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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Mayapura!

We finally arrived in Mayapura.

The spiritual abodes of Vrindaban and Mayapura are considered to be nondifferent in spiritual value. Vrindavan requires a higher degree of purification to appreciate. Mayapura however is considered to be audurya dhama which means the most magnanimous holy place. It is much easier for neophyte devotees to appreciate the presence of the Lord here in Mayapura.


 

Yesterday we walked to the Ganga. Bala has heard many stories of great sages and rsis living on the banks of the Ganges so he was in awe when he was finally was able to personally visit the Ganges River. He was telling me so many stories as we were walking there.


 

It is also the month of Kartika. This is a month where whatever devotional service is performed is amplified in its effect many thousand times over. When you add that to the benefit of being in Mayapur, the good fortune only increases. In fact it is so much easier to focus on our japa and kirtan mediation here as well as our spiritual studies.


 

In the book entitled Nectar of Devotion there is a list of 64 primary qualities of the Lord. One of those qualities is compassion. The Lord is the most compassionate and that compassion is available to anyone who willingly accepts. Of course one must know how to properly identify and accept that compassion. One of the ways in which the Lord is compassionate is by giving these holy sites like Mayapura and Vrindavan because it is in these places where one can easily and swiftly realize the absolute truth. There are many other qualities of the Lord and I will present many of them in later blogs.


 

Hope all is well!


 

Please go here for the temple webcam:


 

http://www.krishna.com/mayapur


 


 


 

Monday, October 22, 2007

Hari Bhakta and family


 


 

We had some old friends come to the temple here in Chowpatty. We used to live near Hari Bhakta and his family in Columbus and New Vrindavan. Hari Bhakta's wife Gopi Lila has been undergoing chemotherapy for her cancer. She looks very weak. They are leaving today to go back to the states so that she can recover from her chemo treatment. Their two kids Gopal (9) and Vrinda (4) are very animated little kids and Bala was able to get along with them very well. We wish them well back in the states and pray for Gopi Lila's quick recovery.


 


Friday, October 19, 2007

Documentary

Here is an online documentary on the temple that we are staying at here in Mumbai.


 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3085872670599696508


 


 

We are leaving Mumbai for Mayapura West Bengal on Wednesday or Thursday…

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Land of extremes


 


 

Parts of India are frozen in time while others are moving fast forward with modernity. Here in Mumbai most of the modern amenities of the west are available, accompanied with lots of advertising. Simply go into the villages, perhaps a hundred miles hinterland, and you will find many villages even without electricity! This is just one example of the extremes that are located within India. In India you have some of the cleanest places and some of the dirtiest places (literally and figuratively). You have extremely enlightened folks and also debased people, both on levels beyond the westerners imagination. India is indeed a polarized and dynamic country.


 

We are living in the Radha-Gopinatha Mundira temple complex. Here there are over 100 brahmacharies (resident celibate monks) in addition to the several hundred (even thousand)congregational members that come here daily. On Sundays there are thousands of Krishna's devotees here for the weekend programs. There is a unique difference between out exchanges here in the temple complex and those outside. Those inside and most that visit the complex live very strictly by the principles of Bhagavad Gita.


 

One of those beginning principles in the Bhagavad Gita is to see every living being equally as a spirit soul (atma) part and parcel of the Supreme Lord yet eternally individual in existence. Additionally the philosophy is that one is to serve the Lord and his devotees. The result is a vibrant atmosphere where everyone is concerned about each others well being. When this atmosphere is coupled with the glorification of the Lord's qualities, especially by chanting of the maha mantra Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Ram Rama Rama Hare Hare, an ecstatic experience is undertaken. This is not some sentimental or will o' the wisp experience but tone that is very practical and most importantly nourishing for the soul and its natural godly qualities.


 

This is the extreme experience that India has to share with the world.


 

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!


 


 

 

Friday, October 12, 2007

pictures


 

Here is a link for with our pictures there will be many more to come so please bookmark it:


 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridarushes/

Thursday, October 11, 2007

In India for a week


 


 


 

We have been in India for a week already.


 

Today I visited with a friend named Govinda and my son the school here called gopals garden. These kids a learning a balance of devotional and regular academic subjects. They were very respectful and treated Bala as a close friend right away. Bala reciprocated the feeling. After lunch Bala and I went to a Maharastrian forest just outside of Mumbai. Bala wanted to see some tigers but we only saw monkeys. While walking down a path we saw a temple of Siva in the middle of nowhere. It was nice to get out of the bustling city of Mumbai and made me look forward to our next stop in Mayapur, which is mostly countryside and forest

Friday, October 5, 2007

At Radha Gopnatha Temple in Mumbai.

So we are her in Mumbai staying at the famous Chowpatty Iskcon temple. Every time I come here I am amazed at the care and attention given to the resident and guest devotees alike. It is certainly a priority to make everyone feel that their needs have been met both materially and spiritually. Somehow my jetlag is a little more difficult to overcome than usual. Maybe I am just getting older.


 

I see so many new faces here at the temple in addition to the stalwarts that have been here for many years. It is hard to believe that I have not been here for almost eight years. The entire temple room is completely renovated with intricately carved teek wood all around. Additionally they have acquired more buildings in the area for guests, office space and residents. It is a very well run program.


 

We just taught Balagopal how to wash his clothes by hand. He had fun wringing them out and then hanging them on the line. He has been waking up at 4:00 every morning so we have been taking him to the morning program with us. There are about 150 people in the temple for the morning program every morning from 5:00 till 9:00. It is a fantastic way to wake up!


 

I will post some pictures of the temple later

We made it…



 

Krishna kept us hanging in suspense until the end.


 

We were scheduled to leave for Mumbai on Monday the 1st of October and on the previous Friday morning they still had not even opened up our visa package in Houston. They could not even find them (our passports) at the embassy. This meant that in order for us to make our flight they would have to process them in the morning and send it out overnight to New York so that we could pick them up between our connecting flights. If we missed our flight we would have to pay up to $600 in fees to change the ticket! Thanks to an old friend Sarvabhauma and Nadia Kumara we had our visas in time to board our flight in New York on the 1st. They went out of their way and were persistent with those that worked at the assembly. With a tad bit of anxiety we arrived at the International airport after a domestic plane ride, three subway rides, a quick stop at the temple to pick up our passports, a taxi ride, a long walk to find the bus station, and finally a bus that brought us to the airport (in rush hour traffic) within minutes of the cutoff time for our international flight. SO I am writing this on the plane flying over Iraq on my way to India . This is my five year old son's first trip to India, my wife's second and my 6th trip to India (although the last time I was here was 8 years ago).


 

I am planning on keeping some type of blog/journal while I am in India. I am not going to be writing to anyone in particular so if you are reading this some things I will write you will be able to relate to and some not. Mostly I will be expressing thoughts and realizations inspired by the often transcendental Indian atmosphere and other times I will simply recount our journeys. Additionally, I will post some pictures and some videos as well.


 

If for some reason I do not write for a while feel free to encourage me by dropping me a mail at gaura.nitai.rns@gmail.com . I will be connecting some easy to remember domain names to the blog as well. One will be gauranitaidas.com and the other will be ericallenrush.com. Also, please do not bring these writings to your English teacher for correction. The punctuation, spelling and grammar may not always be at standard. However you can bring any philosophical comments to your philosophy teacher for analysis.


 

Hare Krishna!


 

Gaura-Nitai Das

Aka

Eric Rush