Thai food

Mahayogi's Kitchen.

Spring Rolls....

Thai Spring Rolls...

Here's a fun and easy recipe for an old favourite: Spring Rolls.

Visit Vrindaban...

Vrindaban Pilgrimage

One of the processes of surrender worthy of following is making pilgrimages to the holy places.

Kusum Sarovar | Govardhan  Photo by Ajita Krishna Das

The month of Kartika is especially auspicious for making pilgrimage in India. The most auspicious place in India is Vrindaban, Krishna's birthplace, where a few fortunate souls had the opportunity to associate with Bhakti Sudhir Goswami. Ajita Krishna Das filmed some of the movements of the devotees there. Ragalekha Devi Dasi of St. Petersburg shared these videos with me and they're a real treat. Ajita Krishna Das is a sincere devotee with a good eye for photogenic images.

Here's some links to his videos.  Here's "On the Way to the Temple"



This one is called Kitchen Religion: Prasadam Time.

This one is the pilgrimage to Govardhan Hill: "The Big Circle." Here you can follow an entire day's pilgrimage activity  in only 2 minutes.

Or follow "A Day in the Life of Krishna Das,"

Watch all the Videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX61NLhuQfmHDprtx_-WuHgqCTYKzhEHm

Thanks for the tea.

Thanks for the Tea...

Thanks to the devotees of the Chiang Mai Yatra. The package of tea finally arrived and I'm waiting for sunset to have the tea meditation ceremony.

Why?

What we talk about when we talk about life...

A young, well-built prison guard kicks an old prisoner to the ground. He slips on the ice. As he lays on the frozen ground holding his stomach, exhausted by the blows, the guard kicks him again, harder. He doesn’t have the strength to complain. With his life at risk, he’s in no position to complain. He’s a Jew in a death camp. Still, a vagrant word escapes his lips, through the chattering of his teeth:

“Warum?” he says. “Why?”

The Nazi guard returns. He shakes his head at the pile of bones that was once humanity.

“Hier ist kein warum,” he spits.

“Here, there is no Why,” he says, kicking the prisoner again.

The story is told by Primo Levi from his collection of memories Surviving Auschwitz. Levi dared to question the regime of stupidity and death, only to find that the death camp was not structured for answering questions.

Questions are forbidden when extreme authority rules; Levi survives by learning not to ask “Why?”

Hier ist kein warum...

The guard’s response echoes the treatment given by all those who would control debate or silence criticism everywhere throughout history. The first measure of authoritarian power is to make life impossible for those who ask, “Why?” Authority hates Why?s.

Arbitrary power rejects such questions, whether they are asked in the imperial palace, the halls of commerce, schools, or church.

Deprived of the right to question, we become slaves of those who have the answers.

“Tis folly to be wise where ignorance is bliss,” said the poet Thomas Gray. Perhaps there is wisdom in remaining silent against absurdity. Perhaps it is best not to swim against the overwhelming currents of ignorance that surround us, but to go with the flow, and never ask, “Why,” knowing that the answer will be Hier ist kein warum. Asking questions may have uncomfortable consequences. And the absurd has powerful advocates. The general public has a “right” to ignorance. Why rock the boat?

Noted biologist Rupert Sheldrake is a prominent public intellectual critical of the authoritarianism and closed-mindedness that he finds increasintly typical of mainstream science. He asserts that the mechanistic theory of life is a kind of “paradigm,” a collectively held model of reality, or belief system. Since most science academics are atheists, they reject any explanation of biology that isn’t grounded in this mechanistic theory. Impersonal laws of nature and blind chance must account for everything or one’s view is “unscientific.” But when Sheldrake had deep questions about mechanistic attitudes to nature, he found that, within the world of academe, he was not allowed to question the system. 

In an interview with TheBestSchools.org, Sheldrake says, “The materialist ideology promotes a high degree of conformity in scientific thinking because it is indeed ideological, and materialists are unforgiving towards “heretical” deviations from this belief system...minds are nothing but the activity of brains and the activity of brains can ultimately be completely explained in terms of physical and chemical causation, together with blind chance. In other words, free will is an illusion.”

The question Why? is banned not only in the halls of academe, but also through government institutions and media outlets. The idea of thought control has been explored by Jacques Ellul in his seminal work Propaganda, by Orwell’s 1984 and more recently by Noam Chomsky in Necessary Illusions, Thought Control in Democratic Societies. In 1989, Chomsky pointed out, “The media have become a notable new source of national power that contributes to the reduction of democracy at home and the consequent decline in democracy abroad. This general crisis of democracy results from the efforts of a powerful wealthy minority to organize and press their demands, and preventing the democratic process from functioning properly. In simple terms it is the business of the corporate elite to use the media for thought control; the general public must be reduced to its traditional apathy and obedience, and driven from the arena of political debate and action, in order that the elite may rule.” Hire its kein warm...

It is increasingly difficult to question the norms and values set by the corporate media to advance the goals of the corporate elite.

Thought Control is applied to ensure that we the people are docile. Schemes are used to convince us to go on buying the products that are marketed by the media, and that we support the corporate governments with our economic power and social acceptance.

To question the power elite is dangerous. Confronting power is costly and difficult. The media serve the interests of state and corporate power, which are closely interlinked, framing their reporting and analysis in a manner suppportive of established privilege and limiting debate and discussion accordingly.

When lies are exposed, whistleblowers and journalists are imprisoned as traitors, exiled, or simply murdered. Here in Mexico, for example, one of three unsolved murders have to do with writers and journalists. 

Searching for students in a clandestine mass grave in Mexico

 When 43 student teachers were disappeared, murdered, and incinerated in a garbage dump, the government response was two-fold.  The president went to China to extol the virtues of the Mexican economy as the motor of Latin America. 

 Meanwhile, in Mexico media outlets saturated TV time with reruns of a popular children’s program, El Chavo de Ocho. 

 The idea was simple: Make people forget. Erase history. Anyone who still has questions will be repressed. Obfuscate. Poison the debate. Associate the students disappearance with drug trafficking, and blame local criminals. Any opposition still standing can be imprisoned.

Aqui no hay porque...

Cheerleader for Animal Cruelty: Burger King

And it is not enough to be apathetic or complacent. For those who advance the cause of ignorance it is not sufficient to be tolerant. One must be a cheerleader for ignorance or face the reprobation of one’s social peers. To question meat-eating is somehow non-patriotic. Clearly animal-killing is cruel. Eating animal flesh is an act of ignorance. 

But whoever questions this act of ignorance is somehow suspect. 

In fact, the culture of ignorance implies a rejection of the culture of knowledge. As in the regime of Cambodia’s Pol Pot, who called himself Big Brother Number One, anyone with glasses and a wristwatch is suspect. 

The Culture of Ignorance

Beware of people who think.

Mass surveillance is another aspect of thought control. It is not that Facebook is a criminal conspiracy to control your mind. And yet, after the fact, law enforcement officials easily gain access to your every thought, your baby pictures, your crazy drunken sprees. Edward Snowden stripped the fig leaf from our notion that our internet transactions have any kind of privacy. 

Republicans demand a careful reading of every one of Hillary Clinton’s private e-mails. Why shouldn’t they be able to read yours? You have nothing to hide, of course. But thought control is exerted when you think twice about posting something on the internet or writing an email to a friend. Don’t ask too many questions. Someone might be watching. Hier ist kein warum...

The taboo against asking “Why?” has contaminated not only science and politics, but also literature and philosophy. Authors are told by publishers that people are not interested in the big questions, they want sex, drugs, and rock and roll. And philosophers are marginalized when the only useful questions are “what does it cost?” and “where’s the profit?” The educational system is geared for more production and more consumption. Students are considered “educated” when they understand how to make more money. It’s possible that today’s students can graduate without ever being exposed to the terrible Odyssey of Ulysses, the tragic world of Shakespeare, the truth-seeking of Don Quixote de la Mancha. Today’s students can move through the education system without ever having discussed the meaning of life with Voltaire, Rousseau, or Hegel. These questions have been given up as meaningless.

Hier ist kein Warum.

Given this, it’s not at all wonderful that the best and brightest economists of Harvard and Yale have been responsible for the worst kinds of economic misery around the globe. 

The best and brightest are not taught to ask “Why?” but “How much?”

Hier ist kein Warum.

But the worst violence is against the soul itself. When soul-denying philosophers and scientists team up with Wall St. banks, Washington lobbyists, and Hollywood media, the result is an amazing product: unbridled exploitation. As long as self-examination is prohibited and exploitation is promoted as panacea, we will go on consuming our planet with cannibalistic glee.

As long as we succeed in eliminating the question “Why?” we shall never realize the purport of the human form of life. And yet our capacity for curiosity, for questioning is the very core of our human existence. The greatest philosophical literature of ancient India, the Vedānta begins with the words, “Athāto Brahma Jijñāsa.” “Now is the time for inquiry into the Absolute.” Real human life begins with inquiry. Against all odds, we must confront the forces of darkness and ask the question “Why?”

“Why do I exist?” “What is my purpose?” “Why am I alive?” Those who have the courage to ask these questions go on to spiritual greatness and immortality. This was the question of the Buddha when he sat beneath the Bodhi tree to medidate. “Why have you forsaken me?” Was the question of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane? “Why should I struggle?” was the question of Arjuna before Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa at the Battle of Kurukṣetra? “Where is Kṛṣṇa?” was the question of Chaitanya Mahāprabhu when he was immersed in the Search for Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Truth-seeker

Are we above asking such questions? Have we become so jaded, so apathetic about our own spiritual life that we as humans no longer need self-examination and reflection? Are we so impoverished that we really believe that we can find the answers to all our doubts by searching Google?

If we are so crippled spiritually that we cannot dive deeper into reality and discover divine truth, then this world is nothing more than a barren death camp. And yet, for all the toys and mirrors, for all the sham promises of physical beauty, riches, and fame we must all leave this mortal plane. 

Why not search out immortality? Why not say with the great spiritual guides of India that immortality is not barren or sterile, but dynamic and progressive? Why not have to the courage to ask “Why?”

Truth-seekers asking "Why?"

Thanks for your prayers.

Dear friends:

 Thank you for all your kind messages and prayers. My trip to Mexico City was difficult and intense. I was subjected to a number of tests and analysis. The cardiologists were surprised to discover that tissue that they had believed necrotic was now somehow viable. The doctor gave me some hopeful alternatives., and I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll be around for a while longer.

Maybe the the previous analysis missed something, but I like to think that Krishna has been merciful to me. 

I'm happy the devotees remembered me during this difficult time. Nityānanda Prabhu's mercy is generous. I haven't had much time to write over the last week, but I have some new projects I'm working on and will include as much as I can on the blog. Thanks once again. Your humble servant, Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi.

Our Divine Guardian

Homage to the Spiritual Preceptor

দেৱং দিৱ্য-তনুং সুছন্দৱদনম্ বলর্ক-চেলঞ্চিতং

সান্দ্রানন্দ-পুরং সদেকৱরণং ৱৈরাগ্য-ৱিদ্যাম্বুধিম্

শ্রী সিদ্ধন্তনিধিং সুভক্তিলসিতম্ সারস্ৱতানাম্ৱরং

ৱন্দে তং শুভদম্ মদ্ এক শরণম্ ন্যাসীশ্ৱরম্ স্রীধরম্

(শ্রী গুরুদেৱ ভক্তি সুন্দর্ গোৱিন্দ দেৱ্ গোস্বামী মহারাজ)

 One of my old friends, Mathuranātha Prabhu published this eulogy to one of the great teachers of the Gaudiya Vaishnava line, my spiritual preceptor and mentor, His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the founder of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math. It was such a great inspiration to read his words that I asked him for permission to reprint it here. 

Vyāsa Puja homage 

by Mathuranātha Prabhu

Celebrating the Blessed 121st appearance Day of my Gurudeva, His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj, the founder of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, and lifelong friend of Srila Prabhupad A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. 

My Guru Maharaja was born in West Bengal, India in 1895, in a respected ancient Brahmana family of the Bhattacarya order, at Hapaniya, District Burdwan. His family lineage is traceable all the way back to recognized Vedic Rishis, and many generations of His family were scholars, saints, priests and gurus. 

He received his education at Baharamapur University, and was active in Gandhi's Movement along with many other youth of His time, before meeting his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur in 1922.

Having taken his pious birth in Sri Gauda-Mandal, the holy lands where Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu exhibited His divine pastimes on this earth, Srila Sridhar Maharaj, from his very childhood, had a natural affinity for Hari Nam Sankirtan -- the Grand Congregational Chanting of the Holy Names of the Supreme Lord. 

Once when His aunt was on pilgrimage she had a dream in which the deity she was visiting handed her a shining baby. In the dream she thought: "I already have a son but my sister has no child, I'll give the baby to her". Later, when my Gurudeva was born she recognized him as the baby given by the deity in her dream.

From his childhood he had inner faith in Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, with a natural attraction and affinity for nama-sankirtan; his scholarship and worldly detachment was formidable. His first contact with Sri Gaudiya Math was in 1923, and he fully commited himself to this Mission of his Guru, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupad, in 1926. 

In 1930 his Guru gave him sannyasa, giving him his transcendental name, Bhakti Rakshak [Guardian of Devotion]. He took a prominent part in the founding, organizing and preaching of many of the Sri Gaudiya Maths all over India.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj composed many unique spiritual prayers and commentaries in Sanskrit and Bengali, revealing a devotional stature in common with that of the famed Goswamis of Vrindavan. Often thought even more amazing was his special ability to represent those thoughts in the international language of English. In this way, many of his Holy Teachings have been published in the form of books. 

In 1926, Srila Sridhar Maharaj joined the Sri Gaudiya Math, and became an initiated disciple of its founder, the illustrious Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Goswami Prabhupad (1874-1937). He later accepted the holy order of sannyasa [monkhood] in 1930. Recognizing him as a faithful stalwart preacher of the perfect precepts of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupad conferred upon him the name "Sri Bhakti Rakshak," which means "Guardian of Devotion." 

And further echoing the statement of the great Vaishnava Preceptor, Srila Jiva Goswami -- who referred in his Sanskrit writings to the renowned Srimad Bhagavatam commentator, Sri Sridhar Swami, as bhakti eka raksaka [Supreme Guardian of Devotion] -- Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupad gave him the Tridandi-Sannyasa title of "Sridhar." Thus, he became Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj.

As a prominent treacher in the Sri Gaudiya Math mission, he travelled extensively throughout India and taught fluently in Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, and English, spreading the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on many levels in universities, public seminars, and Sankirtan festivals.

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupad also expressed high appreciation of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's Sanskrit composition, Sri Bhaktivinoda Viraha Dasakam, considering it an omen of assurance that the grand ideals and dignity of the Sri Gaudiya Sampradaya would be perfectly upheld and preached by such a learned and sensitive devotee as Srila Sridhar Maharaj.

As a testimony to this fact, just prior to Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupad's departure from this mortal world, Srila Prabhupad had Srila Sridhar Maharaj sing, in his presence, the holy prayer most venerated by the entire Sri Gaudiya Vaishnava community, Sri Rupa Manjari Pada.

After the passing of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Goswami Prabhupad, Srila Sridhar Maharaj's Godbrothers, associates, and the public, naturally revered him as the senior-most representative of the Sri Gaudiya Sampradaya, although Srila Sridhar Maharaj himself was more inclined to anonymity as a humble Vaishnava. Nonetheless, by the call of divine duty and divine inspiration, he established the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math at Sri Nabadwip Dham in 1944, hinting in a short Sanskrit poem that the Math -- as a sanctuary where the holy message of his Gurudev, Sri Rupa, and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was preached -- would inevitably become renowned throughout the world amongst the sincere and pious seekers of Unalloyed Truth and Divinity.

Srila Sridhar Maharaj is the composer of numerous classical prayers and commentaries in Sanskrit and Bengali. His works are hailed as gems of pure Vaishnavism by scholars, philosophers, and devotees worldwide. He authored Sri Sri Prapanna Jivanamrtam, a Sanskrit devotional treatise on the subject of divine surrender, which has become a standard text-book for devotees everywhere. Upon reaching his eighties, not only Indians, but persons from America, Europe, and the world over, became attracted by Srila Sridhar Maharaj's teachings and personality. He was known as a pure saint of the most simple living habits. He was respected and loved for his saintly simplicity, and his affectionate nature and dealings. He was revered by his God brothers, disciples, other devotees, and the general public, and was unanimously venerated for his formidable encyclopedic command of the revealed scriptures, and his unique and unprecedented style of casting newer and newer light upon the most internal philosophical and revelatory purports of pure Sri Gaudiya Vaishnava Siddhanta.

A vast library of Srila Sridhar Maharaj's taped discourses has been compiled by his disciples, and from such recordings, the exquisite English books -- Search for Sri Krishna, Sri Guru and His Grace, The Golden Volcano of Divine Love, Loving Search for the Lost Servant, and Srila Sridhar Maharaj's unique commentary and interpretation of "Srimad Bhagavad Gita: The Hidden Treasure of the Sweet Absolute" -- and many other books have been published. Many more publications are also anticipated.

On August 12th, 1988, His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj departed from this world, to enter into his eternal pastimes. His departure did not herald the departure of one of the great stars of the Sri Gaudiya Vaishnava firmament, but that of the moon itself. Even the Earth herself trembled on two occasions, forecasting and punctuating the event. A divine temple, "The Temple of Union in Separation," was erected at his holy shrine at Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, Nabadwip, and worship will continue throughout the generations. Hundreds from all over the globe had by this time taken shelter in him as disciples, and his amazing realizations continue to inspire thousands to this day.

Before his departure Srila Sridhar Maharaj selected his most intimate and senior Sannyasi disciple, Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaja, as his successor, blessing him with the position of Acharya-President of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math and its affiliated branches worldwide.

I first met my Divine Gurudeva in April of 1985 at the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math in Nabadwip Dham India, 100 miles north of Kolkatta on the Ganges Delta. It was a profound turning point in my life, and though He was quite elderly, and I was quite inexperienced and young, He was compassionate and mercifully bestowed upon me entrance through Hari-nam initiation into the august assembly of sincere seekers. 

The following year by His Grace and the mercy of His Holiness Srila Govinda Maharaj, I received full brahminical initiation into the Vedic priesthood at the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math on the banks of the holy Ganges River.

देवं दिव्य-तनुं सुछन्दवदनम् बलर्क-चेलञ्चितं

सान्द्रानन्द-पुरं सदेकवरणं वैराग्य-विद्याम्बुधिम्

श्री सिद्धन्तनिधिं सुभक्तिलसितम् सारस्वतानाम्वरं

वन्दे तं शुभदम् मद् एक शरणम् न्यासीश्वरम् स्रीधरम्

(श्री गुरुदेव भक्ति सुन्दर् गोविन्द देव् गोस्wआमी महाराज)

devaṃ divya-tanuṃ suchandavadanam balarka-celañcitaṃ

sāndrānanda-puraṃ sadekavaraṇaṃ vairāgya-vidyāmbudhim

śrī siddhantanidhiṃ subhaktilasitam sārasvatānāmvaraṃ

vande taṃ śubhadam mad eka śaraṇam nyāsīśvaram srīdharam

(Śrī Gurudeva Bhakti Sundar Govinda dev Goswāmī Mahārāja)

"I fall at the feet of Srila Sridhar Dev, who with charming expression sings his songs of sweet nectar. Dressed in fine garments like the newly-risen sun, he is the true saint, the devotees have chosen. His detachment and knowledge are just like an ocean, the treasure-house of complete, perfect conclusions. Radiant in pastimes of loving devotion, the abode of pure ecstasy, bestower of good fortune; foremost true follower of Srila Bhakti Siddhanta, foremost great general of the whole renounced order, my lord and my master, my only shelter, I worship his feet, Srila Sridhar Dev." ~Srila Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaj.

Aztec parade

 Aztec Parade

Last week there was a big parade. Folks were celebrating the day of San Miguel, a local festival. Here's some photos.