Krishna-kripa das, Mayapura – Page 5

Travel Journal#8.21: London, New York, Jacksonville
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 21
By Krishna-kripa das
(November 2012, part one)

London, New York, Jacksonville
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on December 17, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

I continued to do harinama and lectures in London, based at Radha-Londonisvara’s temple on Soho Street for three days, flying to New York City the afternoon of the third day, to do harinama for a week with Rama Raya and Ekalavya Prabhus and their party who chant for four hours a day, mostly at Union Square. It was amazing to see the enthusiasm of those devotees for harinama and the enthusiasm of the New Yorkers who listened, gave donations, and took books about Krishna consciousness. I took a three-day break from the harinama party to visit family members. I visited my sister and my mother for a day each, cooking several meals and helping my mother with various computer issues. I visited my diksa-guru, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, where I assisted his team in a successful marathon to get the first volume of his autobiography, The Story of My Life, printed by the beginning of December. On November 15, I flew to Jacksonville, where I spent a very enlivening day assisting in our outreach at the University of North Florida there.

This issue is bountiful with the insights of great souls. I begin with many quotes from the books and lecture of our founder-acarya Srila Prabhupada. Next there are some wonderful insights from the letters of his guru maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura from a collection of his letters called Patravali, soon to be published in an abridged form by Touchstone Publishing as Patramrita. After that there some useful quotes from Bhakti Charu Swami and Radhanath Swami. Then I have excerpts from the first volume of the recently published, The Story of My Life, by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, mostly memories about the early days of our first center at 26 Second Ave. Then there are some revolutionary quotes by Aindra Prabhu, a great lover of the holy name. And Rama Raya Prabhu, a follower of Aindra, shares his conviction about the public chanting of the holy name. And there is still more!

Itinerary

Dec. 17–19, 2012: serving Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami in Stuyvesant, NY

Dec. 19–23, 2012: harinama in New York City

Dec. 24–25, 2012: visiting family in Albany, NY

Dec. 26, 2012–

Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City

Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

London Harinamas

I did harinama in London the first three days of November, before flying to New York. As the month of Karttika was starting, there was increased impetus to do more chanting and that boosted attendance on our harinamas. The after-breakfast harinama in London was much more regular and attended by more devotees than usual. In addition, late Friday afternoon we did harinama to Kings Cross for their Friday evening program at their storefront called “Matchless Gifts.” The Saturday Weekend Warrior program of chanting and book distribution was located in Ealing, a London borough which is practically on the way to Heathrow Airport, so I was able to participate for three hours before flying to New York.

Harinama in Manhattan

For several months Rama Raya Prabhu, who spent many years on Aindra Prabhu’s 24-Hour team in Vrindavan, and Ekalavya Prabhu, who plays the trumpet and is an excellent musician and performer, have been doing harinama in Manhattan, usually at Union Square, for four hours each and every day from 4 to 8 p.m. I joined their party for seven days. Once during foul weather we were chanting at Roosevelt Avenue subway station. I was singing my favorite tune of Hare Krishna and Ekalavya Prabhu played trumpet and a crowd of at least fifty people were watching us. I was amazed to see so many people stopped to watch a kirtana in America, especially one I was leading. One Sunday we chanted at Union Square for six hours from 2 to 8 p.m. One time we had seventeen people chanting, mostly practicing devotees with a few new people who had become interested from the daily public chanting in their city. Another day we had fifteen people. Even the slowest days we always had six or seven people at the end, although sometimes in the beginning there were just three or four of us. Some devotees are dedicated and go out every day for at least part of the time. One of these is Rasika Gopi dd, who as Bhaktin Rose went out on harinama with me twice in the Netherlands two and a half years ago.

Several new people have developed an interest in kirtana and Krishna consciousness during the several months the daily harinama has been going on and several thousand books have been distributed to people, just from them hearing the holy name and choosing to give a donation. Both Rama Raya and Ekalavya Prabhus are very enthusiastic about the program, and after a short break from January to March to go on pilgrimage in India, they are looking forward to another successful year.

Sharing Krishna at the University of North Florida

I have been singing on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville a few times a year since back in 2003 or 2004. I find the students are less under pressure in that relatively small school, and you always find interesting and interested people. People buy books, play instruments with us, like our treats, and talk about spiritual issues.

After a two-and-a-half-hour flight and a two-hour bus ride, I arrived at the campus too tired to chant, so I took lunch and a nap. Then in the late afternoon I decided to sit on a bench on the green and play my harmonium and sing for a couple of hours before our Thursday evening program and invite some new people to come.

I was surprised to meet Regina, one girl who remembered me from our weekly programs back in January, and who told me she has been coming to them ever since. Another girl, Jessica, just came to a single program, back in January, and also remembered me from that. We had a nice conversation about some supernatural experiences she had, and she promised to come to the program. On top of that, I met a math professor, who had done her graduate studies at University of California at San Diego and developed a love for the Krishna lunch the devotees served there each week. I had met her before on the green at UNF, and on days I did not see her there, I would bring prasadam to her office. It was wonderful that she spontaneously walked by during the brief time I was chanting there. I also met one young Indian man who is a Krishna devotee, and had looked online for Krishna temples in the area but had failed to find any. I told him about our program on the campus, and about our temples in Alachua and Gainesville. As a result he became a regular attendee at our programs at UNF.

By the fall semester of 2012, Dina Bandhu and Amrita Keli Prabhus, the devotees doing programs at UNF nature pavilion since January, had created enough interest in the students that they could create a Krishna Club with meetings on the campus. I was happy to see about fifteen people at the weekly program. Sometimes they said they got twenty-five. They do some yoga, have a talk related to Bhagavad-gita, have chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra with instruments, and then Krishna prasadam, spiritual food for the soul. When I was there, after the program they discussed plans for a weekend field trip to a home program in LaCrosse and the Govardhan Puja festival in our Alachua temple. I was surprised to see the number of students interested in the devotional adventure. It was inspiring for me to see the interest in Krishna consciousness in a new place, and I bet such programs could be started on many campuses by enthusiastic young devotees who simply share in a straight forward way whatever they have learned about Krishna with others.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 1.55, purport:

“The development of submissiveness is the cause of proportionate spiritual realization, by which one can ultimately meet the Supreme Lord in person, as a man meets another man face to face. Because of his development of transcendental attachment for the Supreme Lord, a surrendered soul feels the presence of his beloved everywhere, and all his senses are engaged in the loving service of the Lord. His eyes are engaged in seeing the beautiful couple Sri Radha and Krishna sitting on a decorated throne beneath a desire tree in the transcendental land of Vrindavan. His nose is engaged in smelling the spiritual aroma of the lotus feet of the Lord. Similarly, his ears are engaged in hearing messages from Vaikuntha, and his hands embrace the lotus feet of the Lord and His associates. Thus the Lord is manifested to a pure devotee from within and without. This is one of the mysteries of the devotional relationship in which a devotee and the Lord are bound by a tie of spontaneous love. To achieve this love should be the goal of life for every living being.”

from a lecture:

In this material life, you will never be able to make anyone happy by your activities. That is not possible. Neither you will be happy.

For the jnanis (those interested in cultivating knowledge) Krishna says, “After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” (Bg. 7.19), for the karmis (those interested in enjoying their senses) Krishna says, “Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform — do that, O son of Kunti, as an offering to Me.” (Bg. 9.27), and for the yogis Krishna says, “A yogi is greater than the ascetic, greater than the empiricist and greater than the fruitive worker. Therefore, O Arjuna, in all circumstances, be a yogi” (Bg. 6.46).

Nirguna means Krishna is not influenced by the three qualities of material nature (gunas) not that He has no transcendental qualities.

from a lecture:

Meditation begins with the lotus feet of Lord. Meditation on Krishna’s lotus feet destroys the dirty things in our heart.

Krishna’s feet are marked with four primary symbols: ankusa (goad), vajra (thunderbolt), sauraubya (lotus), . . .

When a British reporter asked me where hell was. I told him London is hell. There is no sun. It is always rainy and cold. You to do not have to search out hell in another place, hell is already here.

There is no light so you are paying electricity bill, but in the spiritual world no additional illumination is required. Why do you not go there? Why should we pay the electric bill? Go to the spiritual world. Every planet is effulgence.

In the material world, even the richest person is full of anxiety, but the spiritual world is Vaikuntha, without anxiety, so we should aspire to go there.

No material condition can check Krishna consciousness.

from an early-morning walk in Vrindvana, India, in September 1975:

On one side they promote contraceptives, and on the other side they encourage women

to marry three times a week. This is their civilization. If you want to stop increasing the population, why are you inducing people: “Indulge in sex”? Everything is contradictory. And it is all based on sense gratification.

from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.6 in London on July 23, 1973:

Without following the religious principle there is not humanity. . . . It does not matter what kind of religion you follow, it doesn’t matter, but you must follow. . . . That is the duty, dharma. Human civilization begins when there is a religious conception of life.

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:

from the abridged Patravali, known as Patramrita, to be printed by Touchstone Publishing:

If you pray for the well-being of your subordinates then your own spiritual progress will take place.

As far as the present anarthas [unwanted tendencies] are concerned, if your hearing and chanting is very strong, they cannot display their prominence.

When I think that I am well, I become averse to Krishna, and as a result, I consider senior devotees to be junior to me. That is why, considering this, Lord Krishna keeps me in various distressful conditions, such as in ill health and other inconveniences. At such times I try to understand the meaning of the verse beginning with tat te’nukampam [My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.8)].

When we remain absorbed in material subjects, which are not related to Krishna, we are inclined to quarrel with the different people of the world.

I am very glad to learn that Bhaktisarvasva Giri has received an English certificate. If the sannyasis and brahmacaris keep proving their merit in this way at different places, our happiness will know no bounds.

We should have churches for devotion and love all over India (preaching centers for pure devotional service and love of Krishna). Perhaps you remember the teachings of Mahaprabhu:

prithivite ache yata nagaradi-grama

sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

“In every town and village of the world, My name [the holy name of Krishna] will be preached.”

No one has the right to drink even a drop of nectar from the ocean of the transcendental mellows of Lord Krishna’s pastimes without the mercy of the daughter of King Vrishabhanu [Radharani, Lord Krishna’s consort].

The dim reflection of madhurya-rasa is svakiya-rasa, and so it is simply another form of dasya-rasa. Many people make a mistake by accepting Lord Narayana’s pastimes with His legitimate wife as madhurya-rasa.

“A Vaishnava comes to this material world according to his karma, and after spending a fixed amount of time here, he goes to where he is being sent by Baladeva, according to his qualifications. Mahalaksmi resides within Balarama, and within Mahalaksmi resides the Supreme Lord. Therefore, Tota has gone back to serve his worshipable Lord. He was a Vaishnava part and parcel of Nityananda Prabhu, the predominating Lord of the sandhini potency and so if you learn to treat Lord Vishnu as your son, you will no longer feel the absence of your son.

“As the Supreme Lord lived in the heart of Tota and so you served Him, so now you should serve Lord Baladeva. The material body of Tota has been merged into the five gross material elements. The spirit soul of Tota will remain engaged in the service of the energetic Lord. Your material son has been separated from his material father. He is meant to be enjoyed by the Supreme Lord and so his real business is to serve Him. Realizing that you are not conditioned by maya, the Supreme Lord will not allow you to become overwhelmed with grief and will bestow upon you His unlimited mercy and power. This is my feeling.”

When Mahaprabhu accepted the renounced order of life, He said to His old mother, His wife Vishnupriya-devi, and the residents of Navadvipa, “I am only a human being and I am related to all of you in some kind of relationship. When I am gone, you should establish your relationship with Krishna instead of Me and thus give Me an opportunity to serve Lord Hari independently.”

“They may think that sincere premika bhaktas, who are under the shelter of the transcendental parakiya-rasa, are less ethical, but love for Hari has such a wonderful power that even a greatly delightful moral standard becomes dim in front of it.”

The Supreme Lord keeps Himself hidden within this universe in order to test us. If we can perceive Him behind every object, our apparent misunderstandings will diminish.

The Supreme Lord’s testing place is this material world. In order to pass this test, one has to hear glorification of Hari from the mouths of devotees of Hari.

Only those whose time for the destruction of anarthas has arrived will hear lectures on the topics of Hari and thus become successful in their attempt to achieve the ultimate goal of life.

If you chant one hundred thousand holy names every day then the offenders will not be able to disturb your bhajana.

There cannot be any better and more favorable condition for bhajana than giving up bad association.

In the inclination for service on the path of aisvarya, the chanting of the holy name, Hare Rama, refers to Lord Rama, the son of Dasaratha. But the devotees who worship the Lord on the path of madhurya know Rama to be Gopi-ramana, or the enjoyer of the gopis. He is the son of Nanda. In that case, the word Rama refers to Radha-ramana, and the word Hara refers to the daughter of Vrsabhanu.

There is never any possibility of falling down for a person who has received even a hint, or reflection, of the mula-mantra, or the secret of unalloyed bhajana. Still, as full-fledged members, their inability to accept the authority of the matha as a result of their previous offenses committed against the Vaishnavas is ultimately due to their personal weakness. When, by the grace of the Supreme Lord, the service attitude is progressively increased within their heart, they will not fall prey to sinful propensities. Try to benefit such fallen persons by helping them. That will be an act of real friendship.

Thoughtless and ignorant people who are unable to comprehend the magnanimous pastimes of exalted personalities question, “Why did Kala Krishnadasa, who was under the shelter of Gaurasundara, become attracted to the Bhattathari women? Why did Chota Haridasa, rather than exhibiting the example of a devotee, engage in inferior activity on the pretext of serving Gaura? Why did Ramacandra Puri give up his subordination to Madhavendra Puri? Why did a few so-called sons of Advaita Acarya Prabhu, and a few so-called disciples of Virabhadra, become independent?”

Ignorant people may like the arguments that challenge the faith of those on the kanistha and madhyama platforms which are put forth by those who are out of touch with reality and cannot accept the actual truth, but when these foolish people enter the deep meaning of the transcendentally magnanimous pastimes of exalted personalities who are under the shelter of Lord Caitanya or His devotees, they will understand that in order to provide an opportunity for well-being to all unfit and fallen souls, Lord Caitanya has revealed the truth that all living entities are constitutionally servants of Lord Krishna. Even though the service of Krishna temporarily manifested in a perverted form as an aversion to Krishna when combined with material enjoyment is abominable in the eyes of unqualified gross materialists who believe in direct perception, it does not violate the principle of the api cet suduracara verse. A maha-bhagavata knows everyone as his spiritual master and therefore only a maha-bhagavata is the spiritual master of the whole world.

The goal of our service is to arrange a meeting between the object of worship and the worshiper.

Bhajana is not something to make a show of. If we chant the holy name loudly, the enjoyment of idleness cannot devour us.

Bhakti Charu Swami:

Lord Caitanya taught Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Vrindavan is His abode, and the gopis method of worship is best.

If Yasoda knew that Krishna was the Supreme Personality could she try to tie Him up?

Everyone forgets that Krishna is God in Vrindavan.

The relationships of friendship, parenthood, and conjugal love are prominent in Vrindavan.

Aghasura could not be killed by the demigods, who would tremble in fear at the sound of his name.

If one performs vaidhi-bhakti he attains Vaikuntha.

After Krishna demonstrated his pastimes, he considered that when bhakti is merely performed according to rules and regulations, no one would ever attain Goloka Vrindavan.

Raganuga means to follow a resident of Vrindavan. By serving Lord Caitanya, we are serving Radharani, and what greater resident of Vrindavan is there than Radharani?

Asvatthama had the benediction from Lord Shiva to be invisible for one night, and so he could kill the sleeping Pandavas without being stopped. Why would Krishna would allow them to be killed? They had played their role in His pastimes and so they would not be needed in this world.

At the border of Vrindavan and Mathura when Krishna and Akrura bathed, Shyamasundara Krishna returned to Vrindavan and Vasudeva Krishna continued to Mathura and Dvaraka.

To go from Vaikuntha to Goloka Vrindavan, you have to come to this world and do sankirtana in Vrindavan.

Regarding your mother, because she went back to Godhead, you should consider what is your relationship with her now. Do you want to follow her example? Do you want to assist her in her service to Krishna? Do you want to pray to her that you might also be engaged in Krishna’s service?

When you give up an old car and buy a new one, do you lament? So in the same way, we should not lament when one gets a better body for serving Krishna.

A rich man is always changing his car while a poor man holds on to it until it is a piece of junk. We are neither the rich man nor the poor man. We are the chauffeur of the richest man, and He will certainly make sure we have a first class car to drive in His service, so we do not have to worry.

Radhanath Swami:

from a BTG article:

Mother Theresa spoke to me years ago, “The greatest problem in this world is not the hunger of the stomach but the hunger of the heart. All over the world both rich and poor suffer. They are lonely, starving for love. Only God’s love can satisfy the hunger of the heart.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from his autobiography, The Story of My Life:

It is always good to live with the chanting and to bring it out in a time of difficulty. It may seem odd to the people who are confining you, but it will always work in your favor. They will know you are religious and serious.

And I was there among the first. I feel he [Srila Prabhupada] will always remember me as “Satsvarupa” from my typing and donations and giving him a daily mango. He picked me up as a sad lonely hippie and made me a happy and responsible son. I will never forget those days or fail to treasure them.

At the welfare office I chanted Hare Krishna mantras silently in my mind. The Swami had approved the practice. I had told him my co-workers engaged in talking nonsense. He said, “Even the greatest philosophers are talking nonsense. Go on chanting Hare Krishna in your mind.”

Going to meet the Swami was the nectar of life, and I did it every morning for Caitanya-caritamrta class and every evening for kirtana and his Bhagavad-gita class. He was so kind and inviting, accepting me as I was, and giving me typing tasks. I gave him my money and that solidified my relationship. He called me “Sat-svaroop.” I don’t have to make up the early days. I just have to remember them as they were. Gradually more intimacy developed and a sense of belonging to his group. I was learning the philosophy of Krishna and eating lunch with him daily and taking “heavenly porridge” with the boys in the morning. It was a favorable burgeoning time. I remember leaving the storefront in the morning and walking to my workplace, feeling that I was a cowherd boy with my necktie in my back pocket. I had friendly talks with Rayarama and the others and felt they were my brotherhood of friends. I had moments alone with the Swami when I asked him questions about the philosophy and commented on how I was feeling. I was no longer intimidated by the city buildings in the concrete jungle. I saw them as material energy, and now they were temporary and in a sense unreal. Real was Krishna in the spiritual world. We had pictures of Radha and Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan. Gradually we were setting the foundation for lifelong commitment starting with the summer of 1966. We kind of knew what we were getting into.

I knew the Swami as my spiritual master, the guru of my soul. He was guiding me into my relationship with Krishna through him. We needed him to be there, and we wanted him and he was there. We knew where to find him, in his apartment, in his temple. He started a Sunday Love Feast and chanting in Tompkins Square Park. He was like putting milk in a bowl, and we were like cats lapping it up. Everything was auspicious, even as the season changed. So life revolved around the activities with the Swami and the future seemed eternal. We didn’t think of it ending. This was just fine, getting up at 1 a.m. and chanting japa on the red beads, sitting on the floor. Then dressing and leaving the apartment, entering the streets and passing people on your way to the storefront. As dependable as the Big Ben clock in London, the Swami would enter the storefront and step out of his shoes and sit and lead us in the morning tune chant for twenty minutes. Then he set up his reel-to-reel tape recorder and started lecturing about Sanatana Swami’s getting out of jail and going to meet Lord Caitanya in Benares. A cliff hanger lecture every morning. I can keep going back and remembering, and it’s always there. I don’t have to make it up. It all actually happened, and it was wonderful as he took me up and molded me into a devotee of Krishna consciousness. He is my Swami, and I hope to remember him now and at the hour of my death and to somehow go to him in that same mood as when I first joined him.

Aindra Prabhu:

from a lecture on March 16, 2009, in Varsana:

Humility means you have to be humble enough to realize that you are a fallen conditioned soul and your only hope is the sankirtana which has been specifically prescribed by the scripture and by Lord Caitanya and His representatives for the fallen souls of this age. No other process can help you.

Manadena means to respect the actual position of the living entities by engaging them in devotional service.

Book distribution is meant to convince the people to take to the sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya.

If people do not do sankirtana. they will look for a higher taste elsewhere.

Japa is like taking tablets, and sankirtana is an injection.

from a lecture in March of 2010:

There are five more important items of devotional service, but the supreme item is nama-sankirtana. The other items cannot be complete without nama-sankirtana.

One comes to Vrindavan for the service of Srimati Radharani, and the best way to please Srimati Radharani is by chanting Hare Krishna. By pleasing Radharani only can we get the original Krishna.

We used to chant 8 or 10 hours a day [in public], and on Saturday 15 hours. Srila Prabhupada wrote a letter full of approval to Damodara Prabhu, our temple president, for our program in Washington, D.C., where we were chanting 14 hours a day.

In Vrindavan, for every hour of kirtana we get credit for a thousand hours of kirtana.

All except nama-sankirtana [the congregational chanting of the holy name] and what supports it, are cheating religion.

Laksmi Nrsimha Prabhu:

Rupa Goswami read Bharata Muni’s Rasa-tattva, describing mundane relationships in detail, and used his ideas in describing the eternal relationships we can have with Krishna.

In explaining the different rasas to people, I ask them, “Isn’t the love you have for your children different from the love you have for your spouse or the love you have for your parents?”

Dasa Mula—Ten Roots given by Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Pramana: Evidence comes from the scripture.
Parama-tattva: Hari alone is the Truth.
He is the possessor of all potency.
He is the source of all relationships, rasa.
We are all his amsas (parts).
Souls in this world are baddha (bound by maya [illusion]).
Liberated souls are free from maya.
We are simultaneous one with and different from Krishna [acintya-bheda-abheda].
Pure devotion the is only means for perfection.
Love of Krishna is the goal.

Respect means to look again and appreciate the good qualities of the person.

Aldous Huxley says the most realistic vision is to see our ourselves the way others see us and to see others the way they see themselves.

William James says that when two person are in a room there are actually six people: the way each person sees himself, the way each person sees the other, and the way each person actually is.

There is a Sufi saying that “words that come from the heart go to the heart, and words that just come from the lips do not make it past the ears.”

If we appreciate the qualities of others, we should express it.

Dayananda Swami:

Srila Prabhupada did not think the strategy of his godbrothers to distribute the books of his guru maharaja which were written for another time and place was so wise.

As we develop bhakti, our bhakti will impel us to spread it to others.

Maya likes senior devotees. [She says:] “Come with me . . . ”

Rama Raya Prabhu:

This sankirtana movement is not meant just to make a few street vendors teasingly take a few dance steps but to bring everyone on the planet to the point of chanting Hare Krishna with faith and love.

Because of the devotee’s attraction to Krishna, what is going on in the material world, no matter how popular or well advertised it is, is not of interest to him.

Q (by me): Is is sufficient just to go on harinama, which purifies the people, knowingly or unknowingly, to bring everyone on the planet to the point of chanting with faith and love or should we be doing other things too?

A: When the disease is severe, the medicine must be stronger and more frequently given. Thus there should be thousands of sankirtana parties going out regularly all over the world to bring people up to such a level of purity.

Radha Caran Prabhu:

Krishna arranges that the material bodies of the gopis stay home to please their family members while they go in the rasa dance with Krishna.

Pride disturbs the rasa [intimate relationship] we have Krishna, even in the case of the gopis [His most advanced devotees].

Ahladini Radharani Devi Dasa from her BTG article [Vol. 47, No. 1, page 22]:

“Just as red-hot cinders may smolder beneath a pile of hot ashes, love of God, though hidden, burns within the heart of every living entity. And just as blowing air on hot cinders can rekindle a flame, hearing the glories of the Lord can invoke one’s dormant love of God and revive one’s connection to Him.”

Caitanya-carana Prabhu:

Saying a resounding yes to Krsna is the most effective way of saying a decisive no to parasitic material desires.

Dr. Dina Bandhu Prabhu:

Religion regulates behavior, but so does our family or political system.

Religion is not so much different from other fields of study where there are teachers and a path.

Just as achieving an M.D. is not cheap, neither is attaining spiritual perfection.

Murali Gopal Prabhu:

Materialists love to know past, present, and future so they can maximize their sense grati

Travel Journal#8.20: The North of England and London
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 20
By Krishna-kripa das
(October 2012, part two)
The North of England and London
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on December 12, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

As Newcastle and The North of England are my base in the summer, I felt I should return there before going to the U.S.A. for the winter. I spent a few days in Newcastle and was happy that Prema Sankirtana Prabhu encouraged a few new devotees to go out with us on harinama, and they all had pleasant experiences. During one busy period from October 21 to October 29, I gave nine evening lectures, in Newcastle, Sunderland, Leeds, Sheffield, Preston, Liverpool, Bolton, Manchester, and London. Harinamas in Sheffield, Preston, and Bolton stand out in my mind. In Sheffield favorable people talked to me, in Preston a couple who met us on harinama came to our evening program, and in Bolton several children joined us, carrying our mantra signs, chanting, dancing, and even trying to play the drum. I have several pictures of that lively Bolton harinama. I was planning to fly to New York on October 30, so I could be there to do harinama on Halloween, but Hurricane Sandy, under the direction of the Supreme Lord, delayed my departure, so I got to chant for a few days with my London friends on Oxford Street. One London devotee who was committed to doing harinama every Thursday night at 6:00 p.m., decided to increase for Karttika and do harinama 6:00 p.m. every night that he had no other engagement. Thus as it turned out on Halloween, I got to give two lectures and go on harinama for four hours. Indeed, had I turned down the second lecture opportunity and continued with the harinama, it would have been six hours. I like college outreach programs, however, as I met the devotees at that time in my life and like to encourage people of that age, so I spoke to the students instead of doing more harinama. In London, I also met some friends from America, specifically, my former temple president in St. Augustine, Vasudeva Prabhu, who came to the UK to help start a devotee restaurant in Nottingham, and Estefania, who encountered the devotees in Gainesville, and was enroute to India to study Bhakti-sastri and for pilgrimage. She joined us for harinama in London on Halloween.

I do not have so many lecture notes to share, as I was staying at places without morning programs, just a few from London where I ended out the month, most notably one by Candramauli Swami and another by Gaura Krishna Prabhu.

Itinerary

Dec. 12–19, 2012: Serving Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami in Stuyvesant, NY

Dec. 19–23, 2012: harinama in New York City

Dec. 24–25, 2012: Visiting family in Albany, NY

Dec. 26, 2012–

Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City

Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

Memorable Harinamas in the North of England

This time in Sheffield was the only time I could not find anyone to go out with me on harinama. Moreover it was lightly sprinkling a lot of the time. Still a few people stopped to talk:

an Eastern European who did not know we had Hare Krishna programs in Sheffield.
two Muslim couples, stopping at different times, who upon hearing my explanation, considered that chanting God’s names in public was a good thing to do.
a lady who was a follower of another Gaudiya Vaishnava group who did not know there were Hare Krishna programs in Sheffield.

Because of informing a few people about our local programs and our process of chanting the holy name, the fact that I was chanting alone in the rain did not negatively color my experience, but rather I felt glad I had gone out on harinama in Sheffield.

In Preston, Bhakta Doug is full of enthusiasm. The weekly Thursday program that had been reduced to a monthly Thursday program has been elevated to its former status as a weekly program by him. Moreover Bhakta Doug is always ready to go on harinama. While the two of us were on harinama, we met a couple who attend our programs at Bhaktivedanta Manor. The man works during the week at different cities in the UK, sometimes at a company office in Chorley, just 20 minutes from Preston. He was happy to learn of our Thursday programs in Preston, and he and his wife attended it that very night.

I was surprised to see the number of people roaming the streets of Bolton on Saturday during the time of our monthly harinama. Some were children who were attracted to join our kirtana party.

A few boys danced.

Two girls carried our Hare Krishna mantra signs in front of our party for some time.

One guy even tried playing the drum.

One girl bowed down to the the devotees.

One girl delighted in taking pictures of her friends with the devotees. The children must have participated for at least 45 minutes. Local devotees say that this was not the first time the kids participated. After the harinama, as we were driving to the temple for the program after, two of the girls who had held our mantra signs, spotted us in the car, and ran up to smilingly knuckle touch our driver.

Vrajendralal Prabhu, singing in front in the picture below, is the leader of the monthly Bolton harinama program, which is generally the last Saturday of the month.

Thanks to Manish Negi for the photos. To see more, if you have access to Facebook, click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151297177153665.514451.519068664&type=3

Insights

Candramauli Swami:

Even the residents of Vrindavana got into trouble because of their relationship with Krishna, but He saved them in the end. Krishna will always save you. Sometimes not in the beginning but in the end.

Life is about learning how to die in the right consciousness, thinking of Krishna, so you attain the spiritual world. One is happy to leave when Krishna says it is time to go.

Spiritual life is difficult, but material life is impossible. Material life is impossible because whatever you gain you lose, but in spiritual life, your spiritual assets come with you to the next life.

Hanuman becomes a physician, Murari Gupta, in Lord Caitanya’s pastimes. Actually he was also a physician in Lord Rama’s pastimes because he brought the herbs to bring Laksman back to life.
In the last stanza of the “Damodarastakam” the phrase “your unlimited pastimes” refers to rasa-lila [Lord Krishna’s celebrated dance with the gopis].

If we could hear Krishna’s flute we would drop everything in the material world.

When pride enters, Krishna is gone.

Bhakti means to assist the Lord in His pastimes.

The gopis always aspire to assist Radha and Krishna in Their pastimes.

People say they love God, but what do they actually do for God?

If you want to do something to increase the happiness of the other person, that is love.

Radharani can please Krishna by being mad at Him, and that is difficult to do, but Radha can do it.

Krishna wants to taste love from each and every soul.

In this world, people pray to God for food, but in the spiritual world, they consider what food to offer to God.

Prabhupada says Krishna’s favorite sweet is rasgulla.

The soft sweet sound in the heart is the Lord, and that loud voice is our false ego.

Krishna’s name, Gopi-vallabha, means one who gives ever newer pleasure to the gopis.

Niranjana Swami:

from a recorded lecture in Ukraine:

Krishna enjoys by sharing the pleasure He enjoys with His devotees.

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from his autobiography entitled, The Story of My Life:

“Krishna-kripa quoted Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati as saying harinama sankirtana was the emperor of all sadhanas. Every form of sadhana must have its connection with harinama sankirtana in order to have its meaning. He said this was the best quote he had ever found and Agnideva said, ‘Wow!’ I hope I connected to harinama sankirtana while describing the spring, otherwise it’s useless. We chant while we work, singing the Lord’s Names.”

from Viraha Bhavan, October 25, 2012 poem:

I am remembering Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati’s saying that the Hare Krishna mantra
is nama-bhajana to Radha.

Gaura Krishna Prabhu:

When Gopa Kumara attained Goloka Vrindavana and ran up to Krishna and embraced Him, they both fainted in ecstasy. At Heathrow you will see many reunions, but nothing like that.

Our reunion with Krishna comes through service.

We each have a special thing to offer to Krishna. Although He is self-sufficient He is missing that special thing until we reconnect and offer it to Him.

Kirtida dd:

Krishna explains that without tolerating dualities we cannot come up to the level of spiritual knowledge.

Radha Mohan Prabhu:

Just as people all over world were interested when Bin Ladin was killed, all the demigods were very interested to hear that Krishna had killed Aghasura.

Although Krishna as the Lord is worthy of being served, He took pleasure in letting His friends eat their lunch while He searched for the calves.

comment by Gaura Prabhu:

One student who joined a devotional retreat in South Africa became convinced that this Krishna consciousness was something special by the end of it because all we did was sing the same song and yet it got better and better. Thus he joined and became a very good preacher.

Radha Ramana Prabhu (of Wales):

conversation of prospective disciple with Radhanatha Swami:

prospective disciple: I feel you are my spiritual master.
Radhanatha Swami: I feel I am your servant.

—–

tava kathamritam tapta-jivanam

kavibhir iditam kalmashapaham

sravana-mangalam srimad atatam

bhuvi grinanti ye bhuri-da janah

[The gopis addressing Lord Krishna:] “The nectar of Your words and the descriptions of Your activities are the life and soul of those suffering in this material world. These narrations, transmitted by learned sages, eradicate one’s sinful reactions and bestow good fortune upon whoever hears them. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Certainly those who spread the message of Godhead are most munificent.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.31.9)

Travel Journal#8.20: The North of England and London
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 20
By Krishna-kripa das
(October 2012, part two)
The North of England and London
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on December 12, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

Itinerary

Dec. 12–19, 2012: Serving Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami in Stuyvesant, NY

Dec. 19–23, 2012: harinama in New York City

Dec. 24–25, 2012: Visiting family in Albany, NY

Dec. 26, 2012–

Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City

Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

Memorable Harinamas in the North of England

This time in Sheffield was the only time I could not find anyone to go out with me on harinama. Moreover it was lightly sprinkling a lot of the time. Still a few people stopped to talk:

an Eastern European who did not know we had Hare Krishna programs in Sheffield.
two Muslim couples, stopping at different times, who upon hearing my explanation, considered that chanting God’s names in public was a good thing to do.
a lady who was a follower of another Gaudiya Vaishnava group who did not know there were Hare Krishna programs in Sheffield.

I was surprised to see the number of people roaming the streets of Bolton on Saturday during the time of our monthly harinama. Some were children who were attracted to join our kirtana party.

A few boys danced.

Two girls carried our Hare Krishna mantra signs in front of our party for some time.

One guy even tried playing the drum.

One girl bowed down to the the devotees.

Vrajendralal Prabhu, singing in front in the picture below, is the leader of the monthly Bolton harinama program, which is generally the last Saturday of the month.

Thanks to Manish Negi for the photos. To see more, if you have access to Facebook, click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151297177153665.514451.519068664&type=3

Insights

—–

tava kathamritam tapta-jivanam

kavibhir iditam kalmashapaham

sravana-mangalam srimad atatam

bhuvi grinanti ye bhuri-da janah

Travel Journal#8.19: The North of England, Scotland, and Ireland
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 19
By Krishna-kripa das
(October 2012, part one)

The North of England, Scotland, and Ireland
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on December 8, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

As the World Holy Name Festival continued into October, I continued traveling with Janananda Goswami and his party around Manchester, Newcastle, and up to Edinburgh, Scotland, where devotees held an 8-hour kirtana in the hall of a church downtown, and invited their yoga friends, and the people in general. I left the two-day Scottish festival, which continued on at Karuna Bhavan, to go to Belfast and help with a program for Quaker children at our temple there. Then after three days of harinama in Belfast, we chanted in Enniskillen, near Govindadvipa (Inis Rath), our Hare Krishna island in Northern Ireland. Friday we did harinama to all three Govinda’s Restaurants in Dublin. Saturday we did our second 12-hour harinama in Dublin, and got a larger participation than before. Sunday was the Sunday feast program, and Monday we did 12-hours of kirtana at the temple. Tuesday we did harinama in Bray, a city outside of Dublin and the usual Tuesday evening kirtana program, before returning to The North of England.

I share Srila Prabhupada notes as usual, and notes from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s writings, including his recently printed autobiography, The Story of My Life, which includes new Prabhupada stories and Hare Krishna history. I also have realizations from Janananda Goswami and several Prabhupada disciples from the UK and Ireland, and a few other devotees.

Itinerary

Dec. 8–9, 2012: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja

Dec. 10–23, 2012: Serving SDG in Stuyvesant, NY

Dec. 24–25, 2012: Visiting family in Albany, NY

Dec. 26, 2012–

Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City

Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

Edinburgh 8-hour Kirtana

I was happy that my first visit to Scotland was on the occasion of an 8-hour kirtana in Edinburgh. Janananda Goswami arrived just over an hour early and organized a harinama in the streets of Edinburgh, and we distributed the remaining invitations to the interested people. The venue for the event was a church community room, and different yoga people and alternative people came, some for the first time. Diya from Sunderland led a lively kirtana, and many of her friends danced nicely in the audience. Janananda Goswami led a super lively kirtana, with almost everyone dancing, and our only lamentation was he was not given a longer slot. Some of the organizers knew me and kindly allowed me to sing for half an hour. Gaura Prabhu from South Africa, who lives in Mayapur, played the drum, and by the end a lot of people danced nicely.

Quaker Kids Program at Belfast Temple

Every four years the First Day School teacher at the Belfast Friends Meeting (Quakers) brings her students to the Hare Krishna temple to experience another religious practice. Shelina, who had done the program four years ago, led the program again, and I assisted. I mentioned some of important similarities in the two philosophies, such as life is meant for seeking spiritual truth and the Lord is within everyone’s heart. I also taught a simple mrdanga (drum) beat to any child who wanted to learn, and I dressed interested boys in cadars. I was impressed with the good behavior of the kids. One boy almost immediately picked up the drum beat.

Enniskillen and Dublin Harinamas

During the whole bus ride from Belfast to Enniskillen rain was pouring down. Earlier I had been joking with the devotees about whether praying for good weather was bona fide. When we began to chant the rain stopped, and by the end of the three-hour kirtana the sun could often be seen. One lady who was interested in yoga bought a book from our book distributor and gave us a donation beyond that. She was happy to hear we had a temple in nearby Derrylin. Thus austerity of the bus ride and inclement weather was worth it as someone was happy to come in touch with Krishna.

The next we went to Dublin and did harinama in the late afternoon. My friend, Dhruva Prabhu, who is an ISKCON tourist was happy that on our evening harinama we visited all three of our restaurants in Dublin. We had tea in a couple places in addition to spring rolls, but unfortunately the desserts had already sold out. My fingers suffered from playing instruments in the cold weather.

Dublin’s Second 12-hour Harinama and 12-hour Kirtana

Everyone who went on our 12-hour harinama back in July really liked it, so Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I organized another one for October.

Ananta Nitai was so enthusiastic he also organized a 12-hour kirtana at the temple two days later. Having a positive experience, he decided to try to do a 12-hour harinama the first Saturday of each month, and follow it by a 12-hour kirtana on the following Monday. This time a traveling party of brahmacari book distributors mostly from Poland joined forces with us for the 12-hour harinama and increased our ecstasy.

One man who had seen us chanting for 12-hours on Saturday was surprised to see us chanting on Sunday morning. Nanda Kumar Prabhu and Bhaktin Anet distributed many books during the course of the harinama, which spend most of its time at the big intersection near the temple. In the evening, instead of doing the usual sit-down harinama, since the sidewalk was wet, we did harinama to a crowded area called Temple Bar, which is frequented more for its bars than its temples. One Indian girl looked with interest at our chanting party, and I talked with her and she followed us. She explained that because it was Saturday the train schedule was different, and she missed her last train home and thus had the opportunity to meet our harinama party. That was Krishna’s mercy on her. She expressed an interest in coming to our events, and I hope she remembers this desire of hers at the opportune time to act on it.

Devotees joined our 12-hour kirtana throughout the day on Monday, and there were always just enough people to keep in going.

Manu Prabhu, one of Dublin ISKCON’s celebrated kirtana leaders, was one of the singers.

I danced a lot of the time.

Caitanya-candrodaya Prabhu took pictures of the devotees during the kirtana, and they are all so meditative. I share a couple. Thanks for all of your pictures of the harinama and kirtana in Dublin, Caitanya!

If you are on Facebook, you can see them all here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.508082672537289.122015.100000066812012&type=3

On Tuesday we traveled with the brahmacari book distributors to Bray, about half an hour from Dublin, and we chanted as they distributed books. Because we had chanted for twelve hours the previous Saturday and Monday, we found two and three-quarters hours went by like no time at all.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.14.26, purport:

“The scientists are cheaters because they present so many bogus things in the name of science. They propose going to the moon, but actually they end up cheating the entire public of large sums of money for their experiments. They cannot do anything useful. Unless one can find a person transcendental to the four basic defects, one should not accept advice and become a victim of the material condition. The best process is to take the advice and instructions of Sri Krishna or His bona fide representative. In this way one can be happy in this life and the next.”

Janananda Goswami:

If we had as much enthusiasm for Krishna as we do for our computers and mobiles, we could make rapid advancement.

There are some things we do every day, eat, sleep, use the toilet, and brush our teeth. Similarly we should read Srila Prabhupada’s books every day.

Krishna consciousness is not just to make our material life or our present existence more comfortable. It is to go to the spiritual world and to become released from birth and death and redevelop our relationship with Krishna.

Four things given by Srila Prabhupada to make your house a temple.

have an altar
offer your food to Krishna
chant the holy name, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra
read the scriptures

Another important activity for householders is taking care of guests.

Srila Prabhupada told his GBC members their first duty is to make sure everyone in the temple is chanting 16 rounds of Hare Krishna and following the four rules prohibiting intoxication, meat-eating, illicit sex, and gambling.

Haridasa Thakura was chanting 300,000 names of the Lord before Lord Caitanya’s appearance.

Sometimes it is described that some devotee of the Lord is an incarnation of two intimate associates of the Lord. This is not so strange as in the material world sometimes someone is haunted by a ghost and two souls are inhabiting the same body and vying for control. Of course, in the Lord’s pastimes, the two devotees are cooperating to serve the Lord’s mission.

Q: How to measure spiritual strength?
A: Enthusiasm for chanting and hearing and association with devotees, enthusiasm to render service, being less affected by our material situation, taking shelter of guru and Krishna, all these are symptoms of spiritual strength. When the body ages, you may not be able to do so much physical activity, but you still have enthusiasm for them.

One devotee who was 93 years old was explaining he could not remember anything but Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, but in one sense, that is a good thing.

Story of Mother Isa who Niranjana Swami visited in a nursing home: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10841&paged=2

If we are not feeling increasing spiritual strength, perhaps we are being tested by Krishna or else we have done something unfavorable.

When we carry on our spiritual practice beyond our slip ups, we can become stronger than before.

One devotee had a late night program and so his sadhana was quite irregular and the devotees were concerned and asked Srila Prabhupada whether he should be asked to leave the temple. Srila Prabhupada replied that if he at least goes to mangala-arati, our early morning service, then he can stay.

We had five classes a day in our first temple in London on Bury Place—two in the morning, The Nectar of Devotion or Sri Isopanisad before greeting of the deities, Bhagavatam class after, The Nectar of Devotion or Sri Isopanisad (whichever was not done in the morning) before the evening arati, Bhagavad-gita after, then a song class and Krishna book reading after the evening arati.

comments by Saksi Gopal Prabhu:

In the early days one new devotee was sent by the treasurer, with a half-shaved head to go out and collect for a razor blade to finish the job.

One time in the early days the pujari came through temple room to bring the breakfast offering to the deities and found that not only had everyone hearing the morning class fallen asleep but the speaker had also fallen asleep.

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami (mostly from his web site, www.sdgonline.org):

from Narada-bhakti-sutra, text 67, purport:

“Being single-pointed in devotional service does not mean shutting out reality. Exclusivity can become sectarian if one focuses on relative truths or dedicates oneself to an ordinary person. But when the object of appreciation is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one attains the broadest vision, the vision of a mahatma.”

from Viraha Bhavan, October 3, 2012, poem:

They say if you prematurely
think yourself a sakhi you
will come back next life
as a material woman.

from Viraha Bhavan, October 15, 2012, poem:

Prabhupada said if we
follow him he has a key
to enter the back door of
Goloka Vrndavana. I am
counting on that, although I am

completely unfit.

from The Story of My Life, his autobiography:

“[At Ananda Ashram] We had a wild kirtana in the big yoga studio. Swamiji let a black man play a big double bass, swinging it in rhythm like a jazz beat. We danced around in a big circle. The ISKCON people mixed with the Ananda Ashram people. Round and round we danced in ecstasy for an hour.”

“Himavati made him [Srila Prabhupada] a set of clothes for Them [his Radha-Krishna deities]. Radharani’s skirt was a little short. “That is all right,” he wrote, “It affords us a look at Her lotus feet.”

A boy had raised his hand for a question. “What happens when you go inside and you look further and further and further and Further!?” He was crazy. Prabhupada replied, “That I do not know. You know.” That boy chanted Hare Krishna and became an initiated disciple in time, Kusakratha. He became a great Sanskrit scholar.

ISKCON is like the Ganges, sometimes it is flowing thin and somewhere it is roaring wide, but it is always flowing.

Srila Prabhupada asked us why we closed the temple and came to New York. What did we leave Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra locked up? “If you left me locked up in a room how would I eat?” he asked. He told us not to do that again.

Once I was preparing eggplant and small peanuts at his request and he [Srila Prabhupada] came into the kitchen to see how I was doing. He said, “I don’t ask for this because I want it. I just want to train you in how to cook it.”

He [Srila Prabhupada] liked a cup of warm milk with sugar in the evening also.

I took part in an all-night schedule of single men going inside Prabhupada’s mosquito net and sitting on his bed and rubbing his body. I would take the ten to midnight or the midnight to 2 a.m. time. That was very intimate, and you had to use all your strength to keep rubbing him and stay awake. I managed to do this, and it was a great thrill of loving exchange towards him. It was hard to keep awake, and I did it by thinking who Prabhupada was, siksa-guru for anyone who had the sense to come to him, and diksa-guru for anyone who had vowed to be his eternal servant. “I am so fallen, Prabhupada,” I thought, “I want to fall asleep. I must stay awake and massage you for your comfort.” I managed to say awake, and when my shift was over I looked forward to doing it again.

from Passing Places, Eternal Truths:

“Walking for japa at 6:00 A.M. by Raman Reti:

A mangy dog approached me with gruff barking. I thought, ‘If you come any closer, you’ll get the end of this danda,’ and he went away. Madhu and I then circumambulated the Krishna-Balarama Tree. At the same spot there were two old Indian matajis bowing down in the sand. They smiled slightly to us. Then the same aggressive dog went up to one old lady. She was so small and had no stick. To my surprise, she began speaking softly to the dog in low tones. He sat down before her, making gruff sounds. She then disentangled her hand from her bead bag, reached into another bag, pulled out a piece of food and threw it on the ground for the dog. By now we had passed her, and I saw this by looking back. Once again I saw that I had misunderstood the meaning of Vrndavana.”

Bhagavatasraya Prabhu:

Last semester students at Bath got 25 signatures for a club on Krishna consciousness, and this year they got 100 signatures.

If you ask people what they want most in life, they invariably say that they want to be happy. Then if you ask them how long they want to be happy for, they will tell you they want to be happy forever. It is not surprising that everyone wants a condition of eternal happiness because that is the nature of the soul.

We are so conditioned, we think this body is alive and that we need a material body to be alive.

Srila Prabhupada’s greatest challenge to create life out of matter which has never been done because it can never be done.

When you come into this world, you become so conditioned that you cannot get out. You do not even know which direction out is.

The nectar for which we are always anxious is the nectar of our relationship with Krishna.

Only through the intervention of the Lord in human society, as in his instructions in Bhagavad-gita can we know of spiritual world and how we can get there.

Krishna gives you the ticket to get out of the material world, but we have to take the ride.

Previous misconceptions of God are very difficult to remove from the mind.

It is not difficult to have faith in Krishna because we immediately begin to feel happy by following His instructions.

Arjuna surrenders to Krishna twice in Bhagavad-gita, to be instructed in Bg. 2.7 and in Bg. 18.73 when he agrees to follow Krishna’s instructions.

We are brought up with the idea that evil is separate from God, but nothing is separate from God.

We have to give up the idea that we are the victim of something beside our own actions.

Dhrtarastra asked Krishna why he was born blind, and Krishna showed him his past 100 births. For 99 births he was an ideal king, but in the previous birth he had a skin disease, and the only cure was to prepare an ointment from the bodies of 100 swans. Instead of worrying about the protection of the swans residing in his kingdom as an ideal king, he ordered the 100 swans killed and the ointment prepared, and his disease was cured and for the rest of his life, he was an ideal king. For his blindness in not protecting the swans for his own sensual pleasure 100 births ago, he was born blind and the 100 swans took birth as his sons, his sons were all killed, and he lost his kingdom. [The speaker said he heard this from Krishna Das Swami.]

In our material conditional life we cannot see Krishna because our desire to forget Krishna blinds us.

We see Krishna first by hearing from the scripture.

In our conditioned state our love for Krishna is in a dormant state like a tree in the winter which appears leafless and lifeless.

We need to learn that Krishna exists, our relationship with Krishna exists, and to act in relationship with Krishna is our constitutional position.

Perfection in Krishna consciousness does not come quickly, just as walnut trees take 50 years to mature or olive trees take 100 years to produce the best olives.

Remaining in the association of devotees and developing a strong practice of hearing can protect us from maya.

We are making rapid progress back to Godhead, but our experience is one of gradual development.

Srila Prabhupada gave excellent lectures on Narada’s instructions to Vyasa, and I think they should make it into book.

Few people are interested in Krishna consciousness because it takes a long time being kicked by maya before one asks if there is something else.

\Bhakti Charu Swami argues that the whole development of modern civilization over the last several hundred years which started about the time of Lord Caitanya was meant to facilitate the spread of Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement.

We should deepen our conviction to do what we are doing for the simply for pleasure of Krishna.

Gopal Kumara’s guru told him that your fix your intention and then chant the mantra and your will get that result. So make your intention to do just what you are doing for the pleasure of Krishna.

When asked at Bhaktivedanta Manor by a journalist about the purpose of life, Srila Prabhupada explained that the purpose of life is to enjoy. Then he explained that we have forgotten the real platform of enjoyment.

If we stop serving the Lord favorably we will have to serve the Lord unfavorably and indirectly, and that will not be satisfying to ourselves or to anybody else.

Krishna knows that the living entity cannot be happy without being engaged in the Lord’s service because that is his constitutional position.

One time there was complication regarding a preaching program, and a devotee expressed concern that Prabupada be inconvenienced. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Preaching means inconvenience.”

Sometimes devotees complain, “I gave the best years of my life to ISKCON, and what did ISKCON do for me?” Praghosa Prabhu has offered this response which I like, “Actually ISKCON has given you the best years of your life, and you should really try to understand what ISKCON did give you.”

Here it is described how a person whose body, mind, and words, are fully engaged in devotional service is liberated. I experienced this traveling with Vaisesika Prabhu in England. Our itinerary was ill-conceived and we drove two and a half hours from Leicester to Manchester for an evening program, returning at 1 a.m. Then we had to drive to London for a program at 6:30 a.m. in the morning. Vaisesika cheerfully participated as he was expected to and would absorb himself in reading during the journey, not disturbed by his surroundings.

Prabhupada observed that in the West the people have all material facility but they are suffering greatly mentally.

One woman wrote a book called The Secret, which speaks about the universe as reciprocating your desire. This conception is expressed by Srila Prabhupada: “Such materialists cannot even imagine that there is a transcendental body which is imperishable, full of knowledge and eternally blissful. . . . For such materialistic men, the form of the gigantic material manifestation is supreme.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.10, purport)

Lord Caitanya would sit on the floor and his intimates associates would describe Lord Krishna’s pastimes and He would cry. Srila Prabhupada explained that is our practice: sit down, hear about Krishna, and cry.

When I was young I had the opportunity to read a copy of Krishna book that was in a house I was sharing with someone. I read it for awhile, and I could not deny anything that was written there, but at a certain point, I decided I was not ready for this, and I put it aside. Then Krishna put me through the wringer, and two years later I was ready for this.

When the Bible or Koran says “You cannot see the face of God and live,” it is my conviction that it means that you cannot engage in an ordinary materialistic life once you have seen God and not that you literally die.

We are all here because our love for Krishna has been reawakened. Ecstasy means to go beyond the static.

The question is, “How close do you want to sit to the fire of sankirtana?”

The degree that this knowledge is revealed to you and the degree that you apply it determine how soon you become Krishna consciousness.

You can become Krishna conscious in a minute, but that minute may take millions of births to reach.

Srila Bhaktivinoda in explaining Bhagavad-gita 9.30 says that eventually the devotional service will displace all the materialistic tendencies.

He, referring to a godbrother who remembered the Lord at death, was liberated, but he was not famous. You do not have to be famous to be liberated.

Duryodhana Guru Prabhu [one of Srila Prabhupada’s Sanskrit editors]:

Religion is often a relationship with dogma while spirituality is a relationship with God.

Some people are very uncomfortable with the term God because they have had a bad experience with a particular religion and thus they have negative feelings toward God.

In Kali-yuga the degradation progresses, but there is within it, an age of enlightenment, and we see evidence of the both progressive degradation and the enlightenment.

I was in Nashville, Tennessee, and we stopped at one traffic light, and on each of the four corners there was a church.

Hinduism has no founder and no founding date, unlike the other major religions which all appeared in the age of Kali, the age of degradation.

Dharma is duty, obligation, honesty, integrity, and acting according to our own nature.

Yoga is the union of the soul with God.

Bhakti-yoga the yoga of love and devotion.

We are all attracted to bhakti-yoga, whether we know it or not, because we are all looking for love.

What does God wear? What does he like to eat? Most religions cannot answer these questions.

Who did the Indian people invade? Nobody. The Indian people invaded no one for the last ten thousand years. Neither the Hindus invaded others, nor the Buddhists. The Jews also were not interested in invasion. But the religions that arose later in Kali-yuga, the age of degradation, Christianity and Islam, are always invading others.

If you are thinking you are God, you will find it difficult to have a loving relationship with God, because love requires two people.

We can become free from material limitations by serving God.

Once you choose a spiritual path, stick with it until you attain success

In the spiritual world, everything is conscious. When Radha cooks rice for Krishna, she asks the rice, “Are you done yet?” And the rice says, “No. It will be a couple more minutes.”

Q: Is astrology useful in bhakti-yoga?

A: Of course, that is what I do, and I have been doing that for thirty-five years. Astrology is a tool. As long as you understand it is tool, you can use it.

Q: What is the price to become as free as Narada Muni?

A: Complete surrender..

As deep as your love goes, that is the level Krishna will reciprocate at.

Pundarika Vidyanidhi Prabhu:

In 1973 Srila Prabhupada began speaking about varnasrama. Prior to that he spoke about chanting Hare Krishna and becoming purified in that way. This is because he saw people leaving his society because of not being engaged properly.

There is some injunction that says if you follow varnasrama for seventy lives you will attain liberation.

Krishna tells Arjuna not to follow the Vedas (Bg. 2.45) because they deal with the three models of material nature, and yet He also says He is goal of the Vedas (Bg. 15.15). Thus there is transcendental aspect to the Vedas that is valuable for us.

A mature devotee is willing to do whatever is required in the service of the Lord, but if we engage a new person in doing whatever needs to be done, disregarding the person’s natural propensity, he may not stick around long enough to become a mature devotee, being dissatisfied at working contrary to his own nature.

Saksi Gopal Prabhu:

According to the Vedas, you can offer rice wine to Varuna on a certain day of the moon, but that is not for those on the highest level of religious practice.

Every tradition has mystics that can access other realms.

Many ancient traditions are being lost. Who would have thought that India, which has a cultural of cow protection, would become the world’s second largest exporter of beef.

It is rare in yoga that the means and end are the same, but in bhakti-yoga, because it is our eternal activity, both the means and end are the same.

Srila Prabhupada once said, “Do not think that I am not also making advancement.”

Once Srila Prabhupada said at Bhaktivedanta Manor, “Don’t take birth again in Kali-yuga [this present age of degradation].” At the time, I was thinking it was not so bad, but now that over 30 years have passed, I see how things have degraded and how we have had so many problems, even in the Hare Krishna movement.

We have a spiritual cleaning service.

Bhakti-yoga is a process for constantly purifying our intentions.

comment by Janananda Goswami:

Eight years ago I was talking to someone from the Sioux Indian tribe who was a scholar who taught their history in the university. I asked him about their origins, and he said they came from India about 25,000 years ago. He also said that their totem pole derived from the Garuda stambha.

Dayananda Swami:

From sraddha to bhava two symptoms are prominent, klesa-ghni, freedom from miseries, and subha-da, the beginning of all of auspiciousness. Then at bhava, moksa-laghu-krt, the minimization of liberation, and sudurlabham, the rareness of attainment is experienced.

I used to think it would be nice if I had a service where I could just chant, but then later I realized that the quality of my chanting was not so great that that would be best for me.

A devotee asked Srila Prabhupada how one could attain perfection in a moment. Prabhupada replied with an analogy. Dry wood placed in a hot fire can immediately burst into flames, while wet wood takes awhile to come to the point of burning. So if one is advanced from a previous practice, very quickly one can attain perfection.

At nistha one realizes there is no difference between the holy name and Krishna.

Everything is already Krishna’s, we just have to agree to it, and then engage everything in Krishna’s service.

Ananta Nitai Prabhu:

I was distributing books on Grafton Street in Dublin early in the morning. People were going to work. I tried to stop one young man. He said he could not stop, he was in a rush. So I said to him, ““Are you in a rush to die?”” He stopped dead in his tracks and asked me what I meant by that statement.I said, ““Well, you are in a rush today, you will be in a rush tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, so ultimately you’re in a rush to die.”” He was struck by what I said and took Science of Self-Realization and gave a donation.

Nanda Kumar IDS Prabhu:

All yoga traditions stress the importance of the spiritual teacher.

Once a bhajana leader in Radha-Ramana temple one evening chanted Guruvastakam, and I could participate and felt Srila Prabupada had the gave the essence of Vrajavasi life.

Jesu [from a conversation on an Irish ferry]:

Mahavishnu Swami and I went to see George Harrison and ask him about his interest in reincarnation as we had heard about it but wanted to know the truth of it. We went to his house in the morning and saw him sitting in his garden chanting Hare Krishna japa, and we offered obeisances and chanted pranamas to Srila Prabhupada in George’s presence so he would know we were followers of Srila Prabhupada. When we arose, he said something that made us all crack up laughing, “What are you? Dropouts from the Hare Krishna temple?” In fact, Mahavishnu Swami was so absorbed in laughing that I ended up talking to George myself.

——

sa hanis tan mahac chidram

sa mohah sa ca vibhramah

yan-muhurtam ksanam vapi

vasudevam na cintayet

“If even for a moment remembrance of Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly.” (Vishnu Purana, quoted in Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.36, purport)

Travel Journal#8.19: The North of England, Scotland, and Ireland
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 19
By Krishna-kripa das
(October 2012, part one)

The North of England, Scotland, and Ireland
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on December 8, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

Itinerary

Dec. 8–9, 2012: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja

Dec. 10–23, 2012: Serving SDG in Stuyvesant, NY

Dec. 24–25, 2012: Visiting family in Albany, NY

Dec. 26, 2012–

Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City

Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

Edinburgh 8-hour Kirtana

Quaker Kids Program at Belfast Temple

Enniskillen and Dublin Harinamas

Dublin’s Second 12-hour Harinama and 12-hour Kirtana

Everyone who went on our 12-hour harinama back in July really liked it, so Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I organized another one for October.

Devotees joined our 12-hour kirtana throughout the day on Monday, and there were always just enough people to keep in going.

Manu Prabhu, one of Dublin ISKCON’s celebrated kirtana leaders, was one of the singers.

I danced a lot of the time.

If you are on Facebook, you can see them all here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.508082672537289.122015.100000066812012&type=3

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.14.26, purport:

If we had as much enthusiasm for Krishna as we do for our computers and mobiles, we could make rapid advancement.

There are some things we do every day, eat, sleep, use the toilet, and brush our teeth. Similarly we should read Srila Prabhupada’s books every day.

Four things given by Srila Prabhupada to make your house a temple.

have an altar
offer your food to Krishna
chant the holy name, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra
read the scriptures