Free Download of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is!

Continuing the 30 Days posts on set topics. Day 6 - A Picture of Something That Makes You Happy

Making people happy makes me happy :) Here are some happies I met and gave books to:

For the holidays, make your friends happy with a free download of the original Bhagavad-gita As It Is! Enjoy!

Meet My Parents

Continuing the 30 Days posts on set topics.

Day 4 - Your parents


I've always had a very warm and good relationship with my parents. I love them :) They would always support me in everything (except maybe some really dumb stuff). They still do. Of course, my dad passed away last year. But I feel his positive, always supportive and encouraging spirit vividly when I think about him. His name is Kauko, but everyone calls him Kake (pronounced Kah-keh). Since babyhood he instilled in me an everlasting fondness for Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Jimmy Hendrix, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, The Ramones, the Woodstock, kindness, Native Americans, the sea, and a lot more, but perhaps most importantly, being your own person. Thank you. 

My mom is Heini. She's so cool. And sweet. The way she dresses is awesome. She's super expert yet insecure cook and makes the best Finnish and Indian and everything-in-between vegetarian food. Simply her cooking makes me miss Finland. Heini jogs and runs and always has many things going on. When she was pregnant with me she would listen to classical music because she heard that such music makes the baby wise. Can't hurt to try right? Thanks mom so much :)

In conclusion, you gotta have pretty kickass parents if one of the first things you ever learnt to speak, in anticipation of dancing in the living room for hours, was: "Soita klokkia tai klekeitä!" which translates to "Play rock or reggae!" [insert funny baby r's]

15 Interesting Facts About Me Me Me

I saw a list on Haley's blog about 30 things to talk about on 30 different days. It looked interesting and I decided to do it. Here is Day 1: 

Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts

Hi! My name is Bhakti. I am a spirit soul, currently residing within the heart of this 26-year-old body that could use some more exercise. I have obviously not perfected the realization about my spiritual nature, but I'm working on it, and see results daily :D I meditate every morning - I chant the Hare Krishna mantra for about an hour and a half. It goes like this:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

Srila Prabhupada, my spiritual master, translates it as: "Dear Lord [Krishna] and energy of the Lord [Hare], please engage me in Your divine service [Rama]." The idea is to stop hopelessly trying to enjoy dead matter that the world around us is made out of, and to tune into the non-material reality beyond this temporary world via devotional exchanges of love with God and His servants, who essentially mean all of us. Not God, doh ;) there is only One, right? But consciousness is the symptom of a soul. So all people, animals, plants, etc. that are conscious have a soul inside and that means we are all tiny parts of the Supreme Consciousness. And what do parts do? They serve the Whole. So we're all servants of something, and most naturally situated, I would say, when recognizing God as the main person to whom direct our energy and service. From there, it flows everywhere - like, when you water the root of a tree, the whole tree flourishes.

Whoah. Yep that sounds like me on LSD. Lovely to meet you. Ok I'm straight edge, I got you there didn't I? :D 

See Fact #9

15 interesting facts:

1. The name my parents gave me is Anni Marjatta. 

2. My middle name Marjatta literally translates to Berryless. No berries for me.

3. I love blueberries. The real ones, that grow wild in Finnish forests and actually stain your fingers and teeth with purple. Not the big puffy ones that are grown in America. Although I love those too. ORGANIC.

4. I believe there is life on every planet, and between the planets.

5. I'm afraid of animals period.

6. I got married after hanging out with my husband for 2 months. We got engaged after hanging out for a couple of weeks. It's been three happy years now. (edit: we're not together anymore....)

7. I used to have thick crazy dreadlocks. One sunny day I took a friend and a pair of scissors to a park, introduced the two to each other and became really, really short haired.

8. I haven't lived in a house for years now. I live in a Ford cargo van that my hubby converted to run on waste vegetable oil instead of diesel. Ecological and well yes, cramped. (edit: used to, live in Philly now..lol..)

9. During my period I put a special background picture on my desktop that's all pink and says: "It's Raining Cupcakes". It makes me feel sane.

10. I help write a monthly newsletter for Krishna Path and would love you to sign up if you're interested!

11. I'm a pretty good skateboarder as long as I don't need to impress anyone with multiple tricks.

12. I write down everything I eat.

13. The longest I have driven was 17 hours. No caffeine, just iPod and me. I knew Madonna was good for something :D

14. When I was a kid I used to sneak into an old people's nursing home in my town and steal borrow ice cream from the freezer in their cafe.

15. Almost every morning for the past 8 years I've taken a cold shower.

I would gone more wild with my facts but realize my mom reads my blog so this is it folks. Sorry mom for helping myself to the ice cream cones in the nursing home next-door to our house. Please don't tell them :)

Me at Wal-mart parking lot where I woke up and spent this morning: