
NASN August 2013 – North American Sankirtan Newsletter
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By hook or by crook Krsna makes us surrender everything, and not only can’t we complain, he wants us to be happy about it.
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ECO-Vrindaban: Where Truly Happy Cows Roam Free
By Madhava Smullen
We live in a world where animals—who are just as alive and feeling as we are—are treated like non-sentient commodities. A staggering nine billion animals are slaughtered every year in US factory farms alone. While they wait for their early death, like prisoners in a concentration camp, they are confined so tightly in battery cages or windowless sheds that they can barely move. They are de-beaked, de-toed, and finally slaughtered, often while fully conscious.
This system is not only incredibly cruel—it’s disastrous for the environment, too. According to a 2006 United Nations report, factory farming generates eighteen percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Millions of rainforest acres have been cleared for livestock grazing or animal feed crops. And all this for… well, not much at all. While you could feed twenty-two people with one hectare of potatoes, one hectare used to produce beef could feed only one.
Fortunately, there are people who are doing what they can to stop cruelty to animals, to give them their natural right to freedom, and to provide an alternative to factory farming. People at well-known organizations like PETA, the ASPCA, Farm Sanctuary, and Mercy For Animals.
And then there’s those you may not have heard of, yet—like ECOV (an acronym for Earth, Cows, Opportunity, and Vrindaban Villages), an organization that has been quietly operating since 1969 from the green, rolling hills of West Virginia. ECOV is a farm sanctuary nestled in a small community that aims for a pre-industrial agrarian lifestyle in harmony with nature, animals and the earth. It specifically cares for cows, who are one of the most abused species on the planet—nearly 4,000 are killed every hour in the US alone.
As one of the oldest cow protection organizations in North America, ECOV has provided loving care for over 800 cows and bulls over its more than 40 year history. These animals are free to live out their full natural lives in peace and contentment, never seeing the horror of factory farms.
Some were rescues. Starting in the mid-1970s, as they grew their herd, the ECOV staff would visit auctions to bid against commercial dairies; and with the help of donations from animal well-wishers, they were able to rescue cattle from commercial farms, which they still do to this day.
“I remember going to pick out five pregnant Holstein heifers from a commercial dairy near Columbus, Ohio, in 2007,” says ECOV general manager Doug Fintel. “As I walked amongst a hundred cows, I was shocked to see the emotional state they were in. Whenever the breeder walked into the pen, they would run away and cluster into groups, just trying to get away from him. They were out of their minds with fear. I felt like I was in a scene from the movie Schindler’s List, and we were saving them from the gas chamber.”
Doug was delighted to be saving not only the heifers, but their unborn calves too—of which the males would have faced an especially grim future. As veal calves, they would have been confined in pitch dark pens so small that they would be unable to even turn around, resulting in their muscles remaining soft and undeveloped… just so that consumers could enjoy their tender meat. “Whenever rescued cows first arrived on our ECOV farm, they’d be pitiful and uptight, with a wild look in their eyes,” Doug says. “But gradually, they would calm down, and eventually when humans walked near them, they’d be completely relaxed, not even noticing we were there.”
Of course, while rescuing cows is very fulfilling and important work, it’s not a common activity for ECOV. Since cows live to be up to twenty-three years old, and ECOV commits to taking care of cows for life, they take in new additions to the herd very cautiously. Besides, the organization’s main focus is compassionate care for their cows and providing cruelty-free milk, which is integral to the simple village life its community is based upon.
Of course, ECOV cows are milked either by hand or with vacuum bucket milkers, the most subtle type of milking machine on the market today. And the calves are looked after with love and care.
“In factory farms, they completely separate the calves from their mothers at birth and bottle-feed them milk replacer instead of their mother’s milk,” explains Doug. “But at ECOV, the calves drink milk directly from their mother for their first six months, and stay in a comfortable pen within seeing range of her. Then they are gradually weaned and put on a hay and grain diet over a several week period.”
ECOV staff have always been dedicated to giving the best care possible to all of their cows no matter what the conditions, even if it means sacrificing their own comfort. While establishing their community in the early days, staff lived without heating or running water, chopped wood and built fences all day, and still found time to take care of all their cows’ needs.
Meanwhile in the 1990s and 2000s, when funds and manpower became scarce, the core group continued to stick to their mission. Having managed the herd for 34 years and counting, Doug Fintel has given his life to the program, as has ECOV Vice President Mark Meberg (37 years), and Doug’s assistant Ray (29 years). Today, Doug and Ray are the main full-time workers and they are helped by dozens of volunteers each year. Support is still low and things aren’t easy, but the program continues.
During the winter the current herd of of 65 cows—mainly Holsteins, Brown Swiss, and Jerseys—stay in a cozy, clean pole barn built for 240 cows. One thousand round bales of hay, weighing about 600 pounds apiece, are put up for them to eat and it’s good stuff, grown on a 160-acre meadow that’s spread with crushed limestone every three to four years. This neutralizes acidity in the soil and reduces weeds to produce healthier, more nutritious plants for the cows.
The animals are also given twelve tons of grain, salt licks, and plenty of fresh water. Even during the severe West Virginia winters, when the water fountains occasionally freeze, ECOV staff set up tarps and bring out a torpedo heater to thaw them out and make sure the cows get their water.
As well as this five-star treatment in their barn, the cows are also free to go out whenever they desire. “The big difference between us and commercial dairies is that their cows are trapped on a cement floor 365 days a year, and never get to see the light of day,” says Doug. “They never get any fresh air or sunshine, never get to put their hooves in the dirt. But our cows are free to come and go as they please.”
In the summer time, ECOV’s cows get to spend all their time on about 245 acres of lush, green pasturing grounds, where they can eat their fill. Meanwhile, the staff are repairing fences, and spending long hours harvesting the hay for next winter.
When they need it, the cows are given veterinarian and medical care. And when a cow passes away, usually between 20 and 23 years old, they are given special hospice care.
“One of our volunteers, Robert Vincioline, spends a lot of time with them,” says Doug. “He plays peaceful spiritual music for them, places garlands of blessed flowers around their necks, and of course makes sure they have a clean, dry place to lay, and plenty of food and drink. We check in on them regularly, and often more people from the community will come to visit them and offer their respects. The cows here are like part of the family. Rather than being exploited and treated like production machines, they’re taken care of with love and respect.”
After years of holding off on breeding to focus on stability and care for the current herd, ECOV now plans to begin breeding again, with two or three new Brown Swiss cows expected every year. Establishing an ox-drover program is another future goal towards a simpler lifestyle more in tune with the land.
Along with its expansion, the ECOV team will improve its facilities for the animals. Staff are currently planning a new ox-barn with a feed aisle and lie-down area, an isolation pen with a lift for sick oxen, an equipment room, and a gravity-flow grain storage. The environmentally-friendly structure will be built with timber from ECOV’s own woods, and will feature rainwater harvesting and solar panels. A more spacious and guest-friendly new milking barn—in which visitors will be able to view and pet the cows—is also planned.
To maintain a cow protection program of such high standards, ECOV must raise around $100,000 every year. For many years, the organization has struggled just to get by. Now, staff plan to establish a cow protection endowment fund, which would yield a more permanent income base that could be used to pay for ECOV’s annual operating costs—thus providing a stable source of income less dependent on the macro economy. Even with the endowment, however, ECOV staff still expect to rely on charitable donations from its supporters and well-wishers. Yet despite any difficulties, they are happy to continue on, no matter what, for such a worthy cause.
“Our modern consumer society is great at providing material goods, but it’s unsustainable and poor at providing inner peace,” ECOV Vice President Mark Meberg offers in conclusion. “So our mission is to show people an alternate lifestyle that can reduce consumption, and is not dependent on cruelty to animals. Such a lifestyle of simplicity, in association with the calmness of the cow, can bring greater satisfaction than all the trinkets from China.”
Bada Hari prabhu – Day 4 of Polish Woodstock 2013
Dear Devotees & Friends,
This week devotees in ISKCON all around the world are celebrating World
Holy Name Week.
The purpose of this week is to increase our faith and practices of chanting
the Holy Name of the Lord, understanding it as the prime way of solving all
the problems of the world, individually and collectively, and achieving
full enlightenment in this materialistic age.
Harer Nama Harer Nama Harer Namaiva Kevalam
Kalau Nasty Eva Nasti Eva Nasti Eva Gatir Anyatha.
“In this age of Kali, there is no otherway, there is no otherway, there is
no otherway for spiritual progress other than the chanting of the holy
name, the chanting of the holy name, the chanting of the holy name of the
Lord.”
The week starts on September 17th, Srila Haridasa Thakura¹s Dissapearance
day, and finishes on the 26th of September, the day of Srila Prabhupada¹s
arrival in Boston.
Here in Perth there are two important events that we invite you to kindly
come and participate in;
On Friday the 20th of September, there will be a Maha Harinama, where we
will be sharing the Holy Names with all the people of Perth. It will be
starting sharp at 5.45pm, leaving around the corner from Govinda’s
restaurant, ( at the end of James Street ) We will go chanting in
procession into the city for around an hour or so. Please bring as many
friends and family members as you can to participate in this.
Then on Sunday the 22nd of September we are holding a 12 hour kirtana at
the temple, 159 Canning Road, Kalamunda. Different devotees will be leading
kirtana all day from 8am in the morning until 8pm at night. It is a great
opportunity to charge up our spiritual batteries and to deepen our taste
for chanting the Lord’s Holy Names. The kirtana will build up to the arati
at 7pm. Unlike the regular Sunday feasts, prasadam will be served before
the arati between 3pm and 5pm.
It will be really wonderful if you are able to come and join us in the
chanting of the Lord’s Holy Names on these two important days.
Your servants at ISKCON Perth
I believe that the details of the Vaishnava diet are not solely determined by the vegetarian principle of ahimsa (non-violence). The principles of ahimsa intersect with another set of principles, those of śaucam (cleanliness) to produce the various specific morays of the Vaishnava diet. The Vaishnava eats what s/he offers to Viṣṇu – and what s/he selects to offer to Viṣṇu is chosen from a menu that meets principles of non-violence as well as cleanliness. Thus, various Vaishnava groups don’t eat some foods, even though those foods are not intrinsically violent (eggs, onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms). Without considering the principle of cleanliness – only considering non-violence, this baffles the onlooker. Foods that do not grow in the light (onions, garlic, carrots, etc.) are “unclean.” Eggs are unclean because they are menstrual byproducts.
We find that the non-violent principles are far more important than the cleanliness principles, however. Because many pure Vaishnava’s will offer and eat foods that do not grow in the light. In ISKCON, for example, carrots are frequently eaten. There is room for leeway in the cleanliness principle, but not nearly as much room for it in the non-violence principle.
Radhastami evening was a continuous flow of nectar—carrying Radharani in procession to the fire sacrifice, puspanjali, abhishek, arati, and class, all accompanied by rousing kirtan—the devotees were in ecstasy.
“Srimati Radharani is so transcendentally attractive that She attracts even Krishna, the attractor of Cupid. Therefore Her name is Madana Mohana Mohini—the attractor of the attractor of Cupid. And Srila Prabhupada explains that devotional service is under the control of Srimati Radharani and thus it attracts even Krishna Himself and Krishna comes under the control of His devotees’ love. Krishna is independent, He doesn’t come under anyone’s control, even Srimati Radharani’s, but He comes under the control of Her love and the love of His other devotees.”
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Radhastami Evening Talk
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 10 July 2013, Serbian Summer Camp, Fruska Gouranga, Seminar Part 2)
Caitanya Caritamrta describes how Srimati Radharani is discovering the qualities of Krsna and each time that she founds a new quality of Krsna, she loves that quality also. In this way, her love for Krsna is eternally increasing, unlike material relationships. It is love and romance at the beginning and then later… a belly, sitting in front of TV, snoring and sweating. The romance days are over – she has cold pins and not as beautiful as before. This is all mundane; it goes like that.
But in the spiritual world, it is not that love reaches a saturation point. It is always increasing, always new, there are always more qualities to discover and love is growing! As the love of Radharani grows, it touches Krsna’s heart and his love also grows. In this way, the love of Radha and Krsna is growing eternally! But not only of Radha and Krsna but of Krsna and all the devotees.
When we speak about the ocean of transcendental love that the Goswamis were absorbed in, it is always increasing. It is the love of devotees that is increasing in discovering Krsna’s unlimited qualities and it is Krsna whose love is increasing in seeing that love increasing – like this, it grows and grows! If even one soul is not part of it, Krsna feels something lacking therefore Krsna is eager to bring this one soul also. There is some incompleteness, although the nectar is unlimited, still it could be more unlimited.
Therefore Krsna could not wait any longer. When nobody watched, he put some sand in the sweet rice and we are here enjoying – sense gratification! But in reality, we enjoy sand gratification. We enjoy the suffering in the material energy and after a while we say, “I don’t want this anymore.” So Krsna arranges like this. So, it is sweet after all but it takes some philosophical depth to capture that.
“I will never give up; I will keep fighting till I succeed.” Those with such spirit who succeed against insurmountable odds often become heroes.
Fierce tenacity is laudable and even essential for achieving anything glorious.
To raise our drive to achieve to a higher level, indeed, to the highest level, Gita wisdom urges us to complement spirit with spirituality. That is, it calls upon us to channelize our fighting spirit into the ultimate cause – the cause of relishing and sharing everlasting spiritual bliss.
We are souls meant for eternal happiness. However, today’s materialistic culture seduces and reduces our definition of success to material success. So, even if we overcome herculean odds and succeed, we gain at best temporary happiness, for everything material is temporary.
If we want achievement to bring lasting fulfillment, we need to expand our definition of success to include the spiritual level. This doesn’t require us to renounce everything material; it simply requires that we subordinate and integrate the material with the spiritual. The Bhagavad-gita (18.46) urges us to reinvent our work as a form of worship of Krishna, the ultimate spiritual reality who is the source and sustainer of everything material.
Philosophical education and devotional meditation help us focus our head and heart on Krishna. This focus makes our mind calm and clear, thereby helping us bring out the best within us and do justice to our God-given abilities. Even if we don’t succeed, our strong Krishna-connection brings us solace and satisfaction. But because Krishna’s omnipotent grace empowers us, we triumph far more than what would have been possible by our most determined solitary struggles. And because we are engaged in actualizing Krishna’s omni-benevolent will, our achievements bring about the highest good for ourselves as well as everyone else. That is life’s complete and supreme success.
***
18.46 - By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, a man can attain perfection through performing his own work.
The creation takes place to accommodate the inclinations of the various living entities, and so the Lord does not become involved with it.
This material world is a world of duality—at one moment we are subjected to the heat and at the next moment to the cold; or, at one moment we are happy and the next moment distressed. At one moment honored, at the next dishonored. In the material world of duality, it is impossible to understand one thing without understanding its opposite. It is not possible to understand what honor is unless I understand dishonor. Similarly, I cannot understand what misery is if I have never tasted happiness. Nor can I understand what happiness is unless I have tasted misery.
One has to transcend such dualities, but as long as this body is here these dualities will be here also. Insofar as one strives to get out of bodily conceptions—not out of the body but out of bodily conceptions—one has to learn to tolerate such dualities. In the second chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna informs Arjuna that the duality of distress and happiness is due to the body alone. It’s like a skin disease, or skin itch. Just because there is itching, one should not be mad to scratch it. We should not go mad or give up our duty just because mosquitoes bite us. There are so many dualities that one has to tolerate, but if the mind is fixed in Krishna consciousness, all these dualities will seem insignificant.
How can one tolerate such dualities?
“A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi (or mystic) when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything—whether it be pebbles, stones or gold—as the same.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.8)
Jnana means theoretical knowledge, and vijnana refers to practical knowledge. For instance, a science student has to study theoretical scientific conceptions as well as applied science. Theoretical knowledge alone will not help. One has to be able to also apply this knowledge. Similarly, in yoga one should have not only theoretical knowledge but practical knowledge. Simply understanding “I am not this body” and at the same time acting in a contrary way will not help. There are so many societies where the members seriously discuss Vedanta philosophy while smoking and drinking and enjoying a sensual life. It will not help if one only has theoretical knowledge. This knowledge must be demonstrated. One who truly understands “I am not this body” will actually reduce his bodily necessities to a minimum. When one increases the demands of the body while thinking “I am not this body,” then of what use is that knowledge? A person can be satisfied only when there is theoretical and practical knowledge side by aide.
When a person is situated on the practical level of spiritual realization, it should be understood he is actually situated in yoga. It is not that one should continue to attend yoga classes and yet remain the same throughout his life; there must be practical realization. And what is the sign of that practical realization? The mind will be calm and quiet and no longer agitated by the attraction of the material world. Thus self-controlled, one is not attracted by the material glitter, and he sees everything—pebbles, stones, or gold—as the same. In the materialistic civilization, so much paraphernalia is produced just to satisfy the senses. These things are produced under the banner of material advancement. He who is situated in yoga sees such paraphernalia as simply rubbish in the street. Moreover,
“A person is said to be still further advanced when he regards all—the honest well-wisher, friends and enemies, the envious, the pious, the sinner, and those who are indifferent and impartial—with an equal mind.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.9)
There are different kinds of friends. There is suhrit, who is by nature a well-wisher and always desires one’s welfare. Mitra refers to an ordinary friend, and udasina is one who is neutral. In this material world someone may be my well-wisher, friend, or neither a friend nor an enemy, but neutral. Someone else may serve as a mediator between me and my enemies. One may also see someone as pious and another as sinful according to his own calculations. But when he is situated in transcendence, all of these—friends, enemies, or whatever—cease to exist. When one becomes actually learned, he does not see any enemy or any friend because in actuality “no one is my enemy, no one is my friend, no one is my father, no one is my mother, etc.” We are all simply living entities playing on a stage in the dress of father, mother, children, friend, enemy, sinner and saint, etc. It is like a great drama with so many characters playing their parts. However, on the stage a person may be an enemy or whatever, but off the stage all the actors are friends. Similarly, with these bodies we are playing on the stage of material nature, and we attach so many designations to one another. I may be thinking, “This is my son,” but in actuality I cannot beget any son. It is not possible. At the utmost I can only beget a body. It is not within any man’s power to beget a living entity. Merely by sexual intercourse a living entity cannot be begotten. The living entity must be placed in the emulsification of secretions. This is the verdict of Srimad Bhagavatam. Thus all the multifarious relationships between bodies are just so much stage play. One who is actually realized and has actually attained yoga no longer sees these bodily distinctions.
O good soul, does not a thing, applied therapeutically, cure a disease which was caused by that very same thing? (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.33)
The great Rishi Narada is the author of Narada Pancaratra. This Narada Pancaratra trains the karmis, or the fruitive workers, to achieve liberation from the bondage of fruitive work. The conditioned souls are mostly attracted by fruitive work because they want to enjoy life by the sweat of their own brows. The whole universe is full of fruitive workers in all species of life. The fruitive works include all kinds of economic development plans. But the law of nature provides that every action has its resultant reaction, and the performer of the work is bound up by such reactions, good or bad. The reaction of good work is comparative material prosperity, whereas the reaction of bad work is comparative material distress. But material conditions, either in so-called happiness or in so-called distress, are all meant ultimately for distress only. Foolish materialists have no information of how to obtain eternal happiness in the unconditional state. Sri Narada informs the foolish fruitive workers how to realize the reality of happiness. He gives direction to the diseased people of the world how one’s present engagement can lead one to the path of spiritual emancipation. The physician directs the patient to take treated milk in the form of yogurt for his sufferings from indigestion due to his taking another milk preparation. So the cause of the disease and the remedy of the disease may be the same, but it must be treated by an expert physician like the spiritual teacher Narada. The Bhagavad-gita also gives the same solution of serving God by the fruits of one’s labor. That will lead one to the path of naiskarmya, or freedom.
Society tends to teach us one thing—well, it tends to teach us many things, but I will focus on one specific thing. Society teaches that one should satisfy one’s desires. Society teaches that satisfying one’s desires is very important; it is not only important, but sacred. Success in life is measured in terms of how well one has satisfied his desires. To fail to satisfy them is to fail at life.
However, there are different types of desire, and, as a matter of fact, material desire, which is a selfish, possessive desire, is the desire one would do best to ignore.
Material desire is also known as kama. Kama refers to the desire to please oneself, in the process of which one tends to become possessive of the beings or things that in some way bring one satisfaction. When the enjoyer experiences a sense of pleasure caused by another being or an object, the enjoyer becomes possessive of that being or object. Oftentimes people confuse this with love. Plato, for example, wrote in his Symposium about the difference between varieties of experience that often get lumped into one single category: love. He wrote, “The vulgar love of the body, which takes wing and flies away when the bloom of youth is over, is disgraceful, and so is the interested love of power or wealth.”
When one’s senses—eyes, skin, nose, ears, etc.—come in contact with their appropriate sense objects—form, touch, smell, sound, etc.—one may experience pleasure. This pleasure is the enemy of the sense enjoyer. Srila Prabhupada writes in his commentary on Bhagavad-gita 3.39: “While one enjoys sense gratification, it may be that there is some feeling of happiness, but actually that so-called feeling of happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer.” The pleasure that comes from the contact of the senses with their objects is not the real problem. The real problem is that the sense enjoyer, due to the experience of pleasure, starts to become possessive. At this moment everything starts to turn bad! This is the beginning of trouble.
In other words, satisfying kama results in greed. Greed is not a good thing. Greed means that one wants more of the thing he already has. Since greed knows no limits, one can never satisfy this desire, or kama. To help us better understand this concept, the analogy of fire is given. Fire burns fuel, and the more it burns, the more fuel it wants. The more fuel that one places into the fire, the fire, unlike a civilized and cultured human being, does not say “Thank you” but wants more. In this way a simple attempt at satisfying kama, or material desire, results in greed, which, like fire, can never be satisfied. Thus one is left perpetually agitated.
Trying to satisfy kama is not a smart option. But what if one does not satisfy kama? What happens then? Unsatisfied material desire results in frustration, and anger is a symptom of frustration. Frustration of desire, and only of the type of desire known as kama, results in anger. When one is angry, one is certainly not happy and tends to commit stupid acts.
In the Bhagavad-gita (2.62–63) Krishna teaches: “While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment material desire develops, and from such desire anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one meets destruction.”
Anger can run on the surface, and that is when one may commit some fleeting stupid act, after which one can return to one’s normal state. But there is another type of anger. This anger is deeply rooted. This is a solid anger, sitting fat in the foundation of the sense enjoyer’s psyche, nurtured by kama.
It seems that one should neither satisfy kama nor not satisfy it. What is the solution? The solution is to ignore it. To ignore or avoid it, one should know how to differentiate between a healthy desire and kama, or unhealthy desire. This is something that is not taught enough, or at all, in secular society and its educational institutions. First one should make it a point to not develop kama, and if one has already developed kama, then one should try to ignore it. If you do not feed it, it subsides and ultimately goes out.
I have been a monk for almost twenty years. In these twenty years I have trained and taught many monks. When they first come to the monastery, new monks have a lot of anger. They often exhibit this anger in the form of hate of many things. They may hate the world, cities, night life, computers, cars, sometimes even women – usually the things they feel possessive about. This, however, never disturbs me because I know that it is a good symptom. I know that their anger is arising due to ignoring their kama. If they manage to continue to not feed their kama, I know that the fire of their kama, and along with it their anger, will subside and then go out. Once their kama has subsided, the monks become very happy, satisfied, and situated in their natural spiritual position of love—love of God, the root of all existence.
The spiritual message, unlike society’s message, is that material desire should be ignored. As Krishna teaches in Bhagavad-gita 5.22: “Pleasures that are due to the contact of the material senses with their objects are sources of misery. Such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise person does not delight in them.”
Since no living entity can cease to desire, and since material desire is unwanted, one should take care to learn what spiritual desire is. Spiritual desire is based on love, love of God. One who loves God transcends selfish, possessive desire and is always inspired to please the object of his love. Krishna being the root of all existence, the love that has Krishna as its object is distributed equally throughout the world, just as the water that nourishes the root of a tree nourishes the whole tree—its trunk, branches, twigs, leaves, fruits, and flowers. One who is in love is always inspired. One who is in love with God is always selflessly inspired.
BG 10.10 Krishna Is Not Our Sugardaddy 2013-07-24 Belgrade – (Book Distribution) AKA So great that we take Him for granted
On August 21, 2013 Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for acting as a whistleblower against atrocities carried out by the US and its allies. Manning released well known information such as the “Collateral Murder” video of reporters in Iraq being attacked by US Apache helicopters and the “Cablegate” files, which revealed the level of spying and coercion conducted by the US on its allies and the facilitation of torture conducted by Iraqis against their prisoners. His act went against the codes of the country’s authorities and he was duly punished and made a public example.
35 years in prison is a long time. This kind of lack of freedom of movement and expression would probably be a formidable challenge to every human being. I believe that the following story about the saint named Haridasa Thakura could come as a great solace to Mr. Manning and it is something that all other readers can benefit from.
Haridasa Thakura was unique amongst practitioners of bhakti-yoga, the spiritual science of devotional service dating back to the oldest spiritual texts of India such as Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. Haridasa Thakura was born in Bengal, not from an Indian family, but from a Muslim family. We may take it for granted that in Western society one can freely choose to practice whatever faith one desires regardless of ethnic considerations. This was not the case in Muslim-ruled India. In many Muslim-ruled regions even today, if a Muslim changes faith, the punishment can be severe, and what to speak of five-hundred years ago. However, this did not deter Haridasa Thakura. He became so recognized within the bhakti-yoga tradition that he was crowned the namacarya, or the preceptor of chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the mantra for spiritual realization: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
With such prestige and recognition for his spiritual merit within the bhakti-yoga tradition, it probably does not come as a surprise to most that Haridasa Thakura met strong persecution from the ruling Muslim government. At the time, the Muslim government was tolerant of Hindus practicing Hinduism and of course encouraged Muslims practicing Islam, but a Muslim practicing Hinduism was considered a great offense. This persecution culminated in the arrest and public whipping of Haridasa Thakura.
One day, wishing to make an example of Haridasa Thakura, the local kazi, or regional Muslim ruler, went to his superior, the king of Bengal. The kazi informed the king that Haridasa Thakura, a Muslim by birth, was practicing a non-Muslim spiritual tradition. The king immediately sent soldiers to arrest Haridasa Thakura. Haridasa Thakura was not in the least afraid of the situation. Haridasa Thakura was in full spiritual consciousness, and thus was always fully joyful, not desiring or lamenting for anything material. When he arrived at the prison, some prisoners heard that such an exalted personality as Haridasa Thakura was now imprisoned, and they desired to see him to clear away their sorrows through the transmission of spiritual knowledge. This is the spiritual tradition- to make arrangements to see and hear from spiritual personalities in order to improve one’s consciousness and advance in life. For this reason, they asked the prison guards to bring Haridasa Thakura to them.
When Haridasa Thakura came before the prisoners, the prisoners became ecstatic. Haridasa Thakura smiled at them, and gave them an ambiguous blessing by saying, “Stay, stay as you are now.” Hearing these words, the prisoners felt sadness.
Now imagine this situation from the perspective of the prisoners. You are stuck in prison, which most likely does not have luxurious conditions by any measure, and upon learning that a saint is coming, your hope is reawakened. But his blessing upon you is for you to stay as you are?! What would you think in such a situation?
Haridasa Thakura, seeing the sadness of the prisoners, explained his blessing to them. In the normal course of life, there are distractions all around. Bewildered by material enjoyments, a living entity thinks that he or she will live forever in this world, and thus forgets to make endeavors in spiritual life. Additionally, the possession of material assets tends to make people envious and hostile toward each other. In the prison, however, the prisoners no longer had anything material to be proud of and nothing to be distracted by. The humble position of the prisoners was in this way a better position than their position of freedom outside the prison. Haridasa Thakura thus explained the meaning of his blessing.
From this instance, we can see the mentality of a person in pure spiritual consciousness with purely spiritual priorities. Haridasa Thakura did not place importance on the facility for material enjoyment provided by a situation, but rather on the facility for inner spiritual reflection. This is radically different from the perspective propounded by secular society. The culture of unbridled materialism fills one’s life with distractions, fills one’s life with pride and envy, and takes away the motivation to seriously endeavor in a truly spiritual direction. To whatever degree one gives time to one direction, one is taking away one’s potential time from the other direction.
Well, what’s the big deal with that anyway? What’s wrong with focusing on material pleasures at the expense of spirituality? First and foremost, one must understand that as nice as material facilities and enjoyment may be, they all have an expiration date. There is no exception to this rule. By the force of time, either we will leave our object of enjoyment, or the object of enjoyment will be taken from us. Why then invest in such things? It is like moving into a sand castle on the shore while the tide is coming in. Better to invest one’s time and efforts in non-perishable items.
From this we can see the import of the motto “simple living and high thinking.” If we endeavor to minimize the complexities we are so fervently encouraged to grab onto while trying to maximize our introspection through things like meditation and study of spiritual knowledge, then we have a fighting chance of making a lasting, meaningful impression in our lives. This may mean sacrificing some material comfort, but the merit of such a sacrifice becomes clear when the reward presents itself.
SB 02.05.21 Who’s Working -The One Who Pressed The Button Or The Machine 2013-07-23
Pamporovo – Bulgarian
SB 02.05.20 Inconceivable Beyond Imagination 2013-07-22 Pamporovo – Bulgarian