New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Participating Members of the Board of Directors (constituting a quorum for said meeting to be held):  Madhava Gosh, Navin Shyam, Ranaka, Chaitanya Mangala

Advisors present: Jaya Krsna

1.      Approve agenda

             Proposal for lumber for Madhuban ox barn was added prior to the    meeting but after the revised agenda was sent out.

 2.      Review and approve previous meeting minutes – Completed over e-mail

3.      E-mail approvals completed

  $60K advance on gas lease royalty loan to INMV for purchasing diesel generators, for use as back-up power source during outages.

Project Manager Reports

4. Madhuban project

Sukhavah posted a piece about the Madhuban project on Brijabasi Spirit:

Reawakening Madhuban

Old business

5. 2013 Trees and berries budget

 Motion: Approve $7K to continue purchasing and planting at G7G, the Madhuban site, and elsewhere.

Vote: Approved unanimously.

6. 2013 Deity garden budget

 Jaya Krsna expressed appreciation for the homegrown garlands this has provided.

 Motion: Approve $5K for the deity flower garden.

Vote: Approved unanimously.

7.    Pipeline projects

 Motion: Grant the following projects “Pipeline” status, meaning a majority of the Board is in favor of the projects in theory, and await more details and development for further consideration.  No funds allocated.

Vote: Approved unanimously.

8. Madhuban vision

No Board action is necessary at this time, but planning will be ongoing throughout the winter.

A Vastu consultant is in NV, and Gosh and Jaya Krsna will consult with him about the project.

9. Lumber for Madhuban ox barn

Motion: $5K to cut and mill lumber from on-site forests to build an ox barn as part of the Madhuban prototype community.

Vote: Approved unanimously.

Some members expressed their concern that the exact placement of the barn not be decided until the Board has heard input from the Vastu consultant, and been able to

contemplate and consider options for the layout of the project as a whole.

10. Investment guidelines

Motion: ECOV will adopt a policy of not offering loans that are unsecured.

Vote: Approved unanimously.

Other policies discussed informally: Exceptions for unsecured microloans / For secured loans, some bare minimums (e.g. a minimum rate of return), as well as some limiting factor (e.g. % of our portfolio, only those aligned with our mission).

Announcements

12. Next meeting on Saturday, December 29 at 10 AM.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:58 AM. These minutes represent a concise summary of the meeting in its entirety.

Former New Vrindavan resident, Narasingha das, wrote and published a book.

It is an ebook, initially, and is the  first of a series of three volumes.

The first book is entitled “The War Between Science and Common Sense” and the information is below, if you would like to see more.

An introductory promotion is available via Amazon.com , or for free via iTunes or Barnes&Noble’s ‘Nook.’

From  Back to Godhead Magazine #19 02/03  1984

When we’re surrounded by winter’s beauty and danger,
remembering Lord Krsna is both a pleasure and a necessity.

by Suresvara dasa

Temple needs wood! . . . Temple needs wood!”

As the call echoes across our snowcapped farm, four men and two boys hop on an ox-drawn sled and head into the forest. Stripes of snow on bare branches, the silence deep and white. Winter’s woods are an ancient theater for sages seeking an audience with God. But the meditation offered here is more an adventure. Today’s revelation: Krsna’s temple needs firewood.

“Flash! King! Get up!” Vaisnava drives the oxen forward, and the sled moves easily over the trail’s snow-paved ruts and sloughs. Vaisnava tells the boys that King’s real name is Maharaja. And Flash’s real name? Flashlight.

Laughter and sunshine dance in everyone’s eyes. Then the sun goes in, and a north wind begins to blow. The breath of winter chills the devotees’ hearts and fires their souls to bring in the wood. Prabhanu thinks they can have a load down to the temple within an hour — if they don’t get stuck. The devotees hold on to the sled’s sideposts and take their places with the animals and trees as servants in Krsna’s kingdom.

“Flash! King! Gee!” The oxen turn right, “broke to the word.” As the trail winds up a steep hill, the oxen pull harder, their muscles rippling silently in the ascent. They love to pull — so massive and submissive — hauling sled and people upward to the snowy summit.

The trail narrows on top as the trees close in. The forest looks more beautiful up here. And more dangerous. The devotees duck branches as the oxen move over snow-covered rocks and stumps. The easy-loading sled rides barely twenty inches off the ground. The men jump off and walk by the oxen, who, surrounded by snow and trees, depend more than ever on Vaisnava’s strong commands. The forest will yield its fuel, but not without a struggle.

The trees are mostly hardwoods — hickory, oak, beech, maple, and more — with a few pine and cedar groves. The devotees have cut selectively. Although from late fall to early spring they burn ten cords weekly, seldom do they have to cut up a whole mature tree just for firewood. Weed trees, fallen trees, and the topwood of trees cut for lumber supply nearly all of it. The Lord brings us here to gather the wood, and gives us the oxen to haul it home.

“Whoa!” The party stops in a clearing. Snowflakes appear, and branches toss against a grey sky. Logs of locust, drying for a year in the sun and wind, stand in stacks, tepee-style. Gudakesa recalls an Indian massacre. The boys, Puri and Bala, follow his finger as he points out stone ruins down in the valley.

“Farmers say the settlers’ ghosts still haunt that place. First the Indians thought this land was theirs, then the settlers, now the farmers — maybe tomorrow the developers. Seems people keep forgetting everything belongs to God.”

The boys want to hear more about the ghosts, but Gudakesa and the others start to work loading the sled. The logs are heavy, the footing uncertain. The men work in pairs, flipping extra-heavy pieces onto the bed and stacking the sled with eight-foot lengths. Locust has a straight grain, and big men like Gudakesa can split a log with one swing of the axe. The devotees load the sled to capacity and wrap the logs with a heavy chain.

“Flash! King! Get up!” Vaisnava, Gudakesa, and the boys head back to the temple with the wood, but Prabhanu and Gita stay to chop down a dead oak. The shortage of woodsmen the last couple of seasons has begun to tell. The temple is down to its last cord, the forest cutting to a few tepee stacks. To stay warm the rest of the winter, the devotees will have to hustle.

“Cut a wedge on the pond side of the trunk,” Prabhanu tells Gita. “See how the tree is leaning that way? Then make a felling cut on the opposite side about two inches above the wedge. The leader branches should have a clear fall into the snow.”

Chop. . . . Chop. . . . Gita’s axe gashes the dead oak’s trunk. Fifty feet up, flying squirrels spring away and glide to safety in a nearby maple. The babies don’t make it and fall into the snow. Chop. . . . Chop. . . . “Heads up!” Gita jumps back as a pine bough crashes into the snow in front of him.
“A widow’s limb,” says Prabhanu. “Must have got caught up there last month when I felled that pine. Loose limbs like that kill lumberjacks every year. Never work in the woods alone.”

Yet the solitude of the woods draws us, Prabhanu reflects, to be with God in His kingdom. “There is another nature,” says Lord Krsna in the Bhagavad-gita, “which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter.” As the pond reflects the oak, so nature reflects eternity. Her beauty is Krsna’s invitation to come home, her danger a warning lest we refuse. Like the trees, the bigger we are in this world, the harder we fall.

As Gita chops away, the ninety-foot oak leans farther and farther, then falls into the snow. Where a tree once stood, only silent space remains, filling with snowflakes.

“The wood’s probably down to the temple by now,” says Gita hopefully.
But it’s not. Just a hundred yards away, the sled is stuck on a big stump. Vaisnava and Gudakesa have been trying to hatchet the front crossbar free, but to no avail. The loaded sled is too heavy for the oxen to back it up. Vaisnava has another idea. He unhitches the oxen, walks them behind the load, and wraps their chain around the rear crossbar. At his command, the oxen pull the sled off the stump. Vaisnava hitches the oxen around front again. Then — snap! — the key holding King’s collar in the yoke breaks. Vaisnava whittles a splinter key and hopes it will last the trip back.

“Flash! King! Ready . . . Get up!” The oxen pull the load with their powerful necks and shoulders, the yoke creaking in the wind. Snow swirls and dashes their faces. Steaming backs humped, slaver icicles crusting their chins, the oxen lean forward, their eyes slit in concentration as they pull.

Alive to the struggle, the devotees sweat heavily inside their woolens. “Wood warms us twice,” as the saying goes. And the first warmth, when we chop the wood and team it home, is the most purifying and memorable. Industrialists have contrived easier ways for us to stay warm. No doubt. But when we let technology comfort us, do we really master nature or just juggle the struggle. After all, we still have to pay the bills. We still have to grow old. Since time is the fire in which we all burn, what better way to use our time than to work with Mother Nature and go back to Godhead? Without Krsna consciousness, a modern hearth is little more than a convenient place to die.

“Whoa!” The party stops at the cross-trails, the summit of the quarter-mile slope. Snow sweeps the hill from top to bottom. High on the right, another bough breaks loose and falls with a whistling whoosh!

“Easy, boys, easy!” Vaisnava stays in front of the oxen and eases them down the steep trail. Gudakesa walks alongside the sled, while Puri and Bala joggle up top with the wood. “Easy!” Snow — in the pulling a beauty, in the braking a beast.

Suddenly King is out of the yoke. The splinter key has snapped. King’s collar fallen in the snow. Vaisnava grabs King’s side of the yoke and starts to run downhill with Flash. Gudakesa catches King by the halter and moves out of the way.

“Whoa, Flash!” Vaisnava lashes Flash on the nose. Useless. Flash can’t slow the full load alone. The sled’s tongue is pushing the yoke with tremendous weight, goading Flash faster and faster down the hill.

“Haw! Gee!” Puri and Bala hang on for dear life as the sled hurtles left and right with terrific momentum. The woods seem to riot in the wind, blustering snow on the breakneck slalom. Vaisnava is a good driver, but he’s no ox. How long can he keep his balance, running down the icy ridges?
The sled has barely missed some twenty trees. Flash is having trouble turning left, and up ahead a big elm stands close on the right, where the trail turns sharply left. Before Vaisnava can give the command to turn, he falls. The sled nearly crushes him as he rolls over in the snow, hollering, “Haw! Haw!” As the sled careens toward the elm, the boys’ eyes open wide.

“KRSNA!”

*              *              *
That evening at the temple, the Krsna Deity shines like the full moon. Locust burns brightly in the furnace, its smoke curling up to the stars.

Inside, Vaisnava sips hot milk and tells the devotees about the yoke keys that snapped and how he ran downhill with Flash. He picks up a splinter of kindling and spans it between two fingers.

“When I fell, that’s how close the sled came to running over me.”

“Amazing!” says Gita. “That’s how close the widow’s limb came to falling on my head.”

Puri and Bala, who have been listening at the keyhole in their pajamas, suddenly burst into the room.

“Amazing!” says Bala. “That’s how close we came to hitting the elm!”

“Hey, you rascals are supposed to be asleep,” says Prabhanu. “All right, Puri. What does our protector, Lord Krsna, tell us about Himself in the Bhagavad-gita?”

“The splendor of the sun,” quotes Puri, “which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, comes from Me. And the splendor of the moon and the splendor of fire are also from Me. And whoever at the time of death quits his body remembering Me at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.”

The devotees turn in, tired but inspired. Krsna consciousness saves us from the forest of material life — a splinter’s tale of hard knocks and broken dreams — where time cuts everyone down. Heads touch pillows, and everyone falls fast asleep. The last to bed, Vaisnava points his toes towards the wood-burning stove.

“My dear Krsna,” he prays, “You are my wonderful Lord. And from this day on, I’m Yours.”

Bangalore Niranjan Babu’s Visit to New Vrindavan

Niranjan Babu opened up a new way of looking at things for New Vrindavan. Niranjan Babu is a well known and respected consultant in Vastu and Astrology. He is the Chief editor of the monthly The Astrological eMagazine as well as the Chairman of the Raman & Rajeswari Research Foundation.

Niranjan Babu has high esteem for Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON and has offered his voluntary service to many ISKCON temples all over the world, among them the TOVP in Mayapur, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Moscow, Kolkata etc.

Niranjan very patiently explained in a public presentation in New Vrindaban about the science of Vastu. He emphasized that Vastu is grounded in Vedic scriptures and is intimately connected with Vedic astrology.  Although a very exact science, Vastu is also practical.  This is what really impressed us about his presentation.  He is very concerned that the spiritual energy in New Vrindavan flow freely and that things be arranged in the optimum way to facilitate this spiritual potency.

Niranjana Babu personally visited all the main areas of New Vrindavan for several days with Jaya Krsna Prabhu, the community president, and very carefully thought about the actions to be taken to counteract the Vastu defects.

He clearly feels Srila Prabhupada’s potency in every ISKCON temple that he has visited, and he also feels that New Vrindavan is a very special place of pilgrimage, having been personally blessed by Srila Prabhupada’s presence Himself on four different occasions.

Niranjana Babu proposed to rejuvenate old Vrindaban, the place Srila Prabhupada lived in 1969 for one month, where He created a Holy Tirtha and when New Vrindaban initially was established. Spiritual practice in old Vrindaban will give strength to the whole community and allow New Vrindaban to flourish.

We are very grateful that Mr. Niranjan Babu has taken his time to work with us, and we look forward to his next visit in spring 2013.

Bangalore Niranjan Babu

• Leave a comment...

“The yogi who is progressive is therefore on the true path of eternal good fortune.” …..Purport: 18:47

My friend Mahayogi Dasa was a great yogi.

My friend Mahayogi Dasa was better than a great yogi.

My friend Mahayogi Dasa was a great devotee of Krishna.

Some devotees reading this already know who Mahayogi Dasa was.

Other readers do not.

Still other readers will finally get an opportunity to put a face on the person whom up till now might only have been a voice at the other end of a telephone call.

Or, numerous telephone calls.

Or, innumerable telephone calls.

Maybe you sat at a desk at the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, or at ISKON’s  archives, or at Blue Boy Herbs and you received the calls – often multiple calls a day.  Usually, he was asking for you to send him some of Prabhupada’s books that he could distribute on the streets. Or, maybe for a particular poster to hang in his room. Perhaps for an herbal remedy to help with his larynx. You may have begun to think to yourself that if he didn’t make so many calls maybe his larynx wouldn’t be strained, and he wouldn’t need the herbs. 

He was relentless. He would call you every day for a year only to disappear and reappear a year later when it would start all over again. If you took the call it would usually not last for more than a few minutes. If you didn’t take the calls they would still come one after another until they filled up your answering machine. If you worked in one of the above mentioned offices you might have someone sitting at a desk across from you. When the call would come  in you might have both looked at each other saying in unison,  “Mahayogi.” If you were in your home a neighbor from down the road might have been visiting you. You got the call. You would both look at each other, “Mahayogi.”

Mahayogi Dasa was not a big devotee. He was not a Guru. Not a member of ISKCON’s ruling body the GBC. He was never a temple president. In fact Mahayogi Das did not live in a temple or in the association of devotees since around 1972.

Mahayogi Dasa was not perfect, but he was perfectly honest about it. He would not always follow the regulative principles  (no meat eating, no gambling, no illicit sex, and no intoxication)– he smoked cigarettes. He did feel terrible about it and was always asking Krishna to help him stop and to give him the strength to serve Srila Prabhupada better.

I say this because for the remainder of the time in a day when Mahayogi Dasa was not smoking a cigarette he was incessantly talking about Krishna, thinking about Krishna, remembering his time in ISKCON, talking favorably about his godbrothers, talking about Srila Prabhupada, quoting verses from the scripture. He quoted as much scripture as anyone I know. Especially remarkable considering the fact that Mahayogi Dasa had cataracts and could not read the books.

Schizophrenia is an illness usually striking young men in their early twenties. In Mahayogi’s case he was struck soon after taking initiation from ISKCON’s founder Srila Prabhupada in 1971. As a result he has been in and out of institutions ever since. Mostly he was picked up off the streets by the police for overzealous preaching or chanting. For Mahayogi Dasa it was a struggle not to tell everyone he met about Krishna. Passersby walking down the street. The teller or the people on line in a bank. The nurses or the people in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. Anywhere, everywhere, anytime, all the time, tell someone about Krishna. Give them a book. Get them to take prasadam – sanctified food that has been offered first to Krishna.

Oh yeah, Mahayogi Dasa loved prasadam. He was as enthusiastic nearing age sixty about prasadam as he was as a new brahmacary in 1971. Any and all prasadam. In fact that was another reason you may have gotten calls from Mahayogi Dasa. “Gee whiz  prabhu,  I can’t eat anything cooked on these pots. All I get to eat is peanut butter sandwiches, do you think you could send me some prasadam? I can’t get purified if I don’t eat plenty of prasadam!”  

And, so some devotees sent the small packages. “Today I got some sweetballs from Mother Dhara in New Vrindaban!”  or “Today I got a package from the nice girl at Krishna Culture.”

Sometime ago Mahayogi Dasa was remembering his godbrother Puru Dasa from New York City who passed away in 2006. Over all the years Puru Dasa had shown kindness to Mahayogi maintaining contact with him and sending him Srila Prabhupada’s books to distribute and prasadam. Mahayogi Dasa turned to me and asked, “Prabhu, when I pass away will you send a nice picture of me to the devotee magazines and tell the devotees I passed?”

Advaitacharya das

• Leave a comment...

Channel 7 News, WTRF, interviewed the devotees at New Vrindavan on Dec. 20, in regards to the Mayan predictions of the supposed Dec. 21  “end of the world.”

Here it is. Just click on the link below:

The Hare Krsnas on WTRF Channel 7 News

While doomsday worriers in Moscow head for a Cold-War era bunker, and a village in France prepares for an onslaught of survivalists, at the Hare Krishna temple in New Vrindaban, a preacher there says there’s still time to get ready.

Gaur Natraj Daz, who identifies himself as a devotee and Hare Krishna preacher, said, “We are just 5,000 years into this 432-thousand year old cycle. So there is still roughly 428-thousand years to go.”  Daz explains that according to their beliefs, calendars are set by the age of Brahmin, and the end of the this age will see a giant flood.

“There are these 432,000 years,” Daz said.  “At the end of this, there will be this ‘pralaya.’ There will be a deluge. And everything will be flooded and finished. And then there is a re-creation. I don’t mean ‘recreation.’ A creation, restarted.”

In the meantime, members of the New Vrindaban community and Krishna devotees will continue their chanting, continue to make floral offerings, and take the excitement over the Mayan calendar predictions in stride.

“If the lead-up allows us to be more introspective and conscious of The Lord, that’s a good thing,” Gabriel Fried, Director of Facilities for the New Vrindaban Community said.  “And if something happens and it pulls us all together, and we’re more introspective and conscious of God, that’s also a good thing.”

The Krishna community in West Virginia also houses one of the governing board of commissioners for ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.  She goes by the single name, “Malati.”

“We also go by some very ancient scriptures that pre-date the Mayans, and it hasn’t been mentioned in there either,” Malati said.  “Now, there are ends of the world according to our scriptures, but tomorrow’s not one of them,” she continued.

• Read comments...

Earth sheltered housing and an ox barn: These words call to mind simpler times, connected to the earth. At New Vrindavan, some exciting plans are underway that include just such buildings in a small eco-village. The first of many small, new villages, built around an agrarian, spiritual lifestyle based on the mission of plain living, high thinking, and close connections to Mother Earth in a sustainable way, is in the works. This is an ECOV (Earth Cows Opportunity Vrindaban/Village) project called Madhuban Village.

The road is already begun, and the next phase will be to build the ox barn. Madhava Ghosh, the coordinator of the Village, explains, “For the ox barn’s foundation, we are going  to use recycled sandstone from a 160 year old local girls’ school that was dismantled. We were very fortunate to get that sandstone. The barn will have a timber frame from wood milled right here from New Vrindaban’s own forest. The source of water will be from the catchment of rain off of the roofs as well as the development of naturally existing springs on the property.  There will be composting toilets.  Solar panels will be installed and it will be a zero net metering project.”

“The basis for the ox program in New Vrindavan is to provide hauling and agricultural services for the New Vrindavan community. This is, of course, all in the early stages of development.”

Construction on the  ox barn will begin first followed by building a prototype   earth shelter, the first of five.  This housing will have a low impact on the environment and that is one of the strong points of this eco-village. The plan is to make the shelters out of recycled materials such as rammed earth and old tires and locally available materials — materials with low energy consumption.

The earth shelters will be constructed on the south slope of the ridge that extends out from McCreary’s Ridge Road/Palace Road.  This is the ridge you see going out from the first point you can see the Palace.  On its  southern side, each shelter will have a greenhouse built in which will provide heat by passive solar energy plus growing potential.

There will be two two-bedroom dwellings built and one three-bedroom. There will also be a dormitory for men and one for women.  Eventually a community center will be built.

All buildings, and placement of buildings, on the land will be set up utilizing the principle of Vastu design, an ancient Vedic science of space or construction design to promote optimum harmony with surrounding natural forces.

The earth shelters will act mostly as transitional housing for new, largely young people to come  from the cities, so they can spend some time working the land to see if they would like to take up a simple, yet sublime agrarian lifestyle in Krsna’s service.

On the north side of the ridge, facing the Palace, there will be an orchard of fruit and nut trees which can produce high value crops to support the people who will live there. Some of these trees have already been planted and as labor and funds are available the whole hillside will be replanted with food bearing crops.

There will also be deer fenced areas for vegetable and berry production.

Donations of money and labor to move this project forward will gladly be accepted and would help accelerate the pace of manifestation.

Madhuban Village will help fulfill one of the missions of the New Vrindaban Community, namely “plain living and high thinking based on dependence on the land and the cow.” This is why New Vrindaban Community is excited to see Madhuban Village develop.

.

• Read comments...

Friday Srimad Bhagavatam Class 12.28.12

(Please click on the link to the letter itself below the article.)

There was another enlivening Srimad Bhagavatam class this morning, the sixth Friday Srimad Bhagavatam class in a series of discussions of Srila Prabhupada’s letters about New Vrindavan. He Himself has said: “One must take advantage of the “vani” (the words of the spiritual master), not just the physical presence.” The mood of the classes is to extract the essence of Srila Prabhupada’s vision and instructions for New Vrindavan.  It is clear that Srila Prabhupada wanted New Vrindavan to cultivate plain living and high thinking, in a lifestyle based on working the land, raising some cows and keeping Krsna in the center.

In a letter from Aug. 17, 1968, Srila Prabhupada said:  “My idea of developing New Vrindaban is to create an atmosphere of spiritual life where people in bona fide order of social division…. will live there independently, completely depending on agricultural produce and milk from the cows.”

Another important aspect was that New Vrindavan is not to be just for the devotees, but for preaching and attracting people to Krsna. He said:  “I am sure this Prasadam attraction will make our neighbors friendly and surely they will come in number in future so that New Vrindaban will be ideal place for visiting from the neighboring provinces, counties, I think so and it will be done nicely. “

Of course, New Vrindavan’s special feature is that it is not to be simply a spiritual, Krsna-based ecovillage but that Srila Prabhupada wanted 7 temples, like the original Vrindavan:“Also you will be pleased to note that I’ve asked Gaurasundara to make a layout of the whole land and I shall place 7 different temples in different situation, as prototype of Vrindaban.”

These letters about New Vrindavan serve to remind us that Srila Prabhupada’s direct words, “vani”, are very precious and that we are fortunate to have so much of His vani available to study and to relish.  Hare Krsna.

The link to the  Aug. 23 1968 letter is below:

23 August 1968 Letter

Yoga Weekend of December 29th and 30th 2012

Strengthen your yoga and your bhakti with our yoga experts Gaura Nataraj Das and Damodar Das. Share with us a meaningful time ending the year and invoke blessings and auspicousness for the coming year in New Vrindaban

~FRIDAY Dec 28~

7:00 pm        Gaura Arati

7:30 pm        Bhagavad Gita Class by Gaurnatraj das

8:30 pm        Shayan Arati

~SATURDAY  Dec 29~

5.00am         Mangala Artika

5:45am         Japa session

6:45 am – 7:15 am  Yoga class by Gaur Natraj Das

7:30am         Sringar Darshan

7:40 am        Guru Puja

8:00 am        Srimad Bhagavatam Class by Rasa Chaitanya das

9:00 am        Breakfast

11:00 am      Seminar on yoga by Gaur Natraj Das

12:30 pm       Arati By Rasa Chaitanya Das

1:00 pm         Class By Rasa Chaitanya Das

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm  Yoga by Damodar prabhu

6:00 pm        Sacred Storytelling by Sankirtan

7:00 pm        Gaura Arati

7:30 pm        Bhagavad Gita Class by Rasa Chaitanya Das

8:30 pm        Shayan Arati

~SUNDAY  Dec 30~

5:00 am        Mangala Artika

5:45 am        Japa session

6:45am – 7-15 am  Yoga class by Gaur Natraj Das

7:30 am        Sringar Darshan

7:40 am        Guru Puja

8:00 am        Srimad Bhagavatam by Gaur Natraj Das

9:00 am        Breakfast

11:00 am – 12:30 pm  Yoga seminar by Damodar prabhu

1:00 pm        Arati By Rasa Chaitanya Das

1:30 pm        Sunday Feast Lecture by Rasa Chaitanya Das

2:15 pm        Sunday Feast

The Yoga Teachers:

H.G. Damodara das

Is a certified yoga teacher by a number of yoga schools, has been a yoga instructor for 25 years. You will get a comprehensive look at the 3 main branches of yoga: awakening to spirit with Hatha yoga, perceiving the Lord in the heart with Pranayama yoga and realization of the personality of Godhead with chanting sacred sound.

H.G.Gaur Natraj Das

is a disciple of  H.H.Bhakti Raghava Swami.  He completed his Mechanical engineering from Mangalore University 2001, Post Graduate in Yoga  from the Department of Yogic Sciences, Mangalore University  (2003-2005). He works in the fields of Vinyasa yoga, Mind control ,meditation and Food as medicine. He has given many international seminars on yoga and health. He is a fulltime Hare Krishna preacher in New Vrindaban, WV implementing the principles of Krsna consciousness and yoga

OM TAT SAT

Questions? Please write an email to  Gaura Nataraja Dasa gaurnatraj@gmail.com

In order to get a reservation for the retreat, thanks. Also inquire any other information using this email, please.

 We look forward to sharing a meaningful year end with you and invoke blessings and auspicousness for the coming year.

Thanks to Krypamaya for the following:

“Go also means land” Lecture by Srila Prabhupada, S.B. 1.2.6. – 1968. Go-seva Ki Jai

PAPER, PLASTIC BOTTLES AND METAL CANS

Bethlehem Ball Field (1015 E Bethlehem Blvd)
Take 88 North to Bethlehem
Turn right at the Clark/Loading Zone Gas station (which will be on your right)
Go down the hill, (after you pass the first billboard on your left)
Turn left onto Village Drive (Before Village Plaza, across from Ernie’s Esquire Restaurant)
Go up the hill and turn left into Village Ball field Parking lot where you’ll see recycling bins.

GLASS (metal cans, paper & plastic are also recycled here)

Take I – 470 Bridge over the Ohio River to first Exit, No. 6 (Bridgeport Bellaire Exit) onto 7 N
Take Exit for I-70/250/40 Exit. Make a right off the exit ramp
Make a right before next Traffic Light into the parking lot 1-70 overpass (Across from Moore’s Music) You’ll see 4 recycling bins in front of the railroad trucks

Near Moundsville there are also Recycling bins that take glass. Cross bridge into Ohio, (near Moundsville Plaza) Take 7 North. Get off at first exit. There are recycling bins near this Exit.

ALUMINUM CANS & NON-FERROUS METALS (These places will pay you)

Strauss Industries – 35 & McColloch Sts. Wheeling, W.Va. 26003 Tel – 304-232-8770 Hours – Mon. – Friday – 8:00 -3:45 (Closed between 12: 00 – 12:30)

T & T Quigley Recycling – 304-242-6662, 106 Mount View Dr. Wheeling W.V.
From 250 take 88 North towards Wheeling. In Mt. Olivet on right next to Mountaineer Bar and Grill

ELECTRONICS

1). Sunset Recycling Services – 149 18th St. Wheeling
Hours 8:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m. Mon. – Fri, Sat. 9:00 a.m – 2:00 p.m.

2). Best Buy at Highlands –small batteries, ink cartridges, small TV’s, computers etc. (for detailed list visit Best Buy’s website and click on “recycling”).

3). Lowes (Wheeling and St. Clairsville) – Rechargeable Batteries, Cell Phones, CFLs

FERROUS METALS

Automatic Recycling 2 Benwood Industrial Park, Benwood (they pay for scrap) (304)232-5175
Take 4th St. Exit in Benwood, go south through town then out through the industrial park
Cars (gas tanks removed), White goods (appliances like refrigerators (need Freon removed), washing machines etc.) and misc scrap iron. No wire

ADDITIONAL RECYCLING LOCATIONS

1). St. Michael’s Church on National Rd (1225 National Road, Wheeling, WV)
Recycling bins are in the large parking lot next to church in back corner, near a tan building. Paper, Plastic, Metal Cans, (no glass)

2). Oglebay Park (near Oglebay Good Zoo) Paper, Plastic, Metal Cans, (no glass)

3). Clearview Volunteer Fire Department – 166 Clearview Avenue, Warwood, WV 26003
Recycling bins are next to the Fire Station. Paper, Plastic, Metal Cans, (no glass)