Prabhu Pancatattwa:

Dear devotees and friends. Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Sri Sri Guru Gauranga. Srila Gurumaharaj ki jay! New year in devotional service ki jay!

A new year, new challenges, new services and new projects. Before the chat of Gurumaharaj, I want to send my greetings and wish you the best for this new year. A little bit late, but better late than never. We don't know how many surprises will appear each day, just as the world has news, the spiritual world has to. And the spiritual world is not only the place described in the sastras. Gurumaharaj explains that it's a state of consciousness, of service, and that platform lives among us when whe do our guruseva from the heart. So when whe talk of Vrindavana, it's not just about Vrindavana in India, it's about the Vrindavana that you build in your house, in your temple, in your farm, in your heart, on the streets were you preach. That is also the spiritual world because you are doing a service for the spiritual world and no doubt you have the Sri Nityananda Prabhu shakti if your wish is to preach. Because every wish of saving the world starts in Him. And Sri Guru is the one who represents Him. What Sri Guru planned for this world is what Sri Nityananda Prabhu wants for this world. And what Sri Nityananda Prabhu wants for this world is to take us all to the feet of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This connection to the service of Sri Guru is the authorized path. The vedas support the fact that this is the real way to stay connected with the spiritual world. The vaishnavas of today are equal to the vaishnavas of the past. The vaishnavas from the past were not better than the ones of today. Krsna is the same to all his devotees in the present as he was to the devotees in the past. It's not that the service from before was more valuable than the one that you can do now. Today there are more facilities though. Today you can do more service than in the past. For example, in the past a devotee went to the six goswamis and made service like building a temple or traveling for miles walking with books. Nowadays you can make a web page or blog of the temple that they built. A lot of service is just waiting for us to take it to heart. Gurumaharaj expressed a beautiful feelling:

"Now I reallize why Vrindavana has so much garbage and places to clean. Because Vrindavana is inviting us to serve the dham. If Vrinvana would show itself as it is in the spiritual world then we wouldn't have service to do. So Vrindavana send us constantly a personal invitation to serve it."

And Gurumaharaj is always on top of how to chant the verse about the spiritual master, of fixing everything for Sri Sri Radha Krsnas pastimes. The pure devotees are always meditating on how to serve the divine couple better. They are always making arrangements to serve Them. Day and night the pure devotees know what is the next need of Them. In that way they are remembering their lilas. They understand how to do that. Scripture is revelation. Like the revelation to Bhaktivinoda Thakur about Mayapur Dham. We could have a chat or even a blog only about revelations of Krsna and His pure devotees. So many revelations and they keep coming eternally.

Before I say goodbye I would like to thank you for your association, blessings and my best wishes. Happy sunday to all the vaisnavas and especially to Gurumaharaj :) And neither are the revelations from the past better or more important than the ones of the present. Krishna hasn't closed the revelation service. Gandarvika is going to give us a report of these days, but before that I would like to finish about the revelations and about Gurumaharaj's vision. It was a revelation to connect the world to Vrindavana with the Helping Hands project, and connect all the devotees of Vrinda. That's something historical and revolutionary. It will make a mark in the history of vaishnavism. That a mission is dedicating its energy to the cleaning of the dham. That groups of devotees like in Copiapo, Antofagasta, Pasto, Cucuta, Arequipa, La Paz, Sao Paulo, Mexico, Cordoba, etc are going to have dham seva and to connect friends and the local sankirtan as well. I'm feeling like the objetive is that the dham will like to connect with all. That Sri vrindavana Dham will like to arrive at your house, to your temple. But how will Sri Vrindavana arrive? Sometimes it arrives through its devotees and you can serve them. Sometimes through remnants like the dust of Vrinvana and you can serve it. Sometimes as Yamuna devi's drops and you can serve them. Sometimes as Govardhana and you can serve Him. Sometimes as prasadam and you can eat it. Sometimes in the form of pictures, videos, music or stories. And then we can remember, think and meditate about Sri Vrindavana. Now there's a maha nectar. The revelation that Gurumaharaj shared last sunday. That you can help the cleaning of the dham donating effort for the Helping Hands project. Dont wait for the temple to do it, maybe it haven't done it because a temple is complex, too many programs and sometimes you have to sweat to pay the rent. But you can make groups of friends of Vrindavana and sankirtan groups as well. And collect for Vrindavana by making events, festivals, and to make sure that your donation arrives to Vrindavana. That your heart comes to Vrindavana, that your love comes to Vrindavana, that your sacrifice comes to Vrindavana. Then please consider this invitation from a pure devotee to connect with Sri Vrindavana. That's the most concrete proposal that can connect us to the dham and should not be overlooked. Vrindavana needs you. Thanks for reading. I bow down.

Gandharvika dd:

Thanks Prabhu Panca Tattva for your enthusiasm and precision in describing all the big work that Srila Gurumaharaj is making in and for Vrindavana. I ask the devotees to please accept my obeisances. Gurumaharaj asked me to make a small report about the last programs and proyects. As Prabhu Pancha Tattva said, Gurumaharaj put a lot of enthusiasm this week in the program called Helping-Hands. He created a web page in english to get more support: http://helpinghandforvrindavan.org/ I want to share how that project began. A few weeks ago, Gurumaharaj met a vrajavasi writing for New York Times. He loved Gurumaharaj's work and in one of the meetings he said that he knew a lot of people that would like to support Vrindavana somehow, but they don't know how. Before that Gurumaharaj said: "I have tried to encourage many poeple to support me whit this new project, but still nobody has caught the sense of it." So Gurumaharaj said he wanted to start it, supported by his family. Because the essence of the Helping Hands project in Vrindavana is that there is much to do, but the government is not doing anything about it. Only private intiatives have accomplished something. Srila Gurumaharaj was inspired a lot for the work of his sipiritual brother Rupa Ragunatha Prabhu who has the Food for Life project in Vrindavana. They could receive a lot of poor children of Vrindavana and surrounding villages, giving them education and better future. The same kids have taken different cleanup sites and they, as NGOs, have more than 100 workers paid to benefit Vrindavana. So Srila Gurumaharaj said, we solve two issues at once, we employ the vrajabasis because we pay them a monthly salary, and we also have someone working for Vrindavana: cleaning up, repairing historical buildings etc.

Gurumaharaj:

Dear devotees. Sri Vrindavan Dham ki jay, Mayapur dham ki jay!

Serving the dust of Vrindavan. It is a great opportunity to purify our souls.

We are trying to solidify the plan we announced last week. The only thing missing  is to get donations from our temples and communities so that I direct the donations in several ways of improving the dham.

This week I was making contacts with one of the first projects that we sponsor as part of monitoring the cleaning. And some infrastructure projects that will start this week. I was responsible for giving a boost to the Radha Gopinath temple, the last of the traditional buildings of the six Goswamis remaining in private hands, administratively. There are four large and very beautiful gardens around the main temple. It's close to Vrinda Kunja. And we want to make a unique parikrama place there.  

The owner manager at the moment is a young man named Raja Goswami, and it caught my attention because some things broke their and need to be repaired. I'll put photos on the internet this week so you can see all the details.

This would lead to the very core of Vrindavan to have a very important darshan. Radha Gopinath temple was quite deserted for many years, but it's very important and very beautiful, I think we can rescue something valuable there. Anyway, a very large task that I have now is to coordinate so that people we hire really do good service. In part I will work on this with my friend Rupa Ragunath of Sandipani Muni School and Neeraj who is his right hand, and some projects we will monitor directly from Vrindakunja.

Vrindavan's dust is the most sacred thing on earth. In a meeting we had today with the Vrindavan Braj Heritage Alliance, I was inspired to say that the Braj dust cannot compare to our own life or any number of treasures on earth. Treasures are lost at the moment of death, but the mercy of Vrindavan's dust is never lost. And until you can bring the spirit world. I believe that all our temples are part of Vrindavan. They are branches, especially our farms. I am always seeking to do something to tell the world about Vrindavana and give attention to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Gopeshvara Mahadeva, Imlitala, Govardhan, etc.

I feel inspired to give an example for other missions, including those that are much larger and economically stronger than us, to invest in areas of Vrindavan that the municipality has neglected or not understood as essential. And all this is possible because each of our temples make a small sacrifice. Do not forget that for many years we have benefited both the message of Vrindavan, the lovely flute Srimad Bhagavatam of Srila Prabhupada. Vrindavan do not need more temples. So many temples that could have been renewed and adopted has been broken. We saved Yamuna Kunja, Vrinda Kunja, Dauji Mandir, Vamsi Kunja and Pandavali Kunja.

What Vrindavan needs is a better presentation, water solutions, car parking, processing of garbage and so on. It has to become a recognized site of pilgrimage. Even more desirable, a Heritage Site for Humanity, accepted by the Unesco. There is a strong desire to bring the Yamuna through a channel, back to the Ghats of Vrindavan and many other things. Not only the village of Vrindavan but the whole Braj Mandal should be served. You can watch the work in Braj Mandal here: http://brajfoundation.org

We are doing two web pages for them and manage the cultural programas of Brahma Kunda, located just around the corner of Vrinda Kunja.

You can also look at the work of Food for Life Vrindavan http://fflvrindavan.org The most experienced group in this regard.

We were also working with the Friends of Vrindavan, but the team of workers are not comply with what they have to do. Thus, we prefer to take more responsibility ourselves. Anyway, slowly some of our dreams are being fulfilled. Vrindavan will always be a place without parallel, despite the problems that come to be overcome. I have here a little harmonizing service between several participants in the Dham Seva, to maintain good relations. And last week I interviewed David Haberman, a devotee scholar from the U.S., who came to Vrindavan with several scientists from Yale University and pledged to put pressure on the government for scientific reports.

These are excerpts from the efforts we are doing here, to get everything set up so that when I go back to my travels to preach, other devotees can continue here. It's an opportunity to participate in the service to Srimati Radharani. So, please call the communities and make weekly or monthly meetings to allow all the friends and devotees to participate in this fine effort. Sending support can change the situation here. And as the temples of South America sometimes have banking restrictions, they can send via Western Union, in the name of providing support to a relative in another country. Do not forget to inform Jnanananda and Gandharvika each time you send a donation, so we put on our Web site to give information about who is helping and what we're doing with this help, in order that your donors are aware of the benefit are making their collaboration. And for me it is very important that it's something monthly so that we can really make an impact here, and that impact can be achieved with good management of funds for Helping Hands. By giving support you become an activist of Vrindavan, even if you can not personally come to visit. This is a special privilege or rather, the mercy of Srimati Radharani. You can send info to: e-vrindakunja@gmail.com

Today Braj Vrindavan Heritage Alliance held its first meeting in Pandavali Kunja that we offered to Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Maharaj 14 years ago. It was decided to use this extraordinary site to serve the Vaishnavas in general and Vrindavan service also. There is already an office for the Alliance in Pandavali Kunja, with view over the Yamuna river through the door. :)

With this I close my part of the chat today, because it's a little late here and tomorrow I have two important meetings. One with the supervisor of the sewage district and also a vaishnava farewell meeting of Bhaktivedanta Narayan Maharaj here in Vrindavan. Jay Srila Prabhupada.

I hope that Krishna, in this new year, will inspire you more and more to preach a lot, to observe good health and that Krishna will allow us to complete our writing projects, start a new era of contributions to the world. Writing is nice, but it requires much concentration. I'm more about action, but you have to do what needs to be done.

When cleaning the Pandavali Kunja today, we realized that from words to action is a long way. Because the local devotees promised us they were going to clean well. But after a meeting with representatives of the other temples the Vrinda Kunja crew went there and filled about 6 garbage bags from the road up to Pandavali Kunj, and inside the property as well. In the cleanup, we saw two poisonus snakes. I asked the local devotees if they kill poisonous snakes, since the Bhagavatam says that even a saintly person is happy when a poisonous snake is killed. But the devout Hindus, they told me they do not, just try to get it out the door.

The spoon revolution ki jay!

Haribol.

Its always well-wisher

B. Swami A. Paramadvaiti