moong bean sprouts

I thought I had added this already, but can't find it! Making moong sprouts is easy. Makes a good addition to salad or stir fry.  Here's one way to do it:

• Start with a cup of moong beans and soak overnight.
• Drain and leave in a cheese cloth (or clean, thin cotton cloth) in the kitchen hanging where you will see it.
• Each time you see it add water and let it drain. 
• In a couple days they'll start to sprout. 

Continue to grow until they begin rooting into the cloth. Finally, leave them in a light source such as a sunny window, so they can manufacture chlorophyll (in other words, turn green), but be careful to not let them dry out.

Here's a favorite recipe:
SPROUTED MUNG SALAD
INGREDIENTS:
1 c moong sprouts

DRESSING:
1/2 c almonds
1/2 c sunflower seeds
1/2 c sesame seeds
1 large cucumber
juice of one large lemon
1/4 t yellow hing (1/8 t regular)
1/4 t dried dill weed
salt (1/4 t per cup of finished dressing or as desired)
black pepper (opt)
sour cream (opt)

PREPARATION:
Blend all the above ingredients for the dressing
Pour over servings of moong sprouts or mix together for a sandwich filling

salad season

Heavy or light, salad is a delicious addition to many meals and very healthy. And in summer time especially, salads are refreshing. What to put in your next salad? Here are suggestions to create various combinations from. These can be chopped, sliced, grated...

Various salad greens.Its nice to have a variety
Broccoli, the stems can be peeled also to get to the softer core and grated or finely chopped
Cauliflower
Alfalfa sprouts
Mung bean sprouts, Click here to make your own.
Olives, including green olives
Sprouted chickpeas
Chopped tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
Fresh corn
White radish
Carrot
Fresh Peas
Cucumber
Zucchini
Celery
Bell pepper
Sunflower seeds, toasted
Paneer chunks
Avocado chunks
Cooked beans

All these help to create tasty, nutritious salads for offering. Various dressings make them complete. A few have been posted earlier. A favorite is simply olive oil and lemon juice, with salt and pepper and perhaps a little fresh or dry dill weed.

home improvement month

Along with extra sensitivity and a tendency to clam up, the sun traveling through the sign of Cancer is a great time for home improvement projects. Its a good time to get the clutter out of that bedroom and go for some new colors. How about some sheer satiny curtains? This particular set were made from a sari passed on to me. Simply fold and cut two pieces the same. With matching or complementary threads, sew at the top a casing big enough so the chosen curtain rod easily fits through. Hem stitch at the bottom.

The color casts a golden glow to the room and I like to watch the gently billowing curtains, caught by the breezes passing through the window. I also like how they didn't cost me a cent to make.

 

Next project will be a new coat of paint, probably a creamy white tone along with a summery colored duvet and pillow casing. An afterthought, I wish I could have made these curtains much longer and the curtain rod above the window casing for a more dramatic effect...

seva savings

(or how belief in reincarnation makes better parenting)

In response to a note I received, there are reasons why devotees of Krishna don't have to force their Vaisnava beliefs while raising their children. First and foremost, the Bhagavad gita says and Prabhupada has also explained that whatever a child does in devotional service, no matter how seemingly insignificant or simple it may be, such as saying Krishna's name while playing or helping change the water cups on the altar or just bowing his head to Krishna...any little thing, Krishna is so kind that He NEVER forgets it.  Therefore the activities in Krishna consciousness accumulate in what Prabhupada called our "spiritual bank account" and what this Gita verse confirms also.

"In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear." -Bg 2.40

In other words, action in devotional service is not used up like regular good karma from pious activities. "It is never lost". That means that even if one does not complete the path of devotion in this lifetime, then Krishna assures in many other verses of His Gita that the person is given another chance to continue further in the next. It's not that we glamorize reincarnation- it is best to strongly encourage not to come back while stuffing the spiritual bank account, but at the same time we know that Krishna Himself, seated in the heart of every living entity in His expansion as Supersoul is guiding. He will remind the living being from within, so that he may make further spiritual progress in the event of having transmigrated to another body. Thus one will automatically become attracted to such activities once again, picking up where they left off.

"By virtue of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he automatically becomes attracted to the yogic principles—even without seeking them. Such an inquisitive transcendentalist stands always above the ritualistic principles of the scriptures." Bg 6.44

This explains a lot why some people take immediately to Krishna consciousness, whereas others need more time.

Prabhupada also compared this concept to how a cloud accumulates water:

"They may come again. It will never go in vain. Just like this cloud. Cloud is meant for raining. Now it is not raining, but when there is sufficient cloud, it will rain. You cannot say there is no rain. There is, but it is not sufficiently collected. When it is sufficiently collected, then."

And in this regard he also said about children, "Never force a child or he'll take sadly"  or "If you feel you need to beat a child then you should be beat because you do not know how to handle the children properly!"

Also he said:
  "Don't say "no." But give a taste for the good, then it will be automatically "no." And if you say "no" then he'll, they will rebel. The four "no's," that is very difficult. Still they are breaking. No illicit sex, they are breaking. But if they develop Krishna consciousness, this will be automatically "no." So don't bring many "no's," but give them positive life. Then it will be automatically "no." And if you say "no," that will be a struggle. This is the psychology. Positive engagement is devotional service. So if they are attracted by devotional service, other things will be automatically "no."

And Gita 2.59 confirms:
"The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness."

The point is, we'd be a whole lot more fanatical about the whole thing if we thought this was the ONLY life, this is the ONLY chance for our kids or else the "loving" God will put the once-created -but -now -eternal- being into hellfire forever. That makes no sense, something that was created has to suffer eternally? It'd seem more merciful to just undo the dust sculpting process from the beginning.

 And how does something that never existed before, suddenly exist forever after? That the Bible interpreters cannot say, but Krishna explains in Bhagavad gita on the contrary:

"NEVER was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings, nor in the future shall any of us cease to be."- Bg 2.12

In Vaisnavism we are of the same spiritual nature of God; it has been forgotten only because we now identify with matter.


Krishna consciousness is so practical and sensible and open minded.

Another example is that one's family members may not be able to follow so strictly at this time, but Krishna says, "If you can't follow these practices strictly....then work for Me." along with other prescriptions. So Krishna and His entire Bhagavad gita teaching wants to help us, not hinder us.

My Search for a Life With Soul

 

Janmastami and Prabhupada's appearance days are still a month away. Yet, out of deep gratitude to His Divine Grace and encouraged by devotees to share, here's an account I wrote several years ago, the story of how I joined the Hare Krishna movement, so not to forget the great mercy shown me, a very fallen soul:

When I was nine, one day my little brother and I unwittingly discovered that year's supply of Christmas gifts hidden in a barrel in my parent's basement. We pried off the lid and happily played with all the toys until Mom came down to see what the excitement was about. Etched in my memory were her cries of disappointment and her explanation afterward, "Kids. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to tell you the truth...There is no Santa Claus."

"You mean...there's no Easter Bunny either!" my brother burst out in tears, his lips quivering.

 Although Santa and the Easter Bunny were revealed as false, I cannot remember thinking that there was no God. Quite the opposite was true.  By often answering my childish prayer requests, my faith in His presence grew. I was always a theist.

Actually, Mom was my first guru. She taught me how to pray and took me to church regularly. She also gave me a children's bible. Dad, too, sometimes read his bible to me, but he had a broader vision. He talked about "devas" or "nature spirits", something he learned from being raised in what was once the Dutch East Indies, Indonesia, and - after spending a couple years of his childhood in a Japanese concentration camp and experiencing an OBE therein - he was pretty convincing when he'd tell me that I am not my body but a spirit soul or to practice non violence by becoming a vegetarian. I think we were some of the first people in Boulder, CO to eat barbecued tofu. Then there was the collection of yoga and occult books he kept within his basement. Even though I found Madam Blavatsky bewildering, meeting Earlyne Chaney disappointing, and my early attempts at meditation a flop, these and other experiences he brought my way became the backdrop for something I wasn't quite sure I was looking for, but keenly felt that I must.

Meanwhile, a realization had grown from playing with Barbie dolls since girlhood. I'd make them go to school, get married, eat, sleep, play, enjoy family life together, and send them out to make a living. When I grew tired of this, I'd throw them into the closet. After some time I'd take them out again, hoping to achieve higher levels of pleasure with the same bodily activities, but I could never reach any real satisfaction, and so the tossing into the closet continued. This made me feel that something was missing in my own life.

 I reached teen hood and the dissatisfaction became more acute. I wondered, "Is my life similar to a Barbie doll? Is death to be the ultimate reward for all my hard work? Why do I have to die? Why should I work so hard? The faith of my mother and father was too vague to turn to.

When I was about 16 I tried to verbalize to my mother the questions that plagued me about my existence:

"Mom, I'm in anxiety."

"Why?"

"Well, what's the use of going to school, working hard and so on, when all I'll end up is dead in the end?"

"Maybe you can talk to a psychiatrist. Would you like to see a psychiatrist?" was her reply.

"No, what good will that do?"

After some silence, Mom came to a decision. She reached into the nearby kitchen cabinet, pulled out a bottle of apricot brandy and set it down before me. "Here", she said, "This will make you feel better", and she left the room.

Some years later I read the following in the 5,000 year old Vedic scripture, Srimad Bhagavatam:
ko 'nv arthah sukhayaty enam
kämo vä mrtyur antike
äghätam niyamänasya
vadhyasyeva na tusti-dah

"Death is not at all pleasing, and since everyone is exactly like a condemned man being led to the place of execution, what possible happiness can people derive from material objects or the gratification they provide?"

That's exactly how I felt! And the translator, a leading disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, commented as follows:  "It is customary throughout the world that a condemned man is offered a sumptuous last meal. For the condemned man, however, such a feast is a chilling reminder of his imminent death, and therefore he cannot enjoy it. Similarly, no sane human being can be satisfied in material life, because death is standing near and may strike at any moment. If one is sitting in one's living room with a deadly snake at one's side, knowing that at any moment the poisonous fangs might pierce the flesh, how can one sit peacefully and watch television or read a book? Similarly, unless one is more or less crazy, one cannot be enthusiastic or even peaceful in material life. Knowledge of the inevitability of death should encourage one to become determined in spiritual life."

Another example is given by Prabhupada: One may have some very nice pudding to eat, but if there is sand in it, there can be no real enjoyment. The pudding is the sweetness of life, very attractive since it is the all-attractive Lord's material energy, and the sand is the time factor. Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad gita, "Time I am, destroyer of worlds." Time is what messes everything up. But for a reason.

Also in relation to my above Barbie doll realization, I read this in Prabhupada's translation of Bhagavad gita: "A conditioned soul tries to enjoy material happiness again and again. Thus he chews the chewed. But sometimes, in the course of such enjoyment, he becomes relieved from material entanglement by association with a great soul. In other words, a conditioned soul is always engaged in some type of sense gratification, but when he understands by good association that it is only a repetition of the same thing, and he is awakened to his real Krishna consciousness, he is sometimes relieved from such repetitive so-called happiness."- Bhagavad- gita As It Is, 18.36

Finally, I felt understood! So, how I met Srila Prabhupada will be explained in the next post.

How I Came to Krishna Consciousness

 Sort of like those BTG stories, this is part two of my search for a life with soul or how I became involved in the Hare Krishna movement:

After much searching for answers to my spiritual questions and concerns, I began to think that maybe I'll never know - or not until I'm "dead (!)", as one priest told me. But most importantly was that despite my annoyance, and the fact that I went on a three year spree of  hedonism and rebellion against materialistic society, making me the fear of good mothers for their children- I did not turn away from God. I like how Lester Burnham ("American Beauty") said it:

"It's hard to stay mad when there is so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold onto it. And then it flows through me, like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life."

I was fortunate to land jobs in both the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and the Alaskan wilderness- two places that invoke such appreciation. Then one day, standing by a stream where I was living in a tent on Alaskan soil, 30 miles from the nearest town, I put that feeling into a prayer. It was like, "I give up. You don't have to show Yourself...Hello?"  But I remember most of all what I said at the end of that prayer, "I just want to spend the rest of my life thanking You."

I didn't know then that in the Vedic scripture (the Ramayana) the Lord says, "If one surrenders to Me sincerely saying, 'My Lord, from this day on I am fully surrendered unto You', I always give him protection. That is my vow", but about a week later my life started rapidly changing. My friends at work had to return home further north, so I decided to follow them. We lived in a small town outside of Anchorage. There I felt restless like never before, surrounded by a bunch of people who did not take life seriously. They seemed to only work all day and party most of the night. I filled my glass with soda pop or plain water and laughed at their jokes. I didn't want to smoke or drink anymore, and I was slow to start a job again. I started keeping a dream notebook, thinking maybe there'd be some insight there. Shortly afterward, I had a most amazing dream.

I don't remember having seen the Indian swami before*, but he appeared in my dream sitting cross-legged, and I heard him speak. His exact words were, "You should associate with these people."

Now in those days the word "associate" was not big in my vocabulary; I hardly knew the value of association, but then I looked around me in that dream and I noticed standing near a very long table laden with all sorts of food preparations, there were many people who were wearing what looked like long robes. One of them handed me a plate full of foodstuffs.

Next, I heard the swami say, in exact words, "You have a class", and at the conclusion of our meeting he said, "On Thursday."

But that was not the end of the dream. Suddenly I saw a person I knew from Anchorage. He was wearing his down coat, but it looked like something was stuffed underneath it. I angrily followed him thinking, "He's stealing something from these people!" I followed him up a long winding staircase and saw him disappear through a door at the top. When I opened the door, I found myself outside in broad daylight on a city sidewalk that had money scattered on it everywhere.

I don't remember now what day I had the dream, but I remember that it was on a Tuesday afternoon sometime afterwards (because I was listening to that song title by the Moody Blues on the radio) that I had an overwhelming urge to just run away from that place. Leaving most of my possessions behind I headed toward the nearest road and stuck my thumb out for a ride. The first man who drove by stopped and said, "Where you headed?"

"Anchorage."

"That's where I'm going," he said. We approached near the city when he asked, "Where to?"

"The airport",  I had decided, because inside my coat pocket I was carrying a ticket to Hawaii that I had purchased before heading north, but with no clear idea when I would ever use it. And I told him this even though I didn't have a suitcase. I was feeling this utter detachment, and like a feather letting the wind carry it wherever it must, I was ready to let the universe take me wherever it was that I should be.

"I work at the airport", he said, and so there he dropped me off.

A few hours later, while I was waiting for my flight, I saw him transporting luggage. He stopped and asked me, "Are you alright?" I just nodded, dazed after having heard the song "Tuesday Afternoon" play a second time on the airport's loud speakers.

After some delay (long story), I finally found myself on a "Thursday" morning in the Honolulu airport where I got stopped by some Hare Krishna devotees. They gave me a book and asked for a donation.

At first I refused, but when I heard the airport loud speaker announce that they did not endorse these people's activities of "soliciting flowers (and books) for cash donations", it was like reverse psychology worked on me then; I just had to give them a donation. I thought about the old woman in the Bible who gave her last farthing and was blessed. "I hope to God something will come of this", I said to myself as I handed over whatever cash I could spare.

A woman devotee smiled at me and said, "Hi, my name is Sukhada. What's yours?"

I responded and asked, "What does 'Sukhada' mean?"

"'Sukhada' means 'happiness'."

Gosh, I remember so clearly how happy she looked to me. I'd never seen a person so effulgent in my life! She literally glowed.

The Bhagavad gita says, "The manifestation of the mode of goodness can be experienced when all the gates of the body are illuminated by knowledge."

In fact, all the devotees glowed, and I felt like they knew something very special and that I wanted in on their secret.

So, when they were leaving around noon I accepted their invitation to a vegetarian feast since it was "Thursday", Thanksgiving Day, 1979. They took me to Waikiki beach where, similar to my dream, I saw a long table spread with food preparations, and I saw people there wearing long robes that turned out to be Indian dress. They gave me my first bites of Krishna prasadam.

Later that day I went to their temple in Honolulu and was ushered to the main temple room. I followed the manner of the devotees I was with by bowing my head to the floor. When I looked up there was the Indian Swami from my dream!

Upon inquiry I discovered that he, Srila Prabhupada, had left our material vision in November 1977, so it was his lifelike deity form I was gazing at. Seeing him in that beautiful, still form, I then realized why in my dream his lips had not moved when he had spoken to me. And the following morning I attended my first "class" on the Srimad Bhagavatam, as had been predicted in my dream. Interestingly, the class was about the awesome transcendentalist, Sri Narada Muni, described in the first canto, and I was initiated with the name "Narada dasi", servant of Narada Muni, not long afterwards.

From that day forward I stayed at the temple and began daily chanting my sixteen rounds. Sadly, dreams of Srila Prabhupada afterwards until the time of my re-initiation by Jayapataka Swami in 2008 had been rare, but whenever they did occur, vivid personal exchanges, instructions, words of comfort and even chastisements took place which have sustained me throughout my life in ISKCON. In the meantime, I discovered that I can always find Prabhupada's association immediately by reading his books. As acarya Bhaktivinoda Thakur said:

"He reasons ill that Vaisnavas die, while living still in sound.  A Vaisnava dies to live, and while living tries to spread the holy name around."

Oh, and I wanted to add what happened to the person who also appeared in that dream with the down coat. Well, my friends in Alaska did wonder what had happened to me, since I had suddenly taken off the day a big blizzard hit their town. I figured they would be worried, so I kindly called to say I was alright and I was in Hawaii. One of them arrived a short while later and stayed for a whole year at the temple, urging me to go back with him, but, as in the dream, this person had to finally leave because he was caught stealing.

And the money on the sidewalk that I also dreamed about? Well, one of my first services at the temple was to sell Srila Prabhupada's books (via tourist sales) on the bright and sunny Kalakau Avenue at Waikiki and collect cash donations.

Tuesday afternoon,
I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way.
It doesn't matter to me, chasing the clouds away.


Something calls to me
The trees  are drawing me near, I've got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear, explain it all with a sigh.


I'm looking at myself reflections of my mind.
It's just the kind of day to leave myself behind.
So gently swaying through the fairyland of love
If you'll just come with me you'll see the beauty of
Tuesday afternoon
Tuesday afternoon.
-- lyrics from The Moody Blues

* More recently, after writing this article, my earliest recollection surfaced regarding how I may have encountered Srila Prabhupada, at least his picture, before the above described dream. I was maybe 12 years old and remember standing in the Stapleton International Airport in Denver because my mother got stopped by a devotee. I saw him sell her a copy of Bhagavad gita As It Is that she later left on a shelf in our dining room. I don't think she picked it up again, but I remember puzzling over the illustrations, especially the one of Krishna killing Kamsa. Perhaps this stuck in my mind because my father was a pacifist after living in concentration camps.

When I was 19, I began seeing Prabhupada's Bhagavad gita more and more often, in thrift shops and various places but made no connection that it was the same book on my Mom's shelf nor did I feel any special attraction for it. Then one day it was right in front of me on a coffee table of a Forest Service Office I worked for in Alaska. I leafed through it and read, "One should not sleep more than six hours daily. One who sleeps more than six hours out of twenty-four is certainly influenced by the mode of ignorance. A person in the mode of ignorance is lazy and prone to sleep a great deal. Such a person cannot perform yoga." I guess being born under Virgo influence, I was attracted to the practical advice towards self-improvement, enough to ask if I could borrow the book, but with no success.

Although I checked it out in a nearby library the next chance I got, i didn't get around to reading it, and ended up going back to the library several times to try and check it out again. Strangely, the (small town) library was always closed from then onward for renovations, and thus my hankering to see the book again greatly increased! Srimad Bhagavad gita As It Is, Srila Prabhupada's books ki jaya!

Prayer to Lord Jagannatha

At this time, Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Lady Subhadra ride once again on the ratha yatra carts. For many days, the Lord has separated Himself from His loving devotees. Their love and affection for Him increase unlimitedly in separation. In the following prayer, the devotee yearns for the Lord's darshan and reflects upon His causeless mercy.

"Alas, this is certain: Lord Jagannatha bestows His lotus feet upon those who feel themselves fallen and have no shelter in this world but Him. May that Jagannatha Swami be the object of my vision."

Jagannathastakam (Eight prayers glorifying Lord Jaganntha.)

kadacit kalindi-tata-vipina-sangitaka-ravo
mudabhiri-nari-vadana-kamalasvada-madhupah
rama-sambhu-brahmamara-pati-ganesarcita-pado
jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me

Sometimes in great happiness Lord Jagannath makes a loud concert with His flute in the groves on the banks of the Yamuna. He is like a bumblebee tasting the beautiful lotuslike faces of the cowherd damsels of Vraja, and great personalities such as Laksmi, Shiva, Brahma, Indra, and Ganesh worship His lotus feet. May that Jagannatha Swami be the object of my vision.

bhuje savye venum sirasi sikhi-puccham kati-tate
dukulam netrante sahacara-kataksam vidadhate
sada srimad-vrndavana-vasati-lila-paricayo
jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me

In His left hand Lord Jagannath holds a flute, on His head He wears peacock feathers, and on His hips He wears fine yellow silken cloth. From the corners of His eyes He bestows sidelong glances upon His loving devotees, and He always reveals Himself through His pastimes in His divine abode of Vrindavan. May that Jagannath Swami be the object of my vision.

mahambhodhes tire kanaka-rucire nila-sikhare
vasan prasadantah sahaja-balabhadrena balina
subhadra-madhya-sthah sakala-sura-sevavasara-do
jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me

On the shore of the great ocean, within a large palace atop the brilliant, golden Nilacala Hill, Lord Jagannath resides with His powerful brother Balabhadra and His sister Subhadra, who sits between Them. May that Jagannath Swami, who bestows the opportunity for devotional service upon all godly souls, be the object of my vision.

krpa-paravarah sajala-jalada-sreni-ruciro
rama-vani-ramah sphurad-amala-pankeruha-mukhah
surendrair aradhyah sruti-gana-sikha-gita-carito
jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me

Lord Jagannath is an ocean of mercy and as beautiful as a row of blackish rain clouds. He is the storehouse of bliss for Laksmi and Sarasvati, and His face resembles a spotless fullblown lotus. The best of demigods and sages worship Him, and the Upanisads sing His glories. May that Jagannath Swami be the object of my vision.

ratharudho gacchan pathi milita-bhudeva-patalaih
stuti-pradurbhavam prati-padam upakarnya sadayah
daya-sindhur bandhuh sakala jagatam sindhu-sutaya
jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me

When Lord Jagannath moves along the road on His Ratha-yatra car, at every step large assemblies of brahmanas loudly chant prayers and songs for His pleasure. Hearing their hymns, Lord Jagannath becomes very favorably disposed toward them. He is the ocean of mercy and the true friend of all the worlds. May that Jagannath Swami, along with His consort Laksmi, who was born from the ocean of nectar, be the object of my vision.

para-brahmapidah kuvalaya-dalotphulla-nayano
nivasi niladrau nihita-carano 'nanta-sirasi
rasanando radha-sarasa-vapur-alingana-sukho
jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me

Lord Jagannath, whose His eyes resemble full-blown lotus petals, is the ornament on Lord Brahma's head. He resides on Nilacala Hill with His lotus feet placed on the heads of Anantadeva. Overwhelmed by the mellows of love, He joyfully embraces Srimati Radharani's body, which is like a cool pond. May that Jagannath Swami be the object of my vision.

na vai yace rajyam na ca kanaka-manikya-vibhavam
na yace 'ham ramyam sakala jana-kamyam vara-vadhum
sada kale kale pramatha-patina gita-carito
jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me

I do not pray for a kingdom, nor for gold, rubies, or wealth. I do not ask for a beautiful wife, as desired by all men. I simply pray that Jagannath Swami, whose glories Lord Shiva always sings, may be the constant object of my vision.

hara tvam samsaram druta-taram asaram sura-pate
hara tvam papanam vitatim aparam yadava-pate
aho dine 'nathe nihita-carano niscitam idarn
jagannathah svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me

O Lord of the demigods, please quickly remove this useless material existence I am undergoing. O Lord of the Yadus, please destroy this vast, shoreless ocean of sins. Alas, this is certain: Lord Jagannath bestows His lotus feet upon those who feel themselves fallen and have no shelter in this world but Him. May that Jagannath Swami be the object of my vision.

jagannathastakam punyam yah pathet prayatah sucih
sarva-papa-visuddhatma visnu-lokam sa gacchati

The self-retrained, virtuous soul who recites these eight verses glorifying Lord Jagannath becomes cleansed of all sins and duly proceeds to Lord Vishnu's abode.

spinach rice

Spinach is often combined with sweet spices such as coriander, fennel or garam masala. Also goes well with cooling bitters such as fenugreek and turmeric. 

Serves 3

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch fresh spinach, washed at least 3x and chopped

1/2 c basmati rice

fresh green chili as desired, finely chopped (optional)

2-3 T ghee

1 T ginger root. grated

1 t cumin seeds

1t coriander powder

1 t fenugreek seeds

1/4 t black pepper (optional)

1 t turmeric 

salt, as desired

PREPARATION:

1.  Make a chaunce with hot ghee. Add the ginger root, cumin, chili and fry until browned. Add the coriander powder, fenugreek and turmeric. Add rice. Stir.

2. Add water and salt. Bring to a boil. 

3. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.

4. In a separate pan cook your spinach

5. Fluff the cooked rice and gently stir in the spinach.

Offer to Krishna immediately. Delicious with a dab of sour cream or yogurt.

VARIATION

For a breakfast dish I like to add cooked chickpeas.