View From a New Vrindaban Ridge

This Blog Is Currently Inactive -See Link to New Site

2006-10-01T10:25:00.000-04:00

I am currently posting at:

http://walkingthefenceline.wordpress.com

I promised someone (you know who you are) I would make it easy for them to find my currently active blog by searching on New Vrindavan (or New Vrindaban) and looking for View From a New Vrindaban Ridge. As of this date, this blog still shows up higher on the search results page than my new one of the same name. So I am making this post to direct that someone correctly.

Interestingly enough, this blog still gets lots of hits, mostly as the result of searches, and is the most consistent referrer to my new site. So I feel some loyalty to it, and some gratefulness.

Ah, the good old days (a month agao)when life was simple and I was posting here. I was so young and naive then.

Gosh Mooved: He Went That'a Way --------->

2006-08-29T09:54:00.000-04:00

Yes, Gosh has mooved his blog to a new server. He mumbled something about difficulties with uploading pictures, not being able to post some days, not being able to schedule posting times, and no categories for the posts. Why anyone needs to categorize fence posts is beyond me, but hey, no accounting for taste.

So he said to invite you to come on over anytime, but once you are there you will want to change your:

Bookmarks (Favorites)
Site Feed Subscriptions
Links (Blogroll) from your website, MySpace, or blog

He was practically begging you to update your Links list on any sites you have, or even add him to your Links if you haven't already. Something about how by mooving he lost his Site Ranking karma or some other such human silliness. I didn't even know cars had mothers, but shame on anyone who would lose their mother.

So just to be sure you got the message, all his new posts will be at a new host, even though the name will remain the same "View From a New Vrindaban Ridge."

The Yellow Line Is There For A Reason

2006-08-28T09:18:00.000-04:00

Here is a letter that got sent out by Jaya Murari to his mailing list. I am hoping to get him to start sending (teh the the the the the thethe the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the) the content to a blog. (Note the repeated "the". This is because I have gotten a bad habit as a self taught typist to write "the" too quickly, often resulting in a "teh". It is time consuming to go back and correct this, so I have made myself type "the" correctly 20 times in a row every time I make a mistake. I have been doing this for a while, but still not perfect so I am subjecting my subconscious mind to a public humiliation by not deleting the exercise this time. I apologize if this creates a lack of clarity)

"Haribol All Devotees of New Vrindaban,

"I have a humble important request to make. I was driving out to Rte 250 the other day and came close to wrecking twice due to people flying by. There really is no need to go 40-50mph down this road. I called the State Dept. and the limit is 30 mph. The road is windy and in many areas you can't see around the corner or if the embankment has slipped. Going thru the residential area of Madhuban is another bad spot where people go so fast like it's a highway. The speed thru a residential area is 25 mph actually (as it is going thru Bethlehem). We see animals and deer, baby fawns, killed left and right.

"I will practice what I preach and commit to driving slower and on my side of the road. I ask all of you to do the same and if ever you catch me not following this please chastise me.

"Your servants,
Rama Lila dasi and family"

I would like to add to this the concept of a yellow line down the middle of the road is to indicate that while you are entitled to half the road, it isn't the middle half. It is the right half. While I can understand the concept of cutting the apex of a curve to save wear and tear on your tires, and to save gas, please confine this activity to your side of the road. The half to the right of the yellow line is several feet wider than your vehicle, and is more than adequate to allow the cutting of the apex practice.

If your driving skills are so inadequate that you are fearful of going into the ditch, perhaps you should reappraise the viability of your driving at all. Or, SLOW DOWN so you CAN keep it between the lines.

If you see me coming and you are left of center, look closely at my hand. The gesture is NOT a friendly wave.

Kurma Is Coming To New Vrindavan!

2006-08-27T10:29:00.000-04:00

Kurma is coming to the Festival Of Inspiration in New Vrindavan next May. This is good news, as he is a famous cook, not just inside ISKCON but also all over the cooking world. Cooking is important because all whatever whatever aside, most devotees were originally attracted by prasadam, and will admit it in confidence. I am an avid fan of Kurma's blog.

New Vrindavan used to have the best prasadam. Today it is fashionable to treat Kirtanananda as a bad person, but the truth is not so convenient. Despite his flaws, he had some good qualities, one of which was his cooking and teaching cooking through surrogates. Srila Prabhupada taught Kirtananada (he called him Kitchanananda) and Kirtanananda taught the devotees how to cook. Unfortunately, all the great cooks have moved out of the temple and no younger devotees have been inspired to learn. That chain is now broken. Advaita told me he was cooking for the Sunday feast recently, making samosas Srila Prabhupada style, and not a single person knew what he was doing. They tried to tell him he was doing it wrong.

In the old days, there were so many good cooks around, but many preps had one cook who could do it best. Radhanath was sandesh, Garga Rsi was rasgullas, Dharmakala was cheesecake, Ambarish was sweet rice, Pracetas was ice cream, Lajjavati was kanti, Kutila was malpuras, Candra Mauli was black walnut burfi, etc. They would spend years cooking the same prep until they perfected it, and if you wanted to learn that prep, you would go to them. Sudhanu and Advaita were famous for being able to cook large-scale feasts with the quality of a Deity offering. Cooks would also learn in other temples and then bring their knowledge and share it.

My own meager contribution was the infamous oat water, so much maligned in the imagining. It was actually quite tasty and nutritious IF prepared CORRECTLY. It suffered from poor branding. Creamed Oats Nectar would have been a better name. Kirtanananda made it first, and then taught me how to do a small batch, then I taught Sudhanu and he introduced it in scale to the main kitchen.

I would put it up before mangala arotik, and then let it simmer until after the morning program. Those were the days of the "shotgun program". Tulasi and guru pujas were immediately after mangala, followed by SB class, all done in 1 1/2 hours. Lightly salted, with plumped raisins (added later in the cooking), ginger, and one tablespoon of ghee per gallon. It would become a drinkable liquid, the oats essentially dissolved. Longer cooking of grains converts starch to sugar, so it was sweetish without adding sugar. It digested easily, as opposed to globs of sticky oatmeal, and was very satisfying. Of course, like anything, oat water can be prepared poorly and be just awful, especially if it gets cold. The basic concept was adding more water and cooking it longer than recommended.

So Much To Post, So Little Time

2006-08-25T06:07:00.000-04:00

I love this kind of stuff. The cultural fleshing out of the bones of Krishna consciousness:

Read the whole story at Utahkrishnas.com.

"Though, there was a safety issue. There was no one to catch the guys who could have fallen down. That’s why we decided to break the hundi as soon as possible the last time to avoid any accidents. I am thinking that if we have just 5 more guys than what we had the last time, then this issue can be solved. Even the last time, the hundi was around 15-17 feet (above the ground) and it was looking very imposing..."

Utility is the principle:

Strong Opinions, Weakly Held

"I was talking the Institute’s Bob Johansen about wisdom, and he explained that – to deal with an uncertain future and still move forward – they advise people to have “strong opinions, which are weakly held.” They've been giving this advice for years..."

Knowledge is only skin deep:

The Deepest Hole

"Another unexpected find was a menagerie of microscopic fossils as deep as 6.7 kilometers below the surface. Twenty-four distinct species of plankton microfossils were found, and they were discovered to have carbon and nitrogen coverings rather than the typical limestone or silica. Despite the harsh environment of heat and pressure, the microscopic remains were remarkably intact...

"When drilling stopped in 1994, the hole was over seven miles deep (12,262 meters), making it by far the deepest hole ever drilled by humankind. The last of the cores to be plucked from from the borehole were dated to be about 2.7 billion years old, or roughly 32 million times older than Abe Vigoda. But even at that depth, the Kola project only penetrated into a fraction of the Earth's continental crust, which ranges from twenty to eighty kilometers thick."

I did a version of this last year for New Vrindavan college freshman:

BELOIT COLLEGE MINDSET LIST

"Most 18-year-old students entering the class of 2010 this fall were born in 1988. They grew up with a mouse in one hand and a computer screen as part of their worldview. They learned to surf the internet as they learned to read. While they were still in their cribs, the 20th century started to close as the Berlin Wall came down, the Soviet bloc disintegrated, and frequent traditional wars in Latin America gave way to the uncontrolled terrors of the Middle East..."

"Rivulose" by A.R. Ammons

2006-08-24T07:56:00.000-04:00

You think the ridge hills flowing, breaking
with ups and downs will, though,
building constancy into the black foreground

for each sunset, hold on to you, if dreams
wander, give reality recurrence enough to keep
an image clear, but then you realize, time

going on, that time's residual like the last
ice age's cool still in the rocks, averaged
maybe with the cool of the age before, that

not only are you not being held onto but where
else could time do so well without you,
what is your time where so much time is saved?

The Riddle Of Misplaced Kama

2006-08-23T08:59:00.000-04:00

First, here are a few riddles.

What 5 letter word typed in all capital letters can be read the same upside down?

What 11 letter word in the English language ends with the same three letters that it begins with?

Krishna is everywhere, if we accept sastra at face value. Why can’t we see Him? The following riddle gives us a hint:

What country is hidden in the paragraph below?

As defendants, we deny all involvement in the unscrupulous dealings which have come to light in the recent government investigation.

(If you give up, the answers are in the Comments.)

As for what damage a little misplaced comma can do:

Comma Quirk Irks Rogers

“It could be the most costly piece of punctuation in Canada.

“A grammatical blunder may force Rogers Communications Inc. to pay an extra $2.13-million to use utility poles in the Maritimes after the placement of a comma in a contract permitted the deal's cancellation.

“The controversial comma sent lawyers and telecommunications regulators scrambling for their English textbooks in a bitter 18-month dispute that serves as an expensive reminder of the importance of punctuation.

“Rogers thought it had a five-year deal with Aliant Inc. to string Rogers' cable lines across thousands of utility poles in the Maritimes for an annual fee of $9.60 per pole. But early last year, Rogers was informed that the contract was being cancelled and the rates were going up. Impossible, Rogers thought, since its contract was iron-clad until the spring of 2007 and could potentially be renewed for another five years.

“Armed with the rules of grammar and punctuation, Aliant disagreed. The construction of a single sentence in the 14-page contract allowed the entire deal to be scrapped with only one-year's notice, the company argued.

“Language buffs take note — Page 7 of the contract states: The agreement ‘shall continue in force for a period of five years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.’... ”

“The validity of the contract and the millions of dollars at stake all came down to one point — the second comma in the sentence...”

Light And Fluffy As a Cloud

2006-08-22T08:04:00.000-04:00

Ever Wonder How Much A Cloud Weighs?

"Let's start with a very simple white puffy cloud - a cumulus cloud. How much does the water in a cumulus cloud weigh?

"Peggy LeMone, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, did the numbers. "The water in the little cloud weighs about 550 tons," she calculates. "Or if you want to convert it to something that might be a little more meaningful … think of elephants."

"Floating Masses

"Assume an elephant weighs about six tons, she says, that would mean that water inside a typical cumulous cloud would weigh about one hundred elephants. The thought of a hundred elephants-worth of water suspended in the sky begs another question - what keeps it up there?

"First of all, the water isn't in elephant sized particles, it's in tiny tiny tiny particles," explains LeMone. And those particles float on the warmer air that's rising below. But still, the concept of so much water floating in the sky was surprising even to a meteorologist like LeMone. "I had no idea how much a cloud would weigh, actually, when I started the calculations," she says.

"Outweighing Elephant Populations

"So how many elephant units of water are inside a big storm cloud … 10 times bigger all the way around than the "puffy" cumulus cloud? Again, LeMone did the numbers: About 200,000 elephants.

"Now, ratchet up the calculations for a hurricane about the size of Missouri and the figures get really massive. "What we're doing is weighing the water in one cubic meter theoretically pulled from a cloud and then multiplying by the number of meters in a whole hurricane," she explains.

"The result? Forty million elephants. That means the water in one hurricane weighs more than all the elephants on the planet. Perhaps even more than all the elephants that have ever lived on the planet. And that is a lot of water."

Bhagavad-gita 6.46-47 -- Los Angeles, February 21, 1969:

“The sunlight is acting, evaporating the water and it is turned into ocean. Then it is overcast all over the land and there is production. And there is river flowing down. You stock your water tank high, and there are mountain heads, there is stock of water and all year the river is flowing, supply water. Don't you see how nice brain it is? Can you pour water? If you want to evaporate hundred gallons of water you have got to make so many necessary arrangements. And here, millions of tons water is taken away immediately from the ocean and sea and turned into cloud, light cloud so that it may not fall down immediately. You see? Not like a tank. And it is reserved on the head of the mountain and it is sprayed all over the land so everything is there. You require water to produce grains, vegetables. So everything is there.”

God Would Be An Atheist

2006-08-21T09:52:00.000-04:00

God would be an atheist: Why can't we all be Japanese?

"Drawing on a wide range of studies to cross-match faith – measured by belief in God and acceptance of evolution – with homicide and sexual behavior, Paul found that secular societies have lower rates of violence and teenage pregnancy than societies where many people profess belief in God.

"Top of the class, in both atheism and good behavior, come the Japanese. Over eighty percent accept evolution and fewer than ten percent are certain that God exists. Despite its size – over a hundred million people – Japan is one of the least crime-prone countries in the world. It also has the lowest rates of teenage pregnancy of any developed nation..."

" At the other end of the scale comes America. Over 50 percent of Americans believe in God, and only 40 percent accept some form of evolution (many believe it had a helping hand from the Deity). The U.S. has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy and homicide rates are at least five times greater than in Europe and ten times higher than in Japan.

"All this information points to a strong correlation between faith and antisocial behavior -- a correlation so strong that there is good reason to suppose that religious belief does more harm than good...”

“All believers learn that God holds them responsible for their actions. So far so good, but for many, belief absolves them of all other responsibilities. Consciously or subconsciously, those who are "born again" or "chosen" have diminished respect for others who do not share their sect or their faith. Convinced that only the Bible offers "truth", they lose their intellectual curiosity and their ability to reason. Their priority becomes not the world they live in but themselves.

”The more people prioritize themselves rather than those around them, the weaker society becomes and the greater the likelihood of antisocial behavior. Hence gun laws which encourage Americans to see each other not as fellow human beings who deserve protection, but as potential aggressors who deserve to die. And hence a health care system which looks after the wealthy rather than the ill...”

What do Vaisnavas have to say on this topic?

“In order to find God in ourselves, we must stop looking at ourselves, stop checking and verifying ourselves in the mirror of our own futility, and be content to be in Him and to do whatever He wills, according to our limitations, judging our acts not in the light of our own illusions, but in the light of His reality which is all around us in the things and people we live with.”

“No Man is an Island” by Thomas Merton
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, New York 1955: Page 120

Sydney Comes to Visit

2006-08-20T08:49:00.000-04:00

Manjari brought Sydney to spend the night. Here she is hangin' with grandma.

Manjari came down to go to a surprise 30th birthday party for Suddha Sattva, son of Soma and Dharmakala. Suddha was a record setting swimmer when he was on the local high school swim team. I think he was the team captain. He got a swimming scholarship to Wheeling Jesuit, which wasn't yet a University when he was there. He works for an environmental cleanup company. He was called to the site of the Flight 93 crash. That was the flight the passengers brought down in Western Pennsylvania on 9/11. Later, he was part of the cleanup at the Capitol after the anthrax scare.

When he was a teenager, he played on a roller hockey team organized by his father and Cakravarti. It was those 2 guys, me and a bunch of teenagers. We played in a Moundsville adult league. We had t-shirts printed up with our name, “Palace Guards”, on them. We lost our first two games badly, and things were looking bleak, but we didn't quit. Then we started to gel, and placed in the top half of the standings for the regular season. In the playoffs, we beat one of the teams that had stomped us early in the season, but lost to the other in the Championship game.

“Prabhupada: ...football? Football ground.
Devotee: Soccer.
Prabhupada: Soccer or football?
Manasvi: Football, that's football. [break]
Prabhupada: No, rugby is different.
Siddha-svarupa: Football they call soccer here. [break]
Prabhupada: ...men in one party?
Manasvi: Eleven.
Devotee: Did Krsna play that? (laughter)
Prabhupada: Hmm? Unless Krsna played, how you can play? [break] ...play is very popular in India, and rugby. What is that called, rugby?
Manasvi: No, that is hockey.
Prabhupada: Hockey, hockey, yes. [break]

Morning Walk -- June 18-19, 1975, Honolulu

Ego And Biking Trips

2006-08-19T08:51:00.000-04:00

In 1971 I took a solo bike trip from Grand Forks, North Dakota to Daytona Beach, Florida; a close to 2000 miles (3000km) ride. I ate meat for the last time the day I set out and paid respects to every cow I saw on the way. There are a lot of cows between ND and FL. My parents had told me I would die if I didn’t eat meat. I didn’t die, and as I was stronger when I got there than when I left, I have been a vegetarian ever since. Eventually, I ended up in Gainesville, where I went to the temple and first heard about NV.

Now, in my present state, such a memory seems unreal, like viewing someone else’s life. I tried to play soccer in a pickup game a few days ago. After 5 minutes I was so winded it took as long to catch my breath as I had played, and by the time I had caught my breath, my feet were swollen. Sharp reminders I am not the physical being I used to be. Some days, I feel worse than the day before, and the thought I may never really recover nags me. Then I have to cling intellectually to the memory of being told it will take about a year to get back to normal, or near normal. I get impatient, and forget it has only been 2 ½ months since the operation.

I worry that I have grown accustomed to the idle, sedentary life; become lazy, and am just using the transplant as an excuse. Whereas in the past, time was the limiting factor in what could be accomplished, now I have lots of time, and not enough energy to fill it. It is a useless feeling. Even chanting takes energy, and as I have no spontaneous desire to chant, I do disturbingly little of it. On the worst days, I feel like a walking dead man. Yet, people seem obsessed to tell me “You look good.” This always bothers me, because it is more about their need to gratify their sense of sight and forestall the feeling of their own impending mortality. That last sentence is probably not true -- most likely they are really trying to be positive and supportive -- but I perceive it in a negative way. It makes me feel like a malingerer, guilty that if I look good, I should feel good too, which I don’t. Those saying I “look good” never bother asking me how I feel, so it seems to me to be more about them than about my medical condition.

Whew! Was that last paragraph wallowing in the false ego or what? I think I need to go take a walk.

Born 150 Years Too Late

2006-08-18T08:16:00.000-04:00

Next time you think you are living austerely...

By JOYCE WADLER
Published: August 3, 2006
DUNDEE, N.Y.

(Full text in Comments if you don't want to register at the NY Times.)

"There are those who, on hearing that the tintype photographer John A. Coffer lives without car, phone or plumbing, might call him a Luddite. This, he insists, is not true — for one thing, he has a computer. He even has a computer room. The walls are bales of hay, the roof is tin, and the power source is a 75-watt solar panel outside in the pasture. Mr. Coffer, who lives on a 48-acre farm in the Finger Lakes, built his computer room in March. It’s lasted nicely through heavy rains and if it falls apart, Mr. Coffer says, no matter: He’s invested all of $15 in it..."

"He spent seven years on the road with a horse and buggy, and that’s the way he still gets around. He uses an outhouse. He lives in a small log cabin, which he built. The heat in the cabin comes from a wood-burning cast-iron stove, so that everything in the cabin, including Mr. Coffer, has the soft, smoky scent of soot..."

"He happens to like living as he does, he said. Conveniences like e-mail and phones end up being your master. Driving a horse and buggy, he’s not beholden to auto and gas companies..."

“ 'I was a great student of how people lived in the 19th century,' he said. 'I emulate my heroes, the independence people had, the old wagons and things. It’s just more of an earthy way of moving, the natural rhythm, the poetry, the pace.'

And he headed down to the pasture, to the cows..."

Vyas Puja

2006-08-17T10:41:00.000-04:00

I got up late this morning, missing a lot of the Vyasa Puja activities at the temple. I had gone there for Janmastami evening, intending to only stay a while and come home early. I know my energy levels and was intending to respect them, but kept running into devotees and having interesting conversations so suddenly it was 11:30 and that was so close to midnight I stayed. It was a positive experience, though the amped up music hurt my ears. Which made for a late, albeit wonderful, evening, but physical reaction kicked me hard this morning.

The whole experience was tempered by knowing about the bombing in Manipur (Manipur CM condemns grenade attack on ISKCON.) The sad thing is we live in a world where this is not enough brutality to crack the headlines. Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israeli wars all have more interest, and the Jon Benet Ramsey obsession is dominating the news this morning.

I was going to school north of Boston the day Srila Prahbupada landed in Boston. Only 50 miles, but a world separated us. Now, more than distance separates us; he’s left this planet in his vapu form and his vani is still eluding my frail comprehension. On this day in 1968 he wrote a letter : "My idea of developing New Vrindaban is to create an atmosphere of spiritual life where brahmacaris and sannyasis, and vanaprasthas, will live independently, completely depending on agricultural produce and milk from the cows." This concept seems to have been eluding not only NV, but ISKCON as a whole. You are still way ahead of us, Srila Prahbupada.

Pastimes and Futuretimes

2006-08-16T07:17:00.000-04:00

Yesterday there was a link to a picture of a pregnant Manjari. Now, through the magic of jumping back into the present, here is a picture of the baby, Sydney. Since it is Krishna's birthday, and we don't have any photos of Him as an infant -- cameras not being invented for another 5,000 years -- I substituted an infant photo I did have.

Here is a link to something I did about a year ago. Well, I had the idea and Sakya Rasa actually did it. I posted it back in the days no one was reading my blog. Thought I’d post it again. The idea is to demonstrate the concept of transcending. How transcending is in addition to what it transcends, not instead of it. If I were to do it again, I would have it made in a continuous spiral, rather than concentric circles. Or maybe not.

Great Wheel Metaphor

You might have to click on the picture to see it full size, maybe the lower right hand corner.

Another thing I have been playing with is getting together an ISKCONNews.net type blog aggregator for New Vrindavan, fed by New Vrindavan devotees, so residents, alumni, life members, and well wishers could feel a better sense of participation. If I wasn’t technologically challenged, I could do it myself, probably, but do need it to be a team effort, since I am. I have floated the idea around and have some positive feedback so it may happen. I am remarking on it today as it is supposed to be good to start things on Janmastami, so this would be its first float out on the internet.

Once there was a baby
with markings on His feet
He came to manifest
His pastimes oh so sweet.

Villagers adored Him,
the cows loved Him as well;
now there are the stories,
for you to hear and tell.

In The Image

2006-08-15T08:46:00.000-04:00

As I was wheelchaired down the ramp at my house to the vehicle taking me to Pittsburgh for my transplant surgery, my 8 months pregnant daughter Manjari was there. We took a picture of us standing together, her with her pregnant belly (life comes from life)and me with my ascites belly, which was holding 30 pounds(14kilos) of extra fluid. Some members of my family think the photo is in poor taste so you have to go to Flickr to see it.

http://static.flickr.com/97/215631124_312b0e5961_b.jpg

“The human soul is still the image of God, and no matter how far it travels away from Him into the regions of unreality, it never becomes so completely unreal that its original destiny can cease to torment it with a need to return to itself in God, and become, once again, real.”

“The New Man” by Thomas Merton
Ferrar, Straus, Giroux Publishers, New York 1961: Page 112

God is sitting in Heaven when a scientist says to Him, "Lord, we don't need You anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what You did in the 'beginning'."

"Oh, is that so? Tell Me..." replies God.

"Well, "says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the Likeness of You and breathe life into it, thus creating man."

"Well, that's interesting. Show Me."

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil.

"Oh no, no, no." interrupts God,

"Get your own dirt."

Vidya Sells Some Gourds

2006-08-14T08:43:00.000-04:00

Vidya preparing gourds.

On my way to UPMC Friday, I swung through Wheeling and dropped Vidya off at Enterprise. She was there before it opened at 7:30 AM so she brought a lawn chair to sit in. She needed to rent a vehicle for the weekend to do a show. A last minute opening had come available to do the Salt Fork Arts & Crafts Festival free; normally $150. It was a chance to check out the show and see if she wanted to do it next year. It is a juried show, with 120 crafters. She only does juried shows anymore.

She got the chance through Bill. I used to set up next to him at the Farmer’s Market in Wheeling for years. He also custom grew gourds for us after the deer and groundhogs got too bad for us here. The show organizers had approached him to do the festival. As he had Farmer’s Markets Friday and Saturday, he asked Vidya if she wanted to use the spot to hold it for him. She sold down her inventory Friday and Saturday, so there was room for him Sunday. I am addicted to his blueberries, one of Nature’s powerhouse foods.

The show has booth sitters if you need a break and are alone. The guy who sat in for her turned out to be a retired surgeon. She mentioned to him about my transplant and the esophageal varices bleed I had had prior to the surgery. He said that not too long ago, the bleed would have been fatal. I went with her Sunday, and when he came by, I showed him my scar and he said it was a beautiful job.

She told me I had to go talk to the paper guy. He is someone we had met at a show years ago, and he had recognized her. He makes homemade papers and embosses them to get these great patterns. He embeds floral materials to add colors and textures to the finished products. He frames them, and sells them for up to several hundred dollars a sheet. People buy them because they are unique and beautiful. He was excited to see us, because we had given him some gourd “guts”, the dried pulp of hardshell gourds, and suggested he try them to make paper. He told Vidya it had changed his life (a little overdramatic) as once he figured out the technique, it made paper easily and gave him something to use as a base for his more labor intensive pulps, such as hydrangea blossoms.

I got a chance to catch up with Bill. His son is back from Afghanistan and going into Ranger school. A politician came by who is running for US Congress in place of Bob Ney, and Bill got up and engaged her for 15 minutes about various topics. Threatened to vote Democrat (he is a life long Republican) because he was so disgusted with the state of affairs. It was an interesting Festival.

Best Clinic Ever

2006-08-13T08:23:00.000-04:00

I drove by myself to UPMC again. I signed in, then stamped my own parking, which is appreciated by the receptionist. I looked around and saw an empty chair. I asked the woman next to it if someone was using it, and she said, “No, I’ll clean it off” and she reached across and started taking bags off the chair NEXT to the empty. The sweet thing about this was that it was one of the good chairs. There are regular reception room chairs but 2 special comfortable ones. Protocol is you leave your bag on your chair when called for blood draw, so I had assumed the good one was being used. Once I sat down, I looked at all the gray and serious faces and said, “I would have been happy with the empty one. Now I feel guilty for getting the good chair.” Got little interest, but post transplant clinics are a tough room.

Blood draw went well. There was a gray looking, resigned eyes, skinny girl, 21, in at the same time. The nurse talked to her in a smoothing tone, assuring her they used small needles. It must have been her first clinic. My first clinic, the same nurse had told me to get ready, because she had to use a square needle. When I had a shocked response, she laughed and said that she had already slipped the needle in, so smoothly I hadn’t noticed it. She had seen me coming. :-)

When I came back from breakfast, in an alcove down the hall from the main waiting room, there was room on the couch. Score! Twice in a day, the good sitting spot. I felt like I had won the lottery. I settled in, as I typically wait 2 or 3 hours for blood results to come back and to see a doctor. I was dozing off when, barely 30 minutes later, I heard my name called. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I got up quickly, and walked briskly down the hall. To my bewilderment, the nurse was taking a different guy into the examine rooms. I went back to the alcove, and said to no one in particular, “I was sure I heard my name called – I must have been dreaming.” That set off some conversation about the whole clinic experience. All of a sudden, I heard it again; this time the nurse was coming further down the hallway. I jumped up and said, “You DID call my name,” and everyone in the area started laughing, including the gray 21 year old. I had been laughing at myself for having the illusion I had been called, and everyone was sort of tuned into that, so when I got up the second time, it was funny. Turns out the nurse had called two names before, and she was letting the first guy in and hadn’t noticed me coming.

So had the best seat twice, was taken in quicker than usual, and got a lot of down people to laugh. I’ll take that. Then it got better. I was taken off 2 of my drugs, and was put on "as needed" for a third, as my blood work was at good levels for 2 months post transplant. Even bigger, I don't have to go back for three months unless my blood work goes funny. I can get blood drawn every two weeks, instead of weekly, and can do it locally. Best clinic ever.

"That Painter In The City" byTu Ke Tuong

2006-08-12T11:35:00.000-04:00

1
in the morning you just wake up when that painter
suddenly
splashes a swarm of green leaves
everyone of us we see the sun suspended in air
but not that painter
he insists on seeing it a ripe fruit
and so he paints on the citreous background
a strange perfume

2
when he turns mad and jumps on the sandbag to
perform
the children crowd round and cheer
the painter draws a ripe grenade hanging from a
branch
and he loudly proclaims to the multitude
everlasting peace
he also points out to everyone
a sunbaked corpse loitering on the fence
then he adds to it just a touch of remaining fresh
blood

3
and when the blind bird is with child
he sketches on our eyes a pair of wooden crutches
and says here is enduring happiness
to illumine your blackened days

4
then the day we lie down
that painter again strokes a fresh green meadow
he says that’s a cool and comfortable bed
and every morning
he adds innumerable fragrant blossoms
as we start to forget to breathe little by little

Email to Ed

2006-08-11T06:15:00.000-04:00

I have an old friend, Ed Fissinger who recently had an epiphany that Krishna is God. We use to chant together before I came to New Vrindavan. This is Lake Michigan where he recently took a retreat and was chanting 16 rounds daily and reading the Srimad Bhagavatam. From an email exchange:

>I am now curious about your practice

Well, usually I have them do ball feel exercises until they are warmed up. Then, we do stretching exercises, many of which are yoga postures. Then we do some shooting, dribbling, passing and trapping drills. Then 3x3 games.

>...what you do on a regular basis regarding the practices and principles of Krishna???

Oh THAT! I thought you meant soccer practice. I do follow the 4 regulative principles. I don't go to the temple or chant japa as much as I should, though I wish I did, and think they are very important and useful. I have done them strictly for extended periods in the past.

Mostly, I cruise devotee websites, and comment sometimes. I spend an hour or so a day on my blogging -- researching, writing, and posting. So for me, that constitutes hearing and chanting, 2 of the 9 processes of devotional service stressed by SP.

>What things matter????

Chanting. Remembering Krishna and never forgetting Him (third process of devotional service). Struggling to live a life in the mode of goodness. Trying to see Krishna in all living entities.

>.....and what things does Krishna actually want us to do???

Ah, that's a question. Any number of people will be willing to give you an opinion there, usually, strangely enough, involving labor or money for their project. Which may, or may not, be a good thing. Discovering your true service is a challenge.

For now, continue what you are doing but add Krsna Consciousness to it. Avoid becoming overzealous and proselytizing everyone you meet. Do share with those who are receptive. Parisha used to say, " If they can't ask the question, they aren't ready for the answer."

> And how much of scripture do you think is infallible???

There are 3 pramanas - direct perception, logic, and sastras, scripture. I think scripture is a map, not the territory, and it is a teaching tool. Whether every bit is literal or not doesn't concern me. I think the underlying principles expressed are infallible.

"Pramana means proof. Vaisnava philosophers condense all the different types of pramanas into three: pratyaksa, anumana, and sabda. Pratyaksa means direct evidence by the senses. But since the senses are imperfect, pratyaksa often has to be corrected by higher knowledge. Anumana refers to deductive and inductive logic, which depends on the validity of its premises and reasons, and so cannot prove anything with final certainty. Sabda means receiving knowledge from authoritative sources. Vedic knowledge is sabda-pramana. This is particularly applicable to transcendental subject matter, which cannot be understood by the empirical and theorizing methods."

Narada Bhakti Sutra 59

>Right now I can only seem to believe what i have discovered not so much what i am told....as far as doctrine is concerned anyway.....

Review -- what did you believe in 1966? 86? Today? Has it changed? If it has, how valid can it be? What will you believe in 2026? What are the unchanging things that have been constant? It helps to realize that there is relative truth, contingent on time and circumstance, and absolute truth. USA has never won a World Cup. Relative truth. In the material world, in the mode of passion, there are winners and losers. Absolute truth.

Apple Picking

2006-08-10T08:49:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of Nanda picking apples, taken from the Minister of Agri-culture's, Balabhadra, personal blog. I am glad he started blogging, and hope he keeps it up, because Krishna Conscious centered farm life is a sorely underserved demographic in ISKCON. His specialty is training oxen. The tractor replaced oxen.

“Disciple: Srila Prabhupada, once you said, "The tractor -- this is the cause of all the trouble. It took all the young men's farm work. It forced them to go into the city and become entangled in sensuality." You said people had to leave the country and the simple life of goodness and God consciousness. And so they went to the city and got caught up in the anxious life, the mode of passion.

"Srila Prabhupada: Yes. In the city people must naturally fall into the mode of passion: constant anxiety due to needless lusting and striving. In the city we are surrounded by all sorts of artificial things for agitating our mind and senses. And naturally, when we have this facility we become lusty. We take to this passionate mode and become filled with anxiety.”

From: “Back to Simple Life and Simple Truth”

That is farm life, not (sub)urban life in the country. Unfortunately, I am now living the suburban lifestyle. Maybe I will get back to farming, but now I’m even buying vegetables, albeit from Balabhadra. My rehab is progressing slower these days, the benchmarks more incremental. I have been walking to Advaita’s, 8.5 tenths of a mile total. The benchmark is where do my legs start to ache going up to Sudhanu’s. Yesterday it was the sign warning that a Yield sign is ahead; today I made it 20 meters farther. I sit in a chair on Advaita’s porch and catch my breath before making the return trip. Eventually, I will make it without the rest.

Although I have trained a team of oxen (Bala and Deva for those who remember the Jersey team from back in the day) mostly I was a tractor jockey. I started driving tractors when I was 11, and was doing 60 hour weeks at age 13. When I came to New Vrindavan, I wanted to do oxen but my “surrender” was to keep doing tractors, so the labor force could be freed up to build the Palace.

Yesterday was Balarama’s appearance day. He carries a plough, so let’s talk plowing. The original definition of an acre was the amount of land a man and a team of oxen could plough in a day. It was standardized to be a rod by ½ of a mile (5 meters by 8/10 km). One rod = 198 inches. If a plough takes 14” a pass that is about 7 miles traveled for an acre. Add some for overlap and turning, and it pushes 8 or 9 miles, which means I am now walking about 1/10th the distance needed to plow an acre, about 14 km. I’ve got a ways to go.

Sri Sri Siksastakam

2006-08-09T08:37:00.000-04:00

1 Peter 1:24-25

24. for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers,and the flower falls,
25. but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

I don’t think the Siksastakam gets enough play, despite it being the only writing left us by Lord Chaitanya. I can almost scrabble together an alleged intellectual understanding of the first 5 verses, though after that it is mostly “say what?” Googling to find a copy, I found there are newer translations. I stipulate they may be more accurate, but I like the poetic ring of this version better.

Sri Sri Siksastakam

1) Glory to the sri-krsna-sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.

2) O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.

3) One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.

4) O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth.

5) O son of Maharaja Nanda [Krsna], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.

6) O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?

7) O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.

8) I know no one but Krsna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally.

A Dictionary of Useful Research Phrases

2006-08-08T07:38:00.000-04:00

It has long been known... I didn't look up the original reference.

A definite trend is evident... These data are are practically meaningless.

Of great theoretical and practical importance... Interesting to me.

While it has not been possible to provide definite answers to these questions... An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.

Three of the samples were chosen for detailed study... The results of the others didn't make any sense.

Typical results are shown... The best results are shown.

These results will be shown in a subsequent report... I might get around to this sometime if I'm pushed.

The most reliable results are those obtained by Jones... He was my graduate assistant.

It is believed that... I think.

It is generally believed that... A couple of other people think so too.

It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding of the phenomenon occurs... I don't understand it.

Correct within an order of magnitude... Wrong.

It is hoped that this study will stimulate further investigation in this field...
This is a lousy paper, but so are all the others on this miserable topic.

Thanks are due to Joe Blotz for assistance with the experiment and to George Frink for valuable discussions... Blotz did the work and Frink explained to me what it meant.

A careful analysis of obtainable data... Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of beer.

Looking Good

2006-08-07T08:16:00.000-04:00

Last week I went to get a new pair of glasses. After picking the new frames, the optician’s assistant asked for my old pair to see where the bifocal line was. She commented that they were in bad shape. She knew I’d had a liver transplant 2 months ago from taking my medical history, so I said, "Yes, I needed a new pair a while ago but didn't want to get any in case I died because it would have been a waste of money." Without missing a beat, she said, "But you would have looked good in the coffin."

I was stunned. It was so funny, but so unexpected, I couldn’t laugh. I simply said, “That was funny. I like it.” It was only later that I cracked up while repeating the story, over and over again, to my wife and friends. It stunned me because of the context. Regular citizens live in a society where death is something that happens in action movies, but in real life is hidden away. Old people are put in nursing homes, out of public view, and whisked off to hospitals when death is nearing. The body is immediately removed after death, then cosmetically restored to look lifelike at the funeral. If you talk to them about death and dying, in any sort of personal or concrete terms, they tend to get very uncomfortable. So for a citizen to deliver that line so offhandedly, it caught me off guard.

With devotees, it would have been less unexpected. From Jambavan or Advaita, it wouldn’t have even been unusual. Older devotees have sort of a gallows humor slant on death. It has been pounded into our heads by scripture and classes since we were wet behind the ears bhaktas. Even so, it was something that happened to others, to karmis, to those who weren’t transcendental, weren’t protected by Krishna. Now, as we look at old pictures we see that in any group, there is usually someone who has left his/her body. Many of our parents are gone, or requiring extra care. Death becomes more real, more personal, and less deniable.

I Googled Yudhistre and found a site where the Mahabharata is summarized:

“While wondering in the jungle Duraupathi becomes thirsty. Nakul goes to get water for her. In the river a demon asks him a question. Nakul does not answer the demon and drinks the water and dies. The same thing happens to Shahadev, Arjun and Bhim. Then Yudhistre comes to the river. The Raksha asks him the questions. When Yudhistre answers all the questions the Rakasha tells him to choose one of his brothers to live. Yudisdhister tells him that he would like Nakul to live because he is Madri’s son. The demon became pleased with him and revives all the brothers.”

The question was, “What is the most amazing thing?” Yudhistre’s answer was that even though we can see that so many of our ancestors have all died, we think we won’t.

Bharat Rekha in America

2006-08-06T08:08:00.000-04:00

ISKCON is represented in the book Bharat Rekha in America. New Vrindavan's Palace of Gold is pitured as one of 53 featured temples.

"It is a Unique book with excellent photographic and text coverage of 53 Hindu Temples of USA. It presents interesting and exciting information on traditional and rare Temples. The Author is the first INDIAN ever to bring out a book on Hindu Temples of USA.

This Book is intended to serve the following objectives.

Directory of Hindu Temples with all coordinates and information.

An aid to decision making on future construction of Temples in USA.

Will strengthen even further the already existing socio-Cultural relationship between Persons of Indian Origin in USA AND Resident Indians.

The Book is an excellent presentation to International Standards in Multi Color with Hard top and Jacket Cover in A4 size, 200 plus in pages and carrying rare and large pictures of Temples and Deities."

Soccer or Cigarettes?

2006-08-05T08:31:00.000-04:00

Exercise in youth has lasting bone benefits

"Men who participate in athletics in their late teens experience bone-building benefits that last for years, even if they are no longer training intensively, a new study shows.

"Osteoporosis or brittle bone disease is most common among women, but also occurs in men, with the incidence expected to triple over the next fifty years, Dr. Anna Nordstrom and colleagues from Umea University in Sweden note in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism..."

Self-Perpetuating Cycle of Drinking and Smoking

"Not only might cigarettes prompt more drinking by lowering blood alcohol levels, said psychologist Saul Shiffman of the University of Pittsburgh, but drinking actually seems to spur smoking.

" "When people are drinking," he said, "they're more likely to smoke."

"Some of that association, Shiffman said, is psychological—resulting from lowered inhibitions and a conditioned association between cigarettes and bars or drinking—but some is pharmacological: A 2004 study from Duke University suggests that even small amounts of alcohol can intensify the pleasurable effects of nicotine.

" "There's some evidence that smoking is more rewarding when you've had alcohol," Shiffman said. "It's a self-perpetuating phenomenon." "

"So when we are children, innocent, we have no bad habits, but as we grow and associate with bad company, we also acquire all these bad habits. So to give up all these bad habits means we have to associate with sadhus or devotees, saintly persons. Then we can give it up. This is called anartha-nivrtti, means giving up all unwanted bad habits. These things are not wanted. Nobody dies if he does not smoke or drink. Nobody dies."

Bhagavad-gita 2.11 (with Spanish translator) -- Mexico, February 11, 1975

A Wake

2006-08-04T07:39:00.000-04:00

As from a previous life,
the attachment of decades grew
(instantly, in a dream)
as deep as grapevine roots.
The fruit of our happiness
hung thickly and within reach.

The woman I loved
was as gentle as a vintner.
Her agile hands, her wit,
and her calming way with children
masked the sadness of her profound
and hazel eyes.

On the verge of harvest,
fatigue slowed her gait, her joy,
and on her cheek grapish bruises
never healed. Karposi’s.

As if it were the eighties,
no tests said HIV,
because there was no test,
no treatment, no HAART.

Like the moon, she was desireless.
I could have slipped away
but stayed, powerless,
while she waned.

Dazed, I awoke to a sunrise,
and she burned away
like morning fog on a vineyard.
She burned into vivid memories,
where I mourned fate
and her fallen leaves.

All day, as if hung over, I ached,
haunted by a phantom grief
as real as your death and mine.
As the evening fades,
I contemplate what Sunrise
will wake me from Maya’s dream.

My Thirty Second Season

2006-08-03T09:53:00.000-04:00

I didn’t do any vegetable gardening this year, but I did have a soccer season, which bodes well for next year’s garden. It was not my 32nd season, though; it was my 30 second season. Actually, it was my 10th season of playing. It would have been my 11th, but I missed last year due to bodily restraints. Aside from a couple of seasons played back in prep school, I didn’t play for 30 years, so really didn’t start until my mid forties, in 1996. My kids started playing and I had been drafted as a coach. Since I remembered nothing of the game, my mental speculations as a coach led us to a spectacular losing season. I saw a flyer for an adult league, and joined, to learn the game. I had read some sastra about soccer, but needed a guru to really learn it. As is true of most things. Perhaps it was a midlife crisis that spurred me to start playing, but at least I didn’t buy an Arrest Me Red sports car or try to trade my wife in for a younger version.

I went to Tulasi’s last game. It was playoffs. I was going to sub for Tulasi in the last minutes of the game if the outcome was determined. Best laid plans...it was tied up late in the game and stayed that way. The last game of the day was the championship game. One team was short a man at kickoff. His teammates were on cell phones and knew others were coming, but the ref was impatient and game time had arrived.

I asked the captain if I could step on the field for the start of the game, assuring him that if the ball came to me, I would step off. I had hoped my adopted team would control the ball and carry it forward for a while, but after about 30 seconds, the ball came to my side. Knowing I would fall over if I accelerated too fast, I broke into a trot, getting up to about ¾ of my old speed, eventually, which was max for me that day. I judged I could get to the ball at the same time as the opponent, and instinct took over. Then I saw a teammate closing fast so I kept running right through the sideline, and plopped down on the bench. It was a total of about 20 meters, but I was huffing and puffing. It took me a couple of minutes to catch my breath again, but I had played in the 2006 season. Which is probably an analogy for my involvement with Krishna Consciousness – in it, but just barely. Maybe next season.

Minister of Agri-culture Has a Blog

2006-08-02T08:34:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture from Balabhadra’s blog Life With the Cows and Land . He is chronicling Krishna Conscious life on the farm. Balabhadra is the ISKCON Minister of Agriculture, though this is his personal blog.

“In the Vedic times cows were not breed for milk production. Cows were breed for producing Bulls so that the activities of Agri-culture could be accomplished.

"The second reason was for cow dung. Cow dung is called farmers gold as it is such a high quality fertilizer and soil conditioner. It is also used in some Ayurvedic medicines. Dried cow dung is also used for a cooking fuel and fresh cow dung can be used in the production of methane gas.

"The third reason was for cow urine, which is valuable for Ayurvedic medicines as well as Agri-cultural applications.

"The fourth reason was for milk, which was considered as a bye product of breeding for the production of bulls.”

Balabhadra is growing and delivering vegetables to NV devotees. We buy from him, something that would have been inconceivable a couple of years ago. We used to grow and sell at a local Framer’s Market in Wheeling. The only tomatoes we have growing now are volunteers in a flowerbed. We have gone from being producers to being consumers. Not a pleasant feeling, though mitigated knowing Balabhadra is growing them. Maybe next year.

Poll question: Is Balabhadra an anachronism clinging to cow protection just because some book says it is important? Vote with your money – buy milk where the cow will be slaughtered and let it go at that if you think he is out of touch; purify that milk by supporting cow protection programs and/or animal rights organizations if he isn’t. Krishna will tally the results, and He has a built in error checking system.

“Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 16 Verse 18

The Personality of Religious Principles, Dharma, was wondering about in the form of a bull. And he met the personality of earth in the form of a cow who appeared to grieve like a mother who had lost her child. She had tears in her eyes, and the beauty of her body was lost. Thus Dharma questioned the earth as follows.

PURPORT

The bull is the emblem of the moral principle, and the cow is the representative of the earth. When the bull and the cow are in a joyful mood, it is to be understood that the people of the world are also in a joyful mood. The reason is that the bull helps production of grains in the agricultural field, and the cow delivers milk, the miracle of aggregate food values. The human society therefore, maintains these two important animals very carefully so that they can wander everywhere in cheerfulness. But at the present moment in this age of Kali both the bull and the cow are now being slaughtered and eaten up as foodstuff by a class of men who do not know the brahminical culture..."

What Is Reality?

2006-08-01T08:10:00.000-04:00

(Click through to the journal to read the individual essays.)

"In a special collection of articles published beginning 1 July 2005, Science Magazine and its online companion sites celebrate the journal's 125th anniversary with a look forward -- at the most compelling puzzles and questions facing scientists today. A special, free news feature in Science explores 125 big questions that face scientific inquiry over the next quarter-century...

"THE QUESTIONS

The Top 25 Essays by our news staff on 25 big questions facing science over the next quarter-century.

> What Is the Universe Made Of?
> What is the Biological Basis of Consciousness?
> Why Do Humans Have So Few Genes?
> To What Extent Are Genetic Variation and Personal Health Linked?
> Can the Laws of Physics Be Unified?
> How Much Can Human Life Span Be Extended?
> What Controls Organ Regeneration?
> How Can a Skin Cell Become a Nerve Cell?
> How Does a Single Somatic Cell Become a Whole Plant?
> How Does Earth's Interior Work?
> Are We Alone in the Universe?
> How and Where Did Life on Earth Arise?
> What Determines Species Diversity?
> What Genetic Changes Made Us Uniquely Human?
> How Are Memories Stored and Retrieved?
> How Did Cooperative Behavior Evolve?
> How Will Big Pictures Emerge from a Sea of Biological Data?

'Biology is rich in descriptive data--and getting richer all the time. Large-scale methods of probing samples, such as DNA sequencing, microarrays, and automated gene-function studies, are filling new databases to the brim. Many subfields from biomechanics to ecology have gone digital, and as a result, observations are more precise and more plentiful. A central question now confronting virtually all fields of biology is whether scientists can deduce from this torrent of molecular data how systems and whole organisms work. All this information needs to be sifted, organized, compiled, and--most importantly--connected in a way that enables researchers to make predictions based on general principles...'

> How Far Can We Push Chemical Self-Assembly?
> What Are the Limits of Conventional Computing?
> Can We Selectively Shut Off Immune Responses?
> Do Deeper Principles Underlie Quantum Uncertainty and Nonlocality?

' "Quantum mechanics is very impressive," Albert Einstein wrote in 1926. "But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing." As quantum theory matured over the years, that voice has gotten quieter--but it has not been silenced. There is a relentless murmur of confusion underneath the chorus of praise for quantum theory...'

> Is an Effective HIV Vaccine Feasible?
> How Hot Will the Greenhouse World Be?
> What Can Replace Cheap Oil -- and When?
> Will Malthus Continue to Be Wrong?"

Dancing, Old School

2006-07-31T07:30:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of me dancing. It was in a get well card from Pavitra and Meghamala. Pavitra is a photographer who has a lot of old photos. I have been threatening to write about dancing, and here is photographic proof I have danced. It is taken in the current Sri Sri Radha Vrindavan Candra temple. They moved there in the summer of 1983. Chedirajah is in the picture and he left his body in late 1985, so that dates the picture.

The guy in white with the mrdanga is Premarnava, so the baby would be Abhay. I am the other guy in white. Behind me, head showing, is Kumar. To the right is Chedirajah with both arms raised. Behind him is Garga Rsi, head shot, and in front of Chedi is Radha Gopinath. Now, trust me on this – between Chedi and Radha is Candramauli. How, you might ask, would I be able to tell that when we can’t see his head? Do I remember this exact instant in a kirtan that happened two decades ago? Had I meditated on those feet? No, but I do remember styles, and that is him. He had a distinctive dance style of bringing his nonsupporting foot up behind him. No one else did that. There is also the Hari Nama chadder. He commonly wore one. In case you were wondering, yes, THAT Candramauli.

Chedi left his body on traveling sankirtan. He was sleeping in a van in cold weather, and the supplemental heater malfunctioned. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The heater then went out and they froze. Gavum Guru’s brother, Mathura, also left the planet. His body rolled onto Kevala, who lived because it insulated him. They were on the benches in the van, and Kevala was on the floor. The warm carbon monoxide rose in the van, so he survived that. He did lose some musculature in his legs to frostbite, but was able to walk, with some difficulty, once he recovered. This was a blow to everyone in New Vrindavan.

Chedi was sort of the Visnujana of NV. The Adi-Hari Bol Bliss Boy, famous for his love of kirtans. He was a disciple of Srila Prahbupada originally from Buffalo.

Note my positioning in the photo. If you try to stand like that, you will fall over. One way to compensate for the unbalance is to bend your torso over the supporting foot, as the brahmacari to my right is doing. To avoid that, the knees and ankles have to be compressing while landing, and then, at the last possible moment, before falling over, uncoil into a leap. Once the supporting foot is off the ground, throw your legs in the other direction. It is a dynamic pose, not attainable statically. Yoga of motion.

Dahlias and Sunflowers

2006-07-30T10:32:00.000-04:00

Here are some dahlias and sunflowers. You can find better pictures of dahlias on the web. My wife set out the dahlias, but the sunflowers were volunteers. While we were still doing the market garden thing, we used to grow a lot of ornamental sunflowers, which we sold for $1 US a stem. It was a good seller for us, and the bees loved it. If we had extra, we would let them go to seed and the birds would eat them in the winter.

Seeing the seedling sunflowers in the dahlias, I would have pulled them as weeds, but Vidya wanted to leave them, so they stayed. I thought it made the bed too crowded, which would cause all the plants to suffer, but we had abundant rainfall in the first part of the season, so it worked out okay. As the taller of the dahlias were yellow, the effect in bloom is eye catching, as it seems like the dahlias merge into the sunflowers.

My wife has been pushing the temple for years to grow a lot of dahlias, but the gardener there is vegetable centric and has resisted it. The pluses are that dahlias bloom for a long period of time, are long lasting as cut flowers, come in a wide variety of colors, from reds to purples to yellow to white, and all sizes. They are good for garlands and vase flowers. One negative is that they are tender bulbs, which means in colder climates they have to be lifted in the fall and stored in a root cellar. We have such a cellar, and have offered the temple its use if they get into a larger scale. On the other hand, they don’t need to be started in a greenhouse. Another drawback is initial cost. Some of the varieties can be very expensive. Every year though, they multiply by 3 or more. In a few years populations can build up geometrically and you will be giving them away. Or selling them. They do require some special care. Disbudding is needed if large size is desired, but not necessary, especially if used for garlands.

A mind all logic is like a knife all blade.
It makes the hand bleed that uses it

Rabindranath Tagore

Speaking of Anniversaries...

2006-07-29T11:10:00.000-04:00

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/speedbump

In a sense, an anniversary is a pretty arbitrary thing. In and of itself, it has no intrinsic value, but it serves as an occasion for looking back, for remembering. Sometimes it is an objective remembrance, but often it is a time of reflection, of seeing a past event in a larger context, less restricted by the passions and limitations of its moment. Thinking the why, not just the what, of an event.

Last Tuesday was the 8th week anniversary of my liver transplant. Tomorrow will be the 2 month anniversary. It’s a big difference talking months instead of weeks. It seems more a part of the past. Yesterday I drove to UPMC for my bi-weekly checkup. Yes, that’s right, I drove myself to the clinic, just short of a 2 hour one way trip. Previously, someone had driven me. After 6 weeks I was medically cleared to drive, and was making some short trips, but didn’t trust my energy to make the round trip to Pittsburgh. In an emergency, I would have, but didn’t have to so didn’t. It was liberating to be able to go by myself, and not tie up someone else. I may not be contributing much yet, but at least I can minimize being a negative drag on those around me.

Met a guy who was 3 years out in for a yearly checkup. I met a little girl about Gracie’s age, 2 and ½, who was in for her 1-year checkup, after getting a part of her dad’s liver. There was another conversation about contacting a cadaveric donor’s family, and how emotionally complex that is. It was academic to me, having had a living donor, but interesting to hear. Meet a woman whose daughter died in April from a chronic disease. She thought she was also losing her husband until his transplant the end of May. He lived, the daughter died; it is all in Krishna’s hands.

After I posted my one year anniversary blurb for my blog, I noticed that Sitapati had his 2 year blog anniversary the same day. Since he was the original inspiration to start mine, I thought that was serendipitous. (Disclaimer: Such inspiration was unknown to him, so he has no karmic debt incurred for any mistakes or nonsense I write.) Of course, that is based on the sun calendar of 52 weeks, not the Vedic moon based calendar. I am not up enough to know if we would have hit the same day on a moon calendar, but it might not. You can never find a Vedic astronomer when you need one. It does serve as an example of the arbitrariness of anniversaries – it is a different day if you use the moon calendar or the sun calendar of the ugrkarmis.

Pennies From Heaven

2006-07-28T06:52:00.000-04:00

My brother visited from North Dakota earlier this summer with his wife and two daughters. My daughter Vraja, her daughter Gracie, my son Tulasi, my wife and myself accompanied them on a tour of the Temple/Palace area of New Vrindavan.

When we passed through the Rose Garden, the girls noticed there were coins in the fountain. They seized on this with zeal. Quickly, all our pockets were emptied and we were unable to stem the pleas for more. Uncle Tulasi came to the rescue. He went to the car and got the ashtray, which was stuffed with pennies. As is typical of devotees, no one using the car smoked, and the ashtray had turned into a coin collector.

This ashtray was stuffed, so Uncle Tulasi started taking out the pennies and giving them to the girls. The funny thing was that as fast as he would hand one girl a penny, she would whirl and heave it into the fountain. Practically before it sank to the bottom, she would spin back around and put out her hand for another. All three of them were doing it in turn. Because there were so many pennies, it went on for quite a while. Coins were flying and, inexorably, hands were raised for more. It was quite amusing, better than anything showing on TV at that moment.

Tulasi is good with kids and they naturally take to him. Somehow or other he always seems to keep them hopping. This is a great relief to the older, less energetic members of the family who can get exhausted trying to keep the wee ones engaged and safe. The adults actually had some time to discuss various topics and catch up on family news.

.

"My Advice While in Health" by Vien Chieu

2006-07-27T15:26:00.000-04:00

Like a wall, the body constantly threatens collapse.
A pity, really, the world still buzzes on.
Trust that Mind equals No-Mind, has no substance:
Let it come and go, appear and vanish.
What do we have to lose?

“With deep arrogance I took myself to be the body, which is a material object like a pot or a wall. Thinking myself a god among men, I traveled the earth surrounded by my charioteers, elephants, cavalry, foot soldiers and generals, disregarding You in my deluding pride.”

SB 10.51.48

It’s The One Year What of What?

2006-07-26T07:39:00.000-04:00

“Just like here the nature is working in that way. You build a very nice house. Gradually, the nature's course is it will become old and you'll fall down. This is the way of nature here. You cannot keep anything fresh always.”

Bhagavad-gita 7.2 -- San Francisco, September 11, 1968

It’s not a big celebration! There are no festivities to mark the occasion, and it is an unimportant event in all timelines. It has little personal significance. It isn’t even worth the time it took to scribble these lines. Okay, “scribbling” is an anachronism, granted. It isn’t even worth the time it took to type these lines. The problem with saying “typing” is it makes it sound more important than it is. Maybe “pecking” would be the modern equivalent of “scribbling”. It isn’t even worth the time it took to peck these lines. In any case, is the point being made? No reason to have mentioned this particular day except in regards to this blog.

Nonetheless, it is the One Year Anniversary of my first post. Way back then, was spending most of my time on a couch, a useless waste of skin with little prospects. To foster some semblance of self worth, some illusion of contributing, I took up blogging. Little idea of what blogging really was, and no expectation that anyone would read it. Maybe some sentimentalist after my memorial and ash spreading would be curious and think, “Who was that guy I had to sit through all that about just to eat the free meal at the reception?” So I tried to put down some thoughts I had paid some prices for in order to have. Something to be read after I was ashed and trashed.

Never thought it would be active after a year, so put all the good stuff out fairly quickly. In the first months I sprinkled in what might have been my last thoughts. I was assuming I would eventually not be lucid enough to write anything. Of course, some would say I have achieved that goal, and prove it everyday. They are probably right, but somehow it has become a habit, a reason to wake up in the morning, so I keep at it.

I am planning to keep blogging for a while. I am assuming that at some point I will be able to do menial labor again and revert to my constitutional position, but in the meantime it gives me a sense I am doing some service. I am not trying to compete with the mainstream ISKCON writing tradition. There are so many competent writers doing that so well, I would only be adding mediocre clutter. I assume my readers are already getting the broad strokes from those more qualified sources. I am simply trying to add a little color to one small corner of the picture.

What Can Brown Do For You?

2006-07-25T19:18:00.000-04:00

Like a sand painting, here for a moment, then gone with the winds of change. As I write this, if you go to Google.com, click "more", then click "finance", then type ups and click search, you get the financials for United Parcel Service, famous for their brown trucks. Scroll down a bit to Blogs and there, at the top of the heap, is a link to my "Tour de America" post where I cited an article about fuel savings at UPS. This is the address you will get to:

http://finance.google.com/finance?q=ups

As most will probably not read this timely, I took a Print Screen of the page. I think it is funny.

Standing In The Shadows

2006-07-25T08:35:00.000-04:00

“Let me therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto the Lord, who has become the son of Vasudeva, the pleasure of Devaki, the boy of Nanda and the other cowherd men of Vrndavana, and the enlivener of the cows and the senses.”

Srimad Bhagvatam 1.8.21

From this photo you can tell I am in the shade on a sunny day. I am alive, standing next to a tree that bears the scars of having been a post in a fenceline.

You can't tell my name, my age, or the days of my birth and death. You won't know who my mother and father are, nor who or how many are my brothers and sisters. You can't tell if I lived most of my life on concrete or on dirt. My scars, if I have any, are unseen by you, and their origin will be unknown. I may have seen great sadhus, or abusers; have been herded by someone who cared, or someone who didn't.

Do you know any of my kind? Have you ever had dung on your shoes from coming to feed them? Known the names of any of my herd or other herds? Are we a concept or memory for you? Have you drank the milk of my sisters or of some other herd? Do you know where that herd is, and how those mothers will die?

Will you again drink milk, partake of products made of milk? Will that milk be a commodity subsidized by the blood flowing in a slaughterhouse? Or will it be made an opulence, by subsidizing with your time or money, so one of us might have the association of devotees?

Bicycling OnThe Red Path

2006-07-24T07:44:00.000-04:00

"Branching brain cells

"These specialised cells named Purkinje cells (red) are found in a part of the brain called the cerebellum. They send out vast numbers of branches that make connections with other cells in the cerebellum. This part of the brain coordinates your voluntary movements and keeps you oriented in space. It also plays a part in learning physical skills – such as riding a bike or playing the piano."

Confocal micrograph by Ludovic Collin

Connectivity in the brain is important for function. The more connections, the better the function, and the better the brain is able to compensate for injuries, such as Alzheimer’s Disease. Challenging the brain with mental exercises builds connectivity, as does learning new motor skills. A simple thing to do is to switch the hand you use for your mouse. It will be awkward for a day or two, but eventually the brain makes more connections, and it will become automatic.

This image came from Biomedical Image Awards 2006 and lots more pictures I will never be able to take are there as well. I don’t have the equipment to take them. I did have the camera to take photos at the Sun ceremony, but it is discouraged, so I honor that. Even at the Amish place where we stopped to buy produce when we were lost preferred no pictures. This was a farm out of the tourist area, and they like their privacy.

The dresses of the female dancers at Friendship village are made of red, and they use yellow shawls with long fringing that swirls as they dance. The men wear a red skirt, like a swami dhoti, but are bare cheasted except for a yellow sash. All the dancers wore circlets on their heads woven out of red and yellow cloth except for an aborigine from Australia who had a red and yellow cap woven by her elders.

The colors have meaning. Red represents the Red Path, what Christians might call the straight and narrow. A devotee would think of it as the Dharma, the Path of Religion. It means to live with right livelihood, right principles. It means to be aware of your connection to all living beings.

“In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.”

Bg 2.40

"And the dharma of each spark of divine consciousness is to dance in harmony around the central fire, Krsna, the original supreme personality. We are all unique, individual, and personal manifestations of Krsna, but our dharma is to recognize our source, to celebrate our eternal connection with Him through loving service. In short, our dharma, as eternally conscious selves, is to love and serve Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

Dharma: The Way of Transcendence -- Introduction

Tour de America

2006-07-23T07:01:00.000-04:00

While the world watches hyperathletic bicyclists churning across France, some devotees are using bikes more practically in the USA. They may never win a yellow jersey, but they do have a yellow car. Check out their fledgling blog at:

http://www.ridewithin.blogspot.com/

World’s Most Efficient Vehicle? A Bicycle.

“Comparing energy used per passenger-mile (calories), they found that a bicycle needed only 35 calories, whereas a car expended a whopping 1,860. Bus and trains fell about midway between, and walking still took 3 times as many calories as riding a bike the same distance. They also looked at a measurement called: ‘Persons per hour that one meter-width-equivalent right-of-way can carry’. In this case Rail scored tops with 4,000 persons, but ‘autos in mixed traffic’ still managed the worse rating with only 170 people. Bikes did pretty well, relative to cars, achieving 1,500 persons per hour. This is the sort of impact that Critical Mass rides around the planet try to demonstrate on a regular basis. The stats also inferred that cycling contributes to a nation’s health. For example, they found that only 1% of urban travel in the US was by bicycle, a country with 30.6% of adults considered obese. This contrasted with the Netherlands where 28% of urban travel was via a bike, and only 10% were obese...“

(There is a lot of conservation stuff at the Efficient Vehicle site.)

Even the devotees' yellow car has an interesting feature – it runs on recycled fryer oil. That’s vegetable oil that would otherwise have been landfilled.

Alternative fuels and conservation are starting to get some notice. What could you do as an individual immediately? Well, walking as much as possible instead of turning on an engine for short distances. Even if you do have to make vehicle trips, try to minimize them, and multitask. Simply planning the most efficient trip can pay dividends for the planet.

Fuel Conservation No Idle Matter at UPS

“You wouldn't think of something as benign as avoiding a left-hand turn could conserve fuel, but Atlanta-based United Parcel Service (UPS) swears by it. In fact, the parcel carrier has technology in its systems that help map this out routes that minimize the number of left turns the driver has to make. According to spokesperson Steve Holmes, avoiding left turns at intersections reduces idling which in turn lowers fuel consumption. "It seems small, but when you multiply it across 88,0000 vehicles making nearly 15 million deliveries every day during the course of a year, it adds up."...”

Om Bhur Bhuvah Svah Tat Savitur Varenyam

2006-07-22T08:49:00.000-04:00

" 'Let me worship,' Lord Brahma said, 'the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda [Krsna], who is the original person and under whose order the sun, which is the king of all planets, is assuming immense power and heat. The sun represents the eye of the Lord and traverses its orbit in obedience to His order.' "

Bg 4.1

Yesterday we made a day trip to the Sun Ceremony at Friendship Village where Vamsa is on a 4 day complete fast from food, while dancing many hours a day in the sun. On the way, I was navigating and missed the turnoff for a shortcut. Since we knew we were on a road parallel to the one we wanted to be on, I arbitrarily picked a graveled road and headed across country. Naturally, we ended up lost, but took it as an opportunity to do some sight seeing along the twisting hilly roads of rural Southeastern Ohio. Stumbled on an old log shed that had been converted into a barn, where I took this picture of some horses.

We missed the first round of dancing for the day, but were there for the next two; each lasted about 1.5 hours, in the sun. They were going to have one more right after we left, but I don't know if that would be the last one, maybe another one at sunset. Since it is a Sun Ceremony, typically there will be rounds at sunrise, high noon, and sunset, the traditional times for chanting gayatri. There can be as many as six.

I did end up hugging Grandmother Parisha, the spiritual leader. She is 10 years older than me, and has, at times, been my surrogate mother. I have shared some adventures with her, and her people, though not so much recently. We chatted together at lunch between rounds. She has a great attitude about life and we discussed death, living in completeness, and future plans. There was some laughing involved.

After his first trial verdict was reversed on appeal, Kirtananada (Bhaktipada) was riding high, feeling vindicated and home free. He was surrounded by a large core of dedicated disciples. At that seeming zenith, Grandmother Parisha (who had come to NV several times during the interfaith period) advised him that he needed to physically move away from New Vrindavan, stop giving classes, stop initiating, and not act as a guru for an extended period, or he would end up in prison. With the humility clad smugness that can only be mustered by an "advanced" devotee, surrounded by adoring and, at least at that point, fiercely loyal disciples, he declined the advice. FYI, he just got out of a 10+ year stint in prison for copyright infringement, and most of his disciples are nowhere to be seen. Of course, with the attitude of “forgiveness” so much ballyhooed by elements in ISKCON now, perhaps we shall see him initiating again soon, (sorry, that was inexcusably cynical, but... unable... to... delete;... tongue... too,,, powerful,... can’t... control).

Kokopeli:The Dancing Flute Player

2006-07-21T07:40:00.000-04:00

Hitting the road today. I’ll swing by Wheeling to for my blood work, then off to Friendship Village in Ohio. They are doing Sun Ceremony. Vamsa, a gurukuli who grew up in New Vrindavan, will be dancing. This is an elaborate, structured ritual; the dancers prepare for a year to participate. It is colorful but austere, an offering so the People can live. The dance lasts 4 days.

We go as her supporters. It starts today, and ends Monday. Anyone wishing to support her, let me know. I only have the juice to go one day. Last day is the best in a lot of ways(not least of which is a feast), but too much hugging goes on when the dancers come out. Being immunosuppressed, it becomes uncomfortable begging off and having to explain my condition. Everyone will be busy the first day so easier to slip in. The dancers stay isolated during the ceremony, so it will only be the supporters. Since the weekend won’t have started, lots of them won’t have arrived yet. Those already there will be busy covering logistics, security, cooking, etc.

Material support is welcomed, but support can comes via prayers. Anyone knowing Vamsa who wants to support her -- pray away. Hare Krishna mantras are always appropriate, if you don’t know specific prayers. Support her if you don’t know her, for that matter. Keep praying until Monday.

“Life consists in learning to live on one’s own, spontaneous, freewheeling: to do this one must recognize what is one’s own—be familiar and at home with oneself. This means basically learning who one is, and learning what one has to offer to the contemporary world, and then learning how to make that offering valid.

“The purpose of education is to show us how to define ourselves authentically and spontaneously in relation to our world—not to impose a prefabricated definition of the world, still less an arbitrary definition of ourselves as individuals. The world is made up of the people who are fully alive in it: that is, of the people who can be themselves in it and can enter into a living and fruitful relationship with each other in it. The world is, therefore, more real in proportion as the people in it are able to be more fully and more humanly alive: that is to say, better able to make a lucid and conscious use of their freedom. Basically, this freedom must consist first of all in the capacity to choose their own lives, to find themselves on the deepest possible level. A superficial freedom to wander aimlessly here and there, to taste this or that, to make a choice of distractions … is simply a sham. It claims to be a freedom of “choice” when it has evaded the basic task of discovering who it is that chooses. It is not free because it is unwilling to face the risk of self-discovery.“

Thomas Merton. “Learning to Live” in Love and Living.

Lord Shyamasundara

2006-07-20T08:36:00.000-04:00

All glories to the Personality of Godhead, the hue of whose soft body resembles the blackish color of a new cloud! All glories to Lord Mukunda, who removes the burdens of the earth!

Mukunda-mala-stotra 2

His blackness is compared with the black cloud. Asita-ambuda, ambuda means the cloud. The black cloud is full of water. When there is black cloud in the sky, you can be sure that the rain is going to fall down. Not the white cloud. White cloud means no water. Is it not? So you understand this philosophy and add water to the suffering humanity. They are suffering in the burning, blazing fire of material existence. So blazing fire can be extinguished when the water falls from the sky, not by your fire brigade.

Interview -- July 12, 1976, Detroit

It is now looking so peaceful nice, but with the permission of the Lord immediately there will be a heavy cloud and storm and waves and finished everything, within a second.

Morning Walk -- May 29, 1975, Honolulu

(This post is meant as a tie in to the "Death" verse of "The Four Hills of Existence")

Headbutted: Banned in India!; Happy Birthday ISKCON; New Direction in Management?

2006-07-20T07:56:00.000-04:00

First, the late breaking news: Calling the Next Generation of ISKCON Leaders

Okay, the Indian government didn’t ban me specifically, but did ban my host. Maybe it was a mistake, or else they really don’t get the internet as a means to communicate.

Report: Indian gov blocks Blogspot, Typepad, Geocities blogs

“India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) passed an order to ISPs Friday to block several websites. The list is confidential. Indian ISPs have been slowly coming into compliance. SpectraNet, MTNL, Reliance, and as of Monday afternoon, Airtel. State-backed BSNL and VSNL have not started yet but likely will soon. The known list of blocked domains is *.blogspot.com, *.typepad.com and geocities.com/*...

“Update, 11AM PT: Shii says,
An Indian political blog is reporting that the ban was initiated by the Indian intelligence service to stop terrorism: Link. According totheir source, the terrorists are using blogs to communicate. Not only is this useless (because the terrorists can simply use proxies), it's akin to shutting off the country's telephone service because terrorists talk to each other through phones.”

I said I was done talking about World Cup, but the Zidane head butt has taken on a life of its own. Struck a chord with the young and internet savvy. This game was out the day after the finals:

The Zidane head butt game

Not satisfying? There's more!:

Zidane Headbutt Spoofs

Happy Birthday ISKCON!:

Hare Krishna at 40

“Once reviled as a cult, they've abandoned airport proselytizing for life as a mainstream American denomination. If you think that Hare Krishnas disappeared when the Age of Aquarius ended, look in the next cubicle– they may be working in your office, wearing a suit, with a full head of hair. This week the Hare Krishnas celebrate their 40th anniversary, and they’ve joined the American mainstream...

“At the same time, much of what made the Hare Krishnas stand out as unusual in the '60s and '70s has become part of mainstream American spirituality, including yoga, vegetarianism, chanting, and concepts like karma and reincarnation. "A lot of people on the streets now believe in those things," Anuttama says. "A lot of things that were considered outlandish or threatening are now taking place in the basement of Christian churches." “

An example of yoga catching on:

Yoga Trend Catching on With Soldiers

“PENSACOLA, Fla. -- When Marine Lt. Alan Zarracina finally did the splits after months of struggling with the difficult pose in yoga class, the limber women around him applauded...

“Yoga breathing exercises can help SEALs with their diving, and learning to control the body by remaining in unusual positions can help members stay in confined spaces for long periods, he said.
“The ability to stay focused on something, whether on breathing or on the yoga practice, and not be drawn off course, that has a lot of connection to the military," he said. "In our SEAL basic training, there are many things that are yoga-like in nature."...”

"The Four Hills of Existence" by Tran Nhan-ton

2006-07-19T08:32:00.000-04:00

BIRTH

The endless multitude of beings swarms
from the Creator’s hands, not from shoots or symptoms.
We are no different, though we have brains
we thoughtlessly forgot to use,
and thus are born again from the unborn,
our noses enslaved to fragrance, our tongues to flavors,
our eyes lusting for color, our ears for pitches.
So we become the world’s guests, wandering unhomed forever,
The day far off, home endless miles away.

AGING

Here our life lingers like a drifting bubble,
its term fixed by Heaven, not by our prayers.
Toward evening the sun weighs down the elms and mulberries.
Our bodies pose like willows that survive the fall.
And where is Fan, known for his sleek hairs?
And Lu Wang, hair struck through with winter’s frost?
The world grinds forward; it knows no turning back.
At evening the sun slips westward, eastward the waters.

SICKNESS

Those engendering opposites, male and female, vice and virtue,
forever in motion, create all our afflictions.
Having a body, you must bow to sickness.
To escape sickness, you must go bodiless.
Don’t brag of deathless potions, life-giving elixirs.
No medicine can halt the death-throes of the spring.
All we can do is shun the realms of demons
and struggle to foster within us our true being.

DEATH

The wild-raging storm sweeps the whole earth now,
running adrift the drunken fisherman's boat.
From all four quarters, clouds thicken and blacken,
waves surge like the report of beaten drums,
everything washed out by slashing rain, gust-driven,
beneath the shuddering menace of this thunder.
Afterward, the dust settles, the sky grows calm,
and the moonlit river lengthens out. What time of night is this?

Tolerating Old Cows, Or Not?

2006-07-18T09:15:00.000-04:00

Here are the cows at Bahulaban resting in tree shade during the heat of midday. They are so peaceful. They are pretty much all cows and oxen 15 years or older. Which is old for a cow, especially in a slaughter based economy such as the USA and most “developed” countries Wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of cows that old in the state of West Virginia are in this picture, or just out of camera view. You can click on the picture to see it bigger; most pictures I post can be clicked, usually.

The current macro society is not predisposed to small, human scale, agriculture. Case in point:

Judge Rules Against Farmer in Raw Milk Case

“(AP) A judge has ruled that a state law prohibiting the sale of raw milk does not violate an Amish dairy farmer's religious beliefs and has ordered him not to sell unlabeled milk from his farm.

“Arlie Stutzman, who owns a herd of 27 cows near Mount Hope, in northeast Ohio, appeared in court June 30 to protest a law that he says violates his religious beliefs because it prohibits him from sharing milk he produces with others.

“Judge Thomas D. White wrote that Stutzman may give his unpasteurized milk away to people in need, but may not accept money for it.

"Calling the compensation for milk a 'donation' is clearly a subterfuge to skirt the requirements of the law," White wrote in his decision issued Friday...”

If you haven’t read the following story yet, consider doing so. It has to do with the human side of reaction to slaughterhouses:

ISKCON devotee survived amidst the bombs in Mumbai

"I was confused as to what to do, I was shivering and my whole body was trembling; I immediately called up 100 (Police Helpline) I informed the police who attended the call, since this was the first bomb that exploded he was shocked when I said that there is a bomb blast..."

"At the present moment, so-called civilized men do not sacrifice animals to a deity in a religious or ritualistic way. They openly kill animals daily by the thousands for no purpose other than the satisfaction of the tongue. Because of this the entire world is suffering in so many ways. Politicians are unnecessarily declaring war, and according to the stringent laws of material nature, massacres are taking place between nations.”

Madhya 24.250

No Cow Picture Today

2006-07-17T10:26:00.000-04:00

I wanted to post a picture of a cow today, so headed up the road towards Sudhanu and Lajjavati’s house. I wanted a current picture, but no cows were in the part of the pasture I went by so nada. So no, the title of the post is not in reference to the fact I changed my profile photo from a cow to what it is today. That is part of some tinkering I have been doing in my rut of a blog to make me feel like I am preparing for the upcoming One Year Anniversary of clogging up my archives.

To get to a true half-mile (800 meters) on my walk, I had to go past Sudhanu’s, where I had been turning around, and over the hump towards Tejomaya’s. My rough, unverified step count got me almost to this slip in the road. It slipped two winters ago when we had the record setting rain that resulted in the Ohio River flooding twice. The State Road has fixed some slips on Palace Road, but not this one yet. There were over 400 slips that winter in Marshall County and they have a limited budget.

In order to facilitate traffic, they erected this sign to avoid accidents. I think this is what needs to happen to devotees. They need to be aware that if they think cow protection is unimportant, or the responsibility of someone else or some institution, but, bottom line, not their problem, then they need to Yield To Oncoming Traffic. Because the cycle with the gurukulis we see playing out is going to happen with cows.

If they don’t yield, this may be their fate.

Clinic 108

2006-07-16T09:22:00.000-04:00

Went to clinic Friday. Always hear stories and learn new things. Met a guy who was 5 ½ months out, but he had had complications and been in the ICU for 2 ½ months, then another 2 months in the transition unit. Surprisingly, he still was able to smile when I was goofing around in the waiting room. Then I met another guy who was 3 months out and already gone to 6 week intervals on his clinical visits. I may not get there as quickly, being in a study of familial living donor transplant patients, so watched closer. Cutting edge stuff.

I have made my position known to the team that being a vegetarian should minimize complications, as meat has so many toxins in it, and antibiotic residues that must mess with your system. One guy 4 years out said I looked good for 6 weeks out. I feel fortunate. For a discussion of transplants from a devotee perspective, visit Transplants and Transfusions. I wonder if any other devotees have had a transplant? Let me know if you have heard of any. For a look at what various religions think about transplants, visit Donation and Transplantation: Religious Views.

I have to get blood work weekly, so it is driving 1 ¾ hours to Pittsburgh or 30 minutes to Wheeling. One plus of going to Pittsburgh is stopping at an Indian store and buying bitter melon. I am in an e-mail discussion with the transplant team’s pharmacist concerning supplements, based on scientific studies. She is advising not taking Alpha Lipoic Acid, which was my mainstay, as it stimulates T cell production. Certain T cells attack the liver allograft – rejection. While there are millions of different kinds of T cells, no use taking chances. Bitter melon has been given the nod, but avoid extracts. One side effect of the anti-rejection drug, Prograft, is diabetes in people who are prone to get it anyway. ALA is good to use in that situation, but so is bitter melon.

I didn’t get the numerical results of my blood work because there was a power outage in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh and the hospital was on emergency generators. So here are some numbers to fill the void:

1 ¹ x 2 ² x 3 ³ = 108 (1x4x27=108) = mantras in a round. What happens if we go x 4 ⁴?

108 x 4 =432 “At the present moment we have just passed through five thousand years of the Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years.” Bg 4.1

432 x 4 = 1,728, the number of mantras chanted if you do 4² (16) rounds.

1,728 x 4 = 6,912 which is 64 rounds of mantras. If nothing else it is a sequence of multiples of 3 -- 6,9,12. Of course, 9 x 12 = 108.

6,912 x 4 = 27,648 “The beads are chanted a minimum of sixteen rounds daily, or in other words, 27,648 Names daily.”
Letter to: Hanuman Prasad Poddar -- Los Angeles 5 February 1970

Mispellign Knot Ownly Weigh Two RIte Bad

2006-07-15T08:34:00.000-04:00

harvey krishna
Originally uploaded by gofriend8.

There are more ways to write badly than misspelling. I mean besides long, repetitious, disorganized disasters that purport to be argumentation and mistake quantity for quality, as seen on too many websites. Here is some All Star bad writing:

Bizarre metaphors and similes

"3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it...

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't...

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut...

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up."

If you feel that you can write on that level, and want to get serious about bad writing, you can always take the next step and submit here next year:

It was a long and twisting sentence...

"An opening sentence containing a burrito, an angel and a shovel was judged appalling enough to win the annual Bulwer-Lytton literary parody prize on Tuesday. Retired mechanical designer Jim Guigli of California was proclaimed winner of the contest, which challenges entrants to submit their worst opening sentence of an imaginary novel...

The 2006 runner-up, Stuart Vasepuru from Scotland, played with one of the most famous pieces of dialogue from the Clint Eastwood movie "Dirty Harry".

"I know what you're thinking, punk," hissed Wordy Harry to his new editor, "you're thinking, 'Did he use six superfluous adjectives or only five?' -- and to tell the truth, I forgot myself in all this excitement; but being as this is English, the most powerful language in the world, whose subtle nuances will blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?” "

Money, Genius, and Pilgrimage

2006-07-14T06:24:00.000-04:00

Blogger hasn't let me post pictures for two days. This isn't the first time. I am thinking about finding a new host. Besides reliability, two nice features would be the ability to sort by category, and to schedule uploads for posting later. Now I can only post in real time. If anyone has a suggestion, leave a comment.

If you want to see a visual, you can go to Krsna.com and watch the video of when the ISKCON Youth Tour visited New Vrindavan in 2005 and took a tour of ISCOWP.

If you are of a more contemplative mood, check out the last link, assuming you have already figured this one out:

Does Money Buy Happiness?

"A Princeton University study has confirmed that the link between money and happiness is exaggerated and an illusion.

The researchers, which included Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman, examined a range of data and found that the effect of money on mood was greatly exaggerated (i.e. bucketloads of cash won't make you happier) and was only weakly correlated with moment to moment happiness.

Which, as the study claims, raises the question of why people are so focused on getting rich and whether we have our priorities around the wrong way..."

Okay, if it isn't money, what it is? Feel like you haven't made a real contribution yet? There is always hope you may yet pull something off:

What Kind of Genius Are You?

"A new theory suggests that creativity comes in two distinct types – quick and dramatic, or careful and quiet...

"In the fall of 1972, when David Galenson was a senior economics major at Harvard, he took what he describes as a “gut” course in 17th-century Dutch art. On the first day of class, the professor displayed a stunning image of a Renaissance Madonna and child. “Pablo Picasso did this copy of a Raphael drawing when he was 17 years old,” the professor told the students. “What have you people done lately?” It’s a question we all ask ourselves...

"What he has found is that genius – whether in art or architecture or even business – is not the sole province of 17-year-old Picassos and 22-year-old Andreessens. Instead, it comes in two very different forms, embodied by two very different types of people. “Conceptual innovators,” as Galenson calls them, make bold, dramatic leaps in their disciplines. They do their breakthrough work when they are young. Think Edvard Munch, Herman Melville, and Orson Welles. They make the rest of us feel like also-rans. Then there’s a second character type, someone who’s just as significant but trudging by comparison. Galenson calls this group “experimental innovators.” Geniuses like Auguste Rodin, Mark Twain, and Alfred Hitchcock proceed by a lifetime of trial and error and thus do their important work much later in their careers. Galenson maintains that this duality – conceptualists are from Mars, experimentalists are from Venus – is the core of the creative process. And it applies to virtually every field of intellectual endeavor, from painters and poets to economists..."

Clipping Along On My Walk

2006-07-13T10:57:00.000-04:00

Did my walk yesterday. I counted paces out and back -- 350 going away and 345 coming back. It’s slightly uphill out and my legs were tiring as I reached the turnaround point. My sense was my pace was shortening, so I used the coming back figure for calculations. At a yard a pace, I’ve been walking 2/5 of a mile total; about 640 meters. I need to go farther next time and try make it a ½ mile round trip (note to self: that would be 440 paces one way).

I made it in seven and one half minutes. That is about a 19 minute mile. When I was a brahmacari at the old Vrindavan farm, we used to walk the 2 miles to Bahulaban, then the main farm, in about 40 minutes. Down in the morning, and back up at night, about a 20 minute mile So I have my walking speed back, now it is a question of being able to extend the distance to at least a mile. the interesting thing to me is that instead of being knocked down by fatigue, it is my legs giving out that limits me. Which may sound like a bad thing, but I am enjoying it because it means I have the energy to make the walk, but the muscles are out of condition. It has been years since I have experienced being tired rather than fatigued. Which accounts for being out of condition, naturally. I look forward to experiencing overall tiredness after working for a long stretch, or even all day. After years of fatigue, it will be like bliss.

My pace is usually fairly accurate, with all confidence I would say within 10% accurate and most times closer. I have practiced it, as it was a common need, while still farming, to estimate distances and areas. When you are maintaining over 20 miles of fence line, and constructing more, it was an essential skill. Even for estimating the number of plants that would fit into a given garden space, or for calibrating a sprayer. Of course, I am out of practice.

Hope is an important thing. It contributes to determination. With determination, patience, and some enthusiasm, it is possible to achieve more than one might expect. Regular readers will remember that in April, I talked about the guy who wanted to trade one red paper clip for a house and how it reminded me of Srila Prahbupada. Well, one year after he started, he has got his house. Click here to read all about it.

Oh Yeah, The Nectar Story I Promised

2006-07-12T09:06:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I drove to the temple, my first time driving since my transplant. Got some maha prasadam and sat at a picnic table with several devotees. Ended up swapping surgery stories with Shyam Pandit after needling him about not posting to his blog. Shyam is from Bombay and grew up in the movement.

When he was going into surgery, an Indian doctor said there is always a danger and he should call his mother. She got him a phone as he was lying on the table. He had an India calling card, so did reach his mother. He told her that two minutes later he would be going under for the procedure. She started crying, so the Indian doctor got on the phone and told her in Hindi that Shyam was going to be okay. While he was recovering, Shyam invited the doctor out to New Vrindavan and she has come and visited.

It reminded me I promised to tell the nectar story about my surgery. I think devotees sometimes tell the nectar and skip the rest, giving an unrealistic perspective of what being a devotee is about, but I seem to have erred in the opposite direction, by neglecting the nectar.

The operating room was like a NASCAR pit area. There were several groups of people, all busy. My son’s liver may have already been removed, so maybe one group was dealing with that. Another group was getting me from the gurney onto the table and lashing my arms down on outriggers. It was a bit unnerving, so I asked the anesthesiologist who had been with me for an hour, “When do we get to the point where I don’t remember any of this?” My next memory is about 36 hours later.

Before I went under, I remember looking over to where a Hindu stood, gowned, capped, and masked, calmly observing the seemingly chaotic proceedings. I got the feeling he was aware of everything and error checking everyone. Very comforting.

After the transplant, daily they would take blood samples, then a doctor would come by, and finally, a flock of doctors would descend and review my case. On the day I ended up getting released, it was the Hindu surgeon who came singly.

He asked about the thread garland I was wearing. I said it was from Lord Nrsimhadev. He said “Who?” I showed him the picture I had and when he looked at it, he said, “Yes, that is Nrsimhadev.” Behind the picture, fruit juices and dried foods were stashed, as I was having prasadam brought in. I explained to him I was vegetarian. In the course of conversation, I asked if he knew of Srila Prabhupada, and he said that he did, and that he also was Bengali. Turns out he had visited the Bhaktivedanta Manor in London. I invited him to NV, and look forward to his promised visit.

So even though I wasn’t thinking about Krishna, He sent someone to watch over.

One Quarter Mile (400 meters)

2006-07-11T08:59:00.000-04:00

Chicory
cheated
Yarrow
of
White clover
my
Tiger lily
death,
Hemlock
it
Plantain
takes
Red clover
nine
Fleabane
minutes
Hairy vetch
to
Daisy
walk
Bird’s foot trefoil
one
Crown vetch
quarter
Queen Anne’s Lace
mile
Saint John’s Wort

Like a whirlwind,
two white butterflies
ascend in a mating dance.

Italians - Bliss, Rest of World - Abyss

2006-07-10T10:51:00.000-04:00

Shed snakeskin in abandoned temple room at Vrindavan at "Bhaktipada's house" Which is a misnomer because it was a large building where he had a small 2 room apartment. There was also a temple room, brahmacari ashram, kitchen, and one apartment for householders.

So the World Cup is over. One country feels great and, in typical material world fashion, the rest of the world feels like losers. Zidane loses millions because his header in overtime was stopped by the Italian goalie. If it goes in, France wins, and he is the greatest soccer player in the world. Instead, he is frustrated, head butts an opposing player, and is red carded out of the match, in an inglorious end to his career. Probably cost him millions of dollars in endorsements.

I watched the finals with Rupa, Balaji, and Tulasi, three college age kids who were born and raised in New Vrindavan but never went to any gurukula because it was already closed. They had all played on youth teams I coached. Earlier in the day, they had been out bicycling and gone up to old Vrindavan, the original farm NV started in. These pictures were taken by Balaji. He has more at Balaji's website.

People may or may not change from the material perspective, but somehow the potential of a soul remains about the vagaries of the material world, just like this lotus flower still growing in the pond at Bhaktipada’s. Even the most fallen has the chance to change.

Anyway, let’s finish up all this World Cup katha. Here are some interesting links related to it:

What happens when religious dogmatists miss the essence and become fanatics? Read about one example Somali World Cup viewers killed :

“Two people are reported dead after Islamist gunmen in central Somalia opened fire in a cinema where people were watching a banned World Cup match...”

On the other extreme, here is someone taking things too far. At least now we know why all those angels Christian theologians used to argue about were trying to fit on the tip of a hair – futbol! Scientist makes tiniest soccer pitch:

“A German scientist has created the world's smallest soccer pitch -- so minute that 20,000 of them could fit onto the tip of a human hair...”

On the middle path between the two extremes, you would think everything would balance, but even there, difficulties abide. Thai monks too tired to take alms

“Buddhist monks in Thailand are too tired to receive early morning alms because they are staying up late to watch the World Cup, a Thai newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Nation quoted a woman in the northern city of Chiang Mai who said her birthday celebrations were ruined because monks at a city temple were not awake to receive her morning offering, a mandatory religious ritual in the predominately Buddhist country...”

On A Distant Ridge: Cows

2006-07-09T08:57:00.000-04:00

If you drink milk, somewhere, in objective reality, there is(are) a cow(cows) who fed you, acknowledge it or not. This view is from my front yard. The black dots across the road between the trees are old cows still alive after kirtanananda abandoned them in the early 90s. They are still alive due to the sacrifice of many devotees in New Vrindavan.

I buy my milk in the market, but support cow protection vicariously. Recently, I attended a wedding at ISCOWP, where Laxmi, daughter of life long cow protectors Balabhadra and Chayadev married Janaka Mahajan. Bir Krsishna Swami performed the fire sacrifice and some pictures can be found at his website. After the fire sacrifice, and the tying of the dhoti to sari,Balabhadra added some wrinkles to the ceremony by joining the new couple in an baby ox yoke. They also exchanged sweets from Estonia and Hawaii, where they each originated.

Some of the wedding guests were devotees who vicariously support cow protection by adopting and supporting cows cared for by ISCOWP. The opportunity for vicarious cow protection is available for anyone, so no excuses, prahbus.

Pilgrimage To Logicavan Math

2006-07-08T08:35:00.000-04:00

If your math skills are approximated above, the following logic may be unattainable. I had some trouble with it myself, but I am amused by the concept:

"Every year I get a few kids in my classes who argue with me on this. And there are arguers all over the web. And I just know I'm going to get contentious "but it just can't be true" whiners in my comments. But I feel obliged to step into this fray.

.9 repeating equals one. In other words, .9999999... is the same number as 1. They're 2 different ways of writing the same number. Kind of like 1.5, 1 1/2, 3/2, and 99/66. All the same. I know some of you still don't believe me, so let me say it loudly:

Do you believe it yet? Well, I do have a couple of arguments besides mere size. Let's look at some reasons why it's true. Then we'll look at some reasons why it's not false, which is something different entirely. The standard algebra proof (which, if you modify it a little, works to convert any repeating decimal into a fraction) runs something like this. Let x = .9999999..., and then multiply both sides by 10, so you get 10x = 9.9999999... because multiplying by 10 just moves the decimal point to the right. Then stack those two equations and subtract them (this is a legal move because you're subtracting the same quantity from the left side, where it's called x, as from the right, where it's called .9999999..., but they're the same because they're equal. We said so, remember?):

Surely if 9x = 9, then x = 1. But since x also equals .9999999... we get that .9999999... = 1. The algebra is impeccable.

But I know that this is unconvincing to many people. So here's another argument..."

For more arguments, and attempts at refutation, go to:

Polymathematics: No, I'm sorry, it is

Personally, I'm still struggling with the idea that you can't divide by zero.

A Plethora of Pictures

2006-07-07T06:47:00.000-04:00

Annamaya in action -- Grandpa and Gracie have homemade apple pie and ice cream at the temple lassi bar.

For the paramahamsas, check out Jaya Murari's June 30th photos of NV. Click here for a slide show.

For Kulimela action:

"There are now nearly 4,000 Kulimela pics posted at the Kuliloka website:

www.kuliloka.com

Please register and upload your pics as well!

For those of you with broadband internet capacity you can also view uploaded Kulimela video on Google Video:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=kulimela

More pics and videos are being posted daily. Please check back often.

Pass this message on....

Chaits"

Dance Like Lord Chaitanya

2006-07-06T09:53:00.000-04:00

I am still on a couple of PAMHO conferences. One is Holistic Health. There is a current discussion about gall bladder removal and consequences and alternatives to surgery in order to remove gallstones. Exercise is a good preventative for gallstones. In this context, Jayo posted the following comment and his response (quoting a thread from 1997):

“ 'Incidentally, dancing before the deities and yogic breath excercises are not really cardiovascular in nature.'

This comment is pure speculation on your part. I've personally seen Prabhupada, on several occasions, jump up very vigorously with his hands raised high over his head. I am sure he was reaching his target heart rate! ( I guess you haven't been to any kirtans lead by Urjasvat or Vakreshwar Pandit prabhus, at the Dallas temple lately.) Now as many of my godbrothers could attest, I do know something of dancing devotionally, and the key thing is not really the particular technique, but the spirit of devotion in which it is rendered. Prabhupada would be pleased to see the bhakta engaged, however
imperfectly. He said if a wino remembers Krsna when he drinks his wine, he is offering it and making spiritual progress; I heard him say this in LA in '74 or'75, if you want a reference. (I think Madhava Ghosh prabhu may be a more "traditional stylist", even after so many years in NV.) Try this experiment doctor: Do the simple swami two-step with your hand overhead for 10-15 minutes MINIMUMMLY and Continuously WITHOUT EVER LOWERING THEM. I guarantee you will be doing aerobic exercise and you'll reach your target heart rate!”

I responded:

This amused me. It was dated 1997, and the reference is to kirtan dance style. Yes, I was always a traditionalist, the old fogy mumbling in the back about the upstarts and their mentally speculative dance styles. I confess - traditional swami two-step is my dogma, my muse, and my aspiration. I believe most of the apostates who don't use it, can't. It is actually very difficult to follow, and most are too weak, and unwilling to discipline themselves to the rigors of the style. Which is too bad, because IMHO, it is the greatest exercise, both physically and mentally, leading to the best results. Once mastered, it is very easily varied and applied even in the fastest paced and most vigorous of kirtans.

Perhaps when I recover some more, I will be able to dance again. I'll be the guy over on the side, hands raised above my head, one foot crossing in front of the other, on the beat. In the meantime, I may write about dancing occasionally.

FYI - just kidding (or am I?).

“Just like see Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He is chanting and dancing, chanting and dancing, you see, the same thing. This picture is before you so that gradually, when you feel ecstasy, you will also dance like Him."

Lecture on Maha-mantra -- New York, September 8, 1966

Fountains of Soda and Wee

2006-07-05T09:26:00.000-04:00

So supposing everyone who read my blog entry on avoiding sodas stopped drinking them. What to do with the stock left on hand? Here is a great idea:

Soda and Mentos Fountains

"We were just on both Late Night With David Letterman and The Today Show. Dave picked us for his Big Show Highlight and you can see the segment at the Late Show web site at Late Show Highlights (click on the thumbnail of us on the right column).
And the Today Show piece (though not the interview) is at Today Show (scroll down and click on "Fizz fountain! Mentos and Diet Coke."

We’d like to thank the folks at Revver.com for their help. Our video has been seen over 4 million times in the past three weeks alone! It’s been a wild ride -- thanks again to everyone who’s come along with us!..."

But for those who drink sodas, or any liquid, there is an inevitable bodily reaction. Since I am on the platform of annamya I am fascinated by these things.

"In Krsna, Srila Prabhupada explains the five levels of ego covering the self: "Within the body there are five different departments of existence, known as anna-maya, prana-maya, mano-maya, vijnana-maya, and at last ananda-maya. [These are enumerated in the Brahmananda-valli of the Taittiriya Upanisad.] In the beginning of life, every living entity is food conscious. A child or an animal is satisfied only by getting nice food. This stage of consciousness, in which the goal is to eat sumptuously, is called anna-maya. Anna means 'food.' After this one lives in the consciousness of being alive. If one can continue his life without being attacked or destroyed, one thinks himself happy. This stage is called prana-maya, or consciousness of one's existence. After this stage, when one is situated on the mental platform, that consciousness is called mano-maya. The material civilization is primarily situated in these three stages -- annamaya, prana-maya and mano-maya. The first concern of civilized persons is economic development, the next concern is defense against being annihilated, and the next consciousness is mental speculation, the philosophical approach to the values of life."

SB 10.87.17

So the following article has all the elements that appeal to me in my stage of consciousness -- urine, soccer, and the environment:

There's just a wee problem

"Here we go, there we go ...

It has so far been a near-perfect success - with brilliant stadiums, a chilled-out atmosphere and a near-total absence of hooligans. The only thing the organisers of the World Cup appear to have got wrong is the number of toilets provided. Biologists have warned that trees in Berlin are in danger of dying because of male fans urinating in the bushes. The huge, leafy 'fan mile' in the centre of the city has regularly been attracting crowds of up to 700,000 who have gathered to drink beer, eat sausages and watch games on giant screens - but it only has 280 portable loos. 'The urea sinks into the ground as ammonia. In small quantities this is a good fertiliser, but too much acidity is bad for the soil and could damage or even kill the trees,' warns Tilman Lamparter, a biologist at Berlin's Free University."

Sydney and Me

2006-07-04T09:29:00.000-04:00

Here's me holding 12 hour old Sydney, wearing a Lord Nrshimadev t-shirt.

Haven't had pictures from the camera Marken gave me because of assumption. The first batteries died as I was trying to upload pictures to my computer. Opening the battery compartment, I didn't attention to position of the batteries and simply dumped them out. When I put in the new ones, there was a little sticker on the side of the compartment that had a black line drawing of the positive end of a battery and a "+" sign, so naturally I put the positive end of the battery up there and the negative end up on the other side.

Went to hook it up to the computer. I could get it to signal "connected to computer", then it would go blank. Thinking the new batteries were dead, even from an unopened package, I bought a new set and tried them. Still nothing. I uninstalled and reinstalled the driver from the CD that came with the camera. Nada. Thinking the CD may have been flawed, I downloaded the driver off the company website and reinstalled it again. Zilch.

Manjari said she had had a camera that didn't work with alkaline batteries but did work with lithium ones. I went to the manual and saw it recommended Ni MH ones, so Sunday Gopish drove me to the flea market in Glendale and afterwards we went to a store and bought the Ni MHs and a charger. My wife, Tulasi,Vraja, and Gracie are all at the Mountain State Arts and Craft Show July 1-4 so I am home alone. Exhilarating being able to care for myself - by reheating kitcherie my wife made, sandwiches, and chowing down at Laxmi's wedding, I am getting by. I am not supposed to drive for 6 weeks, though, hence the need for Gopish to take me into town. Physically, I could drive in an emergency, but know that with the fatigue issues I am grappling with, occasionally I can't keep the 100% focus needed to drive safely.

Got the batteries in the charger Monday, and now, Tuesday morning, I went to put them in the camera. Disappointingly, still no results. Thinking Zen mind, make no assumptions, I went to the manual and read how to install batteries. The picture there showed them opposite to how I had them. I opened the battery compartment and sure enough, stamped into the opened cover on the metal of the contacts was a “+” and a “-“ opposite to how I had them. Yet right next to the batteries themselves was the line drawing of the battery end with the “+” sign, where the negative end was supposed to be. Apparently, some moron engineer put the line drawing in so we would know it was the battery compartment. Either that or the slave laborer in China who assembled it put the sticker on the wrong side. Couple that with my lack of observation and inability to look at the contacts and know by seeing what was correct, a long comedy of errors.

At last, though, the material world has granted me a reprieve and I now have original pictures to upload.

Reconciliation; Newspaper Article; Granddaughter

2006-07-03T10:15:00.000-04:00

“It is true, political problems are not solved by love and mercy. But the world of politics is not the only world, and unless political decisions rest on a foundation of something better and higher than politics, they can never do any real good for men. When a country has to be rebuilt after war, the passions and energies of war are no longer enough. There must be a new force, the power of love, the power of understanding and human compassion, the strength of selflessness and cooperation, and the creative dynamism of the will to live and to build, and the will to forgive. The will for reconciliation.”

From "Introductions East & West. The Foreign Prefaces of Thomas Merton"

I think this is true for any institution, not just governments. Any traumatic event in an institution, not just wars.

Here is an article about my transplant in the local newspaper.

Son Donates Part Of Liver To Save Dad’s Life

Okay, okay – Krishna isn’t mentioned anywhere. Materialistic? I stipulate to that. I told the reporter that she was coming to a Hare Krishna house. I gave her a link to my blog, so she could read what I wrote about my surgery. She chose not to use the devotee angle. True, I didn’t stress it during the interview. Still, I know quite a few people locally, from decades of business dealings and 10 years of coaching youth soccer. They know I am a devotee, so it can’t hurt NV’s image with them. Plus the people my kid knows.

This article was on the front page of the Sunday paper, below the fold. The last time I was on the front page, it was above the fold, on a weekday. It was a fall color shot of me chopping corn for silage, driving a Deutz tractor, pulling a two row chopper blowing the silage into a large covered forage wagon. It was a sideways shot. I was chopping in a flat bottomland field, and the background was the side of a ridge, covered with trees in full autumn coloration. There was only a caption, but I did use my devotee name for that one. That was at a time when most local media coverage was extremely negative. Not without some cause, I might add, though most of the negativity had to do with the nonfarming aspects of NV.

Marken had bought himself a new car the day before Manjari had her baby, so he drove up from Morgantown and picked Tulasi and me up and made the drive to Columbus. Four weeks after the transplant I got to hold my 12 hour old granddaughter in my arms for half an hour. Difficult to convey the experience in words.

When we arrived at the hospital, Marken stopped halfway through the door and said, “Do you realize what is happening? We are going into a hospital, we don’t have to do any tests, and we can leave anytime we want!” Very funny.

Kulimela Mooed

2006-07-02T09:02:00.000-04:00

That special incense from India,
the heady stuff,
floats out of the temple room,
clinging to the bright eyed
who wander into the sunshine,
memories sated with kirtan
and vicarious realizations.

An all day bhajan slowly pumps
up an inlaid harmonium
as the first of a million mrdanga
beats echo off the building fronts.

Conference rooms rustle to life.
Slide projectors hum into light
as laptops boot up
and chairs are slide into formations.

At long tables in open spaces
paper plates and cups
are taken from large cardboard boxes
and ladles and spoons are neatly arrayed.

The kitchen door opens
as the head cook takes his first breath
not burdened with a thousand details.
Inside, stainless steel containers rattle
together as eager servers
dance them full and towards the door.

Alone, at the dumpster,
the cowherd man throws plastic
bags of trash from a 20 year old Toyota
truck with a homemade wooden bed,
covering emptied produce boxes
and milk containers,
then leaves with a fresh roll of bags
to make his rounds again.

The occasional visitor to the barn,
wandering away from the festival,
finds it empty,
but no one notices.

Gathering Clouds of Urine

2006-07-01T09:13:00.000-04:00

When you were a kid, did you ever look up at the clouds and see things there? Sometimes faces? If you aren’t too urbanized, sophisticated, and/or jaded, it is still possible. Imagine looking out on the horizon and seeing distant storm clouds. Now, looking at those impending clouds, try to make out a face. I hope you see mine.

For those who remember when the term gurukuli was first self coined back in the early 1990s, and some gurukulis bought a Mac and started publishing a periodical, you know the recent Kulimela and current events transpiring in the life of an ISKCON guru and his friends are not a beginning but milestones in a long journey. Now, think about cows, and remember the name of the cow whose milk you consumed today. If you can’t, look again at those dark clouds of urine gathering in the distance and imagine the sun of your current days’ consciousness setting behind them.

“It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall”

Yesterday I went for my checkup, and the doctor raised my level of Prograft, my anti-rejection drug. I commented that was a bad sign, assuming that the problem being the immune system trying to reject the liver it perceives as foreign, if I needed more Prograft it was because the liver was losing the battle and needed more help. The doctor assured me that, no, on the contrary, it was a good sign. The liver metabolizes Prograft, and the stronger the liver becomes, the more it can metabolize, so in order to maintain the proper level of the drug in the bloodstream, it is necessary to raise the level of Prograft ingested.

I made a mistake in understanding my situation by not knowing the actual reality of the biochemistry of what was happening. Don’t make a similar mistake and think that by chanting some auspicious Vedic mantras before you consume milk products that you are involved in cow protection. Don’t ignore reality by rationalizing some academic conception of what “Reality” is. The reality is that milk is cheap in the market because the cows that give the milk are slaughtered. Cow protection in ISKCON today is about where gurukulis were in the 1970s and 80s.

"Our cows are happy, therefore they give plenty of milk. Vedic civilization gives protection to all the living creatures, especially the cows, because they render such valuable service to the human society in the shape of milk, without which no one can become healthy and strong. In your country the dog is protected, and the cow is killed. The dog is passing stool and urine in the street, he is considered the best friend of man, and the cow is all pure, stool, urine, and milk, but they are taken to the slaughter house and killed for food. What kind of civilization is this. Therefore we have to preach against all this nonsense."

Letter to: Rupanuga -- Vrindaban 7 December 1975

Echoes of Kulimela

2006-06-29T07:39:00.000-04:00

For photo tour of the 2006 Kulimela in New Vrindavan, go to

http://www.kuliloka.com/

For a behind the scenes peek at one aspect of Kulimela, here is the email Chaits sent out to those involved with the Kid’s Camp. While this is specifically about KC and Kulimela, he has a desire that in the future the KC would spin off into a life of its own, with maybe a one or two week KC held yearly in NV, perhaps:

Hi all,

I'd like to share some of my ideas for improvement of the next Kid's Camp:

1. I should have made arrangements for the Kid's Camp to start on Thursday. There were many kids (and parents) who would have attended if we had started a day earlier.

2. Because of the really late night on Saturday, Sunday Camp didn't happen. A few volunteers were on hand, but kids didn't really show. So, even half day on Sunday does not seem necessary.

3. I could have made a better distinction between between the older and younger camps and activities. Next time there probably should be two separate areas for each age group. A good balance of both age groups showed up on Friday. During that day the younger kids needed more time and energy than the older, more self-reliant ones. This meant the older ones got less attention. Because of this only half the older kids returned on Saturday. We need to find ways to get the kids between the ages of 10 and 14 more interested and involved.

4. The Kid's Camp should be set up in an area a bit more separate and removed from the rest of the festival. This time the location was right in the middle of the Kulimela action. This often made it more difficult to keep track of the kids. It also made the energy in and around the Camp a bit more frantic and hectic.

5. This year we were very fortunate that the weather was excellent. Because many of the activities/workshops were held outdoors next time we need to make sure we have a better thought out contingency plan in case of bad weather.

6. Scheduling of late night activities that include the kids need to be concluded by 10 pm so they can go to bed at a reasonable time. The Harinama parade with the star lanterns didn't happen because it was too late at night.

7. The lunch Prasad on Saturday was a bit spicy for the kids. We ended up having to find alternate food for many of the kids. Luckily, the Snack Bar stepped up and donated pizzas and the kids were satisfied.

8. More thought and effort should be put into the "Kid's Area" near the entertainment site. Vraja came up with a great idea and set up an area where parents could bring their kids and trade off watching them. If a little more energy had been put into this it would have been used a lot more.

9. I could have done a better job arranging for some kind of "Thank You" gift for all the volunteers. I mentioned most of them by name at the Sunday Fare Well speech but would have liked to give them some memento as well.

10. The dates for Kulimela need to be later in the season so that more kids can attend without having to make special arrangements to get out of school early.

Overall, I think Kulimela exceeded all of our expectations. Through our efforts we raised the bar and still have plenty of room for improvement next time!

IMPORTANT: I'd like to hear any ideas/suggestions you may have.

With great admiration and appreciation,

Chaits

A Funeral, a Wedding, a Birth, and a Rebirth

2006-06-28T10:14:00.000-04:00

My paternal grandfather had 23 grandchildren. The family has a group emailing that gets used time to time to keep in touch. Here is a email I sent this morning, the first since my transplant:

My daughter Manjari had a baby this morning in Columbus, Ohio at around 2 am June 28. C-section, 8 pounds 2 ounces, 20 inches. Her name is Sydney Aleya (spelling?).

I was thinking this has been an archetypical 30 days for the Meberg clan. In Eastern religions, they talk about the samsara, the cycle of birth and death. We have experienced the major milestones of samsara as a family.

Yesterday was the 4 week anniversary of my liver transplant. It was the same day Burt left his body, which I learned after being revived. I was comforted to hear his passing was peaceful and at home with family.

Recently, I almost bled out when some esophageal varices ruptured. My sister Laura had flown in as I was recovering, so I got caught up on family news. I knew that my cousin Dean’s daughter Katie was getting married at the same time as my transplant. Though I don’t really know Katie, due to geographical separation, it gave me peace going into the operation knowing that no matter what happened to me, from the perspective of family, a new life in the form of a marriage was being forged. So thank you Katie for that.

I also knew that Manjari wanted me to see her new baby. Whom I hope I will see later today. Marken has been in Morgantown, using the last of his medical leave to prepare the apartment he and Tulasi will be staying in at WVU, applying for jobs, and buying a car. He will be out of the Navy in time to start at WVU. He will be here around noon and we can drive the 2 ½ hours to Columbus and have a visit with the baby.

So there we have the funeral, the wedding, and the birth.

As for rebirth, that describes my own experience. A generation ago, I would have been dead a couple of months ago. Marken took leave from the Navy when he heard I was in the ICU with the bleeding, came home and donated 65% of his liver. While ultimately my fate was in the hands of the Lord, externally the medical technology that extended my life was unavailable 20 years ago. So in a sense, it is a physical rebirth, but instead of reincarnation, my body was recycled. Waking up helpless, unable to move or independently perform bodily functions, fed through a tube. Recovering function bit by bit, it was a lot like a child learning how to control and use a new body.

I am grateful to be here, to be part of an extended family, and for the opportunity to again be a productive member of society, both materially and spiritually. I celebrated my 4th week anniversary by walking a quarter mile in the morning and in the evening, leaning on a lawn mower and pushing it around the straight and level parts of our front lawn. Which was probably a mistake because my incision was a little sore this morning, but it felt great last night to be pushing myself to get something done.

Existence of HIgher Power Obvious To Farmers

2006-06-27T08:18:00.000-04:00

Farmers Hope For Showers

"PARK RIVER, N.D. - Some of Luther Meberg's crops are dying. And he knows he can't do anything but have hope. Meberg, a farmer, said the future of this year's harvest is up to Mother Nature.

"We did what we can do," Meberg said. "Now, Mother Nature has to do her part."

But she hasn't been.

In the past 51 days, the rain gauge on Meberg's farm has only seen rain on seven days. The highest measurement recorded was just 0.32 of an inch. The rest were around one-tenths of an inch, Meberg said.

His crops could be in serious trouble if a couple of inches of rain don't fall on his 1,900 tillable acres. He already estimates he has lost the top half of yield potential in his wheat grains. If the dry weather spell continues, he could produce as little as 10 to 15 bushels per acre. Compare this with two years ago, when he produced 63 bushels per acre. Last year, even with too much rain and crops dying from disease, he was able to produce 33 bushels per acre. This year's dry spell has just hit hard..."

My brother Luther was on the front page of his local newspaper. He continued farming after I left. I have a reporter coming out today from our local Wheeling paper who wants to do a story on my transplant. Somebody dropped a dime on me.

Yesterday morning I went out and walked a quarter mile. That would be 400 meters. It took me 12 minutes, pushing it hard, huffing and puffing from the git go. I was exhausted when I got back, and it took 90 minutes to recover. Now, if, at a minimum, you run 3 miles in a soccer match (5-6 more probably) that is 12 quarters of a mile x 12 minutes would equal 144 minutes time for a game’s worth. Add in recovery time between each quarter mile, and, well, you get the idea – I am not up to game speed yet. Next year in the match!

Still, relative to what I have been able to do, when 2 meters from the couch was a good distance to the bathroom and the 3 meters to my computer a great journey, walking a quarter mile was great. I was thankful I could do that, and it gave me confidence that greater recovery is inevitable.

Went to Tulasi and Thakur’s summer league game last night. As it was Thakur’s 17th birthday, my wife made cupcakes and after the match we distributed them to both teams and their family members. That was fun.

I didn’t have to go to UPMC last Friday; did have to get blood drawn in Wheeling a couple of times. Went yesterday, and as the multiple tubes of blood were being filled, my phlebotomist asked someone passing in the hall if Tara was working. I immediately thought how amazing Krishna is, remembering my post of June 11th 2006.

Who Is The Taste Of Soda?

2006-06-26T09:32:00.000-04:00

"O son of Kunti, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man."

Bg 7.8

Okay, occasionally I drink a soda, but not on a regular basis. Usually I filter my own water. Much cheaper than soda and no containers to dispose of. The following may not be totally accurate scientifically, but deserves some consideration as well.

Soft drinks: Unsafe beverages

"Amazingly, Americans (and people in other countries) actually drink a product that can rightfully be called Osteoporosis In a Can. And, it gets worse from there. Read on.
This poison goes by many brand names, such as Coca Cola and Pepsi. Generically, this poison is on the market in formulations known as soda, pop, and soft drinks. It includes all carbonated beverages--even carbonated plain water. The various substances in sodas compound the problem, especially the typical formulations with their carbonic acid or phosphoric acid.

Reading the rest of this article may be the best use you've ever made of 5 minutes. Yeah, we know Pepsi will never sponsor an ad on this site. But your health is more important to us.

It's tragic that the "beverage" industry shoves this toxic brew at human beings. Let's take a closer look at what it does..."

Irony and Piss

2006-06-25T08:34:00.000-04:00

I grew up in North Dakota, close to the Canadian border, and in the flight path of a SAC wing bomber unit. The sonic booms of aircraft breaking the sound barrier and the knowledge that planes carrying nuclear weapons were routinely landing 50 miles away was as much a part of my growing up as sandboxes and elementary school. I remember as a pre-schooler watching my mom talking to a uniformed Air Force officer. When he left, I asked her what he wanted and she said he asked her to call a phone number if any planes flew in low under the radar. In grade school, we had nuclear attack drills.

In 1965, a Minutemen missile field was completed and all the B-52s went to Viet Nam. We lived in the middle of 150 nuclear missiles, spread out over 50 miles. Driving to and from the locations we farmed at, it was common to see missile silos and the little signs that showed where the communication cables were laid between them.

Eventually I left, not being comfortable living in a primary target zone, amongst other reasons. Long complicated story – I ended up in New Vrindaban. There I found the discipline I needed at that point in my life. I think I may have ended up more naturally in the military, but Viet Nam was the wrong war at the wrong time for me. In New Vrindavan, my survivalist instincts were easily dovetailed. For the first twenty years I was there, I made sure there was enough grain on hand at any time to feed the entire community for a year. Even while farming, primarily for the purpose of feeding cows, I would plant corn in the spring, and when it was harvested in the fall, a cover crop of rye. One aspect of this was that any given time if there was some societal collapse, we would always have a crop in the field that, if push came to shove, could be harvested by hand for human food, even if our larder had been plundered.

Now, New Vrindavan is just as dependent on the macro society for its inputs as every other ISKCON temple. I had my own personal thing going after the old school management at the temple kicked my family and me to the curb, but that has more or less ended with my descent into disability. No one even noticed when their larder went empty.

So for me, the whole survivalist thing is memory. More ironic than that, due to my now lifelong dependence on anti-rejection drugs due to the transplant, my life is tied to the continuance of industrial society and the pharmafia. Very funny, Krishna; so much for my illusion of independence.

I still have an academic interest in these things. For instance, here is a link to an article that may be of interest to those who are simultaneously addicted to electronic devices and convinced the larger society is doomed.

Scientists harness the power of pee

Excerpts:

"A urine powered battery the size of a credit card has been invented by Singapore researchers. A drop of urine generates 1.5 volts, the equivalent of one AA battery, says Dr Ki Bang Lee of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology...

Is it practical?

Foley says the energy generated by the urine-powered battery would be enough to keep a digital wristwatch or a scientific calculator going, but anything bigger would be impractical. "You could probably increase the power by having more of them and loading them up," she says. "[For power on a large scale] you'd probably have to coat the whole of Australia in this paper-based electrode and wee on it."..."

Restoring Illusion

2006-06-24T11:17:00.000-04:00

Fatigue continues unabated. Energy level at about what it was before the transplant. This was predicted, that energy would be diverted to regenerating the liver from the 65% of one I received. Have been making some relatively rapid progress in my range of motion in the last week. I can actually pick something off the floor. Always took that for granted, pre-op. The first time I was able to pick something up post-op was about a week ago. I would have to spread my feet as far apart as I could and still be stable. Then I would bend my knees about half way into a squat, lean forward and rest one elbow on a knee, then dip a shoulder and extend the other arm to the ground. I could then reach something, and slowly reverse the process to get back to an upright position. Such a sense of accomplishment! Now I can get something in what might appear to a casual observer to be a more natural movement. It still requires some focus and attention to technique but that is a major benchmark

I can even rollup onto my side when trying to sleep, and fall asleep. It is still a bit awkward, and I end up waking up after a REM cycle, but nice to have the option. Overall, the level of discomfort has fallen off a lot and is no longer as restrictive an element in a decision of what I am capable of doing. Some weird transitory skeletal muscular pains manifest and unmanifest, but that is most likely a side effect of the drugs I am taking I suspect, as is the slight tremor I have in my hands.

I have even gone, gently, through my pregame stretching routine. Much of what I do is essentially yoga positions, or variations thereof. I am concerned about scarring on the muscles as they knit and long-term range of motion restrictions. On the other hand, I don’t want to stretch too hard and tear the muscles. Don’t really have a guru in these matters to consult. Alas, the tribulations of a nonprofessional athlete, lacking the support staff that must accompany every World Cup team. To strengthen the illusion I will never age, I need to be able to retain my flexibility and range of motion. At least my legs, while tight, will rebound to former levels after doing some more stretching. I have been trying to make a point of fully expanding my lungs to help their capacity so I have it when I need it. Initially it felt like a band was restricting full expansion of my diaphragm, but that seems to have eased off.

Apparently my new mantra is:

restore body, restore body
Body body, restore restore
restore illusion, restore illusion
illusion illusion, restore restore

Now, if I could only remember that other one...

Voyagers in the Mist

2006-06-23T10:08:00.000-04:00

Gliding through the calm predawn sea
guided by dim silhouettes
and the smell of wood smoke,
they beach their boats on muffling wet sands.

Leather clad feet slip without ripples
into the final shallows of a long journey.
Held soundlessly away from their bodies:
sharp, hungry weapons.

The first to have dreamt his last
dream is the dozing sentry.
Many others are also dreaming their last
dream. Many others.

Grey Day

2006-06-22T13:27:00.000-04:00

I need some cheering up. No, not my physical thing, that is having a good day. Has to do with external events beyond my control influencing my mental state. Don't worry about me though, it's ghana be okay.

A lady from the city and her traveling companion were riding the train
through Vermont when she noticed some cows.

"What a cute bunch of cows!" she remarked.
"Not a bunch, herd", her friend replied.
"Heard of what?"
"Herd of cows."
"Of course I've heard of cows."
"No, a cow herd."
"What do I care what a cow heard. I have no secrets to keep from a cow!"

What are the spots on black and white cows?
Holstains

What kind of milk comes from a forgetful cow?
Milk of Amnesia

Where do cows go when they want a night out?
To the moo-vies!

What did the bored cow say when she got up in the morning?
"It's just an udder day"

How does a farmer count a herd of cows?
With a Cowculator

Where do Russians get their milk?
From Mos-cows

What do cows wear in Hawaii?
Moo- moos

What do call a cow that has just had a calf?
Decalfenated

Why did the cow wear a bell around her neck?
Because her horn didn't work

Did you hear that NASA recently launched a bunch of Holsteins into low Earth
orbit?
They called it the Herd Shot 'Round The World!

Birth and Rebirth

2006-06-21T09:43:00.000-04:00

Quiet this morning. Marken is still off in Morgantown, and last night, Clint, Vraja, and granddaughter Gracie left for Columbus Ohio to be with Manjari, so the house feels empty. Tulasi is still here, but he is puttering around outside somewhere and my wife is gone off on her walk.

This is the theoretical big day for Manjari, the day the doctors had given as the approximate due date for her baby. I called this morning and nothing has happened yet. Vraja will be staying with her through the birth and help her transition into her home with the newborn. This was the actual reason for her originally planning an extended visit here this summer – the Kulimela and to help Manjari. My whole medical drama was an unscheduled sideshow. Certainly worked out as well as could be expected, maybe some divine guidance made it all mesh together the way it did. Vraja said she is going to work on massaging Manjari today, and concentrate on some points on her hands and feet (?) that may help the event move smoothly.

I feel in some ways like I have had a new birth. After the operation, I awoke helpless, completely dependent on others for all bodily functions. I had a catheter for passing urine. Initially, bowel movements weren’t even an issue, as they had given us some stuff to drink before the operation that was a very effective purgative, emptying the digestive tract. That was why we wanted to go to Pittsburgh the afternoon before admittance, because the need to be near a toilet was paramount. :-) Plus, they give you a drug that shuts down the digestive system. As my operation lasted 12-14 hours, they couldn’t have any activity going on.

Flat on my back, any movement was very unpleasant. There were two IVs hooked up in one arm, something going on in the other. I was connected to a heart monitor and I think I had one of those blood oxygen sensors on my finger. There were 2 tubes coming out the right side of my abdomen that each ended in collection bags where fluid was draining out. Not connected, but still there in case something happened and they had to take me back into surgery, were tubes into the main veins on each side of my throat into which they recycle your blood during the surgery. There was something like these boots on my calves that cycled on like blood pressure checkers every few minutes. They squeezed the lower extremities so no clots would form.

I don’t remember anything about the first day in the ICU, when they had a ventilator stuck down my throat. My wife tells me stories about that day. After the ventilator was out, I was talking to her, to Kuladri who came and visited, and the doctors and nurses, but it is a blank. She said just before they pulled the ventilator, she came into the room and I had a clipboard in my hand and was attempting to write on it. After they pulled the ventilator out, my first words was to say, “It’s just a bunch of lines, isn’t it?” or something to that effect. It was.

Anyway, the next week was pretty much a constant meditation on urine and stool, and each benchmark was some event that moved me closer to normal digestive function. I could spend a week’s posts detailing this. Or as Marken so succinctly reduced the whole experience, “Pass stool, go home.” I wish I could desire Krishna as much as I desired that.

Fans Lose Trousers To Gain Entry

2006-06-20T09:26:00.000-04:00

This is so over the top my first response was it must be a hoax but it seems to be real. Atheists, or even so-called religious people, who are so arthacentric, so obsessed with economics, with amassing unnecessary wealth for sense gratification, are ruining everything, IMHO.

Soccer is a game, meant for exercise and clean fun for kids. The type of mentality that leads to actions like this is seriously out of balance. Don’t these big companies understand what heartless fools they come off as being?

Short Version at BBC News

"Football's governing body has explained why up to 1,000 Dutch fans watched a World Cup tie wearing no trousers.

Around 1,000 fans arrived for the Ivory Coast tie in their traditional bright orange trousers - but bearing the logo and name of a Dutch brewery.

To protect the rights of the official beer they were denied entry, so the male fans promptly removed the trousers and watched the game in underpants.

Fifa said an attempt at an "ambush" publicity campaign was not allowed.

Fifteen major companies have paid up to $50m (£27m) each for the right to be official partners at this World Cup.

The American firm Anheuser Busch, which makes Budweiser, won the exclusive right to promote and sell its beverage in the stadiums and other venues.

There has been a wider resentment in Germany that a US brewery has the exclusive rights in a country which prides itself on the quality of its beer and has very strict laws governing its composition."

More In Depth Story at Guardian Unlimited

Like a Leaf, Driven By The Wiind

2006-06-19T09:23:00.000-04:00

I am not allowed to drive for 6 weeks after the operation, so I need someone to take me anywhere I go. At this point, this seems quite logic to me. Hopefully, I’ll be chomping at the bit by 6 weeks, but so far I have no desire to drive, and have no faith in my ability to do so. I had sort of already come to this point even before, as I usually had someone driving me around anyway due to fatigue from the dysfunctional liver. The outmost limit of any self-driven excursion was about 30 minutes one way, on a good day. So I am already pretty conditioned to this limitation.

This needing to be driven is complicated by the fact we don’t have our own car. I had to wait to be admitted to the hospital for the transplant until 12:01 AM on a Tuesday. This because of health coverage – to check in early the previous evening would have cost a whole day and it wouldn’t have been covered. Our plan was to go up Monday midday, check into the Family House, and nap and relax until midnight. The Family House is a partially subsidized place for patients and family to stay that are going through the transplant process or other long term hospitalization. Anyway, Sunday night the transmission went out on our car. I called Balabhadra and he came and towed it home (fortunately, the tranny went out on the ridge). He also offered to make arrangements to get it replaced, which was a great relief to me as I knew I wasn’t going to be able to and he was competent to go through the process of shopping around for best value and getting it replaced.

We had to borrow a vehicle to get to Pittsburgh, about 1.5 hours away off peak traffic. Rush hour traffic can add another 30 minutes to that. As I recollect, my daughter, Vraja, visiting from Colorado with her daughter Gracie, lent us her vehicle to go. Ever since then, we have been borrowing vehicles or have been driven by friends. An independent variable that affects recovery is a good social network, and I feel that somehow or other, mostly undeservedly, I certainly have that. Last Friday, Gopisa spent virtually the whole day driving me to my weekly appointment, and many others have also come forward.

For economic reasons, we couldn’t go to one of the national transmission franchises. There is a local guy with a good reputation who specializes in trannys, so we used him. A problem developed because he ordered a used tranny, and when it arrived, he wouldn’t put it in because it seemed too worn out, so he ordered another one. That arrived last week and the car should be ready for pickup today, ending 3 weeks of being without.

Which is why my wife, using my daughter’s vehicle, drove me up to the temple yesterday afternoon about the time the feast was being served. The temple area was quiet, as the feast was being served up the hill where all the entertainment had been happening. Bhajan was going on in the yajnashalla, and it was pleasant being able to talk to various devotees who wandered by. The awkward part was so many wanted to shake hands or hug me and I would have to wave them off explaining that I was immunosurpressed and needed to avoid contact. Did get to spend time with a lot of devotees, including Chaits and his 4 siblings who were all in town. Got reports of how things had gone over the weekend, so vicariously was able to experience a lot of what had transpired.

Nectar and Urine

2006-06-18T07:48:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I slipped up to the temple for an hour after the sun was up but before the seminars started. It was quieter, most people either not about yet or in Radhanath’s class. I caught about 10 minutes of his class, which qualitatively was at the level most expect from him. He has health problems and I would hope at some point devotees will be prepared to cut him some slack and let the body of his work speak for itself, and not judge him by “what have you done for me lately.”

Mostly I sat out front and talked to devotees who walked by. Such a simple thing we take for granted but it was wonderful for me. I know I will eventually forget that, and go through my day assuming there will be devotees around, but at least for the moment I appreciate the association.

The kirtan in the yajnashalla (a gazebo like structure located between the temple and the guest lodge) hadn’t started yet, but a devotee was in there doing puja to the Gaura-nitai Deities presiding there. He then sat and was chanting japa. The whole vibe of the place was anticipatory to the kirtan and bhajans that seemed to be hovering unmanifest in the ether like a cloaked queue waiting for the slightest provocative to emerge as sound vibration.

All around were unmanned tents and booths. It was easy to visualize how vibrant it would be later in the day. I didn’t make it over to the children’s center, will maybe do that today if I can.

One interesting aspect of this festival is the multi dimensionality of it. While there are the sort of old school, swami centric type things happening, with lots of nice classes and kirtans and typical stuff, it exists in parallel to what seems to me to be an emergent new model. During the day, there are maybe 4 different seminars happening simultaneously, most put on by second generation or new younger devotees. The range of topics is quite varied. Plus, there are hours and hours of entertainment at night, ranging from traditional bharat natyam dancing to fashion shows to the 5 bands that played last night, scheduled to go until 3 am. The entertainment is in a pasture between the temple and the Palace. There was even a soccer tournament. The two types of festivals seem to mesh well together and give attendees a wide range of potential experiences and opportunities.

My daughter has been involved helping Chaits with the children’s camp, which is almost a third type of festival in itself. For many gurukulis, the old model reunion aimed at singles and young childless couples no longer reflects the reality of their lives, which is dominated by care for their children. Chaits wants to develop a format designed for that demographic. Neither the swami centric festival nor the gurukuli reunion models accommodate it very well currently.

Marken took part in a seminar about devotees in the military. I haven’t gotten an after action report from him yet on that. There are all the general issues any youngster would have contemplating such a career choice, and the benefits/risk/negatives to consider, but for devotees there are others. One of the biggest is diet.

As for my bodily condition update, yesterday’s benchmark achieved was being able to clear my throat for the first time since the operation. Sounds like no big deal, but try going through a day or two without doing it. I bet you can’t.

The benchmark I hit a couple of days ago was being able to push a little bit at the end of passing urine instead of relying on gravity for all the action. I realized I am already taking it for granted, but it really was wonderful to be able to do so. It made it possible to completely empty my bladder and increased the time for a urine cycle, and when you are living on a level where urine cycle has replaced the hour as the primary unit of time, and all plans and trips are made with accommodating the urine cycle in mind, this was a big deal. It lengthens the interval between cycles and opens more options. Sleeping through the whole night now becomes more of a probability. Marken says he already can sleep straight through, so looking forward to that.

I've Found God Says Man Who Cracked Genome

2006-06-17T07:34:00.000-04:00

"The scientist who led the team that cracked the human genome is to publish a book explaining why he now believes in the existence of God and is convinced that miracles are real. Francis Collins, the director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute, claims there is a rational basis for a creator and that scientific discoveries bring man “closer to God”.

His book, The Language of God, to be published in September, will reopen the age-old debate about the relationship between science and faith. “One of the great tragedies of our time is this impression that has been created that science and religion have to be at war,” said Collins, 56.

“I don’t see that as necessary at all and I think it is deeply disappointing that the shrill voices that occupy the extremes of this spectrum have dominated the stage for the past 20 years.”..."

Complete Article

Attachment and Detachment

2006-06-16T21:37:00.000-04:00

“One of the chief obstacles to this perfection of selfless charity, is the selfish anxiety to get the most out of everything, to be a brilliant success in our own eyes and in the eyes of other men. We can only get rid of this anxiety by being content to miss something in almost everything we do. We cannot master everything, taste everything, understand everything, drain every experience to its last dregs. But if we have the courage to let almost everything else go, we will probably be able to retain the one thing necessary for us -whatever it may be. If we are too eager to have everything, we will almost certainly miss even the one thing we need.

Happiness consists in finding out precisely what the ‘one thing necessary’ may be, in our lives, and in gladly relinquishing all the rest. For then, by a divine paradox, we find that everything else is given us together with the one thing we needed. “

From No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton
(Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, New York, 1955) Page 130

Went to weekly appointment today. 4 hours round trip plus 5 hours in the clinic, mostly waiting. So feeling sort of wasted.

Kulimela is in full swing. Mobs of youths. I mostly get second hand reports as my family comes and goes from my house to the temple. Hope someone writes it up and shares with the world. I won’t. It seems to be quite a dynamic event.

Marken has figured out young ladies are quite impressed by a large scar and a story behind it that you gave part of your liver to your dying dad. When I mentioned to him he could minimize the scarring by applying vitamin E, he said, “Why would I want to do that?” They had used internal stitching and butterfly bandages to hold his incision together.

I had my 43 staples pulled out today. My incision was higher so apparently needed more to hold it together. I had the idea that I would go somewhere kids with lots of body piercings hang out and show my staples off. So out of touch I wouldn’t even know where to go though. What to speak of if I had the energy to do that I might go spend some time at the Kulimela. It’s all academic now. Goodbye, staples. Doctor said wait with the vitamin E until the scabs fall off. Not that there is much scabbing, surprisingly.

All The Things You Should’ve Done

2006-06-15T09:07:00.000-04:00

“The material creations are manifested for some time as perverted shadows of the spiritual kingdom and can be likened to cinemas. They attract people of less intelligent caliber who are attracted by false things. Such foolish men have no information of the reality, and they take it for granted that the false material manifestation is the all in all. But more intelligent men guided by sages like Vyasa and Narada know that the eternal kingdom of God is more delightful, larger, and eternally full of bliss and knowledge.”

SB 1.1.17

There was a period when I used to spend some time with some Lakota (a Native American nation) religious guys. One of them was fond of saying that there is culture, religion, and spirituality, and you need to know the difference. When he was asked one time what is spirituality, he replied, “Don’t take things for granted.”

We see things being taken for granted all the time. How many take it for granted that they should chant gayatri 3 times a day, but never really think about what they are chanting and take the rising and the setting of the sun for granted? How many hop into a car and drive somewhere for groceries and never think of how it came about they could do so and what the long term consequences are? Try going through your day and watch how you take things for granted.

Lakota warriors would sometimes greet the sunrise by chanting “It is a good day to die!” This was not some negative self destructive or depressive thing. It was about embracing life and being so fulfilled at that moment that death held no fear. Marken has this tattooed on his heal.

Here is a poem I stumbled across at http://www.cricoidpressure.com/. It is about taking things for granted, IMHO.

All The Things You Should’ve Done

she is, as they all are,
inevitably vulnerable
a filament charged with light,
breakable with just the wrong handling

so we fuss around her, unbuckling this
and plugging in that,
with the upwards monitor glance
shared between us as her story
plays out in blue and yellow
and red

and i can’t talk to you yet,
because i’m stealing time
with your daughter from you;
it’s a transaction, i take
four hours, because i think
perhaps i might
be able to transfix her onrushing loss
with my drugs and devices

(and you sit by the door,
clear of the carnage,
wondering about
all the things you should’ve done)

Milking Time at New Vrindavan in the 1970s

2006-06-14T12:40:00.000-04:00

Link to picture of me milking a cow.

Laxmi Honest called me the other day and mentioned she had seen a picture of me at the New Vrindavan website photo gallery, so I found it. I didn't used to milk that much, as I was the fields and crops guy, but did help on occasion.

The devotees in the picture from left to right are Ambarish, me, Cirantana, and Ganendra. Ambarish and Cirantana have already left their bodies. As will have the cows, which have a life span of 20 years possibly and were probably gone by the time the 90s rolled around.

Having a bit of an off day so making an easy post.

Soccer as Succor

2006-06-13T10:15:00.000-04:00

Last night I had a great adventure. Tulasi plays in an adult summer soccer league, the same one I had played in for 8 years until 2004. So I know a lot of the guys who play in it. I never became close friends with them because I never got into the post game male bonding ritual of drinking; still, just knowing someone for a long time does build a relationship.

Simply being out on the sidelines, in the fresh air and sun, and seeing live soccer was such a treat for me. While I confess to having an interest in the World Cup, and use watching games as a tool to distract myself from the discomforts of my current situation, normally I don’t watch games or follow any particular team. For me, it has been more the experience I had of coaching kids for 10 years and using it as a way to interact with my own kids and perhaps be a bit of a positive role model for other local kids. That, and the actual playing of the game myself, which was a way to stay in shape and find some joy in a way not dependent on consumerism or over stimulating my senses. Something my body could amuse itself with.

The car trip to the field was the most difficult part. Our West Virginia roads twist and turn and bump now and then, and each minor shift was amplified by my still mending wounds. Once there, we got lucky and got a parking spot right next to the entry. I walked about 40 meters and Clint brought along a field chair that I sat in on about 25 meters up the sideline. Making it to midfield would have been a bit much as I was pushing to get where I did. Plus, most of the players booted up there and that is where the spectators were sitting. I am supposed to avoid crowds because even a minor flu of cold infection could be serious for me at this critical healing and liver reboot time.

Mostly I had little bits of conversations with people as they walked by. Some already knew I had had the transplant because they knew Tulasi was my son and had asked him before why I wasn’t playing this year. When others asked if I were playing, I would say I can’t, I just had a liver transplant. When they would ask when, I would say 13 days ago and the mild shock reaction they would show at someone being out so soon amused me.

Incidentally, I realized I have never mentioned that the liver regenerates itself. This is unique amongst all organs. So my son, left with 35% of his liver, will have a completely functional full sized one in a matter of weeks. The part I got will also grow out to full size. Of course, it takes a tremendous amount of energy for the body to do this, and the side effect is fatigue, but poison in the beginning, nectar in the end.

By the way, our team did win easily, 7-2. Thakur, the son of Jayaprahbupada, who had moved here from Brazil last year, scored once and had 2 assists. He rides in with us. All the teammates chant “Thakur” and “Tulasi” as part of the normal flow of communication in a game. I would think that has some benefit.

Morning Musings

2006-06-12T09:20:00.000-04:00

Two ISKCON Youth buses just rolled past our house on the way to the temple. It is still hours before noon. They were arriving from New York where they had left after the NY Ratha Yatra. New York is more or less 9 hour drive from here. According to Chaits, who had stopped by with his brother Bhima last night, they will be retuning to New York and keep making round trips until all those needing rides from NYC to the Kulimela have been brought here. Some attendees are flying into NYC and then catching the bus.

Chaits is involved in planning activities for the children of those attending. My wife is going to be helping out by doing some craft class or classes and we have been Chaits’ mail drop for supplies. My daughter Vraja is staying with us, along with her other, Clint, and their daughter, Deva Gracie, age 2 and ½. Vraja is also going to be involved with the kids’ programs. Interesting thought that I had as a future blog digression that I will throw out as a premise. While we all know that gurukuli is no longer a synonym for second generation devotee or ISKCON youth, I was wondering one day if there are any gurukulis who are grandparents yet. As the oldest ones are now in their 40s, it is possible. Chaits and I were discussing it and we know of at least one gurukuli who has children in their 20s.

Marken, who gave me 65% of his liver (I had been quoting 60% but he has corrected me) and his younger brother Tulasi are down in Morgantown furnishing the apartment they will be rooming together in the fall when classes at WVU start. Marken also has to finish signing up for more curriculum credits so he has enough to get his GI bill benefits. We had worried the operation might knock him off his schedule of being out of the US Navy Aug 5 and starting classes at WVU in mid-August but it seems his quick recovery and the Navy letting his emergency medical leave count towards his commitment, he is going to make it.

Anyway, I know no one in Australia will be reading this when it first posts as their national team’s first appearance in the World Cup in 32 years is being broadcast as I type.

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha

2006-06-11T13:17:00.000-04:00

First, an update. I walked into the temple last night for the first time, 11 days post transplant. It may have seemed a slow casual stroll to an observer, but to me it was a great adventurous trek. I circled around all the altars and then back to the car. My surgical team had advised me that walking was the best thing I could do to help recovery, though my body has plenty of excuses and reasons for not doing so. Walking, and drinking lots of water to flush poisons from all the drugs. Naturally, drinking lots leads to walking as the inevitable results of drinking manifest in an urge from the bladder, but I wanted to push myself and walk some extra to hasten the healing process, hence a trip to the temple.

This advice had been part of my first post release clinic after getting out of the hospital. The greatest news though was that I didn’t have to come back for my next clinical visit for a week. I had originally been told pretransplant that twice a weeks would be necessary for the first month or two, and then weeklies, but my blood test numbers were normalizing enough so I can go immediately to weeklies. Yee hah.

I have been mulling over how to write about this whole experience. On the one hand, it is easy to just go to the nectar, but it seems that that would give a distorted, unrealistic view of the entirety of what happened. Still, to give the nectar and the proper balance would take a lot of posts, and in the meantime life continues to unfold with daily mininectars coming one after another. For me, mostly of the kind that would be considered “material”, but that is the platform I function on. So I am still working that out. Today though, I am taking the easy route of a nectar post.

In the transition unit between the ICU and release, the nurses change shifts every 12 hours. In the ICU it is different set of nurses, then in the transition unit it is different set as you go from the weekend to the weekdays, and it seems even within the unit the schedule of which nurses get which patients can vary day to day. Bottom line is every time a shift changed, it seemed I had a whole new set of faces to familiarize with. An RN and a PCT is assigned you each shift, and they write their names on a dry eraser board. I did have a few nurses a couple of times, but the most stable name was Tara, who I got 4 different shifts.

Be advised: I will now be talking about Buddhism, so either proceed no further if you find that troubling, or at least turn off your mayavadi alarm. I will be promoting neither the practice nor the philosophy of Buddhism.

The name Tara struck me as interesting because I remembered hearing the Green Tara and White Tara mantras at some point. I knew that to some schools of Buddhism they have importance, though I didn’t know what they meant or anything. I asked Tara if she knew what her name meant, and she said no, mostly her parents had liked the sound of it. The "sound" of it. I told her about the Buddhist connection and said she might be interested in checking it out on the internet. Having made that suggestion, I got around to doing it myself and was blown away by what I read. Talk about an appropriate name for my nurse to have had in my condition. I felt like Krishna had made a special arrangement for me.

I have pasted in the explanation I found. To see pictures and a link to a sound file of the mantra itself, use the click through links. I didn’t check out the sound files myself because of the limits of my dialup connection and I already have plenty of mantras. (and no, this is not the obligatory devotee nectar story I promised, that is just now coming).

Green Tara Mantra

"Om Taare Tuttaare Ture Svaahaa
(Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha)

Tara (whose name means "star" or "she who ferries across") is the female Bodhisattva of compassion. In particular she represents compassion in action, since she's in the process of stepping from her lotus throne in order to help sentient beings."

White Tara Mantra

"Om Taare Tuttaare Ture Mama Ayuh Punya Jñaanaa Pushtim Kuru Svaahaa
(Om Tare Tuttare Ture Mama Ayuh Punya Jñana Pustim Kuru Svaha)

White Tara (Sitatara) is associated with long life. Her mantra is often chanted with a particular person in mind. She's another representation of compassion, and she's pictured as being endowed with seven eyes (look at the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and her forehead) to symbolize the watchfulness of the compassionate mind.

As a variant form of Green Tara, her mantra begins very similarly. But added to the play on the name of Tara are several words connected with long life. Ayuh is long life (as in Ayurvedic medicine). Punya means the merit that comes from living life ethically, and this merit is said to help one to live long and happily. Jnana is wisdom. Pushtim means wealth or abundance. Kuru is a mythical land to the north of the Himalayas, which was said to be a land of long life and happiness (it may have been the original northern home of the aryans). Mama means "mine" and indicates that you'd like to possess these qualities of long life, merit, wisdom, happiness, etc. You can of course choose to wish these qualities for someone else -- perhaps a loved one who is ill."

Post Operative Disclaimer

2006-06-10T14:53:00.000-04:00

Any statements or representations made by me during the immediate future should be considered even less reliable than usual due to my current medical condition. Combinations of factors make me suspect my own memories and interpretations of events. Any dialogues should be considered more or less paraphrased. I was trying to organize experiences into memories as they unfolded but sometimes why things were as they were wasn’t clear until later when I was better able to see what my situation was in context to the entire transplant procedure. So these realizations were incorporated later, as were others’ memories of what happened.

Currently my material body is trying to readjust into some semblance of balance after going through some major revisions. As I have been living for years with a liver that was barely functional, other organs have been compensating as much as possible to cover for it. Suddenly, they are relived of that duty, so they are a little confused. The liver produces more than 300 chemicals used by the body. The cirrhosed one I had was either not producing or under producing many or most of them. Thus, when the healthy liver from Marken started working, a lot of the biological regulators that are expressed to control production levels are miscalibrated. Added into all this are the drugs I am taking so my immune system doesn’t reject the transplant. I am taking an immunosuppressor to shut the immune system down. To cover for that, I am taking an antibiotic, an antiviral, an antifungal, and an antacid. All of which have their own set of side effects.

Add to this the whole issue of pain. Besides the 16 inch (40 cm) incision through both skin and muscle, in the process of removal and replacement they have bruised my ribs. If you’ve ever had a bruised rib, you know what I am talking about. What to speak of all the internal slicing and dicing that went on. I’ll get into all the other holes in a later post.

The bottom line is a roller coaster sort of ride where at times I can feel light headed and jittery, or totally fatigued, through a whole range of variants up to and including some moments where I feel better than I have in years. Like glimpses of what my life might be. At least it evokes memories of what normal used to be and how I used to take it for granted.

Anyway, the last week has been one series of benchmarks achieved after another. Setting upright in my desk chair and writing this blog entry has been one of them. Thanks for sharing the moment. Hare Krishna.

Been There, Done That

2006-06-09T14:19:00.000-04:00

Home from the transplant. Lived. Recovering well. My son gave me 60% of his liver. Went through the same process Catherine Herridge will go, in the same Unit. I was released before she cleared ICU but hey, maybe she will get the bed I opened up by being released. Try to do more posts later, still pretty wasted. Even have the typical devotee angle to my story to tell (hint - one of my surgeons was a Bengali).

Newswoman and son recover after surgery

A 5-month-old boy from Washington, D.C., was recovering Tuesday evening at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in Oakland after receiving part of his mother's liver. The case of Peter Hayes has attracted national attention because his mother, Catherine Herridge, is a national correspondent for Fox News Channel.

Herridge's story has been told in recent days by Fox host Greta Van Susteren.

Herridge, 42, donated part of her liver to save her son from a life-threatening illness that blocks the bile duct. The disease, known as biliary atresia, causes bile to build up in the liver and poison it.

Herridge and her son underwent surgery simultaneously yesterday. Both were doing well afterward, according to surgeons at Children's and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Dr. Amadeo Marcos, clinical director of transplantation at UPMC's Starzl Transplantation Institute, said Herridge was in extremely good condition after a five-hour operation in which he removed about 20 percent of her liver. She likely will be discharged by the end of the week, he said.

The new liver will cure Peter, said Dr. George V. Mazariegos, director of pediatric transplantation at Children's.

"We're very encouraged," he said. "Everything is going as well as we could have hoped for."

Herridge's husband, J.D. Hayes, said the couple chose to have Peter's transplant in Pittsburgh because of UPMC's reputation.

"If you have the opportunity to go where there's the most experience and the highest success rate, then you go there," Hayes said. "These guys are very dedicated, very disciplined."

Hayes said the family likely will remain in Pittsburgh for six to 10 weeks. The couple have another son, Jamie, 20 months.

Herridge covers homeland security issues for Fox.

Liver Operation Update

2006-06-02T23:26:00.000-04:00

My father and my brother went through the operation very well and are recovering very well. Should be out of the hospital in a week.

Until We Meet Again

2006-05-29T09:26:00.000-04:00

I’m off to the hospital again, this time at least it is scheduled. I can make my own excuse for not posting for a while. Last time, Tulasi posted something for me after I was already there. It will be a minimum 8 days before returning home, could be longer if there is complications, which is about a 50/50 deal. May be wasted when I get home, so who knows when I’ll post again.

It is Memorial Day in the USA when we used to honor our war dead. Some ceremonies are still done, but for most of the hedonists, it is just another excuse to have a 3-day weekend. By the by I would like to remember and thank all those who have been so supportive these last few weeks. To avoid missing someone, I won’t name names, but you know who you are. Got a lot of emails last time, and lack the energy to acknowledge them individually, but thanks. If anyone is visiting the Viet Nam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, DC and don’t have any other names to look for, here is someone I knew.

Panel 02W - - Line 26

Caucasian, Male, Single, Born on Dec 01, 1950.
Everyone called his father Doc,
had since World War II.

Sgt –E5-Army-Selective Service.
Every morning Doc was given
a bottle of cognac,

Tour of duty began on Feb 25, 1971.
location of a mass grave,
and a shovel.

Casualty was on Sep 26, 1971
Doc looked for dog tags
and uniform insignia,

in Phong Dinh, South Viet Nam.
or measured femurs to
determine height.

Body was recovered.
Doc made it home,
married Virginia.

Gracie Takes a Walk

2006-05-28T06:18:00.000-04:00

"Prabhupada: That is not very good intelligence. You drink the blood of the cow by natural process, which turns into white milk. You'll get better brain, better strength. Therefore cow protection is very essential in Vedic civilization. Therefore we offer respect Krsna: "Krsna is the benefactor of cows and the brahmanas." Namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca. Go-brahmana-hitaya ca. Krsna is well-wisher first -- go, cow. You'll find Krsna always with cows. Here is Krsna's picture, you see how He's loving the cow and the calf. He's personally teaching from His childhood, from His boyhood. So we should follow. If we want to become Krsna conscious, we must give... The calf is also seeing to the face of Krsna for protection, and Krsna is giving protection, "Yes, I'll give you protection."..."

Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.16.19 -- Hawaii, January 15, 1974

Yesterday Grandma, Vraja and 2 ½ year old granddaughter Gracie walked with Tulasi on his way to work. He is working at ISCOWP for Balabhadra, which is about one mile out the lane that runs through our property. Gracie made it all the way there but did need to be carried a bit on the return walk. The cows were all in the barn so the light was difficult, but I do like this silhouette Vraja was able to get.

Still have the date stamp thingy but getting rid of that may require actually opening the Owner’s Manual, and that is more energy than I care to put into it at this time. No use learning more things I will never use. When I get home from the hospital I will have plenty of time to deal with it.

Wildlife Defies Chernobyl Radiation

2006-05-27T10:47:00.000-04:00

"It contains some of the most contaminated land in the world, yet it has become a haven for wildlife - a nature reserve in all but name.

The exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power station is teeming with life.

As humans were evacuated from the area 20 years ago, animals moved in. Existing populations multiplied and species not seen for decades, such as the lynx and eagle owl, began to return..."

"There may be plutonium in the zone, but there is no herbicide or pesticide, no industry, no traffic, and marshlands are no longer being drained..."

Complete Article

For another, quite unique perspective on the area, click on "Tour of the Dead Zone" in my Links section.

World High Holy Days Begin June 9th

2006-05-26T20:06:00.000-04:00

Marken and I went for our last pre-operative orientation today, getting medicines and dietary restriction for the day before, and instructions how to check into the hospital. A lot of the usual banter went on.

While there, we met a guy who 10 days ago gave 20% of his liver to his 6 month old son. He was actually walking unaided, and agreed to let Marken see his incision so he knows what he's in for. So although my surgeon, Dr. Kumar, cautioned me there is no guarantee of success, the fact they could pull it off with a 6 month old gives me a bit of hope it could work for me.

One of the things Marken is sacrificing to give me part of his liver (it will be about 60 % in our case) is a trip he had scheduled that included being in Germany for part of the World Cup. It would have been on a leave he was scheduled to take from his US Navy duty station in Italy where he has spent the last 3 years.

Personally, I really don’t have a strong desire to survive the transplant in order to practice my sadhana, to chant japa, or to serve the devotees. The dark inner secret is I only want to be able to watch some World Cup games and to again step out onto the pitch myself. The doctor said we'll probably be able to play in about a year. So motivation is there, but mostly material. Basically, Krishna knows my heart and He can decide which way it will turn out. Maybe He will have me stick around in this body just to trick me into doing something devotional. If not, I can’t really complain. It has been an interesting ride in this body.

Ramping Up for the Big Day

2006-05-25T09:49:00.000-04:00

I mentioned to Marken that I had asked numerous devotees with digital cameras if they would get me some pictures of New Vrindavan cows. Not one has delivered over a period of several months, despite all of them professing to be glad to do it. I said if I had my own camera, I could get some myself. The next time he went to town, he came back with a camera and gave it to me.

Naturally, by this time, I am no longer in any shape to be wandering the pastures, so I was thinking what picture to take. I decided to take one of our new wheelchair ramp. So, besides some throwaway test shots, this is the first picture taken with the new camera. That is Marken pushing me. Tulasi took the photo.

If I were to do it again, I would frame the shot a little differently. Plus remove the date stamp and the little cart the boys used to haul lumber over to the ramp site. Also, next to my Norwegian flag is a little piece of weathered wood with “Out of My Gourd” wood burned on it that someone traded my wife for a crafted gourd at one of her shows. That extends out from the flag in a way that seems illogical in the photo. I would remove that. But with going in for orientation tomorrow (Friday) and being in Pittsburgh Monday to check in for Tuesday surgery, time and energy is too short so I can only ask the reader to imagine these changes.

Marken continues to work out the details of coordinating with his command on his ship so he has all the proper documentation and orders, but that seems to be all done in theory. His command has been calling from Italy everyday so no complaints about that end of things.

We have been ordering some vegetarian bouillon cubes assuming there will be some time on a liquid diet. Last visit, they gave me this fake fruit juice with high fructose corn syrup as the first listed ingredient, Jell-o, and chicken broth. None of which I wanted to take, though I did do the juice because I had to have something. Older and wiser now, we are bringing our own broth, real fruit juice, and some hard candies to suck on. The hard candies are allowed as long as I don’t swallow them. I like the horehound ones and Ricola cough drops. We are also working out a menu for solid meals, and will be allowed to bring in our own food. With the alternative menu and a set of earplugs, somehow I’ll get through it.

Cyclic Universe Could Explain Cosmic Balancing

2006-05-24T08:10:00.000-04:00

"It is said in the Vedic literature that innumerable universes issue forth when Maha-Visnu exhales in His yoga-nidra and that innumerable universes enter His body when He again inhales."

KB 87: Prayers by the Personified Vedas

Cyclic universe could explain cosmic balancing act
Nature Magazine ^ | 04 May 2006 | Philip Ball

"Big bounces may make the Universe able to support stars and life.

A bouncing universe that expands and then shrinks every trillion years or so could explain one of the most puzzling problems in cosmology: how we can exist at all.

If this explanation, proposed in Science1 by Paul Steinhardt at Princeton University, New Jersey, and Neil Turok at the University of Cambridge, UK, seems slightly preposterous, that can't really be held against it. Astronomical observations over the past decade have shown that "we live in a preposterous universe", says cosmologist Sean Carroll of the University of Chicago. "It's our job to make sense of it," he says.

In Steinhardt and Turok's cyclic model of the Universe, it expands and contracts repeatedly over timescales that make the 13.7 billion years that have passed since the Big Bang seem a mere blink. This makes the Universe vastly old. And that in turn means that the mysterious 'cosmological constant', which describes how empty space appears to repel itself, has had time to shrink into the strangely small number that we observe today..."

"Nightmare" by The Luc

2006-05-23T09:12:00.000-04:00

I dreamed I lay in a pool of blood,
propped on one elbow, howling souls all around,
sunset colors crackling and everything
plunged in a screaming red.
Suddenly I realized this was life,
no beauty or pleasure, no escape
in gentle dreams, no laughter
that wouldn’t turn into sobs.
Malevolent fate knew what she wanted
from me: She’d pin me down to struggle
on the earth’s surface like an ant
or mosquito. She’d bind my limbs,
release, pursue, and bind again.
If only this pretty body would dissolve!
If only I could sleep in peace!
But she shakes my soul, pries open my eyes,
while, from the brink of an abyss, a severe hand
forces me to look at the enormity of the world
where men are drinking hot blood,
swallowing some, spitting the rest at each other.

Late Breaking News --Trying for Four More Years

2006-05-22T15:43:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 (one week from tomorrow) I will be having the liver transplant. With a living donor, it is possible to schedule a specific time. I'll go in Friday before with Marken and we will get the orientation. He has gotten further feedback on his necessary orders from the Navy and so that all seems to be a go.

Maybe I should have spent more time cleaning up my affairs in the eventuality I don't make it thru the operation, but have instead made arrangements for a wheelchair ramp to one door of my house. So I must be feeling lucky.

Incidentally, be careful for what you wish for. I had wanted to visit an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) like I would be in after the transplant in order to familiarize myself with one. It wasn't practical, according to the ICU nurses I talked to, because of hospital protocols. However, I did get my wish when I popped the blood vessel and had to go into surgery to get it banded. I ended up spending time in one. The catch is, I have no memory of it at all except at one point opening my eyes and seeing Advaita's face looking down at me. He says we had a whole conversation, but I remember nothing about it. Still, my wish had been granted.

I always remember the story Srila Prahbupada tells about "4 more years." It always seemed to me that that is about the time I needed.

"It is important to take to Krsna consciousness immediately, because we do not know how much time is left before death. When your time in this body expires, no one can stop your death. The arrangement of material nature is so strong. You cannot say, "Let me remain." Actually, people sometimes request like that. When I was in Allahabad, an old friend who was very rich was dying. At that time he begged the doctor, "Can't you give me at least four more years to live? I have some plans which I could not finish." You see. This is foolishness. Everyone thinks, "Oh, I have to do this. I have to do that." No. Neither the doctors nor the scientists can check death: "Oh, no, sir. Not four years, not even four minutes. You have to go immediately." This is the law. So before that moment comes, one should be very careful to become realized in Krsna consciousness."

LON 1: God and The Law of Karma

Hospital Cartoon

2006-05-22T09:58:00.000-04:00

Snippets of Memory

2006-05-21T14:53:00.000-04:00

Roused to consciousness, I was being prepped for either ambulance transport or surgery (that part is vague). Two nurses are looking at me as I lay there and one asks, “What’s that?” At this point I have immediate realization that no matter how bad you feel, before going to a hospital, change into citizen’s underwear. Having to explain why you wear kaupins is always a trip, but after major blood loss, it becomes a mountain. A mumbled, “traditional loincloth”, only brought a bemused smile to the nurse’s lips as she asked permission to cut them off. Which I granted, as I was beyond removing them.

This is from my wife. After watching me vomit what she perceived as gallons of blood and waiting for what seemed hours, she was in a bit of anxiety. A transport ambulance to Pittsburgh (UPMC) had arrived after initial emergency treatment was performed. That had been a wait. Then another while blood was brought for the trip. Then, after I was finally loaded, and a transport nurse was located and assigned, more waiting. My wife asked what they were waiting for now, and they said the transport nurse had left. When my wife asked where she went, they sheepishly admitted she had gone to get a donut. The realization is that even if something is life changing for you, for someone else it’s just another day at the office.

After coming out of the coma, I was tied to the bed with catheter, heart monitor, IVs, etc. As such, when they gave me a laxative, options were limited to pass in place and ring for a cleanup. Sort of like a newborn. Later, when they tried to give me more laxative, I refused to take it. I’m on a high fiber diet, and what may be a good thing for white bread and meat eaters, really wasn’t necessary. The reason they want the patient to have lots of bowel action is so ammonia is excreted properly and doesn’t build up in the blood. This can cause a brain condition they call encephalopathy, symptoms of which include confusion and extreme tiredness.

Even though I was familiar with the term and the condition, when the doctor was trying to convince me to take the laxative, she was explaining it again. Only for some reason, her accent or something, it sounded to me like she said “enfecalopathy.” So I had this vision that they wanted me to pass stool otherwise my brain would get full of feces. This struck me as extremely funny, and I cracked up. So she is trying to have a serious conversation, and I am laughing like a madman. I tried to explain why I thought it was so funny, but realized I needed to get a grip or she would think I really was encephalopathic. So I apologized and promised to behave. I didn’t take anymore of that laxative though.

Plot Summary of Recent Events

2006-05-20T14:29:00.000-04:00

I don’t seem to be bouncing back as quickly from this latest medical setback as I had hoped to, so will write less than I may have otherwise. Of course, since most of what I will skip over is whining about bodily discomforts that may be best anyway.

Here is the plot summary of last 10 days.

Woke up, felt bad, wife drove me to the hospital.
Puked a lot of blood.
Think I went into shock.
Taken by ambulance to Pittsburgh(UPMC).
Surgery to repair ruptured esophageal varix.
Two days in induced coma.

Woke up, got a little better.
Marken gets emergency leave from US Navy.
Fronted like I was fine, got released.
Marken gets home.
He tells me he is going to be a living liver donor.
Leaves me no room for negotiation.

Marken spends 3 days at UPMC being tested.
He is cleared to be a donor.
UPMC and Red Cross issue request to Navy.
He gets commitment proper orders will be issued.
Goes to Morgantown to connect with Navy duty station.
I try to blog.

Future: if paperwork goes through, transplant could occur as early as 5 days. Bleeding varices, once they start occurring, could be months or weeks apart, but eventually they become untreatable, and the body is shed.

I certainly had the opportunity to check out this time, but took advantage of modern medicine and hung around a bit longer. Marken, my 22 year old middle son, offering to be a living donor is overwhelming. It creates some complex and emotional responses. If it is successful, I may almost return to normal, and pray I do something right somewhere along the line to justify staying around.

Will try writing something more interesting later. Some funny things did happen during all this. I hope Krishna is something like "In situations, I am the humor." I might have a chance then.

I'm Back in My Barn

2006-05-18T18:43:00.000-04:00

I'm back home and, after a couple of days, have made it over to my desk and turned on the computer. I was away for a few days, but I seem to have no memories of the really exciting parts. Like a ride in the ambulance and spending some time in an Intensive Care Unit using a ventilator to breathe. I also don't remember thinking of Krishna at any important or pivotal points in the experience, so I guess I am still on the "hoping for Mercy and Grace" path to advancement.

I will try to write some more tomorrow of what I do remember, but, for now, the 5 liters of fluid that accumulated in my abdomen while I was gone makes it uncomfortable to be upright for extended periods so I will cut it short for today.

F.Y.I.

2006-05-12T22:17:00.000-04:00

For anyone who were wondering why there haven't been blogs posted the author is recovering in the hospital. He had some internal bleeding and now is in UPMC and he won't be posting for some time.

Taking Things Literally

2006-05-08T06:49:00.000-04:00

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other man pulls out his phone and calls emergency services and gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator in a calm, soothing voice replies: "Take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard.

Back on the phone, the hunter says, "OK, now what?"

Creationism is a Form of Paganism

2006-05-07T13:12:00.000-04:00

"Believing that God created the universe in six days is a form of superstitious paganism, the Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno claimed yesterday..."

Personally, I could care less than I probably should about the whole Intelligent Design issue, but Creationists have latched onto it and seem to be misusing it as a stepping stone to their own views. So I do try stay a little current with it. If I had the juice to be doing real work any interest would vanish rather quickly in my rear view mirror, but, stuck in this rest stop, I do have to find ways to amuse myself. So below is a link to an another article on the topic. I have excerpted some quotes I hope are thought provoking.

But first, a word from our guru:

"A blind man can walk but not see, and a lame man cannot walk but can see. Andha-pangu-nyaya. The blind man may take the lame man over his shoulder, and as he walks the lame man may give him directions. Thus combined they may work, but individually neither the blind man nor the lame man can walk successfully. Similarly, this human form of life is meant for the advancement of spiritual life and for keeping the material necessities in order..."

SB 4.25.13

Creationism dismissed as 'a kind of paganism' by Vatican's astronomer

" "Religion needs science to keep it away from superstition and keep it close to reality, to protect it from creationism, which at the end of the day is a kind of paganism - it's turning God into a nature god. And science needs religion in order to have a conscience, to know that, just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do."

Brother Consolmagno, who was due to give a speech at the Glasgow Science Centre last night, entitled "Why the Pope has an Astronomer", said the idea of papal infallibility had been a "PR disaster". What it actually meant was that, on matters of faith, followers should accept "somebody has got to be the boss, the final authority".

"It's not like he has a magic power, that God whispers the truth in his ear," he said..."

Room Without Walls

2006-05-06T10:06:00.000-04:00

A stream carved in rock
flows into a lake
in a valley.

A monk is in the valley.
Tree cloaked ridges
surround the valley.

He stays in a temple.
The temple is on the lake.
Floating on the lake.

He lives in a room in the temple.
The room has no walls.
The room has a door.

When he enters the room
without walls,
he uses the door.

When he wants
to be alone,
he closes the door.

A visitor can follow
the path by the stream
into the valley.

On the shore is a rowboat.
The visitor can row
to the temple on the lake.

When a visitor enters,
the monk opens the door,
comes out, and makes tea.