April 1, 2013. Adventures in New Jaipur, Prabhupadanuga Farm in Fiji
NEWS
Srila Prabhupada’s New Jaipur Vedic village project continues to progress a little each day. “Even drops of water will wear away stone.” (Chinese proverb) The 37 foot concrete bridge across our little river is complete- beyond it lies a large part of the farm where we hope to have flooded rice fields and a large garden area. The farm roads on the river’s east side are shaping up nicely with graveling and several culverts, and when dry weather allows, we will dress them and make final touchups. Another 18 foot concrete bridge has also been completed to replace the narrow wood timbers that made everyone nervous upon crossing. Gravel extracted from the river has been piled up on top and along the banks, available when needed for roads and construction.
The concrete block walls are done on the first two out of six cottages and the roof construction is ready to begin. It has been just about a year now since we first began clearing the cottage hillside, and finally we are getting an impression of what they will look like. They will be simple cottages, strong and open to breezes and views. They are available to qualified, approved applicants interested to participate in the New Jaipur Vedic village project, another humble contribution to the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and the previous acharyas. There is no price tag attached, but contributions according to one’s means will be accepted in furtherance of the farm and temple programs. We always tell locals that we are developing a non-commercial spiritual resort and retreat.
The dalo (taro) harvest is ready to start, and already has been kicked off by some wild pigs from the hills. However, the local dalo buyer who connects with the main exporter in Suva says the market is frozen due to backlog and will need a few weeks to open up again. Last week the farm boys finished moving 1210 tausala dalo plants to start anew in a dryer hillside field which they already like much better- their previous location was poorly drained where they were very stunted. We are learning where in the farm various crops will do best. Learning the ways of farming is exciting, and we rely a lot on our local helpers.
We have planted several hundred more pineapple tops and in our small garden we are concentrating on longer-life varieties such as eggplant, okra, and green leaf bushes like bele and katuk. There are a half dozen bushes in Fiji whose leaves make excellent spinach-like preparations. Lemons, limes, and kumquats are in steady supply now, planted only 3 years ago, with the extras going to the town market where they are easy to sell. Wait until our rambutan, lychee, mangosteen, sapadillo, langsat, and longon begin to fruit- these more exotic fruits are unknown in these parts! The deity fruit plate will be very colorful and pleasing to Their Lordships Radha Govinda…
TEMPLE SITE:
Our temple site is fully prepared, having been excavated, levelling over an acre just below the high point of our west ridge as it reaches the ocean from the hills behind us. We took advantage of the excavator machine and did this much, although the actual temple will be built later when the community has developed sufficiently further. Meanwhile the temple room in the main lodge building will serve as the home for Sri Sri Radha Govinda and for all programs, kirtans, and festivals.
WHAT ABOUT LOCAL ISKCON ?:
So the question may be raised as to how we interact with the local ISKCON devotees on our island in Fiji… There is no temple here yet, with perhaps a hundred initiated devotees dating back to the 1980’s when Tamal Krishna Goswami was establishing his zone here. That ended with his demise in 2002, when Bir Krishna Maharaj began visiting twice a year and taking most of the new initiates as his disciples.
ISKCON on this island is definitely still in the zonal acharya days, stuck in a time warp of obliviousness towards factual realities. There is no knowledge of the turmoil or history of ISKCON after Prabhupada’s physical departure. Devotees who were personally initiated by Prabhupada are limited to Vasudeva and Bhagavati Prabhus in Suva; they now reside at the temple in older age. We will include a few factoids that will help convey the kind of awareness in Fiji ISKCON. The regional secretary, when asked about the ISKCON gurus who were falling down, hotly replied that this did not matter, because they would just go on initiating more and more devotees (as though this would solve the problem of falling initiators??) One new ISKCON recruit who was preparing to take initiation was asked as to who would be her guru, and replied that she did not know but the leaders were arranging everything(!!) The local devotees all have been taught that Prabhupada appointed all the ISKCON gurus, and cannot understand the import of the July 9th letter nor of Tamal’s 1980 confessions regarding rtviks vs full gurus (just Google that phrase). They also celebrate days which Prabhupada never gave much importance to at all (Shivaratri, Pitrpark, Durga’s appearance, lengthy funerals, etc.) Their understanding of Prabhupada’s vision for the future of humanity was shown when we were invariably discouraged from leaving town for our life on the farm because then we “would be so far away from everything wonderful in town…”
Don’t be after these motorcars, television, and all nonsense things, sporting, wine, women. Don’t be after these. Simply eat sufficiently, keep your health nicely, chant Hare Krishna, realize Krishna, and go back to home. This is our philosophy.
Morning Walk at Villa Borghese — May 25, 1974, Rome
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Prabhupada: Yes, naturally. If this man is fed up with this industry, he can go back to village and produce his own food. But he is attached to this industrial activity because he is thinking that “We are getting more money for wine and woman and meat. Let me enjoy.” That is the perfect, imp… But if he chants Hare Krsna maha-mantra, his consciousness will be purified and he will be made not interested this kind of work. He will go back to village and produce food.
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Prabhupada: Most unnatural life. City life, most unnatural.
When we first arrived here in 2010, devotees had practically no Prabhupada books and had not heard his voice even. They had no Prabhupada lectures, movies, or kirtans. We went to great lengths to provide many of Prabhupada’s books, plenty as gifts, to the ISKCON devotees, but few are reading them much less chanting their rounds. Their guru and leaders are doing little to train them properly as per Prabhupada’s standards, except for the overwhelming emphasis on vegetarianism, neck beads, and attendance to weekly meetings. Classes often come from Hindi Ramayana translations or involve lengthy esoteric stories about supposed spiritual secrets (why did Satyabhama do such and such?), and Prabhupada’s purports are generally skipped. When asked if the morning program was important, their guru encouraged them to at least “do some puja for 5 minutes…”
They know nothing of the massive book changes, nothing factual about the poison issue, nothing about the guru or initiation issue- simply following blindly without philosophical understanding, as though questions or thought were inappropriate. They are told not to discuss these things nor to research them on the internet(!!) Morning program is conspicuous by its absence. Since they are offering their food to self-appointed gurus who are subject to falldowns (50% of them have publicly fallen down already) and “may or may not be self-realized pure devotees” (a quote from their guru, as though it is irrelevant- which of course Prabhupada repeatedly states IS very relevant)… they are surely eating only bhoga, not prasada. What misfortune! In ISKCON Fiji, the Founder-Acharya Srila Prabhupada has been pushed back onto the dusty shelves of past history… Overall, ISKCON locally is spiritually weak and resembles a social club.
Our conclusion is that they are more or less cut off from Prabhupada’s mercy, like a broken and dangling branch, disregarding much of his teachings, and are hopelessly uncorrectable, having adopted fear, offenses to Prabhupada, false pride, and sectarianism as their gatekeepers. Pride cometh before the fall. Gradually ISKCON, in Fiji and elsewhere, is deviating further and further away from the proper standard as established by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, and without their connection to the current link in the disciplic succession, they must drift away into the mists of maya. Thus we should simply avoid them while being respectful of their residual Vaishnava status. The future of the Golden Age belongs not to the ever-increasingly deviated ISKCON institution (ongoing book changes, guru hoax, offenses to Prabhupada), but to those who are sincere and strong enough to adopt the Prabhupada standard and the path of truth rather than the hodgepodge, contradictory rationalizations used to prop up a thoroughly corrupted organization of bogus pretender gurus and their cheated disciples. The Vedas teach that a bonafide guru must be fully God realized and be ordered, appointed by his predecessor guru, a prerequisite that ISKCON disregards.
We lament over their loss and ill fate, take no joy in these circumstances, but decline to gloss over these facts. It is our task (if not us, then who?) to restore Prabhupada’s spiritual mission in spite of their continuous spoiling activities. We must stick strictly to Prabhupada’s teachings, and be prepared to go it alone despite all opposition. Whatever we may be called- Prabhupadanugas, Bhaktivedantas, the original Hare Krishnas, rtviks… we are sure to be on the right path because we are being sure to follow the Jagat Guru Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and teachings without compromise.
PRABHUPADANUGA: Terminology Origin:
As far as we know, the unique word “Prabhupadanugas” was first introduced in an article from VVR #8, April 1989, titled “Duty of the Prabhupadanugas.” (apologies if this is incorrect) An excerpt:
“May the Prabhupadanugas never become discouraged by the minor difficulties incurred on the path of preaching (such as ISKCON political intrigues and guru disturbances)… ISKCON, the Greater ISKCON, is wherever there are Prabhupadanugas. One way or the other, our duty is, by actions, to BE PART OF PRABHUPADA’S ISKCON… Each follower of Srila Prabhupada must find ways to perpetuate the Bhaktivedanta legacy of preaching Krishna consciousness. Whether “in” or “out” of ISKCON, lose no heart but carry on with this duty.”
QUESTIONS, ANSWERS
Q: What about medical facilities near New Jaipur in Fiji?
A: The government provides free medical care for residents, but the quality of service is not the best. It is a local tradition to go to the hospital for every flu or indigestion and get Tylenol and an injection, although no one ever asks what is being injected. There are not many private doctors left in Fiji, as most qualified residents have emigrated overseas in the last 25 years. Our closest town Savusavu has a modest expatriate community (foreigners), one of whom has established a charitable, private clinic headed by Dr. Ishaque- and he is very good on all general matters. He is a good friend, chants Hare Krishna, has Bhagavad Gita, and is very helpful. He is associated with a quality lab in Suva for blood analysis, and has several overnight “hospital” rooms. There are also good pharmacies in Savusavu and Labasa. The Suva Private Hospital (on main island) is the best facility in Fiji and can accommodate most types of surgery and treatments, but, of course, for serious or very specialized situations, one should retain an overseas option in case of emergency. In summary, practically all typical medical needs can be met here in Fiji. Medical costs in Fiji are very reasonable, even at the private hospitals and clinics.
NEW JAIPUR GURUKULA ESSAYS
1. Material Desires By Sharadiya devi dasi, 12
Material desires are one of the main hindrances and obstacles on the path of returning to the spiritual world. Material desires are caused from one being envious of Krsna, because that means that we want to enjoy separately from him. It is that which binds one to this material world and cannot get out. Material desires are just like a hard knot and as we develop more and more desires the knot becomes tighter and tighter, binding one to this material world. One must cut this knot with the sword of knowledge. One way to stop material desires or to purify them is to dovetail them into Krsna’s service. Everything belongs to Krsna and should be used in His service only. But, we want to use those things for ourselves- that is why one develops material desires. There are some material desires that cannot be dovetailed and they must be given up. It may be very easy to give up or very hard to give up, but if one sticks to devotional service to Krsna, and prays for those material desires to be given up, then the desires which one was hankering after is gone in an instant.
2. THE SERVANT DIAMOND By Shyamananda das, 10
My Lord, Thy diamond behold, Thy diamond decorate Thou,
Your bluish body is served, By pure and whitish diamond,
The same king of gems, Becomes Krishna’s ring, Oh!
How the beautiful diamond, Even serves you, Ah!,
The rare gem, the diamond, Serves you, Lord Krishna.
You are the Lord of all, Oh! Krishna, You are beauty,
You are God, You are the greatest, You are the master of all,
Strong diamond shiny, Neither by cut nor by break,
O Lord Krishna! (inspired by Bhaktivinode Thakur’s poems)
3. THE COWS AND THE BEES By Sri Govinda das, 8
The cows who are with the Lord all the time are servants- they give milk to the Lord. The bees around the Lord are servants giving honey to the Lord.
QUOTES:
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There are so many land. Come here and grow food. Grow fruit. That is… That is the desire of Krsna. Annad bhavanti bhutani. Produce food and eat in sufficiently, be strong, and chant Hare Krsna. That is our philosophy. Why you are producing bolts and nuts, tire and tubes? Eat. Rascal. They do not know that first of all you must eat. No, everyone is engaged in industry. Why? Krsna does not say that “Take to industry.” Krsna says, “Produce foodstuff.” Annad bhavanti bhutani. If you produce foodstuff, then both your animals, yourself, will be happy, becoming strong. Why do they manufacture other things?►761102rc.vrn Conversations
Prabhupada: … When men are uncivilized, they do not how to grow food, they kill animals in the jungle and eat. When they are civilized, they know how to grow food now and the nice food grains, fruit, flowers
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Therefore I am asking so much here and…, “Farm, farm, farm, farm…” That is not my program–Krsna’s program. Annad bhavanti bhutani. Produce greenness everywhere, everywhere. Vrndavana. It is not this motorcar civilization.
“We should utilize our time for elevating ourselves in Krishna Consciousness than for so-called economic development. If we are satisfied with plain living, with minimum time and the balance time is engaged for elevating our Krishna Conscious program, then every man can be transferred to Goloka Vrindavana, just in this very life.”
Letter to: Hamsaduta, January 11, 1968
Yours in Prabhupada’s service,
Nityananda das
New Jaipur, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands
PS. To be added to our regular mailings of Vedic Village Review bulletins, or for further information about New Jaipur, please contact us at srigovinda@gmail.com.
Hare Krishna! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
PPS. Happy birthday to Sridevi today!
Hare Krsna.
Jai Srila Prabhupada.
I wish you all success in your project in the Fiji islands.
But why on earth did you pick there of all places!? A group of isolated islands in the pacific ocean!
Yes Prabhupada was there and yes those people do deserve the have the opportunity to become Krsna con. But the for the general public the place is SOOOOO remote. If someone or a family gets one of HDG’s books and wants to check out a Prabhupadanuga ashram/farm/temple I seriously doubt that they would be inclined to hop on a plane and check out the place for the weekend. Too far and to much money and to hard(passport,visa,etc.).
You are a American disciple why didn’t you start a large project like this in the USA? Devotees and the curious would have flocked there. I can’t imagine that money OR manpower would have been a problem if you would have started one over here. From what I read on the net devotees are hankering for such a opportunity here in the states but it seems like no one wants to commit and take the first step.
After all Srila Prabhupada did say ‘save America and save the world’, so far it seems like the good ol usa (and thus the world) is heading to hell in a hand basket.
Good luck with your project.
OFS
” But why on earth did you pick there of all places!? A group of isolated islands in the pacific ocean! ” says One fallen Soul.
Since we all fallen souls, therefore, it is very hard some time to perceive the Plan of the Higher Authority which guides through Chit Shakti proportionately to the surrender to the activity in which the Jivas become engaged in such activities. When one begin to see and realize it as per conception, ONLY then one appreciates it.
As one fallen soul writes ; ” After all Srila Prabhupada did say ‘save America and save the world’, so far it seems like the good ol usa (and thus the world) is heading to hell in a hand basket. ”
That is why one fallen soul gives the right answer in his writing as well : ” But the for the general public the place is SOOOOO remote. ” because the general public is heading to HELL. That is perhaps the reason that the place is SOOOOOO remote because the place is ONLY for serious and special KC. people.
Hope it helps. Good Job and well done with the project thus far.
May Lord Shri Krishna grant you all SUCCESS in glorification serving the mission of our Jagat Guru Srila Prabhupada.
Hari BOL. OM TAT SAT.
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.
The Krsna consciousness movement is
therefore ESTABLISHING VARIOUS FARMS, ESPECIALLY IN AMERICA, to show
how to be happy and content with minimum necessities of life and to
save time for self-realization, which one can very easily achieve by
chanting the maha-mantra–Hare Krsna..
SB 8.19.21 P
Where are these farms Srila Prabhupada is talking about here? In America alone the bogus iskcon has farms, new agers have farms, the back to the landers have farms, the doomsday preppers have their farms, the retiring baby boomers have their hobby farms, the LGBT’s have their farms, christians have farms, the jews have farms, and the muslims have farms. Where are the Prabhupadanuga farms in America?
Hare Krsna to all like-minded thinking devotees of our beloved Srila Prabhupada! All glories, all glories to our founder acarya, Srila Prabhupada and all of his sincere devotees. Pranamas and dandavats.
I have been an ardent follower and well-wisher of this project andjust finished reading the latest review on April 1st, 2014, Sridevii’s birthday. The poems by the kids, especially little Sri Govinda, from his perspective is so cute, what else can I say. Just imagine how these kids can SEE and their realizations!!!!!
I have just returned from a five-weeks stay in The Holy Dhama. I was fortunate enough to spend the first three days at Sri Sri Radha/Vrindavan Chandra temple and its guest house facilities. To awaken at 3.00 a.m to prepare for Mangal Aratik, to experience the cool, crisp air and to hear the peacocks utter their call…I could feel the presence of Our Lordships and visualize some of Their pasttimes…oh! how fortunate to be there. To be in the company of devotees who KNOW that Srila Prabhupada is the only guru and no one asks “who is your guru” is such a relief. Of course they do want to know whether or not I was fortunate (thats my thinking) to have seen Srila Prabhupada in person. I was not that fortunate but have had dreams of him and thats even better as I was speaking to him and not a shadow in the background.
Going to my place of residence, 8 minutes from Krishna/Balarama temple was a totally different energy. I hadnt been there for 3 years and needless to say, the energy has changed so much and not for the better. The parikrama road is all paved and resulting in so many motor cars beeping their horns, motor cyclists in a hurry and little space for the sincere bare-footed pilgrims. So much passion. Opposite the temple, all about shopping and hoping to bargain as you know that the prices have been jacked up for us, foreigners,So very crowded that it is difficult to walk, cows still eating from trash cans and monkeys stealing fruits as they are starving, kids, people hitting and kicking the dogs….beggars and litter all over and this is The Holy Dhama!
The temple had some improvements in the arena with big, lovely paintings and the shop area all clean and a better entrance for visitors and a separate one for the devotees.
Kirtans were led by devotees who seem to be competing in who can drawwwwwwwwww out the Maha Mantra and facing each other, rather than The Lordships who always look extravagant with lots of garlands. The question…who are they singing to? I observed an offering of fruit from a person and I was shocked to see that the pujari did the offering in a descending manner rather than ascending from Srila Prabhupada, I refused to partake as this was still boga as far as I’m concerned. During a class on the day of Ekadasi as Srila Prabhupada was speaking, others were having conversations. I gestured to two young bramacharis and one stuck his tongue out to me. This is an example of the standards. Lack of respect and where does this come from….do they so called gurus and hoaxers training their so called disciples? Off the grape-vine, I heard that they hired a group of accountants who were feasted and served extravangantly 3 times daily for a few days which cost a lump sum of laksmi. The purpose of this was to find ways to bring in more LAKSMI!!!!
New Jaipur becomes more and more appealing as all the favourable conditions are there for only the right thinking ones.!devotees and karmis, as i was once!) It is very difficult to leave your comfort zone. Because Srila Prabhupada will be the acarya for the next 10.000 years we must think of the off springs and not ourselves. Because of the degradation of society of which we have seen nothing else, think about our grand and great grand. WATER is of utmost importance, climate. Where in America do you have these conditions? The plan is to wipe out farmers of organic foods and their SEEDS I just read that the eastern U.S. can expect some severe winters in the future and the western will be dry with drought. The writing is on the wall. We are so conditioned into not wanting to give up OUR land which is not ours as we are spirit souls and we should not identify with where we took birth.
Plans to have a small preaching centre in the town is in the making. The residents are very simple in their simple basic life style which is perfect for our young off springs so that they will not be influenced by the lack of standard of dress as can be seen in temples. It was shocking to see all these young Indian boys and girls dressing in jeans to the temples, our young western girls looking as though they were in a fashion show. Is this what we want for our movement? You need to be soooooooooooo far away from these people who control our government, freedom of press, our skies, our water, our food, our thinking, our privacy which is a thing of the past…..NEW JAIPUR FARM looks more and more appealing. To not be surrounded by all this nonsense…to awaken to cool, crisp morning air and to hear the cows mooooooooooo, the peacocks sing, the birds chirp, the ocean waves hitting the rocks and to smell that clean, fresh ocean air….to pick home grown veggies, fruits and flowers to offer to our beloved Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha Govimda, what more can we ask for? In The Holy Dhama, the food is being cooked withsunflower oil (which is GMO) the water is horrible and you have to buy plastic bottled water (PCB’s)…. you can hardly see trees…LOTS of apartment buildings and my concern is WATER!
As i have said, NEW JAIPUR FARM will only attract the right thinking devotees who are more concerned about the future generation and not about themselves! Everything that Srila Prabhupada looked for and was necessary in NEW VRINDAVAN and which was lacking, is available in FIJI.
Nityananda das, Sridevi, and other devotees. Stay strong and keep doing what you are doing…soon there will be an exodus of people leaving the once great land of America. As always, my best and sincere wishes to your undaunted, uncompromised values and in carrying out the wishes of Srila Prabhupada who is smiling and very happy to being there with you. Hare Krsna, your well-wisher and humble servant in the mission of Guru/Gauranga.!!!!!!