Go Fund Me page started

Raman Iyer has started a GoFundMe page to collect funds for my travel to Canada. I thank him for his support and approve of it.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jagadanandaji-travel-to-find-his-missing-son

Thanks to all those who are so generously helping me with this painful but necessary pilgrimage. 

About my Sanskrit courses at Jiva this autumn

 जीव तीर्थ संस्कृतम्

I don't want to leave Vrindavan or my cave in the Jiva Institute, but I have been obliged to change my plans somewhat and resume a responsibility towards my family because of these very painful circumstances.

These are the crazy years of Covid. I will continue giving classes in Sanskrit and even if I cannot be back in Vrindavan by Karttik (because of visa and flight restrictions) I will continue to give them on Zoom, as currently.

It is best when we have live students present physically on the premises, but in the current circumstances, easy movement between countries has been disrupted, and India is considered to be a particularly tough place for Covid, even though in terms of cases per population [342 per million, compared to USA nearly 2000 or Brazil 2700.], it is quite far down the list. But there are still a huge number of cases.

So the new normal appears to be Zoom. Let me state unequivocally, however, that I am committed to my students and I am looking forward to starting the Bhagavad Gita with commentary Sanskrit reading course at the scheduled date.

This last repetition of the current iteration of the course, which is approaching completion now, has resulted in many great improvements.

It appears now that if someone follows and does the homework, they should be able to attain basic competency within six months. And with the addition of the reading course, they will have the tools to handle any text--with the help of a dictionary of course.

It will also make access to Babaji's Hari-nāmāmr̥ta-vyākaraṇa course much easier, so it opens the doors to a more thorough knowledge of Sanskrit grammar, as all the basic terms and usages will have been introduced. Many of Babaji's students who worked with me are telling me this is so.

I have worked hard to design a course that gives access to the Bhāgavatam and our Gauḍīya texts. The orientation is towards rasa, or getting a taste for the language as well as getting a feel for the specific genius of Sanskrit and its unique ways of expression.

Most students have found it an enjoyable experience because of the chanting and memorization of iconic illustrative verses from the scriptures as well as daily "calisthenics" of declension and conjugation recitation.

For anybody wishing to do an intensive six-month course (5 days a week) covering all the basics, then I recommend taking this opportunity, because it is one that, like the human body itself, is both sulabha and sudurlabha.

There is a lot of competition out there, but I strongly feel the approach I have devised is a superior one, but it takes commitment for the six month period and then seriousness about continuing one's engagement with Sanskrit afterwards.

* Knowing the Sanskrit alphabet is a prerequisite for the course. So start learning NOW.

Please contact Malatimanjari Dasi (info@jiva.org) if you are interested. Jai Radhe.

Love and Loss in the Kali Yuga

 My dear friends. Radhe Radhe!

Anne and I both appreciate the positive vibrations and sentiments coming from you all [in response to posts on Facebook about Pavel]. In circumstances like this, it takes solidarity from the living to give one the will to continue.

⁠That is the practical social reality for the living. But Krishna says one should lament neither for the living nor the dead. Of course Pavel is still alive, in this form or another, because once having existence, the soul never loses it. He is simply visible to us physically or not.
⁠
In actual fact, I have long thought about love in this world and the next. The Upanishads and the Bhagavatam tell us that we love others because of ourselves. We are self-centered and so others' value is measured in how much pleasure they give us. And we call that pleasure love.
⁠
But what we don't know is that it is actually the presence of the Self in every individual that attracts us, is revealed to us, and that is the true thing that gives us pleasure. We are revealed to ourselves through the objects of our love. The degree to which that happens is the measure of our love.
⁠
But ultimately that Self is Krishna, the real, true existential object of our love, which is only partially reflected in our worldly loving relations. At times like this, it is necessary to transfer that love to Him and to His universal presence. We are only truly revealed to ourselves by loving Him. This is how we make our love eternal.

It is heartwarming to know that one has so many friends around the world who feel the pain that Anne and I feel. This certainly deepens my faith in a God of Love and the community of faith and practice. It inspires me to continue serving you through continuing to explore this path of Ultimate Good, sharing my study and experience, however trivial in God's eyes, with all of you. Jai Radhe. 

My son Pavel disappears while mountain biking

The entire Brzezinski and Campeano families have been shocked and devastated by the news that my son Pavel (30 years old) disappeared in a popular wilderness and mountain biking area near Quebec City, Vallée du Bras-nord. He went up last Sunday, the 15th, and went missing on the same day. We have no idea what happened to him. 

He was a beautiful child, smart, talented, full of potential. He had growing pains, but was just coming through them all -- he finally got his computer science degree, got a good paying job he liked doing, had friends and a girlfriend. Life was looking up for him like never before. He had seemingly come through a dark zone and was opening up to a life of achievement. It is terrible not to know what happened to him. It is terrible to see it all come to such a sudden and meaningless end.

He was blessed in so many ways. From childhood he had been hearing the Holy Name. He had taken prasada and loved it. He was a lifelong vegetarian, and a great advertisement for vegetarianism: He was physically strong and brimming with good health. He had tremendous talent as a pianist and had received classical training in voice as well.

Under social pressure, he took the two Covid shots, against the will of his mother who felt that the vaccine would only diminish his natural resistance, which was strong due to his general good health. Pavel had been complaining of chest pains after the second shot and his mental attitude had been less positive afterwards. But on the day he left for Quebec, he was cheerful and enthusiastic about the trip and showed no negative mood at all.

The companions with whom he was mountain-biking also saw nothing in his attitude that differed from the customary. But at one point, Pavel said he wanted to go down a different trail and separated from the group. We don't know why he did that. He said he would meet up with the others for lunch at 2.30, but never showed up. His friends reported to the park rangers and the Sureté Québec (the provincial police force) and they soon found his bicycle, helmet and glasses on the trail, but without any sign of Pavel.

 

This will give you and idea of what the area looks like.
The natural scenery there is pretty incredible. Check the link.

The search began and for five days they looked up and down the trails. There was no sign of his making an entry into the forest itself, but the cover is so thick at this time of the year that it is impossible not to get lost within only a few meters of the trail. For the same reason, the search parties did not go into the woods, but they saw no signs that Pavel had entered at some point himself.

They looked along the cliffs and in some caves, they look along the river at the bottom of the cliffs. They used dogs, helicopters, drones and hundreds of local volunteers, including Pavel's friends, some of whom stayed on. But after five days they said we cannot go on. They found no body, so we are left without closure.

Did he run off somewhere? Did he pull a disappearing act? Was he abducted? None of this makes any sense at all. Could he have had some psychotic or drug-induced episode? His friends say he did not take anything and that he was behaving completely normally.

His mother, Anne, is going with his cousin to see if there is anything that can be done. If nothing else, they will at least see where his last traces are to be found. She still hopes against hope. Pavel lived with his mother still and indeed he was everything to her in a way that even I cannot understand. I cannot imagine how disastrous all this is to her. 

Pavel came into this world surrounded by love and he was loved throughout. It is not right that this lovely young man should be taken away from us prematurely, before all the powers within him could be expressed for the service of God and humanity.

Perhaps he will still be found or will show up again, but it is hard to hope in these circumstances. Wherever you are, Pavel, we are with you in spirit. Continue your journey to the Ultimate Good and we are with you. Our love and our fearlessness accompany you. May the grace of Sri Krishna always go with you. 

aho vidhātas tava na kvacid dayā

saṁyojya maitryā praṇayena dehinaḥ

tāṁś cākṛtārthān viyunaṅkṣy apārthakaṁ

vikrīḍitaṁ te ‘rbhaka-ceṣṭitaṁ yathā

O God of Destiny, you never show any mercy!

You bring embodied souls together through friendship and affection,

but before their desires are fulfilled, you separate them again.

Your game is like the meaningless actions of a child. (10.39.19)

At times like this, we devotees have no other recourse but the Bhagavad Gita and our other texts, which start from the reminder that we all die. We die, those we love die. There is no escape for anyone, so why lament? We trust in the will of the Lord. This temporary world is a vale of suffering and provides no shelter for anyone. Even so, it is hard to conjure up the divine indifference of a Shrivas Thakur.

Naturally, at a time like this, I would like to be with Anne to help her get through this unimaginably difficult situation, but I have no money to travel, there are Covid restrictions on travel to Canada, and I am also facing a critical time in getting passport and visa renewed. But money is the main problem.