New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

NEW VRINDABAN DAYS

As New Vrindaban enters its 50th anniversary (1968 to 2018), I wrote this series of articles for the Brijabasi Spirit in an attempt to give the reader not only an “understanding,” but more importantly a “taste,” of what life in early New Vrindaban was like – through the stories of one devotee’s personal journey.

The title of the series, “New Vrindaban Days,” is in tribute to the wonderful book “Vrindaban Days: Memories of an Indian Holy Town” written by Howard Wheeler, Hayagriva Das. He was one of Srila Prabhupada’s first disciples, a co-founder of New Vrindaban, and, a great writer. As with Hayagriva’s book, this series focuses on a period of time in the 1970’s.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Chaitanya Mangala Dasa, for spending untold hours assisting me in refining my writing for your reading pleasure.

I have been asked to describe certain aspects of early New Vrindaban Community life such as the nature of the austerities, what it was like for a new person coming here, cooking, anecdotes about particular devotees, etc.

I attempt to tell these stories in some semblance of a chronological order, beginning with my first meeting with devotees in 1968, leading to my arrival in New Vrindaban in late 1973 and carrying through to the official opening of Srila Prabhupada’s Palace in 1979.

In this particular article I do not tell a story but rather try to give a “stream of consciousness” breakdown of “the landscape” of New Vrindaban Community when I arrived to stay on January 17, 1974. I also suggest a list of the devotees that were in New Vrindaban when I arrived. I apologize for any names I have forgotten, or gotten wrong.

Please know I firmly believe without all these wonderful devotees there would be no “New Vrindaban Days” for any of us.

Advaitacharya Dasa

CHAPTER FIVE: THE NEW VRINDABAN LANDSCAPE – JANUARY 1974

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ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 06/03/2018

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes cow protection, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON New Vrindaban’s Founder-Acharya.

Participating Directors: Anuttama, Chaitanya Mangala (chair), Jamuna Jivani (board secretary), Makara, Olivia, and Ranaka.

Participating Advisors: Bhima, Jaya Krsna, Kalakantha, and Kripamaya.

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New Vrindaban Days

As New Vrindaban enters its 50th anniversary (1968 to 2018), I wrote this series of articles for the Brijabasi Spirit in an attempt to give the reader not only an “understanding,” but more importantly a “taste,” of what life in early New Vrindaban was like – through the stories of one devotee’s personal journey.

The title of the series, “New Vrindaban Days,” is in tribute to the wonderful book “Vrindaban Days: Memories of an Indian Holy Town” written by Howard Wheeler, Hayagriva Das. He was one of Srila Prabhupada’s first disciples, a co-founder of New Vrindaban, and, a great writer. As with Hayagriva’s book, this series focuses on a period of time in the 1970’s.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Chaitanya Mangala Das, for spending untold hours assisting me in refining my writing for your reading pleasure.

I have been asked to describe certain aspects of early New Vrindaban Community life such as the nature of the austerities, what it was like for a new person coming here, cooking, anecdotes about particular devotees, etc.

I attempt to tell these stories in some semblance of a chronological order, beginning with my first meeting with devotees in 1968, leading to my arrival in New Vrindaban in late 1973 and carrying through to the official opening of Srila Prabhupada’s Palace in 1979.

Advaitacharya Dasa

Chapter 4: Fired Up – We Depend on Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra

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ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 05/20/2018

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes cow protection, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON New Vrindaban’s Founder-Acharya.

Participating Directors: Anuttama (partial attendance), Chaitanya Mangala (chair), Jamuna Jivani (board secretary), Ranaka, and Vraja.

Participating Advisors: Jaya Krsna, Kalakantha and Kripamaya.

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New Vrindaban Days

As New Vrindaban enters its 50th anniversary (1968 to 2018), I wrote this series of articles for the Brijabasi Spirit in an attempt to give the reader not only an “understanding,” but more importantly a “taste,” of what life in early New Vrindaban was like – through the stories of one devotee’s personal journey.

The title of the series, “New Vrindaban Days,” is in tribute to the wonderful book “Vrindaban Days: Memories of an Indian Holy Town” written by Howard Wheeler, Hayagriva Das. He was one of Srila Prabhupada’s first disciples, a co-founder of New Vrindaban, and, a great writer. As with Hayagriva’s book, this series focuses on a period of time in the 1970’s.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Chaitanya Mangala Das, for spending untold hours assisting me in refining my writing for your reading pleasure.

I have been asked to describe certain aspects of early New Vrindaban Community life such as the nature of the austerities, what it was like for a new person coming here, cooking, anecdotes about particular devotees, etc.

I attempt to tell these stories in some semblance of a chronological order, beginning with my first meeting with devotees in 1968, leading to my arrival in New Vrindaban in late 1973 and carrying through to the official opening of Srila Prabhupada’s Palace in 1979.

Advaitacharya Dasa

Chapter 3: Captured by the Beauty of Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra

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ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 04/15/2018

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes cow protection, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON New Vrindaban.

Participating Directors: Chaitanya Mangala (chair), Jamuna Jivani (board secretary), Makara, Olivia, Ranaka, and Vraja.

Participating Advisors: Bhima (partial attendance) and Kalakantha (partial attendance).

Participating Staff: Caitanya Bhagavat, Lalita Gopi, and Vidya.

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NEW VRINDABAN DAYS

As New Vrindaban enters its 50th anniversary (1968 to 2018), I wrote this series of articles for the Brijabasi Spirit in an attempt to give the reader not only an “understanding,” but more importantly a “taste,” of what life in early New Vrindaban was like – through the stories of one devotee’s personal journey.

The title of the series, “New Vrindaban Days,” is a tribute to the wonderful book “Vrindaban Days: Memories of an Indian Holy Town” written by Howard Wheeler, aka Hayagriva Das, one of Srila Prabhupada’s earliest disciples, a co-founder of New Vrindaban, and a great writer. As with Hayagriva’s book, this series focuses on a period in the 1970’s.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Chaitanya Mangala Das, for spending untold hours assisting me in refining my writing for your reading pleasure.

I attempt to tell these stories in some semblance of a chronological order, beginning with my first meeting devotees in 1968, my first encounter with Srila Prabhupada in the spring of 1973, all leading to my arrival in New Vrindaban in late 1973 and carrying through to the official opening of Srila Prabhupada’s Palace in 1979.

By Advaitacharya Das

CHAPTER 2: SRILA PRABHUPADA – JAYA RADHA MADHAVA

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ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 03/24/2018

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes simple living, cow protection, engaging oxen, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON New Vrindaban.

Participating Directors: Chaitanya Mangala (chair), Makara (minutes recorder), Olivia, Ranaka, and Vraja.

Participating Advisors: Kalakantha.

1. Ranaka’s Monthly Report

• At the Temple Barn, Ananda Vidya & Lalita Gopi are currently milking 7 cows: Jamuna, Surabhi, Laxmi, Sita, Anjali, Sriya & Maliti. Milk production is up to 32 gal per day.

• Anjali freshened on Feb 19th with a bull calf named Nimai. Nimai was delivered in normal fashion with no problems during delivery but had internal issues along with apparent brain damage. The Vet gave him a 50% chance of survival and he died 11 days after his birth.

• On Feb 27th Sriya gave birth to a healthy heifer calf named Gaurangi.

• Subhadra is due the end of May.

• There are 4 heifers residing at the Temple Barn: 15 month old Vamsika, 7 month old Lalita, 3 month old Gopi Katyayani and 3 week old Gaurangi.

• Parvati continues to reside with Dharma for breeding at the Valley Barn. Jaya Radhe is still residing in Nandagram with Madhu for breeding. Usha has been confirmed pregnant and moved out from Madhu’s area.

• Ananda Vidya continues to produce approximately 15 pounds of butter, 15 gal of yogurt, and 1/2 gallon of Ghee on a weekly basis, & delivers them to the temple. He made and waxed two (8″ diameter x 3.5 inch high) wheels of Colby cheese this month and plan to produce 5 lbs. of Mozzarella cheese for Palace Pizza to be served after their Maha Cleanup this weekend.

• Ananda Vidya & Lalita Gopi finished clearing out the upstairs of the Temple Barn.

• Ray has been working on cleanup of the former Brose trailer site and is approximately 85% complete. The scrap wood has all been burnt, trailer frame cut into 3 pieces with cutting torch and all scrap metal piled for loading. Ray is repairing a brake cylinder on the F-800 flatbed truck, this will be used to haul the metal to the recycling center in Wheeling. When cleanup is complete, the lot will be available for rent to Suchandra, our garden manager, who plans to move a trailer on to it.

• Ray has also been cleaning up the area next to the old Brick Yard building. Scrap metal from there is also piled and ready to be hauled to the recycle center. The brush & scrap wood pile was burnt along with a general cleanup & reorganizing of the area.

• Repair work on the Nandagram field house: 2 new sink faucets installed, repairing water lines to the tub & repairing drywall on the basement ceiling below the tub.

• Ray continues moving hay from the Valley Barn to Nandagram.

• Chaitanya Bhagavat works with Hari Chand in the Ox Program for 1 hour each morning along with daily Nandagram herd care. Hari Chand has been measured for a new Yoke & Britchen so he can be trained for pulling.

•  Chaitanya Bhagavat has also been working on the Bahulaban fence line getting it ready for Spring along with Nandagram fence maintenance.  Repair work was also done on the Feed Isle.

• The garden crew, presently composed of Suchandra, Vidya, Lila, Mukunda dasi & Radhanath das, gathered together for a general communication & coordination on 3/16/18; it was a productive meeting that gave much hope for the upcoming season.

• Suchandra & Ryan, along with Ray on the tractor with the front loader, have cleared the old mulch & plastic off the Community Garden beds. This year we are planning a new system of weed control using reusable ground cover and some hay mulch when needed; this system will be much less labor intensive.

• Ray moved a dump load of well composted material from Nandagram to Vidya’s garden & 5 buckets to the Nandagram garden.

• The Valley Barn potato field has been spread with manure. We are also planning on growing potatoes in the Community Garden this year.

• Vidya has started over 1000 plants for the gardens consisting of peppers, tomatoes, basil, snapdragon, marigolds, statice and rosemary.

• Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary: Ranaka spoke to Dr. Sastri and informed him that the ECO-V board agreed to his request of taking responsibility for 5 of his cows. Ranaka informed him that he would need to have a veterinarian issue a valid CVI (Certificate of Veterinary Inspection, i.e. health certificate) before moving the animals to New Vrindaban and that we would be ready to accept them from the middle of May onward. Dr. Sastri will get back to Ranaka when he has things ready on his side.

• Passing of Nandini: Nandini, a 10 1/2 year old Jersey brought to New Vrindaban from Canada by Nila Gopal & Sukhayanti, died of cancer on March 6, 2018 at Nandagram. Her profile: Nandini was a bit of a loner who stayed mostly to herself but still enjoyed attention in the form of petting from devotees. She was also very protective of the calves in the herd & would always stay by their side.

2. Spring Joint Board Gathering Review

The weekend had a different format from what we’ve organized the past few years. The facilitators, Gopinath Bloch and Rebecca Mintz, did an excellent job directing the energy and setting a positive mood. Through various exercises, open dialogue and a planning session, a progressive division of responsibilities for ISKCON New Vrindaban was discussed, both for the immediate future and over a 5-year time frame.

3. Inviting ECO-V Staff to Board Meetings

Some of the feedback from the spring meeting brought to light a need for increased interactions between the members of ECO-V. The bi-annual weekend gatherings allow opportunities for exchanges between the staff and board. Additionally, the board would like to periodically invite staff members to attend monthly board meetings throughout year. The first opportunity will be in April 2018.

4. ECO-V Website Feedback

Overall, the look of the website is appreciated. Ideas for improvement: Change the photo on front page – possibly make a slideshow there; get new photos of cows and gardens from Erin and Hari Bhakti; add a link to Prabhupada’s Palace website; make a page about Srila Prabhupada, his cow protection local agriculture vision for New Vrindaban and include photos of him with Kaliya, ISKCON’s first cow.

5. IMCPA North American Team Building Conference

Kalakantha prabhu shared information about the upcoming ISKCON Ministry of Cow Protection & Agriculture conference. This event will be held in DeLand, Florida the end of June 2018 and will include strategizing about next year’s North American farm conference, tentatively planned to be held in New Vrindaban. He invited a couple of representatives from ECO-V to attend. Jamuna Jivani has already volunteered to participate.

6. ISKCON Communications Grant

WHEREAS: ECO-V wishes to support Anuttama prabhu, and his ISKCON Communications efforts, especially in appreciation of their ongoing promotion of simple living, cow protection and local agriculture projects throughout ISKCON.

RESOLVED: The ECO-V board approves a grant of $2,500 to ISKCON Communications for 2018.

Here’s a link to the ECO-Vrindaban website.

For regular updates, please visit, like and follow the ECO-V Facebook page.

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New Vrindaban Days

As New Vrindaban enters its 50th anniversary (1968 to 2018), I wrote this series of articles for the Brijabasi Spirit in an attempt to give the reader not only an “understanding,” but more importantly a “taste,” of what life in early New Vrindaban was like – through the stories of one devotee’s personal journey.

The title of the series, “New Vrindaban Days,” is a tribute to the wonderful book “Vrindaban Days: Memories of an Indian Holy Town” written by Howard Wheeler, aka Hayagriva Das, one of Srila Prabhupada’s earliest disciples, a co-founder of New Vrindaban, and, a great writer. As with Hayagriva’s book, this series focuses on a period in the 1970’s.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Chaitanya Mangala Das, for spending untold hours assisting me in refining my writing for your reading pleasure.

I attempt to tell these stories in some semblance of a chronological order, beginning with my first meeting devotees in 1968, leading to my arrival in New Vrindaban in late 1973 and carrying through to the official opening of Srila Prabhupada’s Palace in 1979.

In this article there may be some topics describing my life before joining up with the devotees. They are only meant to give the reader insight into the background and mindset of the author.

Advaitacharya Das

Chapter 1: Every Journey Begins With a Single Step

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ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 02/18/2018

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes simple living, cow protection, engaging oxen, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON New Vrindaban.

Participating Directors: Anuttama (partial attendance), Chaitanya Mangala (chair), Jamuna Jivani (board secretary), Makara, Olivia, Ranaka, and Vraja.

Participating Advisors: Bhima (partial attendance), Jaya Krsna, and Kalakantha (partial attendance).

1. Ranaka’s monthly report

• Ananda Vidya and Lalita Gopi are currently milking five cows: Jamuna, Surabhi, Laxmi, Sita, and Malati. Milk production is approximately 20 gal. per day.
• Sriya and Anjali are both due to freshen this month. Subhadra is due in May.
• There are three heifers residing at the Temple Barn: one-year-old Vamsika, five-month-old Lalita, and two-month-old Gopi Katyayani.
• Parvati is residing with Dharma for breeding.
• Jaya Radhe and Usha are still residing in Nandagram with Madhu for breeding.
• Ananda Vidya continues to produce approximately 15 lbs. of butter, 15 gal. of yogurt, and a half gal. of ghee weekly, which he delivers to the temple kitchen. He now has a larger cheese press and mold which holds four gallons of milk at a time. He made and waxed a wheel of Colby cheese last week, which will be aged for 2.5 months.
• Ananda Vidya and Lalita Gopi continue to clear out and clean the upstairs of the Temple Barn.
• Ray is about half finished replacing the siding around the front entrance to the school building, but due to poor weather, no further progress has been made. The materials needed to finish the job have been received.
• Ray finished the loading chute at Nandagram, and repaired the bullpen there, as well as the greenhouse. Vidya’s greenhouse still needs to be finished.
• Ray continues moving hay from the Valley Barn to Nandagram as weather permits.
• Caitanya Bhagavat works with Hari Chand in the ox program for an hour each morning, along with daily Nandagram herd care.
• Ray and Caitanya Bhagavat have completed the permanent loading chute at Nandagram along with some repair work on the bullpen.
• Suchandra is finishing seed orders, as well as cleaning and organizing the Community Garden shed. She has noted repair work that needs done of the fence there.
• Suchandra, Ray, and Ranaka are planning a walk through in the Community Garden this month to discuss manure-spreading and tillage plans.
• Ranaka has been providing financial information to Ram Associates, the auditing firm ECO-V hired every year since 2012 for  internal auditing. They are aiming to have the 2017 financial statements finished in time for the March 2018 onsite meetings.
• Rakta the cow passed away on February 12th at the age of 23. She had been in good health despite her old age, so her sudden passing came as a surprise. After some years of providing milk, Rakta retired and spent her days grazing and relaxing with the retired herd. She got along well with everyone, cows and cowherds alike. She was one of the oldest cows in the herd, but always remained young in spirit.

2. Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary Adoption Request

A subcommittee, consisting of Chaitanya Mangala, Jamuna Jivani, Makara, and Ranaka, made some calculations which showed taking on these five cows would mean at least 16 years of responsibility and over that time cost approximately $143K.  After some discussion, it was determined that absorbing these animals would not interfere with ECO-V’s goals of maintaining 8 to 10 milking cows, and an overall herd size of approximately 100, as was expressly desired by Srila Prabhupada. The Board agreed to adopt these cows. Ranaka will speak to Dr. Shastri to work out the arrangements for their arrival and care.

3. INV Request for Promotional Budget

WHEREAS: The ECO-V Board wishes to support INV’s ongoing promotional efforts.

RESOLVED: The Board approves up to $1,000 per month towards INV’s promotion of activities in New Vrindaban, for up to 10 months.

4. Website

The ECO-V website is now live at eco-v.com. Jamuna Jivani and Makara will continue to maintain, improve, and add to it over time.

For regular updates please visit and like the ECO-V Facebook page.

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