Tattva-viveka
Pictures from the Ole Days
Syamasundara - January 7, 2008 5:10 am
All righty, here they go (also see Audarya Notes>The Deities in Audarya, Infinite in finite appearance, posts #28, #29):
First, the adi-buddies, when we thought they were going to grow no more than 36"...
I'm looking at Bhumi, Dharma is keeping an eye on me.
This is the Incarnation of Book Distribution at work, at some weekly event in Eugene, accompanied by B.B. Visnu Maharaja and clueless us.
And that's clueless us: Vinodavani at the Harmonium, Citta Hari, myself, Ragatmika and Haribhakti.
Yes, I was wearing glasses, but once they broke, and I took advantage to apply the Bates method and got my 20/20 back. Totally forgot about it.
This was our templeroom in Eugene on a normal day. Tulasi Devi was still in the closet.
And this is the same room during Janmastami/SP Avirbhava '96
But first, there is a pic from Balarama Purnima, the day I got accepted by GM
This was Dharmaraja's murti 
This is our CH becoming a born-again Krishna, on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Avirbhava '97. Next to him are Shatananda's son, Ramalaksmana, and some guy Madhusudana (whatever happened with him) taking Harinama.
I had asked GM why there was no yajña for my initiation (Harinama and Diksa). He said I'll sit in the arena next time we'd have one. Little did I know he meant as the priest. I wonder if I did anything right that day. Looks spiffy...
And here they are, Citta Hari and Vinodavani, two kids (as I'll probably always see them in my heart) dealing with pot. I can't believe one is almost 40 and the other one is a father. They were 26 and 16 here.
Here is a frontal of Vinodavani. I'll never understand why my friends and family thought it was a girl.
Haribhakti getting ready to cook for the Lords.
If I'm not wrong this is GM singing the guru-vandana while Visnu Maharaja does the arati to SP. 
This is a famous picture of GM with Narasingha maharaja, with GM's house in the back, a picture that will be in my dining room, when I have a house 
And finally, this is a very ungrateful picture, you had to be there to see the expression in GM's eyes. If it wasn't clear, he was chanting japa.
Prema-bhakti - January 7, 2008 5:46 am
Thanks for posting these pics. It's nice to get a glimpse into the history and development of GM's mission.
Nanda-tanuja Dasa - January 7, 2008 3:08 pm
Sweet!
Hari Bhakti - January 7, 2008 4:43 pm
Wow, that's some stroll down memory lane. Thanks for posting these photos Syamasundara!
Vamsidhari Dasa - January 7, 2008 7:58 pm
These are so great thank you for letting us into the history. Everyone looks so young (and by that I mean Bhumi). I am so happy that our mission has moved to new hight and to sunny California where we can all enjoy it. I can see how nostalgia is getting to you Syam.
You lucky rascals got to enjoy all GMs sweetness just like that.
Caitanya-daya Dd - January 8, 2008 12:11 am
wow, thank you so much for a glimpse into a past that some of us may not have seen (many of us, actually, i'm sure).
citta-hari looks like a child! Were we really so young at some point in our lives?
Syamasundara - January 8, 2008 6:40 am
I can see how nostalgia is getting to you Syam.
I don't know about nostalgia. I miss Harirani's 3:30 offering, but then I wonder how much Gaura Nitai miss it, and I miss dressing the deities, which I never did while living at Audarya, except for one time when I came back two years ago for Gaura Purnima. But you can have the 9 months of rain, the stinky hippies, the untogether congregation, the highway on the other side of our fence. They say that the brain doesn't really distinguish between experiencing and remembering, it's us who make the distinction by reasoning. So, the memories of the nice things that happened while there, and that I shared in other threads, are still alive in me, but not for this reason would I want to go back to those days... heck no!
Plus, you people only know about the nice things. Once the buddies got attacked by two ferocious dogs accompanied by a jerk who felt authorized because we were not zoned for cattle, and I'm still having issues trying to forgive that individual for what he did to all of us. Imagine what it was like to give the news to GM and Vrndaranya when they came back from an errand. When the guy came, everybody was snoozing and I was on the altar, and tried to pacify him by remaining "clean", but if I had only realized in time that the cows were actually scratched and bleeding, I would have probably beaten those chow chows and him to a pulp with the first object. Oh boy, here comes the rage again. Sorry to bring this up.
Zvonimir Tosic - January 8, 2008 9:12 am
This is a famous picture of GM with Narasingha maharaja, with GM's house in the back, a picture that will be in my dining room, when I have a house
I think your house is already there, waiting. It is so important to you, I can feel that.
You surely deserve a warm place where you can create some amazing art.
And maybe a place for a little garden too ... But if nothing else, my house is your house too. You're always welcome here.