February 4 Facebook Memories

This photo is from 2005 when I came back to India for the first time in 20 years. After a short break I was in India again for nearly 15 years and now I am back, not sure for how long. Anyway, my debt to Markus is very great as it is to the other people on Gaudiya Discussions who helped make that a possibility.  I am grateful beyond words. Jaya Jaya Sri Radhe !

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Feb 4 2011

Lament your misfortune if you can't live in Vrindavan

vṛndāraṇyam ananya-bhāva-madhurākārehito rādhikā-
kṛṣṇa-krīḍita-rañjita-pravilasat-kuñjāvalī-mañjulam|
yo’nyatrāpi kṛta-sthitir vidhi-vaśāc chocan sadā cintayen
nityaṁ tan-milanaṁ vicinta yad ahaṁ tad-dhāma-yugmaṁ bhaje ||

He whose only desire takes the form
of sweetness in exclusive love in Vrindavan,
but by destiny is forced to live elsewhere,
should lament his misfortune and
always remember Vrindavan
as a beautiful place with splendid groves
where Radhika and Krishna enjoy their pastimes,
and always meditating on their union, should think,
"I am serving the Divine Couple." (1.75)

 

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Feb 4, 2018

Subal's caption: The other day, I spoke to a friend about when I took sannyas with Vishnujana, Brahmanda, and Gargamuni Swamis in 1970. He sent me some photos of when we went to Boston right afterward to kick off an East Coast tour. Here is one of them.

It was sad to hear not so long ago that Subal Dasji Steve Bohlert had left his body. He played a significant role in the early development of ISKCON in the late 60's and early 70's on the West Coast and opening temples and was one of the first ISKCON sannyasis. He was also an early visitor to India where he met Lalita Prasad Thakur and took initiation from him and learned about rāgānugā bhajan. I met him on his return from India in the summer 1973, if I am not mistaken.

He left the movement while Prabhupada was still present and had an interesting career afterwards. He wrote a book called Universalist Radha-Krishnaism which drew on his Unitarian-Universalist experience, his theological studies at Berkeley Theological Union as well as his relation with Lalita Prasad Thakur.

He was an original and independent thinker and I hope that more people will read his book, which I reviewed at the above link. His wife Jahnava continues to post serially excerpts from it on his Facebook page. He was a friend and was close for a time when we first came into contact with each other in the Gaudiya Discussions period (2003-2005).

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Feb. 4, 2019

I still like Madhukarji very much and follow him on YouTube. The photo album from this event is at this Facebook link.

On Saturday night, Shri Madhukarji and his wife Shashi Sakhi dropped in to the VT office and reminded me of their Sunday morning program at Taj Bibi's samadhi in Gokul. I have been following Madhukarji on YouTube where he has been uploading bhajan videos of the various rasika acharyas like Haridas Swami, Hariram Vyas, Hit Harivams and others in their own places of bhajan in various places around Braj. So I was pleased to accept his invitation. Indeed I was flattered to be personally invited and took it as direct mercy of Radharani to pull me out of my spiritual doldrums.

The next morning I went by car through the fog barely able to see anything and found my way to the samadhi in the middle of a field. It seemed that a lot of brush had been removed for the program.

Madhukar has had the brilliant idea of filming bhajan videos at various less well known and neglected historical sites around Braj.

Taj Bibi was a Moghul queen who became the disciple of Vitthalnath or one of his descendants in Gokul.