KRSNA IS creativity, but where is the evidence of a Vaishnava being personally creative and pushing himself to the max? (I apologise if this seems offensive) I would love to hear of such people in the current world! People who transcend the computeristic modes of nature and express their self-realization in relation to the Supreme Person KRSNA!

If you claim to be an associate of the Supreme Entity and Supreme Philosophy, then please share some of this Supreme Information in a way that enriches people’s lives in any way as opposed to not enriching any lives in any way.

KRSNA consciousness is about being conscious of this Super Excellent Personality’s presence in every nook and cranny of reality. KRSNA is also material reality – he says – I am the Shark, I am this guy of the Raksasas etc…. So, in a sense “Hugh Hefner” is KRSNA, “George Bush” is KRSNA, the movie “Avatar” is KRSNA. KRSNA has a sadistic sense of humor, so in the Kali Yuga, his humor is especially critical of “conditioned” stupidity. What is KRSNA without his brilliant/best cosmic humor ?

What is wrong with surfing and serving KRSNA ? KRSNA likes playing on swings with his friends (as evidenced in the art) – is that frivolous ?
When I see a fantastic wave coming to me in the ocean and I want to bodysurf it, I say Thank KRSNA for this great wave – what artistry and perfection !

I am looking forward to some kind of approximation of a really intelligent demi-god society on this planet that can see things as they are and implement knowledge where necessary on a large scale.

Krsna likes his servants, but he likes his girlfriends even more

You can have sex for Krishna… plenty of that going on, but you can’t do something as clean as surfing? I remember one day when we were paddling out into some really nice beautiful surf and one of the devotees quoted Krishna from Gita as saying that “Of bodies of water He was the ocean.” Maharaja then replied that “YES, Krishna is the ocean but He also says that of aquatics He is the shark, so be careful how you approach Krishna!”

I am surprised that no one has pointed out here that participating in frivolous sports is one of the ten secondary offenses to the holy name. Maharaja has pointed this out on more than one occasion and with a smile has said, “Surfing isn’t frivolous. This is serious stuff — you can get killed out there!”

And as far as the health aspect of life is concerned… many devotees would do well to turn off their computers, get out of their swivel chairs and do something besides typing as a pastime. We are prepared to criticize or argue that devotees are not good at presenting Krishna consciousness to an intelligent group of people but are we aware that even common people [with little intelligence] look at devotees as some kind of nerds because they do not do anything interesting. Even many Hare Krishna kids do not want to be devotees because devotees appear to them to only have a nerdy life style. Who wants to be a nerd?

In case you didn’t know, Narasingha Dev-Gosai has been very successful with preaching to young Hare Krishna kids while engaging them in healthy outdoor activities like trekking, camping, mountain biking, swimming, boating, surfing, snow shoeing, cross country skiing, etc. Dev-Gosai doesn’t just surf, he does it all and the kids love him for it. One day Dev-Gosai said in his typical lion-like-style, “My message is simple… get off your lazy butt and do something, don’t just sit there until death ripps you out of your chair! Krishna is everywhere, what are you afraid of?”

Try it… you might even get ‘stoked’ yourself!

BTW, stoked is surf-jargon for fired-up!

Pujyapada Sridhara Maharaja personally told me in private that after the departure of one’s guru on has three choices:

1. Become guru
2. Serve one who is serving as guru
3. Get out of the way

He encouraged me to follow number one. It should be clear that Sri Narasingha-Deva Gosai is following number one as well, and he was also encouraged to do so by Pujyapada Sridhara Deva Goswami. He should then be the judge as to whether the surfing ashram is helping or distracting his disciples. Everyone need not follow his lead, but they should follow someone’s lead, or get out of the way.

For example in 1972 after their most successful concert Srila Prabhupada, (who spoke at the show) closed down Visnujana’s traveling rock opera—saying that rock music created a bad atmosphere for KC.

Also after having first enthusiastically endorsed Rupanuga’s and Balavanta’s ‘In God We Trust’ political party–that had been generating a lot of favorable publicity–Srila Prabhupada eventually closed it down saying that he would not allow them to use his men and money for their political party.

On the other hand he always encouraged George Harrison but I don’t think that Prabhupada would have been enthusiastic to have any of his disciples join Harrison’s band.

It’s definitely something different and judging by the exposure it’s getting, it’s doing quite well.
Different missions have different flavors and in all honesty, I’m happy that my Guru Maharaja doesn’t surf, but I’m also glad that other do and attract people who might not be attracted otherwise.

Whatever works (as long as it’s not diametrically opposed to the Gaudiya world view.)

Destin Asian Travel [Hong Kong]
Blue [Japan]
Surfing Life Style [Japan]
Surfing Magazine [USA]
Surfing World [Australia]
Surf Europe [Europe]

The Huffington Post
Times of London
The Australian
Indian Express
The National

Currently slated to appear in “Der Spiegel” [Germany] and more.

The “Surfing Swamis” also took part in the making of the feature surf film “Castles in the Sky” scheduled for release in August 2010 and they are currently involved in the making of another.

The Surf Ashram operates a retreat center that has advanced bookings for most of the year. Persons attending the Surf Retreat have mainly been from the professional and corporate sector. Seventy-five percent have been international guests and the balance have been from India itself.

Last year when Swami [Dev-Gosai] visited Brazil he was told that surfing was the national sport of the country. Swami responded by saying that he thought that soccer was the national sport but his host said, “No, no. Soccer is our religion!”

Indeed, for many lost souls, sports rate along side the worlds oldest and greatest religions. To say that the “Surfing Swamis” are unorthodox is an understatement — as far as I can see, these guys are completely out of the box and they have thus far received a massive favorable response from the people of our planet.

A visit to the Surf Retreat includes daily kirtan/bhajan and mantra-meditation, darshan of Kaliya Mardana Krishna, three times great prasadam, free Krishna conscious literature and an all round friendly exposure to Krishna consciousness. Thus far one young man has joined full time, many have been favorably influenced, some have begun regular chanting on beads and everyone has fallen in love with Krishna prasadam. Not to mention, the Surf Retreat completely supports all the financial needs of the devotees at the ashram.

YES, you might have guested it — I am a regular at the Surf Ashram. The “Surfing Swamis” rule! Cheers!

I will certainly take your recommendation to heart.
Me and the beach can’t be too far apart at any given time.
In Florida we have Sunrise on the Atlantic and Sunset on the Gulf of Mexico.
If you are good, you can experience both in the same day.