Nectar from New Braj 2011

om ajnana timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri gurave namah

O Gurudeva, you are so merciful. I offer my humble pranama unto you and am praying from the core of my heart that, with the torchlight of divine knowledge, you open my eyes which have been blinded by the darkness of ignorance.


I have been sick with a cold/fever thing lately, and out of town, so I am just now updating after a very long time!!

Badger festival, New Braj 2011, was so beautiful. It was the Crying Festival. We shed so many tears in separation from Gurudeva...each day was heart-wrenching...yet it was wonderful, to share it all with so many devotees, to hear all of their sweet katha and memories. We had a glorious ceremony for Gurudeva's puspa-samadhi, and there were three beautiful drama plays. More from the festival later. I will be posting ongoing nectar from the festival, notes from classes, and maybe some pictures and videos.

I got diksa from Sripad Madhava Maharaja, by the mercy of Srila Gurudeva, and now I am feeling very much invigorated in my service. I have been depending more on guru and Krsna lately, and living in the present. It is so wonderful, knowing that they are always supporting and guiding me, and feeling that when I give up my idea of, "I am in control", they facilitate so many loving exchanges and service.

During New Braj festival, I wrote down many notes on many Maharajas and Didis classes. I also wrote down notes from things Gurudeva said in videos. I put stars by statements that really resounded within me. After the festival, I made a list of those very moving, thought-provoking, sweet statements. It is mostly guru tattva, but because it is variegated, I am simply calling this, "variegated tattva."

Here is my list:

* By service, one can get mamata, my-ness, towards guru and Krsna.

* Weep

* Try to advance by relationship; then preach to others.

* Serve and appreciate each other.

* Follow instructions, and guru will be with you.

* Instead of trying to repress your desires, use them for Krsna, chant, and mood will come.

* Gurudeva said in a class, "When I am not here, you can still ask me any question." So now, we can still ask him any question.

* When we sit down to read something, we should pray to that book's author and guruvarga, "Please give me your mercy and help me get realizations from this reading."

* Take out time to cultivate weeping for Gurudeva.

* Don't read while chanting, because then you can't concentrate on the reading or the chanting properly. You can meditate on a bhajan in your mind while you chant. This is okay, because we want the moods of those vaishnavas.

* Any suffering we experience comes from our enjoying spirit.

* Guru nistha is the backbone of devotion.

* Unlike in mundane separation, in spiritual separation we are pacified by remembrances.

* Whoever makes us remember Gurudeva, that person is qualified to follow.

* Anyone who gives or receives harikatha is Gurudeva's disciple.

* ASSOCIATION

* Whatever you are doing, while doing it, sing, "Govinda Damodara Madhaveti..."

* Lack of faith in Krsna is the cause of all problems.

* Try to speak as if your guru is right in front of you.

* The 6 loving exchanges with devotees increases good qualities; when you do these things with materialists, it increases your bad qualities.

* Do anything to make your heart melt.

Srila Gurudeva ki Jai! Srila Prabhupada ki Jai! Sripad Madhav Maharaja ki Jai! All glories to the vaishnavas and vaishnavis and to harikatha and New Braj!