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Hare Krishna Festival Photos In New York city 2015 (3 min video)
Three Huge Colorful Chariots Are Pulled By Rope Down 5Th Avenue By Hundreds Of People Towards Washington Square Park. Festival Stage, Food Booths, Religious Booths, Singing, Music….photos In Washington Square Park.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/m9JeZ3
(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed)
[Republished from November 11, 2012]
Two weeks have passed since my last blog. During this time, I have reflected on the illusive, uncontrollable (though we try to use it) nature of time, of which life, as we known it, is inextricably intertwined. Hopefully we will be drawn to question the force of natural laws on us, and think of their purpose, and controller—the Law Maker. We have our individual life’s timing for significant or insignificant events—sometimes lethargy or stagnation—and then the larger field of our immediate surroundings, our country, and the whole planet, all of which can influence our decisions and how we go about things. We may feel like we are in a stagnant pool, going nowhere fast, or being diminished daily, while at other times we seem to be swept away by events much larger than ourselves or our family concerns. For Gaudiya Vaishnavas, the chaos that may surround and seem to threaten us, points to the lasting spiritual peace within, and the love of the soul for Krishna which enlivens us. Thus the blessing of upheaval or problems can be a motivation for spiritual practice. Life in the material world is always uncertain and changing, like unstable shifting sand, and still we try to avoid, or find shelter from this truth. Firm ground is the soul and its relationship to God.
Sri Jagannath Ratha Yatra and Festival of India 2015 in NYC (Album with professional HR photos)
Jagannatha Ratha Yatra festival celebrated by the Hare Krishna devotees on New York’s Fifth Avenue, New York City. This festival is held in a mood of love and devotion and invokes universal peace, harmony, and good will for all creation
See them here: http://goo.gl/jdj3HM
Hare Krishna! Radhanath Swami Speaks on Happiness at Wedding Wire in D.C.
On June 10th, 2015 Radhanath Swami was invited to take part in the speaker series hosted by Wedding Wire where he was interviewed by Wedding Wire CEO Tim Chi on the subject of Happiness. Wedding Wire is a young Washington DC-based company that specializes in helping couples-to-be find anything they might need to make their wedding day as perfect as possible. They are also one of the most highly recommended companies to work for in the DC area. Tim Chi helped create a culture of friendship and teamwork among his growing staff of 200+ employees and has near 100% turnout on days of company wide service to help in the local DC community.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17897
HH Indradyumna Swami – Sunday Feast Class – 07.06.2015
Hare Krishna! Memories of Brahmananda Dasa
Much can be said about our dear godbrother Bramhananda, but you know some devotees are just special. Just seeing him could make one smile and as one of Prabhupada’s original “white elephants” his efforts to serve him “in the day” are legendary. As one of the heavy pullers of our “mule team” for Prabhupada, those early devotees did so much for him. They cleared and paved the way for later devotees and enlivened many. Days were glorious but rigorous, filled with exhaustion and sweet surrender. Time moves on but it just won’t be the same without him around…yet we are happy for him.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17892
In this lecture Guru Maharaja explaining about the meaning of Nitai Kamala song, on how we need to get mercy from Lord Nityananda to attain the lotus feet of Radha and Krishna. It is said with mercy from Lord Nityananda we can get Lord Gaurangga mercy and with Lord Gaurangga mercy's we can attain loving service to Radha and Krishna. Sometime it is said to attain Lord Nityananda mercy we can try to get mercy from Jagai and Madhai.
In his song Kabe Habe Bolo, Bhaktivinoda Thakur write "When will I can get the mercy of Lord Nityananda?" when you get the mercy of Lord Nityananda you get out of maya, when you get out of maya you can go to marketplace of holy name.
In the marketplace of holy name you can buy the holy name, sale the holy name or even you can steal the holy name... Bhaktivinoda continued you better to hurry because Jagai and Madhai is taking everything... and what is the price of holy name? the price is faith...
Guru Maharaja then mention that Nityananda is Balaram himself just like Sri Gaurangga is Krishna. When Lord Nityananda just a kid, He made drama of Krishna lila, he was just under 12 years old and haven't studied yet.
But, He did the very elaborate drama of Krishna lila, with all of the avatars. Many people watched it, and they all wonder "How can you know all these pastimes?" and then he will answer: "Well, this is my Lila, so I know it." and the people just laugh because they think this is just a little boy talking.
The lecture continued with more Nityananda Lila, how he travel all of India, staying in Vrndavana and then met Sri Gaurangga Mahaprabhu in Navadvipa.
Please listen the audio for more nectar. Hare Krishna.
New Vrindaban’s 24 Hour Kirtan to Transport Partipants to Vrindavana Dhama
The ninth annual 24 Hour Kirtan festival in New Vrindaban, West Virginia is set to give North American participants the experience of the 24 Hour Kirtan that runs 365 days a year in the original Vrindavana Dhama, India without having to travel thousands of miles. Around 600 devotees from all over the U.S. and Canada are expected to converge in the beautiful rural community that founder Srila Prabhupada called “a new place of pilgrimage for you Western devotees.” During a 1972 visit he also commented, “This Vrindaban, that Vrindavan, no difference.” The devotee participants will be joined by two groups of students, one from Cleveland State University and one from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, attending for the first time.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17889
Hare Krishna! The Ecstasy of Insignificance: Happiness Through Reality
A feeling of insignificance and a humble service attitude come not by astuteness, not by knowing some tricks, but by simple steadfastness in the process of Krishna consciousness. The Srimad-Bhagavatam tells us that Krishna showers all benedictions on those who consider themselves insignificant. Seeing them as significant, by His causeless mercy He shares with them the sweetness of devotional service. Insignificance is so inconceivably ecstatic that the Lord Himself desires it, as Srila Prabhupada describes: “Krishna says in Chaitanya-charitamrita, you will find, ‘Everyone worships Me with awe and veneration. But if anyone worships Me without any awe, veneration, and treats Me as insignificant, I like that. I like that.’
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17886
Hare Krishna! Truth in a Nutshell
Four special verses in the Bhagavad-gita and four in the Srimad-Bhagavatam lay out the fundamental teachings of Krishna consciousness. My mom always keeps peanuts around the house. Crack the shells open, and you find two peanuts inside. So much goodness in one little package: beneficial nutrients, plant proteins, fats, fiber, and plenty of vitamins, minerals, and bioactives. As I looked at the broken shells in front of me one day, my mind was drawn to four special verses of the Srimad-Bhagavatam and four of the Bhagavad-gita, each set often referred to simply as chatuh-shloki: “the four verses.” Srila Prabhupada was the first to refer to them as “nutshell verses.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17883
Hare Krishna! God Is Great—and Sweet
“I would believe only in a god who could dance,” wrote German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. During his times, God was generally portrayed as a frozen perfection—remote, static, and wholly unsociable. No wonder Nietzsche was disillusioned. He might have been pleasantly surprised to hear about Krishna, the God who dances with spellbinding expertise on the hoods of the venomous serpent Kaliya; the God who dances to the tune of His mother just to get butter; the God who dances with the gopis during the rasa-lila, a celebration of divine love; the God known as Vrindavana-natabara, the best dancer in the pastoral paradise of Vrindavana.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=17880
Solve The Problem Of Terrorism On An Individual Level
Radhanath Swami: Terrorism is born of ego. Strife and friction are caused when we understand only the letter of the religious law but ignore the spirit behind it. Unity and brotherhood of mankind can happen when we transcend the external differences and focus on the spiritual essence of all great traditions. The essence of every religion is sincerity in cleansing our own hearts, and cultivating humility by honouring every living entity as a child of God. We must educate the youth about these universal principles which teach us to love God and love every living being as a child of God. God is one and is known by many different names. If we understand and internalize this reality we develop respect for every religious path.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/UNADeJ
By Madhava Smullen
The ninth annual 24 Hour Kirtan festival in New Vrindaban, West Virginia is set to give North American participants the experience of the 24 Hour Kirtan that ns 365 days a year in the original Vrindavana Dhama, India without having to travel thousands of miles.
Around 600 devotees from all over the U.S. and Canada are expected to converge in the beautiful rural community that founder Srila Prabhupada called “a new place of pilgrimage for you Western devotees.” During a 1972 visit he also commented, “This Vrindaban, that Vrindavan, no difference.”
The devotee participants will be joined by two groups of students, one from Cleveland State University and one from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, attending for the first time.
Leading up to the festival, Europe-based spiritual teacher Kadamba Kanana Swami will give three morning lectures at Sri Sri Radha-Vrindabanchandra’s temple from Thursday June 18th to Saturday June 20th on the importance of chanting the Holy Name.
There will also be an inauguration kirtan with Kadamba Kanana Swami, Agnideva Das and other senior kirtaniyas on Friday evening from 7 to 10pm at Srila Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold.
The 24 Hour Kirtan festival proper will then run from 11am on Saturday June 20th to 11am on Sunday June 21st in the temple, which will be decorated with maha-mantra banners, harinama chaddars and lamps.
Participants will sit in a semi-circle facing the Deities. Each of the long list of lead chanters will lead for around one hour, and each will bring their own flavor to an event packed full of variety.
Kadamba Kanana Swami is known for his fired up, rocking kirtans. Agnideva Das – who has been one of the world’s most popular chanters since the 1970s and is now based in Trinidad – steals devotees’ hearts with his classic, soulful style. And Brazilian kirtaniya Amala Kirtan Das, now based in Austin, Texas, brings blissful ragas and astonishing virtuousity on the harmonium.
Meanwhile Ananta Govinda and Acyuta Gopi from New York raise goosebumps with their soul folk kirtan; Mayapuri band member Krishna Kishor injects youthful energy into proceedings; and Gaura Mani Dasi from the Vrindavana, India-based band the Vrajadhus dovetails Bollywood songs in Krishna’s service to create new Hare Krishna tunes that take off like wildfire.
Local New Vrindaban chanters will also lead kirtan, including Rupanuga Das, Abhay Das, Bhaktin Autumn, Ananda Vidya Das, and Lilasuka Dasi.
And youth and children will get a chance too – the boys from ISKCON Alachua’s Summer Trip, aged 12 to 15, will chant for 45 minutes, while a group of children aged 10 and under will chant for half an hour.
“It’s really important for them to have that opportunity to sing at a festival,” says Shri-Ram Poddar, 18, who is organizing the schedule for the festival. “They’ll love it, and it’s just a really good growing experience for them too.”
Shri-Ram is speaking from experience. He first attended the New Vrindaban 24 Hour Kirtan in 2011 when he was 14 and uninterested in kirtan, staying up throughout the night as an experiment. He calls it “the first devotee festival I really enjoyed” and afterwards became passionate about kirtan. Now he’s helping to organize both New Vrindaban’s summer and fall 24 Hour Kirtans, and is inspired to manage other Krishna conscious events too.
While many other kirtan festivals follow the two 12-hour days format, Shri Ram loves New Vrindaban’s because it remains a straight 24-hour event nine years in. This features gets participants intensely focused on the Holy Name, and combined with New Vrindaban’s Brijabasi mood it truly recreates the original Vrindavana 24-Hour Kirtan.
The Vrindavana mood will be particularly evident during the night time hours, when devotees like Amala Harinama and Govinda Das, who both spent time as part of the 24 Hour Kirtan Mandali in Vrindavana under Aindra Das, will chant.
“Govinda Prabhu has been there since at least the early 2000s, and was with Aindra Prabhu for at least ten years, as one of his main mridanga players,” says Shri-Ram. “His kirtan really has Aindra’s mood.”
Most devotees will attend only select parts of the kirtan, taking rest in between in the comfortable motel-style rooms at New Vrindaban’s Palace Lodge (now booked up), in local hotels in Wheeling and Moundsville, or in tents on the ISKCON New Vrindaban grounds.
Every year, however, some brave souls are so inspired that they manage to make it through the entire 24 hours.
The prasadam helps – breakfast on Saturday and Sunday will include kichari, granola, yoghurt, chutney, and a drink. For lunch on Saturday there’ll be fancy rice, dahl, two subjis, macaroni, pakoras, puris, chutney, sweet rice, and mango lassi.
The primetime evening kirtan slots from 6pm to 10 or 11pm on Saturday will be the most packed and energetic, as will Agnideva’s grand finale on Sunday morning, followed by a delicious Sunday Feast at 12:30pm.
Afterwards, participants are usually left hungry for more – more kirtan! “People always say they feel very enlivened and recharged,” says Vrindavana Das, who organizes the festival with assistant coordinator Gauranga Prasad Das. “They always look forward to coming back again.”
And New Vrindaban has what they’re looking for. A fall 24 Hour Kirtan is coming up on October 31st and November 1st, during the sacred month of Kartik – which, of course is one of Vrindavana, India’s most famous festivals.
With a more sweet, mellow mood, devotees will get to offer candles to New Vrindaban’s beautiful Deities, and once again get the Vrindavana Dhama experience without having to travel to India.
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Kirtan On The Mountain Peak (6 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Devotees from all over Ukraine gathered this week for their annual Gauranga Festival in the Carpathian mountains. Blissful Kirtan resounded throughout all the hills and valleys!
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/sUHcne
Bhakta Marcel, asks “In my original svarupa, what caused me to want to enjoy separate from Krishna?”
The post Trying to understand transcendence from a conditioned state appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.
Remembering Brahmananda Prabhu (video)
By HH Indradyumna Swami.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/h4kP1p
‘Bloop’ by Acyutananda Prabhu - Tribute to Brahmananda Prabhu (2 min video)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/BM1Acc
Bhagavatam-daily Podcast:
Download by “right-click and save content”
A Mountain Retreat (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Two thousand devotees in Ukraine are enjoying a week long festival of kirtan and seminars in the tiny hamlet of Slavske, in the Carpathian mountains. Staying in log cabins and other rustic buildings, they are basking in the first warm days of summer and in the association of a number of ISKCON leaders including Trivikrama Swami, Niranjana Swami and Bhakti Caitanya Swami.
See them here: https://goo.gl/xUAVJh
Holy name festival 2015 - ISKCON LJUBLJANA (4 min video)
Slovenian Holy Name festival 2015
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/qtFisA
The post Daily Darshan – June 13th, 2015 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
2015 06 06 Prerana East Or West Which Is Best -Devamrita Swami Maharaj ISKCON Chowpatty
First I have to want to improve my japa. That won’t happen until (a) I’m sincere, and (b) I realize that chanting japa is more important than anything else (more important than how many times or ways I get high, have sex, consume onions, eggs and slaughterhouse milk, wear karmī clothes, don’t put on tilak, associate with so and so, and so on). This post isn’t going to go into that. Let’s just assume I already realize that the most important part of bhakti-sādhana is the Hare Krishna mantra, and I sincerely want to improve my relationship to that mantra, by chanting better japa.
If I can’t improve all my japa immediately, I have to at least improve some of it. I’ve found some measure of success by starting with the idea of making 25% of my japa more “first-class” – and year by year adding another 25% to that, so that after four years, all of my japa has improved. So, if you chant 64 rounds, start by making sure that at least 16 of them are pakka and really concentrated. If you chant 4 rounds, start by chanting at least 1 of them to the very best of your ability. And next year make it 50%, third year 75% and by the fourth year go for 100%.
Also, I “pace myself” to allow a sort of rhythm to my practice. I don’t try to go 1,000% all day everyday, because I’ve tried that before, wasn’t ready for it, and burned out. I let my japa be sloppier on weekends, for example, and try to increase my efforts on other days, like ekādaśī, and during kartika.
In a similar vein, I don’t try to make my day 24 hours straight perfect “Krishna consciousness.” I just want my japa time to be straight-perfect 100% effort, and let the rest of the day be whatever the heck it winds up being. Gradually, that winds up naturally becoming more and more “Krishna conscious,” anyway.
The essence of good japa is nothing short of ātmanivedana – completely giving myself to Krishna. “Self” ultimately means “consciousness” (jīva is jñāna-mātra – consciousness itself). Consciousness means perception. Perception means attention. Whatever I pay attention to is whatever I give myself to. I can give myself to Krishna by paying attention to him, and I can start paying actual attention to him by giving my perceptions to his name.
First rule of japa-club: don’t move around.
On the grossest level this means don’t do other things at the same time. I don’t want to chant in the car, or on a walk, or while I’m cooking or reading a book or listening to music. (Just don’t do it! Do you want to chant amazing, spiritual japa or not!? Don’t justify lame japa with a million quotes or references to saints who sometimes chanted while walking or whatever. As I mentioned, we should have a core set of japa that is first-class, but should chant even more than that, whenever and however. Anytime anyway we can.)
On a subtler level, “don’t move around” literally means “don’t move around.” As in “sit properly.” According to tradition, “sit properly” means sukham-sthiram-āsanaḥ (Sit comfortably and fixed, firm). Figuring out how to sit without discomfort (sukham) but alertly and without laziness (sthiram) takes a long time (I still haven’t figured it out entirely), but is worth the effort.
The reason we have to sit still is that we will try to chant japa without really chanting japa. We will try to be able to say or think we chanted our daily japa, without actually doing it. Why are we like this? Because we love lots of other stuff, and want to pay attention to all of that. We don’t want to pay attention to Krishna. This is natural, since we haven’t experienced him yet. But the only way we will ever experience him is to pay attention to the japa of his name, wholeheartedly, at least for a little while. So, we have to make the effort. After making an intelligent effort for some time (even jut a few week), we will start to get a bit of natural, real interest in Krishna’s name, and as we continue with this effort, that interest will grow till soon (ideally as soon as three years, I’d say) its no effort at all to chant most of our rounds attentively.
“Substitute japa” is the effort to get through my japa while paying attention to other things, thinking about other things, planning other things, dreaming about and dramatizing other things, etc. The only way this is possible is if the chanting can go on “auto-pilot.”
Rocking back and forth, shaking and twisting the beads rhythmically, and other sorts of “metronome” tempo-keepers… these are all servants of auto-pilot-japa. We move our fingers to the next bead every time we’ve twisted the bead enough, or shaken it enough, or rocked to and fro enough. We’re not counting mantras, we’re counting fidgets. Don’t do it!
Whatever I’m doing… If I pay attention, I get it done efficiently. If I don’t pay attention, it takes forever. Therefore, the amount of time it takes me to finish japa can be somehow parallel as an indicator of how much attention I’m paying.
So I almost always try to chant as fast as I can.
It’s tiring! It’s hard! …good! That’s the idea! I chant so fast that I have to concentrate on not skipping any words. [There have to be 16 words in every mantra, and each word has to have 2 syllables every time. In “Rāma” the second syllable can often be very light, but don’t skip it.]
Very distracted mālā (rounds) take me about 10 minutes each (like if I’m literally being interrupted and stuff). Moderately distracted rounds take about 7 or 8 minutes (I’m just drifting off and thinking about everything else). Decent rounds take less than 6 minutes. Good rounds take less than 5 each. Ideal rounds are close to 4 minutes, for me. I know that some excellent chanters, such as Aindra Prabhu, aimed for 3.5 minute rounds.
Besides speed there is volume. (And they are related, the louder the chanting the lower it’s top speed).
Śrī Rūpa says, “sulaghu” is the basic character of japa. That means “very lightly enunciate the mantra.” Don’t try to wake the dead. Chant very lightly, aiming to bring the sound to the inner ear. We should aim for increasing “lightness” in the enunciation volume.
Hari bhakti vilāsa identifies three valid approaches to japa (1) audible, (2) mouthed, (3) mental; saying that each one is more powerful than the one before it, if we do it right.
In saṁkīrtan, the louder the better. In japa the opposite is true. Audible japa is the least powerful because it is most prone to “autopiloting.” We move our fingers to the next bead every time our jaws flap around a certain number of times, or every time we make a certain noise after a certain amount of other noisy buzzing. The real point of Japa is not to make noise, but to surrender my very self (consciousness/attention) to Krishna.
[Yet, for some people audible may be the best, because its better to do autopiloted audible chanting than to do autopiloted inaudible chanting. I’ll talk more about that, below. Basically, if and when we just can’t get beyond auto-pilot chanting, then audible is better than mouthed and better still than so-called mental chanting.]
From audible to mouthed to mental, the japa does not actually lose volume. It loses external volume and increases internal volume. The mantra moves from being heard by the external ears, to being heard by the internal ear.
Everyone has and uses an internal ear all the time. Imagine some sound, you are using your internal ear. When you dream you also often solely use your internal ear. Whenever you hear, actually, your external ear is merely feeding data to the internal ear, which is the actual sense of hearing itself.
The second type of japa (“mouthed”) is the transition from external to internal hearing. Mouthing is still prone to autopilot because you can still just rely on your jaw movements to let you know you’ve “finished” a mantra. When mouthed japa autopilots its even more of a failure than when audible chanting does. That’s why we shouldn’t abandon audible chanting until we start to hear the sound in the inner ear, with concentration, at the same time as we hear it with the outer ear.
The third type of japa is mental chanting. The reason its the best is that auto-pilot is impossible. if I stop concentrating, the japa stops. Its impossible to chant inattentive mental japa, because the rounds just won’t get finished. But it’s essential that if we do mental chanting we absolutely must not do any sort of moving around, rocking, swaying, bead moving, etc. Nothing to “keep tempo.” Keeping tempo is the thing that autopilot exploits. Beware of prematurely switching to mental rounds because when we “lace” them with rocking and swaying and fall into autopilot, that japa is almost entirely useless. With audible chanting, even on autopilot at least there’s some sound drifting in our ears occasionally catching our interest. With mental chanting, when we go to autopilot, what’s left? Basically nothing except wasted time.
a) Deliberate breathing is an exception to the tempo-keeping rule. When I co-ordinate my breathing with the japa, it becomes very difficult to go on autopilot. This seems contradictory, but the regular flow of prāṇa keeps the mental machinery disciplined. Irregular flow of prāṇa (uncontrolled breathing) lets the mental machinery operate irregularly (go all over the place).
b) Chanting is not about mental focus. The mind actually just needs to shut the hell up and stay out of the way. The mind and the senses do not produce the Hare Krishna mahāmantra. The mahāmantra exists in a transcendent realm within the consciousness itself. Don’t think about trying to “focus the mind” on the mantra, just tell the mind to take five and rest, and let the mantra demonstrate its own existence within your consciousness.
A handy thing I stumbled on in this regard is that good chanting doesn’t make my forehead furrow and scrunch. In fact, crappy chanting makes my forehead do that. It’s hard work to chant bad rounds, because it’s hard to do two things at once (chant and think about other things at the same time). I’ve noticed that when I chant well, my forehead and eyebrows relax and everything feels easy.
c) Chant with feeling. The abhideya is built on sambandha. We have to feel some kind of relationship to Krishna before we can expect to give a damn about concentrating on him or his name. So take stock. Who is Krishna, to you? What are your feelings towards him? Why do you care? If we remind ourselves about these before starting japa, and keep our japa going in the mood of those answers, the chanting becomes meaningful. We are not just listening to sounds, we are hearing names. Names of a person, who means something to us.
d) If I welcome Krishna’s name-vibration into me, its like accepting his embrace. Is a very deep and profound way to chant.
e) It’s really quite enjoyable. When I chant nicely it feels like resting, sleeping, or relaxing. It’s not a chore.
f) Chanting is easy. Wanting to chant is not. Therefore all these techniques (and any amount of techniques) will be useless until we actually give a damn about japa. So the essence of chanting good japa is wanting to.
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.8.5-6.
“Peter ran up to the car and Srila Prabhupada rolled down the window and looked at him and said, ‘Yes?’ Peter put his hand in his pocket to take out the $300 but it turns out that in the rush he forgot the money and there was nothing in his pocket. He was digging deep and looking in his pockets and all he came up with was 37 cents. Srila Prabhupada was looking out the window waiting for him to say something so Peter gave him the 37 cents. And Srila Prabhupada made such a big thing of it. ‘Thank you very much, this is so nice.’ Because all the other times he had given money there was some false ego or pride, but this time there was no false ego and no pride—he was just in a panic to do some service and Srila Prabhupada could feel his sincere desire free from false pride and ego. Srila Prabhupada knew what was in your heart and what you needed. He wasn’t bewildered or impressed by material opulence but wanted to see your devotion.”
