. This afternoon when we leave from here, the door will be open and you can just quietly put the shoes back and everyone will forgive you.’

The managers thought:

‘It’s done, you just wait and see at 3 o’clock these shoes will be back.’

But at 3 o’clock the shoes were not back. They were gone and never were they back!

The years went passed and somehow or other and the differences between that group and ISKCON were worked out and they returned to Prahbupada’s standards. They again began to follow Prabhupada’s standards.

The lady who had the shoes had forgotten all about it for quite some years. Then she had a dream, and suddenly in her dream Prabhupada came and Prabhupada said:

‘Those shoes that you took, you can return them.’

So then she took the shoes and put them in the parcel and sent it with it a letter of explanation to the temple, and that is how this story comes to us!

Now we are looking at the murti of Prabhupada. So you may not all be aware of that but in the worship of the murti (of a deity) it is a practise that you take the shoes off the deity. In deity worship there are different arrangements for the care of the deity that is made, and one of the things is that night you put the deity to rest. You cannot move the deity like here, at night we cannot take all of them off the alter to put them at rest, but they have a bed. So we are not putting the deities in the bed (it’s stays on the alter) but we take their shoes and move the shoes from the deities and put them next to the bed. As the scriptures says that the deity is then in the shoes, so they are present in the shoes.

So Prabhupada’s shoes were removed and then he left, and then the shoes came back and Prabhupada was back! So we should understand that Prabhupada is here!

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New Vrindavan, the ISKCON farm community in the foothills of West Virginia, USA, hosted its sixth 24 hour kirtan over the weekend of the 16th June. Organised by Mantrology, a cutting edge music organisation, this twice-yearly festival gave participants the opportunity to chant with some of the most gifted mantra musicians in the world.

The festival, attended by over 700 people, offered participants the unique opportunity to deeply dive into the essence of mantra. The maha-mantra, which is said to contain within it all other mantras, was chanted for a full 24 hours, without break.

Mantralogy co-founder, Keli Lalita Reddy, commenting on the festival said, “For me 24 hour kirtan is one of the greatest days of the year… In the wee hours of the night, after many hours of chanting has passed, I felt as though layers of ego and self-judgement were being systematically and delicately stripped away by the transcendental sound.”

Jaya Krsna Dasa, New Vrindavan’s community president, commented, “Having so many visitors to the festival has created such a tremendous atmosphere. I have never seen our car park so full!”

As a prelude to the 24 hour kirtan, festivities began on Friday evening with melodious kirtans and a swan boat festival on the lake near the temple building. The organisers were delighted to again have their long-serving cook, Shanka Dasa, visit from Alachua to take charge of preparing delicious prasadam (sacred vegetarian food) for the guests.

Inaugurating the 24 hour kirtan on Saturday morning, Radhanath Swami, author of the book The Journey Home, gave the morning lecture describing the benefits of chanting Hare Krishna in kirtan.

At 11AM Madhava Dasa, the acclaimed kirtan leader who spent years in Vrindavana, India, as part of the Krishna-Balarama Temple’s 24 hour kirtan party, opened the chanting with a 90 minute session. Bada Hari Dasa, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and a professionally trained devotee musician known for his inspiring and soulful chants, then led the singing.

The number and quality of the singers was impressive, even for seasoned kirtan-goers. A special feature of the festival were the number of youngsters, early teenagers and younger, who led some sessions of the chanting.

To inspire everyone to either stay through the late hours of the night, or start their chanting early in the morning, Madhava again took up the lead at 4 AM. Agnideva Dasa, a long-standing kirtan leader, sang for the last session.

The kirtans were both meditative and rousing, with plenty of space both for those who wanted to simply sit and meditate and those that wanted to use their abundant energies to dance for the pleasure of the Lord.

The festival was broadcast live around the world via webcam. The recordings will be available for free download at www.mantralogy.com/24.

The next 24 hour kirtan at New Vrindavan will be on 13–14 October, 2012.

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Removing Suffering and Unhappiness

 FAMILY CONSTELLATION WORKSHOP

Allowing love to flow in all of our relationships.

·         Understand your family system from a wider and more informed perspective.

• ·         Identify hidden information that can unblock the flow of love.
• ·         Unravel personal issues embedded in family entanglements
• ·         Access the healing potential inherent in the family/spiritual field.

Lifetime after lifetime, we are conditioned to behave and act in a certain way influenced by our family system and according to the environment, culture and education.  All this determines our way of acting and thinking.  Srila Prabhupada describes in detail how we are conditioned in so many ways and how we are stuck in the pain and suffering of our past experiences.

In this workshop we will explore ways to move forward towards the fulfilling life you were meant to have.  Family Constellations is a deeply spiritual process that relies on the Mercy of Bhakti to reveal the hidden dynamics that ties us to suffering and unhappiness, and open the door to allow the love to flow where it was previously blocked.

Date:                           July 17^th – 19^th, 2012

Place                            Under the Lodge

Time                            10:30am – 1:30pm      3:30pm – 6:00pm

Facilitated by Krsna Lila devi dasi, New York

CRISTINA CASANOVA, MA.,M.Ed.,SEP,FCF is a graduate of Columbia University, Counseling Psychology Department.  She worked as a school counselor and school administrator at the Department of Education in New York City for 33 years.  She is also a professor at New York University where she teaches Graduate course in Applied Psychology.  She is a certified trauma specialist, as well as a Facilitator of Systemic Family Constellation s. Besides the US, she travels and teaches in Europe and Latin America, and has a private practice.

Suggested donation:   $18 for six sessions

Registration:                Lilasuka dd – 304 843 1600, ext. 106

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All community members and temple devotees are invited to please attend the next Community Dialogue on:

Date: Monday, June 25, 2012

Time: 5:30pm Prasadam

6:00pm Meeting

Place: Under the lodge

Agenda:

1. Welcome

2. Introduction of newly arrived devotees

3. Information from the Management

4. Feedback, Questions & Answers

This community dialogue will continue to be held monthly so that the management can inform the community about their activities and the board activities, and so that the community can make known their concerns and questions.

Your servant,

Lilasuka dasi

Everyone is invited to Ruci and Sankirtana’s home to celebrate the thirty sixth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s last visit to New Vrindaban in 1976.

Thursday, June 21, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

During his stay Srila Prabhupada stayed in Ruci and Samkirtana’s house and gave many ecstatic evening darshanas. Excerpts from some of these darshanas will be played during the celebration.

Brijbhasis who were living in New Vrindaban during this time will also share their personal memories of Srila Prabhupada. Please bring your friends and spread the word. The program will be accompanied with bhajans and Prasad.

Please feel free to bring a dish if you wish. In case of rain, the program will be held at Srila Prabhupada’s Palace.

Your servant,

Lilasuka dasi

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Watch the entire festival *live* on www.mayapur.tv (New Vrindaban channel), www.krishna.com/nv or www.newvrindaban.com

Updated Schedule (all times are EST)

Saturday, June 16

8:00 AM Class by HH Radhanath Swami on the glories of the Holy Names
10:50 AM Inauguration Ceremony at Yajnasala
11:00 AM Madhava Das
12:30 PM Bada Hari Das
1:30 PM Ananta Govinda & Kesava
2:30 PM Jagannath Kirtan Das
3:00 PM Manorama Das
3:30 PM Rasa Caitanya Das
4:00 PM Kishori Yatra
4:30 PM Shyam Kishore Das & Rasamrita DD
5:00 PM Rasikananda Das
5:30 PM Nirantara Das
6:00 PM Abhay Charan Das p
6:30 PM Gaura Mani DD
7:00 PM Param Das

* UPDATED *

7:30 PM Rupanuga Das
8:00 PM HH Radhanath Swami
9:00 PM Agnideva Das
10:00 PM Gaura Vani Das
11:00 PM Vishvambhar & Vrinda

Sunday, June 17

12:00 AM Bhakti Lata DD
12:30 AM Gopal Trivedi
1:00 AM Acyuta Gopi DD
2:00 AM Ananta Govinda Das
3:00 AM Rupi & Kumari
4:00 AM Madhava
5:00 AM Balarama Tirtha & Dhanya
6:00 AM Sarbani Bardhan
6:30 AM Keli Lalita DD
7:00 AM HH Varshana Swami
7:30 AM Bhadra Das
8:00 AM Thakur Das
8:30 AM Vani DD
9:00 AM Krsna Kishor Das
9:30 AM Bada Hari Das
10:30 AM Agnideva Das
12:00 PM SUNDAY FEAST

(SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Watch the entire festival *live* on www.mayapur.tv (New Vrindaban channel), www.krishna.com/nv or www.newvrindaban.com

2012 SCHEDULE (all times are EST)

Saturday, June 16

8:00 AM Class by HH Radhanath Swami on the Glories of the Holy Names
10:50 AM Inauguration Ceremony at Yajnasala

11:00 AM Madhava Das
12:30 PM Bada Hari Das
1:30 PM Ananta Govinda & Kesava
2:30 PM Jagannath Kirtan Das
3:00 PM Manorama Das
3:30 PM Rasa Caitanya Das
4:00 PM Kishori Yatra
4:30 PM Shyam Kishore Das & Rasamrita DD
5:00 PM Rasikananda Das
5:30 PM Nirantara Das
6:00 PM Abhay Charan Das p
6:30 PM Gaura Mani DD
7:00 PM Param Das
7:30 PM HH Radhanath Swami
8:30 PM Agnideva Das
9:30 PM Gaura Vani Das
10:30 PM Vishvambhar & Vrinda
11:30 PM Bhakti Lata DD

Sunday, June 17

12:00 AM Ram Roy Das
1:00 AM Acyuta Gopi DD
2:00 AM Ananta Govinda Das
3:00 AM Rupi & Kumari
4:00 AM Madhava
5:00 AM Balarama Tirtha & Dhanya
6:00 AM Sarbani Bardhan
6:30 AM Keli Lalita DD
7:00 AM HH Varshana Swami
7:30 AM Bhadra Das
8:00 AM Thakur Das
8:30 AM Vani DD
9:00 AM Krsna Kishor Das
9:30 AM Bada Hari Das
10:30 AM Agnideva Das

12:00 PM SUNDAY FEAST

(SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

An Interview with Ruci dasi

“The students in our home school co-op really enjoy performing in front of people!  For that reason, they were looking forward to the end of the year party. I think that’s why their performances at the party went so well,” exclaims Ruci, the main academic teacher at the New Vrindaban home school co-op, called “Gopal’s Garden”.

Ruci is the pillar of the New Vrindavana school. She has been teaching there for over 30 years.

Ruci says that the students at the school like performing and that they are comfortable with getting up in front of people.  This is one reason why she likes to have them do presentations.  Ruci confirms: “We do a presentation at Christmas also.  I think it’s good for them to be accustomed to being in front of people. And to see that it’s not as scary as it seems. Most of us didn’t have that kind of training when we were growing up….I’m mostly terrified of talking in front of people!”

Ruci goes on: “At Christmas, the students did some writing and then I wanted them to do a retelling of it.  Sankirtan, my husband, who is a professional storyteller and a trained actor, came to the school and trained them how to speak properly, especially how to project their voices and how to make their presentation more exciting and not so monotone.”

When asked if she feels that they accomplished the same thing for the presentation last week, Ruci enthusiastically replies: “Definitely!  It also helped that the day before this party, Sankirtan worked with them one on one. With only 15 mins of guidance they improved greatly. I was impressed.”

Ruci is happy to say that each child has made a lot of progress in his or her own academics from the beginning of the year. She explains: “We do a lot of different genres of writing. They write every day for an hour, which includes a short daily lesson. For example, last year we worked on “how to “ books, learning how to clearly write directions. This is difficult for young children, but because they’re writing every day, it becomes easier.”

Ruci keeps samples of their work from year to year and at the end of the year she has them all look at their work from previous years so they can see the amazing progress they’ve made. They become excited about their writing because they’re becoming better writers.  This is something that children don’t often get in a big public school.  Another thing they don’t get in public school is that, first thing in the morning, they chant japa for 10 minutes. No one talks.  They’re very focused.

Finally, Ruci finds that these kids are really special…”much more advanced than I am, spiritually.  This helps me in my own spirituality.”

The photo says it all. . . .

With this year’s festival just around the corner, here are some photos from last year to encourage everyone to get up and get here by Saturday morning!

And if you are still unsure, visit Mantralogy for free download of all last year’s recordings.

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