Saturday, May 25, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
If you love me, then do not kill me!
Devotee (2): They call it love.
Srila Prabhupāda: This is love? If you say, "Prabhupāda, I love you. Now I want to kill you. Now I will kill you." Please don't love me! (laughter) Please get out. "I love you so much that I will kill you."
Devotee (2): They like to keep the, Christ, the deity of Christ, they keep him nailed on the cross. They think that's very...
Srila Prabhupāda: Therefore you see all the pictures in the Church, he is carrying the cross, and he is pushing, pushed by the government men. How miserable condition they show.
Devotee (2): They don't have any...
Srila Prabhupāda: They do not have picture, just like we show Krishna is enjoying. Such rotten things. That is going on in religion. They love, they love means they want to see their lovable suffering so much, you see. Only then (indistinct). This, we want to see our lovable object that He is enjoying. Young boy, (indistinct) gopīs, and nice night, playing flute, He's enjoying. That we want to see. And they want to see that lovable he is suffering. How they can see it, if there is love?
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Room Conversation -- Honolulu, May 20, 1976
Srila Prabhupāda: This is love? If you say, "Prabhupāda, I love you. Now I want to kill you. Now I will kill you." Please don't love me! (laughter) Please get out. "I love you so much that I will kill you."
Devotee (2): They like to keep the, Christ, the deity of Christ, they keep him nailed on the cross. They think that's very...
Srila Prabhupāda: Therefore you see all the pictures in the Church, he is carrying the cross, and he is pushing, pushed by the government men. How miserable condition they show.
Devotee (2): They don't have any...
Srila Prabhupāda: They do not have picture, just like we show Krishna is enjoying. Such rotten things. That is going on in religion. They love, they love means they want to see their lovable suffering so much, you see. Only then (indistinct). This, we want to see our lovable object that He is enjoying. Young boy, (indistinct) gopīs, and nice night, playing flute, He's enjoying. That we want to see. And they want to see that lovable he is suffering. How they can see it, if there is love?
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Room Conversation -- Honolulu, May 20, 1976
Paramananda dasa is -- a guru?
Dear PADA: RE: Paramananda Das.
He is from Denmark and currently lives in Washington DC. He was originally initiated by Kirtananda Swami, and when he fell down he was re-initiated by Narayan Maharaja, who supposedly told him he can be a guru and initiate his own disciples. He tricked me into accepting him as my diksa guru.
He says he can do a better job that any of the other Gurus, and only he can manage temples better than anybody else. He has openly stated that he is a madhyama adhikari, and that he is not an uttama adhikari, but he went ahead and accepted some disciples by telling them he is a diksha guru, but most of them have already rejected him.
He finds faults in Srila Prabhupada and his own Guru Narayan Maharaja. He says he lives by book distribution, but he actually sells stickers and beads, and only sometimes tries to sell a book. He was doing that the day of my initiation, along with my wife and another couple. We have all rejected him since his only business it to find faults with everyone, including Srila Prabhupada. He used to tell me how Srila Prabhupada is wrong on this point and that point. This is the same thing he did with every other devotee he speaks to, about his believing he is the only perfect one, or something like that.
He is not even authorized by the GBC, or for that matter the Narayana Maharaja matha, nor any other matha, so he auto proclaimed himself to be a guru without Srila Prabhupada's order. Please expose him before he rips apart another devotee's life He also has tons of problems with a lot of other devotees, temples, and their management. He does not get along with other devotees, he does not consult with other devotees, he does not work with other devotees, he does not listen to us who are the only people who care about his program, he is critical of the real acharyas, he is simply another bogus self appointed guru. Hare Krsna Radhe Shyam !!!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Problems with Rupanuga prabhu explained
PADA: Sridhara Maharaja said that the 11 are gurus in 1978, and SM said that people like me are wrong to object "none should protest." Thats what he said. And Rocana has been supporting that view, that the 11 GBC were supposed to be gurus as well, at least he has never made a public retraction that these 11 GBC were never appointed as gurus, that I know of.
Oddly, Rupanuga was also a supporter of the 11 being appointed as gurus, and he also knew the GBC had made Sridhara Maharaja their ghost writer. Sridhara Maharaja for example helped the GBC (Jaggadisha, Jayadvaita and Satsvarupa) write "The Mahajanas Have Difficulties" in 1980.
Rupanuga never made a public complaint about this attack upon the Mahajanas that I ever heard of, or that we should not consult with these Gaudiya Matha people. Worse, he was "the negotiator" between me, Sulochana and the GBC in 1986, that did not end well for us at all. I was saved only by the police, or I'd not have survived Rupanuga's handiworks.
I would have died under his moderating process, without outside help. I think he has no idea what kind of problems he has caused the rest of us by going along with all this as he has done. Rupanuga has become the star writer for Rocana, they both agree that we are the bad guys for promoting Srila Prabhupada as the acharya, and that is why Rupanuga's writings are featured prominently on the first page of Rocana's site. The good news is that our Prabhupadanuga's program is expanding without these folks, they tried to tie us down, or worse, its not working, we are expanding the worship of HDG despite these people always trying to trip us up. ys pd
New Prabhupadanuga centers in Russia
Srimate Radharani combing Krishna's hair
http://prabhupadanugas.blogspot.in/2013/05/new-prabhupadanugas-centers-in-russia.html
About Rocana das (Sampradaya Sun)
PADA: Thanks prabhu, but Rocana is the author of the DOR, and he is also one of prominent members of the 1986 "50 man committee," where he was one of the most vociferous "guru reformers." Rocana actually thinks that he is going to "reform" the messiahs from God? This is pure lunacy. Rocana claims he is the master of the acharyas, the role actuall taken by God Almighty? How did Rocana become the master of the acharyas, and Krishna has been removed from that post? Rocana can dictate to the acharyas, because Krishna no longer is doing so?
Worse, Rocana can dictate foolishness, lets place the acharyas in jail for them to be reformed, and lets suspend, remedy, monitor, chastise, challenge, and rectify wayward acharyas? What is a wayward acharya? Rocana never explains?
Rocana has started a reform house for criminal acharyas? So that is my first question, why are you quoting a man who thinks he is greater than Krishna? Krishna dictates the acharyas, but Rocana says no, we no longer need Krishna to dictate to His successors, I am going to kick out Krishna's dictation and take over GOD'S job of dictation to the acharyas?
Rocana is taking over GOD'S job? Is this not the worst case of EGO we have ever seen anywhere on the planet? And what did Rocana's "guru reform" party decide to "dictate" to Krishna and Rocana's acharyas in 1986? Rocana's guru reformers dictated, lets vote to -- re-instate -- a known homosexual pedophile, namely Bhavananada, as our Vishnupada messiah, which kept all the child molesting going on all over ISKCON. Rocana's reformers then glorified Kirtanananda as their greatest "pure devotee on the planet" (yes, this was written in their documents) and then they excommunicated me and Sulochana, which is why Sulochana was killed and I would have been killed except the police saved me.
So, Rocana's reformers program simply kept two known homosexual pedophiles in the post of acharyas, and they began to orchestrate severe oppression of us, including -- us being murdered. And now you say, Rocana's keeping child molesters and criminals in the post of messiah, and their program which was using beatings and murders to keep such molesters in the post of messiah, and voting in more homosexuals, perverts, whore mongers, drunkards, and so forth, as the next wave of their messiahs, is -- the person we need to listen to?
First of all, Rocana needs to apologize for all the molesting, murders and other problems he has caused to the Vaishnavas in his role as supporting this guru reform idea, and for his EGO of thinking he can dictate to the acharyas at all!!! Then, he has to publicly apologize to Krishna for keeping child molesters in the post of His successors. Then, he has to apologize for concocting a guru voting system that simply has perpetuated after 1986 all the banning, beating, pervert acharyas, women oppression, murders, lawsuits, bad publicity that was already going on, and all Rocana did was to put a whole new wave of deviants into the Vyasasana seat to perpetuate all these crimes against vaishnavas, Rocana has contaminated the whole universe by doing that.
Rocana even put meat eaters into the post of acharya, I caught one of his "voted in gurus" eating meat right here in Berkeley. Rocana has worked his entire adult life to destroy our idea of worship of the pure parampara, and he has concocted his own parampara, by loading his "reformed parampara" up with homosexuals, child molesters, perverts, criminals, wife stealers, embezzlers, and even -- murderers of vaishnavas, as his idea of messiahs. In sum, Rocana is one of the main people who kept the illicit sex with men, women and children messiahs club in operation, and he still is, he is still trying to marginalize those of us who said his child molester messiahs project is bogus. In sum, he is proud of all the destruction he has caused by supporting that regime. Why should we be quoting people like that? ys pd
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Debate with Bhakta Shishir Katote (of oneiskcon)
The REAL GOPAL KRISHNA
DEAR PADA: Recently an article (http://www.oneiskcon.com/the-pre-eminent-founder-acaryas/) appeared on the oneiskcon.com website (a website which seems to be closely affiliate to Bhakti Vikasa Swami) written by one "Bhakta Shishir R. Katote". The article is alarming because it shows how (official ISKCON) devotees are slowly minimizing Srila Prabhupada's importance within ISKCON.
For example the original title of Bhakta Shishir's article (which is later changed on this site) is "The Six Goswamis: The only Theological Pre-eminent Founder-Acaryas and Greatest Siksa Gurus of the Gaudiya Sampradaya and ISKCON".
When he states that the six goswamis are "the only" pre-eminent founder-acharyas of ISKCON, it means that "other people", or more specifically, that Srila Prabhupada is not the pre-eminent founder acharya of ISKCON, nor is he one of the "greatest siksha gurus" of ISKCON. This is of course contrary to Srila Prabhupada, who clearly stated that he is the founder-acharya of ISKCON, and in ISKCON his teachings are of utmost importance.
In his second sentence Bhakta Shishir makes his position quite clear: "The official legal founder-acarya of ISKCON is certainly Srila Prabhupada, but the theological founders of the whole sampradaya, and even ISKCON, are only the six goswamis and none else."
To him Srila Prabhupada is simply the official legal founder-acharya, but the siksha gurus and pre-eminent founder-acharyas are only the six goswamis and none else, specifically not Srila Prabhupada. Previously in the BBT court case, the BBT argued that Srila Prabhupada was just their "hired writer," -- their employee that they had hired to write books -- and now the new bhaktas in ISKCON are being trained to announce that Srila Prabhupada is simply the official legal founder, and nothing more.
Further on in his article, Bhakta Shishir argues that Srila Prabhupada should not be the main siksha guru for ISKCON:
"The principle of guru-parampara or disciplic succession is that later acaryas follow former acaryas and not vice versa. But making Srila Prabhupada as the greatest siksa-guru of ISKCON will make it vice versa and this will hurt the basic fundamental concept of “anugatya” in the sampradaya."
Later bhakta Shishir goes on to criticize Srila Prabhupada's books and literary skills: "Another reason why the six goswamis should be highlighted is that the writings of recent acaryas are full of apparent ambiguities and the writings of past acaryas are technically devoid of ambiguities."
And finally, his conclusion is that we need people like Bhakta Shishir to check Srila Prabhupada's writings for deviancy by comparing it to the writings of the six goswamis: "Though Srila Prabhupada’s writings cannot be compared as heterodox like Gunatitananda’s Vacanamritam, but still, if we make the writings of the current acarya as more prominent to the writings of the founding-acaryas, then how will we be able to detect any deviancy?"
In summary, he argues that:
1) Srila Prabhupada is not the founder-acharya of ISKCON.
2) Srila Prabhupada is not a pre-eminent acharya.
3) Srila Prabhupada should not be the greatest siksha guru for ISKCON.
4) Srila Prabhupada's books are ambiguous, unlike the writings of the Six Goswamis.
5) We should give more importance to the writings of previous acharyas, rather than to Srila Prabhupada's writings.
6) We should check the writings of Srila Prabhupada against the writings of the six goswamis for deviancy.
In a subsequent article (http://www.oneiskcon.com/philosophical-discussions-with-neo-gaudiyas/) by this same author on the same website titled "Philosophical Discussions With Neo-Gaudiyas" he states how the ISKCON devotees who are offended by his writings are just sentimental "neo-gaudiyas" who don't understand the real philosophy.
As we mentioned, these articles offending Srila Prabhupada are published on a website with close ties to Bhakti Vikasa Swami, and the author also has a picture of Bhakti Vikasa Swami as his facebook profile image, so it seems to imply that he is a follower in some way of this swami.
I wonder if Bhakti Vikasa Swami also holds these same views, or maybe if he was in fact the one who taught these ideas to Bhakta Shishir? Since the site is closely linked to Bhakti Vikasa Swami, and the author appears to be his follower, he should make his own position known to the devotees as to whether he condones or maybe even teaches these offensive ideas. If not, maybe he should take a more active role in training his followers and disciples properly in Krishna consciousness as taught by Srila Prabhupada. The article is nothing more than a minimization of Srila Prabhupada's transcendental position.
On the facebook page where the author posted the article originally, we see dozens of comments by one Radhakrishna Das Brahmacari in support of it. He is the same person who was previously banned from posting to the Sampradaya Sun for saying that Srila Prabhupada had become senile in his old age.
On the facebook page where the author posted the article originally, we see dozens of comments by one Radhakrishna Das Brahmacari in support of it. He is the same person who was previously banned from posting to the Sampradaya Sun for saying that Srila Prabhupada had become senile in his old age.
This person is a disciple of Gopal Krishna Goswami, and apparently this guru has no problem with his disciple saying that "Srila Prabhupada was senile in his old age and he therefore spoke incorrectly." I would quote the article, but it has already been deleted from the Sampradaya Sun. There is a growing trend for newcomers in ISKCON to treat Srila Prabhupada without proper respect and to not understand his exalted spiritual position. The present gurus do not correct their erring disciples when they make such offenses to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada.
Srila Prabhupada's own instruction on keeping himself in the center of ISKCON is clear: "I wish that each and every branch shall keep their separate identity and cooperate keeping the acharya in the center. On this principle we can open any number of branches all over the world. The Rama Krishna mission works on this principle and thus as an organization they have done wonderfully." (letter 11th Feb. 1967)
Bhakta Shishir posted a comment to one of his articles above. Below is his comment and my reply to him:
(Bhakta Shishir wrote:) Hare Krishna PAMHO! AGTSP! AGTSG&G!
I am brahmin initiated from Madhva Sampradaya. I am not a neophyte. So kindly don’t feel that I am immature to handle the other people. [...rest of comment edited for brevity. you can read it at the original site...]
Your Servant
Shishir
(My reply to him:)
My dear servant Bhakta Shishir, I accept your humble obeisances. Thanks.
First, you should know that anyone who is above the neophyte stage has no need to announce that "I am not a neophyte". That announcement is itself the declaration that you are a neophyte.
Second, you obviously know that initiation in the Gaudiya sampradaya is based on receiving harinama, Krishna's name, from a guru. That is the beginning stage. Not having received harinama from a guru means you have not yet started, and are not yet a neophyte.
Srila Prabhupada's own instruction on keeping himself in the center of ISKCON is clear: "I wish that each and every branch shall keep their separate identity and cooperate keeping the acharya in the center. On this principle we can open any number of branches all over the world. The Rama Krishna mission works on this principle and thus as an organization they have done wonderfully." (letter 11th Feb. 1967)
Bhakta Shishir posted a comment to one of his articles above. Below is his comment and my reply to him:
(Bhakta Shishir wrote:) Hare Krishna PAMHO! AGTSP! AGTSG&G!
I am brahmin initiated from Madhva Sampradaya. I am not a neophyte. So kindly don’t feel that I am immature to handle the other people. [...rest of comment edited for brevity. you can read it at the original site...]
Your Servant
Shishir
(My reply to him:)
My dear servant Bhakta Shishir, I accept your humble obeisances. Thanks.
First, you should know that anyone who is above the neophyte stage has no need to announce that "I am not a neophyte". That announcement is itself the declaration that you are a neophyte.
Second, you obviously know that initiation in the Gaudiya sampradaya is based on receiving harinama, Krishna's name, from a guru. That is the beginning stage. Not having received harinama from a guru means you have not yet started, and are not yet a neophyte.
After receiving harinama, then you will progress to the stage of neophyte, and by chanting that guru given mantra you will slowly progress beyond the stage of neophyte. You are yet to start this spiritual path, yet you want to lecture those who have been duly initiated into harinama for decades. You are nothing more than an arrogant upstart to be honest. And such an arrogant upstart thinks he is qualified to analyze Srila Prabhupada's teachings for defects against the writings of previous acharyas.
You state you are "brahmin initiated" in Madhva sampradaya. I think what you really mean is that you belong to brahmin caste, and that's basically it. You are not the first person to be proud of his caste. We hear the smartas also proudly proclaim their birth in smarta brahmin families. You should know that in the Gaudiya sampradaya your past caste affiliation has no bearing on your spiritual standing.
If you take that "brahmin initiation" as a serious spiritual initiation into your madhva sampradaya, then you have no business jumping around to other sampradayas looking for juice. Follow your madhva sampradaya and do what ever your brahmin initation acharya instructs you to do. But stop writing and trying to pose as someone representing the gaudiya vaishnava sampradaya when you have not entered it.
Using my mystic vision, I can sense you are some software engineer, sitting in an office behind his computer, typing out your vast spiritual realizations for the rest of the "foolish and blind" followers of Srila Prabhupada. Obviously the rest of the disciples of Srila Prabhupada don't have the vast spiritual experiences that you have received behind your computer screen in your office.
You state you are "brahmin initiated" in Madhva sampradaya. I think what you really mean is that you belong to brahmin caste, and that's basically it. You are not the first person to be proud of his caste. We hear the smartas also proudly proclaim their birth in smarta brahmin families. You should know that in the Gaudiya sampradaya your past caste affiliation has no bearing on your spiritual standing.
If you take that "brahmin initiation" as a serious spiritual initiation into your madhva sampradaya, then you have no business jumping around to other sampradayas looking for juice. Follow your madhva sampradaya and do what ever your brahmin initation acharya instructs you to do. But stop writing and trying to pose as someone representing the gaudiya vaishnava sampradaya when you have not entered it.
Using my mystic vision, I can sense you are some software engineer, sitting in an office behind his computer, typing out your vast spiritual realizations for the rest of the "foolish and blind" followers of Srila Prabhupada. Obviously the rest of the disciples of Srila Prabhupada don't have the vast spiritual experiences that you have received behind your computer screen in your office.
They didn't have that nifty birth in a madhva brahmin family, nor the superior education at NIIT to become a software engineer. All they did was dedicate their lives to Srila Prabhupada's mission, spending decades on the street distributing Srila Prabhupada's books, going to new places to open temples, and preaching to the fallen conditioned souls. All they did was actually dedicate their physical lives to the spiritual instructions of Srila Prabhupada. You on the other hand sat in your cubicle at Infosys when your boss wasn't looking and typed up some super spiffy philosophical writings on company time criticizing those devotees who actually gave their lives for spiritual service.
What is humorous is your use of the phrase neo-gaudiyas. Because someone who was never initiated into the gaudiya sampradaya, but pretends to represent it and writes philosophical rubbish about it is a perfect definition of a neo gaudiya. Someone who is not willing to actually follow the sampradaya or take initiation within the sampradaya, but wants to pose as an adept member of the sampradaya, that is truly a neo-gaudiya.
What you need to do is some practical menial service to God. You need to go to the temple kitchen and wash some pots, mop some floors, and do some practical devotional service, so that you can advance to the stage of being qualified to receive entrance into the gaudiya sampradaya. But out of thousands of men, hardly one will be given that rare opportunity by Krishna. The rest will be content with their birth in a particular caste family.
Again, thanks for the humble obeisances. I have duly accepted them. ys ##### dasa
What is humorous is your use of the phrase neo-gaudiyas. Because someone who was never initiated into the gaudiya sampradaya, but pretends to represent it and writes philosophical rubbish about it is a perfect definition of a neo gaudiya. Someone who is not willing to actually follow the sampradaya or take initiation within the sampradaya, but wants to pose as an adept member of the sampradaya, that is truly a neo-gaudiya.
What you need to do is some practical menial service to God. You need to go to the temple kitchen and wash some pots, mop some floors, and do some practical devotional service, so that you can advance to the stage of being qualified to receive entrance into the gaudiya sampradaya. But out of thousands of men, hardly one will be given that rare opportunity by Krishna. The rest will be content with their birth in a particular caste family.
Again, thanks for the humble obeisances. I have duly accepted them. ys ##### dasa
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Waiting for "The Final GBC guru Paper"
OK, the first principle of guru tattva is: Debauchees / drunkards / drug addicts/ persons engaged in illicit sex etc. -- are not, were not, could not have been, "Krishna's successors / acharyas / parampara members." And the people who have defended such debauchees posing as acharyas, and who tossed us out of ISKCON for our REFUSING to promoting the worship of debauchees, are also not acharyas. This seems to be the same problem we had all along, I asked this question 500 times before 1980, and the answer always was the same as you are giving now, well, we are going to write a paper? Why not just say, yes, I am correct, debauchees and their supporters are not acharyas, or no, we think acharyas are often fallen and debauchees? Or don't you know one way or the other? Writing a paper, that is what they told me in 1980? ys pd
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Fiji Prabhupadanugas program report
By Nityananda Das
AGRICULTURE IN NEW JAYAPUR
May 19, 2013, Fiji Islands — Almost three years ago, as soon as the farm was under contract and even before the deal was closed, we began planting fruit trees. After all, they take years to start bearing and the sooner planted, the sooner the fruits would be coming… The property had been vacated in the 1950’s and had grown up into wild dense bush.
Some squatter farmers had made a thin track down the river to the beach, but otherwise there was no way to penetrate the jungle with such vines and thickets (viliawa and vau). We had brought from Suva about 500 potted plants (fruit trees mostly) that we had been able to find from various sources. Loading potted fruit trees onto a boat a few miles down the road, we motored down the Dogoro River past huge mangrove trees and out to the seacoast.
Rounding Katianga Point, we ferried our cargo up our own small river at high tide, reaching a mile upstream to a tiny clearing where we had decided to start our orchard.
As the workers’ machetes flew and chain saws buzzed, as we cleared the bush, that little opening grew into several acres. In one place the vines were four feet thick, something like the network of material desires in the conditioned soul’s heart. The sad part though was felling the huge majestic raintrees- the earth shook as one by one, all seven came down and daylight reached the soil once more. Fruit trees cannot grow in the shade of these spreading raintrees which are almost like giant weeds. The raintree trunks were sawed up for wallboards later on- beautiful golden semi-hardwood with the look of African wavy-grain mahogany. Every 8 paces a fruit tree was planted, in rows, and water tolerant species allocated to the wetter areas.
As the workers’ machetes flew and chain saws buzzed, as we cleared the bush, that little opening grew into several acres. In one place the vines were four feet thick, something like the network of material desires in the conditioned soul’s heart. The sad part though was felling the huge majestic raintrees- the earth shook as one by one, all seven came down and daylight reached the soil once more. Fruit trees cannot grow in the shade of these spreading raintrees which are almost like giant weeds. The raintree trunks were sawed up for wallboards later on- beautiful golden semi-hardwood with the look of African wavy-grain mahogany. Every 8 paces a fruit tree was planted, in rows, and water tolerant species allocated to the wetter areas.
Two fields were planted, maybe a total of seven acres. Avocado, kumquat, lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges, mandarines, rambutan, lychee, mangosteen, langsat, cinnamon, sapadillo (chico), macadamia, star fruit, star apple, soursop, custard apple, abui, rose apple, mountain apple (locally called kavika), jackfruit, pomegranate, bael, guava, cocoa, longon, tamarind, sweet carambola, and more were planted in the rich reddish-brown soil. Today our orchards are immature as yet but thriving, as many citrus and avocado are already 12-16 feet high. This year we picked many crates of lemons, limes, kumquats from the first harvest, and also a few abui (delicious yellow fruit from Brazil).
As soon as the ashram grounds were cleared and the first roads completed, we planted lines of bananas and plantains (vundi) interspersed with papayas. These have been bearing year-round, and the extras we take into town and sell in the market to help cover fuel costs. One big Fijian lady sits under a tree outside the town market and sells iced papaya juice- she gets all our extra papayas for FJ$1 each. We put three thousand pineapples in two rows to help with erosion control on the steep slopes around the ashram headland, and in a few more months we should have lots of first crop pineapples (sweet since they are in full sun).
Two days ago a worker brought up a huge bunch of apple bananas (manzana bananas in Central America), those short fat ones with the taste of vanilla ice cream. It was hosed down, offered to a picture of Prabhupada, hung on the porch beam, and everyone availed themselves of plenty of these tropical delights.
As the bananas multiply, we thin them out and plant more rows. They and the papayas produce year-round, although in one season they are a little scarce, therefore the more the better. (Seasons- warmer and cooler, or wetter and wet seasons). Wherever we see fresh papaya seedlings coming up, we know one of the workers snuck one down and spit out the seeds… Someone brought some papaya seeds from St Croix, those big red fleshed ones, but they haven’t matured just yet. Although Fiji can flourish with all the wondrous fruits of the world’s tropics, the bio-variety here is very limited because the people are basically scavengers and don’t plant much besides cassava, taro, and maybe some sweet potatoes. They subsist on whatever volunteers on its own, and they have little ambition to grow anything except their basic root crops…
Veronica at the Spice Farm, on the main island of Viti Levu, had given us a few strawberry plants, which multiplied and two weeks ago we finally made a raised bed box and planted 30 of them with sawdust mulch. Of course we put them close to the ashram so they could be watched and thus there is hope they will make it onto Sri Sri Radha Govinda’s plates! We also made a rack for 6 or 7 passion fruit vines, and the juice is frequently offered at Their Lordship’s lunchtime. However, the rack was not properly built, part of it has collapsed and will need to be redone soon. Hopefully soon we can walk under the overhanging vines and pick passion fruits from the “juice tunnel” instead of crawling underneath. Kumquats, limes, and lemons also make delightful juices that really quench the thirst.
After the rush of construction on the main ashram building was completed and we moved out of our rental in town to the farm in February this year, we finally got down to starting a little vegetable garden. We are not experienced gardeners, but have a little history of it, and now aim to get serious. It is 90% weeding, of course; fortunately we dumped ten loads of sawdust from the construction work at the garden’s edge, and spreading sawdust between the rows helps control the grass and weeds. So far we have 7 rows of longbeans, French beans, pak choy, mustard greens, snap peas, lettuce, and 12 zucchini plants that are now flowering. We look forward to fresh vegetables soon, depending on what will do well. Bele (a bush with leaves that can be cooked) and a dozen young eggplants (perennial) are also producing.
But maybe the best feature of this property is the water cress patch that grows in a very unique spot, just downstream from a spring that bubbles up from below. In this stream of natural, pure mineral water, water cress thrives in the gravel-bottomed, 3 to 5 inch deep water. There are only a few places on this island where water cress can grow. The spicy taste of water cress (karessi as it called locally) is unique, and it is very high in vitamins and nutrients. For raw salads and in rotis, it is excellent, very healthy. It can also be sauted- fresh greens from the stream ! Every Sunday we go and pick a few bags for the coming week, and it is fun wading in the water and thumb-snapping the thicker stems off, letting the rest grow until we return for more…when there is enough, we have a dozen regular customers in town that wait anxiously for our delivery.
The excavator took several months cleaning up the swamp below the ashram and between the hillside and beach. Drains were dug like little canals, and twice the excavator sunk six feet into the mud, requiring mud technology with poles and shovels to gradually crawl the digger back up to hard ground. We decided that this first year we would let the swamp drain and settle, as all the vines and bush had been buried underneath and everything was very spongy. Even bullocks would get trapped, what to speak of tractor or rotovator. So… we chose a strip of solid bottom land next to the swamp and plowed it with tractor and disc-harrow. It took Bill a week to learn the tricks of the tractor hydraulics and plow adjustments, but in early March he broadcast by hand the Chorta-Mortka (short and fat) variety of rice seeds that Jaja (retired Indian California Mercedes mechanic from Dreketi side of this island) had found and supplied us. It is a 6 month variety, and has grown up strong and healthy. The soil is fertile- we used no fertilizer. Already some seed heads are appearing, the area is about an acre or more. Estimated rice will be 300 kilos, enough for a year. Srila Prabhupada had written me when I was in New Talavan: “annad bavanti butani”- quoting from the Gita, we should just produce food grains. It is amazing to think that after almost 40 years, I am finally executing his instructions. Growing rice! (Although we did grow a very small plot of wheat in New Talavan in 1978.)
This key and integral aspect of a self sufficiency village project is actually being realized. At harvest time, we will use little sickles to cut bunches of stalks and pile them in rain-shedding mounds. Then we drive the tractor over the stalks, back and forth, with a tarp underneath, to separate the seeds from the stalks (threshing). The seeds are bagged and brought to Labasa where several households will husk the rice with their tractor powered mill for a small fee within an hour. We could then mill it into white polished rice, but we suspect a better tasting, healthier rice will be our choice instead, a somewhat browner rice. We’ll see… Many Indian farmers in Fiji grow their own rice, one family is just a few miles away, but it is pioneering and new to us! Often in Fiji we see yoked bullocks, used by Indians for plowing their fields, and by Fijians for pulling firewood logs from forest to village.
Well, that’s a little snapshot of our life in a tropical paradise… Krishna has been so very kind to us, why? Must be causeless mercy…
Yours in Prabhupada’s service,
Yours in Prabhupada’s service,
Nityananda das
New Jayapur, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands
PS. If you would like to be added to our regular mailings of Vedic Village Review news bulletins, please send us an email atsrigovinda@gmail.com, or send us your feedback and news from your side. Hare Krishna! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
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