ISKCON Scarborough- 4th Annual Harinam Sankirtan cruise- Kirtan by Gaura Shakti yoga group
ISKCON Scarborough- 4th Annual Harinam Sankirtan cruise- Kirtan by Gaura Shakti yoga group
→ ISKCON Scarborough
2013 06 06 Srimad Bhagavatam 10 20 39 40 Steps to remove False Ego Dayal Chandra Prabhu
→ Gouranga TV - The Hare Krishna video collection
2013 06 06 Srimad Bhagavatam 10 20 39 40 Steps to remove False Ego Dayal Chandra Prabhu
a win-win situation
→ everyday gita
Today was a day of productive reflection for me. Despite it being Saturday, I was able to knock off several things from my to-do list. Item 2 was taking time out to introspect and take stock of everything that's been going on lately.
One of my contemplations was the fact that often we are presented with lose-lose scenarios. We may want to speak the truth, but it's at the cost of a friendship or we may want to pursue our particular path in life but it's at the disapproval of friends and loved ones. There are innumerable scenarios such as these that we encounter and it's often hard to swallow.
Now if you were presented with a win-win situation, wouldn't you just jump at it? That's exactly what working in gratitude is all about. Right now, whether we are conscious of it or not, many of us perform work with the intention of enjoying the results. Looking at it from a subjective perspective, it actually seems quite reasonable. After all, if we put in the effort and time to do something, it only seems fair that get to take credit for the outcome, right?
That perspective is just a snapshot. It's not a holistic picture of what is actually going on. Most of us in fact realize that the talents and abilities that we use to perform our work are blessings from the Supreme. However, the challenge is in actually recognizing and acknowledging that on a day to day basis. Granted, it's hard to do so when we are constantly bombarded by material society trying to convince us that we are in control and everything is "mine".
Constant exposure to this type of consciousness can make us forget that:
Our talents, abilities and gifts are all blessings that have been given to us by the Divine.
Bhakti yoga helps us clear away the fog of misconception that we are in control. It reminds us that life is about connection, service and gratitude. By living our lives in such a way, we start to re-connect with our selves and the Divine in a spirit of appreciation.
That's choosing the win-win option.
Whatever work we perform carries with it some karma, whether it be good or bad. That karma binds us to the temporary, material body. Instead, we can continue to perform work but with the consciousness of offering it as our appreciation to the Divine for everything He has given us. By shifting our consciousness to one of gratitude, we incur NO karma. That's right...no more ties to temporary, material world!
Such win-win situations are very rare. The best part about this one is the fact that nothing externally changes. It's all about what's going on inside - in your heart and in your mind. The option is out there. Will you choose win-win?
a win-win situation
→ everyday gita
Today was a day of productive reflection for me. Despite it being Saturday, I was able to knock off several things from my to-do list. Item 2 was taking time out to introspect and take stock of everything that's been going on lately.
One of my contemplations was the fact that often we are presented with lose-lose scenarios. We may want to speak the truth, but it's at the cost of a friendship or we may want to pursue our particular path in life but it's at the disapproval of friends and loved ones. There are innumerable scenarios such as these that we encounter and it's often hard to swallow.
Now if you were presented with a win-win situation, wouldn't you just jump at it? That's exactly what working in gratitude is all about. Right now, whether we are conscious of it or not, many of us perform work with the intention of enjoying the results. Looking at it from a subjective perspective, it actually seems quite reasonable. After all, if we put in the effort and time to do something, it only seems fair that get to take credit for the outcome, right?
That perspective is just a snapshot. It's not a holistic picture of what is actually going on. Most of us in fact realize that the talents and abilities that we use to perform our work are blessings from the Supreme. However, the challenge is in actually recognizing and acknowledging that on a day to day basis. Granted, it's hard to do so when we are constantly bombarded by material society trying to convince us that we are in control and everything is "mine".
Constant exposure to this type of consciousness can make us forget that:
Our talents, abilities and gifts are all blessings that have been given to us by the Divine.
Bhakti yoga helps us clear away the fog of misconception that we are in control. It reminds us that life is about connection, service and gratitude. By living our lives in such a way, we start to re-connect with our selves and the Divine in a spirit of appreciation.
That's choosing the win-win option.
Whatever work we perform carries with it some karma, whether it be good or bad. That karma binds us to the temporary, material body. Instead, we can continue to perform work but with the consciousness of offering it as our appreciation to the Divine for everything He has given us. By shifting our consciousness to one of gratitude, we incur NO karma. That's right...no more ties to temporary, material world!
Such win-win situations are very rare. The best part about this one is the fact that nothing externally changes. It's all about what's going on inside - in your heart and in your mind. The option is out there. Will you choose win-win?
Hari’s Restaurant
→ Ramai Swami
Hari’s Vegetarian Restaurant is the new restaurant that was opened by the Sydney Temple around 3 months ago. It is located in the Broadway area of Sydney, about a block from the University of Technology Sydney and half a kilometre from Sydney University.
Needless to say, the area is mainly inhabited by students who attend these two colleges. The restaurant operates seven days a week and even though it has only been open a short time it is growing very quickly in popularity.
It is overseen by Sudarshan Prabhu who lives at the temple and staffed by devotee cooks such as, Jitendriya, Karunamoya, Govinda and Mohit. Other devotees also come and help out with various services that are needed. The menu is a tantalising fusion of western and Indian type of vegetarian foods, all offered to the Supreme Lord.
Mahendraparvata, 1,200-Year-Old Lost Medieval City In Cambodia, Unearthed By Archaeologists
→ Vedicarcheologicaldiscoveries's Weblog
A lost medieval city that thrived on a mist-shrouded Cambodian mountain 1,200 years ago has been discovered by archaeologists using revolutionary airborne laser technology, a report said.
In what it called a world exclusive, the Sydney Morning Herald said the city, Mahendraparvata, included temples hidden by jungle for centuries, many of which have not been looted.
A journalist and photographer from the newspaper accompanied the “Indiana Jones-style” expedition, led by a French-born archaeologist, through landmine-strewn jungle in the Siem Reap region where Angkor Wat, the largest Hindi temple complex in the world, is located.
The expedition used an instrument called Lidar — light detection and ranging data — which was strapped to a helicopter that criss-crossed a mountain north of Angkor Wat for seven days, providing data that matched years of ground research by archaeologists.
It effectively peeled away the jungle canopy using billions of laser pulses, allowing archaeologists to see structures that were in perfect squares, completing a map of the city which years of painstaking ground research had been unable to achieve, the report said.
It helped reveal the city that reportedly founded the Angkor Empire in 802 AD, uncovering more than two dozen previously unrecorded temples and evidence of ancient canals, dykes and roads using satellite navigation coordinates gathered from the instrument’s data.
Jean-Baptiste Chevance, director of the Archaeology and Development Foundation in London who led the expedition, told the newspaper it was known from ancient scriptures that a great warrior, Jayavarman II, had a mountain capital, “but we didn’t know how all the dots fitted, exactly how it all came together”.
“We now know from the new data the city was for sure connected by roads, canals and dykes,” he said.
The discovery is set to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.
Damian Evans, director of the University of Sydney’s archaeological research centre in Cambodia, which played a key part in developing the Lidar technology, said there might be important implications for today’s society.
“We see from the imagery that the landscape was completely devoid of vegetation,” Evans, a co-expedition leader, said.
“One theory we are looking at is that the severe environmental impact of deforestation and the dependence on water management led to the demise of the civilisation … perhaps it became too successful to the point of becoming unmanageable.”
The Herald said the trek to the ruins involved traversing rutted goat tracks and knee-deep bogs after travelling high into the mountains on motorbikes.
Everyone involved was sworn to secrecy until the findings were peer-reviewed.
Evans said it was not known how large Mahendraparvata was because the search had so far only covered a limited area, with more funds needed to broaden it out.
“Maybe what we see was not the central part of the city, so there is a lot of work to be done to discover the extent of this civilisation,” he said.
“We need to preserve the area because it’s the origin of our culture,” secretary of state at Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture, Chuch Phoeun, told AFP.
Angkor Wat was at one time the largest pre-industrial city in the world, and is considered one of the ancient wonders of the world.
It was constructed from the early to mid 1100s by King Suryavarman II at the height of the Khmer Empire’s political and military power.
“Love and Trust” is Developed, Maintained, or Depleted, by our “Emotional Bank Accounts”
→ Karnamrita.das's blog
(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer)
While we often hear Shrila Prabhupada’s statement that “our relationships should be based on love and trust,” we don’t often expand on how this can be created and maintained. One process I have found helpful is something we teach in our relationship seminars, namely the practice of checking the balance in the “Emotional Bank Account” that we have with another person—do we have a surplus of positive emotions, or are we overdrawn, in the red?
This is a metaphor that Stephen Covey [The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People] first came up with to describe "the amount of trust that’s been built up in a relationship." This statement really piqued my curiosity and interest in his work, and after scrutiny, dovetails nicely as a support to putting into practice Prabhupada’s aphorism. Just as we have bank accounts to keep our money in, we also have “bank accounts” to store our “emotional capital” or the energy that sustains or strains (if it becomes depleted) relationships.
We could also consider this capital like a trust meter, and trust is the basis of reciprocal loving dealings. Very few people love unconditionally, but most of us require more positive interactions (deposits), than negative ones (withdrawals), to stay, or be happy, in a relationship.
“Love and Trust” is Developed, Maintained, or Depleted, by our “Emotional Bank Accounts”
→ Karnamrita.das's blog
(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer)
While we often hear Shrila Prabhupada’s statement that “our relationships should be based on love and trust,” we don’t often expand on how this can be created and maintained. One process I have found helpful is something we teach in our relationship seminars, namely the practice of checking the balance in the “Emotional Bank Account” that we have with another person—do we have a surplus of positive emotions, or are we overdrawn, in the red?
This is a metaphor that Stephen Covey [The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People] first came up with to describe "the amount of trust that’s been built up in a relationship." This statement really piqued my curiosity and interest in his work, and after scrutiny, dovetails nicely as a support to putting into practice Prabhupada’s aphorism. Just as we have bank accounts to keep our money in, we also have “bank accounts” to store our “emotional capital” or the energy that sustains or strains (if it becomes depleted) relationships.
We could also consider this capital like a trust meter, and trust is the basis of reciprocal loving dealings. Very few people love unconditionally, but most of us require more positive interactions (deposits), than negative ones (withdrawals), to stay, or be happy, in a relationship.
Nrsimha Chaturdashi 2013 – Sandhya Arati
→ Gouranga TV - The Hare Krishna video collection
Nrsimha Chaturdashi 2013 – Sandhya Arati
Cooking Classes
→ The Loft Yoga Lounge Auckland
New Vegan/Vegetarian Cooking classes Every fortnight on Fridays at 6pm This week, Friday 5th July, it is with Madhava sangani (Meredith) …………………………………………... Theme this week: Gluten Free Buckwheat Crepes, Buckwheat crackers Roasted beetroot dip Raw cashew cheese Salad (for serving with the crepes) Banana surprise Remember BOOK NOW – parking is free after 6pm and only [...]
The post Cooking Classes appeared first on The Loft Yoga Lounge Auckland.
June 13, ’13 Photos
→ Krishna Lounge
May 31, 13 Candle Light Kirtana Photos
→ Krishna Lounge
June 6, ’13 Photos
→ Krishna Lounge
air freshener anyone? living under the influence…
→ everyday gita
There is a phrase that the great bhakti yogi, Srila Prabhupada, often uses in reference to the soul. That phrase is:
"one's constitutional position"
I love this description because it strips away everything that is irrelevant and gives us the essence. Sometimes, when things are wrapped up in nice and glitzy packages, we get distracted. Case in point - many of us are so fixated on the body with all it's functions, abilities and appearance that we may forget what's really important - the soul inside.
Equally important to realizing that we are eternal souls, is the nature of the soul. Its nature can be summed up in two words: to serve.
Everything really falls in place if we understand these two points of service and the soul. Our desire to find our true calling and contribute to the world is in fact rooted in our innate nature to serve.
But...we face a challenge. We encounter it on a minute to minute basis and may not realize that it is in direct opposition to the soul's propensity and inherent nature of service. That challenge is otherwise known as: the false ego.
The false ego is like a voracious eater and the food it subsists on is control and recognition. Now before going any further, it's important to highlight that desiring control and recognition is not wrong or negative. It does, however, become a challenge when the false ego, which is always screaming to take credit of all activities that are being performed, interferes with our inherent nature to appreciate and recognize the Divine.
In fact, the soul doesn't crave recognition, control or anything else. It simply craves eternal and ever-lasting love. Under the influence of the false ego, we get bewildered into thinking that these other externals may somehow lead to that love.
In today's verse, Krsna is very beautifully explaining how the false ego affects us. It acts as an influence. That in and of itself gives great hope for all those who want to be freed from the tyrannical demands of the false ego. If the soul is under the influence of the false ego, it implies that the soul can also become freed from it!
Just as the air takes on the smell of any environment that it passes over, similarly the soul (having been in contact with the false ego for so many lifetimes) also takes on the influence of the false ego's association.
The temptation may be there to cover up the outward manifestations of the false ego, similar to trying to cover up a bad odor with a pleasant one. However, it just doesn't work. It may be a temporary fix, but those tendencies always comes out, often at the most inopportune times!
The only way to give up the influence of the false ego is by changing our association. By practicing mantra meditation, introspection and spending time with advanced bhakti yogis, we'll start to recognize the stink of the false ego. After all, it's only when you recognize the stink that you'll want to disassociate from it! By becoming aware of the ways that the false ego lures us in, we'll learn to not only ignore it, but gradually give up it's association completely.
air freshener anyone? living under the influence…
→ everyday gita
There is a phrase that the great bhakti yogi, Srila Prabhupada, often uses in reference to the soul. That phrase is:
"one's constitutional position"
I love this description because it strips away everything that is irrelevant and gives us the essence. Sometimes, when things are wrapped up in nice and glitzy packages, we get distracted. Case in point - many of us are so fixated on the body with all it's functions, abilities and appearance that we may forget what's really important - the soul inside.
Equally important to realizing that we are eternal souls, is the nature of the soul. Its nature can be summed up in two words: to serve.
Everything really falls in place if we understand these two points of service and the soul. Our desire to find our true calling and contribute to the world is in fact rooted in our innate nature to serve.
But...we face a challenge. We encounter it on a minute to minute basis and may not realize that it is in direct opposition to the soul's propensity and inherent nature of service. That challenge is otherwise known as: the false ego.
The false ego is like a voracious eater and the food it subsists on is control and recognition. Now before going any further, it's important to highlight that desiring control and recognition is not wrong or negative. It does, however, become a challenge when the false ego, which is always screaming to take credit of all activities that are being performed, interferes with our inherent nature to appreciate and recognize the Divine.
In fact, the soul doesn't crave recognition, control or anything else. It simply craves eternal and ever-lasting love. Under the influence of the false ego, we get bewildered into thinking that these other externals may somehow lead to that love.
In today's verse, Krsna is very beautifully explaining how the false ego affects us. It acts as an influence. That in and of itself gives great hope for all those who want to be freed from the tyrannical demands of the false ego. If the soul is under the influence of the false ego, it implies that the soul can also become freed from it!
Just as the air takes on the smell of any environment that it passes over, similarly the soul (having been in contact with the false ego for so many lifetimes) also takes on the influence of the false ego's association.
The temptation may be there to cover up the outward manifestations of the false ego, similar to trying to cover up a bad odor with a pleasant one. However, it just doesn't work. It may be a temporary fix, but those tendencies always comes out, often at the most inopportune times!
The only way to give up the influence of the false ego is by changing our association. By practicing mantra meditation, introspection and spending time with advanced bhakti yogis, we'll start to recognize the stink of the false ego. After all, it's only when you recognize the stink that you'll want to disassociate from it! By becoming aware of the ways that the false ego lures us in, we'll learn to not only ignore it, but gradually give up it's association completely.
Nrsimha Chaturdashi 2013 – HG Urmila Mataji
→ Gouranga TV - The Hare Krishna video collection
Nrsimha Chaturdashi 2013 – HG Urmila Mataji
ISKCON Scarborough- 4th Annual Harinam Sankirtan cruise- Kirtan by HG Ajamil das prabhu
→ ISKCON Scarborough
ISKCON Scarborough- 4th Annual Harinam Sankirtan cruise- Kirtan by HG Ajamil das prabhu
→ ISKCON Scarborough
ISKCON Sankirtan cruise- Kirtan by HG Gaura das
→ ISKCON Scarborough
ISKCON Sankirtan cruise- Kirtan by HG Gaura das
→ ISKCON Scarborough
Devotional Service Committee (DSC) meeting on Saturday June 15th @ 11:00 am
→ ISKCON BRAMPTON'S BLOG
Devotional Service Committee (DSC) meeting on Saturday June 15th @ 11:00 am
Sunday Feast, June 16th @ 11:00am
The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse by His Grace Subhavilasa Prabhu
ISKCON Brampton Sunday School will be having picture day on Sunday June 23rd 2013. ISKCON Brampton would be having its next DSC meeting on Saturday June 15th at 11:00 am. If you are currently performing a regular service at the temple like cleaning, cooking, pujari, vedic discourse .... or are interested in doing so then please come out to find out how you can contribute.
The ISKCON Brampton Board and Trustees have some exciting things planned and great updates to share with everyone and they would like to share these opportunities with you. Snacks will also be provided that day. Please contact Acharya Thakur Prabhu if you have any questions.
Sunday Feast, June 16th @ 11:00am
The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse by His Grace Subhavilasa Prabhu
1:05 pm - 1:20 pm Tulasi Puja
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
Upcoming event:
Sunday School Picture Day - June 23rd 2013
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
Upcoming event:
Sunday School Picture Day - June 23rd 2013
Bring your smiles and finest Vaisnava attire! (dhoti, kurta, lengha/gopi dress, tilak)
For more information, please contact the Sunday School teachers -sundayschool108@gmail.com
Devotional Service Committee (DSC) meeting on Saturday June 15th @ 11:00 am
→ ISKCON BRAMPTON'S BLOG
Devotional Service Committee (DSC) meeting on Saturday June 15th @ 11:00 am
Sunday Feast, June 16th @ 11:00am
The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse by His Grace Subhavilasa Prabhu
ISKCON Brampton Sunday School will be having picture day on Sunday June 23rd 2013. ISKCON Brampton would be having its next DSC meeting on Saturday June 15th at 11:00 am. If you are currently performing a regular service at the temple like cleaning, cooking, pujari, vedic discourse .... or are interested in doing so then please come out to find out how you can contribute.
The ISKCON Brampton Board and Trustees have some exciting things planned and great updates to share with everyone and they would like to share these opportunities with you. Snacks will also be provided that day. Please contact Acharya Thakur Prabhu if you have any questions.
Sunday Feast, June 16th @ 11:00am
The program consists of arati, kirtan (devotional chanting), philosophical discussion and prasadam. Please come, get inspired and inspire others through your desire to share Krsna Consciousness!
Program Schedule:
11:00 am - 11:30 am Guru Puja
11:30 am - 12:00 pm Arati & Kirtan
12:00 pm – 12:05 pm Narasingadev Prayers
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm Vedic Discourse by His Grace Subhavilasa Prabhu
1:05 pm - 1:20 pm Tulasi Puja
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
Upcoming event:
Sunday School Picture Day - June 23rd 2013
1:20 pm - 2:00 pm Prasadam (Vegetarian feast)
Upcoming event:
Sunday School Picture Day - June 23rd 2013
Bring your smiles and finest Vaisnava attire! (dhoti, kurta, lengha/gopi dress, tilak)
For more information, please contact the Sunday School teachers -sundayschool108@gmail.com
These things happen
→ Jayadvaita Swami
This letter was sent to me and Dravida Dasa, the chief editor at the North American BBT.
Respected Maharaj and Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I request to read the following purport of SB 9.10.29
“After giving up the body, one is transferred to another body, but sometimes, if one is too sinful, he is checked from transmigrating to another body, and thus he becomes a ghost. To save a diseased person from ghostly life, the funeral ceremony, or sraddha ceremony, as prescribed in authorized sastra, must be performed. Ravana was killed by Lord Ramacandra and was destined for hellish life, but by Lord Ramacandra’s advice, Vibhisana, Ravana’s brother, performed all the duties prescribed in relation to the dead. Thus Lord Ramacandra was kind to Ravana even after Ravana’s death.”
Shouldn’t the word “diseased” be “deceased”?
Your servant,
Anuj Agrawal
Banswara
Rajasthan, India
Yes, it certainly should!
(This will be fixed in the next printing.)
The post These things happen appeared first on Jayadvaita Swami.
These things happen
→ Jayadvaita Swami
This letter was sent to me and Dravida Dasa, the chief editor at the North American BBT.
Respected Maharaj and Prabhu, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I request to read the following purport of SB 9.10.29 “After giving up the body, one is transferred to another body, but sometimes, if one is too sinful, he is checked from transmigrating to another body, and thus he becomes a ghost. To save a diseased person from ghostly life, the funeral ceremony, or sraddha ceremony, as prescribed in authorized sastra, must be performed. Ravana was killed by Lord Ramacandra and was destined for hellish life, but by Lord Ramacandra’s advice, Vibhisana, Ravana’s brother, performed all the duties prescribed in relation to the dead. Thus Lord Ramacandra was kind to Ravana even after Ravana’s death.” Shouldn’t the word “diseased” be “deceased”? Your servant, Anuj Agrawal Banswara Rajasthan, IndiaYes, it certainly should! (This will be fixed in the next printing.)
These things happen
→ Jayadvaita Swami
This letter was sent to me and Dravida Dasa, the chief editor at the North American BBT.
Respected Maharaj and Prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I request to read the following purport of SB 9.10.29
“After giving up the body, one is transferred to another body, but sometimes, if one is too sinful, he is checked from transmigrating to another body, and thus he becomes a ghost. To save a diseased person from ghostly life, the funeral ceremony, or sraddha ceremony, as prescribed in authorized sastra, must be performed. Ravana was killed by Lord Ramacandra and was destined for hellish life, but by Lord Ramacandra’s advice, Vibhisana, Ravana’s brother, performed all the duties prescribed in relation to the dead. Thus Lord Ramacandra was kind to Ravana even after Ravana’s death.”
Shouldn’t the word “diseased” be “deceased”?
Your servant,
Anuj Agrawal
Banswara
Rajasthan, India
Yes, it certainly should!
(This will be fixed in the next printing.)
Nrsimha Chaturdashi 2013 – Drama
→ Gouranga TV - The Hare Krishna video collection
Nrsimha Chaturdashi 2013 – Drama
ISKCON Scarborough- 4th Annual Harinam Sankirtan cruise – Kirtan by HG Jagannath Misra das
→ ISKCON Scarborough
ISKCON Scarborough- 4th Annual Harinam Sankirtan cruise – Kirtan by HG Jagannath Misra das
→ ISKCON Scarborough
ISKCON Scarborough- 4th Annual Harinam Sankirtan cruise- Interviews with Devotees
→ ISKCON Scarborough
ISKCON Scarborough- 4th Annual Harinam Sankirtan cruise- Interviews with Devotees
→ ISKCON Scarborough
think before you speak
→ everyday gita
Ever get so excited about something that when you get a chance to talk about it with others you just talk their head off? If so, you're not alone!
In some cases though, you may find out that the person you were speaking to got turned off by your rambling because they just couldn't relate to what you were saying.
At some point in time our lives, I think most of us have been both the source of such over-exuberance and the recipient of it! Today's verse speaks to this type of situation by offering some extremely practical advice to the super excited individual who is just bursting at the seams to speak:
Think before you speak.
Communications 101 teaches us that knowing your audience is just as important as how, what and why you're sharing information. The most effective communication occurs when we address the needs, interests and concerns of whoever we are talking to. Also extremely important is the relationship we have with the person we are conversing with.
Here, the Gita is saying that it takes time to understand bhakti. That's why it's important to start at the beginning. If you recall, one of the key topics Krsna speaks to Arjuna about (the first being the importance of the soul), is the necessity of working according to one's nature. Note: Krsna did not advice Arjuna to give up everything and run away to the forest to meditate.
Essentially, Krsna addressed Arjuna's needs, interests and concerns on a very practical level. Now as we continue to journey through the Gita, we'll learn more about the intricate nature of bhakti and how the most advanced bhakti yogis are not obligated work. But....that takes time, knowledge and the practical and steady application of the bhakti process.
Sometimes when we get really excited or inspired, we can overwhelm our listeners. What I love about this verse is that it's so applicable and relevant in our everyday lives. After all...I don't think anyone can argue that it's always best to think before we speak
Death of a Yogi
→ Bhagavatam By Braja
This is a partial excerpt from the manuscript to Beautiful Tales of the All Attractive, Vol. 2 – the topic at hand does continue past the end of the excerpt.
19-21
Parīkṣit: Please explain how those yogīs actually discard the body.
Śuka: They sit with the heel pressing the rectum so their life-air[1] can rise through the six stations, conquering weariness.
The thoughtful use their intelligence to gradually draw out and raise their life-air from the navel to the heart, and then upwards to the chest and throat. Finally, they bring their life-air between their eyebrows and close all the seven bodily outlets completely. Existing for half a moment in this independent state, they set their sights upon Viṣṇu’s worriless position and give up their body by bursting out from the top of the head, towards that supreme destination.
22
Parīkṣit: Do they make it successfully all the way to the supreme destination?
Śuka: Not if they still have personal ambitions, O King. On the path to the supreme they might want to use their mind and sensual faculties to enjoy the multifaceted world as supernatural beings who have eight mystic powers.
23
Parīkṣit: How is this different than the paradisiac goal achieved by ritual and responsibility?
Śuka: Yogic masters who have cultivated knowledge, austerity, yoga, and meditation can attain material destinations without being limited to them. They continue to progress within and beyond these destinations in a purified, subtle body. Those who perform the rituals and responsibilities of karma cannot attain such perfection.
24
Parīkṣit: How do they continue moving towards the supreme destination?
Śuka: They reach the heavens, where the Sun presides, by traversing the path of space. Then they follow the Sun’s ray towards to Moon[2] and progress further on the path towards Brahmā. Finally, when they are completely pure, they move upwards into Hari’s circle of stars.[3]
[1] The life air is the medium transmitting consciousness to the physical realm. So “raising the life-air” amounts to raising the focus of consciousness.
[2] Suṣumṇa
[3] Śiśumāra
The Death of a Yogi
→ The Enquirer
This is a partial excerpt from the manuscript to Beautiful Tales of the All Attractive, Vol. 2 – the topic at hand does continue past the end of the excerpt.
19-21
Parīkṣit: Please explain how those yogīs actually discard the body.
Śuka: They sit with the heel pressing the rectum so their life-air[1] can rise through the six stations, conquering weariness.
The thoughtful use their intelligence to gradually draw out and raise their life-air from the navel to the heart, and then upwards to the chest and throat. Finally, they bring their life-air between their eyebrows and close all the seven bodily outlets completely. Existing for half a moment in this independent state, they set their sights upon Viṣṇu’s worriless position and give up their body by bursting out from the top of the head, towards that supreme destination.
22
Parīkṣit: Do they make it successfully all the way to the supreme destination?
Śuka: Not if they still have personal ambitions, O King. On the path to the supreme they might want to use their mind and sensual faculties to enjoy the multifaceted world as supernatural beings who have eight mystic powers.
23
Parīkṣit: How is this different than the paradisiac goal achieved by ritual and responsibility?
Śuka: Yogic masters who have cultivated knowledge, austerity, yoga, and meditation can attain material destinations without being limited to them. They continue to progress within and beyond these destinations in a purified, subtle body. Those who perform the rituals and responsibilities of karma cannot attain such perfection.
24
Parīkṣit: How do they continue moving towards the supreme destination?
Śuka: They reach the heavens, where the Sun presides, by traversing the path of space. Then they follow the Sun’s ray towards to Moon[2] and progress further on the path towards Brahmā. Finally, when they are completely pure, they move upwards into Hari’s circle of stars.[3]
[1] The life air is the medium transmitting consciousness to the physical realm. So “raising the life-air” amounts to raising the focus of consciousness.
[2] Suṣumṇa
[3] Śiśumāra
Travel Journal#9.9: Holland, London, The North of England, Northern Ireland
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 9, No. 9
By Krishna-kripa das
(May 2013, part one)
By Krishna-kripa das
(May 2013, part one)
Holland, London, The North of England, Northern Ireland
(Sent from London, England, on June 13, 2013)
Where I Went and What I Did
After the Queen’s Day harinama, I stayed in Amsterdam and did harinama for three days. Then I went to Rotterdam for two days of harinama and a Saturday feast program. Next I went to Den Haag (The Hague) for an afternoon of harinama and a Sunday feast. Finally I returned to Amsterdam for harinama in Vondel Park. Then I did a day of harinama in London, harinama and a nama-hatta program in Sheffield, and went back to Newcastle, my summer base, where I stayed for four days of harinama and the Sunday feast lecture. Then I went on to Northern Ireland, where I chanted with Ananta Nitai Prabhu in Belfast for one day, and with both Ananta Nitai and Bhagavata Dasi in Lisburn, Bangor, Newry, and Hillsborough, all cities within an hour of Belfast, for the next four days. Thus it was a very busy time for me.
I share notes from Srila Prabhupada’s wonderful lectures and books. This month I had the opportunity to hear several classes by Kavicandra Swami, who remained in Amsterdam as long as his schedule would permit at the request of Kadamba Kanana Swami, who is always desirous of developing our outreach there. Kavicandra Swami is very perceptive and made lots of beautiful points in his classes which I share.
Thanksto Sanatani Devi Dasi for the photo of our Amsterdam harinama, onlooker John Doherty for the Hillsborough, Northern Island, picture of our harinamaparty, the web site http://www.discovernorthernireland.comfor the picture of the Hillsborough Tourism Centre, and an unknown passerby, who took our picture in Lisburn, chanting in front of the party shop.
Harinama in Amsterdam
I went on harinama for the entire week I spent in Holland, and only on the final day did I have go out alone. The weather was practically perfect the whole time. The first day we went out with Kavicandra Swami, who came out every day, and with some devotees from Scandinavia, who had come for the Queen’s Day harinama.
Another day on harinama two people joined our party at different times and chanted and danced with us. Tulasi Prabhu, a brahmacari book distributor from Bulgaria, later talked to one of these young men, who commented that he was curious what it was all about and purchased a Bhagavad-gita. Those are my favorite harinama experiences, when people become so interested they want to read the books.
The final day I spent in Amsterdam. I went out alone. I chanted as I walked through the streets for an hour and a half as went to and from Vondel Park, which Srila Prabhupada visited and in which gave a lecture many years ago. I chanted in the park itself for another three hours. One policeman called me over as soon as I got there, and I worried that I was not allowed to use my amplifier or I had done something else wrong, but he had no issues with me. While we talked, he mentioned he liked it on Queen’s Day when the group of us chanted together there by the museum where all the people were. I was pleased to hear a rare appreciation of the chanting from a cop.
Rotterdam and Den Haag
Sivananda Sena Prabhu and his wife, Moksa Lakshmi Devi Dasi, are disciples of Janananda Goswami, and like him, they have a fondness for promoting the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord in public. Thus they invited me for three harinamas and two programs in Rotterdam and Den Haag.
They regularly do two hours on chanting in Rotterdam on Fridays starting at the central train station at 7 p.m. They go to a crowded section with lots of shops.
Different onlookers were attracted and participated in dancing with the party.
I led half the kirtanaat the Saturday feast program in Rotterdamto let some of the others have some of the action.
In Den Haag there are two ISKCON temples. One I went to back in 2010, and the other I went this year. Before the Sunday program, we did harinama for over an hour in a local park, and several people happily danced.
The weather was excellent, and many people were happy to encounter the happily chanting devotees.
A Muslim family enjoyed dancing with us.
And other individuals did too.
London
In London one young French lady came to the temple one evening, and Erzsebet from Hungary, who is enthusiasm personified in outreach, sold her a book which she read that very night. She returned to the temple the next day and came to the lunch program lecture which I gave. Later I asked the devotee lady who talked to her during the lunch if the class had been beneficial for her. She said the French lady said she really liked the idea that we can have one of five relationships eternally with Krishna. The devotee lady asked her which one she liked, and she said she would like to be the friend or lover of Krishna eternally. I had spoken on the verse where Krishna states that he will reciprocate with us according to how we surrender to him. In his purport Srila Prabhupada writes, “One devotee may want Krishna as his supreme master, another as his personal friend, another as his son, and still another as his lover. Krishna rewards all the devotees, equally according to their different intensities of love for Him.” (Bg. 4.11, purport) I will keep this verse in mind as a good one to give introductory classes on that might attract one to Krishna. The French lady lives in Paris and shared contact information with devotee who spoke to her at lunch, so hopefully her interest will develop, and she will visit our temple there.
Sheffield
I chanted in Sheffield alone before the Wednesday nama-hatta meeting. Some people appreciated but one lady harassed me so much to give her a pound fifty for the bus, that I finally did so just to get her to go away.
It was nice to see a couple new people had become regulars at our Sheffield program since last year.
Leeds Farmers Market Harinama
My bus from Sheffield to Newcastle had a forty-minute rest in Leeds, and as we pulled into the coach station there, I noticed it was right next to the Leeds Farmers Market. When the bus stopped I learned of the break, and the bus driver advised me to go to the farmers market to get a bite to eat. I decided to go, not to shop, but to sing.
As soon as I sat down to saing, someone said, “Haribol!” And someone very soon gave a donation.
Newcastle Area Harinamas
I chanted in Newcastle, and different devotees would come out with me at different times. I would put out a hat to collect donations when we stayed in one place, and I would offer invitations and books to those who gave something, no matter how small. Because not everyone would take a book, I got enough in donations to pay for the books that were distributed. It was nice to always see books going out
The weather was wild. Some days were in the 40s F (5 to 10 C), and with winds from the north at 20 mph (32 kph).
In Sunderland we had four devotees, three singing and one distributing books. In addition, I was able to distribute three books myself by asking people who put money in the hat if they wanted one. We chanted about an hour and forty minutes. I like Sunderland because there are lots of people and always a few favorable ones. Kadamba Kanana Prabhu from Hungary had not been on harinama for ten years, and he was very happy he came out. One young lady who chanted with us got a call from a friend in London who asked if she was singing in Sunderland because someone had taken a video of her singing and put it on Facebook. Her friends from her hometown of Sunderland did not know much about her relationship with Hare Krishna, at least until now.
In Newcastle on Sunday, Bhakti Rasa and his wife, Kirtida Prabhu, came out, and we happened to meet Ekacakranatha Prabhu on the way.
We chanted three hours all together. People danced to the music, like these four guys below.
Harinamas in North Ireland
When my friend, Caitanya-candrodaya Prabhu, was temple president of Belfast, I got in the habit of going there and doing harinama. Devotees had occasionally talked about us chanting in different places around Belfast, but it did not happen until this year.
Monday Ananta Nitai Prabhu, who traveled by bus from Dublin, and I who traveled by plane from Newcastle, arrived at the Belfast temple within five minutes of each other. We were greeted by Bhagavata Dasi, our harinama partner from Govindadvipa, who moved back to Belfast and promised to take us out on harinama in her car the next four days. We were also greeted by all kinds of maha-prasadam, the opulence of a small temple. That day just Ananta Nitai and I went out to Belfast city center to chant for three hours. While traveling there by bus, the sun was shining, but as soon as I got off the bus, it started to rain. We found a sheltered spot to chant, and were greatly relieved when the sun shone again. But that was not for long. Soon it rained again. But again we were relieved when the sun again shone. During that harinama, the sun came out four times and it rained five times! As I walked back to take the bus home, chanting on the way, it was raining, but on the bus itself, the sun came out! That was the craziest weather I had experienced recently, but we were able to keep the chanting going the whole time, and collect donations and give out books and invitations as well.
On Tuesday, Bhagavata took us to Lisburn, about 15 minutes from the temple. We chanted on a main street and several groups of people stopped to watch at different times. At one point, we chanted under the sign of former birthday party shop underneath its sign “Pure Party.”
The congregational chanting is glorified by Lord Caitanya “cleansing the mirror of the mind,” and being “the nectar for which we are always anxious.” It is described by Narottama Das Thakura as imported from the spiritual world. For these reason, I thought “pure party” was a great description of harinama.
We found some teenage kids hanging out, and we sang in their midst for a while. I would have never done it myself, but the other devotees were better at dealing with kids than me, so I went along with it. At one point, the kids decided to harass us. Some of the more rowdy ones placed some nearby road construction barricades to surround our party, and they started throwing empty plastic bottles at us. We just kept chanting, and one of them decided to remove the barricades and throw the bottles in the trash so the other kids could not through them at us any more. Later someone asked us about our philosophy and one girl, who took pleasure in singing the whole mantra with us, gave us each some candy when she left. On the whole, the kids became more favorable as time marched on.
Since we had stopped chanting before we finished my quota of three hours, Ananta Nitai and I chanted in the parking lot of a store while Bhagavata did some shopping for the temple. We chanted for half an hour, and no authorities asked us to move, and some favorable people came by.
Wednesday we chanted in Bangor, and a passerby gave 10 British pounds for a Bhagavad-gita and a Sri Isopanisad. We chanted next to a butcher shop, and employees came out of the shop and looked at us from time to time but said nothing. After we chanted two and a half hours, a policeman came and explained that he had no problem with our singing, but some local vendors were complaining, and he told us of a couple other places where we could sing and would not get into difficulty. He was the most polite policeman who had ever asked us to move, and Ananta Nitai Prabhu gave him a small book which he accepted.
Thursday we chanted in Newry on a day where rain often threatened but was never so severe we had to stop. At several times groups of teenagers would sit behind us and move with the music.
On Friday we chanted in Hillsborough, a town of 3,400 people, where there was that day the Garden Show Ireland, an open house at the gardens of the Queen’s Hillsborough Castle.
John Doherty, an open-minded man, with both Catholic and Protestant connections, was attracted by our party and its chanting, appreciating its religious connection, and he took pictures of us, which he later send to me by email.
Often I give my business card to photographers who take pictures of us and ask them to send me the photos. They actually send me the photos 20% of the time at the very most, but in North Ireland and the Republic of Ireland people sent me the pictures two out of three or four times I asked for them.
A man behind the counter at tourist office, said to me, “Hare Krishna is from North India, isn’t it?"” I explained that the chanting we do in the streets, which we were doing outside his office for the last hour, started in Bengal. He inquired further, “And what is the name of the town in Bengal?” And I replied, “Mayapur.” And he said with a smile of recognition, “Oh yes, Mayapur!” Wow! I couldn’t believe it! In this tiny town in this remote land someone had heard of Mayapur, the birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu! Apparently the man spent some time in Kolkata and had eaten at our Govinda's Restaurant there. It is a small world!
The man also knew of Inis Rath island and their Sunday feast, and the lady in the office lived in Dunmurry, the Belfast suburb where our temple is, and she knew of our Sunday program there.
The man also knew of Inis Rath island and their Sunday feast, and the lady in the office lived in Dunmurry, the Belfast suburb where our temple is, and she knew of our Sunday program there.
After Hillsborough, Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I boarded a bus for Dublin to continue our harinama adventures there
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.28.31, purport:
“We have already started the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and many thousands of Europeans and Americans have joined this movement. Indeed, it is spreading like wildfire. The cult of Krishna consciousness, based on the nine principles of devotional service (sravanam kirtanam visnohsmaranam pada-sevanam/ arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam[SB 7.5.23]), will never be stopped. It will go on without distinction of caste, creed, color or country. No one can check it.
from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam5.5.2 given in London on September 17, 1969:
“The devotee aspires only to make friendship with Krishna. . . . The devotee’s only lovable object is Krishna.”
from a conversation in Durban, South Africa, in October 1975, printed in Back to Godhead, Volume 47, No. 4, p. 44:
Disciple: The scientists always say,“Last year we made a mistake, and now it’s all right.”
Srila Prabhupada: Hmm. “Now we are advanced.” And what is the guarantee that your present theories are correct? You will advance again. That means you are always incorrect.
Jiva Goswami:
from his Gopala Campu:
Krishna stole the gopi’scloth and their hearts and only returned their cloth. He did not return their hearts but hid them.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
from his Amrita Vani, quoted in Back to Godhead, Volume 47, No. 4, p. 67:
We should show compassion toward all living entities, develop a taste for chanting the Lord’s names, and serve Vaishnavas. These are Mahaprabhu’s three principal
instructions.
Kavicandra Swami:
Another one of my godbrothers, Kesava Prabhu, left his body the other day. He is famous for book distribution. As president of the San Francisco temple, when he heard that Buddhimantra Prabhu had distributed twenty Krishna books one day, he sent Buddhimanta with a van loaded with Krishna books, saying, “Do not return until the van is empty.”
One dying devotee told some elementary school students, “I am dying” which was a shock to them. Then he continued, “but you might die before me” which shocked them even more [although it was certainly possible].
Ramachandra Khan wanted to defame Haridasa Thakura by sending a prostitute to break his vow of celibacy, but when Haridasa Thakura remained undisturbed and engaged the prostitute in pure devotional service to the Lord, he became more famous than before. Thus Ramachandra Khan was foiled in his attempt.
Ruci means having such a taste that you cannot stop chanting.
I watched many people from the crowd who were chanting at Queen’s Day.
In Tel Aviv many people dance with us.
In Puri Lord Caitanya sent people in groups of five to chant in front of people’s homes.
Although one newspaper article spoke critically of the devotees, Srila Prabhupada liked it because “Hare Krishna” was mentioned so many times. The offense is temporary, but the benefit of chanting the holy name is eternal.
The parents of one girl from Greece studied in London and heard the devotees chant on Oxford Street every day. Her father would sometimes bang on pots and jokingly say “Hare Krishna.” Later when she grew up, that girl was attracted to join the harinama in Greece and became a devotee.
Srila Prabhupada wanted many pictures to illustrate the Krishna book. He called them “windows to the spiritual world.” We would just show people the pictures in the books and tell the people, “these are windows to the spiritual world” and people would be amazed and buy the books.
Q: What gives us the taste for devotional service? What causes us to lose it?
A: Sadhu sanga sadhu sanga . . . By the mercy of the devotees one gets a taste for devotional service, and by offenses, especially offenses to devotees, one loses his taste.
The reasons a person falls down are the same, whether one is a sannyasi or an ordinary person.
When the Fifth Canto came out, many people left the movement. Some say it was because of the cosmology of the Bhagavatam, but I think it was the verses and purports that destroy the illusion of the pleasure of material sex life, which are great to read for one who actually wants to be renounced.
I think that the word “bloop” which in the Hare Krishna movement we use to mean to leave the spiritual path and return to materialistic life comes from the phrase “one falls down again into the material pool,” the word “bloop” being used in comics when an object falls into a pool of water. That phrase comes from a description of process of degradation in Bhagavad-gita 2.62–63: “While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.”
People recognize that anger is bad and so they have classes to control anger, but unfortunately they do not have classes to control lust, which according to Bhagavad-gita 2.62,is the cause of anger.
In an art museum, when you see a beautiful piece of art, you glorify the artist, but when we see the beauty of nature, we do not glorify God, who is the artist. That is not right.
We are supposed to love people and use things, but in this degraded age, we love things and use people.
If you are facing the sun, you do not see the shadows, but if you face away from sun the shadows will be there. Similarly if one is facing Krishna, there will be no illusion for him.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said some people say that Haridasa Thakura missed out on so many of the Lord Caitanya’s pastimes because he was always chanting, but because the holy name contains all the pastimes, that was not a fact.
In Japan when I would sell books, everyone said, “I am in a hurry. I have no time.” So I would say, “I am in a hurry too. Give me a donation quickly.” Many times people quickly gave me a donation.
If any other avatar of Krishna asked the demons for the nectar of immortality they would have fought Him for it, thus He appeared as a most attractive woman, and the lusty demons eagerly gave Her the nectar voluntarily desiring to please Her.
It appears that the devotees are also dying, but they do not have to accept another material body or suffer hellish punishment. They go to Krishna and live with Him forever.
The Hare Krishna mantra is the sword to cut the knot in the heart binding us to this body and this world.
Different people interact with the harinama party for different reasons, but they all are benefited.
When people get back from their vacations they have seen Hare Krishnas in London, they have seen Hare Krishnas in Amsterdam, and they have seen Hare Krishnas in Berlin.
Success means getting what you want. Happiness means wanting what you get.
If someone experiences a trauma they cannot get beyond, going to another place that does not remind them of the trauma helps.
Before Jahnava Mata, the eternal consort of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, would leave to travel to a new place, she would always ask the permission of the deity.
It is an important teaching of Lord Caitanya and all other spiritual teachers that one is judged by his qualities and activities, as Krishna mentions in Bhagavad-gita,and not by one’s birth. In Vrindavan, there are still brahmanas who will not eat with us Western mlecchasor eat grains cooked by us.
One of the first pollutions of the age of Kali is that the brahmanassay that one is a brahmana by birth and that a non-brahmana can never become a brahmana.
Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya tried to teach Mayavadi philosophy to Lord Caitanya, but Lord Caitanya ended up teaching Vaishnava philosophy to him.
The nondevotees cannot see Krishna so they take for granted that the devotees’ activities and their own activities are the same.
Both Bhakti Tirtha Swami and Devamrita Swami read Srila Prabhupada’s books and liked them, but when they first encountered the devotees, they thought the devotees were crazy.
Some say japa is just for ourselves, but a real Vaishnava does not think like that. He sees that his sadhana is meant for becoming empowered to help others.
Here in Amsterdam the people appreciate us. They do not know what we are doing, but they like it. Someday in the future, maybe a future lifetime, they will become devotees because of that appreciation.
Satyaraja Prabhu:
Many people don’t know this, but John Paul II confirmed that according to the teachings of Christianity that animals do indeed have souls. In 1990 he said that all creatures were given the “breath of life” by God, just like humans were. (See http://www.dreamshore.net/rococo/pope.html)
Urmila Devi:
from her article “The Swirling Smoke of Fragrant Love” in Back to Godhead, Volume 47, No. 4, p. 48:
“The most opulent arcana[worship of the Lord in his deity form] consists of sixty-four items; the most simple, five items.” In every list, offering incense to Krishna is included. Incense is part of worship of the Lord and His representatives in the scriptures of many of the world’s traditions. For example, when Jesus was born, the wise men brought the child gifts of frankincense and myrrh.
Ananta Nitai Prabhu:
Kirtana means glorification of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, not any demigod.
Qualified personalities curse people for their benefit not for revenge.
On the harinama yesterday the kids did strange things like surround us with barricades and throw bottles at us, but one of the them, who was more pious, removed the barricades and put the bottles in the recycling bin so his friends could not keep throwing at us. Some of the kids ultimately chanted, gave us sweets, and inquired about what we were doing. So by association, they came up to a higher level of consciousness and activity.
On book distribution one lady claimed she had so many spirituals books she did not need a Bhagavad-gita, so I asked her if she would give me a banana in charity. As she went to get the banana, because she knew I was monk, she asked if I accepted donations, and I said, “Yes.” She returned with two bananas, two apples, and five-pound note. I presented her with a Bhagavad-gita, telling her to read at least the introduction and chapter two. And she smiled and said, “Thank you.”
from a conversation:
The worst anartha [undesirable quality] is to think you have no anarthas.
I have a couple devotee friends from England who were getting married about the same time and loved harinama. They both told their respective wives-to-be, “I like harinama so much that if you are not interested in it, you should go and marry someone else.” Both wives accepted the condition, and both couples have gone on harinama practically every weekend for the past eight years and are really empowered because of it.
Navina Syama Prabhu:
from his article, “Sherlock Holmes and the Limits of Modern Knowing” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 47, No. 4, (Jul/Aug 2013):
“For one exploring religion and seeking absolute knowledge, this uncertainty [of knowledge based on induction] is unacceptable. If it turns out that my theory about the
migration pattern of humpback whales is wrong, I might be a little embarrassed, but life will go on. If my understanding of God is off, on the other hand, the fate of my eternal soul hangs in the balance.” (p. 14)
“It is interesting to note that reliance on knowledge from authority is commonplace in modern society (e.g. students listening to teachers at school, viewers listening to news reporters on television), but that the approach is generally abandoned in spiritual matters.” (p. 15)
-----
etavan eva loke ’smin
pumam dharmah parah smritah
bhakti-yogo bhagavati
tan-nama-grahanadibhih
“Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.22)
Travel Journal#9.9: Holland, London, The North of England, Northern Ireland
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 9, No. 9
By Krishna-kripa das
(May 2013, part one)
By Krishna-kripa das
(May 2013, part one)
Holland, London, The North of England, Northern Ireland
(Sent from London, England, on June 13, 2013)
Where I Went and What I Did
After the Queen’s Day harinama, I stayed in Amsterdam and did harinama for three days. Then I went to Rotterdam for two days of harinama and a Saturday feast program. Next I went to Den Haag (The Hague) for an afternoon of harinama and a Sunday feast. Finally I returned to Amsterdam for harinama in Vondel Park. Then I did a day of harinama in London, harinama and a nama-hatta program in Sheffield, and went back to Newcastle, my summer base, where I stayed for four days of harinama and the Sunday feast lecture. Then I went on to Northern Ireland, where I chanted with Ananta Nitai Prabhu in Belfast for one day, and with both Ananta Nitai and Bhagavata Dasi in Lisburn, Bangor, Newry, and Hillsborough, all cities within an hour of Belfast, for the next four days. Thus it was a very busy time for me.
I share notes from Srila Prabhupada’s wonderful lectures and books. This month I had the opportunity to hear several classes by Kavicandra Swami, who remained in Amsterdam as long as his schedule would permit at the request of Kadamba Kanana Swami, who is always desirous of developing our outreach there. Kavicandra Swami is very perceptive and made lots of beautiful points in his classes which I share.
Thanksto Sanatani Devi Dasi for the photo of our Amsterdam harinama, onlooker John Doherty for the Hillsborough, Northern Island, picture of our harinamaparty, the web site http://www.discovernorthernireland.comfor the picture of the Hillsborough Tourism Centre, and an unknown passerby, who took our picture in Lisburn, chanting in front of the party shop.
Harinama in Amsterdam
I went on harinama for the entire week I spent in Holland, and only on the final day did I have go out alone. The weather was practically perfect the whole time. The first day we went out with Kavicandra Swami, who came out every day, and with some devotees from Scandinavia, who had come for the Queen’s Day harinama.
Another day on harinama two people joined our party at different times and chanted and danced with us. Tulasi Prabhu, a brahmacari book distributor from Bulgaria, later talked to one of these young men, who commented that he was curious what it was all about and purchased a Bhagavad-gita. Those are my favorite harinama experiences, when people become so interested they want to read the books.
The final day I spent in Amsterdam. I went out alone. I chanted as I walked through the streets for an hour and a half as went to and from Vondel Park, which Srila Prabhupada visited and in which gave a lecture many years ago. I chanted in the park itself for another three hours. One policeman called me over as soon as I got there, and I worried that I was not allowed to use my amplifier or I had done something else wrong, but he had no issues with me. While we talked, he mentioned he liked it on Queen’s Day when the group of us chanted together there by the museum where all the people were. I was pleased to hear a rare appreciation of the chanting from a cop.
Rotterdam and Den Haag
Sivananda Sena Prabhu and his wife, Moksa Lakshmi Devi Dasi, are disciples of Janananda Goswami, and like him, they have a fondness for promoting the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord in public. Thus they invited me for three harinamas and two programs in Rotterdam and Den Haag.
They regularly do two hours on chanting in Rotterdam on Fridays starting at the central train station at 7 p.m. They go to a crowded section with lots of shops.
Different onlookers were attracted and participated in dancing with the party.
I led half the kirtanaat the Saturday feast program in Rotterdamto let some of the others have some of the action.
In Den Haag there are two ISKCON temples. One I went to back in 2010, and the other I went this year. Before the Sunday program, we did harinama for over an hour in a local park, and several people happily danced.
The weather was excellent, and many people were happy to encounter the happily chanting devotees.
A Muslim family enjoyed dancing with us.
And other individuals did too.
London
In London one young French lady came to the temple one evening, and Erzsebet from Hungary, who is enthusiasm personified in outreach, sold her a book which she read that very night. She returned to the temple the next day and came to the lunch program lecture which I gave. Later I asked the devotee lady who talked to her during the lunch if the class had been beneficial for her. She said the French lady said she really liked the idea that we can have one of five relationships eternally with Krishna. The devotee lady asked her which one she liked, and she said she would like to be the friend or lover of Krishna eternally. I had spoken on the verse where Krishna states that he will reciprocate with us according to how we surrender to him. In his purport Srila Prabhupada writes, “One devotee may want Krishna as his supreme master, another as his personal friend, another as his son, and still another as his lover. Krishna rewards all the devotees, equally according to their different intensities of love for Him.” (Bg. 4.11, purport) I will keep this verse in mind as a good one to give introductory classes on that might attract one to Krishna. The French lady lives in Paris and shared contact information with devotee who spoke to her at lunch, so hopefully her interest will develop, and she will visit our temple there.
Sheffield
I chanted in Sheffield alone before the Wednesday nama-hatta meeting. Some people appreciated but one lady harassed me so much to give her a pound fifty for the bus, that I finally did so just to get her to go away.
It was nice to see a couple new people had become regulars at our Sheffield program since last year.
Leeds Farmers Market Harinama
My bus from Sheffield to Newcastle had a forty-minute rest in Leeds, and as we pulled into the coach station there, I noticed it was right next to the Leeds Farmers Market. When the bus stopped I learned of the break, and the bus driver advised me to go to the farmers market to get a bite to eat. I decided to go, not to shop, but to sing.
As soon as I sat down to saing, someone said, “Haribol!” And someone very soon gave a donation.
Newcastle Area Harinamas
I chanted in Newcastle, and different devotees would come out with me at different times. I would put out a hat to collect donations when we stayed in one place, and I would offer invitations and books to those who gave something, no matter how small. Because not everyone would take a book, I got enough in donations to pay for the books that were distributed. It was nice to always see books going out
The weather was wild. Some days were in the 40s F (5 to 10 C), and with winds from the north at 20 mph (32 kph).
In Sunderland we had four devotees, three singing and one distributing books. In addition, I was able to distribute three books myself by asking people who put money in the hat if they wanted one. We chanted about an hour and forty minutes. I like Sunderland because there are lots of people and always a few favorable ones. Kadamba Kanana Prabhu from Hungary had not been on harinama for ten years, and he was very happy he came out. One young lady who chanted with us got a call from a friend in London who asked if she was singing in Sunderland because someone had taken a video of her singing and put it on Facebook. Her friends from her hometown of Sunderland did not know much about her relationship with Hare Krishna, at least until now.
In Newcastle on Sunday, Bhakti Rasa and his wife, Kirtida Prabhu, came out, and we happened to meet Ekacakranatha Prabhu on the way.
We chanted three hours all together. People danced to the music, like these four guys below.
Harinamas in North Ireland
When my friend, Caitanya-candrodaya Prabhu, was temple president of Belfast, I got in the habit of going there and doing harinama. Devotees had occasionally talked about us chanting in different places around Belfast, but it did not happen until this year.
Monday Ananta Nitai Prabhu, who traveled by bus from Dublin, and I who traveled by plane from Newcastle, arrived at the Belfast temple within five minutes of each other. We were greeted by Bhagavata Dasi, our harinama partner from Govindadvipa, who moved back to Belfast and promised to take us out on harinama in her car the next four days. We were also greeted by all kinds of maha-prasadam, the opulence of a small temple. That day just Ananta Nitai and I went out to Belfast city center to chant for three hours. While traveling there by bus, the sun was shining, but as soon as I got off the bus, it started to rain. We found a sheltered spot to chant, and were greatly relieved when the sun shone again. But that was not for long. Soon it rained again. But again we were relieved when the sun again shone. During that harinama, the sun came out four times and it rained five times! As I walked back to take the bus home, chanting on the way, it was raining, but on the bus itself, the sun came out! That was the craziest weather I had experienced recently, but we were able to keep the chanting going the whole time, and collect donations and give out books and invitations as well.
On Tuesday, Bhagavata took us to Lisburn, about 15 minutes from the temple. We chanted on a main street and several groups of people stopped to watch at different times. At one point, we chanted under the sign of former birthday party shop underneath its sign “Pure Party.”
The congregational chanting is glorified by Lord Caitanya “cleansing the mirror of the mind,” and being “the nectar for which we are always anxious.” It is described by Narottama Das Thakura as imported from the spiritual world. For these reason, I thought “pure party” was a great description of harinama.
We found some teenage kids hanging out, and we sang in their midst for a while. I would have never done it myself, but the other devotees were better at dealing with kids than me, so I went along with it. At one point, the kids decided to harass us. Some of the more rowdy ones placed some nearby road construction barricades to surround our party, and they started throwing empty plastic bottles at us. We just kept chanting, and one of them decided to remove the barricades and throw the bottles in the trash so the other kids could not through them at us any more. Later someone asked us about our philosophy and one girl, who took pleasure in singing the whole mantra with us, gave us each some candy when she left. On the whole, the kids became more favorable as time marched on.
Since we had stopped chanting before we finished my quota of three hours, Ananta Nitai and I chanted in the parking lot of a store while Bhagavata did some shopping for the temple. We chanted for half an hour, and no authorities asked us to move, and some favorable people came by.
Wednesday we chanted in Bangor, and a passerby gave 10 British pounds for a Bhagavad-gita and a Sri Isopanisad. We chanted next to a butcher shop, and employees came out of the shop and looked at us from time to time but said nothing. After we chanted two and a half hours, a policeman came and explained that he had no problem with our singing, but some local vendors were complaining, and he told us of a couple other places where we could sing and would not get into difficulty. He was the most polite policeman who had ever asked us to move, and Ananta Nitai Prabhu gave him a small book which he accepted.
Thursday we chanted in Newry on a day where rain often threatened but was never so severe we had to stop. At several times groups of teenagers would sit behind us and move with the music.
On Friday we chanted in Hillsborough, a town of 3,400 people, where there was that day the Garden Show Ireland, an open house at the gardens of the Queen’s Hillsborough Castle.
John Doherty, an open-minded man, with both Catholic and Protestant connections, was attracted by our party and its chanting, appreciating its religious connection, and he took pictures of us, which he later send to me by email.
Often I give my business card to photographers who take pictures of us and ask them to send me the photos. They actually send me the photos 20% of the time at the very most, but in North Ireland and the Republic of Ireland people sent me the pictures two out of three or four times I asked for them.
A man behind the counter at tourist office, said to me, “Hare Krishna is from North India, isn’t it?"” I explained that the chanting we do in the streets, which we were doing outside his office for the last hour, started in Bengal. He inquired further, “And what is the name of the town in Bengal?” And I replied, “Mayapur.” And he said with a smile of recognition, “Oh yes, Mayapur!” Wow! I couldn’t believe it! In this tiny town in this remote land someone had heard of Mayapur, the birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu! Apparently the man spent some time in Kolkata and had eaten at our Govinda's Restaurant there. It is a small world!
The man also knew of Inis Rath island and their Sunday feast, and the lady in the office lived in Dunmurry, the Belfast suburb where our temple is, and she knew of our Sunday program there.
The man also knew of Inis Rath island and their Sunday feast, and the lady in the office lived in Dunmurry, the Belfast suburb where our temple is, and she knew of our Sunday program there.
After Hillsborough, Ananta Nitai Prabhu and I boarded a bus for Dublin to continue our harinama adventures there
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
from Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.28.31, purport:
“We have already started the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, and many thousands of Europeans and Americans have joined this movement. Indeed, it is spreading like wildfire. The cult of Krishna consciousness, based on the nine principles of devotional service (sravanam kirtanam visnohsmaranam pada-sevanam/ arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam[SB 7.5.23]), will never be stopped. It will go on without distinction of caste, creed, color or country. No one can check it.
from a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam5.5.2 given in London on September 17, 1969:
“The devotee aspires only to make friendship with Krishna. . . . The devotee’s only lovable object is Krishna.”
from a conversation in Durban, South Africa, in October 1975, printed in Back to Godhead, Volume 47, No. 4, p. 44:
Disciple: The scientists always say,“Last year we made a mistake, and now it’s all right.”
Srila Prabhupada: Hmm. “Now we are advanced.” And what is the guarantee that your present theories are correct? You will advance again. That means you are always incorrect.
Jiva Goswami:
from his Gopala Campu:
Krishna stole the gopi’scloth and their hearts and only returned their cloth. He did not return their hearts but hid them.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
from his Amrita Vani, quoted in Back to Godhead, Volume 47, No. 4, p. 67:
We should show compassion toward all living entities, develop a taste for chanting the Lord’s names, and serve Vaishnavas. These are Mahaprabhu’s three principal
instructions.
Kavicandra Swami:
Another one of my godbrothers, Kesava Prabhu, left his body the other day. He is famous for book distribution. As president of the San Francisco temple, when he heard that Buddhimantra Prabhu had distributed twenty Krishna books one day, he sent Buddhimanta with a van loaded with Krishna books, saying, “Do not return until the van is empty.”
One dying devotee told some elementary school students, “I am dying” which was a shock to them. Then he continued, “but you might die before me” which shocked them even more [although it was certainly possible].
Ramachandra Khan wanted to defame Haridasa Thakura by sending a prostitute to break his vow of celibacy, but when Haridasa Thakura remained undisturbed and engaged the prostitute in pure devotional service to the Lord, he became more famous than before. Thus Ramachandra Khan was foiled in his attempt.
Ruci means having such a taste that you cannot stop chanting.
I watched many people from the crowd who were chanting at Queen’s Day.
In Tel Aviv many people dance with us.
In Puri Lord Caitanya sent people in groups of five to chant in front of people’s homes.
Although one newspaper article spoke critically of the devotees, Srila Prabhupada liked it because “Hare Krishna” was mentioned so many times. The offense is temporary, but the benefit of chanting the holy name is eternal.
The parents of one girl from Greece studied in London and heard the devotees chant on Oxford Street every day. Her father would sometimes bang on pots and jokingly say “Hare Krishna.” Later when she grew up, that girl was attracted to join the harinama in Greece and became a devotee.
Srila Prabhupada wanted many pictures to illustrate the Krishna book. He called them “windows to the spiritual world.” We would just show people the pictures in the books and tell the people, “these are windows to the spiritual world” and people would be amazed and buy the books.
Q: What gives us the taste for devotional service? What causes us to lose it?
A: Sadhu sanga sadhu sanga . . . By the mercy of the devotees one gets a taste for devotional service, and by offenses, especially offenses to devotees, one loses his taste.
The reasons a person falls down are the same, whether one is a sannyasi or an ordinary person.
When the Fifth Canto came out, many people left the movement. Some say it was because of the cosmology of the Bhagavatam, but I think it was the verses and purports that destroy the illusion of the pleasure of material sex life, which are great to read for one who actually wants to be renounced.
I think that the word “bloop” which in the Hare Krishna movement we use to mean to leave the spiritual path and return to materialistic life comes from the phrase “one falls down again into the material pool,” the word “bloop” being used in comics when an object falls into a pool of water. That phrase comes from a description of process of degradation in Bhagavad-gita 2.62–63: “While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises. From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.”
People recognize that anger is bad and so they have classes to control anger, but unfortunately they do not have classes to control lust, which according to Bhagavad-gita 2.62,is the cause of anger.
In an art museum, when you see a beautiful piece of art, you glorify the artist, but when we see the beauty of nature, we do not glorify God, who is the artist. That is not right.
We are supposed to love people and use things, but in this degraded age, we love things and use people.
If you are facing the sun, you do not see the shadows, but if you face away from sun the shadows will be there. Similarly if one is facing Krishna, there will be no illusion for him.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said some people say that Haridasa Thakura missed out on so many of the Lord Caitanya’s pastimes because he was always chanting, but because the holy name contains all the pastimes, that was not a fact.
In Japan when I would sell books, everyone said, “I am in a hurry. I have no time.” So I would say, “I am in a hurry too. Give me a donation quickly.” Many times people quickly gave me a donation.
If any other avatar of Krishna asked the demons for the nectar of immortality they would have fought Him for it, thus He appeared as a most attractive woman, and the lusty demons eagerly gave Her the nectar voluntarily desiring to please Her.
It appears that the devotees are also dying, but they do not have to accept another material body or suffer hellish punishment. They go to Krishna and live with Him forever.
The Hare Krishna mantra is the sword to cut the knot in the heart binding us to this body and this world.
Different people interact with the harinama party for different reasons, but they all are benefited.
When people get back from their vacations they have seen Hare Krishnas in London, they have seen Hare Krishnas in Amsterdam, and they have seen Hare Krishnas in Berlin.
Success means getting what you want. Happiness means wanting what you get.
If someone experiences a trauma they cannot get beyond, going to another place that does not remind them of the trauma helps.
Before Jahnava Mata, the eternal consort of Lord Nityananda Prabhu, would leave to travel to a new place, she would always ask the permission of the deity.
It is an important teaching of Lord Caitanya and all other spiritual teachers that one is judged by his qualities and activities, as Krishna mentions in Bhagavad-gita,and not by one’s birth. In Vrindavan, there are still brahmanas who will not eat with us Western mlecchasor eat grains cooked by us.
One of the first pollutions of the age of Kali is that the brahmanassay that one is a brahmana by birth and that a non-brahmana can never become a brahmana.
Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya tried to teach Mayavadi philosophy to Lord Caitanya, but Lord Caitanya ended up teaching Vaishnava philosophy to him.
The nondevotees cannot see Krishna so they take for granted that the devotees’ activities and their own activities are the same.
Both Bhakti Tirtha Swami and Devamrita Swami read Srila Prabhupada’s books and liked them, but when they first encountered the devotees, they thought the devotees were crazy.
Some say japa is just for ourselves, but a real Vaishnava does not think like that. He sees that his sadhana is meant for becoming empowered to help others.
Here in Amsterdam the people appreciate us. They do not know what we are doing, but they like it. Someday in the future, maybe a future lifetime, they will become devotees because of that appreciation.
Satyaraja Prabhu:
Many people don’t know this, but John Paul II confirmed that according to the teachings of Christianity that animals do indeed have souls. In 1990 he said that all creatures were given the “breath of life” by God, just like humans were. (See http://www.dreamshore.net/rococo/pope.html)
Urmila Devi:
from her article “The Swirling Smoke of Fragrant Love” in Back to Godhead, Volume 47, No. 4, p. 48:
“The most opulent arcana[worship of the Lord in his deity form] consists of sixty-four items; the most simple, five items.” In every list, offering incense to Krishna is included. Incense is part of worship of the Lord and His representatives in the scriptures of many of the world’s traditions. For example, when Jesus was born, the wise men brought the child gifts of frankincense and myrrh.
Ananta Nitai Prabhu:
Kirtana means glorification of the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, not any demigod.
Qualified personalities curse people for their benefit not for revenge.
On the harinama yesterday the kids did strange things like surround us with barricades and throw bottles at us, but one of the them, who was more pious, removed the barricades and put the bottles in the recycling bin so his friends could not keep throwing at us. Some of the kids ultimately chanted, gave us sweets, and inquired about what we were doing. So by association, they came up to a higher level of consciousness and activity.
On book distribution one lady claimed she had so many spirituals books she did not need a Bhagavad-gita, so I asked her if she would give me a banana in charity. As she went to get the banana, because she knew I was monk, she asked if I accepted donations, and I said, “Yes.” She returned with two bananas, two apples, and five-pound note. I presented her with a Bhagavad-gita, telling her to read at least the introduction and chapter two. And she smiled and said, “Thank you.”
from a conversation:
The worst anartha [undesirable quality] is to think you have no anarthas.
I have a couple devotee friends from England who were getting married about the same time and loved harinama. They both told their respective wives-to-be, “I like harinama so much that if you are not interested in it, you should go and marry someone else.” Both wives accepted the condition, and both couples have gone on harinama practically every weekend for the past eight years and are really empowered because of it.
Navina Syama Prabhu:
from his article, “Sherlock Holmes and the Limits of Modern Knowing” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 47, No. 4, (Jul/Aug 2013):
“For one exploring religion and seeking absolute knowledge, this uncertainty [of knowledge based on induction] is unacceptable. If it turns out that my theory about the
migration pattern of humpback whales is wrong, I might be a little embarrassed, but life will go on. If my understanding of God is off, on the other hand, the fate of my eternal soul hangs in the balance.” (p. 14)
“It is interesting to note that reliance on knowledge from authority is commonplace in modern society (e.g. students listening to teachers at school, viewers listening to news reporters on television), but that the approach is generally abandoned in spiritual matters.” (p. 15)
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etavan eva loke ’smin
pumam dharmah parah smritah
bhakti-yogo bhagavati
tan-nama-grahanadibhih
“Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.22)
Special Seminar on Thursday: Internally Developing Your Devotional Service
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!
The parade of guests coming through Toronto doesn't end as we welcome Laxmimoni prabhu home! Laxmimoni prabhu is a spiritual force that first started here in Toronto. We are very pleased to welcome her back as she will be leading the Vaishnavi Sanga Retreat with Akuti prabhu this weekend - a spiritual retreat for the women of our community.This Thursday, June 13th, Laxmimoni prabhu will be leading a discussion on how we can develop our devotional service internally, starting at 6:30pm. A lot of the times, we are busy with services but we are not able to go internally and focus on developing our spirituality within.
To be part of this discussion, please don't miss Thursday's class. We promise a stimulating discussion!
Special Seminar on Thursday: Internally Developing Your Devotional Service
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Blog!
The parade of guests coming through Toronto doesn't end as we welcome Laxmimoni prabhu home! Laxmimoni prabhu is a spiritual force that first started here in Toronto. We are very pleased to welcome her back as she will be leading the Vaishnavi Sanga Retreat with Akuti prabhu this weekend - a spiritual retreat for the women of our community.This Thursday, June 13th, Laxmimoni prabhu will be leading a discussion on how we can develop our devotional service internally, starting at 6:30pm. A lot of the times, we are busy with services but we are not able to go internally and focus on developing our spirituality within.
To be part of this discussion, please don't miss Thursday's class. We promise a stimulating discussion!
“In His Own Words”—from Indradyumna Swami, June 9, 2013
Giriraj Swami
Diary of a Traveling Monk, Volume 13, Chapter 12
Anatoli Fedorovich Pinyayev (Ananta-santi dasa) was the first Soviet Hare Krsna devotee. Because of his active preaching throughout the USSR and because of the spiritual influence he had on many people, he was subjected to severe persecution for five and a half years at the hands of the staff at various Soviet psychiatric hospitals. The following excerpts are from an interview with him conducted in February 1988.
I started preaching Krsna consciousness after Srila Prabhupada visited Moscow in 1971. Gradually people in the Soviet Union became more and more attracted to
Krsna consciousness and it became quite widespread. The authorities, however, became afraid because so many from the intelligentsia were interested in Krsna consciousness. Everything spiritual was considered to be criminal and thus they started repressions.
It was just like an explosion of Krsna consciousness in the Soviet Union. The authorities were terrified so they tried to discredit the movement and present it as simply a group of crazy criminals. Because I was the first one to preach and the only disciple of Srila Prabhupada, they tried to repress me and present me as a crazy criminal. The court accused my godbrothers and me of teaching vegetarianism, which they said is harmful to the body, and of teaching mantras and praying, which they said is harmful for a person’s mental condition. On this ridiculous pretext they were accusing us.
I was imprisoned, and they tried to present every person who was following Krsna consciousness in this country as crazy. They then put me in a mental prison, a mental jail. There the doctors said that they were taught that religious believers are insane, and that only insane persons can think that there is a God, that there is spirit, and that we are not these bodies but spiritual sparks.
I was given courses of medication for many months. They gave me drugs three times a day. It was so bad that I was only able to lie in bed. This drug was special; it made it impossible to concentrate on anything. If I tried to chant loudly they would give me such large doses that I could have died. Lying on the bed I had so much material discomfort; these drugs make you restless and force you to change the position of your body all the time. I was feeling very weak and so much discomfort. It was just like torture for months and years. The only pause in the torture was when I was sleeping at night.
Initially, when the psychiatrists considered me crazy, they brought me from the regular prison to a psychiatric prison in Smolensk. It was on the same site as the ordinary prison but it had special cells for psychiatric prisoners. It had the bad aspects of both a mental asylum and prison. We were living in small cells with about twenty people in each. There was not enough fresh air. We took baths irregularly, sometimes not for 23 days. Many people there had insects on their bodies.
The entire place was very dirty. The food was prepared very badly. People there often had their teeth fall out, and their gums would bleed. I was taking very little food. Everything was a problem there. Even the janitors where criminals. It was a place for crazy criminals, and there was constant fighting amongst them. There was pressure from the doctors, the janitors, the criminals, everyone. Everyone was very much disturbed. My relatives were told that I would never be released.
The prisoners were punished for everything. I was trying to wash my clothes and every morning I tried to wash at least parts of my body. But I was punished many times for this. They did not like this. The janitors tried to beat me up several times.
There was psychological pressure all the time. Drugs were given for any reason and on any pretext. Somehow or the other the doctors decided I was eligible for release from this special psychiatric prison to a normal psychiatric prison. The KGB did not like this because their aim was to keep me there for my whole life. So instead I was transferred to another special psychiatric prison in the city of Oryol.
Everyone in that place was astonished by the fact that I was imprisoned for preaching religion. They saw that the authorities were especially oppressive towards me; they could not understand why.
I found out from my mother that my godbrothers all over the world had started a campaign for my release, as well as the release of other imprisoned devotees in the Soviet Union. The situation changed a little. During the last half year in Oryol some changes where expected, so I started to preach more at that time.
In Smolensk I was kept in one ward where there was a doctor who was famous for his sadistic inclinations. In Oryol, however, my last doctor told me that I was completely sane. He said he understood that I was in the mental prison because of the political situation. Before “perestroika” every aspect of spiritual and intellectual life was oppressed in our country. He said, “Time is working for you. Because of the changes in our society and because of the help from abroad, sooner or later you will be released.” He was a little compassionate towards me, and I preached to him. I was very thankful to my godbrothers and people all over the world who did something to somehow release me.
I was released from the Oryol psychiatric prison in a very strange and unusual way. One day my doctor called me in and said he was a little bit agitated. He told me that some papers had come from Moscow saying that I should be released. He said that there would be a special professor coming from Moscow to be part of a medical commission that would release me.
When the professor came, he talked to my doctor for a long time about me without me being present. In the end he told my doctor, “Yes, he is completely sane. We will release him, but we will leave his diagnoses for now because his condition may appear again in the future.” When my doctor told me about this, I requested him to ask the professor, “Who can guarantee that YOU will not go crazy after some time?” My doctor told me, “Yes, I asked him this question and he told me that he also finds the symptoms of mental disease within himself.”
To download PDF version of this Diary Chapter please go to:
http://gallery.mailchimp.com/605ba73a2b9f5142f3211b238/files/Diary_VOL13_12.pdf
Digesting Life
→ Tattva - See inside out
An interesting concept indeed. Sometimes we allow life’s challenges to overwhelm us. We become emotionally entangled and visibly frustrated. Not nice. On the other extreme, however, we may artificially erect a tough exterior and shut it all out. We resist the desire to react and opt to ignore. Facing challenges, however, is not just about gritting your teeth, disregarding emotion, and getting on with life. The external resilience will not cover up the internal unrest forever.
Undigested food turns and twists in the stomach; neither comfortable nor nourishing. Similarly, if we don’t internally digest life’s challenges, the emotions we neglect today will likely come back to haunt us in the future. Real tolerance is about good digestion. You accept what has happened, assimilate the events with spiritual insight, identify the lessons to learn, and let the rest go and move on. This approach liberates us from any negativity and helps us grow from the experience. The karmic law is all about character development.