Got Dung?

When some of the kids in the ashrama become anxious for more excitement they like to take a bath here in the cow dung! This “pool” of dung is situated right next to the goshalla (cow barn). The kitchen is situated nearby and uses the methane gas extracted from the dung to power the stoves that cook our lunch. Believe it or not here in Bengal and in many other parts of rural India cow dung is actually a valuable commodity. The dung is collected and form into round patties and laid to dry out in the sun. When it is dry it is used as firewood (firedung). It is often said that cow dung is not only pure but medicinal to the human body. Apparently, this has also been confirmed by modern science. Indeed many kitchens in rural India have their entire floor covered with dry cow dung. This all may sound a bit too far out for westerners but it is common practice here in India.

Comments?

The Sun and the Moon

Those people living in the west , particularly in Protestant based countries, are not accustomed the practice of arcana or deity worship. In fact the concept of worshiping a deity is even condemned in Judeao-Christian religious circles. When visitors come to one of our temples (in the west) and witness the exquisitely dressed deities and the devotees singing for them they generally have a look that is a mix of bewilderment, curiosity and maybe even a bit of unexpected bliss.
These folks who stick around for a while and sincerely inquire into the practical philosophy of Krishna Consciousness soon learn about the great science of deity worship. The Lord who is the master and controller of all energies both material and spiritual can transform material elements (clay, wood, brass,etc) into a spiritually infused representation of Himself. The deity is sculpted according to the descriptions in scripture. When the pure devotee of the Lord invites Him to enter into the deity form He certainly comes. He does so out of compassion in to facilitate the use of our body, mind, and senses in His ecstatic association and service.
We recently ordered Gaura-Nitai deities in Navadwipa. We go to the carvers shop where They are being made as often as possible in order to witness the gradual development of their forms. We will periodically post pictures of them until they are completed in late March. They are 20 inches tall and made out of neem wood. Below are some pictures of the deities after two days of carving.






This is an example of what our deities will look like. Their arms however will reacher higher then this one.



Here is the devotee who is carving them. His family has been making murtis for many generations.

Check back soon for more pictures!

Room to Grow

The other day our school (Sri Mayapura International School) expanded into the new building. The initial building was getting a bit crowded. It is so much easier to teach when the students are not crowded together. The first building has a total of 9 rooms on the three floors. The new building is a facsimile of the original building minus the top two floors. The top two tow floors will be added as funds are available.

The view from the new building is quite spectacular. One can see sugar cane fields followed by a field of sunflowers in full bloom, and in the distance flows the sacred Jalangi River. When I think about the high school that I went to I remember a sharp contrast to this environment. At my old high school there was not even one window in the entire complex! Even if there were windows all that we would be able to see was fields of asphalt(parking lot). The environment of our schools in the west is often overlooked in the name of efficient use of space. Generally these schools look like the state penitentiary (and often perform similar functions). The pastoral setting here in Mayapura is certainly pleasing to the mind. The peaceful mind is a necessary prerequisite for an attentive and focused mind.

One More Saturday Night!

Is today Saturday daddy?

Yes it is and you know what that means, right?

Yipee, Parade Parade Parade!

Saturday night here in Mayapur dhama is anxiously awaited every week by devotees young and old. That is the night when the chota Radha Madhava deities and the larger Gaura Nitai deities come out of the temple and are carried around the complex in beautiful oxen powered carriages. Practically everyone living in the community and many thousand Bengali pilgrims join the procession each week. Some of the boys chant the Purusa Sukta Mantras, others carry flags, incense, torches or lead the kirtan. The center of it all of course is the kirtan that can be heard all over the community.

The procession stops several times as they make Their way around Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi. At each stop there is full aratika for both sets of deities. Also on some of these stops devotees bring some baked or cooked offerings to be offered to the Lord and then mahaprasadam is distributed to the devotees. At each stop devotees make beautiful mandalas geometric pictures) on the ground with colored chalk, colored rice powder and an abundance of flowers.

These festivals are a fabulous way to fully utilize the tendency to dance, socialize and get intoxicated (by the Holy Names). After the procession is over the deities are returned to Their altars while devotees shower the path with flower petals and sing bhajans into the night. It is a shower of transcendental stimulation for the senses and the soul.

Daddy I wish we could have these festivals every night!

Transcendental Market Place

On Monday we took our boys shastra class to the island of Godrumadwipa. All of the boys had bikes so we rode them to Hulor Ghata and took the old wooden boat across the Jalangi river. As soon as we got off the boats our brahmachar friend Bipin Bihari Prabhu showed us the way to several of the Holy places. It is very nice having him along with us as he was born and raised in Godrumadwipa. Once when we were visiting CHand Kazi’s Samadhi we happened to meet him there and he described to us the glory of that place. He comes with us every week now when we take the boys out.





First we went to the house of Bhaktivinode Thakur. We chanted the Mangalacharanam (invocation prayers to Lord and the acaryas).We then discussed the life of Bhaktivinode THakur Previously when Bhaktinode Thakura was younger the Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy and lifestyle was mostly misunderstood as a sentimental and even licentious doctrine. Bhaktivinode was instrumental in presenting Gaudiya Vaishnavism philosophy as pure and substantial path spiritual life. He also wrote in simple Bengali language many of the devotional songs that we regularly sing (Gaura Aratika is my favorite) We were then able to take a tour through the house and see some of his personal belongings. Here is a copy of the schedule that he used to follow:\
7:30 8:00 PM take rest
10:00 PM rise, light oil lamp, write
4:00 AM take rest
4:30 rise, wash hands and face, chant japa
7:00 write letters
7:30 read
8:30 receive guests, or continue to read
9:30 9:45 take rest
9:45 morning bath, breakfast of half quart milk, couple chapatis, fruit
9:55 go to court in carriage
10:00 court began.
1:00 PM court finished. He'd come home and bathe and refresh.
2:00 PM return to office.
5:00 PM translate works from Sanskrit to Bengali
Then take evening bath and meal of rice, couple of chapatis, half quart of milk.




After visiting Bhaktivinode Thakur’s house we went down the street to Surabhi Kunja. Bhaktivinode wrote a song about this place as the “market for the Holy name of Lord Krishna” Nityananda is selling the spiritually potent names of Lord Krishna and the only price is one’s faith. We sat down here and told the story of Surabhi and then chanted some bhajans together. As it is customary to roll around in the dust of this place we instructed the boys to find some spot with lots of dust and roll around! At first they though I was joking when I asked them to roll around in the dust but when they saw that my request was sincere they immediately jumped to the ground and rolled. Some of the resident devotees there gave us some prasadam and invited us to come back at anytime .

We then boarded the boat back to Mayapur and made it back just in time for Math class!

One More Saturday Night

Is today Saturday daddy?

Yes it is and you know what that means, right?

Yipee, Parade Parade Parade!

Saturday night here in Mayapur dhama is anxiously awaited every week by devotees young and old. That is the night when the chota Radha Madhava deities and the larger Gaura Nitai deities come out of the temple and are carried around the complex in beautiful oxen powered carriages. Practically everyone living in the community and many thousand Bengali pilgrims join the procession each week. Some of the boys chant the Purusa Sukta Mantras, others carry flags, incense, torches or lead the kirtan. The center of it all of course is the kirtan that can be heard all over the community.

The procession stops several times as they make Their way around Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi. At each stop there is full aratika for both sets of deities. Also on some of these stops devotees bring some baked or cooked offerings to be offered to the Lord and then mahaprasadam is distributed to the devotees. At each stop devotees make beautiful mandalas geometric pictures) on the ground with colored chalk, colored rice powder and an abundance of flowers.

These festivals are a fabulous way to fully utilize the tendency to dance, socialize and get intoxicated (by the Holy Names). After the procession is over the deities are returned to Their altars while devotees shower the path with flower petals and sing bhajans into the night. It is a shower of transcendental stimulation for the senses and the soul.

Daddy I wish we could have these festivals every night!