D I A R Y
of a
TRAVELING CREATURE
by Buck White (PIGGY)
AÑJANA
SUTA ACADEMY
2010
December 5 - 18
[abbreviations: "R/-4" = Four of our
25-rounds/day left from yesterday; "DTC" = Diary of a Traveling
Creature]
Tuesday (Dec/7)
ISKCON Tenple
Buenos Aires
2.13AM
R/0
Last night was a
program in M. Lila-mohini’s home, Ashrama,
Bhakti-kutir. She
has a regular program Monday nights and broadcasts it over the internet. Very,
very nice altar, about 65-devotees packed in, many new people.
For the class we
continued with S.B. 1.2, Suta-sika.
Amazing, the different Names of Krsna
Srila Suta Goswami uses. Amazing, trying to follow the logical
flow of the texts, why one text follows another. Amazing, memorizing them.
Yet, as soon as
we memorize some texts, we forget others.
Hmmm?
Will we actually
use them in preaching?
Or maybe in self-purification?
How many verses
can you memorize, remember?
NOI, Ki Jai!
Let’s Japa.
Maha-mantra, Ki jai!
2.2AM
R/0
3.28AM
R/10
8.14AM
R/20
We are up to our
quota. So far today has been a good day. One big problem has been that our
alarm clock has finally, after seven years, died, so we have not been getting
up timely. Yesterday we got another clock from Adi-yajna
Prabhu, and this morning it roused us out of bed with
great alacrity. We got our rounds done early. Came back to our room and wrote
one more Essay Question for our Bhakti-vaibhava
submissions. It was our detailed analysis on the first Two Cantos - four pages.
Such satisfying work. We used the Pada-padma materials we wrote
before.
Now let’s take a one-danda nap
(24-minutes) and then go to breakfast looking for lunch for Hanuman Prabhu.
Thursday (Dec/9)
Buenos Aires
ISKCON
2.46AM
R/4
Oh! Yesterday it was Ferriado, a holiday. We had
rushed out the door to go for our Paraguay visa, and then realized everything
is closed. Oooo! Back to the Ashrama. Spent some time with World
Classical Literature.
In 1879, a
communiqué to the government in London detailed the crushing defeat of a
British force at the hands of the Zulus at the Battle of Isandlwana.
Meanwhile, a company of the British Army's 24th Regiment of Foot, depicted as a
Welsh regiment, was using the missionary station of Rorke's
Drift in Natal as a supply depot and hospital for their invasion force across
the border in Zululand.
Upon
receiving news of Isandhlwana and that a large enemy
force was advancing their way, Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers
assumes command of the small British detachment, being senior to Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead. Realising that they cannot outrun the Zulu army, especially
with wounded soldiers, Chard decides to fortify the station and make a stand,
using wagons, sacks of mealie, and crates of ship's
biscuit. Wave after wave of Zulu attackers are
repulsed. The Zulus do succeed in setting fire to the hospital, leading to
intense fighting between British patients and Zulu warriors as the former try to escape the flames.
The next
morning, at dawn, the Zulus approach to within several hundred yards and begin
singing a war chant; the British respond by singing "Men of Harlech". In the last assault, just as it seems the
Zulus will finally overwhelm the tired defenders, the British soldiers fall
back to a tiny redoubt that Chard had earlier ordered constructed out of mealie bags. With a reserve of soldiers hidden within the
redoubt, they form into three ranks, and pour volley after volley into the
stunned natives, who withdraw after sustaining heavy casualties. Later, the
Zulus sing a song to honour the bravery of the
defenders and leave.
The film “Zulu”
ends with a narration by Richard Burton, listing the defenders who received the
Victoria Cross. Eleven were awarded for the actual fighting at Rorke's Drift, the most ever for a regiment in a single
battle in British military history.
First charge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWuaSww3JnA
Final Charge
Men of Harlech stop your dreaming
Can't you see their spear points gleaming
See their warrior pennants streaming
To this battlefield
Men of Harlech stand ye steady
It cannot be ever said ye
For the battle were not ready
Stand and never yield
From the hills rebounding
Let this song be sounding
Summon all at Cambria's call
The mighty force surrounding
Men of Harlech on to glory
This will ever be your story
Keep these burning words before ye
Welshmen will not yield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1csr0dxalpI&NR=1
All the Zulu
chants with the last homage at 7minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODM1RJe4FvQ
This led us to
Napoleon, the Battle of Waterloo.
We were thinking
that this is not pure devotional service, World Classical Literature, but we
hope that by seeing it from a Krsna conscious
perspective we can advance to pure devotional service, karma-yoga.
It informs us of Srila Prabhupada’s life under the
British Raja. It reminds us of the insane, useless, massive violence that
happens in this world. We see around us all the time that the mass of people do
not want a peaceful happy life of cultivating food for Krsna
and chanting and dancing. It also informs us of Varna ashrama dharma. Srila
Prabhupada explains this in terms of the Vietnam war and Setting the Scene for the Bhagavad-gita.
More information about Sun Wukong, the greatest
Chinese classic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havoc_in_heaven
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec9cFekSAME
(Then you can
click “Up Next”)
Hari Bol!
How does the KRSA
book compare with these?
3.21AM
R/5
3.42AM
R/7
Then, at 4PM, half hour discussion with Narayana
about his life. It
helped us also fix ideas about our life. Into the truck, 1-1/4 hour to Bhakta-vrksa group. Standing room only.
Intense questions, Kirtana, feast (we only took frut), back in the truck, home by 10PM!
Oh, yeah, also
started work on our BhVai essay on Epistemology.
Jaya!
6.30AM
R/20
Mangala-arati was
Brahman and little Paramatma, but not much Sri Bhagavan.
Now let’s work on
our Essay on Epistemology.
2.30PM
R/5
Epistemology
article is jolly. We have like 85% useful Index references. New
knowledge from Prabhupada.
Scavenged nice lunch for Hanuman Sahaab, jiggidy, jiggidy, jjigged on the subway to the Embassy of Paraguay. There where Gauchos and Indians in
blankets smoking cigars and we went through the lines pretty quickly and paid
$100 for a ten year visa. It will be ready tomorrow morning.
On the sub-way we
counted 12-people within our direct sight. Seven of them where reading books or
on electric headphone hooks. That means we are right! The world is ripe for a Vaisnava Views weekly audio magazine. (11 out of
the 12 we could see were Matajis[?]).
In the Embassy
they only accepted US dollars. Hmmm? In God we
Trust???
Lunch-box Prasadam =
Bread-yogurt-kittri.
Read about the
ROC, Russian Orthodox Church. It was founded in 988 by Prince Vladimir,
originally in Kiev, but later moved to Moscow. They we invaded by Moguls and
Tartars, not so much by the West.
The ROC is afraid
of destructive cults: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destructive_cult
O.K. Japa and prepare for Suta-siksa
seminar tonight. Ooops. Mail first!
Friday (Dec/10)
ISKCON
Buenos Aires
2.54AM
R/4
Mail took like
2-3 hours! However, was enormous success. Did our final Suta siksa seminar. About 100 devotees present but
was feeling that it lacked depth. Was like a sentimental, Chinese-fables
presentation, to some extent. Hmmm, you
are what you eat.
Narayanam namaskrtam …
Sunday (Dec/12)
ISKCON
Buenos Aires
3.33AM
R/9
Last night was a
program with Radha and Shyama,
In Jiva
Goswami Das’ Gupta-vrndavana-dhama.
One wall is
Saints, in the ISKCON form,
Another the altar, three Radha-Krsnas,
Forty-two Silas,
And Surabhis
with horns.
On the third
stands Dvaraka’s Lord,
And His brother Balarama,
They are all
hankering to return,
To Vrnavana-dhama.
Then on the
fourth side’s the devotees,
Sweet with romance,
But also quite
ready,
To fight Maya’s glance.
Hare Krsna,
Hare Rama!
Jaya Guru’s Vraja-dhama.
Srila Prabhupada
Ki Jai!
4.34P
R/20
It’s amazing how
many things happen when you are a devotee! Since this morning:
1.
Our
beads broke, after about 15-years! So we restrung them with some O.K. string.
They look very, very intense, happy now?!
We also talked with Maha-hari, President, for
about one hour about the project development and the different devotees and
educational development. Similarly, ½-hour talk with Adi.
All this while we were
s-t-r-i-n-g-i-n-g our
beads, and make no mistake, they are OUR beads!
2.
Class
this morning was CC 1.13.44. It continued to a long purport about Ekacakra-gram. Let’s go there!
Friday we had the
program at the Embassy and got Skype working!
O.K. - Now let’s read the Isopanisad for the Sunday
Feast. Lecture starts at 6PM. We can also work on our BhVai
essays, continue with the topics from the Index. We
finished Epistemology. It’s nice. We see that we found a lot of nice extracts
in these first six Cantos!
Tuesday (Dec/14)
The Loft
Plata del Mar, Argentina
2.42AM
R/-3
Voice bad.
We finished
Sunday. Lecturing on the Isopanisad
is great. We wanted to like review the whole thing, do a systematic summary, but
it is like meeting an old friend. There are so many things that come up in just
the Invocation. After the Invocation we jumped into the verses were he says
that if we see all living entities as part and parcel of the Lord then there is
nothing to want nor fear.
Afterwards, we
walked in the patio while the Kirtana roared inside.
There were always
about 8-people gathered around with good questions.
{Uncle Gismo - If
you would have NOIs in hand and then answer all the questions based on them you
could distribute a bunch.}
Yesterday morning
was pack, pack, pack!
Four hour drive to Plata in Nicasio Prabhu’s auto.
Tried chanting
Japa but couldn’t break 10-minutes/round (even with lots of technique).
Pretty boring scenery.
But the Japa was
pretty great! Hare!
On our
beads we pray to Hara,
To
meet Her we can hardly wait!
3.12AM
R/0
It’s likely that Jayatirtha Prabhu chanted on HpSwami’s Japa beads as Rtvika
for Srila Prabhupada (Nitai Prabhu may have chosen HpS’s name (as Rtvika for Srila Prabhupada)). Jayatirtha Das is a Wikepedia
entry. He was born November 13, 1948 on Saipan in the Marianas Islands. HpS was born January 12, 1948 on Guam in the Marianas
Islands. The Wikip’ says that our Sampradaya
acharya, Jayatirtha Swami,
was Madhvacharya’s bull and that without his
explanations, M’chary’s works are hard to understand.
Maybe there is a deeper meaning to everything that happens to us.
4.00AM
R/4
7.08AM
R/19
Thursday (dec/16)
The Loft
Mar del Plata,
Argentina
10.36PM
R/24
Boy, are we
tired. We’ve been having this interfaith dialog for three days. Super Catholic father,
super intelligent Rabbi and tonight we added a Sufi Sheik, young man, but so
clear and intelligent in spiritual life. We all were so enlivened to hear his
preaching.
World Classical Literature
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nezha_(deity)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVc4UDc9nAg
Friday (Dec/17)
The Loft
3.06AM
R/4
Uncle Gismo has
started a Diary also. It should be interesting. Everyone should write a Diary!
BG 10.21, 24, 31, 36
The Sufi brahmana explained the Sufi disciplic
succession and said that the only thing he had worth saying were what his
master inspired him to say. He commented that (like St. Francis) they
discouraged too much study, that practical application was more important. He
talked about so many false prophets, the position of Jesus Christ, different
bona fide paths up the same mountain. They started with a Kirtan
of the Holy Names. HpSwami half joked to Maha-jana Prabhu that we should
all buy a farm together. Tonight the topic is Saints in different traditions.
6.48AM
R/20
Tonight!
The Grhasthas and the Saints
4.08PM
R/23
Ahhhh! We have been engaged in devotional service
all day! atah pumbhir … samsidhim hari tosanam, and when Hari is tosanam we are suprasidati!
We went to the dematologist today. He is a friend of a friend of Nicasio Prabhu’s. Nicasio is a regular doctor and now practicing Ayurveda. He
presents it as nutrition so there is no legal or other conflict.
Derm’ said that
yes, the two growths under our right eye were a natural reaction in white dudes
to a lot of sunlight and that if we let them go they could turn into a low
grade cancer in the future. So, he waxed us and pricked us and burned us and
iced us and Brother Ass walked out with a new bray on life.
Of course, he had to sleep for an extra hour to wear of the anesthetic and
recover from the flesh wounds but he’s O.K. now. He’s fasting today on little
watermelon this morning and a cup of milk and a banana at about 3.30PM.
Today is Ekadasi.
Never miss Ekadasi.
We expect our Branches to report on Ekadasi, so
is good time for us to finish these Diarys. Also, is
a good task for Ekadasi: Writing and no Letters.
Let’s re-read this DTC(p) and get into our
Business Suit for this evenings Dialog.
4.42PM
That means it
took 34-minutes to review this DTC! Yet, why not? It is a
real aspect of our service. It gives a nice summary of our fortnight. We were
in Buenos Aires and then have come here. In every case we are trying to engage
in Srila Prabhupada’’s Sankirtana through internal educational programs and
outreach through Light of the Bhagavata. Whatever you do everyday,
at that you will eventually become expert.
{MONKEY: Even drinking beer and eating hot-dogs?}
4.54PM
Bhakti Net-book
went COMPLETELY mad! We tried to save
the work and then cursor started running backwards through the whole
document! We couldn’t stop it. Back all
the way to the start. Well he’s recovered so, adelante!
It’s time to get
ready for tonight’s program. The doors open at 5.30PM and the program is
advertised for 6.00PM, but people arrive later, and then we have to push and
flip to get the thing to close by 9.00PM rather than the advertised 8.00PM.
Part of the problem
with computer is that it is having a hard time dealing with the large pictures
that we insert. It is supposed to compress them but little odd. So far Bhakta-netbook has been a good investment.
Tonight we take a
ton of books. We should invite the Sufi, Catholic, Jewish gentlemen to also
bring their books.
Hare Krsna,
Hare Krsna.
Saturday (dec/18)
3.36AM
R/9
We get up at 2AM
but we have to chant little softly to not disturb others. Slow rounds.
Respiration congested, but at the time of death respiration will be more “congested”!
So we focus on the Holy Name, Hare, and amazingly there is purification of
heart. We can chant the Maha-mantras in our heart, at
the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada!
Last night was
super. The Moslem sadhu showed a very nice movie of how the Prophet Mohammed
was merciful. Then we were inspired and showed the “Universal Form”. Everyone
was happy. Two movies for the price of none. Then
Moslem Sadhu, Padre Segovia and us sat in unison and talked about Sadhus from
our traditions.
Titiksava karunika
Suhrdam sarva dehinam
Ajatasatru santa
Sadhava
sadhu bhusanam
SB 3.25.21!
Jaya! We could remember it, we could
explain it, we could find the exact verse on the Vedabase quickly!
Time to post this Diary.
We give seminar
on the Prayers of Queen Kunti each morning. Is very nice. Would require inestimable time to absorb the
general structure of the Prayers, appreciate the position of the Purports,
memorize and chant the verses. We are memorizing like eight of the verses. We
know the meaning of the words more and more. Then we are writing an Essay on
the Prayers for our 100-pages of Bhakti-vaibhava (BhVai) essays. You can find the link to the current Essay
work in the Kapi-Dhvaja.
Then, we are going through our BhVai Index and
editing each reference. We will write some Essays on some of those references
also. It is very satisfying. We are not distributing many books, but a few
people, like 40/night are very, very happy and
illuminated with the dialogs. It looks like they can be the basis of more dialog. It looks like Nicasio and Maha-jana Prabhus can use these
programs here.
We have to get
more books out, but it seems that this is a good path to a very substantial
program of book distribution. Books are the basis. The Purports to LOB are
strong sometimes. The Peacock, is it Verse seventeen,
talks strongly about how family life is undesirable, but the Moslem say it
essential, I guess even to death. However, the Moslem Sadhu commented that
there have been great Saints in the Moslem tradition who have never been
married also.
Hmmm! More dialog.
But now let us
post this timely and see you in the next body, Diary.
Thank you for
your association. Please help us.
Buck White
(PIGGY)
