ISKCONyouth.com

1) Ramananda Raya Dasa

2) November 11, 1989

5) Life summary. Please tell us a summary of your life story. How did you get to where you are today?

I was born in a devotee family in Orem, Utah, and lived in the Spanish Fork community for the first two years of my life. My family then moved to North Carolina, where my parents then started the new community of Prabhupada Village, where I have been living ever since. I went to the Bhaktivendanta Gurukula (in Prabhupada Village) for four years, and then homeschooled for most of the time until I was 16. I then dual-enrolled in Forsyth Tech Community College for a while, until I recently transferred to UNC Greensboro where I now major in Economics.

But school is hardly what brought me to where I am today. I have been interested in the performing arts since as long as I can remember. I have been in countless plays/dramas, and I recently got a talent agent and have been in two film projects so far. I have been playing musical instruments since I was three, whether it was the mridanga, piano, harmonium, or instruments I more recently adopted like the djembe drum and didgeridoo. In the past two years especially, I have been working on my bhajan/mridanga/singing skills, whereas before I mainly focused on piano.

My summer traveling is another one of the biggest parts of my life. The people I have met, the skills I have learned, the places I have gone, and the experiences I have had have shaped my life more than anything else.

6) Your hopes and dreams for your future:

Many kids grow up wanting to be rich and famous. I was one of them. I still want wealth, but for a different reason than people might think. And more so than fame, I want to be influential. I want to start and manage projects to distribute prasadam to the hungry, educate those who need it, conserve the environment, and help people become physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually healthy. I want wealth so I can fund these projects (and build temples), and influence so I can motivate the masses to do their part and contribute what they can.

I plan to transfer soon to Long Island University’s Global College to get a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies. The Global College program is an amazing program where I will travel to many countries including Costa Rica, South Africa, and China. I will learn the language, study the culture, learn about all of the problems each country is facing, and help manage projects to solve these problems. Such an education will be a priceless asset to help me achieve my goals.

I also desire to make a career in the performing arts. Acting, playing musical instruments, composing/recording/mixing music, and bhajans will always be an integral part of my life.
Also for a career, maybe even for a primary career, I want to do international business, either buy-low-sell-high, photo journalism, economic research, or something else that comes up. I want to travel the world and make money doing it.

Health and fitness are also things I want to carry with me throughout my life. When I go to India (Hopefully within a few years), I hope to get a Yoga-teaching degree so throughout my life, I can practice and help other people become healthy physically, mentally, and possibly even spiritually with the help of yoga.

7) Your interests, talents, skills and abilities:

Sports: Soccer, tennis, parkour/freerunning
Performing Arts
Music: Piano, drums(mridanga, djembe), harmonium (playing by ear in Kirtan). Bhajans (working on singing voice)
Acting: I’ve been in many plays throughout my life, as well as 2 film projects.
Yoga

8) How did you find out about this bus tour?

The bus tour in general: My father.
This winter bus tour in particular: Premanjana

9) Why would you like to come on this bus tour? What are your expectations for this tour?

Quite simply, I want to have the best experience I can have this winter. I want to see my old friends and meet new friends. I want to develop my singing, mridanga, and overall bhajan skills. I want to see Guatemala and more of Mexico than I did in the summer of 2006. And I want to actually learn more about the philosophy of the Krishna Conscious culture in which I grew up. I also want to get some Spanish-speaking experience.

10) You’ve read the description about the tour. You’ve noticed that, among fun in beautiful surroundings -- beaches, mountains, volcanoes, pyramids, jungles -- the tour focuses on things like following the four regulative principles* for the duration of the tour, and we’ll have lots of kirtans, bhajans, a japa retreat in Guatemala, and spiritual discussions. How do you feel about this spiritual focus of our tour? Honestly. Please speak from your heart.

Like most Kulis, I love bhajans and kirtan. And I’m actually looking forward to a time to start chanting more Japa when I don’t have millions of other worries on my mind such as getting all of my homework done on time and practicing enough piano and whatever else I have going.

As for the spiritual discussions, they are the best way to learn about the Krishna Conscious philosophy. From what I have seen, the standard formal class style does not appeal to many Kulis, unless the speaker is energetic and relays his points and realizations in an interesting way (like a story or good analogy). So, yes, I am also looking forward to the spiritual discussions.

I do, however, believe that spiritual inspiration comes from the inside, and when people are forced to go to a lecture or something of the sort, they just sit there, miserable, and not even listen to the lecture. On the other hand, sometimes people who want to go to the lecture sometimes don’t go when their friends don’t and then maybe later regret not going. I figure there is a balance somewhere there but I am not knowledgeable or experienced enough to know where or to make any claims on what should be the policy on program attendance.

11) What role does Krishna play in your life?

When I see how intricately the physical world is designed, how the laws of nature fit together perfectly, it gets rid of any doubt of Krishna’s existence. Krishna is from whom I ask for protection before I attempt something dangerous. Krishna is whose name I call in a time of despair. Krishna is who I ask to help me get through a stressful day. Krishna is who I pray to at night. And Krishna Prasad is the best food anyone can possibly get.

12) How do you see yourself contributing to help spread the jewel of Krishna consciousness to others in your lifetime? What would you like to do to spread Lord Krishna’s glories?

Like I mentioned in the life aspirations section, I want to build temples. I want to facilitate people who distribute books and preach whether they do it as occasional service, or if they dedicate their lives to the task. I want to build the ultimate bhakta(in)-recruiting force.

I also think that vegetarianism is one of the biggest steps toward Krishna Consciousness (and a better world in general), and contributing to making vegetarianism a worldwide practice is one of my spiritual to-do priorities.

13) How do you feel about the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)?

I think it’s a movement with a great purpose that has benefited my life, and many other peoples’ lives, so much. I know that there is much controversy about the leadership and about ISKCON in general, but I am not knowledgeable enough at this point to state an opinion.

14) How does your local ISKCON temple and devotee community contribute to the quality of your life? (If it disappeared tomorrow, how would your life be different?)

Almost all of my friends and people I hang out with regularly are from Prabhupada Village. I go to the temple every Sunday and some Saturday mornings, and the occasional weekday morning program. The community is my primary contact with devotees, and without it, life in NC would be miserable. If it were to disappear, I would be very confused and try to figure out where the community went, and then I would simply move to another community.

15) What would you like to see ISKCON and your local temple community do more of for you?

Organize more youth programs and have regular bhajan practice/lesson times.

16) What would you like to do (more of) for your local ISKCON temple and devotee community?

After I develop my own bhajan skills, I would love to organize meetings and teach bhajans to people who want to learn and exchange knowledge and tunes with already-skilled people.

17) What are three things you like about yourself?

a. When I have large workloads and I am super stressed and have seemingly way too much stuff to do, I somehow always manage to get everything (or at least the essentials) done well.

b. When I make a commitment or set a goal, I usually achieve it.

c. I am empathetic, understanding, and open-minded.

18) What are three things you would like to improve about yourself?

a. I want to develop my talents: Musical (including bhajan), acting, physical (parkour/freerunning, other sports), writing, photography, computer (digital art and programming)

b. Spiritual life

c. Decision-making ability

19) “Coming on this bus tour would mean a lot to me because…”

It will be an amazing experience. Since I missed traveling in the summer, this will be a great time to reconnect with old friends and meet new devotee youth. There is no other option for me this winter which will provide as much fun and spirituality combined in one package. It is 3 weeks of Kuli-bliss. And if I was not to go, my other alternative would be to go to Idaho and do Christmas with relatives. Seeing my extended family would be great, but there would be minimal, if any, connection to people my age…especially any devotees.

20) Please give three references who can vouch for your character.

Parama Rupa Prabhu

Ekanatha Prabhu

Mother Harakanta Prabhu