Official Message from the GBC Executive Committee Regarding Vipramukhya Dasa

Dear devotees,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

It is with heavy hearts that we inform you of the departure of Vipramukhya prabhu from his services as guru and sannyasa.

He has been a dedicated servant of Srila Prabhupada's movement over the last 29 years: a kind and considerate person, an attractive preacher, and always jovial and fun to be with.

In recent years he took on the great burden of being the temple president of Bhaktivedanta Manor, one of Srila Prabhupada's flagship temples.

Vipramukhya Swami Steps Down

September, 2003

My dear friends and disciples in ISKCON,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I'm sure some of you who saw me this summer, might have wondered why I had grown my hair out a little bit. One person even asked me about it the other day in England and I told him it was because of observing "chaturmasya" - the four months of the rainy season in India when sannyasis in the renounced order of life typically perform austerity, which sometimes includes not shaving.

Unfortunately, it is not actually the case with me.

For Vipramukhya Swami
By Nataraja das

Your Holiness Vipramukhja Swami Maharaja!

Please accept my most humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada. All Glories To Sri Guru and Gauranga.

My Name is Nataraja dasa. I am a disciple of Indradyumna Swami Maharaja. Thank you very much for your web site and for your diaries, and for your service to Srila Prabhupada and His movement.

Personally, for me, your activities are very very important and inspiring. I just want to pay my humble obeisances to you and I can just pray for more mercy from such devotees as your holiness for their services. (I am serious. This is not some kind of sectantic emotion. I think that if I were to do something like you are doing, for me it would be very important to know how useful its is for devotees). Thank you very much for your Chakra and diaries

Your regular reader from Riga (Latvia),
Nataraja das

Appreciating Vipramukhya Swami
By Asli Han Aran

This letter is written after reading Vipramukhya Swami's letter, titled "A Critical Letter and My Response."

I live in a country where I do not have the opportunity to go to a temple, associate with devotees, or find books on the transcendental knowledge of Krishna.

Still, Krishna has given me a valuable opportunity through the internet medium. All I learned and still learn is via the internet. One of the sources I have looked at for nearly a year now is the site www.chantandbehappy.com. 

To Vipramukhya Swami
By Santiparayana dasa

Dear Swamiji,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I read with interest the complaint someone expressed about the way that they perceive you conducting your service, along with your response. Thanks for being candid enough to post it. I don’t believe I have ever had the pleasure to meet you personally, so my only connection is through Chakra. Consequently, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on personal behavior about which I have no knowledge. I would like, however, to express my appreciation for all the work you are doing by providing this website. 

Responses and Encouragement
By Vipramukhya Swami

May 31, 2002 – Brooklyn, New York: We arrived at the New York temple the day before yesterday, and all day yesterday the devotees in our group were busy constructing a stage for the temple room here in Brooklyn while I worked on finishing some things on a sound track for a play they will perform at the New York Rathayatra.

I’m usually a loner. I travel alone. I’m taken to the airport by devotees, picked up at the airport by devotees, but on the airplane I’m usually alone. This trip, however, I’m traveling as part of a large group, and the dynamics are different. Traveling alone is usually more efficient. You pick up your bags at baggage claim, go out, look for your ride, get in, and go to the temple. Traveling with a group with trunks and dozens of suitcases, you have to always make sure everyone is with you — that you haven't lost one of the kids or something — that you have all the bags and trunks, etc. But traveling with a group is better in the sense that there's association on the flight, and you feel part of a team.

Pilgrim’s Diary: An Aimless, Attention-and-Distinction-Starved Sannyasi
By Vipramukhya Swami

Another Flight — and 
Handheld Computer Found
By Vipramukhya Swami

Wednesday, May 8, 2002, somewhere over the Northeastern Seaboard– I'm on another boring flight across the Atlantic Ocean. I used to think this stuff was interesting, flying. Now I find it immensely boring. I mean, 22 times since January I've been through this — waiting in the airport lounge to get my seat row called, walking on the aircraft, stowing my carry-ons in the bin above, buckling my seat, watching the crew demonstrate the safety procedures which I hope I never have to use, taking off, watching the same boring movie or sleeping or chanting and finally landing. I've traveled more this year than any previous year in my life.

I like the life of traveling, but the flights are getting tedious. I wonder how Jayapataka Swami, famed for being not only the most frequent flyer in ISKCON but also one of the most frequent flyers of anyone in the world, tolerates it.

How Much Money 
Do Sannyasis Have?
By Vipramukhya Swami

I don't know how much money other sannyasis have (although all ISKCON sannyasis must report their income and expenses to the GBC Body each year). However, this page will show a running total of my personal income and expenses for each year to date.

INCOME YTD
$3,549.76
EXPENSE YTD
$2,353.81
Ahead or Loss
$1,195.95

The figures show how I have financed my travels so far this year. YTD means "Year to Date"

Pilgrim’s Diary – Preaching in 
Wales and a Lost Handheld
By Vipramukhya Swami

May 6, 2002, Llechryd, Wales– I'm in a room full of guests at Chris and Rasa Parayani's house in West Wales. People are eating prasadam and I have a few minutes to myself to write this article. Earlier today we went to a dense forest and had a kirtan by a waterfall and a river.

Tomorrow we have to go back to Bhaktivedanta Manor so I can catch my flight to New Vrindavan out of Gatwick Airport.

I lost my Palm handheld computer last night. We had gone to a nearby beach and had a kirtan and some prasadam. On the way back to the car I saw a trail along a wooded sand dune. I remember using it along that trail, but after getting back to the house we couldn't find it. This morning we went back to look to see if we could find it. We couldn't. Later we called the police in case someone turned it in. They hadn't.

Pilgrim's Diary: Travels, Fossils, and TKG
by Vipramukhya Swami

The following article contains links that will take the reader to websites other than this one.

Bhaktivedanta Manor, England (April 25, 2002): I'm getting ready to "hit the road" again after spending a few productive weeks here at Bhaktivedanta Manor.

The things I have been working on have included a lot of time editing my book, and working on a drama soundtrack for the Bhaktivedanta Players about the death of Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna and father of Maharaja Pariksit, to whom Sukadeva Goswami spoke the Srimad-Bhagavatam. I also established a webcam connected to my computer, which will unfortunately be mostly functional only when I have a permanent Internet connection, and which is mainly when I am here at Bhaktivedanta Manor. I don't know if I will be able to get a high-speed Internet connection when I'm at ISKCON Vancouver, where I plan to spend the summer this year.

Trip to Nature
By Vipramukhya Swami

Monday, 1st April 2002, Ljubljana, Slovenia–

If you look at my schedule, you'll see that on March 30, 2002, there was a scheduled "visit to the Slovenia countryside," or as the local devotees preferred to call it, "a trip to nature."

I thought, "Okay, we're going to go for a drive, and they're going to show me some scenery. Maybe I'll see some Slovenia farms, some vineyards, some rivers, etc."

Actually, however, it was none of these.

Pancha-Tattva and 
Harinam in Ljubljana
By Vipramukhya Swami

Friday, March 29, 2002, Slovenia–

Yesterday we had a big festival for the appearance of Lord Chaitanya here in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. About 200 people attended, and the highlight of the evening was placing very large, beautiful, neem-wood Deities of the Pancha Tattva on the altar. Earlier in the day we performed Harinam congregational chanting in the streets of downtown Ljubljana.

This diary entry has also been posted on the World Wide Web at: http://www.ChantAndBeHappy.com
/diary/articles/2002-03/27.htm 

Wednesday, 27 March 2002, 30,000 feet above Europe.

Yesterday I had a case of time zone disorientation, otherwise popularly known as jetlag.

After my flight across the Atlantic and changing to five time zones earlier than New York, my flight arrived at about 7 AM at London's Heathrow Airport. It was a sunny and fairly pleasant early spring morning.

Bhakta Andrew was there to pick me up, but somehow we didn't connect and I was stranded at the airport for about an hour and a half. Finally, after several calls to the Manor, Vaikuntha Krsna called from the Manor and managed to get Andrew on his mobile cell phone and then we found each other.

Wednesday, 20 March 2002, Greyhound Bus

I'm bouncing around on a Greyhound Bus. It's raining outside. It's been raining for days. It's half past twelve in the afternoon.

A minute ago the bus passed over a bridge from the northern tip of Manhattan to the Bronx. This is New York City, and I'm on my way to Connecticut.

At Port Authority Bus terminal, the bus terminal that's as big as an airport, they were examining the carry-on bags of everyone getting on the bus. The inspector eyed my Salagram Silas and asked what They were. I told him they were "fossils." They also passed a metal detector over everyone boarding the bus. These are new security measures in place since September 11.

I had packed away my Salagram and Govardhan Silas and was preparing to leave Bhaktivedanta Manor for a morning flight to America when I heard the news.

Tamal Krishna Goswami has passed away. He died in a horrible automobile accident in a taxi, just after leaving Mayapur, India, on the way to the Calcutta airport.

As soon as I heard, I became stunned. I stopped packing my bags and went downstairs where there was a meeting of senior devotees taking place, discussing the situation.

What can I say about Tamal Krishna Goswami? He was a great devotee, often misunderstood by ISKCON's antagonists. He was among the first devotees selected by Srila Prabhupada to serve on the GBC body. He was Srila Prabhupada's personal secretary, even up to the point of Srila Prabhupada's passing from his body.

12 Noon, Seattle Airport, USA, March 1, 2002.

For me and many others, the highlight for the month of February this year was Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day in Vancouver, which was on February 25, 2002. This day has a long history for the Vancouver temple, revolving around the world famous Lord Nityananda Cooking contest.

The story is that many years ago there used to be a cooking contest on Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day in Vancouver. It was very popular, but due to various problems it gradually fizzled out and was discontinued. In 1992 I became the regional secretary of Western Canada, and with the help of my Godbrother Yoginatha Prabhu we revived the cooking contest and addressed the problems that formerly led to its discontinuation.

Pilgrim's Diary - January 27-29, 2002
by Vipramukhya Swami

11 AM, 27 January 2002, Qantas Airline flight 747.

We are high above Australia, flying from Sydney to Adelaide. It's an hour and a half journey by air. A few minutes ago I could see the Sydney coastline. They say Sydney has some of the nicest ocean beaches in Australia. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to visit the ocean in Sydney, but I sure had a great view of them out the window of this airplane.

I'm sitting at a window seat on the right side of this Boeing 767, over the wing, but I can still get a pretty good view looking a little forward. We rapidly passed over some mountainous and forested areas, and now it looks pretty desert-like down below. Two-thirds of Australia is desert, I'm told. Some say three-fourths.

Atmrarama is the temple president of Sydney. He wasn't there during our visit, but showed up just as I was leaving. He had been away, and when he got back he said he was sick with the flu. He was very cordial, and I'm glad I ran into him before we left this morning. He'll be going to the GBC meetings soon. I told him that regretfully I would not be able to attend the meetings this year.

January 24, 2002 - New Castle, New South Wales, Australia.

I've created a website where all of these Pilgrim's Diary stories can be found: http://www.chantandbehappy.com/diary 

There's an ISKCON house in here in Newcastle, NSW, which we stopped by to see. It's undergoing major renovation. Our main purpose in coming, however, was to do Harinam in downtown.

So after stopping by the local Hare Krishna Vegetarian Cafe, which seemed to be fairly busy, we set out to go up and down the main outdoor mall. Newcastle is a shipping down. Reminds me of New Westminster in the Vancouver, Canada, area. Lots of young people. It was a great Harinam.

I would like to give a special thanks to Aniruddha Prabhu, the temple president of ISKCON Melbourne. I must say that Aniruddha was a very gracious host while I was in Melbourne. Besides making nice arrangements for my care, laundry, prasadam, etc., he also drove me around pretty much wherever we needed to go and made nice arrangements for preaching programs, etc. Yesterday he had Devamrta Maharaja and me over for lunch at his house, which is just down the road from the temple.

My disciple Devahotra and I are now on a flight from Melbourne to Sydney. We’ll stay some days there before continuing on to Adelaide and then back to Melbourne.

One of my desires in visiting Australia, besides meeting the wonderful devotees, seeing the deities, and getting a lot of preaching opportunities, was to see some kangaroos in the wild. Yesterday my desire was fulfilled.

January 18, 2002– Melbourne, 4:30 PM.

ISKCON Melbourne is the oldest Hare Krishna temple in Australia. The deities look beautiful and well looked after, and the temple room is gorgeous marble tiled with ornate Vedic-style arches.

Aniruddha dasa, the temple president, joined ISKCON in Melbourne in 1978 and has been the president of the temple since May, 1990.

The devotees are polite and well behaved. There seems to be a number of uninitiated new bhaktas and bhaktins here, which indicates to me that some people have joined the movement here recently.

January 15: I'm on a flight from Seattle to San Francisco to catch a connecting flight to Melbourne, Australia. Never been there before. My first trip to down under. It's also a free flight, thanks to an accumulation of frequent flyer miles.

It's dark outside. It's 8 PM. Nothing particularly exciting. Wish I had a devotee to accompany me, but I can't afford to pay anyone's airfare other than my own. Contrary to popular myth, not all sannyasis and gurus are rich, though Krsna is taking care of me.

Instead of giving the Sunday lecture at the Long Island temple a couple of nights ago, as originally planned, I decided to give the lecture in Hartford, Connecticut. My friend and Godbrother, Pyari Mohan, is the temple president of this small temple. It was a nice crowd, too. About 50 people I would estimate, which was a lot for their small temple room. I lectured on the Holy Name and the importance of japa, and there were lots of questions. It's nice when there are questions.

Pilgrim's Diary - Tuesday, January 8, 2002
by Vipramukhya Swami

Nasau County, Long Island, New York

There's snow outside, and the sun is shining. My Salagram Silas and Govardhan Silas are situated on an altar a few feet away. I am in a living room. The floor is carpeted wall to wall. There are many plants, both real and artificial, and many pictures of Krishna on the walls.

I am at the house of Balaram and Revati, two aspiring Indian disciples originally from Trinidad. They have two grown children, both living at home, both deaf from birth, one boy and one girl.

Pilgrim's Diary - March 27, 2001 - Heidelberg, Germany
By Vipramukhya Swami

I'm sitting in a room with light now falling outside here in Germany, about 40 minutes drive from Neuremberg. My Salagram Silas are packed away, I've had breakfast, and now we're getting ready to drive to Heidelberg. Tomorrow I will fly back to England.

© CHAKRA 28 March 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - Abenteuer, Germany
By Vipramukhya Swami

Pilgrim's Diary - March 23, 2001 (Abenteuer, Germany): It's pouring rain outside my window. Last week, I'm told, there was three inches of snow here. Some of it is still around in patches, though it is not very cold outside. It's Friday, and they tell me this weekend the weather should become warm and clear.

© CHAKRA 24 March 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - Salagram Found
By Vipramukhya Swami

Wednesday, March 14, 2001 3:10 PM

I'm sitting in my seat on Royal Brunei Airlines flight number 107. The aircraft has not begun to move yet. First stop will be Dubai, where we have to wait for 6 hours before our flight to London. There's a couple of passengers that they are waiting for who are held up at the immigration line.

The big question on a number of our reader's minds, of course, is what happened to my missing baggage? Well...

© CHAKRA 21 March 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - Returning to the West
By Vipramukhya Swami

Calcutta (March 12, 2001) - 10 AM

About an hour ago I phoned and spoke to Joya Chattergee, a helpful lady who works for Indian Airlines. She was very apologetic about my suitcase. She said that because there isn't a flight to Calcutta every day, Kathmandu sent the suitcase to New Delhi.

© CHAKRA 19 March 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - Hope Against Hope - March 10, 2001
By Vipramukhya Swami

Last night after watching the beautiful golden full moon rise on the eastern horizon amid kirtan and an abhisheka of the Chaitanya-Nityananda deities, I was invited to the roof of the lotus building for a feast sponsored by Jayapataka Swami for senior devotees, sannyasis and former gurukulis.

© CHAKRA 12 March 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - Return to Mayapur and the Loss of the Salagrams
By Vipramukhya Swami

You know, I have a complaint about Krishna. It's true that He always saves His devotees, but generally He does it only at the last moment.

  © CHAKRA 10 March 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - In search of Salagrams March 1 - March 6, 2001
By Vipramukhya Swami

I'm feeling anxiety and am praying to my Govardhan and Salagram Silas that are with me. I've been looking forward to this trip for a long time, but if the flight doesn't leave soon everything will be screwed up because my return flight to India is still on March 7th.

© CHAKRA 7 March 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - Journey to the Kali-Gandaki in Nepal First Installment: February 27 - March 1, 2001
By Vipramukhya Swami

I learned something Interesting in Jagannath Puri yesterday morning from Mr. Singh at the Birla Guest House. Jomsom, on the Gandaki River where I will eventually be going in a few days, flows directly between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna, both mountains over 26,700 feel - comparable to Mount Everest. I should be able to see them as the airplane passes between them as it goes up the valley to Jomsom. According to Mr. Singh, it is said that the monkey servant Hanuman in service of Laksman and Rama carried Dhaulagiri's mountain peak away. This mountain, therefore, is famous to the devotees of Lord Rama.

© CHAKRA 2 March 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - Saying Goodbye to Puri
By Vipramukhya Swami

February 26, 2001 - my last full day in Puri. By this time tomorrow, if all goes as planned, I should be in a taxi on my way to Bhubanesvara. This will be my last day of sending daily Pilgrim's Diary stories to CHAKRA.

© CHAKRA 26 February 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - February 25, 2001
By Vipramukhya Swami

CHAKRA (Jagannath Puri, India) - February 25, 2001: It's been 3 days since I've been able to send e-mail. Last night I went to an Internet Cafe that I found on Grand Road, about halfway between the Jagannath temple and Gundica.

© CHAKRA 25 February 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - February 24, 2001
By Vipramukhya Swami

CHAKRA (Jagannath Puri, India) - February 24, 2001: I like to sit on the beach in the early morning, chanting japa, looking at the ocean, and reflect. This morning I am sitting at the actual place where Lord Chaitanya bathed the body of Haridasa Thakura after his passing away - and it makes me meditative.

© CHAKRA 25 February 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - February 23, 2001
By Vipramukhya Swami

CHAKRA (Jagannath Puri, India) - February 23, 2001: I suppose I should tell you about another gadget I have besides the collapsible keyboard hooked up to my Palm Vx handheld which was used to type this article.

© CHAKRA 25 February 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - February 22, 2001 (continued)
By Vipramukhya Swami

CHAKRA (Jagannath Puri, India) - February 22, 2001: I'm sitting in Haridasa Thakura's Samadhi with the devotees in Bir Krishna Maharaja's group. As I type on this little keyboard, believe it or not, I am looking at Haridasa Thakura's Samadhi. Good thing I can touch type without looking at the keyboard so I can describe what I'm seeing.

© CHAKRA 22 February 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - February 22, 2001
By Vipramukhya Swami

CHAKRA (Jagannath Puri, India) - February 22, 2001: Here's a quick snapshot of my upcoming travels, which we'll update here on CHAKRA.

Pilgrim's Upcoming Schedule:

© CHAKRA 22 February 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - February 21, 2001 (continued)
By Vipramukhya Swami

I'll miss Ramabhadra and Svavasa Prabhus. Who will I go to the ocean with? Ramai Swami is coming today, but I hear he doesn't go to the sea. The word is that Gunagrahi Maharaja preached to him that it was "Maya" for sannyasis to go swimming in the ocean.


© CHAKRA 22 February 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - February 21, 2001
By Vipramukhya Swami

CHAKRA (Jagannath Puri, India) - February 21, 2001: This morning we looked out the window as it was getting light and saw Lokanath Swami walking by on the road in front of the sea. We waved and he waved back.

© CHAKRA 21 February 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - February 20, 2001
By Vipramukhya Swami

CHAKRA (Jagannath Puri, India) - February 20, 2001: The beach is alive. As it gradually moves from the dark of night to dawn, I shine my flashlight at the sand and see a small crab, not more than an inch across, looking at me. To my side there is a bigger crab, perhaps 4 inches across. They don't seem to bother anyone. They are shy creatures of the Holy Dham. They dig a hole and remove the sand by taking it out sideways. Then they retreat into their hole again.

© CHAKRA 21 February 2001

Pilgrim's Diary - February 19, 2001
By Vipramukhya Swami

CHAKRA (Jagannatha Puri, India) - February 19, 2001: Technology - I have these strange little gadgets, which right here may seem a little odd. I'm sitting on a beach. A dog has come by and briefly looks at me, then goes away, his tale in the air. The ocean is not more than 30 feet from where I'm sitting. I am just out of reach of the waves. The sound of the surf beating relentlessly, though the waves are mild, is in my ears.

© CHAKRA 20 February 2001