Living in Australia

From now on I'm operating by the principle Rick Warren shared in a recent conference:

Divert daily.
Withdraw weekly.
Abandon annually.

This was the annual abandoning of ship. Acyuta Bhava had gone up to Cairns to cook at Jagat-pati and Taruni's restaurant "Gaura Nitais", and she invited us to come up for a week while she was there.

Jagat-pati and Taruni are currently in Mexico at an alternative health hospital where Jagat-pati is receiving treatment for brain cancer. Western medical doctors had given up hope and sent him home to die. His wife is a real Aussie battler, however, and was having none of that. She sought out the best alternative health solution and took him over there. Taruni called on our last day in Cairns and said that Jagat-pati had made huge improvements and is now able to read Srila Prabhupada's books 2-3 hours a day again, after 18 months of not being able to read for more than a few minutes.

Natural holisitic medicine 1 | Western scientific medicine 0

We all die. It's about the quality of your life while you're alive, as much as the duration of your life.

What is the value of a prolonged life which is wasted, inexperienced by years in this world? Better a moment of full consciousness, because that gives one a start in searching after his supreme interest.

- Srimad Bhagavatam 2.1.12

While in Cairns we did Harinam on Friday, and the bi-weekly Sunday Feast program at the restaurant.

Apart from that we chanted in the morning, listened to a few of H.H. Hrdayananda das Goswami's 2002 lectures, and just hung out.

Clemens and Craig were also up there in Cairns. Craig, who is a local, took Clemens, Prahlad and I to a beautiful water hole where we did some swimming and sat around shooting the breeze.

More later, including our SCUBA diving on the Great Barrier Reef, transplanting 80 tulasis, and Prahlad's 6th birthday...

"Bundaberg - It's Australian for Ginger Beer"

We arrived back from our sojourn in Cairns yesterday to a letterbox filled with mail. Among the various letters was one from the Department of Immigration - Param Satya, Prahlad, and I have been granted permanent residence in Australia.

It's always an issue with visas for us, because we have passports from three different countries - Param Satya from the US, Prahlad from Peru, and myself from NZ. Now we all have permanent residency in the same country, and can also apply for citizenship.

We came here four years ago as ISKCON missionaries. Prahlad and I are able to stay here without a visa, due to possessing NZ citizenship (myself by birth, Prahlad by descent). Param Satya, however, has been on a religious worker visa.

So what does it mean now that we all have permanent residency? It means that I can give up the show of devotional service and now pursue my true agenda. Bwahahahahahahaha!

(just kidding...)

To relieve that "burning of the universe" feeling... here's something about what I've been up to.

On Tuesday night Prahlad and I dropped by the Shabazz School of Self Defense, run by local Master Warrior Ali Shabazz. Ali Shabazz is also known by the name Abhilasa dasa. In addition to being a student of martial arts traditions he is also a student of the ancient Vedic spiritual tradition, and was one of the youngest of the disciples of the great world teacher Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

I shot some video for the Master Warrior for his youtube channel, and Prahlad picked up some instruction.

Prahlad will continue with his instruction, as in the future he will either practice or teach it, or both.

Here are some videos of Master Warrior Shabazz in action:

Currently Param Satya is applying for permanent residency in Australia. She is on a bridging visa while she does this. Initially she was on a religious worker visa, sponsored by ISKCON in Brisbane.

It's taken almost two years since we first put the application in. A series of mishaps and lost documentation, the need to get documentation from Perú (a torturous affair), and the last minute addition of Prahlad and myself to the application have made it stretch out waaaaaay looooonger than it should have.

In the time since we initiated the process the process has changed. An "Australian Values" statement has been added to the application. I'm just printing it out now so that we can sign it and add it to the application form.

I mention this to underscore the point that I made in the analysis of Richard Dawkins vs Josef Al-Khattab - cultural diversity and multi-cultural integration are prominent themes in the environment today, as our globalized world increasingly flattens.

Rigid cultural inflexibility and especially proselytizing on the basis of cultural practices (what Al-Khattab was doing) is not acceptable to modern persons. However, you are free to retain your culture, and to adopt the cultural practices of others if you choose. This provides the window of opportunity to go in, and means that members of minority cultures, such as myself and Bhakta Corey (now initiated as Caitanya das BVKS), are free to practice our faith and live according to our cultural values within the host culture without being persecuted in countries such as Australia and the US.

We are free to retain our own culture, others can not challenge our right to practice our own culture, others have the right to adopt and participate in our culture.

The only restrictions are that we respect the rights of others to practice their own culture, and that we participate in the meta-culture of Australia as described in the statement below. It doesn't require us to break any of the four religious principles, so it is not incompatible with our spiritual practice.

If Krishna Consciousness really is superior, then it should be able to win on its own merits. We welcome a situation like the one described in the Australian Values, because it gives us a fair opportunity to compete in the open market of cultural ideas. Now it's just up to us to embody the principles.

Here's the Australian Values statement that we have to sign:

I confirm that I have read, or had explained to me, information provided by the Australian Government on Australian society and values.

I understand:

• Australian society values respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual, freedom of religion, commitment to the rule of law, Parliamentary democracy, equality of men and women and a spirit of egalitarianism that embraces mutual respect, tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need and pursuit of the public good;
• Australian society values equality of opportunity for individuals, regardless of their race, religion or ethnic background;
• the English language, as the national language, is an important unifying element of Australian society.

I undertake to respect these values of Australian society during my stay in Australia and to obey the laws of Australia.

I understand that, if I should seek to become an Australian citizen:

• Australian citizenship is a shared identity, a common bond which unites all Australians while respecting their diversity;

Australian citizenship involves reciprocal rights and responsibilities. The responsibilities of Australian citizenship include obeying Australian laws, including those relating to voting at elections and serving on a jury.

If I meet the legal qualifications for becoming an Australian citizen and my application is approved I understand that I would have to pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people.

This is a long weekend in Australia, the "land of the long weekend". Monday is Labour day, so Sunday we spent the day out with no concerns about working on Monday.

First of all we went to the opening of Brisbane's new Inner City Busway. It's been a huge two year effort to build this underground bus tunnel, and Sunday was the public open day, where Brisbane citizens are invited to walk through the tunnel.

This work started shortly after we rented the current Atma Yoga studio, and meant that the road outside was boarded off for a year. Many business went under in this time. We weathered our way through it by Krishna's grace, and 18 months later the road outside Atma had become a beautiful pedestrian mall.

The tunnel itself is a remarkable piece of engineering. It has been cut through the most dense area of infrastructure in the city, right under the CBD, with the myriad of pipes and wires under the ground. It has changed the face of the city too, with roads re-routed, widened, and the area re-landscaped. Brisbane City Council is building out the infrastructure throughout the city for the massive influx of population (1500 people per week).

We are also working on our three-year plan to build out our infrastructure to position ourselves to meet the challenges of the future, at the moment.

Brisbane provides a number of facilities for her citizens, reminiscent of the descriptions of Vedic cities, with parks, benchs, and water fountains in abundance. Maybe it's because I came here from a three year stint in Peru, but I was really impressed with the opulence of the infrastructure. However, the council is unable to supply the residents of Brisbane with rain. In this way it falls short of the Vedic standard of government.

Above ground and underground there were many activities for the whole family. Prahlad had fun on the bouncing castle.

There was a lady performing Middle Eastern dance Raqs Sharqi, aka Belly Dancing. Since I've been studying the Egyptian tabla, which is commonly used to accompany this style of dance, we stuck around to see her perform. I was hoping she would have live music, but I expected it to be canned. Such is the deterioration of culture. Today most people cannot play a musical instrument, although everyone has an mp3 player. That's called a consumer culture.

I've been interested in the music, and Param Satya has been studying the dance. Just before I shot this video the dancer pulled Param Satya out and they both danced together. Param said she would leave me if I posted the video, so sorry, if you weren't there, you missed it. :-)

In Vedic culture women would traditionally have their hair braided. Covering the hair was also done by princesses. After the Muslim invasion covering the hair became more common. Previously in Vedic culture, actually, women did not wear anything on their upper body at all in the warmer regions of India.

Interestingly, Arjuna knew how to dance, and spent a year as a dance teacher to the princesses of a royal family. Arguably the best male belly dancer in the world lives in Sydney, Australia. His name is Jamil - check out his video on youtube. One of the best female dancers is American Sadie. Check her out here.

Campak Gaura's mother is coming to visit, and she does this style of dance. It's becoming a popular way for women to stay in shape. So Param and her will have something to do together when she comes.

After this we went to Southbank for the Buddha Birthday Festival.

I realized soon after coming here that Brisbane's opulence is due to the residual piety of the citizens. However, as they increasingly turn to materialistic consumerism the facilities are being progressively withdrawn.

At the heart of the festival - prasadam distribution.

These Bolivian musicians are a favorite at this festival. Does this music remind me of Krishna? You bet it does. I spent three years as an ISKCON missionary in South America and my son was born there. Every time I hear this music it brings back so many memories of my service there.

Then we went to the Sunday feast where Jana was leading a sweet kirtan. Like the belly dancer she didn't have her hair tied back, but at least she was chanting Hare Krishna, eh? :-)

To finish the evening off we were driving home past Harem, the local Turkish restaurant (because, like, every suburb here has one, right?), and we heard the sound of darbuka and Sajj coming out. So we stopped off and hung out for a while enjoying the cultural presentation there by the owner and friends.

Watch out for a video of me playing darbuka there soon...

Pretty big day.

I picked up a copy at work. Here's the Lord Mayor's introduction. Anyone else seen Dune, or Mad Max - Beyond Thunderdome?

(note: emphasis is mine)

More than a thousand people move into the Brisbane region each week. As part of the fastest growing region in Australia, we must engage in a public discussion about how and where we will support our increasing population and, in particular, how we can more efficiently use our valuable natural resources. Brisbane's water supply has contributed significantly to the economic prosperity of our city and the increasing needs and demands on our water supply now pose the greatest threat to its sustainability. If we do not change our water use practices now, there's a real chance that in 20 years time our region will not be able to maintain future water needs. Also impacting on Brisbane's water supply future is the increasing evidence of a gradual decline in water fall due to climate change.

Water is an increasingly valuable natural resource. However, only one percent of Brisbane's current drinkable water is used for drinking, with more than half of our domestic water supply ending up on our gardens and lawns. Our challenge is to create a policy framework to ensure our children and future generations of people living in South East Queensland have a sustainable future.

The goal of "Water for Today and Tomorrow" is to maintain a supply of fresh water, as well as preserve the health of our rivers and Moreton Bay. As a community and as individuals, householders, businesses and families, we must accept the need to change the way we value - and use - water. We cannot continue to think of water as something that just comes out of a tap and goes down a drain. If we are to properly manage our water resources, and maintain the great subtropical lifestyle we value so much, we meed the cooperation of the community, business, industry and all levels of government.

I encourage you to join me in helping Brisbane realise its long-term vision of becoming a "Water Smart City"

When I first starting preaching from Bhagavad-gita a decade ago, people would say: "What do you mean you have to perform yajna to get rain? No one is performing sacrifice to the Supreme Lord, and it's still raining!"

No-one can say that now. You are being punished. If you want to have a Godless civilization - one that attempts to enjoy the facilities of this world without reference to the creator and owner, you will be punished.

The current godless civilisation will be ground into dust if it does not reform its ways.

Animals do not respond to reason, only force. If people refuse to listen to the reasonable explanations of saints and scriptures, then nature will use force to reform them.

As Srila Prabhupada explained, the problem with the world is not the quantity of people, but the quality.

The Earth can produce sufficient to support everyone, but if the people are sinful and misguided in their interaction with the environment, then the Earth will react to cast them off.

Just like a body develops a fever to eliminate diseased cells, the Earth is about to burn up the diseased civilization currently attacking it. The target of the reaction is the mentality that is driving things today, just as the fever attacks a virus that has inserted itself into otherwise healthy cells.

We must cast off this mentality ourselves, and rectify our interaction with the environment, acknowledging the existence and proprietorship of the Supreme Lord. We have to change the goal of our human life from one of unfettered sense gratification, which satisfies no-one and destroys the Earth, to one of self-realization and contented living.

We can do this by coming together to chant the Lord's Holy Names, by developing wholesome God-centered culture of music, artistry, and philosophy, and simple living in community, with real human life.

In the meantime the so-called leaders of society do not address the root causes, but rather think about how to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic as it sinks.

In Australia's first known case of murder due to "water rage," a dispute over a suburban man's water usage led to him being beaten to death in front of his home. According to police, 66-year-old Ken Proctor was watering the lawn in front of his home in Sydney on October 31 at approximately 5:30 p.m. when a passerby made a comment to him about wasting water. Proctor then turned his hose on the other man, who knocked him to the ground and began to punch and kick him. The attacker was tackled by two bystanders, including an off-duty policeman, and an ambulance came for Proctor. Proctor later died in the hospital after experiencing a massive heart attack.

Due to a severe, nearly eight-year drought, intensive water restrictions are in place across most of Australia. Nearly all states have banned garden sprinklers and the use of hoses on cars or sidewalks.

Sydney, in addition, prohibits leaving hoses or taps unattended except to filling pools, and permits are required for pools larger than 10,000 gallons. The use of fire hoses is prohibited for any use other than firefighting. Hand watering of lawns or gardens is only allowed on Wednesdays or Sundays before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m.

Because the incident that led to his death happened on a Wednesday, Proctor was actually complying with the city's water rules at the time.

The drought is Australia's worst in at least 100 years. Combined with over-extraction of water, the drought has caused the flows of the country's two largest southeast rivers, the Murray and Darling, to dwindle. More than three-quarters of New South Wales is experiencing a drought, and Victoria has announced that 100 percent of its farmland has been hit.

While a number of suburban disputes, arguments and calls to police have risen from water restrictions, Proctor's is believed to be the first death cause by such a water dispute.

source: Natural News.com

GOOOOOUUUUUURRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Kali yuga pavana Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki jay!
Kali yuga dharma Harinam sankirtan ki jay!

The local Tower of Babel, the Red Hill cell antenna, towers over the burnt-out remnants of human culture...

Shot on the way to work this morning. It's about a 30 minute walk to the new office.

I just finished a two-day course to become qualified as a "First Aider", able to provide first aid and emergency life support in the event of accident or medical emergency. As a yoga teacher I need to keep a current First Aid certificate, and my work needed more First Aid qualified people onsite so I put my hand up to do the course.

I must say that this course was the best of Western medical technology. All the things that were covered were things for which I would take shelter of modern medical technology - broken limbs, spine and head injuries, penetration wounds, lacerations, venomous bites, and so on.

It was also good for showing all the things that can go wrong with the body. We watched a video about heat, chemical, and radiation burns, and one about diving accidents.

We practiced CPR on mannequins - the chances of reviving someone using this are only 5%, but if you use it to keep them alive until a defibrillator arrives (such as with an ambulance crew) then it increases to 70%. They told about a troupe of young Canadian scouts who rotated to perform CPR on their troupe leader for nearly 24 hours while two of the members hiked out to get help.

H.H. Hanumat-presaka Swami encourages his disciples to do First Aid training. He or one of his disciples was the first responder at a car crash, and was able to sustain one of the accident victims lives until help arrived. If I had to deal with an unconscious person, someone having a fit, or someone whose heart has stopped before doing this course I wouldn't have known what to do. Now I feel confident that I can deal with the situation if not completely competently at least not completely incompetently.

Regardless of all our ministrations, however, at some point the heart will stop beating. There is no avoiding that. It is not a question of whether I give my life to Krishna or keep it for myself. This is the way that Maya presents the choice to you - as if there were a choice. We cannot keep our life - it is slipping through our fingers. We are losing it either way. Better to give it to Krishna while we can, rather than find ourselves at the fag end with nothing left to give, and nothing left to show for it either.

Let this temporary body be burnt to ashes, and let the air of life be merged with the totality of air. Now, O my Lord, please remember all my sacrifices, and because You are the ultimate beneficiary, please remember all that I have done for You.

- Sri Isopanisad Mantra 17