Sweatin and prayin....

Thanks once again to the mercy of "Yoga" Dave, we...


Phani


Soma


Adi-Guru

...and myself (not pictured) once again tasted the sweet austerity of a traditional sweat lodge this past week in the chill but comfortable Maryland air.

Thanks to the wise guidance and enthusiasm of Dave, our experience deep inside the womb was filled with the resounding sound of the Holy Names. All left perspired and inspired. Here's the visual proof...

I need a laptop.....

What is this? A so-called brahmacari asking for a laptop?

Indeed, your senses do not deceive you.

Since this is the 21st Century, some of my services (such as the Club 108 blog and the "Simple Living, High Thinking" newsletter) require that I use a computer.

Since the computer I was using here at New Vrindaban died a tragic and mysterious death a few months ago, I am without a consistent bag of chips and bits that I can call my own, and whether it's here at NV or wherever else I may go, I have to wait and sometimes even compete to use the available computers. I know, the shame...

So, I'm not hoping for a personal laptop to just space out. That is there, but also it will help me continue my sincere efforts to network and strengthen our communities of devotees worldwide.

As a struggling brahmacari, I am also without finances. My options are traditional here. I am asking and even begging for someone very merciful to either sponsor a laptop for me (such as this one or this one or this one or even this one), or donate one that they no longer have use for.

Help a brother out! Contact me by e-mail at cfici26@yahoo.com, or nvclub108@gmail.com.

Just Chant The Names of the Lord and You'll Be Free!

You dont need no love in
You dont need no bed pan
You dont need a horoscope or a microscope
The see the mess that youre in
If you open up your heart
You will know what I mean
Weve been polluted so long
Now heres a way for you to get clean

By chanting the names of the lord and youll be free
The lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see
Chanting the names of the lord and youll be free
The lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see-George Harrison

I just returned from my first Japa Retreat experience, courtesy of Bhagavat Life at the natural and meditative surroundings of the Delphi University and Spiritual Center in Northern Georgia.

Bhagavat Life, and these Retreats, are the brainchild and pride and joy of HG Purusa Sukta Das and his good wife Divyambar Devi Dasi. Purusa was one of the first devotees I met back in my heady days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and introduced me to chanting to japa, making sure that I wasn't too freaked out by the descriptions of ecstatic symptoms that came along with the education.

Heck, I wasn't freaked out! Ecstatic symptoms! Bring em on! Still feel that way, and at this Japa Retreat, I even got a small taste of what it's all really about in calling upon the Holy Name of the Lord.

We were graced with the divine presences of HH Sacinandana Maharaja and HH Giriraja Maharaja, who provided us all eager beavers with the philosophical and practical know-how to CHANT GOOD JAPA NOW!






Here's some of the highlights from my extensive notes...
-By serving the Holy Name (and the servants of the Holy Name), one gets the mercy of the Holy Name.
-Chanting japa digs up what you bury down in yourself. It's a strong tonic for our material ills.
-It's not about any kind of mystic experience. It's about love and developing our relationship with Krsna.
-Our problems, which are distractions to our chanting and hearing, can only be solved by chanting and hearing properly.
-Krsna witnesses and appreciates our struggle in chanting, and He will provide His mercy.
-ALIGNMENT is the key to bridging the gap between just chanting and chanting with taste. We must align our body with proper posture and renunciation, our mind with focus on the Name and neglect of everything else that comes up, and our heart with a humble approach to chanting.
-We should find our external sacred space (clean, quiet, devotional) and find our inner sacred space (focused, peaceful, and determined mindset).
-Prabhupada always encouraged devotees to chat more that the minimum of sixteen rounds. We see great devotees like Bhakti-Tirtha Swami who took this upon themselves in their own sadhana and made incredible advancement.
-Just by hearing the sound of the Holy Name, we accomplish everything our heart and soul desires.
-It boils down to Bhurijana Prabhu's 4 Keys to Attentive Chanting
1. Hear one mantra at a time (the only mantra that counts is the one you're chanting right now.
2. Neglect the mind (even if it's a thought about your seva, let it go)
3. Humility (we can't overcome the mind without begging for Krsna's mercy)
4. His causeless mercy (Only Krsna can only the floodgates of nectar that come from attentive chanting)

On one find Saturday we took a vow of silence and tried our hearts out to chant 64 rounds. For myself, it was the complete spectrum of my experience in chanting all at once. From complete bliss and real heart-opening pleasure to trying swallow the bitter medicine for my soul.

I can safely say that I have had the strong realization that I've never truly heard the Holy Name before, at least not in the way where I really felt it opening my heart, offering my humbled, fallen self a small glimpse into what an intimate relationship with Krsna is like.

All the time I simply tried to meditate that the truly translucent and transcendent personalities, like Prabhupada, Lord Caitanya, and Rupa Goswami, were feeding me pots of nectar into my ears. I beg simply to always be a recipient of such causeless mercy.


I think constantly about the need in our society of devotees for us all to care of each other, to concentrate on our devotional needs, in order to have the strength needed to carry on Prabhupada's mission in the crazy world. "A Revolution of the Heart", one might say.

I can safely say that Bhagavat Life, with these Japa Retreats, is on the cutting edge of this revolution. I, with all my heart, strongly recommend you take advantage of these Retreats. It works!

Journey To The Burn 08/19/08

From our new Krishna Camp/Burning Man blog Seeking Spiritual Adventure

Reporting live from Salem, Ohio

We (a holy triumvirate featuring Soma, Rasikananda, and myself Chris) have finished the first and least enjoyable part of the yatra: packing a huge Dodge Sprinter van with a even bigger Rath cart attached to the back of it. One step at a time.

After the impending oatmeal, we will finally begin. The West is the best they say...we will follow the advice. A 3-4 day journey out to Black Rock Desert, with possible stops in between in Iowa and Utah.

Stay tuned here for updates throughout the journey and Krsna willing live from Burning Man itself. Here are some pics of our packing...

Daydream Nation

Whoohoo! 100th post! I'd like to thank the paws paws, Madhava Ghosh, and all the weeds I've uprooted! Here's to a 100 more!

This is from a new blog being done in conjunction with the wild and ecstatic journeys of Krishna Camp called Seeking Spiritual Adventure.

" Falling out of sleep, I hit the floor
Put on some rock tee and I'm out with the door
From Bowery to Broome to Greene, I'm a walking lizard
Last night's dream was a talking baby lizard

All comin' from hu-man imagination
Day dreaming days in a daydream nation"-Sonic Youth

The theme of the 2008 Burning Man is "The American Dream", an exploration into the conscious and subconscious expressions of the rootless and seemingly boundless diaspora that is life in this modern day Empire of Planet Earth.

As the members of Krishna Camp, we return once again to the Black Rock Desert as a vital member of the past, present, and future, and as the title of this blog describes, we are there not only seeking spiritual adventure, but more importantly, distributing it without cause and without discretion as to body type, caste, or creed.

What is the point? A sizable chunk of American youth have now specialized in living their life, inside their cushion-cage, in personification of this question, but despite all apocalyptic platitudes about the "end of culture", for many of us, the natural desire of our souls pushes through.

For the many-colored living entities that will assemble at Burning Man, that push to a higher plane of realization, of enjoyment, of compassion, of peace, of self-confidence, etc will swirl in the air like the ever-present playa dust.

Our founder and guiding light, Srila Prabhupada has said "Our contact with matter is just like a dream. Actually we are not fallen. Therefore, because we are not fallen, at any moment we can revive our Krishna consciousness, and we break the dream."

It doesn't take much thought and vision from a material perspective to shatter the house of cards that is the "freedom" of our current state of affairs. So the souls in Krishna Camp want to push further, to really bring the rising sun to the desert, to revive the real, blissful, loving consciousness of Krishna at any and every moment. It's our duty of tradition, passed down and down and down and who are we to get in the way.

The adventure at Burning Man will be about intimacy, recreating the connections of the heart and soul which have been replaced these days by wireless radiation. We want to bring people home, back to themselves and back to Krsna.

In the fever that is Burning Man we want to snap back to attention the daydreamers of this nation to their real birthright. Our greatest weapon is the Holy Name of Krsna, our greatest tools are our humility and sincerity, and our greatest hope is the example of all those who have gone before us. Please bless us and join us.