As our readers already know, we've been at trying to get the construction work of our bhajan kutir started for a good long while now. The land has now been paid off in total, and we are the blessed future servants of 220 square yards worth of Vraja-bhumi. Yesterday brought us one step onward towards the attainment of our objective.

Monday, Bhaimi Ekadasi, was the day to get the work started. The day was good in every respect – we consulted Venimadhava Sila's Panjika for the best available date. Monday in general is a good day. Ekadasi is a good day. Sukla-paksa, the light fortnight, is a good time. The month of Magha is good and well suited for the purpose. And atop that, according to our rasi (sign), this Monday was a good day for beginning new undertakings. We can use every favorable wind there is.



Traditionally the undertaking begins with bhumi-puja, worship of Prithvi-devi. We did the puja with the guidance of Sanatana Dasji, our affectionate teacher of many devotional arts, stopping at our land on the way from Radha-kunda to Govardhana-parikrama. On the way to the land, we met with some affectionate Vaisnavas who conveyed their blessings for all success in the work. Thakurji came along and presided over the event, as it is he who is to become the lord of the land.

Water from Radha-kunda was sprinkled across the area to sanctify the already sacred land. The puja began with worshiping Giridhari with candana, flowers and so forth, preceded by acamana and the rest of the standard preliminaries. Thakur's prasadi was offered to Prithvi-devi, whose presence was invoked at Giridhari's side, and she was also worshiped at the four corners of the land – both in her global form of Prithvi, and specifically as Vraja-vasundhara, with ample prayers for Vraja-vasa and successful bhajana at what is to become our haven in this blessed land.



I had also prepared a fruit offering for Giridhari to take at the conclusion of the puja – an offering that was later distributed to the Vaisnavas around. Good fortune was with us in every respect, as several Vaisnavas showed up for kirtana right on the moment and brought along their harmonium and karatalas to accompany the maha-mantra-kirtana that went on as Thakur enjoyed his meal.



With whatever little funds we have gotten together one way or the other, we have enough to get the work started with – though the source of the balance remains a bit shrouded in mystery for the time being. As we've gotten this far, there is no reason why we wouldn't be able to eventually bring everything to a successful completion.

Tomorrow is Nityananda-trayodasi. Regardless, I will have to be around to observe the work's getting started. A truck-load of bricks is coming in from Govardhana, and all things necessary for setting up the well and the pump should come together, too. I will have to be sitting around at the land for a lakh or two worth to be around when needed. Something I'd wanted to do on the new land regardless, to establish its purpose as a bhajan-sthali – and as nothing but that, and that alone.

From correspondence. Original question has been slightly re-touched.


This really depends on how belonging is assessed. While I'm certain people will have many flavors of definitions of belonging, I don't really see the essence in labeling oneself as being of this group or that group, as groups and movements they come and they go. Where you are today, there you belong to today, and if you move on to the next place tomorrow, then that's where find yourself at. Wherever you feel a sense of connection and belonging, there you have your place.

You are a free spirit: You belong to where your heart belongs to, and there alone do you belong. Beyond that, no-one can lay any claims on you that would have any substantial spiritual bearing.

I remember someone coming to me once and asking whether I was a devotee of ISKCON or a devotee of Gaudiya Math. He was rather dumbstruck when I politely explained that we were devotees of Krishna. Cultivate this understanding as the essence of your life, as all other concepts of belonging will yield you nothing but grief in the end.

These superficial impositions are nothing but obstacles in bhajana. It would be better to burn all mathas to ashes if that's what it takes for people to get back to the essence of bhakti and rid themselves of the countless upadhis, the phantom identities they are fondly embracing.

The following are reflections sent to a seeker who asked for the bare bones of the process of getting initiated.

Initiation is a substantial commitment in one's spiritual life, well worth spending all the time you can on reflections and introspection on the how and why of it.

The gist of the process is:

1. Discover the path you wish to follow.

2. Find company of saints following the path, learn in their company on matters of guru and spiritual practice. Study the scriptures on related matters, ensuring the knowledge received is authentic and accurate.

3. Among the saints you've discovered, you'll find one or several prospective gurus. Study them well, never make decisions of commitment with haste. Study the prospective teacher with humility, but leave no stones unturned.

4. Once settled with your heart's direction for a spiritual guide, spend time in his personal company in serving him and inquiring from him. This stage is an integral lead-in to successful initiation.

5. In due course of time, as a substantial relationship has grown, time will be ripe for initiation into the sacred mantra. Take the commitment as a call for the entire lifetime, approach the rite with due gravity.

These are some thoughts to get you started.

These are are some reflections sent to a friend in clarifying the concepts of raga-marga and vidhi-marga.

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1. There are two distinct paths. One is called vidhi-marga, and the other is called raga-marga. The difference between the two is not in the external practice: it is in the inner impetus for activity. On raga-marga, the impetus is in a great inner yearning called lobha, a burning desire that drives us onward with the aim of attaining emotions and services similar to Krishna's dear companions in Vraja. On vidhi-marga, the impetus for activity is born of a sense of duty or a fear of reprimand, drawing from the mandates of the scriptures. Only raga-marga leads us to Vraja-dhama and to the attainment of manjari-bhava. Vidhi-marga does not lead to attainments beyond relationships that are mixed with knowledge of god's majesty.

2. There are identical practices. Practices such as hearing, chanting, worship and so forth take on an almost identical appearance on the two paths. Then, unless one is sensitive and experienced, it will be hard to assess another's path by the mere observance of the outer form of the activity; the impetus determines the path. Raga-marga, aside the shared practices with vidhi-marga, features a whole unique internal world of practice; the inner cultivation of a specific loving emotion that gives rise to the revelation of the siddha-svarupa, or one's eternal companion-form that is suited for direct service for Radha and Krishna in the land of Vraja. It has been specifically noted (BRS 1.2.296) that "In the opinion of the wise, the practices of vidhi-marga are also to be employed on the raga-marga".

3. There are different stages on the path of raga. The journey is sometimes divided into two basic phases called ajata-ruci and jata-ruci. The first, ajata-ruci, literally "when taste is yet to awaken", is the stage where one has taken a keen interest in topics of raga-marga, but a mature, burning desire is yet to fructify in the core of one's heart. At this stage, one's raganuga-sadhana is practically a blend of raganuga and vaidhi in terms of one's impetus; one is not spontaneously and constantly pushed onward by the power of the mere desire. The second, jata-ruci, literally "when taste has awakened", is the stage we can justly call "actual raganuga", for in that a deep, overwhelming taste for both the practice and the goal has arisen, and in that there is truly following (anuga) of passion (raga).

All things considered, I am then personally shy to say thing such as "I am following raga-marga" or "I practice raganuga-bhakti", for I feel that, with all the mundane still upon my shoulders, it would be but a mockery of this beautiful and pristine path. The best I can say is, "I am trying to practice bhakti." Where are the tears in my eyes, where is the choking of my voice, and where are the bristling of my hair and the tremors of my body? And in absence of that, where is my raganuga? If I had even a scent of divine emotion and a feeling that more lies ahead on the path, surely all of that would be a part of my reality as I reflected on my prospects.

Therefore, with folded hands and a straw between our teeth, we shall have to say, "I am not truly following much any path at all; with the wishes of guru and Vaisnavas, I am chanting a little bit and with their mercy I find some joy in that, hopeful that my heart would be purified in due course with the name's benevolent effect. I remain praying that one day I could also embark on the path of bhakti proper – as all real devotees have done, leaving behind the interests of the worldly world, offering their hearts at the service of their lord's feet."

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For some further notes, please see:

• Raga-marga and following the scriptures

• The difference between vidhi-marga and raga-marga

An excerpt from a letter to a friend.

Devotees come to Vraja and return, and then find their enthusiasm withering and their old interests rekindled, for two reasons.

The first reason is that the inspiration of devotion, and the solidity we have attained in our early phases on the path, is to a large extent a reflection of the spiritual strength of those who have inspired us, and as such is dependent on maintaining a good connection to the source. My laptop will run out of battery in less than two hours when we have an electric outage. Just so, our spiritual battery runs swiftly out of current if there is an outage in the connection. Maintaining the connection – and that means many things – is literally vital.

The second reason is that we are not very skilled in protecting our bhajana. It is easy to grow in bhajana, the hard part is in maintaining the attainments. Here and there, bit by bit, we make ourselves vulnerable and allow the world to steal away the treasures of our hearts. Growing to firmness and learning to be alert in shielding our heart is something mastered over time in the company of those in the know.

From a letter to a sincere seeker who has found meaning in chanting the divine names.

Chanting is mrityu-sanjivani, a magical all-curing herb: It heals the material condition and opens the doors to the ocean of ambrosia flowing from realization of a direct, personal relationship with God.

As for the symptoms you mention while chanting: The clearing of past karma and your past lifestyle's effects on your body are undoubtedly an aspect, while at the same time the holy names no doubt are a catalyst for inner transformation that, conjointly with the first cause, give rise to what you mention. It's not one or the other, it's the both together. Keep chanting, your existence will become clarified and you'll experience more and more subtle and purified states of being and divine joy.

The chanting is also a purging process of the heart from all the ghosts of the past; you'll find old memories rising to the surface. If at that time you look at them with a spirit of detachment, wishing for a new future and praying at the feet of the name, the power of the divine name will purge them from your heart, bringing you one step closer to a pristine state of existence.

As for spiritual master. Find inspiration with many, but be wary with committing yourself immaturely. The guru must be well examined before a relationship is forged. Seek the company of saints, gain of their wealth of wisdom and let your taste for chanting grow with the effect of the divine energy they are filled with. With a refined understanding gained in good company, filled with a spirit of sincere prayer for selfless service to God, matters of discovering your spiritual guide will be resolved for you of their own accord.

Today's log-in at MySpace had another 18 friend requests queued up. Clearing out the junk and approving the rest, the total count settled at a round figure of 1008.

Now, the value of having 1008 friends?


The numbers mean little in the end. While in theory we all know much of the nature of friendship in this world, its superficial reality becomes painfully obvious for a Western individual living in India. You won't have a shortage of people keen on making friends with you. You'll have a grand shortage of people who wish to be friends for a reason I would consider spiritually worth-while. Money, assets, services, contacts abroad – they are the honey. As it turns out the desired goods aren't going to become available, friendships come to a rapid closure. People become sordid, or better even, stop talking to you altogether. A cruel and morbid world it is.

In truth, the last option is desirable indeed. Gramya-katha na sunibe, gramya-varta na kahibe. "Hear not the village talks, speak not of the world's ongoings, Raghunatha!" For a sadhaka who is wholeheartedly aiming at sheltering the mind in the services of Radha and Krishna throughout their ever-unfolding nitya-lila, idle talks are little more than arrows piercing the heart and boiling tar poured into the ears. A torture, and a detrimental torture at that, for even slight immersion in the mundane with a sense of affection or attachment can do untold damage to smarana. With the purification of the heart, the awareness becomes more and more subtle and one begins to perceive even the slightest adverse effects; effects that in the past went unnoticed amidst immersion in the mundane.

We are practically hermits. As a matter of daily routine, we crawl out of our house into the last hour of daylight, circumambulating the two kundas, purchasing goods for Thakur's seva for the coming day, meeting saints of choice for blessed company. Walking while chanting the names, keeping the eyes off the world, towards the ground; for the visible environment of even the sacred'est of lands is filled with things unbefitting for the sadhaka's eyes, sights one will never wish to remember again. Few are the real friends, the friends who have forsaken the mundane pursuit and assemble with the sole aim of nourishing each others' spirit identities. In such company, days run into nights and nights into days with a prayer it would never end, the passing of the clock's hands a torturous journey speaking of the inevitability of departure.

If only one of the 1008 becomes more than a friend in name, spending days and nights with us in the rapture of wholehearted bhajana in the sacred land of Vraja, if only one's heart weeps with passion for the services of Radha and Krishna, then I regard him or her as 1008 times more in worth than the assembly of 1008 noble names seen today.

Where are you? That is the question.