Aashishs Blog

Today, I was at Soho Temple - it was Govardhana Puja today. The temple was very nicely decorated, and the deities were stunning in their beautiful outfits. As usual, the feast was really nice.....but it ended up too much! I had to stuff all the sweets in my cup and attempt to get up! His Grace Devadeva Prabhu sang the kirtans and I was literally swept away with his melody that I had never heard before. He is literally crying out for their Lordships in so much pain and separation.

For a fraction of a moment the holy names seemed to come alive and touch me a little bit with its transcendental attractiveness - it is beyond words! I just realised that nothing in the material world can ever compare to the Holy Names, and the Holy Names is like a never-ending ocean of bliss. You then start to wonder why souls deviate from Devotional Service, if it is so pleasurable. My mind is saying that it is all down to the origin of the soul, but that's another controversy that is not worth getting into! Silly Mind!

Below is a lovely video clip from my mobile phone. Please watch:

On this day, I went out for Books Distribution with the ISKCON Pandava Sena!!! This is a day where we try and distribute Spiritual books of Srila Prabhupada to everyone in the hopes that we can stop the downward decline of Human Society into Hell. Sounds like a task also for the Pandava Sena!!!

I am happy to report that I have distributed 1 Perfection of Yoga book! So, thats the 2nd book that I have sold in my lifetime! What? Well, I am getting there! Plus, don't underestimate the Power of a Perfection of Yoga Book...oh and the lovely Kirtan that happened on Carnaby Street was because of the matajis; they brought with them a harmonium, a mrdanga and kartals - and it was so nice! The power of the Holy name surely had an effect on the passers-by - quite a few were just standing there looking absorbed in the Holy Names! Thats how I sold the Book - I took advantage of the Brain-Washing that was occuring and offered a young woman a Yoga book. Heheheheheheh......

Towards the end of my stay, I was feeling blissful and very serene - such spiritual potency there is in Sankirtan! I regretted that I had to go, but there you go...

Below is a short video of the nice and mellow kirtan that happened on Carnaby Street:

I went to the Notting Hill Carnival on the 26th August on a Sunday. I had known the dangers of going there as one Brahmacari, who was also going there to sing & dance (for Krishna), had told me of sighting "topless dancers" at the previous year! I had started to wonder whether it was even worth going or not as you could easily fall down and go looking at other things *cough* S****ep **e**ha [Fill in the stars! Had to change it due to a - urm - complaint! LOL] *cough*!

You know, I did get a glance of some of the dancers (these were wearing some clothes) and they all looked bored and no life in them. Not a single trace of ecstacy. Just watch the video below of our Devotees dancing and singing away to see where the real ecstacy was!

Regardless of what I had thought and heard, I started to see several advanced devotees participating in this adventure. Basically, all the devotees were going there to distribute books, give out some lovely Transcendental sweets and sing the Holy Names to purify the people and it worked wonders! Lots of people were surrounding us as we sang away the Holy Names and everyone who took our sweets loved them. Book distribution went well, though I have some way to go to...

2007.08.26-Notting Hill Carnival

During my stay at the New Vraja Dham, the whole of the temple building is ornamented with beautiful paintings, and a lot of them are created in 3D. You will see what I mean when you browse through the album below. You can clearly see that a lot of love and devotion went into these paintings and making the whole Temple what it is today. You just have to be there to really experience the spiritual atmosphere. Please browse below!

Art of Hungary NVD Temple

All the photos have now been uploaded! These photos are from the Hungary Retreat that I went on the 3rd May 2007 especially for His Holiness Sivarama Swami's Vyasa-Puja (Nrsimhadev Festival was also held during my stay). Please feel free to browse!

2007.05.03-08-Hungary at NVD

I was at Bhaktivedanta Manor today! Haven't been in what seems like ages. Ravi is very nice to take me! To make it even more nicer, it was a beautiful day today, and so I spent most of the day just chanting away and chilling out. I took a small video of His Grace Gauri Prabhu singing Jaya Radha Madhava and a few pictures of the Manor. They have now installed this new Buddha water fountain outside, looks nice. Below is the video and below that are some pictures:

I was out cycling yesterday! It was a beautiful day, so I had decided to chant some rounds at Wanstead Park and have some fresh air at the same time.







I came across a map and, curiously enough, there was a place inside the park called "The Temple"! I was quite surprised because only Hindu Temples or any of its branch religions are designated as a Temple and there was one right in the middle of Wanstead Park! Bliemy!! I was thinking maybe it was some lost Vishnu Temple or something crazy like that. Already feeling like I was on some transcendental adventure, I cycled right there. Here are the pictures, just click on any of them in this post to expand:



Well, as it turned out, after some research, the so-called Temple was a 19th century building for entertainment purposes. What remains now is just some ruins. Nevermind, maybe next time!

One thing did strike me, however. Its the Power of Time which slowly destroys everything. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita Verse 11.32:

Time I am, the Great Destroyer of the Worlds. And I have come here to Destroy all people. [...]

We can clearly see how the past is in ruins, and that history is all about dead people. But people in this day and age don't see that they are soon going to also be destroyed also by Time in the form of death and diseases. For them, life just continues on its blind course to destruction, not knowing the actual meaning of life itself or its ultimate goals. This is very unfortunate because you cannot guarantee that you will get a Human form of life in the next life. The next life could be a very hellish condition for the soul...

Check out some of the photos from the Harinama which I have been going on about! Click on the photo below to access the Album:

2007.03.31-HH Kadamba Kanana Swami Harinama