Unity in Diversity.
Suresvara Prabhu: When another GBC man wrote to inform Prabhupada of more dissension in the ranks, Prabhupada was philosophical: Material nature means dissension and disagreement… . But, for this Krishna consciousness movement its success will depend on agreement, even though there are varieties of engagements. In the material world there are varieties, but there is no agreement. In the spiritual world there are varieties, but there is agreement.
Different individuals have different ways of engaging material nature in devotional service. The agreement that harmonizes the “varieties of engagements” is their shared purpose, to please Kṛṣṇa.
The materialist … cannot come into agreement with varieties, but if we keep Krishna in the center, then there will be agreement in varieties. This is called unity in diversity.
To illustrate, Prabhupada sometimes gave the example of concentric circles.
No matter how many circles we draw, if they all share the same center, they never clash. In the same way, if pleasing Krishna is at the center of our intentions, we’ll be able to “agree to disagree” and continue working cooperatively to serve the Lord even when differences arise.
Prabhupada knew this would be an ongoing challenge:
I am therefore suggesting that all our men meet in Mayapur every year during the birth anniversary of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. With all GBC and senior men present we should discuss how to make unity in diversity. But, if we fight on account of diversity, then it is simply the material platform. Please try to maintain the philosophy of unity in diversity. That will make our movement successful. (Letter, October 18, 1973)
On March 16, 1976, in the holy land of Sridham Mayapur, along the Ganges’s green expanse, dozens of young Americans have crowded into Prabhupāda’s room at ISKCON’s international headquarters. He thanks them for cooperating to profusely distribute his books for the benefit of suffering humanity.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu – He is God Himself, Krishna Himself – He felt, alone, unable to do this task. He felt. So this is the position. You are cooperating; therefore I am getting the credit. Otherwise, alone what could I do? Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself wanted our cooperation. He is God, Krishna. And therefore cooperation is a very important thing … Nobody should think that, “I have got so great ability. I can do.” No. It is simply by cooperation we can do a very big thing. “United we stand, divided we fall.” Sankirtana. Sankirtana means many men combined together, chanting. That is sankirtana. Otherwise kirtana. Sankirtana means many, many combined together. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission.
The Chida-dadhi Mahotsav, also known as the Chipped Rice Festival of Panihati, is a yearly celebration of the pastimes of Srila Raghunatha dasa Goswami and Lord Nityananda Prabhu. This astonishing pastime took place on the banks of the Ganges at Panihati, which is just north of Calcutta. Chida-dadhi Mahotsav remembers how the Lord mercifully reciprocated […]
Distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books during the Woodford Festival (Australia)
Vijaya das: This festival attracts 60,000 people every year. It lasts six days, and people mostly just camp out the whole time, as we did. Ajita Prabhu (the president of New Govardhana) and his team of seventeen devotees were there to feed prasadam to the masses. They distributed thousands of plates of prasadam, and the people loved it.
Ajita arranged for a book booth right next to Govinda’s, our prasadam tent. I distributed from a table in this booth. The people were really receptive. The first day I spoke to a family consisting of a husband, his wife, and their ten-year-old son. The man was interested, and then I heard from the son: “I know the Bhagavad-gita. I’ve read all the translations to the verses, and now I’m going back to read the purports.” I was of course surprised and happy to hear of this young lad’s attraction to Krsna, so I gave him my e-mail address in case he had any questions. Then his father, seeing his son so impressed by the Gita, got one for himself, .
An hour later I again spoke to a father and son. I could see that the father was not into the book (he just wanted to go) but that the son was showing interest. So I gave my attention to him, and when I asked for a donation he said to his father: “I would like to read this. Can you get it for me?” The father then very reluctantly gave a donation, and the fortunate boy got the mercy.
Later I spoke to a man who was interested, but suddenly a lady came and grabbed his arm. As he was being dragged away he asked me to tell him more. I said, “How are you going to listen if she keeps dragging you away?” At that he yanked his arm away from her, and I told him some more about the book. Then he said, “But it’s so big, and I would have to carry the book around all day.” Then a man inside the booth said to him, “The benefit you will derive from reading the /Bhagavad-gita/ is much, much greater than the little inconvenience you’ll experience from carrying around such a storehouse of wisdom.” Upon hearing that, he decided to take it. I then thanked the man who provided the encouraging words. I learned that he’s a long-time friend of the movement.
Later a man came to the table and, before I could say a word, gave a nice donation for the /Bhagavad-gita/. He then went on to tell me that he’s a Christian minister and that he quite often uses the teachings of the /Gita/ in his sermons.
An hour later another Christian came by, one I’d spoken to earlier. He said he had some doubts about Christianity, such as how a merciful God could cast sinners into hell to burn forever. I said to him, “God is the most kind person and would never force anyone to suffer eternally, even if he’d committed the greatest sin. He may arrange for punishment, but He’ll always give the sinner another chance.” Then I explained about reincarnation and that this is how He gives us another chance. He said this made sense and took a /Bhagavad-gita/.
It was sooo nice to be out on book distribution again. What a breath of fresh air!
Your Servant,
Vijaya das
Preaching programs in Michigan (Album with photos)
3 days program for The Journey Within Book Launch by HH Radhanath Swami in Canton Hindu Temple, Grosse Pointe War Memorial and in The Michigan Theater.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/69yGVD
Ramanya Das rises with the sun to reflect in the temple’s courtyard.
KRISTINA ORREGO/Alachua County Today
ALACHUA – It’s 4:30 a.m., and while the rest of the world is asleep, the Hare Krishna temple in Alachua is softly lit and gently buzzing.
Women wearing ornate saris and men in white, flowing dhoti and kurta remove their shoes before stepping onto sacred ground.
They enter, bowing their heads and prostrating their bodies in the direction of the statue of Srila Prabhupada, the pioneer of their movement that began 50 years ago.
Beads in hand and eyes closed, they’re chanting the names of God and uttering the Hare Krishna mantra. This is all part of their ritual to seek Krishna and ask him to bless them before going on with the rest of their day.
Then the sun comes up, and the singing in the temple becomes louder as they raise their voices in joyful and unabashed worship.
The Krishna temple in Alachua was built in 1995, but the movement has been a prevalent part of the community since the early 70s, according to Krishna Keshava Das, a temple manager.
He said over 400 families within a 20-mile radius are affiliated with the temple and congregate throughout the week or to observe special holidays, such as the birthdays of Lord Krishna and Lord Chaitanya.
Krishna followers also take part in a Sunday Feast Festival once a week, a tradition that started at the beginning of Prahbupada’s movement.
“Srila Prahbupada wanted everyone to come and sing the glories of the lord in ecstasy,” Das said. “And once a week they do that,”
Das said the temple also gives allowances to the two schools that are nearby on temple property — the Bhaktivedanta Academy and the Alachua Learning Academy.
The teachers at Bhaktivedanta teach standard academics while also incorporating lessons about Krishna, and the students at Alachua Learning Academy learn about Krishna during their afterschool program, he said.
Origins of the Hare Krishna/ISKCON Movement
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded the Hare Krishna movement, or the International Society for Krishna Consciousness [ISKCON], in New York in 1966, according to Das.
It all started when Prabhupada was a young man living in India and he and a friend were invited to a talk given by a revered spiritual leader.Prahbupada was initially skeptical and didn’t want to go because would often witnessed similar figures doing abominable things at night, many of whom were people his father would invite to eat at their home on some occasions.
Nonetheless, his friend persuaded him and they went.
“The lecture had already begun [when they got there],” Das said. “And the saint stopped the lecture and he looked at the two boys and said ‘You two young men, you’re very intelligent. Why don’t you spread this message of the Lord in the western countries in English?”
Prabhupada responded by asking how it would be possible to spread Krishna’s message in the western world while India was still under British rule.
“And the answer he got was that this message is so important for the world and people are dying every day in want of it,” Das said.
So, Prahbupada made his way to New York, where gradually people heard him chanting and preaching in the parks, Das said. As more people began to hear the message, they began branching off to meet in separate places.
Since then, the Hare Krishna/ISKCON movement has proliferated to 500 major centers, temples and rural communities, nearly 100 affiliated vegetarian restaurants and millions of congregational members worldwide, according to the official ISKON website.
What They Believe
Krishna means the “all attractive person” in Sanskrit, a Hindu language, according to the Bhaktivedanta Trust International website.
In the Bhagavad-Gita, the Hindu Holy Scriptures, Krishna is God in the form of a 16-year-old boy with dark skin and bluish-black hair.
The book tells the story of this young man who attracts followers with his wisdom and charm.
Das explained that while the followers of Krishna believe in and worship the same God of Christianity or Islam, the movement differs from these because of the rich details about Krishna in the Gita that personify him, he said.
These details include where he lives – a beautiful Kingdom full of beautiful palaces made of valuable gems and wish-fulfilling trees, as described in the Gita – and what he does during the day.
“Every word is a song,” he said. “Every step is a dance.”
Conversely, Earth is considered a prison, where the aspects of the human experience, such as birth, disease, old age and ultimately, death are undesirable.
Followers of Krishna, therefore, strive to live a life of purity by chanting, meditating and doing bhakti-yoga every day in order to reach Krishna Consciousness, or an awareness and affection for Krishna.
Followers of Krishna adhere to four principles from the Gita: no meat eating, gambling, illicit sex or intoxication, Das said.
The consumption of animal meat erodes the compassion in people’s hearts that they are inherently born with, while gambling destroys truthfulness.
“When we eat [meat], it contaminates our hearts more and more,” Das said. “It destroys our compassion and destroys our mercy. We become now like an animal.”
On the other hand, illicit sex, or sex outside of marriage, destroys people’s cleanliness, as well as causing inevitable suffering in the long run, despite the temporary satisfaction.
Finally, he said intoxication destroys a person’s austerity, which could further contribute to society as a whole becoming a mess.
“If it’s very hot, we can handle it,” he said. “If it’s very cold, we can tolerate it, to a certain degree. As we lose our ability to become austere, then everything becomes a problem.”
He said the whole idea behind their philosophy is to become happy, which comes from the soul and is not derived from the outside world.
“Happiness doesn’t come from material things,” he said. “There’s temporary pleasure from material things… and they bring misery afterwards. So, real pleasure comes from the heart [and] when we are engaged in the service of the Lord.”
Ragat Mika
In the summer of 1971, Ragat Mika, who was formerly “Carol,” came home for the first time – except it was one she didn’t know she needed until she got there.
Mika grew up in Detroit, Michigan, one of 12 siblings in a Catholic household. Her father attended mass every morning before going to work.
Her sister became a nun, and as someone who was always seeking spiritual fulfillment, she decided to become one too, and joined the convent in Kalamazoo after graduating high school.
“[She thought] If God is one, and the message of God is absolute… Why should I put all my energy in to a teaching career that will bring people to become this religion as opposed to another religion?” she said.
“So, I thought, God is bigger than this, bigger than just one religion.”
She took some college courses, but decided to take an impromptu trip to New York to find herself and be exposed to the greatest number of religions and philosophies in one, she said.
She eventually landed a job as a typist at the United Nations and then worked for UNICEF. All the while, she continued on her spiritual quest – visiting different churches and bookstores to scour literature on various philosophies.
“I kind of turned my back on the Catholic Church,” she said. “But I still had this affinity for wanting God and connecting with God.”
She said she eventually stumbled upon a Krishna magazine called “Back to Godhead” and read an article that taught her about Krishna’s four basic tenets.
“I thought, ‘Wow, that really appealed to me,’” she said. “This is something substantial.”
She also remembers that on one particular Saturday, she was meditating in Prospect Park in Brooklyn with the hope of merging with the totality of spirit, she said.
Then, she became overwhelmed by an urgency she couldn’t assign a meaning to at the time.
“I thought, before I leave this world, I need to bring a message to summon my acquaintances,” she remembered. “I didn’t know what I was going to say [and] I didn’t have a concrete message for them. But I thought, I can’t just leave them behind.”
Shortly after, she met a Krishna devotee on the way to the subway and asked him if he knew where a Buddhist nunnery was located in New York.
He replied that he didn’t know where a Buddhist nunnery was, but he could say where Buddhism was.
“The Buddhists want to be liberated alone, whereas devotees of Krishna want to liberate others with them,” she said. “That was what really drew me.”
He then invited her to a Sunday feast at a temple on Henry Street.
She said when she got there, she arrived to find a lecture that spoke directly to her desire to spread a message to the people around her, and it brought her to tears.
“It just all started buzzing and waking me up,” she said. “Like this was really the truth.”
Then, she ate the Sunday feast for the first time; the appetite that overcame her was one that surpassed the physical. She said she couldn’t stop eating and had serving after serving.
A strict vegetarian at the time, mostly consuming a bland, microbiotic diet, she was ravenous for foods she had deprived herself of.
“Sweets and fried things and spicy things, it was all there,” she said. “Dairy, milk and cream – I don’t know, it was like I was just arriving home for home cooking after so many births and lifetimes.”
She said she stayed at the temple overnight, and the next day, she was out on Jones Beach, dressed in a sari and distributing “Back to Godhead” magazines with the devotees.
She now resides in Alachua with her family, and said she has dedicated herself serving her spiritual master, Prahbupada, by helping him in the publishing and distributing of his books.
And as the sun rises over the Krishna temple in Alachua, a melodious harmony resonates within its walls as devotees begin their day with worship.
Three 40-foot high, colorfully-decorated Rathayatra carts hand-pulled by devotees and surrounded by thousands of chanting and dancing people —rolled down New York’s 5th Avenue June 11 to kickoff a national celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness better known as the Hare Krishna Movement.
The Rathayatra parade began at 12 P.M. at West 45th Street and 5th Avenue, and ended at Washington Square Park where it joined the “Hare Krishna Festival” for an afternoon of free vegetarian food; stage performances of classical Bharatanatyam dance; a one hour dramatic rendition of the Ramayana performed by an theater troupe from the England; and multiple booths about reincarnation, meditation, and yoga.
ISKCON’s founder Bhaktivedanta Swami, first came to New York City from India in September, 1965 to spread the teachings of Lord Krishna to the western world. “It’s very special for us to kick off the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON where he began right here in New York,” said Amrita Hari, spokeswoman for the Krishna society.
Bhaktivedanta Swami affectionately known as Srila Prabhupada, arrived alone in New York City at the age of 70 to fulfill his guru’s order to spread Vaishnava teachings to the English- speaking world. Prabhupada arrived in America with just $7 and several trunks of his translations and commentaries on ancient Sanskrit texts, the Bhagavata Purana.
After struggling for almost a year, the Swami attracted a core of followers among young American spiritual seekers of the 1960’s, and on July 13, 1966 he incorporated his fledgling community as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Despite its humble beginnings, over the past 50 years ISKCON has grown to a global community of over 600 temples, 110 vegetarian restaurants, and 65 farms and eco villages. The affiliated Bhaktivedanta Book Trust has sold 516 million books and magazines on Krishna consciousness, and Hare Krishna Food Relief programs feed a free vegetarian lunch to 1.2 million school children each day in India through its mid-day meals program in affiliation with the Indian government.
Celebrations later this year will include dozens of Rathayatra parades in cities worldwide including Washington, DC, Los Angeles, London, and Paris, and gala events at the Sydney Opera House, Washington, DC, and other major venues. In addition, an ISKCON sannyasi is walking across the United States to spread Lord Krishna’s message of devotion and the Bhagavadgita.
Deepen Your Devotional Roots With MI “Bhakti-sastri, Bhakti-vaibhava, Bhaktivedanta, and Bhakti-sarvabhauma. All our brahmanas and anyone wanting to become brahmana, will have to sit for examination once a year at Mayapur. They will be expected to know Bhagavad-gita, Nectar of Devotion, Nectar of Instruction, Sri Isopanisad, a book soon to be published on Deity worship, […]
Preaching In Moldova (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Moldova is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Romania and Ukraine. With a population of only 3.5 million people it is one of the smallest countries in Europe. Yesterday, after a 24 hour bus ride, a team of 50 devotees from our upcoming summer festival tour in Poland arrived in Chisinau, the capitol of Moldova, for a week of festivals throughout the country. Our large 40 ton semi-trailer, which folds out into a large 12-meter stage, took three days to arrive in Moldova through Hungary and Romania. The Moldavian devotees have been active for months preparing the festivals, which begin tonight in a beautiful park in the center of Chisinau. We’ll be busy with practices and preparations up to the very last moment!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/D8Wpjp
June 18. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: “Take More”
Prabhupada’s open decree that everyone should eat as much prasadam as possible created a humorous mood and a family feeling. No one was allowed to simply sit, picking at his food, nibbling politely. They ate with a gusto Swamiji almost insisted upon. If he saw someone not eating heartily, he would call the person’s name and protest, “Why are you not eating? Take prasadam.” And he would laugh. “When I was coming to your country on the boat,” he said, “I thought, ‘How will the Americans ever eat this food?’ ” And as the boys pushed their plates forward for more, Keith would serve seconds – more rice, dal, capātīs and sabji.
After all, it was spiritual. You were supposed to eat a lot. It would purify you. It would free you from maya. Besides, it was good, delicious, spicy. This was better than American food. It was like chanting. It was far out. You got high from eating this food.
They ate with the right hand, Indian style. Keith and Howard had already learned this and had even tasted similar dishes, but as they told the Swami and a room full of believers, the food in India had never been this good.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=9
Newcastle, York, Sheffield, Leicester Northampton Ratha-yatra, Chester, London (Sent from London on June 17, 2016)
Where I Went and What I Did
In the beginning of June I chanted in Newcastle for three days, and then I chanted harinama in York with a party led by Govardhan Devi Dasi and went to the York nama-hatta. I traveled with four York devotees to hear Janananda Goswami speak the next day at the Leicester Sunday feast program. The next week I chanted in Chester-le-Street and Durham on Monday, and then Sunderland, Newcastle, Sheffield, and Leicester the rest of the week. Sacinandana Karuna Prabhu, whose Weekend Warrior programs I would attend in the London area, invited me to the first ever Northampton Ratha-yatra, where he is now based. Later that day I went on a late-night Saturday harinama with the Leicester devotees, and many people danced with our party. I did harinama with devotees in Chester and spoke at the Chester nama-hatta on Sunday, and then went to London for a week to do harinama with the Harinama Ruci traveling harinama party and my friends at our Soho Street temple.
I share insights from many Srila Prabhupada lectures, mostly on the prayers of Queen Kunti. I share notes on Janananda Goswami’s Sunday feast lecture in Leicester. I share excerpts from Back to Godhead articles by Suresvara Prabhu about cooperating to please Srila Prabhupada and Caitanya-carana Prabhu about “Damodarastaka.” I share realizations on chanting Hare Krishna by Govardhan Devi Dasi and Gauridas Pandit Prabhu, who facilitate the York nama-hatta. I also share notes on Dayananda Swami’s lectures in Newcastle.
Thanks to Ramai and Vrinda Prabhus for their kind donation toward my travel from Newcastle to Sunderland and back. Thanks to Barbara of Liverpool for her kind donation, and Karsna Prabhu of Chester for contributing to my travel there. I would like to thank Dennis and the York nama-hatta for their kind donation to my travel between York and Newcastle and Bass for giving me a ride from Newcastle to York. I thank Govardhan Devi Dasi and Ashish for donating to me the harinama collections in York from Saturday and Sunday. Thanks to Aayush and Reena for letting me stay with them in Sheffield, and to Bali Mardan and his son for letting me stay with them in Leicester and driving me to the Northampton Ratha-yatra and to the Megabus stop. Thanks to Gauridas Pandit Prabhu for driving us from York to Leicester to see Janananda Goswami. Thanks to Joe Kenny for his picture of the Sheffield nama-hatta, and to Mark for his picture of the Chester harinama.
Itinerary
June 13–20: London
June 20–21: Stonehenge Solstice Festival
June 21–June 24: New Mayapur, France, with Janananda Goswami
June 25–30: Paris, France, with Janananda Goswami [June 26 - Ratha-yatra]
July 1: Newcastle
July 2: York harinamaand nama-hatta
July 3: Scarborough with Govardhan Devi Dasi and John
July 4–5: Preston and Blackpool, with Govardhan Devi Dasi and John
July 6: Newcastle
July 7–9: Polish Padayatra
July 10: Prague Ratha-yatra
July 12–16: Polish Woodstock
July 17–26: Polish Summer Festival Tour
July 27–29: Berlin harinama?
July 30: Berlin Ratha-yatra
July 31–August 4: Czech Padayatra
August 5–11: Baltic Summer Festival
August 12–14: Ancient Trance Festival?
August 15–17: Bratislava?
August 17: Prague?
August 18–21: Trutnoff (Czech Woodstock)
August 22: Prague
August 23: London
August 24–27: Newcastle [including Janmastami and Vyasa Puja]
August 28: Leeds
August 29: Newcastle
August 30: Edinburgh
August 31–September 1: Newcastle
September 2: Sheffield
September 3: York
September 4: Newcastle
September 5–12: Ireland
September 13–: New York City Harinam
Chanting in Chester-le-Street
All my Newcastle friends were busy, so I chanted with Atul Krishna Caitanya Prabhu for an hour and almost a half in Chester-le-Street, his hometown, and felt happy to brighten up his day, as with his health it is hard for him to go to the temple regularly.
He told me how his town has a spiritual history and showed me the Parish Church of St. Mary’s and St. Cuthbert’s, dated back to A.D. 883, where monks called anchorites lived, walled up for years in a sealed off room to focus on prayer and contemplation.
Atul wrote of our time together, “Lovely afternoon with Krishna-kripa Das. We visited the Anker’s House Museum attached to the Parish Church where the Anker (Hermit) would be walled in for a life of solitude and prayer. We were also invited to see the Church's copy of The Lindisfarne Gospels, which contain the first Gospel to be written in Anglo-Saxon English. We also were invited to ring Cuthbert’s Bell in the Church tower. Then on to Front Street for a beautiful harinama, thank you Krishna-kripa Das for blessing my hometown with your company.”
Chanting in Durham
As soon as I got to Durham, set up my book display and began chanting, an Indian woman, who attends our temple in Leicester, where I happened to be the day before, stopped by, buying a Bhagavad-gita, and making for a good day.
Chanting in Sunderland
While chanting in Sunderland, I was challenged by a guy who had been imprisoned for ten years for stabbing someone. He claimed he prayed to God in prison for three or four years and got absolutely no response, and so he became an atheist. He said came to feel sorry to the person he hurt but not that he felt sorry to God. I argued that feeling compassion for someone is a quality that comes from associating with God, trying to show him that his years of prayer had some tangible result, but he claimed compassion was purely a human emotion with no spiritual basis. It was humbling for me not to have a convincing argument. I know many stories of people becoming devotees as a result of witnessing God answering their prayers, so I think of that as a reality, but it was a reality that former convict had no faith in.
Chanting in Newcastle
I chanted in Newcastle by myself three days in a row. I do not remember any striking experiences, although I see that many more people say “Hare Krishna” to you in Newcastle than a lot of British towns as we have had a continuing presence there for many years and this particular week people were more charitable than usual. Dayananda Swami chanted at our Wednesday night kirtana, and I share this video of that (https://youtu.be/CLeRWZwFgPA):
The last day I was in Newcastle told my Facebook friends, “I had a mixed day on harinama. A bird crapped on my harmonium, and I had to wash it off. The ends of my fingers went numb from the continuous north wind in Newcastle, even though it is June. But a Newcastle University student bought a Science of Self-Realization, and a smiling man shook my hand, saying he is most of the way through the book he bought from me and he really likes it.”
Chanting in Sheffield
In Sheffield I talked to an Indian lady who had lived in Sheffield for years and not known about the ISKCON nama-hatta programs, which have been going on for three decades. That just underscores the importance of having devotees visibly out in the streets to connect people with local Hare Krishna activities. One fortyish man gave £2, declining a book because he already had one. Apparently from reading it, he felt we were worth contributing to. On the whole, I felt happy to be singing in Sheffield.
Three Latvians who are becoming devotees, Valeri, Alexandra, and Marita, regularly drive an hour from Barnsley to attend the Sheffield nama-hatta. They were the cooks this week.
Our attendees this week, from left to right and top to bottom were: Geoffrey, Valeri, myself, Aayush, Harisuta Devi Dasi, Alexandra, Reena, and Marita. Adam had to leave early, and Joe took the picture.
Speaking of Sheffield, we take this opportunity to congratulate Mariana of Ukraine, who has been regularly active in the Sheffield nama-hatta for several years,and who was just initiated by Indradyumna Swami this month as Madhavi-rani dasi. We hope she is steady in her service to her guru and she attains spiritual perfection as a result.
Northampton Ratha-yatra
As at some other places in England, the Northampton Ratha-yatra is the contribution of local Hare Krishna devotees to that city’s yearly carnival, which involved a parade for two and a half hours through the streets of the city, both the business and residential areas, and a festival in a park. As the entries in the parade were lining up, we began our kirtana, and thus I led for forty minutes, even before the parade left the park. Many people, both watching the parade and part of the parade, were attracted by the devotees.
If you do not have Facebook, see this lower resolution one produced from downloading the other one and uploading it to YouTube (https://youtu.be/-nDvEQ9oW8o):
From the stage, I noted those who participated most enthusiastically and gave them “Krishna Wisdom” pamphlets after. Someone seeing me give out those pamphlets asked me for one.
The devotees were happy about participating in the event and discussed how they could increase next year.
Leicester Harinamas
I attempted to add two additional harinamas on Fridayto the harinama schedule in Leicester, but only one person joined me for ten minutes for the first one and the second one got rained out. In Leicester, there are many Indian people who are willing to give donations but who say they already have the books.
Saturday is the usual harinama day in Leicester, and devotees go out twice, from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. We missed the first one because of attending the Northampton Ratha-yatra, but I did not want to miss the second one. Seeing all the partiers dancing with the devotees reminded me of the late-night harinamas we used to have in Gainesville, after the Friday evening program. Maybe I will start that up again when I return to Florida.
One girl, who was playing guitar as a street musician, stopped playing her guitar for money and sang with us. She had been to Hare Krishna free prasadam events in her native Latvia. I encouraged her to play her instrument along with us, if she wanted to, and she did. She also chanted and danced much of the time as well. I gave her the details of our Sunday feast, temporarily located at the Krishna Avanti Primary School, and she said she and some Latvian friends who like Hare Krishna would come. I thought of other Hare Krishna events in the UK she might like, and I mentioned the Stonehenge Solstice festival, and how the devotees sing for six hours and distribute vegetarian food. She was excited, saying that she had wanted to go to Stonehenge, especially at the solstice, and I explained to her briefly how to get there.
A group of five girls danced with us twice. The blond girl playing the drum was not a devotee or a drummer but joined our party because she liked to dance. Here are some highlights (https://youtu.be/PbM5FZuv_KY):
Chester Harinama
Eight devotees participated in harinama in Chester. The city was extra crowded with people observing a ceremony for the Queen’s 90th birthday and participating in and watching a triathlon. We felt grateful that we were not told to abandon our spot and to move on until it was time to pack up and go to the nama-hatta program anyway. One nice Indian couple with a young boy learned of our program by seeing our harinama and attended it that very day.
Here Bhanu, the young Indian girl, is singing. I am playing a harmonium, which is covered with a harinama cadar, because it is raining. Karsna Prabhu is playing the drum, and Āhāradā Devi Dasi is playing karatalas. The guy in shorts is smiling and moving with the music.
That we had lots of people on harinama, that two or three people really liked my lecture, that the new couple came, and that a couple of people contributed to my travel made it feel like a successful day.
London Harinama with Harinama Ruci
As often I have been chanting in public by myself in recent days, it was extra special going out with Harinama Ruci and my Soho Street friends. This time the main singer for Harinama Ruci was Syamarasa Prabhu, an Indradyumna Swami disciple from Croatia, who sings attractive melodies.
We would begin in front of Radha-Londonisvara Mandir on Soho Street in Central London. Sometimes people would even begin dancing with us there.
Devotees would swing passersby.
Sometimes people would imitate the dancing devotees.
Some people wanted photos of themselves with the devotees.
I suggested to this lady (above) to dance with the devotee ladies, but she said she did not know the steps. I encouraged her anyway, and she finally did and had a great time. She even said she would join us the next day.
The first day children from France, primary schoolers from Hartlepool (England), ladies from Holland, and young people from Spain delighted in chanting and dancing with Harinama Ruci and the Soho Street devotees at Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus (https://youtu.be/ViwDLJHvtNQ):
Two young Italian ladies (above, in black), one based in London and the other visiting her, danced with the female devotees for half an hour as our chanting party proceeded through Covent Garden on our second day of chanting Hare Krishna in London with Harinama Ruci and the Soho devotees. In one bar, the staff behind the counter enjoyed dancing until the boss lady came upstairs and made us stop and leave. Glasgow students delighted in chanting and dancing with us at Leicester Square. It was a lively day as you can see (https://youtu.be/Rd7ytH1E6Y8):
Visnu Jana Prabhu and another devotee took lots more video of the Glasgow students (https://youtu.be/ucQobuUnChY):
The girl on the left, who is swinging with Mangala-vati Devi Dasi, is the girl I asked where the kids came from and who told me Glasgow. I told her that we had a farm in Lesmahagow and programs in Edinburgh. She said she knew of Lesmahagow but that she lived nearer Edinburgh. I gave her my card, and said I could tell her the addresses of our places.
We were more successful entering a clothing shop than we were at the bar. This time four employees chanted and danced with us and later accepted invitations to our temple open day and the London Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/4sLqr1z9gUU):
To see photos I took and did not include, click on the link below:
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From a letter to devotees, San Francisco, March 30, 1967:
“If you always chant Hare Krishna, read my books, and preach this philosophy sincerely, then Krishna will provide you with all facility, and you will not fall down into material entanglement.”
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.29 on April 21, 1973 in Los Angeles:
Regarding Putana, the witch who tried to kill Krishna, Krishna considered, “Somehow or other I have sucked her milk, thus she is My mother.” Thus He blessed her with the position of mother eternally.
No one can do harm to Krishna nor can anyone give anything to Krishna. So why are we giving so many things to Krishna? Because if we give to Krishna, then we become benefited.
“If you try to satisfy Krishna in all respects, you will be satisfied in all respects.”
“I receive so many letters daily how they [my disciples] are hopeful in Krishna consciousness.”
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.29 on October 9, 1974 in Mayapur:
[Commenting on Krishna’s dealing with Putana] “The service side Krishna always accepts . . . a little service.”
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.30 on April 22, 1973 in Los Angeles:
As our body is working because of the vital force, the universe is working because of the supreme vital force, Krishna.
Krishna is within the heart and also without as the visva-rupa, the universal form of the Lord.
Those who cannot see God have been advised in the Vedic literature to see God in so many ways: The highest planet is the skull of God. The mountains are the bones of God. The sole of God is the lowest planet.
Because God is great he can create an immense manifestation such as this cosmic creation but he also can create microscopic living entities. His greatness is not just one-sided. You can produce a 747 airplane, but can you produce a fly-sized flying machine? No, that is not possible.
If you can keep yourself always in the company of Krishna, all perfection will be there.
We are requesting everyone “chant, chant, chant,” and they are replying “can’t, can’t, can’t.” This is their misfortune.
If we put literature in his hand, he is becoming fortunate. He would have squandered his hard earned money in so many sinful ways, but if he purchases some book, no matter what the price, his money is properly utilized.
Somehow or other, bring everyone in this Krishna consciousness movement, and he will be profited.
The Lord is the source of the bliss that the impersonalists meditate on.
A devotee is always prepared to render service to the Lord.
Human life does not begin unless there is a conception of religion.
In Kali-yuga is practically 80% is sinful. The four pillars of sinful life are meat eating, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling. We request our students to break these pillars, so their sinful life will collapse. And then chant Hare Krishna.
If one has no good engagement, sinful engagements cannot be stopped. You must give people good engagement. The government has failed in this, but we have succeeded.
So-called yoga and meditation are all rascaldom because there is no engagement. There is engagement here with deity worship, sankirtana, etc.
We are forced to take birth, but Krishna voluntary comes to this world. Krishna has a great plan to take people back to home, back to Godhead, and therefore, He comes here.
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.30 on October 10, 1974 in Mayapur:
It appears that the living entity loses his individuality when it is merged with the Brahman effulgence just as a green bird appears to lose its identity when it enters a green tree, but actually that is not the case.
The Lord comes to show us how to work and be happy, not that things come automatically. If you work, things come automatically, but not otherwise.
We are forced to accept happiness and distress because of destiny, but that is not so with Krishna.
If you simply try to understand the constitution of Krishna, you become liberated.
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.6 in 1974:
If one has to remember Narayana at the time of death, then why not directly practice?
The sankhya-yogasystem of philosophy is very much liked in Europe and Western countries because it is a system of metaphysics analyzing the whole cosmic manifestation.
You may analyze the creation very nicely but that does not mean you understand the source of creation. You may be a big scientist and analyze the material creation, but at the time of death, if you do not remember Narayana, you could end up as a cat or dog in your next life.
Just by analyzing the blood of a patient, you do not cure his condition.
In every birth you get a father or mother, but only in a human birth can you get a guru and Krishna.
If you do not take advantage of the second birth, initiation into spiritual knowledge, what is the difference between you and a cat or a dog?
You must make a cultural institution where people get the education to remember Narayana at the time of death.
I change my body after this body is no longer useful.
We do not give any stress on the bodily dress but on the soul within.
One movement is to revive a person’s consciousness and take him back to Godhead.
We want to help people to be Krishna consciousness, not cat conscious nor dog conscious.
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.31 on April 23, 1973 in Los Angeles:
There is no one who is not afraid of Krishna, yet Krishna is afraid of Yashoda.
Even though Krishna is so beautiful He can enchant Cupid, Radharani can even enchant Krishna.
Every devotee can have such a privilege as Yashoda or Radharani if the devotee becomes sufficiently advanced.
Not I love You, Krishna, and You give me this. There is no such mercantile exchange. Krishna wants that kind of love.
When Krishna was a child, Krishna played perfectly as a child. When he played as the lover of the gopis, he played perfectly as lover.
The residents of Vrindavan do not know that Krishna is God, they just know that Krishna is wonderful. As they see His wonderful activities, that wonder increases more and more. They want Krishna and love Krishna.
Krishna is simply waiting for us to turn our face toward Him, but unfortunately, we are not looking for Krishna. We are looking for something else.
From a lecture given onMarch 29, 1977, in Bombay:
When human society becomes devoid of dharma it becomes animal society. Dharma is given by the Supreme Lord – what Krishna says. “Always think of Me.” It is a very simple thing. Even a child can do it.
If you are thinking of Krishna within and without, what need is there to perform austerities? If you do not come to the point of thinking of Krishna within and without, what is the value of your austerities?
Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita, “Matra sparsas tu kaunteya . . . tams titiksava bharata. We have to tolerate. Lord Caitanya says the same thing. Trnad api sunicena taror iva sahisnuna.
There must be an institution in India for teaching Krishna consciousness to the Indians and to those who come to India.
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.21 in Los Angeles on June 18, 1972:
We can have riches if we bow down to the Lord, otherwise they will be a great burden.
If you misuse the power and do not feel obliged to the Supreme Lord, who has given you the power, then you’ll be finished very soon. Ravana is an example.
Krishna is purusa, the enjoyer. All else is prakrti.
In the material world, the purusa is artificial, just prakrti imitating purusa, like a woman in man’s dress.
Everyone is trying enjoy. But they cannot. It is a false conception to think oneself the enjoyer. This disease can be cured only by surrender to Krishna.
When the kings became puffed up and defied the authority of God, monarchy was finished.
Everyone should know his power is given by Lord for His enjoyment.
We should always engage everything in Krishna’s service.
If you have good engagement, there is no scope for wrong engagement.
Engage yourself always in Krishna’s service, then maya [illusion] will not be able to touch you.
Mayavadis try to stop senses by force. This is like plucking out the eyeballs.
The scientists think the dead stone and the living entity is the same, but the living entities is a different energy, superior energy.
The big scientists are called fools and rascals because they consider this body as self.
A dead man cannot use his senses. One without spiritual vision cannot use his senses in the Lord’s service, and thus he is considered spiritually dead.
Rich men must regularly see the Lord in the temple to become free from their false pride.
Seriousness or no seriousness, if one bows down to the Lord, he gets the result.
The temple is meant to give chances to the nondevotees to engage in devotional service.
Hearing is essential. By hearing we can realize the value of the deity.
However important a man may be, he must accept the supremacy of the Lord.
Because of the subordination of Maharaja Prataparuda to Lord Jagannath, the Pathans (Moslem) warriors could not conquer him.
Devotion to the Lord will even help you in your material life. The devotee does not want to enjoy, but Krishna makes all arrangements for the devotee’s enjoyment.
Your American standard of living is maintained, even if you move to another country. Just as a hog, even if he goes to heaven, will look for stool. Similarly, an Indian, even in America, pursues the spiritual.
If we are intelligent, we will understand our happiness and distress is fixed up by our destiny. Therefore, we should not worry about it. Use your energy to develop Krishna consciousness. Endeavoring for material happiness is a mistake.
This is a foolish civilization that is unaware of these truths.
Lord Krishna:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.80.43:
“Simply by the grace of the spiritual master a person can fulfill life’s purpose and attain eternal peace.”
Janananda Goswami:
Because Krishna is complete, both all-knowing and absence of knowledge are there in Krishna. And yet Krishna’s knowledge is always increasing.
By dancing and singing together, the members of the Panca-tattva relish the ecstasy the gopisfeel in relationship with Krishna and make it available to others.
Everything in someone we love is lovable to us.
Because everything is a expansion of Krishna, if we hate something, indirectly we are hating Krishna.
People like to spread their name and fame, and Krishna does too.
When we look at Krishna’s beautiful form, our attraction to Him increases more and more.
Maya is the director of the drama of the material world. When you are in a drama, you have to identify with the part to be effective. Maya makes us completely forget our real identity and completely identify with our role in this world.
The more love you have, the more you are concerned with the pleasing the other person, and so it is true with loving God.
The first book I got was the Krishna book. I got it in a secondhand bookstore.
It may seem inconceivable that the pastimes are repeated and yet they are ever fresh. Even in this world, we experience that kids do the same thing every day, but it seems ever fresh to them.
The material energy seems so distant from Krishna, but actually it is not. Everything is connected to Krishna. We just need to see how to connect it.
Parasurama Prabhu has an almost unlimited ability for expansion of service.
Mahavishnu Swami is so serious about Srila Prabhupada’s instructions he practically never misses mangala-arati, and he even attends the Bhagavatam class, when it is given by Bhakta Ben. He goes on harinama for four to six hours a day, and he distributes books every other day.
The incorporation of ISKCON on July 13, 1966 did not make the news yet it was the most important of such events.
Govardhan Devi Dasi:
After chanting for three hours in the street nothing much bothers you.
Chanting theHare Krishna mantra gives you the spiritual vision to see you are not your body.
When you chant in public, Krishna gives you special mercy.
Suresvara Prabhu:
From “To Cooperate is To Love” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 50, No. 5, September / October 2016:
When another GBC man wrote to inform Prabhupada of more dissension
in the ranks, Prabhupada was philosophical:
Material nature means dissension and disagreement. . . . But, for this Krishna consciousness movement its success will depend on agreement, even though there are varieties of engagements. In the material world there are varieties, but there is no agreement. In the spiritual world there are varieties, but there is agreement.
Different individuals have different ways of engaging material nature in devotional service. The agreement that harmonizes the “varieties of engagements” is their shared purpose, to please Kṛṣṇa.
The materialist . . . cannot come into agreement with varieties, but if we keep Krishna in the center, then there will be agreement in varieties. This is called unity in diversity.
To illustrate, Prabhupada sometimes gave the example of concentric circles.
No matter how many circles we draw, if they all share the same center, they never clash. In the same way, if pleasing Krishna is at the center of our intentions, we’ll be able to “agree to disagree” and continue working cooperatively to serve the Lord even when differences arise.
Prabhupada knew this would be an ongoing challenge:
I am therefore suggesting that all our men meet in Mayapur every year during the birth anniversary of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. With all GBC and senior men present we should discuss how to make unity in diversity. But, if we fight on account of diversity, then it is simply the material platform. Please try to maintain the philosophy of unity in diversity. That will make our movement successful. (Letter, October 18, 1973)
On March 16, 1976, in the holy land of Sridham Mayapur, along the Ganges’s green expanse, dozens of young Americans have crowded into Prabhupāda’s room at ISKCON’s international headquarters. He thanks them for cooperating to profusely distribute his books for the benefit of suffering humanity.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu – He is God Himself, Krishna Himself – He felt, alone, unable to do this task. He felt. So this is the position. You are cooperating; therefore I am getting the credit. Otherwise, alone what could I do? Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself wanted our cooperation. He is God, Krishna. And therefore cooperation is a very important thing . . . Nobody should think that, “I have got so great ability. I can do.” No. It is simply by cooperation we can do a very big thing. “United we stand, divided we fall.” Sankirtana. Sankirtana means many men combined together, chanting. That is sankirtana. Otherwise kirtana. Sankirtana means many, many combined together. That is Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission.
Urmila Devi:
Krishna is not the cause, in one sense, because he is aloof, enjoying his pastimes, as Krishna, while as His expansions as the purusa incarnations, He is the cause.
We are all looking for happiness. In the U.S. Declaration of Independence it is said we have the right to pursue happiness, but it does not say we have the right to find it.
Something false cannot give you happiness.
Absolute Truth is noncontextual truth.
Contextual truth is relative. Krishna advises Arjuna that dishonor is worse than death and later He advises do not be attached to honor or dishonor.
My father asked Prabhupada if he could come to the temple if he was not a devotee of Krishna. Prabhupada replied, “It does not matter what your religion is. What is important is to know God and love Him.”
A study showed that those companies which remained successful, had plans for a succession and had leaders who took the blame themselves for what went wrong and gave credit to others for success.
Some religions say that God is not in charge of destruction, and they have another being in competition with God that takes charge of destruction.
On explanation is that there is death because we cannot fulfill all our desires in one life.
Thomas Kuhn says in his book on scientific revolutions that the paradigm only shifts with the death of the older people who are invested in it.
Krishna is not the cause in that he is busy enjoying with His associates in Goloka Vrindavan.
Krishna does not want there to be an illusory energy just as the government does not want to have to create a prison and parents do not want to have to punish their kids.
Hypnotism works because when the mind is asleep its functions of acceptance and rejection are not present. Thus the patient is open to the suggestions of the hypnotist.
Generally in different religions one seeks the truth to enjoy the material world or to liberate oneself from this world.
When we are in love with something, even our latest phone, which is a sort of perverted santa-rasa [relationship of adoration],we feel pleasure. Imagine how much joy there is in loving the source of everything!
We seek a total consuming love for the cause of all causes.
Srila Prabhupada did not demand that people change their faith. I know initiated devotees who live in Catholic monasteries.
Srila Prabhupada sometimes said that not blaspheming devotees who have dedicated their lives to propagation of his holy name includes blaspheming Christ and Muhammad.
Because we are talking about things that are beyond time, some things are not understandable to us, like how we came to the material world.
If you chant and do not offend devotees, you will realize that you are a fool, in so many ways, for neglecting Krishna, even now.
Dayananda Swami:
From lectures at the North UK Retreat the previous month:
In 1978 one young man was second in line in command on a cargo ship and making loads of money, but he realized that wasn’t what life about. So he and his girlfriend traveled to all the places the hippies would go, but he realized they also did not have the ultimate truth. He got back to Southampton and started hitchhiking to London. A van stopped and picked them up. After a while, the van driver started preaching Krishna consciousness. The guy really got into the philosophy. Then the van driver asked him for a joint, and he was confused that the driver was preaching this pure philosophy but wanted to smoke pot. At any rate, he gave him a joint, and driver lit it. The van driver took him to the Bhaktivedanta Manor and introduced him to the leader of new devotees, and he never left. We can learn from this that even if we are not following perfectly, we can still preach.”
There is a story about a guru would give a class, and one bull would faithfully attend it. Somehow the guru was unable to continue giving class, and the question of who the disciples would hear from came up. The guru recommended the bull, and the other disciples were incredulous. Then the guru explained, “The bull would faithfully come every day to hear class, and when I would get to an important point, he would stop chewing his cud, so I can tell he was attentively hearing.” From classes in Newcastle:
Just as in a conversation you tell the main point first and then fill in the details, Krishna summarizes his message in the Second Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, and then explains the details.
Until we get the association of devotee, we cannot be introduced to Krishna.
To remember Krishna in every situation is Krishna consciousness. Without Krishna consciousness, we are just playing in the shadows.
Krishna is always there, but if we do not see Him, how can He help us?
Krishna gives us the consciousness to be happy in every situation.
We are either serving Paramatma (the Lord in the heart) or the material energy.
I was on sankirtana and visited many shops on seven or eight streets. At five o’clock, I went to the car. I felt around my pocket for the keys, but they were not there. I went to all the shops again but no keys. Then as I was walking, I felt my head slow turnly and focus on the ground, and there were the keys. Without Krishna giving me some special mercy, I never would have found them.
We must regularly hear from the revealed literature, so we can see the path. Not many people last the whole life in devotional service. That is because they do not regularly hear and see the world in terms of what they hear.
Our bodies are changing so slowly we do not notice it, yet we are foolishly becoming attached to them.
This is not a practice run. It is the real thing. The clock is ticking. We have limited time to attain perfection.
Q: How to get a strong desire to go back to Godhead?
A: Associate with people who have a strong desire. Pray to Krishna for that desire.
Impersonal realization gives some satisfaction to the mind, but it does not satisfy the senses.
Once one of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples went to hear from once of Prabhupada’s godbrothers in Calcutta. When he returned, Srila Prabhupada asked what the godbrother had been saying. After hearing what was said, Srila Prabhupada replied, “You have been scarred for life.”
If we have a desire to hear about genuine spiritual life, Krishna will send a suitable person to hear from.
Mukti means liberation whereas vimukti means devotional service.
The neophyte devotee just thinks of “me and Krishna” and does not appreciate the other devotees or their service.
Devotees on the middle level avoid envious people because when encountered they will blaspheme the Lord or His devotees.
Srila Prabhupada could speak the philosophy to all kinds of persons and make it suitable for their understanding.
The pure devotee puts the vani (instructions) in practice and thus we can learn greatly from him.
Although in this age we may not have so much personal association with our guru, we can download thousands of lectures of advanced devotees and be inspired by listening to them.
Without the association of devotees, we cannot be sure our realizations are actually valid. There is a story about a prisoner who got Bhagavad-gita in prison but did not have the association of the devotees. Later when the devotees got the clearance to go into the prison, they met the man. The devotees praised his fortune in reading the Gita, and ask him the conclusion. He said, “When I get out of prison, there are six kinds of people I can immediately kill.”
Our insurance for remaining a devotee for life is to follow the program Srila Prabhupada gave us.
We need knowledge to start devotional service and also to maintain devotional service. Knowledge means that we enjoy association with Krishna more than material activities.
The more we sacrifice for Krishna, especially by serving the devotees and by serving the people in general by giving them opportunities for devotional service, we come from the third-class to the second-class platform quicker.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura stressed attentively chanting the holy name, association with devotees, and giving mercy to others.
Caitanya-carana Prabhu:
From “Meditating on the Damodarastaka” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 50, No. 5, September / October 2016:
“God is both great and sweet. Awareness of His greatness evokes submission, whereas awareness of His sweetness evokes affection. Devotee seekers need to be aware of both features, for submission and affection symbiotically reinforce devotion. For exalted devotees such as Yasoda, however, their awareness of Krishna’s greatness is almost entirely eclipsed by their absorption in His sweetness.”
Caitanya Vallabha Prabhu:
From his announcements at the Newcastle temple:
As Maya has her trident of (1) miseries caused by the mind and body, (2) miseries caused by other living beings, and (3) miseries caused by the forces of nature, we have our trident of (1) distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books, (2) harinama-sankirtana, and (3) distribution of prasadam.
Gauridas Pandit Das:
We are spiritual, and the Hare Krishna mantra is spiritual, coming from the spiritual world, and when these two meet, the result is wonderful.
-----
kathancana smrte yasmin
duskaram sukaram bhavet
vismrte viparitam syat
sri-caitanyam namami tam
“Things that are very difficult to do become easy to execute if one somehow or other simply remembers Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. But if one does not remember Him, even easy things become very difficult. To this Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu I offer my respectful obeisances.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 14.1)
Very recently, we have celebrated various appearance days of the different incarnations of the Lord. Most recently, it was of Lord Ramachandra, the embodiment of dharma. Each of our main books has an overriding theme. In the Bhagavad-gita, we find the dilemma of Arjuna. Arjuna who is somehow or other having a personal agenda and Krsna wants him to act according to his will and it takes the entire Gita for Arjuna to finally say, “Yes, I will do as you say.”
In the Ramayana, we find this endless dharma in so many ways. All these things become impressed upon us. We are living in this culture of worship. It is said that nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu (Brahma-saṁhitā 5.39), in so many incarnations the Lord appear and in each of these incarnations the Lord performs pastimes.
Each of these incarnations, we remember every year and each year again we contemplate. So each year, there is one day that I read the Ramayanafrom morning to night. On every Rama Navami, somehow or other, I just read the Ramayana the whole day. I start as early as possible and I just go on and on, through the whole thing and when you get to this huge battle at the end then so many things are occurring there…
In different pastimes, we recall simple things. Just like when Lord Ramachandra and Sita were leaving Ayodhya to enter into the forest, they crossed a river. The king of the Nisadas, Guha, who was friends with Dasaratha, brought them across and when they were making a camp for the night then they saw all these bees drinking honey from so many flowers. The bees had drunk so much honey that they could not fly straight anymore. Then one bee came who was not affected, who had not been drinking from the all these different flowers and was not intoxicated by the honey, it was this bee who was bringing back home all the other bees. By themselves, they could not do it, they could not go home. So Lord Ramachandra pointed out, he said, “Just see, this one bee is taking all the others home,” comparing it to guru. Anyway Sita thought it was funny – drunken bees and everything; some relief also from all the stress after having been banned to the forest.
So this is the system that one who is not intoxicated with all the different types of material enjoyment, one who is not indulging, is able to turn to Krsna without deviation and is able to then bring others out of that intoxicated state. This is our system!
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Bhagavad-gita 3.10 at a home program.
“‘In the Age of Kali, the sankirtana-yajna (the chanting of the names of God) is recommended by the Vedic scriptures, and this transcendental system was introduced by Lord Caitanya for the deliverance of all men in this age. Sankirtana-yajna and Krsna consciousness go well together. Lord Krsna in His devotional form (as Lord Caitanya) is mentioned in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32) as follows, with special reference to the sankirtana-yajna:
krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam yajñaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah
“In this Age of Kali, people who are endowed with suffcient intelligence will worship the Lord, who is accompanied by His associates, by performance of sankirtana-yajna.” Other yajnas prescribed in the Vedic literatures are not easy to perform in this Age of Kali, but the sankirtana-yajna is easy and sublime for all purposes.'” (Bg 3.10 purport)
ISKCON Gears Up For Incorporation Day.
Some of the biggest plans later in the year include completing 50 Padayatras (foot pilgrimages) worldwide; 50 Hare Krishna festivals in the UK; and major VIP events in Cape Town, South Africa, Washington D.C., USA, and Delhi, India – the latter of which is expecting an audience of 50,000.
There will be major melas for youth and older second generation devotees too in New Vrindaban, West Virginia; Leicester, UK; and Johannesburg, South Africa. The New Vrindaban one, held this weekend, will explore the themes of celebrating family and building community; the UK one from September 1st to 4th will empower youth and connect them with Srila Prabhupada; and the Johannesburg one will also focus on community-building and kirtan.
And in Weisbaden, Germany on September 20th an Interfaith Summit will see delegates from different faith communities learning about Srila Prabhupada.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/QGcCkf
My Glorious Master is an excellent and well written history of an era of Krishna consciousness that would be lost to memory except for the few rare and valuable accounts scribed by far-sighted devotee-writers like Bhurijana. The author’s literary skill captures the reader’s interest in such a way that his journey into spirit is not only shared, but the reader becomes gradually Krishna-ized through the association. The book is rightly titled, for what greater glory can there be for a genuine spiritual master, than the absolute surrender of a sincere disciple? Therefore My Glorious Master is more than a great ride of spirited progress into devotional service. Indeed the author’s various guru-sevas—from driving a cab to laying bricks—represent “association in separation” with the glorious master at the highest level. As the author’s faith in his glorious master becomes strengthened, so does the reader’s. Continue reading "Woodstock Revisited – A review of Bhurijana das’ My Glorious Master → Dandavats"
I love to write and am doing my best to speak more. Regardless of how inspiring or insightful I may, or may not, be, if my words don’t inspire the audience or readers to take practical action, the benefit will be very brief. Have you ever been to a seminar, workshop, or class, or read a book, where you felt very inspired, only to have it fade because you didn’t put into practice what you heard? I know I have!
Many people know what their problems are, but are unwilling, or don’t believe it is possible for them, to do the difficult work of change and transformation. Or there may be too much secondary gain for staying the same, regardless of their unhappiness or dissatisfaction. We may wear our past wounds like a badge of honor, hoping to get sympathy strokes from others, as in “woe, is me.” Being creatures of habit the thought of change, even positive, beneficial change, is challenging for most people, even if they are currently miserable, and think they “should” change—maybe tomorrow, or that faraway place in the ocean, “Someday Isle.”
What we currently have, or are as a person, is a known reality, but if we change our situation or environment, that is unknown, and takes a leap of faith to embrace. However, we should know that leading a successful life in either the material or spiritual realm requires us to change for the better. As it is said, there isn’t much different between a rut and a grave—only two sides.
Watch your Step!
Ananda Vrindavana Devi Dasi: I pushed through the crowd to hold the rope for a few moments. We were in New York, on 5th Avenue, and the 3 large carts of the Ratha Yatra festival – an annual parade held in cities all over the world – were being pulled.
I held the rope and made my prayer – ‘Krishna, as I pull you to Vrindavan (Ratha Yatra symbolizes Krishna’s return to his home, Vrindavan), please pull me back to the spiritual world, back to loving you with full heart.’
As I released the rope and moved away I stumbled. ‘Watch your step’ were the words I heard. Yes, I can pull you, Krishna acknowledged, but you also have to be pull-able because I do not force. I am not that kind of God, and not interested in that kind of love.
I need to be pulled as I am, in truth, a reluctant pilgrim on this path. The glitter of the world interests me, the promises of happiness in ordinary affairs allures me, and my tendency to self reliance instead of trust in great teachers and teachings slows me down.
Watch your step is a message for more than my feet. ‘Watch your step’ tells me to be careful with my spiritual practices, but more than that, to be careful the way I live. ‘Watch your step’ on how I move, how I eat, where I go, who I know. As we make our way out of this world, out of the restricting and ultimately diminishing bodily concept of life, how we live can help or hinder that.
Life is a journey from birth to death, and we are moved along by time. Where we walk on this journey is where we will end up. As the poet Robert Frost says – ‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.’ Attempting self-realization is the road less travelled. It’s the best road to be on, but not without its challenges. Watch your step Krishna reminded me in New York. He want’s me to make it. I do too.
In college my motto was "Success," and my main ambition was simply to enjoy life. My grandfather had confided once to me that "Money is God." I wasn't sure about that, but neither was I sure about God. I evolved to agnosticism. One warm Friday evening, June 9 1970, as I strolled through the campus village, I heard someone call my name. I looked around and didn't see anyone I knew. Continuing on my way, I heard someone call again. I focused on the only possible source of the sound a saffron-robed, shaven-headed, bespectacled man about my age standing alone between a restaurant and a cinema. Somewhat startled, I answered, "Yes?" to which he replied, "Don't you recognise me?" Straining to get a closer look, I realised who it was. "Beard! Beard, is that you?" I cried. "It's me," he said reassuringly. Bob Searight was his real name; Beard was the nickname he'd caught during his volleyball career at UCLA for sporting an extraordinary long black beard. I had just completed my third year, and he had graduated the year before in engineering. His way of life had been awfully similar to mine; in fact, I had last seen him six months before at the beach with two girlfriends. "What in the world happened to you?" I asked. "I joined the Hare Krishna movement three months ago," he said. "My God, I don't believe it!" I responded candidly. Continue reading "Saved from the Clutches of Maya → Dandavats"
The devotees publicized the pandal very widely, in newspapers and on billboards. In the advertisements, Srila Prabhupada's disciples were described as American, Canadian, European, African, and Japanese sadhus (saintly devotees). This was unprecedented. Previously, whenever the word sadhu had been applied to someone, it was understood that the person was Indian. There could be no other consideration. But these advertisements were talking about sadhus from all over the world. This was indeed a novelty for every Bombayite, and it especially fascinated me. Intrigued, I went to the Hare Krsna Festival, which was quite well organized. The Hare Krsna sadhus were the biggest attraction for me. I appreciated their singing, dancing, walking, and talking. In fact, I liked everything about them, and I attended the function practically every evening. I would simply watch and listen. Though I knew English , I wasn't fluent, and speaking with foreigners was too difficult for me. I purchased a few magazines and a few booklets with the lit tle money I had. Continue reading "From Chemical Solution To The Ultimate Solution → Dandavats"
The Garbageman Gets the Mercy!
At around 6:20 a.m. I was doing the morning reception service at the Radha-Krishna temple in London when a huge garbage truck stopped outside. I didn’t pay much attention, being absorbed in my own business.
Then the garbageman knocked on the door and, smiling cheerfully, asked for a vegetarian book that he saw on display in the window. He wore dirty clothes and had a little wallet with holes.
He rejected “Higher Taste,” saying he needed a big vegetarian cookbook. I showed him one, but I didn’t know the price. So I asked for fourteen pounds and he gave it. Then he started asking questions about our philosophy in comparison to other religions. Apparently satisfied with my answers, he asked for a small book to read. I gave him “Raja-vidya: The King of Knowledge” and said that he could give any donation he liked.
He gave ten pounds and kept on asking questions. Krishna inspired me to give him the Bhagavad-gita. Praising his inquisitiveness, I entrusted the Gita to him as a gift. Surprisingly, he said, “How much?”
I smiled gently and repeated, “Just a gift.”
All of a sudden he took out another very big note, gave it to me, and then returned to his truck.
I looked up in a prayerful mood. “You never know where, when, how, or to whom Krishna will reveal Himself,” I thought to myself. Wherever there is a book waiting to be distributed, you open a spiritual portal for a miracle to happen.
Your servant,
Bhakta Alexey
A Vaishnavi artist passed away. Here is some of her Krishna conscious art.
Jahnavi Devi Dasi: Janaki-Devi Dasi passed away on Wednesday evening in Belgium, after an unexpectedly rapid acceleration of cancer. I didn’t know her well, but we had several conversations in the last couple of years in which I found her to be so warm, open, honest, and sincere. She had given me her album to listen to some time back, but I had not done so straight away, and as life goes, I forgot about it. On Tuesday I had been asked to lead kirtan at ISKCON London in her honour, and on the way there I finally dug out her music to listen to. Tears rolled down my face as I heard the sincere emotion and heartfelt honesty in her lyrics. I have never been into rock music much, but it moved me because of her devotion. She really just wanted to ‘sing for Krishna’, as she said, and you can hear it. Each track has it’s own special quality but I particularly love the last one…take a listen, and offer a prayer in your heart for this Vaishnavi as she continues her journey onward.
To listen: http://goo.gl/tRGnxx
You have a complaint? You better be ready to make a solution!
Prabhupada didn’t appreciate criticism unless we had a positive correction. Otherwise it’s better to shut up.
Trivikram Swami: I heard from Prabhupada’s secretary, Upendra, that the devotees in Japan had been thrown out of the country and that our Society was in jeopardy there.
This disturbed me, as I had spent three years in Japan. I felt that the devotees there, headed by Gurukripa and Yasodanandana, were in a passionate mood to collect money.
They didn’t care about registering the Society and keeping it in good standing. In my disturbed mood I went into Prabhupada’s room. Prabhupada was alone.
I blurted out, “I knew this was going to happen.” Prabhupada looked at me as if to say, “Who is this aborigine coming into my room?”
I said, “We’re being thrown out of Japan, and we have Radha Krishna Deities there.” Prabhupada was saddened and said soberly, “I did not want this to happen. All right, you can go back.”
I was shocked. I thought, “Oh God, what have I done? I opened my mouth, and now I have to go back to Japan. I didn’t want to do that.”
That was the way Prabhupada dealt. If you had an objection or a complaint, you’d better be ready to make a solution.
You couldn’t lodge a complaint without being ready to put your neck on the line. The next day I told Prabhupada, “I am willing to go back if that’s what you want.”
Prabhupada sent me to Japan with another devotee, and we kept the center open and maintained the Deity worship. I was the pujari.
This was a good lesson. It’s easy to criticize, but Prabhupada didn’t appreciate criticism unless we had a positive correction. Otherwise it’s better to shut up.
I was deputed to drive Prabhupada from the airport to the temple, and while I drove, I adamantly talked about my experience with him in London and I asked him if I could give him massages while he was here.
There were three devotees in the back, including the GBC, who were quiet. Prabhupada was also quiet. I was the only one talking.
I heard that Prabhupada had just gone to Russia, and I said, “You were in Russia, Prabhupada?”
Prabhupada said, “Yes,” but he didn’t get into a conversation with me. He didn’t want to become my buddy and start jibber jabbering with me like an equal.
Everybody in the back laughed, because Prabhupada was clearly telling me to cool it, to shut up, and let him talk as he saw fit.
Prabhupada was saying, “Don’t pump me with questions.” Although Prabhupada was humble, he was also straightforward. He would go right to the point. He wasn’t embarrassed to be blunt and personal.
In Bombay in 1976, Srila Prabhupada had an animated discussion with a yogi. Somehow the talk came to the point of the spiritual master, and then I got into the conversation.
I said, “Yes, this is the basic point. We have to accept a spiritual master.” I thought that this man should accept Prabhupada as his spiritual master.
Prabhupada immediately picked up on it and looked at me as if to say, “Shut up, get out of this conversation, it’s over your head, don’t be lecturing to this guy.”
Prabhupada said that with his eyes. He didn’t say all those words, but I could understand that that was his purport.
The yogi was an advanced person, Prabhupada had a relationship with him, and Prabhupada didn’t want me to be telling him anything. That was a nice lesson for me.
Another time Prabhupada was talking with an important person in Bombay, when there was a lull in the conversation and I said something.
Prabhupada looked at me as if to say, “Now what are you doing?” But I quoted a verse that was appropriate to Prabhupada’s point about how we should be eager, even greedy, for Krishna consciousness.
When Prabhupada saw that I was contributing something, he immediately took it and continued his animated preaching.
So we could speak when Prabhupada was preaching, but we’d better be sure that we understood the mood he was in. Otherwise, if we changed the subject, Prabhupada could become disturbed.
A similar thing happened on a morning walk in Vrindavan in 1974. Prabhupada had been speaking, and I said, “This reminds me of a teacher that I had when I was in the university, Srila Prabhupada.”
Prabhupada looked at me with a look that said, “This better be a good story.”
Prabhupada and everybody else stopped walking, and I told the story of my big philosophy teacher who changed his philosophy when he became sick.
Prabhupada had been sick at the time, and when I said that, Prabhupada laughed. He said, “We are not changing our philosophy because we become sick.”
He appreciated my story, but when I said things that were inappropriate, Prabhupada wouldn’t hesitate to chastise me.
In the last days, when Prabhupada was confined to his bed, I said something inappropriate, and Prabhupada showed displeasure.
Prabhupada was talking about the doctor that was coming from Calcutta and was asking his secretary, Tamal Krishna Maharaj, questions.
At the end of that, Prabhupada changed the subject. He said, “So has he left yet?” I thought that Prabhupada was talking about the doctor, so I said, “Yes, he’s already left.”
The whole room was quiet. Prabhupada looked at me and said, “Who do you think I meant?” I started backpedaling. I said, “I guess I was speculating, Prabhupada.”
Prabhupada said, “Who do you think I meant?” He wouldn’t let me off. He kept pushing, and I said, “I was talking about the doctor.”
Prabhupada didn’t say anything but turned on his bed and gave me a cold shoulder. It went right to my heart.
Prabhupada didn’t say a word, but with a slight gesture I felt, “Oh, boy, what have I done? I’ve disturbed the spiritual master in these days when he is not well.”
Then Tamal Krishna Maharaj said, “Who were you referring to, Srila Prabhupada?”
Prabhupada said, “My son,” because his son had been in Vrindavan and was due to leave. Then they started talking in that way.
To me, Prabhupada’s most striking quality was his ability to encourage everyone. He didn’t flatter, but somehow he’d get people to sacrifice for Krishna, to sacrifice for their own good, for spiritual life.
Prabhupada was expert at seeing a little good quality and fanning it to make it grow. This wonderful ability was the most extraordinary thing about Prabhupada.
The first impression that Prabhupada gave was that “He sees the best in me,” and this attracted so many people.
Later on, of course, he may correct you, but that was out of love. You always had the feeling that Prabhupada was your well-wisher.
A teacher, an ordinary person, even parents, might be a little envious or have some motive, but not Prabhupada.
His compassion was his most impressive qualification. And it is still present. And we need it. Without his mercy, what is our position?
—Trivikram Swami
Devotees in Florence, Italy, donate a copy of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita in Hindi to Vandana Shiva.
May 29th, in Florence (Italy), on the occasion of the European premiere of the documentary movie “SEED The Untold Story”, some Italian devotees farmers from ISKCON SVC met Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya, eminent Indian scholar, degree in quantum physics, world-renowned environmental activist, as well as winner of the prestigious Right Livelihood Award (alternative Nobel prize).
The reason for the meeting was to invite her to the 9th European Farm Conference that will be held on September 20-21-22 in Villa Vrindavana. The devotees donated her a copy of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita in Hindi and some wonderful Maha Prasada from Sri Sri Radha Vrajasundara.
Vandana Siva accepted the gifts with great enthusiasm and promised to send an intervention through a video message to show during the conference.
In the photo Vandana Shiva and us. Hare Krishna.
Your servants
Gunagrahi das
Rukmini devi dasi
This year saw the Sadhu Sanga Retreat, the biggest ISKCON kirtan event in North America, continue its remarkable growth while offering up something special for ISKCON’s 50th anniversary. It immerses participants in the Holy Name from morning till night, with an ever-expanding list of senior Vaishnavas guiding them in developing a deeper taste. From an attendance of just 400 when it launched in 2011, this year’s event drew an incredible 1,800.
By Patita Pavana das
By Danavira Goswami
By Lokanatha Swami
