Websites from the ISKCON Universe
From the recent visit of the British Prime Minister to Bhaktivedanta Manor.
The Prime Minister commented on the positive atmosphere he felt, and after recounting Srila Prabhupada’s journey to the West remarked that not only was ISKCON celebrating it’s 50th anniversary, but that he would also be celebrating his own 50th birthday this year.
Lord Jagannath’s cart in Puri is getting ready! (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Our relationship with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is eternal. Nitya-siddha Krishna-prema. The pure souls are eternally in love with Krishna. Simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra one revives his original relationship with God and thus becomes so happy that he does not want anything material. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 7.7.39 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/M6Osby
After 9 months of courses at ISKCON Leicester from the 60 students, 15 remained. Completing the Explore, Gita Life and Bhakti Life they are the latest members of Prabhupada’s family all who have now taken up the chanting of the Holy names and following the regulative principles.
200 gallons of blood is what Bhaktisiddhanta said. I have finally realised what this means.
In September we enroll even more students with the hope of leading as many more souls to the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya as we can.
Consistency is what’s needed then let the Lord work his magic.
Great group effort and I am sure Prabhupada is happy with everyone. Kiran Tailor Sachi-Tanaya Das jay
Ps. thanks to Gurudas and Sutapa for coming and doing a session for the new sanga of graduates.
Saving a life!
Caitanya Candra Dasa: I was distributing SrilaPrabhupada’s books in the same spot in Gothenburg, Sweden for the whole month of the 2016 Prabhupada Marathon, except for one half-hour of the last day, when, for some reason, I decided to try the other side of the walkway. There I stopped a well-dressed man, aged 36. I told him who we are and what our books are about and said that these books help with everyday problems like stress and depression.
He looked at me with a shocked look, and then he told me, “Believe me or not, but I am just on the way to go and kill myself by jumping off a bridge. I have had enough. I just can’t take it anymore. I want to end it all. But I see this as a divine intervention that you have stopped me. I believe in karma, so somehow it is our fate to meet, and to meet right now.”
It turned that the man, Sun, has three children, a well-paid job, and a good relationship with his wife. But on weekends (this was a Saturday), he goes crazy and drinks and takes drugs and is therefore a bad husband and father. And he’s had enough of that.
We spoke for about forty minutes, and I explained to him the benefits of chanting and finding inner contentment and unlocking the happiness within. We spoke about his kids, and he began to feel enlivened. He basically found hope by our meeting and getting a Chant and be Happy. He clutched the book like someone holding a lifeline and mentioned over and over again that this is no coincidence that we met and this was a life-changing event. He then gave a nice donation and left.
As he was leaving I asked him, “You’re not going to jump off the bridge?”
“No, I’m going to go and read this book. You just changed my life.”
Sadly, I was unable to get his contact info. Somehow, Krishna guided me to go on the other side of the walkway for that short time to meet him. Right after that meeting I went back to my old spot and continued.
Your aspiring servant,
Caitanya Candra Dasa
Hungary
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NYC Ratha Yatra Parade (Album with photos)
Bhismadeva Dasa: Yesterday the 40th annual Ratha Yatra parade was celebrated in New York with great pomp. Ecstatic chanting and dancing for miles was lead in front of each of the Lord’s three chariots.
Syamali and I we’re overwhelmed with gratitude to all the devotees who helped to coordinate and carry on this blissfull offering.
In addition, we got to visit the first temple of the Hare Krishna movement, The Bhakti Center, and the “Hare Krishna Tree” that our founder-acarya first started chanting under in Tompkins Square Park. :)
It was a very enlivenning pilgrimage and reunion with dear friends.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Jfmz6W
June 13. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada in the Summer.
The summer of 1966 moved along, and Prabhupada kept good health. For him these were happy days. New Yorkers complained of the summer heat waves, but this caused no inconvenience to one accustomed to the 100-degree-plus temperatures of Vrindavana’s blazing summers. “It is like India,” he said, as he went without a shirt, seeming relaxed and at home. He had thought that in America he would have to subsist on boiled potatoes (otherwise there would be nothing but meat), but here he was happily eating the same rice, dal and capatis, and cooking on the same three-stacked cooker as in India. Work on the Srimad-Bhagavatam had also gone on regularly since he had moved into the Second Avenue apartment. And now Krishna was bringing these sincere young men who were cooking, typing, hearing him regularly, chanting Hare Krishna, and asking for more.
Prabhupada was still a solitary preacher, free to stay or go, writing his books in his own intimate relationship with Krishna – quite independent of the boys in the storefront. But now he had taken the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as his spiritual child. The inquiring young men, some of whom had already been chanting steadily for over a month, were like stumbling spiritual infants, and he felt responsible for guiding them. They were beginning to consider him their spiritual master, trusting him to lead them into spiritual life. Although they were unable to immediately follow the multifarious rules that brahmanas and Vaisnavas in India followed, he was hopeful. According to Rupa Gosvami the most important principle was that one should “somehow or other” become Krishna conscious. People should chant Hare Krishna and render devotional service. They should engage whatever they had in the service of Krishna. And Prabhupada was exercising this basic principle of Krishna consciousness to the furthest limit the history of Vaisnavism had ever seen.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=9
The Sole Bearer and Maintainer
What is a “genuine spiritual emotion”? It means different things to different people…
Emotions occur in the mind, and are observed and experienced by consciousness. Since emotions occur in the mind, not the soul, perhaps they cannot be “spiritual”?
The mind, however, is not entirely distinct from the soul. The mind and body are actually extensions of consciousness. Without consciousness, they cease to function, they disintegrate. They cannot exist without consciousness, and consciousness also cannot manifest its existence without them. Even in Vaikuṇṭha, consciousness manifests itself via a mind and body. The only difference is that Vaikuṇṭha consciousness experiences full satisfaction from its mind and body and therefore has no impetus to change them. Thus the mind and body in Vaikuṇṭha are permanently related to the consciousness which manifests them.
In our realm and even in Vaikuṇṭha, emotions occur in the mind. But this doesn’t mean that emotions “not spiritual,” because the mind is but a tool and extension of the spirit. In this sense, any sincere emotion can be “genuinely spiritual.”
Another definition of spiritual is, “pertaining to spirit.” These emotions arise as a result of our relationship to our own consciousness and to the super-consciousness Śrī Krishna. Those who experience these emotions are called yogis or (particularly in relation to Krishna) bhaktas.
There are two basic classes of bhaktas: sādhakas – who practice, and siddhas – who are perfect. Both of them can have genuine emotions for Krishna, but the sādhakas have these emotions by way of emulation (“kṛti-sādhya” in Rūpa Goswāmī’s terms). Thus even a sādhaka experiences some semblance of bhakti-rasa, which includes some semblance of its five emotional components: sthāyi (relationship), vi (excitant), anu (expression), sattvik (reflex), and vyabhicāri (feelings). They often share these cultivated expereiences through their art, music (kīrtan), dance, drama, poetry and prose.
The emulated emotions and expressions of a sādhaka, however, cannot compare to the natural emotions and expressions of a siddha-bhakta: True bhakti-rasa can only be experienced and expressed by those with true sthāyi-bhāva, the nitya-siddha prema-bhaktas, but even the reflections and emulations of bhakti-rasa are very powerful: they can fulfill all desires, grant all liberations, and propel one into siddha-bhakti.
What, then, is a “genuine spiritual emotion”? It means different things to different people. To a common person, it means sincerely heartfelt emotions. For a bhakti-sādhaka it is sincere cultivation of Krishna-centric emotions. For a siddha-bhakta it is bhakti-rāsa, the ultimate treasure.
Vraja Kishor das
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, May 2016, Coimbatore, India, Hospital Conversations)
In Satya yuga, there is no varnashrama but in Treta yuga varnashrama is introduced. In grhastha life, devotees are busy but still, we must study Srimad Bhagavatam because it is our main book. This book describes the hierarchy of Krsna’s various plenary portions and also the lives of the Maha-Bhagavats. When Krsna descended, then dharma and jnana came with Him. When he left, immediately Kali yuga manifested. The Srimad Bhagavatam is the light in this age.
Chandogya Upanishad establishes that Srimad Bhagavatam is essence of all Puranas. Six puranas are dedicated to Lord Siva (tamasic), four are dedicated to Lord Brahma (rajasic), five sattvic puranas are dedicated to Lord Visnu and one transcendental, amala purana, is the Srimad Bhagavatam. The Caitanya Caritamrta is extension of Srimad Bhagavatam; the final verse of Srimad Bhagavatam emphasizes the sankirtan movement.
Transcribed by Man Beharini dd from Pune
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.18.9.
“If the Krsna consciousness movement spreads all over the world, and if by the grace of Krsna everyone accepts it, the thinking of envious people will change. Everyone will think of the welfare of others. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays, sivam mitho dhiya. In material activities, everyone is envious of others, but in Krsna consciousness, no one is envious of anyone else; everyone thinks of the welfare of others. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays that everyone’s mind may become gentle by being fixed at the lotus feet of Krsna (bhajatad adhoksaje). As indicated elsewhere in Srimad-Bhagavatam (sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh) and as advised by Lord Krsna in Bhagavad-gita (18.65), man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah, one should constantly think of the lotus feet of Lord Krsna. Then one’s mind will certainly be cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam).” (SB 5.18.9 purport)
“Krishna consciousness means always thinking of Krishna. By always thinking of Krishna—ceto-darpana-marjanam—our consciousness will be purified, we will become happy and we will think of the welfare of others. That is why we have temples. That is why we are undertaking building the new temple—to give people a chance to come and think of Krishna and become happy, peaceful and bring peace to the world. That is the only motive. Devotees are so selfless. It takes a lot of effort to get architectural drawings made, get permits from the government, organize the materials and the contractors and raise funds. It is a lot of endeavor. But, that is the merciful nature of a vaisnava—he wants to do good for others by spreading Krishna consciousness.”
By David Crick
British Prime Minister David Cameron returned to Bhaktivedanta Manor ten years after his first visit to take part in the Bhumi Puja for the Manor’s new Shree Krishna Haveli.
After seeing the George Harrison garden he proceeded to the temple room where he took darshan of Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda, Sri Sri Sita Rama Laxman and Hanuman and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. He also garlanded Srila Prabhupada and met some of the residents.
The Prime Minster then joined some 300 guests in the main marquee. Present were local politicians, MPs, spiritual leaders, business leaders and a cross section of the devotee community. Also speaking and taking part in the puja were Their Holinesses Bhakti Charu, Sivarama and Radhanath Swamis and His Grace Praghosa Dasa GBC.
On arrival Mr Cameron was treated to a charming performance of “You Raise Me Up” by the children of the Bhaktivedanta Manor and Krishna Avanti Trust schools. After being introduced by MP Sailesh Vara he took to the stage, where his first words were “Hare Krishna!” – much to the delight of those present.
The Prime Minister commented on the positive atmosphere he felt, and after recounting Srila Prabhupada’s journey to the West remarked that not only was ISKCON celebrating it’s 50th anniversary, but that he would also be celebrating his own 50th birthday this year.
He also said that the UK benefited from its strong religious tradition and reflected that he had been at church this morning, was at a temple now and would be observing a Jewish rite with a friend in the evening.
Mr Cameron was presented with a large ornate copy of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is before beginning the ground-breaking ceremony. He said that he had been to many of these, but that this was the first one he had done in a tent!
Please find some photos of the festival below.
http://davidc.zenfolio.com/manor_haveli_bhumi_puja
I don’t have photos of his visit to the George Harrison garden or the temple room, but these can be seen in the following video trailer, which also wonderfully captures the atmosphere from the day.
With best wishes,
Hare Krishna,
David.
By Caitanya candrodaya dasa The desire to see God, to touch God, to talk to God is in itself probably the strongest argument for His existence; besides the logic and evidences from the scriptures, this direct experience is very significant indeed. Bringing Deity Worship from the insiders circle of elderly pujari-priests and making it part of the congregational development is probably the only way it may become part of the positive future for many places in ISKCON. While everyone hankers for direct experience of God in person, it is rarely attained, even for great souls like Sri Narada of Srimad-Bhagavatam, what to speak of the beginners like us. Yet Srila Prabhupada and the acaryas place the arcana, or Deity Worship, in the realm of service opportunities for neophytes. It is true that the worship of God in His deity form may attract neophytes, but it will also promote us to the next level of advancement, if done properly. Thus expanding the scope of Deity worship is a direct preaching, especially if done in an attitude of care and encouragement to the aspiring devotees. The "proof of the pudding is in the tasting" (sometimes misquoted as "proof is in the pudding", which is not true..) and the practical experience of God via processes of bhakti-yoga provides that conclusive personal proof of His existence, yet the arcana process of tasting requires and demands the community expansion to survive these days. Continue reading "The Desire To See God
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By Chirag Dangarwala Over the years modern science has speculated and researched to find out the number of species on earth, the method that main stream science has adopted is experimental which is commonly known as "seeing is believing", but without going much in detail regarding the imperfectness of this method, which is based on imperfect senses of the human being and imperfectness of the instruments developed by the human beings by these imperfect senses, it is extremely difficult to understand or gauge the vast variety of species that inhibit this tiny planet earth in the entire universe. For those who have faith and logical thinking can ponder on the information given in the ancient Vedic Writings like the Srimad Bhagavatam about the construction and constitution of this material universe of which our earth is but a tiny speck. In connection to this, the Vedas give us a exact statistics of the number of inhabitants in this entire universe. As per the Vedic Writings among the living entities there are many species; which can be seen in our ordinary experience. Vedic literature gives a detailed statistics on the number of species of different living entities that are present in the universe, which is as follows Continue reading "Human form of life
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Glorious Rathayatra in New York (Album with photos)
Ratha Yatra, June 11th, down 5th Ave to Washington Square park.
Srila Prabhupada: In the Padyavali there is a statement by some devotees: “We shall not care for any outsiders. If they should deride us, we shall still not care for them. We shall simply enjoy the transcendental mellow of chanting Hare Krishna, and thus we shall roll on the ground and dance ecstatically. In this way we shall eternally enjoy transcendental bliss.” (Nectar of Devotion, 27)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/2vrxrW
Ratha Yatra Festival in Munich, Germany (Album with photos)
Shower of mercy during Ratha Yatra Festival in Munich,Germany!
Srila Prabhupada: In the Adi Purana Krishna tells Arjuna: “Anyone who is engaged in chanting My transcendental name must be considered to be always associating with Me. And I may tell you frankly that for such a devotee I become easily purchased.” (Nectar of Devotion, 12)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/mvGC89
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Bhagavatam class at Radha Vrindavanchandra Mandir, Pune
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Profound Knowledge Made Someone a Book Distributor!
Vijaya dasa: We have a nice farm in southeast Germany called Simhacalam. Lord Nrsimhadeva is the presiding deity. While taking prasada there, I asked a book distributor, Advaita Simha Dasa, how he came to Krsna.
Advaita Simha said, “Gaur Mohan approached me, and I gave a donation for a Science of Self Realization. At first I thought it was a cult, so I just wanted to hear what they have to say. But after reading a few chapters I realized that this is very profound knowledge. A year later I was looking for more books by Srila Prabhupada in a bookstore. I was with a friend in the shopping area, and somehow we got separated. He then called me to ask where I was. I told him the bookstore; I said was looking for another one of those books like the one the monk had given me a year ago, but the store didn’t have any.
My friend said, ‘Well, if you go outside the bookstore you’ll see a monk there. Maybe he has what you’re looking for.’ I went out, and the same devotee that gave me the Science of Self Realization, Gaur Moha Prabhu, was there. I asked him whether he had more books by Srila Prabhupada.
He had the Bhagavad-gita, so I gave a donation for that. He told me that there would be a talk on the Gita that evening and invited me. I went, and it was nice. Eventually I visited the temple and joined ISKCON. Now I’m also a book distributor.” The devotee that gave me the books was Gaur Mohan Prbhu.
A dog offers his obeisances to the Harinama party and then joins the chanting in his own language (3 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: This chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare is directly enacted from the spiritual platform, surpassing all lower states of consciousness-namely sensual, mental and intellectual. There is no need of understanding the language of the mantra, nor is there any need of mental speculation nor any intellectual adjustment for chanting this maha-mantra. It springs automatically from the spiritual platform, and as such, anyone can take part in this transcendental sound vibration, without any previous qualification, and dance in ecstasy. We have seen it practically. Even a child can take part in the chanting, or even a dog can take part in it. >>> Ref. VedaBase => CD 2-5 (05:17 Min.) Purport to Hare Krsna Mantra
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/7HpZHn
Happiness and Ourselves.
THE WALKING MONK - Bhaktimarga Swami: This is my last full day in Canada, on a break-of-sorts, before I depart for America to reconvene the US Walk. It does get exciting knowing I’ll be on the road again. It’s when I’m on that road, that I’m the happiest and when I get the best rest. Yes, I had to say that insomnia hit again - now that I’m not in full regimen. I’m sure if a survey is done, you will find a good amount of people are not happy due to many reasons, one of them being economics- or lack of it. But many folks are unhappy with too much wealth, too!
I did do some research about happiness. It was interesting to find some stats about happiness. For instance, an article from a UK paper, The Huffington Post, maintained by author, Kathyrn Snowdon, found that religious people from all different faiths are happier than those who have ‘no religion.’ Of all the faiths in the UK, Hindus are the happiest, scoring well above the average and just under the demographic of people who consider themselves to be 'in very good health’ according to data compiled by the Office for National Statistics.
Christians of all denominations were the second happiest, followed by Sikhs and Buddhists.
In a TED Talk with Matt Killingsworth, it was revealed that if you want to be happier then you 'stay in the moment.’
Gallup had interviewed more than a million Americans since 2008, enough to map out happiness. And no surprise; on a state-wide level, Hawaii heads the top ten. But this isn’t about good weather, because Wyoming, North Dakota, Alaska, and Colorado are next. No southern state made the list.
Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, never conducted a survey on the topic of happiness, but he had proved that those who gave up bad habits and took to chanting became quite satisfied.
“Chant and be happy!” he used to say.
May the Source be with you!
The publication Suddha-Nama Bhajan by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami is now available as a book and for online reading.
Suddha-Nama Bhajan, a must read for aspiring Vaisnavas, takes the reader through the three stages of chanting. The first chapter nama-aparadha (the offensive stage of chanting) gives a full explanation of the ten offenses. The second chapter describes Nama-abhasa (the intermediate stage of chanting), which is the first glimmer of the holy name. The last chapter, in two parts, portrays suddha-nama (the pure chanting of the holy name) the stage wherein one chants purely and sees the Supreme Lord face to face.
For more details about the book and to read it online: http://goo.gl/j6RcJZ
June 12. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada in the Summer.
The summer of 1966 moved along, and Prabhupada kept good health. For him these were happy days. New Yorkers complained of the summer heat waves, but this caused no inconvenience to one accustomed to the 100-degree-plus temperatures of Vrindavana’s blazing summers. “It is like India,” he said, as he went without a shirt, seeming relaxed and at home. He had thought that in America he would have to subsist on boiled potatoes (otherwise there would be nothing but meat), but here he was happily eating the same rice, dal and capatis, and cooking on the same three-stacked cooker as in India. Work on the Srimad-Bhagavatam had also gone on regularly since he had moved into the Second Avenue apartment. And now Krishna was bringing these sincere young men who were cooking, typing, hearing him regularly, chanting Hare Krishna, and asking for more.
Prabhupada was still a solitary preacher, free to stay or go, writing his books in his own intimate relationship with Krishna – quite independent of the boys in the storefront. But now he had taken the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as his spiritual child. The inquiring young men, some of whom had already been chanting steadily for over a month, were like stumbling spiritual infants, and he felt responsible for guiding them. They were beginning to consider him their spiritual master, trusting him to lead them into spiritual life. Although they were unable to immediately follow the multifarious rules that brahmanas and Vaisnavas in India followed, he was hopeful. According to Rupa Gosvami the most important principle was that one should “somehow or other” become Krishna conscious. People should chant Hare Krishna and render devotional service. They should engage whatever they had in the service of Krishna. And Prabhupada was exercising this basic principle of Krishna consciousness to the furthest limit the history of Vaisnavism had ever seen.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=9
Prabhupada in the Summer
The Melbourne temple “kitchen project” has been in the planning stages for years. The old kitchen, which supplies prasadam for Crossways, festivals and feasts, has reached it’s use buy date.
The temple management signed with a contractor and work has begun at the car-parking area at the back of the temple.
The Victorian Government gave a substantial grant to begin the work but much more is needed. Therefore, the management organised a fund raising dinner at the St Kilda town hall where more than 500 devotees and guests attended.
The evening was a grand success. Speeches were made, dances performed, prasadam served and many donations were generously given.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, May 2016, Coimbatore, India, Hospital Conversations)
Initiation is beginning of our spiritual life and is based on prescribed duty. One should never see the spiritual master as an ordinary person; the relationship with the spiritual master is never ordinary. Krsna enters the relationship; it is Krsna’s arrangement. Through the form of guru, Krsna’s mercy manifests. Krsna takes us back to the spiritual world but the guru is his medium. The mercy of Krsna comes through the spiritual master.
So much emphasis is on THE GURU… but ultimately, WE must do it… WE have to chant… WE have to get absorbed in Srimad Bhagavatam, etc. WE have to take the message. Guru can pray and bless but WE have to do it, otherwise we are trying to be kripa siddha (one who has attained perfection by the special mercy of Krsna and the spiritual master) without any work. Sadhana siddha (perfection attained by executing devotional service according to the rules and regulations) is required.
Transcribed by Man Beharini dd from Pune
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Bhaktin Constance: I read my daughter’s Muhammad Ali article a few days ago and was inspired to write one of my own. See, writing was my mainstay in many of the legal assistant & managerial positions I held over the years. Since my two only children both became devotees of Krsna close to four decades ago, being very close to them both, Krsna had to become a pretty big part of my life too. They each had devotees over to meet me in my Brooklyn home; Raga even brought her guru BT Swami over with some of his disciples with ice cream on my birthday one year. My son, serving as the Brooklyn tem-ple’s VP for 12 years meant, I was frequently going back and forth there to drop off things for him. On one occasion I even notarized an official letter written to Raga and Hladini by a famous Black leader Raga knew who decided to give Krsna and Prabhupada a glowing endorsement. Today, as a senior citizen, I’ve now retired to So Florida and the 3 of us still maintain close relations, talking by phone several times a week & sometimes visiting in person.
My biggest Krsna adventure occurred when I visited both of my kids in the Midwest where they had each settled. This was around my birthday (June 14th) which happens most years the same day as the New York Ratha Yatra. That year I flew to St. Louis where Raga threw a birthday party for me in the house she’d just bought & invited many of her friends. During that trip, we visited a museum, went to an EWF concert and I and some of Raga’s girlfriends dined out at Thai places & at Whole Foods. I was 80 at the time, and against a few warnings not to, I decided on a Sunday to take the 6 hour drive to my son & his wife’s house in Winfield, Ks. Before I set out, Hladini’s wife warned me about strict law enforcement on the highway. I’d also been warned that all of Kansas was a tornado zone but now to my shock, the radio was suddenly announcing a tornado alert, which I found particu-larly unnerving because I didn’t know where I was or any of the different counties they were mention-ing. Soon, all kinds of cars & trucks seemed to speed up. In my rear view mirror I saw two trucks racing down my lane & decided to get over to let them pass. Seconds later, an unmarked car signals me to move off the road and an officer jumps out asking for my credentials. I ask why he’s stopping me & he says for speeding and failing to signal. He keeps me a long time but finally accepts my lane-change explanation and lets me go.
My knees almost shaking now, I drive some more and come to an exit where the toll booth lady tells me I look frightened. “You’re damn right I am,” I want to say but don’t. Meanwhile, she offers to direct me to a shelter, goes a little distance then lifts up a metal cover that reveals a deep but narrow underground enclosure made of cement. There are 6 or 8 strangers inside, all looking as frightened as I am, but everyone welcomes me and all 8 of us stay there for a half hour, during which time, one of my cell mates lends me a phone so I can call Hladini & explain all the delays. That night I calm myself by sleeping in a hotel room, but you can believe all the day’s activity have been so stressful, I get very motivated to chant the Hare Krishna mantra I already know & start doing it much more seriously!
Even now, many years later, I still chant Hare Krishna with some regularity, especially when I feel endangered, but I admit on most mornings I do Transcendental Meditation like my son taught me to do years ago. I’m not ready to commit to doing a certain amount of rounds per day just yet, but what I have done devotionally is talk a lot by phone to both my children, who seem to be so stuck on Krsna they’ll hardly talk about much else for long. I’m also doing what I hear is called Sadhu Sanga by asking each of them questions, like for example what are the pros and cons of my continuing to chant, and what can I expect from doing it. I’ve also learned from talking to them both that prayer requests are permissible in the devotee community. It’s even stressed that the prayers of numerous devotees has more much impact, so this is my humble request.
My baby brother Richard Roger Melbourne (born one day before me but four years later) came to Florida years after I did. He relocated here just five years ago in fact, but very suddenly this year he developed a medical problem. He’s never been as careful with his health as I’ve been. As a retired engineer, he also does the couch potato thing, eats a lot of junk food, & won’t walk around enough to maintain his health. Richard’s not yet a vegetarian like I’m trying to be and probably won’t ever become one. Still, my prayer concerns are this. One Sunday morning 6 months ago I found Richard unconscious on his kitchen floor. After this, he was hospitalized for several weeks, then moved to a rehab center. Eventually an emergency guardian was appointed for reasons that are still unclear.
My brother and I have been nearby each other for 80 or more years straight. When he was healthier, he would always come by and help repair my & my daughter’s cars. He is a fine man but I now understand that like me and a whole lot of us, he’s an unfortunate resident of the material world. For all these reasons I’m mustering humility to request the devotees’ prayers.
Age wise, I’m obviously a little bit ahead of some of you all, but I hear that Srila Prabhupada said that old age and death would happen to all of us. Still maybe you all will kindly pray for me and Richard that we will have a good outcome in our court case & that he will have an easy journey.
We’ve probably all noticed that Injury and insult often walk hand and hand, & that old people often preyed upon by “the system!” But my daughter often reminds me that years ago, one time in the streets of Ft. Greene Brooklyn, Richard and I actually participated in a Harinam procession. I had recently turned 65 and just retired. We got tricked into this Harinam actually because Raga had rented a large space that the manager had accidentally double booked. We therefore had to waste a little time and move between the owner’s personal home address &the Creative Concerns venue Raga secured. We were especially concerned because Raga had done a radio show to announce this big bhakti event & had arranged to co-produce & host it.
I hear that Krishna never forgets a gesture done for Him by even a new devotee, so maybe this Harinam parade we did will be enough to attract Krishna & His devotees’ mercy to help my brother and I in this troubled time. I thank you all for considering my prayer & hope you’ll also bless us on our birthdays (Richard’s on June 13th & mine on the 14th ). Please also pray that my taste for chanting will continue to blossom. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many devotees. Nartaka devi visited my condo in So. Florida years ago and I’ve also met the wonderfully talented artist Pushkar, who went to high school with Hladini when it was still called Music and Art. Thank you for your prayer and help.
Your grateful servant, Bhaktin Constance
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