From the veranda

Saraswati didi is letting me use her computer on the veranda this morning, so I am writing this from within 10 feet of His Divine Grace (around a corner, of course). 

Saraswati didi is behind me making grape juice, Chinmoydev is studying bengali next to me, Krishna Shakti prabhu is helping him. Gurudeva is resting so we are all doing this very quietly. 

It is COLD outside but very VERY warm in here. I was actually sweating from my hairline while doing my seva this morning (again... not embarrassing at all)

I can hear the morning kirtan... sri guru vaisnava pada.... and the birds. A monkey and her baby are sitting on a branch outside the window. Ramchandra Prabhu, the bouncer at the gate this morning, is joking with someone outside. 

It is so nice to be in Nabadwip, not that I can see where I am... but something is burning through my muck that is my mind an

d showing me at least a glimpse. 

Bindu Mati from Russia and me in the veranda kitchen

So, my external hard drive decided not to work anymore the day after I transfered all my photos from the last year onto it... no such a bright idea... LOL.  Jamuna Priya didi is trying to fix it, but she said even if she can I will most likely lose everything... boo. that is what I get for being attached. Time to start carrying my camera around again. 

Srila Gurudeva is sitting... gotta go. Dandavats to all and to all a good night. :-)

Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas to all! Srila Gurudeva was happy this morning as several devotees came and wished him a Happy Christmas. Avadhuta Maharaja wished Him a happy Christ appearance day then maharaja and Srutasrava prabhu joked about communism and catholic school. Srila Gurudeva just sat by smiling.

thats it for now
dandavats

Lovely sunny morning

Firstly I want to apologize for any offense I make herein. This is meant to be a kind of diary/letter home, not at all an official report from SCS Math.

I am also sorry that updates/letters home have been few and far between but the Internet in Nabadwip is iffy as I don't have an internet key and the cafe hours don't work with my schedule.

Srila Gurudeva is maintaining good health and is continuing to go out almost every afternoon which is amazing for the devotees. He will just say, "wheelchair" and those on the veranda scramble to get everything together and make calls to get the men necessary to carry the chair down the stairs and off we go! Usually we go to Govinda Kunda first, then to see Param Gurumaharaja and then the deities, sometimes to the cow shed. The other day we went all the way to the village behind the math to see a newly acquired house.

It is a lovely warm and sunny morning. I had 4 showers before nine am... if you have been to India, you know what that means. :-) I have been unusually tired and have started taking Chaywanprash and getting to bed earlier, which usually means missing dinner... so get some give some. Dinner isn't until 8-8:30 pm and when wake up time is 4 and there is little time in the day to get stuff done, that isn't always doable.

Anyways, I am going to take a little nap now as I had lovely insomnia last night and am on 4 hours of sleep and need to be back on the veranda at 1 (its 11:30 now)

Missing everyone and praying for your prayers! :-D

This morning in photos

This Amazing Morning


Srila Gurudeva gave Hari Nam initiation to the nephew of Srila Guru Maharaja!

Sripad Avadhut Mahraja gave a very wonderful and funny class...

as Bhakti Lalita Didi...

Ashram Mahraja and many others listened...

Nitai Prabhu from Australia led Nam Sankirtan


From The Last Weeks taken from my cell phone


Srila Gurudeva on His birthday

Birthday Cake

Amazing Grace

my day

I keep getting asked what I do here so have decided to give a breakdown of a typical day.

I get up at about 4 and heat up my water for a bath... exciting! It is really cold and I am not as young as I used to be (if you say you are as young as you used to be, you lie), so cannot handle the cold that early.

I get dressed, try to catch some arotik and am on the Veranda about 5am. What happens next really depends on what Srila Gurudeva is doing. In the course of the morning I usually do an assessment ( I get to touch His Lotus Feet every day!!!!!) and a few other tasks. Mostly I sit in the corner reading scripture or discussing with the other servitors.

I go to breakfast if His Divine Grace is resting at about 8 and am back for 8:30.

Class is at 9, but I usually can't go because my "shift" ends around 10.

A beautiful devotee chanting Japa. I think it is Dhol Govinda Prabhu?

Goswami Maharaja Giving Class on the Samadhi Mandir

I go back to my room, do laundry, chant Japa, clean, etc until prasadam at 12:30 or 1 pm. After lunch I have a little nap or wash my hair (you all know you needed to know when I wash my hair)

My shift starts again at 3pm. This is the time Srila Gurudeva likes to go out. Sometimes it is short, sometimes it is long. There have also been a few days he hasn't felt up to it. The devotees get so much nourishment from seeing Him. It isn't like it was years ago. There is no Darshan time, so this is the time most devotees get to see Him.

After the walk, I do another little assessment and some other jobs. Sometime Srila Gurudeva will walk in the veranda. I got to help once :-D yay! Sometimes He talks to the sanyasis especially Acharyya Maharaja. Gurudeva is always so happy to see Him.
If His Divine Grace is resting I will try to go to evening arotik.
Again, I spend most of my time reading or watching Srila Gurudeva happily talking with His associates.
I leave the veranda again between 7 and 8 depending on Srila Gurudeva's mood. I take some dinner and go to bed... sometimes to read and sometimes to fall unconscious.

So that is my day in brief.

Please leave comments... I know this sounds silly but it encourages me to keep this up.

Update

I know, this is seriously long overdue update to this little blog.
Wednesday
I had to go to Paramatala today to go to the ATM… In very Indian style the first ATM was being serviced… the second was out of money and finally at the third and last ATM in Nabadwip I was able to get some takka.
OK, why do they make rickshaw seats slanted forward? Really, it doesn’t make it easier to stay on at all. I have sore toes when I get off because I am keeping myself on the seat, trying to sit up straight, not let my sari fly over my head, and trying to look sane at the same time. At least it wasn’t on a main road in Kolkata  see, always a silver lining.
The devotees are starting to leave and the Math is getting quiet. Brihaspati Prabhu was here from Arizona with his son Jaya Rupa and Jaya’s fiancée Heidi. It was great to see them all and I shared a room with Heidi.

Brihaspati got new Japa Mala chanted on by Srila Acharya Maharaja and was very happy to have been here. He is also a respiratory therapist and taught me loads that will help in my seva to Srila Gurudeva.
I got The Nectarian Glories of Sri Nityananda Prabhu in the bookstore yesterday and finished it this morning. What a truly amazing compilation. I am trying to memorize the Sri Nityananda Pranam mantra:

nityanandam aham naumi
sarvananda – karam param
hari nama – pradam devam
avadhuta – siromanim

“I bow down to the Supreme Lord Sri Nityananda Prabhu, who is known as Avadhut, the crest jewel of all paramahamsa mendicants. He is the awarder of the highest joy to all and the bestowed of the Holy Name of Lord Hari”

Thursdsy
I washed my clothing today on the roof of the guesthouse next to Govinga Kunda. Looking out I saw the many Mandirs of Sri Chaitanya Saraswath Math shining mercy through the morning fog.

Srila Gurudeva is showing some improved health here in Nabadwip Dham. He has been going out in the wheel chair and on His divine appearance day, he gave us all a great gift: Naming His successor – Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaja.

This was said in a very direct way in both Bengali and English. He spoke of Srila Acharya Maharaja’s service to Himself and the Math. Srila Gurudeva said that Maharaja was very qualified.

What an amazing, wonderful, merciful gift! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off; like I am safe… I don’t have to think about what to do when Srila Gurudeva finishes his pastimes here… He has given us our next master: Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaja Ki Jai!

The best part about being sick...

I am sick again. This time with fevers and stuff. Flu. maybe... I don't know.

ANyways, back on subject. The best part about being sick in India is the devotees. They care, it is amazing. The lady next door is from Russia, and speaks about three words of English but she came and made sure I was ok, speaking slowly and loudly in Russian. Saraswati didi is in and out, incredibly busy with her seva to His Devine Grace, but still finds the time to treat me and bring tea and other forms of medicine (homeopathic, herbal, love). Radharani didi brings tea and has been cooking. Bhakti Lalita didi stopped by and talked to me for ages. Ranjit prabhu even told Saraswati that I need to be wearing socks, a hat, and a scarf. LOL

I have a request for anyone who can: Lavender Oil and vitamin C. I can pay someone when they get here if anyone can take/send.

Did you know that Halls was Ayurvedic??? Come on now, Halls? Really?

From the makers of Appy Fizz: Grappo Fizz!!!



Wow... dat is like so, cool, Man! :-D

what a trip

Saraswati didi. Vishakha Didi, Radharani didi and me all went to ePark Street yesterday to go to the homeopathic shop, Murli Homeopathics, for Bach Flowers and homeopathic (duh). I think we have selective amnesia when it comes to getting stuff done in India. We actually think we will be able to be back in a couple of hours.
So... we got an auto rickshaw to the Metro, Belgachia station... strait forward... NOT SO MUCH. So there were several of them there and we were told to go to the third one. It was actually nice and clean, obviously brand spanking new. The rickshaw man said 10 rps each. Vishakha didi said, wait I paid 6 rps yesterday. So we argued a little, and it turns out that it is true.. overnight the price changed because of traffic. Soooo on we go.
And there WAS traffic and really bad smells. There is road construction and piles of bricks in the middle of the road. The "traffic cop" was a guy with normal pants and a 'white' t-shirt with the word traffic on the back. SO, after about a half hour we get to the station. The metro in Kolkata is actually nice(ish), marble floors and clean (ish). The cost is 6 rps to get to Park Street station... there was standing room only, but that is normal for the subway in any major city. The only difference is I am the tallest person on said train. The devotees I am with, lucky them, are all short and ethnic, so there is a little more blending. So the whole train is starring at me. .... I guess I would too, really if some giant got on the train at home.
At Park Street, Vishakha didi had to take over and show us where we were going, as we hadn't been there before.
OK, so I haven't been downtown Kolkata for about 10 years... and NOTHING has changed. It is crowded and filthy. There are young people who are trying to be excessively modern in their jeans and fancy hair talking in English, "hey man, you have 100 bucks [btw, the little moron is talking about rupees] for a ice cream, man?" There are middle class people on their breaks from work, beggars, street vendors, westerners that look so out of place that I'm staring... and they are staring at me. There are western businessmen with looks on their faces that scream, "what the he!! am I doing here?", hippie kids who are too stoned to notice, middle age tourists with big cameras thinking how many pictures they can show Bob and Jill, and how fantastically open they are to come to Kolkata, and then there are the young backpackers... who Know how fantastically open they are and are only a little stoned so still notice and inside are wondering when the he!! they are doing here.
So we get to the Homeo shop which is only a min from the train station... nice place with a vaisnava behind the counter... get my stuff... no worries...

Visakha didi leaves us to go do some other business, her saffron cloth aglow.

the adventure begins again... we need to find an ATM... why isn't this easy? It should be easy... long story short, after walking for about 20 min we are told to go back to where we come from and there was one right there. :-I Don't get angry... breath... oh wait, I can't.

The rest of us decide to go to Govinda's, the ISKCON restaurant... strait forward, right??

NOT............................................

Servant

"The disciple's life is a valuable property of his Guru Maharaja's, not merely his own. He's not to be concerned with only his interest, but he should live in the interest of his Gurudeva"

" A servant has no independent position - his position is always on command of the master. He's always situated withing infinite possibility... But he is humble to his Master, not to the goondas (rogues). His humility must be chiefly towards whom? Towards my Master. I am humble towards the Lord's own, the Vaisnava. I am humble there."

-- Srila BR Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaja. Sermons of the Guardian of Devotion volume 2.

I have been reading Sermons 2 and writing down instructions that I feel I need to meditate on. I have so many needs and wants, but I need to treat my body as His property and act accordingly. This is really hard for me because basically I am a selfish person :-) Anywho, sadhu sanga and kirtan will eventually, in a couple of million lifetimes, clear the cob-webs.

“You are not created for this land where you are always suffering from uncertainty and apprehension. Apprehension and uncertainty are always troubling you; you must cross beyond tem, go up, and you will find sivam – no apprehension, but the positive life. If you really like to have it, you will have to enter into the area of Goloka, the land of beauty and love. No consideration of calculation, no necessity of calculation or anything else. There, no fraud or deception can ever be dreamed of, so calculation and reasoning have no place at all. Automatically, all is good, all is fulfillment. This is the general conception”