uncover the masks
→ everyday gita

Verse 3.35: It is far better to discharge one's prescribed duties, even though faultily, than another's duties perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous.

I was thinking about today's verse and that was the first image that came to mind - uncovering the layers and layers of masks.

To me, a mask signifies hiding one's identity. After all, it's hard to see the full picture if there's something covering it.

Bhakti yoga is about realizing we are wearing different layers of masks, using them effectively and gradually letting go of them; thus, allowing our real selves to shine.

Let's talk about two masks that are specifically prominent - the body and our proclivities and tendencies (i.e. our nature). The body is like a full-fledged mask. It does such an effective job of hiding "the real us" that it's hard to distinguish that the body is just a covering.

Any actors reading this today? Perhaps you can relate. When diving into a role or part, you might have delved so deep into a character that you started to identify yourself with it. Similarly, we have spent so much time wearing different bodies (in this life and in so many previous ones) that we've forgotten that it's not who we really are.

As if one wasn't enough, there's another mask that covers the body mask. Sigh....I know. Like I said - layers up on layers.

That mask is our psycho-physical nature. Not only do we identify with the body, but we also identify with certain tendencies, inclinations and proclivities. What's interesting to note here is that Krsna is not stating that we just take off this mask - i.e. He is not stating that we abandon our nature. Oh no. In fact He is stating the opposite.

Krsna is encouraging that we work in line with our nature - i.e. perform our duties/work in accordance with our nature. He goes one step further in fact and states "It doesn't matter whether you are good at it or not, work according to your nature. Even if you can do something better, it doesn't matter."

So what does that mean? Previously we described that there are four natural divisions of society (in terms of work) - the educators/academics, the administrators/leaders, the businessmen/agriculturalists and finally the artists/workers. That's not to say that people can't be a mix of these four - they certainly can! In fact, nowadays it's hard to find someone who has just the nature of an educator, leader etc..

It commonly happens that we can easily do the work of another extremely well, even if it's not in our nature (i.e. an artist might be excellent at typing). Thinking that it's easier to find a job typing, that person might give up their art. Krsna says here - don't do it! By engaging one's nature, it not only promotes a sense of fulfillment but allows one to naturally advance in bhakti

These masks can act as tools, rather than obstacles, if we know how to properly use them in our journey of self-discovery.

The body and our individual natures are not bad. After all, they are gifts given to us by the Supreme. It's how we utilize them that makes all the difference.

By working with an attitude of appreciation and detachment, we can offer our talents and gifts in gratitude to the Supreme. Similarly, we can utilize our body to glorify the Supreme through song, prayers and our very existence. These bhakti processes allow us to work with what we've got, instead of rejecting them. Like we've said so many times before - bhakti is about transformation, not simply negation.

It's up to us what we do with these masks - we can stay covered by them, or use them to free ourselves. What do you choose?

uncover the masks
→ everyday gita

Verse 3.35: It is far better to discharge one's prescribed duties, even though faultily, than another's duties perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous.

I was thinking about today's verse and that was the first image that came to mind - uncovering the layers and layers of masks.

To me, a mask signifies hiding one's identity. After all, it's hard to see the full picture if there's something covering it.

Bhakti yoga is about realizing we are wearing different layers of masks, using them effectively and gradually letting go of them; thus, allowing our real selves to shine.

Let's talk about two masks that are specifically prominent - the body and our proclivities and tendencies (i.e. our nature). The body is like a full-fledged mask. It does such an effective job of hiding "the real us" that it's hard to distinguish that the body is just a covering.

Any actors reading this today? Perhaps you can relate. When diving into a role or part, you might have delved so deep into a character that you started to identify yourself with it. Similarly, we have spent so much time wearing different bodies (in this life and in so many previous ones) that we've forgotten that it's not who we really are.

As if one wasn't enough, there's another mask that covers the body mask. Sigh....I know. Like I said - layers up on layers.

That mask is our psycho-physical nature. Not only do we identify with the body, but we also identify with certain tendencies, inclinations and proclivities. What's interesting to note here is that Krsna is not stating that we just take off this mask - i.e. He is not stating that we abandon our nature. Oh no. In fact He is stating the opposite.

Krsna is encouraging that we work in line with our nature - i.e. perform our duties/work in accordance with our nature. He goes one step further in fact and states "It doesn't matter whether you are good at it or not, work according to your nature. Even if you can do something better, it doesn't matter."

So what does that mean? Previously we described that there are four natural divisions of society (in terms of work) - the educators/academics, the administrators/leaders, the businessmen/agriculturalists and finally the artists/workers. That's not to say that people can't be a mix of these four - they certainly can! In fact, nowadays it's hard to find someone who has just the nature of an educator, leader etc..

It commonly happens that we can easily do the work of another extremely well, even if it's not in our nature (i.e. an artist might be excellent at typing). Thinking that it's easier to find a job typing, that person might give up their art. Krsna says here - don't do it! By engaging one's nature, it not only promotes a sense of fulfillment but allows one to naturally advance in bhakti

These masks can act as tools, rather than obstacles, if we know how to properly use them in our journey of self-discovery.

The body and our individual natures are not bad. After all, they are gifts given to us by the Supreme. It's how we utilize them that makes all the difference.

By working with an attitude of appreciation and detachment, we can offer our talents and gifts in gratitude to the Supreme. Similarly, we can utilize our body to glorify the Supreme through song, prayers and our very existence. These bhakti processes allow us to work with what we've got, instead of rejecting them. Like we've said so many times before - bhakti is about transformation, not simply negation.

It's up to us what we do with these masks - we can stay covered by them, or use them to free ourselves. What do you choose?

Real meaning of Initiation
→ Servant of the Servant

Initiation is a process in Bhakti Yoga where the practitioner formally commits to his/her Spiritual Master as the disciple. The newly initiate formally enrolls into the Guru Parampara which originally began from the Supreme Being Krishna Himself. Hence, as you see, is a serious and eternal commitment.

Below are the words of a great saint and revolutionary spiritual leader on the inner meaning of initiation. Anyone aspiring initiation and the already initiated should consider his words with gravity.

The process of attaining transcendental knowledge is called initiation.  We should know that the Supreme Lord is the transcendental Absolute Truth, we are His eternal servants, and we have no duty other than to serve Him.  Knowing this is actual initiation.   The absence of understanding is ignorance.  At present, there is a controversy about the word “Initiation.”  People proudly claim that they have taken initiation from a bona fide spiritual master, but how can they maintain material attachment even after taking initiation ?  How can they desire to make advancement in material life ?  If they don’t learn about their relationship with the Lord, independent and proud people uselessly brag about their initiations.  Rather than treating their spiritual master as if he were as good as God, they treat him as their disciple, fit  to be their order-supplier. Considering the guru an ordinary mortal being, these persons become offenders at his lotus feet.


Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur
Page No.262 and 263 of the book ‘Amritha Vani’

Hare Krishna

Real meaning of Initiation
→ Servant of the Servant

Initiation is a process in Bhakti Yoga where the practitioner formally commits to his/her Spiritual Master as the disciple. The newly initiate formally enrolls into the Guru Parampara which originally began from the Supreme Being Krishna Himself. Hence, as you see, is a serious and eternal commitment.

Below are the words of a great saint and revolutionary spiritual leader on the inner meaning of initiation. Anyone aspiring initiation and the already initiated should consider his words with gravity.

The process of attaining transcendental knowledge is called initiation.  We should know that the Supreme Lord is the transcendental Absolute Truth, we are His eternal servants, and we have no duty other than to serve Him.  Knowing this is actual initiation.   The absence of understanding is ignorance.  At present, there is a controversy about the word “Initiation.”  People proudly claim that they have taken initiation from a bona fide spiritual master, but how can they maintain material attachment even after taking initiation ?  How can they desire to make advancement in material life ?  If they don’t learn about their relationship with the Lord, independent and proud people uselessly brag about their initiations.  Rather than treating their spiritual master as if he were as good as God, they treat him as their disciple, fit  to be their order-supplier. Considering the guru an ordinary mortal being, these persons become offenders at his lotus feet.


Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur
Page No.262 and 263 of the book ‘Amritha Vani’

Hare Krishna

Paninhati Festival, June 21, Laguna Beach, California
Giriraj Swami

06.21.13_panihati“If someone approaches you and offers to serve you in your home and in your business and wants nothing in return — just wants to make you happy — then you will naturally feel inclined toward that person. ‘This is a sign of your sincere devotion.’ With God it is the same way. If you approach God with no material desire, you want only His pleasure, then He will makes all arrangements for you, His devotee. So Lord Nityananda gave Raghunatha dasa a service that would attract the attention of Lord Caitanya. He said, ‘You make a big feast of chipped rice and yogurt and distribute to all the Vaishnavas in the area.’ And once the word got out — you know how devotes are — once the word got out that there was a big feast being prepared, thousands and thousands of Vaishnavas came.” — Indradyumna Swami

Indradymna Swami — Panihati Talk
Giriraj Swami — Panihati Talk

Enlightened by Krishna’s Kiss
→ Bhagavatam By Braja

I have finished the first draft of Chapter Four of Beautiful Tales of the All Attractive, Volume 2. I will celebrate by explaining a little bit about this chapter, and quoting you one of my favorite ślokas from it.

radha_and_krishna_love_and_longing_be53The Fourth Chapter of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam’s Second “Canto” is mainly about this:

King Parīkṣit asked Śukadeva Goswāmī to answer a question, “What is the most important thing to do, especially since I am about to die?” Śuka answered that in the first three chapters in such a complete and thorough manner that Parīkṣit and all who were listening were astonished. Parīkṣit did not want the discussion to end, even though his question had been completely satisfied, so he asked more questions.

Since Śuka had told him that he had enough time left in his life to be systematic and sequential in his approach to hearing about Krishna, Parīkṣit began by asking questions that are not inherently “intimate” or “advanced” yet nonetheless are fascinating, delightful, and essential for properly understanding the essential nature of Krishna. He asked several specific questions about how the universe exists, and admitted that it is basically impossible for anyone to answer such questions.

Śuka would then ask how he could be expected to reply properly, so Parikṣit explained that those who are intimately connected with the All-Attractive by the link of heartfelt devotion can comprehend the incomprehensible due to their direct proximity to the Divine.

Accepting this, Śuka set out to answer Parikṣit’s questions. He began by evoking his proximity to the Divine by glorifying Krishna and confirming that divine knowledge comes from his favor alone. One śloka he spoke towards the very end of the chapter (śloka 24) is a particular favorite of mine. I would like to share it with you.

My respects to the All-Attractive Son of Vasudeva. The affectionate souls who drink the delicate taste emanating from his lotus-like lips become full of knowledge and can create the Veda.

Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes Viśvanātha Cakravartī when explaining this śloka: On one level it refers to Vyāsa, Śuka’s father. On another level it can refer to Brahmā. On still another level it refers to the Gopīs, who become full of all artistic excellence and knowledge simply by receiving the kiss of Krishna.

Knowledge comes from the divine. It emanates from the mouth of the All-Attractive. Generally we think of words emanating from the mouth – and this is how Brahmā and Vyāsa received comprehension of the incomprehensible: by hearing the words spoken from the mouth of the All-Attractive. They then became capable of creating books of true knowledge: the Veda. But words are not all that emanates from the mouth. Kisses also come from there. The gopīs enjoy Krishna’s kisses, and thus they become infinitely surcharged with extremely powerful and abundant knowledge and expertise in all subjects – from philosophy to sciences to arts such as dance, music, cooking, poetry, cosmetics, fashion, etc.

We who are very low and ordinary souls also have the chance to taste Krishna’s kisses and become thus surcharged. But, in our thick stupidity we tend to ignore this opportunity or not pay much attention to it. How can we fools taste Krishna’s kisses? It is very simple – chant Krishna’s names, and Krishna then comes in contact with your lips. You are kissing Krishna!

Be aware of this intimatcy and you will become fully enlightened, like Vyāsa, Brahmā and the Gopīs.

“Hare Krishna”


TEXAS FAITH 104: Is Belief Overrated?
→ Nityananda Chandra Das' Blog, ISKCON Dallas

Dallas Morning News,
Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

Let’s return to an issue that we dealt with back in April, when I asked you all a question about belief. The question dealt with what it means that we may believe differently about different things. You can read answers at this link.

A couple of weeks ago, Keven Willey, the Morning News‘ editorial page editor, passed along this essay from Stanford anthropologist T. M. Luhrmann, author of “When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God.” As you will see from this link as well, Luhrmann gets into several lines of thought about belief and how we arrive at it religious convictions.

What I would like you to comment upon is this part of her New York Times essay:

“The role of belief in religion is greatly overstated, as anthropologists have long known. In 1912, Emile Durkheim, one of the founders of modern social science, argued that religion arose as a way for social groups to experience themselves as groups. He thought that when people experienced themselves in social groups, they felt bigger than themselves, better, more alive — and that they identified that aliveness as something supernatural. Religious ideas arose to make some sense of this experience of being part of something greater. Durkheim thought that belief was more like a flag than a philosophical position: You don’t go to church because you believe in God; rather you believe in God because you go to church.”

Applying that thinking to religion in general, not just churches, here is the question for the week:

Is belief overrated?

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

Belief is not only generally overrated, it is most often fallacious, because it is based on the material mind.

To say it is overrated is to say that it has some value. Blind faith and blind doubt are to be avoided in spiritual life.

(Atheist state that the theist's belief in God is as reasonable as believing in a flying spaghetti monster)

The saintly do not believe in God, they experience and know God. Just as the educated do not believe that one plus one is two, the experience and know it.

Faith means a hope in an anticipated outcome. There is nothing that we do in life that does not involve faith. We perform our daily actions on the premise of some expected hope. However faith can be solidified by experiencing the applied hypothesis’ desired result. One needs only a small amount of belief that the experiment is worth one’s endeavor.

Information regarding non-material subjects can only come from a non-material source. The material mind, its senses, and the instruments of such senses, will never be able to validate, disprove, or discover something beyond matter.

The initial belief needed to apply the experiment of spiritual life grows from association of those are expert in the practice. Experiencing the expert’s difference in consciousness and hearing the sound philosophical principles they teach, attracts one to take up the experiment of spiritual life.

If the experiment is valid, then the result will be experienced. When the result

is experienced, the hypothesis is verified.

Therefore what Durkheim stated can be said to be true, as many religious adherents fanatically believe something yet there is no change away from exploitative consciousness.

The last consideration is that spiritual information can only remain intact if it is passed down in a teacher to disciple lineage. Just as the science of medicine cannot be preserved in books alone.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

TEXAS FAITH 104: Is Belief Overrated?
→ Nityananda Chandra Das' Blog, ISKCON Dallas

Dallas Morning News,
Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

Let’s return to an issue that we dealt with back in April, when I asked you all a question about belief. The question dealt with what it means that we may believe differently about different things. You can read answers at this link.

A couple of weeks ago, Keven Willey, the Morning News‘ editorial page editor, passed along this essay from Stanford anthropologist T. M. Luhrmann, author of “When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God.” As you will see from this link as well, Luhrmann gets into several lines of thought about belief and how we arrive at it religious convictions.

What I would like you to comment upon is this part of her New York Times essay:

“The role of belief in religion is greatly overstated, as anthropologists have long known. In 1912, Emile Durkheim, one of the founders of modern social science, argued that religion arose as a way for social groups to experience themselves as groups. He thought that when people experienced themselves in social groups, they felt bigger than themselves, better, more alive — and that they identified that aliveness as something supernatural. Religious ideas arose to make some sense of this experience of being part of something greater. Durkheim thought that belief was more like a flag than a philosophical position: You don’t go to church because you believe in God; rather you believe in God because you go to church.”

Applying that thinking to religion in general, not just churches, here is the question for the week:

Is belief overrated?

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

Belief is not only generally overrated, it is most often fallacious, because it is based on the material mind.

To say it is overrated is to say that it has some value. Blind faith and blind doubt are to be avoided in spiritual life.

(Atheist state that the theist's belief in God is as reasonable as believing in a flying spaghetti monster)

The saintly do not believe in God, they experience and know God. Just as the educated do not believe that one plus one is two, the experience and know it.

Faith means a hope in an anticipated outcome. There is nothing that we do in life that does not involve faith. We perform our daily actions on the premise of some expected hope. However faith can be solidified by experiencing the applied hypothesis’ desired result. One needs only a small amount of belief that the experiment is worth one’s endeavor.

Information regarding non-material subjects can only come from a non-material source. The material mind, its senses, and the instruments of such senses, will never be able to validate, disprove, or discover something beyond matter.

The initial belief needed to apply the experiment of spiritual life grows from association of those are expert in the practice. Experiencing the expert’s difference in consciousness and hearing the sound philosophical principles they teach, attracts one to take up the experiment of spiritual life.

If the experiment is valid, then the result will be experienced. When the result

is experienced, the hypothesis is verified.

Therefore what Durkheim stated can be said to be true, as many religious adherents fanatically believe something yet there is no change away from exploitative consciousness.

The last consideration is that spiritual information can only remain intact if it is passed down in a teacher to disciple lineage. Just as the science of medicine cannot be preserved in books alone.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

TEXAS FAITH 103: Are Interfaith Marriages Good for Couples?
→ Nityananda Chandra Das' Blog, ISKCON Dallas

Dallas Morning News,
Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

Naomi Schaefer Riley has a new book out with the title Til Faith Do Us Part: How Interfaith Marriage is Transforming America. You can read about that book at this link and then this link.

Interestingly, Riley, a former Wall Street Journal editor who has written extensively about religion and culture, notes that 45 percent of all U.S. marriages in the last decade were between people of different faiths. Naturally, we may look at that as a sign of greater acceptance and tolerance, which a broad society needs to remain dynamic and growing.

But Riley also reports that marrying across religious lines may be very difficult for the couples involved. Their deeply-held differences may eventually become a problem, especially when it comes to raising children.

There are a number of ways we could go with this question, including why dating couples may spend more time worrying about political differences than religious distinctions. Feel free to chime in on that aspect, if you like. But the main point I would like you to consider is this:

Interfaith marriages may help the broader society, but are they good for the couples?

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

Generally no. Couples who have different life goals will find conflicts. However, there are two circumstances where one would expect less conflict:

First, for many people religion is like a label. Their life, their habits, and their goals may not really differ from others. So no real conflict there.

Second, for the few who are spiritually mature, they may be able to appreciate their partner’s devotion to the same Lord who is known by different names. So for such people there may no conflicts.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

TEXAS FAITH 103: Are Interfaith Marriages Good for Couples?
→ Nityananda Chandra Das' Blog, ISKCON Dallas

Dallas Morning News,
Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

Naomi Schaefer Riley has a new book out with the title Til Faith Do Us Part: How Interfaith Marriage is Transforming America. You can read about that book at this link and then this link.

Interestingly, Riley, a former Wall Street Journal editor who has written extensively about religion and culture, notes that 45 percent of all U.S. marriages in the last decade were between people of different faiths. Naturally, we may look at that as a sign of greater acceptance and tolerance, which a broad society needs to remain dynamic and growing.

But Riley also reports that marrying across religious lines may be very difficult for the couples involved. Their deeply-held differences may eventually become a problem, especially when it comes to raising children.

There are a number of ways we could go with this question, including why dating couples may spend more time worrying about political differences than religious distinctions. Feel free to chime in on that aspect, if you like. But the main point I would like you to consider is this:

Interfaith marriages may help the broader society, but are they good for the couples?

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

Generally no. Couples who have different life goals will find conflicts. However, there are two circumstances where one would expect less conflict:

First, for many people religion is like a label. Their life, their habits, and their goals may not really differ from others. So no real conflict there.

Second, for the few who are spiritually mature, they may be able to appreciate their partner’s devotion to the same Lord who is known by different names. So for such people there may no conflicts.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

Snana Yatra
→ Ramai Swami

20130626-083007.jpg

20130626-083054.jpg
Many devotees came to New Govardhana to observe the Snana Yatra of Lord Jagannatha. Millennia ago, King Indradyumna started the ceremony of bathing Lord Jagannatha with 108 pots of sandal-scented well water.

At that time, Lord Jagannatha told the King that for fifteen days after snana-yatra, no one should see the deities. Skanda Purana says that Sri Krishna manifested His Daru Brahman form (wooden form) as Jagannatha Swami on this day. Therefore, it is the appearance day of Lord Jagannatha or Birthday of Lord Jagannatha.

It is said that Lord Jagannatha is burning in the intense fever of separation from Radhika in Vraja, so He is taken out on the temple roof to ‘cool off’. Unfortunately, Lord Jagannatha gets hotter and the pujaris, in the mood of Vraja-gopis, pour 108 pitchers of cool sandal-scented water over Lord Jagannatha’s head.

However, even this gives no relief and Jagannath becomes hotter. Afterwards, Lord Jagannath retires in secluded place with Laksmi-devi for fourteen days. At this time, Jagannath is fed coconut water and nice juices.

Fortunate devotees wash away all their sins if they get a vision of Lord Jagannatha on this day.

20130626-083128.jpg

20130626-083231.jpg

Travel Journal#9.10: Ireland, The North of England, London
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 9, No. 10
By Krishna-kripa das
(May 2013, part two)
Ireland, The North of England, London
(Sent from Newcastle upon Tyne on June 25, 2013)

Where I Went and What I Did

Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I did our usual program in Dublin of a twelve-hour harinama on Saturday and a twelve-hour kirtana in the temple on Monday. I also participated in the kirtana following the Sunday feast, new since my last year’s visit there, which lasted an hour and forty minutes, and the two-hour Tuesday kirtana program. Then I returned to Newcastle for their Wednesday kirtana program, Nrsimha Caturdasi harinama, and the Sunday feast. Every day in Newcastle I went on harinama, almost always for three-hours. On the final day, I went to Sunderland with Satya Medha Gouranga and his kid, Bhana, and we chanted there for almost two hours, and I share his account of that. Then I went to Sheffield for a well-attended nama-hatta program that is getting new attendees and a two-hour birthday kirtana program in Preston.Then I went to London to take my sister to Govinda’s Restaurant during her brief stopover from New York to South Africa.

I share many quotes from writings of Srila Prabhupada and some excerpts from the unpublished second volume of The Story of My Life, the autobiography of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami.

Our Third Twelve-Hour Harinama in Dublin


On Saturday, May 18, we chanted Hare Krishna on the streets of Dublin from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. In the beginning it was just the organizers, Ananta Nitai Prabhu and myself, and we did a walking harinama around the city for the first two or three hours. Then others joined us, and we chanted on the sidewalk by the intersection of Middle Abbey Street and O’Connell Street, less than half a block from the temple. The weather was good for Ireland, not too cold, windy, or rainy.

The brightest side of this twelve-hour harinama was the participation of Premarnava Prabhu, which dramatically increased since last year from five to nine hours. At one point, he chanted for four and a half hours straight! He is playing harmonium in the picture below accompanied by Ananta Nitai Prabhu on the drum.


Some onlookers enjoyed interacting with the devotees in different ways.




There are always unusual things that happen on harinama.


One lady, who regularly comes to the temple, helped by playing the karatalas,while carrying her pet dog in a knapsack on her back the whole time.

Two guys with horse heads who passed by us four times, dancing every time. Somehow I never got my camera out in time to photograph them.



An orange tiger danced with us, clapping his hands as well, and one brahmacari suggested we have a tiger with us as a regular feature to attract attention to the chanting!

Speaking of tigers, Tyger Lillie, who is from Gainesville but studying in Dublin for Summer A, recognized me from Krishna Lunch and Krishna House. I told her about our Sunday feast program and three Govinda's restaurants in Dublin and gave her a maha-prasadamcookie from Radha-Madhava in Belfast, and she was very happy about that. I hope she can take advantage of our opportunities for connecting with Krishna in Dublin.

Because of the cold and wind, because I had taken small meals for breakfast and lunch, and because I was tired from standing up for so many hours, during the last hour of the twelve-hour harinama I found myself looking at the clock every five minutes. I realized I had do to something about this ridiculous situation. I decided to control my mind with my intelligence, and just focus on two things, chanting Hare Krishna and hearing Hare Krishna. Then the time sped by.

Except for the twelve-hour kirtan day, we did harinama every day in Dublin. Again, as had happened during our twelve-hour harinama, others, sometimes wearing costumes, would briefly join the harinamaparty in a jolly mood!


Photo (c) 2013 David Gray, another friendly soul in Ireland, who kindly emailed his wonderful photograph to me at my request.

Twelve-Hour Kirtan in the Dublin Temple


Monday, two days after our twelve-hour harinama, we had a twelve-hour kirtan at the temple, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The most striking thing for me was the interest of people who were newly introduced to Krishna consciousness. One Iranian man, who had been coming to the temple programs for at most a week, having received a book by Golukendra Prabhu on the streets, amazed me by participating for over ten hours in our kirtana event. A girl from Brazil, who had only been coming for two weeks, spent five hours in the kirtana, blissfully listening to the transcendental sound vibration. A couple young ladies from the yoga scene, spend several hours in the kirtana. Premarnava told me they had come to a twelve-hour kirtan the Dublin devotees did on Christmas, and just a week before this once in May, they had asked him if there was going to be another one, and so they learned of it and came.







One devotee youth danced with child of an Indian lady during the transcendental music. Both of them, and the child’s mother as well, were present for several hours of the kirtana.



One girl from Slovakia, who spent a lot of time in the twelve-hour kirtana, came out on harinama for the first time the next day and distributed invitations. On the harinama she talked to someone who appeared to really like the chanting, and the girl told how she had danced with us on Saturday, during our twelve-hour harinama.

We took turns leading the chanting during the day.






Nanda Kumar Prabhu and his wife sing sweet kirtan.



Manu Prabhu played the accordion at the end, getting lots of people dancing.

I was pleased to see the great interest in the twelve-hour kirtana event, and the Dublin devotees, also inspired by the participation, spoke of planning another one for the next Ekadasi.

Nrsimha Caturdasi Harinama in Newcastle

Despite temperatures in the forties (below 10 C), with 29 mph (47 kph) winds from the northeast and intermittent rain, a party of seven devotees chanted in downtown Newcastle upon Tyne, for three hours to celebrate Nrsimha Caturdasi. Although daily public congregational chanting was demonstrated in the life of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, often we do not make it part of our celebration of our festivals, although I personally think it adds a lot. Once thing it does is engage the public in the celebration of the holy day, even unknowingly, to their great spiritual credit. Also the chanting seems to have a more powerful effect on the holy days. Thus I was very happy that leading devotees like Bhakta Rasa and his wife, Kirtida, were supportive of the idea of celebrating Lord Nrsimha’s appearance with three hours of harinama.


Kirtida dd, in the pink sari, led a fired up kirtana,dancing as she played the harmonium. The two young women with her must have danced with us for half an hour, continuing even after it started to rain. They appeared to be so happy dancing with the Hare Krishnas, like it was the most fun they had in a long time. Originally those two girls and two more friends were sitting on a bench and watching us. Then two of them gave donations, and I gave them books and invitations, which they looked at. Then after some time, they came to join the dancing.

Despite the cruel climate, Bhanu, the child of Satya Medha Gauranga Prabhu, who took the photos, was peaceful in his stroller (buggy) the whole time except later when he moved his legs with the music so much one shoe fell off.

On the next Sunday feast, we talked about and also had a puppet show about Lord Nrsimha. After the whole feast program, Diya and her friends, were so fired up they had an extra kirtan in the gift shop:




Sunderland Harinama

Satya Medha Gouranga Prabhu writes of our Sunderland harinama,and in his account I include in square brackets additional details of my own, “There was a very sweet harinamain Sunderland (or ‘Shyama-sunderland’ as His Holiness Janananda Gosvami Maharaja calls this place!)

“There were lots of people on the street. An elderly gentleman came to give a donation [as we were walking to our harinama site], and then Krishna-kripa Prabhu approached him to give a book. He said with a smile: ‘For many, many years I have seen the Hare Krishna people on the street. It’s really nice to see you all again.’

“Later on a lady stopped by and mentioned about George Harrison. It’s really great to see how so many people appreciate the harinama.

“After a while a group of [four] teenagers [who had walked past previously] came and stood nearby. They were listening to harinama.Then they started swinging gently with the beautiful tune of maha-mantraand gradually started dancing. They kept on dancing and smiling. It looked so natural for them. Krishna-kripa Prabhu took out few leaflets of maha-mantrafrom his bag and gave them to the teenagers [pointing out to them the words to the song].

“Now each of them was holding the maha-mantrain her hand, and they started reading word for word and singing to it. Practically each of them was singing as they were reading out the maha-mantra.

“It was a wonderful scene—suddenly so many voices singing maha-mantra,the people on the street were amazed to see this.

“After the harinamaKrishna-kripa Prabhu was preaching to the group of young people
and invited them to come to temple programs.

“As they were leaving they looked so bright, happy and blissful.”

One of the group had taken a video of her friends singing and dancing with us, and asked her to send me a link to the video, but as is mostly the case, she did not. The young people joined in the kirtana for fifteen minutes, and because they had come just as we were going to finish, we ended up staying out an extra fifteen minutes just because of them!

Traveling with the Scottish Brahmacaris

Raghunatha Bhatta and Caitanya Vallabha Prabhu, in addition to distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books in Scotland and The North of England, also help organize and maintain the nama-hatta programs in the Manchester area. The end of this month, I joined them as a lecturer and kirtana leader for their programs in Sheffield and Preston. It was nice to spend a couple of days with a brahmacari party so focused on their spiritual program and their outreach. Three weeks before, I had done the Sheffield program and it was austere to do the public chanting alone. Thus I was so happy to be with three other enthusiastic brahmacaris. The harinama makes more visible impact the more devotees you have. As you can see in this video of our Sheffield harinama, when you have a lively group, people are more inclined to join in:



Later at the program in Sheffield, I was happy to see lots of guests, new and old, and the prasadam consisted of a whole dinner, not just a snack.

In Preston we participated in a special birthday program. Caitanya Vallabha explained:

“Vidyagati Devi Dasi invited all her friends and relatives to come for a two-hour kirtana at her homefollowed by prasadam for her birthday. We find it is difficult to get people to come to our nama-hatta programs but easy to get them to come to birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Last year one devotee rented a hall for a celebration in honor of his child’s first birthday, and we did kirtana, a drama, and prasadam. It was very successful. And so more and more we are taking advantage of these kinds of events to spread awareness of Krishna consciousness to those who would otherwise might never come to a Hare Krishna program.”

My Sister Visits London



Karen, my sister, who works as a counselor and teaches mindfulness in Albany, New York, had a ten-hour layover in London, flying from New York to South Africa. So I went to London to take her to Govinda’s Restaurant on Soho Street. She has been vegetarian for over forty years, seven years longer than me. I also gave her some maha-prasadam from Radha-Londonisvara for her to share with her daughter Fern and Fern’s boyfriend, Oliver, in South Africa. She got the large thali at Govinda’s and ate practically everything. Coincidentally at Govinda’s, we met London temple president, Jai Nitai Prabhu, also from America, and had a very nice visit with him. As my sister wanted to visit a park to rejuvenate between flights, we went to Regents Park, where Srila Prabhupada liked to take his morning walk and which some London devotees told us he said was like Vaikuntha, the spiritual world.



Seeing the beauty of the gardens, the waterfall, and the birds, you could get a clue why he might have said that.


Later on one web site, I read that Prabhupada disciple, Svati devi dasi recalled:
“One morning some of Srila Prabhupada’s students were walking with him in London’s Regents Park. All kinds of flowers grew there, and I was remembering that each day we offered lovely flowers like these to the Krishna Deity back at the temple.


“Before long I asked Srila Prabhupada, ‘When we offer flowers to Krishna, do their spirit souls go back to the spiritual world?’
“Srila Prabhupada remained silent awhile and then answered, ‘Yes. But factually they are already in the kingdom of God.’ He stopped, waved his cane over the cranes, ducks, people, and flowers in the park, and said, ‘They are all in the kingdom of God.’
“Starting to see from his point of view, I said, ‘Yes, Srila Prabhupada, but they are not aware that they are in the kingdom of God.’
“He replied, ‘That is the duty of a spiritual master to make them aware.’” [Copied from web site: http://backtogodhead.in/some-personal-recollections-by-his-disciples/]
One of Karen’s favorite desserts is cheese cake and one of mine is srikhand, both of which were mango flavored at Govinda’s that day, so after our walking in the park, we got one of each and shared it.

And off Karen went back to the airport, and I did harinama with a friend to King Cross, to do the evening lecture at Matchless Gifts there. Then after the program, a group of four of us did harinama back to the temple, so although spending a few hours with my sister in the afternoon, I was still able to participate in four harinamas, though one quite briefly, on that last day of May.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from a lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.21–22, given in London, on August 26, 1973:

“Spiritual service means every moment new. If you find it hackneyed, then you must know that you are not serving spiritually. It is not formality or stereotype. But if you feel newer and newer energy, then you know that you are serving spiritually. The test is within our hand. If during mangala-aratiwe feel laziness, that means I’m not yet spiritually advanced; and if one feels enthused, ‘Now it is time for mangala-arati, let me stand up!’ Then it is spiritual. Anyone can test.”

from The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 2:

“The recommendation of Rupa Gosvami for reviving our original Krishna consciousness is that somehow or other we should apply our minds to Krishna very seriously and thus also become fearless of death. After death we do not know our destination, because we are completely under the control of the laws of nature. Only Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is controller over the laws of nature. Therefore, if we take shelter of Krishna seriously, there will be no fear of being thrown back into the cycle of so many species of life. A sincere devotee will surely be transferred to the abode of Krishna, as affirmed in Bhagavad-gita.”

“Padma Purana recommends that one always fix his mind on the form of Vishnu by meditation and not forget Him at any moment. And this state of consciousness is called samadhi, or trance. We should always try to mold the activities of our lives in such a way that we will constantly remember Vishnu, or Krishna. That is Krishna
consciousness.”

“It doesn’t matter whether one is a beginner—a brahmacari—or is very advanced—a sannyasi. The principle of remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly and not forgetting Him at any moment is meant to be followed by everyone without fail.”

“According to Vedic injunctions, when a brahmana eats it is to be understood that the Personality of Godhead is eating through him. It is not, however, that the brahmana should simply eat on behalf of the Lord and not preach the message of Bhagavad-gita to the world.Actually, one who preaches the message of the Gitais very dear to Krishna, as is confirmed in the Gitaitself. Such a preacher is factually a brahmana,and thus by feeding him one feeds the Supreme Lord directly.”

from The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 3:

“Lord Krishna says in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, verse 8, ‘My dear Uddhava, only by exceptional fortune does someone become attracted to Me. And even if one is not completely detached from fruitive activities, or is not completely attached to devotional service, such service is quickly effective.’”

“Devotional service and the happiness due to its execution are not possible as long as one is materially affected. . . . anyone who has any desire or aspiration for satisfying his senses by becoming more and more important, either in the material sense or in the
spiritual sense, cannot actually relish the really sweet taste of devotional service. Srila Rupa Gosvami has therefore compared possessing these bhukti (material) and mukti (liberation) desires with being influenced by the black art of a witch: in both cases one is in trouble. Bhukti means material enjoyment, and mukti means to become freed
from material anxiety and to become one with the Lord. These desires are compared to being haunted by ghosts and witches, because while these aspirations for material enjoyment or spiritual oneness with the Supreme remain, no one can relish the actual transcendental taste of devotional service.”

“The attention of a pure devotee is so much attracted to glorification of the Lord’s pastimes, name, qualities, forms, etc., that the devotee does not care for mukti. Sri Bilvamangala Thakura has said, ‘If I am engaged in devotional service unto You, my dear Lord, then very easily can I perceive Your presence everywhere. And as far as liberation is concerned, I think liberation stands at my door with folded hands, waiting to serve me.’”

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.28.42:

“King Malayadhvaja could thus observe that the Supersoul was sitting by his side, and that he, as the individual soul, was sitting by the side of the Supersoul. Since both were together, there was no need for separate interests; thus he ceased from such activities.”

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 1.63, purport:

“There is no need to be unhappy over not being able to enter a certain temple. Such dogmatic prohibitions were not approved by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Those who were thought unfit to enter the Jagannatha temple [Srila Haridasa Thakura, Srila Rupa Goswami, and Srila Sanatana Goswami, who had previous intimate connections with Muslims] were daily visited byCaitanya Mahaprabhu, and this indicates that Caitanya Mahaprabhudid not approve of the prohibitions.”


from the The Story of My Life, Volume 2, to be published in December 2013:

I wrote to Prabhupada that sometimes I like to wash the dishes. He wrote back approving and said we should always be engaged in Krishna consciousness, and Krishna will give us the intelligence what to do at a particular time such as when to do the dishes.

Practicing writing regularly calms the mind, not because you write about nice things, but because your fears, anxieties, your troubled thoughts, know they will have a place and time to express themselves.

Actually, a premature understanding can hinder our progress and even delay us. It has been said that if we think ourselves female servants in our eternal form without becoming free from mundane bodily identification, we could be forced to take a female body next time around—in the material world.

If a headache comes, I’d like to see it not as a defeat but as a purification, similar to extra chanting.

Got desk lamp, scrounged memories, heard dogs bark, free wrote in sacred land protected by amenities, prayed,“Krishna make me truthful—but not too painfully.”
“Krishna-Balarama, Radha-Syama, and Gaura-Nitai stand in transcendence. They are not marble statues, although I am a statue before them, cold in heart and cold in body.”
“Reading Prabhupada’s books is like a medicine we constantly need to ingest, but it goes beyond that. It’s a nourishing and tasty food. Why ever stop? It’s a shame if we abandon such nourishing and become disgusted with it and start to crave novelty for its own sake. Prabhupada does say that“Variety is the mother of enjoyment,” but we can find it in his books.”

When I first took LSD it was a little frightening, but it became glorious. Now I can analyze and know it was a hallucination. But at the time I felt my consciousness expanding, and I broke through the doors of my perception. I could see the world in vivid detail and it seemed beautiful. When I was first introduced to Krishna consciousness and the experience of chanting, I was willing to try it partly because of my broad mindedness resulting from LSD. I had to stop LSD to actually practice Krishna consciousness, but it was an initial help. I took LSD about fifty times, and some of my trips were negative and one almost killed me. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

I’m thankful for the life of Krishna consciousness that Prabhupada has given me. There was never a dull moment. It was filled with so many adventures and challenges and duties. Rewarding moments spent in association with the pure devotee and his disciples, the family of Krishna conscious Vaisnavas. Vast affection for His Divine Grace. He has given us japa, kirtana, his books, prasadam, association of devotees. He had given us the heavy order to preach, and we are thankful for that although we don’t measure up to it fully. He has given us the great opportunity to snap the cycle of birth and death. If we act on it we can make it relatively soon. Thankful for him giving us the transcendental life. Talk about yourself going through life with real purpose.

There are different kinds of people, and they may or may not be receptive to Krishna consciousness. Hippies who weren’t social activists and who were just enjoying themselves and renouncing material success would be more open to Krishna consciousness, but those who were committed social activists would see us as not responding properly to the ills of the world. For the hardcore activists that is their religion, and it replaces Krishna consciousness.

Devotees pray for permission before they do anything. I would like to enact that on a personal level. Just be simple. Don’t try for big endeavors. In whatever you do, try to do it for Krishna, and speak to Him in your own words all the time. Say, “My dear Lord, I’m about to eat now. Let it be in Your service.” If we do this, then we will not let ourselves do something that obviously has no service connection with Krishna. How can we ask Him personal permission if it’s not something He likes?

The psychiatrists are always advising us to relax and enjoy and achieve, etc. Or they are telling us to do nothing. Space out. But they never conceive that each and every act should be done to please Krishna and that you can consult Him and ask His permission.
Notes for today’s meeting with disciples: First I’ll mention that some devotees said they would not attend these meetings because they hated crowds and big social scenes. I can empathize with this feeling. I also want to say that meeting like these are valid happenings. Sure it’s a performance, but that in itself is not a bad thing. Musicians also perform before audiences, but they actually make their peak expressions at that time, even better than when they play alone.

I also like to think of myself as avant-garde, writer, semi-retired, detached sannyasi. But I want to think of myself as making a contribution to ISKCON. This is my offering and don’t push it off the altar.

from a lecture:

Although Arjuna was a married man and a military man, Krishna was inclined to Him because he was a devotee and a friend of Krishna. That is the actual qualification.

Tulasi Priya Prabhu of Dublin:

We do not want to imitate the great spiritual teachers, but we do want to attain their realizations.

Ananta Nitai Prabhu:

When I first got Bhagavad-gita I could not understand it, but five years later, after I stopped eating meat and drinking alcohol for economic reasons, I read it straight through.

Due to the materialistic contamination in this age of Kali, the brahmanas [intellectual class] look down on the ksatriyas [administrative class], the ksatriyas look down on the vaishyas [the productive class], and the vaishyas look down on the sudras [labor class].

Although it is not wise to offend saintly persons, saints are so kind often those who offend them are ultimately benefited in ways they never would have been otherwise.

The more we do the congregational chanting, the more it will seem natural to do it, and the more it will spread out to others.

from a conversation:

Ireland is just a rock in the middle of the Atlantic. What is all the fighting about?

-----

ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamritasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krishna-sankirtanam

“Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krishna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Krishna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.” (Siksastaka 1, quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 20.12)

Travel Journal#9.10: Ireland, The North of England, London
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 9, No. 10
By Krishna-kripa das
(May 2013, part two)
Ireland, The North of England, London
(Sent from Newcastle upon Tyne on June 25, 2013)

Where I Went and What I Did

Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I did our usual program in Dublin of a twelve-hour harinama on Saturday and a twelve-hour kirtana in the temple on Monday. I also participated in the kirtana following the Sunday feast, new since my last year’s visit there, which lasted an hour and forty minutes, and the two-hour Tuesday kirtana program. Then I returned to Newcastle for their Wednesday kirtana program, Nrsimha Caturdasi harinama, and the Sunday feast. Every day in Newcastle I went on harinama, almost always for three-hours. On the final day, I went to Sunderland with Satya Medha Gouranga and his kid, Bhana, and we chanted there for almost two hours, and I share his account of that. Then I went to Sheffield for a well-attended nama-hatta program that is getting new attendees and a two-hour birthday kirtana program in Preston.Then I went to London to take my sister to Govinda’s Restaurant during her brief stopover from New York to South Africa.

I share many quotes from writings of Srila Prabhupada and some excerpts from the unpublished second volume of The Story of My Life, the autobiography of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami.

Our Third Twelve-Hour Harinama in Dublin


On Saturday, May 18, we chanted Hare Krishna on the streets of Dublin from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. In the beginning it was just the organizers, Ananta Nitai Prabhu and myself, and we did a walking harinama around the city for the first two or three hours. Then others joined us, and we chanted on the sidewalk by the intersection of Middle Abbey Street and O’Connell Street, less than half a block from the temple. The weather was good for Ireland, not too cold, windy, or rainy.

The brightest side of this twelve-hour harinama was the participation of Premarnava Prabhu, which dramatically increased since last year from five to nine hours. At one point, he chanted for four and a half hours straight! He is playing harmonium in the picture below accompanied by Ananta Nitai Prabhu on the drum.


Some onlookers enjoyed interacting with the devotees in different ways.




There are always unusual things that happen on harinama.


One lady, who regularly comes to the temple, helped by playing the karatalas,while carrying her pet dog in a knapsack on her back the whole time.

Two guys with horse heads who passed by us four times, dancing every time. Somehow I never got my camera out in time to photograph them.



An orange tiger danced with us, clapping his hands as well, and one brahmacari suggested we have a tiger with us as a regular feature to attract attention to the chanting!

Speaking of tigers, Tyger Lillie, who is from Gainesville but studying in Dublin for Summer A, recognized me from Krishna Lunch and Krishna House. I told her about our Sunday feast program and three Govinda's restaurants in Dublin and gave her a maha-prasadamcookie from Radha-Madhava in Belfast, and she was very happy about that. I hope she can take advantage of our opportunities for connecting with Krishna in Dublin.

Because of the cold and wind, because I had taken small meals for breakfast and lunch, and because I was tired from standing up for so many hours, during the last hour of the twelve-hour harinama I found myself looking at the clock every five minutes. I realized I had do to something about this ridiculous situation. I decided to control my mind with my intelligence, and just focus on two things, chanting Hare Krishna and hearing Hare Krishna. Then the time sped by.

Except for the twelve-hour kirtan day, we did harinama every day in Dublin. Again, as had happened during our twelve-hour harinama, others, sometimes wearing costumes, would briefly join the harinamaparty in a jolly mood!


Photo (c) 2013 David Gray, another friendly soul in Ireland, who kindly emailed his wonderful photograph to me at my request.

Twelve-Hour Kirtan in the Dublin Temple


Monday, two days after our twelve-hour harinama, we had a twelve-hour kirtan at the temple, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The most striking thing for me was the interest of people who were newly introduced to Krishna consciousness. One Iranian man, who had been coming to the temple programs for at most a week, having received a book by Golukendra Prabhu on the streets, amazed me by participating for over ten hours in our kirtana event. A girl from Brazil, who had only been coming for two weeks, spent five hours in the kirtana, blissfully listening to the transcendental sound vibration. A couple young ladies from the yoga scene, spend several hours in the kirtana. Premarnava told me they had come to a twelve-hour kirtan the Dublin devotees did on Christmas, and just a week before this once in May, they had asked him if there was going to be another one, and so they learned of it and came.







One devotee youth danced with child of an Indian lady during the transcendental music. Both of them, and the child’s mother as well, were present for several hours of the kirtana.



One girl from Slovakia, who spent a lot of time in the twelve-hour kirtana, came out on harinama for the first time the next day and distributed invitations. On the harinama she talked to someone who appeared to really like the chanting, and the girl told how she had danced with us on Saturday, during our twelve-hour harinama.

We took turns leading the chanting during the day.






Nanda Kumar Prabhu and his wife sing sweet kirtan.



Manu Prabhu played the accordion at the end, getting lots of people dancing.

I was pleased to see the great interest in the twelve-hour kirtana event, and the Dublin devotees, also inspired by the participation, spoke of planning another one for the next Ekadasi.

Nrsimha Caturdasi Harinama in Newcastle

Despite temperatures in the forties (below 10 C), with 29 mph (47 kph) winds from the northeast and intermittent rain, a party of seven devotees chanted in downtown Newcastle upon Tyne, for three hours to celebrate Nrsimha Caturdasi. Although daily public congregational chanting was demonstrated in the life of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, often we do not make it part of our celebration of our festivals, although I personally think it adds a lot. Once thing it does is engage the public in the celebration of the holy day, even unknowingly, to their great spiritual credit. Also the chanting seems to have a more powerful effect on the holy days. Thus I was very happy that leading devotees like Bhakta Rasa and his wife, Kirtida, were supportive of the idea of celebrating Lord Nrsimha’s appearance with three hours of harinama.


Kirtida dd, in the pink sari, led a fired up kirtana,dancing as she played the harmonium. The two young women with her must have danced with us for half an hour, continuing even after it started to rain. They appeared to be so happy dancing with the Hare Krishnas, like it was the most fun they had in a long time. Originally those two girls and two more friends were sitting on a bench and watching us. Then two of them gave donations, and I gave them books and invitations, which they looked at. Then after some time, they came to join the dancing.

Despite the cruel climate, Bhanu, the child of Satya Medha Gauranga Prabhu, who took the photos, was peaceful in his stroller (buggy) the whole time except later when he moved his legs with the music so much one shoe fell off.

On the next Sunday feast, we talked about and also had a puppet show about Lord Nrsimha. After the whole feast program, Diya and her friends, were so fired up they had an extra kirtan in the gift shop:




Sunderland Harinama

Satya Medha Gouranga Prabhu writes of our Sunderland harinama,and in his account I include in square brackets additional details of my own, “There was a very sweet harinamain Sunderland (or ‘Shyama-sunderland’ as His Holiness Janananda Gosvami Maharaja calls this place!)

“There were lots of people on the street. An elderly gentleman came to give a donation [as we were walking to our harinama site], and then Krishna-kripa Prabhu approached him to give a book. He said with a smile: ‘For many, many years I have seen the Hare Krishna people on the street. It’s really nice to see you all again.’

“Later on a lady stopped by and mentioned about George Harrison. It’s really great to see how so many people appreciate the harinama.

“After a while a group of [four] teenagers [who had walked past previously] came and stood nearby. They were listening to harinama.Then they started swinging gently with the beautiful tune of maha-mantraand gradually started dancing. They kept on dancing and smiling. It looked so natural for them. Krishna-kripa Prabhu took out few leaflets of maha-mantrafrom his bag and gave them to the teenagers [pointing out to them the words to the song].

“Now each of them was holding the maha-mantrain her hand, and they started reading word for word and singing to it. Practically each of them was singing as they were reading out the maha-mantra.

“It was a wonderful scene—suddenly so many voices singing maha-mantra,the people on the street were amazed to see this.

“After the harinamaKrishna-kripa Prabhu was preaching to the group of young people
and invited them to come to temple programs.

“As they were leaving they looked so bright, happy and blissful.”

One of the group had taken a video of her friends singing and dancing with us, and asked her to send me a link to the video, but as is mostly the case, she did not. The young people joined in the kirtana for fifteen minutes, and because they had come just as we were going to finish, we ended up staying out an extra fifteen minutes just because of them!

Traveling with the Scottish Brahmacaris

Raghunatha Bhatta and Caitanya Vallabha Prabhu, in addition to distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books in Scotland and The North of England, also help organize and maintain the nama-hatta programs in the Manchester area. The end of this month, I joined them as a lecturer and kirtana leader for their programs in Sheffield and Preston. It was nice to spend a couple of days with a brahmacari party so focused on their spiritual program and their outreach. Three weeks before, I had done the Sheffield program and it was austere to do the public chanting alone. Thus I was so happy to be with three other enthusiastic brahmacaris. The harinama makes more visible impact the more devotees you have. As you can see in this video of our Sheffield harinama, when you have a lively group, people are more inclined to join in:



Later at the program in Sheffield, I was happy to see lots of guests, new and old, and the prasadam consisted of a whole dinner, not just a snack.

In Preston we participated in a special birthday program. Caitanya Vallabha explained:

“Vidyagati Devi Dasi invited all her friends and relatives to come for a two-hour kirtana at her homefollowed by prasadam for her birthday. We find it is difficult to get people to come to our nama-hatta programs but easy to get them to come to birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Last year one devotee rented a hall for a celebration in honor of his child’s first birthday, and we did kirtana, a drama, and prasadam. It was very successful. And so more and more we are taking advantage of these kinds of events to spread awareness of Krishna consciousness to those who would otherwise might never come to a Hare Krishna program.”

My Sister Visits London



Karen, my sister, who works as a counselor and teaches mindfulness in Albany, New York, had a ten-hour layover in London, flying from New York to South Africa. So I went to London to take her to Govinda’s Restaurant on Soho Street. She has been vegetarian for over forty years, seven years longer than me. I also gave her some maha-prasadam from Radha-Londonisvara for her to share with her daughter Fern and Fern’s boyfriend, Oliver, in South Africa. She got the large thali at Govinda’s and ate practically everything. Coincidentally at Govinda’s, we met London temple president, Jai Nitai Prabhu, also from America, and had a very nice visit with him. As my sister wanted to visit a park to rejuvenate between flights, we went to Regents Park, where Srila Prabhupada liked to take his morning walk and which some London devotees told us he said was like Vaikuntha, the spiritual world.



Seeing the beauty of the gardens, the waterfall, and the birds, you could get a clue why he might have said that.


Later on one web site, I read that Prabhupada disciple, Svati devi dasi recalled:
“One morning some of Srila Prabhupada’s students were walking with him in London’s Regents Park. All kinds of flowers grew there, and I was remembering that each day we offered lovely flowers like these to the Krishna Deity back at the temple.


“Before long I asked Srila Prabhupada, ‘When we offer flowers to Krishna, do their spirit souls go back to the spiritual world?’
“Srila Prabhupada remained silent awhile and then answered, ‘Yes. But factually they are already in the kingdom of God.’ He stopped, waved his cane over the cranes, ducks, people, and flowers in the park, and said, ‘They are all in the kingdom of God.’
“Starting to see from his point of view, I said, ‘Yes, Srila Prabhupada, but they are not aware that they are in the kingdom of God.’
“He replied, ‘That is the duty of a spiritual master to make them aware.’” [Copied from web site: http://backtogodhead.in/some-personal-recollections-by-his-disciples/]
One of Karen’s favorite desserts is cheese cake and one of mine is srikhand, both of which were mango flavored at Govinda’s that day, so after our walking in the park, we got one of each and shared it.

And off Karen went back to the airport, and I did harinama with a friend to King Cross, to do the evening lecture at Matchless Gifts there. Then after the program, a group of four of us did harinama back to the temple, so although spending a few hours with my sister in the afternoon, I was still able to participate in four harinamas, though one quite briefly, on that last day of May.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from a lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.21–22, given in London, on August 26, 1973:

“Spiritual service means every moment new. If you find it hackneyed, then you must know that you are not serving spiritually. It is not formality or stereotype. But if you feel newer and newer energy, then you know that you are serving spiritually. The test is within our hand. If during mangala-aratiwe feel laziness, that means I’m not yet spiritually advanced; and if one feels enthused, ‘Now it is time for mangala-arati, let me stand up!’ Then it is spiritual. Anyone can test.”

from The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 2:

“The recommendation of Rupa Gosvami for reviving our original Krishna consciousness is that somehow or other we should apply our minds to Krishna very seriously and thus also become fearless of death. After death we do not know our destination, because we are completely under the control of the laws of nature. Only Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is controller over the laws of nature. Therefore, if we take shelter of Krishna seriously, there will be no fear of being thrown back into the cycle of so many species of life. A sincere devotee will surely be transferred to the abode of Krishna, as affirmed in Bhagavad-gita.”

“Padma Purana recommends that one always fix his mind on the form of Vishnu by meditation and not forget Him at any moment. And this state of consciousness is called samadhi, or trance. We should always try to mold the activities of our lives in such a way that we will constantly remember Vishnu, or Krishna. That is Krishna
consciousness.”

“It doesn’t matter whether one is a beginner—a brahmacari—or is very advanced—a sannyasi. The principle of remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly and not forgetting Him at any moment is meant to be followed by everyone without fail.”

“According to Vedic injunctions, when a brahmana eats it is to be understood that the Personality of Godhead is eating through him. It is not, however, that the brahmana should simply eat on behalf of the Lord and not preach the message of Bhagavad-gita to the world.Actually, one who preaches the message of the Gitais very dear to Krishna, as is confirmed in the Gitaitself. Such a preacher is factually a brahmana,and thus by feeding him one feeds the Supreme Lord directly.”

from The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 3:

“Lord Krishna says in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, verse 8, ‘My dear Uddhava, only by exceptional fortune does someone become attracted to Me. And even if one is not completely detached from fruitive activities, or is not completely attached to devotional service, such service is quickly effective.’”

“Devotional service and the happiness due to its execution are not possible as long as one is materially affected. . . . anyone who has any desire or aspiration for satisfying his senses by becoming more and more important, either in the material sense or in the
spiritual sense, cannot actually relish the really sweet taste of devotional service. Srila Rupa Gosvami has therefore compared possessing these bhukti (material) and mukti (liberation) desires with being influenced by the black art of a witch: in both cases one is in trouble. Bhukti means material enjoyment, and mukti means to become freed
from material anxiety and to become one with the Lord. These desires are compared to being haunted by ghosts and witches, because while these aspirations for material enjoyment or spiritual oneness with the Supreme remain, no one can relish the actual transcendental taste of devotional service.”

“The attention of a pure devotee is so much attracted to glorification of the Lord’s pastimes, name, qualities, forms, etc., that the devotee does not care for mukti. Sri Bilvamangala Thakura has said, ‘If I am engaged in devotional service unto You, my dear Lord, then very easily can I perceive Your presence everywhere. And as far as liberation is concerned, I think liberation stands at my door with folded hands, waiting to serve me.’”

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.28.42:

“King Malayadhvaja could thus observe that the Supersoul was sitting by his side, and that he, as the individual soul, was sitting by the side of the Supersoul. Since both were together, there was no need for separate interests; thus he ceased from such activities.”

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 1.63, purport:

“There is no need to be unhappy over not being able to enter a certain temple. Such dogmatic prohibitions were not approved by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Those who were thought unfit to enter the Jagannatha temple [Srila Haridasa Thakura, Srila Rupa Goswami, and Srila Sanatana Goswami, who had previous intimate connections with Muslims] were daily visited byCaitanya Mahaprabhu, and this indicates that Caitanya Mahaprabhudid not approve of the prohibitions.”


from the The Story of My Life, Volume 2, to be published in December 2013:

I wrote to Prabhupada that sometimes I like to wash the dishes. He wrote back approving and said we should always be engaged in Krishna consciousness, and Krishna will give us the intelligence what to do at a particular time such as when to do the dishes.

Practicing writing regularly calms the mind, not because you write about nice things, but because your fears, anxieties, your troubled thoughts, know they will have a place and time to express themselves.

Actually, a premature understanding can hinder our progress and even delay us. It has been said that if we think ourselves female servants in our eternal form without becoming free from mundane bodily identification, we could be forced to take a female body next time around—in the material world.

If a headache comes, I’d like to see it not as a defeat but as a purification, similar to extra chanting.

Got desk lamp, scrounged memories, heard dogs bark, free wrote in sacred land protected by amenities, prayed,“Krishna make me truthful—but not too painfully.”
“Krishna-Balarama, Radha-Syama, and Gaura-Nitai stand in transcendence. They are not marble statues, although I am a statue before them, cold in heart and cold in body.”
“Reading Prabhupada’s books is like a medicine we constantly need to ingest, but it goes beyond that. It’s a nourishing and tasty food. Why ever stop? It’s a shame if we abandon such nourishing and become disgusted with it and start to crave novelty for its own sake. Prabhupada does say that“Variety is the mother of enjoyment,” but we can find it in his books.”

When I first took LSD it was a little frightening, but it became glorious. Now I can analyze and know it was a hallucination. But at the time I felt my consciousness expanding, and I broke through the doors of my perception. I could see the world in vivid detail and it seemed beautiful. When I was first introduced to Krishna consciousness and the experience of chanting, I was willing to try it partly because of my broad mindedness resulting from LSD. I had to stop LSD to actually practice Krishna consciousness, but it was an initial help. I took LSD about fifty times, and some of my trips were negative and one almost killed me. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

I’m thankful for the life of Krishna consciousness that Prabhupada has given me. There was never a dull moment. It was filled with so many adventures and challenges and duties. Rewarding moments spent in association with the pure devotee and his disciples, the family of Krishna conscious Vaisnavas. Vast affection for His Divine Grace. He has given us japa, kirtana, his books, prasadam, association of devotees. He had given us the heavy order to preach, and we are thankful for that although we don’t measure up to it fully. He has given us the great opportunity to snap the cycle of birth and death. If we act on it we can make it relatively soon. Thankful for him giving us the transcendental life. Talk about yourself going through life with real purpose.

There are different kinds of people, and they may or may not be receptive to Krishna consciousness. Hippies who weren’t social activists and who were just enjoying themselves and renouncing material success would be more open to Krishna consciousness, but those who were committed social activists would see us as not responding properly to the ills of the world. For the hardcore activists that is their religion, and it replaces Krishna consciousness.

Devotees pray for permission before they do anything. I would like to enact that on a personal level. Just be simple. Don’t try for big endeavors. In whatever you do, try to do it for Krishna, and speak to Him in your own words all the time. Say, “My dear Lord, I’m about to eat now. Let it be in Your service.” If we do this, then we will not let ourselves do something that obviously has no service connection with Krishna. How can we ask Him personal permission if it’s not something He likes?

The psychiatrists are always advising us to relax and enjoy and achieve, etc. Or they are telling us to do nothing. Space out. But they never conceive that each and every act should be done to please Krishna and that you can consult Him and ask His permission.
Notes for today’s meeting with disciples: First I’ll mention that some devotees said they would not attend these meetings because they hated crowds and big social scenes. I can empathize with this feeling. I also want to say that meeting like these are valid happenings. Sure it’s a performance, but that in itself is not a bad thing. Musicians also perform before audiences, but they actually make their peak expressions at that time, even better than when they play alone.

I also like to think of myself as avant-garde, writer, semi-retired, detached sannyasi. But I want to think of myself as making a contribution to ISKCON. This is my offering and don’t push it off the altar.

from a lecture:

Although Arjuna was a married man and a military man, Krishna was inclined to Him because he was a devotee and a friend of Krishna. That is the actual qualification.

Tulasi Priya Prabhu of Dublin:

We do not want to imitate the great spiritual teachers, but we do want to attain their realizations.

Ananta Nitai Prabhu:

When I first got Bhagavad-gita I could not understand it, but five years later, after I stopped eating meat and drinking alcohol for economic reasons, I read it straight through.

Due to the materialistic contamination in this age of Kali, the brahmanas [intellectual class] look down on the ksatriyas [administrative class], the ksatriyas look down on the vaishyas [the productive class], and the vaishyas look down on the sudras [labor class].

Although it is not wise to offend saintly persons, saints are so kind often those who offend them are ultimately benefited in ways they never would have been otherwise.

The more we do the congregational chanting, the more it will seem natural to do it, and the more it will spread out to others.

from a conversation:

Ireland is just a rock in the middle of the Atlantic. What is all the fighting about?

-----

ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam
sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam
anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamritasvadanam
sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krishna-sankirtanam

“Let there be all victory for the chanting of the holy name of Lord Krishna, which can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence. That chanting is the waxing moon that spreads the white lotus of good fortune for all living entities. It is the life and soul of all education. The chanting of the holy name of Krishna expands the blissful ocean of transcendental life. It gives a cooling effect to everyone and enables one to taste full nectar at every step.” (Siksastaka 1, quoted in Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 20.12)

Tears of My Father
→ Karnamrita's blog

Author: 
Karnamrita Das

(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer)

[reposted from 6-25-13] Two days after my birthday was my fathers’, or June 24th. This year I wanted to share some snapshots in my relationship with him, in the hope that it might be useful to you in your journey of self-exploration, making peace with your past (if required), or in general, having a balanced psychology so favorable for spiritual practice. Dear reader, I am indebted to you for taking the time to read this, and to think about your own relationship with your parents. What does it tell you about the nature of the material world of (re)birth, disease, old age, death and disappointment, and the importance of receiving the saving grace of spiritual knowledge and bhakti practices to uncover the eternal life of the soul?

I was running a preaching center on O Street in Washington D.C. in 1986. After leaving Baltimore with Maha-nidhi Swami to travel and preach, I gradually felt it would be a natural move to stay there. I had a small staff which fluctuated between 1 or 2 devotees. I also received some morale boosting, and financial support from the near-by Potomac MD, Temple from which devotees sometimes visited to chant, preach, or help cook. We held three feasts a week, mainly attended by college students and young people in the area. All was going fine for a few months after I settled in, and then, one afternoon between feasts, I felt like something ominous was in the air. It was a typical August sunny, muggy day, nothing unusual but this feeling. Although I couldn’t put my finger on the possible reason, I prayed for clarity to understand. As I was lost in thought, the ringing of the phone startled me. It was Barbara, my father’s current wife. She told me that my father had committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

A long silence ensued. I didn’t have a personal reaction, being in shock, and besides, I wasn’t very good at dealing with others in such matters of intense sorrow. I was at a loss for words, thinking more about her, than for myself. Even today, it seems so inappropriate and trite to say things like “sorry for your loss,” or any number of socially correct statements. Finally, I was able to thank her for letting me know, and told her how sorry I was. Our conversation was awkward,

read more

Tears of My Father
→ Karnamrita.das's blog

Author: 
Karnamrita Das

(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer)
Hippie Dad photo HippieDad_zpsc746875e.jpg
Two days after my birthday was my fathers’, or June 24th. This year I wanted to share some snapshots in my relationship with him, in the hope that it might be useful to you in our journey of self-exploration, using that as a balanced platform for spiritual practice. Dear reader, I am indebted to you for taking the time to read this, and to think about your own relationship with your parents. What does it tell you about the nature of the material world of (re)birth, disease, old age, death and disappointment, and the importance of receiving the saving grace of spiritual knowledge and bhakti practices to uncover the eternal life of the soul?

I was running a preaching center on O Street in Washington D.C. in 1986. After leaving Baltimore with Maha-nidhi Swami to travel and preach, after some time I felt it would be a natural move to stay there. I had a small staff which fluctuated between 1 or 2 devotees. I also received some morale boosting, and financial support from the near-by Potomac MD, Temple from which devotees sometimes visited to chant, preach, or help cook. We held three feasts a week, mainly attended by college students and young people in the area. All was going fine for a few months after I settled in, and then, one afternoon between feasts, I felt like something ominous was in the air. It was a typical August sunny, muggy day, nothing unusual but this feeling. Although I couldn’t put my finger on the possible reason, I prayed for clarity to understand. As I was lost in thought, the ringing of the phone startled me. It was Barbara, my father’s current wife. She told me that my father had committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

A long silence ensued. I didn’t have a personal reaction, being in shock, and besides, I wasn’t very good at dealing with others in such matters of intense sorrow. I was at a loss for words, thinking more about her, than for myself. Even today, it seems so inappropriate and trite to say things like “sorry for your loss,” or any number of socially correct statements. Finally, I was able to thank her for letting me know, and told her how sorry I was. Our conversation was awkward,

read more

aversion and attachment
→ everyday gita

Verse 3.34: There are principles to regulate attachment and aversion pertaining to the senses and their objects. One should not come under the control of such attachment and aversion, because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization.

On any path one follows, there are challenges and obstacles. Identifying these challenges is a key step to becoming successful in any endeavor we choose to pursue.

Now I don't know about you, but I've always felt that life should come with an instruction manual. That manual would contain clear guidelines as to how we can lead happy lives; as well, it would include a listing of all the unexpected trials, tribulations, twists and turns we are to encounter.

Imagine my surprise when I first read the Gita - I had found it! My guidebook for life! Within its pages, the Gita speaks at length as to how we can become happy. Equally important, it warns us of the problems we may face as living souls inhabiting a temporary body.

Now the Gita doesn't get into specifics...although sometimes it certainly does seem like it's been written specifically for me! Instead, it does one better.

The Gita empowers an individual.

For most of us, our issue is that we tend to look outside instead of looking in. In other words, we think we are so many "external" things - I am male, female, my mind, my body, my intelligence, my senses etc etc... We neglect who we really are- the soul.

In order to successfully live a happy life, we need to become cognizant of those things that can prevent us from achieving the goal of self-realization. After all, if we don't know who we are, how can we relate to anything/anyone else properly? Two such obstacles are identified today - the senses and their objects.

In a previous post we spoke at length discriminating between regulating and repressing one's senses. In concluding that topic, this perspective was offered:

Regulation isn't a lack of freedom. A lack of freedom is being bound by the dictates of our mind and senses and constantly succumbing to them. True freedom is being able to make a choice.

That being said...it doesn't just end there. See it's not just about the senses and their objects, it's how we relate to them. As today's verse describes, we can essentially categorize our interaction with them via these two adjectives - attachment and aversion.

Now, as many of you might have noticed, the Gita doesn't give everything away all at once. It slowly builds on points so that we get an opportunity to digest it all.

From the senses and sense objects that we can perceive and easily relate to, we now are moving on to a more subtle sphere. After all, it's easier to control our hands, tongue, ears, eyes and nose, but it's much harder to control whether we become attached to or averse of something.

That takes more than just knowledge. Knowledge may help us in practicing regulation, but it is only realization that can release us from the control of these two characteristics.

And what is that realization? That we are not this body. After all - attachment and aversion arises as a result of how something, someone or a situation affects or interacts with the body. It has nothing to do with the soul which is eternal and spiritual.

aversion and attachment
→ everyday gita

Verse 3.34: There are principles to regulate attachment and aversion pertaining to the senses and their objects. One should not come under the control of such attachment and aversion, because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization.

On any path one follows, there are challenges and obstacles. Identifying these challenges is a key step to becoming successful in any endeavor we choose to pursue.

Now I don't know about you, but I've always felt that life should come with an instruction manual. That manual would contain clear guidelines as to how we can lead happy lives; as well, it would include a listing of all the unexpected trials, tribulations, twists and turns we are to encounter.

Imagine my surprise when I first read the Gita - I had found it! My guidebook for life! Within its pages, the Gita speaks at length as to how we can become happy. Equally important, it warns us of the problems we may face as living souls inhabiting a temporary body.

Now the Gita doesn't get into specifics...although sometimes it certainly does seem like it's been written specifically for me! Instead, it does one better.

The Gita empowers an individual.

For most of us, our issue is that we tend to look outside instead of looking in. In other words, we think we are so many "external" things - I am male, female, my mind, my body, my intelligence, my senses etc etc... We neglect who we really are- the soul.

In order to successfully live a happy life, we need to become cognizant of those things that can prevent us from achieving the goal of self-realization. After all, if we don't know who we are, how can we relate to anything/anyone else properly? Two such obstacles are identified today - the senses and their objects.

In a previous post we spoke at length discriminating between regulating and repressing one's senses. In concluding that topic, this perspective was offered:

Regulation isn't a lack of freedom. A lack of freedom is being bound by the dictates of our mind and senses and constantly succumbing to them. True freedom is being able to make a choice.

That being said...it doesn't just end there. See it's not just about the senses and their objects, it's how we relate to them. As today's verse describes, we can essentially categorize our interaction with them via these two adjectives - attachment and aversion.

Now, as many of you might have noticed, the Gita doesn't give everything away all at once. It slowly builds on points so that we get an opportunity to digest it all.

From the senses and sense objects that we can perceive and easily relate to, we now are moving on to a more subtle sphere. After all, it's easier to control our hands, tongue, ears, eyes and nose, but it's much harder to control whether we become attached to or averse of something.

That takes more than just knowledge. Knowledge may help us in practicing regulation, but it is only realization that can release us from the control of these two characteristics.

And what is that realization? That we are not this body. After all - attachment and aversion arises as a result of how something, someone or a situation affects or interacts with the body. It has nothing to do with the soul which is eternal and spiritual.

Join Us for Snana-Yatra Festival this Sunday!
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!

A sure sign that the annual Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra) is just around the corner is the annual Snana-Yatra festival (Sunday, June 30, 2013)! Snana-Yatra, a wonderful festival, wherein Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balarama and Lady Subhadra will be bathed amidst amazing kirtan and chanting!

After this bathing ceremony, all three fall ill and go into seclusion in order to get better.  After two weeks, They will re-emerge for Festival of India (Ratha Yatra).  It is important that the temple is clean for when Lord Jaganatha makes His appearance after recuperating from being ill for two weeks.

Thus, as tradition every year, we will be cleaning the temple as part of Gundica Clean Up.  This is following the example set by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who held the first Gundica Clean Up some 500 years ago. Please join us at 11:00am on Sunday, June 30th to help clean a part of the temple!

During the Ratha-Yatra Festival on July 13-14, Lord Jagannātha will once again come before the public. Thus, for thirteen days after the bathing ceremony, Lord Jagannātha is not visible to any visitors! Don't miss out this last opportunity to see Lord Jagannatha before His grand festival!

The schedule for the day will be as follows (subject to change):

   11:00am - Gundica Clean-Up Begins
   6:00pm to 6:30pm – Kirtan (Arati)
   6:30pm to 6:45pm – Welcome & Announcements
   6:45pm to 8:00pm – Bathing Ceremony (Snana-Yatra)
   8:00pm to 8:30pm  - Kirtan (Arati)
   8:30pm to 9:30pm – Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)

Join Us for Snana-Yatra Festival this Sunday!
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!

A sure sign that the annual Festival of India (Ratha-Yatra) is just around the corner is the annual Snana-Yatra festival (Sunday, June 30, 2013)! Snana-Yatra, a wonderful festival, wherein Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balarama and Lady Subhadra will be bathed amidst amazing kirtan and chanting!

After this bathing ceremony, all three fall ill and go into seclusion in order to get better.  After two weeks, They will re-emerge for Festival of India (Ratha Yatra).  It is important that the temple is clean for when Lord Jaganatha makes His appearance after recuperating from being ill for two weeks.

Thus, as tradition every year, we will be cleaning the temple as part of Gundica Clean Up.  This is following the example set by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who held the first Gundica Clean Up some 500 years ago. Please join us at 11:00am on Sunday, June 30th to help clean a part of the temple!

During the Ratha-Yatra Festival on July 13-14, Lord Jagannātha will once again come before the public. Thus, for thirteen days after the bathing ceremony, Lord Jagannātha is not visible to any visitors! Don't miss out this last opportunity to see Lord Jagannatha before His grand festival!

The schedule for the day will be as follows (subject to change):

   11:00am - Gundica Clean-Up Begins
   6:00pm to 6:30pm – Kirtan (Arati)
   6:30pm to 6:45pm – Welcome & Announcements
   6:45pm to 8:00pm – Bathing Ceremony (Snana-Yatra)
   8:00pm to 8:30pm  - Kirtan (Arati)
   8:30pm to 9:30pm – Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)

Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
→ The Walking Monk

I Allowed Myself

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Once again I allowed myself to be pulled off the road for an engagement in Manitoba’s major city, Winnipeg. On the previous night, Daruka, Billy, Daniel and I went to The Forks to attend events for Aboriginal Day.

When I walked the Prairie trail, on what can be a boring straight line, I daily think about how the indigenous people executed their travels. They likely followed a meandering river or curvy valley or creek. Their lifestyle and outlook was circular, unlike the white man’s square and linear approach. The land they shared and was for everyone. They demonstrated hospitality to the newcomers and showed them how to survive. Those of the European stock, the newcomers, came in great numbers, did not reciprocate so well with hospitality, cheated the custodians and robbed them of use of land. The new ‘owners’ killed the food supply, the bison, drew lines and squares for lots, saying ‘do not trespass’. They spread new diseases and fire water where there was no intoxication before. They, the first people, were cheated of their land and were given left over reserves, a raw deal for sure.

Not a day goes by when I wonder how life would be to trek a trail that the aboriginal people had done before there was a grid.

After spending an hour with Greg along what to me was a new section of Red River, I met Dennis at a street juncture. Dennis is an aboriginal handicapped person. He asked me if I had time, I said, “Yes, depending on how long.” Dennis is wheelchaired with impaired legs and needed to be taken to the other side of the river by way of bridge, and then a couple of blocks to destination, Holy Rosary Catholic Church for coffee with a priest.

“Fine,” I agreed.

As I was pushing the wheelchair he told me about how he prays to the Lord asking Him if one day he can walk again. “Sometimes I think God doesn’t listen,” he said.

“You can’t blame God for your weak legs. This is karma you have inflicted upon yourself from some time in the past. Be grateful always for what you do have. “

Dennis asked me to wheel him into the Starbucks Coffee shop. Both inside and outside the shop many people seemed to know him. Here he makes a daily visit and requires an antique cup for his coffee. From here I wheel him out and on to the edge of the church yard. Mass had just finished and here too he seems to be known.

I figured that helping him was the least I could do considering the mistreatment of his people in the past. I felt I owed him one.

Our day came to a close when I spoke at 108 Chestnut from a Bhagavatam verse 1.8.30 regarding the bewildering nature of this world, its Creator and their correlation.

12 KM

Saturday, June 22nd, 2013
→ The Walking Monk

Breaking

Mather, Manitoba

Breaking into new shoes isn’t always the funnest thing. A minor case of blisters and blood came my way at the feet. Several consecutive warm days has also encouraged heat rash and again minimal blood. Such things occur as part of the pilgrim’s package.

Highway 3 is very quiet on Saturdays. The occasional motorist stops, as does the newspaper delivery woman from yesterday. In fact, she did it twice today, asking a little more each time as to how I’m faring, where do I hope to get to at the end of the day, and inquiring about my mode of life. Friendly they are here in the prairie. Even their license plate says so, ‘Friendly Manitoba’. Some folks today offered some financial help, I didn’t ask, they just gave. One highlight of the day was meeting Art, and then later, Elaine, his wife, from Mather, Manitoba. They invited Daruka and I for lunch. We agreed, but we told them of our dietary restrictions. In all frankness, it’s hard for me to have the heart to eat what I see goes by me as I pass a herd of beef cattle. They tend to be so personal as they follow me along at my pace right to the very lengths of the pasture until reaching the barrier, the fence. They then stand there as if frozen staring at me until I disappear.

Art runs a local seed company, and also plays a major role in running the village. The lunch was great along with some herbal Bengal Spice tea. The conversation entailed comparing notes – their Mennonite faith to our consciousness in Krishna. Hence, friends were made with exchange of literature. Perhaps the climax of the visit was Art playing on the piano. The piece ‘Obladi, Oblada, Life Goes On…’

Hey, if life could be so easy, simply singing Obladi Oblada, that would be great. Why do we karmically complicate matters so?

26 KM

Friday, June 21st, 2013
→ The Walking Monk

I Can See The Mist

La Riviere, Manitoba

From Pemdina Valley I could see the mist with rainbow tones rising as I was approaching. It was as if the sun god was pulling up with his hands the moisture and dispersing it into thin air. It resembled a hint of virat rupa, the cosmic form as described in Bhagavad Gita.

Daruka joined and we were pacing along. We passed by the location where ‘The Passion’ play is annually presented in the outdoors attracting people from far and wide. Then we caught the attention of a group of people having breakfast in the town restaurant. Dennis, the retired school teacher, pulled out of the group and came outside to invite us for some early morning breakfast. Daruka and I accepted the offer of cranberry juice and the company of district farmers. We all hit it off well, chanting while sitting at a round table. Being with Dennis, an educator whom everyone in the district seemed to have been taught by (so it seems) set a tone for the day.

Daruka and I eventually backtracked to Manitou and the elementary school. There, 130 students assembled in the gymnasium to hear about a monk’s lifestyle and his associates and to view a blue front Amazon parrot. The principle Deb Morrow, was most gracious, while the reception by the students was quite overwhelming. The applause made us feel like rock stars. There also appeared to be no end to questions regarding life as a monastics. In truth, the kids questioned about Billy as well, but I’ll give it a 50/50 attention to both topics.

Further on in the walk westbound on Highway 3, many motorists came to congratulated me for the trek and for visiting their neighbourhood. Two more journalists from different papers came to interview, also Jackie and Maryanne, local farm girls I guess you could say, cycled from their endless prairie laneways to meet and talk.

Finally, where the educational element became interwoven in our day once more is when Alix, the local art gallery coordinator, joined me for a stretch to Crystal City when along with Daruka and Billy we accidentally stumbled upon a graduation ceremony. Grads and friends were gathered in the street. Gals in pretty dresses and guys in suits took notice of the unusual team that we were. It then became an exchange of mutual congratulations.

What a glorious day. The last few kilometres I tackled solo, but I wasn’t alone, a trillion mosquitoes accompanied me.

32 KM

We invite you to chant 64 rounds of Hare Krsna Maha Mantra with us this Saturday at ISKCON Scarborough‏
→ ISKCON Scarborough

Hare Krishna!
Please accept our humble obeisances!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!

We are pleased to announce that our 3rd annual 64 round chanting day will take place coming Saturday - June 29th 2012 from 8 am to 6 pm. Sumptuous free breakfast,lunch & dinner prasadam will be served on this day. 

Every year over 50 devotees take part in chanting 64 rounds

Our regular Saturday evening program will commence from 6.45 pm on-wards.

We invite you, your family and friends to ISKCON Scarborough coming Saturday to take part in this auspicious event

When we chant 64 rounds, we chant over 100,000 names of the Lord!

1 Hare Krsna Maha Mantra(HKMM)= 16 names of the Lord - consisting of 3 transcendental words of Hare, Rama and Krsna (“Hare” is internal energy of the Lord which is non-different from the Lord, “Krsna” means all attractive and “Rama” means reservoir of all pleasure)

1 round in a japa mala =108 Hare Krsna Maha Mantra= 1728 names of the Lord (16 names of the Lord in 1 HKMM X 108 times in a japa mala)

16 rounds = 27,648 names of the Lord(16 names of the Lord in 1 HKMM X 108 times in a japa mala X 16 rounds)

64 rounds = 110,592 names of the Lord(16 names of the Lord in 1 HKMM X 108 times in a japa mala X 64 rounds)

Why chant 64 rounds of Hare Krsna Maha Mantra?
Caitanya Bhagavat(by Sri Vrindavan das Thakur)- Antya Khanda- chapter 9 verses 116 to 125:

“As the devotees invited the Lord (Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu)to take His meal in their houses, the Lord took the opportunity to teach them all this topic.

When invited to take a meal, the Lord smiled and said, “First you should become a laksesvara [The word laksesvara is a combination of laksha (“hundred thousand”) and isvara (“master”). In common usage it would refer to someone who possessed a hundred thousand rupees.].

“I take meals only in the house of a laksesvara.” Hearing this, the brahmanas became worried.

The brahmanas offered prayers to the Lord, “O Gosaani, what to speak of a hundred thousand, none of us possess even a thousand.

“If You don’t accept meals from us, then let our entire household be burnt to ashes.”

The Lord replied, “Do you know who is a laksesvara? He is someone who daily chants a hundred thousand holy names.

“I call that a person a laksesvara. I take meals in only such a person’s house, not in the houses of others.”

Hearing this merciful statement of the Lord, the brahmanas gave up their anxiety and became joyful.

“O Lord, we will chant a hundred thousand names. Please therefore take Your meals in our houses. It is our good fortune that You are teaching us in this way.”
All the brahmanas then began to chant a hundred thousand names everyday so that they could offer food to Lord Caitanyacandra.


With best wishes from,

ISKCON Scarborough
3500 McNicoll Avenue, Unit #3,
Scarborough,Ontario,
Canada,M1V4C7
Email Address: iskconscarborough@hotmail.com
website: www.iskconscarborough.com

We invite you to chant 64 rounds of Hare Krsna Maha Mantra with us this Saturday at ISKCON Scarborough‏
→ ISKCON Scarborough

Hare Krishna!
Please accept our humble obeisances!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!

We are pleased to announce that our 3rd annual 64 round chanting day will take place coming Saturday - June 29th 2012 from 8 am to 6 pm. Sumptuous free breakfast,lunch & dinner prasadam will be served on this day. 

Every year over 50 devotees take part in chanting 64 rounds

Our regular Saturday evening program will commence from 6.45 pm on-wards.

We invite you, your family and friends to ISKCON Scarborough coming Saturday to take part in this auspicious event

When we chant 64 rounds, we chant over 100,000 names of the Lord!

1 Hare Krsna Maha Mantra(HKMM)= 16 names of the Lord - consisting of 3 transcendental words of Hare, Rama and Krsna (“Hare” is internal energy of the Lord which is non-different from the Lord, “Krsna” means all attractive and “Rama” means reservoir of all pleasure)

1 round in a japa mala =108 Hare Krsna Maha Mantra= 1728 names of the Lord (16 names of the Lord in 1 HKMM X 108 times in a japa mala)

16 rounds = 27,648 names of the Lord(16 names of the Lord in 1 HKMM X 108 times in a japa mala X 16 rounds)

64 rounds = 110,592 names of the Lord(16 names of the Lord in 1 HKMM X 108 times in a japa mala X 64 rounds)

Why chant 64 rounds of Hare Krsna Maha Mantra?
Caitanya Bhagavat(by Sri Vrindavan das Thakur)- Antya Khanda- chapter 9 verses 116 to 125:

“As the devotees invited the Lord (Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu)to take His meal in their houses, the Lord took the opportunity to teach them all this topic.

When invited to take a meal, the Lord smiled and said, “First you should become a laksesvara [The word laksesvara is a combination of laksha (“hundred thousand”) and isvara (“master”). In common usage it would refer to someone who possessed a hundred thousand rupees.].

“I take meals only in the house of a laksesvara.” Hearing this, the brahmanas became worried.

The brahmanas offered prayers to the Lord, “O Gosaani, what to speak of a hundred thousand, none of us possess even a thousand.

“If You don’t accept meals from us, then let our entire household be burnt to ashes.”

The Lord replied, “Do you know who is a laksesvara? He is someone who daily chants a hundred thousand holy names.

“I call that a person a laksesvara. I take meals in only such a person’s house, not in the houses of others.”

Hearing this merciful statement of the Lord, the brahmanas gave up their anxiety and became joyful.

“O Lord, we will chant a hundred thousand names. Please therefore take Your meals in our houses. It is our good fortune that You are teaching us in this way.”
All the brahmanas then began to chant a hundred thousand names everyday so that they could offer food to Lord Caitanyacandra.


With best wishes from,

ISKCON Scarborough
3500 McNicoll Avenue, Unit #3,
Scarborough,Ontario,
Canada,M1V4C7
Email Address: iskconscarborough@hotmail.com
website: www.iskconscarborough.com

Conscious Chanting
→ Japa Group

It's a situation we all find ourselves in at one time or another....when we are trying to chant with attention but it becomes unconscious or inattentive - like a drone in the background of the mind's many thoughts.

The alternative is to be conscious of the sound of Krsna....to be conscious of each and every syllable and word of the mantra. By doing this we can become unconscious of the mind's ramblings and be fully focused on Krsna in the form of the Holy names.

All my Books Are Now Available in India
→ Stephen Knapp

Now all of my books, both the American versions, those published in India, and all of the Kindle E-book versions, are available at the Amazon.in website, available in rupees, at:

http://www.amazon.in/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/276-3108029-1774103?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Stephen+Knapp#/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Stephen+Knapp&rh=n%3A976389031%2Ck%3AStephen+Knapp

Click the link or paste it in your browser.


Towers and Trees
- TOVP.org

The progress of the main dome and that of the art department’s projects are often the focal points of discussion at the TOVP. However, there are several other aspects of construction and planning equally significant to the poignancy of the architectural and landscaping arrangements.

Last summer the TOVP began a nursery near the Jagannath mandir. It is home to thousands of various types of trees and shrubs. They will spend the next few years growing in the nursery so they will be full and lush at the time of transplantation. The greenery will frame and enhance the aesthetic appeal of the new temple while simultaneously offering shade to pilgrims and Mayapur residents.

The three domes of the new temple are its signature features. Sometimes overlooked are the towers punctuating their grandeur. The architectural nuances of these towers underscore the magnificent drama of the domes. Their construction is underway and their delicate beauty is already recognizable.

Each feature of the TOVP is important, from the curved arches to the marble pillars, from the landmark domes to the robust trees. The combination of parts creates a rhapsody of movement and color, a climax of havens for spiritual seekers. The TOVP is more than a building, it’s an expression of feeling.