New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

The excitement is building for the upcoming 24 hour kirtan.  The Friday before the 24 hour kirtan we will have a memorial for the three Vaisnavas  who recently tragically departed, one of whom was one of the originators of the 24 hour kirtan.

The full schedule is below.

Hope to see you there!

Dear Brijabasis,

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

Please be aware that the following addresses have been defined for the different buildings around the temple.

We are obliged to use the new addresses right away.

No mail should arrive from November 2011 on with the old previous addresses.

Temple: 3759 McCrearys Ridge Road
Lodge: 296 Guest House Loop Road
School building: 30 Viola Road
Apartment building 1: 27 Viola Road
Apartment building 2: 33 Viola Road
Each apartment will add their individual Apartment # to the address.

3606 McCrearys Ridge Road, Log cabin by the Palace
3610 McCrearys Ridge Road, Brick house

Additional adresses mainly for 911 calls:
Cabin 1: 20 Cottage Road
Cabin 2: 9 Cottage Road
Cabin 3: 38 Cottage Road
Cabin 4: 46 Cottage Road
Cabin 5: 60 Cottage Road
Cabin 6: 94 Cottage Road
Cabin 7: 126 Cottage Road
Cabin 8: 148 Cottage Road
Cabin 9: 166 Cottage Road
Cabin 10: 234 Cottage Road
Cabin 11: 244 Cottage Road
Cabin 12: 227 Cottage Road

Hare Krishna.
Your servant,
Jaya Krsna das

My Dear Nandarani,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 8, 1969, and I have noted the contents. When I receive a letter either from you or from your husband, I become so much encouraged. The most important point in your letter is the activities of your nice daughter. I hope all the small babies who are now being raised by our married couples will one day do tremendously in the matter of Krishna Consciousness.

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is advised that nobody should become a father or mother if he or she is not capable to raise children to the perfectional stage of stopping repeated births and death. This process of birth and death can only be stopped by awakening Krishna Consciousness. As you have read in the Bhagavad-gita, simply by understanding how Krishna appears and performs His transcendental activities, one can immediately become eligible to enter into Krishna’s Abode. And one who enters this Abode of Krishna never comes back again to suffer all sorts of material miseries. That is the sanguine process to stop repeated birth and death of the living entity. Simply by awakening the dormant love for Krishna, Who is known as Vasudeva, one can stop the material contamination of accepting a material body.

New Vrindaban is a very nice spot. We have to develop it in so many ways, and it will take time. For the time being there is no regular school because there is no sufficient accommodations for living, but soon it will be done when our children can be taken care of properly. I hope that by the time your Candramukhi grows such arrangements will be completed.

Regarding my residence, I have already decided that Los Angeles will be suitable, at least for eight months of the year, I do not know how the heat is during June and July though. I have inquired about this from Dayananda also.

Regarding my health, I am keeping well, but after all, this body is old enough, although personally I do not feel old. I feel exactly like your little child, and I am taken care of by my so many fathers and mothers like you. So I have no anxiety. Somebody asked me whether I am happy, so I replied that I left my home consisting of five children, where I felt not very much comfortable, but Krishna has given me many obedient and loving children, even though I am in a foreign country. That is my happiness.

Actually, real love can be perceived only on the platform of Krishna Consciousness where there is no possibility of thinking oneself in the bodily concept of life. So let us try to introduce this nice consciousness in the human society.

Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

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by Bhakta Rafa.

The lord has shown his mercy and is showering us with blessings in the form of rain! With this hot weather we been getting lately, hopefully there will be enough water in the ground so the roots can grow nicely.

Watering tip – it is better to water deeply (5 gallons per blueberry bush for example) once a week, rather than watering a little bit everyday. The reason is, if you are only wetting the surface of the soil, the roots will grow shallow. Instead, if you water enough so it soaks deep into the earth, the roots will seek the water and grow deeper. That’s if it is planted on the ground. I’m not sure how it is different with raised beds. Ask Madhava Gosh. *

Our work in Madhuban continues. The tree line was cut down for firewood. We used the new space and planted 32 Chinese chestnut trees. Most of the trees are growing and have wire mesh protecting them from deer. A few still seem dormant, hopefully not dead.

Madhuban is a short walk south of the Palace of Gold. It is on the east side of a sharp bend on the road, across from Sankirtan and Ruci’s house. It used to be the entranceway to the Palace. It was on that hill that the first “Prabhupada Houses” were built. They followed Prabhupada’s instructions and built it with packed earth. One still remains. There is a nice walking path along the trees we planted. Perfect for a nature japa walk that is close to the temple. So please, come by, send your love and chant to our little trees so they can grow happy roots in our community.

In the Garden of Seven Gates, our 100 asparagus have grown steadily and fully. We will backfill their bed with more compost and lime, because they like a slightly alkaline soil.

The raspberries, currants and blueberries are also very well established; some of them are flowering already! Most of them have been mulched, with newspaper and hay, which is the key for keeping the soil moist and controlling weeds. Thank God for the rain today, because it has been about 2 weeks since they got a good watering.

Down at Bahulaban, there are 27 cows, part of the Goraksa Seva program. They have access to lots of green pasture, clover fields and woods. I’ve been having the pleasure of visiting them most days and creating a relationship with these wonderful devotees.

Part of EcoV’s plan for a sustainable future is working with animals, especially oxen, donkeys, and horses. Rama and Gopal are the two young ox we are hoping to train. Working with such strong animals is very dangerous, and nothing is for certain. The process is slow and must be in the mode of goodness, just like them. Here are the pictures:

Rama

Gopal

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2012 has been the Year of the Calves, with four calves born before June. But just when we thought we had seen the last baby for awhile, an unexpected pregnancy was detected by Caitanya Bhagavat. Saraswati, a gentle Jersey cow, will be giving birth shortly, and has been moved from Bahulaban to the Goshalla to await her delivery. Evidently, a neighbor’s bull escaped from his confinement to breed with Saraswati last year.

Saraswati was donated to New Vrindaban in 2008, along with four other Jerseys, five Brown Swiss and two Holsteins. At the time, we were unable to breed any of them. In fact, all of the new Jersey cows were too wild to be handled except for Saraswati. Her natue is extremely  affectionate and she loves to be petted, which makes her stand out from the rest of the herd.

“Krishna wants her milk!” replied Jaya Prabhupada when asked about this divine arrangement. “Our cows are mothers to Krishna,” he said, “because her milk is offered directly to the deities. And the cowherds are actually pujaris to the cows because the cows are worshipable,” he concluded.

Jerseys are especially known for their high-quality, fatty milk, and since they’re smaller than other breeds, they eat less while producing more. But that’s a secondary consideration at New Vrindaban. The devotees just want to please Krishna with fresh milk from His beloved Mother cows.

The Memorial Day Weekend has wound down but will not be forgotten.  The new BlueHome Artworks Gift Shop had many visitors who loved the original, hand-made pieces of art, books, music and crafts. Many new artisans also consigned their original pieces to the store.  All artists, writers, musicians!!! Please come forth with your wares.  We want to show them to the world!

Speaking of consignments and loans, here are some memorable words heard in a Bhagavad Gita class this Memorial Day weekend: “Our bodies are just rented from Krsna. We don’t own them.”

BlueHome Artworks Consignment Shop

Hare Krsna .
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

We just had the “Festival of Inspiration” here in New Vrindavana, and my friends, Jesse S. Hanson and Lilasuka devi dasi  opened a new  gift shop of original, hand-made art  items  for the devotees, in the Lodge building, called “BlueHome Artworks“. They are consigning art~books~music~crafts.  I call it the “little shop of horror-ripilations,” because store patrons will get goose bumps, or horripilations, all over from seeing the amazing art, handicrafts and poems of the New Vrindavana devotees!

Verse- “Who could fathom his bhajana-bhava, except he himself? When he chanted harinama, tears streamed down his cheeks, his voice choked up, and his body erupted in horripilation. “
>>> Ref. VedaBase => JDH 40: Sampatti-dasa: The State of Perfection

The devotees of Lord Krishna are very artistic and creative, and there are so many poets,  artists, writers and artisans living here in New Vrindavana. So the little store opened in time for the Festival of Inspiration, and it was stocked to the gills with the art talents of NV devotees, who make clay pots, candles, jewelry and art work, and so on.

Also, it stocks various writings of the devotees of NV.  Jesse and I were talking one day, and we decided to pool the talents of our local poets and writers and compile an Anthology of poems and short stories. There are many poets and writers who live in New Vrndavana.  As a result, we have 7 authors contributing to this volume of poems and short stories, titled “Grains of Devotion.”

The little shop also stocked the 2 Jayananda Thakur books, Volume 1, “The Beautiful Life of Jayananda Thakur,” and Volume 2, “A Day in the Life of Jayananda Thakur.”

And as kirtan was going strong outside in the court area, and kartals were ringing “chink chink” very blissfully – and also Jayananda prabhu, in his books, was ringing up a sweet music of “chink chink” on the cash registar keys, and then dancing in the hearts of devotees, and many devotees were “adding to their carts” both blue and orange Jayananda books, thus doubling the victory of bliss.

Begging to become a servant of the servant of the Lord,  Vishoka dasa

The little shop "BlueHome Artworks"

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Stay tuned for the jam-packed and fun-filled Memorial Day Weekend Schedule, to be posted soon!

And don’t forget.  New Vrindaban’s new very special gift shop, BlueHome Artworks,  will be open this weekend for its 3rd weekend!

BlueHome Artworks sells only hand-made and custom designed products made by local people and friends.

The BlueHome Artworks is tucked away at the Lodge. The entrance is the blue door around the corner to the left from Govinda’s Restaurant.

“Every Nook and Cranny Should be Beautiful”

Interview with Maitreya dasa, Radha Vrindabanchandra’s Groundskeeper

by Lilasuka dasi

BEAUTY OF THE DHAMA

“The Mayapur gardens should be beautiful and orderly, just like the gardens in Dwarka.”

This statement by Srila Prabhupada motivates Maitreya das to take meticulous care of Radha Vrindabancandra’s grounds.  Maitreya says “You can’t separate beauty from Krsna. In Canto 1 of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada states that in a godly civilization, things are aesthetic even on the fighting front. For example, as soldiers go off to war, there are bands playing, orderly,  synchronized marching and a lot of fanfare.”

SERVING THE DHAMA

Maitreya also knows that the benefits of whatever service you perform in New Vrindaban, just as in Vrindaban, can’t be lost.

Anyone who does any work to improve the outside area of the temple, even picking up a piece of garbage off the ground, gets the eternal benefit of serving the Lord.  Such service also benefits the person who is just strolling around, admiring the cleanliness and beauty, whether they are a resident or a guest. So everyone is benefitted when Krsna’s grounds are orderly.

There are ample opportunities for guests to help out with RVC ground maintenance by weeding, sweeping the walks, raking, or pruning. Just find Maitreya and he’ll put you to work.

CLEANSING THE HEART

Maitreya recommends: “Everyone should read the chapter in the Caitanya Caritamrta about the cleansing of the Gundica temple.  Lord Caitanya cleaned the entire temple not only once but twice! He and His devotees cleaned absolutely every surface with fresh, clean water.  They cleaned the floors and walls – even the ceilings! And THEN they cleaned the road outside the temple.  Lord Caitanya was actually trying to give us an example of cleansing the heart.”

THE VISION

Maitreya also feels it is important to work with the contour of the land, emphasizing the beautiful aspects and enhancing everything in a very natural way, rather than clearing the land and re-planting things that are not native to the region.

He feels that if we see Krsna everywhere, not just in the Deity form, we will go the extra few steps to pick up that piece of garbage that mars the beauty of Krsna’s lawn.

In conclusion, Maitreya’s vision is that every nook and cranny of Krishna’s land should be attractive and beautiful.

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