Haribol!
Hey dude, I have a new story for the blog if you are interested…

The past week has been full of nectar and opportunities to give lessons from
BG and chant.  I have been rotating from tower guard and gate guard inbetween
patrols.  I have met a few new people who were open to the concepts and ideals
of Krishna Conciousness.  I have been trying to order books for distribution,
but I am often busy and neglect using the internet and when I do, I am usually
so tired that I simply check my email and leave.  However, I have been giving
random BG classes at the Entry Control Point (ECP) and in the towers.  I have
attached a Tactical Tailor pouch to my aid bag and I keep my BG wrapped in a
saphron-ish “shemagh”, then in a ziploc bag and I have attached a Tactical
Tailor pouch to my aid bag, in which I carry my BG in.  This has been so
beneficial while on long missions, where we rotate on security, so I can read
BG while in a hide site.

In other news I have got another friend of mine to begin chanting.  He only
chants on the tower with me, but after we chanted for the first time he
proclaimed, “Dude, that is the most soothing and relaxing thing I have done in
so long.”

I have been fasting, living off of tomato soup, juice and water and finally
today, we have fresh fruit and vegetables today.  This and the weather have
been taking a toll on my health.  I have had an upper respiratory infection for
nearly 3 months now.  Hopefully this will pass soon as it has made giving BG
classes very difficult, as well as chanting.  Anyhow, austerity only makes
devotion stronger.

16 rounds a day to perfection is my new standard!

Listening to Bhajans while I am in my room the entire time I am in there.

Reading 1 chapter of BG a day, minimum.

10 Commandments for Kirtana
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR KIRTANA IN THE ISKCON RELIGION. by Jayadvaita Swami

1. Thou shalt chant as many tunes as thou canst think of.

2. Thou shalt not chant any one tune for more than three minutes.

3. Thou shalt not chant the morning tune in the morning. Or if thou start
with it thou shalt quickly switch to something else.

4. Thou shalt start fast, speed up, speed up more, then stop and start all
over again. The more times the better.

5. If thou art the mrdanga player, thou shalt always set the pace, following
whatever mechanical pattern thou art used to, and let the singer follow thee
or go to hell.

6. Thou shalt always chant “Jaya Prabhupada,” “Jaya Gurudeva,” “Jaya
Gaura-Nitai,” “Jaya the names of all the Deities in thy temple (and then
some),” and as many other “Jayas” as thou canst think of. Thou shalt never
end a kirtana without those “Jayas.”

7. Thou shalt always add “Jaya Radhe” to the kirtana. (And if thou canst
vary it with “Jaya Sri Radhe,” so much the better.)

8. Thou shalt not allow the Hare Krsna mantra to take up more than ten
percent of the kirtana. And heaven forbid thou shouldest chant it all the
way through.

9. If thou art Indian, thou shalt try to sound like a professional bhajan
singer. If thou art not Indian, thou shalt try to sound like an Indian
devotee imitating one.

10. Thou shalt forget about the way Srila Prabhupada led kirtana.

Battlefield Bhajans Vol. 23

written at New Dwarka, LA

Scared from the War

I boarded the flight from JFK to LAX, and hoped to catch up on some rest. As I looked for my seat I noticed the man sitting next to me was an amputee. I sat down and made some small talk with him. It turned out he lost his legs to a roadside blast in Iraq. I explained to him that I was a soldier also and showed my id card. He asked if I saw anything crazy there. My friend too much… is what i responded. He looked down and with a sad expression explained how now he drinks all the time and is very depressed.  As he opened up I could see this boy was suffering so much and was looking for something to guide him through this rough time. I said I was here to help him if he so desired it. He grabbed my hands and pleaded for help. He asked how I am dealing with the effects of combat. I started telling him how I try to take shelter of God and how I try to develop a relationship within my heart. This body is temporary my friend, when we die,  it’s the body dying, not the soul. He looked at me with an intense look. I asked him if i should stop and he said no please keep going. So for the next five hours I spoke to this man about the Bhagavad-Gita. When we landed I got my bag out of the overhead luggage and pulled out three books, a Bhagavad-Gita, a Perfection of Yoga and a Science of Self Realization. I went to give him these books and he was moved to tears. He said ” I have gone to so many groups and talked to so many people, but no one wanted to help me. So, why are you opening your heart to help me? ” Well, because I have a great treasure that was given to me, I would be a miser to keep it to myself. So here I am, trying to give myself to you, trying to help you come to a better position in life. If I didn’t try and do this I would not be an asset to the mission of Srila Prabhupada.” With some tears in both our eyes, we exchanged hugs and he grasped the books to his chest. Read the rest of this entry »

Wow…
..Iraq makes being a devotee easy at times, I must agree.  Fewer distractions,
any time while you are sitting around is a good time to chant, ample time to
read Srila Prabhupada’s books…
..But at the same time, I miss Devotee association, honoring Prasadm, going to
the Temple, etc., etc., etc.  I understand your point of view entirely.
As far as the billboard, Kali Yuga is truly terrible.  While in a hide site Read the rest of this entry »

08 September 2008
“Dancing in our heart, dancing in our life…”

The holy name is also communicating with us. It’s not that it is, “Okay, the holy name- Krsna…” and that’s it- No. He’s active Krsna. He can do what He likes, He can reveal Himself as he likes. And therefore the holy name reveals itself to us as Krsna likes to reveal Himself. In that way, the chanting of the holy name is at all times a great adventure. One never knows where it will take us. It is in that way that Srila Rupa Goswami is describing that when we are chanting that it is as if Krsna is dancing on our tongue. It is a fact; Krsna is dancing on our tongue. And not only is Krsna dancing on our tongue but Krsna is dancing in our heart. Krsna is dancing in our life. The more we chant, the more we begin to see how Krsna is actually dancing in our life; how He is making so many arrangements in our life. We begin to see His presence, we see how He is behind everything. And again and again, Krsna gives us signs to show that, “Yes, I’m arranging everything.”
(HH KKS Durban, SA)

Battlefield Bhajans Vol. 22

written at Bhaktivedanta Ashram, NYC

I am sitting in NYC now, looking out the window and thinking how fortunate we are to have this movement. Below on the street, people are running from here to there with no goal or purpose. No realization of what the purpose of this life is. It is very sad, and breaks the heart of a devotee to see. I just arrived from DC, and the monitor in the cab said, ” If eating meat was a religion, then consider us your church.” It was a ad for a steak house. I was blown away, how crazy if Kali Yuga? How fallen is today more advanced society? The only hope for them is for devotees to awaken their soul and engage them in Krsna’s service. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hare Krsna All,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I pray this message finds you all in the best of spirit, mind and body. I
have truly missed corresponding with you all and certainly look forward to
doing so again in the future.

The past 30 days since I returned to Iraq have been busy and challenging in
so many ways. My unit has sent detachments to over 5 cities in the province.
I’m leading one team in the provincial capital where we have had to almost
start from scratch in tems of setting up our stations. All this was occuring
before and now during the Holy month of Ramadaan. Some of our camps had
sufficient standoff from the cities or populated areas but now I can look
directly at the neighborhoods that surround us. It is truly a beautiful
sight seeing the mosques of the city lit with green and gold lights at
night. As the sun sets, the calls to prayer echo across our camp. When the
fasts are broken, celebratory gunfire is heard which hightens everyone’s Read the rest of this entry »

Haribol, Partha Prabhu!!!

We have been under Commo Blackout almost 5 days a week lately.  I was sooooo
happy to see your email at the top of the list!

BG classes here are going well, I had one person attend the class this week, so
I am definitely making as much of a mark as I can while I am here.

Last night I had a beautiful dream about being with Lord Caitanya and Krsna.
It was amazing.  I woke up and was saddened by being in the material world, but
driven to immediately chant 16 rounds. Read the rest of this entry »