I recently gave a talk at the Krishna Fest at Gaura Yoga on the “Vedic System of Self-Development”. Thanks to Sivarama Swami for the inspiration for this talk.

You can view the talk synchronized with slides here:

or download the source AAC file vedic system of self-development.m4a

or download the source MP3 file vedic system of self-development.mp3

I was listening to the following podcast:

Darrel Rhea: Marking During an Economic Meltdown

The title is deceptive. It is more about analyzing a market or activity holistically and reinventing it to taking into account the complete picture. With a complete view of all the factors, motivations, desires, side-effects and intentions, one can transform into a truly customer focused organization.

Darrel Rhea gives example how he helped do this for Apple Retail Stores, Electrolux Kitchen Appliances, the Australian Tax System and Hospital Stroke Treatment.

How about we think about the classic Sunday Feast in this way? In New Zealand the Sunday Feast has already been adapted and reinvented to a certain extent to make it more accessible to newcomers, but without changing any of the core values of Krishna Consciousness. But more can always be done to improve it even further.

(Learn more about the “Krishna Fest” as it is in Wellington, New Zealand: Gaura Yoga - Festivals)

Think of the usual kind of person that might attend a Krishna Conscious center: curious, wary, ignorant of any kind of philosophy, averse to ritual, averse to religion, proud, attached to the opposite sex, not able to sit on the floor for long periods of time, short attention span, self-conscious (unless intoxicated), concerned about spending too much money and concerned about the environment (although not actually doing much about it).

So, using that picture of the typical guest, how would you reinvent the Sunday Feast with a fresh outlook, unencumbered by past traditions? Things that might be changed: name, time, music, types of events, sequence of events, physical layout of the room(s), decoration of the room(s), devotee numbers, devotee dress & accessories and devotee language & attitude.

Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.

I just got back from a 10-day Christmas retreat. Most of the Hare Krishna devotees in New Zealand attended this festival of inspiration, rejuvenation and association. Over 100 devotees were there, in total.

The retreat was held in the Otaki region of New Zealand (1 hour North of Wellington). We rented out two retreat centers: Riverslea and Waihoanga; and also used our own retreat center Gaura Haven for accommodation.

The 10-day passed quickly. There were so many brilliant talks, inspiring presentations, delicious spiritual food (prasadam), and nice people to talk to. A slight downer was that everyone (and I do mean everyone) got sick. A nasty flu virus managed to infect everyone’s bodies. It lasted about four days in most people. Nevertheless, it was a brilliant time.

I took about 900 photos over the course of the retreat. A selection of images is available in my picture gallery.

Visnumaya recently gave a talk at Gaura Yoga on cow protection, ecology and sustainability. She has posted the talk and the presentation slides on her website. Much recommended. Check it out:

“Holy Cow Protection” eco-talk at Gaura Yoga

I have been taking some pictures in and around Gaura Haven / New Gupta Vraja, a retreat center recently acquired by Gaura Yoga, located in Otaki (about an hour’s drive outside of Wellington). Here is a gallery the best photographs, the so-called “glory shots”.

I’m relatively new to landscape photography. So, advice and suggestions are welcome.

Additionally, I gave a photo presentation about Gaura Haven at our recent Vyasa-Puja festival in honor of Devamrita Swami. That presentation contains 84 images, documenting all aspects of the retreat center. You can view it here (62 MB PDF).

Last month I went on an eco-retreat with a group of young interested persons who have been coming along to the Gaura Yoga center in Wellington New Zealand. We went to Gaura Haven (New Gupta Vraja), a retreat center recently acquired by Gaura Yoga. While there we proceeded to plant a variety of organic vegetables. The idea is to slowly move towards self-sufficiency.

Here some pictures from the weekend events:

On the weekend of the 25th of October, 2008 the majority of practitioners of Krishna consciousness in New Zealand (and a few from Australia) went to a retreat center in Inglewood, NZ called Vertical Horizon. There we celebrated the Vyasa-Puja (birthday of the spiritual master) of Devamrita Swami.

It was a grand festivals. Nearly 100 devotees were present. It was expertly organized by Visnumaya and Gopal Guru. So many great activities, presentations and speeches. The spiritual food (prasadam) was over-the-top great. I also really enjoyed seeing and speaking with many, many old friends.

I took over 800 photos. You can view a selection of the best shots here:

(the images 0.8-megapixel images in the gallery are fine for viewing on screen, but not nearly detailed enough for large prints. If anyone wants to print out any of the images, please email me and I can supply the original full 14.6 megapixel images from the Pentax K20d)

In this talk at Gaura Yoga in Wellington, New Zealand I discuss a topic that has confounded many statesmen, philosophers and theologians. Why do bad things happen to good people and why do good things happen to bad people? I give an overview of different so-called answers that people try to give to this question. I then explain how the science of Krishna consciousness gives a much more satisfying and sensible answer than any other source of knowledge. There are lots of questions in the end.

(click on the above image to play audio/video)

or download the source AAC file bad things.m4a

or download the source MP3 file bad things.mp3

or download the slides as a PDF file bad things.pdf

In this talk at Gaura Yoga I give some practical advice on how to give an interesting and inspirational Krishna conscious presentation.

Download the talk as an enhanced podcast (slides synced to audio) in AAC/M4A format (35 minutes). This file is playable in iTunes or on iPods.

Or, if you can’t play or don’t like Apple’s media formats, here is the audio of the talk in MP3 format.

You can also download the slides I used as a PDF.

It took over 4 years, but it has finally happened. I have completed my PhD in Computer Science at the University of Manchester, UK. That’s right: I’m now officially Doctor Julian M. Seidenberg / Candidasa dasa.

You can download and read my PhD thesis, if you like.

This PhD degree has been the greatest austerity I’ve ever undertaken. It was often frustrating, demotivating, felt like it would never end, caused my body to frequently fall ill and resulted in a huge amount of worry and pain.

However, the austerity of this PhD have been child’s play compared with what a sage named Markandeya Rsi went through. (His story is told in the 12th Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam. I’m recalling it in my own words here):

Markandeya was meditating on the Supreme Personality of Godhead in his small heritage for many years. He was very strictly and sincerely meditating. So much so, in fact, that Indra, the King of Heaven (aka Zeus), became worried that this Markandeya might become eligible to take over his position soon. Indra therefore sent a team of people to break Markandeya’s meditation.

He sent Cupid along with the best of the heavenly singers (Gandharvas), the most beautiful of the heavenly exotic dancers (Apsaras), the season of spring, a gentle cool breeze, intoxication personified and greed personified (the mode of passion and the false ego of thinking in terms of “I” and “mine”). A celebrate monk’s worst nightmare. All these together were to create a situation where Markandeya would be tempted to stop his meditation and enjoy materially.

However, faced with these allurements, Markandeya wasn’t even slightly shaken. He remained completely steady and fixed in his worship.

Markandeya Rsi’s austerities were so powerful, in fact, that the members of Indra’s assault team began to burn-up within (similar to what happen when Kapila Muni was attacked by the sons of Sagara who thought he had stolen a sacrificial horse).

Eventually, while Markandeya was meditating in this way, the Nara-Narayana avatar came and visited him. Markandeya immediately recognized the Supreme Lord and worshiped him with expert poetry.

The sage explained: Krishna is like a spider, He creates everything within the universe like a spider creates his web, and then He retracts it all back within Himself. Through Krishna one can conquer material misery, death and even time itself. Time is so powerful that even Lord Brahma (the oldest and most intelligent person in the universe) fears it, but Krishna’s devotee need not fear time. The devotee knows that his self is not the body. The modes of nature generally bind us to the material world, but the devotee knows how to use the mode of goodness as a launch pad to blast himself off on a trajectory back to Godhead. Because of their perverted and sinful activities, materialists cannot understand Krishna. So material philosophers therefore come up with so many different theories, doctrines and religions. These are created to match their particular mix of the modes of nature (satva-, raja- and tama-guna), but have no real substance.

After hearing this nice prayer by Markandeya, Nara-Narayana offered him any benediction he might desire. The sage answered that just seeing his worshipable Lord was all he desired. He could imagine no greater gift. However, he was curious about the illusory energy (maya). He asked to understand how it could bewilder so many people into thinking material life was the one true reality.

The Lord ruefully promised to fulfill his wish and then disappeared.

Markandeya went on meditating for a few years when suddenly strong wind started to blow. Soon after, it started raining very heavily. The intense rains caused severe flooding. This hurricane went on continuously for many years. The intense weather eventually caused the entire surface of the earth to become flooded. Practically all species died off in this intense atmosphere. Gigantic sharks roamed the wild waters. The flooding even spread to the higher-dimensional space of the heavenly planets. It was the devastation at the end of the day of Brahma.

Markandeya was swimming and drifting throughout all of this. He lost all sense of orientation, he felt intense hunger and thirst, he got attacked by sharks, he felt extreme pain from various injuries, he was completely exhausted continuously fighting for his life, he frequently fell ill, he felt lamentation, happiness (when he temporarily escaped some danger), fear and misery. This went on for many, many years, all throughout the night of Brahma (4.32 billion years).

After an extremely long time drifting in the waters of devastation, Markandeya spotted a small island with a banyan tree growing on it. In one corner of the tree he saw a young child. As he swam closer to the island he noticed the wonderful beauty of the child. He noted his blackish-blue skin, wonderful jewelry, shark-shaped earrings, auspicious bodily markings and nice cosmetic decorations.

Then, suddenly, the child inhaled and began to suck everything surrounding him into his mouth. Markandeya also got sucked into the mouth of this wondrous child. Within the mouth he saw his old hermitage, the waters of devastation, the heavenly planets, the creation and destruction of the universe, everything, the entire universal manifestation; he even saw time itself, past, present and future, all at once. The child then exhaled and Markandeya found himself spat out back into the waters of devastation.

As he once again began to struggle to keep his head above the waters, he suddenly found himself transported back to his old heritage, as if nothing had happened. He then realized: “oh … so this is the power of the illusory energy!”.

And I realize: a PhD is nothing compared to that.

There are so many different religions and spiritual systems out there. Which should you choose and why?

In this talk at the Gaura Yoga centre in Wellington, New Zealand I give some criteria by which one can judge how bona fide a spiritual system is. I conclude by explaining how well Krishna consciousness does when judged by these criteria.

Download selection of the presentation slides [24 MB].

Download just the audio of presentation [34 MB]

Download version formatted for iPod/iPhone [153 MB].

Download highest-quality version [262 MB].

I have now been in Wellington, New Zealand for exactly one month. It is great!

I have uploaded a photo album of some of the pictures I have taken here over the last month. The images are of the events, activities and prasadam (food) in and around the Gaura Yoga center.

All shots were taken with a Pentax K20d D-SLR. I continue to be amazed at the quality of images this camera produces. Infamous photographer Ken Rockwell preaches that the camera doesn’t matter. He argues that just like owning a Bösendorfer piano will not magically make you into a great pianist, similarly owning a good camera does not automatically mean you take great pictures. The folks at the Luminous Landscape respond by saying that the camera does matter. They argue that it is critically important. A good set of tools can turn a okay craftsman into a great one.

I think both viewpoints have some truth to them. A good camera does not automatically result in better pictures, but it does definitely allow one to take pictures in more demanding situations (less light, fast moving subjects, far away subjects, distracting backgrounds, etc.). Even in ideal situations, a good camera and lens combination can turn a good photograph into a great one. However, the best equipment alone will, of course, not magically turn a run-of-a-mill photographer into Annie Leibovitz. Artist’s consciousness is ultimately what creates the artwork. The tools are just instruments through which the artist manipulates the world of matter around him or her. A better tool allows for more detailed precise manipulation of matter.

So yes, I like the K20d. Check out the new pictures.

I have moved from Manchester, United Kingdom to Wellington, New Zealand. Last Sunday I gave the Krishna Fest presentation at the Gaura Yoga center here in Wellington. The topic was the “Science of Happiness” (analyzed using the teachings on the three modes of material nature from the Bhagavad-Gita: As it Is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada).

Download and view a higher quality (800×600) version of the video here [124 MB].

My bodily situation forces me to have a vegan diet (and the unhealthiness of the substance formally known as ‘milk’, as well as the extreme cruelty of the dairy farming industry would probably lead me to be vegan even if I could digest milk). So, some people may ask: “how do you get your calcium and iron?”

The answer is not: “you must eat dairy products!”, or “you must take this kind of supplement!”.

The dairy industry has long perpetuated the myth that calcium is only available from milk (much like the meat industry has perpetuated the myth that the only way to get protein is by eating lots of meat). It is a testimony to the power of advertising that we believe these seemingly “universally acknowledged truths”. Calcium is, in fact, available from a variety of vegetables, in much greater quality and quantity than it is present in milk.

Taking a supplement is also not the answer. The body and different types of foods work as an integrated system, each supporting each other. So, just popping a pill with the necessary mineral simply results in that substance passing through the body, unabsorbed.

You can eat as much calcium as you like, but without doing any exercise it won’t be absorbed into your bones. Without exercise calcium goes into your joints instead. The result: stiff joints (arthritis) and weak bones (osteoporosis). Calcium supplements have also been shown to increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease and kidney stones.

Moreover, Calcium dependents on vitamin D and magnesium to aid its absorption. The best way to get vitamin D is to spend 5 - 10 minutes in sunlight every day (without sunglasses or sunscreen). The best way to get magnesium is to eat seeds, nuts and whole grains. So, calcium, magnesium, exercise and sunlight must be taken together in order for the calcium to be absorbed (as explained in greater detail in these videos). Calcium and protein, however, do not go well together. People who consume too much protein also absorb less calcium, especially if the two are taken together.

Interestingly, however, calcium and dark fruit juices inhibit the absorption of iron in the body. To help the absorption of iron, vitamin C is required. Great sources of vitamin C are lemon or orange juices.

On the other hand, dark fruit juices (like red grape juice) are good for removing toxins in the food. So, when eating food which is unhealthy or full of pesticides (basically anything non-organic), it is a good idea to also take some dark fruit juice with it in order to remove at least some of the toxins.

So, everything works together in a web of interrelation and support. There are no quick fixes. A holistic healthy lifestyle is required.

I’ve installed a new picture gallery software on this website. The old coppermine gallery was nice, but kind of clunky and didn’t integrate well with my desktop applications. So, out it went. In its place it put a gallery called (simply) Gallery.

Take a look at the new gallery. You will find an archive of all the photos from the old gallery and a brand new picture album. The pictures in the new album were taken with a new Pentax K20d DSLR camera. I think you will notice these pictures are of significantly higher quality than all the previous images (shot with an old Minolta A1). If, for some reason, you want to look at the old coppermine gallery, that is still online here.

German news Heute.de is reporting a story in Nature magazine about the recent discovery of the oldest mammal named Materpiscis attenboroughi (a type of Placodermi). Researchers from Australia found a fossil of this fish containing several embryos connected to their mother by an umbilical cord, making it the earliest known mammal. The fossil is estimated to be 380 million years old. This is older than the dinosaurs (which existed roughly 230 million to 65 million years ago).

This discovery suggests that mammals existed far earlier than it was previously thought. The earliest mammal previous to this new discovery was a small mouse-like creature known as Hadrocodium Wui discovered in China by Zhe-Xi Luo, Alfred W. Crompton and Ai-Lin Sun. This creature lived roughly 195 million years ago.

Lead research John Long of the Museum Victoria in Melbourne, Australia says that this new discovery means that the current models of evolution need to be adjusted significantly.