Author Archives: Krishna-kripa das, Mayapura

Travel Journal#8.12: London Ratha-yatra, Stonehenge, and More
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 12
By Krishna-kripa das
(June 2012, part two)
London Ratha-yatra, Stonehenge, and More
(Sent from Málaga, Spain, on Janmastami, August 10, 2012)
Where I Where and What I Did
London Ratha-yatra was wonderful as usual with a great parade, super prasadam, and various booths and a stage show that attracted people from all over the world. The next couple days, I did harinama in London, along with Sri Gadadhara and Trevor Prabhus, a couple new devotees I had been serving with in Newcastle. Next these friends and I joined with Parasurama Prabhu and his crew to go to Stonehenge for the annual solstice festival, joined by one attendee from the London Ratha-yatra I invited to come. Many people heard the holy name and took prasadam there on that cold, windy, and wet night. Then my little sankirtana party returned to London for a few more days of harinama. Trevor flew to Czech Republic, and on the way back to Newcastle, Sri Gadadhara, my remaining sankirtana partner, and I stopped in Leeds for their monthly Sunday feast. There the congregation pleasantly surprised me by joining us for an hour of harinama after the program. While waiting for the bus back to Newcastle the next morning, I took a break and chanted for a few minutes on the crowded sidewalks where the Olympic torch bearer was passing through Leeds. The final few days of the month we did harinama in Newcastle and nearby localities.
In the “Insights” section I include a great quote about spiritual pleasure from The Nectar of Devotion, and notes on a beautiful class given by Srila Prabhupada on Bhaktivinoda Thakura. It seems Candramauli Swami is making even better points in his lectures as the years go by. Hrdayananda Goswami makes wonderful observations about Srila Prabhupada and his intense desire that we all share the knowledge he gave us. Niranjana Swami shares observations about the simplicity of brahmacari life. Prahladananda Swami challenges materialistic science. Isana Gaura Prabhu speaks valuable words about bhakti, the holy name, and the Lord Krishna’s conversation with Uddhava, known as “Uddhava Gita.”
London Ratha-yatra


London Ratha-yatra was held on a beautiful day, such a relief from last year’s which was drenched with continuous rain. I talked to many people from a variety of countries. One young lady said she spent time with the devotees in Berlin recently and had attended Govinda’s restaurant in Soho when she previously lived in London. I told her about our program of chanting and food distribution on the Stonehenge solstice festival in a few days, and amazingly enough, she decided to come.
I loved the prasadam, especially the srikand. I had seconds or thirds, I cannot remember! Parasurama Prabhu who is in charge of the feast is determined to make a good impression on the public with great prasadam. The last kirtana on the stage was lively, and the audience was appreciating, including a couple of Scottish girls who were really charmed by it. Mahavishnu Swami did a harinama back to the Soho temple after the festival at Trafalgar Square.
Many people took great photos of London Ratha-yatra. I do not have time to look through them and choose the best, but I can share links to their galleries with you so you may look at them. Click on the picture or links below, to see the galleries:
Darshana Photo Art: London Ratha Yatra 2012
On YouTube there are many videos of London Ratha-yatra, if you want to get an idea of what it is like:
Stonehenge Solstice Festival
Parasurama Prabhu, who does transcendental food distribution in London on a daily basis, brings food and a chanting party to the Stonehenge solstice festival each year. These activities go on usually from midnight to six or seven in the morning on the day of the summer solstice, June 21. If the weather is good, which it wasn’t this year, he even has a Ratha-yatra for two hours, from one to three. This year was the worst weather in the three years I have gone. It started raining not long after we started our walking harinama to the stone, and it did not let for some time. We all got soaked. I did not bring any socks, fearing they would get soaked, but in retrospect I think wet socks would have been better than no socks, as my feet would have been warmer. There was a little shelter from the rain where we were serving the spiritual food, but I was so wet that the cold wind made me suffer so much I took shelter of the van and Giridhari Prabhu’s sleeping bag from four to six just to stay warm, out of fear of getting sick, and I missed the height of the event. Sri Gadadhara and Trevor Prabhus, the two newer devotees who were traveling with me, were able, along with three others, somehow or other, to continue chanting the whole time up to the stones and then back, and they said many people were happy to see them and to sing and dance with them as usual. Someone took the following video of them and posted it on YouTube:
One blogger, Ross Merritt, commented on the devotees, “The hardcore, Hare Krishna types were there as usual, who for some reason were singing their mantra in the tune of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’! They must be trying to reach out to a new fan base!”
One young lady named Paola, originally from Italy, who I met at the London Ratha-yatra, came with us to Stonehenge. She did not get as wet as we did because she did not go on the initial chanting party, helping to distribute food instead. Despite the bad weather, she had a positive experience, meeting the devotees, distributing prasadam, and helping the Indian ladies cook at the Manor before we left for Stonehenge. She told Parasurama Prabhu she would help him distribute prasadam in London sometimes.
Other Harinamas in England
Croydon:
I heard there was going to be a weekend warrior program in Croydon the Saturday after the London Ratha-yatra to advertise the Croydon Ratha-yatra the following day. Those programs usually involve chanting, book distribution, and talking to people about spiritual topics, so I generally like to go to them. Jai Nitai Prabhu, temple president of our Soho temple encouraged me to go to the one in Croydon, although I would have preferred to help my friend Giridhari Prabhu do a similar program in Ilford to advertise their spiritual cultural program to be held the following Thursday. It turns out neither of the two new devotees traveling with me wanted to go, no one else from the temple wanted to go. And when I got there, I found that no one else was there. I had gotten the number of the local contact person, so I explained that I was there and was determined to play my harmonium for three hours and chant, and if they supplied invitations for the next day’s Ratha-yatra I would gladly distribute them, and so they did. While I was chanting, waiting for the invitations, one jovial, black man came up to me, saying he wanted to give a donation. Noticing I had no receptacle for donations, he suggested if I get a bowl to put donations in, I would collect more money. I just wanted to chant and did not want to go shopping for a bowl. So, noticing there was a 99 pence store across the way, I suggested he might purchase a bowl for me as a donation. And so he did, placing the bowl before me with his penny in change being my first donation. By the end of the three hours, I collected over 27 pounds ($42) , more than covering the 8 pounds it cost me to get there and back. Some people, both Indians and Englishmen, simply seeing me chanting came up and asked about the Ratha-yatra, and others were happy to learn of the event for the first time. An Indian man from the Croydon congregation stopped by and helped by distributing the invitations as I sang for half an hour or so. As Janananda Goswami paid for my trip to London and the London temple paid for my trip to Croydon, I did not need to collect for my expenses, and so I gave all the money to the temple, and they used it to sponsor books for distribution. I learned from this experience that if you are determined to do your service despite all impediments, that Krishna definitely reciprocates.
Leeds:
After the monthly Sunday feast in Leeds, England, seven members of the congregation greatly inspired me by joining me and my friend Sri Gadadhara in chanting all around the center of the city for an hour. It was wonderful to see the devotees’ spiritual enthusiasm generated from the Sunday program utilized in sharing Krishna with others. We passed out many invitations to their weekly Tuesday evening program during the harinama. The post-feast program harinama reminded me of Kharkov, Ukraine, where devotees do two hours of chanting through the streets of their city after their weekly Sunday feast. When you think about it, for many devotees, especially those in the congregation, their greatest participation in devotional service to the Lord for the whole week comes from the weekly programs and so they are most appreciative of the value of Krishna consciousness in their life at this time. Therefore, it is actually the best time for them to engage in an activity like harinama, which involves sharing one’s enthusiasm for Krishna consciousness with others.
The next morning I took a break from waiting for my bus to Newcastle to play harmonium and chant Hare Krishna for a few minutes for a crowd watching the Olympic torch bearer run through the streets of Leeds. I followed the torch bearer for a block, along with several others. As I passed, one uniformed man smiled and shouted with confidence, “Gouranga!” I smiled back. I had heard that devotees from Scotland put up posters for years in Scotland, and perhaps The North of England as well, which said “Chant Gouranga!” Apparently this man took it seriously, and he was one of few who knew that the Hare Krishna’s were behind this “Chant Gouranga” campaign.
Newcastle area:
Soon after we returned to Newcastle, one day a boy named David joined us, chanting with us for a few minutes near the monument. Sri Gadadhara told me that while I was traveling to Manchester, David had met the harinama in Newcastle and come to the Sunday program. He was happy to meet the devotees again, and said he would again come by the temple.
On Thursday we did a one and a half hour harinama in Chester Le Street, near Newcastle. The sky grew dark, and it started to rain, so we left quickly. Later Prema Sankirtana Prabhu saw this video of the town posted on the internet.
Seeing the video reminded me of this verse, yajñat bhavati parjanyo, rains are produced by performance of yajña [sacrifice] (Bg. 3.14).

After narrowly escaping the inundation at Chester Le Street, we went to Sunderland, and chanted for another half hour without disturbance by the rain. It was only in the evening when we returned to Newcastle and saw many abandoned cars stuck on the roads and lakes of water covering the pavement that we realized the magnitude of the storm Krishna had protected us from, while at the same time facilitating our sankirtana.

Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
from The Nectar of Devotion:
“Without relishing some sort of mellow or loving mood in one’s activities, no one can continue to perform such activities. Similarly, in the transcendental life of Krishna consciousness in devotional service there must be some mellow or specific taste from the service. Generally this mellow is experienced by chanting, hearing, worshiping in the temple and being engaged in the service of the Lord. So when a person feels transcendental bliss, this is called ‘relishing the mellow.’ (The Nectar of Devotion, p. 152)
from a lecture on Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
Just as there is a material genealogical succession, there is a spiritual succession.
The Vedic injunction is not to acquire knowledge by speculation. That is useless. It is simply a waste of time. For thousands of years you can speculate, and you will never know God. You must approach a guru.
Although Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a grihastha (married man], he was guru. It does not matter about one’s material position. It does not matter. Anyone who knows the science can become guru.
Spiritual life means reducing eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. One should not sleep more than five to six hours. Sleeping is not a very important thing. Even some politicians sleep no more than two hours. Bhaktivinoda Thakura would rise at midnight.
Bhaktivinoda wrote a hundred books, sent books to foreign countries, gave instruction about developing Mayapur, and discovered Lord Caitanya’s birthplace.
Everyone should be educated in spiritual knowledge. There is a need for acaryas, spiritual teachers.
Prasadam is less available at the Jagannatha temple than formerly as the present administrators do not appreciate the value of it. Previously there were no restaurants since people could always get prasadam at the temples.
The rascal Bisika Sena said to Bhaktivinoda, “Jagannath is made of wood. I am directly the Supreme Lord Vishnu.” Thus Bhaktivinoda Thakura became angry, and understanding he was a cheater, had him arrested.
As you approach an important man through his secretary, you must approach God through a guru.
You cannot just study scriptures. There are different scriptures. The Bible was spoken in a desert region to people who were not very advanced. There was so much killing. They even tried to kill Lord Jesus Christ.
Just as a medical book is available in the market, but you have to study in the medical college. You cannot say. “I have read all the medical books you should recognize me as a doctor.” In the same way, you cannot just read the scriptures and understand God. You need a guru.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote many important books such as Caitanya Siksamrita and Jaiva Dharma.
We are honoring Bhaktivinoda Thakura today so that we may get his blessings. Simply by the blessings of the acaryas, the great spiritual teachers, we get the mercy of the Lord.
We should try to become servant of the servant. We should not approach the Lord directly.
If one says he is God. He is a false guru.
Our Krishna consciousness is very bona fide because we say what Krishna says.
Anyone who is inquisitive to understand the highest knowledge requires a guru.
First-class knowledge is to know I am the eternal servant of Krishna and to engage in Krishna’s service. Second-class knowledge aspires for liberation and third-class knowledge is knowledge of how to be comfortable in this world, like the animals have.
We are to educate people of this opportunity to attain spiritual perfection in this human form of life. Unfortunately in the schools and universities people do not have the opportunity to study this science.
a Prabhupada memory:
Janananda Goswami drove Srila Prabhupada to Bhaktivedanta Manor. During the trip Srila Prabhupada merely asked one question, “How are the cows?” This indicates how important cows are to a pure devotee of Krishna.
Candramauli Swami:
A person born in a family of doctors cannot claim to be a doctor on the strength of that birth without going to medical school, becoming certified, and actually practicing medicine. In the same way, one cannot be considered a brahmana simply by being born in a family of brahmanas.
After Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura spoke so expertly about the qualities of the brahmana and the qualities of a Vaishnava and the relationship between them that the caste brahmanas realized there was nothing they could say to establish their erroneous viewpoint, they left the assembly.
It is not enough to eat pradasam, but one should also avoid eating food that is not prasadam.
Simply defeating someone is not preaching. Changing someone’s heart is preaching.
A devotee may avoid hostile people, but he does not consider them to be enemies.
Success can be more dangerous than reverses because one can become proud of success and commit offenses and make other mistakes.
A devotee is steady. He does not take a break from devotional service for variety’s sake, thinking, “When I return to devotional service, it will be fresh again.”
In 1976 because people with second initiation were leaving, Srila Prabhupada said that one must take the Bhakti-sastri course before accepting second initiation (brahmana initiation). We are just beginning to implement that now.
To tell a half-truth to protect a person from being hurt is not considered lying.
Suffering is a state of consciousness. It is a question of how one perceives a situation that makes it a cause of suffering.
According to Manu-samhita, a businessman is not supposed to make more than 25% profit.
The some of twelve qualities of a brahmana:
jnanam satyam ca damah srutam ca
hy amatsaryam hris titiksanasuya
yajnas ca danam ca dhrtih samas ca
maha-vrata dvadasa brahmanasya
  1. knowledgable
  2. truthful
  3. sense controlled
  4. has heard from authority
  5. without enemies
  6. modest
  7. tolerant
  8. performs yajnas (sacrifices)
  9. charitable
  10. steadiness
  11. peaceful
  12. celibate
Hridayananda Dasa Goswami [from a lecture given at the LA Prabhupada Festival]:
Srila Prabhupada would introduce himself as the founder-acarya of ISKCON.
In every venue and in every forum in which Prabhupada spoke, he quoted Lord Caitanya’s verse ordering everyone to become a guru. In discussing it he would regularly explain that become a guru was simple—one simply had to repeat what Krishna has said. He did not make a distinction between diksa [initiating] and siksa [instructing] gurus.
The greatest guru of all was Lord Caitanya, and he was a siksa guru and not a diksa guru.
Only to businessmen did Prabhupada suggest that they did not have to become diksa gurus immediately.
Prabhupada’s fear was not that we would become gurus but that we would not become gurus.
The good news is: In Srila Prabhupada’s most important role, as founder-acarya of ISKCON, Gaura-Nitai’s emissary, we all have equal access to him.
Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita 18.68–69: “Those who explain this secret among the devoted, having rendered the highest service, will attain Me. No one is more dear to me, nor will there ever be one more dear.”
Everyone has to find what he can do in his life to spread this knowedge. That is Prabhupada’s desire.
I never saw Srila Prabhupada when he was doing anything other than trying to spread Krishna consciousness. Ever since he met his guru that was his focus.
“There cannot be a movement made up of people who are not individually moving.” We have to be advancing. We must do japa or kirtana each day in such a way that we are advancing. When have group of advancing people with increasing enthusiasm, you get unstoppable irresistible force which is Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna movement.
When we are inviting people to our temple, we are in effect telling them their life is not complete without taking up this practice.
If we are moving ourselves, and not stagnating, then we have the right to ask other people to move.
You can drive yourself crazy worrying about your own desires, or you can stop the nonsense and put Srila Prabhupada’s desires in the center of you life, and if you do that,
Prabhupada will empower you to convince others to do that.
[If you would like to hear the Hridayananda Maharaja lecture yourself, you can find it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlboYozGo5k&feature=em-share_video_user ]
from a letter to his disciple Ali Krishna Devi Dasi: “The quality of our lives cannot exceed the quality of our japa.”
Niranjana Swami:
from a lecture to Chowpatty brahmacaris:
If we are satisfied with the simplicity of Krishna consciousness, then we are very fortunate.
If we are satisfied with just what Srila Prabhupada gave us that is very good.
Real renunciation means attachment to these simple activities of Krishna consciousness.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said in the age of Kali, brahmacaris will remain brahmacaris because household life is too difficult. But that is not a reason to be a brahmacari. If you are meditating on the potential difficulties of household life, you will not be able to relish the simple activities of devotional service as a brahmacari and you will not be satisfied.
Prahladananda Swami:
The purport of all this literature is to convince us that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and then to understand that we are His eternal servants.
For Krishna to hold up Govardhan Hill for a week is not difficult. In Bhagavad-gita 15.13, Krishna says He enters each planet and keeps them in orbit.
Brahma-samhita describes how the sun moves in its orbit by the grace of Govinda.
In my college someone got a grant for $80,000 back in the 1960s to research why spiders build webs. They came to the conclusion that the purpose was to catch flies.
Any wild speculation can be considered in academia except the idea that behind everything is a supreme person.
No one has been able to create a machine that produces its own parts. Imagine a lawn mower that could take grass and produce blades!
Imagine if scientists could produce male Rolls Royces and female Rolls Royces that could get together and produce little Rolls Royces that grow up to become big ones?
If people are really trying to be scientific they should at least consider the possibility the there could be a supreme person beyond everything.
If you tell a big enough lie, long enough, people will accept it. This has happened in the case of materialistic science.
Srila Prabhupada would challenge people who say the universe came by chance, “What do you spend so much time studying? What not sit at home and by chance you might get a Ph.D.? Why work so many hours? What not sit at home and by chance you might get your paycheck?”
Krishna’s plan is to take everyone back to the spiritual kingdom, and our plan is to stay material world as long as possible.
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
from Shack Notes:
“Srila Prabhupada sometimes spoke of his disciples as experiencing advanced states of Krishna consciousness by chanting and dancing and serving without fatigue or remuneration. ‘It is not material, it is not ordinary.’ He especially liked to inform audiences in India about ‘these American and European boys and girls’ who were fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness. We should not reject this estimation but live up to it.”
Govardhan Dasi [commenting on a lecture]:
In the class I was teaching at public school where I work, I asked students to do a poster for or against vegetarianism. Although the students were all meat eaters, all but two did pro-vegetarian posters.
Dayananda Swami:
Because Nrsimha Tirtha Prabhu [who is getting brahmana initiation] has the quality of humility, he has been able to take instruction and therefore progress quickly. I see he has taken a lot of responsibility in last couple of years.
Isana Gaura Prabhu:
If you are attracted to devotees, that means you are a devotee.
The four syllables Gauranga are exactly the same as “Hare Krishna.”
Lord Caitanya, having tasted the ecstasy of love of Krishna and seeing the people in general bereft of such ecstasy, felt the desire to share it with them.
Just chanting the Hare Krishna will give us liberation, and chanting with affection will give us love of God.
from a seminar on “Uddhava Gita”:
To absorb ourselves in Krishna we have to renounce material nature.
One has potency if he practices what he preaches.
Bharata, the son of Rsabha, was considered advanced because he rejected the material world.
The nine yogendras, masters of yoga, worked vigorously although already perfect. King Nimi asked each of the nine a different question.
The top of the universe is light and warm and the bottom is dark, cold, and wet.
The yaksas do not like to give out money so they are engaged in treasury work.
Sacrifices should be performed according to the direction of a brahmana. In the Hare Krishna movement that brahmana is Srila Prabhupada.
The fear is inside you. You do not realize it, but if someone entered this room with a gun, it would arise, just like that. Only by worshiping the Supreme Lord can you become free from this fear.
The heavenly beings can tone down their effulgence so it is not blinding.
So many instructions are there in Gita and in the Bhagavatam, and we have the personal examples of Lord Caitanya and His pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada. Our behavior is perfect if we follow these.
It is stated if one commits offenses he has no taste to chant and dance in kirtana.
Rama Nrsimha Prabhu [from a conversation]:
Like Parasurama says, “You can do your time [in prison] or you can do community service.” In the same way, instead of doing your karma, you can do devotional service.
Srinivasa Dasa:
Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda Prabhu came to destroy five kinds of ignorance:
1. identification with body
2. thinking sense pleasure is the standard of happiness
3. lamentation
4. identification with the material
5. to consider there is something beyond the Absolute Truth
—–
ataeva ami ajna dilun sabakare
yahan tahan prema-phala deha’ yare tare
[Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said:] “Therefore I order every man within this universe to accept this Krishna consciousness movement and distribute it everywhere.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 9.36)

Travel Journal#8.12: London Ratha-yatra, Stonehenge, and More
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 12
By Krishna-kripa das
(June 2012, part two)
London Ratha-yatra, Stonehenge, and More
(Sent from Málaga, Spain, on Janmastami, August 10, 2012)
Where I Where and What I Did
London Ratha-yatra was wonderful as usual with a great parade, super prasadam, and various booths and a stage show that attracted people from all over the world. The next couple days, I did harinama in London, along with Sri Gadadhara and Trevor Prabhus, a couple new devotees I had been serving with in Newcastle. Next these friends and I joined with Parasurama Prabhu and his crew to go to Stonehenge for the annual solstice festival, joined by one attendee from the London Ratha-yatra I invited to come. Many people heard the holy name and took prasadam there on that cold, windy, and wet night. Then my little sankirtana party returned to London for a few more days of harinama. Trevor flew to Czech Republic, and on the way back to Newcastle, Sri Gadadhara, my remaining sankirtana partner, and I stopped in Leeds for their monthly Sunday feast. There the congregation pleasantly surprised me by joining us for an hour of harinama after the program. While waiting for the bus back to Newcastle the next morning, I took a break and chanted for a few minutes on the crowded sidewalks where the Olympic torch bearer was passing through Leeds. The final few days of the month we did harinama in Newcastle and nearby localities.
In the “Insights” section I include a great quote about spiritual pleasure from The Nectar of Devotion, and notes on a beautiful class given by Srila Prabhupada on Bhaktivinoda Thakura. It seems Candramauli Swami is making even better points in his lectures as the years go by. Hrdayananda Goswami makes wonderful observations about Srila Prabhupada and his intense desire that we all share the knowledge he gave us. Niranjana Swami shares observations about the simplicity of brahmacari life. Prahladananda Swami challenges materialistic science. Isana Gaura Prabhu speaks valuable words about bhakti, the holy name, and the Lord Krishna’s conversation with Uddhava, known as “Uddhava Gita.”
London Ratha-yatra


London Ratha-yatra was held on a beautiful day, such a relief from last year’s which was drenched with continuous rain. I talked to many people from a variety of countries. One young lady said she spent time with the devotees in Berlin recently and had attended Govinda’s restaurant in Soho when she previously lived in London. I told her about our program of chanting and food distribution on the Stonehenge solstice festival in a few days, and amazingly enough, she decided to come.
I loved the prasadam, especially the srikand. I had seconds or thirds, I cannot remember! Parasurama Prabhu who is in charge of the feast is determined to make a good impression on the public with great prasadam. The last kirtana on the stage was lively, and the audience was appreciating, including a couple of Scottish girls who were really charmed by it. Mahavishnu Swami did a harinama back to the Soho temple after the festival at Trafalgar Square.
Many people took great photos of London Ratha-yatra. I do not have time to look through them and choose the best, but I can share links to their galleries with you so you may look at them. Click on the picture or links below, to see the galleries:
Darshana Photo Art: London Ratha Yatra 2012
On YouTube there are many videos of London Ratha-yatra, if you want to get an idea of what it is like:
Stonehenge Solstice Festival
Parasurama Prabhu, who does transcendental food distribution in London on a daily basis, brings food and a chanting party to the Stonehenge solstice festival each year. These activities go on usually from midnight to six or seven in the morning on the day of the summer solstice, June 21. If the weather is good, which it wasn’t this year, he even has a Ratha-yatra for two hours, from one to three. This year was the worst weather in the three years I have gone. It started raining not long after we started our walking harinama to the stone, and it did not let for some time. We all got soaked. I did not bring any socks, fearing they would get soaked, but in retrospect I think wet socks would have been better than no socks, as my feet would have been warmer. There was a little shelter from the rain where we were serving the spiritual food, but I was so wet that the cold wind made me suffer so much I took shelter of the van and Giridhari Prabhu’s sleeping bag from four to six just to stay warm, out of fear of getting sick, and I missed the height of the event. Sri Gadadhara and Trevor Prabhus, the two newer devotees who were traveling with me, were able, along with three others, somehow or other, to continue chanting the whole time up to the stones and then back, and they said many people were happy to see them and to sing and dance with them as usual. Someone took the following video of them and posted it on YouTube:
One blogger, Ross Merritt, commented on the devotees, “The hardcore, Hare Krishna types were there as usual, who for some reason were singing their mantra in the tune of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’! They must be trying to reach out to a new fan base!”
One young lady named Paola, originally from Italy, who I met at the London Ratha-yatra, came with us to Stonehenge. She did not get as wet as we did because she did not go on the initial chanting party, helping to distribute food instead. Despite the bad weather, she had a positive experience, meeting the devotees, distributing prasadam, and helping the Indian ladies cook at the Manor before we left for Stonehenge. She told Parasurama Prabhu she would help him distribute prasadam in London sometimes.
Other Harinamas in England
Croydon:
I heard there was going to be a weekend warrior program in Croydon the Saturday after the London Ratha-yatra to advertise the Croydon Ratha-yatra the following day. Those programs usually involve chanting, book distribution, and talking to people about spiritual topics, so I generally like to go to them. Jai Nitai Prabhu, temple president of our Soho temple encouraged me to go to the one in Croydon, although I would have preferred to help my friend Giridhari Prabhu do a similar program in Ilford to advertise their spiritual cultural program to be held the following Thursday. It turns out neither of the two new devotees traveling with me wanted to go, no one else from the temple wanted to go. And when I got there, I found that no one else was there. I had gotten the number of the local contact person, so I explained that I was there and was determined to play my harmonium for three hours and chant, and if they supplied invitations for the next day’s Ratha-yatra I would gladly distribute them, and so they did. While I was chanting, waiting for the invitations, one jovial, black man came up to me, saying he wanted to give a donation. Noticing I had no receptacle for donations, he suggested if I get a bowl to put donations in, I would collect more money. I just wanted to chant and did not want to go shopping for a bowl. So, noticing there was a 99 pence store across the way, I suggested he might purchase a bowl for me as a donation. And so he did, placing the bowl before me with his penny in change being my first donation. By the end of the three hours, I collected over 27 pounds ($42) , more than covering the 8 pounds it cost me to get there and back. Some people, both Indians and Englishmen, simply seeing me chanting came up and asked about the Ratha-yatra, and others were happy to learn of the event for the first time. An Indian man from the Croydon congregation stopped by and helped by distributing the invitations as I sang for half an hour or so. As Janananda Goswami paid for my trip to London and the London temple paid for my trip to Croydon, I did not need to collect for my expenses, and so I gave all the money to the temple, and they used it to sponsor books for distribution. I learned from this experience that if you are determined to do your service despite all impediments, that Krishna definitely reciprocates.
Leeds:
After the monthly Sunday feast in Leeds, England, seven members of the congregation greatly inspired me by joining me and my friend Sri Gadadhara in chanting all around the center of the city for an hour. It was wonderful to see the devotees’ spiritual enthusiasm generated from the Sunday program utilized in sharing Krishna with others. We passed out many invitations to their weekly Tuesday evening program during the harinama. The post-feast program harinama reminded me of Kharkov, Ukraine, where devotees do two hours of chanting through the streets of their city after their weekly Sunday feast. When you think about it, for many devotees, especially those in the congregation, their greatest participation in devotional service to the Lord for the whole week comes from the weekly programs and so they are most appreciative of the value of Krishna consciousness in their life at this time. Therefore, it is actually the best time for them to engage in an activity like harinama, which involves sharing one’s enthusiasm for Krishna consciousness with others.
The next morning I took a break from waiting for my bus to Newcastle to play harmonium and chant Hare Krishna for a few minutes for a crowd watching the Olympic torch bearer run through the streets of Leeds. I followed the torch bearer for a block, along with several others. As I passed, one uniformed man smiled and shouted with confidence, “Gouranga!” I smiled back. I had heard that devotees from Scotland put up posters for years in Scotland, and perhaps The North of England as well, which said “Chant Gouranga!” Apparently this man took it seriously, and he was one of few who knew that the Hare Krishna’s were behind this “Chant Gouranga” campaign.
Newcastle area:
Soon after we returned to Newcastle, one day a boy named David joined us, chanting with us for a few minutes near the monument. Sri Gadadhara told me that while I was traveling to Manchester, David had met the harinama in Newcastle and come to the Sunday program. He was happy to meet the devotees again, and said he would again come by the temple.
On Thursday we did a one and a half hour harinama in Chester Le Street, near Newcastle. The sky grew dark, and it started to rain, so we left quickly. Later Prema Sankirtana Prabhu saw this video of the town posted on the internet.
Seeing the video reminded me of this verse, yajñat bhavati parjanyo, rains are produced by performance of yajña [sacrifice] (Bg. 3.14).

After narrowly escaping the inundation at Chester Le Street, we went to Sunderland, and chanted for another half hour without disturbance by the rain. It was only in the evening when we returned to Newcastle and saw many abandoned cars stuck on the roads and lakes of water covering the pavement that we realized the magnitude of the storm Krishna had protected us from, while at the same time facilitating our sankirtana.

Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
from The Nectar of Devotion:
“Without relishing some sort of mellow or loving mood in one’s activities, no one can continue to perform such activities. Similarly, in the transcendental life of Krishna consciousness in devotional service there must be some mellow or specific taste from the service. Generally this mellow is experienced by chanting, hearing, worshiping in the temple and being engaged in the service of the Lord. So when a person feels transcendental bliss, this is called ‘relishing the mellow.’ (The Nectar of Devotion, p. 152)
from a lecture on Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
Just as there is a material genealogical succession, there is a spiritual succession.
The Vedic injunction is not to acquire knowledge by speculation. That is useless. It is simply a waste of time. For thousands of years you can speculate, and you will never know God. You must approach a guru.
Although Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a grihastha (married man], he was guru. It does not matter about one’s material position. It does not matter. Anyone who knows the science can become guru.
Spiritual life means reducing eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. One should not sleep more than five to six hours. Sleeping is not a very important thing. Even some politicians sleep no more than two hours. Bhaktivinoda Thakura would rise at midnight.
Bhaktivinoda wrote a hundred books, sent books to foreign countries, gave instruction about developing Mayapur, and discovered Lord Caitanya’s birthplace.
Everyone should be educated in spiritual knowledge. There is a need for acaryas, spiritual teachers.
Prasadam is less available at the Jagannatha temple than formerly as the present administrators do not appreciate the value of it. Previously there were no restaurants since people could always get prasadam at the temples.
The rascal Bisika Sena said to Bhaktivinoda, “Jagannath is made of wood. I am directly the Supreme Lord Vishnu.” Thus Bhaktivinoda Thakura became angry, and understanding he was a cheater, had him arrested.
As you approach an important man through his secretary, you must approach God through a guru.
You cannot just study scriptures. There are different scriptures. The Bible was spoken in a desert region to people who were not very advanced. There was so much killing. They even tried to kill Lord Jesus Christ.
Just as a medical book is available in the market, but you have to study in the medical college. You cannot say. “I have read all the medical books you should recognize me as a doctor.” In the same way, you cannot just read the scriptures and understand God. You need a guru.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote many important books such as Caitanya Siksamrita and Jaiva Dharma.
We are honoring Bhaktivinoda Thakura today so that we may get his blessings. Simply by the blessings of the acaryas, the great spiritual teachers, we get the mercy of the Lord.
We should try to become servant of the servant. We should not approach the Lord directly.
If one says he is God. He is a false guru.
Our Krishna consciousness is very bona fide because we say what Krishna says.
Anyone who is inquisitive to understand the highest knowledge requires a guru.
First-class knowledge is to know I am the eternal servant of Krishna and to engage in Krishna’s service. Second-class knowledge aspires for liberation and third-class knowledge is knowledge of how to be comfortable in this world, like the animals have.
We are to educate people of this opportunity to attain spiritual perfection in this human form of life. Unfortunately in the schools and universities people do not have the opportunity to study this science.
a Prabhupada memory:
Janananda Goswami drove Srila Prabhupada to Bhaktivedanta Manor. During the trip Srila Prabhupada merely asked one question, “How are the cows?” This indicates how important cows are to a pure devotee of Krishna.
Candramauli Swami:
A person born in a family of doctors cannot claim to be a doctor on the strength of that birth without going to medical school, becoming certified, and actually practicing medicine. In the same way, one cannot be considered a brahmana simply by being born in a family of brahmanas.
After Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura spoke so expertly about the qualities of the brahmana and the qualities of a Vaishnava and the relationship between them that the caste brahmanas realized there was nothing they could say to establish their erroneous viewpoint, they left the assembly.
It is not enough to eat pradasam, but one should also avoid eating food that is not prasadam.
Simply defeating someone is not preaching. Changing someone’s heart is preaching.
A devotee may avoid hostile people, but he does not consider them to be enemies.
Success can be more dangerous than reverses because one can become proud of success and commit offenses and make other mistakes.
A devotee is steady. He does not take a break from devotional service for variety’s sake, thinking, “When I return to devotional service, it will be fresh again.”
In 1976 because people with second initiation were leaving, Srila Prabhupada said that one must take the Bhakti-sastri course before accepting second initiation (brahmana initiation). We are just beginning to implement that now.
To tell a half-truth to protect a person from being hurt is not considered lying.
Suffering is a state of consciousness. It is a question of how one perceives a situation that makes it a cause of suffering.
According to Manu-samhita, a businessman is not supposed to make more than 25% profit.
The some of twelve qualities of a brahmana:
jnanam satyam ca damah srutam ca
hy amatsaryam hris titiksanasuya
yajnas ca danam ca dhrtih samas ca
maha-vrata dvadasa brahmanasya
  1. knowledgable
  2. truthful
  3. sense controlled
  4. has heard from authority
  5. without enemies
  6. modest
  7. tolerant
  8. performs yajnas (sacrifices)
  9. charitable
  10. steadiness
  11. peaceful
  12. celibate
Hridayananda Dasa Goswami [from a lecture given at the LA Prabhupada Festival]:
Srila Prabhupada would introduce himself as the founder-acarya of ISKCON.
In every venue and in every forum in which Prabhupada spoke, he quoted Lord Caitanya’s verse ordering everyone to become a guru. In discussing it he would regularly explain that become a guru was simple—one simply had to repeat what Krishna has said. He did not make a distinction between diksa [initiating] and siksa [instructing] gurus.
The greatest guru of all was Lord Caitanya, and he was a siksa guru and not a diksa guru.
Only to businessmen did Prabhupada suggest that they did not have to become diksa gurus immediately.
Prabhupada’s fear was not that we would become gurus but that we would not become gurus.
The good news is: In Srila Prabhupada’s most important role, as founder-acarya of ISKCON, Gaura-Nitai’s emissary, we all have equal access to him.
Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita 18.68–69: “Those who explain this secret among the devoted, having rendered the highest service, will attain Me. No one is more dear to me, nor will there ever be one more dear.”
Everyone has to find what he can do in his life to spread this knowedge. That is Prabhupada’s desire.
I never saw Srila Prabhupada when he was doing anything other than trying to spread Krishna consciousness. Ever since he met his guru that was his focus.
“There cannot be a movement made up of people who are not individually moving.” We have to be advancing. We must do japa or kirtana each day in such a way that we are advancing. When have group of advancing people with increasing enthusiasm, you get unstoppable irresistible force which is Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna movement.
When we are inviting people to our temple, we are in effect telling them their life is not complete without taking up this practice.
If we are moving ourselves, and not stagnating, then we have the right to ask other people to move.
You can drive yourself crazy worrying about your own desires, or you can stop the nonsense and put Srila Prabhupada’s desires in the center of you life, and if you do that,
Prabhupada will empower you to convince others to do that.
[If you would like to hear the Hridayananda Maharaja lecture yourself, you can find it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlboYozGo5k&feature=em-share_video_user ]
from a letter to his disciple Ali Krishna Devi Dasi: “The quality of our lives cannot exceed the quality of our japa.”
Niranjana Swami:
from a lecture to Chowpatty brahmacaris:
If we are satisfied with the simplicity of Krishna consciousness, then we are very fortunate.
If we are satisfied with just what Srila Prabhupada gave us that is very good.
Real renunciation means attachment to these simple activities of Krishna consciousness.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said in the age of Kali, brahmacaris will remain brahmacaris because household life is too difficult. But that is not a reason to be a brahmacari. If you are meditating on the potential difficulties of household life, you will not be able to relish the simple activities of devotional service as a brahmacari and you will not be satisfied.
Prahladananda Swami:
The purport of all this literature is to convince us that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and then to understand that we are His eternal servants.
For Krishna to hold up Govardhan Hill for a week is not difficult. In Bhagavad-gita 15.13, Krishna says He enters each planet and keeps them in orbit.
Brahma-samhita describes how the sun moves in its orbit by the grace of Govinda.
In my college someone got a grant for $80,000 back in the 1960s to research why spiders build webs. They came to the conclusion that the purpose was to catch flies.
Any wild speculation can be considered in academia except the idea that behind everything is a supreme person.
No one has been able to create a machine that produces its own parts. Imagine a lawn mower that could take grass and produce blades!
Imagine if scientists could produce male Rolls Royces and female Rolls Royces that could get together and produce little Rolls Royces that grow up to become big ones?
If people are really trying to be scientific they should at least consider the possibility the there could be a supreme person beyond everything.
If you tell a big enough lie, long enough, people will accept it. This has happened in the case of materialistic science.
Srila Prabhupada would challenge people who say the universe came by chance, “What do you spend so much time studying? What not sit at home and by chance you might get a Ph.D.? Why work so many hours? What not sit at home and by chance you might get your paycheck?”
Krishna’s plan is to take everyone back to the spiritual kingdom, and our plan is to stay material world as long as possible.
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
from Shack Notes:
“Srila Prabhupada sometimes spoke of his disciples as experiencing advanced states of Krishna consciousness by chanting and dancing and serving without fatigue or remuneration. ‘It is not material, it is not ordinary.’ He especially liked to inform audiences in India about ‘these American and European boys and girls’ who were fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness. We should not reject this estimation but live up to it.”
Govardhan Dasi [commenting on a lecture]:
In the class I was teaching at public school where I work, I asked students to do a poster for or against vegetarianism. Although the students were all meat eaters, all but two did pro-vegetarian posters.
Dayananda Swami:
Because Nrsimha Tirtha Prabhu [who is getting brahmana initiation] has the quality of humility, he has been able to take instruction and therefore progress quickly. I see he has taken a lot of responsibility in last couple of years.
Isana Gaura Prabhu:
If you are attracted to devotees, that means you are a devotee.
The four syllables Gauranga are exactly the same as “Hare Krishna.”
Lord Caitanya, having tasted the ecstasy of love of Krishna and seeing the people in general bereft of such ecstasy, felt the desire to share it with them.
Just chanting the Hare Krishna will give us liberation, and chanting with affection will give us love of God.
from a seminar on “Uddhava Gita”:
To absorb ourselves in Krishna we have to renounce material nature.
One has potency if he practices what he preaches.
Bharata, the son of Rsabha, was considered advanced because he rejected the material world.
The nine yogendras, masters of yoga, worked vigorously although already perfect. King Nimi asked each of the nine a different question.
The top of the universe is light and warm and the bottom is dark, cold, and wet.
The yaksas do not like to give out money so they are engaged in treasury work.
Sacrifices should be performed according to the direction of a brahmana. In the Hare Krishna movement that brahmana is Srila Prabhupada.
The fear is inside you. You do not realize it, but if someone entered this room with a gun, it would arise, just like that. Only by worshiping the Supreme Lord can you become free from this fear.
The heavenly beings can tone down their effulgence so it is not blinding.
So many instructions are there in Gita and in the Bhagavatam, and we have the personal examples of Lord Caitanya and His pure devotee, Srila Prabhupada. Our behavior is perfect if we follow these.
It is stated if one commits offenses he has no taste to chant and dance in kirtana.
Rama Nrsimha Prabhu [from a conversation]:
Like Parasurama says, “You can do your time [in prison] or you can do community service.” In the same way, instead of doing your karma, you can do devotional service.
Srinivasa Dasa:
Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda Prabhu came to destroy five kinds of ignorance:
1. identification with body
2. thinking sense pleasure is the standard of happiness
3. lamentation
4. identification with the material
5. to consider there is something beyond the Absolute Truth
—–
ataeva ami ajna dilun sabakare
yahan tahan prema-phala deha’ yare tare
[Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said:] “Therefore I order every man within this universe to accept this Krishna consciousness movement and distribute it everywhere.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 9.36)

Travel Journal#8.11: England
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 11
By Krishna-kripa das
(June 2012, part one)
England
(Sent from Sarcelles, France, on July 27, 2012)
What I Went and What I Did
The first weekend in June I attended the Birmingham Tweny-Four Hour Kirtana for the third straight year where Sacinandana Swami shared wonderful insights about kirtana. Afterward we continued doing harinama in Newcastle and other cities in The North of England, and we continued to see people taking an interest in the chanting. I went to Manchester for their monthly harinama and to give the lecture for the Sunday Feast. I also chanted in there in Piccadilly Gardens the next day. Fortunately two other devotees joined me. Then Sri Gadadhara Prabhu and I went to Leeds and Sheffield for the weekly nama-hatta programs, and we helped advertise them by doing harinama. Next we went with Dayananda Swami to Bhaktivedanta Manor for the UK Brahmacari Conference, with lectures by visiting swamis, many of which I have notes on. About thirty brahmacaris participated in the Borehamwood Ratha-yatra, the Manor’s entry in a local municipality’s parade where we won second place. Then some of my friends from Bhaktivedanta Manor went to Central London for the lively Saturday night harinama before the next day’s Ratha-yatra.
The insights are really great this issue. I especially like some from Srila Prabhupada himself, others by Prahladananda Swami on health, Candramauli Swami on cooperation in ashram life, and Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami on the glories of Srila Prabhupada.
Thanks to Lauris of BRR Films for all of the great pictures.
Birmingham Twenty-Four Hour Kirtana

Before the Birmingham Twenty-Four Hour Kirtana I attended the weekly Saturday harinama in Birmingham which was on New Street at a place so busy it reminded me of London. The devotees usually chant from 12:30 to 3:00 p.m., but were a little late setting it up. Many young people took pleasure in dancing with us. Several people stood and watched for awhile, and two or three devotees distributed many books to those in the crowd who were interested.
I foolishly left my harmonium on the city bus while traveling from the temple to the harinama. Bhakta Bob, a devotee who worked as a city bus driver tracked it down in the depot, and we went to pick it up after the Twenty-four Hour Kirtana. The men at the office joked that they would give it back to me, but only if I played a tune for them. So I got to play a Hare Krishna tune for the men in the bus company office!

At the Twenty-Four Hour Kirtana it was wonderful, as usual, to associate with so many devotees who have faith in the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord and to chant for twenty-four hours. It was very large crowd, and I could only find a little space near the wall to dance in. I usually take a nap for three hours in the middle and maybe another half an hour after a meal. When morning comes around, I chant my japa during the singing of the leader and then I chant the response, counting that as a mantra toward my japa quota, thus it takes me two and a half or three hours to chant my sixteen rounds instead of an hour and three-quarters, but I do not really miss too much of the kirtana that way. For next year, I hope they put a speaker near the prasadam queue and the room where the devotees take prasadam so we do not feel like we are missing out.

During the kirtana, there was an abhiseka (bathing ceremony) for the Birmingham deities of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva, and Lady Subhadra.
Later, Jagannatha and Baladeva wore an elephant dress.
Madhava Prabhu led many joyful meditative kirtanas.
Janananda Goswami would encourage others by his example to dance with upraised arms.

Here are some notes from speakers at the Birmingham Twenty-four Hour Kirtana:
Sacinandana Swami:
Use the body as a springboard to absorb yourself in Krishna consciousness with your mind.
The glorification of the Lord is first done externally and then within our heart. In this way it can be done twenty-four hours a day.
In the German language there are songs called “ear worms—songs that become so dear to you that they become embedded in your ears. The Hare Krishna mantra should become like that for us.
We should internalize the holy name so it becomes like our heartbeat or our breath.
On the platform of practice there is a struggle between our weaknesses and what we hope to attain.
Before Aindra Prabhu established the 24-hour kirtana in Vrindavan, I would participate in the night shift, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. The karatala player fell asleep, the mrdanga player fell asleep. Even the guard fell asleep. I decided to stick with it, although I had four more hours to go.
Stay with the holy name until you realize there is someone listening and that someone is Krishna.
Sing for the ears of God and see how you are supplied with transcendental strength.
The names of God are not just names of God but God Himself.
One beggar would regularly insult the king. The king found out about it and disguised himself as another beggar. He came to the beggar, and said, “I heard you dislike the king.” “Yes,” said the beggar, “Not only do I dislike the king, but I want to kill the king.” The king disguised as a beggar said, “Oh, I happen to know a secret passage in the palace that goes right to the king’s throne.” The beggar was overjoyed. The king disguised as beggar showed the beggar a route so he passed so many saintly persons discussing the ultimate truth. The beggar decided, “No, evening is not a good time to kill the king, let us try morning.” In the morning, he saw arrangements by the king for giving charity and for the happiness of citizens. Thus he concluded that the king was not so bad after all. The king dressed as a beggar, showed him the secret path to the throne, and then excused himself while he put on his kingly robes and sat on the throne. When the beggar then saw the king was his friend, he apologized. The holy name is like that king. The holy name is always giving although we do not always appreciate.
The holy name is the bud of the flower of divine love. He is full of devotional tastes.
The mind is like this naughty child that will protest and run away.
You have ignored, neglected, and rejected, and the holy name still is desiring to benefit you.
Do not be absent-minded, be present-minded. Do not space out. Space in.
Remember I am not my body. I am not my mind. I am the soul within.
Chanting means to connect the heart with the deity who we praising.
By chanting, we are asking the Lord to accept us. So long we have turned away from Him, and now we want to turn back, and ask the Lord to accept us.
There is only so far you can go on your own strength. Krishna stands on the border and bring us further. He can capture you and pull you on.
O King of the country of love, I appeal to you for your affection. Somehow or other I am in adverse circumstances. Although I would like to I cannot find the ability to chant your holy name attentively. My soul will never be satisfied without Your companionship. Without your mercy, I cannot get beyond my imprisoned, restricted condition.
Sometimes with this prayer, Krishna will take us seriously and break down the wall.
I say this for two reasons. 1. As a reminder that Krishna wants us to give His mercy. 2. And to give us hope.
The formula to have a live-saving experience of kirtana:
  1. saintly association
  2. a peaceful place free from material influence
  3. a determined attitude
The chanting establishes the only relationship that is free from disappointment.
Some programs have more strength and others less strength, and this program of devotees chanting has great strength, and one of the strengths is the power to attract others, and thus this program [the Birmingham Twenty-four Hour Kirtana] has grown continuously since I have been coming to it. We outgrew this place, and some people had to stand outside in the rain last night while others returned to their hotel rooms and switched on their laptops to view it on the Internet. I suggest that we all make a commitment to each invite a new person, and then Krishna will see we are serious and will make an arrangement for a new place.
Kadamba Kanana Swami:
The Vaishnavas manifest the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So much energy is released when they get together, and the hope is that Krishna will manifest Himself in that situation. Krishna manifests Himself according to the advancement of the devotee. And it is that experience that keeps us coming back for more. And that is the reason I came to this Birmingham 24-hour kirtana.
a Brijbasi guest to Birmingham 24-hour kirtana:

I was gone from Vrindavana three or four weeks, and the first hours of your kirtana here was the first time I wasn’t missing Vrndavana.
The sadhus are crying for Krishna for centuries, yet Krishna does not come. While the gopis are reprimanding Krishna for His rascaldom, saying they wish He would go away, yet He is away present with them. Why? Because the gopis chant the holy name of Krishna, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
Harinamas in the North of England
We would chant in Newcastle several days a week, and in small towns around Newcastle on other days. One day we went to Heaton, a small town where many students live.
Sri Gadadhara Prabhu tried to interest locals in the books of Srila Prabhupada.
I led kirtana for some time, playing the harmonium, with Prema Sankirtan on the drum, and Vamana Prabhu on the cymbals.
We had some friendly interactions with a few people.
In Newcastle one college student from Kyrgyzstan loved hearing our chanting on harinama. One devotee said there were tears in her eyes. I suggested that the lady devotee on the party invite her to our special evening program with the visiting swamis that night, and thus the two of them left for the temple for the program which was soon starting. Although a Muslim, the college student felt at home with the chanting and the devotees and came to four evening programs in a row, as well as for lunch prasadam a couple times. Hopefully we shall she her again when she returns from her summer vacation in her native land.
Crazy Ken, who had met us on harinama about ten days before, joined us for another Wednesday program sporting a custom T-shirt he had made with the Hare Krishna maha-mantra on the front, and the phrase “Can you dig it?” underneath. I had not encountered such sixties slang in a while, and I think some younger people were unfamiliar with it. He was happy to get the maha-mantra hit single CD and few George Harrison songs that a devotee gave to him.
The harinama in Sheffield was especially memorable for several reasons. We encountered some street musicians who played along with us for some time and even began chanting Hare Krishna with us. Later a woman looking for directions came up to us, and it turned out she was looking for directions to our own evening program, not realizing it was we who were putting on. She was half an hour early, and so we invited her to join the harinama and she did. Usually we stop the harinama fifteen minutes before the program, but because I had not done my three hours of harinama that I day, I wanted to keep going for ten more minutes. An Indian man and his daughter heard the karatalas and found our kirtana party. They knew ISKCON from the Montreal Ratha-yatra. The girl was a student at Sheffield University and was happy to learn of the weekly program in that town. They came to that night to the program. While talking with them I learned they would be in London that weekend, and so I gave them an invitation to the London Ratha-yatra on Sunday, so they would have the chance to go.

Borehamwood Ratha-yatra

Midday on Saturday, June 16, Parasurama Prabhu, devotees from Bhaktivedanta Manor and Soho Street, as well as thirty brahmacaris from all over the United Kingdom, sang and danced for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva, and Lady Subhadra in the Borehamwood Carnival, an annual parade in a community just five miles from the Manor. So many people were happy to see the kirtana of the devotees. Some smiled, some danced, some waved, and many took pictures and videos, including this one [the devotees participation starts around 1:44 minutes into the video]:


(If the embedded video above does not work, click this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vDbQ-DNRwQ&feature=player_detailpage#t=104s)


Devotees distributed books and invitations to the London Ratha-yatra. The brahmacaris by their enthusiasm and their numbers added a lot to the party. We did a harinama to the beginning of the parade, chanted in the parade for 45 minutes, and then did harinama back to the car, so lots of people got to connect with Krishna.

Insights
Srila Prabhupada:


from a lecture:


When people worship God with a motive, when they get what they want they may stop the worship and if they do not get what they want, they may become atheistic. Thus unmotivated devotion is superior.


Vedic culture is to train boys as brahmacaris to learn the purpose of life.
In the West I was surprised to see children 10 or 12 years old smoking. In India, I think that if they are less than 16 they are punished for smoking.


A computer is a wonderful machine, but still there must be some operator. Nature is a wonderful machine. Who is its operator? Scientists have no commonsense to see this.


Anyone who accepts the body as the self, has imperfect knowledge yet such people are posing as big, big professors. Therefore we are protesting because they are cheating the people.


The scientists are trying to create life but they have no knowledge that life is not created. Life is ever existing.


Comment: So the scientists are minutely analyzing the mirage and thus wasting their time.


They are wiping out Krishna, and your business is to establish Krishna. Prove that the background is Krishna. That will be the perfection of your education.


Candramauli Swami:


Love means to serve and to cooperate in order to serve. Without cooperation, it is just about me.


Srila Prabhupada would point out that the United Nations could not work as long as the individual nations were attached to their own self-interest.


I was with one yatra that was divided into two groups, each with a different way to serve Krishna. Prabhupada would say they are both right.


Material desires cause disunity.


Materialists when they try to unite on the material plane actually ending up creating more diversity.
Srila Prabhupada stressed that his followers could stay together by keeping his instructions in the center.


Living in an ashram is one of the greatest austerities in this age of Kali.


The basis of our spiritual life is good strong sadhana, and we should help each other to practice nicely.


The strength of a group can be seen by its weakest point not its strongest point. Therefore we all benefit by helping to bring up the weakest people to a higher level.


Devotees disagree but never fight.


My idea may be slightly better than your idea, but it is better for me to accept your idea than to fight for mine, unless your idea is completely off.


There is an analogy of two sons massaging father but quarreling among themselves and causing pain to the father.


Prabhupada asked a devotee he asked to find prasadam for guests, but the pujari who was in the middle of offering the food. The devotee took the food anyway, and the pujari became angry, not knowing Srila Prabhupada’s mind.


When maya sees someone is seriously practicing, she tests to see how serious he is. If he is very serious, he is not disturbed. If he is disturbed, soon he rectifies himself, and he goes on.


[Devotees often cite part of the letter Srila Prabhupada wrote to Atreya Rsi saying his criticism of devotees for quarreling was a manifestation of impersonalism but Candramauli Swami read the entire letter which was full of wisdom and valuable to hear.]


Q: It seems like we could get entangled in offending devotee who has a valid program for serving Krishna that differs from ours. How do we avoid this?
A: It is natural that disagreement is there. We do not criticize the people we disagree with but deal with the issue itself. In this way we can avoid Vaishnava aparadha.


To sacrifice for others is a feature of making advancement. You have to do that in a ashram.


Q: How to avoid conflicts?
A: Communicate with others.


If you are absorbed in Krishna by hearing and chanting, you can tolerate the small problems within the ashram.


Being proud of having philosophical knowledge, but not having proper behavior is a kind of false ego.


A leader has to be a visionary and create a team spirit.


One study showed leaders fail most often for not creating a team spirit among peers and subordinates, secondly, for not knowing what is expected of them, and thirdly, for not having the required skills.


The leader has to recognize unexpressed talents in others and figure out how to inspire them to engage those talents in Krishna’s service.


One article analyzed why Japanese businesses excelled American ones although having less facility. It was found the Japanese business people had better relationships and team spirit, and that made the difference. So it is also in Krishna consciousness.


Our advancement comes from serving others.
The Lord is never a debtor although he may appear to be.


The forest fire that Krishna swallowed was a demon who manifested in that way.


The reason that Krishna told the cowherd boys to close their eyes before He swallowed the forest fire was because previously Balarama had told Mother Yasoda that he had eaten dirt and 
He was worried Balarama would now tell her that he had eaten fire.


At the 2004 World Parliament of Religions in the evenings there was a different program every night. One night was Hindu night. The Mayavadis spoke so much philosophy, telling stories, and captivating everyone’s mind.” Finally one of them said, “You can become the supreme enjoyer!” They and their followers were enlivened by this, but the devotees were disgusted. Bhakti Svarupa Damodara peacefully tolerated it all, and then spoke on the verse, “vasudeva para veda vasudeva para makha . . . ” Then we had kirtana and all the Mayavadi yogis left. They could not relate to the kirtana. Their followers, however, stayed. loved the kirtana and began to dance. Then we served prasadam.


We are simply meant for exchanging love with Krishna, and Krishna is simply meant for exchanging love with us.


Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati Thakura once said that Krishna is not your gardener, your stock broker, or your marriage counselor, He is the enjoyer of loving relationships with His devotees.


Lord Caitanya explains that through the congregational chanting of the holy name we can attain an ever increasing ocean of happiness.


Srila Prabhupada says that to think one is an incarnation of God is the last snare of maya.
Through service we can experience the presence of Krishna.


There are nine stages of prema.


To worship the Lord to get something material or to become the Lord are two illusions that have affected spiritualists since time immemorial.


Janananda Goswami:


Prabhupada says that if we keep ourselves in the consciousness of “I am the servant of the servant of the master of the gopis,” we will be always on the spiritual platform.


Prabhupada says that if we always chant Hare Krishna we will be in our svarupa, or constitutional position as servant of the Lord.


You can chant Hare Krishna anywhere, even in the toilet. The toilet is the perhaps the most important place to chant Krishna because it is so impure.


Before 1974 or so, book distribution would accompany the congregational chanting we would do in public. We would usually have two people distributing books and four people chanting, and we would take turns. There were no people who just did book distribution or just did chanting. The first day I went out, I was still a long-haired hippie, but I chanted and distributed books like the others. I distributed three Back to Godhead magazines, and I was the top distributor that day.
We are out there as representatives of Lord Caitanya and His associates to connect people with them. As jiva souls, living entities, we are meant to give pleasure to Krishna. That is the sankirtana movement. Sankirtana is really what pleases Krishna—complete glorification of Krishna, and so it really does include a variety of activities.


When I started the Newcastle Hare Krishna temple, I hitchhiked up here and stayed in a derelict’s house with a bum, not knowing where my next penny or next meal would come from.


Srila Prabhupada writes, “If there is one sincere soul, he can start a center.”


Srila Prabhupada writes, “If there is chanting going on, that will increase the book distribution.”


Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explained, “There is no other dharma than uttering the name of Krishna. . . . One who obstructs kirtana is the greatest atheist. There is no time to do mundane welfare work since the only dharma is Krishna kirtana.”


If we cannot directly do the sankirtana, we must assist it.


The prime symptom of love of God is that one wants the Lord’s name spread all over the world.


“Bless you” came from the time of bubonic plague because when the plague was happening, if you sneezed, that meant you had the plague and you would die.


In the early days of the Hare Krishna movement, we would have a bhajana class between 8:30 to 9:00 every night and always sing one or two bhajanas every day. The Vaishnavas gave us these songs to instruct us how to chant the holy name of Krishna properly.


There has to be some satisfaction in devotional service for us to proceed.


Usually chanting, dancing, and prasadam are attractive enough to everyone to stick with the process of devotional service.


When Vakresvara Pandit would dance, both the devotees and the demons were attracted.
Lord Caitanya said that Vakresvara Pandita was an embodiment of Krishna’s transcendental potency. When Krishna dances, so Vakresvara also dances.


The key which opens the door to chanting of the pure holy name and Krishna prema is the service of the Vaishnavas.


Lord Caitanya told Devananda Pandit, “You must use the same mouth that you used for blaspheme, to glorify the devotees and the Lord to become free from all offenses.”


It is not enough just to get the mercy of the Vaishnava you offended, but you have to admit your fault in public and to rectify it.


Prahladananda Swami:


Health is ephemeral. At the time of death practically no one has good health.


Our diet and medicine: Eat Krishna prasadam and chant Hare Krishna.


When through the holy name we experience happiness, we will not lament or hanker.


When we do not have a spirit of submission and surrender to the holy name, we will not 
experience happiness in chanting.


We should listen and try to improve the chanting.


Krishna decides how much He will reveal to us.


We have faith that Krishna is present in the sound of his name


One time Srila Prabhupada was in car, and everyone in car began to fall asleep, even the person who was supposed to keep the driver awake, and the driver himself. Prabhupada started playing the karatalas and chanting Hare Krishna.


Just try to chant as nicely as possible and be receptive.


When we speak, we should hear ourselves and make sure we are speaking words that truthful, pleasing, beneficial, not agitating to others, and following the Vedic conclusions [Bg. 7.15].


Good mental health leads to good physical health.


Good health is valuable because then health is one less distraction to our Krishna consciousness.


A little bad health is not bad because we have to practice tolerance so we can be completely absorbed.


Krishna knows how fallen we are, but we do not know how fallen we are.


Brahmacari life means being satisfied with having nothing. If we are not satisfied with nothing, then we will end up having more.


If get married, we may be satisfied, but our wife may not be satisfied or our children may not be satisfied.


If we are not satisfied with chanting Hare Krishna, then we may engage in self-destructive habits that give us bad health. We may overendeavor, underendeavor, or make the wrong endeavor.


Q: How much should we drink?
A: Drink when you are thirsty. The problem is we do not realize when we are thirsty or hungry. If it looks good and it is not moving, we eat it, regardless of time of day or night.


Q: Sometimes the scream of the thoughts in our mind is so intense. What to do?
A: Still our business is to try to hear the chanting. Chant louder. If we are really sincere, maya will keep quiet. If we pay attention to maya, she will get louder and louder.


Q: How to surrender?
A: Follow the six items of saranagati. Absorb yourself in Krishna’s service and cultivate the feeling that because you are engaged in Krishna’s service, He will supply whatever you actually need.


We are not fasting from water or food. We are fasting from maya. Less attention on the body means more attention to Krishna.


Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from Calling Out to Srila Prabhupada:

“O Srila Prabhupada, whom we think of day and night;


“O Prabhupada, who came to America with Srimad-Bhagavatams as his only means, who sold volumes to bookstores in order to pay for groceries, and who thought in the beginning, ‘They will never accept this Hare Krishna mantra, but let me try;’


“O Prabhupada, who happily endured the austerities of New York winters on behalf of Lord Krishna; O master, who years later made thousands of disciples and had many houses to reside in but who said, ‘I was happier in the beginning in New York because I had no one to depend on but Krishna;’


“O Prabhupada, who favored New York City by opening his first ISKCON center there and by singing in Tompkins Square Park, who beat the one-headed drum hours at a time and sang strongly, who braved all the rudeness and strangeness just to deliver us from birth and death by giving us the holy names of Krishna;


“O Prabhupada, whose preaching was guided by Lord Krishna, whose preaching was to ‘go in like a needle and come out like a plow,’ whose preaching was pure and who stayed to do it, who fulfilled all the qualities of a saint, being tolerant, merciful, friendly to all and fixed in the Absolute Truth;


“O Prabhupada, who loved his disciples and nurtured them like a mother cares for her children, and who, like a father, imparted to his sons and daughters the gift of the courage to stand and fight;


“O Prabhupada, please live vibrantly in our thoughts and actions.


“O Srila Prabhupada, of whom I often think, ‘Where are you?’ O Prabhupada, who doesn’t belong as the exclusive property of any one disciple;


“O Prabhupada who is simultaneously giving thousands of instructions and yet is silent in Krishna meditation, please become more clear in my mind;


“O Prabhupada, of whom we say, ‘I wish you were present now to tell us what is right and wrong and what to do,’ and yet whom we fear to think of in that way because surely he would be angry with us and expose our cherished notions as foolish and disobedient;


“O Prabhupada, whom we sometimes prefer to worship at a distance, as is recommended in the 
scriptures, but whose lotus feet we want to touch, whose hand we want to feel on our heads and backs;


“O Prabhupada, who is with us but also in another dimension, and of whom we think, ‘How can I reach you? When and where will we meet again?


“O Prabhupada, who is not just another link in the disciplic succession of gurus, but who is the founder-acarya of the Krishna consciousness movement, and who said, ‘None of these men could fulfill the desires of Bhaktivinoda Thakura in the matter of preaching in the foreign countries’;


“O Prabhupada, the remembrance of whom is like satori, whose moments are hundreds of haikus if we could only know them and see them rightly;


“O Prabhupada, who said, ‘Everything is all right,’ indicating that there was no need for anxiety because Krishna is the controller of everything, yet who also used to say, ‘What can be done?’ indicating that he wanted even more success for spreading Krishna consciousness, but obstacles remained in the way—this was also the will of providence.


“O Prabhupada, who didn’t speak of hidden, obscure meanings in the Vedas, who said it was very clear, and yet whose instructions may be looked at in new light, and whose sincere followers sometimes discover that they haven’t really understood what he meant even on basic issues;


“O Prabhupada, who is the source of all writings and teachings in the ISKCON sampradaya;


“O Prabhupada, who will always have true followers, and whose followers will keep up his standards in many places in the world;


“O Prabhupada, please keep us at your lotus feet; please keep us alive in your service.”
Bhagavat Asraya Prabhu:


Early in the Gita Krishna advises balance in eating, sleeping, work, and recreation. The proper amount of each is an individual thing. Margaret Thachter, former prime minister of Great Britain, would sleep at most five hours and felt fully refreshed.


If the world is too much with you, you will be too much with the world.


Once on a morning walk, Srila Prabhupada asked the devotees what was the most important thing in their lives. They offered suggestions like spiritual practice and spiritual service, but he said health was most important because without health you cannot do anything.


To help good health avoid exertion and suppressive medicines.


Srila Prabhupada explained to Govinda dasi that if you chant the mangalacarana prayers before anything, then that activity will be a success.


Comment by Radha, a Vaishnava youth: I always chant Mangalacarana before I take an exam.


We seek a teacher because we do not know. The qualification of a student is that he must know that he does not know.


Reading books to acquire knowledge has limitations. You cannot advertise yourself as a doctor because you read a few books on medicine.


Another qualification of the student is that he wants to know.


Wisdom is beyond mere knowledge and knowledge is beyond mere data. Wisdom could be considered a distillation of knowledge.


If you are unsuccessful and unhappy, you are going die. If you are successful and happy, you are still going to die. What then does it matter if you are successful and happy? It does no good to say to someone, “there is a terrible leak in your side of the boat,” because we are all going to sink.


Arjuna is experiencing anticipatory grief in the beginning of the Gita.


Verses 11 through 30 of chapter two of Bhagavad-gita, the analytical study of the soul, is like a chapter within a chapter.

Travel Journal#8.11: England
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 11
By Krishna-kripa das
(June 2012, part one)
England
(Sent from Sarcelles, France, on July 27, 2012)
What I Went and What I Did
The first weekend in June I attended the Birmingham Tweny-Four Hour Kirtana for the third straight year where Sacinandana Swami shared wonderful insights about kirtana. Afterward we continued doing harinama in Newcastle and other cities in The North of England, and we continued to see people taking an interest in the chanting. I went to Manchester for their monthly harinama and to give the lecture for the Sunday Feast. I also chanted in there in Piccadilly Gardens the next day. Fortunately two other devotees joined me. Then Sri Gadadhara Prabhu and I went to Leeds and Sheffield for the weekly nama-hatta programs, and we helped advertise them by doing harinama. Next we went with Dayananda Swami to Bhaktivedanta Manor for the UK Brahmacari Conference, with lectures by visiting swamis, many of which I have notes on. About thirty brahmacaris participated in the Borehamwood Ratha-yatra, the Manor’s entry in a local municipality’s parade where we won second place. Then some of my friends from Bhaktivedanta Manor went to Central London for the lively Saturday night harinama before the next day’s Ratha-yatra.
The insights are really great this issue. I especially like some from Srila Prabhupada himself, others by Prahladananda Swami on health, Candramauli Swami on cooperation in ashram life, and Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami on the glories of Srila Prabhupada.
Thanks to Lauris of BRR Films for all of the great pictures.
Birmingham Twenty-Four Hour Kirtana

Before the Birmingham Twenty-Four Hour Kirtana I attended the weekly Saturday harinama in Birmingham which was on New Street at a place so busy it reminded me of London. The devotees usually chant from 12:30 to 3:00 p.m., but were a little late setting it up. Many young people took pleasure in dancing with us. Several people stood and watched for awhile, and two or three devotees distributed many books to those in the crowd who were interested.
I foolishly left my harmonium on the city bus while traveling from the temple to the harinama. Bhakta Bob, a devotee who worked as a city bus driver tracked it down in the depot, and we went to pick it up after the Twenty-four Hour Kirtana. The men at the office joked that they would give it back to me, but only if I played a tune for them. So I got to play a Hare Krishna tune for the men in the bus company office!

At the Twenty-Four Hour Kirtana it was wonderful, as usual, to associate with so many devotees who have faith in the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord and to chant for twenty-four hours. It was very large crowd, and I could only find a little space near the wall to dance in. I usually take a nap for three hours in the middle and maybe another half an hour after a meal. When morning comes around, I chant my japa during the singing of the leader and then I chant the response, counting that as a mantra toward my japa quota, thus it takes me two and a half or three hours to chant my sixteen rounds instead of an hour and three-quarters, but I do not really miss too much of the kirtana that way. For next year, I hope they put a speaker near the prasadam queue and the room where the devotees take prasadam so we do not feel like we are missing out.

During the kirtana, there was an abhiseka (bathing ceremony) for the Birmingham deities of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva, and Lady Subhadra.
Later, Jagannatha and Baladeva wore an elephant dress.
Madhava Prabhu led many joyful meditative kirtanas.
Janananda Goswami would encourage others by his example to dance with upraised arms.

Here are some notes from speakers at the Birmingham Twenty-four Hour Kirtana:
Sacinandana Swami:
Use the body as a springboard to absorb yourself in Krishna consciousness with your mind.
The glorification of the Lord is first done externally and then within our heart. In this way it can be done twenty-four hours a day.
In the German language there are songs called “ear worms—songs that become so dear to you that they become embedded in your ears. The Hare Krishna mantra should become like that for us.
We should internalize the holy name so it becomes like our heartbeat or our breath.
On the platform of practice there is a struggle between our weaknesses and what we hope to attain.
Before Aindra Prabhu established the 24-hour kirtana in Vrindavan, I would participate in the night shift, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. The karatala player fell asleep, the mrdanga player fell asleep. Even the guard fell asleep. I decided to stick with it, although I had four more hours to go.
Stay with the holy name until you realize there is someone listening and that someone is Krishna.
Sing for the ears of God and see how you are supplied with transcendental strength.
The names of God are not just names of God but God Himself.
One beggar would regularly insult the king. The king found out about it and disguised himself as another beggar. He came to the beggar, and said, “I heard you dislike the king.” “Yes,” said the beggar, “Not only do I dislike the king, but I want to kill the king.” The king disguised as a beggar said, “Oh, I happen to know a secret passage in the palace that goes right to the king’s throne.” The beggar was overjoyed. The king disguised as beggar showed the beggar a route so he passed so many saintly persons discussing the ultimate truth. The beggar decided, “No, evening is not a good time to kill the king, let us try morning.” In the morning, he saw arrangements by the king for giving charity and for the happiness of citizens. Thus he concluded that the king was not so bad after all. The king dressed as a beggar, showed him the secret path to the throne, and then excused himself while he put on his kingly robes and sat on the throne. When the beggar then saw the king was his friend, he apologized. The holy name is like that king. The holy name is always giving although we do not always appreciate.
The holy name is the bud of the flower of divine love. He is full of devotional tastes.
The mind is like this naughty child that will protest and run away.
You have ignored, neglected, and rejected, and the holy name still is desiring to benefit you.
Do not be absent-minded, be present-minded. Do not space out. Space in.
Remember I am not my body. I am not my mind. I am the soul within.
Chanting means to connect the heart with the deity who we praising.
By chanting, we are asking the Lord to accept us. So long we have turned away from Him, and now we want to turn back, and ask the Lord to accept us.
There is only so far you can go on your own strength. Krishna stands on the border and bring us further. He can capture you and pull you on.
O King of the country of love, I appeal to you for your affection. Somehow or other I am in adverse circumstances. Although I would like to I cannot find the ability to chant your holy name attentively. My soul will never be satisfied without Your companionship. Without your mercy, I cannot get beyond my imprisoned, restricted condition.
Sometimes with this prayer, Krishna will take us seriously and break down the wall.
I say this for two reasons. 1. As a reminder that Krishna wants us to give His mercy. 2. And to give us hope.
The formula to have a live-saving experience of kirtana:
  1. saintly association
  2. a peaceful place free from material influence
  3. a determined attitude
The chanting establishes the only relationship that is free from disappointment.
Some programs have more strength and others less strength, and this program of devotees chanting has great strength, and one of the strengths is the power to attract others, and thus this program [the Birmingham Twenty-four Hour Kirtana] has grown continuously since I have been coming to it. We outgrew this place, and some people had to stand outside in the rain last night while others returned to their hotel rooms and switched on their laptops to view it on the Internet. I suggest that we all make a commitment to each invite a new person, and then Krishna will see we are serious and will make an arrangement for a new place.
Kadamba Kanana Swami:
The Vaishnavas manifest the mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. So much energy is released when they get together, and the hope is that Krishna will manifest Himself in that situation. Krishna manifests Himself according to the advancement of the devotee. And it is that experience that keeps us coming back for more. And that is the reason I came to this Birmingham 24-hour kirtana.
a Brijbasi guest to Birmingham 24-hour kirtana:

I was gone from Vrindavana three or four weeks, and the first hours of your kirtana here was the first time I wasn’t missing Vrndavana.
The sadhus are crying for Krishna for centuries, yet Krishna does not come. While the gopis are reprimanding Krishna for His rascaldom, saying they wish He would go away, yet He is away present with them. Why? Because the gopis chant the holy name of Krishna, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
Harinamas in the North of England
We would chant in Newcastle several days a week, and in small towns around Newcastle on other days. One day we went to Heaton, a small town where many students live.
Sri Gadadhara Prabhu tried to interest locals in the books of Srila Prabhupada.
I led kirtana for some time, playing the harmonium, with Prema Sankirtan on the drum, and Vamana Prabhu on the cymbals.
We had some friendly interactions with a few people.
In Newcastle one college student from Kyrgyzstan loved hearing our chanting on harinama. One devotee said there were tears in her eyes. I suggested that the lady devotee on the party invite her to our special evening program with the visiting swamis that night, and thus the two of them left for the temple for the program which was soon starting. Although a Muslim, the college student felt at home with the chanting and the devotees and came to four evening programs in a row, as well as for lunch prasadam a couple times. Hopefully we shall she her again when she returns from her summer vacation in her native land.
Crazy Ken, who had met us on harinama about ten days before, joined us for another Wednesday program sporting a custom T-shirt he had made with the Hare Krishna maha-mantra on the front, and the phrase “Can you dig it?” underneath. I had not encountered such sixties slang in a while, and I think some younger people were unfamiliar with it. He was happy to get the maha-mantra hit single CD and few George Harrison songs that a devotee gave to him.
The harinama in Sheffield was especially memorable for several reasons. We encountered some street musicians who played along with us for some time and even began chanting Hare Krishna with us. Later a woman looking for directions came up to us, and it turned out she was looking for directions to our own evening program, not realizing it was we who were putting on. She was half an hour early, and so we invited her to join the harinama and she did. Usually we stop the harinama fifteen minutes before the program, but because I had not done my three hours of harinama that I day, I wanted to keep going for ten more minutes. An Indian man and his daughter heard the karatalas and found our kirtana party. They knew ISKCON from the Montreal Ratha-yatra. The girl was a student at Sheffield University and was happy to learn of the weekly program in that town. They came to that night to the program. While talking with them I learned they would be in London that weekend, and so I gave them an invitation to the London Ratha-yatra on Sunday, so they would have the chance to go.

Borehamwood Ratha-yatra

Midday on Saturday, June 16, Parasurama Prabhu, devotees from Bhaktivedanta Manor and Soho Street, as well as thirty brahmacaris from all over the United Kingdom, sang and danced for the pleasure of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva, and Lady Subhadra in the Borehamwood Carnival, an annual parade in a community just five miles from the Manor. So many people were happy to see the kirtana of the devotees. Some smiled, some danced, some waved, and many took pictures and videos, including this one [the devotees participation starts around 1:44 minutes into the video]:


(If the embedded video above does not work, click this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vDbQ-DNRwQ&feature=player_detailpage#t=104s)


Devotees distributed books and invitations to the London Ratha-yatra. The brahmacaris by their enthusiasm and their numbers added a lot to the party. We did a harinama to the beginning of the parade, chanted in the parade for 45 minutes, and then did harinama back to the car, so lots of people got to connect with Krishna.

Insights
Srila Prabhupada:


from a lecture:


When people worship God with a motive, when they get what they want they may stop the worship and if they do not get what they want, they may become atheistic. Thus unmotivated devotion is superior.


Vedic culture is to train boys as brahmacaris to learn the purpose of life.
In the West I was surprised to see children 10 or 12 years old smoking. In India, I think that if they are less than 16 they are punished for smoking.


A computer is a wonderful machine, but still there must be some operator. Nature is a wonderful machine. Who is its operator? Scientists have no commonsense to see this.


Anyone who accepts the body as the self, has imperfect knowledge yet such people are posing as big, big professors. Therefore we are protesting because they are cheating the people.


The scientists are trying to create life but they have no knowledge that life is not created. Life is ever existing.


Comment: So the scientists are minutely analyzing the mirage and thus wasting their time.


They are wiping out Krishna, and your business is to establish Krishna. Prove that the background is Krishna. That will be the perfection of your education.


Candramauli Swami:


Love means to serve and to cooperate in order to serve. Without cooperation, it is just about me.


Srila Prabhupada would point out that the United Nations could not work as long as the individual nations were attached to their own self-interest.


I was with one yatra that was divided into two groups, each with a different way to serve Krishna. Prabhupada would say they are both right.


Material desires cause disunity.


Materialists when they try to unite on the material plane actually ending up creating more diversity.
Srila Prabhupada stressed that his followers could stay together by keeping his instructions in the center.


Living in an ashram is one of the greatest austerities in this age of Kali.


The basis of our spiritual life is good strong sadhana, and we should help each other to practice nicely.


The strength of a group can be seen by its weakest point not its strongest point. Therefore we all benefit by helping to bring up the weakest people to a higher level.


Devotees disagree but never fight.


My idea may be slightly better than your idea, but it is better for me to accept your idea than to fight for mine, unless your idea is completely off.


There is an analogy of two sons massaging father but quarreling among themselves and causing pain to the father.


Prabhupada asked a devotee he asked to find prasadam for guests, but the pujari who was in the middle of offering the food. The devotee took the food anyway, and the pujari became angry, not knowing Srila Prabhupada’s mind.


When maya sees someone is seriously practicing, she tests to see how serious he is. If he is very serious, he is not disturbed. If he is disturbed, soon he rectifies himself, and he goes on.


[Devotees often cite part of the letter Srila Prabhupada wrote to Atreya Rsi saying his criticism of devotees for quarreling was a manifestation of impersonalism but Candramauli Swami read the entire letter which was full of wisdom and valuable to hear.]


Q: It seems like we could get entangled in offending devotee who has a valid program for serving Krishna that differs from ours. How do we avoid this?
A: It is natural that disagreement is there. We do not criticize the people we disagree with but deal with the issue itself. In this way we can avoid Vaishnava aparadha.


To sacrifice for others is a feature of making advancement. You have to do that in a ashram.


Q: How to avoid conflicts?
A: Communicate with others.


If you are absorbed in Krishna by hearing and chanting, you can tolerate the small problems within the ashram.


Being proud of having philosophical knowledge, but not having proper behavior is a kind of false ego.


A leader has to be a visionary and create a team spirit.


One study showed leaders fail most often for not creating a team spirit among peers and subordinates, secondly, for not knowing what is expected of them, and thirdly, for not having the required skills.


The leader has to recognize unexpressed talents in others and figure out how to inspire them to engage those talents in Krishna’s service.


One article analyzed why Japanese businesses excelled American ones although having less facility. It was found the Japanese business people had better relationships and team spirit, and that made the difference. So it is also in Krishna consciousness.


Our advancement comes from serving others.
The Lord is never a debtor although he may appear to be.


The forest fire that Krishna swallowed was a demon who manifested in that way.


The reason that Krishna told the cowherd boys to close their eyes before He swallowed the forest fire was because previously Balarama had told Mother Yasoda that he had eaten dirt and 
He was worried Balarama would now tell her that he had eaten fire.


At the 2004 World Parliament of Religions in the evenings there was a different program every night. One night was Hindu night. The Mayavadis spoke so much philosophy, telling stories, and captivating everyone’s mind.” Finally one of them said, “You can become the supreme enjoyer!” They and their followers were enlivened by this, but the devotees were disgusted. Bhakti Svarupa Damodara peacefully tolerated it all, and then spoke on the verse, “vasudeva para veda vasudeva para makha . . . ” Then we had kirtana and all the Mayavadi yogis left. They could not relate to the kirtana. Their followers, however, stayed. loved the kirtana and began to dance. Then we served prasadam.


We are simply meant for exchanging love with Krishna, and Krishna is simply meant for exchanging love with us.


Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati Thakura once said that Krishna is not your gardener, your stock broker, or your marriage counselor, He is the enjoyer of loving relationships with His devotees.


Lord Caitanya explains that through the congregational chanting of the holy name we can attain an ever increasing ocean of happiness.


Srila Prabhupada says that to think one is an incarnation of God is the last snare of maya.
Through service we can experience the presence of Krishna.


There are nine stages of prema.


To worship the Lord to get something material or to become the Lord are two illusions that have affected spiritualists since time immemorial.


Janananda Goswami:


Prabhupada says that if we keep ourselves in the consciousness of “I am the servant of the servant of the master of the gopis,” we will be always on the spiritual platform.


Prabhupada says that if we always chant Hare Krishna we will be in our svarupa, or constitutional position as servant of the Lord.


You can chant Hare Krishna anywhere, even in the toilet. The toilet is the perhaps the most important place to chant Krishna because it is so impure.


Before 1974 or so, book distribution would accompany the congregational chanting we would do in public. We would usually have two people distributing books and four people chanting, and we would take turns. There were no people who just did book distribution or just did chanting. The first day I went out, I was still a long-haired hippie, but I chanted and distributed books like the others. I distributed three Back to Godhead magazines, and I was the top distributor that day.
We are out there as representatives of Lord Caitanya and His associates to connect people with them. As jiva souls, living entities, we are meant to give pleasure to Krishna. That is the sankirtana movement. Sankirtana is really what pleases Krishna—complete glorification of Krishna, and so it really does include a variety of activities.


When I started the Newcastle Hare Krishna temple, I hitchhiked up here and stayed in a derelict’s house with a bum, not knowing where my next penny or next meal would come from.


Srila Prabhupada writes, “If there is one sincere soul, he can start a center.”


Srila Prabhupada writes, “If there is chanting going on, that will increase the book distribution.”


Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explained, “There is no other dharma than uttering the name of Krishna. . . . One who obstructs kirtana is the greatest atheist. There is no time to do mundane welfare work since the only dharma is Krishna kirtana.”


If we cannot directly do the sankirtana, we must assist it.


The prime symptom of love of God is that one wants the Lord’s name spread all over the world.


“Bless you” came from the time of bubonic plague because when the plague was happening, if you sneezed, that meant you had the plague and you would die.


In the early days of the Hare Krishna movement, we would have a bhajana class between 8:30 to 9:00 every night and always sing one or two bhajanas every day. The Vaishnavas gave us these songs to instruct us how to chant the holy name of Krishna properly.


There has to be some satisfaction in devotional service for us to proceed.


Usually chanting, dancing, and prasadam are attractive enough to everyone to stick with the process of devotional service.


When Vakresvara Pandit would dance, both the devotees and the demons were attracted.
Lord Caitanya said that Vakresvara Pandita was an embodiment of Krishna’s transcendental potency. When Krishna dances, so Vakresvara also dances.


The key which opens the door to chanting of the pure holy name and Krishna prema is the service of the Vaishnavas.


Lord Caitanya told Devananda Pandit, “You must use the same mouth that you used for blaspheme, to glorify the devotees and the Lord to become free from all offenses.”


It is not enough just to get the mercy of the Vaishnava you offended, but you have to admit your fault in public and to rectify it.


Prahladananda Swami:


Health is ephemeral. At the time of death practically no one has good health.


Our diet and medicine: Eat Krishna prasadam and chant Hare Krishna.


When through the holy name we experience happiness, we will not lament or hanker.


When we do not have a spirit of submission and surrender to the holy name, we will not 
experience happiness in chanting.


We should listen and try to improve the chanting.


Krishna decides how much He will reveal to us.


We have faith that Krishna is present in the sound of his name


One time Srila Prabhupada was in car, and everyone in car began to fall asleep, even the person who was supposed to keep the driver awake, and the driver himself. Prabhupada started playing the karatalas and chanting Hare Krishna.


Just try to chant as nicely as possible and be receptive.


When we speak, we should hear ourselves and make sure we are speaking words that truthful, pleasing, beneficial, not agitating to others, and following the Vedic conclusions [Bg. 7.15].


Good mental health leads to good physical health.


Good health is valuable because then health is one less distraction to our Krishna consciousness.


A little bad health is not bad because we have to practice tolerance so we can be completely absorbed.


Krishna knows how fallen we are, but we do not know how fallen we are.


Brahmacari life means being satisfied with having nothing. If we are not satisfied with nothing, then we will end up having more.


If get married, we may be satisfied, but our wife may not be satisfied or our children may not be satisfied.


If we are not satisfied with chanting Hare Krishna, then we may engage in self-destructive habits that give us bad health. We may overendeavor, underendeavor, or make the wrong endeavor.


Q: How much should we drink?
A: Drink when you are thirsty. The problem is we do not realize when we are thirsty or hungry. If it looks good and it is not moving, we eat it, regardless of time of day or night.


Q: Sometimes the scream of the thoughts in our mind is so intense. What to do?
A: Still our business is to try to hear the chanting. Chant louder. If we are really sincere, maya will keep quiet. If we pay attention to maya, she will get louder and louder.


Q: How to surrender?
A: Follow the six items of saranagati. Absorb yourself in Krishna’s service and cultivate the feeling that because you are engaged in Krishna’s service, He will supply whatever you actually need.


We are not fasting from water or food. We are fasting from maya. Less attention on the body means more attention to Krishna.


Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from Calling Out to Srila Prabhupada:

“O Srila Prabhupada, whom we think of day and night;


“O Prabhupada, who came to America with Srimad-Bhagavatams as his only means, who sold volumes to bookstores in order to pay for groceries, and who thought in the beginning, ‘They will never accept this Hare Krishna mantra, but let me try;’


“O Prabhupada, who happily endured the austerities of New York winters on behalf of Lord Krishna; O master, who years later made thousands of disciples and had many houses to reside in but who said, ‘I was happier in the beginning in New York because I had no one to depend on but Krishna;’


“O Prabhupada, who favored New York City by opening his first ISKCON center there and by singing in Tompkins Square Park, who beat the one-headed drum hours at a time and sang strongly, who braved all the rudeness and strangeness just to deliver us from birth and death by giving us the holy names of Krishna;


“O Prabhupada, whose preaching was guided by Lord Krishna, whose preaching was to ‘go in like a needle and come out like a plow,’ whose preaching was pure and who stayed to do it, who fulfilled all the qualities of a saint, being tolerant, merciful, friendly to all and fixed in the Absolute Truth;


“O Prabhupada, who loved his disciples and nurtured them like a mother cares for her children, and who, like a father, imparted to his sons and daughters the gift of the courage to stand and fight;


“O Prabhupada, please live vibrantly in our thoughts and actions.


“O Srila Prabhupada, of whom I often think, ‘Where are you?’ O Prabhupada, who doesn’t belong as the exclusive property of any one disciple;


“O Prabhupada who is simultaneously giving thousands of instructions and yet is silent in Krishna meditation, please become more clear in my mind;


“O Prabhupada, of whom we say, ‘I wish you were present now to tell us what is right and wrong and what to do,’ and yet whom we fear to think of in that way because surely he would be angry with us and expose our cherished notions as foolish and disobedient;


“O Prabhupada, whom we sometimes prefer to worship at a distance, as is recommended in the 
scriptures, but whose lotus feet we want to touch, whose hand we want to feel on our heads and backs;


“O Prabhupada, who is with us but also in another dimension, and of whom we think, ‘How can I reach you? When and where will we meet again?


“O Prabhupada, who is not just another link in the disciplic succession of gurus, but who is the founder-acarya of the Krishna consciousness movement, and who said, ‘None of these men could fulfill the desires of Bhaktivinoda Thakura in the matter of preaching in the foreign countries’;


“O Prabhupada, the remembrance of whom is like satori, whose moments are hundreds of haikus if we could only know them and see them rightly;


“O Prabhupada, who said, ‘Everything is all right,’ indicating that there was no need for anxiety because Krishna is the controller of everything, yet who also used to say, ‘What can be done?’ indicating that he wanted even more success for spreading Krishna consciousness, but obstacles remained in the way—this was also the will of providence.


“O Prabhupada, who didn’t speak of hidden, obscure meanings in the Vedas, who said it was very clear, and yet whose instructions may be looked at in new light, and whose sincere followers sometimes discover that they haven’t really understood what he meant even on basic issues;


“O Prabhupada, who is the source of all writings and teachings in the ISKCON sampradaya;


“O Prabhupada, who will always have true followers, and whose followers will keep up his standards in many places in the world;


“O Prabhupada, please keep us at your lotus feet; please keep us alive in your service.”
Bhagavat Asraya Prabhu:


Early in the Gita Krishna advises balance in eating, sleeping, work, and recreation. The proper amount of each is an individual thing. Margaret Thachter, former prime minister of Great Britain, would sleep at most five hours and felt fully refreshed.


If the world is too much with you, you will be too much with the world.


Once on a morning walk, Srila Prabhupada asked the devotees what was the most important thing in their lives. They offered suggestions like spiritual practice and spiritual service, but he said health was most important because without health you cannot do anything.


To help good health avoid exertion and suppressive medicines.


Srila Prabhupada explained to Govinda dasi that if you chant the mangalacarana prayers before anything, then that activity will be a success.


Comment by Radha, a Vaishnava youth: I always chant Mangalacarana before I take an exam.


We seek a teacher because we do not know. The qualification of a student is that he must know that he does not know.


Reading books to acquire knowledge has limitations. You cannot advertise yourself as a doctor because you read a few books on medicine.


Another qualification of the student is that he wants to know.


Wisdom is beyond mere knowledge and knowledge is beyond mere data. Wisdom could be considered a distillation of knowledge.


If you are unsuccessful and unhappy, you are going die. If you are successful and happy, you are still going to die. What then does it matter if you are successful and happy? It does no good to say to someone, “there is a terrible leak in your side of the boat,” because we are all going to sink.


Arjuna is experiencing anticipatory grief in the beginning of the Gita.