Even though the Festival of India was in Vancouver this weekend for their Ratha-yatra, that didn’t stop Seattle from having not just one, but two Ratha-yatras of their own!

I wasn’t able to get to the one on Saturday, but Smartz (with Ryan, Jamie and kids) and I made it to Sunday’s.

This was probably the smallest Ratha-yatra that I’ve ever been to, but it was a really lovely one.

We arrived just after some mantra rock band finished up. As many know, I’m really really not a fan of mantra rock. I’ve never ever once heard any that wasn’t embarrassingly bad. We did, however, get treated to a more traditional bhajana band that added to the mood. This is nice.

We also got to meet Jaga, a devotee from Seattle. We had been talking a bit on Facebook and it was really nice to meet up.

Most Ratha-yatras feature the deities being pulled in large carts, but since these deities are so small, They get a simple palanquin.

As the procession was about to leave, a devotee announced that a magician would be performing while the rest of us were out chanting and dancing. This was weird and sort of pointless. I’m sure it was a Krishna conscious themed magician, but come on – time/place/circumstance, ok?

Anyway, we walked, chanted and danced our way from Pier 59 to Pier 53 along the Seattle waterfront. I was really surprised how many people joined in. Folks just passing by chanted and danced with us. Some made fun, that’s for sure, but most didn’t. Most seemed really happy to see us. Even an 80+ year old white lady got a big smile, stopped and started clapping along.

The whole day was really fun. I try to get to at least one Ratha-yatra per year and it looks like this is it for me. But really, if I had to do just one this year, I’m glad it was in Seattle.

Here are a bunch more pics!

And for those who are wondering when the Gita comparison posts will make their way back to my blog, the answer is: soon. I broke (smashed) my right little finger and couldn’t really type all that well. Also, I needed a bit of a break. But I’m healing and ready to get back to work. Haribol!

Every morning is most Hare Krishna temples, we sing the Nrsmha Prayers (Nri-sim-ha). The bhajan is pretty mellow usually, but I came across a wonderful version of it awhile back. It’s done by Visnujana Swami and was recorded in the mid 70’s.

Here are the lyrics and the translation:

namas te narasimhaya
prahladahlada-dayine
hiranyakasipor vaksah-
sila-tanka-nakhalaye

I offer my obeisances to Lord Narasimha who gives joy to Prahlada Maharaja
and whose nails are like chisels on the stonelike chest of the demon Hiranyakasipu.

ito nrsimhah parato nrsimho
yato yato yami tato nrsimhah
bahir nrsimho hrdaye nrsimho
nrsimham adim saranam prapadye

Lord Nrsimha is here and also there. Wherever I go Lord Nrsimha is there.
He is in the heart and is outside as well. I surrender to Lord Nrsimha,
the origin of all things and the supreme refuge.

tava kara-kamala-vare nakham adbhuta-srngam
dalita-hiranyakasipu-tanu-bhrngam
kesava dhrta-narahari-rupa jaya jagadisa hare

O Kesava! O Lord of the universe!
O Lord Hari, who have assumed the form of half-man, half-lion!
All glories to You! Just as one can easily crush a wasp between one’s fingernails,
so in the same way the body of the wasplike demon Hiranyakasipu has been ripped apart
by the wonderful pointed nails on Your beautiful lotus hands.

And here is the song:

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From KT-08

Today is a holiday called Gaura Purnima. It celebrates the appearance day (birthday) of the founder of the Sankirtana movement, Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

The Sankirtana movement is what most folks would call the “Hare Krishnas.” But the Hare Krishnas are one of many branches of this tree. Sankirtana literally means “group chanting.” 500 or so years ago, Caitanya Mahaprabhu took religion from the so-called higher classes and distributed it to the masses. He and His followers took to the streets with a mantra that has become known the world over:

Before Mahaprabhu, there were practitioners of this faith, but never on such a grand and public scale. His followers were from all walks of life and from different religions. He did not discriminate, love of God is for everyone.

From the days when He started this tradition to the present, devotees of the Gaudia-Vaisnava philosophy regard Caitanya Mahaprabhu as an incarnation of Krishna, God.

Though He traveled widely and spoke countless times to the public, He only wrote eight verses, called Siksastakam. Here in these eight short stanzas one can find everything needed for the perfect spiritual life.

Of these eight, it is said that the path to true love of God runs through one very in particular. If all of Mahaprabhu’s instructions were to be summarized into one verse, the third verse would be it.

Being humble like a blade of grass,
being more tolerant than a tree,
expecting no admiration
yet showing others veneration,
one should glorify Hari [God] constantly.

I first heard this verse soon after discovering that being a Gaudia Vaisnava was for me. It was the one verse that I kept in mind, always trying my best to live up to this high standard. Of course, I failed miserably for the longest time, but, thanks to age and a better understanding of just what kind of a role humility and tolerance play in spiritual life, I’m slowly getting better.

Each spiritual path has teachings that are meant solely for that specific spiritual path, Gaudia Vaisnavism is no different. But this verse can be taken by anyone who is even a little serious about spiritual life. It will help the neophyte just as it will help the wise old sage.

A few years ago, Tripurari Swami wrote a book called Siksastakam of Sri Caitanya. He takes each verse and breaks it down from the most basic, universal meaning to the esoteric. For a deeper study of the Siksastakam, I strongly recommend this book.

Happy Gaura Purnima!

I had a really amazing time! Probably the best Rath I’ve ever been to. So fun, in fact, that I’m going to devote a few posts to it.

Philly Ratha-yatra has the very distinct pleasure of being the most surreal of all of the Ratha Yatras that I’ve attended. Sure, on the outside, it’s your fairly normal Ratha-yatra.

But once you’ve considered that Ben Franklin is wandering around in full period dress while holding a Bhagavad-gita and that we’ve got Scottish bag pipers playing Krishna conscious melodies leading the procession, you know it’s something weird.

This year had Krishna and Arjuna in a white carriage (I mean.. chariot, I guess). That was really weird. I can never ever get used to someone in blueface.

Philly Rath is just weird and I’m pretty sure it’s my favorite.

Oh, on a big A Plus note, last year the sign that was at the front of the parade misspelled Acarya, which is just sloppy and careless. One of the first things I looked for this year was to see if they replaced the sign. They did! Big Haribol to them!

I got to see some friends too! I went there with Sarah (you can see her post about it here), hung out with her and Olivia, saw Bhagavan and Ananga (YAY!), saw Malati prabhu and learned that she once owned a Vespa (but gave it up for a motorcycle) and a bunch of other folks too.

I met and chatted up Yadhunatha, the comedian, which I’ll post more about later on. I discovered some great Ramayana toys (again, will post more later) and discovered an artist that I never knew existed, but adore her work (more on that too, ok?)!

The annoying ritviks getting in your face and arguing with people were surprisingly absent. However, the slightly more annoying “are you registered to vote” Obama supporters were there in full force. I think I dislike Obama as much as I dislike McCain. I got in a mini-argument with one of them. She asked if I’d like to register to vote. I told her that I would not. “You don’t vote?” she asked. I then told her that once somebody runs a candidate that’s worth voting for, I’ll vote. She said something like “ohhh” and left me alone.

But whatever, one dim (and I really do mean that) spot on an otherwise wonderful day.

And now, the pictures.

As mentioned, I spent a few days in New Vrndavana for Radhastami. I took a few pictures, which you’ll see below.

It was a great time and Sarah seemed to enjoy it too. Rati and Dwija were wonderful and I even got to meet Dwija’s parents. Woo!

The festival itself seemed pretty dead, though we did our own thing for the feast. But Sri Sri Radha Vrndavana Chandra were, as always, beautiful.

Here are the pictures… (they might look odd if you’re viewing this on Planet ISKCON, not sure – if they do, just go directly to my blog).

And here are Sarah’s pictures and a little write up.

Last Janmastami, I spent it alone in a really tiny apartment. It was nice, but a bit lonely. This Janmastami, I thought I’d travel the hour and a half to Gita Nagari. I’ve never been to GN for a festival, which is odd since it’s the closest temple. I’ve been to lots of other temples for lots of other festivals, but Gita Nagari never really clicked with me.

New Vrndavana was the plan for this year, but that didn’t work out, so Gita Nagari it was. This allowed for a quick trip, so I invited Sarah. She’s been to a temple before, but never for a program or festival. I wasn’t sure what she would think of Gita Nagari, but figured it couldn’t hurt.

I wasn’t really looking forward to what I’ve grown used to seeing at festivals in the past few years. All these puja thalis and donor dinners and kalash weirdness. It sort of bugs me to see devotees pimping the deities, convincing Hindus to be better Hindus (rather than devotees) and all under the name of “fund raising.” I don’t care who you are, it’s creepy and such a shame.

That’s what I was all geared up to deal with at Janmastami in Gita Nagari. But when we got there around 6:30, there were maybe 20 devotees in the temple room having a small kirtana.

I saw my friend, Chris, and we chatted a bit. And then he offered to take us on a little tour of the farm. He’s been coming here since ‘89. I was at GN in ‘98ish, and once or twice since then.

As we toured the grounds and hung out with the cows, I regretted not visiting here more. Maybe in the short time that I have left on the east coast, I’ll visit again.

To end the little tour, we stopped at Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s puspa-samadhi (sort of like a memorial site). It was newly finished and pretty beautiful. Very well done. Some Amish fellows worked on it, though they wouldn’t lay the tile because it was an altar for a different religion. I can respect that, but why build the alter itself, but not lay the tile? Amish are finicky like that.

It was getting later and the sun was dipping down to the horizon. Time for the festivities to start. The schedule said that there were going to be “Charades.” I had never once seen “Charades” at a temple. Devotees have weird names for things. We sometimes use words that usually mean something completely different from what we actually mean. But I’ve never heard “Charades” used at all. So needless to say, I was really excited for Krishna Conscious Charades!

But much to my dismay, that didn’t happen. I’m not really sure why, but sometimes things just fall apart. And it’s probably better that that fell apart rather than an arati or abi-sheka.

It was pretty hot in the temple room and more devotees had shown up. I recognized a few, which is usually the case and always nice. Before too long, the swing festival portion of the evening was the place to be.

They took Radha-Damodara off the altar and placed them on a wonderfully decorated swing in the middle of the temple room. The devotees formed a haphazard line and funneled in to take turns at pushing Their Lordships’ swing for a few seconds while the kirtana grew in size.

It was a really great kirtana with three or four second generation kids on the drums. It’s always better when the kulis are providing the beat.

We stayed in the temple for a bit, chanting along with the kirtana, but it got a bit hot and I was getting a little dizzy, so we went outside to cool off.

And I’m really glad that we did. I was planning on going back inside for class, but ended up having a great conversation with a couple from the New Vrndavana area. I remembered the husband, Bala, from when I lived at NV in the mid 90’s. There was also a second generation mataji who grew up at Gita Nagari.

The conversation turned to deities. Apparently there were some very ecstatic and huge Gaura Nitai deities at Ratha-Yatra this year. They were brought there by a devotee who makes deities. He’s the father a few friends of hers, but she couldn’t remember his name. Neither could Bala. I took a stab at it, since I thought I knew who they were talking about. Turns out that I did! I was supposed to contact this devotee about making me a set of Gaura-Nitai deities, but never did – I was hoping to find a set needing a new home.

But since nearly a month has passed and nothing has come up (well, nothing that wasn’t morally apprehensible/abominable), I was seriously kicking around the idea of contacting this deity maker. And after the conversation with this Mataji, I’m doing it. Actually, I did it. Wish me luck.

Night was fully upon us now and class was over. We weren’t planning on staying to the end, what with the drive home and all. The plan was to leave after class, after the abi-sheka (deity bathing).

I was hoping to get a chance to take part in this, but this abi-sheka was on the altar and, not being an initiated brahmin, I can’t go there. We could watch and it was really beautiful seeing Their Lordships taking a little bath. They’re so adorable. I’m used to many big deities at New Vrndavana, but these little brass Lords are wonderful. Jaya Radha Damodara!

It was about 10:30 when we cut out. We were given some prasadam, some fruit, since this is a dairy farm and nothing is vegan (which is fine, I completely understand). We also got Radha Damodar’s garlands! I haven’t gotten garlands at a temple since I joined up. The first time I was ever at a temple, I got one of the garlands. And until a few years ago, I still had it. I gave both of them to Sarah as mementos of her visit.

One long drive later, I dropped Sarah off at her car and got home just in time to break the fast with the fruit that we got at Gita Nagari (Sarah took the cantaloupe, I took the watermelon).

What a great time. It reminded me of the festivals from when I just joined up! The full emphasis was on Krishna, not just “fund raising.” Actually, fund raising wasn’t even mentioned. There was no talk of money. It was Krishna’s day. If we properly worship Krishna and treat the devotees well, Krishna will provide. We don’t need hired (and well paid) fund raisers to make a temple run. A temple is run by devotion and devotion only. And this temple has bhakti bulging at the seams!

Gita Nagari Dham ki Jaya!

Happy Gaura Purnima to you and yours!

[Taken in the house of Rati + Dwija on Gaura Purnima, 2008]