Hariboooooooooooooo! and Happy Halloween, folks!

In honor of this fun little day, I thought that I’d post the Ravindra Svarupa prabhu lecture all about the Vedic view of ghosts. Ever wonder what we Hare Krishnas think about ghosts and the afterlife? Here it is!

Click to listen/download. (19MB – 56mins)

Also, here is a web page written by a devotee that is all about ghosts.

[In the comments, there is a summary of what the Garuda Purana has to say about ghosts.]

I’ve been looking around for the complete text of the Garuda Purana, but have been unable to find anything more than “Part One.” There is a part two and possibly part three. But I’d much rather have it in book form. Can anyone help?

A few days ago, Hrishikesh prabhu posted “An English Version” of the Damodar Prayers as penned by True Peace. As I read it, two really weird things popped into my bald little head.

1) “Oh my GOD! I remember singing the Damodarastakam in English!!” [Totally didn't remember that!]

and

2) “This isn’t it!”

Way back in the fall of 1994, I was in Columbus, Ohio. It was the “month of Damodar” so we would sing the Damodarastakam. However, Malati prabhu would have us sing it in English.

Now, keep in mind, it was maybe only a year since they took off the monks robes and went to the ISKCON style program. However, some things hung on. The English Damodar Prayers was one of them.

I emailed a friend of mine who was around well before this and asked her if I was crazy. Turns out, I wasn’t (at least not for this reason).

From her memory, this is what she wrote…

Oh Damodar Krsna, Your mother in silk
while You were a napping was churning the milk
Oh Damodara Krsna, on You the world rests
yet You rest on Yashoda and suckle her breast

Oh Damodar Krsna Your childhood play
is sweeter than nectar, I’ll drink it each day

Oh Damodar Krsna, cheeks bimba fruit red
???

That was all she could remember.

Now… could some kind soul PLEASE post the rest of this? She remembered that it was in the Damodar coloring book. I remember those and I’m betting they were New Vrndavana produced. Anyone still have it?

Srila Prabhupada was always very against our farms using tractors.

But, perhaps if he saw this, he would have changed his mind…

I nearly introduced Ruby a few days ago. Ruby was my friend and roommate (at the time)’s red car. I remember her as a bright red convertible, maybe a classic. But that’s only in my head. In reality, she was a red Mazda RX7, had a roof and a bunch of good times. I think Ned got her when we were living in Columbus. It was probably in the spring of 1995. Time was weird then.

Ned posted part of this story as a comment on my Ruby II post and then I asked him to finish the story and I’ll post it on my blog. Mostly because i can.

So here is the store of Ruby.

Continue Reading »

In the late 70’s and early 80s, ISKCON released a 20 tape series of kirtans and bhajans. As far as I know, none of these were released on any of the classic ISKCON records. Neither have they been released to CD.

But I have them all and hope to flood you with them at least once a week.

I don’t know the history of them and most don’t have covers or any production credits or dates. So it’s just the music. Ok? Ok!

Some caveats: The sound quality isn’t great. These are from old tapes recorded by devotees. Quality wasn’t a priority. Also, they’re MP3s encoded at 128kbs – not the highest quality. But listenable.

I’m not going to give you a track-by-track review on most of them. I wont do previews either. These are just tapes.

I’ll try to post one every Saturday. This is in addition to the Classic ISKCON Vinyl series that will show up on every Ekadasi.

The first one is…

KT-01 Srila Prabhupada Leads Kirtan
01 – Srila Prabhupada – Samsara Dava Part I (Kirtana #1)
02 – Srila Prabhupada – Samsara Dava Part II (Kirtana #2)
03 – Srila Prabhupada – Govinda Jaya Jaya Part I (Kirtana #3)
04 – Srila Prabhupada – Govinda Jaya Jaya Part II (Kirtana #4)
05 – Srila Prabhupada – Samsara Dava (Kirtana #5)
06 – Srila Prabhupada – Govinda Jaya Jaya (Kirtana #6)

Since the first one is all Srila Prabhupada, there’s a chance that it was released on CD. I don’t know for sure if it has been. If anyone knows, tell me.

Also, like the Classic ISKCON Vinyl, these will only be up for a short while. Two weeks at most. And then I’ll take them down to make room for others. If anyone else would like to host them, let me know I’ll link to you.

Here’s a list of all the tapes…

I wrote this today. I don’t want to give it too much introduction. So I won’t. Today I did a lot of thinking and wound up fairly angry. I don’t like being angry, so I wrote a bit about it to let it out. I considered not posting it, but I think I should be myself.

Dear _____________,

You sat so idly by supposedly absorbed in Krishna consciousness as their world collapsed around them. You said you didn’t know. They actually counted on your promises, your word. You said that when you give your word, you give your life. When will at least one of them come true?

How can you sit there while literally hundreds worship you? Maybe thousands. How? Do you know you’re duping them? Or have you deceived yourself as well?

You left behind you a swath of spiritual mutilation, and even if you didn’t cause it, you did nothing to help them pick up the pieces. You stood by saying nothing, giving your silent acquiescence. With one word, you could have changed so much. With the power you have, you could have helped so many. But you didn’t. And you don’t. And as much as I’m praying that you will, I don’t think you really care.

The devotee in me offers obeisances unto you, while the human in me hopes there’s a special place in hell with your name on it.

Tomorrow will bring a happier post. Maybe even a happy surprise. Would you like that?

I was looking over the Vaisnava calendar to find out just when Govardhana puja falls this year (it’s Nov. 10th, btw) and I noticed Dwali/Dipavali is the day before. I looked around at some temple websites and saw that most are advertising Dwali celebrations. There’s little mention of Govardhana puja.

When I joined up, I don’t think we celebrated Diwali or Dipavali. It was Govardhana puja only. Diwali was some Hindu holiday with lights or something.

So I’ve got a few questions here. When did we (as ISKCON devotees … or maybe as Gaudia Vaisnavas in general) start officially celebrating Diwali? Did Srila Prabhupada even mention celebrating Diwali? If not, why do we do it? I figured that it was Govardhana puja-centric.

Lately, I’ve seen a few devotees (Jayadwaita and Danavir Maharajas specifically) lobby for the style of kirtana that Srila Prabhupada taught us. That’s fine. But I don’t see the same when talking about the festivals. Maybe I’m missing it.

Ok, I’ll confess, I’m not stupid. I know why we celebrate the Hindu festivals like Diwali and Sivratri. It brings in the Hindus, brings in the cash (cha-ching!) and it’s easy. Much easier than raising money like we used to.

If we change back to the old kirtanas, we don’t lose any money. But if we stop celebrating the Hindu festivals and the “car poojas,” there’s a chance that the dough won’t flow. Is that really what’s important?

One thing we really need to keep in mind when we cater to “the Hindus” is that we are not making them better devotees. We are making them better Hindus. And that is not our philosophy.