Jagat

Thank goodness today's post has something more edifying in it. The negative Vrindavan Today memories have been coming back from 2018 and they are here too. I would rather not remember that whole episode, but I am keeping to the discipline of cross-posting the memories being sent daily by Facebook. At the very least, I am finding it interesting to observe.  There is always something redeeming, however, and the post from last year is one such. I keep talking about Prīti Sandarbha, and the progress is slower than it should be. I am doing practically nothing else for the time being. I was rather surprised to see it had not been posted here before. And I added some material about Bhagavata Niwas, since there are more memories related to this place, which is just around the corner from Jiva and with which Babaji has been long connected due to his guru's having been intimately involved with the history of that locale. It has a powerful aura. (Memories from May 20.)

Radhe Radhe. The other day I mentioned the name of Gaurahari Das Babaji at Bhagavata Niwas . I had hoped to talk to him before leaving, but he apparently has a kutir in Radha Kund also, so I was thwarted. Bhagavata Niwas has certainly become steadily more vibrant over the past two years since he made his presence felt there. Bhagavata path, regular kirtan for kunja bhanga and other actions accompanying the deity service, the deity worship of all the Giridharis is unique and striking. Moreover, the grounds seem much better taken care of, with Babajis themselves actively taking care of the gardens, including vegetable plots. Garbage disposal is still a problem, but not as bad as before. But there was a vibrancy of bhajan in the air. All the sadhus there appear to be serious sadhakas and the doors-closed policy to external visitors milling around during the day is a good one. This place is too holy to be not protected. It is my fervent prayer that the difficulties that currently exist b...

I started writing this while sitting in the Moscow airport. Now in Montreal, Canada. I just want to talk about my last day in Vrindavan. I already confessed to a wide and long detour into English language entertainments. Now that I knew I was finally leaving, I regretted all that I am missing even though present in the Dham. Even after a serious attempt in my three days in Barsana , I still hadn't finished my introduction to the Jivani , though I did make progress. I had hoped to finish it before departure, but I could not manage, though it seems tantalizingly close. One thing that has always been difficult for me with Guru-tattva is this disagreeing with the Guru or finding flaws in the Guru. Naturally, any intelligent observer is bound by nature to apply his powers of rationality to assess the validity of information received from an authoritative source or of one's own sensory perceptions. Information from authoritative sources still has to be confirmed by experien...

I don't go out all that much, but whenever I do, the transformations that are taking place in Vrindavan on a day-to-day basis are constantly at the forefront of my perceptions. The other evening I cycled the length of the Chattikara Road from NH2 to the house and found it quite amazing to see how rapidly everything is mutating. But that is quite the road at night now. New buildings -- hotels, ashrams, guesthouses, apartment buildings, residential developments, temples -- popping up everywhere, many of them looking quite posh in the night with their glass and polished granite facades and colored neon signage. With the dark night backdrop obscuring the old Vrindavan from view, one could be forgiven for thinking we were actually in at least the 20th century. I went into the huge Akshaya Patra complex and attended arati there. It is a separate ISKCON, just a couple of centimeters different enough to be a "not-ISKCON", with a personality quite different from Krishna Bal...