Travel Journal#8.19: The North of England, Scotland, and Ireland
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk


Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 19
By Krishna-kripa das
(October 2012, part one)
The North of England, Scotland, and Ireland
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on December 8, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

As the World Holy Name Festival continued into October, I continued traveling with Janananda Goswami and his party around Manchester, Newcastle, and up to Edinburgh, Scotland, where devotees held an 8-hour kirtana in the hall of a church downtown, and invited their yoga friends, and the people in general. I left the two-day Scottish festival, which continued on at Karuna Bhavan, to go to Belfast and help with a program for Quaker children at our temple there. Then after three days of harinama in Belfast, we chanted in Enniskillen, near Govindadvipa (Inis Rath), our Hare Krishna island in Northern Ireland. Friday we did harinama to all three Govinda’s Restaurants in Dublin. Saturday we did our second 12-hour harinama in Dublin, and got a larger participation than before. Sunday was the Sunday feast program, and Monday we did 12-hours of kirtana at the temple. Tuesday we did harinama in Bray, a city outside of Dublin and the usual Tuesday evening kirtana program, before returning to The North of England.

I share Srila Prabhupada notes as usual, and notes from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s writings, including his recently printed autobiography, The Story of My Life, which includes new Prabhupada stories and Hare Krishna history. I also have realizations from Janananda Goswami and several Prabhupada disciples from the UK and Ireland, and a few other devotees.

Itinerary

Dec. 8–9, 2012: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja
Dec. 10–23, 2012: Serving SDG in Stuyvesant, NY
Dec. 24–25, 2012: Visiting family in Albany, NY
Dec. 26, 2012–
Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City
Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

Edinburgh 8-hour Kirtana

I was happy that my first visit to Scotland was on the occasion of an 8-hour kirtana in Edinburgh. Janananda Goswami arrived just over an hour early and organized a harinama in the streets of Edinburgh, and we distributed the remaining invitations to the interested people. The venue for the event was a church community room, and different yoga people and alternative people came, some for the first time. Diya from Sunderland led a lively kirtana, and many of her friends danced nicely in the audience. Janananda Goswami led a super lively kirtana, with almost everyone dancing, and our only lamentation was he was not given a longer slot. Some of the organizers knew me and kindly allowed me to sing for half an hour. Gaura Prabhu from South Africa, who lives in Mayapur, played the drum, and by the end a lot of people danced nicely.

Quaker Kids Program at Belfast Temple

Every four years the First Day School teacher at the Belfast Friends Meeting (Quakers) brings her students to the Hare Krishna temple to experience another religious practice. Shelina, who had done the program four years ago, led the program again, and I assisted. I mentioned some of important similarities in the two philosophies, such as life is meant for seeking spiritual truth and the Lord is within everyone’s heart. I also taught a simple mrdanga (drum) beat to any child who wanted to learn, and I dressed interested boys in cadars. I was impressed with the good behavior of the kids. One boy almost immediately picked up the drum beat.

Enniskillen and Dublin Harinamas

During the whole bus ride from Belfast to Enniskillen rain was pouring down. Earlier I had been joking with the devotees about whether praying for good weather was bona fide. When we began to chant the rain stopped, and by the end of the three-hour kirtana the sun could often be seen. One lady who was interested in yoga bought a book from our book distributor and gave us a donation beyond that. She was happy to hear we had a temple in nearby Derrylin. Thus austerity of the bus ride and inclement weather was worth it as someone was happy to come in touch with Krishna.

The next we went to Dublin and did harinama in the late afternoon. My friend, Dhruva Prabhu, who is an ISKCON tourist was happy that on our evening harinama we visited all three of our restaurants in Dublin. We had tea in a couple places in addition to spring rolls, but unfortunately the desserts had already sold out. My fingers suffered from playing instruments in the cold weather.

Dublin’s Second 12-hour Harinama and 12-hour Kirtana


Everyone who went on our 12-hour harinama back in July really liked it, so Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I organized another one for October.



Ananta Nitai was so enthusiastic he also organized a 12-hour kirtana at the temple two days later. Having a positive experience, he decided to try to do a 12-hour harinama the first Saturday of each month, and follow it by a 12-hour kirtana on the following Monday. This time a traveling party of brahmacari book distributors mostly from Poland joined forces with us for the 12-hour harinama and increased our ecstasy.


 One man who had seen us chanting for 12-hours on Saturday was surprised to see us chanting on Sunday morning. Nanda Kumar Prabhu and Bhaktin Anet distributed many books during the course of the harinama, which spend most of its time at the big intersection near the temple. In the evening, instead of doing the usual sit-down harinama, since the sidewalk was wet, we did harinama to a crowded area called Temple Bar, which is frequented more for its bars than its temples. One Indian girl looked with interest at our chanting party, and I talked with her and she followed us. She explained that because it was Saturday the train schedule was different, and she missed her last train home and thus had the opportunity to meet our harinama party. That was Krishna’s mercy on her. She expressed an interest in coming to our events, and I hope she remembers this desire of hers at the opportune time to act on it.

Devotees joined our 12-hour kirtana throughout the day on Monday, and there were always just enough people to keep in going. 



Manu Prabhu, one of Dublin ISKCON’s celebrated kirtana leaders, was one of the singers.


I danced a lot of the time.


Caitanya-candrodaya Prabhu took pictures of the devotees during the kirtana, and they are all so meditative. I share a couple. Thanks for all of your pictures of the harinama and kirtana in Dublin, Caitanya!





On Tuesday we traveled with the brahmacari book distributors to Bray, about half an hour from Dublin, and we chanted as they distributed books. Because we had chanted for twelve hours the previous Saturday and Monday, we found two and three-quarters hours went by like no time at all.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:
from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.14.26, purport:
“The scientists are cheaters because they present so many bogus things in the name of science. They propose going to the moon, but actually they end up cheating the entire public of large sums of money for their experiments. They cannot do anything useful. Unless one can find a person transcendental to the four basic defects, one should not accept advice and become a victim of the material condition. The best process is to take the advice and instructions of Sri Krishna or His bona fide representative. In this way one can be happy in this life and the next.”

Janananda Goswami:

If we had as much enthusiasm for Krishna as we do for our computers and mobiles, we could make rapid advancement.

There are some things we do every day, eat, sleep, use the toilet, and brush our teeth. Similarly we should read Srila Prabhupada’s books every day.

Krishna consciousness is not just to make our material life or our present existence more comfortable. It is to go to the spiritual world and to become released from birth and death and redevelop our relationship with Krishna.

Four things given by Srila Prabhupada to make your house a temple.
  1. have an altar
  2. offer your food to Krishna
  3. chant the holy name, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra
  4. read the scriptures
Another important activity for householders is taking care of guests.

Srila Prabhupada told his GBC members their first duty is to make sure everyone in the temple is chanting 16 rounds of Hare Krishna and following the four rules prohibiting intoxication, meat-eating, illicit sex, and gambling.

Haridasa Thakura was chanting 300,000 names of the Lord before Lord Caitanya’s appearance.
Sometimes it is described that some devotee of the Lord is an incarnation of two intimate associates of the Lord. This is not so strange as in the material world sometimes someone is haunted by a ghost and two souls are inhabiting the same body and vying for control. Of course, in the Lord’s pastimes, the two devotees are cooperating to serve the Lord’s mission.
Q: How to measure spiritual strength?
A: Enthusiasm for chanting and hearing and association with devotees, enthusiasm to render service, being less affected by our material situation, taking shelter of guru and Krishna, all these are symptoms of spiritual strength. When the body ages, you may not be able to do so much physical activity, but you still have enthusiasm for them.
One devotee who was 93 years old was explaining he could not remember anything but Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, but in one sense, that is a good thing.
Story of Mother Isa who Niranjana Swami visited in a nursing home: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10841&paged=2
If we are not feeling increasing spiritual strength, perhaps we are being tested by Krishna or else we have done something unfavorable.
When we carry on our spiritual practice beyond our slip ups, we can become stronger than before.
One devotee had a late night program and so his sadhana was quite irregular and the devotees were concerned and asked Srila Prabhupada whether he should be asked to leave the temple. Srila Prabhupada replied that if he at least goes to mangala-arati, our early morning service, then he can stay.
We had five classes a day in our first temple in London on Bury Place—two in the morning, The Nectar of Devotion or Sri Isopanisad before greeting of the deities, Bhagavatam class after, The Nectar of Devotion or Sri Isopanisad (whichever was not done in the morning) before the evening arati, Bhagavad-gita after, then a song class and Krishna book reading after the evening arati.

comments by Saksi Gopal Prabhu:

In the early days one new devotee was sent by the treasurer, with a half-shaved head to go out and collect for a razor blade to finish the job.

One time in the early days the pujari came through temple room to bring the breakfast offering to the deities and found that not only had everyone hearing the morning class fallen asleep but the speaker had also fallen asleep.

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami (mostly from his web site, www.sdgonline.org):

from Narada-bhakti-sutra, text 67, purport:

“Being single-pointed in devotional service does not mean shutting out reality. Exclusivity can become sectarian if one focuses on relative truths or dedicates oneself to an ordinary person. But when the object of appreciation is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one attains the broadest vision, the vision of a mahatma.”

from Viraha Bhavan, October 3, 2012, poem:
They say if you prematurely
think yourself a sakhi you
will come back next life
as a material woman.

from Viraha Bhavan, October 15, 2012, poem:

Prabhupada said if we
follow him he has a key
to enter the back door of
Goloka Vrndavana. I am
counting on that, although I am
completely unfit.

from The Story of My Life, his autobiography:

“[At Ananda Ashram] We had a wild kirtana in the big yoga studio. Swamiji let a black man play a big double bass, swinging it in rhythm like a jazz beat. We danced around in a big circle. The ISKCON people mixed with the Ananda Ashram people. Round and round we danced in ecstasy for an hour.”

“Himavati made him [Srila Prabhupada] a set of clothes for Them [his Radha-Krishna deities]. Radharani’s skirt was a little short. “That is all right,” he wrote, “It affords us a look at Her lotus feet.”

A boy had raised his hand for a question. “What happens when you go inside and you look further and further and further and Further!?” He was crazy. Prabhupada replied, “That I do not know. You know.” That boy chanted Hare Krishna and became an initiated disciple in time, Kusakratha. He became a great Sanskrit scholar.

ISKCON is like the Ganges, sometimes it is flowing thin and somewhere it is roaring wide, but it is always flowing.

Srila Prabhupada asked us why we closed the temple and came to New York. What did we leave Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra locked up? “If you left me locked up in a room how would I eat?” he asked. He told us not to do that again.

Once I was preparing eggplant and small peanuts at his request and he [Srila Prabhupada] came into the kitchen to see how I was doing. He said, “I don’t ask for this because I want it. I just want to train you in how to cook it.”

He [Srila Prabhupada] liked a cup of warm milk with sugar in the evening also.

I took part in an all-night schedule of single men going inside Prabhupada’s mosquito net and sitting on his bed and rubbing his body. I would take the ten to midnight or the midnight to 2 a.m. time. That was very intimate, and you had to use all your strength to keep rubbing him and stay awake. I managed to do this, and it was a great thrill of loving exchange towards him. It was hard to keep awake, and I did it by thinking who Prabhupada was, siksa-guru for anyone who had the sense to come to him, and diksa-guru for anyone who had vowed to be his eternal servant. “I am so fallen, Prabhupada,” I thought, “I want to fall asleep. I must stay awake and massage you for your comfort.” I managed to say awake, and when my shift was over I looked forward to doing it again.

from Passing Places, Eternal Truths:

“Walking for japa at 6:00 A.M. by Raman Reti:

A mangy dog approached me with gruff barking. I thought, ‘If you come any closer, you’ll get the end of this danda,’ and he went away. Madhu and I then circumambulated the Krishna-Balarama Tree. At the same spot there were two old Indian matajis bowing down in the sand. They smiled slightly to us. Then the same aggressive dog went up to one old lady. She was so small and had no stick. To my surprise, she began speaking softly to the dog in low tones. He sat down before her, making gruff sounds. She then disentangled her hand from her bead bag, reached into another bag, pulled out a piece of food and threw it on the ground for the dog. By now we had passed her, and I saw this by looking back. Once again I saw that I had misunderstood the meaning of Vrndavana.”

Bhagavatasraya Prabhu:

Last semester students at Bath got 25 signatures for a club on Krishna consciousness, and this year they got 100 signatures.

If you ask people what they want most in life, they invariably say that they want to be happy. Then if you ask them how long they want to be happy for, they will tell you they want to be happy forever. It is not surprising that everyone wants a condition of eternal happiness because that is the nature of the soul.

We are so conditioned, we think this body is alive and that we need a material body to be alive.
Srila Prabhupada’s greatest challenge to create life out of matter which has never been done because it can never be done.

When you come into this world, you become so conditioned that you cannot get out. You do not even know which direction out is.

The nectar for which we are always anxious is the nectar of our relationship with Krishna.

Only through the intervention of the Lord in human society, as in his instructions in Bhagavad-gita can we know of spiritual world and how we can get there.

Krishna gives you the ticket to get out of the material world, but we have to take the ride.

Previous misconceptions of God are very difficult to remove from the mind.

It is not difficult to have faith in Krishna because we immediately begin to feel happy by following His instructions.

Arjuna surrenders to Krishna twice in Bhagavad-gita, to be instructed in Bg. 2.7 and in Bg. 18.73 when he agrees to follow Krishna’s instructions.

We are brought up with the idea that evil is separate from God, but nothing is separate from God.

We have to give up the idea that we are the victim of something beside our own actions.
Dhrtarastra asked Krishna why he was born blind, and Krishna showed him his past 100 births. For 99 births he was an ideal king, but in the previous birth he had a skin disease, and the only cure was to prepare an ointment from the bodies of 100 swans. Instead of worrying about the protection of the swans residing in his kingdom as an ideal king, he ordered the 100 swans killed and the ointment prepared, and his disease was cured and for the rest of his life, he was an ideal king. For his blindness in not protecting the swans for his own sensual pleasure 100 births ago, he was born blind and the 100 swans took birth as his sons, his sons were all killed, and he lost his kingdom. [The speaker said he heard this from Krishna Das Swami.]

In our material conditional life we cannot see Krishna because our desire to forget Krishna blinds us. 

We see Krishna first by hearing from the scripture.

In our conditioned state our love for Krishna is in a dormant state like a tree in the winter which appears leafless and lifeless.

We need to learn that Krishna exists, our relationship with Krishna exists, and to act in relationship with Krishna is our constitutional position.

Perfection in Krishna consciousness does not come quickly, just as walnut trees take 50 years to mature or olive trees take 100 years to produce the best olives.

Remaining in the association of devotees and developing a strong practice of hearing can protect us from maya.

We are making rapid progress back to Godhead, but our experience is one of gradual development.

Srila Prabhupada gave excellent lectures on Narada’s instructions to Vyasa, and I think they should make it into book.

Few people are interested in Krishna consciousness because it takes a long time being kicked by maya before one asks if there is something else.

\Bhakti Charu Swami argues that the whole development of modern civilization over the last several hundred years which started about the time of Lord Caitanya was meant to facilitate the spread of Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement.
We should deepen our conviction to do what we are doing for the simply for pleasure of Krishna.
Gopal Kumara’s guru told him that your fix your intention and then chant the mantra and your will get that result. So make your intention to do just what you are doing for the pleasure of Krishna.
When asked at Bhaktivedanta Manor by a journalist about the purpose of life, Srila Prabhupada explained that the purpose of life is to enjoy. Then he explained that we have forgotten the real platform of enjoyment.

If we stop serving the Lord favorably we will have to serve the Lord unfavorably and indirectly, and that will not be satisfying to ourselves or to anybody else.
Krishna knows that the living entity cannot be happy without being engaged in the Lord’s service because that is his constitutional position.

One time there was complication regarding a preaching program, and a devotee expressed concern that Prabupada be inconvenienced. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Preaching means inconvenience.”

Sometimes devotees complain, “I gave the best years of my life to ISKCON, and what did ISKCON do for me?” Praghosa Prabhu has offered this response which I like, “Actually ISKCON has given you the best years of your life, and you should really try to understand what ISKCON did give you.”

Here it is described how a person whose body, mind, and words, are fully engaged in devotional service is liberated. I experienced this traveling with Vaisesika Prabhu in England. Our itinerary was ill-conceived and we drove two and a half hours from Leicester to Manchester for an evening program, returning at 1 a.m. Then we had to drive to London for a program at 6:30 a.m. in the morning. Vaisesika cheerfully participated as he was expected to and would absorb himself in reading during the journey, not disturbed by his surroundings.

Prabhupada observed that in the West the people have all material facility but they are suffering greatly mentally.
One woman wrote a book called The Secret, which speaks about the universe as reciprocating your desire. This conception is expressed by Srila Prabhupada: “Such materialists cannot even imagine that there is a transcendental body which is imperishable, full of knowledge and eternally blissful. . . . For such materialistic men, the form of the gigantic material manifestation is supreme.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.10, purport)

Lord Caitanya would sit on the floor and his intimates associates would describe Lord Krishna’s pastimes and He would cry. Srila Prabhupada explained that is our practice: sit down, hear about Krishna, and cry.

When I was young I had the opportunity to read a copy of Krishna book that was in a house I was sharing with someone. I read it for awhile, and I could not deny anything that was written there, but at a certain point, I decided I was not ready for this, and I put it aside. Then Krishna put me through the wringer, and two years later I was ready for this.

When the Bible or Koran says “You cannot see the face of God and live,” it is my conviction that it means that you cannot engage in an ordinary materialistic life once you have seen God and not that you literally die.

We are all here because our love for Krishna has been reawakened. Ecstasy means to go beyond the static.

The question is, “How close do you want to sit to the fire of sankirtana?”

The degree that this knowledge is revealed to you and the degree that you apply it determine how soon you become Krishna consciousness.

You can become Krishna conscious in a minute, but that minute may take millions of births to reach.

Srila Bhaktivinoda in explaining Bhagavad-gita 9.30 says that eventually the devotional service will displace all the materialistic tendencies.

He, referring to a godbrother who remembered the Lord at death, was liberated, but he was not famous. You do not have to be famous to be liberated.

Duryodhana Guru Prabhu [one of Srila Prabhupada’s Sanskrit editors]:

Religion is often a relationship with dogma while spirituality is a relationship with God.

Some people are very uncomfortable with the term God because they have had a bad experience with a particular religion and thus they have negative feelings toward God.

In Kali-yuga the degradation progresses, but there is within it, an age of enlightenment, and we see evidence of the both progressive degradation and the enlightenment.

I was in Nashville, Tennessee, and we stopped at one traffic light, and on each of the four corners there was a church.

Hinduism has no founder and no founding date, unlike the other major religions which all appeared in the age of Kali, the age of degradation.

Dharma is duty, obligation, honesty, integrity, and acting according to our own nature.

Yoga is the union of the soul with God.

Bhakti-yoga the yoga of love and devotion.

We are all attracted to bhakti-yoga, whether we know it or not, because we are all looking for love.

What does God wear? What does he like to eat? Most religions cannot answer these questions.

Who did the Indian people invade? Nobody. The Indian people invaded no one for the last ten thousand years. Neither the Hindus invaded others, nor the Buddhists. The Jews also were not interested in invasion. But the religions that arose later in Kali-yuga, the age of degradation, Christianity and Islam, are always invading others.

If you are thinking you are God, you will find it difficult to have a loving relationship with God, because love requires two people.

We can become free from material limitations by serving God.

Once you choose a spiritual path, stick with it until you attain success

In the spiritual world, everything is conscious. When Radha cooks rice for Krishna, she asks the rice, “Are you done yet?” And the rice says, “No. It will be a couple more minutes.”

Q: Is astrology useful in bhakti-yoga?
A: Of course, that is what I do, and I have been doing that for thirty-five years. Astrology is a tool. As long as you understand it is tool, you can use it.

Q: What is the price to become as free as Narada Muni?
A: Complete surrender..

As deep as your love goes, that is the level Krishna will reciprocate at.

Pundarika Vidyanidhi Prabhu:

In 1973 Srila Prabhupada began speaking about varnasrama. Prior to that he spoke about chanting Hare Krishna and becoming purified in that way. This is because he saw people leaving his society because of not being engaged properly.

There is some injunction that says if you follow varnasrama for seventy lives you will attain liberation.

Krishna tells Arjuna not to follow the Vedas (Bg. 2.45) because they deal with the three models of material nature, and yet He also says He is goal of the Vedas (Bg. 15.15). Thus there is transcendental aspect to the Vedas that is valuable for us.

A mature devotee is willing to do whatever is required in the service of the Lord, but if we engage a new person in doing whatever needs to be done, disregarding the person’s natural propensity, he may not stick around long enough to become a mature devotee, being dissatisfied at working contrary to his own nature.

Saksi Gopal Prabhu:

According to the Vedas, you can offer rice wine to Varuna on a certain day of the moon, but that is not for those on the highest level of religious practice.

Every tradition has mystics that can access other realms.

Many ancient traditions are being lost. Who would have thought that India, which has a cultural of cow protection, would become the world’s second largest exporter of beef.

It is rare in yoga that the means and end are the same, but in bhakti-yoga, because it is our eternal activity, both the means and end are the same.

Srila Prabhupada once said, “Do not think that I am not also making advancement.”

Once Srila Prabhupada said at Bhaktivedanta Manor, “Don’t take birth again in Kali-yuga [this present age of degradation].” At the time, I was thinking it was not so bad, but now that over 30 years have passed, I see how things have degraded and how we have had so many problems, even in the Hare Krishna movement.

We have a spiritual cleaning service.

Bhakti-yoga is a process for constantly purifying our intentions.

comment by Janananda Goswami:

Eight years ago I was talking to someone from the Sioux Indian tribe who was a scholar who taught their history in the university. I asked him about their origins, and he said they came from India about 25,000 years ago. He also said that their totem pole derived from the Garuda stambha.

Dayananda Swami:

From sraddha to bhava two symptoms are prominent, klesa-ghni, freedom from miseries, and subha-da, the beginning of all of auspiciousness. Then at bhava, moksa-laghu-krt, the minimization of liberation, and sudurlabham, the rareness of attainment is experienced.

I used to think it would be nice if I had a service where I could just chant, but then later I realized that the quality of my chanting was not so great that that would be best for me.

A devotee asked Srila Prabhupada how one could attain perfection in a moment. Prabhupada replied with an analogy. Dry wood placed in a hot fire can immediately burst into flames, while wet wood takes awhile to come to the point of burning. So if one is advanced from a previous practice, very quickly one can attain perfection.

At nistha one realizes there is no difference between the holy name and Krishna.

Everything is already Krishna’s, we just have to agree to it, and then engage everything in Krishna’s service.

Ananta Nitai Prabhu:

I was distributing books on Grafton Street in Dublin early in the morning. People were going to work. I tried to stop one young man. He said he could not stop, he was in a rush. So I said to him, ““Are you in a rush to die?”” He stopped dead in his tracks and asked me what I meant by that statement.I said, ““Well, you are in a rush today, you will be in a rush tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, so ultimately you’re in a rush to die.”” He was struck by what I said and took Science of Self-Realization and gave a donation.

Nanda Kumar IDS Prabhu:

All yoga traditions stress the importance of the spiritual teacher.

Once a bhajana leader in Radha-Ramana temple one evening chanted Guruvastakam, and I could participate and felt Srila Prabupada had the gave the essence of Vrajavasi life.

Jesu [from a conversation on an Irish ferry]:

Mahavishnu Swami and I went to see George Harrison and ask him about his interest in reincarnation as we had heard about it but wanted to know the truth of it. We went to his house in the morning and saw him sitting in his garden chanting Hare Krishna japa, and we offered obeisances and chanted pranamas to Srila Prabhupada in George’s presence so he would know we were followers of Srila Prabhupada. When we arose, he said something that made us all crack up laughing, “What are you? Dropouts from the Hare Krishna temple?” In fact, Mahavishnu Swami was so absorbed in laughing that I ended up talking to George myself.

------

sa hanis tan mahac chidram
sa mohah sa ca vibhramah
yan-muhurtam ksanam vapi
vasudevam na cintayet

“If even for a moment remembrance of Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly.” (Vishnu Purana, quoted in Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.36, purport)

Travel Journal#8.19: The North of England, Scotland, and Ireland
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk


Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 19
By Krishna-kripa das
(October 2012, part one)
The North of England, Scotland, and Ireland
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on December 8, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

As the World Holy Name Festival continued into October, I continued traveling with Janananda Goswami and his party around Manchester, Newcastle, and up to Edinburgh, Scotland, where devotees held an 8-hour kirtana in the hall of a church downtown, and invited their yoga friends, and the people in general. I left the two-day Scottish festival, which continued on at Karuna Bhavan, to go to Belfast and help with a program for Quaker children at our temple there. Then after three days of harinama in Belfast, we chanted in Enniskillen, near Govindadvipa (Inis Rath), our Hare Krishna island in Northern Ireland. Friday we did harinama to all three Govinda’s Restaurants in Dublin. Saturday we did our second 12-hour harinama in Dublin, and got a larger participation than before. Sunday was the Sunday feast program, and Monday we did 12-hours of kirtana at the temple. Tuesday we did harinama in Bray, a city outside of Dublin and the usual Tuesday evening kirtana program, before returning to The North of England.

I share Srila Prabhupada notes as usual, and notes from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s writings, including his recently printed autobiography, The Story of My Life, which includes new Prabhupada stories and Hare Krishna history. I also have realizations from Janananda Goswami and several Prabhupada disciples from the UK and Ireland, and a few other devotees.

Itinerary

Dec. 8–9, 2012: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja
Dec. 10–23, 2012: Serving SDG in Stuyvesant, NY
Dec. 24–25, 2012: Visiting family in Albany, NY
Dec. 26, 2012–
Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City
Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

Edinburgh 8-hour Kirtana

I was happy that my first visit to Scotland was on the occasion of an 8-hour kirtana in Edinburgh. Janananda Goswami arrived just over an hour early and organized a harinama in the streets of Edinburgh, and we distributed the remaining invitations to the interested people. The venue for the event was a church community room, and different yoga people and alternative people came, some for the first time. Diya from Sunderland led a lively kirtana, and many of her friends danced nicely in the audience. Janananda Goswami led a super lively kirtana, with almost everyone dancing, and our only lamentation was he was not given a longer slot. Some of the organizers knew me and kindly allowed me to sing for half an hour. Gaura Prabhu from South Africa, who lives in Mayapur, played the drum, and by the end a lot of people danced nicely.

Quaker Kids Program at Belfast Temple

Every four years the First Day School teacher at the Belfast Friends Meeting (Quakers) brings her students to the Hare Krishna temple to experience another religious practice. Shelina, who had done the program four years ago, led the program again, and I assisted. I mentioned some of important similarities in the two philosophies, such as life is meant for seeking spiritual truth and the Lord is within everyone’s heart. I also taught a simple mrdanga (drum) beat to any child who wanted to learn, and I dressed interested boys in cadars. I was impressed with the good behavior of the kids. One boy almost immediately picked up the drum beat.

Enniskillen and Dublin Harinamas

During the whole bus ride from Belfast to Enniskillen rain was pouring down. Earlier I had been joking with the devotees about whether praying for good weather was bona fide. When we began to chant the rain stopped, and by the end of the three-hour kirtana the sun could often be seen. One lady who was interested in yoga bought a book from our book distributor and gave us a donation beyond that. She was happy to hear we had a temple in nearby Derrylin. Thus austerity of the bus ride and inclement weather was worth it as someone was happy to come in touch with Krishna.

The next we went to Dublin and did harinama in the late afternoon. My friend, Dhruva Prabhu, who is an ISKCON tourist was happy that on our evening harinama we visited all three of our restaurants in Dublin. We had tea in a couple places in addition to spring rolls, but unfortunately the desserts had already sold out. My fingers suffered from playing instruments in the cold weather.

Dublin’s Second 12-hour Harinama and 12-hour Kirtana


Everyone who went on our 12-hour harinama back in July really liked it, so Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I organized another one for October.



Ananta Nitai was so enthusiastic he also organized a 12-hour kirtana at the temple two days later. Having a positive experience, he decided to try to do a 12-hour harinama the first Saturday of each month, and follow it by a 12-hour kirtana on the following Monday. This time a traveling party of brahmacari book distributors mostly from Poland joined forces with us for the 12-hour harinama and increased our ecstasy.


 One man who had seen us chanting for 12-hours on Saturday was surprised to see us chanting on Sunday morning. Nanda Kumar Prabhu and Bhaktin Anet distributed many books during the course of the harinama, which spend most of its time at the big intersection near the temple. In the evening, instead of doing the usual sit-down harinama, since the sidewalk was wet, we did harinama to a crowded area called Temple Bar, which is frequented more for its bars than its temples. One Indian girl looked with interest at our chanting party, and I talked with her and she followed us. She explained that because it was Saturday the train schedule was different, and she missed her last train home and thus had the opportunity to meet our harinama party. That was Krishna’s mercy on her. She expressed an interest in coming to our events, and I hope she remembers this desire of hers at the opportune time to act on it.

Devotees joined our 12-hour kirtana throughout the day on Monday, and there were always just enough people to keep in going. 



Manu Prabhu, one of Dublin ISKCON’s celebrated kirtana leaders, was one of the singers.


I danced a lot of the time.


Caitanya-candrodaya Prabhu took pictures of the devotees during the kirtana, and they are all so meditative. I share a couple. Thanks for all of your pictures of the harinama and kirtana in Dublin, Caitanya!





On Tuesday we traveled with the brahmacari book distributors to Bray, about half an hour from Dublin, and we chanted as they distributed books. Because we had chanted for twelve hours the previous Saturday and Monday, we found two and three-quarters hours went by like no time at all.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:
from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.14.26, purport:
“The scientists are cheaters because they present so many bogus things in the name of science. They propose going to the moon, but actually they end up cheating the entire public of large sums of money for their experiments. They cannot do anything useful. Unless one can find a person transcendental to the four basic defects, one should not accept advice and become a victim of the material condition. The best process is to take the advice and instructions of Sri Krishna or His bona fide representative. In this way one can be happy in this life and the next.”

Janananda Goswami:

If we had as much enthusiasm for Krishna as we do for our computers and mobiles, we could make rapid advancement.

There are some things we do every day, eat, sleep, use the toilet, and brush our teeth. Similarly we should read Srila Prabhupada’s books every day.

Krishna consciousness is not just to make our material life or our present existence more comfortable. It is to go to the spiritual world and to become released from birth and death and redevelop our relationship with Krishna.

Four things given by Srila Prabhupada to make your house a temple.
  1. have an altar
  2. offer your food to Krishna
  3. chant the holy name, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra
  4. read the scriptures
Another important activity for householders is taking care of guests.

Srila Prabhupada told his GBC members their first duty is to make sure everyone in the temple is chanting 16 rounds of Hare Krishna and following the four rules prohibiting intoxication, meat-eating, illicit sex, and gambling.

Haridasa Thakura was chanting 300,000 names of the Lord before Lord Caitanya’s appearance.
Sometimes it is described that some devotee of the Lord is an incarnation of two intimate associates of the Lord. This is not so strange as in the material world sometimes someone is haunted by a ghost and two souls are inhabiting the same body and vying for control. Of course, in the Lord’s pastimes, the two devotees are cooperating to serve the Lord’s mission.
Q: How to measure spiritual strength?
A: Enthusiasm for chanting and hearing and association with devotees, enthusiasm to render service, being less affected by our material situation, taking shelter of guru and Krishna, all these are symptoms of spiritual strength. When the body ages, you may not be able to do so much physical activity, but you still have enthusiasm for them.
One devotee who was 93 years old was explaining he could not remember anything but Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, but in one sense, that is a good thing.
Story of Mother Isa who Niranjana Swami visited in a nursing home: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=10841&paged=2
If we are not feeling increasing spiritual strength, perhaps we are being tested by Krishna or else we have done something unfavorable.
When we carry on our spiritual practice beyond our slip ups, we can become stronger than before.
One devotee had a late night program and so his sadhana was quite irregular and the devotees were concerned and asked Srila Prabhupada whether he should be asked to leave the temple. Srila Prabhupada replied that if he at least goes to mangala-arati, our early morning service, then he can stay.
We had five classes a day in our first temple in London on Bury Place—two in the morning, The Nectar of Devotion or Sri Isopanisad before greeting of the deities, Bhagavatam class after, The Nectar of Devotion or Sri Isopanisad (whichever was not done in the morning) before the evening arati, Bhagavad-gita after, then a song class and Krishna book reading after the evening arati.

comments by Saksi Gopal Prabhu:

In the early days one new devotee was sent by the treasurer, with a half-shaved head to go out and collect for a razor blade to finish the job.

One time in the early days the pujari came through temple room to bring the breakfast offering to the deities and found that not only had everyone hearing the morning class fallen asleep but the speaker had also fallen asleep.

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami (mostly from his web site, www.sdgonline.org):

from Narada-bhakti-sutra, text 67, purport:

“Being single-pointed in devotional service does not mean shutting out reality. Exclusivity can become sectarian if one focuses on relative truths or dedicates oneself to an ordinary person. But when the object of appreciation is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one attains the broadest vision, the vision of a mahatma.”

from Viraha Bhavan, October 3, 2012, poem:
They say if you prematurely
think yourself a sakhi you
will come back next life
as a material woman.

from Viraha Bhavan, October 15, 2012, poem:

Prabhupada said if we
follow him he has a key
to enter the back door of
Goloka Vrndavana. I am
counting on that, although I am
completely unfit.

from The Story of My Life, his autobiography:

“[At Ananda Ashram] We had a wild kirtana in the big yoga studio. Swamiji let a black man play a big double bass, swinging it in rhythm like a jazz beat. We danced around in a big circle. The ISKCON people mixed with the Ananda Ashram people. Round and round we danced in ecstasy for an hour.”

“Himavati made him [Srila Prabhupada] a set of clothes for Them [his Radha-Krishna deities]. Radharani’s skirt was a little short. “That is all right,” he wrote, “It affords us a look at Her lotus feet.”

A boy had raised his hand for a question. “What happens when you go inside and you look further and further and further and Further!?” He was crazy. Prabhupada replied, “That I do not know. You know.” That boy chanted Hare Krishna and became an initiated disciple in time, Kusakratha. He became a great Sanskrit scholar.

ISKCON is like the Ganges, sometimes it is flowing thin and somewhere it is roaring wide, but it is always flowing.

Srila Prabhupada asked us why we closed the temple and came to New York. What did we leave Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra locked up? “If you left me locked up in a room how would I eat?” he asked. He told us not to do that again.

Once I was preparing eggplant and small peanuts at his request and he [Srila Prabhupada] came into the kitchen to see how I was doing. He said, “I don’t ask for this because I want it. I just want to train you in how to cook it.”

He [Srila Prabhupada] liked a cup of warm milk with sugar in the evening also.

I took part in an all-night schedule of single men going inside Prabhupada’s mosquito net and sitting on his bed and rubbing his body. I would take the ten to midnight or the midnight to 2 a.m. time. That was very intimate, and you had to use all your strength to keep rubbing him and stay awake. I managed to do this, and it was a great thrill of loving exchange towards him. It was hard to keep awake, and I did it by thinking who Prabhupada was, siksa-guru for anyone who had the sense to come to him, and diksa-guru for anyone who had vowed to be his eternal servant. “I am so fallen, Prabhupada,” I thought, “I want to fall asleep. I must stay awake and massage you for your comfort.” I managed to say awake, and when my shift was over I looked forward to doing it again.

from Passing Places, Eternal Truths:

“Walking for japa at 6:00 A.M. by Raman Reti:

A mangy dog approached me with gruff barking. I thought, ‘If you come any closer, you’ll get the end of this danda,’ and he went away. Madhu and I then circumambulated the Krishna-Balarama Tree. At the same spot there were two old Indian matajis bowing down in the sand. They smiled slightly to us. Then the same aggressive dog went up to one old lady. She was so small and had no stick. To my surprise, she began speaking softly to the dog in low tones. He sat down before her, making gruff sounds. She then disentangled her hand from her bead bag, reached into another bag, pulled out a piece of food and threw it on the ground for the dog. By now we had passed her, and I saw this by looking back. Once again I saw that I had misunderstood the meaning of Vrndavana.”

Bhagavatasraya Prabhu:

Last semester students at Bath got 25 signatures for a club on Krishna consciousness, and this year they got 100 signatures.

If you ask people what they want most in life, they invariably say that they want to be happy. Then if you ask them how long they want to be happy for, they will tell you they want to be happy forever. It is not surprising that everyone wants a condition of eternal happiness because that is the nature of the soul.

We are so conditioned, we think this body is alive and that we need a material body to be alive.
Srila Prabhupada’s greatest challenge to create life out of matter which has never been done because it can never be done.

When you come into this world, you become so conditioned that you cannot get out. You do not even know which direction out is.

The nectar for which we are always anxious is the nectar of our relationship with Krishna.

Only through the intervention of the Lord in human society, as in his instructions in Bhagavad-gita can we know of spiritual world and how we can get there.

Krishna gives you the ticket to get out of the material world, but we have to take the ride.

Previous misconceptions of God are very difficult to remove from the mind.

It is not difficult to have faith in Krishna because we immediately begin to feel happy by following His instructions.

Arjuna surrenders to Krishna twice in Bhagavad-gita, to be instructed in Bg. 2.7 and in Bg. 18.73 when he agrees to follow Krishna’s instructions.

We are brought up with the idea that evil is separate from God, but nothing is separate from God.

We have to give up the idea that we are the victim of something beside our own actions.
Dhrtarastra asked Krishna why he was born blind, and Krishna showed him his past 100 births. For 99 births he was an ideal king, but in the previous birth he had a skin disease, and the only cure was to prepare an ointment from the bodies of 100 swans. Instead of worrying about the protection of the swans residing in his kingdom as an ideal king, he ordered the 100 swans killed and the ointment prepared, and his disease was cured and for the rest of his life, he was an ideal king. For his blindness in not protecting the swans for his own sensual pleasure 100 births ago, he was born blind and the 100 swans took birth as his sons, his sons were all killed, and he lost his kingdom. [The speaker said he heard this from Krishna Das Swami.]

In our material conditional life we cannot see Krishna because our desire to forget Krishna blinds us. 

We see Krishna first by hearing from the scripture.

In our conditioned state our love for Krishna is in a dormant state like a tree in the winter which appears leafless and lifeless.

We need to learn that Krishna exists, our relationship with Krishna exists, and to act in relationship with Krishna is our constitutional position.

Perfection in Krishna consciousness does not come quickly, just as walnut trees take 50 years to mature or olive trees take 100 years to produce the best olives.

Remaining in the association of devotees and developing a strong practice of hearing can protect us from maya.

We are making rapid progress back to Godhead, but our experience is one of gradual development.

Srila Prabhupada gave excellent lectures on Narada’s instructions to Vyasa, and I think they should make it into book.

Few people are interested in Krishna consciousness because it takes a long time being kicked by maya before one asks if there is something else.

\Bhakti Charu Swami argues that the whole development of modern civilization over the last several hundred years which started about the time of Lord Caitanya was meant to facilitate the spread of Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement.
We should deepen our conviction to do what we are doing for the simply for pleasure of Krishna.
Gopal Kumara’s guru told him that your fix your intention and then chant the mantra and your will get that result. So make your intention to do just what you are doing for the pleasure of Krishna.
When asked at Bhaktivedanta Manor by a journalist about the purpose of life, Srila Prabhupada explained that the purpose of life is to enjoy. Then he explained that we have forgotten the real platform of enjoyment.

If we stop serving the Lord favorably we will have to serve the Lord unfavorably and indirectly, and that will not be satisfying to ourselves or to anybody else.
Krishna knows that the living entity cannot be happy without being engaged in the Lord’s service because that is his constitutional position.

One time there was complication regarding a preaching program, and a devotee expressed concern that Prabupada be inconvenienced. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Preaching means inconvenience.”

Sometimes devotees complain, “I gave the best years of my life to ISKCON, and what did ISKCON do for me?” Praghosa Prabhu has offered this response which I like, “Actually ISKCON has given you the best years of your life, and you should really try to understand what ISKCON did give you.”

Here it is described how a person whose body, mind, and words, are fully engaged in devotional service is liberated. I experienced this traveling with Vaisesika Prabhu in England. Our itinerary was ill-conceived and we drove two and a half hours from Leicester to Manchester for an evening program, returning at 1 a.m. Then we had to drive to London for a program at 6:30 a.m. in the morning. Vaisesika cheerfully participated as he was expected to and would absorb himself in reading during the journey, not disturbed by his surroundings.

Prabhupada observed that in the West the people have all material facility but they are suffering greatly mentally.
One woman wrote a book called The Secret, which speaks about the universe as reciprocating your desire. This conception is expressed by Srila Prabhupada: “Such materialists cannot even imagine that there is a transcendental body which is imperishable, full of knowledge and eternally blissful. . . . For such materialistic men, the form of the gigantic material manifestation is supreme.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.10, purport)

Lord Caitanya would sit on the floor and his intimates associates would describe Lord Krishna’s pastimes and He would cry. Srila Prabhupada explained that is our practice: sit down, hear about Krishna, and cry.

When I was young I had the opportunity to read a copy of Krishna book that was in a house I was sharing with someone. I read it for awhile, and I could not deny anything that was written there, but at a certain point, I decided I was not ready for this, and I put it aside. Then Krishna put me through the wringer, and two years later I was ready for this.

When the Bible or Koran says “You cannot see the face of God and live,” it is my conviction that it means that you cannot engage in an ordinary materialistic life once you have seen God and not that you literally die.

We are all here because our love for Krishna has been reawakened. Ecstasy means to go beyond the static.

The question is, “How close do you want to sit to the fire of sankirtana?”

The degree that this knowledge is revealed to you and the degree that you apply it determine how soon you become Krishna consciousness.

You can become Krishna conscious in a minute, but that minute may take millions of births to reach.

Srila Bhaktivinoda in explaining Bhagavad-gita 9.30 says that eventually the devotional service will displace all the materialistic tendencies.

He, referring to a godbrother who remembered the Lord at death, was liberated, but he was not famous. You do not have to be famous to be liberated.

Duryodhana Guru Prabhu [one of Srila Prabhupada’s Sanskrit editors]:

Religion is often a relationship with dogma while spirituality is a relationship with God.

Some people are very uncomfortable with the term God because they have had a bad experience with a particular religion and thus they have negative feelings toward God.

In Kali-yuga the degradation progresses, but there is within it, an age of enlightenment, and we see evidence of the both progressive degradation and the enlightenment.

I was in Nashville, Tennessee, and we stopped at one traffic light, and on each of the four corners there was a church.

Hinduism has no founder and no founding date, unlike the other major religions which all appeared in the age of Kali, the age of degradation.

Dharma is duty, obligation, honesty, integrity, and acting according to our own nature.

Yoga is the union of the soul with God.

Bhakti-yoga the yoga of love and devotion.

We are all attracted to bhakti-yoga, whether we know it or not, because we are all looking for love.

What does God wear? What does he like to eat? Most religions cannot answer these questions.

Who did the Indian people invade? Nobody. The Indian people invaded no one for the last ten thousand years. Neither the Hindus invaded others, nor the Buddhists. The Jews also were not interested in invasion. But the religions that arose later in Kali-yuga, the age of degradation, Christianity and Islam, are always invading others.

If you are thinking you are God, you will find it difficult to have a loving relationship with God, because love requires two people.

We can become free from material limitations by serving God.

Once you choose a spiritual path, stick with it until you attain success

In the spiritual world, everything is conscious. When Radha cooks rice for Krishna, she asks the rice, “Are you done yet?” And the rice says, “No. It will be a couple more minutes.”

Q: Is astrology useful in bhakti-yoga?
A: Of course, that is what I do, and I have been doing that for thirty-five years. Astrology is a tool. As long as you understand it is tool, you can use it.

Q: What is the price to become as free as Narada Muni?
A: Complete surrender..

As deep as your love goes, that is the level Krishna will reciprocate at.

Pundarika Vidyanidhi Prabhu:

In 1973 Srila Prabhupada began speaking about varnasrama. Prior to that he spoke about chanting Hare Krishna and becoming purified in that way. This is because he saw people leaving his society because of not being engaged properly.

There is some injunction that says if you follow varnasrama for seventy lives you will attain liberation.

Krishna tells Arjuna not to follow the Vedas (Bg. 2.45) because they deal with the three models of material nature, and yet He also says He is goal of the Vedas (Bg. 15.15). Thus there is transcendental aspect to the Vedas that is valuable for us.

A mature devotee is willing to do whatever is required in the service of the Lord, but if we engage a new person in doing whatever needs to be done, disregarding the person’s natural propensity, he may not stick around long enough to become a mature devotee, being dissatisfied at working contrary to his own nature.

Saksi Gopal Prabhu:

According to the Vedas, you can offer rice wine to Varuna on a certain day of the moon, but that is not for those on the highest level of religious practice.

Every tradition has mystics that can access other realms.

Many ancient traditions are being lost. Who would have thought that India, which has a cultural of cow protection, would become the world’s second largest exporter of beef.

It is rare in yoga that the means and end are the same, but in bhakti-yoga, because it is our eternal activity, both the means and end are the same.

Srila Prabhupada once said, “Do not think that I am not also making advancement.”

Once Srila Prabhupada said at Bhaktivedanta Manor, “Don’t take birth again in Kali-yuga [this present age of degradation].” At the time, I was thinking it was not so bad, but now that over 30 years have passed, I see how things have degraded and how we have had so many problems, even in the Hare Krishna movement.

We have a spiritual cleaning service.

Bhakti-yoga is a process for constantly purifying our intentions.

comment by Janananda Goswami:

Eight years ago I was talking to someone from the Sioux Indian tribe who was a scholar who taught their history in the university. I asked him about their origins, and he said they came from India about 25,000 years ago. He also said that their totem pole derived from the Garuda stambha.

Dayananda Swami:

From sraddha to bhava two symptoms are prominent, klesa-ghni, freedom from miseries, and subha-da, the beginning of all of auspiciousness. Then at bhava, moksa-laghu-krt, the minimization of liberation, and sudurlabham, the rareness of attainment is experienced.

I used to think it would be nice if I had a service where I could just chant, but then later I realized that the quality of my chanting was not so great that that would be best for me.

A devotee asked Srila Prabhupada how one could attain perfection in a moment. Prabhupada replied with an analogy. Dry wood placed in a hot fire can immediately burst into flames, while wet wood takes awhile to come to the point of burning. So if one is advanced from a previous practice, very quickly one can attain perfection.

At nistha one realizes there is no difference between the holy name and Krishna.

Everything is already Krishna’s, we just have to agree to it, and then engage everything in Krishna’s service.

Ananta Nitai Prabhu:

I was distributing books on Grafton Street in Dublin early in the morning. People were going to work. I tried to stop one young man. He said he could not stop, he was in a rush. So I said to him, ““Are you in a rush to die?”” He stopped dead in his tracks and asked me what I meant by that statement.I said, ““Well, you are in a rush today, you will be in a rush tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, so ultimately you’re in a rush to die.”” He was struck by what I said and took Science of Self-Realization and gave a donation.

Nanda Kumar IDS Prabhu:

All yoga traditions stress the importance of the spiritual teacher.

Once a bhajana leader in Radha-Ramana temple one evening chanted Guruvastakam, and I could participate and felt Srila Prabupada had the gave the essence of Vrajavasi life.

Jesu [from a conversation on an Irish ferry]:

Mahavishnu Swami and I went to see George Harrison and ask him about his interest in reincarnation as we had heard about it but wanted to know the truth of it. We went to his house in the morning and saw him sitting in his garden chanting Hare Krishna japa, and we offered obeisances and chanted pranamas to Srila Prabhupada in George’s presence so he would know we were followers of Srila Prabhupada. When we arose, he said something that made us all crack up laughing, “What are you? Dropouts from the Hare Krishna temple?” In fact, Mahavishnu Swami was so absorbed in laughing that I ended up talking to George myself.

------

sa hanis tan mahac chidram
sa mohah sa ca vibhramah
yan-muhurtam ksanam vapi
vasudevam na cintayet

“If even for a moment remembrance of Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly.” (Vishnu Purana, quoted in Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.9.36, purport)

Scientific Spirituality
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Science is Great

Science is great! Science helps us understand the world, cure diseases, build great things like computers, mobile devices, skyscrapers, and jet airplanes. It is useful, fascinating and magical. Indeed, sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, as the physicist and science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke famously said.

Moreover, additional benefits of science include wonderful inventions like coal-fired power plants, automobiles, and industrial farming, all allowing humans to do great things like destroy the rainforest, raise the temperature of the entire planet, and cause mass extinctions, clearly undesirable side effects of science. However, science will surely be able to solve the problem it has created. Take the Toyota Prius, for example, a wonder of technology, a hybrid car that is extremely fuel efficient. While it still uses fuel like any other car, it is much better than the gas-guzzlers of yesteryear. So good that its “fuel efficiency” is close to that of a horse. With a few more years of scientific advances, we will surely be able to make cars that run on nearly nothing, re-grow the rainforest and clone extinct species back into existence. So, science is great. Right?

The Horsemen Approach

Have you heard of the Four Horsemen? The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Conquest, War, Famine and Death, are described in the last chapter of the Bible as harbingers of final judgement of God over all people. However, I’m not speaking of these horsemen. Rather, I’m referring to the self-styled Four Horsemen known as the torch-bearers of the “New Atheists” movement: Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. These four scientists claim to represent critical thinking, knowledge and reason. Disagree with their thinking and you must be an irrational, delusional religious fanatic. After all, they represent science. 

The most famous of the Four Horseman is Professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford University. A prolific author, Dawkins is best known for his book “The God Delusion”. He also occasionally gives public lectures. I remember hearing of one of his lectures a few years ago. 

The Horseman Speaks

I was sitting in my office in the School of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, an office with narrow slits of windows letting in a little daylight, a building that is perpetually either too hot or too cold, having been designed with a monstrously over-powered air-conditioning system for the vacuum tube computers of years gone by. This building, the hallowed halls of learning, the zenith of Western Civilization, is not named after Alan Turing, the famous scientist from Manchester who came up with a universal theory of computation. Instead, it is named after Tom Kilburn, the engineer who built the first stored program computer, highlighting the difference between science and engineering. Scientists come up with ideas, but it is the engineers that make them actually work and create technology. Engineering is applied science. 

While sitting at my desk, Mikel, a friend and fellow PhD student, came in wearing a large backpack. I waited until he sat down and caught his breath, then asked him where he just came from. He explained he was at Oxford University for a public lecture by Richard Dawkins. I then asked what he thought of the lecture, expecting a rant about how Dawkins was brilliantly condemning religion, especially the Catholic Church. Mikel was a staunch atheists with a special axe to grind against the Catholic Church, an organization quite prominent in his home country of Spain. I enjoyed these rants, as they were quite entertaining and often led to interesting friendly arguments between the two of us.

Much to my surprise, however, Mikel said he was disappointed by Dawkins’ talk. Mikel explained that he was expecting Dawkins to make some good arguments for atheism, but instead the Professor was using emotional language and preaching like a Bible-basher. According to Mikel, Dawkins sounded as much as a religious fanatic, as the religious leaders he was speaking against with such “religious” fever. 

I remember this incident because it taught me of the insidiousness the Western materialistic scientific worldview. Matter is imbued with extraordinary secret powers. The material universe can come from nothing by magic, life can arise from matter by accident, and consciousness can arise from the brain by biochemical reaction. These claims are true, because, well, they just are.

Science is True

Let us examine a few of the ideas of materialistic science. I was quite astounded when I first learnt of each of these, reacting with a “wow, I would never have thought!”

It is common knowledge that the Earth orbits around the Sun. The Earth as the center of the Universe is an archaic idea, an outdated concept, one that no one believes in anymore. Western scientists as far back as Copernicus have discovered that actually the Sun is in the center and the Earth orbits around that. 

But not so fast. If we dig a bit deeper we learn that accepted wisdom is false. The Earth actually orbits around the gravitational center of the solar system. Large planets such as Jupiter and Saturn, pull on the Earth with their enormous gravitational force. This causes the central point of orbit to vary greatly. Indeed, it is almost never being centered directly on the Sun. We can go further still. Let us take into account that our entire solar system is orbiting around the galactic core, and our galaxy, in turn, is probably moving and orbiting in some undiscovered pattern around other galaxies. So, why do we believe one childish simplification of the structure of the universe (Sun is the center) in favor of another (Earth is the center)?

To quote Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi:

"Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

There is more scientific “truth” that falls into this hazy realm, a realm of generally accepted scientific wisdom, a place of theories that no one has ever verified by observation and theories which are impossible to verify by observation.

One such hypothesis is the big bang theory. It proclaims to explain the origin of matter, time and space, but it seems highly unlikely that anyone will be able to stage an experiment to verify what actually happened at the beginning of the universe.

Then there is macro-evolution. A species is defined as a group of life-forms that can interbreed producing fertile offspring. Evolution claims that species evolve into other species, yet scientists have never observed any animal evolving into a new creature that no longer can interbreed with members of its previous species).

The last question we will tackle is the origin of life, and the origin of consciousness. How best to get to the bottom of these mysteries and know for sure? Could such a thing even be possible? Believe it or not, I see very good reasons to be optimistic about solving these conundrums.

Science is becoming more Scientific

Why do I see reasons to be optimistic? Two reasons, each converging on the other, as if seeking to merge in a wonderful fusion of spiritual and material knowledge.

On the spiritual side: we are rediscovering ancient spiritual knowledge that gives a detailed scientific account of life, the universe and consciousness. More on this a bit later on.

On the material side: some scientists are beginning to remove the blinders of materialism, considering that perhaps there might be more to the universe than just matter. Chinks are beginning to appear in the armor of the Western materialist worldview. People are beginning to realize that money does not buy happiness, unlimited economic growth is unsustainable, and something as subtle as consciousness plays a significant role in the laws of physics. Scientists are realizing there is a great need for scientific research to answer fundamental questions such as: What is consciousness? How can we become more conscious? What is happiness? How can we become more happy?

In short, science is realizing that true science can and should be open to the study of everything and scientific spiritual knowledge is eagerly waiting to be rediscovered by open-minded scientists. Wonderful! 

Vedas: Knowledge of Everything

I first came across the Vedic wisdom ancient India in the year 2000 while studying at the University of Southampton. I stumbled upon a university club dedicated to studying and applying the knowledge contained in the Vedas. “Veda” literally means knowledge, and the many books that encompass the Vedic literature indeed contain a great deal of knowledge.

One of the many pearls of timeless Vedic wisdom is that real spiritual knowledge should be scientific. The Vedas teach how to use scientific methods to study and understand spirituality. This was an intriguing proposition. I had always admired the rigor of scientific knowledge, and here was a way to apply that methodology to the big questions of life (who am I, why are we here, etc.) 

The Vedic wisdom explains the mystery of conscious as follows.

“O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.”

- Bhagavad-Gita 13.34

That is the basis of scientific spiritual teachings. The body only functions when there is consciousness, without consciousness there can be no life. At the same time, the conscious entity is a separate thing from the material body. Some interpretations of quantum mechanics lead to similar conclusions.

Happiness, proof in the pudding

Everyone wants to be happy. The United States of America was founded on the promises of the right to the “pursuit of happiness.” Yet it offers no clue on how someone might go about finding happiness. Indeed, that is one of the great mysterious of life. What will make me happy?

It turns out that happiness is one of the key factors in the scientific approach to spiritual knowledge. The Vedic knowledge explains a step-by-step process for finding happiness, happiness with a very distinct flavor, happiness unlike any previously experienced, happiness that is, quite literally, out of this world.

Here is a quote from a Vedic scripture on the topic of happiness.

“Some say that people will be happy by performing pious religious activities. Others say that happiness is attained through fame, sense gratification, truthfulness, self-control, peace, self-interest, political influence, opulence, renunciation, consumption, sacrifice, penance, charity, vows, regulated duties or strict disciplinary regulation. Each process has its proponents." 

- Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.10

All the persons I have just mentioned obtain temporary fruits from their material work. Indeed, the meager and miserable situations they achieve bring future unhappiness and are based on ignorance. Even while enjoying the fruits of their work, such persons are filled with lamentation.  

O learned Uddhava, those who fix their consciousness on Me [Krishna], giving up all material desires, share with Me a happiness that cannot possibly be experienced by those engaged in sense gratification.”

- Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.14.12

This quote acknowledges various approaches to attaining happiness, ultimately recommending the approach of fixing one’s consciousness upon Krishna, Krishna being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, universally revered throughout the Vedic literature. The happiness experienced during this practice of “Krishna Consciousness” is markedly different from the happiness experienced through so many other activities. Here we have a scientific hypothesis: happiness in Krishna Consciousness is distinct from the happiness experienced when pleasing the senses.

“Hold on!” you might say, “happiness is a subjective experience, not something that can be objectively measured. Science only deals with things that are objectively measurable.” True enough, but consciousness is an entirely subjective experience, and that is exactly what we are trying to study here. We have to cast off the shackles of materialistic science to make progress is this exciting new field of spiritual science. Just because something is not objectively measurable does not mean it does not exist, and certainly does not mean we should not endeavor to study it. Otherwise, if we neglected to study anything new and unknown, how could we make any progress?

Process

So how does one make process in this exciting realm where science and spirituality coalesce? The Vedic wisdom suggests an approach.

“Now hear, O son of Pr?th?, how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt.”

- Bhagavad-Gita 7.1

Here Krishna is speaking in the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita. He is explaining a scientific yoga process for understanding His nature. This process is more than just physical exercise. Yoga is a complete system for self-realization where the physical yoga postures are only one small part of the routine, there to make the practitioner fit to dive deeper into the complete system, culminating in complete absorption in the spiritual energy, resulting in full consciousness of Krishna beyond any doubt. So, at the end of a systematic process we have scientific proof. 

The process Krishna mentions involves integrating Krishna consciousness into everyday activities, aligning them with Krishna’s desires. Krishna recommends, reading about him, chanting of special Vedic mantras, contemplating the spiritual science and ultimately dedicating all one’s actions for a spiritual purpose. At the end of the process, the result should speak for itself.

As the Nobel Prize winning quantum physicists Werner Heisenberg has famously said: 

“The first gulp from the glass of the natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”

Scientific Spirituality
→ Home

Science is Great

Science is great! Science helps us understand the world, cure diseases, build great things like computers, mobile devices, skyscrapers, and jet airplanes. It is useful, fascinating and magical. Indeed, sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, as the physicist and science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke famously said.

Moreover, additional benefits of science include wonderful inventions like coal-fired power plants, automobiles, and industrial farming, all allowing humans to do great things like destroy the rainforest, raise the temperature of the entire planet, and cause mass extinctions, clearly undesirable side effects of science. However, science will surely be able to solve the problem it has created. Take the Toyota Prius, for example, a wonder of technology, a hybrid car that is extremely fuel efficient. While it still uses fuel like any other car, it is much better than the gas-guzzlers of yesteryear. So good that its “fuel efficiency” is close to that of a horse. With a few more years of scientific advances, we will surely be able to make cars that run on nearly nothing, re-grow the rainforest and clone extinct species back into existence. So, science is great. Right?

The Horsemen Approach

Have you heard of the Four Horsemen? The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Conquest, War, Famine and Death, are described in the last chapter of the Bible as harbingers of final judgement of God over all people. However, I’m not speaking of these horsemen. Rather, I’m referring to the self-styled Four Horsemen known as the torch-bearers of the “New Atheists” movement: Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. These four scientists claim to represent critical thinking, knowledge and reason. Disagree with their thinking and you must be an irrational, delusional religious fanatic. After all, they represent science. 

The most famous of the Four Horseman is Professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford University. A prolific author, Dawkins is best known for his book “The God Delusion”. He also occasionally gives public lectures. I remember hearing of one of his lectures a few years ago. 

The Horseman Speaks

I was sitting in my office in the School of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, an office with narrow slits of windows letting in a little daylight, a building that is perpetually either too hot or too cold, having been designed with a monstrously over-powered air-conditioning system for the vacuum tube computers of years gone by. This building, the hallowed halls of learning, the zenith of Western Civilization, is not named after Alan Turing, the famous scientist from Manchester who came up with a universal theory of computation. Instead, it is named after Tom Kilburn, the engineer who built the first stored program computer, highlighting the difference between science and engineering. Scientists come up with ideas, but it is the engineers that make them actually work and create technology. Engineering is applied science. 

While sitting at my desk, Mikel, a friend and fellow PhD student, came in wearing a large backpack. I waited until he sat down and caught his breath, then asked him where he just came from. He explained he was at Oxford University for a public lecture by Richard Dawkins. I then asked what he thought of the lecture, expecting a rant about how Dawkins was brilliantly condemning religion, especially the Catholic Church. Mikel was a staunch atheists with a special axe to grind against the Catholic Church, an organization quite prominent in his home country of Spain. I enjoyed these rants, as they were quite entertaining and often led to interesting friendly arguments between the two of us.

Much to my surprise, however, Mikel said he was disappointed by Dawkins’ talk. Mikel explained that he was expecting Dawkins to make some good arguments for atheism, but instead the Professor was using emotional language and preaching like a Bible-basher. According to Mikel, Dawkins sounded as much as a religious fanatic, as the religious leaders he was speaking against with such “religious” fever. 

I remember this incident because it taught me of the insidiousness the Western materialistic scientific worldview. Matter is imbued with extraordinary secret powers. The material universe can come from nothing by magic, life can arise from matter by accident, and consciousness can arise from the brain by biochemical reaction. These claims are true, because, well, they just are.

Science is True

Let us examine a few of the ideas of materialistic science. I was quite astounded when I first learnt of each of these, reacting with a “wow, I would never have thought!”

It is common knowledge that the Earth orbits around the Sun. The Earth as the center of the Universe is an archaic idea, an outdated concept, one that no one believes in anymore. Western scientists as far back as Copernicus have discovered that actually the Sun is in the center and the Earth orbits around that. 

But not so fast. If we dig a bit deeper we learn that accepted wisdom is false. The Earth actually orbits around the gravitational center of the solar system. Large planets such as Jupiter and Saturn, pull on the Earth with their enormous gravitational force. This causes the central point of orbit to vary greatly. Indeed, it is almost never being centered directly on the Sun. We can go further still. Let us take into account that our entire solar system is orbiting around the galactic core, and our galaxy, in turn, is probably moving and orbiting in some undiscovered pattern around other galaxies. So, why do we believe one childish simplification of the structure of the universe (Sun is the center) in favor of another (Earth is the center)?

To quote Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi:

"Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

There is more scientific “truth” that falls into this hazy realm, a realm of generally accepted scientific wisdom, a place of theories that no one has ever verified by observation and theories which are impossible to verify by observation.

One such hypothesis is the big bang theory. It proclaims to explain the origin of matter, time and space, but it seems highly unlikely that anyone will be able to stage an experiment to verify what actually happened at the beginning of the universe.

Then there is macro-evolution. A species is defined as a group of life-forms that can interbreed producing fertile offspring. Evolution claims that species evolve into other species, yet scientists have never observed any animal evolving into a new creature that no longer can interbreed with members of its previous species).

The last question we will tackle is the origin of life, and the origin of consciousness. How best to get to the bottom of these mysteries and know for sure? Could such a thing even be possible? Believe it or not, I see very good reasons to be optimistic about solving these conundrums.

Science is becoming more Scientific

Why do I see reasons to be optimistic? Two reasons, each converging on the other, as if seeking to merge in a wonderful fusion of spiritual and material knowledge.

On the spiritual side: we are rediscovering ancient spiritual knowledge that gives a detailed scientific account of life, the universe and consciousness. More on this a bit later on.

On the material side: some scientists are beginning to remove the blinders of materialism, considering that perhaps there might be more to the universe than just matter. Chinks are beginning to appear in the armor of the Western materialist worldview. People are beginning to realize that money does not buy happiness, unlimited economic growth is unsustainable, and something as subtle as consciousness plays a significant role in the laws of physics. Scientists are realizing there is a great need for scientific research to answer fundamental questions such as: What is consciousness? How can we become more conscious? What is happiness? How can we become more happy?

In short, science is realizing that true science can and should be open to the study of everything and scientific spiritual knowledge is eagerly waiting to be rediscovered by open-minded scientists. Wonderful! 

Vedas: Knowledge of Everything

I first came across the Vedic wisdom ancient India in the year 2000 while studying at the University of Southampton. I stumbled upon a university club dedicated to studying and applying the knowledge contained in the Vedas. “Veda” literally means knowledge, and the many books that encompass the Vedic literature indeed contain a great deal of knowledge.

One of the many pearls of timeless Vedic wisdom is that real spiritual knowledge should be scientific. The Vedas teach how to use scientific methods to study and understand spirituality. This was an intriguing proposition. I had always admired the rigor of scientific knowledge, and here was a way to apply that methodology to the big questions of life (who am I, why are we here, etc.) 

The Vedic wisdom explains the mystery of conscious as follows.

“O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.”

- Bhagavad-Gita 13.34

That is the basis of scientific spiritual teachings. The body only functions when there is consciousness, without consciousness there can be no life. At the same time, the conscious entity is a separate thing from the material body. Some interpretations of quantum mechanics lead to similar conclusions.

Happiness, proof in the pudding

Everyone wants to be happy. The United States of America was founded on the promises of the right to the “pursuit of happiness.” Yet it offers no clue on how someone might go about finding happiness. Indeed, that is one of the great mysterious of life. What will make me happy?

It turns out that happiness is one of the key factors in the scientific approach to spiritual knowledge. The Vedic knowledge explains a step-by-step process for finding happiness, happiness with a very distinct flavor, happiness unlike any previously experienced, happiness that is, quite literally, out of this world.

Here is a quote from a Vedic scripture on the topic of happiness.

“Some say that people will be happy by performing pious religious activities. Others say that happiness is attained through fame, sense gratification, truthfulness, self-control, peace, self-interest, political influence, opulence, renunciation, consumption, sacrifice, penance, charity, vows, regulated duties or strict disciplinary regulation. Each process has its proponents." 

- Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.10

All the persons I have just mentioned obtain temporary fruits from their material work. Indeed, the meager and miserable situations they achieve bring future unhappiness and are based on ignorance. Even while enjoying the fruits of their work, such persons are filled with lamentation.  

O learned Uddhava, those who fix their consciousness on Me [Krishna], giving up all material desires, share with Me a happiness that cannot possibly be experienced by those engaged in sense gratification.”

- Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.14.12

This quote acknowledges various approaches to attaining happiness, ultimately recommending the approach of fixing one’s consciousness upon Krishna, Krishna being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, universally revered throughout the Vedic literature. The happiness experienced during this practice of “Krishna Consciousness” is markedly different from the happiness experienced through so many other activities. Here we have a scientific hypothesis: happiness in Krishna Consciousness is distinct from the happiness experienced when pleasing the senses.

“Hold on!” you might say, “happiness is a subjective experience, not something that can be objectively measured. Science only deals with things that are objectively measurable.” True enough, but consciousness is an entirely subjective experience, and that is exactly what we are trying to study here. We have to cast off the shackles of materialistic science to make progress is this exciting new field of spiritual science. Just because something is not objectively measurable does not mean it does not exist, and certainly does not mean we should not endeavor to study it. Otherwise, if we neglected to study anything new and unknown, how could we make any progress?

Process

So how does one make process in this exciting realm where science and spirituality coalesce? The Vedic wisdom suggests an approach.

“Now hear, O son of Pr?th?, how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt.”

- Bhagavad-Gita 7.1

Here Krishna is speaking in the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad-Gita. He is explaining a scientific yoga process for understanding His nature. This process is more than just physical exercise. Yoga is a complete system for self-realization where the physical yoga postures are only one small part of the routine, there to make the practitioner fit to dive deeper into the complete system, culminating in complete absorption in the spiritual energy, resulting in full consciousness of Krishna beyond any doubt. So, at the end of a systematic process we have scientific proof. 

The process Krishna mentions involves integrating Krishna consciousness into everyday activities, aligning them with Krishna’s desires. Krishna recommends, reading about him, chanting of special Vedic mantras, contemplating the spiritual science and ultimately dedicating all one’s actions for a spiritual purpose. At the end of the process, the result should speak for itself.

As the Nobel Prize winning quantum physicists Werner Heisenberg has famously said: 

“The first gulp from the glass of the natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”

The Help Everyone Needs
→ Matsya Avatar das adhikari


The path of spiritual evolution is marked by different phases, breakthroughs,  deviations and stagnations, falls, imprisonments and  progressive liberations.
Even the man who has testified the important improvements on the path of spiritual realization and is sincere in his intention to evolve, is still bound to make mistakes and therefore is subject to karmic conseguences due to the remaining unsolved conditionings. 
However it is at the time of crisis that a person needs our affection more than ever, needs our help through comprehension  and forgiveness in order to try once again and overcome the limits, that had been structured in the numerous past lives.
As I have been observing for decades, the persons meet a lot of difficulties along the path of evolution, and it is rare that one proceeds steadily and coherently, rather everyone makes steps backwards and forwards according to one's peculiar characteristics: the individuals most advanced in the inner growth are those who make more steps forwards than backwards.
Through their walking towards spiritual love and perfection all these souls in the prakriti world need encouragement, most of all when they are in the process of rolling back. A sincere help received at the most crucial moments of life is the best call in order to carry on along the right path.

The Help Everyone Needs
→ Matsya Avatar das adhikari


The path of spiritual evolution is marked by different phases, breakthroughs,  deviations and stagnations, falls, imprisonments and  progressive liberations.
Even the man who has testified the important improvements on the path of spiritual realization and is sincere in his intention to evolve, is still bound to make mistakes and therefore is subject to karmic conseguences due to the remaining unsolved conditionings. 
However it is at the time of crisis that a person needs our affection more than ever, needs our help through comprehension  and forgiveness in order to try once again and overcome the limits, that had been structured in the numerous past lives.
As I have been observing for decades, the persons meet a lot of difficulties along the path of evolution, and it is rare that one proceeds steadily and coherently, rather everyone makes steps backwards and forwards according to one's peculiar characteristics: the individuals most advanced in the inner growth are those who make more steps forwards than backwards.
Through their walking towards spiritual love and perfection all these souls in the prakriti world need encouragement, most of all when they are in the process of rolling back. A sincere help received at the most crucial moments of life is the best call in order to carry on along the right path.

Duchess of Cambridge’s baby: It’s a girl!
→ The Vaishnava Voice

I have been a bit surprised at the level of media interest in the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy. From all over the world reporters have descended on London, crowding the streets outside the private Edward VII hospital where Kate was admitted two days ago with acute morning sickness. Congratulations are certainly in order, although traditionally not offered until after the safe period of three months has elapsed.

The child  - now known to be a girl – will be third in line to the throne, although why this fact should be of interest to the world is a mystery to me. The longevity of our current monarch means that those in the royal line may never be monarchs themselves, no matter their legitimate claim to the throne. Whatever the reason for the intense interest, this royal baby must be already the most famous embryo in the world. Its a superlative level of real fame when everyone’s talking about you – and your physical body is not yet formed.

One of the most famous embryos in the history of the world was the child of Uttara and Abhimanyu, Pariksit by name. He was the grandson of the celebrated Arjuna – another royal – and even in the womb he was attacked. When Krishna gave him mystical protection, his life was spared and he lived to become famous as the great hearer of the Bhagavata Purana. His name means ‘the examiner’ as he was always looking at people’s faces to see whether he could recognise the Person who saved him in the womb.

While Kate’s foetus, barely 12 weeks in existence is already being personified as ‘a girl,’  and ‘royalty,’ just streets away from the Edward VII Hospital another foetus – another little girl – of 24 weeks will tonight be cut from her mother’s womb, de-personified as ’tissue’ and thrown away.

Only when all little girls, inside or outside the womb, are venerated as princesses will we be able to call ourselves a civilized society.


Creating a Masterpiece
→ Undoing Reality

The human spirit craves mastery over its carnal shell.  There is an intoxicating feeling of control derived from flesh altering practices.  But we must ask ourselves, “Why are we not satisfied with the body given to us? ”   We have tattooing, body piercing, plastic surgery, body building, and transgendering.  Also people resort to bulimia and anorexia to satisfy the need for the perfect body.  When people want to change their bodies or their minds, they join the gym, go to the beauty salon, visit a medium or psychic, or psychotherapists.  All these things will change the shell but not the person within who remains at a constant equilibrium despite the changes wrought upon its frame.

“I can tell you what you need to be perfect.”  How many industries make their profit on making you feel good and look good?   Business is based on supply and demand. When there is a demand for something, be sure that a business will spring up to make money meeting it!  Our desire for self-improvement has sprung up industries that would shock generations going back even 100 years ago.  As human perfection has taken on a new meaning, ideals and virtues that reflect the character of a person are becoming less and less important.

A bird in a cage is a good metaphor to use.The cage is the material body, the carnal shell and the bird is us. Today’s society focuses on the cage and not the bird within.  We have to take responsibility to release the bird from it’s cage, and desist on

trying to make a masterpiece by altering our bodies in the myriads of fashions available.   Create a masterpiece by changing our consciousness, escaping the cage of this body.

Be Prepared…for the Atheist Boy Scouts
→ The Vaishnava Voice

Here’s the news today, as relayed by the Theos website:

The Scout Association has launched a consultation to gauge support among members for an alternate atheist Scout promise, removing the invocation of a deity. At the same time, the Guide Association, the parallel movement which began two years later, is to launch a consultation about its very similar promise, with views sought on all parts of the wording from early January.

The current version of the Scout promise reads: “On my honour, I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God and to the Queen, to help other people and to keep the Scout law.”

My thoughts about this, should my dear readers be interested, is that yes, on the one hand the consultation simply reflects the reality that boys can be atheists at a young age, and why shouldn’t they be allowed to be Scouts if they’re atheists? Does faith in God really help in putting up that tent, after all? Will their compasses no longer point to the true north if they don’t believe in a deity?

On the other hand, the Scouts were founded by someone who obviously believed that faith was important in the building of a young man’s character. Its not all about rubbing sticks together to make a fire, tying knots and singing ging-gang-gooly; its about the many-layers of development that go into formation of character and making us fully-rounded human beings. Spirituality being one of them.

Lord Baden-Powell had just come through the Boer War when he formed the Boy Scouts in 1908. He took the existence of God as a truth, felt the recognition of God and duty to Him to be a prerequisite of character formation, and that’s why the Scouts promise was written as it is. Perhaps – as ‘BP’ and my own grandfather did – you have to be pinned down by an opposing army and pray to God for help before you realise you’re not alone in the universe.

The sinking feeling I had when reading this news is that it was yet another indication of Britain’s swing away from the very legitimacy of having ‘deity’ as a useful part of life, and towards an unofficial adoption of atheism as a standard, and more logical, disposition. Once we start that, full de-legitimisation of religion per se – as in North Korea – comes very quickly. Within 100 years we could see religion done away with completely.

Long before that, of course, the Scouts will also have dropped pledging their allegiance to the monarchy, (a remnant of Biblical notions) and the salute of the Union flag (since it is based upon three Christian symbols and therefore highly suspect) will have been also dismissed.


Travel Journal#8.18: Ukraine Festival, Bavaria, British Harinamas
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk


Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 18
By Krishna-kripa das
(September 2012, part two)
Ukraine Festival, Bavaria, British Harinamas
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on December 3, 2012)

Apologies

I have been so busy proofreading, doing evening programs, and going on additional harinamas and kirtana events, I am two months behind on this journal. I hope to really focus on it and catch up by the end of the year and not fall behind next year.

Where I Was and What I Did

The last half of September was wonderful because of all the good spiritual association at the Ukraine festival, where I collected many jewels from the swamis to share with you. After that Trevor, my harinama and traveling partner, and I went to Warsaw for Radhastami. I continued on to attend the last two days of the 30th anniversary of the installation of Prahlada-Nrsimha at Simhachalam, our Bavarian Hare Krishna farm, which ended with the first annual Passau Ratha-yatra. Then I flew to London where the book distributors shared their realizations from their Radhastami book marathon. The next day I began traveling with Janananda Goswami and his followers, doing harinama in and around Manchester, England, for the beginning of the World Holy Name Festival. I offer thanks to Vishnujana Prabhu for the photos of the Ukraine Festival and the Passau Ratha-yatra.

The insights this time begin with Srila Prabhupada quotes from books and lectures, and includes nectar by lots of swamis attending the Ukraine festival, such as Bhaktivaibhava Swami, Bhanu Swami, Candramauli Swami, Devamrita Swtami, Indradyumna Swami, Niranjana Swami, Prahladananda Swami, and Sivarama Swami. There are also notes from Warsaw’s Radhastami and Bavaria’s Prahlada-Nrsimha installation anniversary festivals. As usual, there is material from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s journal and his books, this time including lots of prayers, and there are lectures by Janananda Goswami in The North of England as well.

Itinerary

Dec. 3–5, 2012: Gainesville, FL
Dec. 6, 2012: Jacksonville, FL (UNF)
Dec. 7, 2012: Philadelphia and New York
Dec. 8–9, 2012: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja
Dec. 10–23, 2012: Serving SDG in Stuyvesant, NY
Dec. 24–25, 2012: Visiting family in Albany, NY
Dec. 26, 2012–
Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City
Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

Bhakti Sangama (Ukraine Festival) 2012


I went to the Ukraine festival for the eighth consecutive year. Formerly in Odessa, the last few years, it has been held outside Evpatoriya, on the coast of the Black Sea, an hour or so from Simferopol, in Crimea. The festival has many nice features for me. Niranjana Swami, who invited me to live in the NYC temple back in 1979, is almost always there, and it is always nice to see and hear from him. 


Many other swamis I know and like also come there regularly. This year Bhaktivaibhava Swami, B. B. Govinda Swami, Candramauli Swami, Devamrita Swami, Indradyumna Swami, Prahladananda Swami, and Sivarama Swami were also there. This year Madhavananda Prabhu came for the first time. There are three hours of kirtana every night. The last three years Madhava Prabhu has come to participate in that. I know some of the devotees from Indradyumna Swami’s Festival of India in Poland, and it is nice to see them again. Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, my diksa guru, has some disciples there who are always coming out with new titles in Russian, and it nice to encourage them in their service. Every year more people come to the festival, and this year there were 7,000. The devotees have such a nice service attitude there, I always feel very welcome. The weather was perfect every day this year, sunny and warm. There are so many good speakers, you can never attend all the seminars you want to, but you always hear lots of spiritual knowledge you can apply in your life and share with others, and you can find some of it under “Insights” below.

I got to talk to some of the swamis I have known for years, and Candramauli Swami and Prahladananda Swami encouraged me in my program focusing on just a couple places and trying to assist with our outreach there, as Niranjana Swami, my siksa guru, advised me. The places I choose are Newcastle in The North of England, by the invitation of Janananda Goswami, and Gainesville, Florida, my home for several years.

At the Ukraine festival, the morning program kirtanas, especially guru-puja, and the evening kirtana, are so powerful with many devotees participating and are always a highlight for me. During guru-puja I would recall how Srila Prabhupada came to Moscow and talked to one Russian, who became a devotee, and now in Ukraine, part of the former USSR, forty years later, there is a yearly festival with seven thousand people and in Russia a festival with over ten thousand people. Such is the influence of the pure devotee of the Lord. It was spiritually very enlivening to witness that amazing result.

Harinamas from Ukraine to Germany

Andre, who we knew from the Polish tour and other Ukraine festivals, kindly arranged us a ride to the Simferopol train station with devotees in a car with plenty of room and horsepower. The two devotees who came with us did not know English but had an iPad with Russian-English translation and communicated to us in that way. After we loaded our bags on the train, I decided to chant for the twenty minutes on the platform before we left. The two devotees who brought us there sang along for several minutes before going on their way. Several people looked with curiosity and some took pictures. The conductor motioned it was time to get aboard when there was still almost ten minutes till the train was to leave, but at least some harinama went on. At the first lengthy stop on the train, Trevor and I chanted for ten minutes or so, as people bought and sold things, smoked cigarettes and got some fresh air during the break, and again, a few people looked with curiosity and took pictures, and no one hindered our chanting.

Three or four times on the trains to and from the Ukraine festival, I would get out and chant like this when we stopped for fifteen minutes or more. No one protested, although occasionally, the conductor indicated it was time to get back on the train five or ten minutes early. Some people would always stand and listen, others would smile, and still others would take pictures.

The several times I have crossed the border from Shegyni, Ukraine, to Medyka, Poland, there has always been a minibus waiting to take people to the Przemysl train station to continue their journey through Poland. This time there was just a crowd of people hanging out, some of them selling liquor and cigarettes. I assumed some of them were waiting for the minibus, so I decided to play harmonium and chant while waiting. After a while, Trevor got out his karatalas, and we had a kirtana with about fifty people surrounding us. I chanted some more, and then let Trevor take over. Some people took pictures and others took movies, some for many minutes. A couple of men danced a bit. I saw a bus across the street and wondered if it went to the train station, assuming if it did, it would stop here where people were waiting. Then a lady informed me in Polish that it was the bus to Przemysl and the bus stop was across the street and some thirty meters away. We stopped singing abruptly and ran to catch the bus. As Trevor packed up his harmonium, some people gave him some kind of sugar candy as a gift. We must have chanted half an hour.

Trevor stayed in Warsaw where we spent Radhastami in the association of many friends from the Polish tour. I continued to Simhachalam for the end of the 30th anniversary of the Prahlad Nrsimha installation.

I took a train from Warsaw to Czech Republic, changing trains in different places, including Brno, where I chanted at the station during the morning rush hour and three large trainloads of commuters got to hear the Hare Krishna mantra as they rushed to work and a bum gave a couple of small donations. I then took Czech trains to the last stop near the German border, and walked to the town of Haldmühle where I chanted with my harmonium by the side of the road as I waited almost an hour for the devotees to pick me up and drive me to Simhacalam. Two ladies came by at different times, one clearly a senior citizen. One gave a 10 euro donation and the other gave a couple euros. One of them was chanting Hare Krishna as she walked away. I was amazed to see such appreciation for the chanting in a small rural Bavarian village.

I had been on trains for seventeen hours from Warsaw to the German border, and had only done two hours of harinama, in one each in Brno and Haldmühle, so when Advaita Gauranga Prabhu, my driver to Simhachalam told me he was going on book distribution after dropping me off at the temple, I suggested I could go with him and we might do harinama at the same time. He recruited another harinama devotee and another book distributor, and I grabbed a large plate of the super excellent festival prasadam from Simhachalam, which included srikhand, one of my favorite sweets, and we drove to the nearby town of Waldkirchen, and chanted and distributed books for an hour before the evening kirtana. A few people smiled, but in general, you could understand people were uncertain and unfamiliar. I think that not too much harinama has happened in Waldkirchen. Still it was great to go out and complete my program of trying to chant three hours a day.

Passau Ratha-yatra


In my travels I see Lord Jagannatha and His associates are performing the Ratha-yatra pastime in more and more cities each year. In 2007 Ratha-yatra came to Brno, CZ, and in 2008 to Prague, CZ, in 2009 to Wroclaw, PL, in 2011 to Hamburg, Germany, and now in 2012 to Passau, Germany, the nearest city to Simhachalam, our Bavarian Nrsimha farm.


Hare Krishna guru and scholar, Krishna Ksetra Prabhu, seen playing harmonium above, blessed the event by his presence, and there were a number of devotees mostly from Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland.


People at the sidewalk cafes were attracted by the unusual site of Lord Jagannatha and His cart, and His associates.


I was with my friends Vishnujana and Gaura Karuna Prabhus, who really like harinama, and we chanted around Passau both before and after the Ratha-yatra for practically an hour each time.

Soho Street Devotees Remember Their Radhastami Book Distribution Marathon

Saci Kishore Prabhu:
I do not have the ability to convince people take books. But doing book distribution is an opportunity for me to see Krishna working His magic.

Bhakta Lawry:
I was distributing books at one location where there was a man on the roof who was threatening to jump off and a crowd watching. There were people who were shouting “Jump. Jump.” I couldn’t believe it. I distributed books for several hours. Then I heard a scream when the person actually jumped. One man who passed by later said, “I missed all the fun.” I was shocked to see how people were so degraded they were taking pleasure in man’s mental anguish and suicide. This age is becoming worse and worse.

Bhakta Alexi:
I met two people who were dumb and could not speak. A devotee had taught me the hand gestures for the language of the dumb. I taught them the mantra using this and they learned it. They gave a donation and took a book.

World Holy Name Festival, Part I

Once a year, usually in September, the Hare Krishna movement really tries to increase its program of congregational chanting, both in the temple and outside. Janananda Goswami, my authority in The North of England, is committed to harinama, the congregational chanting of Hare Krishna in the streets of the towns, and he invited me to travel with him in The North of England and Scotland during The World Holy Name Festival this year.

Janananda Goswami really likes to go to places that we rarely or never go to and to small places, into addition to the metropolitan areas where we often chant.

One day, traveling between Manchester and Liverpool, we chanted in St. Helens and Prescot. I rarely distribute books, but in St. Helens, a couple people were so attracted by our kirtana, that even I was willing and able to sell them books.

Most amazing was a well attended Saturday harinama in Leeds, where we had so many enthusiastic devotees chanting on harinama that I was able to distribute five books without much endeavor.

Sunday, September 30, was my birthday, and I bought ingredients at the local shop to make laddus for the Manchester Sunday feast, as an offering to purify my birth. They came out really good by Krishna’s mercy. Janananda Goswami was so generous that he encouraged the congregation to support my program of traveling and doing harinama, and they were so kind, I got enough to pay over half the cost of my ticket to the USA and back for another summer in the UK. I thank all the Manchester congregation who kindly helped out in that way.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from a purport to SB 5.12.13:

The pure devotee is never interested in material topics. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has strictly prohibited His devotees to talk about worldly matters. Gramya-varta na kahibe: [Cc. Antya 6.236] one should not indulge in talking unnecessarily about news of the material world. One should not waste time in this way. This is a very important feature in the life of a devotee. A devotee has no other ambition than to serve Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This Krishna consciousness movement was started to engage people twenty-four hours daily in the service of the Lord and in His glorification. The students in this institution engage in the cultivation of Krishna consciousness from five in the morning to ten at night. They actually have no opportunity to waste their time unnecessarily by discussing politics, sociology and current events. These will go their own way. A devotee is concerned only with serving Krishna positively and seriously.

from a conversation with a guest, August 1973, in London, quoted in Back to Godhead, Vol. 46, No. 6, Nov./Dec. 2012:

“When you paint a flower with a brush, the brush is not the creator of that painting—you are the creator. Similarly, in the creation of a real flower, nature is only the brush, but the creator is God.”

from a lecture on Bhagavad-gita 9.15 in given in New York City on December 1, 1966, quoted in Back to Godhead, Vol. 46, No. 6, Nov./Dec. 2012:

We are very much proud of seeing, but as soon as the light is turned off, we cannot see. So our seeing is conditional. All our senses are conditional. Therefore they are imperfect. . . . Nobody can become a representative of Krishna, or God, without becoming His devotee. One who thinks “I am God” cannot become the representative
of God. Suppose you are a businessman and you send your representative to secure business. If he represents himself to the customer, “I am the proprietor,” how long can he continue? As soon as the master knows “This foolish man is representing himself as the proprietor of this firm,” he will cancel his employment at once. Because the so-called representative is cheating; he’s not the proprietor. Similarly, anyone who says “I am God” should not preach. . . . You cannot preach, “I am God.” Because if you promote yourself as God, then people may ask you, “If you are God, then show me your allpowerfulness.” That you cannot show. So you cannot preach, “I am God.”

from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.6 given in London on July 23, 1973:

One can ask questions of the guru once one has fully surrendered. Otherwise it will not act. Don’t waste your time.

In the beginning Arjuna has friendly talks with Krishna, but nothing was solved, and so Arjuna surrendered to Him as a disciple.

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.13.25, purport:

The whole world is revolving under the bodily conception; therefore there must be devotees all over the world to deliver people from the false bodily conception and fully
engage them in Krishna consciousness.

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.14.2, purport:

This Krishna consciousness movement is therefore teaching people to control the mind and five knowledge-acquiring senses by a definite process. One should practice a
little austerity and not spend money on anything other than the regulative life of devotional service. The senses demand that one see beautiful things; therefore money should be spent for decorating the Deity in the temple. Similarly, the tongue has to taste good food, which should be bought and offered to the Deity. The nose can be utilized in
smelling the flowers offered to the Deity, and the hearing can be utilized by listening to the vibration of the Hare Krishna mantra. In this way the senses can be regulated and utilized to advance Krishna consciousness.

Bhaktivaibhava Swami:

Incidents when we call out to Krishna and He protects us make our faith strong, but when we see so many people engaged in materialistic activities and we are very few, we may again have some doubt. These festivals where thousands of devotees chant together are therefore valuable. Actually this movement is meant for the masses. The more people join, the more ecstatic it becomes. This movement is meant to drown the entire world in the holy name.

Bhanu Swami:

In the material world, if we do not like our master, we can run away and find another master, but we can not run away from our eternal master, Krishna.

The master expresses gratitude for service, and the relationship is one of respect and love.

Sometimes people think that Krishna wants to exploit His servants like happens in the material world.

Krishna is master because He is the supreme controller and He knows everything.

When we say master, when mean a person, not an entity with no personal qualities.
Krishna does not need anyone or anything because he is made of bliss. Yet because he is compassionate, he shows perfect love.

Krishna reciprocates according one’s surrender and one’s favorable attitude. But because He is independent, He can break all the rules and show extraordinary mercy to an unqualified person as with Putana.

Krishna does not hate the demons—he enjoys fighting with them and He purifies them.

The prison is a manifestation of the government which is an attempt to reform the prisoners, although the prisoners may not appreciate that.

The Lord shows special compassion to those who recognize themselves as servants of the Lord.

Those who follow no rules for elevation are considered uncivilized. Better than them are those who follow the varnasrama guidelines or the karma-kanda path, but still their goal is the material world, and so the jnanis and yogis are better because their aim is beyond this world. The devotees are beyond these.

Krishna is not eager to give benefits that will disturb a person’s devotional service.

Krishna prefers pure devotional service, but he considers contaminated devotional service better than no devotional service. The mixed devotees get better reciprocation from Krishna than either the karmis or jnanis, but not the ultimate perfection that comes from pure devotional service.

Bhakti is the desire to please Krishna and nothing else.

When we perform sadhana, we are not trying to get something from Krishna for ourselves.

Sometimes people mix elements from other practices in with our bhakti, and if these do not obstruct the bhakti, they are not a problem.

Bhakti can also be mixed with the three modes of material nature, if we have motivations. The mode of ignorance causes us to harm others, the mode of passion causes us to desire material enjoyment.

In prema the devotee gives himself completely to Krishna, and Krishna gives Himself to the devotee. That is the highest bliss in which both the Lord and the jiva are satisfied.

Because Krishna is complete, the servant and master relationship transforms in different ways, with Krishna becoming equal as a friend, with Krishna becoming inferior as the son of Yasoda, or of Krishna surrendering completely, as with Radha. Still all the while Krishna remains the master and the devotee is the servant.

Vishnu is not a lesser God than Krishna because there is only one God. Vishnu has all the qualities of Krishna, but He does not manifest them in the form of Vishnu. Just as when you go to work, you show some qualities to your boss, but at home, you show more qualities to your family.

Shiva is isvara, the Lord, not jiva, an ordinary living entity, but he manifests fewer qualities than Vishnu, and therefore, is not on the same level. Although he appears to be contaminated by the mode of ignorance, having long hair and living near the crematorium, he always isvara, the Lord, and therefore factually transcendental to the modes of nature.

Saktyavesa-avataras, or empowered jivas, being jivas, are always servants, and thus can never become the Lord.

The conclusion is that Brahman and Paramatma exist and are included within the Lord and His name, and thus we can realize all these features of the Lord by chanting His holy name.

We should not accept food offered to the devatas (demigods) alone.

Demigods can be pleased by offering them the prasadam of Lord Vishnu.

Strictly speaking, Vishnu does not come from Krishna, nor Krishna from Vishnu, for they are both eternal. We say expansion because the expansion manifests fewer qualities.

Each Veda has four divisions: samhitas, brahmanas, aranyakas, and upanisads.

To blaspheme the scriptures or to come to the wrong conclusion about them are two ways we offend the scriptures.

The universal form of the Lord describing His bodily parts as features of the universe seems to be symbolic.

Candramauli Swami:

Prahlad Maharaja is embarrassed that Lord Nrsimha wants to offer him a benediction because he is happy serving.

It is the position of the living entities to be happy in service but that gets covered in the material world if we think of ourselves as only serving in a particular way.

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, when asked how many disciples he had, said none. They are all his teachers, and he learns something from each.

Balarama serves Krishna is each of the five rasas. In neutrality as the Lord’s paraphenalia and in conjugal love as Ananga Manjari.

Without concern for the object of service, it becomes routine.

When Lord Nrsimha persisted in offering a benediction to Prahlada Maharaja he asked to remain here to benefit the souls.

Four things block our progress in bhakti, the devotional service of the Lord:
1. Philosophical misconceptions.
2. Pious activities.
3. Impious activities.
4. Offenses.
According to Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his Madhurya Kadambini:

Misconceptions about bhakti are partially removed at bhajana-kriya, completely removed at nistha, and will not return at the stage of ruci (taste).

Sinful and pious desires are almost completely removed at bhajana-kriya, completely removed at nistha, and will not return at the platform of asakti (attachment).

Offenses are partially removed at the stage of bhajana kriya (spiritual practice), greatly removed at nistha (steadiness), almost completely removed at bhava (preliminary love of God), completely removed at prema (love of God), and will not return when one has attained shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord.

Jaya and Vijaya are evidence that offenses can still arise even at the stage of love of God.

We must become adosa-darsi, one who does not see the faults in others.
Harinama sankirtana can destroy all anarthas.
Bharata Maharaja’s defect was he did not have regular association with the devotees. If he did, seeing him so attached to the deer, they would have said, “Hey Bharata, you are in maya [illusion]!”
The holy name is Krishna, but Krishna is coming and going according to our consciousness.
There are so many things we can say about Krishna:
Krishna was born on Wednesday.
Krishna’s favorite sweet is rasgulla.
A nice exercise is to read something about Krishna and share with others each day.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said chanting without krishna-katha, is like Krishna without Radha (His internal potency).
Someone once requested Srila Prabhupada, “Please give me your mercy.” Prabhupada responded, “I am giving everyone my mercy. Just take it.” Association of the devotees is mercy, prasadam is mercy. Just take it.
There are two kinds of ruci. One in which one has a taste for hearing the kirtana if the melody is nice and the singing is nice, and one in which one has a taste for hearing the holy name regardless of the quality of singing or the melody.
We may make special endeavors to make Krishna available for others, but for ourselves, we do not make special endeavors for basic needs.
If Krishna wants, He provides what you need, and if he doesn’t provide, it just means that you did not need it, or you did not need it at that time.

Devamrita Swami:

Love of God is so exalted that even if it takes many hundreds of births to attain, it is still worth the price.

We are like children who do not know what we want, but it is difficult to admit that.

Once we understand that Krishna is the Supreme Enjoyer, we should also understand that He knows how to get the greatest love.

Yasoda never accepted that Krishna lifted the hill. She thought His father did it.

In the spiritual world, there is so much crying, anxiety, and pain, but it is all ecstatic. Do you still want to go?

You will learn how to be in anxiety in ecstasy, how to cry in ecstasy, and how to suffer the pain of separation in ecstasy.

Krishna is the butter thief, and Balarama is His assistant.

Krishna does not steal milk products because He wants to eat them, but rather because He just likes to steal.

Yasoda did not see the universes in Krishna’s mouth but in His belly, according Lord Brahma. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura said there was dirt His mouth as well as the whole universe, but seeing the entire universe distracted Yasoda from noticing the dirt.

The pure devotees’ accusations against Krishna are based on pure love, but our accusations against Krishna are based on frustration of material desires.

Q: Krishna’s pastimes sometimes seem like fairy tales.
A: Actually material life is a fairy tale. If you get this and that, you will be happy. Isn’t it a fairy tale?

Death for a devotee is a change of service. It may look like the death of a nondevotee just as food offered to Krishna may look like ordinary food, but there is a great difference. Srila Prabhupada used the analogy of the kitten and rat in the mouth of the cat to illustrate this point. The kitten feels protection in the mouth of the cat while the rat feels fear and imminent death. The body gets to the point where it cannot serve Krishna anymore. Why should we want to maintain it, if it can not longer serve Krishna?

Neophytes consider fulfillment of their desires for sense gratification to be Krishna’s mercy. But we should consider that Krishna’s mercy acts to increase our devotional service.

Krishna does not want us to enjoy material things because He has better things to give us but we are so stubborn, we do not believe it.

There is a story of a kid whose parents were so proud of their child’s devotion to Krishna they told the kid to give me his favorite toy truck. He came right up to me, but at the last moment, he could not do it and started crying. The parents thought he was just attached to that truck, so they arranged he give away a brand new truck, but at the last moment, he could not give that away either without crying.

Although a child, Prahlada knew the cause of spiritual destruction, material desire. He understood that not by experience gained in life but simply by hearing from his guru. Sometimes we have difficulty understanding that experience acquired through hearing is also experience.

Material desire is not some innocent thing but the cause of our ultimate destruction.

Srila Prabhupada explained in Bombay in 1977 that guru-puja is not just some ritual but the receiving of divine knowledge from the guru.

Krishna is expert at purifying devotees who have material desires. If Krishna could handle Kubja, He can handle you. Kubja was filled with desires to enjoy with Krishna in an materialistic way, but as she approached Him to embrace Him, she was purified of all material contamination by smelling the fragrance of His feet, and then she embraced Him as a completely liberated soul. If we cooperate with Krishna’s program, He can expertly purify us.

Indradyumna Swami:

Human life begins when we inquire beyond the body.

Because Krishna is unlimited, there are unlimited questions we can ask about Him. Unfortunately, we do not even know what to ask, so the great spiritual teachers teach us

Krishna consciousness is presented to us on a silver platter, but we do not take it.

Unless we know who we are, we cannot conduct our lives to live in a better way.

We should have learned at five years old that we are not our bodies but servants of Krishna.

As Srila Prabhupada is our ever well-wisher, we should be ever grateful.

Janananda Goswami:

There is nothing more powerful in life than love and devotion.

People are attracted to Hare Krishna because it touches something deeper in the heart.

The Bhagavad-gita wasn’t understood in the West for centuries for to understand it you have to practice the instructions in it.

Drama as “Rama” in it.

It is important to know how to apply knowledge.

Paul McCartney’s office is around the corner from our Soho temple, and he would regularly take prasadam.

Ananta Caturdasi is famous in South India in the Sri Sampradaya as the appearance day of their worshipable deity of Padmanabha.

The circumstances of the birth of Haridasa Thakura are not known in certainty or how he came to point of chanting 300,000 names of Krishna per day.

After the Brahma-vihomana-lila, Brahma went to Navadvipa and performed austerities desiring to be purified from his pride. Lord Caitanya appeared and said during His next appearance, Brahma would appear from a low-born family as Haridasa Thakura, and teach by his example that there is no material disqualification for chanting the holy name. In this way, it can be said that Haridasa Thakura was initiated into the chanting of the holy name and given the name Haridasa Thakura by Lord Caitanya before his appearance. 

Haridasa Thakura appeared about 36 years before Lord Caitanya, according to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.

Haridasa Thakura exemplified Lord Caitanya’s “Siksastakam,” be humble and tolerant, and no matter what, keep chanting.

Although Haridasa Thakura forgave Gopal Cakravarti for his offense, Gopal still had to suffer because he had defamed Haridasa Thakura in public. Had he made a public apology and had he glorified Haridasa Thakura to the same extent as he defamed him, he could have been completely relieved from any reaction to the offense.

With the strong association of devotees, the impossible can become possible.

Sannyasa means never alone, always remembering that Krishna is present.

Q: Some people says that the title “Goswami” is given to those who were previously married and then took “sannyasa” while the title “Swami” is given to sannyasis who were never married before.
A: As far as the sannyasis Srila Prabhupada initiated, that is not true in every case. Srila Prabhupada writes in a purport that the name does not change at sannyasa.

Sannyasa is a state of mind not just an order. You can be a grhastha and much more renounced than a sannyasi.

The consciousness that must be developed, whether one officially takes sannyasa or not, is to become more dependent on Krishna.

We have found millions of things to eat on Ekadasi. Devotees have discovered many tasty preparations without grains. You do not need to eat grains.

Five hundred Gitas were sold to a crowd of mostly students at the Boston hemp festival which coincides with the Hare Krishna festival in Boston for the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s original arrival in Boston in 1965.

The record in a gulabjamun eating contest in my experience was a mataji by the name of Subha-laksmi who ate 96 gulabjamuns in one sitting.

Once I ate two trays of laddus with 70 laddhus on each tray. It was very cold and the others were jumping up and down outside the van to stay warm. My duty was to look after the van, and noticed the three trays of laddus.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura said, “My only hope lies in the limitless nectar of Your holy name.”

Srila Prabhupada likened the appearance of Lord Jagannatha in the memories of a dying man who had seen a Ratha-yatra to a bright light that exposes the film of all his karmic reactions.

It is said if you go to a new place where harinama has never gone before that Bhaktivinoda Thakura personally accompanies you.

In one city where we had not done harinama for years, one person was very emotional upon seeing the devotees on the harinama party. He grabbed one devotee and pushed him up against a wall and shook him. The devotee was worried, but the man, said excitedly, “Where have you been? I have not seen you for twenty years!”

Srila Prabhupada explains that whether they want to hear or not, the chanting will create an auspicious atmosphere for everyone.

Niranjana Swami:

Seminar on Patience:

Devotional service is easy if one is fixed on the goal.

Pure bhakti means no other desires.

The impatient cannot perform the work of sadhana, although they may be able to work some job.

Karmis want material gain, jnanis want liberation and yogis want mystic powers, but the devotee just wants Krishna to be pleased. Without pure devotional service, it is more or less a show.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that one who is not sufficiently patient may fall from the path of pure devotional service. The patient devotee thinks, “Krishna must be merciful to me today, tomorrow, or in another birth.”

Those with firm faith continue performing devotional service.

The patient person first controls himself and then the whole world.

Raghunatha Dasa Thakura’s father, Govardhan, always protected him from seeing the evils of this world. Once Govardhan sent Raghunatha to Haridas Thakura, along with a cartload of material amenities, to get a benediction. Balaram Acarya was a follower of Haridas Thakura and knew the kind of benediction that Haridas Thakura could give. After Raghunatha Das Goswami asked for a benediction, he made a loud sound so others could not hear the benediction which Haridas Thakura gave, which was to be completely detached from this material world. When Govardhan asked what the benediction was, no one could say. When Govardhan directly asked Balaram Acarya the benediction Haridas Thakura gave, and Balaram Acarya said, “Your son will be able to control the whole world.” Govardhan was impressed. He only controlled a tract of land, but his son would control the whole world. Actually this was true, because Raghunatha Das was detached from this world, he was in control of himself, and the world could not control him. And thus he could control the world.

Actually we can control the tongue simply by speaking about Krishna, but there are situations when it is difficult to speak about Krishna.

It is significant that Verse 1 of Upadesamrita describes the person who can tolerate the urges not the person who does not have the urges. Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that one who cannot tolerate these urges and acts on them can never have peace.

When Krishna steals the butter and does other childhood pranks, the ladies of town come to Mother Yasoda to talk about Krishna, on the pretext of complaining Him.

Where topics of Krishna are flowing, then the material necessities of life are not even noticed.

Getting together and talking about others is natural, and talking about others is perfected in talking about Krishna.

Sometimes when we speak about others, we do so to establish ourselves as superior to others. Thus before we start speaking, we should consider carefully our motives in speaking.

If one speaks unnecessarily and does not tolerate the urge to speak, his mind will never be so peaceful he can fix it on Krishna.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that talking about others should be rejected in all respects, but there are some favorable topics that are so pure that even though they are about others they can be spoken about.

He explains it is best for householders to live in a Krishna conscious family and not talk about others without reason.

A guru can use others as an example to make a point clear to the disciple, if done without envy or desire to be superior.

Sukadeva Goswami’s warning about envious householders who sleep and have sex and night and maintain and decorate their bodies during the day, and Lord Caitanya saying he cannot tolerate seeing the face of a member of the renounced who talks intimately with women are examples of using others to make a point clear.

If one speaks for the purpose of instructing others then it is not prajalpa, unwanted and degrading talk that blocks devotional progress.

If our speech about others is contaminated by envy, hatred, pride, or distinction, then it is an offense against Bhakti Devi.

When we ignore this good advice, we can create enmity and disturb minds, and create an atmosphere which is not conducive to development of Vaishnava relationships. People become afraid to reveal their minds, thinking whatever they say will become public knowledge.

We have practice patiently the control of our own urge to speak, instead of telling others how to control theirs.

The goal of the sadhaka is to see that Krishna is pleased. When is Krishna pleased? When the devotee follows His instruction, man mana bhava mad-bhakto . . . When the devotee has no shelter but Him.

The Lord gives his heart to His devotees, and therefore He could not help Durvasa Muni, who had offended His devotee.

If there is envy (malice) in our heart, then how can we work for the benefit of others?

Practitioners of devotional service should not speak unnecessarily.

There is no restriction on glorifying the devotees.

Lord Caitanya advised an offender who criticized devotees that he could become free from offense by using the same mouth to glorify devotees.

Sometimes people glorify their friends who are devotees in a very lofty way. This calls to mind that King Prthu rejected the glorification by the professional reciters for qualities of his that he had not manifested, saying that that such praises were actually insults.

I went to the kitchen to encourage the devotees who do so much work there during the [Ukraine] festival. I saw one devotee who was washing all the buckets that were used to serve prasadam. It looked like he had been there for a long time, and that he would be there for a long time still. I asked him if there were any difficulties in his service. He replied that his difficulty was that they were only allowing him to wash the buckets for one day.

The regulative principles of bhakti-yoga does not mean the vows we accepted at initiation. Those are the regulative principles of human life. The regulative principle of bhakti-yoga is to always fix the mind on Krishna. If one cannot fix one’s mind on Krishna twenty-four hours a day, at least some part of the day one should fix his mind on Krishna.

Prahladananda Swami:

Astrology is meant to help one move toward liberation and was given by Parasara Muni.

By liberation, I mean freedom from misconceptions.

I memorized the Krishna book because I thought it would be less boring to remember Krishna’s pastimes while I was chanting japa. I wrote Srila Prabhupada asking if it was alright to remember Krishna’s pastimes while chanting japa, and he said, “No. Just chant and hear, and if you happen to think of Krishna’s pastimes spontaneously that is all right.”

To be successful in devotional service we must simply understand who is the right source to hear from and what is the right attitude to hear with.

Maya has no power to hold on to us, but we are holding on to maya, and why are we holding on to maya? Because we like to hold on maya. But it is not enough to let go of maya, we must embrace Krishna.

The pure devotee sees everyone suffering because of being separated from Krishna.

In astrology there are three kinds of planets, male, female, and neutral. Male planets are concerned with doing the right thing. Female planets are concerned with enjoyment. The female does the right thing when she is happy, and the male is happy when he does the right thing.

The sun is very generous. No one gets a bill for heat and light from the sun. It is very regulated. It always rises every morning and never sleeps in.

The planets have a higher and lower nature. The sun is generous and noble on the positive side, and on the negative side pride or depression result.

The sun, Mars, and Jupiter are male. Venus and the moon are female. Mercury and Saturn are neutral. The world is set up so the combination of influences has a balancing effect. One lives nicely in this world, but wonders, “is there anything more than this?” and then inquires about Krishna consciousness.

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from his journal, Viraha Bhavan, August 26, 2012:

I read a lecture by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura which gave me a great enhancement in chanting. He said the goal of life is to render service to Srimati Radharani, the attractor of Krishna. And the best way to do this is by nama-bhajana to the Hare Krishna mantra. The word “Hare” is the vocative form of “Hara,” which indicates Radha. And “Rama” means Radhika-Ramana, the lover and enjoyer of Radharani. So the entire mantra is yugala kishora, the joining and separation of Radha and Krishna, which is how Lord Caitanya chanted.

from My Dear Lord Krishna:

“Please let me serve You and love You in my next life. I will have to serve something or someone
—some nation, etc. I ask that it be You. I don't want to be born in the darkness of ignorance. I want my eyes opened by the torchlight of knowledge carried by my spiritual master. I had to wait twenty-six years in this life before I began serving You. It was wonderful when I began, but it was too long to wait. I almost died before I met Prabhupada. Please don't let anything like that happen to me in my next life. Let me get a speedy start. Let me begin chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare as soon as possible, even in the womb of my mother. Such a thing is possible. Let me meet the first obstacles of my life with You by my side.

“Give me Krishna conscious parents, or bring me at once to the spiritual sky. I am greedy for the best. I can't claim qualification, but I'm afraid of this material world in Kali-yuga, and I'm attracted to You. So I ask to be born where You are. If You want me to come back to the material world to preach, then so be it. But in that case, give me the spark of compassion to be a preacher. Make me strong and put me in the association of strong devotees.

“Please let my next life be auspicious. Protect me from calamities. Let me be pure. Let me find my eternal spiritual master and affectionately serve him. Let me have a friendly, intimate relationship with him. Let me be of actual use to him in his mission. Let me be attracted to the eternal dhamas, such as Vrndavana and Mayapura, and render service there and purify myself there and associate with devotees. Let me practice brahmacarya. Let me not be attracted to material objects like beautiful women, opulent food and clothing, and fine residential quarters. Let me live simply.

“Let me do some creative service for You, if You desire. Let me work for You. Wherever I am, let me think of You with devotion. I would like to feel ecstatic symptoms of love of God. If I am in a position where I have to defend Your good name in the world, give me the courage to do so.

“These are some thoughts that come to my mind about how I would like to relate to You and Srimati Radharani in my next life. Let me know raganuga sadhana bhakti. Give me time to read and relish the scriptures and speak about them to others. I want to be a faithful devotee wherever I live. Let me be happy in Krishna consciousness. I think it is right to aspire for going back to Godhead, as Srila Prabhupada encouraged.

“Let me be with You,
let me love You,
please accept me
as Your humble servant.”

Sivarama Swami:

This world seems real because it is a reflection of the spiritual world.

One must have great faith in Krishna’s divinity to be able to understand His pastimes in which he does things that in this world that would be unacceptable behavior, like His lying, stealing, etc.

Kubja is considered to be both an incarnation of Surpanakha and also the partial expansion of Satyabhama. After being rejected by Lord Ramacandra, she underwent austerities to please Lord Shiva for many, many years. Lord Shiva said he could not give her the benediction that Rama would be her husband as he accepted a vow of eka-patni vrata.

Because Kubja wanted to enjoy with Lord, her love is not considered pure. The queens because they want to give pleasure to Krishna are superior, and best are the gopis who want to please Krishna and have no conception of another self-interest.

Dhirasanta Prabhu:

We still make too many distinctions between devotees based on whether they are brahmacari, grhasthas, or sannyasis, although it is not bad as earlier in ISKCON history.

If we do our spiritual duties nicely in the morning, we will be able to all our other duties throughout the day in an exemplary way that inspires others.

I present Krishna philosophy and culture in the Hinduism classes in the school. One day one of the teachers who very passionate and who did everything very hurriedly, was acting in a very peaceful way after hearing two hours of my presentations in her classes, and her friends were amazed by the change in behavior. She said maybe it was the incense this Hindu priest uses. She said it was not something I said that affected her behavior, but the whole way I acted. I explained that every morning I chant Hare Krishna for two hours, and that gives me the spiritual strength to deal with the issues.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura sings, “Lord Gauranga said, ‘I have descended just to save you; other than Myself you have no friend in this world. I have brought the medicine that will wipe out the disease of illusion from which you are suffering. Take this maha-mantra-Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.’”
If it was not for Bhaktivinoda Thakura, we probably would not be sitting here today.

Nagaraja Prabhu:

from Back to Godhead, Vol. 46, No. 6, Nov./Dec. 2012:

As Srila Narottama Dasa writes, “The sound of the glorification of Krishna is a gift from Goloka Vrindavana, Lord Krishna’s eternal abode.” If we immerse ourselves in that liberating sound, we won’t die either. As Prabhupada once said, at the end of our time in this body we’ll close our eyes, and when we open them, we’ll be with Krishna.

Pancaratna Prabhu:

I am from Mayapur, and Mayapur is known for festivals, and I have to say, this [Ukraine] festival is extraordinary. After Devamrita Swami’s kirtana took us to a higher level, your loud cry of “Haribol!” I do not think I had heard resounded at such a volume since the installation of the Pancatattva in Mayapur.

The Lord desired in the beginning that although one He might become many. It all begins with desire.

The Mayavadis want to be without desire, but without desire, what do we have?

We all know of the flow of desires in our minds, and without the mercy of Krishna, the guru, and the Vaishnavas, we cannot get out of the service of these desires which never can satisfy us, because they are for the temporary.

The Buddhists say by eliminating desire, we eliminate suffering, but Krishna has a better idea: “The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the
taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by
experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.” (Bhagavad-gita 2.59)

Kavitam in Siksastaka 4 means fruitive activities described in flowery language.

The desire to serve the Lord does not come from the mind, but from your heart, from your actual self.

God desires. He desires love, pleasure with us. By pleasing Him we share in that pleasure.

Madhava is always reminding us, “Chant from the heart.” What does that mean? It means not for any material reason, for Krishna’s pleasure.

Srila Prabhupada taught us to chant like a child crying for his mother. Why does a child cry for his mother? Because from his mother everything comes.

We want Krishna. That is our hearts’ desire. In our chanting of the holy name, we must connect with that desire.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura says in Bhakti-rahasyam that Siksastaka 4 describes the state of no desire which happens at ruci.

Trnad . . . [tolerance and humility] is how we get to nistha [steadiness in devotional service].

Bhakta Vatsala Govinda Prabhu (from a Radhastami lecture):

Without accepting the Absolute Truth is a person we cannot understand the philosophy of Krishna consciousness.

The energies of the Absolute Truth are also persons.

Through Krishna consciousness we are trying to revive our relationship with Him.

The easiest way to attain Krishna is through Srimati Radharani.

Radha is described in great detail in literature by great devotees. She is fourteen years old, has elder brother, Sridhama, younger sister, Ananga Manjari, and many friends known as sakhis.

Radha has pets such as parrots, cows, calf, monkey, doe, birds like swans and peacocks.
Radha has ornaments like tilaka, necklaces, earrings, a medallion with Krishna’s picture, a syamatanka jewel, touchstone, bracelets, blue dress (usually, but sometimes red), jeweled mirror, golden stick to decorate her eyes, comb, mirror, private flower garden with golden jasmine flowers like lightning.

Radha-kunda with the kadamba tree where she sits and talks with Krishna. She has favorite ragas (musical arrangements) and dances. She worships the sun-god every day with the desire to marry Krishna.

We can learn from this list of possessions of Radha that the spiritual world is not so different from the material world. There are families, pets, etc. The idea that the spiritual world is completely different had by impersonalists is erroneous. Impersonalism means to take the person features out of spiritual life.

Material life is “it is all about me” everyone else is competition, and Krishna is the biggest competition, but someday I will conquer Him.

In the spiritual world all the things that are inanimate in this world are conscious there. Thus we have to act consciously with every person and thing.

Krishna is already ready to help us attain the spiritual world, but the question is are we willing to follow His advice.

Vamsivihara Prabhu:

from Back to Godhead, Vol. 46, No. 6, Nov./Dec. 2012:

Everyone loves certain foods, drinks, clothes, and music, and Lord Krishna is no exception. In fact, we have our likes because we are parts of Krishna, who has His own personal likes. Krishna loves butter, yellow clothing, peacock feathers, cows, flutes, and the land of Vrindavan. Similarly, of all months, He loves Karttika the best.

When devotees see the master of the entire universe bound by the love of His devotee, their hearts are filled with extreme gratitude. Attracted by Krishna’s divine qualities, their hearts are uncontrollably pulled toward Him. Although devotees do not wish to subdue the Lord, He takes extra pleasure in being ordered and controlled by His devotees. Each tries to be controlled by the other, because where love is present, happiness lies not in winning but in being won over. Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.16.34), “The Lord and the devotees both conquer. The Lord is conquered by the devotees, and the devotees are conquered by the Lord. Because of being conquered by one another, they both derive transcendental bliss from their relationship.”

Sarvatma Prabhu:

Although a devotee for years, I had only been able fix my mind on the Lord for a fraction a second at a time. Once on my birthday, I expressed this frustration to the Lord, and prayed to Him, as Radha-Ramana, “Please let me fix your mind on your lotus feet.” I found without difficulty I could meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord for the whole day. Of course, the next day, it was like as before, but I could appreciate that Krishna is a person and will respond to our prayers.

Your love is the only thing that Krishna does not have. He has everything else but love is voluntary.

Krishna is in your heart. He knows about your desires before you do.

We are so far from performing devotional service, yet as the Supersoul, Krishna always remains with us, for lifetimes.

If have a chronic condition and enter the hospital your friends will come and see you, but if you are there for months and years, how many will continue to visit. But Krishna continues remains with us through many, many lifetimes of our miserable disease.

Inattentive chanting is like inviting Krishna and closing the door in his face.

Srila Prabhupada said that if you remember Krishna 24 hours a day, He will remember you 26 hours a day, but if you think of yourself, He will think of Himself.

Here [in Simhachalam] Lord Nrsimha is not in his ugra [fierce] feature. He has Prahlada Maharaja on His lap, so He cannot leap.

King Vena was so bad, the only good thing during his administration was that were no criminals because he was the main criminal and he did not allow other criminals to prosper.

Stambha-bhava Prabhu:
One time Janananda Goswami came to our brahmacari ashram in Manchester. We went on harinama with him to twelve different towns in one day. We would get out of the car, chant up and down the main street and get back in the car, and go to the next town.

notes from Nrsimha installation anniversary festival:

Lord Nrsimhadeva’s conch shell sounds three times. The first time to chastise the demoniac, the second time to bless the devotees, and the third time to celebrate the victory of a pure heart.

------

tasmat sankirtanam vishnor
jagan-mangalam amhasam
mahatam api kauravya
viddhy aikantika-niskrtam


Sukadeva Gosvami continued: “My dear King, the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is able to uproot even the reactions of the greatest sins. Therefore the chanting of the sankirtana movement is the most auspicious activity in the entire universe. Please try to understand this so that others will take it seriously. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.36)

Travel Journal#8.18: Ukraine Festival, Bavaria, British Harinamas
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk


Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 18
By Krishna-kripa das
(September 2012, part two)
Ukraine Festival, Bavaria, British Harinamas
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on December 3, 2012)

Apologies

I have been so busy proofreading, doing evening programs, and going on additional harinamas and kirtana events, I am two months behind on this journal. I hope to really focus on it and catch up by the end of the year and not fall behind next year.

Where I Was and What I Did

The last half of September was wonderful because of all the good spiritual association at the Ukraine festival, where I collected many jewels from the swamis to share with you. After that Trevor, my harinama and traveling partner, and I went to Warsaw for Radhastami. I continued on to attend the last two days of the 30th anniversary of the installation of Prahlada-Nrsimha at Simhachalam, our Bavarian Hare Krishna farm, which ended with the first annual Passau Ratha-yatra. Then I flew to London where the book distributors shared their realizations from their Radhastami book marathon. The next day I began traveling with Janananda Goswami and his followers, doing harinama in and around Manchester, England, for the beginning of the World Holy Name Festival. I offer thanks to Vishnujana Prabhu for the photos of the Ukraine Festival and the Passau Ratha-yatra.

The insights this time begin with Srila Prabhupada quotes from books and lectures, and includes nectar by lots of swamis attending the Ukraine festival, such as Bhaktivaibhava Swami, Bhanu Swami, Candramauli Swami, Devamrita Swtami, Indradyumna Swami, Niranjana Swami, Prahladananda Swami, and Sivarama Swami. There are also notes from Warsaw’s Radhastami and Bavaria’s Prahlada-Nrsimha installation anniversary festivals. As usual, there is material from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s journal and his books, this time including lots of prayers, and there are lectures by Janananda Goswami in The North of England as well.

Itinerary

Dec. 3–5, 2012: Gainesville, FL
Dec. 6, 2012: Jacksonville, FL (UNF)
Dec. 7, 2012: Philadelphia and New York
Dec. 8–9, 2012: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja
Dec. 10–23, 2012: Serving SDG in Stuyvesant, NY
Dec. 24–25, 2012: Visiting family in Albany, NY
Dec. 26, 2012–
Jan. 7, 2013: harinama in New York City
Jan. 8–April 2013: Gainesville, FL (with visits to Tallahassee and Jacksonville)

Bhakti Sangama (Ukraine Festival) 2012


I went to the Ukraine festival for the eighth consecutive year. Formerly in Odessa, the last few years, it has been held outside Evpatoriya, on the coast of the Black Sea, an hour or so from Simferopol, in Crimea. The festival has many nice features for me. Niranjana Swami, who invited me to live in the NYC temple back in 1979, is almost always there, and it is always nice to see and hear from him. 


Many other swamis I know and like also come there regularly. This year Bhaktivaibhava Swami, B. B. Govinda Swami, Candramauli Swami, Devamrita Swami, Indradyumna Swami, Prahladananda Swami, and Sivarama Swami were also there. This year Madhavananda Prabhu came for the first time. There are three hours of kirtana every night. The last three years Madhava Prabhu has come to participate in that. I know some of the devotees from Indradyumna Swami’s Festival of India in Poland, and it is nice to see them again. Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, my diksa guru, has some disciples there who are always coming out with new titles in Russian, and it nice to encourage them in their service. Every year more people come to the festival, and this year there were 7,000. The devotees have such a nice service attitude there, I always feel very welcome. The weather was perfect every day this year, sunny and warm. There are so many good speakers, you can never attend all the seminars you want to, but you always hear lots of spiritual knowledge you can apply in your life and share with others, and you can find some of it under “Insights” below.

I got to talk to some of the swamis I have known for years, and Candramauli Swami and Prahladananda Swami encouraged me in my program focusing on just a couple places and trying to assist with our outreach there, as Niranjana Swami, my siksa guru, advised me. The places I choose are Newcastle in The North of England, by the invitation of Janananda Goswami, and Gainesville, Florida, my home for several years.

At the Ukraine festival, the morning program kirtanas, especially guru-puja, and the evening kirtana, are so powerful with many devotees participating and are always a highlight for me. During guru-puja I would recall how Srila Prabhupada came to Moscow and talked to one Russian, who became a devotee, and now in Ukraine, part of the former USSR, forty years later, there is a yearly festival with seven thousand people and in Russia a festival with over ten thousand people. Such is the influence of the pure devotee of the Lord. It was spiritually very enlivening to witness that amazing result.

Harinamas from Ukraine to Germany

Andre, who we knew from the Polish tour and other Ukraine festivals, kindly arranged us a ride to the Simferopol train station with devotees in a car with plenty of room and horsepower. The two devotees who came with us did not know English but had an iPad with Russian-English translation and communicated to us in that way. After we loaded our bags on the train, I decided to chant for the twenty minutes on the platform before we left. The two devotees who brought us there sang along for several minutes before going on their way. Several people looked with curiosity and some took pictures. The conductor motioned it was time to get aboard when there was still almost ten minutes till the train was to leave, but at least some harinama went on. At the first lengthy stop on the train, Trevor and I chanted for ten minutes or so, as people bought and sold things, smoked cigarettes and got some fresh air during the break, and again, a few people looked with curiosity and took pictures, and no one hindered our chanting.

Three or four times on the trains to and from the Ukraine festival, I would get out and chant like this when we stopped for fifteen minutes or more. No one protested, although occasionally, the conductor indicated it was time to get back on the train five or ten minutes early. Some people would always stand and listen, others would smile, and still others would take pictures.

The several times I have crossed the border from Shegyni, Ukraine, to Medyka, Poland, there has always been a minibus waiting to take people to the Przemysl train station to continue their journey through Poland. This time there was just a crowd of people hanging out, some of them selling liquor and cigarettes. I assumed some of them were waiting for the minibus, so I decided to play harmonium and chant while waiting. After a while, Trevor got out his karatalas, and we had a kirtana with about fifty people surrounding us. I chanted some more, and then let Trevor take over. Some people took pictures and others took movies, some for many minutes. A couple of men danced a bit. I saw a bus across the street and wondered if it went to the train station, assuming if it did, it would stop here where people were waiting. Then a lady informed me in Polish that it was the bus to Przemysl and the bus stop was across the street and some thirty meters away. We stopped singing abruptly and ran to catch the bus. As Trevor packed up his harmonium, some people gave him some kind of sugar candy as a gift. We must have chanted half an hour.

Trevor stayed in Warsaw where we spent Radhastami in the association of many friends from the Polish tour. I continued to Simhachalam for the end of the 30th anniversary of the Prahlad Nrsimha installation.

I took a train from Warsaw to Czech Republic, changing trains in different places, including Brno, where I chanted at the station during the morning rush hour and three large trainloads of commuters got to hear the Hare Krishna mantra as they rushed to work and a bum gave a couple of small donations. I then took Czech trains to the last stop near the German border, and walked to the town of Haldmühle where I chanted with my harmonium by the side of the road as I waited almost an hour for the devotees to pick me up and drive me to Simhacalam. Two ladies came by at different times, one clearly a senior citizen. One gave a 10 euro donation and the other gave a couple euros. One of them was chanting Hare Krishna as she walked away. I was amazed to see such appreciation for the chanting in a small rural Bavarian village.

I had been on trains for seventeen hours from Warsaw to the German border, and had only done two hours of harinama, in one each in Brno and Haldmühle, so when Advaita Gauranga Prabhu, my driver to Simhachalam told me he was going on book distribution after dropping me off at the temple, I suggested I could go with him and we might do harinama at the same time. He recruited another harinama devotee and another book distributor, and I grabbed a large plate of the super excellent festival prasadam from Simhachalam, which included srikhand, one of my favorite sweets, and we drove to the nearby town of Waldkirchen, and chanted and distributed books for an hour before the evening kirtana. A few people smiled, but in general, you could understand people were uncertain and unfamiliar. I think that not too much harinama has happened in Waldkirchen. Still it was great to go out and complete my program of trying to chant three hours a day.

Passau Ratha-yatra


In my travels I see Lord Jagannatha and His associates are performing the Ratha-yatra pastime in more and more cities each year. In 2007 Ratha-yatra came to Brno, CZ, and in 2008 to Prague, CZ, in 2009 to Wroclaw, PL, in 2011 to Hamburg, Germany, and now in 2012 to Passau, Germany, the nearest city to Simhachalam, our Bavarian Nrsimha farm.


Hare Krishna guru and scholar, Krishna Ksetra Prabhu, seen playing harmonium above, blessed the event by his presence, and there were a number of devotees mostly from Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland.


People at the sidewalk cafes were attracted by the unusual site of Lord Jagannatha and His cart, and His associates.


I was with my friends Vishnujana and Gaura Karuna Prabhus, who really like harinama, and we chanted around Passau both before and after the Ratha-yatra for practically an hour each time.

Soho Street Devotees Remember Their Radhastami Book Distribution Marathon

Saci Kishore Prabhu:
I do not have the ability to convince people take books. But doing book distribution is an opportunity for me to see Krishna working His magic.

Bhakta Lawry:
I was distributing books at one location where there was a man on the roof who was threatening to jump off and a crowd watching. There were people who were shouting “Jump. Jump.” I couldn’t believe it. I distributed books for several hours. Then I heard a scream when the person actually jumped. One man who passed by later said, “I missed all the fun.” I was shocked to see how people were so degraded they were taking pleasure in man’s mental anguish and suicide. This age is becoming worse and worse.

Bhakta Alexi:
I met two people who were dumb and could not speak. A devotee had taught me the hand gestures for the language of the dumb. I taught them the mantra using this and they learned it. They gave a donation and took a book.

World Holy Name Festival, Part I

Once a year, usually in September, the Hare Krishna movement really tries to increase its program of congregational chanting, both in the temple and outside. Janananda Goswami, my authority in The North of England, is committed to harinama, the congregational chanting of Hare Krishna in the streets of the towns, and he invited me to travel with him in The North of England and Scotland during The World Holy Name Festival this year.

Janananda Goswami really likes to go to places that we rarely or never go to and to small places, into addition to the metropolitan areas where we often chant.

One day, traveling between Manchester and Liverpool, we chanted in St. Helens and Prescot. I rarely distribute books, but in St. Helens, a couple people were so attracted by our kirtana, that even I was willing and able to sell them books.

Most amazing was a well attended Saturday harinama in Leeds, where we had so many enthusiastic devotees chanting on harinama that I was able to distribute five books without much endeavor.

Sunday, September 30, was my birthday, and I bought ingredients at the local shop to make laddus for the Manchester Sunday feast, as an offering to purify my birth. They came out really good by Krishna’s mercy. Janananda Goswami was so generous that he encouraged the congregation to support my program of traveling and doing harinama, and they were so kind, I got enough to pay over half the cost of my ticket to the USA and back for another summer in the UK. I thank all the Manchester congregation who kindly helped out in that way.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from a purport to SB 5.12.13:

The pure devotee is never interested in material topics. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has strictly prohibited His devotees to talk about worldly matters. Gramya-varta na kahibe: [Cc. Antya 6.236] one should not indulge in talking unnecessarily about news of the material world. One should not waste time in this way. This is a very important feature in the life of a devotee. A devotee has no other ambition than to serve Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This Krishna consciousness movement was started to engage people twenty-four hours daily in the service of the Lord and in His glorification. The students in this institution engage in the cultivation of Krishna consciousness from five in the morning to ten at night. They actually have no opportunity to waste their time unnecessarily by discussing politics, sociology and current events. These will go their own way. A devotee is concerned only with serving Krishna positively and seriously.

from a conversation with a guest, August 1973, in London, quoted in Back to Godhead, Vol. 46, No. 6, Nov./Dec. 2012:

“When you paint a flower with a brush, the brush is not the creator of that painting—you are the creator. Similarly, in the creation of a real flower, nature is only the brush, but the creator is God.”

from a lecture on Bhagavad-gita 9.15 in given in New York City on December 1, 1966, quoted in Back to Godhead, Vol. 46, No. 6, Nov./Dec. 2012:

We are very much proud of seeing, but as soon as the light is turned off, we cannot see. So our seeing is conditional. All our senses are conditional. Therefore they are imperfect. . . . Nobody can become a representative of Krishna, or God, without becoming His devotee. One who thinks “I am God” cannot become the representative
of God. Suppose you are a businessman and you send your representative to secure business. If he represents himself to the customer, “I am the proprietor,” how long can he continue? As soon as the master knows “This foolish man is representing himself as the proprietor of this firm,” he will cancel his employment at once. Because the so-called representative is cheating; he’s not the proprietor. Similarly, anyone who says “I am God” should not preach. . . . You cannot preach, “I am God.” Because if you promote yourself as God, then people may ask you, “If you are God, then show me your allpowerfulness.” That you cannot show. So you cannot preach, “I am God.”

from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.6 given in London on July 23, 1973:

One can ask questions of the guru once one has fully surrendered. Otherwise it will not act. Don’t waste your time.

In the beginning Arjuna has friendly talks with Krishna, but nothing was solved, and so Arjuna surrendered to Him as a disciple.

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.13.25, purport:

The whole world is revolving under the bodily conception; therefore there must be devotees all over the world to deliver people from the false bodily conception and fully
engage them in Krishna consciousness.

from Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.14.2, purport:

This Krishna consciousness movement is therefore teaching people to control the mind and five knowledge-acquiring senses by a definite process. One should practice a
little austerity and not spend money on anything other than the regulative life of devotional service. The senses demand that one see beautiful things; therefore money should be spent for decorating the Deity in the temple. Similarly, the tongue has to taste good food, which should be bought and offered to the Deity. The nose can be utilized in
smelling the flowers offered to the Deity, and the hearing can be utilized by listening to the vibration of the Hare Krishna mantra. In this way the senses can be regulated and utilized to advance Krishna consciousness.

Bhaktivaibhava Swami:

Incidents when we call out to Krishna and He protects us make our faith strong, but when we see so many people engaged in materialistic activities and we are very few, we may again have some doubt. These festivals where thousands of devotees chant together are therefore valuable. Actually this movement is meant for the masses. The more people join, the more ecstatic it becomes. This movement is meant to drown the entire world in the holy name.

Bhanu Swami:

In the material world, if we do not like our master, we can run away and find another master, but we can not run away from our eternal master, Krishna.

The master expresses gratitude for service, and the relationship is one of respect and love.

Sometimes people think that Krishna wants to exploit His servants like happens in the material world.

Krishna is master because He is the supreme controller and He knows everything.

When we say master, when mean a person, not an entity with no personal qualities.
Krishna does not need anyone or anything because he is made of bliss. Yet because he is compassionate, he shows perfect love.

Krishna reciprocates according one’s surrender and one’s favorable attitude. But because He is independent, He can break all the rules and show extraordinary mercy to an unqualified person as with Putana.

Krishna does not hate the demons—he enjoys fighting with them and He purifies them.

The prison is a manifestation of the government which is an attempt to reform the prisoners, although the prisoners may not appreciate that.

The Lord shows special compassion to those who recognize themselves as servants of the Lord.

Those who follow no rules for elevation are considered uncivilized. Better than them are those who follow the varnasrama guidelines or the karma-kanda path, but still their goal is the material world, and so the jnanis and yogis are better because their aim is beyond this world. The devotees are beyond these.

Krishna is not eager to give benefits that will disturb a person’s devotional service.

Krishna prefers pure devotional service, but he considers contaminated devotional service better than no devotional service. The mixed devotees get better reciprocation from Krishna than either the karmis or jnanis, but not the ultimate perfection that comes from pure devotional service.

Bhakti is the desire to please Krishna and nothing else.

When we perform sadhana, we are not trying to get something from Krishna for ourselves.

Sometimes people mix elements from other practices in with our bhakti, and if these do not obstruct the bhakti, they are not a problem.

Bhakti can also be mixed with the three modes of material nature, if we have motivations. The mode of ignorance causes us to harm others, the mode of passion causes us to desire material enjoyment.

In prema the devotee gives himself completely to Krishna, and Krishna gives Himself to the devotee. That is the highest bliss in which both the Lord and the jiva are satisfied.

Because Krishna is complete, the servant and master relationship transforms in different ways, with Krishna becoming equal as a friend, with Krishna becoming inferior as the son of Yasoda, or of Krishna surrendering completely, as with Radha. Still all the while Krishna remains the master and the devotee is the servant.

Vishnu is not a lesser God than Krishna because there is only one God. Vishnu has all the qualities of Krishna, but He does not manifest them in the form of Vishnu. Just as when you go to work, you show some qualities to your boss, but at home, you show more qualities to your family.

Shiva is isvara, the Lord, not jiva, an ordinary living entity, but he manifests fewer qualities than Vishnu, and therefore, is not on the same level. Although he appears to be contaminated by the mode of ignorance, having long hair and living near the crematorium, he always isvara, the Lord, and therefore factually transcendental to the modes of nature.

Saktyavesa-avataras, or empowered jivas, being jivas, are always servants, and thus can never become the Lord.

The conclusion is that Brahman and Paramatma exist and are included within the Lord and His name, and thus we can realize all these features of the Lord by chanting His holy name.

We should not accept food offered to the devatas (demigods) alone.

Demigods can be pleased by offering them the prasadam of Lord Vishnu.

Strictly speaking, Vishnu does not come from Krishna, nor Krishna from Vishnu, for they are both eternal. We say expansion because the expansion manifests fewer qualities.

Each Veda has four divisions: samhitas, brahmanas, aranyakas, and upanisads.

To blaspheme the scriptures or to come to the wrong conclusion about them are two ways we offend the scriptures.

The universal form of the Lord describing His bodily parts as features of the universe seems to be symbolic.

Candramauli Swami:

Prahlad Maharaja is embarrassed that Lord Nrsimha wants to offer him a benediction because he is happy serving.

It is the position of the living entities to be happy in service but that gets covered in the material world if we think of ourselves as only serving in a particular way.

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, when asked how many disciples he had, said none. They are all his teachers, and he learns something from each.

Balarama serves Krishna is each of the five rasas. In neutrality as the Lord’s paraphenalia and in conjugal love as Ananga Manjari.

Without concern for the object of service, it becomes routine.

When Lord Nrsimha persisted in offering a benediction to Prahlada Maharaja he asked to remain here to benefit the souls.

Four things block our progress in bhakti, the devotional service of the Lord:
1. Philosophical misconceptions.
2. Pious activities.
3. Impious activities.
4. Offenses.
According to Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his Madhurya Kadambini:

Misconceptions about bhakti are partially removed at bhajana-kriya, completely removed at nistha, and will not return at the stage of ruci (taste).

Sinful and pious desires are almost completely removed at bhajana-kriya, completely removed at nistha, and will not return at the platform of asakti (attachment).

Offenses are partially removed at the stage of bhajana kriya (spiritual practice), greatly removed at nistha (steadiness), almost completely removed at bhava (preliminary love of God), completely removed at prema (love of God), and will not return when one has attained shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord.

Jaya and Vijaya are evidence that offenses can still arise even at the stage of love of God.

We must become adosa-darsi, one who does not see the faults in others.
Harinama sankirtana can destroy all anarthas.
Bharata Maharaja’s defect was he did not have regular association with the devotees. If he did, seeing him so attached to the deer, they would have said, “Hey Bharata, you are in maya [illusion]!”
The holy name is Krishna, but Krishna is coming and going according to our consciousness.
There are so many things we can say about Krishna:
Krishna was born on Wednesday.
Krishna’s favorite sweet is rasgulla.
A nice exercise is to read something about Krishna and share with others each day.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said chanting without krishna-katha, is like Krishna without Radha (His internal potency).
Someone once requested Srila Prabhupada, “Please give me your mercy.” Prabhupada responded, “I am giving everyone my mercy. Just take it.” Association of the devotees is mercy, prasadam is mercy. Just take it.
There are two kinds of ruci. One in which one has a taste for hearing the kirtana if the melody is nice and the singing is nice, and one in which one has a taste for hearing the holy name regardless of the quality of singing or the melody.
We may make special endeavors to make Krishna available for others, but for ourselves, we do not make special endeavors for basic needs.
If Krishna wants, He provides what you need, and if he doesn’t provide, it just means that you did not need it, or you did not need it at that time.

Devamrita Swami:

Love of God is so exalted that even if it takes many hundreds of births to attain, it is still worth the price.

We are like children who do not know what we want, but it is difficult to admit that.

Once we understand that Krishna is the Supreme Enjoyer, we should also understand that He knows how to get the greatest love.

Yasoda never accepted that Krishna lifted the hill. She thought His father did it.

In the spiritual world, there is so much crying, anxiety, and pain, but it is all ecstatic. Do you still want to go?

You will learn how to be in anxiety in ecstasy, how to cry in ecstasy, and how to suffer the pain of separation in ecstasy.

Krishna is the butter thief, and Balarama is His assistant.

Krishna does not steal milk products because He wants to eat them, but rather because He just likes to steal.

Yasoda did not see the universes in Krishna’s mouth but in His belly, according Lord Brahma. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura said there was dirt His mouth as well as the whole universe, but seeing the entire universe distracted Yasoda from noticing the dirt.

The pure devotees’ accusations against Krishna are based on pure love, but our accusations against Krishna are based on frustration of material desires.

Q: Krishna’s pastimes sometimes seem like fairy tales.
A: Actually material life is a fairy tale. If you get this and that, you will be happy. Isn’t it a fairy tale?

Death for a devotee is a change of service. It may look like the death of a nondevotee just as food offered to Krishna may look like ordinary food, but there is a great difference. Srila Prabhupada used the analogy of the kitten and rat in the mouth of the cat to illustrate this point. The kitten feels protection in the mouth of the cat while the rat feels fear and imminent death. The body gets to the point where it cannot serve Krishna anymore. Why should we want to maintain it, if it can not longer serve Krishna?

Neophytes consider fulfillment of their desires for sense gratification to be Krishna’s mercy. But we should consider that Krishna’s mercy acts to increase our devotional service.

Krishna does not want us to enjoy material things because He has better things to give us but we are so stubborn, we do not believe it.

There is a story of a kid whose parents were so proud of their child’s devotion to Krishna they told the kid to give me his favorite toy truck. He came right up to me, but at the last moment, he could not do it and started crying. The parents thought he was just attached to that truck, so they arranged he give away a brand new truck, but at the last moment, he could not give that away either without crying.

Although a child, Prahlada knew the cause of spiritual destruction, material desire. He understood that not by experience gained in life but simply by hearing from his guru. Sometimes we have difficulty understanding that experience acquired through hearing is also experience.

Material desire is not some innocent thing but the cause of our ultimate destruction.

Srila Prabhupada explained in Bombay in 1977 that guru-puja is not just some ritual but the receiving of divine knowledge from the guru.

Krishna is expert at purifying devotees who have material desires. If Krishna could handle Kubja, He can handle you. Kubja was filled with desires to enjoy with Krishna in an materialistic way, but as she approached Him to embrace Him, she was purified of all material contamination by smelling the fragrance of His feet, and then she embraced Him as a completely liberated soul. If we cooperate with Krishna’s program, He can expertly purify us.

Indradyumna Swami:

Human life begins when we inquire beyond the body.

Because Krishna is unlimited, there are unlimited questions we can ask about Him. Unfortunately, we do not even know what to ask, so the great spiritual teachers teach us

Krishna consciousness is presented to us on a silver platter, but we do not take it.

Unless we know who we are, we cannot conduct our lives to live in a better way.

We should have learned at five years old that we are not our bodies but servants of Krishna.

As Srila Prabhupada is our ever well-wisher, we should be ever grateful.

Janananda Goswami:

There is nothing more powerful in life than love and devotion.

People are attracted to Hare Krishna because it touches something deeper in the heart.

The Bhagavad-gita wasn’t understood in the West for centuries for to understand it you have to practice the instructions in it.

Drama as “Rama” in it.

It is important to know how to apply knowledge.

Paul McCartney’s office is around the corner from our Soho temple, and he would regularly take prasadam.

Ananta Caturdasi is famous in South India in the Sri Sampradaya as the appearance day of their worshipable deity of Padmanabha.

The circumstances of the birth of Haridasa Thakura are not known in certainty or how he came to point of chanting 300,000 names of Krishna per day.

After the Brahma-vihomana-lila, Brahma went to Navadvipa and performed austerities desiring to be purified from his pride. Lord Caitanya appeared and said during His next appearance, Brahma would appear from a low-born family as Haridasa Thakura, and teach by his example that there is no material disqualification for chanting the holy name. In this way, it can be said that Haridasa Thakura was initiated into the chanting of the holy name and given the name Haridasa Thakura by Lord Caitanya before his appearance. 

Haridasa Thakura appeared about 36 years before Lord Caitanya, according to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.

Haridasa Thakura exemplified Lord Caitanya’s “Siksastakam,” be humble and tolerant, and no matter what, keep chanting.

Although Haridasa Thakura forgave Gopal Cakravarti for his offense, Gopal still had to suffer because he had defamed Haridasa Thakura in public. Had he made a public apology and had he glorified Haridasa Thakura to the same extent as he defamed him, he could have been completely relieved from any reaction to the offense.

With the strong association of devotees, the impossible can become possible.

Sannyasa means never alone, always remembering that Krishna is present.

Q: Some people says that the title “Goswami” is given to those who were previously married and then took “sannyasa” while the title “Swami” is given to sannyasis who were never married before.
A: As far as the sannyasis Srila Prabhupada initiated, that is not true in every case. Srila Prabhupada writes in a purport that the name does not change at sannyasa.

Sannyasa is a state of mind not just an order. You can be a grhastha and much more renounced than a sannyasi.

The consciousness that must be developed, whether one officially takes sannyasa or not, is to become more dependent on Krishna.

We have found millions of things to eat on Ekadasi. Devotees have discovered many tasty preparations without grains. You do not need to eat grains.

Five hundred Gitas were sold to a crowd of mostly students at the Boston hemp festival which coincides with the Hare Krishna festival in Boston for the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s original arrival in Boston in 1965.

The record in a gulabjamun eating contest in my experience was a mataji by the name of Subha-laksmi who ate 96 gulabjamuns in one sitting.

Once I ate two trays of laddus with 70 laddhus on each tray. It was very cold and the others were jumping up and down outside the van to stay warm. My duty was to look after the van, and noticed the three trays of laddus.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura said, “My only hope lies in the limitless nectar of Your holy name.”

Srila Prabhupada likened the appearance of Lord Jagannatha in the memories of a dying man who had seen a Ratha-yatra to a bright light that exposes the film of all his karmic reactions.

It is said if you go to a new place where harinama has never gone before that Bhaktivinoda Thakura personally accompanies you.

In one city where we had not done harinama for years, one person was very emotional upon seeing the devotees on the harinama party. He grabbed one devotee and pushed him up against a wall and shook him. The devotee was worried, but the man, said excitedly, “Where have you been? I have not seen you for twenty years!”

Srila Prabhupada explains that whether they want to hear or not, the chanting will create an auspicious atmosphere for everyone.

Niranjana Swami:

Seminar on Patience:

Devotional service is easy if one is fixed on the goal.

Pure bhakti means no other desires.

The impatient cannot perform the work of sadhana, although they may be able to work some job.

Karmis want material gain, jnanis want liberation and yogis want mystic powers, but the devotee just wants Krishna to be pleased. Without pure devotional service, it is more or less a show.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that one who is not sufficiently patient may fall from the path of pure devotional service. The patient devotee thinks, “Krishna must be merciful to me today, tomorrow, or in another birth.”

Those with firm faith continue performing devotional service.

The patient person first controls himself and then the whole world.

Raghunatha Dasa Thakura’s father, Govardhan, always protected him from seeing the evils of this world. Once Govardhan sent Raghunatha to Haridas Thakura, along with a cartload of material amenities, to get a benediction. Balaram Acarya was a follower of Haridas Thakura and knew the kind of benediction that Haridas Thakura could give. After Raghunatha Das Goswami asked for a benediction, he made a loud sound so others could not hear the benediction which Haridas Thakura gave, which was to be completely detached from this material world. When Govardhan asked what the benediction was, no one could say. When Govardhan directly asked Balaram Acarya the benediction Haridas Thakura gave, and Balaram Acarya said, “Your son will be able to control the whole world.” Govardhan was impressed. He only controlled a tract of land, but his son would control the whole world. Actually this was true, because Raghunatha Das was detached from this world, he was in control of himself, and the world could not control him. And thus he could control the world.

Actually we can control the tongue simply by speaking about Krishna, but there are situations when it is difficult to speak about Krishna.

It is significant that Verse 1 of Upadesamrita describes the person who can tolerate the urges not the person who does not have the urges. Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that one who cannot tolerate these urges and acts on them can never have peace.

When Krishna steals the butter and does other childhood pranks, the ladies of town come to Mother Yasoda to talk about Krishna, on the pretext of complaining Him.

Where topics of Krishna are flowing, then the material necessities of life are not even noticed.

Getting together and talking about others is natural, and talking about others is perfected in talking about Krishna.

Sometimes when we speak about others, we do so to establish ourselves as superior to others. Thus before we start speaking, we should consider carefully our motives in speaking.

If one speaks unnecessarily and does not tolerate the urge to speak, his mind will never be so peaceful he can fix it on Krishna.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that talking about others should be rejected in all respects, but there are some favorable topics that are so pure that even though they are about others they can be spoken about.

He explains it is best for householders to live in a Krishna conscious family and not talk about others without reason.

A guru can use others as an example to make a point clear to the disciple, if done without envy or desire to be superior.

Sukadeva Goswami’s warning about envious householders who sleep and have sex and night and maintain and decorate their bodies during the day, and Lord Caitanya saying he cannot tolerate seeing the face of a member of the renounced who talks intimately with women are examples of using others to make a point clear.

If one speaks for the purpose of instructing others then it is not prajalpa, unwanted and degrading talk that blocks devotional progress.

If our speech about others is contaminated by envy, hatred, pride, or distinction, then it is an offense against Bhakti Devi.

When we ignore this good advice, we can create enmity and disturb minds, and create an atmosphere which is not conducive to development of Vaishnava relationships. People become afraid to reveal their minds, thinking whatever they say will become public knowledge.

We have practice patiently the control of our own urge to speak, instead of telling others how to control theirs.

The goal of the sadhaka is to see that Krishna is pleased. When is Krishna pleased? When the devotee follows His instruction, man mana bhava mad-bhakto . . . When the devotee has no shelter but Him.

The Lord gives his heart to His devotees, and therefore He could not help Durvasa Muni, who had offended His devotee.

If there is envy (malice) in our heart, then how can we work for the benefit of others?

Practitioners of devotional service should not speak unnecessarily.

There is no restriction on glorifying the devotees.

Lord Caitanya advised an offender who criticized devotees that he could become free from offense by using the same mouth to glorify devotees.

Sometimes people glorify their friends who are devotees in a very lofty way. This calls to mind that King Prthu rejected the glorification by the professional reciters for qualities of his that he had not manifested, saying that that such praises were actually insults.

I went to the kitchen to encourage the devotees who do so much work there during the [Ukraine] festival. I saw one devotee who was washing all the buckets that were used to serve prasadam. It looked like he had been there for a long time, and that he would be there for a long time still. I asked him if there were any difficulties in his service. He replied that his difficulty was that they were only allowing him to wash the buckets for one day.

The regulative principles of bhakti-yoga does not mean the vows we accepted at initiation. Those are the regulative principles of human life. The regulative principle of bhakti-yoga is to always fix the mind on Krishna. If one cannot fix one’s mind on Krishna twenty-four hours a day, at least some part of the day one should fix his mind on Krishna.

Prahladananda Swami:

Astrology is meant to help one move toward liberation and was given by Parasara Muni.

By liberation, I mean freedom from misconceptions.

I memorized the Krishna book because I thought it would be less boring to remember Krishna’s pastimes while I was chanting japa. I wrote Srila Prabhupada asking if it was alright to remember Krishna’s pastimes while chanting japa, and he said, “No. Just chant and hear, and if you happen to think of Krishna’s pastimes spontaneously that is all right.”

To be successful in devotional service we must simply understand who is the right source to hear from and what is the right attitude to hear with.

Maya has no power to hold on to us, but we are holding on to maya, and why are we holding on to maya? Because we like to hold on maya. But it is not enough to let go of maya, we must embrace Krishna.

The pure devotee sees everyone suffering because of being separated from Krishna.

In astrology there are three kinds of planets, male, female, and neutral. Male planets are concerned with doing the right thing. Female planets are concerned with enjoyment. The female does the right thing when she is happy, and the male is happy when he does the right thing.

The sun is very generous. No one gets a bill for heat and light from the sun. It is very regulated. It always rises every morning and never sleeps in.

The planets have a higher and lower nature. The sun is generous and noble on the positive side, and on the negative side pride or depression result.

The sun, Mars, and Jupiter are male. Venus and the moon are female. Mercury and Saturn are neutral. The world is set up so the combination of influences has a balancing effect. One lives nicely in this world, but wonders, “is there anything more than this?” and then inquires about Krishna consciousness.

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from his journal, Viraha Bhavan, August 26, 2012:

I read a lecture by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura which gave me a great enhancement in chanting. He said the goal of life is to render service to Srimati Radharani, the attractor of Krishna. And the best way to do this is by nama-bhajana to the Hare Krishna mantra. The word “Hare” is the vocative form of “Hara,” which indicates Radha. And “Rama” means Radhika-Ramana, the lover and enjoyer of Radharani. So the entire mantra is yugala kishora, the joining and separation of Radha and Krishna, which is how Lord Caitanya chanted.

from My Dear Lord Krishna:

“Please let me serve You and love You in my next life. I will have to serve something or someone
—some nation, etc. I ask that it be You. I don't want to be born in the darkness of ignorance. I want my eyes opened by the torchlight of knowledge carried by my spiritual master. I had to wait twenty-six years in this life before I began serving You. It was wonderful when I began, but it was too long to wait. I almost died before I met Prabhupada. Please don't let anything like that happen to me in my next life. Let me get a speedy start. Let me begin chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare as soon as possible, even in the womb of my mother. Such a thing is possible. Let me meet the first obstacles of my life with You by my side.

“Give me Krishna conscious parents, or bring me at once to the spiritual sky. I am greedy for the best. I can't claim qualification, but I'm afraid of this material world in Kali-yuga, and I'm attracted to You. So I ask to be born where You are. If You want me to come back to the material world to preach, then so be it. But in that case, give me the spark of compassion to be a preacher. Make me strong and put me in the association of strong devotees.

“Please let my next life be auspicious. Protect me from calamities. Let me be pure. Let me find my eternal spiritual master and affectionately serve him. Let me have a friendly, intimate relationship with him. Let me be of actual use to him in his mission. Let me be attracted to the eternal dhamas, such as Vrndavana and Mayapura, and render service there and purify myself there and associate with devotees. Let me practice brahmacarya. Let me not be attracted to material objects like beautiful women, opulent food and clothing, and fine residential quarters. Let me live simply.

“Let me do some creative service for You, if You desire. Let me work for You. Wherever I am, let me think of You with devotion. I would like to feel ecstatic symptoms of love of God. If I am in a position where I have to defend Your good name in the world, give me the courage to do so.

“These are some thoughts that come to my mind about how I would like to relate to You and Srimati Radharani in my next life. Let me know raganuga sadhana bhakti. Give me time to read and relish the scriptures and speak about them to others. I want to be a faithful devotee wherever I live. Let me be happy in Krishna consciousness. I think it is right to aspire for going back to Godhead, as Srila Prabhupada encouraged.

“Let me be with You,
let me love You,
please accept me
as Your humble servant.”

Sivarama Swami:

This world seems real because it is a reflection of the spiritual world.

One must have great faith in Krishna’s divinity to be able to understand His pastimes in which he does things that in this world that would be unacceptable behavior, like His lying, stealing, etc.

Kubja is considered to be both an incarnation of Surpanakha and also the partial expansion of Satyabhama. After being rejected by Lord Ramacandra, she underwent austerities to please Lord Shiva for many, many years. Lord Shiva said he could not give her the benediction that Rama would be her husband as he accepted a vow of eka-patni vrata.

Because Kubja wanted to enjoy with Lord, her love is not considered pure. The queens because they want to give pleasure to Krishna are superior, and best are the gopis who want to please Krishna and have no conception of another self-interest.

Dhirasanta Prabhu:

We still make too many distinctions between devotees based on whether they are brahmacari, grhasthas, or sannyasis, although it is not bad as earlier in ISKCON history.

If we do our spiritual duties nicely in the morning, we will be able to all our other duties throughout the day in an exemplary way that inspires others.

I present Krishna philosophy and culture in the Hinduism classes in the school. One day one of the teachers who very passionate and who did everything very hurriedly, was acting in a very peaceful way after hearing two hours of my presentations in her classes, and her friends were amazed by the change in behavior. She said maybe it was the incense this Hindu priest uses. She said it was not something I said that affected her behavior, but the whole way I acted. I explained that every morning I chant Hare Krishna for two hours, and that gives me the spiritual strength to deal with the issues.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura sings, “Lord Gauranga said, ‘I have descended just to save you; other than Myself you have no friend in this world. I have brought the medicine that will wipe out the disease of illusion from which you are suffering. Take this maha-mantra-Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.’”
If it was not for Bhaktivinoda Thakura, we probably would not be sitting here today.

Nagaraja Prabhu:

from Back to Godhead, Vol. 46, No. 6, Nov./Dec. 2012:

As Srila Narottama Dasa writes, “The sound of the glorification of Krishna is a gift from Goloka Vrindavana, Lord Krishna’s eternal abode.” If we immerse ourselves in that liberating sound, we won’t die either. As Prabhupada once said, at the end of our time in this body we’ll close our eyes, and when we open them, we’ll be with Krishna.

Pancaratna Prabhu:

I am from Mayapur, and Mayapur is known for festivals, and I have to say, this [Ukraine] festival is extraordinary. After Devamrita Swami’s kirtana took us to a higher level, your loud cry of “Haribol!” I do not think I had heard resounded at such a volume since the installation of the Pancatattva in Mayapur.

The Lord desired in the beginning that although one He might become many. It all begins with desire.

The Mayavadis want to be without desire, but without desire, what do we have?

We all know of the flow of desires in our minds, and without the mercy of Krishna, the guru, and the Vaishnavas, we cannot get out of the service of these desires which never can satisfy us, because they are for the temporary.

The Buddhists say by eliminating desire, we eliminate suffering, but Krishna has a better idea: “The embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, though the
taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by
experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.” (Bhagavad-gita 2.59)

Kavitam in Siksastaka 4 means fruitive activities described in flowery language.

The desire to serve the Lord does not come from the mind, but from your heart, from your actual self.

God desires. He desires love, pleasure with us. By pleasing Him we share in that pleasure.

Madhava is always reminding us, “Chant from the heart.” What does that mean? It means not for any material reason, for Krishna’s pleasure.

Srila Prabhupada taught us to chant like a child crying for his mother. Why does a child cry for his mother? Because from his mother everything comes.

We want Krishna. That is our hearts’ desire. In our chanting of the holy name, we must connect with that desire.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura says in Bhakti-rahasyam that Siksastaka 4 describes the state of no desire which happens at ruci.

Trnad . . . [tolerance and humility] is how we get to nistha [steadiness in devotional service].

Bhakta Vatsala Govinda Prabhu (from a Radhastami lecture):

Without accepting the Absolute Truth is a person we cannot understand the philosophy of Krishna consciousness.

The energies of the Absolute Truth are also persons.

Through Krishna consciousness we are trying to revive our relationship with Him.

The easiest way to attain Krishna is through Srimati Radharani.

Radha is described in great detail in literature by great devotees. She is fourteen years old, has elder brother, Sridhama, younger sister, Ananga Manjari, and many friends known as sakhis.

Radha has pets such as parrots, cows, calf, monkey, doe, birds like swans and peacocks.
Radha has ornaments like tilaka, necklaces, earrings, a medallion with Krishna’s picture, a syamatanka jewel, touchstone, bracelets, blue dress (usually, but sometimes red), jeweled mirror, golden stick to decorate her eyes, comb, mirror, private flower garden with golden jasmine flowers like lightning.

Radha-kunda with the kadamba tree where she sits and talks with Krishna. She has favorite ragas (musical arrangements) and dances. She worships the sun-god every day with the desire to marry Krishna.

We can learn from this list of possessions of Radha that the spiritual world is not so different from the material world. There are families, pets, etc. The idea that the spiritual world is completely different had by impersonalists is erroneous. Impersonalism means to take the person features out of spiritual life.

Material life is “it is all about me” everyone else is competition, and Krishna is the biggest competition, but someday I will conquer Him.

In the spiritual world all the things that are inanimate in this world are conscious there. Thus we have to act consciously with every person and thing.

Krishna is already ready to help us attain the spiritual world, but the question is are we willing to follow His advice.

Vamsivihara Prabhu:

from Back to Godhead, Vol. 46, No. 6, Nov./Dec. 2012:

Everyone loves certain foods, drinks, clothes, and music, and Lord Krishna is no exception. In fact, we have our likes because we are parts of Krishna, who has His own personal likes. Krishna loves butter, yellow clothing, peacock feathers, cows, flutes, and the land of Vrindavan. Similarly, of all months, He loves Karttika the best.

When devotees see the master of the entire universe bound by the love of His devotee, their hearts are filled with extreme gratitude. Attracted by Krishna’s divine qualities, their hearts are uncontrollably pulled toward Him. Although devotees do not wish to subdue the Lord, He takes extra pleasure in being ordered and controlled by His devotees. Each tries to be controlled by the other, because where love is present, happiness lies not in winning but in being won over. Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam (6.16.34), “The Lord and the devotees both conquer. The Lord is conquered by the devotees, and the devotees are conquered by the Lord. Because of being conquered by one another, they both derive transcendental bliss from their relationship.”

Sarvatma Prabhu:

Although a devotee for years, I had only been able fix my mind on the Lord for a fraction a second at a time. Once on my birthday, I expressed this frustration to the Lord, and prayed to Him, as Radha-Ramana, “Please let me fix your mind on your lotus feet.” I found without difficulty I could meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord for the whole day. Of course, the next day, it was like as before, but I could appreciate that Krishna is a person and will respond to our prayers.

Your love is the only thing that Krishna does not have. He has everything else but love is voluntary.

Krishna is in your heart. He knows about your desires before you do.

We are so far from performing devotional service, yet as the Supersoul, Krishna always remains with us, for lifetimes.

If have a chronic condition and enter the hospital your friends will come and see you, but if you are there for months and years, how many will continue to visit. But Krishna continues remains with us through many, many lifetimes of our miserable disease.

Inattentive chanting is like inviting Krishna and closing the door in his face.

Srila Prabhupada said that if you remember Krishna 24 hours a day, He will remember you 26 hours a day, but if you think of yourself, He will think of Himself.

Here [in Simhachalam] Lord Nrsimha is not in his ugra [fierce] feature. He has Prahlada Maharaja on His lap, so He cannot leap.

King Vena was so bad, the only good thing during his administration was that were no criminals because he was the main criminal and he did not allow other criminals to prosper.

Stambha-bhava Prabhu:
One time Janananda Goswami came to our brahmacari ashram in Manchester. We went on harinama with him to twelve different towns in one day. We would get out of the car, chant up and down the main street and get back in the car, and go to the next town.

notes from Nrsimha installation anniversary festival:

Lord Nrsimhadeva’s conch shell sounds three times. The first time to chastise the demoniac, the second time to bless the devotees, and the third time to celebrate the victory of a pure heart.

------

tasmat sankirtanam vishnor
jagan-mangalam amhasam
mahatam api kauravya
viddhy aikantika-niskrtam


Sukadeva Gosvami continued: “My dear King, the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is able to uproot even the reactions of the greatest sins. Therefore the chanting of the sankirtana movement is the most auspicious activity in the entire universe. Please try to understand this so that others will take it seriously. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.36)

A Particle of Dust
→ Undoing Reality

Every day all over the world people dedicate some of their time to rid the environment of one of the most abundant substances of the universe – dust.  Companies have formed with soldiers brimming with intense enthusiasm to change the world by eradicating dust daily; armed with sprays and wipes saturated with electrostatic formulae designed to decimate dust from even the most modest domicile.  But is it possible to get rid of dust?  Is there a campaign or scientific expedition that will eliminate dust entirely?  There is an awakened understanding that the very same dust that we dedicate millions of hours in manpower to eradicate can be a sacred gift that can display the entire universe; nay, the whole of existence.

“Glory to the Sri Krsna Sankirtana which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional of repeated birth and death.”

This prelude to the Sri Siksatakam is also about eradicating dust; the dust which covers our path, from illusion to illumination.  The dust that is the by-product of searching for pleasure in this material world.

“Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet”

This atom, or dust is a much sought after position.  To attain one particle of dust at the lotus feet of the Lord, or one particle from the Holy Place of pilgrimage.  Is this dust from the pilgrimage site metaphorical, allegorical, holographical?

Can one particle of dust give you the entire benefit of the Holy Place of Pilgrimage?  Is it a memento reminding us “We’ve been there!!“, either spiritually or physically?

One DNA strand contains the blueprint of the whole human body. One speck of dust from the Holy Land of Vrndavan contains the entire Vraja bhumi – land of the Supreme Absolute Truth and His associates.  This speck of dust expands to a triquandrantal, holographic plane of existence which is infinite spiritual manifestation and infinite accommodating space for insentient gross things.

 

Spuds – Two Words to Rule Them All
→ kurma News

spuds:

While admiring my newly sprouted potato plants this morning (the photo is above) I had an extraordinary flashback.

It's 1970, my last year of high school at Vaucluse Boys High. The year 12 students (called sixth form back then) are putting on a play called The Kitchen, by Arnold Wesker, written in 1957.

Looking back, that is sort of remarkable as it is, since The Kitchen is pretty much a two-word prediction about the rest of my life.

Talking about two words...

The play is set in the basement kitchen of a large restaurant, as thirty chefs, waitresses, and kitchen porters slowly begin the day preparing to serve lunch. The central story tells of a frustrated love affair between a high-spirited, young, German chef, Peter, and a married English waitress, Monique.

Anyway, I really wanted to be in the play but my auditions were less than impressive. I think the drama teacher felt sorry for me and gave me a part where I had to memorise two words. That's it - a two-word part.

It's opening night. As the stage lights start to rise a dark figure (me) enters the stage dragging a sack of potatoes. I am a female kitchen porter. I always got caste as women - don't ask me why - I don't know the answer. Oh, it was a boys' school - that could explain it. And I was in touch with my feminine side even back then.

Anyway, I heave the sack to centre stage and open my mouth to say my memorable two words; but I fluff my lines! Lines you say? Two words?!! Yep. I say 'spuds' instead of 'the spuds'.

I'm so nervous and ashamed I slink off the stage, past the incredulous drama teacher and end my theatre career as unceremoniously as it has began.

So there we have it. Spuds.

Split in Two
→ Undoing Reality

“Fake it ’til you make it.”  The feeling of faking it forces upon us a recognition of a split between something that we flatter ourselves is our “true” self and the role we are playing. More modestly, it is the feeling of our incomplete immersion in the role, with impious thoughts intruding about the role. Sometimes, it is merely a vague sense of dislocation that takes the form of worrying where we are amidst all the roles we must play: I worry about who I am; therefore, I guess, I am.

Until we know who we are, we will have anxiety about faking a lofty ideal of ourselves and the moral failure, psychological discomfort and social disorientation can lead us to a life split in two.  Does a life split in two mean that we are hypocrites?  We can be hypocrites and know that we are. This “self-aware hypocrite” is a conscious deceiver.  Or we can be a “naive hypocrite,” who thinks himself a paragon of virtue. The naive hypocrite does not feel themselves to be faking anything; they are delighted with the role they have assumed, experiencing themselves as sincerely what they are purporting to be, but be culpably deluded as to the sincerity of his sincerity.  The naive hypocrite a seamless self-deceiver.

Hypocrisy is a parasite, operating by mimicking the attractiveness of virtue, appropriating its rewards.  The rewards, fame, adoration and distinction are a delectable entree for the main course – wealth, followers, admirers.  Split in two we become unsure of our position and the ultimate reality becomes obscure and fades into a distant, meaningless hum that sings its tune when our conscience comes forth intermittently.

The Promise of the New Age
→ Undoing Reality

“Carefully consider before you act.  You may not be able to retract.  Understand well all that you do.  And you will have no cause to rue.”  The Golden Verses of Pythagoras spring forth from a brilliant philosopher, mathematican, statesman and mystic  who offered a system of learning for enlightenment 2500 years ago in Greece.  The Pythagorean Ideal is a system of balance whereby 10 stages of learning are progressively graduated in which personal development must be a process of natural unfoldment.  The time factor in this education system held little relevance.  Learning had to unfold like the opening of a rosebud, allowed to take place naturally; forced opening would only damage the rosebud, resulting in premature wilting.

Everyone must be prepared to accept total responsibility for their actions.  If this golden rule of action is implanted within our lives we will see a distant potential within ourselves and a promise for a New Age where truth will supplant falseness,  and wisdom replace rashness.  How exciting and rewarding life can be if every individual accepts a level of perfection and idealism for a path towards enlightenment instead of an emphasis on materialism and the striving for luxury and power.

Unlocking the secrets of the inner self is a lofty goal rarely achieved in modern times.  Pythagoras exhibits the traits of an ideal reformer establishing a 10 fold system of organised self-mastery:

  1. Silence and meditation
  2. Mnemonics – memory and awareness
  3. Temperance – moderation in all things suitable
  4. Fortitude – strength and courage
  5. Philanthropy – love, compassion and friendship
  6. Erudition – learning, especially about one’s environment
  7. Music – all aspects of harmony
  8. Dietetics and fasting – the essence of health
  9. Exercise and activity – for flexibility and vitality
  10. Method, order and efficiency

What was propounded 2500 years ago has such dynamic potential now.  Not only because it is intensely practical but also because it has no restrictions through race, age, culture, religion, philosophy…everyone can benefit.

Another Ecstatic Weekend
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures


Submitted by:- Minakshi Devi Dasi

We went on another two outings this past weekend during Prabhupada Marathon.
This past Friday November 23rdth we were at the Woodbine Banquet Hall for the HAONA Event and then on Sunday we were at Vaishno DeviTemple in Oakville.

The Friday event was fairly small with less than 300 people and many people that had already met us at other banquet hall events in the past few weeks.

One lady entered the foyer of the banquet hall and immediately came over, very pleased and joyful.  She began hugging me and telling me that she is on the board of directors of many community organizations and would love to have us come out to their events as well.  She happens to be a doctor with many connections that we can take advantage of to distribute more and more of Srila Prabhupada’s books.

A while later another I approached a woman who did listen with interest and looked at the Bhagavad Gita and then the Krishna book – she asked me which one she should take – I explained her that one is what Krishna spoke and one is about Krishna – she said that she has been thinking about the Lord for a few days and was thinking about getting some books but did not know where to go and here we are!  She took both books.

There was a huge extended family with sister-in-laws, husbands etc.  Radhapriya spoke to one, Vicky another, Jessica another and me the other.  Each of them was very interested and happily took a selection of Hidden Glory of India, Srimad Bhagavatam Condensed, Illustrated Bhagavatam Stories and more. 

Over 80 books were distributed at this event.

On Sunday we went to Oakville where we had kirtan and as well as a lecture by Subhavilasa Prabhu.  The congregation was very happy. They do not get to hear philosophy on a regular basis so this was refreshing and insightful for them.

One lady spoke to Ashalata devi dasi for a long time and just could not stop her enthusiasm for the chanting, the lecture, the books, etc. She took a Bhagavad Gita and a small book and exchanged her contact information.

I approached a teenager and showed him the Krishna book – he really liked it and showed it to his father.  His father made him promise that he would read the entire book and then agreed to take it. Another lady decided to take 2 Bhagavad Gitas as holiday gifts for her 20 and 21 year old sons.

A small girl of about 6 saw the kids books and desperately wanted it.  The mother was being very reluctant.  Finally Mother Ashalata told her that if your daughter wanted to buy a candy from the store you would buy it so why not buy this that the girl really wants and is more valuable.  She took 3 kids books.

There are so many more stories, so much nectar, but so little space….By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada over 80 books were distributed here as well. 


For the weekend, over 160 Books were distributed and about $800 collected.  Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

Another Ecstatic Weekend
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures


Submitted by:- Minakshi Devi Dasi

We went on another two outings this past weekend during Prabhupada Marathon.
This past Friday November 23rdth we were at the Woodbine Banquet Hall for the HAONA Event and then on Sunday we were at Vaishno DeviTemple in Oakville.

The Friday event was fairly small with less than 300 people and many people that had already met us at other banquet hall events in the past few weeks.

One lady entered the foyer of the banquet hall and immediately came over, very pleased and joyful.  She began hugging me and telling me that she is on the board of directors of many community organizations and would love to have us come out to their events as well.  She happens to be a doctor with many connections that we can take advantage of to distribute more and more of Srila Prabhupada’s books.

A while later another I approached a woman who did listen with interest and looked at the Bhagavad Gita and then the Krishna book – she asked me which one she should take – I explained her that one is what Krishna spoke and one is about Krishna – she said that she has been thinking about the Lord for a few days and was thinking about getting some books but did not know where to go and here we are!  She took both books.

There was a huge extended family with sister-in-laws, husbands etc.  Radhapriya spoke to one, Vicky another, Jessica another and me the other.  Each of them was very interested and happily took a selection of Hidden Glory of India, Srimad Bhagavatam Condensed, Illustrated Bhagavatam Stories and more. 

Over 80 books were distributed at this event.

On Sunday we went to Oakville where we had kirtan and as well as a lecture by Subhavilasa Prabhu.  The congregation was very happy. They do not get to hear philosophy on a regular basis so this was refreshing and insightful for them.

One lady spoke to Ashalata devi dasi for a long time and just could not stop her enthusiasm for the chanting, the lecture, the books, etc. She took a Bhagavad Gita and a small book and exchanged her contact information.

I approached a teenager and showed him the Krishna book – he really liked it and showed it to his father.  His father made him promise that he would read the entire book and then agreed to take it. Another lady decided to take 2 Bhagavad Gitas as holiday gifts for her 20 and 21 year old sons.

A small girl of about 6 saw the kids books and desperately wanted it.  The mother was being very reluctant.  Finally Mother Ashalata told her that if your daughter wanted to buy a candy from the store you would buy it so why not buy this that the girl really wants and is more valuable.  She took 3 kids books.

There are so many more stories, so much nectar, but so little space….By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada over 80 books were distributed here as well. 


For the weekend, over 160 Books were distributed and about $800 collected.  Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

Sharing with You: A Blur in the Life
→ Devamrita Swami's Facebook notes

Two weeks of winter in the Northeast USA and Canada, and my mind tells my body I've had more than my fill. But bhakti-yogis are in the business of controlling the pushy mind with the gravity of spiritual intelligence. 

Nevertheless, even swamis have their human side, to say the least. Therefore, I'll give you a glimpse, just to share with you. Let me explain that besides this bodily machine having long acclimated to comparatively nonexistent winters down under, in Australia and New Zealand, also—truth be told—immediately preceding the past two icy weeks, the body was one month heating in India, as the soul luxuriated in eternal spiritual sustenance. 

Since leaving Vrindavan November 14, devotional life, for the most part, has been fast forward 4X.

November 14: Departed Govardhana Hill the evening of Govardhana Puja, to catch a flight the next early morning from Delhi to London.

Nov. 15: Late evening arrival in London.

Nov. 16: Evening program at the London School of Business followed by a night program at the Mantra Lounge, a kirtan undertaking by the London Soho temple, arranged by the industrious Jai Murari dasi.

Nov. 17: Prabhupada's Disappearance Day. Midday flight to the USA, to the Gita-Nagari farm.

Nov. 18: Govardhana-puja celebration in the presence of Sri Sri Radha-Damodara.

Nov. 18 to 21: Meet with the farm staff and supporters, while adjusting to time-zone changes (9.5 hours different than India and 5 than the UK.)

Nov. 21: Morning flight to Toronto, where Mangal-Arti dasi was ready to roll, maximally, literally, as soon as I walked off the delayed flight. Evening program at Ryerson University.

Nov. 22: Met with Candramauli Swami for lunch. Evening program at Ontario College of Art and Design

Nov. 23:  Met with Bhakti Marga Swami for lunch. Evening program at Bhakti Lounge.

Nov. 24 to 25: Weekend retreat hosted by the Bhakti Lounge at a venue two hours outside of Toronto, followed by a quick visit on Sunday night to the Toronto temple for singing the Damodarastaka.

Nov. 26: Program at George Brown College.

Nov. 27: Trying to arrive in New York for the weekly Tuesday night program at the Bhakti Center. 

No go flying out of Toronto, due to snowy airports in New York. One flight cancelled, next flight cancelled, third flight delayed. The long wait at the airport did give me time to catch my breath. In the so-called Information Age that means catch up on email—piled up while in India.

Since the devastating Hurricane Sandy, the Bhakti Center in New York had electricity again, the subways below it rumbled again, drained of floodwaters. Hardened New Yorkers resumed their habitual frenzied pace, in "the city that never sleeps."

After several days of programs in the city of my birth, it's now time to see the sun again. I'm not flying almost six hours to Sin City, Las Vegas, though, to indulge my senses.  My core desire is to please Krishna's senses by satisfying His devotee, my eternal spiritual father.  Otherwise all this traveling has no meaning and certainly no attraction.


Personal Mission Statements
→ Undoing Reality

“A mission statement is a key tool that can be as important as your business plan. It captures, in a few succinct sentences, the essence of your business’s goals and the philosophies underlying them. Equally important, the mission statement signals what your business is all about to your customers, employees, suppliers and the community.”

But what about making our own individual mission statements?  Key issues in life are often solved when our goals are clearly enunciated and our philosophy is emphatically observed.  If we don’t know where we are going, how do we know how to get there.  Making your own personal mission statement will clarify your life goals and it will also make day to day life much easier because your true essence has been understood by yourself and by others around you.

It will take time to come up with language that simultaneously describes your heart and soul and serves as an inspirational beacon guiding your life through its meandering of successes and obstacles.  Use this rule, “Every word counts”, and every word should be dynamic and inspirational.  It may also take time, maybe even a full day to come up with something reflective of you.

Research is needed before you begin to prepare your own mission statement.  Answering the following questions will help you to come up with a succinct verbal picture of your mission:

Who am I?  What is my understanding of my “self”.

What do I understand to be my highest capabilities and goals?  The supreme occupation for all ……..

How do I view myself and the world around me?  Equality amongst humans and other living beings.

Is there a higher cause other than myself?

Who do I want to please?

What are my underlying philosophies and values?

Make your mission statement public by posting it.  That way you will announce to everyone that you know who you are, where you are going and why you are doing what you do.

i-land here i-come
→ Tattva - See inside out

Arrived in Dublin yesterday. We’ll be in jolly Ireland for the next few weeks sharing books of wisdom with everyone we meet. That means I’ll most likely be ‘off the grid’ with regards to the e-world, but very much ‘on the grid’ in terms of the physical world. The plan is to visit Waterford, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Belfast and Londonderry, arriving back in Dublin for Christmas!

These priceless books are like x-ray machines. While everything on the surface may seem fine, the x-ray machine reveals a deeper cause of concern. Similarly, beyond the slick and smooth exterior of the urban jungle, the modern metropolis faces a long list of pressing problems: the time bomb of environmental issues, territorial conflicts, struggling economies, natural disasters, rising crime and widespread poverty. On an individual level, stress, depression and suicide rates are also rising. Smiling faces, crying hearts.

The political, economic and social problems we witness are essentially caused by a neglect and disregard of spiritual values. Although modern philanthropists, social workers and political leaders may have good intentions, they fail to identify the root of the problem and instead simply address the immediate symptoms. Often their solutions are not as universal, beneficial or permanent as we would like. For that, we have to incorporate spiritual wisdom into the equation.

Only when there is inner peace can there be world peace. While people are experiencing a vacuum within, they will invariably exploit the external world to fill that void. While there is conflict and agitation within, people will recreate the same in their relationships and communities. Thus, to nurture a spiritual heart, we are trying to become ambassadors of goodwill and share the spiritual message with others. It's welfare work with a difference. By accessing the wisdom of Bhagavad-gita, people can flourish on all levels: physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually.

i-land here i-come
→ Tattva - See inside out

Arrived in Dublin yesterday. We’ll be in jolly Ireland for the next few weeks sharing books of wisdom with everyone we meet. That means I’ll most likely be ‘off the grid’ with regards to the e-world, but very much ‘on the grid’ in terms of the physical world. The plan is to visit Waterford, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Belfast and Londonderry, arriving back in Dublin for Christmas!

These priceless books are like x-ray machines. While everything on the surface may seem fine, the x-ray machine reveals a deeper cause of concern. Similarly, beyond the slick and smooth exterior of the urban jungle, the modern metropolis faces a long list of pressing problems: the time bomb of environmental issues, territorial conflicts, struggling economies, natural disasters, rising crime and widespread poverty. On an individual level, stress, depression and suicide rates are also rising. Smiling faces, crying hearts.

The political, economic and social problems we witness are essentially caused by a neglect and disregard of spiritual values. Although modern philanthropists, social workers and political leaders may have good intentions, they fail to identify the root of the problem and instead simply address the immediate symptoms. Often their solutions are not as universal, beneficial or permanent as we would like. For that, we have to incorporate spiritual wisdom into the equation.

Only when there is inner peace can there be world peace. While people are experiencing a vacuum within, they will invariably exploit the external world to fill that void. While there is conflict and agitation within, people will recreate the same in their relationships and communities. Thus, to nurture a spiritual heart, we are trying to become ambassadors of goodwill and share the spiritual message with others. It's welfare work with a difference. By accessing the wisdom of Bhagavad-gita, people can flourish on all levels: physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually.

Preservation, Protection, Promotion and Perpetuation of Vedic Culture, by Stephen Knapp
→ Stephen Knapp

On of the primary needs for Vedic culture right now, especially in places like India, is the following formula of preservation, protection, promotion and perpetuation of its existence. I call these “the four pers”.

I have traveled all over India and have seen many situations where this formula is most needed. I have already written some reports on this, but let me explain a little more clearly the basics of this formula.

 

        PRESERVATION: is the first step. You have to work in ways to preserve the culture to make sure it will also be around over the long term so others can learn about it, take advantage of its wisdom, and even follow it for their own spiritual progress. This may include, but not limited to, such things as:

1. Preserve the great and ancient Vedic texts,

2. Preserve the main yoga systems, the dharmas that lead to God,

3. Preserve the temples and let them be freely maintained by those Hindus and devotees who are most sincere and qualified,

4. Distribute this literature for colleges, schools, personal homes, so it can spread,

5. Educate people in this knowledge, especially the youth so they are aware of it and know it,

6. Practice the traditions, such as the holidays and spiritual paths in everyday life.

 

        PROTECTION: is the next step. Even if you do what you can to preserve the tradition, it may also come under attack in many ways. So you have to help protect it by:

1. Overcoming negative impressions that people may try to use to unnecessarily criticize or demean it,

2. Be on guard for negative press in newspapers or television, and work to correct it,

3. Watch for the use of devious ways and false statements that are said to convert people from the Vedic path to some other religion,

4. Be careful even of politicians who have a disdain for God, or for the Vedic culture and who try to work against it or promote some other ideology or religion at the cost of the Vedic institutions.

 

        PROMOTION: this is important whether we like it or not. Many times Hindus or devotees feel there is no proselytizing in Vedic culture, so you have to be born into it or something like that, but there should be no process to convert others. However, in this day and age this is but a prescription for a slow extinction. Everyone and everything promotes what they have. Just like an author, he may have written the best book ever, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it. Promotion of some form is a must. And the Vedic tradition is one of the most profound and dynamic cultures the world has ever seen. Therefore, there is a great need to let others know about it. This does not mean that you have to be in a conversion campaign, but you can certainly share what you know of it. Many people are looking for deeper levels of spirituality, but they do not know where to look, or they do not know the depth of what the Vedic path or its knowledge has to offer. Someone has to be willing to tell them. In fact, we all should be willing. Therefore:

1. Everyone can be a Vedic Ambassador to simply share with other seekers the ways the Vedic culture has helped them and what they have gotten out of it, the difference it has made in their life,

2. Promote it as a spiritual path that can help solve many of the world’s problems,

3. Distribute the simpler portions of the Vedic texts, such as Bhagavad-gita, or various forms of introductory literature that can introduce and easily explain what the Vedic path is so others can benefit from it,

4. Open the temple doors to all who want to come and investigate it or be a part of it so others can see what it is and how to get started,

5. Offer classes on yoga and Vedic philosophy for the same reason,

6. And hold programs wherein the youth can also be a part of it and practice it,

7. Arrange for radio or even cable TV programs so everyone can learn from it or stay connected.

 

        PERPETUATION: is why we do all of the above. How can we keep Vedic culture a flourishing and dynamic path? By doing all of the above, and providing the means to show people how to practice it. Without the preservation, protection, and promotion of Vedic culture, it cannot be perpetuated. This is where such things as the following can be helpful:

1. Establish and maintain temples that help uphold and show how to practice the Vedic traditions (I have written a whole book on what can be done through temples),

2. Hold classes and study groups, either at temples or at homes, wherein people get together to comfortably converse on various topics of the Vedic texts to help everyone understand it and how deep or practical it is, and then invite friends to join,

3. As mentioned above, spread this knowledge through book distribution, radio, and various other programs, so people can learn about it and utilize it in their lives,

4. Set yourself as an example for those who know you, but at least for your family and children so they begin to understand it, recognize its potential and practice it as well. If you take it seriously, it will leave positive impressions on others.

There are many other points that can be listed. I have already written detailed action plans that can be used to carry these ideas much further. But the main issue is that we have to work to keep the Vedic culture very much alive and available for everyone. It is what I call the “last bastion of deep spiritual truth.” If this should ever disappear, the world will never know what it has lost.

Some people may say that it is an eternal religion, Sanatana-dharma, so it will never fade away. But have they really read the Bhagavad-gita, wherein Lord Krishna explains that one of the reasons why He appeared was to re-establish the Vedic Dharma, which had become lost?

Lord Krishna says, “I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku. This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend; therefore you can understand the transcendental mystery of this science.” (Bg.4.1-3)

So, yes, it is eternal but can disappear from the face of the earth, and does at times. It is up to those of us who are serious and sincere to make sure that it can continue being a practical spiritual culture far into the future by applying the above mentioned “four pers.”


In the Beginning There was the Word…..
→ Undoing Reality

Sound is a penetrating force that can interrupt even the deepest of rest and it is internally captured by the listener on the degree it bears importance.  We often think that, “I am hearing out there”or that, “sound is outside of me”.  Sound is an internal process whereby the vibration is filtered through our auditory organ, the ear, and then filtered to our known parameters of speech, language etc., and then filtered further through our subtle layers, the mind, intelligence and then our consciousness.  Of course the ear, whether it is an ear of an animal, human, bird, all living beings, wants to hear pleasing sounds.  Sounds of great adulation, sounds of poetic resonance, sounds with melody and tone.  The quality of the sound bears  great importance and it effects are monumental……

What were the first words you heard this morning?  These first words can set the tone for the rest of your day.  Upon rising, with determination, one must choose the combination of syllables which will uplift and motivate you for the rest of the day.  Aphorisms such as “I am that I am”, “I will be successful today”, “Today is the beginning of the rest of my life”, etc., etc.  What you hear first is what is important to you.  Be selective and hear sacred syllables upon rising.  Have these sacred syllables spring forth from your voice so that they can resonant in your consciousness both internally and externally.  This is a great way to begin the day.

In the Book Bag, More Garden Tools
→ The Yoga of Ecology




Click here to read the full article from Lisa W. Foderaro at The New York Times

Across New York City, gardens and miniature farms — whether on rooftops or at ground level — are joining smart boards and digital darkrooms as must-have teaching tools. They are being used in subjects as varied as science, art, mathematics and social studies. In the past two years, the number of school-based gardens registered with the city jumped to 232, from 40, according to GreenThumb, a division of the parks department that provides schools with technical support.

But few of them come with the credential of the 2,400-square-foot garden at Avenue B and Fifth Street in the East Village, on top of a red-brick building that houses three public schools: the Earth School, Public School 64 and Tompkins Square Middle School. Michael Arad, the architect who designed the National September 11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan, was a driving force behind the garden, called the Fifth Street Farm.

The idea took shape four years ago among parents and teachers, when Mr. Arad’s son was still a student at the Earth School. The family has since moved from the neighborhood to Queens, but Mr. Arad, president of a nonprofit corporation that oversaw the garden, stayed on. The farm, with dozens of plants ranging from leeks to lemon balm, opened Oct. 19. Already, students have learned about bulbs and tubers, soil science and nutrition, while the cafeteria has cooked up fresh kale and spinach for lunch.

Mr. Arad said a conversation with his two children during an apple-picking trip spurred his interest in the farm. “They said, ‘What? Apples grow on trees?’ ” he recalled. “A lot of kids don’t get to go upstate. This is 365 days a year. It gives them an immediate, visceral connection to nature.”

In the Book Bag, More Garden Tools
→ The Yoga of Ecology




Click here to read the full article from Lisa W. Foderaro at The New York Times

Across New York City, gardens and miniature farms — whether on rooftops or at ground level — are joining smart boards and digital darkrooms as must-have teaching tools. They are being used in subjects as varied as science, art, mathematics and social studies. In the past two years, the number of school-based gardens registered with the city jumped to 232, from 40, according to GreenThumb, a division of the parks department that provides schools with technical support.

But few of them come with the credential of the 2,400-square-foot garden at Avenue B and Fifth Street in the East Village, on top of a red-brick building that houses three public schools: the Earth School, Public School 64 and Tompkins Square Middle School. Michael Arad, the architect who designed the National September 11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan, was a driving force behind the garden, called the Fifth Street Farm.

The idea took shape four years ago among parents and teachers, when Mr. Arad’s son was still a student at the Earth School. The family has since moved from the neighborhood to Queens, but Mr. Arad, president of a nonprofit corporation that oversaw the garden, stayed on. The farm, with dozens of plants ranging from leeks to lemon balm, opened Oct. 19. Already, students have learned about bulbs and tubers, soil science and nutrition, while the cafeteria has cooked up fresh kale and spinach for lunch.

Mr. Arad said a conversation with his two children during an apple-picking trip spurred his interest in the farm. “They said, ‘What? Apples grow on trees?’ ” he recalled. “A lot of kids don’t get to go upstate. This is 365 days a year. It gives them an immediate, visceral connection to nature.”

No Time!
→ Tattva - See inside out

In the 1960s Swami Prabhupada wrote an article entitled, “No time: the chronic disease of modern man.” In it he comments: “The busy man should try to know as to where he is going. This life is but a spot in his longest sojourn, and the sane person should not be busy with a spot only. Nobody says that the body should not be maintained - but everyone should know from Bhagavad-gita that the body is the outward dress and the ‘soul’ is the real person who puts on the dress. So if the dress is taken care of only, without any care of the real person - it is sheer foolishness and a waste of time.”

Often times, even those who appreciate the spiritual dimension in life have trouble finding time for quality practice. Work or family demands can occupy our attention and sap our energies. Many resign themselves to defeat and instead resolve to deepen their spirituality later in life when worldly demands have eased. But will life ever be free of unexpected distractions and pressing responsibilities? Cars break down, family feuds need to be mediated, homes need improvement, friends seek advice and attention, health problems slow us down and work demands drain our free time. It will always be a challenge to find time.

Thus, putting our spirituality 'on hold' in anticipation of a ‘better’ situation is a risky strategy. There’s no need to wait and no time to lose. As the American poet, Longfellow said, "trust no future, however pleasant!" The external reorganization of our life and the internal cleansing of our consciousness need not be mutually exclusive activities. Like the two rails of a train track, they can exist side-by-side. We can re-engineer our lifestyle and simultaneously intensify our spirituality; it just requires determination and organization.

We can all improve in our time management skills. Identify and eliminate the usual “time-killers” such as television, internet browsing, unnecessary phone talk and the like. Have clear goals and schedules, carefully avoiding procrastination and lethargy. Learn to strike a proper work-life balance, where you meet your financial needs and worldly responsibilities, yet simultaneously factor in quality time for meditation, scriptural study and introspection. Schedule in a time for these direct spiritual practices, and guard those hours with your life! The famous verse in (Mark 8.36) reminds us: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

No Time!
→ Tattva - See inside out

In the 1960s Swami Prabhupada wrote an article entitled, “No time: the chronic disease of modern man.” In it he comments: “The busy man should try to know as to where he is going. This life is but a spot in his longest sojourn, and the sane person should not be busy with a spot only. Nobody says that the body should not be maintained - but everyone should know from Bhagavad-gita that the body is the outward dress and the ‘soul’ is the real person who puts on the dress. So if the dress is taken care of only, without any care of the real person - it is sheer foolishness and a waste of time.”

Often times, even those who appreciate the spiritual dimension in life have trouble finding time for quality practice. Work or family demands can occupy our attention and sap our energies. Many resign themselves to defeat and instead resolve to deepen their spirituality later in life when worldly demands have eased. But will life ever be free of unexpected distractions and pressing responsibilities? Cars break down, family feuds need to be mediated, homes need improvement, friends seek advice and attention, health problems slow us down and work demands drain our free time. It will always be a challenge to find time.

Thus, putting our spirituality 'on hold' in anticipation of a ‘better’ situation is a risky strategy. There’s no need to wait and no time to lose. As the American poet, Longfellow said, "trust no future, however pleasant!" The external reorganization of our life and the internal cleansing of our consciousness need not be mutually exclusive activities. Like the two rails of a train track, they can exist side-by-side. We can re-engineer our lifestyle and simultaneously intensify our spirituality; it just requires determination and organization.

We can all improve in our time management skills. Identify and eliminate the usual “time-killers” such as television, internet browsing, unnecessary phone talk and the like. Have clear goals and schedules, carefully avoiding procrastination and lethargy. Learn to strike a proper work-life balance, where you meet your financial needs and worldly responsibilities, yet simultaneously factor in quality time for meditation, scriptural study and introspection. Schedule in a time for these direct spiritual practices, and guard those hours with your life! The famous verse in (Mark 8.36) reminds us: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

Non-Stop Sankirtan
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures

By Minakshi Devi Dasi

This past Sunday November 18th we had the opportunity to do two events in one day – the daytime was Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill and the evening was a Diwali Event at Versailles Banquet Hall.  So the Sankirtan day began at about 9 am and continued until about 12 midnight!  The sankirtan warriors for this day were myself, my daughter Radhapriya, Mayur Prabhu, Vicky Prabhu and Jessica Mataji.

Our first stop was at the Vishnu Mandir where they were holding their regular Sunday program plus their Diwali Celebration. We were able to setup a table in their lobby and even as we were unpacking the boxes, people were coming by with interest.

One girl looked at the Krishna Book and Bhagavad Gita and after being explained about both books wanted them.  Her mother was a little reluctant – will you really read them and so on – the girl was adamant and the mother purchased both books much to the delight of the girl who held on to them tightly.  There were actually a few kids who loved the Krishna Book and thus had the parent take them.

Adjacent to our table was another table where a young white lady was promoting a not for profit endeavor.  She looked bored so I went to her and spoke about spiritual yoga and showed her 3 of our smaller books including Spiritual Yoga, Consciousness - The Missing Link and Topmost Yoga System.  I told her to just look them over as she sits at her table.

A little while later I followed up with her and she was very excited – she said her husband grew up a Christian but as a teenager gave it up because he was not getting answers and both of them have taken a step back – these books look like exactly what they have been searching for.  She ended up taking 5 books.

We finished at Vishnu Mandir having distributed 120 books.

On we went to the Banquet Hall with a short stopover at Vicky Prabhu’s house for some rest and rejuvenation. 

Here our book distribution started very slowly but we did not give up.  Eventually, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada things picked up.

One lady that took a Bhagavad Gita happened to be a Crown Prosecutor that is involved in murder trials – she said “I need something spiritual to help me.”

A professor from Nairobi that we met at an event a few weeks ago happened to be at this event and was excited to see us again.  Another fellow who saw us at another event invited us to come out to an event this Friday that is hosted by an organization that he is the Chairman of.   When I took his name and number and gave him my name – he said I already know you – I know you and your family from the temple since you were a little girl.

We distributed books to all bodies – white, brown and black, to government officials and to Sikhs – many took Bhagavad Gitas.  We distributed a total of 100 books at the Banquet Hall.

Although it was a long day, we were having such a Sankirtan rush and experiencing much nectar!

Final results for Sunday’s efforts – over 220 Books and over $1100 Laxmi Collected.  Jaya Srila Prabhupada!


Non-Stop Sankirtan
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures

By Minakshi Devi Dasi

This past Sunday November 18th we had the opportunity to do two events in one day – the daytime was Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill and the evening was a Diwali Event at Versailles Banquet Hall.  So the Sankirtan day began at about 9 am and continued until about 12 midnight!  The sankirtan warriors for this day were myself, my daughter Radhapriya, Mayur Prabhu, Vicky Prabhu and Jessica Mataji.

Our first stop was at the Vishnu Mandir where they were holding their regular Sunday program plus their Diwali Celebration. We were able to setup a table in their lobby and even as we were unpacking the boxes, people were coming by with interest.

One girl looked at the Krishna Book and Bhagavad Gita and after being explained about both books wanted them.  Her mother was a little reluctant – will you really read them and so on – the girl was adamant and the mother purchased both books much to the delight of the girl who held on to them tightly.  There were actually a few kids who loved the Krishna Book and thus had the parent take them.

Adjacent to our table was another table where a young white lady was promoting a not for profit endeavor.  She looked bored so I went to her and spoke about spiritual yoga and showed her 3 of our smaller books including Spiritual Yoga, Consciousness - The Missing Link and Topmost Yoga System.  I told her to just look them over as she sits at her table.

A little while later I followed up with her and she was very excited – she said her husband grew up a Christian but as a teenager gave it up because he was not getting answers and both of them have taken a step back – these books look like exactly what they have been searching for.  She ended up taking 5 books.

We finished at Vishnu Mandir having distributed 120 books.

On we went to the Banquet Hall with a short stopover at Vicky Prabhu’s house for some rest and rejuvenation. 

Here our book distribution started very slowly but we did not give up.  Eventually, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada things picked up.

One lady that took a Bhagavad Gita happened to be a Crown Prosecutor that is involved in murder trials – she said “I need something spiritual to help me.”

A professor from Nairobi that we met at an event a few weeks ago happened to be at this event and was excited to see us again.  Another fellow who saw us at another event invited us to come out to an event this Friday that is hosted by an organization that he is the Chairman of.   When I took his name and number and gave him my name – he said I already know you – I know you and your family from the temple since you were a little girl.

We distributed books to all bodies – white, brown and black, to government officials and to Sikhs – many took Bhagavad Gitas.  We distributed a total of 100 books at the Banquet Hall.

Although it was a long day, we were having such a Sankirtan rush and experiencing much nectar!

Final results for Sunday’s efforts – over 220 Books and over $1100 Laxmi Collected.  Jaya Srila Prabhupada!


Solar Companies Seek Ways to Build an Oasis of Electricity
→ The Yoga of Ecology





Click here to read the full article from Diane Cardwell at the New York Times

“Here’s a $70,000 system sitting idle,” said Ed Antonio, who lives in the Rockaways in Queens and has watched his 42 panels as well as those on several other houses in the area go unused since the power went out Oct. 29. “That’s a lot of power sitting. Just sitting.”

Yet there are ways to tap solar energy when the grid goes down, whether by adding batteries to a home system or using the kinds of independent solar generators that have been cropping up in areas hard-hit by the storm.

In the Rockaways, where nearly 14,000 customers still had no power as of Monday morning, volunteers set up a makeshift solar charging station between a car roof and a shopping cart. A multipanel, battery-tied system is helping fuel a relief center’s operations.

In the storm’s wake, solar companies have been donating equipment across New York and other stricken areas to function as emergency power systems now and backups in the longer term. It is important, executives say, to create smaller, more decentralized ways of generating and storing electricity to help ease strain on the grid in times of high demand or failure."

Solar Companies Seek Ways to Build an Oasis of Electricity
→ The Yoga of Ecology





Click here to read the full article from Diane Cardwell at the New York Times

“Here’s a $70,000 system sitting idle,” said Ed Antonio, who lives in the Rockaways in Queens and has watched his 42 panels as well as those on several other houses in the area go unused since the power went out Oct. 29. “That’s a lot of power sitting. Just sitting.”

Yet there are ways to tap solar energy when the grid goes down, whether by adding batteries to a home system or using the kinds of independent solar generators that have been cropping up in areas hard-hit by the storm.

In the Rockaways, where nearly 14,000 customers still had no power as of Monday morning, volunteers set up a makeshift solar charging station between a car roof and a shopping cart. A multipanel, battery-tied system is helping fuel a relief center’s operations.

In the storm’s wake, solar companies have been donating equipment across New York and other stricken areas to function as emergency power systems now and backups in the longer term. It is important, executives say, to create smaller, more decentralized ways of generating and storing electricity to help ease strain on the grid in times of high demand or failure."

The Lila Continues….
→ Arcanam: Worship of the Deity...


On the day of Diwali, my Damodar continued to enact his lila by allowing Mother Yashoda to bind him. This pastime is described by Srila Prabhupada as follows:

Mother Yaśodā chased Him to all corners, trying to capture the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is never approached even by the meditations of great yogīs. In other words, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is never caught by the yogīs and speculators, was playing just like a little child for such a great devotee as Mother Yaśodā. Mother Yaśodā, however, could not easily catch the fast-running child because of her thin waist and heavy body. Still she tried to follow Him as fast as possible. Her hair loosened, and the flowers in her hair fell to the ground. Although she was tired, she somehow reached her naughty child and captured Him. When He was caught, Kṛṣṇa was almost on the point of crying. He smeared His hands over His eyes, which were anointed with black eye cosmetics. The child saw His mother’s face while she stood over Him, and His eyes became restless from fear.

Mother Yaśodā could understand that Kṛṣṇa was unnecessarily afraid, and for His benefit she wanted to allay His fears. Being the topmost well-wisher of her child, Mother Yaśodā thought, “If the child is too fearful of me, I don’t know what will happen to Him.” Mother Yaśodā then threw away her stick. In order to punish Him, she thought to bind His hands with some ropes. She did not know it, but it was actually impossible for her to bind the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mother Yaśodā was thinking that Kṛṣṇa was her tiny child; she did not know that the child had no limitation. There is no inside or outside of Him, nor beginning or end. He is unlimited and all-pervading. Indeed, He is Himself the whole cosmic manifestation. Still, Mother Yaśodā was thinking of Kṛṣṇa as her child. Although He is beyond the reach of all senses, she endeavored to bind Him to a wooden grinding mortar. But when she tried to bind Him, she found that the rope she was using was too short—by two inches. She gathered more ropes from the house and added to it, but still she found the same shortage. In this way, she connected all the ropes available at home, but when the final knot was added, she saw that the rope was still two inches too short. Mother Yaśodā was smiling, but she was astonished. How was it happening?

In attempting to bind her son, she became tired. She was perspiring, and the garland on her head fell down. Then Lord Kṛṣṇa appreciated the hard labor of His mother, and being compassionate upon her, He agreed to be bound up by the ropes. Kṛṣṇa, playing as a human child in the house of Mother Yaśodā, was performing His own selected pastimes. Of course, no one can control the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The pure devotee surrenders himself unto the lotus feet of the Lord, who may either protect or vanquish the devotee. But for his part, the devotee never forgets his own position of surrender. Similarly, the Lord also feels transcendental pleasure by submitting Himself to the protection of the devotee. This was exemplified by Kṛṣṇa’s surrender unto His mother, Yaśodā.
Kṛṣṇa is the supreme bestower of all kinds of liberation to His devotees, but the benediction which was bestowed upon Mother Yaśodā was never experienced even by Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva or the goddess of fortune.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as the son of Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja, is never so completely known to the yogīs and speculators. But He is easily available to His devotees. Nor is He appreciated as the supreme reservoir of all pleasure by the yogīs and speculators.
 Krsna Book Chapter 9: Mother Yashoda Binds Lord Krsna

The Lila Continues….
→ Arcanam: Worship of the Deity...


On the day of Diwali, my Damodar continued to enact his lila by allowing Mother Yashoda to bind him. This pastime is described by Srila Prabhupada as follows:

Mother Yaśodā chased Him to all corners, trying to capture the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is never approached even by the meditations of great yogīs. In other words, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is never caught by the yogīs and speculators, was playing just like a little child for such a great devotee as Mother Yaśodā. Mother Yaśodā, however, could not easily catch the fast-running child because of her thin waist and heavy body. Still she tried to follow Him as fast as possible. Her hair loosened, and the flowers in her hair fell to the ground. Although she was tired, she somehow reached her naughty child and captured Him. When He was caught, Kṛṣṇa was almost on the point of crying. He smeared His hands over His eyes, which were anointed with black eye cosmetics. The child saw His mother’s face while she stood over Him, and His eyes became restless from fear.

Mother Yaśodā could understand that Kṛṣṇa was unnecessarily afraid, and for His benefit she wanted to allay His fears. Being the topmost well-wisher of her child, Mother Yaśodā thought, “If the child is too fearful of me, I don’t know what will happen to Him.” Mother Yaśodā then threw away her stick. In order to punish Him, she thought to bind His hands with some ropes. She did not know it, but it was actually impossible for her to bind the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mother Yaśodā was thinking that Kṛṣṇa was her tiny child; she did not know that the child had no limitation. There is no inside or outside of Him, nor beginning or end. He is unlimited and all-pervading. Indeed, He is Himself the whole cosmic manifestation. Still, Mother Yaśodā was thinking of Kṛṣṇa as her child. Although He is beyond the reach of all senses, she endeavored to bind Him to a wooden grinding mortar. But when she tried to bind Him, she found that the rope she was using was too short—by two inches. She gathered more ropes from the house and added to it, but still she found the same shortage. In this way, she connected all the ropes available at home, but when the final knot was added, she saw that the rope was still two inches too short. Mother Yaśodā was smiling, but she was astonished. How was it happening?

In attempting to bind her son, she became tired. She was perspiring, and the garland on her head fell down. Then Lord Kṛṣṇa appreciated the hard labor of His mother, and being compassionate upon her, He agreed to be bound up by the ropes. Kṛṣṇa, playing as a human child in the house of Mother Yaśodā, was performing His own selected pastimes. Of course, no one can control the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The pure devotee surrenders himself unto the lotus feet of the Lord, who may either protect or vanquish the devotee. But for his part, the devotee never forgets his own position of surrender. Similarly, the Lord also feels transcendental pleasure by submitting Himself to the protection of the devotee. This was exemplified by Kṛṣṇa’s surrender unto His mother, Yaśodā.
Kṛṣṇa is the supreme bestower of all kinds of liberation to His devotees, but the benediction which was bestowed upon Mother Yaśodā was never experienced even by Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva or the goddess of fortune.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as the son of Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja, is never so completely known to the yogīs and speculators. But He is easily available to His devotees. Nor is He appreciated as the supreme reservoir of all pleasure by the yogīs and speculators.
 Krsna Book Chapter 9: Mother Yashoda Binds Lord Krsna

Glorious Gerrard Street Sankirtan
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures



Submitted by:- Minakshi dd
Our weekend of Ecstatic Book Distribution continued on Sunday November 11th where we did Sankirtan on Gerrard Street.  By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, we were able to get permission to setup a table in front of one of the clothing retailers.

As we were setting up we noticed a puja store adjacent to the clothing store and predicted trouble! 
About 20 minutes later the owner of the puja store came out and was asking “who gave you permission, you can’t be here” and proceeded to admonish the clothing store owner about it.  With Krishna’s mercy the clothing store owner said - yes, what is wrong? – he did indeed give permission – they are the Hare Krishnas – leave them alone.  So our angry puja store owner just stomped away.

Later on in the evening, Subhavilasa Prabhu came by and decided to go into the puja store and speak to the man – it turned out that Subhavilasa Prabhu knows this man’s brother for years.  The brother assisted the temple back in the 70’s. Subhavilasa Prabhu was able to not only soften the owner up but he ended up taking 9 books!

There were many stories from this event and I will relate a few quickly:

Jessica Mataji was speaking to a family and they purchase a couple of books and took a temple card.  They ended up coming to the temple that very same evening, spoke to Indresh Prabhu and took sweet boxes and more books – so instant reaction!

I approached a young couple and said Happy Diwali and showed them the Bhagavad Gita. They said that just two minutes ago as they were walking down the street they were thinking of getting something spiritual – they each took a Bhagavad Gita – just see how Krishna knows people’s hearts.

Ashalata Devi Dasi came by later in the evening and immediately began pumping out Krishna Books and Bhagavad Gitas both Hindi and English – one man, an Ismaili, listened to her about the Krishna book and said this looks interesting – I WILL read it and quickly took out his wallet to pay.

Final results for Sunday’s efforts – 150 Books, $502 Laxmi Collected, countless nectar, and many thanks to all who helped – Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

Glorious Gerrard Street Sankirtan
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures



Submitted by:- Minakshi dd
Our weekend of Ecstatic Book Distribution continued on Sunday November 11th where we did Sankirtan on Gerrard Street.  By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, we were able to get permission to setup a table in front of one of the clothing retailers.

As we were setting up we noticed a puja store adjacent to the clothing store and predicted trouble! 
About 20 minutes later the owner of the puja store came out and was asking “who gave you permission, you can’t be here” and proceeded to admonish the clothing store owner about it.  With Krishna’s mercy the clothing store owner said - yes, what is wrong? – he did indeed give permission – they are the Hare Krishnas – leave them alone.  So our angry puja store owner just stomped away.

Later on in the evening, Subhavilasa Prabhu came by and decided to go into the puja store and speak to the man – it turned out that Subhavilasa Prabhu knows this man’s brother for years.  The brother assisted the temple back in the 70’s. Subhavilasa Prabhu was able to not only soften the owner up but he ended up taking 9 books!

There were many stories from this event and I will relate a few quickly:

Jessica Mataji was speaking to a family and they purchase a couple of books and took a temple card.  They ended up coming to the temple that very same evening, spoke to Indresh Prabhu and took sweet boxes and more books – so instant reaction!

I approached a young couple and said Happy Diwali and showed them the Bhagavad Gita. They said that just two minutes ago as they were walking down the street they were thinking of getting something spiritual – they each took a Bhagavad Gita – just see how Krishna knows people’s hearts.

Ashalata Devi Dasi came by later in the evening and immediately began pumping out Krishna Books and Bhagavad Gitas both Hindi and English – one man, an Ismaili, listened to her about the Krishna book and said this looks interesting – I WILL read it and quickly took out his wallet to pay.

Final results for Sunday’s efforts – 150 Books, $502 Laxmi Collected, countless nectar, and many thanks to all who helped – Jaya Srila Prabhupada!