New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

By Bhavisyat dasa (from June 1981 Issue of the Brijabasi Spirit) 

    We learn from Bhagavad-gita that the material world is a combination of the three modes of material nature. A liquor shop is in the mode of ignorance, a city is in the mode of passion, and the forest is in the mode of goodness. The fact is that one who associates with these qualities adopts the attributes and characteristics of each mode. Thus, a person who spends his time in the woods should be developing peacefulness, tolerance, gentility, etc.
     Since devotional service to Krishna is transcendental to the three modes of nature, it doesn’t appear to work the same way at times. Usually, the mode of goodness implies an occupation where you work the same every day, become regulated, and maintain steadiness. Naturally, if firewood is to be supplied each day all winter to keep the community warm, the work must be steady, with a constant flow of firewood.
     You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Well, let me tell you about our operation last winter so you can have some idea of what it’s like to supply a grow¬ing community with six hundred and forty cubic feet of wood per day. (That’s five cords for those who understand these terms.) I shall tell you first of all about the way the operation is meant to work; then I’ll describe what actually happens.
         We start with a section of land to be clear-cut. There are still some areas that need to be cleared of trees entirely for use as agricultural fields; so we get both firewood and land as a result of such endeavor. The saw operator and helper cut the trees, stack the logs, and put the brush in piles. Then the tractor operator and helper (who are, more often than not, the same two as the sawer and helper) come and take the logs to the bucksaw operator to cut into small pieces for the furnaces.
       The truck is loaded and dumped at the furnaces. This process is repeated as long as the cold weather is here. Sounds simple, right? Let me tell you about just a few incidents which occurred during our operation last winter. First of all, I should note that the operation can’t stop because of weather. Rain, sleet, snow, or mud, the furnaces still beg for more feeding. Cutting and stacking isn’t particularly difficult under almost any condition, but getting the wood out is sometimes (usually?) tricky—almost as tricky as getting out of all these desires which never stop begging to be fulfilled. Instead of wanting material things, we use our desires as much as possible for serving Krishna.

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Jobs available in housekeeping & laundry department of the Lodge. Please contact Parampara das at 304-843-1600 ext 107 or paramnv@gmail.com,

See Yadhunath’s show at NV on Gouranga TV.

Here is the contact information for more conference call Bhagavad Gits classes.

Welcome to Bhagavad Gita Class.

Conference call classes have been going on out of New Vrindaban for about 4 years. The practice is being taken up in other places also.

by Damodar das

The Palace of Gold opened on Janmastami/Labor Day Weekend in 1979. This was the culmination of six years of collective effort of the residents of New Vrindaban. What had begun as a home for Prabhupada, originally meant as a place he could do his translation work, had evolved into a much more impressive edifice.

Upon its completion, an annual Labor Day Weekend festival which centered on the Palace became a tradition and would bring devotee guests and other visitors. This would satisfy to a large extent the same purpose the Festival of Inspiration does now. Additionally, many thousands of people, some of whom would not normally visit any religious place, began coming to see a beautiful monument and spend some time hearing about the spiritual personality for whom it was built.

With the surprising fame of the Palace, preachers and book distributors both here and abroad were finding an increasing level of success in conveying their message. Moreover, almost all visitors who viewed the Palace were able to sense that there was a mood of devotion that had gone into the project, and many termed it a ‘ labor of love ‘, distinguishing it from other tourist destinations.

Then shortly after the opening, with the Palace up and running, the emphasis in the community turned towards building a new temple and guest lodge, and much of the attention previously focused on the Palace was directed elsewhere. Also, with the very frequent tours going on at the Palace, the Palace managers found it incompatible to have devotees spending time there, so there gradually developed an alienation of the very people who otherwise would have stayed mindful of the Palace and its needs.

By the mid to late 1980’s, various leadership difficulties and some incompetent managerial schemes further complicated the matter. The belief which had once existed in the minds of the devotees that the Palace was an important puspa samadhi for Prabhupada and a unifying place of pilgrimage for his followers had dwindled or vanished in many ways.

With due consideration of these points however, we cannot forget Srila Prabhupada surmising that if America took seriously to the Vaisnava path the world would follow. The Palace once appeared capable to help implement that plan to a significant degree, and seeing it bereft of a respectable standard of maintenance has been disheartening to those who have invested some part of their lives in it.

Despite all this, with essentially no budget for advertising, the Palace continues to attract and host approximately 15-20,000 guests per year. The gate receipts provide the necessary payroll for 8-10 people and to do a moderate amount of the continuing maintenance and renovation. Those who are maintaining the Palace at this present stage are eager to see that a greater number of individuals become involved in order to fully manifest the potential of this project.

In the past twenty-eight years the Palace has inspired close to a million people (and many more through the media) to spend their time seeing this memorial built in Prabhupada’s honor, and to listen to discussion on his activities and character. Many of the visitors to the Palace then continue onto the temple, experience the darshan of Their Lordships, often spend time with the community’s residents, and thus they are opened to other devotional opportunities.

We would like to see the Palace once again be thought of as a place of unity for all Vaisnavas, where a pleasant atmosphere of service in devotion is present. While you are here, kindly stroll the Palace grounds and take a good look at the current state of affairs.

If any of you have information on how we may create a trust fund or endowment for the Palace, or if you are aware a way to possibly receive some grants, offer your suggestions. As of now, we stand to lose the use of the entire back area (former restaurant/gift shop/preaching area) unless something is done very soon. A printed report of the situation is available.

A variety of other areas have remained unsightly for years. You may consider spending some summer days painting, financing some gold-leaf work, volunteering to give some tours or helping with construction. Any expertise or experienced guidance you can offer will be valued. As you know, this type of direct service to an acarya of the holy name always satisfies the soul.

Thank you, The Palace Staff (304) 843-1812 843-9808 845-3400

See what others are saying about the Festival of Inspiration.

Vyenkata Bhatta dasa: 10 Things that Rocked My World During the Festival of Inspiration ’07:

Malati dd, USA : Festival Of Inspiration ‘07 Report 1
(a different Malati than NV’s)

Exploring Your Word of Honor
(transcript of the workshop given by Mahatma das)

ISKCON: Festival of Inspiration Enlightens and Entertains

Gauranga Kishore Das

Conscious DC

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by Bhaktin Alysia

On Tuesday evening, Drona the Ox, one of the 77 cows in New Vrindaban’s Cow Protection Program, left his body after a traumatic fall and three days of critical condition.

This past Sunday morning, while at the big goshalla, counting the cows as part of his morning routine, Jaya Prabhupada Prabhuji noticed Drona was missing. After some time, he found Drona lying in the bottom of a small ditch surrounding the base of an old silo in the side pasture. Drona was unable to move and appeared to have fallen the night before while straining to reach fresh grass below.

Drona was promptly lifted from the ditch by tractor and brought to level ground. The compassionate Festival of Inspiration visitors that had assembled for a morning of cow bathing, brushing, and painting as part of a scheduled event to Bahulaban, quickly agreed to modify the trip to an impromptu rescue mission. Jaya Prabhupada, Bhaktin Carmen and Bhaktin Mauricio, two devotees from the Athens Vegan Cooking Class, and myself were in attendance.

Together we were able to turn Drona and expose his wounds to fresh air and sunlight. We found one large gash in his right front leg and several other raw wounds that appeared to have been caused by his attempts to prop himself up throughout the night. Immediately, we assembled a small tarp for shade and a bed of hay. Because he was not able to sit up, it was necessary to feed him water with a bottle and practically force him to swallow. He reluctantly took some grain as well. The assembled devotees chanted, painted his body, and prayed for the best.

Despite the care of Jaya Prabhupada, Drona remained in the same condition for three days. Bereft of energy, Drona left his body on Tuesday evening with a garland around his neck and Ganges water sprinkled on his forehead. Drona was one of thirteen cows currently staying at the big goshalla, separated from the rest of the herd due to their elder status and physical incapacities, which prevented them from making the pilgrimage to the Bahulaban pasture several weeks ago.

In memory of Drona the Ox and his forgotten service…

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Posted by Bhakta-Chris

Continuing with our photographic journey through the 2007 Festival of Inspiration, today we gaze upon the kirtaniyahs who rocked, soothed, and lifted our souls with their sacred sounds that saturated the New Vrindaban atmosphere with pure devotion.

KIRTAN

It’s no stretch of the imagination to say that some of the best kirtaniyahs in the world were assembled here for the 2007 Festival. Nearly 24/7 the usually quiet spaces under the gazebo and on our spacious green parking-lot island were instead pulsating the Holy Names. We were graced with the presence of Bali (on harmonium) and Visvambhar (on mrdanga) from Alachua, as well as Akinca Krishna (clapping in white, playing harmonium below), demigods descended to make your eardrums offer full dandavats.

For all those who saw him inventing new dance steps by the second, our dear Mauricio, from Athens, Ohio and the Vegan Cooking Workshop, made a very convincing case that dancing to kirtan, rather than low-grade rap music or plastic people pop junk, should be the main activity of the youth of the world. Some want to be a revolutionary and follow Che Guevara or Brad Pitt. I follow Mauricio instead.

Hear is more of Maurcio living large, with Arjuna (from my hometown mandir of Detroit) about to use his massive, massive arms to resound the transcendental sounds. ISKCON Devotee of the Year His Grace Sgt. Partha Sartha Das leads smoothly. All surrounding experience bliss that can never be described as mundane.

On Saturday afternoon in our massive FOI Tent Structure, Bhakta-Joe Walsh and Raga (Tommy) assembled a true band of gypsies to honor the offerings of His Grace Sriman George Harrison Prabhu, responsible with his song “My Sweet Lord” for making sure the maha-mantra gets heard everyday by every American who turns through the radio dials of this fair land. Their rendition of “Something” was sublime, and their excellent performance was well appreciated by a groovy crowd of over 200 prasadam-and-rock-and-roll loving patrons.

The previous night, all the night-owls were treated to an all-star bhajan throwdown, led by His Grace Bada Haridas on harmonium, with NYC’s Ananta Sesa, The World’s Most Powerful Mrdanga Wizard (at least in this author’s humble opinion), and our very own Chaitanya Bhagavat on kartals. CB and Bada Haridas were old chaps from ISKCON Laguna Beach reunited after many years, and the appreciation and vibrations coming from the stage were something never to be forgotten (if one drinks enough pure cow’s milk).

Sometimes I press too many buttons on my camera, and things come out blurry, or artistically interesting, as in this shot of Saturday night’s main musical entertainment, the Fews, headed by everyone’s favorite, His Grace Gauravani Prabhu. Their modern rock renditions of everyday devotional themes threatens to breakthrough to the mass consciousness, and everyone up front dancing in glee can certainly agree. Check out more about the Fews at Gauravani’s MySpace page and more about the awesome scene of sacred sounds occurring right now in Potomac and DC at www.consciousdc.com.

More coming on Sunday! Haribol!

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Last summer, 75 youth from around the world gathered in New Vrindavan for three days to perform an extreme makeover of Srila Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold. Watch the 10-minute video by clicking on this article.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to attend classes in a temple. For several years, New Vrindaban devotees have been giving classes via conference calls, so anyone anywhere has the opportunity to hear sastra.

One of those devotees is Yugala Kishore. He gives a Bhagavad Gita class at 8:30 PM Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings for anyone. On Tuesday evening there is a ladies only class.

If you are interested in participating, email him for details at:

ykdrns@yahoo.com