New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

From nvcommunications

On Wednesday, March 30, over 40 members of New Vrindaban Community gathered in the home of Raghunath dasa and Jamuna devi dasi. The gathering was organized to welcome Jaya Krsna Prabhu. Jaya Krsna became the new Community President of New Vrindaban on the auspicious day of Gaura Purnima (March 19).

“The welcome sanga really touched my heart,” said Jaya Krsna. “The devotees expressed so much gratitude toward me for taking up this service. Moreover, everyone offered their support for a revival of the Brijabasi Spirit in New Vrindaban. I feel inspired and encouraged in my new service.”

During the evening, Varsana Maharaja spoke eloquently about the “Brijabasi Spirit.” The Brijabasi Spirit, explained Maharaja, is found in the loving relationships between devotees. This love reaches its full expression in Goloka Vrindaban. “The dham is like a container that holds the loving exchanges between the devotees. Even after Krishna left Vrindaban to travel to Mathura, the Brijabasis could not leave Vrindaban because they are so attached to the dham,” said Maharaja. “Srila Prabhupada told us that New Vrindaban is non-different from Goloka. This means that the residents of New Vrindaban have the opportunity to experience the same quality of relationships amongst ourselves as the residents of Goloka.”

Maharaja expressed his hope that all the residents of New Vrindaban will support the new Community President in fostering a paradigm shift that will be conducive to the Brijabasi Spirit.

Jaya Krsna noted that as a new-comer to New Vrindaban, a crucial role he will play in fostering the paradigm shift is to act as a mirror for the community. Jaya Krsna sees three areas where mirroring will be effective. The first area is to appreciate the past sacrifice of the devotees who built New Vrindaban. The second area is to recognize the future potential of the devotees and the dham. Finally, the third area is to appreciate the good qualities of the devotees and to be willing to overlook one another’s weaknesses. “These three areas are directly related to creating an environment that is conducive to the Brijabasi Spirit,” said Jaya Krsna. “If I can help the community make progress in these areas, then I will feel I am successful in my goal of healing some of the wounds of the past and in creating optimism about the future.”

Next, Jaya Krsna discussed the management structure he is currently putting into place. “My goal is to see that the management structure is so well-established that it can withstand the coming or going of any individual,” said Jaya Krsna. His first step has been to create five Vice-President (VP) positions for community management and development. These positions are (1) VP for Legal, Finances and Administration, (2) VP for Congregational Development, (3) VP for Guest Services, (4) VP for Temple Services, and (5) VP for Facilities.

Jaya Krsna is personally covering the services of the VP for Legal, Finances and Administration. Yugal Kisore dasa, the Head of the Congregational Development Department, has accepted the position of VP for Congregational Development. The VP for Guest Services is Damodar dasa. Damodar’s three goals will be to ensure that the pilgrims and guests receive proper care, to attract additional guests, and to organize programs during the weekends for the guests. The VP for Temple Services, Arya-siddhanta dasa, will be responsible for all activities in the temple. During his first year, Arya-siddhanta’s main focus will be to increase chanting and hearing of the temple devotees, to establish clear service agreements with the devotees, and to attract new devotees and bhaktas. Finally, the position of VP for Facilities is still vacant.

Jaya Krsna and the other devotees who spoke also expressed their thanks to Nityodita dasa, Rupanuga dasa, Jayasri devi dasi and Tapahpunja dasa for their long-lasting service as board members and managers of New Vrindaban Community. “I am more happy than anyone to see Jaya Krsna here,” said Nityodita, the outgoing Community President. “I feel like the reinforcements have arrived and New Vrindaban is in good hands.”

Click here to see the New Vrindaban Festival of Inspiration poster with contact info.

INVITED FOI 2011 PRESENTERS:

1. H H Bhakti Marg Swami (Drama)
2. H H Radhanath Swami (Tentative)
3. H H Varshana Swami
4. HH Bhakti Sundar Swami
5. H H Danavir Goswami
6. Shyamasundar & Gurudasa
7. Vaisesika dasa
8. Anuttama dasa
9. Arcana Siddhi dasi & Karnamarita dasa
10. Bada Hari dasa
11. Braja Bihari dasa
12. Dravida dasa
13. Ekavira dasa
14. Jaya Krsna dasa
15. Kamalini dd
16. Krishnanandini devi & GVT
17. Mitravinda das
18. Uttama dasi & Partha & GVT
19. Laxmimoni dasi
20. Mahamaya dasi
21. Maharha dasi
22. Mystery Guest
23. Rambhoru dasi
24. Srinandanandana das
25. Vraja Lila dasi
26. Krishna Priya dd (yoga)
Entertainment Co ordinator: Bhakti Lata Bija dd
Sound, Lights, General Good Will: TK, Sachi, Bhima and Govinda

April Newsletter – Six Items

1) The Devotee Care Team – will be meeting on Friday, April 1 at 6 p.m. in the Guest Prasadam Room to present current projects. We will be meeting for 1 hour and we have a number of items already on the agenda. If you have a specific idea for a Devotee Care presentation that you would like to make, please contact either M. Vidya at 304-845-5416 or M. Sukhavaha at 917-495-3646 to arrange a time slot.

This is an open meeting, so, if you are interested to learn what Devotee Care is about, or you are interested in participating / volunteering, please come. Your servant, Sukhavaha dd

2) Madri’s twice a month Holy Name gatherings at the Palace have been discontinued for the time being.

3) Kids Bhajans From M. Atma

Dear NV Community,
We are pleased to announce that our kids in the community have formed a NV Youth Group!!!!!!

And guess what??? Well… now there is going to be ecstatic bhajans and we have some mothers that have volunteered to prepare really nice prasadam for them and those who attend. Radha and Lalita gopi Mataji ki jaya!!!!!!!!!!!

Radha and Lalita, thank you so much for your support and your wonderful cooking!!!!!

If you have any questions, comments or concerns you may contact

Atma @ (304)845-6945

Harinam Sankirtan ki Jaya!!!!!!!
Thank You All Very Much!

Day:Tuesdays
Place: Temple Room
Time: 7:30 pm to 8: 45pm

4) Appreciations

As we warmly welcome Jaya Krishna to NV as a resident and at the helm of NV management, I would also like to thank Nityodita, JayaSri, and Rupanuga prabhus for their service in guiding the temple over the last several years, as well as Tattvadarsana for his management of the NV guest facilities.

5) Our prayers go out to Balabhadra prabhu and his family. He is at Ruby Memorial in Morgantown. The phone # posted at the temple for him is 304 598 4000 – William Dove.

6) The Final Word – The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, this form of Mine which you are now seeing is very difficult to behold. Even the demigods are ever seeking the opportunity to see this form which is so dear. Gita 11:52

And PS:

If you have any items or announcements for May Newsletter, please get them to me at story108@juno.com by April 28. – ys, Sankirtana d.

Devananda Pandit Prabhu will do an Informal Singing and Musical Performance this Sunday.

From 12:00 Noon till 12:45 in the Lower Level of the Guest Lodge.

Srila Prabhupada’s Vision For New Vrindaban (in his own words):

(Compiled by Chaitanya Mangala dasa)

1. Cow Protection.
2. Sustainable Agriculture.
3. Simple Village Life.
4. A Place of Pilgrimage in the West.
5. A Place of Higher Learning.
6. Above All, a Place for People to Develop Their Love for Krishna.

1. Cow Protection:

“Krishna by His practical example taught us to give all protection to the cows and that should be the main business of New Vrindaban.” Letter to Hayagriva — 14 June, 1968

“Therefore the special feature of New Vrindaban will be cow protection, and by doing so, we shall not be loser.” Letter to Hayagriva — 14 June, 1968

“Therefore, my special request is that you should try to maintain as many cows as possible in your New Vrindaban.” Letter to Kirtanananda — 24 June, 1969

2. Sustainable Agriculture:

“Agriculture and protecting cows, this is the main business of the residents of Vrindavan, and above all simply loving Krsna.” Letter to Kirtanananda — 27 July, 1973

“The whole idea of New Vrindaban is that men who are living there should produce their own food, of which milk is the principal thing.” Letter to Kirtanananda — 31 July, 1969

“So these duties are there in New Vrindaban, and we shall have to live there self independently, simply by raising cows, grains, fruits, and flowers.” Letter to Kirtanananda — 12 January, 1969

3. Simple Village Life:

“Yukta Vairagya, means that we should simply accept the bare necessities of our material part of life, and try to save time for spiritual advancement. This should be the motto of New Vrindaban,” Letter to Hayagriva — 14 June, 1968

“It may be an ideal village where the residents will have plain living and high thinking.” Letter to Hayagriva — 14 June, 1968

“New Vrindaban does not require to be modernized because Krishna’s Vrindaban is transcendental village.” Letter to Hayagriva — 14 June, 1968

“Go on acquiring the surrounding lands and in this way we will establish a local self governing village and show all the world a practical example of spiritual life as Krishna Himself exhibited in Vrindaban.” Letter to Kirtanananda — 27 July, 1973

4. A Place of Pilgrimage in the West:

“I understand the spot is very beautiful, and the hills may be renamed as New Govardhana. And if there are lakes, they can be renamed as Syamakunda and Radhakunda.” Letter to Hayagriva — 14 June, 1968

“New Vrindaban should be taken up very seriously because actually I want to develop a replica of Old Vrindaban. I have got ambition to construct there 7 temples as follows: 1. Radha Madan Mohan, 2. Radha Govinda, 3. Radha Gopinatha, 4. Radha Damodara, 5. Radha Raman, 6. Radha Gokulananda, 7. Radha Syamasundara.” Letter to Hayagriva — 18 November, 1968

“So you have now taken charge of the sunrise of New Vrindaban. Our program is there for constructing seven temples.” Letter to Kirtanananda — 12 January, 1969

“Now I am hopeful that our New Vrindaban will be an exact replica of Vrindaban in India.” Letter to Kirtanananda — 18 February, 1970

“Therefore, I may once more request you to try your best to construct New Vrindaban an exact duplicate of Vrindaban, and that will give me the highest pleasure.” Letter to Kirtanananda — 18 February, 1970

5. A Place of Higher Learning:

“One Rupanuga Vidyapitha—that is a school for educating brahmanas and Vaisnavas.” Letter to Kirtanananda — 12 January, 1969

“You remark that in New Vrindaban the capacity is lacking for taking care of the children. If you can organize a higher level school of theology under your care, I shall very much appreciate it.” Letter to Rupanuga — 24 July, 1969

“Another important thing is our theistic school in New Vrindaban.” Letter to Hayagriva — 9 March, 1970

“Regarding using New Vrindaban land for building for the older Gurukula boys it is a very good idea.” Letter to Bali-mardana — 13 April, 1974

6. Above All, a Place for People to Develop Their Love for Krishna.

“Agriculture and protecting cows, this is the main business of the residents of Vrindavan, and above all simply loving Krsna. Letter to Kirtanananda — 27 July, 1973

“The cows, the trees, the cowherd men and gopis, their chief engagement was loving Krsna, and in New Vrindaban we want to create this atmosphere and thereby show the whole world how practical and sublime our movement is.” Letter to Kirtanananda — 27 July, 1973

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The following is a brief excerpt from a more in depth article published by the West Virginia Surface Owners Rights Organization:

“Currently, for most oil and gas wells drilled in West Virginia, the laws regarding who owns the gas that comes out of oil or gas wells, and what this means about how many wells are drilled how close together, are based on a common-law principle stemming from hunting rights adopted by courts in England during the Middle Ages. This principle, the Rule of Capture, does not recognize the fact that the boundaries of oil and gas reservoirs (pools) do not follow property lines designated in deeds of mineral interests.

“Oil and gas reservoirs are extensive pools that may extend under hundreds or even thousands of acres of land. Under the Rule of Capture, the first person to drill a well that taps into a pool of oil or gas has the ability to use, and possibly deplete, the oil or gas under not only their own property, but also under the property of neighboring mineral owners, and without paying anything to the neighbors for doing so!”

There is a longer explanation of the Rule of Capture and the abuses it can lead to here.

What we are referencing specifically in this article is found at Slide 24a.

“As part of our third “example” in this slide show, here is another example of a different abuse of the rule of capture. The owner of the surface and minerals labeled the “FOREMAN” land in the middle of the image did not want to lease at all really, and especially not to the driller who was drilling gas wells around him. So the driller drilled six statutory “shallow” gas wells all around him, right across his boundaries. The result was that the driller legally stole the gas out from under the landowner without paying him anything for it.”

In our previous article titled, “Signing Gas Leases to Help Protect Our Water Supply”, we explained how the nonprofit corporations managing land in what is known as New Vrindaban only own 25% of the net mineral acres on the ridge where New Vrindaban is located. It is not in one block, but rather scattered amongst the other 75% not controlled by New Vrindaban. At the time New Vrindaban managers were contemplating whether or not to sign gas leases 55% of the mineral rights on the ridge had already been leased to gas drilling companies, and of the other 20% not owned by New Vrindaban, many of the private land owners were on the verge of signing leases with Chesapeake. As of this writing at least 95% of the ridge is known to be leased to drilling companies, less than 1% percent is known to have not leased, and the other 4% (absentee landowners) is unknown but likely to have leased.

The stark reality was that because of the geography of New Vrindaban properties and the Rule of Capture, a significant amount of the natural gas that New Vrindaban had claim to was going to be taken regardless if we signed a lease or not. The only question was who was going to get the royalties — New Vrindaban or other local landowners.

As drilling was already active on neighboring ridges, drilling near New Vrindaban’s lands was imminent. As a matter of fact, within a year of New Vrindaban signing, the first well, Snyder 1H, was drilled on a neighboring property less than 200 yards (200 m) from the Bahulaban property line.

The managers of New Vrindaban’s non-profit corporations decided it would be better if we proactively signed a lease with a more environmentally responsible company, AB Resources, accept the funds and use them in Krishna’s service by making capital improvements in and around the New Vrindaban Community.

The next article will talk about how the principle of yukta-vairagya, true renunciation, was applied in the decision making process.

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Saturday, March 19th 2011

5:00 am Mangalarthi

7:30 am Guru Puja

8.00 am Sringar Dharshan

8:10 am Pastimes of Lord Caitanya

12:30 am Noon Arthi

3:30 pm Fire yajna [everyone can attend, it’s free]

5:00 pm Bhajan by Rasa Caitanya Pr.

5:30 pm Abhishek

6:15 pm Pastimes of Lord Caitanya

7:00 pm Maha Gaura Arthi Kirtan

7:45 pm Bharata Natyam By Bhaktin Plawini

8:00 pm ‘Play’ By NV Teenagers

8:30 pm Maha Dinner Prasadam By Madan Mohan Pr & Radha Devi Dasi

All are Welcome. Please be in the temple before 5:00 pm

Where: New Vrindaban, West Virginia USA

When: April through Sept-Oct. (this could be a six month position, or longer, depending upon the person)

Must be knowledgeable and conversant with horticulture. Would be responsible for up-keep, beautification & maintenance of grounds, which include lakes, walk ways, lawns, gardens, etc.

References required.

Contact:

Malati dasi: malatidevi@aol.com (304-845-9591)
Jaya Krsna dasa: jaya.krsna.sns@pamho.net (304-843-1600 ext. 149)

“Yes, farm-opening, that is good idea. Apart from my Krishna Consciousness spiritual movement I want this–that people may not move from the villages to the town. Krishna Himself was a villager-He did not move to the town. He went to Dvaraka, but Vasudeva is everywhere; Krishna and Balaram like Vrindaban, so Vrindaban means village. Vasudeva is everywhere, but Krishna personally is in Vrindaban.”

Letter from Srila Prabhupada to: Bahulasva das, 29 September, 1976

Dear Devotees,

You are welcome to join us for a bhajan evening tomorrow evening, Wed. 2nd of March.

Simple prasad will be served on the end.

Ys Madri